The snow covered mansion was a sight to see. Everything sparkled like diamonds, and the red brick school looked like a very elaborate gingerbread house.
An SUV drove toward the mansion, and the girl inside simply could not wait to get back to work. The car stopped, the occupants removed themselves from the warm insides into the crisp and frigid January afternoon.
Firefly, dressed in a long wool peacoat and thick snow boots, quickly ascended the steps to the large oak doors of the mansion, blowing steam from her lips (and under her feet) as she moved. Her parents followed in the melted path she had created through the snow.
She knocked on the door, and then pushed against it, eager to escape the bitter cold that even she, a pyrokenetic, could feel. Her long, dark auburn hair was in a state of slushy-ness due to the continual freezing and reheating of the weather and her body battling against each other. With a groaning complaint the doors swung open, and warm air rushed over the family of three.
"I should probably go check in with Professor Xavier." Firefly said to her parents.
Firefly was just coming back from a very long recuperative break from school at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. The previous term, Firefly had been kidnapped by the Brotherhood of Mutants, a group of mutants who preformed illegal acts for mutant superiority. They had forced Firefly by way of brain-washing chemicals to help them in another evil deed. Luckily, Firefly's own superheated blood made the foreign chemical obsolete, and she was able to throw off her captors' control. Firefly had been taken back to the mansion. Her parents had come to take her back to her home, but Firefly, in a fit of uncharacteristic boldness, had argued that she should stay at the mansion and continue her studies. A compromise had been made, and her parents had taken her home.
But now she was back, and eager to make a fresh start. Her New Year's Resolution had been to turn over a new leaf and try to be more out-going and friendly. Somewhere in her more dark and pessimistic subconscious, Firefly wondered exactly how long this would last.
"Well, I guess we have to let you go...again." Jennifer Bellview was not particularly pleased that her daughter was coming back to a school that had lost her the first time around. With her daughter's change of character, though, Jennifer had been willing to let her come back for the next semester. After all, Xavier's had been able to incite a change within Temperance that Mrs. Bellview had been trying to bring out for a long time. While she was jealous that she had not been the one to bring about this change in her daughter, she still welcomed it, especially since she and her daughter now got along on much better terms.
"We're going to miss you." Her father never said much, but Firefly felt they had a special connection through similar interests, and she knew that was all he needed to say to express what he was feeling.
They shared one last hug good-bye, and her father deposited Firefly's luggage inside the door. The fourteen-year-old dutifully gathered it all up, and somehow managed to balance two rolling suitcases, a purse, and a briefcase filled with the make-up work she owed her teachers after the past semester in her wake.
It was the day before the start of the new semester. Students could be seen desperately clinging to vacation. Firefly recognized the sight of students trying to get in that last bit of Christmas fun (seeing as the mistletoe had not yet been taken down from the doorways,) laying around in the common room, or frantically finishing over-the-break homework.
Since no one was doing anything in particular, Firefly thought she wouldn't be missed for a few more minutes if she carted her heavy load up to her dorm room. Firefly passed many groups of chattering friends, some of which she recognized, and others she knew had to be more newbie than she was at that point.
She finally found her dorm. The room was almost exactly the same as she had left it, except that Kitty's bed was made (probably the first and only time it would be that semester.) Said occupant of made bed was standing with her back to the door, shoving clothes into her bureau.
"Hi, Kitty."
The petite brunette turned and gasped in that "OMG!!" text-speech way Firefly was so familiar with. "Firefly! You—you're here! At school! In our room! Our room again!" Firefly allowed the shorter girl to wrap her in a too-tight hug that made her ribs almost sore.
"It's good to see you, too." She said after she had taken a breath.
"I think you should be the first to know that I'm going to try to be a little less freakish this semester. I'm going to try being...chatty." Firefly finished with a wry look and an incredulous tone, even though she was the one declaring it. She wasn't sure, but to Firefly, it looked like Kitty's right eye was twitching.
"Uh, Firefly, hun, small steps would be best for this kind of dramatic character change. It can really mess with your psyche if you try to pull this too fast. I suggest regular sessions with me and the girls, and we'll have you on the way to being a fully functional chicklet. By the way, love what you've done with you're hair!" Kitty fingered the ends of Firefly's fluffy hair, which had been let down away from her face, revealing her pale skin and dramatic tear-streak like scar under her left eye. Firefly was surprised at Kitty's amount of tact, she was probably only seeing her scar for the first time, and it was rather...gruesome. Not that Kitty was a mean person, but she tended to talk about everything.
"Okay, that sounds great." Firefly managed to say. Her snarky subconscious writhed in pain at the suggestion, but she quelled it quickly. It would be educational, she told herself. "Listen, I need to go tell the Professor I'm back. You tell me when we're having that chat thing, and I'll make sure I can be there." Kitty nodded enthusiastically, still with a dazed expression, as if she couldn't believe Firefly was back.
Firefly left the room with a positive outlook. That was already one accomplishment, and it actually felt kind of good. She practically strutted down the hall, feeling very good about herself until she heard (and smelled) a familiar presence call out to her.
"You're back!" A boy with brown hair a wire framed glasses half ran half walked up to her.
"Caleb! I was going to look for you later." Firefly replied.
"You said you were leaving, and now you're back." He looked confused. Happy, but confused.
"I put up a good argument, and the parents let me come back." Her statement was followed by an Oh, from Caleb and then a very awkward silence.
"So, um, you left some stuff, when you left." Caleb stuttered out.
"Oh, I, uh, didn't mean to leave stuff." Firefly stammered back, the uncomfortable aura of the situation making her a little anxious.
"I didn't look at the stuff, I, uh... It's just, you know, uh, jewelry, or something, I guess..." Firefly ran a hand through her hair and then shoved her hands in her pockets. This was not going as smoothly as she had hoped...
Firefly became aware of another familiar scent, this one more woodsy, with a definite splash of cigars and alcohol. She heard the heavy booted footfalls on the carpeted hall floor, and knew she was finally home back at school. She didn't even need to hear Logan's voice to know it was him. He spoke anyway, ruining the realization moment for her totally.
"Hey, Smarts." Logan clapped her on the shoulder, "good to see you back. Professor already knows yer here, but he wants to talk to you. Who's this?" He grunted the last part, even though he already knew the name of the boy in front of Firefly. Logan was the one who informed Firefly of her new friend's name.
"I'm, uh, Caleb. I have to go, Firefly, I'll, um, talk to you later? Maybe we could have lunch, or something?" He sounded really hopeful, and Firefly was actually tickled. Tickled! And 'tickled' wasn't a word she would use to describe her mood often.
"Yeah, Caleb, that sounds really great. Later, then."
"Bye." He made his exit through a door on the right.
Logan looked over to Firefly and muttered, "I wonder if he knows that's a broom closet."
The boy popped out a second later murmuring, "wrong one," and threw himself through a door further down the hallway, hopefully that time reaching his destination.
"It's gonna be a fun semester." Firefly said, shaking her head. She walked away from Logan and down to see the Professor, wondering exactly what kind of hi-jinx might ensue.
A/N: First off, I'd like to apologize to Caleb. I'm sorry for making you look live a fool-in-love, Caleb, but I could resist. Right, now that my conscience is clear, some thanks are in order. To my 50th and 51st reviewer for the story Firefly, and all my reviewers thanks so much for the encouraging words and wisdom. I really did try to keep everything in the same tense this time, so it might look a little awkward.
Also, this 'story' will probably just be a set of vignette type things, as I couldn't hold an original plot together with rubber bands and super glue. It's basically the prequel, companion, and sequel fic to Firefly, if that makes any sense. This loose definition allows me to explore Firefly's past, a little more of what happened during her first few months at the mansion, and her future.
Credit should also be given to Joss Whedon, and his awesome script writing skillz, as part of the conversation between Caleb and Firefly comes from the movie Serenity. I just tweaked it a little.
I think that's it, so thanks again everyone. I hope you enjoy these vignettes just as much as you did Firefly, if not more.
--J.R.