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For Lisanna, it was a kitty. A temperamental kitten she and Elfman stumbled into accidentally. Mirajane had been preparing lunch when she was pounced on by a small figured with sharp claws, whiskers, pointy ears, and a short tail. It wasn’t until she looked into the creature’s eyes that she realized the blues staring back at her were her younger sister’s. She stood dumbfounded holding a small whimpering Lisanna until Elfman came running into the room behind her. In his arms was another small white fluffy creature, only she was sure this one was a real animal. Mirajane looked between the kitten in Elfman arms weakly and unsuccessfully scratching for release to the small bundle nuzzling into hers.
“Elf-what…” Kitten-Lisanna looks up at up Mirajane through split pupils. She gives a weak meow~ and butts her head against her sister’s chin. “When did this happen?”
“Um about 15 minutes ago?” He looks up at Mirajane with a sheepish smile on his face. “We were coming back from the market when we stumbled upon this little guy. Lis got really close to him and it must have scared him, so he tried to claw at her. Next thing I know Lis has a tail and jumped into a tree. I carried them both back here.” His sheepish smile turned into a wide excited grin, “You know what this means big sis!”
“Of course,” Mirajane laughed freely spinning around with her little sister still in her arms. “It’s Lissy’s first full shift!”
The siblings shared their excited with Lisanna’s happy purring flowing through the air. Mirajane and Elfman had been trying to teach the little girl all the could regarding their family’s special magical ability. Not only are they able to use regular takeover magic, but they are able to completely shift into different animals. Lisanna had taken to magic pretty quickly, but she was never able to do a full shift no matter how hard they tried. Until now that is.
“I’m so proud of you Lis,” she whispers into the fuzzy white fur receiving a tiny lick in response. “Now-” she gently places the girl onto the floor and claps her hands together, “Change back!”
She receives a head tilt and another meow in response.
“Um…about that…” Elfman trails off looking everywhere but his slowly panicking older sister. He had tried to convince Lisanna to switch back before entering their village knowing how the townspeople still feared their family. All Lisanna had done was tilt her head in the same confused motion and lick his cheek. Luckily, she was small enough that he could carry both her and the real kitten back to their home undiscovered. He was positive that his little sister didn’t know how to change back and hope their big sister would know what to do. Ever since their parents died, he and Lisanna relied on Mirajane more than ever. But judging by the way their sister began to place the creaky floors of their home muttering curses under her breathe, it seemed she was out of answers too. A sense of dread came over Elfman as the thought of Lisanna being stuck like this forever jumped into his brain. He swallows audibly and tries to push it down. H couldn’t let fear overtake him, not when his sisters needed him right now. He walks over to place a gentle on Mira’s shoulder. “It’s okay sis, we’ll figure something out. We’ve always been able to help Lis when she needed it.”
Mirajane allowed her brother’s word to wash over her. She placed her hand over his and squeezed, “you’re right. Come on, we’ll fix Lissy in no time!”
Of course, it hadn’t been that simple. The two older siblings spent the rest of the day trying new ways to snap Lisanna out of her shift with no avail. Mirajane and Elfman had been lucky enough to have their older and more experience parents to walk them through their first few shifts, but with their parents gone and no friendly ally in their village, the kids were clueless on what to do. They decided to break for the night exhausted with Elfman once again carrying a now slumbering Lisanna. The white kitten who caused this entire mess was already sleep at the end of their bed. The three siblings climbed into bed sleeping in a pile like they also do to keep warm determined to try again in the morning.
Only when Mirajane and Elfman opened their eyes the next morning, it was to a wide toothy grin on the familiar and very human face of Lisanna Strauss. She held the kitten now resting calming in her arms and squeals, “Can we keep him~”