Transformation

Becoming one pt.1

It has been 5 months since I basically moved in with Leela and her mom while they helped get me ready to open my link with Tabitha. Due to me not opening the link when she woke up, I have to wait until the next full moon, which happens to be in two weeks, and I can't wait. Over the last few months, not only did I learn what kind of powers I would have, but I also learned so much about Tabitha. She and I have had a few more encounters in the small white room, but because we haven't made that connection yet, it takes too much energy out of her for her to keep creating the room. During our last encounter we mostly just talked. We talked about powers and the training that we would need to do to get the powers under control. Until we make the link between us, we wont be able to start any kind of training, which isn't the most ideal option, but that's the only one we have at the moment. But that's OK, because right now we are just getting to know each other, likes and dislikes. I even learned about some of Tabitha's past. For some reason though, whenever I asked about Tabis, she would get quite, sad almost. When I asked her what was wrong, she would always say nothing or that I would find out soon enough, or that there were just some parts of her past that she didn't want to relive.

"So, Tabitha, how old are you really? Leela said that our creatures can be hundreds if not thousands of years old."

"A lady never tells her age. Luckily for you, I'm no lady," she says with a playful tone to her voice. "I will be 562 this year and you will be my 4th host." Her voice trails off, like talking about her past is making her relive the painful parts of it.

"What are mom and dad like? I can barely remember anything about them and what I do remember is a distant memory. Almost like I'm trying to recall a dream that just won't come back to me." What feels like a hand places itself on my shoulder and gives it a small squeeze in a comforting way.

"Chrys, it's time to go. I can feel myself getting weaker. Also, I don't think that we'll be able to do this again until the full moon. I need to make sure that I have enough energy to make our connection."

"I understand that, I'm going to miss our talks, but I guess soon enough we'll be able to talk all the time." I gave her a quick smile before I shut my eyes, only to reopen them to find myself back in my room.

'Sh*t sh*t sh*t!' I say to myself as I quickly try and throw some decent clothes on, and get down to breakfast in time because Nona did NOT play that ish. When Nona set a time, it was 'law' and Leela and I went by it. In the almost 6 months that I've lived here, I have been late for a meal twice and Nona didn't forget. When she would quiz me on what I'd read she would make the questions harder by wording them in a way that made it hard to know fully what she was talking about. '7:58. Great now if I take the stairs two at a time I'll get there right on schedule.' I tell myself while I run out of my room and down the stairs. 'Damn I'm too old for this sh*t', I tell myself as I slow down as I approach the kitchen door. Before I could even put my hand on the knob, the door flew open and out came a crying Leela.

"Leela what's wrong? What happened?" Nothing but concern for my friend. We have grown very close in the last few months. I mean hell, we live in the same house and see each other all the time.

"Nothing Chrys, I'll see you at lunch."

"Wanna go somewhere? Lugi's?"

"Sounds great. I look forward to it." She gave me a little half smile and went in the direction of her room. Walking in the kitchen, I see Nona looking just as upset.

"Nona, is everything alright?"

"Yes child."

"Nona, you know I'm far from a child. I mean I'm 32." I smirked at her as I sat across the table from her and grabbed a slice of bacon.

"You're 3 minutes late." She smirked back at me as she wiped her eyes with a napkin she pulled out of her apron.

"Hold up!" Standing right back up with my hands in the air. " I ran into a crying Leela as I was coming into the kitchen!" Nona busted out laughing.

"I know child, I was just yanking your chain." Sighing, she folds the napkin over, "The full moon is not only for making a connection with your creature, it is also a good time for finding your mate."

"I thought I already had a mate?"

"Not you child, Leela. You say you're 32, well she's not far behind you. She feels that because she has Judith, that's all she needs."

"Leela doesn't want a mate?"

"She says she does, it's just that she is not ready. She's not lonely because she has me and Judith, but one day I won't be here and I need her to have more then just herself. Even if that part of her does have a mind of it's own, the only time it has any kind of control is when she's in that form. I love my daughter, I just want her to be happy." Nona wipes a tear from the corner of her eye, "and I wouldn't mind some grandchildren." We meet each other eyes and bust out laughing.

It was 12:30 and I had just pulled into Lugi's parking lot and parked next to Leela, still sitting in her teal mustang smoking a cigarette. She seemed like she was still upset from earlier. I got out of my rouge and went up to the driver's side and knocked on the window. She jumped a little bit from being startled by the knock.

"Hey lady!" Leela said to me with a big, but fake, smile.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" I asked while giving her a hug. I hated seeing her upset.

"Just thinking about something. You ready to go inside? I'm starving!" She said, putting her cigarette out and walked towards the restaurant.

"Good afternoon ladies, table for two?"

"Yes please, thank you sir. By chance could we get a booth if there are any available?" Leela asked, giving the host her most pleading look with a smile that went from ear to ear.

"Of course ma'am" he looked at his books real quick, "right this way please." He led us to a booth next to a window, "Will this work?'

"Yes sir! Thank you so much!" Leela exclaimed.

"Wonderful, your server, Daniel, will be with you shortly. Enjoy." He shot us a quick smile and walked back to the front. We sat down and started looking over the menus. After a few minutes, I decided that I wanted to try their 'mama's special. A small personal pan pizza, side salad, and a small order of pasta.

"What looks good to you, Leela? I know what I want."

"Yeah, I think imma do the eggplant parm. Sounds good."

"Afternoon ladies, my name is Daniel and I'll be your server today. What can I get you to drink?"

"Sweet tea please."

"Same, thanks."

"Great, now do you know what you would like to order?"

"Yes, I'll have the eggplant parm, with a side house salad, no onions please, with ranch on the side."

"I'll have the mama's special. With the pepperoni pizza, side Caesar salad, and the meaty marinara."

"Wonderful. I'll go ahead and put that in for you and be right back with your drinks. If you need anything, please be sure to

ask, again my name is Daniel." He said, then walked away.

"So Leela, do you mind me asking what happened this morning?"

"Oh it was nothing. Mom is just going on about finding a mate and fairy tales bs and what not." Leela rolls her eyes as she looks out the window.

"You don't want a mate?"

"Yes, well no, I mean I did."

"What changed?"

"Nothing. Just I mean... Let's talk about you. Are you ready for the full moon? I'm sure you're ready to be connected to Tabitha." Just then Daniel came back with our drinks.

"Here we go ladies. I put your food order in and it should be out shortly. Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"No thank you, we should be good." Leela said and nodded as Daniel walked off. "Now...full moon what are you going to wear? Do you want help doing your make-up or hair? Or both?"

"I'm going to wear a deep purple floor length dress, it has a slit up to the knee and it's a halter top. I would love your help with my make-up. You know I can't do any kind of full face." I chuckled as I took a sip of my tea. "Now answer my question." I stared at her dead in the eyes. "Please Leela tell me. You've seemed off the last few days. Please let me help you."

"Alright ladies, as I promised, food. For you, eggplant parmesan with a house salad and side order of ranch. And here is your mama special. I hope you ladies enjoy. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to ask."

"Thank you." We both said as we looked at the delicious food that was placed in front of us. For the next few minutes, we eat our food in silence. I look up at Leela every now and again, and she seems like she's enjoying her food. She looks up and meets my gaze, she puts her fork down and clears her throat.

" OK, the thing is, I do want a mate. Bad. Judith has been bugging me to find ours and I've gone to the ceremony the last few full moons and no luck. I'm beginning to think that I will never find him, and mom is mad that I don't want to go to the ceremony this time. She always has to be so overdramatic about things."

"What if you went to a different one?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean why not go to a different city or state and attend their mating ceremony? I mean you still have enough time to RSVP? Nona said that they are all open to the public, unless you wanna drop some dough at a private event."

"Well, I guess I really haven't thought of that. But even if I wanted to go this time, you're here, and we need to get you situated."

"No. I want you to go and enjoy yourself. Nona is here and then I'll have Tabitha. You have put your life on hold for me for the last 6 months. I will be ok. We will be OK. We want you to be OK. Go, it will make everyone happy." I said firmly while still giving her a friendly smile.

"Are you sure? I would almost feel like I was abandoning you, after all the late nights of reading and research."

"Leela, go. Find your mate, be happy and start your life. We'll still be here when you get back."

"Ok. Ok. I'll go. When we get home, I'll look up another community that is hosting a mating ceremony."

"Great. And I'll help." I said with a smile, and with that we went back to eating our food and having a pleasant lunch.

Tomorrow is the full moon, and even though Nona swears up and down that everything will be fine and that everything is in place and ready for the next day. I'm still nervous though. Leela left last night to head to Georgia, as that was the closet ceremony other then the one downtown. Nona was beyond happy when Leela told her she wanted to go, and Nona told her there was no limit on whatever she wanted to buy for the night. I'm lying in my bed, looking at the ceiling, praying that Leela finds her mate. I want her to be happy, she has done so much for me over the last few months, she really deserves it, and I know Nona would be over the moon if Leela were to come home with a mate. 12:07 am. Damn, I really need to go to sleep, because once I get up and start moving around and everything gets going, I won't be able to lay back down until after midnight the following day. 'Chrys, you'll be fine. Everything will work out. I'll see you shorty.' I can hear Tabitha in the back of my head, a calming feeling washes over me and I close my eyes and drift off to sleep.

"CHRYS!! WAKE UP! YOU NEED TO START GETTING READY!" I jump awake as Nona bangs on the door. 6:47am. It wasn't even 7 o'clock. Why was she yelling? I mean, damn, my alarm was set for seven.

"I'm up Nona. Imma hop in the shower and then I'll be down for breakfast."

"WELL DON'T TAKE LONG, WE NEED TO START REHERSAL BY 9!"

'Yeah, yeah I'm moving.' I swear that woman likes to stress. I got up and went into the closet and pulled out my dress and shoes to match. I also grabbed a bag that was full of new soaps, lotions and other smell goods that I thought I might need for today, and headed to the shower. Thirty minutes later, I was out of the shower fresh as a daisy, and my legs as smooth as a baby's bottom. I wrap my hair in a towel and put on my robe and head downstairs for breakfast.

"Good morning Nona." I said as I walked into the kitchen.

"Oh good you're here, I made you a plate. Eat up, I don't know the next time we'll be able to stop for an actual meal." Nona handed me a plate full of pancakes, eggs, bacon and hash browns. How this woman expected me to eat all of this I will never know. I took the plate, sat down and started eating. " OK, we have to meet Bertha, Agatha, and Marge out back in 15 minutes. They are going to assist us tonight."

"So who is all coming tonight? Or is it gonna be just us and those women you just mentioned?"

"Well....." Oh no, something was wrong and she didn't want to tell me. "You see, with you being the princess of witches and vampires, it's kind of a big deal that you are connecting to your creature. So there will be more people there than you want to know."

"Nona how many?" I said beyond, nervousness now. I never thought about the fact of who I was and who might want to see the outcome.

"Now, please don't be mad. You already had enough on your plate without having to worry about who would be coming."

"Nona....."

".......45 people."

"45!!!! I don't think I even know 45 people! Who is coming?!"

"Well, your parents an..."

"MY PARENTS!"

"Yes your parents, and about 15-20 of their advisors from each of their compounds."

"Compounds...with a 's'? As in more than one?"

"Yes, and before you ask, I really don't know enough to answer any questions. You will have to wait until they get here. Also, your mate is coming, put on some clothes and meet me outside in twenty minutes." She said as she hurried out of the kitchen. I sat there with my mouth open in shock. My mate was coming? Fredrick was going to be here? I didn't have time to try and put together what I had just heard, I needed to throw on some clothes and get to the rehearsal area. Heading to my room, all I think of is my parents. My parents and my mate. They were all going to be here. I wonder, if he is going to be here, are his parents going to be here? The King and Queen of the werewolves. 'Sh*t' I stopped at the bedroom door, my hand on my stomach. 'I don't think imma be able to do this.' 'I'm gonna be sick.' Those were all the thoughts that were going through my mind. Walking inside, I went to my dresser and pulled out a pair of yoga pants and a baby tee. After changing my clothes, I ran downstairs and outside to where Nona was talking to four other people.

"Ah good, Chrys you're here!" Nona exclaimed as I walked towards her group. "Chrys, this is Bertha, Agatha, and Marge, and they will be helping to open the link so that you and Tabitha can finally connect." Nona said as she pointed to three of the women that were standing with her

"Hello, it's nice to meet you all and I can't thank you enough for taking time out of your day to help me with this task. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to this evening."

"Oh sweetheart, it is our pleasure! It is not everyday the lost daughter of the Queen of Witches is found and is gaining her creature." Said the woman in the middle with short, wavy dirty blonde hair as she pointed to the fourth woman that Nona hadn't introduced yet. I looked over at the woman and couldn't believe my eyes, it was like looking in the mirror. She was a tall woman who radiated elegance, and whose essence demanded respect. Her long black hair, that matched mine, hung in loose curls. Her bright blue eyes shined like polished diamonds. Was this woman my mother? I mean she did say Queen of Witches. She was looking at me with the biggest smile and the softest eyes full of understanding as I stared at her with nothing but shock all over my face.

"Chryseis? Baby girl? We missed you." The Queen said slowly, moving towards me, reaching her hand out to me slowly, as if not to scare me away.

"Chrys?" I hear a voice that I haven't heard for what feels like eternity. I slowly turned and my eyes landed on the most handsome man I've ever seen.

"Fredrick."