The next week of our lives was uncharacteristically normal. We—Mel, Jamie, and I—returned to work, rotating chores around the cave, reconnecting with the other humans.

Melanie was amused by the various attitudes displayed toward her. Some of the humans were kind, welcoming, eager to get to know her. Others were wary, exchanging unsettled looks when she did something brash, something definitively un-Wanda-like. Some would even forget completely that she wasn't, in fact, still Wanda.

Sharon and Maggie still did their best to ignore her, although Mel would go out of her way to speak to them, to make them as uncomfortable as possible.

Lucina's boys, Isaiah and Freedom, reacted to her with a primal fear. Their mother had convinced them, early in Wanda's stay, that she was nothing short of a monster. Although Lucina herself was courteous toward Mel, and she repeatedly reassured her sons that they had no reason to be afraid of this nice lady, the fear was already instilled.

Mel and I discussed this often with a certain dark humor. We would spend hours upon hours just talking. While we worked, ate, and slept side by side, there always seemed to be new things to talk about.

I filled her in on everything she'd missed—everything, from how Jamie had first learned to cook, right up to the moment I'd saved Wanda from her stupid pact with Doc. That was a personal favorite of hers—she couldn't get over how I'd threatened Doc so openly. A knife, Jared, really? You know he'll never let you forget that.

I hardly ever left her alone. I couldn't get enough of her, couldn't fill my eyes enough with the sight of her. Couldn't ever touch enough of her—even at night.

Jamie had kindly and maturely moved into Ian's room without ever being formally asked. He claimed he didn't mind spending his nights alone, especially since Ian had taken up a permanent residence in the hospital.

Though Jamie, Mel, and I visited Doc's at least once a day to check on the still-slumbering body, Ian had taken it upon himself to care for her all the time. He sat with her, speaking to her in a halfhearted attempt to wake the human girl up. He kept her hydrated, monitoring her vitals as Doc had taught him.

All the while he never let go of Wanda's cryotank. Mel joked that we'd have to surgically remove it from his body once we got Wanda back.

Ian wasn't the only one staying in the hospital. Kyle had taken to sleeping there as well, since it was the only place Sunny would stay without becoming paralyzed with fear.

Our newest addition to the caves had proven to be delicate and jumpy to the extreme—even more so than the former Healer, Candy, whose newfound real name had inspired her ever-growing confidence.

Sunny would only speak to a few select people, including Melanie. Although she understood that Wanda had been removed from the body, she still reacted to the familiar face with trust and intimacy.

And she absolutely refused to do anything without Kyle. He spent his days glued to her side, watching her with dumbstruck wonder. Her devotion to him clearly bewildered him, but he didn't question it. In fact, her took care of her in a surprisingly parental manner. He was gentle without patronizing her, never growing impatient with her slow progress.

I'd even overheard them discussing Jodi once or twice.

All in all, it was quite simply the happiest I'd ever been in these caves. Melanie was back where she belonged, Jamie was joyful and carefree, and no contentions divided the rest of the humans anymore.

There was, of course, one missing piece.

The best day yet came when we got her back.

...

When Doc and Candy finally called it, news spread like wildfire throughout the caves. Everyone had already heard that Wanda was returning, that a new body was being prepared for her. Doc only announced to a few of us—me, Mel, Jeb, and Ian—that he and Candy had agreed that there was no use trying to revive Wanda Jr. anymore. Yet while preparations were being made for the insertion, nearly the entire human race gathered in the southern cave to watch.

It felt less like a surgical procedure and more like a christening ceremony.

Doc wasn't used to such a large audience. He fumbled with the canisters, prompting Candy to gently help him.

Of course, there might have been another reason Doc was flustered—I'd seen him earlier with Sharon, trying to convince her to come see Wanda's return. Although Sharon, who'd pointedly ignored him for months, hadn't reacted with overt hostility, she hadn't seemed particularly happy with the conversation, either.

I wasn't sure whether to feel sorry for Doc or congratulate him on dodging the bullet that was Melanie's moody cousin.

Ian seemed nervous as well, clutching Wanda's cryotank with even more possessiveness than usual. When Jamie approached him, he turned his body away, shielding the tank from the kid.

He'd said he wanted to be the one to hold Wanda, to guide her into her new home. Apparently he was going to enforce this to a radical degree.

A loose ring of spectators gathered around Wanda Jr.'s cot. They eyed the unconscious body with expressions ranging from amusement to queasiness.

Lily was there, arm linked securely with Heidi's for support. Trudy and Geoffrey whispered excitedly with each other, smiling at the prospect of their friend returning.

Even Brandt had come, the naysayer who'd held out the longest—even after Kyle had come around. He met my gaze, giving me a small nod of affirmation. I returned the gesture. It was nice to see him finally change his mind, even if he'd done so without attention.

Initially, Sunny had been unsure about the influx of visitors, but Kyle had somehow convinced her to join the circle. Her hands held fistfuls of his shirt for safety.

Jeb shouldered his way to the front, mumbling how he should have brought his gun. "Listen up, folks," he barked to silence the crowd. "We're all excited about today—no doubt it'll be nice to have Wanda back. But, a word of caution: she'll need peace and quiet when she wakes up. We don't want to overwhelm her. She'll be confused, scared, maybe a little upset. Let's give her a nice space to come back in, shall we?"

The room was full of nodding heads.

"Good. 'Cause if not, I still have my gun, and this is still my house."

Laughter rippled through the crowd, though it quickly died down.

Jeb turned to Doc. "Floor's all yours."

Doc cleared his throat. He and Candy exchanged affirming nods. "I guess we'll start. Ian, if you could bring her here?"

Ian approached the cot with Wanda's cryotank. As Doc prepared the girl's body, Candy helped Ian open the lid. The tank hissed as the lid popped up, the barest hints of cold fog leaking out.

Ian reached inside, eyes going wide at the temperature. His hand emerged, and a sigh echoed around the cavern as everyone saw Wanda's true, tiny body for the first time.

I'd seen it before, when Doc had taken her out of Mel, but my breath still caught in my throat. She shone with an eerie silver light that was somehow soft and calming. Her ribbon-like body was less than a foot long, barely filling Ian's palm. It rippled and billowed like a mesmerizing slow-motion video, tiny silver extensions dancing along her sides.

Candy took the cryotank from Ian, and he moved his other hand up to cradle Wanda with both hands. Perhaps I was imagining the tears in his eyes. "She...she's..." He was speechless.

Doc's lips curled into a small smile. "Yes, she is."

My hand unconsciously found Mel's.

"You can bring her over now," Doc said, turning back to Wanda Jr.'s body. I could only detect the barest hint of red beneath his fingers. He really had gotten good at this.

Candy followed Ian to Doc's side, instructing him aloud on how to hold the soul body, how to let her find her way inside.

The process was very quick. Less than two minutes passed before all three of them straightened up, the silvery glow no longer visible. The wound on the girl's neck was healed like it had never existed.

Ian took Wanda's hands—she was no longer just Wanda Jr., but completely Wanda now. His enormous hands enveloped her tiny ones. He searched her vacant, sleeping face with an eager hunger. "How long will it take? Before she..."

"It depends," Doc said. "Let me..." He opened one of her eyes with gentle fingers, shining a flashlight to verify the silver reflection glinting back at him. "We didn't give her any Still. She'll just have to find her way."

The cave fell silent, everyone waiting with bated breath. Mel squeezed my hand, biting her lip anxiously. "C'mon, Wanda," she murmured.

The girl's breathing, which had remained steady and unchanging since the other soul had been removed, hitched ever so slightly. Sped up.

Her eyelids twitched, eyes moving beneath them as though she were dreaming. Her head shifted a minute degree to the left.

Then her lips parted in a soft gasp. A shuddering exhale. And the tiniest sound, hardly audible. "Mm."

"Doc," Ian breathed, enraptured. He clung to Wanda's hands like a lifeline.

Doc leaned over her still body. "Wanda? Can you hear me, Wanda?"

Wanda's face remained blank. Like Jodi before her, she appeared comatose, even at the sound of a familiar voice.

Mel dropped my hand and took the few steps forward to stand over the cot beside Doc. "Wanda, come back. We aren't letting you go."

No response.

What if she didn't want to return? My stomach twisted at the thought, that she had said her last goodbye to me with the full intention of dying. That in spite of my actions to save her, to bring her back, she was going to fight it. Fight coming back to us, to me.

"Use the Awake," Candy suggested. She seemed unshaken by Wanda's slow return to consciousness.

Doc retrieved the can, squirting a small cloud over her still face. Her petite lips parted again, inhaling the mist deeply. Her breathing became more deliberate, shoulders beginning to move as she worked harder to fill her lungs.

Ian seemed to be fighting tears again. He took a shaky breath, his shining eyes wide with awe. When he spoke, his voice wavered ever so slightly. "Wanderer? We're all waiting for you, honey. Open your eyes." Leaning over her body, he pressed his lips gently to hers, and to each of her eyes.

As Ian straightened up, I felt movement at my side. Jamie elbowed his way around me. "She's waking up!" He met my eyes with an exquisite expression of joy.

Sure enough, Wanda's eyelids were fluttering, slowly blinking open. Her breathing became faster, louder, as she began to register her surroundings.

My chest flooded with warmth, with relief. She was here. She was back. As I looked back down at Jamie, I knew my rapturous expression mirrored his.

It took her a minute longer to find her voice. "Ian? Ian, where am I? Who am I?"

I'd never heard this girl speak before. Her voice, pitched even higher with fear, landed an octave above Mel's. Wanda now sounded like...a child. Vulnerable. Anxious. In need of protection.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

But in the back of my mind, a gleeful thought sprung to life: it's perfect for raiding. What I'd said before was truer than ever. No soul would ever want to doubt this delicate body, with her open, trusting face and her sweet voice.

Who am I? she had asked, horror saturating her new soprano's tone. She wasn't stupid. She knew what we'd done, and against her wishes.

What if she said something in front Jamie? Something about wanting to die?

Sudden dread knotted my stomach, an unpleasant sensation. I gripped Jamie's shoulder out of instinct. The need to protect him from those harshest truths still overwhelmed me.

The kid remained oblivious, enthralled with Wanda as she inspected her tiny new hand.

Perhaps she was coming to terms with it, accepting the body we'd gifted her.

Then she spoke again. "Where is she? Where is Pet?"

Of course her next words would be worrying after someone else.

Doc moved quickly to reassure her. He'd retrieved the fragile soul's cryotank from his desk, showing her the occupied light on the lid. "She's right here—tanked and ready to go. We thought you could tell us the best place to send her."

Wanda's head swung around, focusing on Doc. Her eyes narrowed, then widened impossibly in realization. "Doc! Doc, you promised. You gave me your oath, Eustace!"

The unexpected revelation that Doc's real name was Eustace was almost enough to pull me out of the devastating moment of truth. Almost.

She didn't want to be here. She wasn't going to be happy. I hadn't done the right thing by saving her.

Had I ruined everything?

"Why?" she demanded in that voice, that diminutive voice which carried no authority whatsoever. "Why did you break your word?"

He hadn't broken it. I'd broken it for him.

Doc lifted his shoulders in a sort of helpless shrug. "Even an honest man sometimes caves to duress, Wanda."

"Duress," I repeated skeptically, letting some of my bitterness seep into my tone. What did it matter, anyway, if I'd been wrong? If she didn't really want to be here?

"I'd say a knife to the throat counts as duress, Jared," Doc retorted, but there was no anger in his words. He seemed...relieved, like the worst part was over. He didn't seem to share my worry.

Maybe I was overreacting.

"You knew I wouldn't really use it," I countered.

Doc held his hands up. "That I did not. You were quite persuasive." He shot me a half smile.

I rolled my eyes at him.

Mel, positioned behind Candy's elbow, turned to look at me. Her expression clearly said, I told you—he'll never let it go.

Ian was leaning close, speaking to Wanda in a hushed, soothing tone. It struck me, as his giant body pressed against her tiny new one, how starkly opposite they were now.

How right they seemed in spite of it. Like Kyle and Sunny—day and night.

I hoped that whatever Ian said could talk her into staying. Convince her that this wasn't wrong.

She bowed her head. "I told you I didn't want to be a parasite." Her voice was soft, pleading...ashamed?

At this Mel made an exasperated motion with her head, so exaggerated that I knew she was rolling her eyes even though her back was to me. She stepped around Candy and poked at Ian with her elbow. "Let me through." He moved aside without question.

"Listen up, Wanda," Mel ordered. I know exactly what you don't want to be. But we're human, and we're selfish. And we don't always do the right thing. We aren't going to let you go—deal with it." She said the words bluntly, in the no-nonsense tone that she'd use when Jamie was in trouble. Once, I'd called it her Mom Voice. She'd punched me.

Wanda blinked, recognition dawning on her girlish face. "Mel? Mel, you're okay!" Then she smiled, and it hit me that this really was Wanda, the soul who'd been in Mel this whole time, that it was her in this body, and I could recognize her.

Mel leaned down and wrapped her arms tightly around Wanda—the hug she'd been coveting since we'd first planned this out. "Of course I am. Wasn't that the point of all the drama? And you're going to be fine, too. We weren't stupid about it; we didn't just grab the first body we saw."

Jamie suddenly ducked out from my protective grasp, darting up to stand beside his sister. "Let me tell her, let me!" he cried, excitement turning his voice into practically a squeak.

Wanda gasped at his sudden appearance. "Jamie!" She reached for his hand, barely able to wrap her little fingers around his.

"Hey, Wanda! This is cool, isn't it? You're smaller than me now." He'd been ecstatic about that.

Wanda answered him almost defensively. "But still older."

Well, she certainly was. We hadn't been able to determine her new body's exact age. Perhaps she was about to figure it out.

"My birthday is in two weeks. I'm almost..." she trailed off, biting her lip. Her cheeks reddened with some passing thought. "I'll...be eighteen."

Eighteen?

I blinked, taken aback at the number. Mel and I had put her several years below that. The fragile little body barely looked pubescent, let alone nearing adulthood.

I wasn't the only one surprised by this revelation. Doc's eyes widened, and he mouthed Eighteen? at Jeb, who shrugged back at him.

Jamie was undeterred. "They let me come on the raid to get you," he told Wanda. His words held a begging undertone, and I knew he was itching to tell her this story.

"I know. I remember. Well, Pet remembers seeing you there."

He wasn't going to wait for an invitation. "We tried not to scare her. She's so...kind of fragile-looking, you know? And nice, too. We picked her out together, but I got to decide. See, Mel said we had to get someone young—someone who had a bigger percentage of life as a soul or something. But not too young, because she knew you wouldn't want to be a child. And then Jared liked this face, because he said no one could ever d—" His rambling halted as he ran out of air, and he gulped in a breath before continuing. "—distrust it. You don't look dangerous at all. You look the opposite of dangerous. Jared said anyone who sees you would just naturally want to protect you, right, Jared? But then I got the final say, because I was looking for someone who looked like you—and I thought this looked like you. Because she sort of looks like an angel, and you're good like that. And real pretty. I knew you would be pretty.

"Ian didn't come. He just sat here with you—he said he didn't care what you looked like. He wouldn't let anyone else put a finger on your tank at all, not me or Mel."

I almost laughed at this half-truth. Jamie must've still been smarting from that, from earlier.

"But Doc let me watch this time. It was way cool, Wanda. I don't know why you wouldn't let me watch before. They wouldn't let me help, though. Ian wouldn't let anyone touch you but him."

I moved forward then to sneak an arm around Mel's waist and pull her close, pressing our bodies together. "He's tattling on us," I murmured in her ear, thinking of all the things we'd let Jamie do that Wanda wouldn't approve of. "We're in trou-ble." I sang the last word.

Mel elbowed me. "Shush."

I couldn't help it. Wanda was back. She wasn't hysterical, and she wasn't trying to off herself. These were both good things. I was practically giddy with relief.

Ian leaned down to whisper in Wanda's ear, something none of us could hear.

Well, now she was crying. Something Ian had said to her had misted her eyes over with tears.

"You like it, don't you?" Jamie asked her anxiously. "You're not mad? There's nobody in there with you, is there?"

Wanda shook her head, golden curls flying out in every direction. "I'm not...mad exactly. And I—I can't find anyone else. Just Pet's memories. Pet's been in here since..." She hesitated, straining these new memories that weren't hers. "I can't remember when she wasn't here. I can't remember any other name."

Mel toyed with a strand of Wanda's hair. "You're not a parasite. This body didn't belong to Pet...but there's nobody else to claim it."

And all of this had been Mel's idea.

"We waited to make sure, Wanda. We tried to wake her up, almost as long as we tried with Jodi."

At that name, Wanda went rigid again. "Jodi? What happened to Jodi?" Her sudden panic propelled her into a sitting position, with one of Ian's hands at her back, the other still holding hers.

She surveyed the faces around her cot, taking in all the people who'd come to welcome her back. A smile flickered around the edges of her mouth.

Then her eyes stopped on me.

She took in my posture, my proximity with Mel, the comfort we both drew from this closeness. Her face fell.

She understood it, and she hated it.

Now that she and Mel were separate entities, Wanda knew that there was no way I could confuse the two of them. In just those few seconds, she realized that she still harbored those feelings for me, and no matter what, I wouldn't be able to reciprocate them—not when I had Melanie, living and breathing, at my side.

Of course, being Wanda, she was ashamed of those remnants of feeling. Any fleeting flicker of jealousy would pain her.

It was okay. I couldn't fault her for it.

I still loved her too.

Mel's fingers tightened on my forearm. I knew she saw what I saw. And I knew she understood too.

"Jodi...didn't respond," Doc said, as Wanda continued to search the crowd surrounding her. "We kept trying as long as we could. We were able to keep her hydrated, but we had no way to feed her. We were worried about atrophy—her muscles, her brain..."

He didn't have to finish. Wanda finally found Kyle in the sea of faces, made the connections to the woman at his side. "Sunny!"

She smiled, shy but proud. "I got to stay. Just like you." Then her voice dropped as she looked up at her human caretaker. "I'm trying, though. I am looking for her. I will keep looking."

Doc became quieter too. "Kyle had us put Sunny back when it looked like we would lose Jodi."

Wanda blinked a few times. Processing. I understood her confusion. Seeing Kyle with Sunny, seeing the drastic change in his behavior, was jarring at first.

It was encouraging, though.

"You okay in there?" Ian murmured to Wanda.

She shivered, the movement running all through her tiny, adolescent body. "I...I don't know. This feels very...weird. Every bit as weird as switching species—so much weirder than I would have thought. I...I don't know."

I tried to imagine being transplanted into another, smaller body. To have the world get bigger around me, to see it through different eyes, to walk through it on different feet. To be the same mind inside a horrendously different head, unrecognizable to everyone who'd known me.

It was bizarre, to say the least.

Ian's hand stroked up and down her back, still gentle, still hesitant. "You don't mind staying here too much, Wanda? Do you think that maybe you could tolerate it?"

He still held one of Wanda's hands, while Jamie held the other. Mel reached out to place her hand on top of her brother's, a gesture of solidarity.

I leaned forward too, putting my hand over Mel's. One of my fingers brushed Wanda's wrist. Her new body's skin was very smooth, very pale. Still very much Wanda.

Her answer to Ian's question was timid. "I...suppose I could do that. If it makes you happy."

"That's not good enough, actually. It has to make you happy, too." Ian had always been good at that. Watching out for her, making sure she didn't recklessly put anyone else's needs before her own. He'd certainly been better at it than me.

Which was why he was exactly right for her. Now that Wanda and Mel were separate, now that Mel was free to be with me, Wanda was likewise free to be with whomever she wanted. And there was little doubt in my mind that she wanted Ian.

"I think it might. I think it might make me very, very happy."

"Then you will stay?" His hands moved to cup her face.

Her little hand slid out from under ours, reaching up for him as he kissed her.

Jamie continued to watch, enraptured, as Wanda breathed what I assumed was an agreement to stay, but Mel and I had already turned our heads. We'd gotten our happy ending. Our moment. This one belonged to them.