Twisted Triplets (Part 1)

by

Phoenix Spiritus

The shift

"Ow, my head hurts and I feel funny." Putting a hand to her aching head Stacy sat up. She seemed to be sitting on golden yellow bamboo, each shoot as big around as her cupped hands. Looking up she saw they were stored in a humongous warehouse, a metal roof far, far above her head. "Ah ... guys. We must be in China or somewhere. I don't think we grow bamboo like this in Australia," Stacy looked around in stunned amazement, turning slowly to take in the amazing scene. A poke to her bottom caused her to look down in puzzlement. "Lexi!" she screamed. "Where are my clothes!"

"Who is Lexi?" A red haired girl with pointed ears and nearly transparent wings as big as herself asked sitting up.

"You are. Alexis. Lexi. No clothes!" Stacy screeched pointing down. Hands, arms and legs pulled close attempting to shield her body from view.

"And still a pixie," Lexi sighed looking at her wings sadly.

"Well, at least you're our size again," Stacy suggested encouragingly, causing Lexi to stare at her in amazement.

"Um Stacy…," she started.

"Not that it's going to help much, now you're a very pretty, very naked girl in China, or wherever this is," Stacy continued, freeing an arm to gesture expansively. "I mean, huge warehouse, all this bamboo…"

"Stacy that's not bamboo …," Lexi again tried to interrupt her.

"… and while it smells like home, I don't think there's warehouses this big anywhere in Australia…"

"Stacy!" Lexi almost shouted at the babbling girl.

"What!" Stacy demanded turning back to Lexi angrily.

"This isn't bamboo," Lexi spoke firmly. "I'm not your size," she emphasised standing up and approaching Stacy carefully, hands held out in a calming gesture. "I think you need to take a look over your shoulder," she finished kneeling carefully in front of Stacy.

"My shoulder? Why do I need to… ahhg! I've got wings! Why do I have wings?!" Stacy exclaimed, jumping up and swinging around trying to better see her wings.

"Stacy don't hit…," Lexi called warningly, jumping up and reaching out to the wildly spinning Stacy.

"AhhHH! That hurts!" Stacy exclaimed with tears in her eyes, hugging her arms close from the pain.

"Well of course it does! They are very sensitive, so you can feel air pressure changes and the like," Lexi said wrapping the crying girl in her arms and hugging her tight to her breast. "Don't hit your wings like that," she admonished as Stacy gratefully released her arms from their clenched embrace to wrap them around Lexi, hugging her back, sniffing unhappily into her shoulder.

Lexi let Stacy cuddle for a bit, a happy, maternal look on her face as she cradled the brown haired pixie lovingly within her arms. Then slowly the happy look changed to wonder. Tears appeared in her eyes. Finally, desperately grabbing Stacy to her, Lexi pressed her own face into Stacy's shoulder, crying, weeping, until first Stacy was holding her up, then the two girls slid to their knees, Stacy just holding the crying pixie tight within her arms.

"What's wrong Lexi?" Stacy worriedly asked as Lexi's desperate clutch of her lessened.

"I can hug you," Lexi sniffed. "Hold you. It's been so long since I could hold someone," Lexi cried, smiling sadly at Stacy.

"Oh Lexi!" Stacy hugged tighter the crying pixie, turning Lexi's head so that it lay nestled on her breasts and she could lay her own head atop as she hugged her tight.

Eventually Lexi cried herself out. Sniffing, she squeezed Stacy her thanks. Letting go, Lexi leaned back from Stacy, wiping her eyes on the back of her hands. "Thanks, I, I needed that," Lexi mumbled. Sighing, Stacy stood back up. Reaching down, she pulled Lexi up as well. Looking to the awkwardly standing brown haired pixie holding her hand, Lexi smiled. "Looks like I get to teach you how to be a pixie," she offered hesitantly, shyly smiling her thanks.

"Pixie!" Stacy screamed, wrapping her arms around herself and backing away from Lexi eyes wide, staring in shock.

"Yes Stacy," Lexi quickly tried to hug Stacy again. But panicking, Stacy kept backing away from her, so Lexi stopped.

Looking down Lexi pointed to what they where standing on. "This isn't bamboo, it is hay," she walked along until she found a head and propped it up to show Stacy. "This isn't some massive Chinese warehouse" she pointed all around them. "I am not now your size," she emphasised as she slowly walked back to Stacy, who stood petrified watching her approach. Stopping just before Stacy, Lexi spread her wings, causing Stacy to stare at them in shock. "You are now my size.  And a pixie." Stepping forward she embraced the stunned pixie.

"I wasn't supposed to be a pixie!" Stacy nearly hyperventilated within Lexi's arms.

"No, something's off," Lexi agreed, rubbing Stacy's back between her wings with one hand as she pulled Stacy tight to her with the other. "Where's Sue? She should know what happened, after all, it was her plan." Still comforting Stacy, Lexi started looking around.

"Sue? But it's Sue that planned this," Stacy said really confused. "Sue. Sue. Sue! Lexi I can't say Sue!" she called desperately, clutching to Lexi's arm and staring up at her.

"I know, nor can I, like I can't say Stacy either, nor Alexis. It looks like Sue's idea of rewriting our names in people's memory worked really well."

"How well! How many people did you link?" Stacy demanded desperately.

"Us three," Lexie said softly, kneeling down again, pulling the shaking Stacy with her. Enfolding the shivering Stacy in a full body hug from behind, Lexi pressed her body tight to Stacy's back between her wings, head on her shoulder, talking quietly in her ear. "Then I took from your memory those that are close to you, and those that are close to them, and kind of felt for you in all of them. When they had poor memories anyway I left them out. Those that knew you well I changed, ever so slightly, so they remembered you only as 'Stacy'."

"How many?" Stacy pleaded.

"Possibly as many as a couple hundred, from around this town and district, that's all. And all we changed was your remembered name, just so that they would only call you 'Stacy'," Lexi promised the unhappy girl. "And I changed the memories of the three of us so that we would not say Sue or Stacy or Alexis. Finally the spell changed maybe as many as a score to have the 'knowledge' that your father had more then one teenaged daughter, not just you, but Sue and myself too. That's it, that's all we changed, I promise," Lexi hugged Stacy tight until she stopped shivering.

Sitting back up, Stacy turned to Lexi and took a few deep breaths before looking her determinedly in the eye. "So it is here? We are home?"

Lexi nodded solemnly. "Of course," she agreed. "As you said, it smells like home. You just didn't recognise it because you are so small, and therefore it is so big."

Swallowing Stacy closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, before opening them and nodding firmly to Lexi. Standing slowly again, she determinedly looked around, turning slowly to carefully check all around her. Pausing, slowly she turned to Lexi with a puzzled frown. "What about Sue? Shouldn't the three of us be here together? Wasn't that the point?"

Frowning Lexi started to answer, before stopping. Holding up her hand to Stacy, she ordered "listen." With her eyes almost closed she turned her head this way and that, searching with her ears.

"Sounds like someone is crying, but real quiet like," Stacy said puzzled, listening too. Turning she too tried to find the quiet sniffling sounds. Eventually Lexi and her tracked them around a corner made of hay, to another pixie girl, tall and golden haired, crouched in a corner, pushed up tight with her back forced hard against the wall of hay, legs tight to her chest, arms desperately pulling them tighter, a wide eyed stare of horror on her face as she stared sightlessly straight ahead, the blonde pixie shivering uncontrollably, almost silently weeping.

"A girl!?" Stacy asked stunned. Turning to Lexi she demanded in disbelief, "Is that Sue?"

"Well, it explains 'Sue'," Lexi murmured, carefully approaching the blonde pixie, crouching down almost to her knees.

"Why are you a girl Sue?" Lexi asked carefully, stopping and kneeling down near to, but not quite touching, the shivering pixie.

"Ha happiness," Sue stuttered through her tears.

"You thought you'd be happier as a girl?" Lexi asked confused.

"K content. S siblings and ha happy," Sue explained through hiccups.

"You thought you'd be content as a girl?" Lexi confirmed disbelievingly.

"B both of us," Sue forced out, eyes locked on Lexi's face in desperation. "Siblings sh shouldn't have those m memories. Sh shouldn't have those d desires. Content now," Sue finished, trying to smile at Lexi despite her tears.

"Oh Sue! This was the decision I forced on you? The one you'd take 'for our happiness'?" Sue just nodded. "Why didn't you tell me?" Lexi tried to stay calm and unangry, she could see that Sue was already greatly distressed.

"Not your ch choice. D done now," Sue stuttered.

"Then what is wrong?" Lexi demanded, still not game to touch Sue, but hovering over her.

Sue broke down. Wailed. Rocked back and forth clutching tightly at her knees. Clenching tightly shut her eyes. "It's all so wrong! It's not me! I can feel it and it's wrong and it's, it's. I can't even think right and I'm crying and I can't think right and IT'S NOT ME!"

"Oh Sue," Flowing forward Lexi hugged the wailing pixie to herself, followed immediately by Stacy who hugged her from the other side.

"My brain isn't even me any more," Sue cried exhaustedly into Lexi's arms. Lexi gently unwrapped Sue's arms from clutching her own legs, getting Sue to hold onto her instead. "I'm not me!" Sue continued to weep as Lexi started slowly rocking her back and forth in her arms, shifting to gather the distressed pixie in her lap.

"It'll be alright," Lexi comforted Sue, cradling her and rocking her soothingly. "Shh, it'll be alright," Lexi continued, tears streaming down her own face unnoticed as she slowly rocked back and forth, murmuring the same words over and over again to the pixie in her lap.

"What happened?" Stacy asked, watching the blonde pixie cuddled up in Lexi's lap, where she had eventually cried herself to sleep.

"Remember the memories I forced Sue to show me?" Lexi asked quietly, still slowly rocking back and forth as she stroked the hair of the pixie in her lap. "The ones of a 'happy future' that couldn't be?" Stacy nodded, reaching forward to lay a hand on Lexi's. Looking up Lexi smiled heartbreakingly, tears unshed in her eyes. "They were of a future where I was married to Sue and we adopted you," Stacy stared at Lexi wide eyed. "It was a very happy future," Lexi hiccuped, the tears starting to fall. "I loved you, and I loved Sue as … as my husband." Once again the tears fell, and tenderly Lexi returned to stroking Sue's hair.

"Then why?" Stacy asked stunned at the revelation.

"Because of the 'memories'," Lexi turned to Stacy, firmly looking her in the eye. "It's like I did live them Stacy. They are not a dream. Not ethereal. They are as real to me as my memories of my parents. Realer. More recent." Sighing she looked down, slowly stroking Sue's long golden hair. "She understood this. If we'd become 'brother and sister' things would have been … strained." Closing her eyes, Lexi forced herself to continue through a throat tight with emotion. "We couldn't be happy. Any future romances for either of us would be … awkward. We'd be constantly fighting the memories, constantly getting … inappropriate thoughts for a brother and sister." Sighing she looked up at Stacy. "So she changed, became 'Sue'. I can build new memories with Sue and not have those issues now."

"So why…?" Stacy pointed to the sleeping blonde pixie confused.

Lexi laughed derisively. "Because she started as a middle aged man, living decades with all the memories and impulses of a male. Then woke up young, nubile, female and very much not like anything she remembered of herself. Not one thing about her is anything like she remembers. Hight, sex, hands, arms, legs, chest, face, hair, name. None of it is the same."

Stacy blinked at her and then looked down at herself a bit and frowned. "I'm different too…," she started slowly.

Lexi smiled, reached out to touch Stacy's arm comfortingly. "But not too different, not enough for you to start desperately examining yourself," Lexi snorted. "I had to point out your wings to you. Sue … nothing she found matched, she panicked as we saw," Lexi once again returned to stroking Sue's hair as she lay peacefully sleeping in her lap, a half smile in the corners of her mouth.

"How do you know?" Stacy asked curiously, smiling herself at the dreamlike happiness of the sleeping pixie, so different from the desperate weeping and crying when they had found her.

"I reacted the same when I found myself a pixie the first time," Lexi smiled with a shrug. Reaching up she pulled forward a lock of her red hair. "I was not always a redhead," she mused. "Nor pretty and buxom either." Looking up at Stacy she laughed, a short surprised bark of humour. "Funny," she stated. "After all this time, I'd be as bad as Sue if I was to get changed back." Wryly she smiled at Stacy. "She'll get past this. But it'll take time. She'll need to become herself again."

"But, this is permanent! You and I, we changed the DNA, didn't we?" Stacy asked uncertainty.

"Oh we did," Lexi smiled up at Stacy again. "We all should be half-sisters now. That's not what I meant." She tapped her head. "In here. When Sue looks in a mirror and sees in her mind that the person in the mirror is her, she'll be better. But that may take some time," Lexi went back to stroking the sleeping pixie's hair, smiling down at her.

Stacy looked down at the sleeping pixie frowning. Finally looking back up at Lexi she asked curiously. "Were you really this upset too?"

Lexi chuckled. "Maybe not quite as upset no." Turning to Stacy with a half smirk she continued. "Sue was a man, a priest. I'm sure he thought that what he looked like didn't matter, a little mental toughness and all would be well." Smiling she stroked Sue's hair again. "I imagine it was an unpleasant awakening for her, finding out just how much of her internal definition of 'self' is associated with how she looked."

Stacy giggled, "She looks just like Tinkerbell!" she smiled up at Lexi wickedly.

Lexi smirked back. "I had noticed," she commented wryly. "But I'm pretty sure she hasn't yet. Let that be tomorrow's surprise," she suggested with a wink to Stacy, who held her hands over her mouth to contain her giggles before suddenly she stopped, and stared up at Lexi frowning. 

"Are we on the right future?" she asked with a slight hint of fear creeping into her voice. "Are we as it should be? Shouldn't Sue have foreseen herself having issues?" she demanded.

Lexi smiled fondly down at the girl in her lap, before turning back to Stacey with a chuckle. "Haven't you realised yet Stacy? Sue never looked at her own future. She looked at mine. She looked at yours. She decided this was the right future and went off to build it with us, after giving us the choice to do it or not, giving us all the information she could, and total freedom to choose as we wished. Never once did she show us a future from her point of view."

"She can't see her own future?" Stacy asked incredulously.

"Either as a limit of her power, or by conscious choice, no," Lexi smiled at Stacy. "She only sees her future in the lives of others."

"But she said she could see the plane to catch, the car to hire, all the points!" Stacy exclaimed confused.

Lexi shrugged, looking down fondly at the sleeping pixie. "Something to ask her when she awakes," she suggested quietly to Stacy.

"What do we do now?" Stacy asked after she watched Lexi almost absently resume stroking Sue's hair.

"Well, this is your home. What do you think?" Lexi asked back with a smile.

Startled Stacy looked all around. "I don't recognise anything," she answered fearfully. "Are you sure?" she silently begged Lexi.

"Yes. The names of your parents and great sadness is on the minds of most I touch," Lexi stated after a slight pause where she seemed to be concentrating. "There is one though, that way," Lexi pointed absently. "He is greatly concerned instead for you. I believe he is the one we 'modified' to think you are staying with while your Mum was away. He is greatly concerned because he has not seen you for a while, and nobody he asks has seen you either. He is starting to organise a search for you now, upset that he had not done so already."

"Constable Stevens?" Stacy demanded. "No! Lexi we have to stop him!" she insisted, jumping to her feet.

"A search will not find us," Lexi reminded her, absently, unconcerned.

"But so many people!" Stacey wrung her hands together in distress. "Lexi searches, all those people! Everyone has so many better things they need to be doing!" Stacy was almost dancing in her agitation.

"Stacy, you are a pixie! Is he even going to believe you?" Lexi asked pointedly of the distressed pixie.

"I need to try," Stacy finally stood still, but even standing she almost vibrated in her unhappiness.

Lexi sighed and looked down, cupping the face of the peacefully sleeping pixie in her lap. Finally she gave another sigh, then gently shook her. "Sue, wake up please," she coaxed lovingly.

Opening her eyes the blonde pixie smiled up at Lexi. "You are so beautiful" she murmured.

Lexi smiled. "So are you sister," she replied.

Wide eyed Sue scrambled up and backed away from Lexi, desperately looking back and forth between their two naked selves, fear, almost loathing in her expression.

"Sue? Sue! Careful!" Lexi called cautiously following the blonde pixie as she backed away fearfully from her. 

Tripping Sue fell, lying there she cried out pitifully, "Stay away! Please! Stay away." Curling into a ball, she once again started crying, wrapping her arms tightly around her legs and burying her face in her knees.

Stopping, Lexi knelt just out of reach. "Sue? What is it?" she begged softly.

"Memories. Nonexistent memories," Sue moaned. "Please. I'll be fine soon. Just stay away," she weepingly begged.

"Memories?" Stacy asked confused as Lexi turned purest white and moaned her own distress.

"Memories of me," Lexi whispered horrified. "In the alternate future I looked like myself, but bigger, normal sized," she vaguely waved her arms over her body. "With us both being small she ran into a memory of me as she awoke."

"So?" demanded Stacy still confused.

"Stacy, lovers lie in each other's lap a lot," Lexi explained softly. "Sue just woke up to a 'memory' of us as we were. Would have been. Might have been." Closing her eyes Lexi took a shuddering breath. "It's so confusing," she almost wept, before taking a deep breath and turning back to Stacy. "Basically she still has the same memories as I do, but unlike her I still look the same! Sue looks at me, and sees what might have been, a memory of what was, but a present when it cannot be."

"I'll be all right," Sue mumbled with tears falling. "I'm a priest. I can cope. I will be all right," she hugged herself, rocked back and forth, repeating it like a mantra, held against the memories like the words could make them go away.

Stacy sighed. Reaching down she pulled Sue into her arms. "Silly. You are not a priest anymore, and you're not alone! You are my sister! I'm here for you now." Stacy enfolded the weeping blonde pixie in her arms, letting her cry it out on her shoulder.

Fearfully Lexi crept forward, tentatively she started patting Sue on the back too. "Do you want me to put you back asleep again?" she asked Sue timidly.

Wide-eyed Sue stopped crying and turned cowering to Lexi, "You slept me?" she whispered horrified.

"Yes," Lexi replied, steel in her eyes flashing angrily. "And I'll do it again too if I think you need it. Do I need to?" Lexi demanded, staring Sue right in the eye.

"No! Please, let me deal!" Sue wailed. "I … I need to take it in to start dealing. I can't just sleep through it," she begged piteously. "I … I'll get better, I will."

"Maybe if we distract her?" Stacy suggested to Lexi as she kept a tight hold of the trembling pixie. "Have her think about something else?"

Nodding, Lexi gave Sue a softer stare. "Why are we all pixies Sue? Was that meant to happen?" she questioned her.

Locking her eyes on Lexi's face, Sue tried to control her shaking and answer. "Nnot permanent," she stuttered. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath she waiting for the shaking to subside further before continuing. "Stacy and I are k copies of you, need to be to get magic abilities. Magic part of fairy form, fae blood. Nneed fae blood," Sue looked up fearfully, trying to see if Lexi had understood.

"To get magic you need Fae blood?" Lexi queried puzzled.

"Not need. Your Fae blood is your source of your magic. For us to gget your magic we need your blood," Sue stared hopefully up at Lexi.

"So you need to be pixies to do my magic?" Lexi tried to confirm.

Sue shook her head. "You originally could shift between your parents two forms?" Lexi nodded. "Do magic in both forms?" Lexi nodded again. "But easier in pixie form?" Sue pressed.

Lexi paused and thought, answering carefully. "I usually needed to first learn to do spells in pixie form, then I could do the spells in both, but it was … never as easy to do them when not a pixie," she conceded.

Sue smiled in relief. "Fae blood helped with your magic. Stacy nneeds to learn fast, need all the help k can get."

"So you made her a pixie?" Lexi interrupted.

"Learn faster. Learn from you your special way. But nnot permanent. All like you. Unlocked your, our, abilities to switch," she smiled up at Lexi happily.

Lexi looked puzzled at Sue for a moment, before eyes widening she stared at her. "I can switch again?" Lexi whispered stunned, finally understanding what Sue was saying.

Sue nodded, smile fading at Lexi's muted reaction.

Lexi just stared at Sue in shock and disbelief, before turning she ran to the edge of the hay ledge and looked down. Turning back to Sue she pleaded with her eyes. At Sue's encouraging smile she stepped off and changed.

Laughing Lexi stood there, touching her arms and legs, hugging her body, dancing once again a normal girl. Smiling ecstatically she reached back for her sister. Standing and letting go of Stacy, Sue moved to step onto Lexi's hand, dropping to her knees as Lexi pulled her hand to her chest, the reactions almost causing Sue to fall over. Sue stayed kneeling, sitting on her heels as Lexi pulled her towards her heart. Hugging her carefully to her chest, Lexi cried tears of happiness over her sister. "Thank you, Sue. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Over and over, crying her happiness, Lexi repeated her thanks to her sister.

Eventually, smiling joyfully, Lexi went to take a step. Wide eyed she lurched and squeaked her surprise as she found herself falling. Unthinkingly Sue stretched out to try and save her and suddenly she too found herself changed and as a girl caught Lexi, cradling her as they both toppled to the ground, Lexi falling, and Sue basically sinking to her knees hugging Lexi to her, ending with Lexi's head in her lap.

Smiling up at the blonde girl, naked except for what her long blonde hair covered. Lexi was struck by the reversal of positions as she looked up at her sister from Sue's lap. "You are so beautiful," she couldn't help repeating her sisters words back to her. A flaming red blush covered Sue's face all the way to her shoulders. Laughing uproariously, Lexi sat up and hugged her now human sister. "Looks like I need to learn to walk again," she mused. "It's been decades since I was last this size," she admitted ruefully.

"No Wings," Sue agreed, nodding.

Holding onto her sister, Lexi carefully stood. Transferring her hold to the hay bails stacked all around, Lexi carefully started moving each leg separately, trying to learn her balance again without wings.

Smiling Sue stood, then arms windmilling found herself crashing into the back of Lexi and desperately holding onto Lexi like she was cuddling her from behind. "Sorry," Sue apologised blushing. "Balance is off."

"So I'm not the only one who needs to relearn walking?" Lexi asked amused.

Shaking her head, Sue pushed herself back from Lexi, also transferring her hold to the hay bales. Slowly trying to walk, using the hay bales as support, Sue cried out in shock as a sharp pain caused her to pull her hand away from the hay bale. Looking up she saw an obviously angry Stacy yelling silently at her, brandishing a stalk of wheat she had just poked her with.

Looking at Stacy in concern, Sue turned to Lexi distressed, "Lexi! Why can't I hear Stacy?"

"She's a pixie now, same as me," Lexi laughed. "Her voice chords are tiny, she's just speaking in too high a frequency is all. Humans can't hear it, its way too high, like dog whistles."

"But you!?"

"Magic Sue. Remember I usually used telepathy with you and Stacy, and I have a spell to project my voice in a frequency humans can hear. Stacy just doesn't know that spell yet, and you and her have no telepathy."

"Oh. Oh right," Sue laughed. "I guess I forgot about that." Turning back to Stacy, Sue put the back of her hand out to let Stacy rub against it, but instead of doing so, Stacy grabbed her stalk of wheat and stabbed Sue again before jumping up and down still yelling silently at her.

Rubbing her hand, Sue looked to Lexi puzzled as Lexi silently laughed. "She wants to know how you became a girl again, she feels we are too excited by our changes and are ignoring her," Lexi finally explained.

"I can't even talk to her, why is she taking it out on me?" Sue complained.

"You're there and are totally ignoring her, not even looking towards her yelling."

Frowning Sue turned to Stacy "I can't hear you," she said slowly and enunciating exaggeratedly. Stacy just stared daggers at her and yelled silently "I know that now, dummy!" back at her before stalking off towards Lexi.

"What now?" Sue asked, sitting depressed on the ground leaning back against the bales of hay with Stacy being comforted by Lexi on the palm of her hand. All Sue's and Stacy's attempts at learning to swap between forms a failure. Stacy was still a pixie, and Sue now seemed stuck as a human.

*I don’t know.* Lexi ‘pathed. *You’ve done it once, and I can do it at will. I don’t know why you and Stacy have gotten stuck.*

"So seriously, what now?" Sue frowned at her two sisters. Just then Stacy looked at her consideringly then turning whispered in the ear of Lexi who smiled. "I can’t hear you anyway Stacy," Sue commented wryly. "There is no need to whisper."

*Hold Stacy for me,* was all Lexi said before taking off and flying up to a higher section of the hay bales, way above their heads. *Yes Stacy, this is perfect. Sue, can you help Stacy up here? I don't want her to practice flying yet, just lift her up.*

"OK," Sue said and standing climbed up a set of hay bails until she could reach up, and standing on tippy toes was barely tall enough to hold Stacy high enough for her to climb onto the top of the hay bail.

*Yep, this is perfect!* Sue heard Stacy as an echo in her head, bounced by Lexi’s telepathy. *Sue, see if you can climb up here!* Stacy cried.

Looking at the hight dubiously, Sue sighed, "OK."

Jumping, Sue got her hands to the top of the bail and was scrambling for a foot hold when sharp pains in her left hand caused it to jerk and lose hold, leaving her dangling by a single hand and screaming for help as the sharp pains attacked her other hand. Screaming she felt it give, and falling she closed her eyes and screwed herself into a ball waiting for the impact and the bounce? as she landed. Startled Sue opened her eyes to find herself as a pixie again siting on the ground.

Laughing delighted, Stacy ran off the edge of the stacked hay bails, and using her wings as parachutes floated to the ground, before running and hugging her sister. Lexi followed, flying down in a more controlled way. "It is instinctive!" Stacy cried.

"That was a plan?! Wait, you attacked my hands? What if I hadn't changed?" Sue demanded incredulously.

"Relax, Lexi knows healing magic. It's not like it would have killed you," Stacy waved dismissively.

"Stacy you can die falling over if you hit your head!" Sue yelled, still feeling the effects of the adrenalin from the fall.

"Pff, not before Lexi could heal you, and now we are all the same size again! We can go see Constable Stevens!" she cried delightedly, bouncing up and down before once again hugging Sue.

"Not quite yet," Lexi stopped them. "Now that we are all Pixies it will take forever to walk there, you need to learn to fly."

"Fly?" Stacy whispered in awe, before a huge smile lit up her face.

Sue determinedly concentrated on the branch in front of her, and with the last effort in her wings dropped onto the branch, before tiredly walking down it to lean against the tree trunk panting, waiting for her sisters. At the humming of wings she looked back up and saw Lexi flying almost under Stacy, as with determination Stacy too locked eyes on the branch Sue stood on and made for it. Seeing how tired Stacy was, Sue pushed herself away from the trunk and made her way back down the branch, where she stood anxiously waiting for Stacy.

Almost with her last will, Stacy dropped onto the branch and into the arms of her sister. As Sue half carried her down the branch to the wider base at the tree trunk where she could sit and rest, Lexi landed  cautiously on the branch too, looking all around, quickly focusing on any movement, while Stacy panted and hugged her arms to her chest.

"Oooo I hurt," Stacy moaned trying to massage the muscles of her chest.

Sue, who had been surreptitiously trying to do the same, looked at the many trees around them and sighed. "Stacy, how far have we come?"

Standing up, Stacy took a look around and then sighed too. "Not even halfway, we're on the edge of the scrub around the creek, it gets pretty boggy through there."

"Any snakes?" the vigilant Lexi demanded urgently.

"This is Australia, there are always snakes," Stacy replied with an eye roll. "But it's not a problem, they'll leave you alone if you leave them alone."

Lexi just sighed. "Stacy that was when you where human sized, they couldn't eat you so they left you alone. Now you are snack sized, they can eat you, they'll hunt you like any other bird!"

Stacy turned dead white, jumped up and started desperately looking all around. "Is it safe here? Should we move on?" she cried out urgently.

"I don't know," Lexi moaned, causing Sue to turn to her and look carefully, noticing her stance and tension finally.

"What is it Lexi?" Sue asked cautiously.

"It's all different!" Lexi cried. "Nothing like the forests and woodlands I'm used to. The colours are all wrong, the trees are all wrong, the grass is all wrong, I don't even know what it is I'm supposed to be looking out for anymore anymore!"

Sue stood looking at the upset Lexi before turning and looking towards the tired Stacy. "We need a new plan, this isn't working," she commanded. "Lexi, do you have any magic that can give you clothes at your full size, or at least the appearance of them?"

Lexi thought for a while and then said cautiously, "I think so, why?"

"Because while your idea of using a sharing taught us really quickly what we needed to know to fly, Stacy and I just don't have the stamina in our wings yet to fly very far. We are basically wiped out here, and for bird sized snacks we are in a very poor place to rest, especially as Stacy and I probably couldn't fly at the moment."

"You are probably right," Lexi agreed.

"If you go full sized, the animals would avoid you," Sue continued. "And Lexi and I could hitch a ride with you with some degree of protection. You could walk across town in little more than fifteen minutes or so.

"Would the animals avoid us?" Lexi asked Stacy.

"All except the magpies," Stacy said.

"It's a pity we don't have Maggie," Lexi muttered.

"Where is Maggie?" Stacy asked Lexi curiously.

"Mrs. Carson organised a teleporter to bring her to Australia, she should be around here somewhere."

"Lexi, Australia is a big place," Sue sighed. "Any teleporter probably only knew somewhere in the big cities to release her."

"Oh no," Lexi countered. "Mrs. Carson used one of those 'delivery' service teleporters, the ones that can teleport to any place just from coordinates. They released Maggie around the Post Office she said."

"Post Office?" Shelly inquired. "That's that building there," Shelly pointing down to the edge of the greenery their tree was part off, to the back of a row of shops cutting through the greenery at right angles a few hundred meters further along.

"Bird!" Lexi screeched suddenly, pushing her sisters against the trunk of the tree, as a shadow dived down out of the sky. Terrified they watched it swoop through right where they had been standing. Scared stiff, Stacy cowered against the tree trunk with her eyes closed, silently sobbing as her two sisters stood in front of her.

"It's coming back!" Lexi warned as Sue stepped back, crushing Stacy between the tree trunk and herself. "If she comes at you," Lexi instructed, "stand still and I'll dive off the branch. Hopefully when it sees me flying away, it'll chase me and give you time to escape."

"To where Lexi?" Sue demanded, but before Lexi could answer, the bird back winged and landed in front of them. Lexi took off, but after looking her way the bird just turned back to Sue and Stacy. Rearing back, it half spread its wings, opened her beak and warbled.

Sue and Stacy pressed back against the tree trunk, petrified as the black and white bird warbled on the branch in front of them. Staring in horror at the huge beak and bright eyes in a head turning side to side to look alternatively at them from each eye, both missed the return of Lexi, until a flash of red announced her returning and alighting on the tree in front of them, before running for the huge bird and throwing her arms around it.

Wait, what? Sue stared at the hugely smiling Lexi as she cuddled the warbling bird before turning back to them. "It's Maggie! She found us! Isn't she great?" Lexi cried.

"Maggie?" Sue gasped falling to her knees as her legs gave out. She was joined presently by an equally boneless Stacy who slid down the trunk of the tree to spread along the branch next to Sue.

"It's not going to attack us?" Stacy moaned timidly.

"No! Maggie wouldn't do that!" Lexi said fluttering up, landing and sitting on the back of the bird. "She's our bird! She's here to help us!"

"How do you know?" Sue asked worriedly.

Pausing, Lexi thoughtfully replied. "I don't know, but I know it as well as I know how scared you two were."

"She really will help us?" Stacy asked.

"Sure!" Lexi exclaimed fluttering back down. "Come here," she waved Stacy over. Cautiously, keeping a constant eye on the magpie, Stacy stood and walked slowly over to Lexi. "Good, now jump up and carefully fly to land sitting on your haunches, just to the front of her wings where I was."

Giving her sister a wide-eyed stare, Stacy swallowed and turned back to Maggie. Murmuring "Good birdy," she said jumping up and spreading her wings, fluttering tiredly to land on the back of the bird between its wings, where she crouched cautiously. Perched precariously on the birds back, ready at the slightest cause to take flight again.

"Good," Lexi smiled before turning to Sue and urgently waving her up too. Just as slow and cautiously, Sue stood and crept up to the magpie. Swallowing, she too jumped and landed on her back at Lexi's silent encouragement. Once they were both on, Sue seated behind Stacy and holding tight to her waist, Lexi grinned evilly.

*Hold on tight with your knees.* Lexi cried happily, sending them a mental image of the process just before she took off, followed immediately by a happily calling magpie. Crying out in surprise, Stacy and Sue clung on, grateful for Lexi's mental instructions as ducking and weaving through the trees, Lexi lead Maggie on a joyful flight of celebration as they renewed their happy companionship.

Pixies themselves, and being able to fly now mattering not at all, both Stacy and Sue found themselves clinging tight for dear life with their eyes scrunched closed, screaming aloud in fear, all the while hearing the mental whoops and laughter of Lexi, learning to brace themselves tighter anytime she whooped or hollered in joy. Presently, no idea how long it had been, Sue felt herself hugged from behind.

*I'm sorry, I forgot its your first time. Please, open your eyes, I promise we've settled,* Lexi 'pathed contritely.

Cautiously Sue opened her eyes, and looking over her shoulder saw the concerned face of Lexi who had settled on Maggie's back behind her. At her nod, Sue sat back, allowing Lexi to hold her around the waist as she cautiously glanced around. Now that Maggie wasn't doing acrobatics, diving and rolling around the sky, Sue could appreciate the view as they sailed sedately above the tree tops. Smiling slightly, Sue gently squeezed Stacy and encouraged her too to open her eyes, relax and look around.

It took a bit, but eventually even Stacy was looking around enchanted too, when she suddenly pointed. "There! It's right on the corner with the blue light, that's the station house! If Constable Stevens is organising a search he'll do it from there!"

Nodding Lexi guided the magpie down, and in the gathering dusk they made their way down to the Police station of the small town.

"So how do we get in? Through the mail-slot?" Lexi asked looking at the typical one story Australian country style house, with a wrap around verandah and fly screens on all the windows and doors. A quick flight around the house had shown all of them closed up tight.

Sue and Stacy just stared at Lexi, until wordlessly Stacy pointed to the rather large mailbox attached to the front fence next to the gate, with it's path up to the front verandah and door.

"The chimney then?" Lexi asked sarcastically while Sue paused thoughtfully.

"Lexi, your spell to allow people to hear you, that only works for you right? You can't cast it on Stacy?"

"No," Lexi stated. "It's something you'll need to learn to cast yourself."

"Hmm, I think I know what to do. Constable Stevens is in right?" Sue asked Stacy.

"Yes," she pointed. "The light is lit for the Police sign and the Land Cruiser is in the driveway."

"Come on, let's see if he's checked the mail," Sue said flying for the mailbox and crawling in. "Bingo!" she cried as she pushed a letter back out the slot, until Stacy and Lexi grabbed it and pulled it through, allowing her to crawl back out.

"How does this help?" Stacy asked confused as she looked at what looked like addressed junk mail to her.

"You'll see," Sue said grabbing the letter and flying up to the roof of the house and then landing and dragging the letter set off walking to the chimney.

"Ahh, if you want the chimney why'd you land at the gutter?" Lexi enquired curiously.

"Cause my chest muscles hurt, and we still have some more flying to do. I'm saving it for when I need it." Marching up to the chimney Sue worked her way around to the leeward side and placed the letter face down on the roof out of the wind, protected by the chimney. "Can you two hold this here? Make sure it doesn't blow away?"

Nodding assent, both Lexi and Stacy knelt on opposite ends of the letter, holding it flat on the roof and watched as Sue bounce jumped / flew up the side of the chimney before reaching the top and smiling running her hand around the ring of the chimney outlet. Hugging her arms to her chest, Sue stepped off the chimney, and just using the air resistance on her wings floated back down to her two sisters. Smiling Sue knelt down in front of the letter. Using soot on her hand, she rubbed it off with a finger and slowly drew onto the back of the envelope. Sitting back on her heels she looked to Stacy and smiled.

Reading what she had written, Stacy giggled and nodded. Carefully the three of them picked up the letter and walked back down the roof until they could jump back down to the verandah roof and make their way across that.

"OK when we jump off, fly for the handle of the screen door and alight on that," Sue instructed. "I'll take this end of the letter, Stacy the middle and Lexi you the other end."

"Even three of us isn't enough to turn the handle of a door," Lexi said confused.

"Don't worry, the handle is just a place for us to stand and get organised. Ready?" At the other girl's nod Sue jumped and fluttering her wings tiredly, hovered as the other two followed and they wrestled the letter down onto the handle of the door, where the three of them landed on the thankfully long straight handle, both Sue and Stacy out of breath and grimacing.

"OK Lex, jump up and press and hold the doorbell until you hear someone coming, then fly back down and when we hear the door opening all three of us fly up and hold the letter at eye height." Sue ordered.

Lexi's mouth made a "O" and she giggled as she finally got the plan. Smiling she jumped up, and hovering in front tried to press the doorbell. When it didn't move she grimaced, and backing off, flew at the doorbell, shoulder charging the bell a few times until she heard the sounds of footsteps. Rubbing her shoulder, Lexi quickly flew back to her sisters, grabbing the end of the letter again just in time to help fly it up as the door opened revealing a young man in his early twenties dressed in a light blue, short sleeved buttoned and collared shirt, with dark blue tie and pants.

Waving energetically, Stacy caught the wide eyed shocked expression of the police officer, and pointing at the letter drew his attention to the writing that read, "Hi, its Stacy. I'm stuck and I need some help!"

"Stacy!" The officer cried, quickly opening the screen door and reaching out to her.

Gratefully dropping the letter into his palms, Sue and Stacy settled on the reaching hands as Lexi hovered over them. Shocked he grabbed at the letter, and raising his joined hands up so he could look at the two pixies on them he demanded, "Stacy, what happened?!"

Pointing at her ears and shaking her head, she yelled silently at him.

"I can't hear you?" he asked confused to Stacy's nod. Pointing inside Stacy questioned with a shrug of her shoulders. "You want to come in?" he suggested. At her nod he turned and holding his hands carefully to his chest, walked into the station and up to the front desk. Both Sue and Stacy stood and glided down onto the desk, followed by Lexi who landed with them, as Constable Stevens walked around and sat at his desk. Staring in shocked, Constable Stevens watched the three fairies on his desk, before blushing he pointed to them, "Um, why are you naked?" he asked.

"Because we have no clothes that fit," Lexi answered. "Do you?"

"You can talk?" he squeaked.

"I can, my sisters can't."

"Sisters?" he demanded wildly.

"Allow me to introduce us, I am Alexis Kelly, these are my half sisters, Sue Kelly and Stacy Kelly who you have already met."

"Wait, Sue and Alexis? You're the two that ran away from your foster homes when your father died!"

"We did not run away, but it's complicated. Do you really want me to explain it with the three of us standing naked in front of you?"

"No, sorry but I have no clothes either!" he exclaimed.

"What about some rags or something we could maybe make ponchos from?" Lexi suggested dryly.

Blushing slightly, Constable Stevens stood abruptly and made his way out of the room. Once he left, the three of them looked curiously around the desk. Immediately they noticed the two missing persons reports for Sue and Lexi, and a third handwritten one, half complete for Stacy with a list of names next to it. Reading the list Stacy picked it up and became agitated.

"What is it Stacy?"

"Phone tree, and he's half way through it!"

"Phone tree?"

"Yes, it's a list of names to call to pass a message on, then they have a list of names they call, and then the next have a list of names and so on until everyone in the tree gets the message. He's calling out the searchers Lexi! You must tell him to call it off! As soon as the tree completes, everyone will start driving here to start looking!"

"Alright, when he gets back," Lexi sighed just as they heard Constable Stevens returning.

Walking in Constable Stevens dropped a pile of things onto the desk, sorting it out they saw a hand towel, a face washer and a pack of kitchen wipes, new unused ones. Walking over, Sue tried to lift the hand towel, getting the end up but not being able to pick up the whole thing. Stacy did the same with the face washer, and while she could lift it, the effort was obvious. Lexi walked to the packet of light Chux kitchen wipes and wrestled out one of them. Unfolding it she nodded and turned to Constable Stevens.

"Do you have some scissors?" she asked. Glancing down, he pulled open a desk drawer and quickly running over Lexi jumped in. "Ohh yes!" she exclaimed. "We'll need that!" she pointed to the scissors and looked back over her shoulders until Constable Stevens reached in to pick them up. "And that!" she pointed at a stapler, and eyes wide, dancing in joy, she scrambled over to some twist ties. "And this, and this, and this!" she cried excitedly as she pulled out three ties and flew up to the desk again.

Putting the three twist ties down to the side, she went back to the pack and pulled out one more dishcloth, then opening it out so instead of all four quarters being opened, it was folded in half. Pointing to the unfolded fold, where the dishcloth was usually folded into quarters for packaging, Lexi looked to Constable Stevens. "Cut along here, on both this and the other cloth," she instructed.

When Constable Stevens finished the first cut, leaving the two half dishcloths and reaching for the other one, Lexi happily took ownership of the two half dishcloths and carefully measuring found the middle. "Please cut a slit here, big enough for just our heads," Lexi instructed and watched carefully as Constable Stevens did so, then dragging the cloths over to the stapler, she carefully positioned the first cloth and waited for Constable Stevens to finish cutting slots in all the half dishcloths.

"You want me to staple that?" he asked. Lexi nodded and as he pushed down and released the stapler, she dragged the dishcloth over positioning it carefully again before signalling Constable Stevens to staple the dishcloth again. Once that was done she dragged out the dishcloth and dragged in another. "What are you doing?" Constable Stevens asked curiously.

"Stopping the cuts running. The staple should hold the edges where they are." Finishing two more dishcloths Lexi turned to Constable Stevens. "Thank you for your help, now could you turn around and give us some privacy?" she asked archly, to Constable Stevens' wide-eyed stare and bright-red blush. Turning hurriedly, Constable Stevens resolutely faced the wall.

Giggling madly, Lexi waved over Stacy and dropped the dishcloth over her head. Kneeling down she carefully folded it around Stacy's waist, holding it there with her hands. "Sue? Can you bring me one of the twist ties please? Can you put it around her waist?" Once done she quickly twisted the tie around so the two ends lined up on Stacy's side and then twisting them together pushed the ends down and stood back smiling at the result. "Not too bad," she smiled, grabbing the next dishcloth to do the same for Sue with the help of Stacy.

Once that was done, Stacy grabbed a dishcloth, and dropped it over Lexi "You know," Stacy started as she knelt to fold Lexi's dishcloth around her so that Sue could wrap the last twist tie around her waist as a belt. "All this, writing the message on the envelope, dishcloth ponchos and all that is really cool and all, but we should just have gone next door and Lexi could change to her normal size and borrow some of my clothes and carried us in through the front door. I'm sure we could find some doll's clothes in my room that would fit too, even if none of us is exactly Barbie."

Sue and Lexi just both stared at each other in their dishcloth ponchos, going red as Shelly finished fitting the dishcloth around Lexi's waist. "There! Just put the twist tie around and all done!" Stacy finished happily, as Sue silently pushed the tie around Lexi's waist and Stacy twisted it and pushed it flat against her leg. Standing up happily, Stacy looked confused at the weird expressions of her two sisters. "What?"

"When did you get the idea to go next door and let a full sized Lexi do all that?" Sue asked slowly.

"Oh when Lexi first changed. I noticed that we were nearly the same size. When we flew around the station I looked in my window as we flew past and thought that she'd fit in most of my clothes. I was gonna suggest it, but then got sidetracked by the instructions you were giving."

Lexi and Sue just groaned, when a frustrated Constable Stevens demanded. "Are you finished yet? Can I turn back?"

"Yes," Lexi muttered.

"Great, now tell me, why did you all three run away!?"

"We didn't," Lexi stated, to Constable Stevens' incredulous look. "But before that, Stacy's quite insistent that you call and stop the phone tree thingy," Lexi said pointing over to where an agitated Stacy bent down and picked up the phone tree list and was waving it back and forth.

Glaring daggers at Lexi, Constable Stevens picked up the phone and quickly dialled a number. "Mrs. Havelock? Great I'm glad I caught you before you left. Look crisis over, Stacy just came in right now while I was in the middle of calling around. No I don't know where she's been yet, but if you could call off the searchers I'd be ever so grateful. You have my list too right? Yes I got down to the Simpsons. Yes. Yes, all them that's right, if you could give them a call from me? Yes I promise once I know where she was I'll let everyone know. Thank you Mrs. Havelock."

Putting down the phone, he turned to the three of them. Sitting himself carefully down in his chair, Constable Stevens deliberately took out his notepad and pen, opened it to a new page and set it down ready on the desk. "Now you three, I have some questions for you and I want answers!" Glaring at them he asked slowly and precisely, "Why did you three run away?"

Lexi sighed. "We didn't. At the news of our father's death we all felt lonely and without family. Sue and Stacy manifested and the three of us kinda pulled each other together."

"Manifested?" Constable Stevens demanded. Lexi held out her arms and pointedly looked down at herself, and then across to the two other pixies on the desk. Blushing slightly Constable Stevens asked, "Why are the three of you fairies at the moment?"

"Oh come on!" Lexi replied rolling her eyes. "We're mutants! I thought that would be obvious! Sue and Stacy became upset enough that their latent powers manifested and somehow we all managed to latch onto our only family left and, I don't know how, but we ended up together! We didn't run away we just wanted family and well," she gestured around.

"All right, but how come I can hear you not the others."

"'Cause you don't have dog's ears and can't hear the frequency that pixies speak in," Lexi said shrugging.

"Why can I hear you?"

"I didn't just manifest, I have much better control over my powers," she mumbled.

"Powers?" Constable Stevens pressed.

"I can do some magic," Lexi explained. "I, I'm using a spell to project my voice in a frequency you can hear."

Looking sternly at her, Constable Stevens reached over and grabbed her missing persons report. "Nothing like that is mentioned here," he pointed out, having carefully read it again.

"Umm, I, err, didn't tell anyone. It, um, happened before I was put into foster care and I, ah, was afraid of what people would do," Lexi looked fearfully up at him.

"How did you hide this!" he exclaimed, pointing to the three diminutive pixies on his desk.

"Um, if you come next door I'll show you?" she suggested.

"Next door?" he asked puzzled.

"Um, to Stacy's house?"

Glaring Constable Stevens stood, and with eyebrows raised in surprise watched as all three fairies ran, jumped and fluttered to his shoulders to alight there.

"Sorry. Stace and Sue are really tired," Lexi apologised. "They are not used to flying. They only just managed to fly here today," she explained contritely.

"Where were you?" Constable Stevens asked, retrieving a set of keys from a drawer in the desk.

"The hay store in the chaff yard," Lexi said. At Constable Stevens surprised look she shrugged. "It's where we appeared, and it's all the way on the other side of town, which is a long way when you're this size!"

"Why didn't you go to Mrs. Havelock's? She's like three? doors down," Lexi stared at him and he laughed. "It didn't even occurs to you did it?" Lexi red faced shook her head. Chuckling still, Constable Stevens went out the front door of the station with Lexi flying along behind and Sue and Stacy standing on his shoulders.

"Does it really matter?" Sue pleaded.

"Oh come on Sue," Stacy replied. "She only gets to make a first impression once, and it's been so long since she wore proper clothes, all her fashion senses are like ossified."

Sue blinked. "OK, while it's impressive you know that word and can use it appropriately in a sentence, I think, is now really the time to update Lexi on today's fashion trends? Like really now?!"

Stacy rolled her eyes. "Oh we're not doing that, that would takes ages. We are just trying to find a look Lexi can rock that will present the right first impression to both Constable Stevens and others. Giving them an impression about both what Lexi is but also showing maturity and self reliance while hinting at a layer of venerability and the need for protection, so that the father instincts in Constable Stevens are subconsciously engaged and he unconsciously just wants to hug her and protect her," Stacy finished, smiling at the shell shocked Sue.

"Woman do all that?! With clothes!?" Sue squeaked. "Can't you just put something on her now and, and work out fashion trends and, frankly scary levels of emotional manipulation later?!"

Stacy and Lexi just stared at Sue in astonishment at her suggestion, horrified looks beginning to take over their faces. "You, you just put on clothes?" Stacy squeaked, horrified at the suggestion. "You don't consider anything?" she pleaded.

"Well, are they clean? Do they fit? Are there any holes in them? That sort of thing," Sue shrugged. "I suppose I try to match colours a bit, make sure nothing clashes horribly," Sue muttered thoughtfully, failing to take note at the increased levels of anxiety on the faces of Stacy and Lexi the more she talked. When they switched to determined looks she drew a line. "No! We do not have time for whatever you two want to do with me at the moment. Just get Lexi dressed!" Stalking over to a line of dolls on a shelf, Sue flew up and landed next to them, checking to see if anything they were clothed in looked like it fitted.

"Lexi!" Turning quickly at Stacy's screech, Sue saw Lexi had climbed onto a shelf in order to access the top of Stacy's wardrobe and was now falling backwards. Sue dived down attempting to catch her, knocking heads with Stacy who had also dived to catch Lexi. Lexi, now a pixie, was fluttering over the two sprawled girls as Constable Stevens charged in to see what was happening.

"What's going on… Stacy! You're naked! Put some clothes on!" the scandalised Constable ordered turning quickly back to the door.

"Huh? What? No wings! I'm me!" Stacy screeched happily, hugging herself. "Sue, we're back! Sue?" she questioned cautiously to the rolled up girl lying on her side in a fetal position crying quietly. "Are you all right?"

"I hurt," Sue moaned. "All my chest muscles feel like barbed wire is under the skin cutting into them." Sue just lay there hugging her arms to her chest with her knees pulled up moaning at any slight movement.

"Here Sue, let me try and help," Lexi murmured kneeling down beside her, once again human sized and dressed in some of Stacy's clothes. Reaching out she carefully ran a hand along the side of Sue's chest murmuring something under her breath, and then the same again up the other side.

Sighing Sue relaxed and lay there with her eyes closed. "Thank you Lexi," she breathed turning over to lever herself up, when Lexi held out a hand and stopped her. "Careful Lexi, I didn't heal you or anything, it's just a spell to lessen pain. You've probably pulled something so let's go carefully." Turning Sue back around, Lexi helped her stand with just her legs, not using her arms. Lexi and Stacy then stood examining her with thoughtful looks as Stacy finished getting dressed.

"OK, I see how you could hide your mutation," Constable Stevens said still facing the door. "But can you get dressed now and meet me in the kitchen?" he pleaded. At the girl's murmurs of agreement he fled the room.

"No, Stacy," Sue stated firmly as Stacy went to speak. "Just get me something clean and in my size to wear that won't hurt too much to put on, I really am not in the mood for a fashion lesson. I promise to wear anything you give me, just make it fast?" she pleaded.

"I don't have any bras near big enough for you," Stacy apologised to the taller girl. "Your, um, quite a bit bigger then me and Lexi."

"What about your Mom? Did she keep any of her old clothes?" Lexi asked softly.

Looking at Lexi shocked, Stacy eventually nodded and quietly led her sisters from her room. A few steps up the hall she stopped in front of a door and just stood staring at it with unnoticed tears falling down her check. Finally Lexi moved up and hugged her. "Do you want me to …," she begun when Stacy fiercely shook her head, and with a big breath forced herself to open the door and enter.

Looking around the bedroom, clean and tidy with a neatly made queen bed, Stacy again teared up. Almost hypnotically she drifted over to the dresser, where she reached out and tenderly touched a hairbrush sitting by itself, carelessly thrown on top. Not realising how, she found herself seated on the bed, held tightly between her two sisters, cuddling her Mother's hairbrush to her chest and crying. Turning into Lexi's welcoming shoulder, Stacy let herself weep as Lexi held her tight and Sue placed a hand on her back in comfort.

From the door Constable Stevens watched the sisters comfort the crying Stacy and turned, closing the door, leaving them their privacy. Walking through to the kitchen, he picked up the phone and dialled a number, sitting down at the table while he waited for it to answer.

"Mrs. Havelock? Yes, it's Constable Stevens. Were you able to call everyone in time? Thank you," he smiled in relief, then sighed. "I'm still not sure, they said their father's hay store… Yes, they. It's not just Stacy, but her two half sisters too, both of them are with her… they haven't said, at the moment they are comforting Stacy in her mother's room, much better then I could… No, I'll see if I can talk to Child Services at the Department of Community Services … yes DoCS. Stacy's mother and their father's bodies will be flying back in a couple of days, at least until the funeral it should be possible to keep them here… After that? I hadn't thought that far. It depends on what the department wants. Once DoCS appoints someone we can try and see what the options are… Yes, I know. I'm just happy Stacy is back safely, and that she has her sisters with her too, however it happened… All right, I'll let you know what is happening after I contact them tomorrow… Yes, goodnight, I'll bring them back with me to the station house, it has the bunk room with the three beds in it they can sleep in, I don't think Stacy could handle anyone sleeping in her mother's room at the moment."

Hanging up Constable Stevens sat there looking at the phone, until noise from the door caused him to look up. Standing in the doorway the three sisters looked at him, the taller blonde one wearing a dress of Mrs. Kelly's he noticed, while the other two wore shirts and skirts of Stacy's. All three still quite emotional.

"When did you last eat?" he asked, sighing at the thoughtful looks as all three tried to remember. "Come on," he invited, indicating the kitchen table as he stood and opened the pantry cupboard, rummaging through what was there, finally he reached up and grabbed a couple of tins. Turning back to the table he was surprised to see the taller blonde girl ferrying things already from the fridge to the table.

Looking up and seeing his surprised look, Sue hunched a bit. "I just felt like some soup," she muttered, hurrying back to the fridge and opening up the freezer. Rummaging around, Sue pulled out some chicken, which she took over to the sink and placed there before starting to rummage through the cupboards around the oven. Grunting in triumph, Sue pulled out a large pot and put it in the sink, quickly removing the wrapping from the chicken and placing the chicken in the bottom of the pot. Reaching up to the spice rack, Sue covered the chicken in salt and powdered soup stock. Putting a little bit of water in the pot, she lifted the pot with a grunt and moved it to the table. Sue came back and picked up a chopping block, knife, plastic bag and some vegetable peelers, which she took back to the table and handed to her sisters before sitting down, starting to peel and chop up the vegetables with her sisters.

"So I take it you know how to cook?" Constable Stevens asked, returning the tins to the pantry shelf and sitting down to watch the three girls peel vegetables.

Sue shrugged. "I know some meals, I'm not really that good at it, but I'm not gonna starve."

"Can you cook enough for all of us?"

Sue nodded mutely and Constable Stevens gestured her to continue while he turned back to the other two.

"So you can change between fairies and girls?" he started.

"Um, technically pixies and girls," Lexi replied diffidently.

"Is there a difference?" Constable Stevens asked calmly.

"Well, pixies exist whereas fairies are actually just storybook creatures, the original 'fairy tales'," Lexi started in a lecturing voice when Constable Stevens' expression bought her up short.

"And who told you that?" Constable Stevens queried still calmly.

"Umm, Mom?" Lexi fearfully whispered.

"Is she the one who also taught you magic?"

"Um, a little bit," Lexi confirmed cautiously.

"How?"

"Ahh, she was like me."

"Like you?" Constable Steven pushed.

"Pixie," Lexi barely breathed the response.

"And she was the one who taught you and obviously told you to keep it secret?" Lexi just nodded, scrunched up fearfully in her seat.

Sighing, Constable Stevens stood and moved around the table to crouch next to Lexi's chair. Reached out he gave the girl an award hug. "Your Mum was American right? You spent some time in America?"

Lexi nodded. "Grew up there until I started manifesting and Mom came back to Australia. I, I don't remember living in Australia at all before coming back."

"Well Australia isn't like the U.S.," Constable Stevens comforted her. "Oh I won't say we don't have our bigots and haters, but well, be all and end all, we have fewer guns. Actually killing mutants is kinda not that common a thing here, and speaking as the local law enforcement, we're dead set against lynch mobs and other forms of 'group justice'."

"So…?" Lexi asked cautiously.

"So," Constable Stevens replied with a smile. "We'll get the three of you tested and then see about finding you someone to teach you control."

"Teach?" Lexi nearly squeaked.

"Teach. I have no idea about magic, but I doubt good things happen if you use trial and error to find out the limits of your skill. I wouldn't let a baby play with a loaded gun, I sure as hell ain't letting the three of you run around without lessons for your magic!"

"That's it?!" Lexi did squeak this time.

Laughing, Constable Steven stood and picked up the large pot from in front of Sue after seeing her pained expression when she tried to lift it herself. "What did you expect?" he asked, putting the pot on the stove and lighting it.

"Don't you have to report us to the MCO?" Lexi demanded.

Constable Stevens blinked. "Why?" he asked frowning at Lexi.

"Mutant ID?" she suggested.

"What? You planing on flying somewhere?" he asked puzzled.

"But! Don't you need a MID or the MCO can arrest you?" Wide-eyed Lexi stared at the police officer.

"When was that law passed?" Constable Stevens asked, genuinely confused.

"But Tales of the MCO! They can arrest you for just being a mutant without an ID!" Stacy exclaimed.

"Maybe in the U.S., who knows what sort of laws some states or towns have passed. Over here the MCO is a non-government organisation. As ex-convict colonies, we keep the law nice and tight within the hands of the state and territory governments, thank you. Governments are not pleased to have 'police-like powers' in the hands of anyone who is not their police force. No matter what they like to think, the MCO doesn't have the powers to arrest anyone for anything in Australia, only the police have arrest powers."

"So the MCO isn't coming for us?" Stacy whispered in shock.

"Nobody is coming for you, except me if you run away again," he glared at them. "Let's all have a good dinner of your sister's soup, then we'll go back next door to the station house. While the three of you have a wash and setup the bunk room to sleep in, I'll get on the blower to my Sergeant and we'll get the paper work fixed for your last disappearing act OK?"

Mutely the three girls nodded.

Stacy led Lexi and Sue into the bunk room, a room running down the entire side of the Station House, originally intended to have bunk beds in a row used for the billeting of a number of police constables when the country town's station house. It had originally been built in the late nineteenth century, but had since converted to have just four beds with a chest of drawers and wardrobe each for the comfortable accommodation of guests to the Station House. Lexi glanced over knowingly at Sue and watched her grimace and cradle her chest.

"Just sit here while Stacy and I make the beds, Sue," Lexi commanded pushing Sue into a chair and making her sit. "Once we're finished, I'll take the time to properly fix your wing muscles."

Not quite moaning, Sue drew up her knees to her chest, and with her arms crossed over her breasts lay back in the chair, her eyes closed as she grimaced every so often.

Looking concerned at the pain on Sue's face, Stacy turned to Lexi. "I thought you could heal with magic? Why aren't you doing so?" she demanded.

Lexi sighed. "I can heal with magic, Stacy. But Sue pulled her flight muscles. I'll need to help her swap back to being a pixie so she has them again before I can heal her. At the moment she's human, and if I use magic on her it might go wrong, her muscles aren't lying the way they do when she has wings and it's important for her ability to fly that I get it right."

"But…"

"Stacy please," Lexi begged. "Let's just get the beds made and Sue laid down and I'll fix it, I promise."

Grabbing a fitted sheet, Stacy nodded numbly. At the nearest bed, she quickly fitted the sheet as Lexi did one of the other two beds. Spreading a flat sheet and blanket on her bed, Stacy tucked them in before throwing over a cotton doona and turning to Sue. Helping her stand, Stacy got Sue to lay down on the bed and waved Lexi over. "No Lexi, you start on Sue, I'll finish making the other bed," she ordered.

Rolling her eyes, Lexi smiled and moved over to Sue. With a frown she examined Sue carefully, before with a sigh she addressed her. "Sue? Are you able to swap back to pixie?"

Closing her eyes, Sue tried hard, before panting she looked up at Lexi and shook her head.

Lexi frowned down at Sue, before slumping down into a chair and thoughtfully staring off into space.

Stacy finished making the final bed, and coming back looked curiously at the staring Lexi. Shaking her head, she lent down to Sue. "Are you hurting? Do you want me to get you a Panadol or something?"

"That's not necessary," Lexi replied from behind her, causing Stacy to squeak in surprise.

"You ready to do something now?" Stacy demanded, turning to Lexi.

"I need to get Sue back to a pixie first," Lexi reminded Stacy with a slightly hurt look. "I just worked out how to do that."

"You know a spell?" Stacy asked hopefully. "Can you teach it to me?" she begged excitedly.

"Not a spell, Stacy," Lexi replied laughing. "But yes, I can teach it to you. It's simple really, all I need to do is share with you both my memory of doing the shift, which will then become your memory of doing the shift, and as simply as that, you both will be able to do the shift as well, and then I'll be able to move onto healing Sue's flight muscles."

Eyes wide in joy, Stacy impulsively hugged Lexi, who laughed and shooed her off to lay down on one of the empty beds.

Sue sighed with relief at the easing of pain, sighing again to be held in lovingly in the arms of his wife. Sue felt himself relax and drift off to sleep, turning slightly he cuddled into his wife's loving arms, murmuring his love for her as sleep overtook him.

With unshed tears in her eyes, Lexi bent to kiss Sue on her forehead. Concentrating slightly, Lexi smiled as a facsimile of her borrowed skirt and shirt covered her naked pixie body. Shifting slightly, Lexi carefully manoeuvred the Tinkerbell look-a-like to once again lay peacefully asleep, her head resting on Lexi's now skirted lap.

"Wow!" Stacy breathed from where she was kneeling beside the bed, watching entranced as the tiny pixie Lexi settled the equally tiny Sue onto her lap. "What happened with your clothes?" she whispered to Lexi, wide-eyed in wonder.

*Magic,* Lexi replied with a sad smile directed at the face of the pixie in her lap. *I, um, well in her pain, Sue latched on a little closer to me then I expected. Instead of guiding Sue through the change to pixie like I wanted, she basically copied me, including a spell I had forgotten I invented, a spell that swaps out the clothing between my forms.*

"Swaps the clothing?"

*Just think it Stacy, I'll hear you,* Lexi encouraged, looking up at Stacy finally with an encouraging smile. *I made a spell that moves the clothes I'm wearing to a pocket dimension, so that when I change form, I automatically change clothes. Sue copied that and moved your mother's dress to her own little pocket dimension when she changed with me.*

*Cool! So how come you both ended up naked little pixies?*

*No clothes in the pocket dimension to change back into,* Lexi explained with a shrug. "It's the first time Sue's used the spell, and she just created her new pocket dimension, so it was empty.*

*And you?*

*Until you gave me your skirt and shirt, I was naked as Sue. My pocket dimension was just as empty as hers. It's been so long since I used the spell, the clothes I had there long ago disintegrated.*

Turning back to Sue, a sad smile returned to Lexi's face as she gently swept a stray lock of hair from Sue's happily sleeping face.

*Why are you looking down at Sue so sadly?* Stacy whispered to her sister.

Looking up, Lexi explained with tears in her eyes. *She went to sleep completely content and safe in the arms of her 'wife'. So much love.* Tears started pouring down Lexi's cheek unchecked.

*Oh Lexi,* Stacy cried, unconsciously shifting to settle behind her as a naked pixie. Kneeling behind her sister, Stacy sweep Lexi into arms as Lexi turned to cry into her shoulder.

*It's not me,* Lexi sniffled. *Its Sue. She's so confused and each time she lets go and remembers she's so happy, and then the reality comes back and I can feel her heart break all over again.* Weeping she clung desperately to Stacy. *She did all this to save me, and I feel her hurt. She looks at me, and the love swells up and then she remembers and it hurts, oh she hurts!" Lexi wept heartbrokenly into Stacy's shoulder.

*What can we do?* Stacy whispered. *Can I change you so that the same as for you, Sue can look on you and not get the memories?*

Shaking her head, Lexi replied sadly. *Much as I'd love to, it's too dangerous. It took all Sue's skill to guide you through last time. There's no way she'd let us risk it again just for her comfort, and without her help, we can't do it.*

*Well, can't we make her look at her life as it is now, and into the future, and remember it so she stops remembering the other future?*

*I don't think she can, Stacy. Remember? She's never looked at her own future, only ours.*

*Well how's she getting stuck with these memories then, if she only looked at your future?*

Lexi blushed. *Ah, I um … we were very much in love. I, ah … well there wasn't much of my future that wasn't also Sue's. For all intents and purposes, they were the same futures. But for this future to work, they need to be separate ones. So looking into my future is only going to hurt Sue more, not help her.* Lexi sighed.

*There must be something we can do!* Stacy begged.

Lexi hugged Stacy to her, luxuriating in the comforting contact with another. Finally Lexi let go and sat up. Looking down at the young innocent face of the smiling pixie in her lap, suddenly she stiffened and tenderly reached out, tracing Sue's young cheek with a finger before looking up at Stacy. *Stacy, how old would you say I look?* Lexi asked seriously.

*What? Same age as me! You look fourteen, fifteenish, why?* Stacy responded confused.

*And before? What age did I look before?*

*Um, thirty? Maybe a bit older. Why?*

*I think I have an idea,* Lexi smirked.

*What?* Stacy demanded.

*Sue only has memories of me as an adult," Lexi explained slowly. "I can't change those memories, but I'm not an adult at the moment. I don't need to change to look different, I do look different!* she smiled triumphantly up at Stacy.

*But not different enough,* Stacy reminded her.

*Only because Sue has no memories of me this young to reference first. We don't need to change my appearance, I just need to give her memories of me at this age that have nothing to do with that dangerous future for her mind to latch onto instead, and I know exactly the ones to give us.*

*Us?*

*Yes, us.* She smiled up at Stacy. *You don't mind sharing some of your memories with Sue to help her?* she asked anxiously.

*No, er … which ones?* Stacy asked cautiously.

*I was thinking of building some memories for us as sisters. From me, I will share my memories of learning magic, learning to fight and learning to be a pixie. Those memories will give you and Sue all the knowledge you need to protect yourselves in your pixie forms, to enable you to become as aware as you need to be to survive being snack-sized in a world of predators …*

*Like snakes?* Stacy asked shuddering.

*Yes, Stacy. Like snakes, and birds, and other things, but also so that you have the magic to protect yourself. To hide yourself and also let yourselves be heard and understood at need.*

Stacy grinned at that. *And from me? What do you want from me?* she asked eagerly.

*Your father. Memories of spending holidays with your father here in this town so that we can know it as well as you, as well as we should know it, to prevent people getting curious about us. Only the holidays here, but only if you want,* Lexi assured her.

Stacy frowned at Lexi's serious tone. *Why may I not want to?*

*When the memories are shared they'll change. You'll start remembering them as being not just you and your father, but all of us. You, your father, and me and Sue too.*

*All of them? All my memories of my father!* Stacy wailed horrified.

*No Stacy, Never!* Lexi quickly assured her. "I'd never do that to you. I'll only take a small few, just some of your more forgotten holiday memories. Holiday memories of here, and I'll modify them only so that you just as vaguely remember Sue and I being here as you vaguely remember what you and your dad really did. Just memories of sisters you saw ever so infrequently, a couple of holidays here and there, that's all.*

*It will help Sue?* Stacy asked nervously, biting her lip as she looked down on the sleeping Sue in Lexi's lap.

*I believe so, I hope so.* Lexi too looked down.

"Show me," Stacy whispered pleadingly.

"Show you?" Lexi asked confused, also replying out loud to her sister's spoken plea.

"Share with me, let me feel the pain of Sue's that you feel. Please?" she begged.

"Why Stacy?" Lexi asked concerned. "You can see her pain, why do you want to feel it? She hurts so much, why would you want to feel that?"

Breaking down Stacy started crying. "Because he's gone! I'll never get another memory of him and I miss him. I … I don't want to lose more of him, even the most fuzziest of memories. I … what … Lexi what if I forget him? What if I forget my own father?" she wept.

"Oh Stacy, I'm so sorry." Once again Lexi reached towards Stacy, pulling her in and hugged her tight. "We don't need to do it. We can use just my memories, it's OK," she patted the crying Stacy on the back.

"Please, share with me?" Stacy begged. "I want to help, I just need to know! Please?"

Sighing Lexi nodded. *Can you feel me?* Smiling Stacy nodded, feeling her sisters love deeply, as well as the worry she felt for both her and Sue. *OK, I'm going to wake Sue now.* Bending down Lexi smiled and gently shook Sue's shoulders. "Sue? Sue? Time to wake up. Sue?*

Smiling at the silvery voice of his wife, Sue turned to the sound and waking looked on his favourite sight. His wife's smiling face, close enough to touch. Reaching up he cupped her cheek, starting to speak his love, before the sight of his small, delicate hand caused him to stare confused.

Lexi watch with dread as she felt the love of Sue for her spike as she reached out a loving hand. Crying she watched Sue snatch back the hand and despairingly cried out as Sue rolled from her lap, desperately crawling away from her.

Crying in horror, Stacy pounced on her crawling sister, franticly trying to gather her into a hug. "Yes! Yes! Oh Lexi yes! Lexi anything!" Stacy called out, gathering the heartbroken Sue into her arms she hugged her tight and tried to comfort her. "Please! Lexi put her back to sleep. Lexi please!" Stacy begged sobbing around the despairing form of her sister crying out her heart against her chest.

Weeping herself, Lexi lent past Stacy and gently touching the forehead of Sue. Murmuring some words, slowly the sobs of Sue lessened into the gentle breathing of one asleep, as Lexi laid her back down, moving to once again cradle Sue's head in her lap while Stacy lay down beside Sue, reaching around and hugging her tight.

Finishing his call to the duty number for the Department of Community Service's Child Welfare Office, Constable Stevens smiled. An agreement had been worked out that the three girls would stay with him temporarily while the details for the funerals of their father and Stacy's mother were finalised. Standing Constable Stevens listening carefully, frowning as he made his way through the house.

"Stacy? Lexi? Sue?" Confused he quickly glanced through the door into the bunk room, absently noticing that all the beds were made. A twitch on one of the beds drew his attention just as he was turning to leave the room. Making his way to the middle bed he looked down and smiled at what he saw. Cuddled up in the lee of the pillow, three pixies, one dressed and two naked, were sleeping in a bundle of limbs, the outer two cuddling close the inner one in comfort, twitching every so often as if dreaming.

Quickly making his way to another bed, Constable Stevens stripped the down comforter off it and coming back he spread it over the top of the one on the bed the pixies were already sleeping on. Carefully, he spread the comforter out on the bed, making sure that it only covered the pixie's bodies, leaving their heads sticking out. Watching carefully he confirmed that they were still peacefully sleeping, not inconvenienced by the weight of the doona at all. Satisfied he smiled down at them, then frowned. Looking at the bed as he stood back from it he saw that it looked like a made bed, nothing to indicate the sleeping girls or prevent anyone from trying to use the 'empty' bed themselves. Going back to the other beds he grabbed the pillows, returning to place them around the three pixies, chuckling quietly at how much it looked like a pillow fort made for when new-borns slept on a bed.

Leaving the room, Constable Stevens turned off the light and gently shut the door. Crossing the hall to his own room, he gathered up his pyjamas and stepping across the hall made for the bathroom. With three girls now in the house, he decided he'd shower tonight rather then try and fight for the only bathroom against the girls in the morning.

Sisters

"Wakey wakey sleeping beauty."

At the sound of his sister's voice, Sue woke, smiling up at Lexi who stared down at him. "Morning Lexi." Stretching, he blinked at another face, kneeling on his other side, looking down at him in concern. Recognising it, he smiled in turn to Stacy. "Morning Stacy."

Smiling like the sun coming up, Stacy dived to hug Sue. Face split apart in joy, Stacy then jumped up and hugged Lexi, dragging her into the air, where hugging Lexi she spun around and around with her like a small top, both of their wings buzzing happily, working to keep them aloft.

Smiling delightedly at the morning antics of his sisters, Sue finished stretching and yawned hugely, before crawling out of the soft cave he was in. Looking down to see what it was he had slept in, he stooped shocked, blinking at the eyeful of breasts. Staring blankly at them, finally she sighed and finished crawling out from the soft dark cave, reminding herself again that she was now female.

Standing up, Sue looked around at the white hills above her, blinking until she recognised them for the pillows that they were. Looking further up, she waved at her two flying sister pixies, both looking down at her in concern. "You don't need to worry so," she called to them. "I know waking up thinking I'm a boy isn't good, but it's only my second day a girl, I'll get used to it, I really will," she assured them. Jumping up, she flew to Stacy and then Lexi, giving each of them a quick hug of thanks for their concern.

Breast-to-breast with Sue as she hugged her, Lexi smirked and in her huskiest voice purred, "You certainly have taken to your skin well, flying around showing it all off like that." With a leer and a smack of her lips, Lexi let go and ogled the confused Sue.

Blinking, Sue looked followed Lexi's gaze down, frowning at her naked self, confused at Lexi's purr ...

Naked?

"Eep!"

Stacy and Lexi stared open mouthed in shock at the empty place where Sue had been, before turning wildly around, both started yelling desperately, *Sue where are you?!*

"Where do you think?" a muffled squeak replied from below them.

Turning in the air, both girls looked down, finally seeing just the head of Sue peaking back out from the cavelike opening of the two doonas they had slept between.

"Sue! What did you do? How'd you disappear like that?" screeched Stacy.

Before Sue could answer, the door opened and Constable Stevens called through, "Stacy? Girls?"

With 'eeps' of their own, both Stacy and Lexi disappeared, appearing crouched in the cave between the doonas, to the laughing sniggers of Sue who looked back at them. "I guess now you know," she giggled as both of them blinked at her stunned.

"Girls?" Constable Stevens repeated coming into the room. Crawling cautiously up the pillow, the three pixies peeked carefully over, making sure to keep the pillow between their naked bodies and the Constable. "Wooh, Fern Gully! You three going to shrink me and drag me off into the woods with you?" Constable Stavens asked with a laugh.

Lexi glanced confused towards the smiling Sue and giggling Stacy. Getting her giggling under control, Stacy smiled up at Constable Stevens. "We're not fairies," she admonished smiling. "Pixies don't do that!"

"You're not fairies? Could have fooled me!" Constable Stevens laughed. "Put a red skirt on and you'd make a fair Crystal, Sue there just needs to put on a green dress and she is Tinkerbell!" Constable Stevens stated with a laugh, before getting serious. "And how come I can hear you today?"

Smiling, Stacy hugged Lexi to her. "Lexi taught us the spell to speak last night! Isn't she great!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Both you and Sue?" Constable Stevens enquired to Stacy's enthusiastic nod. Constable Stevens was frowning at that revelation, when he was distracted by melodic warbling. Turning to the window, Constable Stevens blinked at the large magpie perched on the windowsill, warbling away happily while peering in through the glass.

At the glad cries of "Maggie!" from Lexi, Constable Stevens turned back just in time to see a red haired pixie darting towards the window. Part way there she blinked out, suddenly appearing outside the window, hugging tight the bird around its neck. Lexi petted and enthused over the large magpie, as Constable Stevens stood staring, mouth open in astonishment.

"That's Maggie, she's Lexi's pet magpie," Stacy happily explained from Constable Stevens shoulder, where she and Sue had flown up to while Constable Stevens stared after Lexi.

"Did Lexi… did she just… teleport! You can teleport?" Constable Stevens demanded.

"Um yes, but not very well. It's how we all ended up together, we kind of do it unconsciously sometimes," Stacy explained shrugging.

"Unconsciously?"

"Um yes, so including the big one that bought us here, I've done it twice, Sue has also done it twice and now Lexi has done it three times." Looking up at Constable Stevens, Stacy beamed.

Trying to turn his head to look at the pixie perched on his shoulder, Constable Stevens grouched, "You know Stacy, it's incredibly hard to focus on your shoulder, could you talk to me from somewhere else?"

"Well, yes, but I'm naked! Perhaps you could leave so we could get dressed?" she snarked back.

Blushing bright red, Constable Stevens muttered sorry and quickly made his way to the door, closing it behind him after Stacy laughingly lifted off from his shoulder and flew across to the window, followed by Sue. Landing, Stacy immediately changed to her normal size. Opening the window, she tapped on the metal fly screen. "Come back in Lexi, we need to get dressed."

Giving Maggie one last hug, Lexi turned and blinked at the metal fly screen. Flying up to it, Lexi pushed on it, before looking all around at it and the window and finally turning back to Stacy. "Um, how?" she asked.

"Teleport back, like you did to get out there originally," Stacy instructed.

Lexi concentrated, then tried flying at the window, then flew down and just sat there thinking, finally she looked up a Stacy. "I can't, I don't remember how I did it," she admitted embarrassed.

Stacy shook her head and sighed. "All right, stay put. I'll put some clothes on and come fetch you." Closing the window, she turned back into the room just in time to see the full size Sue get covered by her mother's dress that she had been wearing last night, a dress that had appeared out of nowhere to fall over her head.

"Where did that come from?" Stacy asked Sue as Sue carefully extracted herself from the dress.

"I don't know. I swapped back to human sized and arrived naked and was just looking around for my clothes when it fell on me." Just then a soft 'plop' drew their eyes to the floor next to the bed, where a set of panties now sat, quickly joined by a bra that appeared in the air and fell to the floor on top of panties.

Sue watched Stacy bend to pick up the panties and bra before smiling she handing them to her. "Well, you only wore them for less then an hour last night. Might as well save some time and wear them today as well. Here, take a towel and run next door, you can have first shower while I fetch in Lexi."

Pushing the naked Sue before her, Stacy quickly had her out in the hallway and the door slammed shut behind her, so fast that it took the bemused Sue nearly a second to realise she was standing naked in the hallway. With a startled 'eep', Sue leapt down the hall and desperately grabbed the handle for the bathroom, praying it was open and empty before piling in and slamming the door shut behind her. Leaning against the door and sighing in relief, Sue looked around the empty bathroom. Dumping her clothes on the basin, Sue stepped over to the shower and turned it on, yelling at the cold water and dancing on the cool tiles before finally the water started running warm and she could dive into the shower, pulling shut the shower curtain behind her.

With Sue out of the room, Stacy hummed and bent down to pick up her own clothes from beside the bed, quickly separating her panties and stepping into them, followed by her bra, shirt and then skirt. Looking around and seeing no brush, she sighed and finger combing her hair, placed it in a quick ponytail. Skipping through the door, Stacy turned down the hall for the front door, unlocking and opening it and dancing out into the morning light as she made her way along the wooden floorboards of the front verandah, around the corner of the house and to the window ledge Lexi was stuck on.

Coming round the corner, Stacy stopped short, shocked to see a red haired girl leaning on the window ledge with a magpie held on the wrist before her, petting and cooing to the bird. It wasn't until she recognised her own skirt and shirt that she realised it was Lexi.

"Oh hi Stacy," Lexi smiled as she turned to her sister. "When I saw the dress falling on Sue's head, I remembered my own pocket dimension and the clothes you lent me. I didn't know which way you were coming from, so I waited for you." Smiling she pushed off from the windowsill and stood up, transferring Maggie to her shoulder as she did so, before running to give Stacy a hug. Grabbing Stacy's hand, Lexi dragged her along the verandah back to the front door.

Opening the front door, Lexi stopped short, the entry being blocked by Constable Stevens. "No pets in the station house," he growled.

"But she's hungry!" Lexi whined.

"I don't know what you expect to feed her with here."

"I usually give her some mince or chopped up steak," Lexi mumbled.

"There's none of that here."

"Oh, that's all right, I put some frozen mince in the fridge last night, it should be thawed by now!" Stacy smiled up at Constable Stevens.

"The station fridge?" he asked shocked.

"No, our fridge, next door. I was going to get it when we went for breakfast." Just then from the hall, Sue wandered in fresh from her shower and now dressed once again in Stacy's mother's dress.

"Breakfast seems a good idea then," Constable Stevens suggested, gesturing Sue out the front door before him.

Looking at Sue's hair and then reaching around and pulling her ponytail around to look at it, Stacy sighed. "Yes, along with other things," she muttered. Stacy stepped off the verandah and led them across the yard to the gate through the fence to the house next door. Retrieving a key from under a flower pot, she opened the door and invited them inside.

"Not that way Sue, this way," Stacy said gesturing Sue towards the bedrooms.

"But the kitchen is that way?" Sue said confused, pointing the way she had been going.

"Yes, and a lady receives company after she has done her hair and makeup," Stacy intoned in an enunciated voice.

"But I don't use makeup," Sue stuttered confused.

"Maybe, but you need to brush your hair," Lexi said steering her sister along the hall in front of herself and Stacy.

"Hair?"

"It's a mess, you need to brush it."

"Couldn't I just put it in a pony tail like Stacy's?"

"Oh no Sue! My pony tail is just because I forgot to bring a brush last night, it's not styled," Stacy objected shocked.

"Styled?" Sue asked panicking.

"Yes, styled. For you with your lovely long hair, you just need to brush it and then let it fall naturally, it's so pretty. I wish I had lovely long hair like that!" Entering her room, Stacy guided Sue to the stool in front of her dressing table, pushing her firmly down into it as she picked up her brush and started running it through Sue's hair.

"Why can't you have long hair?" Sue queried nervously, eying the strange accoutrements spread out on the dressing table in front of her, ignoring what Stacy was doing to her hair in panic at all the objects arrayed before her.

"When I grow my hair out it starts twisting and curling and it becomes an unruly mess. I need to be brushing it always, even in a braid it has things sticking up everywhere all the time. At this length it stays orderly and straight, so I tend to cut it just when it starts curling. But yours! It's so pretty and straight and long." Smiling she ran the brush through Sue's hair, down to the small of her back even for such a tall girl.

"It's no different to Lexi's," Sue said pointing to the long hair now cascading down Lexi's back, almost the same shape and length as her own, revealed now that Lexi had released it from the hair bun she had been wearing it in. Sue watched Lexi's hands with dread as she reach forward to the dressing table.

"Lexi's hair is beautiful too," Stacy agreed. "Now I'm going to be the frumpy third sister," Stacy sighed. "The ugly one everyone thinks of as nothing more then 'Lexi and Sue's sister'!" she almost wailed.

"But you're beautiful!" Sue was so startled, she blurted it out without realising, eyes dragged from her dread-filled stare as she watched Lexi rummaged through the minefield on the dressing table. Looking up, Sue stared in shock at the sad eyes of Stacy in the mirror before her.

"Sue's right little pixie," Lexi stated firmly, looking at Stacy too through the mirror from where she stood beside her. "If this is the length of hair that suits you, well then the three of us just need to make sure you rock wearing it! Now, do you have another brush somewhere I can use?" Lexi asked, once again rummaging through the items on the dressing table.

"In the top drawer," Stacy laughed, using two hands to turn Sue's face forward again, pushing her head down with a hand on the top of her head so that she could return to brushing Sue's hair again, smiling happily as she did so. Both her mother and her had relatively short hair, and she'd always been super envious when she saw TV shows and movies with exotic ladies brushing their long luxurious hair. 

Thinking back to when she had first saw Sue, with her long hair being stroked by Lexi, she frowned as she remembered her conversation with Lexi. Thinking about it, biting her lip, finally Stacy quietly asked. "Sue, why can't you look into your own future?"

"I can, it's just very, very confusing so I don't," Sue replied, eyes almost closed, blissfully enjoying the experience of Stacy brushing her hair.

"Confusing?"

Sue sighed and fully opened her eyes to look at Stacy in the mirror opposite. "You've experienced my foresight right? You know how it's like memories? I don't see the future like a TV show, I get given what feel like memories of it?" Stacy nodded. "Well, when the memories are someone else's, they have a dreamlike quality to them. I can sort them out and walk through them and examine them like remembered dreams. But when the memories are of a future me, that doesn't happen. They just become my memories. I can't sort them out, I can't examine them, it's like trying to work out if a memory of your childhood actually happened as you remembered it, or if it's something you've been told happened in your childhood and you now think you remember. It all just becomes déjà vu, broken memory fragments, daydreams, I just can't sort it out."

"So you can't really look into your own future?"

"No, not really. Not in any useful way anyway."

"Well, how did you come rescue me?" Stacy demanded. "You told me all about the decisions you made on planes and cars and queues and stuff! Was that all a lie?"

Sue smiled, turning to hug her. "I looked into your future," she explained. "You went through my receipts in Montreal and I got the flights and car hire companies and details from that. As well as the clothes shops and restaurants, all from what you saw. You had a great eye for clothes sizes, so it was a strong memory when I looked at that future."

"You know I went through your papers?!" Stacy exclaimed blushing.

"I needed you to look through the papers, that's why I made sure you saw me with them before I had that shower. If you hadn't looked at them, I couldn't have foreseen what they contained."

"You tricked me! You manipulated me! You made me do it!" Stacy exclaimed horrified.

"Not like that," Sue assured her, hugging her tight again, before giving her a serious look. "Stacy, I'm an adult and you are a very curious child. It's not hard for me to make situations that are just too tempting for you. Not force you, I would never force you. It's no more then any child does, looking through all the drawers in a house to see what is in them. I merely made sure you saw me put that folder down open on the desk."

While Stacy stood there with a rebellious expression, Lexi looked puzzled towards Sue. "Sue, if you only get 'dreamlike' memories from others, how come, well, how come your memories of us are not dreamlike and were causing you so many issues?"

Stacy gasped and looked fearfully towards Sue, as Sue sat shock still, then with narrowed eyes glared at Lexi. "What did you do?" she growled menacingly.

Lexi sighed. "You were so upset each time you thought of it, it hurt you so much."

"I know, but now I look at you and I don't remember that. What did you do!" demanded Sue. "Did you hide it from me?" she gasped, staring up at Lexi in dread.

"No Sue, I … I could never do that to you, to us!" Lexi exclaimed.

"Then what did you do?" Sue almost wept.

"I gave you more sharings," Lexi explained softly. "Sharings of me growing up a pixie and learning to use magic, be a pixie. Also I shared memories from Stacy, of holidays with her dad here, to give us memories of the town and people we should know."

"How did that help me?" Sue asked, starting to cry.

"It gave you other memories of me, me as a sister to you, me as I look now. It, well, it will prevent so many associations from happening when you look at me. Associations pulling up our other memories."

Turning around on the stool, Sue grabbed for Lexi and hugged her tight, weeping into her waist. "Thank you. Oh, thank you!" she sniffed. "I was trying, oh how I was trying, but…," she sniffed and cried some more. "But I … I just couldn't stop thinking that."

"We know Sue, we know," Lexi comforted her, hugging back.

Coming to the open door, Constable Stevens looked in and sighed. This time it was the tall blonde girl, Sue, being comforted in the arms of her sisters. Looking on, he most especially watched Stacy's face, and the very real expressions of not just empathy, but genuine concern and more then a little love. Studying the other two, remembering yesterday when the positions had been reversed, with Stacy receiving the love and comfort, Constable Stevens found himself making a surprising simple decision. He would make sure that the three girls who now no longer had any adult family, would, at the least, have each other from now on, no matter what he needed to do.

"Breakfast is ready, just cereal," was all he called out, before turning and making his way back to the kitchen.

Calming down, Sue sat back and looked up at Lexi, before turning to Stacy. "Are we done?" she asked.

Leaning forward, Stacy grabbed a tissue and wiped Sue's eyes and then sighed. "It's so unfair! You even cry prettily!" Using the hairbrush in her hand, she made a few quick adjustments to Sue's fringe. "There, just sit there for a few seconds and let me and Lexi finish up and we'll be done."

Giving her hair a few flicks to get it sorted and into her preferred style, Stacy paused and then looked towards the patiently waiting Sue. "Sue, you didn't tell us why your memories with Lexi are as they are if you only looked at Lexi's future?"

Sue looked towards Lexi and then quickly away blushing. "Well, ah, um. You see Lexi is a telepath and we married and ah, um…" Taking a deep breath Sue quickly finished. "Lexi had all my memories as well as her own, and after the viewing her memories, my memories joined with mine in the same way they would have if I had looked at my future self." Then with her head down and her cheeks flaming, Sue sat there bunched up.

Lexi looked confused at Sue, before eyes widening she blushed too and quickly turned from Stacy. "Lexi! I don't understand!" Stacy whined.

"Umm, when I, um, get really excited I can somewhat loose control of my talent, and um, err, copy someone's memories unintentionally," Lexi blushed and refused to meet Stacy's eyes.

"Lexi? Lexi? What does that mean?"

With Lexi refusing to meet Stacy's eye, and with Stacy showing no inclination to drop the topic, Sue finally blurted. "In bed! If err, if Lexi likes it a lot in bed with someone, she, er …" Ears burning brightest red, Sue closed her eyes and hunched down on the stool as much as she could, while Stacy stood there, mouth open and face flushing brightest red too.

"Don't go running off you three, there are things to discuss," Constable Stevens admonished as he guided them back into the Station House, making sure that Lexi left the magpie outside with its plate of mince.

"Like what?" Lexi demanded.

Sighing, Constable Stevens looked towards Stacy. "Like Father Michael is coming round." Looking carefully at the three, he explained. "Your father and Stacy's mother's bodies are due back tomorrow, and he'd like to check with you three on the arrangements."

"Can I see them?" Stacy blurted, as her two sisters stepped up and each put an arm each around her. "The bodies, can I see them when they arrive?"

"You mean at the Airport, or like really see them, open their coffins?" Constable Stevens asked carefully.

"Yes," Stacy replied.

Looking down, Constable Stevens took a deep breath then walked up to Stacy and gestured her to sit in a chair. Crouching down in front of her, he reached forward and took her hands in his. "Stacy, I'm sorry, but they fell from a plane. It took forensics to identify them, you know what that means right? The coffins are sealed and are not going to be opened up, not even by the undertakers. They are going to be put in the ground exactly how they are now."

Crying a little, Stacy whispered. "What about at the airport? Can I at least welcome them home?"

"They are coming in as baggage on a commercial flight. They'll be treated with all respect, but it's probably not something you would want to see," Constable Stevens explained standing and leaning forward to give her a hug. "Talk to Father Michael when he comes, he'll be meeting the bodies when they arrive from Sydney. I promise you as soon as they are here, I'll take you to wherever they are and let you spend all the time you need with them, just you and your sisters, all right?"

Crying silently Stacy nodded as her sisters moved in to hug her, helping her out of the chair and leading her further into the accommodation section of the station house.

Constable Stevens stood watching them go, when the ringing of a phone distracted him, causing him to step over to a desk. "New South Wales Police, Constable Stevens speaking… Father Michael, yes come right over, the girls, especially Stacy, seem ready to discuss necessary arrangements. You have the options for them? Good, I'm not sure how it'll go, but I believe letting them know what their parents wanted and then confirming with them is the best way, also I think Stacy at least is going to need some time alone with them … Yes, as part of her grieving … No, I don't know really how she is taking it, other then that the three of them are very close. I've seen both Stacy and Sue being comforted by her sisters as they cry … Thank you Father, I'll let them know you are on the way over."

Taking a sip of his tea, Father Michael looked around at the three girls sitting at the table with him and then sighing reached into his bag and pulled out some sheets of paper. "These are from you father's will, and Stacy's mother's will. They are not the full wills, those are still being sorted out, but the parts where they talk about the agreements for their funeral. Now both of them had already organised most things, they've pre-bought plots in the local cemetery, like nearly everyone in town has, and they've even pre-paid the same undertaker in Wagga, so that too is taken care of. Both have requested that Catholic services be done," Father Michael said looking up at the girls. "Though neither was a regular attendee at mass, I have no objections to that at all, the only question is, which church?" He looked at the three girls in enquiry.

"Which church?" Stacy asked blinking. "But, what's wrong with the Catholic Church at the end of the street? Why wouldn't it be there?" she demanded.

"If you want it there then it will be there," Father Michaels assured her. "I was just going to pass on an offer from the bishop in Wagga is all. As you know, our church here is quite a small church. A small country church, fine for the normal sized congregations we get. Unfortunately, quite often with funerals, where people can come from all over the district, we exceed the numbers that can fit in. For your parents, with the publicity of how they died, well, I'd expect lots of mourners from all over, just for you father alone. Add in the newspapers and the TV and radio, we really wouldn't be able to fit anywhere near as many people as I'd be expecting for the funeral. I was just going to suggest that the bishop has offered to host the funerals in Wagga, if you would like, in the big cathedral there."

"Just the mass, the burials would still be here at the cemetery?" Stacy begged.

"Just the masses," Father Michael assured her.

Looking pleadingly to her sisters, Stacy smiled as both Lexi and Sue nodded. Turning back to Father Michael, Stacy solemnly nodded once too.

Making a note on the papers, Father Michael continued, "OK, next is the dates. When do you want the masses?"

Looking wanly towards Father Michael, Stacy begged, "Can we do just one mass? I don't think I could do it twice!"

Looking towards the other two girls, Father Michael enquired. "Do you also want a single mass?"

Nodding together, Lexi explained, "Stacy is our sister, we'll attend her mother's funeral as well, I too wouldn't want to do it twice."

"I'm not sure anyone would want to, but we thought you might want to keep them separate, but if you prefer a combined mass that is what we'll organise," Father Michael promised again, making a note. "Now finally, both your parents set aside an amount of money for a wake, do you want one in Wagga between the funeral and the burial, or to have everyone drive back from Wagga for the burial and then the wake at the club after that?"

"You said TV cameras and all that, would they be at the wake too?" Stacy asked.

"Almost certainly."

"Could we keep them out?" Stacy pleaded.

Father Michaels sighed. "We could ask them to stay out, but then they would just setup beside the road and take pictures of you arriving and leaving, or just through the windows into whatever room we have the wake in."

"But I want to cry in private, say thank you properly to people who travelled to Mum and Dad's funeral!" Father Michaels just sighed and shrugged his helplessness.

"What about a private wake before the funeral?" Sue suggested. "Like the Irish have, where the coffin is there and people can say private farewells and stuff and then say their condolences to the family and mingle a bit with some food?"

"What, like the night before have the coffins bought here?" Father Michael questioned.

"Well maybe not here here, but somewhere in town. They died unexpectedly, I'm sure more then just Stacy would like to say a private farewell to them away from cameras and crowds. Is there someplace we could put the coffins, like the church or the hall, where people could say their farewells and then we could have a private wake for Stacy to thank those that travelled? Like the night before the funeral maybe?"

"Oh could we?" Stacy begged Father Michael.

"Hmm, I have no objections to the coffins being displayed in the church for a while, but I'll need to check with the undertakers, leave it with me. Thank you girls, this is enough for me to settle some things, I too think people here in town would appreciate a personal wake the night before the funeral where they can say a private farewell to you mother and father, then we can have the bodies moved to Wagga for a public funeral and wake there for those that wish to attend.

"Leave it with me now, I'll call the bishops and confirm the Cathedral in Wagga for the funeral mass, I'll try for Saturday morning, with a wake to follow and then an internment in the town cemetery after lunch. I'll be back later this afternoon to let you know what I've been able to organise OK?"

Standing up, Father Michaels solemnly farewelled each of the girls before following Constable Stevens to the door.

Standing on the verandah, shaking Constable Stevens hand in farewell, Father Michaels quickly checked to confirm the girls had stayed in the dining room, before quietly asking. "What is going to happen now with Stacy and her sisters?"

"I don't know yet Father," Constable Stevens sighed. "And you can pass onto the grapevine that I'll be discussing it further with DoCS once you have the funeral dates worked out and I call them to let them know. For the moment, I have the OK to keep the girls with me at the station house until at least their Father's funeral."

"And after that?"

"I'd like them to stay together at the very least, it's obvious that they are very attached to each other. I'd hate to see them taken away from the last family they now have."

"Hmm, maybe you should get your lawyer girlfriend, or is it fiancée yet? onto it. She does public defendant work right? Could you get her assigned the girls cases?"

"I don't think the girls have legal cases yet," Constable Stevens stated puzzled.

"Parents killed in plane crash? Wards of the state? Running away from their foster families? Sounds to me like they could use a good lawyer, to settle their parents estates and organise the crash compensation if nothing else. Julie's a good lawyer, if you get her looking after them at least you then don't have to worry about snakes and other scum lawyers tricking the girls into signing things. I'm surprised someone hasn't been chasing them already, probably lost trying to find this place on a map. Anyway, I'll be back later, probably late afternoon, once I finish organising things with the bishop, the undertakers and the local council to make sure we have the graves opened for the coffins." With one last shake, Father Michaels turned and made his way down the path.

Frowning slightly, Constable Stevens stared after the departing priest thoughtfully, before turning and re-entering the Station House. Pulling out his mobile phone he dialled one of the programmed numbers, waiting for it to be answered with a frown. "Julie," he smiled, face lighting up. "Do you mind if ask you for some professional guidance?"

"Why are we pixies again?" Stacy asked, trying to cover her naked self with her arms. Standing in her replica skirt and shirt, Lexi smiled at Stacy and Sue as they blushed and tried to cover their naked pixie bodies. All three of them stood in shining golden sunlight on a forgotten straw bale in the Police Station's large backyard shed.

"You have my memories," Lexi explained. "You have the knowledge of my magic and my fighting skills, but you don't have the muscle memories, the training, nor the strength for the skills. You intellectually know what to do, but without practice and dedication, it will remain but daydreams."

"Huh?" Stacy asked. "What about the speaking spell? We can do that!"

Lexi smirked, and bending down picked up a stray length of straw. "Light the straw Stacy," she instructed, holding it out to her.

Puzzled, Stacy reached out a finger and pointed at the straw. The merest wisp of smoke came from the end of the straw. Eyes widening in shock, Stacy frowned and glared at the straw, concentrating until sweat appeared on her face. When she started panting Lexi interrupted her, calling out "Enough!"

Turning to glare at Lexi, Stacy's whole body language seemed to accuse her. Laughing Lexi waved her down. "No Stacy, I don't suppress you, nor is there anything strange about the straw." Clicking her fingers, Lexi smiled as the straw caught flame. Negligently waving, Lexi put it out and dropped the straw. With a whistle she called Maggie to her, making a fuss of the magpie while Stacy calmed down. Finally smiling, Lexi pointed to the far corner of the shed's roof, maybe ten meters away.

"Feel like a race?" she asked Stacy with a grin. Eyes lighting up in delight, Stacy nodded enthusiastically. "Race you to the post and back?" Lexi suggested.

Not even waiting for a formal start, Stacy jumped and started pumping her wings, almost buzzing with the speed she was moving them. Lexi took off after her laughing, with Maggie following too, swooping below and around the two pixies.

Catching Stacy as she got to the pole, Lexi spun around in the air, hitting the pole with her feet, pushing off again from the pole with a triumphant laugh. Face flushed with excitement and delight, Stacy pushed off from the pole with her hands, turning to chase her sister back across the shed. Landing back on the straw bale beside Sue, Lexi turned quickly and watched with concern as Stacy struggled the last couple of meters to the bale, collapsing into her arms as she arrived.

Kneeling down behind the winded Stacy, Lexi stroked her sister, murmuring words of healing as she did. "Do you understand now Stacy?" Lexi murmured as she massaged her sister's back.

Stacy nodded and grimaced. "I have the knowledge of how to fly, but not the stamina to do it," she answered wincing. "What about my magic? Why could I not light the straw? Was I doing it wrong? It felt right."

"No," Lexi assured her. "You were doing it right. But, you don't have any control of your essence. You cannot catch the essence you attract, hold it, keep it against need. You can only use instinctively the essence that floats around you. It didn't work because you could not gather enough essence to focus on the straw and light it."

"So what do we do?" Stacy begged.

Lexi smiled at her. "You remember all the training and practice I needed to do?" she asked.

Nodding cautiously, Stacy's wide-eyed stare begged her sister for an answer.

"Well then, you just need to do the same!" Lexi smirked at her.

Stacy's face fell as she wailed. "But that took forever! Years and years and years!"

Sighing, Lexi comforted Stacy with a hug. "Yes, it did," she agreed sadly, before giving Stacy a kiss on the forehead. "But look on the bright side, you know exactly why and how to do the exercises," Lexi encouraged. "You'll be much, much faster at working your way through them then I ever was! Come on, sit down with Sue and I'll help you get started.

Forcing herself to smile, Stacy gave her sister a hug of thanks and settled down on the straw next to Sue. "Do you think we could learn to do clothes first?" she asked hopefully as she jealously regarded Lexi's skirt and shirt.

Laughing Lexi agreed, and she settled down in front of her sisters to begin their first true lesson in magic.

Blushing slightly, Stacy looked down at the red off the shoulder tube and mini-skirt combination she was wearing, when Lexi's silver laughter of delight caused her to turn a glare on her sister. Opening her mouth to berate Lexi for laughing at her, Stacy blinked as she realised it wasn't her Lexi was laughing at. Turning to follow her gaze, Stacy stared open mouthed at the furiously blushing Sue, before she too broke down laughing in glee.

Blushing so red she looked sunburnt, Sue shrunk down, trying to hide behind her arms. Lexi and Stacy just laughed harder as they took in the sight of the golden haired pixie standing there in a short, sleeveless, leaf green, figure hugging dress with a zig-zag hem and cute slippers the same green as the dress.

"Tinkerbell!" Stacy gasped. "And from the DVD too!" Sinking to her knees, Stacy hugged her stomach tight as she let the laughter howl forth.

Scowling, Sue turned to Stacy and snapped, "And you looking like Crysta is any less funny?"

Lexi stopped giggling, and quickly intervened between her two sisters. "Stacy, Sue, I warned you. At first your emotions and your subconscious would have great control of your magic. Both of you will need a lot of practice before you can properly control the details of what your magic does. Be thankful that you have enough control to give yourselves some clothes, even if it is your 'idolised' versions of them."

"But, Crysta and Tinkerbell?" Stacy asked confused.

Smiling, Lexi gestured her sisters to sit again as she settled cross-legged on the straw before them. "Your subconscious did that," Lexi explained. "Building 'ideal' clothes for your forms, forms you both associate with fairies. So Stacy, you got the clothes to go with 'Crysta's' body, and Sue got Tinkerbell's dress."

Stacy frowned at Lexi, finally asking, "Why do Sue and I look like Tinkerbell and Crysta when we change, but you just look like a miniature form of yourself?" she asked puzzled.

Blinking, Lexi frowned and then turned to Sue, who blushed. "It has to do with how your's and Lexi's gifts interacted," Sue mumbled. Lexi raised an eyebrow in demand, while Stacy just looked towards Sue eagerly.

Sighing, Sue explained. "The point of your manipulation Stacy was to hide us. You and Lexi manipulated our bodies so that we would all appear genetically to be 'half-sisters'." Stacy nodded her understanding, eagerly waiting for Sue to continue. "Well, I'd promised Lexi that I'd solve her 'curse', the fact that she was stuck as a pixie and was too small to be with anyone, which had made her very lonely since she first manifested in the '60's." This time Lexi nodded her understanding. "Well, actually, what I wanted to do was reverse the lock on her original ability to switch forms, allowing her to again switch back and forth between pixie size, and human size, and also, I wanted to be with her, become the sister who could understand all that she was. So I went looking for a way to do that," she smiled to her two sisters.

"But how? How did you do it" Lexi asked in awe.

Sue smiled. "There was multiple ways you and Stacy could manipulate our bodies," she explained. "I simply made sure that the only way I showed you, was the way that gave us these bodies."

"Yes, but how do these bodies do it!" Lexi demanded.

Sue blinked, and then with an 'oh' of understanding giggled. "I made Stacy and I copy you," she explained with a smile. "First, your 'lockout' was a magical one, it was tied to your 'blood'. It was locked to your 'body', your very makeup, but that was easy to fix. To make you a 'sister' of Stacy, we needed to change your very DNA to have enough parts the same, it would test as though we all had the same father. Those very changes made it so that no longer could the spell hold onto your 'blood', because your 'blood' no longer matched the 'blood' the spell was attached too."

Lexi stared wide-eyed at Sue, before laughing in joy. "Do you mean that all I've needed to do was use my magic to change myself, and I'd have lifted my curse?" she demanded.

Sue gave a sad smile and shook her head. "That wouldn't have worked. Any magic used on you would change your body true, but it would have changed the spell as well. The magic would have just morphed both your body and the spell to match again, and the curse would stay. It took Stacy's non-magical gift changing your body, while ignoring the spell, to break the match, and therefore the spell."

"What about us?" Stacy asked. "How come you and I can change the way Lexi does?"

Sue became solemn. "My gift allowed me to see how lonely Lexi had been, to feel how sad she was. I. I wanted to be with her, to be there for her in the future." Sue furtively glanced at Lexi before turning back to Stacy. "I wanted to be a true sister for her, sharing all that she experienced. So, I made sure that when your DNA was mixed with mine, that I got a BIT like you have. Then I mixed Lexi's DNA into me too, and made sure the BIT activated."

"BIT?" Stacy asked confused.

"Body image template," Sue explained. "It's a thing some mutants get, it means that they have an image of how their body should be, and their mutation will change them so that they become that image."

Stacy looked confused, but it was Lexi that interrupted. "Why my DNA? What did that matter?" she asked puzzled.

Sue sighed, finally turning to look Lexi in the eyes. "Because of what happened when you mutated. Your DNA changed, you're no longer human, but Fae. I. I needed some of your DNA so that my BIT could do the same to me. So that I. I could be there for you ... always." Sue looked away, blushing slightly in embarrassment.

Lexi stared at Sue, stunned for the longest time, before with a cry of joy she rushed over and hugged her tight, weeping tears of joy hysterically as Sue held her, a smile of wonderment on her face. Finally Lexi calmed down, and settled kneeling next to Sue, pressed happily up against her, her head nestled on Sue's shoulder, eyes closed in joy.

Stacy smiled at the touchy-freely happiness of her two sisters, before she blinked in astonishment as Sue turned her gaze from the radiantly happy Lexi and sadly contemplated her.

"Sue?" Stacy questioned worriedly.

Sighing, Sue looked at her and apologised. "I'm so sorry Stacy," she said with heartfelt grief.

"Sue!?" Stacy gasped in shock.

"I'm so sorry," Sue repeated. "I never meant for you to become Fae like us too, I just meant for you to have the tiniest bit of Lexi's DNA so that we'd all still look like half-sisters if anyone did a DNA test on us, and you could do Fae magic like Lexi teaches, nothing else. I never imagined your BIT would activate the same way for you as it did for me!"

"Activate the same way?" Stacy asked puzzled.

Sue nodded, looking forlorn. "I'd deliberately meditated, concentrated on the readings I'd done where I become as I am now, coercing my BIT to activate so that it changed me to be like Lexi, be Fae. But for you! I'm not sure how it activated the same! I never dreamed it would activate the  Fae blood in you! You should have stayed the same, your BIT the same as it already was!"

Stacy blinked, then started laughing out loud. "You mean, all it takes to activate a BIT would be to just dream of how I wanted to be? Dream night after night of being a certain way?" Astonished at her laughter, Sue nodded dumbly.

Laughing in childlike delight, Stacy flew to Sue, engulfing her in a hug and settling next to Sue on the opposite side to where Lexi still pressed up against her. "Dummy! That wasn't you! That was Lexi! Who wouldn't want to be as awesome as she is?" Stacy demanded. "Of course I dreamed of being like her, how couldn't I!" Giggling in delight, she cuddled up to Sue.

"Stacy! You don't understand," Sue said desperately, trying to get her to understand. "Your BIT, when it activated, it activated Lexi's DNA! You changed to be like Lexi! You're Fae now, not human and ..."

"And pixies live forever, I know Sue. But. Pixies!" Stacy squeaked excitedly. "Magic and flying and I get to be with you and Lexi forever! The three musketeer pixies! All for one, and one for all, for always!"

Despite herself, and her regret, Sue couldn't help smiling at Stacy's enthusiasm. "All for one," she agreed softly, hugging her sisters tight.

(A work in Progress™)