A Plane Crash

They were all the results of a plane crash: little Ororo Munroe lost her parents, David and N'Dare Munroe, and became entrapped by her claustrophobia.

Disclaimer: This notice will appear once throughout this story. It is only needed once and merely takes up space. I don't own Storm or any of the other X-Men. This is purely a non-profit story used to express the admiration a fan and his try at creativity.

April 16, 2002 6:30pm EST Westchester, NY
Caramel skin was lightly beat upon by the dim lights of the recessed lighting systems of the Library. The woman who owned this golden complexion also displayed long white hair which flowed with a lose curl down to the middle of her back. Her brown eyes scanned across a book as she sat with her legs crossed in a window seat. Her back was against a smooth wooden interior and the evening sky was letting only a small ounce of light into the room other than the man-made lighting. Her name was Ororo Munroe, and her residence was at the Xavier Institute for the Gifted. Gifted did not mean simply intellectually skilled. This school was for mutants.

Mutants were believed to be the next phase for humans. They were born with extraordinary abilities that sparked during teenage years. And yes, Ororo was one of these mutants. Her abilities were unlike those of others. She held the abilities to control the weather, elements, and even the stars in the heavens.

She looked up when she heard someone enter the Library, but soon returned to her book. Her brown eyes read the pages carefully and she seemed to be driven with frustration as she heard her name. "Ororo," a deep voice sad as Bishop approached her. He had brown eyes, but much darker than Ororo's. His hair was black but looked blue under the glisten of light. "Dinner's done."

"Thank you Bishop, I shall be down shortly," Ororo answered as she returned to her book, hoping that he would go downstairs. But she was unable to concentrate on the words while she continued to notice Bishop standing there in the corner of her eye. "Is there something you need?" she finally asked out of agitation.

"What are you reading?" he asked as he walked over to her.

She reluctantly closed the book and concealed the title as she stood up from her relaxed position. "It is none of your business. Now if you will excuse me, I am going to eat my dinner," she said as she brushed pass him in a rush.

He lightly laid a hand on her shoulder, "There's something wrong, Ororo. And you know you can talk to me about it. I'm not your boyfriend so you can hide secrets from me. You should be able to talk to me... I want you to be able to talk to me."

"Perhaps you are right," she said and turned around to look into his eyes. She held the book up and revealed the title: Lonely Songs. When noticing the perplexed look on Bishop's face she began to explain the book, "It is a novel about a child who lost her parents at a young age. Although it does not include the details of my past, it reminds me very much of everything I have gone through. Every time I read this book I cannot help but to remember my parents and what happened in Egypt. It makes me sad."

"Then why don't you stop reading it? You should stop feeding all these bad memories to yourself to get sick off of," he said, pulling her close to him and allowing her to lay her head on his chest. This was one of his favorite things to do. To console her in her time of need and to have her head on his chest with the pleasantries of her perfume and peach body spray entering his nose.

"You do not understand," she said, wrapping her arms around him. She was much shorter than he was, eight inches shorter, to be exact, but this difference in height made her feel comforted. To have someone big and strong holding her was more than enough to allow her to feel protected instead of a helpless child under a falling building.

"What's there to understand? If it hurts you so much you should let it go," he mentioned again, holding her tighter than before as her arms fully wrapped around him.

"I am unable to stop reading the book. Every time I read it I remember what my mother sounded like when she played with me, and I remember the stern stance of my father as he prepared to go out and work. Whenever he would get ready to go he would come and give me a kiss on my cheek and do the same to my mother. Although I was very young, I can somehow remember it all. Perhaps some memories are always in our minds," she paused for a moment, "We just need something to help us remember them."

"So what do you do when you finish the book?" he asked, knowing that he was going to be unable to persuade her to let it go.

"I have been contemplating giving Forge a visit," she said.

"Forge?" Bishop asked in surprise. Despite having the "M" tattoo removed from his eye, Ororo had also influenced him in a hidden hatred for Forge. Forge, the man that had once proposed to Ororo, then lost the gut and took the proposal away. This had caused Ororo almost more the pain that she could bear. It was only a miracle that she had not taken his life.

"With his expertise in time travel technology, I have been thinking about going back in time and preventing my parent's death," Ororo said, backing away from Bishop. She held the book in front of her with both hands and looked down at it.

"That's a pretty good idea, but what will Charles say?" Bishop said. He was not normally one to be so laid back, he had been the member of a future time where mutants were hated and killed. When he had first come to the X- Men of the past he was very militant. The compassion of the Windrider, Ororo, had broken him down to a very understanding person.

"This time Charles will not be saying much. He will not be able to dismay me from my decision. I have already made it and this is a definite choice. I need to do this," she says as she takes her eyes off the book and looks up to Bishop's face.

"I'm going with you," he said as he bent down and planted a kiss on her nose then to her mouth.

April 17, 2002 6:30am EST Westchester, NY

"Charles, may I come in?" Ororo said with her white hair tied behind her head. She was an early morning person. She would garden her plants in the attic of the mansion while the dew was still on the grass outside. She was an excellent gardener due to her mutant abilities. She could create small rain clouds to water the plants and even call the attention of the sun, which would rise early in the morning to bring light to her plants. This morning, though, she did not do that. She had showered, dressed in a long skirt and blouse and sat in her room for an hour. Although Bishop was not an early person, she had convinced him to join her in the early morning hours to talk with Xavier.

"Yes Ororo, please," the bald mentor said as he rolled from behind his desk in his contemporary wheelchair. "I am a bit surprised to see you this morning. What seems to be your concern?"

"Charles, I have been thinking about getting in contact with Forge again. I want to use his time traveling technology to go back in time and rescue my parents from the crash that killed them, and perhaps myself from being traumatized with claustrophobia."

"Ororo, I implore you to think this over before you take action," Xavier said, not wanting to release one of his most prized pupils.

"Charles, she's already thought about it and she's capable of making her own decisions. You should know how much this hurts her," Bishop said with his cranky voice and a hand to his forehead. He knew the Professor was going to put up more of a fight than anyone.

"But-" Charles began.

Ororo cut him off, which was not like her at all, "Charles, this is something I must do. Please, give my apologies and love to the X-Men when they awake. As for now, I am no longer Storm of the X-Men. I am Ororo Munroe. Thank you for the time here, and if my path leads me back to this family, then I shall return. But as of right now, I do not see my staying with the X-Men apart of my destiny anymore. Charles, I am going to save my mother and father. I love them that much."

What could the loving mentor due but to give her his blessings? He rolled to her with his wheelchair and took her hand. "Ororo, I trust you. Be careful."

She bent down to give her 'adopted father' a hug before turning to Bishop. She held out her hands and took her X-Men costume from her boyfriend. She laid it out straight on Xavier's legs and turned to leave. "Thank you, Charles," she said and closed the door behind herself and Bishop.

To Be Continued...

Footnote: Storm and Bishop? I'm trying the less popular relationships. Maybe it will turn out pleasurable?