Chapter One: Time Heals All, Part I
The air was cool and crisp, much like the average weather of a winter's day. A few of the plant life still managed to bloom despite of the cold and also because it had not started to snow just yet. The sky was clear of any clouds and the sun shined brightly against the large fields of grass owned by the ancient looking school for the gifted.
A school for helping others train and control their mutant abilities.
The students of the school all laughed merrily as they played little games with or against each other. A child duplicated himself to make his own team in basketball while a few children tested out which one of them was the fastest of them all. A young girl clapped her hands cheerfully as the young boy in front of her changed his shape from animal to animal to try and impress her in some way.
They all seemed like they were the happiest children in the world, like they had no worries or cares in their minds at all. Meanwhile, the more adult members of the school were the ones who seemed the complete opposite of how the children were feeling.
Storm stood in front of the large window, her shoulder slumped over and a small frown marring her face. She let out a long, lamenting sigh as she continued to gaze out the window. She tried hard not to let her emotions affecting the weather at the moment, coming out with much success. It had already been almost a year or more since the deaths of Professor Xavier, Cyclops, and Jean Grey. Storm thought that she would have at least been a little less down by a year but it seems that things were turning out differently.
Her attention was suddenly tugged at when she heard the low purr of Cyclops' motorcycle, but she knew better than to think that he was really him coming through those gates. She turned her gaze toward the path leading to the mansion and saw a familiar, but forlorn, face coming near.
Storm exited the room she was in, the room that the late headmaster used to call his own that she now claimed as hers, and headed down the stairs. A small smile appeared on her face when she already saw Rogue waiting impatiently at the front door for him to enter.
Rogue looked up at Storm and smiled warmly at her, despite her true feelings about… everything. She turned back to the door when she heard it slowly creak open. She rushed with arms open and embraced the man who stepped in through the front door, relishing the fact that she didn't have to avoid any contact with him or anyone anymore.
"Logan!" Rogue exclaimed happily as she pulled away from her somewhat father, or older brother, figure. Her smile widened when Logan returned her smile with one of his grins, even though his grin was obviously forced. "Do you always have to keep going away like that?"
He was wearing the same clothes he had worn when he left: a pair of jeans, a loosely fitted shirt and a large thick jacket that looked like it'd been beaten up quite a number of times. Logan shrugged his shoulders, still grinning a small grin, and looked up to see Storm smiling down at him. "Hey there, Storm," he said in a low tone of voice so that they wouldn't hear his words breaking when he spoke.
"How was your trip Logan?" Storm began to descend down the stairs just as Bobby started to walk down the hallway. The two of them met each other at the bottom of the steps before turning and walking toward where Rogue and Logan stood watching them. Bobby greeted Rogue when an icy, chaste kiss against her cheek and then turned to Logan to give him a firm handshake – no one in the mood for hugging, except Rogue.
"Eh, it was alright; didn't really help clear any thoughts," Logan said the second half with a sad tone in his voice, eyes going downcast for just a quick moment before anyone else could notice. "How have you been holding up while I was gone?"
"Been better," Storm replied quickly. She smiled and nodded to the three of them before turning around and walking down the hallway on the right without another word.
"I guess you'll be wanting some rest after your trip, then?" Rogue smiled sadly at Logan when he nodded his head stiffly. She grabbed onto Bobby's hand softly and they looked at each other for a moment before leaving Logan alone to collect his thoughts as he went to his bedroom.
Logan glanced around him out of old habit, stuffing his hands into his pockets and started to head up the stairs. He could hear the children laughing and playing outside and it made him smile, if only a little. He was glad to finally be somewhere that wasn't as chilled as it was outside, the warm air of the mansion warming him up ever so slowly.
Once he reached his room he shut the door quickly, locking it shut, and falling listlessly onto the bed with his back against the bed. He stared at the ceiling with tired eyes yet he was unable to let sleep over take him. As much as he tried, he couldn't get his body or mind to fall asleep without having to collapse from fatigue to do it.
Logan slowly let his eyes drift close even though his body and mind were still not ready to let him sleep just yet. He let out a long sigh as he lay there on his bed, having not felt it since so many months ago because of that day…
--
Many of the people on the streets would gawk and stare at the person with the noticeably bright orange-red hair, resembling the colour of fire very much. A few teenage boys would whistle, wink, or nod in approval of the hair colour choice. Adults tried painfully obvious ways of avoiding to be near the person with fire-coloured hair.
The owner of said hair blushed furiously in embarrassment as strangers from each side continued to stare with curious, stunned, or disapproving eyes. Brows knitted together and hands stuffed deeply inside warm pockets, the red head continued to walk down the street while occasionally fixing the large bag that was strapped across their chest.
The young, redheaded woman sneezed unexpectedly, her small hands coming out from her pockets to cover her mouth just in time. She didn't stop walking though, and continued to keep her head slightly bowed to try and avoid the stares that were still focused on her. She huddled her long, auburn coloured trench coat to her body as the air suddenly became a little more chilled.
She looked up carefully to stare at the darkening sky, a small frown appearing on her face as she watched the sun slowly starting to hide behind the horizon. She began to notice less people walking down the streets but there were still many cars zooming by her. She brought her head back up to a more normal position, sticking her chin out a little.
The street lights started to flicker on one by one, making that noise that startled the young woman when one turned on beside her. She smacked herself mentally in the head for getting surprised by such a little thing, momentarily forgetting about her surroundings and what – and who – was in front of her.
"Hey there little lady,"
The young woman came to an abrupt stop when she heard an unfamiliar voice coming form in front of her. She bit her lip nervously when she saw a young man stalking closer to her, taking his sweet time by walking a very slow and intimidating pace. She glanced around her and cursed herself quietly when she saw two others coming out from the shadows she hadn't noticed before.
"Where you headed to? Maybe we can help ya," the one to her left said, his small Mohawk not doing anything good for his current looks.
"No, I'm alright but thank you," she told them politely, smiling sheepishly at them as she started to take cautious steps backwards.
Suddenly she heard someone jump from behind her and she spun around to see that another had joined the little group meeting. She turned around to face the young man who had spoken to her first and bit her lip again, nervous eyes darting from each of the boys. "Look: I don't want to cause you guys any trouble…"
"You? Cause us trouble? I doubt it sweetheart," the one who just pulled out a pocketknife told her, licking his lips in anticipation.
"Fine, but I tried to tell you," she told them, crossing her arms stubbornly across her chest.
The four predators suddenly stopped in their tracks, frozen in their current stance. Their face remained the same way, a look of want and unknown desire painted all over each of them. The young woman sighed dejectedly at them and shook her head in a disapproving manner.
A few cars that were passing by also stopped in mid-action not too far from them. A rat near the garbage bin just down the alley way from the little group was frozen in mid-chew while an old homeless man had ceased all movement with his hand stayed unmoving in the air.
"Now let's see… How should I leave you idiots?" the red head asked herself aloud, tapping a single finger against her chin. She thought for a few moments, the young men still not moving from their positions. She walked up to the boy with the pocketknife and plucked it easily from his hands. Her head tilted slightly to the side as she started to forcibly move the boy's limps around until he was standing with his hips out, hands on his waist, and feet pointed inward.
She tried to stifle a laugh as she looked over what she had done before going onto the next boy and rearrange his limps as well and did this until she had done with each one of them. She looked them over one more time before skipping away happily into the direction she was headed to before. As she walked down the sidewalk, everything else seemed to have stopped as well and there was no sound whatsoever.
Suddenly everything started to move, and the sound of cars passing by and other things returned. She was now well enough away from the boys, her nervousness completely gone.
Meanwhile, the young men all look at the other in question as they suddenly found themselves in odd positions that they did not remember being in within the last few seconds. They quickly shook themselves off and tried to hide their embarrassment at having been seen in such a 'girl-ish' way.
--
It was now almost completely dark out and the young woman was well away from the city now. She stood in front of a large gate accompanied by a large wall that looked to go on for a long time. She looked up at the sign and smiled to herself proudly; finally being able to locate the place she'd been for after such a long time.
"School for the gifted," she read from the small sign by the gate, "Finally!"
The plant life around her that had just been moving around because of the gentle breeze froze as she opened the gates with no trouble at all. The young woman looked around as she walked down the path, taking in the beautiful green scenery.
The walk seemed longer than it really was since she had gotten bored with the scenery very quickly. She didn't stop walking until she was passed the front doors of the large mansion that she had saw appear in the distance a while ago. She glanced around the front lobby and noticed a few others in the hallways near by.
They, like the plants outside, were also frozen on the spot. One boy looked like he was in the middle of a very interesting conversation with his friend, while two young children were caught in the middle of a game of tag.
She smiled warmly to herself when all the people around her began to move again. When one caught sight of her they jumped back in surprise, their eyes wide and a hand to their chest to try and calm their rapidly beating heart.
"Hi!" the young woman exclaimed happily, a large smile on her face, "I'm looking for the head of this school?"
"Uh – uh…" came the young boy's reply. The other one beside him also looked like he was just as surprised at seeing her there as the other boy.
Then a young man turned around the corner and noticed the situation, assessing it quickly and running toward the redhead. "Um, hi! I'm Bobby; I can take you to see the head of the school if you'll just follow me,"
"Oh, thank you! That would be much appreciated!" she bowed, bending at the waist, in an old fashioned way of gratitude.
Bobby stared at her oddly, a sudden reminder of someone else popping into his mind when he looked at her. He shook away his thoughts quickly and smiled at the stranger when she glanced up at them. He started to walk up the stairs that were nearby and turned around to make sure that the young woman was following him.
The two of them walked in silence, the young woman receiving stunned stares as she passed by others in the hallway. Bobby kept his eyes forward, almost afraid of turning around at stare at the woman again in case he might get any assumptions.
"We're here," Bobby said just before stopping in front of a dark coloured door. He looked over the young woman one more time before opening the door for her, opening the door all the way purposely so that he could see Storm's reaction to the strange and he wasn't disappointed.
Storm turned her head up toward the door when she heard the turn of the knob and her eyes widened a fraction when she saw the redheaded woman standing there. Her hair was long, reaching up to about mid-back and she wore a long trench coat that looked like it's been through a few generations. The young woman had a warm smile on her face and her small hands clutched onto the strap of her bag tightly like she was actually very nervous.
"Please stop staring at me like that, I get enough of that on the streets because of this bright red hair," the young woman asked kindly, her warm smile now a sheepish smile as she tried to hold back a small nervous chuckle.
However, that wasn't at all that made Storm stare the way she did. Well, it was partly the hair. Storm stared into the stranger's eyes: they were light blue with a very noticeable dark blue ring around the iris. Her face looked exactly like another she had known, another that coincidently had the same coloured hair, but this one looked like an obviously younger version with a look slightly more mischievous. "I'm sorry," Storm said, finally, "You just look like someone I used to know,"
"Oh," was all the other could say, her eyes looking away from Storm and staring out the window.
Bobby stayed at the door, now accompanied by the ever curious Rogue and a few of the other students. Storm noticed them all staring in but ignored them instead, continuing to focus her attention on the young woman's face. "What's your name? What brings you here?"
Before the young woman could answer, someone else had suddenly decided to find out what all the whispering around the mansion was about. Logan opened the other door to the room and not really paying attention to the others in the room, who all stared at him as he entered, while he closed the door behind him. Once he had shut the door, Logan turned around and could have sworn that his heart actually did skip a beat. His eyes went wide and his jaw dropped slightly when he had noticed the woman standing near the middle of the room.
Logan dared not move, not sure what to do at the moment. At first he had automatically thought it was her; that she had somehow come back from the dead – again – and was now standing in front of him. He wanted to just rush over to her to hold her, to see if she was really there in front of his eyes. However, once he had looked at her a little bit more closely, he knew it wasn't her. There was no way of her coming back to him now…
"Hey," was all Logan managed to say and grinned weakly when the young woman gave him a small smile.
"I know what this school actually is, so that helps explain a little of why I'm here," she said as she turned away from Logan and toward Storm.
"I see," Storm said was a warm smile from her seat behind the large desk, "I'll have a room prepared for you,"
"But that's not all of it…" the young woman took off her bag from her shoulders and set it down on the ground. She rolled her shoulders back a few times, trying to get the kinks out and loosen her muscles there. She looked at Storm and glanced at Logan from the corner of her eye. "My name's Ailey Fallyn and um…"
"Yes?" Storm asked when Ailey didn't continue and just let her words drift off.
"And… Professor Xavier sent me here,"
To be continued…
A/N: Hello there! How did you like this chapter? Give me some insight on what you thought! That would be much appreciated :)
Sorry to just leave you guys at a cliff hanger but I thought that it was necessary for this beginning. This is still a work in progress so just bare with me if it seems a little of. Suggestions and other things would be very useful (hint, hint). Though, right now all I'm interested to know are your thoughts about this first chapter :)