Metamorphosis

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N: This is a story I've been wanting to do for a long time. I hope that you will like it, and I think my regular readers will find it a wonderful treat (and a nice breath of fresh air that for once doesn't focus on the horrors of life). This story's setting is the martial arts camping trip that Trina goes to. In this story, it's where she finds her identity, and just where she's meant to be in life. A journey of self-discovery, if you will

Chapter 1 (Butterfly)

Trina sat on the middle step of the long spiral staircase, her lips were pursed and her elbows were bent atop her knees. Down below, Tori's friends were hanging out around the couch in the living room while waiting on Tori to finish whatever it was she was doing.

"A summer without Trina?" Her ears perked and her eyes darted over to Robbie. "We'll get Tori all to ourselves, that's certain. I'm sure she'll appreciate the break." She huffed and straightened her back; but was too exhausted to get involved in this discussion.

She knew why they didn't like her: they thought she tried too hard to get attention. Maybe that was the case, she didn't know. When her dad got promoted to Deputy Chief a few years ago, and her mother began working long hours at the hospital, she didn't have anyone to talk to.

Tori felt the pain of their absence also, and she once told Trina that this was the reason she spent so much time with her friends. "She tries so hard to be her sister and she's not," Andre said abruptly. "She's not talented, she's not socially skilled, and quite frankly, she spends so much time trying to be someone else-I'm not sure she even knows who the hell she is."

"Tori says she's an athlete," Jade scoffed. Trina raised an eyebrow and closed her eyes, visualizing herself giving Jade a kick in the head.

The one thing she knew about herself was she was a martial artist. She could and had taken on all three of Tori's guy friends. She'd been on the track team as well, so she could outrun each of these people.

"So I obsessively pursue fame. Why do they care?" Was it so much to ask for some attention once in a while? She thought on Tori, Tori had achieved 'stardom' at Hollywood Arts, and now everyone and their sister acted like they wanted to sleep with the girl.

"She is talented," Cat retorted. Trina set her chin on her forearms and stared at the wall straight ahead. "You guys are always being mean to her, I don't know why you do it. Have any of you considered she tries to come around us so she can have some friends."

Beck raised a finger and chuckled. "Well in our defense, so does Tori." Trina scoffed under her breath and slowly shook her head. She knew the truth: Tori only said the things she did when she was around her friends. "And she needs to get her own friends. Just saying. Even Tori doesn't like her, though…"

At home, Tori still treated her like a sister. Tori also wasn't obsessed with stardom, she still had a passion for certain subjects that she was so involved in back at her old school. Among which, science.

"I won't miss you guys either," Trina whispered under her breath, "I could drop kick each and every one of you right now."

No one wanted to be her friend, she already acknowledged that. Many people said she was too crazy, too unpredictable and just plain dull. "Maybe they're right. Maybe I try too hard, maybe I don't know who I am. I thought I did. I thought I was pretty, I thought I was smart, I thought I was…a lot of things…"

Her heart sank and she slid her head down to bring her eyes to her forearms. Her stomach began to ache and a violent, stinging pain spread over her chest. "Always hardest to ignore them, though. They aren't wrong about me. I'm ugly, I'm stupid, I have no business-"

"Trina!" Tori's voice pulled her away from her thoughts. She lifted her head and glanced behind her. Tori's bedroom door was open and the bedroom light was on. "Trina come quick! It's hatching! It's coming! Hurry!"

The urgency pulled at her. She rose to her feet and took one last look at the friends. They were still talking amongst themselves, none of them noticed Tori calling out to her or even her presence. She wasn't too surprised. Perhaps she was invisible.

"Trina!" A sharper tone now. She walked quickly to the bedroom.

"What is it, Tori?" Tori was sitting in front of the habitat on her dresser. It was filled with leaves, branches, and numerous items one would find in a habitat for caterpillars and butterflies.

Attached to a high branch was a large cocoon that had been there for quite some time. It had been a gift from Ian, and Tori monitored it every single day. "It's hatching." Tori put a finger to her lips and slid them into a tiny smile. "The baby butterfly is going to emerge."

Trina pushed her hands into her denim pockets and approached the habitat. "I thought you said it was going to hatch yesterday, and then the day before that."

"It takes time." Tori looked at the habitat and gripped firmly the pen in her hand. A notebook rested on Tori's legs, hanging partially over her knees. Clean notes had been taken, with notes written down for each hour. "It takes love, patience, time and so much. Above all, love."

"Love?" She pulled her right hand out and motioned to the glass. "It's a cocoon. An insect. How do you love an insect? Bugs are-"

"Don't say that! You'll hurt her feelings and she won't come out of her shell." Tori spat out at her and closed her eyebrows together while raising her voice. "Most bugs are hideous, sure, but not a butterfly. Butterflies are beautiful creatures."

Trina crossed her arms and her eyes to the cocoon. At the top of the aquarium was a piece of tape labeled 'Trina'. "Tell me you didn't name that thing after me…"

"I did. Deal with it."

"Great. A bug is named after me." She sat on the edge of Tori's bed and swept her hair over her ear. "Explain this process to me? What's so fascinating?"

"It's metamorphosis. The changes that are involved in the creation of the most beautiful butterfly." She leaned forward, perching her chin on her closed hand and studying the cocoon that Tori was watching.

There were others strewn about, but this one was the one Tori said was the closest to its place in the cycle. "We're looking at a Monarch butterfly-one of the most beautiful. Now, granted the caterpillars don't look like much-"

"Caterpillars are disgusting tiny little things with giant creepy heads."

Tori's face went sour and her eyes narrowed at Trina. "Ahem. Anyway…" Trina flashed a toothy grin and Tori turned away with a heavy sigh. "They emerge from tiny little eggs hatched by mama butterfly."

"'Mama Butterfly'?"

"Yes."

"Do continue…"

"Thank you." Tori rolled her eyes and shook her head. "So the caterpillar eats its egg to get all the nutrients it needs, then goes off to eat other things."

"Like leaves!"

"Ugh. Yes. Anyway as they grow, they shed their skins. Multiple times, and this process is called 'instar'." Trina watched Tori tap some notes in her book. She thought about the name of the process and found it funny, almost like the caterpillar wasn't yet a star. "Then the last time they shed their skin is when they begin something called pupation. You may think they're inside something, but actually they are the cocoon."

"What?" She dropped her hand and leaned upright.

"They are the cocoon." Tori pointed to the one she was watching and raised her eyebrows. "They give a plantlike appearance to protect from predators, but that is their skin. They shed it after a couple weeks. The cocoon is their final skin before the gorgeous butterfly emerges from her shell and she shocks the world."

"And you said this one is ready?"

"Well, each cocoon in the habitat Ian sent me, he also sent me detailed notes of when the shopkeeper said they begun. Some were still caterpillars when I got them. The one I'm watching is just the oldest one."

"Oh. I see."

"But if you look closely, you can see that she's ready to finally emerge from her shell." Trina walked over and stared at the cocoon. She saw what her sister was saying; the cocoon wasn't green as it had first been. Rather it was darker in color, but there were a variety of shades, and she could see some movement.

The bottom of the cocoon was bulging as well, like the creature was pushing down.

"Now be quiet, this is a slow process."

"You realize your friends are downstairs, right?"

"They can wait." Tori pointed to a second chair in the room. It had a large white teddy bear seated upon it that had been given from Ian. "Pull that chair over, but be careful with Fuzzy. Set him on the bed."

"Alright." She did as instructed and sat down beside Tori. She was not lying about this process being a slow one.

At first it looked like a spider was emerging from the bottom of the cocoon. Four tiny, fuzzy legs gripped the bottom of the shell. Whatever wings the insect had were tiny. "I thought they would be larger."

"What?"

"The wings. I thought they'd be larger."

"It takes about half an hour for the wings to grow." Her eyebrow rose and she looked up at the clock. She would have to get to the airport in a few hours to catch the flight towards her summer camp. Was this Tori's attempt to spend any bit of time with her before she left.

"I promise you won't be late to your flight to the martial arts place." Trina chuckled once and returned her focus on the butterfly.

The body was dark and its antennae were long. The insect was facing her, and though she could not see its eyes, she felt like it were watching her. She turned her head partially and slanted her eyes at the bug.

"Tori. Why does it take so long for the wings to grow?"

"Because she has to pump some sort of fluid into them. That fluid gives the wings its magnificence."

"Oh." Currently the wings were tiny and a dark shade of orange with black stripes like veins and white spots that dotted the black border of the wings.

As they sat there, what Trina witnessed amazed her. The wings were indeed growing, and rather than just two, there were four-or at least two wings sectioned to look like four.

They were large now and truly giant. The wings were a brighter shade of orange. The dots looked like pearls that adorned a brilliant crown. She felt Tori's hand clutching hers as the butterfly spread its wings and took off from the twig.

"What will happen to her, Tori? Will you release her into the wild?"

"Yeah." Tori released her grip on Trina's hand and made eye contact with her. "She'll spend her life feeding on nectar from flowers. This habitat, this world is too small for her. She needs to see the world, to spread her wings and fly-see the world and find herself. One day she'll lay eggs and bring forth so many more beautiful butterflies."

"Wow…"

Tori moved her head to Trina's shoulder and closed her eyes. "I'm going to miss you this summer. I don't care what my friends say, I wish you were sticking around here."

"Yeah, well, I think you're all going to appreciate having me out of your hair." Trina laughed for a second and turned her attention to the butterfly. It was truly remarkable, she had to admit to that. To take the time to witness something so beautiful form, she was grateful.

"You know. Mr. Sikowitz was talking to us and I brought up your trip. He said his nephew was actually in charge of all the counselors at that camp you're going to. Maybe you'll run into the guy?"

"Well if he's in charge, I probably will. I don't know the guy, so what's the point?"

"I don't know. He's Mr. Sikowitz's nephew, and you know Mr. Sikowitz, so I thought maybe it would be nice to know someone at that camp that is associated with someone you know here."

"Ah." She stood up and pat Tori on the back. "Got it. Well, I'll be sure to bring up that connection."

"It's not much, I know. I just thought it'd make things a little easier on you. It's a martial arts camp, he's in charge, so maybe he'll go easy on you." She started to laugh again, then slowly left the room.

"That isn't something that worries me, sis."

"You'll write, won't you?" She stopped in the doorway and glanced to the side. "I know you think mom, dad, and I don't really care, but it would mean a lot if you wrote. You won't have your phone, so I can't call to see how you're doing."

"I'm going to write to you guys, Tori. Don't worry about that." She looked at Tori and her muscles softened. The girl's head was bowed just a bit and her pen was tapping slowly on the notebook. "Tori, what's the problem?"

"Nothing really. I was thinking, you know how Mr. Sikowitz has this big statuette on his desk?"

"Not really. I don't have his class." She knew of the item Tori was talking about, though. It was a large marble statue of a lion, standing proud on a rock. The lion looked out across the room, its kingdom and domain. The fierce protector, the fearless king and commander. "Wasn't it a gift or something?"

"Yeah, from Jason. His nephew. Mr. Sikowitz said Jason gave it to him so that it could watch over the man or something. We accidentally knocked it off the desk today, it broke and Mr. Sikowitz got so angry." Trina frowned as Tori let out a sad chuckle.

"Could it be fixed?"

"Yeah, he said it was okay once he cooled off. It didn't break as badly as we thought, he was going to take it home and glue it back together."

"A broken lion…"

"I hope he can be fixed. That poor lion."

"Just a statue, Tori. Nothing to fret over."

Tori leaned forward and perched her chin on the palm of her hand. Her eyes focused and studied the butterfly, now sitting against the glass. "Right. Nothing to fret over." Tori turned her head and smiled at Trina. "But seriously, I'm going to miss you when you're gone."

"I'll miss you too." She smiled back at the girl and poked her thumb over her shoulder. "More than I'm going to miss the friends of yours that are still waiting for you." Tori's eyes widened and she jumped up from the chair.

"Damn, I forgot about them!" Trina laughed loudly as Tori rushed by her. When she started to silence herself, she moved her hand to her stomach and looked back at the butterfly. Her heart lifted and her features softened.

Once more she felt the bug's eyes watching her. She walked towards the case and leaned forward, gazing back. "Sorry if I hurt your feelings earlier," she whispered. The butterfly flapped its wings once and its antennas moved inwards, as if it could understand what she was saying. "You really are a beautiful thing."

With that, the creature flapped its wings once more and took off, fluttering about the habitat. Trina chuckled once more and took a seat, watching it with a new fondness in her heart.

"Still." Her lips separated to release a small breath, then closed and stretched into a wide smile. "Tori needs a pet. Maybe Dad will consider buying that puppy she's been asking about since we were kids?"

This is not just a romance.