Kitty's Dragon
The story is mine, but the characters are not. X-Men are property of Marvel and Kids WB. "Puff
the Magic Dragon" belongs to Peter Yarrow.
Kitty grumbled as she trudged through the stony mountain pass. "Lousy, stupid Wolverine.
Sending us on these lousy, stupid survivalist hikes." It started to drizzel. "Lousy, stupid rain!" She knew it was her own fault. "Next time, I'll tell someone when I have to visit the bushes." She looked around for shelter and saw a cave. It was better than nothing.
Kitty went inside the cave. It was dark, but dry. She took off her backpack. She had some fruit,
a few granola bars and a Powerade. Kitty decided she may as well have a snack. Then something
caught her eye. She saw something glimmer in the shadows. She approached it. It was roundish,
too smoothe to be a boulder, big enough to come up to Kitty's knees. It was gold in color, and
seemed to radiate heat. "Is it my imagination, or is this thing pulsating? Like a heart."
Tenativly, Kitty reached out to touch the golden sphere. It cracked. Kitty pulled back her hand.
The sphere rocked back and forth violently, more cracks forming on the surface. Kitty held her
breath and watched. Part of her wanted to run away, but she felt like she had to see this
through. Claws broke through the sphere, scratching a hole in the surface. A purple snout peeked
out, followed by two glowing green eyes. Within minutes, Kitty found herself face to face with
a two foot tall purple dragon.
Kitty fell to her knees. "I must be dreaming." she said. The dragon ran up to her and
wrapped its forelegs around her arm and nuzzled her. Kitty was about to push this strange
reptile away from her when it opened its mouth and emitted a bubbly squeek that went straight to
Kitty's heart. "Well, you are sorta cute." She rubbed the dragon on the back of its neck. "Are
you hungry?"
The dragon followed Kitty to the mouth of the cave. She unwrapped a granola bar and fed it
to the dragon. It was gone in two bites. "Do you like apples?" Kitty offered the dragon an
apple. It sniffed it, wearing an inquisitive look on its face before taking it and playing with
the apple like a ball for a while. Kitty laughed at her funny new friend and ate some trail mix.
The rain stopped. "I've gotta go, baby dragon." she said, patting its head. "The others
will worry about me." The dragon followed her outside. "No, you stay here. Your mama will be
back for you." It looked up at her with huge green eyes. Kitty remembered she had never heard of
dragons living in this area-or any area for that matter. She always thought they were
make-believe. "Do you have a mama?" Poor thing, she thought. What if it's the last of its kind?
"Look, I can't take you with me. Professor X has a strict no pets policy." The dragon hugged
her leg and made that squeeky noise again. Kitty couldn't just leave a defensless baby animal
out in the wilderness. "Oh, alright." She stuffed the little dragon in her pack. She closed it
just in time to hear her friends call her name.
Logan scolded her for getting seperated from the group and said it was time to go home.
Fortunatly, the dragon slept the whole way. As soon as they got back to the X Mansion, Kitty
went up to her room and locked the door behind her. She let the dragon out of her backpack.
It crawled about, investigating its new surroundings, sniffing at everything. "I wonder what
I'll call you?" Kitty mused. "It would help if I knew if you were a boy dragon or a girl dragon."
It sniffed at her open jewelry box, reminding Kitty of tales she heard of dragon's hoarding
treasure. It brought its head up, a locket dangling from its head. "Locket," Kitty mused. "No,
better, Lockheed. Do you like that name, Lockheed?" It jumped in her lap and nuzzled her. "OK,
Lockheed it is!" She petted the little animal and sang to it the most appropriate song she
could think of.
Puff the magic dragon
Lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist
In a land called Honna Lee
Kitty woke up the next morning. Whew, what a weird dream. she thought. I dreamed I saw a
dragon hatch from a golden egg and...Slurp! Kitty was brought back to reality with a sloppy kiss
from Lockheed. It looked at her with glowing eyes and flicked its tail back and forth.
"Lockheed, you're real!" she said petting its neck. Lockheed stretched up to meet her hand.
"Stay here. I'll get you some breakfast."
Kitty phase through the locked door and went downstairs. It was summer, everyone in the
house seemed to want to sleep late. She went into the kitchen. Kurt was there, frying some
sausages. "You do know that stuff is bad for you, right?" she said to him.
"Then how come it's food?" He didn't seem to be his usual chirpy self.
"Anything wrong?" she asked, taking some granola bars out of the cupboard.
"Last night, Amanda gave me the 'Let's see other people' bit.' He sighed. "I know what
it's really about. Her parents are giving her Hell for dating the freak. She's said before she
never felt comfortable about sneaking around on her parents. I couldn't make her choose, so..." he sighed.
Kitty felt a little sorry for Kurt. "Hey, Kurt," she said. "How good are you at keeping secrets?"
Kurt held up his watch and raised an eyebrow as if to say "What do you think?"
"I'll take that as a yes. Come to my room. I wanna show you something."
"Uh- what exactly do you want to show me?" He tried very hard to shake out all the impure
thoughts that were going through his mind.
"C'mon, just 'port us there." She touched his shoulder.
"OK." he said, his voice going up an octave. In a puff of smoke, they teleported to
Kitty's room. Kurt saw Lockheed lying on Kitty's bed. "That's a-uh,uh,um..."
"Its a baby dragon, silly!" she said. "Its name is Lockheed."
Kurt rubbed his eyes and looked again. "This-this can't be. It's impossible. Where'd you
find it?"
"Logan's last nature hike. Isn't it cute?"
"Ja, I guess." Kurt said uncertainly.
"And it likes granola bars." She fed one to Lockheed.
"Kitty, dragons don't eat granola." Kurt shook his head.
"Well, what do they eat?" she challenged.
"Virgins, according to most stories."
"Great, where am I gonna find one of those? Besides myself, Rogue's probably the only
virgin around here. Maybe Jamie, he's young."
"Um, count me in too." Kurt seemed a little embarressed.
"You mean you and Amanda..?"
"It never got that far."
"Well, we're definatly not feeding Lockheed anyone."
"Back in a sec." Kurt teleported out and returned with a platter of sausage. He tossed one
to Lockheed. It was gone in one gulp.
"Kurt, I'm trying to raise Lockheed to be a vegetarian!"
"Dragons aren't vegetarians." Kurt threw Lockheed another sausage. "See? It's got pointy
teeth." Kurt patted the dragon on the head. Lockheed licked his face. "Yuck! Dragon germs!"
Kurt tried to whipe the slobbery dragon's kiss off as Kitty giggled.
"How cute!" said Kitty. "Lockheed thinks you're its daddy!"
At that moment, Jubilee came padding down the hall. She was thinking of taking a shower to
wake up when she heard Kurt's voice from Kitty's room. "Daddy? I don't wanna be a daddy!"
Jubilee was awake now. She pressed an ear against the door. "Oh, you'll get used to it."
Kitty was saying. "Heck, it might even be fun!"
"Oh, I don't know, Kitty." Kurt answered. "This is going to be a lot of responsibility."
"Yeah, but I think I'm up for it. Promise not to tell anyone?"
"Well, OK, but you can't hide something like this for very long."
"Just for right now. Please?"
"Alright, I won't tell anyone."
"Good. So, do you think it's a girl or a boy?"
Jubilee couldn't listen anymore. She couldn't believe it. Kitty Pryde was pregnant and
Kurt Wagner was the father! Forget the shower, she needed some coffee.
Jubilee went to the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee. She took one sip and then
just stared at it. Kitty and Kurt. She thought they made a nice couple. But wasn't Kurt dating
Amanda? And she was almost sure Kitty was dating Lance, but they fought so much it was hard to
say. Jubilee got up to get a granola bar. They were gone. Kitty came into the kitchen.
"Morning Jubes." she said.
"Oh-uh-hi Kitty." said Jubilee. Wow, I can't believe how well she's handling this.
"How's the coffee? I might take a couple cups up to my room for me and Kurt."
"Uh, Kitty, should you be drinking coffee?"
"Why not? We got any more half-and-half?"
"Kitty, I heard what you said to Kurt." said Jubilee. "I didn't mean to, but..."
"Oh. Jubilee, please don't tell anyone. Professor X would freak!"
"I'll say he would!"
"Now, don't you freak out on me. If you saw it, you'd fall in love with it to." Saw it?
wondered Jubilee. She must've got an ultrasound. "It's just the cutest thing!" Kitty gushed.
"From the tip of its nose to its long swishy tail." Tail? Oh, that's right, it's half Kurt.
"Of course, we can't tell if it's a boy or a girl yet."
"Kitty, I know you think it's cute and all but," she sighed. She's Jewish, she thought.
And Kurt's Catholic, so they've probably already decided against abortion. "Kitty, maybe you
should at least consider putting it up for adoption."
Kitty seemed to think the idea was funny. "C'mon, Jubilee. Who'd adopt it, really?"
"That's a horrible thing to say!" Jubilee cried out.
"But it's true."
"Yeah, but, argh!" she stalked off.
Kitty took the coffee up to her room. "I met Jubilee in the kitchen." she said, giving
Kurt his cup. "I think she overheard us talking."
"What did she say?"
"She said we should put it up for adoption. Could you imagine that? Taking Lockheed to an
animal shelter? They wouldn't know whether to put him with the cats or the dogs!"
Kurt laughed. Lockheed sniffed at his cup. "Nein, go away. Bad dragon!" Lockheed blew a
puff of smoke in the air. "Uh-oh. Kitty, have you realized that-maybe- Lockheed will grow up
into a big dragon? Breathing fire, eating people, all that sort of thing?"
"I'll worry about that when the time comes."
For hours they sat, talked and played with Lockheed. It was discovered that Lockheed could
blow smoke when irked, but no sign of fire. "It's got wings." Kurt said. "Wonder if it can fly."
"I don't know."
"Lockheed, can you do this?" he flapped his arms. Lockheed flapped its wings. "C'mon, a
little harder." Kurt demonstrated. Lockheed flapped harder untill it was lifting off the bed.
"See? Lockheed can fly. I might be good at this daddy thing after all."
Lockheed flew higher and higher untill it bumped its head on the ceiling. Disoriented, it
started to fall. "Lockheed!" cried Kitty. "It's OK, I'll catch you!" She held her arms up to the
falling dragon.
"I've got it, I've got it!" Kurt was trying to help. They both sort of caught Lockheed,
but in the process tripped over each other. Lockheed fell in Kitty's clothes hamper and gave an
irritated snort of smoke. Kurt and Kitty fell on the bed. Kurt stopped breathing as soon as he
saw Kitty underneath him. Kitty could feel her face get hot.
"Uh, ummmm...."
"Er, yeah......"
A sharp knock on the door made them snap to attention. "Just a minute!" yelled Kitty,
pushing Kurt off her. She grabbed Lockheed and shoved it in a closet. As she went to answer the
door, Kurt noticed that in her hurry she forgot to close the closet door. He shut Lockheed
inside. Kitty opened the door to Logan. "First off," he said. "What's the elf doin' in your
room? With the door locked?"
"Oh, that door locks on its own sometimes."
"Sure it does. We're havin' a trainin' session in the danger room in an hour so meet us
there." Logan took a sniff of the room. Don't smell like sex. he thought. Smells like coffee
and...."Why do I smell smoke?" he asked. Kitty was at a loss for words.
"That would be me." said Kurt. "I've taken up smoking to-um-enhance my masculine image."
Yeah, that's the ticket.
"In that case, Elf, you better come with me."
Logan took Kurt to the study. "So you think smoking makes you bad, huh?"
"You smoke cigars." Krt replied.
"I got quick healin' powers. You ain't. You get emphysema or lung cancer, that's all she
wrote. If the Professor knew, he'd sit you down and have a long borin' talk 'bout how dangerous
nicotine addiction is. Me, I'm gonna break ya o' this habit the old fashioned way." He opened
a drawer and took out a pack of Marlboros. He took a lighter out of his pocket. "Light up, kid."
"But..."
"Go on, you think it makes you a man? You're gonna smoke the whole pack!"
"But...."
"The easy way, or the hard way." Logan loosened one of his claws.
Kurt took out a cigarette and lit it. He took a drag and coughed so hard he nearly threw
up. "C'mon, big man." teased Logan. "Smoke 'em if you got 'em!" Kurt managed to choke down the
first one. He had hoped to just hold it untill it burned itself out but Logan wouldn't have it.
He made him light up another one. Kurt was sure he was going to be sick. Kitty had better
appreciate this. he thought. Halfway through the pack, Kurt couldn't take anymore. His lungs
were burning and he felt nauseated. Logan noticed Kurt was turning an interesting shade of
turquoise. Kurt grabbed the waste basket and blew chunks.
"Alright, that's enough, Elf." said Logan. "I guess you've learned your lesson."
"I never wanna see another cigarette as long as I live!"
"That was the whole idea. You're excused from this training session. Don't ever let me
catch you smoking again."
The rest of the X Men assembled in the danger room. Jubilee kept an eye on Kitty. Should
she be doing this? she thought as Kitty ran an obsticle course. I'm not sure it's a good idea
for her to phase while carrying a baby. She can't be that far along but...
"Jubilee! Watch it!" Yelled Logan. Jubilee managed to dodge a laser. "Over here, Lee."
said Logan. Jubilee approached him. "What's the matter with you, Sparks? That's the third time
I had to warn you. If we were out in the field..."
"Logan," Jubilee dared interupt. "Kitty's pregnant."
"She's what?" he growled.
"She told me not to tell anyone, but I'm worried about her."
"Who's the father?"
"Kurt. I think she had an ultrasound. She mentioned the baby had a tail."
"Excuse me, I've got an elf to kill." Logan halted the training session. "I gotta go do
something, kids." he said. "Summers, you're in charge. Kitty, sit this one out."
"But, Logan," she said, throwing her arms in the air with enthusiasm. "I'm on a roll today."
Logan grabbed Kitty's arms and pushed them to her sides. "Don't ever raise your arms above
your head! And sit down." Kitty took a seat against the wall, confused. "Half-pint," he sighed.
"Why didn't you just tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
Logan left, shaking his head.
Kurt washed his hands in the bathroom. They still smelled like tobacco and puke. He had
emptied the waste basket. No sense in letting the study smell bad. He wondered if Kitty would
mind if he borrowed her hand lotion. Why not? She owed him. He rubbed some on. There, he thought.
Now my hands smell like jasmine-and tobacco and puke.
"ELF!" Logan shouted. Kurt responded to his nickname. Then he found himself thrown against
the wall. "You better start explaining yourself, Wagner!"
"Well, I was born in a wagon in a travelling show." He decided to placate Logan with a
joke. "Mama used to dance for the money they'd throw."
"Don't get cute with me, Elf! You're in a whole heap o' trouble!"
"Logan, I've learned my lesson. I won't smoke another cigarette ever again."
"This ain't about cigarettes. I've forgotten all about that."
"Look, is this because I drank one of your Heinekins?"
"No, but now I know who it was. But I'm willing to forgive that. What you've done is
completly irresponsible!"
Kurt tried to think. Had he done anything latly that was truly irresponsible? "Oh, this is
because I forgot to do the dishes last night? I'm sorry, I'll do them tonight to make up for it."
"This isn't about some piddling dishes! I know all about the little secret you and Kitty
have been hiding."
"Oh, that. I told her we couldn't hide it for very long."
"Yer darn tootin'. Now, you gonna do the responsible thing?"
"Well, it's hers so she'll take care of it the most, but I'll be glad to help out if she
wants." Logan drew his claws and was just about to skewer Kurt. "Please don't kill me, Logan!"
he begged.
Logan sheathed his claws. He never liked the idea of making orphans. "I won't kill you."
he set the shaking Kurt on the floor. "Tell ya what, rent yerself a tux and tell Kitty to put
on something white. I'll be back in a minute." Logan left.
Kurt got to his feet. What the hell was Logan talking about? He heard clawing and
whimpering from Kitty's room. Kurt went to her room and opened the closet. Lockheed gave Kurt a
reproachful glare. "Why do I have the feeling you've got me in more trouble than I can get out
of?" he asked the little dragon.
Logan met Storm on the way out. "Logan, what's wrong?" she asked.
"Kurt knocked up Kitty, that's what's wrong! You get the flowers, I'll get the preacher-
man." He was gone before she could say more.
Kitty leaned back in the chair in Logan's office. What was he so upset about? Her training
session had been great and suddenly he wanted her to stop. What was wrong with putting her arms
over her head? Kitty suddenly remembered Lockheed. I left him in the closet! Maybe I'd better
go check on him.
Storm came in. "Kitty, what are you doing?" Kitty looked up at her. "You shouldn't be
leaning back in the chair like that!" Storm made her put all four legs on the floor. "What if
you fell?"
"I'd just get back up." Kitty shrugged. Why was everyone so worried about her?
"Kitty, Logan told me. About you and Kurt."
Kitty groaned. "Jubilee told, didn't she? After I asked her not to. Look, please don't
tell the Professor. He'll make me get rid of it."
"Kitty, you should know that Professor X won't make you do anything that goes against your
beliefs. But still, have you considered how this will affect your schooling?"
Kitty shrugged. "No biggie. I'll just leave a bowl of food out before I go to school. I
promise, I'll take very good care of it. It won't be any trouble at all."
Storm shook her head. This girl had no idea what she was getting into. "Kitty, you
understand, this isn't like having a cat or a dog."
"I know, it is kinda weird looking, but I love it anyway. I told Kurt 'cuz I knew I'd
need at least some help. He was shocked at first, but I think he's fallen in love with it too."
"Isn't it a bit inhuman to refer to it as 'it'?"
"Well, we don't know if it's a boy or a girl. Kurt's pretty sure it's a boy, but I'm not
sure and it doesn't really matter either way."
Storm shook her head. "Child, what have you gotten yourself into?"
"I'm- not quite sure."
"How did this happen?" Storm burried her head in her hands.
"Well, it was raining and..."
"That's alright, Kitty, I don't want to know."
Logan came back to the X mansion with a priest in tow. "Sir," he said to Logan. "I'd be
glad to perform the ceremony you told me of, but I do wish you'd let me grab my glasses first.
I'm nearly blind without them."
"That's probably for the best, Padre." Logan answered. "Elf! Kitty! Two witnesses! Get in
here!"
Everyone in earshot came running into the living room. "Elf, you stand here." said Logan,
placing him in the middle of the room. "Kitty, you stand at his left side. Didn't take the time
to dress up or get any flowers, I see, but oh well. Take it away, Padre."
The priest squinted at the two blobs in front of him. "Dearly beloved," he began. "We are
gathered here to witness..."
"Cut to the chase!" Logan yelled.
"Do you, um..." He pointed at the blue blur in front of him.
"Kurt." Logand prompted.
"Do you, Kurt take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold..."
"What the Hell is going on!?" Kurt shouted over the priest's vows.
"Just say 'I do'." Logan poked Kurt in the small of his back with a claw.
"I do! I do!"
"And do you..." he pointed at the smaller blur.
"Kit-uh-Katherine." Logan prompted.
"Do you, Katherine take this man to..."
"What the Hell?!" yelled Kitty. "Why are you doing this Logan?"
"To keep you honest." he replied.
A sqeaky roar came from the top of the staircase. Lockheed perched on the banister and
looked down at the people below. "Lockheed!" Kitty cried, turning to it. Lockheed spread its
wings and glided into her arms. "Everyone, this is Lockheed. I know he's a strange choice for a
pet, but no reason for you to freak out like you have been."
"This is what I heard you and Kurt talking about?" said Jubilee. "You mean you're not
pregnant?"
"You all thought I was...? With..?" She pointed at Kurt. "I can't believe this!"
"Mighty strange looking dog you have there." said the priest, squinting at Lockheed.
"Your services will not be needed today, Father." said Storm. "We are sorry to have
bothered you."
"Think nothing of it, Miss. Now, if you will be so good, Sir?" Logan took the priest home. Everyone crowded around Kitty to look at her strange new pet.
Later, the story was told to Professor X who seemed both amused and distubed by the
recent events. "Jubilee," he said. "I hope you've learned not to eavesdrop on others."
"Yes, Professor." she sighed.
"And Logan, you'll agree that your actions were rash. Fortunatly, both Kurt and Kitty are
underaged, causing the marriage to be null and void."
"I'm a rash person." Logan shrugged. "And no one signed nothin', so no harm done."
"As for you Kitty," The Professor continued.
"Please, Professor." she begged, hugging her dragon. "Don't make me get rid of Lockheed.
He's just a baby. He doesn't have anyone to take care of him."
"I won't make you get rid of him. In fact, you probably can't get rid of him now. You see,
you were the first living thing Lockheed saw when he hatched. It's quite possible that he
imprinted on you, especially if you fed him soon afterwards. In other words, Lockheed sees you
as his mother. You may keep him, but he will be your responsibility."
"I understand professor."
"I'd also like for Dr. McCoy to look him over."
"He won't hurt him, will he?"
"Perhaps take a blood sample, but nothing damaging."
"I'd like to do an X-ray." McCoy added. "Perhaps I can make an estimate of how large
Lockheed will grow."
McCoy gave Lockheed a checkup. Kitty hovered nearby the whole time. Lockheed cried out
when McCoy drew blood. Kitty cradled the dragon and whispered to him. She held him still as
McCoy took X-Rays. "Well," McCoy said. "I'm no expert on dragons, but I'd say Lockheed is fairly
healthy. Two and a half feet in length, including the tail. Weight at 7 pounds. Body temperature
is 108, blood pressure 50 over 80. Reflexes excellent. Seems to be male so far. When fully grown,
he may be between 8 or 10 feet tall. I'm not sure how long that will take.''
"A dragon lives forever." said Kitty, quoting the song she had lulled Lockheed with.
"I'd rather rely on facts than myth and legend, but, that's all we have to go on. If the
myths are true, it's possible that Lockheed will be long-lived, perhaps slow to mature. We'll
just keep an eye on him."
A week later, Kitty sat on the porch swing with Lockheed in her lap. She petted him and
sang his favorite song. Logan came and sat next to her. "Never did say I was sorry 'bout what I
did."
"Are you apologizing now?"
"Guess I am. I almost forced you to marry Kurt. Fate worse'n death." Kitty laughed and
went back to her song. "You do know that song's 'bout drugs, right?"
"No it's not! It's about the innocence of childhood."
"Think 'bout it, Half-Pint. 'Puff the Magic Dragon', that's weed. 'Lived by the sea.', as
in the letter C, cocaine. The autumn mist is the smoke cloud from weed. Honna Lee is a town in
Hawaii where you can buy some primo shi-uh-stuff. And Jackie Paper is rollin' papers."
"What about the strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff?"
"OK, strings refers to the rubber straps heroin junkies tie around their arms to make the
veins stand out. Sealing wax is a crack pipe. And other fancy stuff is designer drugs."
"What about the ship with the billowed sail?"
"The drug cartel, of course. The kings and princes are drug lords."
"Logan, don't you think believing the song is about drugs is as silly as thinking I was
pregnant?"
"I got- stuff to do." Logan left.
Kurt approached her and sat on the swing next to her. Lockheed stayed in Kitty's lap, but
rested his head on Kurt's leg. Kurt stroked his horns. "How's he doing?" he asked.
"Good. If the legends are true, Lockheed will live for a very long time. He'll probably be
little for a long time too. That means my kids will have a pet dragon to play with."
"You want to have kids some day?"
"Not right now. I need to finish school first. And I definatly want to be married before
I have any kids." She stroked Lockheed's head. "It would have to be with someone special."
"Of course." Kurt heartily agreed.
"Someone kind, loving, there when he's needed. How 'bout you? You ever think of having kids?"
Kurt shrugged. "I'd have to find a woman who doesn't mind being with a furry blue demon,
or having furry blue babies."
"Kurt, if a woman if worthy of your love, how you or your children look shouldn't matter
to her."
"You are right." he smiled. Great, he thought. Just when I thought I've gotten over her,
I fall for her again. Kitty sang the rest of the song as the summer breeze rocked their swing.
The story is mine, but the characters are not. X-Men are property of Marvel and Kids WB. "Puff
the Magic Dragon" belongs to Peter Yarrow.
Kitty grumbled as she trudged through the stony mountain pass. "Lousy, stupid Wolverine.
Sending us on these lousy, stupid survivalist hikes." It started to drizzel. "Lousy, stupid rain!" She knew it was her own fault. "Next time, I'll tell someone when I have to visit the bushes." She looked around for shelter and saw a cave. It was better than nothing.
Kitty went inside the cave. It was dark, but dry. She took off her backpack. She had some fruit,
a few granola bars and a Powerade. Kitty decided she may as well have a snack. Then something
caught her eye. She saw something glimmer in the shadows. She approached it. It was roundish,
too smoothe to be a boulder, big enough to come up to Kitty's knees. It was gold in color, and
seemed to radiate heat. "Is it my imagination, or is this thing pulsating? Like a heart."
Tenativly, Kitty reached out to touch the golden sphere. It cracked. Kitty pulled back her hand.
The sphere rocked back and forth violently, more cracks forming on the surface. Kitty held her
breath and watched. Part of her wanted to run away, but she felt like she had to see this
through. Claws broke through the sphere, scratching a hole in the surface. A purple snout peeked
out, followed by two glowing green eyes. Within minutes, Kitty found herself face to face with
a two foot tall purple dragon.
Kitty fell to her knees. "I must be dreaming." she said. The dragon ran up to her and
wrapped its forelegs around her arm and nuzzled her. Kitty was about to push this strange
reptile away from her when it opened its mouth and emitted a bubbly squeek that went straight to
Kitty's heart. "Well, you are sorta cute." She rubbed the dragon on the back of its neck. "Are
you hungry?"
The dragon followed Kitty to the mouth of the cave. She unwrapped a granola bar and fed it
to the dragon. It was gone in two bites. "Do you like apples?" Kitty offered the dragon an
apple. It sniffed it, wearing an inquisitive look on its face before taking it and playing with
the apple like a ball for a while. Kitty laughed at her funny new friend and ate some trail mix.
The rain stopped. "I've gotta go, baby dragon." she said, patting its head. "The others
will worry about me." The dragon followed her outside. "No, you stay here. Your mama will be
back for you." It looked up at her with huge green eyes. Kitty remembered she had never heard of
dragons living in this area-or any area for that matter. She always thought they were
make-believe. "Do you have a mama?" Poor thing, she thought. What if it's the last of its kind?
"Look, I can't take you with me. Professor X has a strict no pets policy." The dragon hugged
her leg and made that squeeky noise again. Kitty couldn't just leave a defensless baby animal
out in the wilderness. "Oh, alright." She stuffed the little dragon in her pack. She closed it
just in time to hear her friends call her name.
Logan scolded her for getting seperated from the group and said it was time to go home.
Fortunatly, the dragon slept the whole way. As soon as they got back to the X Mansion, Kitty
went up to her room and locked the door behind her. She let the dragon out of her backpack.
It crawled about, investigating its new surroundings, sniffing at everything. "I wonder what
I'll call you?" Kitty mused. "It would help if I knew if you were a boy dragon or a girl dragon."
It sniffed at her open jewelry box, reminding Kitty of tales she heard of dragon's hoarding
treasure. It brought its head up, a locket dangling from its head. "Locket," Kitty mused. "No,
better, Lockheed. Do you like that name, Lockheed?" It jumped in her lap and nuzzled her. "OK,
Lockheed it is!" She petted the little animal and sang to it the most appropriate song she
could think of.
Puff the magic dragon
Lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist
In a land called Honna Lee
Kitty woke up the next morning. Whew, what a weird dream. she thought. I dreamed I saw a
dragon hatch from a golden egg and...Slurp! Kitty was brought back to reality with a sloppy kiss
from Lockheed. It looked at her with glowing eyes and flicked its tail back and forth.
"Lockheed, you're real!" she said petting its neck. Lockheed stretched up to meet her hand.
"Stay here. I'll get you some breakfast."
Kitty phase through the locked door and went downstairs. It was summer, everyone in the
house seemed to want to sleep late. She went into the kitchen. Kurt was there, frying some
sausages. "You do know that stuff is bad for you, right?" she said to him.
"Then how come it's food?" He didn't seem to be his usual chirpy self.
"Anything wrong?" she asked, taking some granola bars out of the cupboard.
"Last night, Amanda gave me the 'Let's see other people' bit.' He sighed. "I know what
it's really about. Her parents are giving her Hell for dating the freak. She's said before she
never felt comfortable about sneaking around on her parents. I couldn't make her choose, so..." he sighed.
Kitty felt a little sorry for Kurt. "Hey, Kurt," she said. "How good are you at keeping secrets?"
Kurt held up his watch and raised an eyebrow as if to say "What do you think?"
"I'll take that as a yes. Come to my room. I wanna show you something."
"Uh- what exactly do you want to show me?" He tried very hard to shake out all the impure
thoughts that were going through his mind.
"C'mon, just 'port us there." She touched his shoulder.
"OK." he said, his voice going up an octave. In a puff of smoke, they teleported to
Kitty's room. Kurt saw Lockheed lying on Kitty's bed. "That's a-uh,uh,um..."
"Its a baby dragon, silly!" she said. "Its name is Lockheed."
Kurt rubbed his eyes and looked again. "This-this can't be. It's impossible. Where'd you
find it?"
"Logan's last nature hike. Isn't it cute?"
"Ja, I guess." Kurt said uncertainly.
"And it likes granola bars." She fed one to Lockheed.
"Kitty, dragons don't eat granola." Kurt shook his head.
"Well, what do they eat?" she challenged.
"Virgins, according to most stories."
"Great, where am I gonna find one of those? Besides myself, Rogue's probably the only
virgin around here. Maybe Jamie, he's young."
"Um, count me in too." Kurt seemed a little embarressed.
"You mean you and Amanda..?"
"It never got that far."
"Well, we're definatly not feeding Lockheed anyone."
"Back in a sec." Kurt teleported out and returned with a platter of sausage. He tossed one
to Lockheed. It was gone in one gulp.
"Kurt, I'm trying to raise Lockheed to be a vegetarian!"
"Dragons aren't vegetarians." Kurt threw Lockheed another sausage. "See? It's got pointy
teeth." Kurt patted the dragon on the head. Lockheed licked his face. "Yuck! Dragon germs!"
Kurt tried to whipe the slobbery dragon's kiss off as Kitty giggled.
"How cute!" said Kitty. "Lockheed thinks you're its daddy!"
At that moment, Jubilee came padding down the hall. She was thinking of taking a shower to
wake up when she heard Kurt's voice from Kitty's room. "Daddy? I don't wanna be a daddy!"
Jubilee was awake now. She pressed an ear against the door. "Oh, you'll get used to it."
Kitty was saying. "Heck, it might even be fun!"
"Oh, I don't know, Kitty." Kurt answered. "This is going to be a lot of responsibility."
"Yeah, but I think I'm up for it. Promise not to tell anyone?"
"Well, OK, but you can't hide something like this for very long."
"Just for right now. Please?"
"Alright, I won't tell anyone."
"Good. So, do you think it's a girl or a boy?"
Jubilee couldn't listen anymore. She couldn't believe it. Kitty Pryde was pregnant and
Kurt Wagner was the father! Forget the shower, she needed some coffee.
Jubilee went to the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee. She took one sip and then
just stared at it. Kitty and Kurt. She thought they made a nice couple. But wasn't Kurt dating
Amanda? And she was almost sure Kitty was dating Lance, but they fought so much it was hard to
say. Jubilee got up to get a granola bar. They were gone. Kitty came into the kitchen.
"Morning Jubes." she said.
"Oh-uh-hi Kitty." said Jubilee. Wow, I can't believe how well she's handling this.
"How's the coffee? I might take a couple cups up to my room for me and Kurt."
"Uh, Kitty, should you be drinking coffee?"
"Why not? We got any more half-and-half?"
"Kitty, I heard what you said to Kurt." said Jubilee. "I didn't mean to, but..."
"Oh. Jubilee, please don't tell anyone. Professor X would freak!"
"I'll say he would!"
"Now, don't you freak out on me. If you saw it, you'd fall in love with it to." Saw it?
wondered Jubilee. She must've got an ultrasound. "It's just the cutest thing!" Kitty gushed.
"From the tip of its nose to its long swishy tail." Tail? Oh, that's right, it's half Kurt.
"Of course, we can't tell if it's a boy or a girl yet."
"Kitty, I know you think it's cute and all but," she sighed. She's Jewish, she thought.
And Kurt's Catholic, so they've probably already decided against abortion. "Kitty, maybe you
should at least consider putting it up for adoption."
Kitty seemed to think the idea was funny. "C'mon, Jubilee. Who'd adopt it, really?"
"That's a horrible thing to say!" Jubilee cried out.
"But it's true."
"Yeah, but, argh!" she stalked off.
Kitty took the coffee up to her room. "I met Jubilee in the kitchen." she said, giving
Kurt his cup. "I think she overheard us talking."
"What did she say?"
"She said we should put it up for adoption. Could you imagine that? Taking Lockheed to an
animal shelter? They wouldn't know whether to put him with the cats or the dogs!"
Kurt laughed. Lockheed sniffed at his cup. "Nein, go away. Bad dragon!" Lockheed blew a
puff of smoke in the air. "Uh-oh. Kitty, have you realized that-maybe- Lockheed will grow up
into a big dragon? Breathing fire, eating people, all that sort of thing?"
"I'll worry about that when the time comes."
For hours they sat, talked and played with Lockheed. It was discovered that Lockheed could
blow smoke when irked, but no sign of fire. "It's got wings." Kurt said. "Wonder if it can fly."
"I don't know."
"Lockheed, can you do this?" he flapped his arms. Lockheed flapped its wings. "C'mon, a
little harder." Kurt demonstrated. Lockheed flapped harder untill it was lifting off the bed.
"See? Lockheed can fly. I might be good at this daddy thing after all."
Lockheed flew higher and higher untill it bumped its head on the ceiling. Disoriented, it
started to fall. "Lockheed!" cried Kitty. "It's OK, I'll catch you!" She held her arms up to the
falling dragon.
"I've got it, I've got it!" Kurt was trying to help. They both sort of caught Lockheed,
but in the process tripped over each other. Lockheed fell in Kitty's clothes hamper and gave an
irritated snort of smoke. Kurt and Kitty fell on the bed. Kurt stopped breathing as soon as he
saw Kitty underneath him. Kitty could feel her face get hot.
"Uh, ummmm...."
"Er, yeah......"
A sharp knock on the door made them snap to attention. "Just a minute!" yelled Kitty,
pushing Kurt off her. She grabbed Lockheed and shoved it in a closet. As she went to answer the
door, Kurt noticed that in her hurry she forgot to close the closet door. He shut Lockheed
inside. Kitty opened the door to Logan. "First off," he said. "What's the elf doin' in your
room? With the door locked?"
"Oh, that door locks on its own sometimes."
"Sure it does. We're havin' a trainin' session in the danger room in an hour so meet us
there." Logan took a sniff of the room. Don't smell like sex. he thought. Smells like coffee
and...."Why do I smell smoke?" he asked. Kitty was at a loss for words.
"That would be me." said Kurt. "I've taken up smoking to-um-enhance my masculine image."
Yeah, that's the ticket.
"In that case, Elf, you better come with me."
Logan took Kurt to the study. "So you think smoking makes you bad, huh?"
"You smoke cigars." Krt replied.
"I got quick healin' powers. You ain't. You get emphysema or lung cancer, that's all she
wrote. If the Professor knew, he'd sit you down and have a long borin' talk 'bout how dangerous
nicotine addiction is. Me, I'm gonna break ya o' this habit the old fashioned way." He opened
a drawer and took out a pack of Marlboros. He took a lighter out of his pocket. "Light up, kid."
"But..."
"Go on, you think it makes you a man? You're gonna smoke the whole pack!"
"But...."
"The easy way, or the hard way." Logan loosened one of his claws.
Kurt took out a cigarette and lit it. He took a drag and coughed so hard he nearly threw
up. "C'mon, big man." teased Logan. "Smoke 'em if you got 'em!" Kurt managed to choke down the
first one. He had hoped to just hold it untill it burned itself out but Logan wouldn't have it.
He made him light up another one. Kurt was sure he was going to be sick. Kitty had better
appreciate this. he thought. Halfway through the pack, Kurt couldn't take anymore. His lungs
were burning and he felt nauseated. Logan noticed Kurt was turning an interesting shade of
turquoise. Kurt grabbed the waste basket and blew chunks.
"Alright, that's enough, Elf." said Logan. "I guess you've learned your lesson."
"I never wanna see another cigarette as long as I live!"
"That was the whole idea. You're excused from this training session. Don't ever let me
catch you smoking again."
The rest of the X Men assembled in the danger room. Jubilee kept an eye on Kitty. Should
she be doing this? she thought as Kitty ran an obsticle course. I'm not sure it's a good idea
for her to phase while carrying a baby. She can't be that far along but...
"Jubilee! Watch it!" Yelled Logan. Jubilee managed to dodge a laser. "Over here, Lee."
said Logan. Jubilee approached him. "What's the matter with you, Sparks? That's the third time
I had to warn you. If we were out in the field..."
"Logan," Jubilee dared interupt. "Kitty's pregnant."
"She's what?" he growled.
"She told me not to tell anyone, but I'm worried about her."
"Who's the father?"
"Kurt. I think she had an ultrasound. She mentioned the baby had a tail."
"Excuse me, I've got an elf to kill." Logan halted the training session. "I gotta go do
something, kids." he said. "Summers, you're in charge. Kitty, sit this one out."
"But, Logan," she said, throwing her arms in the air with enthusiasm. "I'm on a roll today."
Logan grabbed Kitty's arms and pushed them to her sides. "Don't ever raise your arms above
your head! And sit down." Kitty took a seat against the wall, confused. "Half-pint," he sighed.
"Why didn't you just tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
Logan left, shaking his head.
Kurt washed his hands in the bathroom. They still smelled like tobacco and puke. He had
emptied the waste basket. No sense in letting the study smell bad. He wondered if Kitty would
mind if he borrowed her hand lotion. Why not? She owed him. He rubbed some on. There, he thought.
Now my hands smell like jasmine-and tobacco and puke.
"ELF!" Logan shouted. Kurt responded to his nickname. Then he found himself thrown against
the wall. "You better start explaining yourself, Wagner!"
"Well, I was born in a wagon in a travelling show." He decided to placate Logan with a
joke. "Mama used to dance for the money they'd throw."
"Don't get cute with me, Elf! You're in a whole heap o' trouble!"
"Logan, I've learned my lesson. I won't smoke another cigarette ever again."
"This ain't about cigarettes. I've forgotten all about that."
"Look, is this because I drank one of your Heinekins?"
"No, but now I know who it was. But I'm willing to forgive that. What you've done is
completly irresponsible!"
Kurt tried to think. Had he done anything latly that was truly irresponsible? "Oh, this is
because I forgot to do the dishes last night? I'm sorry, I'll do them tonight to make up for it."
"This isn't about some piddling dishes! I know all about the little secret you and Kitty
have been hiding."
"Oh, that. I told her we couldn't hide it for very long."
"Yer darn tootin'. Now, you gonna do the responsible thing?"
"Well, it's hers so she'll take care of it the most, but I'll be glad to help out if she
wants." Logan drew his claws and was just about to skewer Kurt. "Please don't kill me, Logan!"
he begged.
Logan sheathed his claws. He never liked the idea of making orphans. "I won't kill you."
he set the shaking Kurt on the floor. "Tell ya what, rent yerself a tux and tell Kitty to put
on something white. I'll be back in a minute." Logan left.
Kurt got to his feet. What the hell was Logan talking about? He heard clawing and
whimpering from Kitty's room. Kurt went to her room and opened the closet. Lockheed gave Kurt a
reproachful glare. "Why do I have the feeling you've got me in more trouble than I can get out
of?" he asked the little dragon.
Logan met Storm on the way out. "Logan, what's wrong?" she asked.
"Kurt knocked up Kitty, that's what's wrong! You get the flowers, I'll get the preacher-
man." He was gone before she could say more.
Kitty leaned back in the chair in Logan's office. What was he so upset about? Her training
session had been great and suddenly he wanted her to stop. What was wrong with putting her arms
over her head? Kitty suddenly remembered Lockheed. I left him in the closet! Maybe I'd better
go check on him.
Storm came in. "Kitty, what are you doing?" Kitty looked up at her. "You shouldn't be
leaning back in the chair like that!" Storm made her put all four legs on the floor. "What if
you fell?"
"I'd just get back up." Kitty shrugged. Why was everyone so worried about her?
"Kitty, Logan told me. About you and Kurt."
Kitty groaned. "Jubilee told, didn't she? After I asked her not to. Look, please don't
tell the Professor. He'll make me get rid of it."
"Kitty, you should know that Professor X won't make you do anything that goes against your
beliefs. But still, have you considered how this will affect your schooling?"
Kitty shrugged. "No biggie. I'll just leave a bowl of food out before I go to school. I
promise, I'll take very good care of it. It won't be any trouble at all."
Storm shook her head. This girl had no idea what she was getting into. "Kitty, you
understand, this isn't like having a cat or a dog."
"I know, it is kinda weird looking, but I love it anyway. I told Kurt 'cuz I knew I'd
need at least some help. He was shocked at first, but I think he's fallen in love with it too."
"Isn't it a bit inhuman to refer to it as 'it'?"
"Well, we don't know if it's a boy or a girl. Kurt's pretty sure it's a boy, but I'm not
sure and it doesn't really matter either way."
Storm shook her head. "Child, what have you gotten yourself into?"
"I'm- not quite sure."
"How did this happen?" Storm burried her head in her hands.
"Well, it was raining and..."
"That's alright, Kitty, I don't want to know."
Logan came back to the X mansion with a priest in tow. "Sir," he said to Logan. "I'd be
glad to perform the ceremony you told me of, but I do wish you'd let me grab my glasses first.
I'm nearly blind without them."
"That's probably for the best, Padre." Logan answered. "Elf! Kitty! Two witnesses! Get in
here!"
Everyone in earshot came running into the living room. "Elf, you stand here." said Logan,
placing him in the middle of the room. "Kitty, you stand at his left side. Didn't take the time
to dress up or get any flowers, I see, but oh well. Take it away, Padre."
The priest squinted at the two blobs in front of him. "Dearly beloved," he began. "We are
gathered here to witness..."
"Cut to the chase!" Logan yelled.
"Do you, um..." He pointed at the blue blur in front of him.
"Kurt." Logand prompted.
"Do you, Kurt take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold..."
"What the Hell is going on!?" Kurt shouted over the priest's vows.
"Just say 'I do'." Logan poked Kurt in the small of his back with a claw.
"I do! I do!"
"And do you..." he pointed at the smaller blur.
"Kit-uh-Katherine." Logan prompted.
"Do you, Katherine take this man to..."
"What the Hell?!" yelled Kitty. "Why are you doing this Logan?"
"To keep you honest." he replied.
A sqeaky roar came from the top of the staircase. Lockheed perched on the banister and
looked down at the people below. "Lockheed!" Kitty cried, turning to it. Lockheed spread its
wings and glided into her arms. "Everyone, this is Lockheed. I know he's a strange choice for a
pet, but no reason for you to freak out like you have been."
"This is what I heard you and Kurt talking about?" said Jubilee. "You mean you're not
pregnant?"
"You all thought I was...? With..?" She pointed at Kurt. "I can't believe this!"
"Mighty strange looking dog you have there." said the priest, squinting at Lockheed.
"Your services will not be needed today, Father." said Storm. "We are sorry to have
bothered you."
"Think nothing of it, Miss. Now, if you will be so good, Sir?" Logan took the priest home. Everyone crowded around Kitty to look at her strange new pet.
Later, the story was told to Professor X who seemed both amused and distubed by the
recent events. "Jubilee," he said. "I hope you've learned not to eavesdrop on others."
"Yes, Professor." she sighed.
"And Logan, you'll agree that your actions were rash. Fortunatly, both Kurt and Kitty are
underaged, causing the marriage to be null and void."
"I'm a rash person." Logan shrugged. "And no one signed nothin', so no harm done."
"As for you Kitty," The Professor continued.
"Please, Professor." she begged, hugging her dragon. "Don't make me get rid of Lockheed.
He's just a baby. He doesn't have anyone to take care of him."
"I won't make you get rid of him. In fact, you probably can't get rid of him now. You see,
you were the first living thing Lockheed saw when he hatched. It's quite possible that he
imprinted on you, especially if you fed him soon afterwards. In other words, Lockheed sees you
as his mother. You may keep him, but he will be your responsibility."
"I understand professor."
"I'd also like for Dr. McCoy to look him over."
"He won't hurt him, will he?"
"Perhaps take a blood sample, but nothing damaging."
"I'd like to do an X-ray." McCoy added. "Perhaps I can make an estimate of how large
Lockheed will grow."
McCoy gave Lockheed a checkup. Kitty hovered nearby the whole time. Lockheed cried out
when McCoy drew blood. Kitty cradled the dragon and whispered to him. She held him still as
McCoy took X-Rays. "Well," McCoy said. "I'm no expert on dragons, but I'd say Lockheed is fairly
healthy. Two and a half feet in length, including the tail. Weight at 7 pounds. Body temperature
is 108, blood pressure 50 over 80. Reflexes excellent. Seems to be male so far. When fully grown,
he may be between 8 or 10 feet tall. I'm not sure how long that will take.''
"A dragon lives forever." said Kitty, quoting the song she had lulled Lockheed with.
"I'd rather rely on facts than myth and legend, but, that's all we have to go on. If the
myths are true, it's possible that Lockheed will be long-lived, perhaps slow to mature. We'll
just keep an eye on him."
A week later, Kitty sat on the porch swing with Lockheed in her lap. She petted him and
sang his favorite song. Logan came and sat next to her. "Never did say I was sorry 'bout what I
did."
"Are you apologizing now?"
"Guess I am. I almost forced you to marry Kurt. Fate worse'n death." Kitty laughed and
went back to her song. "You do know that song's 'bout drugs, right?"
"No it's not! It's about the innocence of childhood."
"Think 'bout it, Half-Pint. 'Puff the Magic Dragon', that's weed. 'Lived by the sea.', as
in the letter C, cocaine. The autumn mist is the smoke cloud from weed. Honna Lee is a town in
Hawaii where you can buy some primo shi-uh-stuff. And Jackie Paper is rollin' papers."
"What about the strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff?"
"OK, strings refers to the rubber straps heroin junkies tie around their arms to make the
veins stand out. Sealing wax is a crack pipe. And other fancy stuff is designer drugs."
"What about the ship with the billowed sail?"
"The drug cartel, of course. The kings and princes are drug lords."
"Logan, don't you think believing the song is about drugs is as silly as thinking I was
pregnant?"
"I got- stuff to do." Logan left.
Kurt approached her and sat on the swing next to her. Lockheed stayed in Kitty's lap, but
rested his head on Kurt's leg. Kurt stroked his horns. "How's he doing?" he asked.
"Good. If the legends are true, Lockheed will live for a very long time. He'll probably be
little for a long time too. That means my kids will have a pet dragon to play with."
"You want to have kids some day?"
"Not right now. I need to finish school first. And I definatly want to be married before
I have any kids." She stroked Lockheed's head. "It would have to be with someone special."
"Of course." Kurt heartily agreed.
"Someone kind, loving, there when he's needed. How 'bout you? You ever think of having kids?"
Kurt shrugged. "I'd have to find a woman who doesn't mind being with a furry blue demon,
or having furry blue babies."
"Kurt, if a woman if worthy of your love, how you or your children look shouldn't matter
to her."
"You are right." he smiled. Great, he thought. Just when I thought I've gotten over her,
I fall for her again. Kitty sang the rest of the song as the summer breeze rocked their swing.