"Gabe..." said Oswin.
"Oswin!" I said, shaking him.
"What happened?" he said.
"Well, I think we both came back." I told him.
"Oh, thank God." he said, "I was worried that I might to be able to-"
"What is it?" I asked after he paused, "Is there something on my face?"
"You're still a girl." replied Oswin.
"Is there something wrong with that?" I asked.
"I wanted things back to normal." he said, "I wanted you do to be Gabe again."
"Sorry." I said, "But I can't be Gabe anymore."
"Now that we're back, what should we do?" asked Oswin.
"That's a good question."
"We can't exactly send you back home. Your parents would freak out."
"Yeah, they'd be surprised to see their dead kid back."
"I think they'd have something else to be surprised about."
"What are you talking about?"
"It's nothing. Never mind."
The two of us got ourselves up off of the ground and started walking around the neighborhood. It felt very nostalgic, being able to talk with Oswin like this again and in the world I used to live too. But I did have to wonder: how did I even manage to travel back with him? I knew I wasn't going to be able to stay here. I had to get back home after all. I figured Rose had to be extremely worried.
But since I was here, I did wonder how Mary was doing. What I didn't know was how she'd react, if she saw me like this. Would she even recognize me? Oswin definitely didn't. I did tell them I wanted them to just continue living their lives after I passed instead of just worrying about me all the time, but it looks like, they weren't ready to move on. After a while of walking, we encountered Mary.
I wondered what she was going to say when she saw the two of us together. Would she ask who I was? Would she think the two of us were dating? Would she comment on my hair and eyes? I felt kind of worried about what was going to happen next.
"G-Gabe!?" she exclaimed.
"H-huh?" I responded.
"What are you wearing?" asked Mary, "Did you get into crossdressing in the other world or something?"
"You seem to be taking this pretty well, considering Gabe's supposed to be y'know... dead." said Oswin.
"You didn't put him up to this, did you?" asked Mary, "You didn't get so desperate for a girlfriend that you had your best friend dress up like a girl, did you?"
"I didn't do anything like that." said Oswin.
"But still, I've missed you so much." she said.
"Uh, yeah, sorry to to have worried you so much." I said.
Then she ran over and started hugging me.
"Gah, too tight!" I exclaimed.
"Wait." she said, "Something doesn't feel right."
She let go of me and then touched my chest.
"S-stop it!" I said.
"What are you doing!?" exclaimed Oswin.
"Why do these feel so real?" asked Mary.
"Probably because they are." said Oswin.
"Please let go of me." I requested.
"Fine." said Mary, "Oswin. Explain this."
"Well, I don't really know how it happened," said Oswin, "but after Gabe died, he was reborn as a girl."
"That doesn't make any sense!" said Mary.
"Ask Gabe- er, Nova to prove it to you if you're not convinced." suggested Oswin.
"Even if the person I am looking at is really a girl, then how do I know that she's not just a long lost sister of his?" asked Mary.
So, I decided to tell her some things that only we should know.
"How do I know Oswin didn't tell you that?" she said.
"Fine, I guess I'll tell you some things that only the two of us should know." I said.
So, I told Mary some things from the times it was just me and her, without Oswin. That seemed to convince her.
"No way." she said, "So you really did-"
"That's what we've been saying." I said.
"However," said Oswin, "I still want to get him back to the way he was."
"Guys," I said, "I know you're worried and all but I'm actually kind of happy with my current life."
"How can you say that!?" exclaimed Mary, "You left us behind. Remember!?"
"But if I come back to you guys, I'll be leaving even more people behind!" I said, "I don't want to put even more people through that!"
The three of us ended up arguing for a little while but the conversation soon changed because we were going to need to figure out somewhere to stay while I stayed here. That, and we needed to figure out how I was going to get back home.
"Well, I could probably let you stay with my aunt." said Mary.
"But if she sent Oswin to my world." I said, "Couldn't she send me there."
"Her dimensional transport magic takes a while to recharge." said Mary.
"Good lord," I said, "sounds like the author made that up to cover up a plothole."
"What are you talking about?" asked Oswin.
"It's nothing." I said.
The three of us continued walking and everything was going fine until we ran into my parents.
"Gabe? Is that you?" my mother said.