"Live Long and Prosper"

by Brandy Dewinter

(c 2000, All rights reserved)

Chapter 15 - "Wishing Well"

     Tirce sat there for a long moment, regarding us.  I clutched at 
Ethan's hand and tried to decide what to do, what to say.  Part of me
wanted to jump up and run away, and I might have done that if Tirce 
were still the nasty old woman she had been before.  This Tirce, though,
was so refined and elegant; it was hard to believe she would do anything
bad to us.  Yet, that might just mean that she was totally pathological,
without any hint of conscience.  

     She smiled at me, amused at something she chose not to share, then 
took a sip of her drink.  Leaning back in her throne-like chair, she 
said, "What brings you back to my island?  And don't say, 'The Twilight
Breeze'."  

     A joke?  From this woman of untold power and unknown motivations?  
So much for my resolution not to be surprised by anything.  Her eyes 
were still on me, compelling me to respond.

     "I, um, don't know what to say.  If you're a mind reader, why do we
need to, um, say anything?"  

     "Oh, child, don't worry about that.  What I receive is more on the 
order of impressions.  When you first arrived, I could feel your 
appreciation for the way I looked, even a bit of envy.  I must say, being
envied by a young lady as pretty as you is quite a compliment."

     Then she chuckled in a very sophisticated way and said, "Why, that is
in fact the exact truth, isn't it?  For as soon as I sensed that thought,
I did indeed tell you about it.  Oh, my, I don't remember the last time I
surprised myself.  For that alone, dear, I am in your debt."  

     She took another sip of her drink and shrugged, making the next 
revelation seem unimportant despite the power it showed.  "I also have
what used to be called second sight.  I can observe from a distance.  
Think of it as one of those nosy camcorders hovering unseen but recording
the sights and sounds even as you see them."  

     That brought a blush to my cheeks, and an even brighter one to 
Ethan's, which in turn triggered another chuckle from Tirce.  "Oh, don't 
worry.  At my age, there is little that I haven't seen.  However, now 
that my secrets are all revealed, let's get back to my question.  It 
takes little insight to discern that it deals with the way your wishes
turned out."

     All her secrets revealed?  Yeah, right.  I was still trying to absorb
the implications of her powers when she pulled out the two slips of paper
that we had written on with our wishes.   

     Considering them in turn she read, "'I wish for my husband to have a
long, happy, and healthy life.'  'I wish for my wife to be happy for all 
of her life.'  Such compatibility.  I can see how you two could manage to 
survive a year together on board a small boat."  She was smirking in an 
elegantly condescending sort of way, as though mildly impressed with the 
antics of a neighbor's child.

     "Do you think I have granted those wishes fairly?" she asked, 
suddenly transformed from amicable neighbor to probing interrogator.  

     I realized I was still clutching Ethan's hand.  This was the critical
moment.  This was when I would risk the wrath of this powerful woman, if
indeed she was even really a woman and not some awful creature from 
nightmare.  Somehow, that thought stabilized me.  There was no use in 
worrying any longer.  Now it was time to take action instead, even if that 
action were 'merely' words.  I released Ethan's hand with a casual pat, 
then reached for my own drink.  

     Leaning back in my seat to match Tirce's posture, I said, "Since you
obviously do, just as you obviously know we did not expect this result, 
why don't you tell us how wise you were in interpreting our wishes?"  

     For the first time, at least on this visit, Tirce's super-
sophisticated demeanor cracked.  It was only when she laughed that I
realized I had been holding my breath.  

     "My goodness but you are a tough one, aren't you?" she said, 
continuing to laugh with full, unrestrained humor.  "My compliments."      

     I just nodded silently, playing at her game of sophistication despite 
a building worry that I was going to lose control of my bladder.  I was 
wishing with more fervency than any past prayer that I had worn something
that hid instead of revealed my new, taut belly, because I knew it was 
quivering.  At least holding my drink in both hands kept them from shaking
too visibly.  

     "Why did you quit your job, your career?" she asked suddenly, still
focused on me.

     "My job?"

     "Yes.  Why, after thirty years, in a profession which is as much a 
reflection of a person's life as any other, did you just drop it and 
walk away?"  

     Good question, for all that it seemed a stunning non sequitur.  At 
the time, it was more a case that I *could* quit than that I had made a
conscious decision to change my way of life.  I had enjoyed being an 
engineer, and as Tirce recognized there is a mindset that engineers have 
that makes the profession much more than just a way to earn money.  Yet I 
had not hesitated when the time came, just dropped it all and walked away.  
Well, sailed away.  

     Tirce could see my mind churning, probably listen in on it to some
extent, and when she knew I didn't have an immediate response, she 
provided one.  "You were bored.  You were not challenged.  You had reached
the point where you were no longer solving real-world problems - the 
essence of engineering - but refereeing people conflicts you thought were 
silly.  Shall I go on?"

     "No.  You've made your point.  And you're basically right."  

     "Very well.  Now, why did you decide to sail around the world?"

     "What?"  Geez, I don't know.  Because it was there?  Why does anyone
do anything like that?  

     She didn't repeat her question, instead supplying another answer.  
"Because it was new and different, because it was a challenge, because 
it would require you to solve real-world problems with a minimum of social
contact with silly people."

     "Ah, well, I suppose you are right there, too." I admitted.  

     Tirce turned to Ethan and asked, "Why did you agree to go along on
this voyage of isolation?  Do you find people and social situations to 
be a waste of time, also?"

     "No, not really," Ethan answered.  "I've always been more of a people
person than Adam.  I came because that's where Adam wanted to be, and I 
wanted to be with Adam."  

     I turned to Ethan in surprise and said, "You mean you haven't enjoyed
our journey?"

     "No.  I have enjoyed it.  But I have to admit, I've enjoyed the many
ports of call more than days spent alone on the sea."

     If I could have melted into a puddle, I'd have done it.  I was so 
selfish I hadn't even realized I was being selfish.  I mean, I had known
Lainey liked visiting the places we had seen, but I had just assumed she 
had breathed a little sigh of relief, as I had, when we finally escaped 
back to sea each time.  Dear God, a year wasted on something that should 
have been the best we could do for both of us.  

     I closed my eyes to keep the tears from spilling out, unable to look
on Ethan's handsome features.  Damnit, if I hadn't insisted - no, 
insisted is not the right word because there had been no argument 
requiring an implacable position - if I hadn't assumed this was what we
should do . . . Ethan would still be Lainey!  None of this would have 
happened!  

     I felt Ethan's hand take mine, and raise it to his lips.  "Anya, 
beloved, if you hadn't taken us on this journey, we would never have
become what we are.  I am very happy to be Ethan.  Aren't you happy to be
Anya?"

     "Of course," I blurted out, my eyes snapping open to find the blue 
depths of his hovering close by.  "But, it was still wrong of me to have
been so blind to your own desires, seeing only what I wanted to see."

     "Seeing what I showed you, which is all that you should need," Ethan
said.  "Trust me, beloved, if I had really wanted something different, I
would have told you.  Because I do know that you love me and would not 
require something I hated.  Your satisfaction was reward enough for the
times I felt . . . less than thrilled."

     "Oh, Ethan, I love you so much," I said, reaching for him.  

     "Ahem," Tirce interrupted.  Ethan and I both jerked like we had
been splashed with cold water, which might have been necessary in a 
few more minutes.  It might still have been a good idea, to put out the
fires in our cheeks.  

     That condescending amusement was back in Tirce's smile, but I didn't
care.  As long as I had my beloved, regardless of the envelope within 
which that loving heart lived, a little thing like a witch with seemingly
limitless power to do good or evil was not really important.  And that
was a beautiful, precious thing to know.  

     Tirce took another sip of her drink, her motion making it clear she
was about to start interrogating us again, and asked, "Ethan, what did you
want more than anything in the world when you were growing up?"

     Now it was his turn to lean back in his seat and ponder a question so
basic it was too ingrained for his heart to see clearly.  Finally, he 
spoke in a low, tentative voice, "I suppose it was to be . . . respected.  
I wanted people to think I had done something worthwhile, or could do it 
if I needed to."

     "Anya, what about you?"  Uh, oh.  I should have seen that one coming.
After a moment I had an answer, though.

     "I think I wanted to do something that needed to be done, solve some 
challenging problem."

     Ethan slipped his arm around me gave me a quick, encouraging hug.  

     "I'll bet the two of you are congratulating yourselves on your 
compatibility again, aren't you?" Tirce asked.  "But you're wrong.  Those
desires are not really the same at all.  Do you see the difference?"

     Different?  They were the same, I thought.  Not realized, really, for 
either one of us, but much the same goal.  What was different?

     Tirce chuckled again at our fruitless concentration, then supplied 
her own answer.  "Ethan's desire could only be fulfilled through the good 
opinion of other people.  Yours, Anya, required only your own knowledge 
that you had succeeded."

     I nodded, as did Ethan.  It was obvious once she had pointed it out, 
of course, though I don't think I'd have ever seen it on my own.  

     "So," Tirce continued, a smugness in her tone that said she really 
did think she had been wise, "Lainey wanted respect.  Adam wanted a new,
stimulating challenge, even one where no one else knew the nature and 
magnitude of the challenge.  Each of you needed the other, so any future 
happiness must leave you as a couple.  Lainey didn't want to give up her 
enjoyment of people, which meant that for true compatibility Adam needed 
to enjoy it more.  Of course there were other things like young, healthy
bodies that would support your happiness, but I think that captures the
basic needs to be met by your wishes, don't you?"  

     "I, um, guess so," I murmured, trying to absorb that capsulation of, 
well, a whole life's goals and aspirations.  Ethan nodded, too, a look 
of inner contemplation on his face that showed the same sort of thoughts.

     I began to see where she was going with this, where in fact the path
she had laid out for us had led all along.  I guess the part of me that 
was still so analytical had to taste the words in my own mouth to make
them real, because I started to speak in a soft, methodical voice, "So, 
Lainey's respect, the kind she wanted and not just the notoriety of a 
movie star, would be enhanced if she were a man, a tall, strong, handsome
man.  If Ethan walked into a room, looking so fit and trim and rugged,  
people would automatically assume he was . . . competent, a man who could 
get things done.  It would not be tied to some business position, where 
indeed women can earn great respect, instead it would be based on his 
physique, leaving us free to do whatever we wanted. In fact, a trophy wife 
would enhance that respect as well.  So that's why I became, um, Anya."

     "Don't sell short my fulfillment of your own wish," Tirce said, a 
smile on her face showing she was not angered by my conclusion about my
own needs.  "If you can define for me a greater challenge than becoming a 
woman, especially for a no-nonsense engineer like Adam, then I'll 
reconsider the way I have granted your own wish - or actually, the way I 
have granted Elaine's wish for your happiness.  In addition, you'll find 
that being a pretty girl is a very powerful passport to greater comfort in 
social situations.  Men and women will flock to be with you.  Any 
awkwardness you feel will be put down to quite-becoming shyness, and you 
will respond to the flattery with the enjoyment of any other person - man, 
woman, or undecided."

     "Oh, no," I said quickly, trying to catch up to the offer that was 
in her statement.  "I don't want anything else.  Even if there were 
something better for me, personally - and I honestly don't know what that 
might be - I can see that there is no option that would also provide the 
sort of respect Ethan deserves."  

     "'Deserves' is right," Tirce said, nodding.  "You will find, both of 
you, that Ethan truly is highly-competent, a problem solver.  He will be 
less analytical than Adam perhaps, which is not entirely a bad thing, and 
he will bring to the problems he attacks a gusto that builds on his more 
out-going nature.  The respect that comes automatically to such a man will 
not be misplaced in Ethan's case."  

     I nodded, and sagged a bit in relief.  I knew I wanted to be Anya, 
and now I knew it was 'right' in a way that truly fulfilled Ethan as well.  
I don't know whether I glanced at him, or whether Tirce was snooping in 
my mind again, but her next words were for me.

     "Anya, child, once again I tell you that you will find a fulfillment
at least as great at Ethan's.  You have about you a sense of competence,
too.  Yours is based on your analytical mind, but that foundation has a
lifetime of supporting data to prove itself, at least in your own heart.  
In truth, as a pretty girl you will be discounted by many men," she said, 
a warning tone in her voice.  Then a deliciously self-satisfied grin made 
her regal features seem almost child-like as she said, "but I may just 
have to eavesdrop on you every now and then, to see how you handle those 
who underestimate you.  It will be . . . noteworthy."

     "*That* I can believe," Ethan said, laughing.  

     I slapped his arm, lightly, but in truth the idea of deflating a few
blowhards who underestimated me was intriguing.  I had enjoyed doing that
when I was younger, before I had made my reputation, and the weapons I now
had to, um, confuse and distract should be quite . . . effective.  And 
fun.

     "So, can I take it that you are satisfied with my fulfillment of your
wishes?" Tirce said, the formality of her words undermined by the twinkle 
in her eyes.  

     "Oh!" I blurted, reminded of the wish we had come back to make.  I 
looked at Ethan for support, finding a blush on his cheeks that was at 
least as bright as the one I felt burning on my own.  He was gathering
himself, mentally, to address the topic that no doubt made him 
uncomfortable, but it was really my problem, so I spoke first - not very
coherently I'm afraid.

     "Well, um, Madame Tirce, there is one, ah, problem."  Lordy, I just 
thought I was blushing before I tried to actually talk about such an 
intimate thing.  "I, um, well I don't think I'm . . . that I can stretch
enough to . . . accept . . . Ethan.  I think I must not be . . . complete
yet."

     "And so you sailed all the way back to my island to ask me to give 
you a looser cunt?" Tirce, said, the crude word sounding terribly wrong
from her elegant lips and even more incompatible with the smirk they
wore, yet somehow forcing us to confront the issue with that same 
bluntness.

     I sat up straighter and nodded my head.  "Yes, Madame, or whatever 
else is needed so that Ethan and I can . . . join as a man and woman 
should."

     "And you were going to use your wish, assuming I granted you another,
for that?"

     "Yes, oh, um, not if you . . I don't mean to seem ungrateful, but if
you grant us only one wish, we need it for something else."  

     "And that would be?" she asked.  

     Oh, God, I hadn't really thought of how to word that wish!  If Tirce 
were of a mind to twist the words, I could make things even worse for poor
Reyna.  Yet, I had to try.  The image of that too-thin girl, curled up on 
the seats of the Breeze and sobbing her heart out, was just too terrible 
to allow to continue, regardless of the cost.  

     "No," Tirce said, interrupting me before I could speak, the smirky 
little smile banished behind an angry frown.  "Despite the so-vivid image 
in your mind, Reyna got what she deserved.  You don't know the whole story 
there."

     "Then tell us," suggested Ethan.  For the second time that day I saw
a cherished part of Lainey in him.  He had a look, an attitude in his body
language, of infinite patience again, this time willing to sit forever if 
that was what it took to resolve things.  Patience at that level is 
indistinguishable from stubbornness, as I knew to my oft-remembered 
frustration.  Lainey, for all her love, could be most . . . steadfast when 
she felt the need.  It was clear in that instant that Ethan would be much 
the same.  

     "Do you suppose I allow just anyone to find my island?" snapped 
Tirce.  "Those who come here either need me, or others need them to 
find me despite their own desires.  You were in the former category, 
while Phillipe and Reynaud were definitely in the latter."

     Tirce began to relax a little, committed now to telling us her side
of the story Reyna had begun.  "I do not know how many young girls those
two had assaulted before they came to my island.  I only send my 
perceptions out randomly and have no idea when they started their reign of 
terror.  But when I did notice them, I watched for several weeks, every 
evening.  In that time, they kidnapped and raped six girls, children 
really, no older than Reyna appears now and some even younger.  They 
preyed on orphans, or girls without fathers in the home, anyone they 
considered weak and vulnerable.  Between the two, they were quite skilled, 
both at their basic abductions and at covering their tracks."  

     "I sent an urge to them, to have them come to me.  And then I granted
them their wishes, just as they asked.  I could, in justice, have killed 
them both.  Instead, I was merciful.  Both still live though on the path 
they had chosen they would have died long ago."  She leaned back in her
throne-seat, no longer angry, but implacable in her decision.  

     I looked at Ethan, and in his eyes I could see an agreement to 
something we had no need to coordinate with words.  It was another sign,
I think, that inside was still Lainey.  Whether my own motivation was 
driven by the Adam I was or the Anya I had become was less clear, but it 
didn't matter, because my own decision was as firm. 

     "Madame Tirce, is it your intention to grant us a wish, based on the
work we have done to help you keep your island beautiful?"  

     She nodded abruptly.  

     "Then, Madame, our wish is that you retract your curse from Reyna, 
and do so in a way that she comes to no further harm.  Allow her to live
out a normal life starting from her current situation, if you will, but
allow her to find an eventual end to the torment you have inflicted upon
her." 

     "You will not reconsider?" asked Tirce.  "I could offer you things
you cannot imagine, powers that you would not believe.  Material wealth 
and eternal life would seem as tawdry baubles next to what I can grant to 
you." 

     "We have stated our wish."

     Her eyes flicked to Ethan, who nodded gravely.  She settled back into
her seat and closed her eyes.  I didn't know what that signified.  Perhaps
she was even then working her magic in some way.  In any event, I 
certainly didn't want to disturb her.  So it was something of a shock when
she began to quietly speak though her eyes remained closed.

     "Must you two *always* spend your wishes on someone else?"

     Her eyes opened, pulling the corners into a small smile that was much
more reassuring than the one that showed on her lips.  "Perhaps you are 
right.  Indeed, that Reynaud was little more than a child himself, and 
Phillipe was the real instigator.  I promise you that I will find 
something else to do with Reyna; something she will find pleasant, and you 
would find satisfactory."

     She straightened up into the icon of propriety she had been when we    
arrived, then smiled more genuinely.  "At least you make me feel I was 
right to allow you to find my island, too.  It is more of a pleasure to 
grant wishes that satisfy than those that punish, and God help me if it
ever ceases to be so."

     "Speaking of which," she continued.  "What will you have for your 
second wish?"

     I should have acted surprised, of course, in order to show proper
gratitude.  But I had hoped for and expected this from the moment I saw
the flower bed that needed weeding, a so-convenient second chore that 
we could do.  So perhaps I can be forgiven for blurting out our desire.

     "Oh, Madame Tirce, please do, um, whatever needs to be done so that
Ethan and I can . . . make love."  

     "Child, you already knew as Adam that making love is not dependent on 
the mechanics of sexual intercourse.  But I know what you mean.  
Nonetheless, I will not be granting that for your second wish on this 
visit."  

     "Why not?" 

     Tirce laughed, real pleasure in her tone, now transformed from the 
condescending neighbor to a favorite and generous aunt.  "Because I 
already have, of course.  Believe me, if you place your trust in Ethan
and are patient, you will find the experience quite rewarding."

     I could feel a frown of disbelief on my face, but, I mean, Ethan was
so . . . and my, that is, it felt so . . . tight even on just my finger.

     "You silly girl!" Tirce said.  "Think of what it will be like when a 
baby passes through that opening.  You can accommodate even one of Ethan's
. . . gifts with no more than a little discomfort, and that quite 
transient."

     "A baby?!" I repeated, too shocked at that concept to react to the 
rest of what she had said.

     "And why not?  Did I not promise you that you would find stimulating 
challenges in being a woman?" Tirce said, now chortling almost 
continuously.  She grinned and said, "Oh, I'll grant you a time, say a 
year, of safety so that you don't have to worry about having a baby while
you're at sea, but after that . . . you better be prepared for ALL the 
challenges of being a woman."

     "Oh, my," I whispered.  Lainey had never been able to have children.  
Not that we ever really considered that necessary to our happiness, but 
that particular aspect of being married had been so long discounted in my 
plans that I had completely overlooked it now.

     "Anya, darling, you don't have to face that, if you don't want," 
Ethan said softly. "Use our wish to . . . avoid the problem."

     "What?  No!" I said reflexively.  The idea was frightening, but, wow.
Even more than my fascination with the thought of sex with Ethan, the idea
of having a baby . . . just, 'wow'.  

     I looked up at my handsome spouse and repeated, "No.  We don't have 
to do that.  We have a year to make up our minds, and if we decide not to
have children, well, it won't take magic to fix that."  I tried to sound 
all reasonable and said, "It would be a shame to make a decision now we 
might regret later, when the alternative might come to be . . . 
rewarding."

     "Besides," I continued, an impish grin tugging at my mouth.  "It 
would be a sin and a shame to deprive the world of your genes.  Oh, the
genes for these bodies will breed true, won't they, Madame Tirce?  I mean, 
the babies will look like him, right?"

     "Lord no, they need to look like her," Ethan said, interrupting 
before Tirce could speak.  

     "They will look like both of you, of course, just like all children 
do," Tirce confirmed, then she smiled like that generous aunt again and 
continued.  "But that does remind me; while your physical transformations 
are complete - those last little bits of gray hair will be gone by 
morning, Anya - there are still a few loose ends to tie up."

     She rose from her seat and moved to a small side table.  "In this 
world, you cannot really be happy without the proper forms - inevitably 
filled out in triplicate, at least.  It was easier to create new documents 
than to reach into your boat and transform the ones you hold, so you'll 
need to get rid of those.  But here are new passports, ownership papers 
for the Twilight Breeze, and so on.  Anya, you could hardly pass for an 
engineer retired after 30 years of faithful service, so I've changed your 
source of income to the proceeds of an inherited trust fund.  And Ethan, 
you will find that you have actually written a series of books for 
adventurous teens rather than for children.  Perhaps you will write 
another based on your records from this voyage.  You will also find that 
others whom you knew will find nothing unusual with your new identities."

     Tirce handed most of the documents to Ethan and seated herself again, 
holding one back in her hands.  "There is one more document, one on which
I did not feel I should make the decision for you, considering the way 
customs have changed in America." 

     She turned it around and held it out to us.  It was a blank marriage 
license, full of seals and authorizations from the closest seat of 
government in Taiohae. 

     Maybe I was still thinking about the idea of a baby growing within
me, because for just a moment I missed the significance of that piece of
parchment.  Ethan didn't, though.  In a heartbeat he was pulling me to 
my feet, then kneeling before me.

     "Anya, love of my life, will you marry me?"

     "Oh! Um, sure," I said.  Of course, I would blurt out something that 
meant I would spend the next fifty years kicking myself for such an 
unromantic response.  I don't think Ethan minded, because before I had a
chance to say anything more, he had me in his arms and my lips were much
too busy for speech.