Part 23 - Just Learning to Be Christie - Again

Since it was only a little after 4 PM when she left the dojang, Christie knew she had at least an hour before her Mother would get home from work. Grandma Bekka was probably waiting for them both, but Christie seriously wanted to do this rehash only once. In addition, she could use a little alone time to get things a little straighter in her own mind. Christie started her car, pulled away from the dojang and headed to the city park. In the shelter provided by a quiet little copse of trees, Christie settled in to consider the best tactic to take when she explained herself to Mom and Grandma.

On the one hand, they were both very concerned about her 'Charlie Time' experience, especially after being so reluctant to talk about ALL Charlie's reasons for reversing the transformation back to Christie. They were in no mood to accept a figurative pat on their heads and then told 'not to worry about it .'Crap! Mom had even called Papa Kim! From WORK!

On the other hand, what did they really NEED to know? That was a thornier issue. They knew that SOMETHING had happened last night to upset Charlie/Christie because, no, she hadn't exactly been subtle with them when it came to her emotions, had she? But now was not this morning, and her feelings and mindset were not the same as when she had come downstairs this morning.

Thanks to Papa Kim. He had been right on the money with his observations, too. Charlie had no choice but to react as he did when Tad had attacked. Charlie would have been out quickly and likely dead if Tad had been able to reapply his hold after Valerie's attack. How THAT outcome might have impacted this damned trial was a question Christie simply did NOT want answered. EVER.

Charlie had been in a confrontation with an opponent using deadly force - he'd reacted the way he had been trained with countermoves appropriate to the threat. Had Charlie killed? Yes. Was he a killer? Well, that depends on how one looks at it. Was there any other way Charlie could have stopped Tad's kill move other than by the application of deadly force on the part of Charlie?

And the honest answer kept coming up, 'No.' He'd been mere seconds from being completely unconscious. Charlie wasn't going to get a second chance. It was really a simple choice. Go big or go home. Or rather, go big or go to the hospital. Or to the morgue. From that perspective, the answer was also 'No. Charlie wasn't a killer.' He was simply a guy in a crap situation who had been given only one viable choice. That choice had resulted in Tad's death.

With that out of the way, what would she tell Mom and Grandma? Whatever she decided had to be the truth. The explanation also had to be serious enough that they would understand why she had needed to talk to Papa Kim. And finally, it absolutely couldn't clue them in to the really dark crap Christie had floating in her head this morning. Her watch told her she'd run out of thinking time. Mom would be arriving home just about the time she did if she left now. No way was Mom working overtime tonight! Amanda McKellar would be a woman on a mission!

~-~

Surprisingly, Christie was the first home. As she entered the house, she received a text from her Mom that she was just now leaving her office. Then she found a note on the breakfast bar from Grandma Bekka that she'd gone out to get some Chinese takeout for dinner. Both women planned to be home in the next ten to fifteen minutes.

Deciding that a bit of alcoholic lubrication might smooth the coming talk, Christie checked the fridge. She found an unopened bottle of her Mother's favorite white wine. She quickly collected her Mom's serving tray, ice bucket and wine glasses and put the wine on ice. Christie's little offering was laid out in the family room when her Mother's car pulled into their driveway. Moments later, the less familiar sound of her Grandmother's vehicle heralded her return.

Christie had just finished setting out the wine when both women hurried into the house. "Hi, Mom, hi Gran," she called out to them, "I'm in the family room, and I set out wine to go with Gran's takeout."

"Wine?" Amanda answered as she came into the room carrying some takeout bags. "You think we'll need it?"

"Can't hurt. 'A little wine for thy stomach's sake' etcetera. Here, Gran, let me help you with those," Christie said, reaching up to take some of the remaining bags. "Mom? Why don't you pour while I get some water for me."

"Just bring another glass, Christie. A little wine won't hurt you, either, and it might loosen your tongue."

"MOOooom!" Causing all of them to laugh. Once the wine was poured and the food dished up, Christie took a deep breath and began. "First, I want to apologize for this morning. I had a lot jumbled up in my head. I'm sorry I put you off, Mom, but it really helped me when I talked to Grandfather. I don't know what it is about him, but he's just so good at helping you make sense of things."

"He's a good and wise man, honey. I'm glad you had him to talk with about whatever you had to work out."

Nodding, Christie looked at her plate and then set it aside. Maybe after she'd unburdened to family, the food might look more appetizing. "Okay, I told you that I'm back as Christie because Charlie wasn't a healer. And that's the truth, only there's more to it than just that. I've been trying to figure out how to tell this . . ." She paused, frowned, and finally sat straight in her seat, squaring her shoulders. "Right. Some essential background information first, and I will use the third person for Charlie. It's the only way I can keep him and me straight in this . . .mess."

"All right, dear," Rebekah said encouragingly. "We have used that ploy ourselves when thinking or talking about our sex change trials. Go ahead."

"Thanks, Gran. Valerie Stevens was Charlie's girlfriend in his timeline."

"GIRLFRIEND?!?" Amanda demanded. "How did that happen? When? I mean..."

"Mom," Christie snarked. "You remember Charlie's birthday party at the dojang." At her nod. "Well, who fed Charlie got fed his birthday cake? Because he was just a little tied up at the time."

Amanda choked back a laugh. "Oh, god, I didn't remember that because that isn't what happened in this timeline. Val fed you. . I mean, Charlie, while sitting on his lap."

"Yeah. Mom, like most guys? Charlie was pretty clueless about girls, but he wasn't so oblivious that he missed that clue! In Charlie's timeline, they started dating and were getting pretty serious for a couple of sixteen-year-olds."

"Serious? You. . Damn! Charlie and Val had sex?"

"Need to know, Mom. I haven't tried to remember that memory of Charlie's, so I can't say for sure. But to be clear, they were a couple and spent a lot of time together. Now here's where it gets messy. The attack on Christie and Val by Tad in our timeline? Happened to Charlie and Valerie, too. The big difference was that instead of confronting Charlie face-to-face as he did with Christie? Tad attacked Charlie and Valerie from behind with the same chokehold. Basically, the rest went pretty much the same as it did in this timeline. Valerie attacked Tad, breaking his hold on Charlie, Tad back fisted Val in the temple, and Charlie neutralized Tad."

"So, basically, it was the same as what Christie and Val experienced?"
Christie felt tears begin to burn her eyes as she shook her head. "Almost, but not quite. Charlie wasn't a healer."

Amanda felt herself getting impatient and interrupted, "You told us tha. . . Oh, no . . ."

"Charlie wasn't a healer," Christie repeated. "He tried to heal Val. He'd watched you do it in that timeline, and he tried with everything he had in him. Valerie died there on the street before the EMTs even arrived."

"Oh my God, and you - Christie - experienced that right along with Charlie," Grandmother breathed softly.

"And Charlie felt her die under his hands," His Mother snarled, even as she launched herself at her grieving child. "Charlie should have killed that little shit!" Christie felt herself wrapped into her Mother's arms and let the tears fall freely. Soft, comforting sounds were whispered into her ears as she was gently rocked back and forth.

Sniffling, Christie tried to sit up. "I've got to finish this. Charlie loved Valerie as much as a young man can love a young woman, and her loss devastated him. Moreover, I, and by that, I mean, me, Christie, love my Valerie. She needed me, and Charlie realized that I could still help her. Yeah, I want to be a healer. That much is true, but the primary reason Charlie invoked the transformation is so that we could be here in this timeline for my Val."

Amanda nodded, rubbing her cheek against her daughter's. "You love her . . .like that?"

"Don't know. Maybe. It's just too much of a jumble just now to try and figure any of that out. Hell, Mom, I just hooked her up with a really nice guy because I didn't think she liked girls - not as lovers, anyway. I saw her today, and she corrected me on that. Blew me away, let me tell you."

"Like Mother, like daughter, I guess," Amanda mused. "You know, Christie, Mom and I were a little worried that you might be unable to invoke the transformation spell this year. You went through your whole trial basically without any romantic interests. For Mom and me, that was a big part of our experience - dealing with the new opposite sex."

"I am positive that my trial was about becoming a Healer, Mom. I am certain that the talent is hard-linked to the females of our lineage. Learning that healing was my true calling was the key to my being able to invoke the transformation spell. Mom? You should go eat your dinner. I'm okay now."

Amanda reluctantly released her hold on Christie but didn't get up from where she sat crowded up against her daughter. Instead, she reached across the coffee table and collected her plate and her wine. "So, you said you visited Valerie?" Christie nodded but still made no move toward her own plate. "And did you try to heal her? From what Mom and I saw this morning, you certainly should have more than enough power for it, now."

"No," Christie sighed. "Thought about it but decided I really needed more training first. I'm kinda like belladonna, I think. You know, the plant they call deadly nightshade? It is toxic as all get out, lethal in fact, but properly processed and administered to a patient appropriately and in tiny doses? It can be used safely to treat a wide variety of ailments. My power is like a 10-acre nightshade garden on steroids. I must be able to control it very finely before using it on anybody. Otherwise, I will certainly do a lot more harm than help."

"I never had that problem," Amanda objected. "I mean, I was fixing bruises, cuts and skin burns from day one. No problems."

"We already know that your talent isn't that powerful, to begin with, Mom. Like my nightshade analogy, you started out only able to administer tiny doses. Oh, as you've gotten more experienced, you've become more clever and efficient using your talent, so you can do more now than when you first emerged."

"So where does that leave Val and her current medical condition."

I did use my healer sight on her. That's just passive sensing, so I couldn't hurt her with that talent. What we did together for Val on Saturday arrested the damage. We have time now for me to get that training."

"So that's your plan now? On top of dance and Taekwondo, you're going full speed ahead with your healer and sorcery training?"

"I think I pretty much have to, Mom. There's just so much I have to learn - just to be me - again. I'm just too powerful now. I used to wonder how Superman interacted with just-plain normal earth folks. He's so strong that he can knock down brick buildings with a finger flick. I think part of the reason he's okay around us fragile types is that he grew into his powers from early childhood, interacting with normal folks every day. I haven't done that. I just woke up one morning as Superman, err, girl, and now I have to learn how to be this new me without breaking anything or anybody in the process. It's a little scary."

"Your Grandmother and I understand, at least a little, because we've also been through that. We'll get you the help you need, Christie." Her Mom assured her. Sighing, Christie just leaned into her Mom, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

~-~