Once More to See You Bonus Epilogue (Monthly Exclusive)

For the most part, Sybil had done a good job of keeping her composure; she was uncertain how much longer that would last. On the inside, Sybil was vibrating with excitement. Earth was a cacophony of new sights, sounds, and smells. If not for Madelyn’s presence, the whole experience would likely have been a nightmare. Luckily, Sybil had nothing to worry about on that front, Madelyn had practically bolted herself to Sybil’s waist, so concerned she was that without guidance her lover might slip up and reveal herself to be a wielder of actual, real magic. Admittedly, there had been a few close calls. But how was Sybil supposed to know that the car—and yes, they really were real; Sybil had quickly gotten over her initial excitement over that once she realized just how loud and smelly they were—was going to naturally come to a stop before it slammed full speed into the woman she loved? Sybil didn’t know what the red light meant, at least not at the time anyway.

Obviously then, she had a lot to learn, and Madelyn’s attempts to pass along the fundamentals had only just begun to touch on the full extent of just what being actually present moment to moment on Earth was like. The crowded city streets completely dwarfed the familiar towns which Sybil had once considered quite bustling, and keeping any kind of focus while making her way through them proved quite impossible. There was simply too much to be seen, and apparently, this was on the small end of what constituted a ‘major city’ on Earth. It was for those reasons, among others, that Madelyn had suggested they slow things down a bit before things got to be too much. And such, after the initial few hours wandering maze-like streets, Madelyn had led Sybil back to their home—which apparently was called an apartment—for what she referred to as something “less busy.”

Of course, something more mundane to Madelyn wasn’t necessarily any less astonishing to Syibl, and sitting down to watch what Madelyn described as “sort of like a play, but not live and with more realistic effects,” did nothing to prepare Sybil for watching tiny people on a screen do things like fly through space or chop one another’s arms off. Apparently it was all fake, though, not that Sybil could tell the difference. The only thing she had trouble believing was the notion that some of these actors were anywhere near the ages of the characters they were meant to be portraying, but apparently that was also normal on Earth. She likely would have continued to complain had Madelyn not sated her with a selection of local cuisine, which did a fairly excellent job of shutting her up as Sybil alternated between making faces of delight and greedily shoving her mouth full of food all over again.

So focused on the task of burying herself in a mountain of Earth food was Sybil, that she almost hadn’t noticed Madelyn’s apparent preoccupation. She was looking down at her phone—which was apparently something used for communication?—and tapping it rapidly with both thumbs, an anxious, thoughtful look written across her face. “Something wrong, Maddie?” she called softly.

Madelyn looked up suddenly, blushing, “Oh, no, I’m alright I guess. I just, kind of let myself believe that nobody was going to miss me here. I was wrong.” Her tone was a familiar cocktail of guilt and sadness, though not one Sybil had sampled much recently. Its absence had only made the taste all the more bitter, especially coming from her dearest loved one.

“Hey, whatever’s going on, it isn’t your fault, Madelyn. If anything, it’s mine. I took you from here with no contingency in mind for sending you back.” Somehow, an attempt to assuage Madelyn’s own worries only wound up making Sybil feel worse. She’d hurt Madelyn. Though apparently Madelyn wasn’t particularly keen on that tactic.

“Don’t do that. It’s true that you maybe could have thought things over more, but I wouldn’t give up what we have for anything, Sybil.” And then Madelyn’s arms were wrapped around Sybil’s waist, her head resting in Sybil’s lap. “I just wish I hadn’t let myself pretend I wasn’t leaving anything behind by coming here. And yes, I definitely needed to leave my old life, but maybe I could have taken more with me—not literally, but, y’know, metaphorically—and now there are all these people who thought I might have literally been dead and what am I supposed to do? Just call them? They’re expecting me to be some guy and it’s not like I can just explain away everything that’s happened to my body. Maybe… maybe it would be best if just for a little while, you turned me back to how I use—”

“Out of the question.” Sybil’s tone was firm, but she punctuated her words with a tender stroke of Madelyn’s cheek. “I don’t know a lot about what you had to go through before you met me, Madelyn, but you’ve told me enough what it was like. Being in that body was torture for you, and I won’t let you sacrifice your own happiness and comfort just to make a problem I caused easier to solve. Even if it’s only for a little while.”

“But I—”

“No, Madelyn.” Despite her lover’s protest, Sybil had felt the discomfort radiating off Madelyn the very moment the suggested popped into her mind. And, in turn, she could feel the relief at Sybil’s insistence otherwise.

“How are we going to fix this problem, then? People are going to want to see me and it’s not like we can just tell them magic is real,” Madelyn groaned.

“Why not?” Sybil asked.

“Because I—well, I dunno. That’s a big thing to put on someone though, Sybil, we can’t just rush into something like that.” Madelyn may have had a point. If handled poorly, Sybil could easily assume that finding out something as monumental as magic being real would be historic news. Still, they had backed themselves into a corner to a certain extent.

“You’re right. But it’s something to consider. Regardless, I’ll find us a solution. One that doesn’t require hurting you. I’m not sure what yet, but I’ve got a lot of tools at my disposal. Is it something you need solved right away?” She squeezed Madelyn’s hand comfortingly.

“I guess not.”

“Good, then let’s not let it ruin our day.” Sybil gently tapped her finger against Madelyn’s nose, then lightly tickled her cheek before nodding to Madelyn’s phone. “By all means though, respond with your communication thing to whomever you need to respond to. Just don’t let yourself worry about your appearance. This is how you were meant to be; the last thing you should be doing is feeling insecure about it.”

“Thank you,” Madelyn breathed; Sybil just nodded, and leaned forward to kiss her beloved’s forehead. They lingered that way a while longer, Madelyn treating the wonders of television as downright banal while they sent message after message back and forth to whatever person or persons they were in correspondence with, all while Sybil lost herself in the marvels of technology beyond her wildest imagination. Eventually, after whatever strange play she was watching went to what Madelyn referred to as a ‘commercial break’—and after the advertisements they portrayed had lost their novelty—Sybil turned her attention back down to the absolutely gorgeous person nestled in her lap.

“So who are you talking with, anyway?” she asked casually, running a hand through Madelyn’s short hair.

Madelyn grew flushed. “My, uh, my ex,” she stammered. Something tightened in Sybil, an unfortunate little synthesis of jealousy and protective possessiveness whirling around inside her. Perhaps, she mused, these weren’t the healthiest of feelings to have, but working on that bit of herself would need to wait.

“And what does she—he, they? Want exactly?” Sybil tried to avoid hissing that response, it failed. “I swear on the void, Madelyn, if this person is hurting you I’ll—”

“This particular ex is a she. And relax, Sybil. She’s a good person. If anything, I hurt her. It turns out girls and girl-adjacent people make pretty unsatisfying boyfriends.” There was regret in Madelyn’s voice, regret for the pain she had caused along her path, but no regret for where it had led. “She thought she’d killed me. I’m just—you know—making sure she knows I’m alive and okay. Things were weird last time Bea and I spoke.”

“I’m s—”

“What did I say earlier? Don’t blame yourself for this. Things could have gone smoother, but I wouldn’t trade what’s happened. I needed it, you needed it.” Madelyn sat up slightly, and pecked Sybil on the neck, before returning to her original place resting against Sybil’s thighs.

Sybil sighed, nodding in resignation. “You’re right.”

“Damn right I’m right.” Madelyn giggled a little, then grew thoughtful. “Hey, Sybil? I think I’d like to come back and visit here more often. There’s more for me here than I thought. Friends, family, all that sort of thing. Not to mention pizza.”

“You keep talking about this ‘pizza’ stuff, but you have yet to show me. Is it some kind of game?” Madelyn sat up, their eyes fixed on Sybil with intense perplexity.

“What? Did I never tell—nevermind. We’re doing that tonight. Pizza, I mean. Actually, there’s a pretty good place nearby that’s also really close to a pet store. Not that I’m saying we should buy an animal—admittedly a cute little kitten would be nice at some point if ‘Ruuki won’t get jealous—if I remember correctly, though, it’s a specialty shop. Has like a thing for reptiles, which means, y’know, you can see some cool snakes if you wanna.” She stood from the sofa and stretched, crossing the room to the shelf she’d left her wallet and keys.

“Games and snakes? Sounds like a nice evening.” Sybil casually lay back, making a show of snapping her fingers while her boots levitated toward her on their own. Madelyn paused, turning to face Sybil, the incredulous look returning to her face.

“Babe, pizza isn’t a game.” Apparently simply making that statement alone was enough to send Madelyn into a fit of giggles.

“Oh.”

“It’s a food.”

“Oh!” Despite the sheer cubic volume of food she’d shoveled into her mouth over the past few hours, more of whatever Earth cuisine had to offer sounded great.

Something about the look on Sybil’s face must have set Madelyn off. Her giggles resumed, and she crossed the room, crawling atop Sybil to kiss her long and slow. She broke the kiss, and grinned. “God you’re such a fucking dork. I love you so much.”

Sybil blushed. “I love you too, Madelyn.”

“Glad to hear.” She grinned, and effortlessly pulled Sybil to her feet. “Well then, maybe we should get going? I’d prefer not to stay out too late. Also make sure you don’t eat too much, I don’t want you to be in a food coma; you’ve shown me plenty of your own spells, but I’ve got a magic wand of my own I’d like to introduce you to.” With a cocky smirk, Madelyn raised an eyebrow and cocked her head.

“I thought you said Earth didn’t ha—”

“It’s a sex thing.” Madelyn said, in a practiced deadpan.

Sybil only blushed deeper, and giggled. “Ah. In that case, I’m looking forward to it already.” Sybil winked, finished putting on her boots, and followed her lover out into the night.