Mandy satin her favorite recliner, the pendant's familiar warmth pulsing against her palms. Her cats lounged nearby - Mozart sprawled across the back of the couch while Bach perched on the window sill, watching birds at the feeder.
She drew in a deep breath, steadying her nerves. "Kieran? Could we talk?"
The air shimmered with that distinctive trace of magic as he materialized in her living room. Today he wore midnight blue robes embroidered with silver threads that caught the afternoon light. The formal attire still struck her as a bit excessive for her modest apartment, but she was starting to find it oddly endearing.
"It's about the first wish," she said, her voice stronger than she expected. "And I think I'm ready, but - I thought of something else I'd like to discuss about it, if that's okay."
Kieran settled into the armchair across from her with fluid grace, those ancient eyes fixed on her face with that intense focus that still made her stomach do little flips.
"Of course." His deep voice carried that otherworldly resonance that made the hair on her arms stand up. "It is best for us both to be clear on exactly what you're wishing for."
Mozart abandoned his perch to investigate Kieran's robes, apparently deciding they needed a thorough inspection. The Djinn automatically reached down to scratch behind the cat's ears, even as those ancient eyes remained fixed on Mandy's face.
"Yes. I want to make sure I understand exactly what's possible, and what the limitations might be." She twisted the pendant between her fingers. "And… and there's still a part I'm not sure about, that I wanted to ask you."
"Well, when you mentioned restore points..." She paused, moistening suddenly dry lips. "You said the magic doesn't care when the restore point is, as long as the Djinn identifies the right time."
Kieran nodded once, a graceful inclination of his head that somehow managed to convey both encouragement and curiosity.
"So I was wondering..." Heat crept up her neck as she forced herself to continue. "Could I choose any restore point? I mean, does it have to be just before the stenosis started, or..."
Her voice trailed off as she struggled to articulate what she meant without sounding greedy.
"What exactly do you mean?" Kieran's deep voice carried no judgment, just genuine interest.
Mandy hesitated, then pulled up her phone's photo gallery. Her fingers trembled slightly as she navigated to the ancient scanned images from her family albums.
"Here," she said softly, turning the phone so Kieran could see.
The image showed a young woman standing in bright desert sunlight, her dark hair tumbling loose around her shoulders in the wind. She wore rust-colored corduroy jeans that hugged lightly rounded hips, and a lightweight plaid cotton top that emphasized her trim waist and the curves of her breasts.Her face glowed with youth and vitality, caught mid-laugh at something beyond the camera's view.
Mandy's sighed faintly as she studied the old photo. "I was nineteen there, and my husband and I were both home on leave from the Army. We took a road trip across the country - this was somewhere in Arizona. Or maybe New Mexico. We stopped at so many places, I can't remember exactly where this was taken."
Her thumb brushed across the screen, remembering that carefree day under the desert sun. The young woman in the photo seemed like a stranger now - someone from another lifetime who had no concept of the limitations and pain that lay ahead.
"That's... that's the restore point I'd like," she admitted quietly, unable to meet Kieran's piercing gaze. "If it's possible. If it's not asking too much."
Mandy's stomach clenched as Kieran studied the photo, his expression unreadable. The silence stretched between them, broken only by Mozart's contented purring as he rubbed against the Djinn's robes. She fought the urge to snatch the phone back, to hide away that glimpse of her younger self. What had she been thinking? Of course it was too much to ask.
The muscle in Kieran's jaw twitched, a tiny movement that seemed thunderous in the quiet room. Finally, he lifted his gaze from the phone. Those ancient eyes met hers with an expression she couldn't quite read.
"I cannot make you young again," he said, his deep voice carrying a note of finality that made her heart sink.
"What?" Horror flooded through Mandy as she realized what he thought she was asking. "No, oh no!" The words tumbled out in a rush. "That's not what I meant at all!"
She almost shuddered, remembering her painfully naive younger self - the girl so desperate to belong, who rushed headlong into life without considering consequences. The girlwho hadn't yet learned about loss, about pain, about the true cost of choices.
"I would never want to be nineteen again," she said firmly, her voice steadying as she met those silvery-blue eyes. "God, no. The drama, the uncertainty, the... the sheer stupidity of youth?" She shook her head emphatically. "I like who I am now. I've earned every bit of wisdom and experience that comes with age."
The pendant pulsed warmly against her skin as she struggled to explain. "It's just... that body." She gestured at the photo still displayed on her phone. "Strong and healthy, energetic, not worn down by time and arthritis. That's all I meant - just the physical restoration, not... not turning back time on everything else."
Mandy twisted her hands together, distressed that Kieran could think she wanted to erase decades of life experience. "Those years shaped who I am. The good and the bad, the triumphs and failures - they're all part of me now."
Her voice strengthened as she continued. "I wouldn't give up a single memory. Not the joy of holding my daughter for the first time, or the pride of watching her grow into an amazing woman. Not even the hard times that taught me what I'm capable of surviving."
The pendant pulsed warmly against her skin as she met Kieran's silvery-blue eyes. "I just want my body to work properly again. To be able to move without pain. To swim and dance and..." Her voice caught. "To live fully in whatever time I have left."
Kieran's austere features softened almost imperceptibly. "I understand now. You wish to retain your current self, but in a body free from the ravages of time and illness."
