Benin.  Once upon a time, a great civilization.  The people have mostly died away, thus the return of the sacred forests.  Ododuwa dipped her foot in the ocean tide.  She watched the sun setting in the sky.  She felt like she was in a delimma.  Noxolo was still waiting for her answer.  Noxolo, her latest fiance.  Or was he? 

Every marriage has felt less and less like home.  Every marriage since Estella.  Estella, Ododuwa's secret lover and best friend.  Estella, a trans woman.  Ododuwa spent less time being married to a mortal man, and more time with Estella as time went on. 

Noxolo was a good man.  "A man worthy of submitting to," as Ododuwa called them.  He did not hit the women, and he believed that loyalty was just as important to the men.  He was a good man.  A good man.  So why was Ododuwa so unhappy? 

A ripple came out of the ocean waters.  A woman appeared.  She had red beads for necklaces, resembling the Igbo, but there was something about her face, so familiar.  Ododuwa cocks her head to the side. 

"Behanzin?"

The lovely young woman smiles. 

"Are you my aunt?"

Ododuwa looked stunned. 

"Are you Behanzin's offspring?"

Her smile grew wider.  "Yes, I am.  I am his daughter from the Igbo lands."

Oduduwa broke out into a wide grin.  "You mean my nephew has bagged himself a lioness?"

The young woman giggled.  "Yes, he has.  My name is-"

"Ahunna," Ododuwa finished for her.  She took the young woman's hands into hers.  "Oh, I have heard so much about you!  Your grandmother Olokun couldn't be more proud."

"I was told there was going to be a wedding today."

Ododuwa stopped smiling.  "Yes, there is."

"You don't look very happy, my aunt."

"No, I'm not.  You see, I'm in love with a trans woman."

"Is that bad?"  Ahunna sat next to her aunt in the sand, the waves curling next to their toes.

"I suppose it is to some," said Ododuwa. 

"Why?"

"Well, I suppose because it is different."

Ahunna looked thoughtful.  "You know, long ago, when I was finding out how different I was from the rest of my mother's kin, your nephew Behanzin told me that just because something was different didn't mean it was bad."

Ododuwa smiled once again.  "So the girl chaser has some brains after all?"

Ahunna giggled.  "I've heard stories of how he used to be, but by the time I met him, he was wrapped around my mother's finger."

Ododuwa sighed.  "Yes.  And I am wrapped around the finger of another."

"So why don't you fix it?"

"My intended is going to be so disappointed."

"How much more disappointed do you think he will be should he find out your heart belonged to someone else?"

"I imagine that he would be very disappointed indeed."

Ahunna took her aunt by the hand.  "Come on.  We have some things to fix.  And if your intended insists on getting married today, it's not like Aunt Yemaya won't have a mermaid or two that would be unwilling."

Ododuwa laughed heartily.  "That is true, that is true."

In the nearby village, a full-length mirror glimmers.  A woman with milk-white skin and soft brown hair, emerges, covered in head to toe in colorful, Berber cloth and jewels.  A woman follows, with caramel skin, and wild, black curly ringlets for her hair.  She is more modestly dressed, with her clothing somewhere in between the Berber woman's and the Dahomey village.  Both the women had identical, hazel eyes.

The darker woman takes the other by the hand.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I am," said the woman with milk-white skin, a masculine voice emerging from her throat.

"Then why are you so sad?"

A tear formed in Estella's hazel eyes.  "I can never be her man."

"Maybe she doesn't want one."

"It is your mother's choice.  I will not stand in her way."

Estella stood on the ground, using her sixth sense.  She could always locate where Ododuwa was this way.  She was near.  She could feel it.  She let her senses guide her, and found Ododuwa standing next to a young woman, and a very handsome man.

"Father, who is that?"

"That is your mother's next intended.  Handsome, isn't he," Estella said almost wistfully.

"I was talking about the young woman.  Have you seen her before?"

Estella looks with her daughter at this woman with Igbo jewelry decorating her chest and arms.

"No, I don't believe that I've seen her before.  But she looks a lot like Behanzin."

"You met Behanzin?"

"Years ago.  He chased the girls at the Berber palace once.  Imagine his surprise when he found out most of us were men."

The sound of Dulce's laughter rang throughout the gathering.  All eyes set there way.  The young woman with the red beads headed there way, her smile bright as the sun.

"Are you Estella?" asked this young woman.

"I am," she replied softly.

Ahunna took her hands into hers.  "You are getting married tonight."

"What?"

"I think you must be mistaking-" Dulce attempted to say.

"Your eyes are so stunning," interupted Ahunna.  "Both of yours.  Aunt Ododuwa mentioned how beautiful they were, but I would have never imagined them like this.  You could drown yourself in their pools if you stared too long."

"Yes, she's Behanzin's daughter alright," said Estella.

Both the young woman laughed uproariously.

A crowd gathered.  A woman dressed in the Dahomey's clothing of a warrior woman of old took a cup of water from a beautiful "woman" with white skin.  She took a drink of the potion of love.  They then together took a drink from the same cup.  They were now joined as one for life.  The village celebrated.  None could be happier than these two lovers.  They knew they would cherish one another forever. 

Two woman stood by one another during the festivities, one with many beads of red, and one with caramel skin and curly black hair.

"So what are you going to do?" asked Ahunna.

"Oh, I don't know," said Dulce.  "I may take my father's place with the trans sisters, at least for a little while."

"Do you mind if I join you?"

"Sure, why not?  So, where did you come from?"

"My mother's an Igbo woman, one of the Queen of Queens."

"Are you a lioness?"

"I am.  Among other things."

"What other things?"

"Well, my father is fond of taking the form of a giant squid, or that of somewhere in between."

"Indeed he is."

"But it wasn't until I met the Siren mermaids of Olokun, and even saw Olokun change herself, that I began to realize I could shift my form into any thought too."

"Do you have any favorite forms to change into?"

"I do.  I can change into a cecaelia at will because it was what I first changed into, but my favorite form is that of a mermaid lionfish."

"Lionfish."   Dulce grinned.  "Of course.  It suits you.  You are going to have to show me this form sometime."

"I can show you right now if you like."

So she did.  They visited in the water for awhile, getting to know one another, and asking what their plans were.  Dulce liked the idea of joining Ahunna, as she traveled and got to know her extended family of Nana Baluku.  They extended the invitation to one another, to travel to the Igbo lands and the Berber region. 

Everyone was happy.  Adventures awaited.