“C’mon Suhara get in!” Tricks yelled. “We’re gonna take off soon!”

“Sorry! I just need to do one more thing, okay? I’ll be right back!”

The other girls rolled their eyes as Suhara ran back into the Lyceum. Going back up to her dorm room, she lifted her pillow and pulled up a note.

“To Leif Stenvall,

I never truly apologized for what I did back in Welldrop. And with this note I want you to know that I really am sorry. I’m sorry for all I put you through. I’m sorry I hit you in the back of the head with a large stick and left you stranded in my town. It was selfish, I was selfish. I’m not sure how I can make it up to you, if I can, but I can start by saying I’m sorry.

If you are still mad at me, I can understand.

- Suhara Ballad”

Finding out where Leif’s dorm was located was a surprisingly tedious endeavor, and she hoped her efforts wouldn’t be in vain. At the very least, she couldn’t imagine him getting more angry.

She approached the room, knocked on the door and, when she heard no response, opened it to see no one inside.

She couldn’t help but shake a bit as she walked to one of the beds and laid the note on the covers. Looking down, she knew the little note wasn’t much, and she wasn’t sure if she’d have accepted an apology like that. She supposed she’d have to be in that position to say.

She backed away from the bed, about to leave the room, but stopped when she heard footsteps. Turning to the door, she saw Leif standing in the doorway, a blank expression on his face as he was staring right at her.

“Hey.” Suhara said.

Leif said nothing back.

“Umm… I left a note on your bed.” She gestured to the covers. “It’s an… apology letter.”

Leif stared at the bed, slowly making his way toward it and the note.

“Not my bed.” He said as he picked it up and read.

“Oh… sorry.”

Once Leif was finished reading the note, he breathed in deeply and folded the paper up, closing his eyes and putting it up to his chest. Suhara’s heart was beating fast as his hands remained there.

Then he brought the paper back out and opened his eyes.

“It’s okay.” He said. “I’m over it.”

He laid the note back down on the bed as Suhara felt a huge wave of relief wash over her.

“You’re really not mad?” She asked.

“Not anymore. I guess it was stupid of me to continue being mad for so long. I’m sorry for giving you such a hard time, and for revealing your whole past. I’m pretty sure your friends hate me.”

“No, you were right to do all that. I should’ve just been honest from the start. And don’t mind my friends, this has been a bad few weeks for everyone. I’m sure you’ll patch things up with them too.”

Leif nodded silently. Suhara nodded with him, then began walking back out the door. She was stopped when she got to the doorway.

“Is this transformation really permanent?” Leif asked right before she could leave. “I mean, you’re no longer bonded to Theema right? There’s no link. At this point the transformation should be reversible.”

Suhara looked down to her feet. “It’s reversible.” She replied. “But I… umm…”

Leif furrowed his brow. “You… want to stay a girl?”

Suhara closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, mirroring Leif’s actions earlier. “Yes, I am a girl now. I don’t want to go back.” She said definitively. “I don’t even see Jaux as being alive anymore. He’s gone, lived out his life. He’s changed and I’m what’s left of him.”

Leif didn’t say anything back for a while, clearly unsure of what to make of that.

“Oh…” He eventually said. “Well… I hope your new life treats you well, Suhara.”

She looked back up and met his eyes. She could see that, in spite of everything, he was genuinely happy for her.

“Thank you,” she said, “and I wish you well too.”

When Suhara left the dorm room and ran back out of the Lyceum, she had the most joyous smile she’d ever had.

And once she finally made it back to the wagon, sitting with her head resting on Frey’s shoulder, she knew that her new life had finally truly started.

=+=+=

“Is this the place?” Frey asked

“Yes, this is it.” Suhara said.

Suhara departed the wagon, smiling while walking toward her old hometown. She didn’t have many good memories of the place, and she had no desire to return to living in it, but even just seeing it again evoked some feelings of nostalgia.

Really, she was only there because she and her roommates decided to go and visit all their hometowns on their off-days. Suhara had already seen Trick’s, and Desyi’s hometowns, and she even got to visit Frey’s old caravan. Now it was her turn.

“This is cool!” Tricks exclaimed. “I’ve never been to Welldrop before.”

“I’ve been here a few times.” Desyi said. “I found the colors a little disorienting.”

“Well, I think they’re cool. You’re just weird.” Tricks said.

Suhara giggled as her hand interlocked with Frey’s in the universal display of romance. They became open about their relationship instantly, and the reactions around them were all very positive. Tricks and Desyi in particular became ecstatic upon learning about their new relationship, with them saying they “totally called it”.

As Suhara continued to walk, she reminisced over her time in the Lyceum, and how much it had changed her. Aside from the obvious physical transformation, she had a real life now, with a future, actual friends who supported her, and of course, magic.

But she had to force herself into this life illegitimately to get all of that.

It was only through obsessive planning and luck that Suhara was able to enter the world of magic. She had to resort to committing a crime. Assaulting someone and taking their spot to get into the Lyceum.

It shouldn’t have to be that way.

Everyone deserved to have a chance at magic, not just the well off and the rich. Suhara knew there were plenty of people out there just like her, poor and having no means to use magic, and she wanted to help them.

Suhara had a new plan she intended to carry out for the rest of her days. She was going to travel all across the lands, to find all the people she could.

And she was going to show them a world so beautiful they needed to see it.