(I like romances and I wanted to write a transkitty for personal reasons, and this is my #1 OTP. So uh. Here it is!)

"I'm Professor Katherine Pryde." She wrote her name on the tablet, looking up at the display on the wall as it appeared there. Kitty always liked writing her name the old fashioned way. It fit, the way it flowed from her fingertips. She was particularly proud of the flourish on the K. A flash of red in the window on the door drew her attention. She had the strangest sense of deja vu, a familiar pricking at the back of her mind. Hesitant, but warm.

Rachel. The blur of red was gone, and no answer whispered in her head.

Putting it aside to worry about later, Kitty turned to regard her class. They looked back at her with varying levels of expectation and she put on her biggest smile. "Welcome to Comp Sci."

Nearly five years had gone by since the last time Kitty had been at Xavier's. The layout of most of the buildings had changed in that time, to say nothing of the grounds. The only areas that were remotely familiar were underground and even those hallways and training grounds had been redesigned. What had the X-Men been up to in her absence?

She could scarcely find her way around and there were many new faces, a new generation of mutants coming to learn and be accepted. Even some of the staff were new to her. It was just a little overwhelming. It took Kitty twenty minutes to find the Teacher's lounge, though most of that time was spent talking to students. None of them really knew who she was or what she'd been a part of here for most of her teenage years. More astute students might have recognized her last name.

Outside the lab she caught up with Hank, who acted like nothing was different with her. It was a good sign. The school wasn't the only thing that had changed. Kitty certainly had. Would old friends recognize her? Would they even still want to be friends.

The lounge was comfortable looking, with a long table and a couch in addition to all the amenities, such as a near-sentient coffee machine that liked to alter people's drinks. Sitting on the couch was a familiar looking face, red hair cut to shoulder length and shaved on the left side. Kitty chewed on her lip before calling out a greeting. "Uh...hey."

Rachel looked up from her phone to see the person she'd glimpsed only briefly through the door. Kitty's hair was longer, a barely contained mass of brown curls that went down her back and her face was softer and a little rounder, but Rachel knew her expressive eyes. The last time she'd seen those eyes, Kitty had been called 'Michael' and 'Michael' had been deeply unhappy. She rose to her feet maybe a little too fast in nervous excitement. "Hey! Wow, it's been… a long time. Uhm…Katherine now, right? That's what it says on the website, and...yeah.."

Kitty held out her hand, sure that her surface thoughts were drowning in anxiety and Rachel would be able to pick them up. "Yeah, it's been a really long time. Katherine is good. Or Kate. Or Kitty." She laughed. "Any of the above really, I like them all."

"Kate…" Rachel liked the sound of it on her tongue. She always had. In the alternate future Rachel had come from, she'd known a Kate Pryde who'd also once been called Michael. Instead of taking Kitty's hand, though, she pulled her into a fierce hug. Too many emotions to count inundated her. "You never called, you never wrote, I should be so mad at you."

Any anger Rachel had felt had burned out a long time ago, replaced by fond regret and loneliness. Kitty leaving hade made her feel so alone. Rachel pulled back, hands gripping Kitty's shoulders as she grinned at her through blurry eyes. "But you look a lot happier than you used to."

Tucking some hair behind her ear, Kitty tried to find the right words. Rachel was looking at her so intently and she didn't know how to handle it. "I just needed to...figure myself out."

She gestured at herself. "You said something once, that got me thinking. Like twisting around in my head and making my stomach ache thinking. When I was in college, I made some friends and took some classes and they kind of opened my eyes to a lot of things. So I starting thinking more. Like have you ever stared in the mirror and cried? It just...hit me one night and it felt so…right" She twirled her hands in the air.

Rachel nodded in understanding. Maybe she couldn't quite connect with what Kitty had gone through but she'd spent more than one night questioning her purpose in life. Though being a telepath helped her with the empathy thing, and she'd never been able to avoid Kitty's emotions.

"I could have texted though." Kitty frowned, lowering her head. "I'm sorry. I just didn't know what to tell you. Or how to...Or what you'd think. And then that position opened up and believe me the ride on the anxiety train since I applied has been all kinds of awful and it hasn't really stopped yet if I'm going to be a hundred percent honest here it's just kinda chugging along and..."

And Rachel was smiling at her like she was adorable. "It's okay. You're back now and we've got a lot of things to catch up on. I'm sure you don't want to spend all day talking about this kind of thing."

Kitty wasn't particularly inclined to let Rachel go. "I missed you."

Feelings were flooding back, much stronger than Rachel ever remembered them being and they weren't helped by what she was picking up from Kitty. Rachel was used to sensing a little jolt from someone's mind when they were attracted to her. When Kitty had first looked at her that jolt had been strong and very flattering. Rachel touched Kitty's cheek. "I missed you too, Kate. I'm glad you found yourself."

Kitty stared into Rachel's beautiful green eyes. As she did so, something fell into place, a connection that had been missing at the back of her mind. It was one of those things that she hadn't even known she was missing until now. That connection pulsed and her psychic link with Rachel reopened. Being invited backed in made her want to cry because it felt like coming home.

She suddenly wanted to waste away hours with Rachel, like the old days. Just the two of them. "...Want to catch up over at a movie night tonight?"

"Sure!" Rachel meant to say more, but the door opened.

"Kitten!"

Kitty turned around to see Ororo beaming at her, and she didn't know why she'd ever been worried. Mutants knew better than many what it was like to be outcast.