“Hey, Jacqueline. Something happened to me during the mission today. I don’t know what it is, but it shouldn’t be anything to worry about.

While in the Forbidden Cave I was transformed into a woman. I’m not sure how or why it happened, but it did. I was cleared of having any serious curses or corruption, but for some reason I can not change back. Apparently my soul is ‘rejecting’ the magic, and leaving me stuck like this.

Yeah, I don’t get it either.

Whatever’s going on, I promise everything will be fine. I’ll be back to normal in no time. Nothing bad is going to happen.

…

I’m sure of it.”

***

Jacqueline wasted no time in getting home. As soon as she saw the texts she went to her boss and said there was a dire situation she had to immediately leave work for.

Racing down the roads to her driveway, she quickly exited her car and almost sprinted to the front door.

Opening it, she arrived into the living room, and was met face first by the figure of a woman, standing still in the corner.

A woman who bore a striking resemblance to Ben.

“Oh god.” Jacqueline said.

The woman stood in the corner, seemingly embarrassed and ashamed at the situation. Her head turned to the side, avoiding the sight of her.

Jacqueline slowly walked up to her. Even just looking at her was bizarre, it was hard for her to process that this was Ben. She resembled him, sure. She even looked like she could be his sister. But she just… she couldn’t be him. Jacqueline couldn’t see this woman and make herself see Ben.

When Jacqueline got close, she laid her hand on the woman’s cheek. Unlike with Ben, she didn’t have to look up. Ben had been a few inches taller than her, while this woman matched Jacqueline’s height.

With a slight push of her hand, Jacqueline moved the woman’s head back to her.

Time seemed to stop as the two stared into each other’s eyes. Jacqueline had heard before that the eyes were the window into the soul. Gazing deep into the woman’s eyes before her, she saw someone deeply worried, fearful even, but doing their best to hide it. To try and exude power and control. To be the one to offer the help and assurance that everyone else needed.

She knew she had seen those eyes many times before.

“Ben.”

Ben’s eyes darted down for a second, shame once again appearing on her face.

“How did this happen?”

For another few seconds, silence hung in the room.

“One thing led to another.” Ben said. “Everything just kind of spiraled out of control.”

Hearing Ben’s new voice hit home to Jacqueline just how much had happened to her.

“I don’t know how to undo this.” Ben said. “Everything seems to get worse the more I think about it.”

“Are you scared?”

Ben didn’t answer that question. She was supposed to be the fighter, the warrior, the one meant to protect people. She couldn’t bear to hear herself say she was scared.

“This will get fixed. I promise.”

Jacqueline rubbed Ben’s face with her thumb. Whether Ben said that to assure herself or Jacqueline, she didn’t know. She wanted to believe that this was simply another challenge she’d have to overcome as part of her job. She wanted to believe that she’d win and everything would be okay by the end, like always.

But a small part of her at the back of her mind couldn’t stop fearing the worst.

***

Dinner was mostly quiet. Jacqueline tried to engage Ben into conversation, but she was very withdrawn, and not much could be gotten out of her aside from short, one-word responses.

Fortunately, watching a movie afterwards did cheer her up a little. She was actually beginning to engage with the world again, albeit slowly. Jacqueline kept reassuring her she was in over her head, that she was worrying too much about what will probably be nothing. After all, as of now, she’s just become a woman. There could be plenty of explanations as to why she’s stuck like this. Jumping to conclusions wasn’t helping anyone.

That seemed to help her. Or maybe it was the alcohol. Either way, she was doing pretty well by the end.

Jacqueline gave her a deep kiss to further lift her spirits. Kissing Jacqueline as a woman was a much different experience from kissing her as a man, but it felt just as good. It assured her that, no matter what would happen, they’d be together, by one another’s side, always.

***

The shower was… weird. In the scanning room, Ben only needed to look at her naked body. Here, she needed to get… acquainted with it, so to speak.

If she was honest with herself though, it wasn’t too bad. She still wasn’t used to seeing a woman’s body from this perspective, and feeling a pair of breasts that were her own was incredibly bizarre, but she figured it’d feel perfectly natural in time.

In fact, since Jacqueline seems to be okay with what happened, maybe Ben really could partake in a learning experience. Finally seeing firsthand how the other half lives. It was a rare and unique opportunity. When she became a man again, she’d undoubtedly be able to understand women, and Jacqueline, a lot more.

Turning the shower nozzle off, Ben stepped out of the shower, dried herself off, then headed over to the toilet. She may have eaten a little too much earlier.

“Are you about done in there?” Jacqueline asked from across the door. “You’re taking forever.”

“Shut up. If you suddenly became a man you’d take a long time too.”

Jacqueline laughed.

“It’s not funny!”

“It is though. Don’t pretend you wouldn’t laugh if I had to deal with having a dick.”

Ben sighed, but was able to find the humor in it and smirked.

After flushing the toilet and washing her hands, Ben was about to put her clothes on. That was, until the bathroom door opened abruptly, revealing Jacqueline, naked from head to toe.

Ben stared at her in wonder. Not near the first time she had seen Jacqueline naked, but this time was very different. She wasn’t really suggesting…

A smile and a slight giggle was all it took for Ben to get the message.

In an instant, they both jumped onto their bed, wrapped up in each other’s bodies and ready for wherever the night could take them.

To their right, the toilet could be heard filling up. If they had taken the time to check it, they would’ve seen something not there before. Something the toilet wasn’t able to flush.

Within the bowl, stuck to the side, laid a small piece of white silk, like a line in a web.