The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the meadow as Mrs. Meier adjusted her beehive bouffant, the burgundy silk of her high-collared dress catching the light. Beside her, her daughter ran a hand through her shoulder-length waves-waves that now framed a face that had once belonged to her brother. The light tan dress with its burgundy belt cinched at the waist looked almost unfamiliar on this new frame, though the fabric had been altered to fit. Both women smiled, their expressions carrying a strange harmony that seemed to say everything was exactly as it should be.

In the distance, beneath an old oak tree, a figure sat with shoulders hunched, weeping softly. The body was unmistakably masculine now-broad shoulders, angular jaw, hands that seemed too large for any gesture of grief. But the way the figure held itself, the tilt of the head, the way the tears fell with an almost delicate devastation-all of it spoke of a woman trapped in a shape that didn't belong to her.

"You're watching her again," Mrs. Meier said, her voice carrying that particular tone of satisfaction that comes from having solved a problem that others couldn't see.

Her daughter-no, her *new* daughter, the one who had been her son until this morning-nodded slowly. "She looks so... lost."

"She'll adjust." Mrs. Meier clasped her hands together at her belted waist. "Your sister never appreciated what it meant to be a woman. The beauty of it. The grace. The responsibility." She paused, letting the words settle. "Now she has to learn what it truly means to inhabit a body that the world will never let her forget."

The new daughter turned to look at her mother, something flickering in her eyes that might have been relief, or might have been something else entirely. "She cried when she looked in the mirror this morning."

"Crying is cleansing. It purges the confusion." Mrs. Meier reached out and touched her daughter's cheek, turning her face back toward the meadow. "But I want you to know something, my darling. I will never swap you back. Do you understand? You are my daughter now, and you will remain my daughter forever. You will grow up as a woman, live as a woman, and one day become a woman grown. This is your life now, and I will not take it from you."

The new daughter's smile widened, genuine warmth flooding her features. "Really? Forever?"