What was lost…
copyright 2011 Faeriemage
Treasure is in the eye of the beholder, and no this isn't a D&D reference.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sections of this chapter will be familiar to anyone who's read my story 'Misplaced.' Yes, this story is a rewrite/expansion on that one.

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Have you ever had one of those moments when you realize what exactly everyone has been saying all along?

I think it's called epiphany.

That one word, in my opinion is under used in the English language. It's like serendipity, only a lot more personal. When all of the scattered conversations and individual glimpses into the divine come together into a glorious whole, that is epiphany.

And no, Tuesday wasn't that day for me.

The rest of my week was a blur. I was doing well in school, but then again I expected to. I wasn't stupid by any stretch of the imagination, and I only scheduled work and play on the weekend for a reason. The rest of the week bowed down at the pedagogical throne.

Friday I had something new to worry about. I was down to 105 pounds. I looked at myself in the mirror that evening after classes, naked of course, and tried to see what everyone else saw. I just saw skin and bones. Ok, I wasn't quite that bad, but I had a very waifish appearance.

I'd only been here for a few weeks and already I was down to a sliver over one hundred pounds.

I put it out of my head as I got ready for bed that evening, but it was something that bothered me. I really needed a big score tomorrow so that I could feel confident in getting myself some real food. Apparently what I was currently eating just wasn't enough for me.

I was back at Adamantium Secure Storage the next day.

I rented a truck that day. Something about this morning felt different to me. I was worried about my lack of bulk. The fact that I was about to begin taking hormones of one sort or another flitted through my mind. Visions of who I was about to become plagued me.

I stopped by the manager's office to take a look at the units up for bid, and one caught my eye. It had been rented here for the longest period of any unit, active or not. Fifteen years. Who keeps a storage locker for fifteen years?

"Is that a typo?"

"Nope. It's not. Fifteen years. It was initially rented out by a young man in college. 'Bout a year after that his sister, I think, picked up the lease. She's had it here since then. She occasionally drops off more stuff, but never comes to pick anything up."

What could be in that locker? Fifteen years worth of dropping things off. College age kids wouldn't have had much use for a storage locker, but they'd be in their mid-thirties now. They might have something.

I saw Stan wandering around the lot, and waved to him. The crowd of other bidders was a bit heavier than usual. I noticed a woman who seemed completely out of place here. She didn't look like the rest of the vultures. She seemed unsure and a little determined. She was middling pretty and wore a business suit.

We wandered around the facility until the manager came out to begin auctioning. He started with the jewel.

"So that everyone is on equal footing, I'd like to mention that this unit was actually insured. I'm not going to tell you the amount, since that would be cheating," he said this last with a smile, "but it is insured. Who will start me off at five hundred."

"Five hundred," the woman stated with a smile.

She was starting early, and I had a feeling about her. She was new or she was the former owner of the stuff. That could get ugly when I won, and I planned on winning.

"One thousand," I said clearly.

"1001," the woman replied. She had a smile still on her face as if this was the biggest joke ever.

"Fifteen," Stan said.

"1501," replied the woman.

"Five thousand." There was a gasp from the woman and Stan looked at me with an appraising look in his eye.

"5001," she said. The confidence had left her, but she was still determined.

"Nine," Stan replied.

She took a deep, calming breath, and said, "ninety-one hundred."

She was only now starting to get what real bidding was all about, but it was too late for her. Stan was losing confidence, and she was beyond what she could afford. Time to end this.

"Ten thousand dollars."

Stan smiled over at me, willing to let me have it. The woman paled, let out a sigh, and started to cry a bit. She walked quickly away from the unit. My victory was a little pyrrhic. Sure, I'd won the contents of the locker, but I'd done so directly from the owner of the unit.

It hadn't cost me my life, but it felt as though I truly no longer wanted to win.

I put on my lock and wandered around with the rest of the bidders. Stan picked up a unit for a couple hundred dollars, but that was Stan for you. He rarely liked to go above a thousand when he could help it.

All of the auctions were done, and I pulled the truck into the lot. Now was the moment of truth. I opened up the locker and found boxes. They were stacked all the way to the ceiling.

Good thing I brought the truck.

I began to move the boxes into the truck. I checked a couple of them and they all seemed to be filled with clothing. With this many boxes of clothing, I'd have to donate a little each week to the second hand store, and possibly look for another one or two stores to do business with.
I had moved somewhere around twenty boxes when I finally broke through the wall and could see what was in the rest of the unit. I began to smile. I wasn't and expert by any stretch of the imagination, but the sheer volume of furniture in that unit made my heart race.

I'd seen other units with antique furniture in them, but never anything like this. Someone had taken great care to store this. It was all raised off the ground on pallets and there were tarps to prevent leaks. The unit wasn't hermetically sealed, of course, but it was as close as you could get with a public storage facility.

I called Edgar, "I have a load of furniture here I'd like you to take a look at. I rented my own truck this week, so if you'd like to bring some guys to move it today…"

"No, Jackie, I think I'll move it tomorrow or Monday. Let me get down there to have a look at it."

"Ok, see ya soon."

I continued moving boxes into the truck so that there clear access to the back of the locker. Toward the back I ran into a group of boxes marked fragile, so I set them aside and continued moving clothes into the truck. It didn't fill the truck, but there were a lot of boxes up there.

Edgar took one look into the locker and paled.

"Jackie-boy. You hit the motherlode."

"What are you talking about?"

"There are desks with matching chairs. There is a table in there, with chairs. Period matched. Someone spent a lot of money on this furniture, or they've had it in their family for a very long time. Rough estimate? Five hundred."

"Dollars? Well, that's ok, I guess." The floor had dropped out from under me. It happened.

"No, thousand."

My jaw dropped and I stared at him.

"You're kidding."

"Nope, never. After my cut…you'll be looking at a little under three hundred thousand dollars."

That couldn't be possible.

I walked over to the boxes and opened them. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Fine china. It didn't look antique, but it looked impressive none the less.

"Wow, this day keeps getting better and better for you."

"What is it?"

Edgar was wearing gloves, like usual, and carefully picked up the plate on top. He turned it over and I saw a few words printed there. Noritake. Nippon. Hand Painted.

"What is it," I asked again.

The front had a beautiful floral pattern on it.

"This, Jackie, seems to be a complete set of Noritake china," he began looking through the other boxes, "several complete sets actually."

"I never thought I'd own fine china."

"Unless these are reproductions, which is possible, I wouldn't suggest eating off them. You're probably looking at a couple thousand dollars worth of china here."

"So, I doubt you're going to but this off me," I said gesturing to the rest of the locker.

"Nope, but I will sell it for you. There are a couple of other outlets that I'd like to try as well. There is a lot of history in here. Might not get as much if we offer it to a museum…"

"I'll let you decide."

I was confident in my options. I had everything I needed even if this got me another two hundred thousand.

It was everything that I needed to get all the way through school without needing to bid on another locker.

I carefully moved the china onto the truck and drove it home. The guys were still asleep so I moved the boxes on my own into my room. Well, and the living room, and under the stairs.

There was little room for the boxes in our small house. I began to unpack the boxes, going through them one by one. Sorting the salable, usable, and garbage from among them.

Strangely enough it all seemed to be in my size. I held up some of the clothing to me, seeing how it would look.

I was smiling and having a good time when I opened a box and saw a pair of breasts looking up at me. I reached out and touched them, afraid of what else might be in the box.

There was a sheet of paper behind the breasts and looking at it I breathed a sigh of relief. They were something called breast forms. Use and care instructions were on the sheet of paper. there were a couple of other breast forms, both B cups like the first one, as well as women's clothing. It almost looked like the women's clothing was there as packing material.

I closed the box and continued sorting through the clothing. It was more men's clothing and I was beginning to think that the breast forms were a fluke, but then I ran into a box full of skirts. On a whim I held one up against me, and it seemed as though it might fit.

The thoughts I'd had through the week sort of culminated into a 'why not?' sort of a thought.

I read the instructions a couple of times for the breast forms and then went for it. I picked out a matching bra and panty set from the box and slipped them on. I'd expected the panties to at least feel a little weird, but they didn't. a bit tight in the front, maybe, but overall they felt comfortable. They were black and lacey. The bra had a front closure, for which I was thankful. I slipped it on and closed it. I adjusted the straps so that they sat properly on my shoulders next.

Then I slipped in the breast forms.

They had a sort of self adhesive that held them in place, or at least kept them from sliding around. I could see the edges, but I wasn't too worried about it.

It felt strange to have that weight on my chest, and threw off my center of gravity a little bit.

I looked at myself in the mirror, and was shocked at what I saw. I was so…feminine.

I grabbed one of the skirts and pulled it on. It seemed to give me a waist. I noticed a few hairs here and there on my legs so I decided to shave them off. I went to the downstairs bathroom and took care of that, and checked my face. There was nothing there to speak of, so I felt confident in my attire.

I headed back out and quickly found a cream blouse to fit the navy blue of the pencil skirt I was now wearing.

I looked at myself in the mirror and brushed my hair into what I thought was a little more feminine style.

Then I set to work with more energy than I'd had before. I bypassed all of the boxes with guy's clothing and focused on the boxes with girl's clothing.

I was so engrossed that I didn't even notice the door opening.

"Hey, have you seen Jake anywhere?"

I looked up startled and saw Brad standing in the doorway.

"I don't think we've met. My name is Brad."

"I know who you are, Brad."

"Do we have classes together? Wait, that voice…"

"Yes, Brad, you should recognize…"

"Jake!?"

I smiled. The look on his face was so…precious.

"But you…skirt…breasts…"

I was forcefully reminded of what I was wearing. I blushed and turned away from him.

"Stop, Jake. What's going on here?"

"I got some girl's clothing today."

"And you just thought you'd try it on and it gave you breasts…"

"No. Those are breast forms. Like these."

I showed him one of the other bags.

"That is so…weird."

He was getting a glazed look in his eye, and he shifted uncomfortably. Then he looked over at me and blushed.

"Look, if you don't want to join us today, that's fine Jake. I know there's only the one other girl who plays, and frankly, she's a little butch."

"Brad, I'm still a guy."

"Really? You told us about what they told you at the hospital."

"But."

"Jake, look. Let me prove it to you."

He walked over to me, and my heart began to pound. I thought I knew what he wanted to do, and I was rooted to the floor. Part of me wanted to move away from him, but part of me wanted…him.

He put his arms around me and drew me in close to him. I placed the gentlest of kisses on my lips and I melted.

He helped me sit down on the bed.

"Now, Jackie, tell me that you're a guy."

"Huh? What? Um…if I do will you kiss me again?"

He got a goofy grin on his face and laughed.

"You know, you were beginning to make me question my sexuality."

"Huh?" I know. Complete articulation here.

"Ever since you got that jacket, I find myself drawn more and more to you. It is like a switch was thrown and my mind started saying, man, that Jackie is kinda cute."

I blushed. I mean really blushed.

I tried to hide my face in the hair I did not have.

Brad put a finger under my chin and lifted my face to his.

"Hey, Brad. We need to get going. Who's the hottie."

"Seth," I exclaimed. I felt different about Brad calling me cute and Seth calling me hot.

"Wait…Jake? Dayum. You really are a girl."

I giggled at this and Brad and Seth began laughing.

"So, I take it this means you're not joining us for the game?"

"Nope, she has some unpacking to do it seems."

"She? I was kidding."

"No, I don't think it's a joke."

"Seth, at least for this weekend, I think I'll dress this way. I have that decision to make on Tuesday, and I figured that it would be a good idea to see how the other half lives."

"Well, here's hoping you stay that way. You really add some eye candy to the house."

"Out, Seth, out," Brad said as he shoved Seth out of my room.

I tried on a number of other outfits. Some of it was too small for me, so I packed it back up. Some a bit too big in the bust and hips. That I set aside, thinking I might eventually grow into it. A lot of it fit me like a glove.

I packed up my limited array of guy things and made room for the girl things.

An inkling of an idea came to me and I realized that another student, fifteen years ago, had gone through the same sort of transformation I just had.

It made me smile, actually.

When I was done, my closet was filled with dresses, skirts, and blouses. I had jeans and tee shirts, and all of the underwear I thought I would ever need.

There were even shoes in there.

I tried walking a bit in the heels and realized this was a skill that it would take me a bit to learn. I ended up wearing the navy skirt and cream top I first tried on. I slipped on a pair of navy flats. I didn't know what the style was called, but they kind of looked a bit like a slipper, only out of leather.

I slipped on my jacket, and realized that my modest breast size filled it out perfectly.

I closed up the jacket and felt…sexy. That's all I can describe it as. I would have loved to wear a heel with the ensemble, but I really didn't feel confident enough to try it yet.

"I take it you're ready to go?"

"Yes, Brad, I'm ready to go."

Something was different, though, as we walked across the campus. He was quieter than usual, and I had a hard time getting him to open up. I leaned up against him, and he put his arm around me as we walked. I was beginning to get comfortable when he pushed me away.

"Come on, Jake. This is a little weird, ok? I know I kissed you earlier, but I'm not gay."

I didn't know what to think about his statement. I didn't feel like a guy in this clothing. Not that I'm sure I ever felt like a guy, but I felt even less of one now. I was just trying…

"Ok, Brad. I'm sorry."

My eyes burned, and I did my best to hold everything in. It wasn't fair. Here, I had finally realized something, or thought I had, and my best friend was rejecting me.

Ok, so Sadie was likely my best friend here, but in my heart Brad took a close second. He had introduced me to his group of friends and they had accepted me as far as being Brad's friend. I had hung out with them, when Brad invited me along…

Remember what I said at the beginning about epiphany.

I realized that I'd basically been Brad's girlfriend since the beginning of school.

I stopped there in the middle of the sidewalk, shocked so badly that I couldn't take another step. Yes, my feelings for Brad had been moving in that direction, and it was only the fact that I wore this outfit that allowed Brad to admit that he'd been thinking along the same lines.

"Brad, I'm sorry that I embarrassed you. I'll get Seth or one of the other guys to walk me next week. Good bye."

"Jake, come on. Jake."

I walked faster and faster to get ahead of him. How could I have been so stupid.

"Jackie!"

I began to run. I was very glad for the flats at that moment. I got to Carla's building and only momentarily slowed down for the door. I climbed the mountain to her room and knocked on the door…the moment before I collapsed there in front of it.

I was crying, sobbing really. I didn't even know that I was feeling that way toward Brad, and now it was gone. I felt arms help me up and into the room and the murmur of comforting voices.

There was a pounding at the door and I could hear Brad's voice outside it.

"Jackie, I'm sorry."

"Go away, Brad. Don't you think you've done enough, whatever it is you did," Sadie asked him through the door.

"Sadie, you've got to let me in. I need to explain…"

I shook my head and Sadie frowned.

"Jackie doesn't want to talk to you right now, Brad. Go home."

"But…ok." Something sounded a bit broken in him. It made me want to get up and go to him. To try to comfort him.

"Be strong, girl. You don't want to come off as desperate."

I looked at Carla shocked. Then I remembered what I was wearing.

"So, Jackie, you going girl I take it?"

I smiled a bit at the strange statement from Katie.

"Spill, Jackie, what's going on?"

Sadie was a little cross and a lot confused, or so it seemed I decided to keep it short.

"Brad kissed me, earlier, to prove he thought of me as a girl or something, and then while we were walking over here he told me he wasn't gay and pushed me away."

"Look, guys are jerks, ok. It happens," Katie said. "I know this was your first real relationship, Jackie, but we all have to go through it some time."

"But, I didn't, I mean I'm not…" I blushed.

"You're not crushing on him," Jasmine asked.

"Ok, yes, I have a crush on him."

"Guys, has anyone else noticed what Jackie is wearing?"

"Stand, model, now," Carla said.

I got up and did a little pirouette.

"Wow, that's…" Sadie began.

"You, Jackie. I love the mixture of burgundy and navy. It's really sexy," Katie said.

"Oh, hush. You're going to make her think she was seducing Brad or something," Jasmine said.

"Wasn't I?"

"No, Jackie, you weren't, although I'd kill to be able to wear that skirt," Carla said.

"Look, can we get to the game this week," I asked.

There was general laughter at this, but there were nods all around.

I was home, for the moment, trying to figure out what I was going to wear.

Ok, seriously? I know that you are new to the clothes thing, Jackie, but can you be serious? Carla said in her GM voice.

"Fine," I said to thin air, with a smile on my face, "but I was just considering that I have no idea how to get an ectoplasm stain out of nylon or this cotton poly blend skirt."

There was a general chorus of assent from the peanut gallery.

Fine. I can accept that, but you wore that here, so you get to wear it on the town.

"Ok, ok already."

Cell phones seemed to short out around me, and land lines weren't that better. Sometimes I wished that people would invent the mystical equivalent of those conveniences.

I went out into the chilly air, walking toward where we'd agreed to meet for the evening. We were becoming a regular coven it seemed.

"Hey, a coven is witches."

"You're point, Yaz?"

"I happen to be a wizard."

We laughed at this, and settled in for what was turning out to be a pleasant evening.

It was just turning four when Sadie, Carla and I arrived at my house. I slipped into my room and locked my door for the first time since I'd moved in. I stripped and followed the directions for storing the breast forms and then slipped into a pair of silk pajamas. They were pink, but I figured I could live with that. They felt nice, and sort of helped reinforce the whole femininity thing.

The next morning I went out and got my breakfast without changing.

"Who's the babe," I heard from behind me.

"Hey, Kelly."

"Jake?"

"You can call me Jackie if it's easier."

"Kind of figured there was something special about you. Love the pajamas by the way. They suit you."

"Thanks," I said with a smile and a blush.

"Yeah, my sister went through something like this. Of course she realized it when she was ten. Threw my parents for a loop."

"Wait, what?"

"My sister is transgendered. You know, like you are?"

"There is a word for what I'm going through?"

"Yep, whole community."

I was floored. It had never occurred to me before that there were more people…like me…out there. Of course, given infinite diversity, I guess that wasn't too hard to really comprehend.

"This is all so…new."

"Tell me about it. It took me a bit to actually accept that my older brother was now my older sister, but hey, it was who she was. She really blossomed into the role."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I said.

"You're welcome. If anyone gives you a hard time, let me know."

"I'm still not 100% sure that this is what I want…"

"Really? You have always struck me as…well…female. I know you always told us you were a guy, and you tried to play football with us, but…"

"You sucked, Jackie, that's the bottom line."

I looked up at Liam who was standing behind me, leaning over.

"Hey, Liam. I think you're girlfriend might have a problem with how close you're standing to me."

"Nah, I know he only has eyes for me…at least he better," Carla said.

Liam gave her a kiss in response. It reminded me of what I didn't have, and probably wouldn't have any time in the near future. Kelly's comments aside, I doubled anyone could care about someone…like me.

I tried to keep in the conversation, but I got quieter. I shut up completely when Brad came in. He took one look at me and turned around and left.

That was it. I went to my room and locked myself in again. I heard an argument between Brad and Kelly, but I stuck my head under my pillow so I couldn't hear it. I cried.

It wasn't fair, but then life never is.