Hannah forces herself to swallow the nervous lump stuck in her throat. She has been waiting too long for this; she can't back out now. Instead, she takes a confident step into the chamber, letting out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. The door swings closed behind her, causing her to jump as it makes a slight "pop" sound when it seals shut.

She looks out the tiny window. Everything is tinged in blue and she can see the woman behind the desk fiddling at a few more buttons, knobs, and switches. It must all be very complicated, Hannah thinks to herself as tiny, blue droplets begin to ooze out of the machine like drool from a sleeping toddler, only to turn into bright, lively sparks where they touch her skin. She feels herself changing, becoming smaller, different. She can't pinpoint all of the changes, but it doesn't hurt; everything seems like more of a tingling sensation although her senses are on fire.

It doesn't last very long, at least it doesn't seem to. It could have been a couple of minutes, or maybe a couple of hours. She can't tell. All she knows is that when the whole thing started, she was able to see out the window, and now there is only cold, hard steel in front of her.

Hannah presses a hand to her chest. No more breast. A smile tugs at her lips, which feel different than what they used to.

"I'm a boy," She whispers, just to herself, then she says it louder, for the entire world to hear: "I'm a boy!" She lets out a quick, loud laugh.



Leonard Redfield steps from the chamber, a goofy grin on his young, boyish face. It's finally done, and now it can all begin again, right this time. The clothes of the old woman he used to be just barely clings onto his smaller frame, threatening to fall off. And it's then that he can't help but look, like a child at Christmas time. He is a child after all, and this is the best present ever.

With one hand holding his shirt up, Leonard uses his other hand to pull at the band of his too-large pants, peeking inside.

There it is.

He's a boy, through and through.

The smile widens on his face as he walks over to Patricia, kicking off his shoes in order to walk more efficiently. "Thank ya, ma'am!" he says with another grin, sticking out his hand for the woman to shake. "Thank ya so much."

Yukiko stands at the bus stop, she's about to fall apart. The stress of being someone else, twice, the talking backwards, it's all very upsetting. She wonders if she isn't dreaming... nightmare, not a dream. She's about to cry when the other girl squeals, "I'm me."
Yukiko looks down and she is, Yukiko again. In time too, Yukari and the other two girls are coming. "Yukiko are you okay?" Yukari asks panting. "You two took off so fast..." Yukari stares at Yoshiko then back at Yukari, "You both okay? You've both been acting crazy."
"Fine am I." Yukiko answers, then covering her mouth. "No, god." She thinks. "Reverse in talk still I!" she tells herself.
"What?" Yukari asks, an odd look on her face.
Yukiko thinks hard. She has to say something. These girls are her friends. Everyone thinks she's weird because she's an island girl. She gets an idea; she points to the bandage around her wrist. "Strange." she whispers. "Medicine." she twirls her finger pointing at her head, the crazy sign
Yukari and the other girls laugh. "Okay. I get it. That thing is medicine and it makes you lightheaded." Yukari says nodding. Yukiko smiles and nods. "That's okay. We'll take you home. Yoshiko, you're coming too, right? And don't say you have math academy. We're in the same class and I'm skipping it too."
When the bus for Yukiko's district arrives, Yukari and Yukiko grabs Yoshiko and pull her on the bus, the other two girls push from behind

Patricia grinned back at the smiling little boy, taking his hand and shaking it. "Well, Leonard, how do you feel?" She walked hastily over to her desk and pulled out a roll of bandages. She returned to Leonard and took his hand. Turning it over, she quickly covered his wrist with the bandage. "Don't take this off, okay? Ever." She smiled at the boy who never seemed to cease smiling. "If you need some clothes that... fit better, I probably have some in the back." Gesturing the boy back to the other room, she took a card and gave it to the boy. "Call me if you have any really serious side-affects, seeing as you're the only person to remember who you actually are. Or... were..." Her mind began to wonder off, but she pulled it back. "Anyway! Not to frighten you! That's very very unlikely!" Her lying skills had become more advanced, she noted.

Leonard stares at the bandage Patrica has put around his left wrist, a true blue one that reminds him of sports wraps. He's not sure what the purpose of the bandage is, but he nods firmly to show he understands and won't take it off. The smile will not leave Leonard's face as he follows Patricia to the other room, holding his clothes tightly around him to make sure they do not slip off his small body. He takes the card offered to him looks it over before stuffing it into one of his pockets.

"Side effects?" he asks with a tilt of his head, his smile finally vanishing to be replaced by a perplexed frown. "I didn't check the little forget box because I want to remember all this!" He gestures grandly with a smile returning to his face, but his hands quickly return to the position of securing his clothes on himself. "And everything that came before. I want to be able to appreciate this." He makes a gesture that indicates himself, pressing the palm of his right hand to his chest. "Thank you." He says with a final smile before reaching into his pocket to produce a cell phone. He taps away at a few keys then holds the phone to his ear.

"Yes, hello. I'm ready. It's perfect." He seriously can't stop grinning; he's so ecstatic about all this. Leonard doesn't have long to wait before George Redfield enters the room. Leonard bounds up to him happily, taking the older man's hand. "What now, Daddy?

"Now," George says with a strange sort of smile that causes a knot to form in Leonard's stomach, "we go home. And tomorrow you go to school."

"But I have my academy. My father will be angry if he finds out!" Yoshiko says angry. Yukiko's three friends giggle pushing her onto the bus. She's going to miss her classes, she knows that now. The other girls who are also in her academy don't seem to care that they're all going to miss them.
Sitting on the bus she wonders what happened to her mother last night. She didn't come home and she didn't see her this morning. Father seemed upset, she hopes nothing bad has happened. She can't help think that her mother is in trouble. She thinks about what it could be. She remembers her mother used to drink. But that was a long time ago. Yoshiko was nearly killed by her mother in an accident. She hasn't had any since.
She can't think about what it could possibly be that happened

"I didn't check the little forget box because I want to remember all this! And everything that came before. I want to be able to appreciate this."

"That's.. well, that's not what I mean. The procedure can have certain affects on people, even myself sometimes." She lifted her wrist and showed an old, white bandage wrapped loosely around her wrist. "If you do have some small side affects, I can probably fix them, so just head on back here, alright? Though most of them will just go in time."

She watches Leonard talk to the old man. It seems bizarre that the woman would be doing this for someone else, other than herself. But then again, accidents do happen, like earlier with Yoshiko.

The words warning him of the side effects echo in his ears as Leonard climbs into the car besides George. Well, his father. He supposes he should get used to that now. Dad... And he's a son. That thought still fills him with little butterflies and he smiles happily.

"What are you so giggly about?" George asks as he pulls out of the parking lot and glances over at Leonard in the passenger seat.

"Nothing Dad, just happy is all." He smiles some more as he looks out the window watching the whirl of green and blue go by. That's the world, and he's seeing it through new eyes. This time, he gets to do it right. This time, he gets to be a boy. The minutes fly by, just like the scenery and soon they pull up to a large house. Leonard steps out of the car and looks up at the high roofs, the tall pillars. Everything. The house is absolutely stunning and Leonard can't believe that this is where he is going to be living from now on. He turns around to face his new father, same goofy grin as always on his face. "You have a fantastic house!"

His father simply smiles and leads him inside. "You're welcome to take any room that's not mine." Leonard nods to show he understands. "I have some basic necessities for you, but I'm afraid I don't have much in the way of clothes." He looks Leonard over, frowning disapprovingly at the too-large and worn clothes that he received from Patricia. "Why don't you go out? Get used to your new body and pick up some more... suitable clothing." He hands Leonard a small wad of cash. "It's not much, but I need to make sure you come back." He gives Leonard a wink.

Leonard wrinkles his nose. "Of course I'll come back Dad!" He giggles and pockets the cash, already completely emerged into his new role as son to this man.

His father nods with a soft smile. "Then off with you," he says as he pats Leonard on the lower back and pushes him out the door. Leonard just keeps smiling.

---

The bike ride to town wasn't as long or as tiring as he thought it would be. Leonard strolls into town, eager to get some new clothes for his new body. He's still not quite used to things yet, his new height and perception, and just everything. It's all so different, yet the same, and it definitely feels right. He's thinking about all this as he walks down the street when suddenly he runs into a girl getting off a bus, knocking himself over.

"I'm sorry!" He shouts, picking himself up and dusting off. "Are you alright? I'm so clumsy." A frown crosses his face, but only for an instant before he's smiling uncontrollably again as he looks the girl over. She's about his age, Asian, with long black hair and brown eyes. He finds her extremely pretty.