Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Gods above, it was so fucking cold. The branch beneath you wasn’t frosty, but the rain and the night chill combined had sapped any warmth left in your tiny body. You crawled forward slowly, trying to ignore the way your side throbbed and the sensation of your toes going numb. Your fur was so soaked at this point that you felt more like a dishrag in a washing basin than a small mammal, and it made the wood beneath your claws dangerously slippery. Usually storms like this found you curled relatively dry in a tree knoll somewhere, or in a nest, or inside someone’s shed nestled into the hay. But tonight hadn’t just brought rain. It brought stray dogs.

Your side twinged again. You knew it wasn’t just rain making it feel so wet.

Finally you reached the edge of the treeline, clinging to the branch as a strong gust of wind shook it beneath you. The faint lights you’d been eyeing during your trek turned out to be glowing from the windows of a small cottage. They had no shed and no barn, but they were relatively far from where you’d started, and away from the dogs. They might have an eave you could take shelter under, or a hole in their roof to take advantage of. Searching for an empty knoll or nest in this weather risked running into bats, or other squirrels, and besides that you could feel your strength weakening more and more. You desperately needed rest.

Breathing slowly, you crawled down the tree trunk, wincing when the ground squished beneath your paws. Your muscles were wound so tight they almost cramped, ears straining for the telltale sound of panting or footsteps in the dark. It was hard to hear over the wind and rain, and the loud rustling of trees all around you, so you cautiously crept across the span of grass between the trees and the cottage’s garden. The closer you got, the faster you moved, before you were running at a slightly crooked gait towards the thatched walls and warm glow inside. Your heart beat so hard it made your throat close up. You kept going.

When the walls loomed close, you jumped, climbing up and cursing in your head as the bundled siding scraped your face and scratched at your wound. The roof was easier though, neat and well-kept. Smoke billowed lazily from the chimney. Now what? It was so well kept there weren't any holes you could see. Maybe they left a window cracked open?

A voice in your head screamed that nobody would leave a window open in this weather but you ignored it. What else could you do? Nothing was audible from inside the cottage, but shapes occasionally flickered past the windows, casting shadows on the pools of light outside. So people were home , at least. You prayed to a goddess you didn’t believe in that this house harbored people who liked small animals and not crotchety individuals who threw shoes at them.

Hauling yourself as carefully as you could down to the closest windowsill, you peered inside. Several blurry figures sat around a flickering shape you assumed to be the hearth. One was talking, perhaps, while another sat at their feet. The third sat across from them, holding something. You scratched at the windowpane, ignoring the dizzying rabbiting of your heart.

No movement.

You tried again, eyes aching in a way you would’ve associated with held-back tears had you been in human form. This time, the smaller figure shifted, as if turning. Then, it stood up, and you held your breath as the figure grew larger and reached towards you. You squished yourself against the edge of the window frame, unsure which way the pane opened. Thankfully when it creaked, it swung outward and away from you. Peering at you from the warmth inside was a girl, her brow furrowed and lips pursed. You shivered.

“What is it, Bug?” came a raspy voice from inside. The girl replied without turning around, still studying you.

“A squirrel…” she said. “Poor thing, it-”

A crack of thunder split the air and made you jump, falling from the sill into the cottage and landing with an unflattering plop on the floor. Exclamations burst out from everyone in the room as you quickly flipped upright and scuttled into a corner. You turned and huddled there, heaving, struggling to make out the figures around you in the sudden brightness of the firelight.

“Oh there’s, there’s blood on the floor…” The girl gasped softly, eyes flicking to you as she bent down.

“It’s hurt? Why did it want to come inside our house ?” came a third voice, more masculine than the former two.

The girl got on her knees, shuffling forward minutely. You stayed where you were, eyeing her. Unable to take your eyes off her when she was approaching, but also unable to summon the strength to run away just yet. Your heart pounded in your ears as you hoped again that these people were the kind sort.

“Maybe it saw the fire and was cold?” the girl murmured. “Holga, can you get me a towel?”

The one who must have been Holga grunted, standing and plodding out of the room obediently. While she was gone, the girl didn’t move, simply sitting on her knees and watching you. The fire flickered prettily off her voluminous curls and the soft cream color of her dress. Her demeanor certainly seemed kind?

Holga returned after what was likely a few seconds, but felt like minutes in the silence. Your heart rate had slowly calmed but your body felt tense, still. The girl took the towel and began scooting closer again, this time offering a sweet smile.

“I won’t hurt you,” she cooed. “You’re okay, you’ll be okay..”

The larger figures in the room simply watched, one of them crossing her broad arms and shifting on her feet. When the girl got close enough, she reached out just as slowly with the towel, and then waited. This close, you could see the deep brown of her eyes. Yes , you thought with a certain sense of relieved finality. They’re kind .

You crawled forward slightly into the cradle of her grasp. The towel was soft and dry, and near immediately your body melted into it.

“Trusting creature,” muttered Holga, finally going to sit back in her chair.

The girl lifted you carefully, murmuring something about taking a look at you. Her voice swam in and out of your focus, your mind retreating slightly as if in a fog.

Curses and spells were finicky. As a druid you knew that well. But this one really made you want to scream. For months (was it more or less than a year now? time slipped past you so strangely in this form) you’d been stuck. Nothing you’d tried had yielded any result, and you didn’t know how or where to find some expert to help. In a land so vast, not everyone had connections, and it was easy for people like you to fall through the cracks. There were no friends to look for you, no family members who cared enough to seek you out. You still remembered in vivid detail the hot shock of sensation hitting you, curling around your thoughts and making them hazy as it melded the squirrel shape you’d taken to your soul. The warlock who cast this was a cruel bastard. 

A similar haziness washed over you now, though instead of a curse, you knew it was the adrenalin fading and blood loss catching up. You felt the girl stand, the towel folding over you slightly as if to stave off the cold. In the hands of this gentle child, you let the world go dark.

–

The next morning you woke up warm, which was unusual after a storm, and dry, even more unusual. You blinked. There was faint pressure around your middle, but the ache was less strong now than it had been. Your body felt relaxed too, no crick in your neck or bugs itching your fur. As the world swam into focus, you could see you were placed on someone’s bedside(?) with a blanket, perhaps a rag or cloth scrap, tucked carefully around you. You must have been in a basket, or perhaps a small box, and someone had tucked in more rags or scraps as padding. The slanted sunshine through the windows seemed to you to indicate late morning, falling across the bedsheets in warm flickers. The room itself was empty.

Not for long though, because you’d barely sat up before the girl from last night trotted in, almost as if she sensed your alertness. Her eyes lit up when she saw you, hurrying over with a wide smile on her face. 

“Hello,” she cooed when she reached the bedside, reaching out to rub a finger softly between your ears. Usually you didn’t get close enough to allow people to full-on pet you, but this was fine. She’d helped you, so it was fine. (You ignored the part of you that craved physical contact so much it hurt.)

“You seem to be doing alright,” she continued, sitting down on the (her?) bed. “We cleaned your injury, poor thing. Hungry?”

You weren’t sure if she actually expected answers from a squirrel or not. You just blinked.

She didn’t seem to, since she just smiled brightly. “I bet you are! Want to come with me?” With this she leaned over and reached towards you, and you fought not to flinch. She simply used the makeshift blanket to bundle you up carefully and carry you with her. It was warm, and nice, and so far seemed safe, so you allowed yourself to ease into it a little. You would be okay.

The kitchen was just as sunny as the bedroom, with the usual wooden cabinets, table, chairs, and cookware you’d expect to see. A little messy, but in a lived-in sort of way, especially with the smell of something in the air. Herbs? Fresh bread? Whatever it was, it made your stomach clench. It had been so long since you’d been in a place like this that the domesticity of it almost felt foreign.

The man you’d seen last night looked up from the table as you entered, a loose and easy grin on his face. He appeared to have been tuning an instrument, by the looks of it. An apple sat by his elbow, half-eaten. “How’s our guest doing Kira?” he asked, leaning back in his chair.

“Good,” the girl, Kira , said. “Do we have anything she can eat?”

“I asked Holga to get some nuts and uh, some more fruit when she went to go to the market a while ago,” the man replied, reaching to take another bite of his apple. “She should be back soon.”

“That’s good,” Kira mused, setting you down gently in your little bundle on the table. The man peered at you but seemed unconcerned, just curious.

“Awfully calm, for a squirrel,” he mused, taking another bite. Your stomach clenched again. When was the last time you ate?

“Maybe we’re just really nice,” Kira smiled at him, petting between your ears again. “Maybe she really needed help and now we’ve helped her.”

The man (her father? caretaker?) smiled at her. “Yeah kid, maybe.” He aimed and tossed his apple core out of the window near the front door. You realized many of the windows in this room were cracked open now, the outside breeze cool against your fur.

Just then, the front door swung wide. The women from last night (Holga? your memory was a little foggy) stomped in, her arms laden with sacks. “You almost hit me,” she grumbled, as Kira trotted over to help her set her items down, which earned the girl a faint smile and a pat on the head.

The man smirked. “I’ll try harder next time.”

Holga rolled her eyes, then stretched her arms over her head and turned back to Kira. “How’s your little friend?”

“Good!” Kira repeated, pointing over at where you sat, still bundled up on the table. Your wound ached too much to want to move around much, and the warmth was nice besides.

Holga glanced at you, raising an eyebrow. “Did you tie it up to keep it so still?”

Kira rolled her eyes, and it struck you how similar the gesture was to the way Holga did it. “No,” she said, huffing. “She just likes me, I think.”

“Awfully trusting,” Holga grunted, similar to what she’d said the night before. “I got some stuff for her, by the way.”

“Yes, thank you!” Kira clapped, leaning forward as Holga pulled some items out of a sack. You sniffed, but couldn’t tell what they had over the smell of fresh bread. Behind you, the sound of strings being plucked and adjusted started up again.

“Here,” Kira came over and offered you a nut pinched carefully between her fingers. When you took it in your mouth her smile was so wide it nearly split her face. Warmth bloomed in your chest at the sight, as she sat down to feed you more, mostly nuts and berries, from her hand. You ate each one ravenously, much to the amusement of the man at the table. 

“We need something to call you,” mused Kira as she offered a sunflower seed. Behind her, Holga slowly put away the rest of her bounty, occasionally shooting a fond glance towards the table where you all sat.

“What about Bushy Tail,” the man grunted, twisting a peg on his instrument rather harshly.

Kira wrinkled her nose as Holga snorted. “No way.”

“Big Teeth,” Holga chimed in, leaning against the counter now with her arms crossed. Her face split into a smile when Kira groaned.

“You guys have terrible ideas,” the girl groused. You leaned over for another nut, which she easily offered. “How about... Cinnamon? Because she’s got this pretty cinnamon-colored dusting on her fur.” Here she reached out with her other hand to pet down your back.

Holga pushed off the counter to ruffle Kira’s hair. “Good one, kid.”

Cinnamon , you thought. Not bad.

Chapter Text

The next days passed in a similar fashion, and slowly you settled into their routine.

Since they didn’t keep farm animals, nobody in the house needed to wake up early unless they were going to the market. Kira actually tended to wake first, then Holga, then the man. They traded off who cooked, but you noticed Holga tended to be given the least amount of shifts in the kitchen.

You learned the man’s name was Edgin, and he was in fact Kira’s father. You weren’t sure about Holga, though. She seemed maternal to Kira as she guided the girl through things with affectionate teasing, the two of them playful and fond, but she was hardly a wife to Edgin. The pair ribbed each other in a manner that reminded you of siblings, crude and a little mean and so deeply loving you could see it from that very first day in their home. They often acted eerily in sync, knowing what the other was doing before they’d started doing it, and they clearly implicitly trusted each other. Edgin looked at her sometimes like he was trying to memorize her face, and those moments made you feel inexplicably sad. Kira wore that look towards Holga too, on occasion, though she was better at shaking it off.

You healed fast in their care.

Kira checked your bandage once or twice a day, apologizing each time that they didn’t have healing salve at the moment, though you assumed she did it more for herself than for you. She thought you were just a squirrel, after all. Apparently their main magical friend was still learning how to make the salve and hadn’t quite gotten there yet.

Most days were filled with a mix of chores and revelry, something you hadn’t had time for in a long while. Squirrel life had mostly consisted of foraging for food, moving from place to place every few weeks, and napping, the main indulgence you had allowed yourself. And running. You chose not to think about the running.

Kira talked to you often. She seemed to like doing it, like she liked petting your fur and watching you eat the goodies she brought you. She was a smart girl, and sweet. You found yourself quickly growing fond of her.

The other two talked to you as well, in different ways. Edgin made comments about you being an unintended guest, joked about how you’d have to start paying rent if you kept living there. You knew he didn’t mean them though. He had a kind and jovial air about him that put you at ease, and you liked his music. Holga was a little less chatty with you, but occasionally engaged in one-sided banter in the way she did with her family. Sometimes she even pet you like Kira did, chin propped on her arm as she watched you intently. You started loving those moments, getting to study the lines of her face and the color of her eyes. For a woman so burly who you knew mostly handled weaponry, her touch was always startlingly gentle.

Holga was unsurprisingly the main one in charge of the physical chores around the house. One notable day you’d perched on Kira’s shoulder as she took you outside to watch Holga chop wood. Holga swung the axe with little effort, chatting with Kira all the while and smiling faintly at the girl’s jokes, a little half smirk. Her muscles bulged slightly under her sleeveless linen shirt and you found your gaze straying constantly. Especially when she started to sweat. Her tan skin almost glistened in the sun. You were particularly glad in that moment to be a squirrel and not be caught ogling like a fool.

After the first week Holga started helping feed you, too. She seemed to like having something to do in her downtime, in the little moments she had to herself. You didn’t get the sense she was a restless person, per say, but more that she seemed to want to occupy her thoughts often. She’d sit down by the window and perch you on the sill, or sink into a dining room chair and make a little pile of nuts on the table for you to eat, watching all the while. Sometimes she’d hold them out to you one by one the way Kira did. Sometimes she was serious, often she smiled at least a little. Always, the gentleness of her touch made your heart flutter.

Eventually she let you ride on her shoulder, too. That first week Kira mostly carried you around in her hands, and you let her. Both Edgin and Holga commented on how well-behaved you were, Ed wondering if you’d escaped a circus, or perhaps some rich person’s home where you’d been trained as a pet. You supposed you could’ve acted more ‘squirrelish’ but you really didn’t want to. Being cared for like this after so long was nice . Intoxicating, at times. Once your wound had healed enough that you could move around a little more, Kira perched you on her shoulder instead, to leave her arms free. And then one day when Kira was busy, Holga put you up there too.

“I have stuff to do,” she grunted. She cradled you softly as she lifted you. “This is easier.”

So you watched her wash dishes from the vantage point of her shoulder, claws digging faintly into her leather vest. It was almost overwhelming, being so close and surrounded by the musky smell of her hair, the warmth of her skin. Listening to her faintly hum under her breath, a little out of tune. Faintly, you had an inkling in the back of your mind that this was bad . Allowing yourself to get this attached to this family. Let alone to this woman you barely knew. Except you did know her, you were starting to know her. And you were liking what you saw more and more.

Your bandage came off after two weeks, though Kira’s delicate stitches (where had she learned them?) stayed in. Oh, how you missed climbing! There wasn’t much they could do to stop you now that you had more range of movement, though it only took one overly ambitious attempt before you toned things down on your own. It did still hurt a little, especially when you flexed.

“A bug and a squirrel in my home,” Holga rasped one afternoon, eyes twinkling and creasing at the corners. She sat on a stool by the unlit hearth, carving a new axe handle. “We’re becoming overrun by animals.”

Kira laughed from her spot on the floor, high and bright, as you ran up Holga’s arm and flicked your tail in the woman’s face. She spluttered a little as your hair stuck to her lips. Hopping away before her big hand could grab you, her play growl made you nearly trip in excitement. You’d never been chased in a way that didn’t terrify you before, but as you skittered across the floor around Kira’s slippers and under the table to the sound of her continued laughter and Holga’s teasing threats, you felt warmth bloom in your gut. You were beginning to feel so at home here. You weren’t as scared by the idea as you probably should have been.

–

This sense of peace was not to last, unfortunately.

It reached the third week, when you were almost healed, before something happened.

Edgin and Holga were inside the cottage doing… something. Huddled around the dining table they talked quietly, maybe about a quest, or maybe just planning Kira’s birthday presents. Things had been extremely normal in your time with them, but from the stories they told around the fireplace you knew their life wasn’t always this mellow. Even with the things you’d been through, their excursions would’ve made you gawk in human form. The excitement radiating off them as they regaled each other (and you) made them come alive in a whole new way.

You could faintly hear their murmurs through the cracked window, but you and Kira were busy yourselves. Picking through branches and twigs in the yard from the previous night’s wind storm, tossing them into the woods or piling them up for kindling. The mess was thankfully only cosmetic, but needed cleaning nonetheless. Holga had wanted to join you when Kira brought it up that morning, but Egdin nudged her and said you two would be fine. She’d relented with a huff.

You had fun bounding around the garden. Slowly the outside was becoming comfortable for you again as you healed, and as you trusted the family more and more to protect you from the predators you feared. You knew once the stitches came out they'd likely release you back into the wild, but you tried not to think about it.

Weaving around Kira’s legs made her giggle, and occasionally you’d pick up a twig and turn it around in your fingers. You were aware to not appear too cognizant of the task at hand, but the more time that passed the less you cared. The more time that passed, the deeper you ached to turn back to- well.

The roof was what posed the most trouble. It was too tall for Kira to reach, and the branches there were too large for you to grasp if you climbed up yourself. So the girl went round the house to get a ladder.

You wondered briefly, as Kira leaned the thing against the roof, if one of you should get an adult from inside. In human form you could’ve braced the ladder for Kira, but not like this, small as you were. She seemed unbothered so you tried to shake off your paranoia, telling yourself you’d been an animal too long and worried too much. It creaked as she climbed, but held steady, so you started climbing up the wall to perch at the top and watch.

You weren’t even halfway up when, almost in slow-motion, you saw one side of the ladder crack. Whether it was caused by water weathering, age, or some inexplicable fault-line you didn't know. All you saw was the moment a break splintered through the wood and the integrity of the entire thing collapsed. You saw Kira begin to tip. You saw the way her arms flailed, the wet thatching of the roof slipping ineffectually under her fingertips. She cried out shrilly and before you could think your body shifted. Your bulk grew, fur paling and feathering out, and your tail shortened as you lunged towards the girl. You heard shouts from inside, but all you could focus on was catching her, letting your body take the hits when you stumbled and broken wood from the ladder hit your shoulder painfully. Your arms closed around Kira almost like she weighed nothing, but then again it had been a long time since you’d been able to take a form this strong. The shift in gravity tripped you up and you twisted as you stumbled again, holding her above you as your back hit the ground.

Before you could even catch your bearings, a knife embedded into your shoulder, making you screech. Your arms loosened and you could barely tell what was going on for a moment as shouts rang out and Kira was pulled away from you in a dizzying twist as pain bloomed through your body. Then the world righted again and Holga was in your face, snarling. Goddess, you’d never seen her this mad. Her eyes were wild and blazing, her entire demeanor empty of that gentleness you’d come to know (and lo- like ). She and Edgin probably missed what happened, you realized. What they saw was most likely a broken ladder and an owlbear who suddenly had their kid in its claws. Holga reached towards the knife, and as you jolted back your body shifted again, like pulling back from a window when you’d pressed too close. Your feathers melted back into rusty brown fur and the knife thudded to the grass as your body shrank. As soon as you reoriented you sped off towards the house, sprinting between Ed’s legs and barely hearing Kira’s startled gasp as you skidded through the open doorway and towards somewhere, anywhere hidden. Why you hadn’t run into the forest you didn’t know, but you’d come to associate this place so strongly with safety , with comfort . Anywhere else hadn’t even occurred to you.

Finally, cowering in Kira’s closet under one of her dresses, you stilled. Your mind raced, the pain and adrenalin mixing in a nauseating concoction. Why had that happened? You thought you were stuck, nothing had even slightly shifted your form before now, back to human or otherwise. While you didn’t know the details of the spell that blasted you, becoming stuck in the form you’d had when it hit had seemed pretty cut and dry until today. You curled into yourself tighter.

The sounds of rushed footsteps overlapped each other outside the closet door, louder and softer as the other three no doubt searched the house for you. Kira called your nickname softly, desperately, while what you assumed were Holga’s steps rang heavy, like she was stomping. You couldn’t shake her anger. You’d almost forgotten she was a barbarian, here in the tranquility of their cottage life. You wondered how long it would take them to sniff you out. You tried not to wonder what would happen when they did.

–

It was Holga who found you, because of course it was. Maybe Kira’s room was an obvious place since you’d been sleeping there, but nonetheless it took a long while (was it actually long or was that in your head?) before heavy footfalls finally came close and pulled aside the curtain of Kira’s closet. Dark eyes bore into your own and you felt as if you were shrinking again.

“Little rat,” she muttered, reaching down to scoop you up with the same gentle care she always had. It confused you. She seemed mad but… was that also concern mixed in? Did she maybe feel guilty for hurting you? Her gruffness made it hard to tell, but her care in handling you remained unchanged.

Holga carried you into the dining room silently, placing you on the table in a way that sent a wave of deja vu washing over you. It almost felt like your very first morning all those weeks ago when Kira had brought you out here, sun-soaked wood and fresh bread and your nickname bestowed upon you like a kiss. Except this time there was no warm blanket bundling you, no sunshine soaking into your bones. Just Ed and Holga’s grim faces and Kira’s wide eyes, all of them focused on you.

“Cinnamon..?” Kira breathed, hands fumbling like she wasn’t sure whether or not to touch you. Her uncertainty made you ache more than your knife wound did. “What was that? ”

When you didn’t (couldn’t) answer her, she turned to her father, whose brows were furrowed deeply.

“I mean, it’s got to be some kind of spell, right?” he mused, looking uncharacteristically serious. “But is she a squirrel under a spell or a person under a squirrel under a spell…”

Holga grunted, crossing her meaty arms. “How would we even tell? She turned right back into a squirrel from that other beast. For all we know she could be an owlbear.”

“I have wondered if she understands us when we speak,” Kira murmured, coming a little closer finally. You stayed still, barely breathing under their scrutiny. Your shoulder throbbed silently. “She seems so intelligent.”

Hope and fear tangled together in your chest. Fear about their judgement, what they’d decide to do with you, the ache and faintly oozing blood from your shoulder that darkened your fur in a scarily familiar manner. And hope, sparking stronger by the second in your chest. Traitorous, fragile, but goddess, what if they helped you? What if you could finally talk again, laugh again? Touch the grass with your palms and feel the warm press of Holga’s li-

No, no. You almost shook your head to rid yourself of such thoughts.

Ed pulled out a chair, dropping into it heavily. “We could call Simon over, I guess,” he grunted. His eyes remained on you, the usually open and jovial blue now indecipherable. “Maybe he’s got a spell to, I don’t know, scan her or something?”

“Or!” Kira exclaimed loudly, startling you all. Holga huffed in annoyance, but Kira ignored her. The girl seemed to brighten now, more eager as she leaned in close to you. Stars above, you were glad she wasn’t hurt. “We could try just asking her.”

Your heartbeat stuttered in disbelief. You felt lightheaded for a moment, almost outside your own body. Holga and Edgin shot each other skeptical looks, but Ed gestured for Kira to go ahead, leaning back in his chair. She pulled out her own chair, sitting down and scooting so her face was nearly level with yours.

“These will have to be yes or no questions..” she muttered, eyebrows scrunching in thought. “Cinnamon… are you a person in there? A human, or elf, you know. Are you not normally a squirrel?”

The room seemed to hold its breath. Even the birdsong from the cracked windows seemed to quiet for a moment. Heart pounding, you nodded.

Their reaction was instant . Ed jolted in his seat, grabbing the table like the wind had been knocked out of him. Kira was much the same, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. But Holga… Holga growled . She slammed her palms down, startling you and making you wince when your wound was jostled, but you were paralyzed under her dark gaze.

“All this time?” she gritted through her teeth. “All this time in our home, eating from our hands like you were just some animal when you weren’t ? Lying to us?”

“Shh!” Kira hissed, narrowing her eyes at the woman before fixing them on you again. “Cinnamon,” she tries again. “Were you.. Cursed, or something? Did you get stuck like this with nobody around to help you?”

Your eyes burned. Yes. Yes . You nodded again.

Kira’s eyes shone. “Oh, Cin… .” she breathed. She seemed... Happy? No... grateful? Her voice weighed heavily, like she was beginning to comprehend just how much trust you’d placed in them, and glad for it.

“Ok, so, what even is this curse?” Ed finally spoke up again, seeming less angry than Holga but wary, still. Like he wasn’t sure if he could really trust you or this was some big joke. “She changed into an owlbear earlier, but otherwise hasn’t changed at all.”

Kira nodded, breathing deeply. Then she asked you softly, “Do you know anything about your curse?”

You shook your head. You did, sort of, but only insofar as being stuck as a squirrel without change for a long, long time. You didn’t know why it shifted now, of all times, or what would actually break it.

“Okay,” Kira mused. “What happened when you changed…”

“You were in danger, Bug,” Holga grunted. “And we weren’t there.” She sounded regretful under the anger, her words heavy.

“And Cinnamon caught me before I could get hurt..” Kira mused, resting her chin on her palm, gaze fixed on you.

Edgin groaned and wiped his hands down his face. “Okay, this might sound cheesy. But do you think it could be something related to, y’know, love? That seems to be a common cure-all for curses, doesn’t it? And she clearly cares about you Kira, you’re the one who initially nursed her back to health.”

Holga snorted, “You talkin’ about true love’s kiss or something? You sound sappy, Ed.”

“True love doesn’t have to be romantic, though, right?” Edgin insisted. “I mean, I love you Holga, and we did that whole thing with the tablet to save your life, and that wasn’t romantic, but it was true love. Maybe Cinnamon here loves Kira like I love you?”

Holga snorted again, rolling her eyes and leaning over to punch his shoulder lightly. The force made him wince. “Yeah, yeah, I love you too.” she relented.

“If it was… true love ,” Kira mumbled, seeming a little bashful about the idea. “Wouldn’t she be back to normal now instead of a squirrel? Wouldn’t that have broken the spell?”

True love , you thought. Was it really that simple? You did love Kira, you’d begun to accept it even amidst your uncertainty about your place in this rag-tag family. The young girl made your days brighter, and her wit and intelligence was certainly something you admired. She made something inside you flare protectively. And the fear you’d felt seeing her start to fall…

What had happened in that moment? In that split second your body shifted, what did it feel like? You closed your eyes, the voices of the trio around you fading slightly as you attempted to focus inwards. The adrenalin had faded and your body ached more and more from the wound that was hopefully scabbing over now. You tried to tune it all out. What had shifting felt like?

Back when you were human and shape changing was as natural as any other spell, the spark in your core always stayed the same even as your form changed. The spark that felt most like you , your true self. That spark had remained when you were stuck under the curse, but static, like it was frozen in time. Or perhaps trapped behind glass, out of your reach. Now, when you focused on it, the spark flared, bright, a little different but flickering again. Your heart fluttered. Could it be…? You squished your eyes shut tighter, focusing on it. Like a muscle you hadn’t stretched in ages, you felt your form tremble, just a little. Goddess , it had been so long.

The talking around you stopped.

“Is she..?”

“Cinnamon, are you trying to change back?”

“Put her on the ground, in case she changes into something huge again. I don’t want to have to build us a new table if she breaks it.”

Someone’s hands grasped you gently and lifted you, before lowering you to the cool wood of the floor. Your eyes remained closed, desperately trying to keep focus on that spark, trying to draw yourself out again. You felt your muscles spasm.

“You can do this,” Kira’s voice above you came soft, gentle. A whisper on the breeze, but it burrowed in nonetheless and you pushed harder.

You pictured your arms, your legs. The way they felt to move, the way it felt to stretch them. You pictured the tone of your skin and the way your hair felt against the backs of your ears. You tried to picture it all, feeling like your insides were growing too big for your outsides before something cracked, popped loudly. Someone, probably Kira, gasped, but you kept trying. It was more than you’d ever had to work at this sort of thing before.

Slowly, surely, you felt the spark flare and take hold, and your body stretched. It grew, fur retreating and ears shifting and re-forming, your claws retracting, and by far the oddest was the sensation of your face flattening from the snout you’d had for so long. It felt like hands pressing you in all the wrong ways. No, no… all the right ways. You gasped. 

You gasped . With your human mouth . You heard yourself gasp. 

You opened your eyes.

Blinking away blurry vision, Kira and Ed and Holga were all staring at you.

It was silent. 

“Well,” Edgin said eventually, blinking. “I guess we need to get our friend here some clothes.”