Free Roc And A Hard Place by Piers Anthony

startled.  “You agree?”
    “On one condition.  I do the kissing.”
    “Sure.  One kiss for each helpful thing I figure out.”
    “Agreed.  What have you figured out?”
    “Go away and come back here.”
    “What?”
    “Just do it, handsome.  Craziness doesn't make sense until after the fact.  You don't have to go far.  Turn twice when you do it, too.”
    Grey looked baffled, but complied.  He turned and walked away.  Then he turned again and walked back.  “What does this prove?”
    “Have you turned and returned?”
    “Yes.”
    “So if you came to Ality before, now you have come to Re-Ality.”
    He frowned.  “I suppose.  What's the point?”
    “You have to re-do things to reach Re.  Now that you have re-considered and re-turned to Re-Ality, you are closer to finding her.”
    “That's crazy!”
    “Yes.  Pay me.”
    He looked annoyed, but also.  thoughtful.  “Very well. Come here.”
    Mentia stepped close to him and raised her face.  But he took her head in his hands, turned it down, and kissed the top of her head.
    “Hey, that's not what I meant,” she protested.
    “I kissed you.  Nobody specified where.”
    “But that's—”
    “Crazy?”
    Mentia realized that she hadn't made precisely the deal she thought.  Or maybe Grey Murphy was smarter than she thought.  She shrugged.  That simply made it more of a challenge.  “Now, I think that Re has this power of re-doing, and maybe she got mixed up and re-jected herself.  So you must search and re-search to find her.”
    “But I have already searched!”
    “Right.  Do it again.  You have merely re-hearsed it so far.”
    He nodded.  He went through the motions of searching, again.  “Okay, I have re-searched.  I still don't see her.  What now?”
    “Re-pay me.”
    “Oh.” He took her right hand and kissed it.  But this time a pair of lips appeared on her hand, and kissed him back.
    “Now look around again,” she said.  “Examine and examine again.”
    He looked around twice.  “Okay, I have re-examined the region.  What now?”
    “Pay—”
    “Not until you produce something more positive.”
    She sighed.  He was too canny to make this game really fun.  “I think we must be very close to finding her now.  Call her—and call again.”
    He nodded.  He cupped his mouth with his hands.  “Re!” he called.  Then again:  “Re!” He had re-called her.
    There was a faint sound, almost like a female moan.
    “Quick, orient twice,” Mentia said.
    Grey focused on the area where the sound seemed to have come from, then re-focused.  “I am re-orienting,” he said.
    “Do you feel anything?”
    “Yes, there is something here,” he agreed.
    “Say it again.”
    He said it again:  “There is something here.”
    And with that re-statement, a form appeared faintly.
    “Move her,” Mentia said.  “Twice.”
    He put his arms around the shape and moved it.  Then he moved it again.  The form became firmer.
    “This has to be Re,” he said.  And again:  “This has to be Re,” he re-peated.
    The form clarified.  “Yes!” she breathed.  “Help me!  Help me!”
    “Now I can use my own magic,” Grey said.  “I can nullify her magic.” He put his hand on her head.  “Verse.  Reverse.”
    The re-suit was encouraging.  Suddenly the complete woman was there.  She was re-asonably young and pretty.
    “Oh, you have saved me!” she cried.  “It's such a re-lief. I'm so re-ally grateful!” She flung her arms about him and kissed him several times on the face before he could re-act.
    “Ahem,” Mentia said.  “It seems to be that you let a number of payments go by, and now you're paying the wrong person.”
    Grey smiled ruefully.  “You're right.  You have been very helpful, Mentia.” He disengaged from Re, took Mentia in his arms, and kissed her soundly on the mouth, twice.  There was magic in his kisses that nullified her craziness.
    “Wow!” she said, dizzied.  “Wow!”
    “Well, you