††† Haylee †††

Having herself finally under control again, Haylee closed her eyes and focused. Never before had she willingly allowed anyone but Eurydike to watch her shift. Now it didn't unsettle her anymore in front of Siegfried.

When she opened her eyes again, there was no disgust visible in his gaze — only an honest grin… and maybe a slight leer flicking over her half-naked form for an instant.

That was the last bit of confidence boost she needed.

Haylee threw her arms around Siegfried's neck and pressed her lips against his as her eyes teared up with gratitude.

"Thank you," she whispered, taking a deep breath to stabilise her voice. "You can not imagine how much that means to me."

Siegfried brushed away her tears, the gesture bringing a new smile to her face. She had never felt so accepted since she first changed. Not even by Eurydike. Not in that way.

“You… you must think I’m silly, crying out of the blue for no reason at all,” she sniffed through her smile.

Siegfried brushed gently through her hair before answering. “I don’t think you would cry for no reason, Haylee,” he whispered, holding her close. “I saw how timid you became back in the confines of the wall when it was just your partial form…” He kissed the top of her head softly. “You should know by now that I find you beautiful in any form.”

Haylee’s heart started to flutter in a way it hadn’t since she was a teenager. She’d known it on a conscious level, with all the stares he gave her. But hearing the words was different.

“I…” Haylee started, trying to sort her jumbled emotions. “I’d like… to tell you. If you want to hear it.”

Yes. She wanted him to know. To understand, just like Eurydike did.

"I do, Haylee," Sieg assured her calmly. "Just like you listened to me." He gave her another chaste kiss on the forehead.

Then his expression turned into a playful smirk that she hadn’t yet seen on him. "You might want to dress up first though, if you don't want me distracted," he said while letting his eyes roam obviously.

Her tension burst into laughter as she swatted at Sieg playfully. She took his offered hand, and they returned to the small pond where she could wash up and don her clothes again.

Sitting cross-legged in front of Sieg, Haylee took her time to order her thoughts. He did not press her with questions, and his typical, silent presence calmed her more than words could have.

"When I changed for the first time, it was at home with my father," Haylee began quietly. "My mother died at my birth, and it was only the two of us. Compared to now, my first transition went very slow." A raw tone coloured her voice as she remembered the day. "I fell into an argument with my father. It was pretty bad. When my anger spiked, I started to change."

Haylee closed her eyes as she recounted that dreadful day.

††† Aina/Haylee †††

"There will be no discussion Aina!" Her father roared. "I've heard enough about that good-for-nothing scoundrel from our neighbours! You will not see him again!"

"They're lying, he's not—" Aina's plead transformed into a cry as her father pinched her ear.

"Don't you dare talk back to me, child!"

It was so unfair, so hopeless. Ragi wasn't a bad boy. He was just the only one left who wasn't afraid of her overprotective father. Why did father hate him — why did he hate her? Why didn't he want her to be happy?

Aina couldn't take it anymore. Since her mother died, her father had chased away all of her friends one after another, more often drunk then not. The helpless situation, the pain in her ear as he continued to pinch it — it was all to much. She started screaming, dropping to her knees and trying to rip out her hair.

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At that moment, she felt a tingling sensation moving up and down her arms. Bright hair sprouted across her skin, and Aina cried, shaken by the sudden feeling.

It was nothing compared to the sense of her limbs stretching out shortly after. A pressure like nothing she knew before started to weigh down her shoulders, and her upper arms lengthened. Her thighs cramped when the tension in her hips got stronger and stronger, her pelvic bone changing its structure to accommodate wider hips.

"No!" Her father cried out, locking his arms around her petite frame and starting to shake her. "You won't get her! She's mine — my daughter! Akali, help!"

Aina cried. Her mind couldn't comprehend what was happening. She only knew that she didn't want this. She stopped shifting halfway through between the shock and her father's rough treatment.

Entirely spent, Aina dropped to the floor.

"Father, please, help me," Aina begged.

"This… no, I won't!" Her father mumbled as he staggered towards her. "I won't accept this. This is not the beautiful girl my love gifted to me!" he spat with a look of disgust that hurt Aina more than any physical pain could have.

His gaze turned to a severe frown as he studied her features. "You are still in there, child?" he stated more than asked.

"I am! It's me! Please, help me!" Aina shrieked, raising her long arms towards her father. The gesture resulted in the man backing up with a look of repulsion.

"I — I see," he breathed. "It is not too late. We can change you back!" he laughed frantically. "Akali has answered my plea and stopped the madness that took hold of you. We can still rid you of this demonic body!"

The insane look on her father's face let Aina's blood freeze.

"Yes, we can reverse this — we just need…," he mumbled, looking through the room in search of something. When he picked up a heavy masons hammer, Aina's adrenaline spiked.

"F-Father, I don't like this," Aina said, her voice shaking.

"Me neither, Aina," her father said. "But you have to be strong now. For Mother!"

"No, wait! I can—" Aina's plead turned into a scream as her father heaved the hammer above his head and aimed for her disfigured leg.

A loud crack sounded as the hammer hit the ground — Aina barely avoided the blow. He had really tried to crush her knee. All the emotions welled up again in force and triggered her transformation once more.

This time it came faster as Aina was swallowed by desperation. A primal survival instinct took over and pushed her consciousness into the background when she entirely changed into a big cat. It felt all too natural as she lunged forward and automatically went for the throat.

The metallic taste of blood let her senses return in full.

Her father was dying. He was bleeding out quickly, his face carrying an expression of disbelief. It was too much — she couldn't see him like that. And so Aina fled.

It was night, and the streets should have been dark, but she could still see everything. What should she do now? If someone found her, they would kill her. She didn't have any family — not anymore. No one would help her.

No, that wasn't right. There was still someone. Brave little Ragni, the boy who stood with her, who even snuck out with her at night, defying her strict father. She would just have to make him understand with body language. Maybe she could tap the ground or blink if he asked something. Yes, that would work.

Sneaking through the shadows, Aina quickly reached Ragni's home. It was two stories high, with his room on the second floor. A dull light was still shining through the open window. A candle.

Aina sprinted towards the wooden building, scaling the wall in seconds before she burst into the room. Ragni sat on his bed, a wooden puzzle lying on his lap.

Before she could even try to gesture, the boy screamed in terror. "Monster! Pah, there's a monster in here!"

He started to throw everything in reach towards Aina, and a second later, his door was ripped open by a tall man wielding a kitchen knife.

Desperate, Aina jumped out the window and started to run. She couldn't stay in the city.

She was a monster now.

††† Siegfried †††

Haylee was still perched on Siegfried's lap. He hadn't said a word but unconsciously gripped her tighter until she tapped his arm.

"Oh, I'm sorry—" Sieg wanted to apologise for squeezing her too hard, but Haylee's laughter cut him off.

"It's okay, I'm not that fragile," she said, grinning into his frowning face. "I love getting to know this side of you," Haylee whispered, touching Siegfried's cheek while still staying cuddled up in his lap. "I love how you squeeze me tight as if you want to shelter me from the world. Safety is a thing I have not felt in a long time." She laid her head back beneath his chin and sighed contently. "You don't need to feel bad for me, though. I'm good now. I just wanted you to understand how much it means to me that you accept me. Even the parts of me that aren't human."

Sieg wasn't sure how to react. And that was a first. He had never been awkward or speechless when it came to women in the city.

But Haylee was different. Besides being the most beautiful woman he ever saw, Haylee was strong, reliable, self-sufficient and hardened by her past, just like he was. And she saved his life, nearly dying in the process.

She mattered.

Forcing down his agitation, he stoked Haylee's hair, relishing the soft feel of the silky strands to calm himself. He thought over the words in his head several times and finally gave them a voice.

"I might not be able to fully comprehend what you went through, Haylee," he said, trying to put weight into his every word. "But everything I said was the truth. I was struck by your beauty as a human when I first saw you. I was stunned by the ferocious allure of your partly shifted form when you stood before me, bathed in blood, like a goddess of the hunt. And I am awed by the grace and strength of your cat-like form. Whatever discrimination you had to endure before, it won't apply to me."

Haylee threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in the nape of his neck. Sieg was content to just hold her — to enjoy a moment where nothing else mattered but her embrace.