---

Charlotte nodded, "Certainly. It has been a busy day for all of you. Especially Sarah. I hope we can all get together again soon. I would like to get to know you all better."

"Sure, that would be nice. How about on the weekend?" Jill suggested.

Charlotte nodded, "My shop is closed on Sundays and Mondays, so Sunday would probably be best."

"Alright, we'll be back on Sunday then. Except for Tiffany and Sarah. I guess they'll be here tomorrow night." Mike said.

"Yes, the meeting will likely start around seven." Charlotte said.

As they all stood Willow ran over and hugged Sarah, "Thanks for saving me Sarah!"

"Uh, sure, but you weren't in any danger." Sarah said.

"I would have been, if not for you. I'm looking forward to working with you on the glyphs, that should be cool!" she said.

"Uh, sure." Sarah said. After a round of goodbyes they left.

"Well, that was interesting." Rose said after a long silence.

"Yeah. Can you believe all the cool powers they have?!" Willow said.

"It's quite incredible. If I hadn't seen Sarah transform herself and Willow so effortlessly I wouldn't have believed it." Charlotte said.

Willow's stomach started growling so she volunteered to cook dinner. Rose went up to pack up her and Willow's things, since they'd be going home now that the Nathaniel situation was resolved. Tina was surprised at how much she was dreading them leaving.

"Are you alright Tina?" Charlotte asked her as she sat watching television.

Tina shrugged, "I guess. I've just gotten used to having them around."

"It's unfortunate that Rose will be moving away so soon after you met, but at least Willow will still be around. And she'll be working with you and Sarah on occasion with the glyphs, so you know you'll be seeing her." Charlotte said.

Tina nodded, "Yeah, that's true." That reminded her that she was hoping to find out something about Willow's secrets. Whatever it was Tina figured it explained at least some of the reason why she was always so manic.

Charlotte sat next to her and hugged her, "I'm glad to see you making friends in the magical community. It's so much easier dealing with people you don't have to keep secrets from. Although," she continued with a laugh, "I am a bit surprised that you are closest to the person who has the least experience with magic."

"Closest? What do you mean?" Tina asked in confusion.

"You obviously get along best with Willow. Hadn't you noticed?" Charlotte replied.

Tina shrugged, "I guess. We do have the same kind of interest in magic, I suppose. I'm not into religion like Rose."

Charlotte nodded thoughtfully, "Yes, I suppose it's like Esme and Kerry. With Kerry any conversation about magic inevitably turns to religion eventually. Whereas Esme sees no connection between the two and keeps her religious views, if she even has any, strictly to herself. That makes talking to her a little easier for me."

"What's going to happen to Natalie, anyway?" Tina asked.

"She'll be fine, I'm sure. The only thing I'm worried about is Clarice." Charlotte said.

"How do you think she'll react?" Tina said.

Charlotte shrugged, "It's hard to say for sure, but I suspect she'll want to punish Natalie. She might also have an issue with her sudden sex change. Although considering the results it might not be as bad as if she learned of Sarah."

"I won't say anything, I promised." Tina said.

Charlotte squeezed her shoulders, "I know. I'm sorry if I seemed harsh. It's just..."

"What Grandma?" Tina asked, surprised at her hesitation.

Charlotte sighed, "I once knew a transgender woman like Sarah, though she obviously lacked the ability to magically transform herself. She didn't look as much like a woman as she would have liked, and it caused her a lot of problems. Right up until she was beaten to death."

Tina gasped, "No!"

Charlotte nodded sadly, "So you can see why I feel rather strongly about it. Sarah has the advantage of being able to be what transgender people call 'stealth'. She can live as a normal woman and most people will never know that she was ever anything else. Plus she can protect herself with her magic. But most transgender women have it much harder. Even with her advantages she still seems very fragile. She's lucky to have such good friends."

Tina nodded, stunned by what her grandmother had just told her. She looked down for a moment in thought and then asked, "Are there a lot of, what did you call it?, transgender people around?"

Charlotte shook her head ruefully, "You've never even heard of transgender people before?"

Tina shook her head, "No, are they that common then?"

"No, not really. But they've been more and more visible in the news and on television lately. I would say I'm surprised that you know so little about them, but you have lived a sheltered existence. Too sheltered, perhaps." Charlotte said.

"So why are people so violent towards them?" Tina asked.

"They're different, visibly so. Some feel threatened by them, though I can't understand why. Knowing you were completely ignorant of transgender people makes me very proud about how you handled knowing about Sarah, other than outing her. Most people don't treat transgender people very well." Charlotte said.

Tina shrugged, "It was kind of weird at first, but it's not like she looks or acts like a guy or anything."

Charlotte nodded, "True. You really have lived too sheltered a life, though. I admire your dedication to your craft, but there is more to life than magic. I hope you'll spend more time with Sarah and Willow than just when you're working on glyphs."

Tina shrugged, wondering when she'd have time. Between work and studying glyphs her time was pretty well filled.

Nothing more was said until Willow came in and told them dinner was about ready. Tina went up to tell Rose, whom she found had just finished packing. She helped Rose carry their bags down to the kitchen and then grabbed a plate.

After dinner Charlotte insisted they not talk about magic and just relax. They ended up playing cards again for a while, though Charlotte bowed out after the first game.

"So," Tina said after her grandmother had gone to bed, "are you looking forward to college Rose?"

Rose shrugged, "Not as such, I suppose. I'm looking forward to teaching, though, and I have to go to college for that. I'm not looking forward to being so far away, but on the other hand I'll be on my own for the first time. That should be interesting."

Tina noticed Willow was being unusually quiet and looked over to see her staring blindly at the cards in her hand. "You okay?" she asked.

Willow didn't react until Rose put her hand on Willow's shoulder. Then she jumped and looked up in surprise. "What?" she asked, looking worried.

"You were kind of spaced out there. Are you alright?" Tina asked.

She smiled unconvincingly, "Sure, I'm fine."

"I'm sorry to be leaving you alone like this." Rose said sadly.

Willow shook off her mood, "It's fine! Besides, I can bug Tina if I get lonely!"

Tina exchanged worried glances with Rose and decided to leave it alone for the moment. Rose seemed to agree, so they went back to their game and let the subject drop.

Though she acted like there had never been anything wrong, Willow's energy levels shot up after that. Before long she was yawning and having trouble keeping her eyes open. Rose helped her to bed, but glanced significantly back at Tina just before going around the corner. Tina nodded back and waited for Rose to return.

A few minutes later Rose returned, shaking her head and sighing, "That girl! There's something bothering her, but she won't talk about it!"

"Yeah, I figured." Tina agreed. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Maybe. I think she's feeling a little adrift with me leaving, but with you here that's not as much of an issue as it could be. I think her parents figure into it somehow, but I still haven't figured that one out." Rose said.

"What's their problem?" Tina asked.

Rose shook her head, "I don't know. I've only met them a couple of times. The first time they seemed okay, but the second time they were really frosty towards me. They weren't too friendly with Willow, either. They never gave any hint as to why they were acting that way though. When I asked Willow about it she just said that they were 'being weird'."

"Huh. Wonder what that means." Tina mused.

"That's why I wanted to talk to you. I haven't had any luck with her, but she seems to have really connected with you. I was hoping you'd be willing to try and figure out what is going on with her while I'm gone." Rose said.

"What makes you think I'll have any better luck?!" Tina asked in surprise.

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To Be Continued…