Kimi stumbled through the woods, increasingly frightened as she realized that she had no idea where she was. Where was any of this? She wasn't that unfamiliar with these woods! But she was lost. Lost in the woods, by herself...alone. She wished Farin was here...even though the thought still upset her, even though she kept trying to tell herself it wasn't real, she just wanted him to be there. Against her will, she thought of him, of the baby...she half-consciously brushed a hand against her abdomen. No, there was no child within her here, but she could remember the feeling...augh! Stop it! Why wouldn't these thoughts go away? It wasn't real, it was a dream, it was a hallucination...this all must be a dream! It wasn't real, this wasn't happening, she wasn't a girl, lost in the-
"AH!" That was all too definitely the shriek of a teenaged girl, as she tripped over a root and hit the ground. Why did she keep tripping? Well, aside from the fact that, in her panic, she hadn't been looking where she was going...were her knees wobbly from fear? Did it have to do with her being sick? She winced and grabbed her foot - her toe had hit the root hard, and now it was letting her know that. It'd taken a layer off the tip of the toenail, even - she was lucky it wasn't bleeding. But for the moment all she could focus on was that it hurt, and she felt herself beginning to tear up.
Everything came back on her in a rush, and Kimi started to cry for real. She felt her cheeks grow hot - she shouldn't be doing this! She was a grown man, dammit! But it hurt, and she was sick, and cold, and lost, and confused, and scared, and she couldn't stop from crying. She lay on the ground for some time crying her eyes out, until the tears subsided. For the moment, having exhausted herself emotionally, she was somewhat more calm than before, but she began to feel like someone was watching her again. She stood up and dusted herself off, swinging her gaze slowly around the area.
"Wh-who's th-th-there!?" she called. "J-just come on out already!" Her speech sounded muffled, it didn't carry - like the woods themselves absorbed the sound. She stood and waited, wondering whether or not she actually wanted anything to answer.
Steven sighed as she dropped her bookbag in the hallway. What a day...it had been weird enough going to school in what she still felt was nothing at all (except the pants she was wearing beneath her petal-skirt,) but with that weird reaction with her nipple-flowers...
Her mother met her by the door, looking worried. "Welcome home, honey," she said, hugging her son-turned-daughter gently. "How are you feeling? Were there any other issues besides what you told me about?"
Steven shook her head. "N-no, just that..."
Her mother nodded. "Well, that's good. Come on, let me see."
The flower-girl hesitated, chewing her lip nervously. Her mother smiled. "Come on, dear. I want to make sure everything's all right. It's okay, there's nothing there I haven't seen before."
That wasn't really as encouraging as her mother had meant it to be, but she did let the petals of her blouse come to rest in their lower, roomier position. She didn't go as far as to actually open her blouse, but she didn't resist when her mother gently pulled it open. She chuckled slightly. "Hmm."
"What?" Steven asked, not sure she wanted to know.
Her mother gestured at her chest, and Steven looked down. It was so weird...she'd never get used to seeing breasts on her own chest. But she saw what her mother was pointing out: the flowers had closed back up into the buds she'd had when she first changed. She frowned. "Is, um...is that supposed to happen?"
"It seems so," her mother said. "I suppose they're getting ready to flower again. It's not like a dandelion, where the remnant of the flower just dries out and dies."
Steven frowned. "Y-you mean this is going to happen often!?" Once was bad enough!
Her mother shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "If it is a periodic thing, perhaps so. Or it may just be a reaction to stimulus...have you been doing anything to irritate them?"
There was that hint of mirth in her voice again, and Steven found herself blushing. But...that...wasn't irritation, was it? It certainly didn't feel like it... Besides, there was that whole thing she'd been reading up on for Ms. Summers's pop-report. She shook her head. "I was reading some things in class," she said. "I...I think it might be some kind of stress reaction."
She briefly summarized what she'd read about chili plants. Her mother nodded. "Stressful conditions can have a lot of negative effects on a plant. And I suppose you've had more than your share of stress over the past couple weeks..."
Steven nodded. "...mostly just the last few days," she murmured.
Her mother gently shook her head. "For the life of me, Steven, I'll never understand why outward aesthetics make more of a difference to you than actually changing sex did. All that's happened in the last few days is you can't hide it anymore. The truth of the matter is you've been a girl the whole time." She smiled at her daughter and motioned to the couch. "Come here, sit down."
The flower-girl sat on the couch, joined by the plant-woman. She looked over at her mother, seeing the green skin, the more elaborate leaf-clothing...yet still comfortable and familiar, like she hadn't really changed at all. She could kind of understand why her mother was so calm about her own changes, but she wished she could make her understand how much bigger of a deal it was for her to have changed...
She was slightly surprised by the feeling of her mother's hands on her shoulders. "Um, wha-?" she asked.
"Shh, there," her mom said, as she began to gently rub Steven's shoulders. Steven started to hunch forward, away from the touch, but her mother simply followed her. "I don't know what caused your reaction today," she said, her voice gentle and soothing, "but one thing's for sure: you have been under too much stress lately. You need to relax, honey. It's not good for you to let this get to you so badly."
Steven frowned. "B-but...I can't...it's not just gonna go away!"
The plant-woman shook her head, and continued her gentle massage, transitioning into a backrub. It reminded Steven that her "blouse" was completely backless, and she tried to picture how that must have looked to the other students today. "No, honey, it's not," her mother said. "By most theories, you're going to be this way for the rest of your life. But you need to accept that, Steven; you can't spend the rest of your life struggling against your own body."
She smiled. "There are a lot worse things than being a girl, child. I won't pretend it's going to be easy for you, but you're going to have to learn to live with this."
Steven wanted to protest, but she couldn't summon up the energy to say anything. Instead, she just let her mother continue. If nothing else, this did feel good...it was calming.
