She of the Jade Skirt

by

Sleethr & Draflow

Note:This is the End. Phew! I can't express just how much I miss having Wolf/Dani peering over my virtual shoulder and providing her insight and expertise. I hope I was able to do the final chapters justice. A super big thanks go out to Beyogi and Draflow's daughter for their assistance. Additional thanks again to djkauf for editing.
 

** Part IX **

After our run in with Brassman, Dani let me stay in charge all the time. She claimed it would help sell our story with the spooks because the more of Melody they saw, the less they would be able to believe that I could have done what Dani did. Confused? Me too.

We surfaced at 1700 hours, or 5pm for you civilians, somewhere off the coast of California. The Captain was super nice and gave us each a baseball cap with the SSN-23 and “USS Jimmy Carter” embroidered on the front with gold stitching. He also gave me an honorary Submarine Warfare Insignia pin, or “dolphin” as he called it.

{“Damn cheap ass bastard. We gave him a fricken 100 year old bottle of scotch! He could have at least given you the officer’s version!”} Dani made her opinion known.

It was really the first I had heard from her since Brassman. She was definitely trying to piss me off with her attitude. {“Hey, it’s not like you could drink it! You’re just going to be leaving me here soon anyway, right?”}

She didn’t have anything to say, but I could tell I hit the nail on the head when she sulked and retreated even deeper inside my mind. I was distracted by the sound of the helicopter they sent to come take us to shore and probably for more debriefings. I hated those things, but the helicopter ride was awesome. Dani did help me a little with the seatbelt thing, and the headset. The flight crew dude was a little surprised by my ability to get myself properly buckled in, but he didn’t make a big deal of it. He simply smiled and thanked me for making his job easier.

My mom glanced nervously at me before she broke into a smile when I distracted her by grabbing her arm and pointing out the window as we rose up and into the sky. When we landed in San Diego, we were greeted by four guys and one token woman in suits. From the helicopter crewman, one of the guys took the case containing all the hard copy intel Dani recovered from both the mansion and the yacht. The rest of the suits directed us into a waiting SUV.

They were all friendly about it, but Dani told me to be careful because these guys looked like pros. I wasn’t sure what I could do, but I guessed they were just being professional about things. I was still mad at Dani for giving me the mostly silent treatment, but I decided to not bust her chops for giving me the warning. Not that I planned on doing anything. I mean, I wasn’t a crazy super agent like she was. If she wanted to, she could probably take out all these guys and drive us home in their own SUV without breaking a sweat.

The “debriefings” took another two days. Two days of telling our story multiple times to many different people before we returned to telling the same story to the same people. They even had us all take lie detector tests. That was the only time during the entire ordeal Dani made herself known to me.

{“Okay, these are simple. You just need to stay calm and remember it wasn’t you; it was me who did it all. You’re not lying, got it?”}

I sighed and felt a little depressed as they hooked up the wires. {“Yes, I know, but you could still try talking to me once and awhile.”}

She didn’t respond and that made me cry a little, which delayed the inquisition by a few minutes as my mom ran in and got all protective over me thinking that I was upset about taking the lie detector test.

Yes, I passed the freaking test and with flying colors. I don’t think the spooks expected that, but what could they do with all the evidence pointing away from me, I mean Dani. The only “witness” they could find that in any way pointed a finger in my direction was deemed “crazy” for ranting and raving about me being a demon. The rest of the crew on the yacht all blamed it on a rival drug lord. They couldn’t find the Russian Spetsnaz Captain, but I think they didn’t really try that hard due to the rocky relations with Russia.

We made it home just in time for me to go back to school the next day, joy. As soon as we walked into the door and the spooks left our front doorstep, Dani took over, the selfish bitch. Yes, her silent treatment was really starting to piss me off. Much to my parent’s consternation, she turned on the TV and insisted on no one talking about anything until she had a chance to secure the house. In the span of 30 minutes, she had torn apart and rebuilt all our phone receivers and rigged up a simple bug detector using an old walky talky of my dad’s.

I tried to talk some sense into her. {“You know that probably won’t work against the new stuff they have these days. I mean, they can just tap our phones at the phone company and everyone uses the internet these days to say anything important anyway. They probably have that bugged too.”}

{“Maybe, but it can’t hurt...”} She curtly replied and ignored me and my family as they followed her around the house.

Of course, she didn’t find anything and all she accomplished was freaking my parents out some more because they were just starting to think they had imagined Dani.

School on Monday sucked. I couldn’t tell any of my friends what happened. The government wanted it all kept “hush hush” as they termed it to me like I was a small child and couldn’t understand bigger, grown up words. It wouldn’t have been as bad if Dani didn’t insist on giving me the silent treatment. I tried yelling at her and even calling her bad names, but she never took the bait.

Wednesday, they took me to a shrink after I broke down in the middle of History class. Mr. Franks asked a question about the Vietnam War and I could tell Dani wanted to help me answer the question, but she pulled away from me again. My mom got off work, retrieved me from the nurse’s office and took me to see one of the government arranged shrinks at the VA Hospital.

I didn’t want to talk to him. I kept my answers to the minimum and pretty much whispered the entire time. I never once told him about “Dani”. I might be crazy, but I’m not stupid.

I could tell Dani was worried about me, but she still refused to even try to help me and that hurt me even more. I cried and hugged my mom for the remaining 30 minutes of the session with the dude. PTSD is what he diagnosed me as having and he gave me a prescription for a few days of an antipsychotic to help relieve “severe anxiety and related problems” as he euphemistically termed my relationship problem with Dani.

We filled the prescription on the way home, but I refused to take any of the crap. “She won’t talk to me, Mom. I don’t care about all the “horrors” I was supposedly subjected to. I want my freaking sister to just talk to me, but she won’t. ‘It’s for your own good Melody.’ or ‘I’m only here temporarily’ is what she told me and I hate it!”

{“I’m not your sister...”} Dani whispered.

{“Shut up! You are and even if you’re not, you don’t have to be such a bitch about it!”}

Of course, she elected not to answer me, again.

Mom held me up and looked into my eyes. “Dani, I need to talk to you.”

That got Dani’s attention, but she still refused to say anything.

My mom was pissed. “I don’t know what you ‘think’ you’re trying to do with your refusal to talk to Melody, but you better get your ass out here and talk to me. Now!”

Dani took over and sighed. “Yes, Mrs. Lynch?”

My mom let Dani go and took a step back as she studied her. “First of all, cut the Mrs. Lynch crap. Got it?”

“Okay, ma’am.” Dani sure was brave because even I know better than to sass my mom like that.

That earned her a slap in the face. “Listen here young lady, or whatever. I don’t care what the fuck you think you’re trying, but all you’re doing is hurting Melody with this macho bullshit of yours.”

Wow, Mom was pissed, the slap stung a little and she never uses the f-bomb unless she’s extra, super-duper mad.

Dani glanced away and struggled with her emotions as tears began to form. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt her. I was only trying to make it easier for her...”

“News flash, it’s not! All you did get her was a prescription for some antipsychotic crap!” Mom glared at Dani with her hands on her hips.

She didn’t say anything for almost a minute. She really let Dani stew before she continued. “Now, with that said, I haven’t really had a chance to thank you. So, thanks for helping Melody and getting our family out of that hellhole. Melody might have really needed one of those pills the doctor gave us if you hadn’t been there and protected her.”

Dani glanced back at my mom with surprise before she acknowledged her with a nod. “Maybe...” She whispered as she buried some memory deep inside herself.

My mom’s expression softened as she studied Dani’s face. I think she saw something because she surprised both of us by giving Dani a hug and not just any hug; she gave her a patented bone crushing, I love you so much, hug before she pulled away just enough to look Dani in the eyes. “Now, I don’t know how long you’re going to be with us, but I want you to stop ignoring Melody and us. I would like to get to know you and enjoy whatever time we have with you.” Mom leaned forward and affectionately kissed Dani on her forehead. “Okay?”

“Umm, sure, umm?” Dani wasn’t sure how to address my mom.

Mom chuckled. “Mom will work. Calling me Mrs. Lynch when you’re so obviously my daughter might cause people to talk, right?”

A smile escaped Dani’s face. “Probably, umm, Mom...”

{“Oh yeah! Dani’s back! Woo Whooo!”} I felt so happy, I could burst.

{“Sorry sis...”} Dani guiltily whispered to me as she tried to return control me.

I wasn’t about to let her off that easy. {“Oh no, you heard Mom. She wants to get to know you and you know what that means, right?”} I couldn’t resist messing with her.

{“No, what?”} Dani glanced over at Mom as she walked back to the door and grabbed her purse.

I knew that today was her regular salon appointment and after our week’s ‘adventure’ she would not want to skip it. {“Wait for it, waaiit for it...”}

“Come on Dani, it is still Dani, right?” Mom smiled tentatively as Dani nodded. “I’ve got a manicure appointment and I figured it would be the perfect time for us to get to know each other a little better. Besides, your nails could use some work too.”

I was overjoyed. My nails were wrecked and even better, I got to go get them done with my mom and my sister. The rest of the day was pretty darn awesome and I could tell Dani enjoyed it also. I couldn’t believe she had never had a manicure or a pedicure before, but I guess a SEAL wouldn’t really go for that kind of thing.

The rest of the month was a blur, but having Dani there really helped me a ton. At school, it was always me, but Dani would occasionally help me with my school work. She refused to give me the answer, but she didn’t mind giving me hints. At home, we worked out a system using hairstyles to let Mom and Dad know who was who. Dani liked a simple pony tail, while I preferred to let my hair down or sometimes, pigtails. Anyway, whatever the style I liked, Dani was always a pony tail.

We kept a hair scrunchy on our wrist all the time because Mom had a bad habit of wanting to talk to both of us. Whenever she asked Dani something, Dani would automatically put her hair into a ponytail as she replied to the question. She would stay in Dani mode until mom would ask me a question and I would remove the scrunchy and put it back on our wrist. Sometimes, I think Mom liked to mess with us by asking back to back questions just to force us to change hairstyles every few words.

Dani was also much more difficult to make smile, so sometimes my ‘rents didn’t need to see the hairstyle to figure who was who. She saved us almost a thousand bucks by helping Dad replace the brakes on Mom’s car and she was an awesome chef. She made some Chicken Marsala that was to die for and cooked dinner for the family almost every night. Mom and Dad were quickly spoiled by the home cooked meals waiting for them when they got home from work. Dad used to miss dinner and work late, but not with Dani cooking dinner for us. It was so awesome with us all eating together as a family.

When it came to doing the more girly stuff like hang out with my friends, try different hairstyles and makeup tricks or watch “chick-flicks” as she called them, that was all on me. I mean, I’m not that girly, but I guess Mom is kind of because she booked us both a trip to the spa to be pampered. I loved it, but Dani was jumpy the entire time. She hated having strangers at her back and her eyes covered during a facial. It made her feel exposed or something. She also hated the waxing.

{“A 12 year old girl is just too young to get their legs waxed!”} Dani grumbled as she simultaneously enjoyed how smooth it made our legs look and feel.

We did have one Dani moment at school. Jake Kirkpatrick, the school slime ball who thought he was the goddess’s gift to women, tried to force a kiss toll from me in the hallway between classes. He and his two cronies blocked the hallway and refused to let me pass until I gave him a kiss, on the lips. So gross. I dunno why he decided to pick on me this time, but it didn’t work out the way he expected it to.

Dani took charge and pretended to like the idea of kissing him. Her reaction got him to relax and Dani kneed him in his nuts, hard. Next, she grabbed his arm and torqued it behind his back before slamming his body into the lockers. “Listen you little fucker. You try that stunt on me again and I’ll rip your fucking dick off, got it?” She whispered fiercely into his ear as she put some additional pressure on his arm, causing him to whimper in pain. He nodded and satisfied, she released him with a push that caused him to trip over his own feet and fall on the floor.

She dismissively walked away without even a backwards glance while everyone in the hall was too stunned to even react. She had her hair up in a ponytail before we got 10 feet away from the scene.

Even I was a little surprised by her reaction. {“You didn’t have to be so rough on him...”}

{“I let him live, didn’t I?”} Dani calmly noted.

{“Yeah, but you could have just dodged him or maybe just given him a little kiss, like all the other girls. It’s just a kiss. It wouldn’t mean anything.”}

{“You mean, take the easy way out. Just relax and go with the flow?”}

She could be so weird sometimes. {“Well, umm, not really...”}

{“Did you ever notice that death is a gentle flow?”}

{“Geez Dani, Kirk’s just a bully. No need to get all Kung Pao on me.”}

I could tell my remark amused her, but she was in a mood. {“When you’re freezing to death, it’s the pull of sleep that’s dangerous. You can’t relax and take the easy way out because that is death. It’s always easier to give up and just go with the flow, but if you refuse and follow your own path; then you can live while others simply fade away and die.”}

We reached my next class and Dani sat us at our desk, completely ignoring Stacy who was trying to get our attention before the bell rang. {“Umm, Dani?”}

{“Yes?”}

{“Are you going to take this class for me? I mean, if ya are, great! I can take a nap or something.”}

Dani gave me back control and I took her pony tail down. I tried to chat with Stacy, but the bell rang. Dang it.

Class was okay and I had a few notes passed my way asking me about what I did to Kirk. I replied, “nothing...:-)” After that, it amused me a lot to watch Kirk duck out of my path whenever our paths crossed in the hallways.

Two weeks after we got home, we received a notice to pick up a package from the Customs Office. I was pretty excited about the clothes and cash, but Dani had to sort of ruin it by letting Mom and Dad know about the cash and that it was for my college fund. Well, she had to warn them about it in case the Custom officials found it. They could claim to not know who sent the clothes and money and if they made a big deal of it, refer them to the DHS so they could handle it.

We didn’t need to worry about it. Be it divine intervention or luck, they took one look at us and stamped the box approved without a glance. I was thrilled with the clothes and Mom was too because there were a few items that fit her. Dad, not so thrilled due to the bundles of cash he now had to worry about with the IRS. Mom wasn’t worried. She had a plan on how to get it deposited and invested without trouble, but it would take a few years.

Yeah, everything was going great until the night before the full moon. I dreamed I was back at the temple, except it was in perfect condition and I had to admit; it did look very impressive with all the bright colors painted on the carvings. Chalchiuhtlicue stood next to her altar and a huge man wearing an old style combat uniform and holding an M-16 kneeled down in front of the altar watching me approach. He had tears in his eyes and I knew right away he was Dani.

I rushed to his side and hugged him. “Dani, what’s wrong?” It was about that time I realized I was wearing an outfit that matched Chalchiuhtlicue. Yeah, nothing covering my chest, but I refused to get all flustered by it because it was only a dream, right?

“Nothing, but I think this might be it, Sis.” Dani looked at me like he was afraid it would be the last time he saw me and now, I was worried he might be right.

I turned to Chalchiuhtlicue and knelt at Dani’s side. I never felt the urge to kneel before anyone before, but she was just so amazing and everything. She took my breath away and made me feel so tiny, but I had to ask her. “You’re not going to take Dani away from me now are you, Lady Chalchiuhtlicue?”

She smiled at both of us and I instantly felt so warm and loved. I never wanted to see her frown or feel like I wasn’t good enough for her. “No my child, not yet, but soon.” She surprised me by kneeling down in front of me and pulling my chin up with the lightest of touches. “I’m sorry, but it is time to separate you two, else your souls will merge and wipe both of you out.”

“I don’t mind. Really, I don’t want Dani to go away. I love her!” I pleaded with Lady Chalchiuhtlicue.

“I know child and I know she loves you.” She smiled sadly at both of us before standing again. “But, just as the tide of the ocean rises, it must also fall and Dani must depart with it to continue with her soul’s journey. I am proud of both of you. Very proud. You have surprised me and filled me with hope for our people. A hope I dared not dream until you two entered my realm.”

I didn’t like the direction this was going, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it. Dani told me she was just going to be here temporarily. I reached for Dani’s hand and squeezed it tightly. Her hand was huge compared to my tiny hand, but she returned my grip and her firm, yet gentle squeeze reassured me.

“I’m sorry Sis, but I have to go. I can’t let your soul be stained by my past. It would break my heart if that happened to you.” Dani gave me a hug.

Lady Chalchiuhtlicue smiled down at both of us. “Tomorrow is the night of the full moon. At the zenith of the moon’s path through the heavens, you must submerge your body in my domain. I will come and start Dani’s next journey; allowing your journey to continue on its destined path.”

What would I do without Dani? We had only been together for a month, yet I felt like she really was my sister and my best friend. Needless to say, I did not feel like going to school the next morning, but Dani insisted. My education was too important. I told Mom and Dad. They asked both of us if we were sure. I tried to tell them no, but Dani assured them it was true. They believed her, the beatrice, and they still made me go to school. Double whammy.

I should have stayed at home because I couldn’t concentrate, at all. Dani had to take over a few times because I didn’t feel like going to the next class. My friends tried to ask me what was wrong, but what could I say? They didn’t know about Dani and I couldn’t exactly tell them either.

That night, my parents tossed a beach blanket, a few chairs and extra towels in the back of the car and we drove to the beach. I tried not to go, but again, Dani made me. For revenge, I refused to take over for her. So, she had to talk to Mom and Dad. She happily went over some of her recipes with Mom and shared some stories from her life. The one about her first motorcycle and how she almost totaled it after owning it for less than two hours had Mom and Dad in stitches. I thought it was pretty funny too, but I refused to break. Nope, name, rank and serial number was what Dani taught me.

Mom and Dad took us to a very nice sea food place on the boardwalk. I was forced to admit, the food was excellent and the view of the ocean was rather nice, but couldn’t they see it was like giving the condemned their last meal?

After dinner, we spread the blanket on the on the sand and spent the next few hours just being a family. Dani did most of the talking. I didn’t bother to remove the scrunchy for the few words I felt like saying.

Just after midnight, I couldn’t take it anymore. I felt the pull of the ocean and the moon on my body. I knew it was almost time. I pulled out Dani’s scrunchy and latched onto my mom. “I don’t want her to go Mom! Please don’t let her leave me.”

{“Sis, I have to go...I’m sorry. I really am. I’d love nothing more in the world than to stay with you, but I can’t”} Dani hugged me.

I felt her love for me and our family pouring out of her and that is when I knew it was no use. As much as I loved her and wanted her to stay, I knew she had to leave me. It wasn’t fair for me to try holding her back. The old, if you love someone, set them free saying, except it was true this time.

At 1 AM, it was time. Mom followed us the first few steps into the ocean, but I stopped her. “It’s okay Mom. Don’t worry about us. We can hold our breath a real long time and Chalchiuhtlicue won’t let anything happen to us. I’ll be back.” No, I did not try using our old Governor's accent. I wasn’t feeling that funny just then.

Reluctantly, she let me go. Dani and I walked the rest of the way into the ocean. We swam out until we were in about 20 feet of water and I sat on the bottom to wait for this to be over with. Neither one of us had much to say to each other. We both knew what the other felt.

I saw a glow begin to form around us. I looked up and it looked like the moon was touching the water above us. A shadow passed through the light. It was a shark. It swam closer and closer to me, but I could tell it wasn’t here to eat me. Like a dog, it bumped my shoulder and I reached out to pet it. The light from the moon became brighter and brighter until I couldn’t see anything else.

I felt Dani leave me and despite trying to remain strong for Dani, I couldn’t help it. I started to cry as I petted the shark that was now resting upside down on my lap, letting me pet her belly. I watched with amazement as the shark’s body began to change as the moonlight washed over her skin. Her tail split and became legs while her dorsal fins became arms. Her body continued to change and become more and more human. Long black hair grew from her head as her face formed, mirroring my own. I gasped with astonishment when she opened her green eyes and smiled up at me.

“Oh my goddess!” I burbled and hugged my twin tightly, daring to hope she was Dani. She returned my hug and suddenly, I felt the need to breathe.

Together, we both rose to the surface. When our heads broke the surface, we both gasped for air, sweet glorious air. “Dani?” I gasped as we treaded water almost a 100 hundred yards from the beach.

She laughed and hugged me tightly, causing us both to drop below the surface for a second. When we came back up, she grinned mischievously at me. “Yep! It looks like Chalchiuhtlicue had a different plan for my soul. You don’t mind, do ya?”

“Oh my goddess, NO!” I cried tears of joy at the incredible sight before me.

“We should get back to Mom and Dad. I’m sure they’re a little worried about us.” Dani pointed toward the beach and our mom. She looked completely distraught and was sobbing on our Dad’s shoulder as he tried to comfort her.

“MOM! DAD! Here I am! Dani is too!” I happily yelled at the top of my lungs. They both stood and tried to spot us in the water.

“Race ya!” Dani cheated and started for shore as she said it.

Of course she beat me. She’s not only a SEAL, but a freaking shark. She waited for me in the surf as Mom and Dad rushed to reach her side. I wasn’t that far behind her, only 10 or so feet. It would be a huge understatement to say they were surprised at the sight of both of us standing happily together. I was a little embarrassed to discover that except for us both now sporting matching gold and jade Aztec necklaces, we were both naked as the day we were born.

They were floored and beyond happy. I was down for almost 20 minutes and I think they thought I had drowned. So, having both of us walk out of the water made them beyond happy and speechless at the same time. They couldn’t figure out which one of us to hug first or who was who. They cheated and hugged us both.

After they realized we were naked, they bundled us both up in towels and took us home. Dani and I sat on the top of the steps and hugged each other as we eavesdropped on them while they made a few phone calls to the DHS folks that interrogated us when we got back to California. Yes, it took a ‘few’ calls before their call got routed to someone high enough on the food chain to have a high enough clearance to help us, but we ended up with an appointment to see some Director dude at 0900 hrs the same morning.

None of us got a lot of sleep that night, but Dani and I caught a few extra Z’s in the back of the car during the ride to the DHS place in San Diego. It was so nice having a flesh and blood Dani to hug!

<April 27th 2012 16:23 - DHS Building, San Diego - California >

Department of Homeland Security Deputy Director Jake Ferguson entered the meeting room with a frown on his face. The events over the past month had been nothing short of extraordinary and he had an interesting little mystery on his hands. One that he intended to get to the bottom of.

The Lynch family, Medical Research Chemist Doctor Thomas Lynch, his lovely wife Michelle and their beautiful identical twin daughters Melody and Danica sat at the conference room’s table. Their eyes anxiously followed his progress as he walked across the room to take his seat. Except for Danica, who appeared calm and remote, but he could see the flicker of danger in her eyes. Jake glanced away from her jade green eyes and briefly looked at the girls matching gold and jade necklaces. They were stunning replicas of ancient Aztec jewelry.

He smiled when Melody hugged her sister and gifted the entire room with a smile that could power the entire building for days. Even though they were very obviously twins, their personalities were night and day different. Danica was the silent, watchful and introspective sister, while Melody was the bubbly and outgoing one.

“Sorry for the delay folks. My people have been rather busy gathering the facts and putting them together into something that might resemble the truth.” Jake said, setting three manila folders on the table in front of him. He shuffled through each of them, quickly glancing at the contents in each until he reached the thickest folder. That one, he set on top and opened.

“What I have in these three folders are three separate stories.” He looked up to make sure he had their attention. Satisfied and not expecting anything else, he continued. “One is what I will file as the official story because the other story is simply too impossible to believe.”

He shuffled the next folder to the top of the pile. “The second is Danica’s story and it could be one of those made for TV movies that make a lot of people cry. It is simply amazing that the twin sister everyone thought died at birth was really switched by an unscrupulous nurse. Then, while running away from her fourth foster home, Danica spotted a girl struggling in the water and being an excellent swimmer, unselfishly decides to rescue her.”

He smiled as he reached for the thickest folder again. “Now, the story in this folder is so farfetched that I believe we could publish it on a fiction site somewhere. It really is that unbelievable.” Jake said with a grin as Danica’s face and body grew even more still.

Jake noted her posture and decided to get to the point a little quicker than he intended. “I thought about just tossing it in the shredder on the way to this briefing, but I decided at the last minute maybe I should keep it. It might be fun to post it on one of those fiction websites because no one would ever believe it. I mean, really? An ancient Aztec goddess takes the soul of the Navy SEAL who, during a Top Secret mission in the Mexican jungle, killed and effectively sacrificed a drug lord on one of her old altars. This is where it gets even more interesting because 39 years later, he dies and this goddess takes and puts his soul into the body of a young girl who was kidnapped from her parents and left for dead at the very same alter.”

He laughed and dismissively tossed the folder aside. “Yeah, no one would ever believe that. Especially the part where the goddess somehow splits their souls apart and into twin sisters? Impossible!”

Jake opened the last folder. “Okay, so the official story is that Melody was rescued by an unknown agent who just happens to have resembled the former Navy SEAL, Chief Petty Officer, Donald ‘Wolfman’ Wolf. Amazing coincidence, right?” He grinned mischievously. “He takes Melody with him to keep her safe while he rescues her parents, then he disappears. We have asked a few friendly foreign agencies if they know anything, but we don’t expect them to give us anything or to find him. He was much too professional for that.”

Jake closed that folder and set the last folder in front of him, but he did not open it as he studied at Danica. “Now, I understand that you have lived a rather rough life after the people you thought were your parents were killed in a car accident when you were five. Then, foster home after foster home didn’t help either, but if you don’t believe in a higher power, you probably should now. Because it is nothing short of a miracle that you just happened to be taking a stroll on the beach last night. I can only imagine how confused Mr. and Mrs. Lynch were when they saw you both standing there together.”

He slid the folder across the table to Danica. She looked at the folder with confusion. “Go ahead, open it.”

Danica hesitantly opened the folder as her sister struggled to contain her curiosity. In the folder, Danica found a birth certificate for Danica Jamie Lynch. Her eyes began to tear up as she slowly studied it and Melody read it over her shoulder.

“Hey Mom, what time was I born?” Melody asked.

Mrs. Lynch thought about it for a few seconds. “I believe it was 2:25 AM and I only remember that because you didn’t want to come out.” She smiled at Melody affectionately. “Why do you ask?”

Melody pointed to her sister’s birth certificate. “Because, it looks like Dani was born two minutes before me!” Melody hugged Danica. “I always wanted to have a big sister!”

It was a few minutes of silent tears for Danica as she read the contents of the folder, but after she turned over her birth certificate to study the remaining documentation that established her life as the legal daughter of Thomas and Michelle Lynch and sister of Melody Lynch, Danica slowly closed the folder. Then, she hugged it protectively to her chest. “Why?” She asked, softly and without looking up as tears left tracks down her cheeks.

Jake chuckled. “Because Danica, the rookie DEA agent that Chief Petty Officer Donald Wolf saved 39 years ago, was me and I figured that I owed him a favor or two.”

During a much safer family va-cay to Disney World, as Melody likes to call them, Melody and I managed to talk our parents into letting the two of us visit my grave. Kinda spooky, I know, but I had to say goodbye. The marker made me cry. Melody and I each laid a single red rose on the marker and I couldn’t help but notice how well kept it was compared to some of the other markers in the cemetery. I know that it had only been a year and not many weeds could grow in that time, but all the edges were straight and clear.

We took some time off from school and went during the week of my birthday, my former birthday. I didn’t expect to feel as much as I did about what was effectively an empty grave. Someone was taking care of my marker and I really didn’t know who would feel the need to spend the time. Well, except for my daughter, who was now older than me, which was also kind of weird when I stopped to think about it.

It has been a little over a year now and Melody has been the best sister a girl could ever have. She is my rock, my reason for being. She is so full of love that it is almost sickening at times and she is right here with me; sniffling and hugging me as I do the same.

I’m not saying our parents haven’t been awesome either. Mom and Dad are great. My second childhood has already been one thousand million times better than my first. It has been a little hard for me to adapt to being a minor, but Mom and Dad also give me more leeway than Melody. Melody kind of hates that at times, but she is a smart kid; she understands the reasons and it works in her favor more often than not because as long as I am with her, Mom and Dad let her do things they would have never have let her done before. Like, go to the movies with a boy or stay out late, as in past 9pm, on a Friday night.

They realize I have a lot more life experience than even they do, but at the same time, I have almost zero “child” experience and that is what I need the most from this second spin of the wheel. It has been fun being a girl. A lot more fun than it was as a guy. Sure, there are some disadvantages like the monthly visitor and other female plumbing limitations, but I can’t complain because it beats being dead. I have found I love the freedom I have to express how I feel; not just with words, but with clothes, hairstyles and occasionally a little makeup.

I also like being underestimated because I am ‘just a girl’. I know it pisses a lot of women off, but not me. I will take every advantage I can get and I have to say, when used correctly, sexism is a powerful tool against the arrogant and ignorant.

The year hasn’t been all fun and games though. It seems that the Goddess wasn’t done with the two of us. She has received a huge boost in the number of worshippers since our little adventure and California has a huge population of people who originated in Mexico and further south or who have family living in the Goddess’ old stomping grounds.

As a result, we have been ‘asked’ to attend ten births, two weddings and sadly, one funeral. Yes, the first few births freaked Mom the f’ out, but she saw the good we did and how happy it made the families with just us being there for them.

We have not needed to pull any medical miracles out of our hat, but we have had one or two cases where it was easy to see there was some sort of divine intervention happening. Melody’s presence was often enough to ease the pain of labor and increase the mother’s milk production while my presence seemed to help the mother recover faster and with fewer complications. We have a small shrine set up in the living room to Chalchiuhtlicue and I sometimes catch Mom whispering a thanks in her direction.

I spotted a small weed trying to worm its way into onto my marker and removed it. I glanced back at our rental car and spotted Mom and Dad hugging each other. They joined us for a few minutes and said a few words of appreciation for me, or the old me before it got too strange for them to deal with. After all, I was standing right there. So, they decided that it might be best if they waited near the car for Melody and me to finish up on our own.

I really didn’t have much to say to myself, because I didn’t really miss me. I might have missed myself before I got the crud, but the years of pain really sucked. I couldn’t really say, “Hey, wish you were here dude, I miss you.” or “Damn dude, I opened a bottle of JD the other day.” I couldn’t drink yet and I wanted to stay away from that crap anyway. Only the good stuff for this temple of a body. You know, stuff like 20+ year old single malt scotch or good German beer.

Melody and I somehow managed to talk my dad into stopping at the liquor store that I used to go to and grab me a bottle of Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel beer imported directly from Germany. I wanted to leave it with my marker as a final goodbye to my old life. I figured it would be a waste and very irresponsible to leave an unopened bottle where anyone could take it. So, I decided to open it and dump it out on my grave as a symbolic final toast to myself.

I had to use the edge of my marker and the palm of my hand to open the bottle. Once it was open, I decided to sneak a sip or two because it was for me, right? Besides, just dumping it out would be alcohol abuse. I mean, why would I want to let a perfectly good beer go to waste? My only regret was that I couldn’t drink it all. I am sure that with my new body, one beer, a real beer, would probably have a noticeable effect and I didn’t want to get sick on the rides at Disney.

The beer tasted good. Just as good, if not better than I remembered it tasting. All the meds screwed up my taste buds, so having non-medicated taste buds made the beer taste even better. Of course, Melody wanted to taste it and who was I to tell her no? She hated it, but before I let her try a sip, I told her that she couldn’t spit it out. I don’t think that I will have to worry about my sister going to a party and getting drunk anytime soon.

Once I had my taste, I poured it all out. Maybe whatever was left of my ashes would like a taste too. Then, I set the bottle back where I planned and put the cap in my purse. I was rather surprised when I turned around and saw my daughter standing a respectful distance away, watching the two of us.

She looked good, but I always thought she looked good. I could claim it was because I was her dad, but it wasn’t just me who thought that way; she had refused many offers to model. Looking at her now, I thought she was even more stunning since she looked well rested and healthy. I bet that taking care of my sorry ass during that last year must have really sucked for her. “Umm, hi. You must be Danielle?” I asked, just to keep from freaking her out too much by the fact that I knew her name.

Danielle looked confused. “Hi, how did you know my name?”

Melody is not helping here; she is the talker and the one who is supposed to run social interference for me. I poked her, but she just poked me back. “Oh, sorry, my uncle, umm, Brassman as your dad called him, heard that I was going to visit Disney World with my family and he asked me...” Melody poked me again. “...I mean us, if we could visit his buddy’s grave. Leave him one of his favorite beers or something.”

I wasn’t lying. Brassman really did ask me to do that. About six months ago, he called my parents and asked if he and his wife, Brenda could come over and say hi. He wanted to follow up with the family he helped rescue and wanted to introduce us to his wife because she really wanted to meet us.

I wasn’t surprised by the fact Brenda was just starting to show her pregnancy, about four months at that time. They were going to have twin boys and the real reason for their visit was to thank Melody and ask us if we minded being their kid’s Godparents. I think everyone in the state knew what Melody’s answer was.

The birth of little Michael and Robert Jr three months ago was also one of those births we were asked to attend, but it was in a hospital so there wasn’t much we were allowed to do during the childbirth. Melody was allowed to hold Brenda’s hand and I think the doctor was a little surprised by how easy and trouble free those little bundles of joy were for him to deliver. He said they practically delivered themselves.

That brought me back to the present situation with a jolt.

“Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself, I’m Dani.” I said as she walked over to stand with us. Danielle missed a step when I told her my name, but she recovered nicely. I might not have even noticed if I had not been watching her so closely. Melody poked me, again. My glare only made her giggle at me. “...And this is my sister, Melody.”

I found myself feeling a little freaked out by the fact that I now had to look up at Danielle. Melody and I were both up to 5’ 8” now. We were both sort of used to being on the taller scale in school with most of the other girls shorter than us. I wanted to ask her so many questions. Like, was she still working out? How was she doing in martial arts? How was her job? I didn’t see a ring on her finger. Did she have any boyfriends that she was thinking about getting serious with? Grandkids would be nice.

But, I couldn’t. Not only would that really freak her out, but if she got pissed at me, I am not sure if I could stop her from breaking me in half. Well, not without hurting her anyway. I still have some pride about my skills. “So, umm, is it okay if I get your email address or something? Now that I visited him, I kind of am interested in learning more about him.” I said.

I felt pretty relieved when Danielle smiled at me, reached into her purse and handed me her business card. “Sure, here, lemme give you my personal one too.” She said as she wrote it on the back.

“Oh, thanks. Well, it was nice meeting you Danielle, but we really need to go before our parents get impatient.” I said as I carefully put her card in my purse. I didn’t really need it. I already knew her email address, but I still had to play the game.

Danielle surprised me by giving me a hug and a kiss on my cheek. “Thanks for visiting him Dani. I am sure that he would have loved to have known both you and your sister.” She also gave Melody a hug and a kiss before we could escape. Melody and I walked back to the car hand in hand while tears poured down my face. Melody didn’t say a word to try and cheer me up, which was almost even more surprising than meeting my daughter.

“What’s she doing?” I asked just before we reached the car.

Since I was too much of a chicken to do it myself, Melody glanced over her shoulder for me. “She’s watching us and smiling.”

Melody gave me a quick hug and I smiled all the way back to Disney World.