"It is spelled a certain way," Yoshi continued, as she opened and closed the little drawers in the greenish bureau, sorting through the odds and ends inside fruitlessly. "You use it as a sort of, er, anchor point, to shape shift. Instead of relying on your own, uhm, self-image."

"Sheesh. Sounds like somethin' he coulda mentioned earlier," Liya remarked.

"Well...real shapeshifters do not usually need something like this." Yoshi shut the last small drawer, and sat back on her heels, hands dropping. "Oh, never mind," she muttered. "I haven't got any jewelry left anyway. Most of it was stolen a long time ago."

For a moment neither of them said anything. Yoshi didn't move from her spot, now slightly hunched over, her hands on her knees.

"I am scared," she said suddenly. Liya sat up a little straighter, surprised.

"Huh?? Of what??"

Yoshi gripped the fabric of her skirts, not looking at Liya. "I had this--this glimpse of happiness in the future, you know?" she said softly. "Having a name for what I have been feeling, seeing the changes estrogen is making in me...but...what if Teige is wrong, and changing shape never gets easier? What if my transition stops here because I just cannot learn to do this?" Her voice began to falter a little bit. "What if I wake up with this...these...parts of me that I cannot stand, every night, until I die?"