Natsumi's choice

There it is. Natsumi stood on the sidewalk and looked up at the sign for Celestial Delights. It was still here. The store that had caused all of her problems...

She shook her head. No, that wasn't fair. She'd caused her own problems. She'd been given something extraordinarily powerful and had used it selfishly. As it was she was amazed at how well things had turned out. It's not that she wanted to be a girl, but her life was far better now than it had been as Lyle. Everything in her life was perfect now...except for the ticking clock on her time in America.

She was going to voluntarily leave the country ahead of her deportation trial. She might never be allowed back in. As a Japanese citizen she'd have no problem going to Japan, but since she'd never been there before it was a scary and alien place to her. She might look Japanese and speak Japanese, but she was as much a foreigner there as Emma would be. It wouldn't be easy to integrate over there.

Once they got there Natsumi would be able to stay forever...but Emma would be on a tourist visa of 90 days. After that...her heart felt heavy at the thought of losing Emma. This whole ordeal, it was only ok because of her. Without Emma she didn't know what she would do. Her mind kept coming back to the possibility of marriage. Japan didn't recognize same sex unions, but the US did. If they got married there was a chance she could beat deportation...

So why hadn't she taken that route? She loved Emma and it was obviously mutual. Natsumi just felt that getting married for a green card would leave a bitter taste in her mouth. It didn't matter that she wanted to anyway, it just wouldn't feel the same. She wanted a real wedding. A big event, the whole ordeal. Running to the courthouse to get ahead of immigration just felt...wrong.

That's why she was here. Something from Celestial Delights had taken her citizenship. Maybe something from Celestial Delights could get it back. She was ****. She clenched her fists as she stood on the side walk, trying to will herself to make a decision. Should she go in, or should she trust that things will work out on their own? Magic had gotten her into this mess, should she really rely on it to get her out? Finally she knew what she was going to do. She made her choice, she...