"I haven't given him my answer yet," she admitted softly. "We… haven't talked of it since."
"Why haven't you given him your answer?" Jacinth asked gently. "What's holding you back?"
The question hit Mandy like a physical blow, making her chest tight. She wrapped her arms around herself, a defensive gesture she thought she'd left behind.
Old voices echoed in her head, harsh and cutting. Hurtful. Her father's dismissive tone - "Don't be stupid, Amanda." Thecruel laughter of high school classmates as she stumbled in gym class. "Hey ugly! Watch where you're going, klutz!"
"He's aprince," she whispered, the words catching in her throat. "He's ancient and powerful and wise, and I'm..." She gestured helplessly at herself. "I'm just me. Just Amanda. The same person I've always been, even if I look different now."
The thought of someone like Kieran - ancient, powerful, literally royal - choosing her seemed utterly ridiculous. Even with her new Djinn powers, even with her body restored to health, she was still just Amanda Dupont. A self-published writer who lived with her cats and spent too much time daydreaming about mermaids.
Jacinth's warm hand closed over her shoulder, turning her gently but firmly toward the mirror. "Look," she commanded, her musical voice brooking no argument.
Mandy almost flinched away, her instinctive aversion to mirrors honed by decades of limiting herself to quick glances - just enough to check her hair was brushed and clothes weren't mussed.
Gone was the grey-haired, pain-hunched woman who had struggled to walk more than a few steps, the one who'd learned to make herself small, to fade into backgrounds. Instead, a tall, graceful figure stood before her, forest-green eyes bright with vitality. Her dark brown hair - the pink and purple had only been temporary - fell in waves past her shoulders, the silver strands at her temples glinting in the afternoon light. The lines in her face spoke of laughter and experience rather than pain and exhaustion.
A smile tugged at her lips, impossible to suppress. Even now, the physical changes amazed her. Whatever else happened, whatever doubts plagued her, she couldn't deny the joy that filled her every time she saw her reflection now.
She frowned at her reflection. A moment later, her yoga pants and t-shirt dissolved, to be replaced by a lovely, flowing silk tunic and pants of regal purple that draped perfectly over her new curves, making her look elegant. Yes! She fist pumped.
Jacinth gave Mandy's shoulders a gentle shake. "You're still looking through human eyes," she said, her musical voice carrying a note of fond exasperation. "Looking only at the outer shell. That's not how we see you at all."
She tapped the mirror's surface with one elegant finger. "Now, see yourself as we do - as Kieran and I see you."
The reflection shimmered, like heat waves rising from summer pavement. The air itself seemed to hold its breath as magic rippled across the mirror's surface. Mandy gasped as her image transformed - not in physical form, but in essence. The woman in the mirror still had her features, but now she radiated something timeless. An inner light emanated from her core, transforming the air around her into liquid gold.
Peace and wisdom softened her face, while compassion gleamed in her eyes like banked embers, waiting to warm those who needed it most. Her presence filled the room with quiet strength - like ancient trees that had weathered countless storms while providing shelter to others.
The forest-green of her eyes held depths she'd never noticed before, like looking into wild places where old magic still lived. Dreams floated like mist between sun-dappled leaves, while hopes sparkled like dewdrops on moss-covered stones. This wasn't just how she looked - it was who she truly was, who she had always been. She had simply never seen it.
And there was wisdom… not that born of centuries of magical existence like Kieran's or Jacinth's - it came from the experiences of a human life - the hard-won wisdom of a woman who had lived fully, who had grasped life with both hands, and grown stronger through every experience, both bitter and sweet.
This wasn't the broken, worthless person those cruel voices had tried to convince her she was. This was someone who had taken every harsh word, every dismissal, every painful experience, and transformed them into wells of compassion. Someone who understood pain, yes, but used that understanding to help others heal.
Now she could see what Kieran and Jacinth had both seemed to recognize - not just what she was, but what she could become. The strength that had always been there, waiting to be acknowledged.
"That's... that's how you see me?" Mandy whispered, her fingers reaching toward the glass of their own accord, drawn by that magnetic pull. The woman in the mirror radiated possibility - not just who she was, but all she could become. A Djinn. A partner. Perhaps even...
"It's not just how I see you. That is who you truly are," Jacinth said softly. "The beauty of your heart shines through everything else. That wisdom, that beauty - you pass it on to your children, you know."
"I only have one daughter," Mandy said softly. "And Sabrina is everything I could have ever wanted in a child. She amazes me every day. The way she loves so fiercely, how she builds up everyone around her." Pride warmed her voice. "She fills my heart completely."
"You can still pass those gifts on," Jacinth said, her dark eyes twinkling with that familiar mischief. "After all, as a Djinn, you have endless possibilities ahead of you. Who knows what children might come into your life?"
"There were times I dreamed of having more children, but raising Sabrina was my priority, my joy. I poured all my love into being her mother." She smiled, suddenly wanting to hug her daughter - her baby. "And now she's grown into this incredible woman, this amazing mother herself."
Jacinth's musical laugh interrupted her spiraling thoughts. "Oh, my dear friend." Her dark eyes sparkled with that familiar mischief. "You're forgetting something rather important."
Mandy blinked at her, confused.
"You're Djinn now," Jacinth said softly. "You have thousands of years ahead of you to have more children."
The words hit Mandy like a physical blow. She stared at Jacinth, her mouth falling open as the full implications sank in. All those carefully buried dreams, all those wistful thoughts she'd pushed aside as impossible - they weren't anymore. She wasn't bound by human limitations. She wasn't too old. She wasn't too anything.
"I... I could..." She couldn't even finish the sentence, overwhelmed by the sudden explosion of possibilities.
The vision hit Mandy with startling clarity, reminiscent of that scene from Lord of the Rings where Arwen glimpsed her future son. But instead of the child from the movie, she saw a young boy with hair black as midnight, his brilliant sapphire eyes matching the rich velvet of his tunic.
