[https://i.imgur.com/wtwMUJq.jpg]

Tara's Wand

Jamie plopped back against Tara's bed with her arms out and grunted, "So tired..."

Tara dropped her school bags to the side and offered, "Awww...Jamie-kun. You had a rough day?"

Slowly bringing her hands together on her face, Jamie nodded. "Class stuff I should've known years ago. But none of it is easy. And I got a dumb 'I like you' card in my box."

Tara sat on her bed beside Jamie. "Really?"

Fixing the red skirt and long-ago-conceded hose of her school uniform, Jamie sighed. "Yeah, but the dumb part is it was printed out with no name or sign of who gave it." Jamie reached up and scuffed her short, blond hair. "Bah! I don't want to think about this kind of stuff..."

Tara gave another little 'aww' and leaned back on the bed. "Don't you worry, Jamie-kun! School is done and now comes fun."

Jamie had homework from each and every class. But those words from Tara and the cool, ocean breeze through the open window teased out a smile from her. She asked, "What do you have in mind?"

With a rub of her hands, Tara bounded off the bed and over to her closet. Jamie figured she would pull out a new Yumeko DVD or OST. Instead, she emerged with a red-and-pink wand and held it with both hands.

It had the same color scheme as the other wand Jamie knew but this one was dotted in glittering stars with a rainbow, heart-shaped comet in the center. On the spire top, there was affixed the head of a pink teddy bear.

Tara raised the wand high and said, "Magical spells! For this is really a really real magical wand. First, transformation!"

She waved her wand in a high arc. Jamie felt herself drifting forward. She looked down and realized she was floating in the air. A white light surrounded her, covering her entire body.

Jamie gasped as she realized her clothes were changing. But a great peace came over her. She leaned her head back and shut her eyes.

Turning softly in the air, she could feel her clothes and body shifting around her. The peace stayed till she could feel the ground under her feet again.

She opened her eyes and looked down. She was holding the wand in her hands and her hands were covered in silken-white gloves. Jamie traced them with her eyes all the way up to her shoulder, where she now had comet-joined shoulder puffs.

Jamie marveled in shock at all the pink bows and curling lace ribbons in soft, flowing patterns.

She reached down to the stockings that went all the way up to the top of her thighs and fluttered her pink-with-comets dress and its petticoat underneath.

Then, she suddenly reached to touch her chest. It was flatter than Katsumi's. Flat like a boy's.

Jamie felt around and said, with a gasp, "I'm a guy!"

Tara clapped her hands. "It works! You're Yume-kun!"

As the now-male Jamie sat on the edge of the bed, Tara explained how she'd netted the special edition wand in an online auction.

Jamie turned the wand around in his hands and marveled at it. "It's sure a surprise. The good sort...wait...does this mean I need to fight Dark Meanies now and stuff?"

Tara shook her head. "Nah! It's just for fun."

With a 'whew', Jamie smiled. "Good. Yumeko is always busy and exhausted by that. What do we do now?"

Tara spread out her hands. "Grant wishes and give happiness to everyone around!"

-----

Together, they scampered across the hall to the pink door. Tara leaned her head against it and announced, "Ami is sleeeeeping."

Inside, they found Ami curled up on a bed of dresses and old blankets.

Jamie stroked his chin and asked, "Sooo...what's the plan?"

Tara paced as much as the junk would allow. "We're gonna need to help her with all this stuff...hmmmmm...I know! A magic inventory!" She whispered in Jamie's ear. He looked at her and said, "I have no idea what that is but it can't hurt to give it a try, so long as no universes blow up."

Setting his feet, Jamie waved his wand in a looping arc. Tara encouraged him, "More loops!"

The whole room began to shimmer and all the clutter and junk and mess vanished, leaving a clear floor in Ami's room for the first time since she moved in.

With the feeling of a bare floor, Ami's eyes blinked open and she felt around in surprise. She looked at Jamie and Tara with a grimace. "What...what happened?"

Jamie gestured with the wand to a cloak hovering at the side of the room and Tara explained, "It's an inventory. Anything you want, just reach into your inventory and pull it out."

Blinking, Ami cautiously peered into the cloak and said, "Whoa! Everything is in here..."

Tara noted, with a finger up, "But be careful...you can only max out at 99 of any one thing!"

Ami looked around the room and said, "Wow...thanks."

Tara bowed and said, gesturing to Jamie, "That's nothing for the great and magical Yume-kun."

Ami blinked. "You're a boy?"

Jamie shrugged. "Magical form. It has its perks."

Ami gave a vibrant smile back. "Cool! So, what happens now?"

Tara leaned over and whispered in Jamie's ear. Jamie cleared his throat and answered, "Why you can sleep easy knowing that a...purveyor of love, joy, and justice exists under your roof, bringing happiness to the sad and wishes to those who wish them."

Ami laughed. "Well, I most definitely feel happier now. You've cleaned up my room and everything is still safe. Thank you so much, Yume-kun!" She gave Jamie a big hug.

Heroically, Jamie and Tara made their way back to the hall. After peering around, Tara bolted over and knocked on Aneko's door.

She answered with a blink and a smile. "Cute! What's all this?"

In Aneko's room, Tara quickly explained and she gasped at all the right moments, especially at the revelation of Jamie's transformation.

She clapped her hands and smiled. "It all sounds so fantastic. What spells can you do?"

Jamie bobbed the wand a little. "We've just tested it once, so far."

Aneko tapped her nose-line. "Do be careful though. There are some magical wands in the series that give great power but also cause great mischief."

Tara gasped. "That's right! We better not do anything too big..."

Jamie narrowed his eyes. "Like a pocket dimension for all the junk in Ami's room?"

That earned a raised eyebrow from Aneko. "No more junk? That nearly sounds like a miracle..."

Tara nodded and pranced over to Aneko's side. Her computer was on a programming page and books lay at her feet. Tara waved her hands and pronounced, "Yume-kun's magic is here to make your life a little happier and grant your wishes, Ms. Ishida."

Aneko blushed and waved. "That's not necessary. I don't really have any wishes."

Tara stared at her and even Jamie joined in with a blink. Aneko shook her head a little. "Well, okay. I do have plenty of wishes. I wish I were far more skilled at so many things. I wish things all around were a certain way. But things are as they are. I've learned to accept what there is and do my best to make it and myself better." She lightly shrugged and smiled back.

Tara frowned. "But Ms. Ishida...these are wishes for anything. Don't you want a dozen of you to clean everything up at lightning speed?"

Aneko smiled to herself. "There are plenty of other people around to help me. And it would be rather strange and complicating to care for so many more of me."

Tara's eyes pleaded for Aneko to take at least a little wish. After a moment of thoughtful reflection, Aneko clapped her hands and announced, "While I may wish for supernatural encounters or perfect programs, what I'd really love is for my dinner to be the best possible tonight and for everyone to be happy with it."

It was less than Tara and Jamie hoped but it did sound nice to them. Jamie raised his wand high...and nothing much else happened.

Aneko smiled. "Thank you for your wish. I know dinner is going to be lovely tonight and I should get started on it right away."

Back out in the hall, Jamie rested the wand on his shoulder and flapped the petticoat. "So, who's next then?"

Tara looked over to the stairs. "Katsumi?"

Jamie curled his mouth. "You really want Katsumi to learn about a magic wand with potentially-unlimited power?"

Tara shrugged. "She sometimes takes a catnap after class..."

Jamie narrowed his eyes and Tara gave a little giggle.

They made their way upstairs to slowly open Katsumi's purple door and peer inside, their heads stacked like a totem pole.

They found Katsumi in bed, leaning against her dresser. She was snoozing softly in a ray of light bending from the window and with a pillow clutched to her stomach.

Tara and Jamie leaned back out and mulled over their options, after confirming that Mami's room was still empty on account of her studying downstairs.

Tara stretch/paced across the floor. "What about giving her boobies?"

Jamie tapped the wand on the floor. "Perhaps...but despite the fact it is Katsumi...I don't think suddenly changing her body without her consent would be ethical."

Tara amended, "Give her self-control of size? That way she chooses."

With widened, thoughtful eyes, Jamie considered it. "What about other than her body? We could give her a magical pen that draws just what she wants...and keeps her occupied from wanting to zap all the boys."

Tara shrugged. "Why not both?"

Jamie leaned the wand through the door and waved it a few times with those two wishes in mind. When he was done, he pointed out, in a whisper, "I was very careful not to mix those two together and give her a pen that makes boobs grow."

Tara gave a quiet little giggle. They both peered through the opening. Katsumi's pillow shifted and so did her chest.

As Jamie and Tara marveled in wonder, the front of Katsumi's T-shirt pressed out. And it kept pressing till twin mounds took on the kind of contours that Jamie had as a girl.

[https://i.imgur.com/XCV5X3J.png]

[Courtesy of HandofMidaz]

Jamie gave a sympathetic grimace and whispered, "Her back is gonna regret that."

Katsumi, still napping, fidgeted. In her hand appeared, with a spectral shimmer, a small pen.

The wish-granting duo left Katsumi to her nap and the inevitable surprise to follow. Next, they made their way to the gray door at the end of the hall.

After a knock and soft words, they navigated around Nana's computers. They were less-numerous and largely-organized compared to the last time Jamie visited her room, but they were still huge and hot.

They hopped around a tangle of cords to Nana where she sat with a pair of earmuff headphones on her head. She rocked a little left and right.

Jamie gave a wave. With a curious bend of her head, Nana said simply, "Boy..."

Tara and Jamie both nodded back and Tara explained, "Magic wand. Jamie-kun is now Yume-kun."

Nana's eyes dipped slightly. "I see."

Tara bounded over to Nana's side and asked, "We're going around granting wishes. Do you have any wishes, Nana?"

"I do."

Jamie readied his wand.

Tara made a giddy "O" with her mouth and said, "Tell Yume-kun! And he will grant them for you."

Nana bowed her head and let flow a stream of unsolved theoretical equations, unresolved universal constants, and computational constraints.

Jamie lost her after "non-linear". Tara took to twirling.

When Nana finished, she folded her hands. In the silence, a bit of music filtered out of her headphones. Tara leaned over and asked, "Whatcha listening to?"

Nana answered simply, "SELECT by Minorin."

Neither Tara nor Jamie had heard of it. Nana nodded. "Of course..." And said no more about the subject.

Jamie took to balancing the wand on his fingers and asked, "Anyway. Do you have any smaller wishes? We've been keeping it to one or two but like...we can give you your own pocket dimension to store your computers."

Nana adjusted the headphones and said, "I know. That won't be necessary." She stood and the cord of the headphones tugged on her. Nana looked over and said only, "Cordless..."

Jamie waved his wand and Nana's headphones adapted into a cordless unit. Nana bowed and walked over to the nearest closet. She picked up a cup of tea set on a closet shelf and leaned against the wall with the door open. Her feet flowed slowly with the music.

Jamie leaned over and asked, "Anything else? Need any cooling fans? Maybe a wireless connection from your brain to the computers?"

Nana paused for a moment but shook her head once. "I am fine. Thank you." She sipped her tea slowly.

Tara and Jamie shrugged to each other and went back down the hall. Since Katsumi was still snoozing with her robust bust, they took the stairs to the ground level.

Miki met up with them on the way to her room. She waved with her sports and school bags around her shoulder. “Hey, guys! Cool outfit! What’s up? Dinner smells like it’s gonna be fantastic tonight.”

By the time Miki put all her bags away, Tara had recapped the essential events. Miki scratched her cheek. “I suppose magic wands are real then. I mean you did give Jamie here a spell a while back…and there’s all the stuff my bro knows about. Sounds cool. But be careful.” She gestured around with a nod to them both.

Miki’s eyes widened a little when Tara said they were here to offer wishes to her. She tapped her foot and said, “Well, I’d really like to give a blessing to this whole house and everyone in it. We’ve been through a lot and I want there to be more good times than bad from here on out. We’ve totally earned it.”

Jamie nodded and gave a few arcs of his wand. Nothing else happened, save a little shimmer from the eyes of the teddy bear head.

Tara urged Miki, “And what about yourself? Any wishes just for you?”

Miki blew a puff of air and stretched. “I dunno. I just wish that I enjoy dinner tonight and have a good night of sleep for a grueling lacrosse game tomorrow.”

Jamie adjusted the wand. “Half of that’s taken care of.”

Tara pouted. “Nothing bigger?”

Miki shook her head. “Nah. I don’t need any pens or dimensions or muscle boosts or anything. I just need my friends.” She smiled and gave Jamie a pat on the arm.

After a wave of the wand to ensure restful slumber, Jamie and Tara walked down the hall. Jamie chewed on his lip and mused out loud, “Cliché though it might be, do you think there’s a lesson in all this…like some episodes of Yumeko?”

Tara curled a lock of her hair and thought about that with Jamie. After a moment, she said, “Maybe. But it’ll probably all turn out okay…somehow.”

Jamie sighed but nodded. He looked to Reiko’s room, where he knew he would find both Sumi and Reiko. Despite his shift of gender, he didn’t relish the idea of saying hi to Sumi, especially considering she was his best guess for the random card in his box.

Tara opted to knock. Sumi answered in a bra and panty. Jamie blushed.

Sumi eyed the two of them, with a slight smile, and said, “What?...I was changing out of my uniform.”

Reiko quickly appeared from behind and asked, “What do you want?”

Disappointment soon spread over Sumi when she realized Jamie was a boy. She pouted. “And you never took me up on my offers.” Reiko rolled her eyes and slammed a book bag in the corner.

After a bit of explanation, Reiko and Sumi looked at each other. Reiko spoke first, “I want to be happy. And I don’t want to feel torn in two.”

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Jamie expected that wish. He mulled it a bit and waved his wand. Reiko’s eyes brightened and she stood and twirled in place with her uniform fanning out. She giggled and danced all over.

Jamie narrowed an eye. Tara leaned over. “What did you wish for?”

Jamie shrugged. “I just asked for her to be happy with herself.”

And Reiko was happy. She was happy all over the room. She was happy pills happy with happy sauce on the side. And she was only happy. Sumi smiled and watched the twirling.

Jamie grunted. “Imprecise magical wand.” He waved it again and Reiko’s twirling slowed. Reiko slid down in the middle of the floor and brought her hands close to herself.

Really close.

Jamie’s eyes widened and he reached over to cover Tara’s eyes. Sumi gave a little gasp and pronounced, “Not quite but I must say…not bad.”

He rolled his eyes away. “I just wanted her to love herself more…” Sumi laughed lightly.

With a sigh, Jamie mulled, “Maybe I need something concrete and less abstract.”

He waved his wand again and Reiko’s hands drifted away from herself. A fuzzy penguin the same color as Reiko’s hair appeared on her desk. Reiko looked around but she seemed drawn to the penguin. She picked it up and gave it a hug. Instantly, a smile crossed her face.

Tara peered over Jamie’s protective eyes. “How’d ya fix it?”

Jamie rested the wand on his shoulder. “Well, I made a special plush that brings her happiness. It’s not a fix…”

Sumi smiled. “I think it’s cute. Is it my turn?”

Reluctantly, Jamie nodded. Sumi traced her lips and thought a moment 'til she resolved, “I wish that women, the world over, who are hurting tonight feel their pains lifted and their sorrow eased as much as your wand can allow.”

Her wish made Jamie pause. He watched her as she smiled back. Nodding a little, he raised his wand. The teddy head shimmered brightly and the wand felt hot. There were no other signs of the wish.

Sumi smirked. “If I get another, I’d love for tomorrow to be declared ‘Wear a bikini to class’ day at school.”

Jamie suppressed a shudder and said, “Uh...”

She added, “That or I’d like this particular figurine I’ve been seeking for ages.”

It took only a glance at a magazine and a wave of the wand for the figure to appear in Sumi’s room across the hall.

Sumi appeased, Tara and Jamie walked over to the living room, where Mami and Arisu were going over homework.

Arisu had a far off gaze. Jamie sighed and muttered to Tara, “He...she's probably musing on the composition of a dust mote or monologuing in his head with open-ended questions and meandering observations.”

As Arisu turned to face Jamie with wide eyes, he cut short the kindling moments of Arisu musing about the two of them suddenly showing up by declaring, “I turned into a magical boy. I’m granting wishes. Want some?”

Arisu’s reddish eyebrows went up and Mami’s eyes flicked from the page of her reading. They looked at one another.

While Arisu mulled that question, Mami asked, “Are you for real?”

Jamie patted his flat chest and answered, “Quite.”

Arisu slowly shook her head. “But magic isn’t possible…transforming universes, sure. Turning inanimate objects into people, of course. But magic? What’s the physics behind it?”

Jamie rolled his eyes and waved his wand. A cup of tea with lemon appeared in Arisu’s hands. Mami gaped and immediately asked, “Can you make money with it?”

That nearly prompted Jamie to slap himself with the wand. He sighed. “How expected was that…?”

Mami gave a shrug and a frown. “Wouldn’t anyone want money? Besides, I’m barely making up costs with my job at the sushi bar as it is. At least they let me do karaoke for free.”

Jamie gave her a curl of his mouth and a little nod. “But you wouldn’t want to just be given money, right?”

Mami paused, then answered, “Well, if it appears out of thin air or you enchant my purse to always have enough that I need for necessities and stuff…I wouldn’t turn it down, just like any opportunity in front of me.”

Jamie twirled the wand as carefully as he could. “I could do that…but would that really make you happy? That’s kinda my thing as a magical…boy. I make people happier.”

Mami blinked back and said, “Uh…yeah. It would make me quite happy.”

With a sigh and a wave of his wand, Jamie granted the wish.

Mami ran to her purse and thought of rent. A bulge of yen bills appeared inside. Like a magic trick, each time she thought of something she needed or would like to buy, more money appeared in her purse. Mami hugged Jamie and twirled off down the hall.

Jamie looked to Arisu and asked, “I can’t help but think that’ll end badly…What’s yours, roomie?”

Arisu’s gaze smoldered quietly while she reflected on the possibilities as they lay before her. And she sipped her tea.

After a few quiet moments, in which Jamie started to nod off, Arisu said, “I’d like for you to have all the DVD copies of your favorite movies again.”

Jamie smiled. “I could so bootleg all those if I really wanted to. They’d look different anyway. Thanks, but you’re taking a bigger wish.”

Arisu sighed. “Clean Ami’s room?”

Tara noted, “Already done.”

“Help Reiko feel happier.”

Jamie remarked, “Done.”

Arisu looked down. “Umm…finish my homework?”

Jamie narrowed his eyes. “Cheater…” He had considered giving himself that as a personal wish though.

After several efforts, Arisu finally said, “I wish I knew what a good wish would be…”

Jamie slumped. “Oh, that is sooo you…but granted.”

Arisu’s head rose up. “I know a good wish.”

“And?”

“I just wished it. Apparently.”

Tara smiled.

Jamie glared at the wand and clutched it like he was strangling it. “I’m gonna make this wand give you a great anime DVD and then I’m going.” Despite his grip, he waved it easily and a DVD appeared in Arisu’s hand.

She looked at it and smiled. “Huh…thanks. I’ll go watch this upstairs after dinner.”

Then, she sat there and looked back at Jamie and Tara. Jamie sighed and tucked his wand under his arm. With Keiko staying over at Carolyn's for a few days, Jamie knew who was left...

From down the hall, Akiko scampered over in jeans and a black shirt. She looked around, smiled a little, and said, in sign-language, “Hello.”

Tara smiled and spoke, “She says ‘Hello’.”

Jamie nodded. “Yeah, I know that one…”

Arisu signed back to her with a smile. Akiko stretched her legs and looked Jamie over with a wide gaze. She pointed to Jamie’s outfit.

Jamie explained, “I have magic. I can grant wishes for things that you want.”

Tara added, “It’s lots of fun! We’ve been helping everyone to be happier.”

Akiko stroked her chin, shifted her mouth, and then pointed to herself.

Tara nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! You get wishes! Anything you want.”

Akiko seemed frozen for a moment and then, struggling with the word, said, “Wiiish…”

Jamie leaned on his wand, flattening the teddy bear head and repeated, trying not to dwell on the ominous qualities of the phrase, “Anything you want.” Despite all this time living with Akiko, despite everything, the back of Jamie’s mind worried about what she might come up with for a wish.

Akiko plopped her head on the end of the far couch and resisted the old urge to press her teeth into her lips to focus. She curled her hair a bit and brought her hands up under her head. Finally, she shook her head and shrugged.

Jamie turned the wand in his hand and muttered, “Just as indecisive as ‘mom’.” He gave half a glare to Arisu and offered, “I could give you candy…or food?”

Akiko pursed her lips but shook her head.

“Anything to make you happy? The ability to talk perfectly?”

Akiko’s eyes widened and she shrugged again. She made a clear sign for, “I’m happy. I talk.”

Tara translated but Jamie could tell from her facial expressions.

He set his wand down and declared, “My work as a magical boy is done…”

Tara clapped and Akiko joined in.

Then, Jamie paused. “Uh…this doesn’t mean that I have to go back to my regular form, right?”

Tara reflected a moment. “Welllll…I’m not sure how that would be done. I suppose you could just wish yourself back.”

Jamie rocked his head. “Not sure I really want to do that…and besides…”

Suddenly, Ami rushed down the hall. “Something’s wrong! Come quickly!”

Akiko sensed Ami’s distress but only watched as Tara and Jamie sped off back to Ami’s room.

In her room, Ami demonstrated the problem. She tried to pull something out of her inventory but it kept going back in. “My clothes, my papers for class. I can’t keep anything out of it long enough to actually use it.”

Jamie pressed a hand to his forehead. “Of course, wishes will invariably go wrong. We better go check on the others. But we’ll fix this, promise.”

The two hustled to each location touched by their wishes. They found Katsumi’s room was empty. Nana’s headphones had caused no ill effects. But they came upon Mami in her room with cash and scraps of purse all over the place.

She said only, “My purse…popped.”

Tara grimaced and Jamie sighed as he asked, “What did you want?”

Mami gave a sweat-drop look. “Nothing…too big. I just kinda pondered my own house.”

The penguin was without any ill-effects, as was Sumi’s figurine.

But as they turned from Sumi’s room, Katsumi appeared in front of them with more stealth than her usual footfalls afforded.

She stared them down, her new bust pressing against her t-shirt. She set a foot and asked, “Who is responsible for this?”

Jamie raised his wand and Katsumi burst at him and yelled, “THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!”

Her soft squeeze unsettled Jamie as much as her enthusiasm. Katsumi hopped back and clutched her hands. “I’ve always wanted a magic pen. You messed up on the other thing though. Every time I think about them changing, they shift.”

Sumi stood in the doorway and pouted. “You ruined my cutie lolly loli…”

Katsumi razzed Sumi and said, “I think you’re gonna like this though. Thanks for this pen…I can draw anything…anywhere. And since I found out about your magical wand by asking around, I knew I had to have one too.”

Tara widened her eyes.

Jamie grimaced. “Uh oh…”

Katsumi raised the pen in the air and drew the shape of the wand. It materialized and she held it out before her.

A white light enveloped her and, in moments, she had transformed.

Magical Girl Katsumi had an elegant dress. It flowed to her knee with bows and flourishes and trim and beautiful, gossamer details. The whole thing was lavender in a color which complimented her long hair. She had shimmering boots and elegant gloves with lacy patterns.

She was taller as well. Magical Girl Katsumi looked more mature and womanly with an elegant figure. She smirked and floated with her wand outstretched and intoned her first wish.

“I wish that everyone throughout this world and any world ever born will become cute and lovely maidens of beauty now and forever. No universe will be spared. Everyone. Everywhere. Every moment. All girls!”

A blast of light washed over everything.

Jamie looked down and sighed at the return of her familiar, female form. She could imagine that all over Ogawa, all over Japan, and all over this universe, scenes of shock and surprise were repeating themselves.

She could even imagine it in universes far away, maybe someone looking down at words on a sheet of paper or words on a screen to suddenly feel strange and realize their body has been changed forever according to Katsumi’s wish.

She gave a sympathetic shudder and watched as Katsumi giggled madly to herself and said, “I did it! I finally did it! I got them all!”

Sumi clapped a little and smiled. “More to snuggle…”

Jamie folded her arms with narrowed eyes and asked, “What now?”

Katsumi folded her arms too and said, “Now…I get to enjoy it.”

Jamie rolled her eyes. “You do realize that I can’t let any of this stay. We have to undo it.”

Katsumi hissed. “This is my victory! You can’t take it away.”

“What about families and babies. Humanity will die off.”

Katsumi smiled. “Such solutions are just a wand wave away. I’ll figure out something.”

Jamie shook her head. “Come on. You know this isn’t right.”

Katsumi squeezed her wand. “Plenty right to me. I want it.”

Jamie sighed. “Not getting through. I wish you would give up magic and let me fix this.”

Katsumi stomped her feet, in the moment before Jamie waved her wand, and yelled, “Cheater! I wish…”

But it was too late. Katsumi let her wand go and sighed, reverting back to her regular form. She still had her bust though. “That’s not fair. I want you to fix it but I know it’s just because of magic. But you can’t quell what I am! You can fix it but give me one hour to relish it first!”

Jamie clapped a hand over her eyes. “Fine….”

Sumi also went out for a little sight-seeing. Once an hour…and a half…had passed, a starry-eyed Katsumi pirouetted back into Mecchen House.

She hugged herself and giggled. “So much cuteness. So many new girls. So many all over. So much blushing. So much shyness. So much surprise….I’m overflowing…” She slumped to the floor and just giggled to herself.

Tara and Jamie sat on the couch with their chins in their hands. Jamie asked, “So how do we fix all the stuff that went crazy?”

Tara reflected a moment and then turned. “I have an idea…” She whispered to Jamie, who grimaced and muttered, “That is such a cop-out…”

But with no other good options occurring to her, Jamie stood and said, “I wish…that this whole thing was just pretend. I wish that none of my wishes…well…maybe not none…the ones that messed up, were just pretend being played. And I wish that, henceforth, this wand is just a normal wand with no powers.”

A bright shimmer covered everything and Jamie found herself back in Tara’s room with the wand in her hand.

Tara clapped. “And Yume-kun is back to Yumeko, having saved the day yet again!”

Jamie smiled. “Thanks. We kinda got ourselves into a spot there with magic.”

Tara laughed. “Don’t worry, Jamie-kun. It was just pretend.”

Jamie gave a little laugh and nodded. “Yeah. And it did make me feel better to get away from my worries for a while.” She held up the wand and shook it a little. Nothing happened.

Jamie passed the wand back to Tara and she put it away. She changed out of the magical girl outfit she remembered putting on for Tara’s game and smiled.

There was a knock on the door. Tara flashed over to reveal Ami with her hand still poised to knock. She laughed and smiled at the two of them. “What’s going on in here?”

Tara relayed the excitement of their game, all the wishes and all the mistakes.

Ami listened attentively and responded, “Well, it’s good I don’t have a weird cloak pocket dimension thingie. But I did some big cleaning this evening.”

Jamie’s eyes widened. It seemed like a miracle.

Ami laughed. “It’s weird. I dunno. I just feel….really happy tonight.”

Nana came up the stairs with a pair of cordless headphones on her head. She looked around and announced, “Ms. Ishida says dinner is ready.”

Jamie went to her room to change into a comfortable shirt and jeans for supper. She paused at her door and gave a little smile to herself. She had a feeling that dinner would be great.

[https://i.imgur.com/Ymk8xi4.jpg]

Early version of the cover art.