The rain beat the old building that the young woman carrying a bundle stood in front of. Fog surrounded the city like a tourniquet. The woman rang a bell that stood to the side of an iron gate that surrounded the dilapidated structure. After a few moments, a nun, no older than twenty, came running out of the building under an umbrella.

"We are closed today!" the nun said, yelling to be heard over the thunder that lit up the street.

"Please!" the woman begged. "I have a child and she'll die if she stays with me!"

The nun looked at the small bundle in the woman's arms and nodded. She took out a large skeleton key and opened the gate. The woman passed the bundle to the nun with a grateful smile before turning and running down the street.

The nun took the child inside the building and took the rain-soaked blanket from around it. It was a small girl, no more than seven months old. She already had a full head of red hair and bright, red eyes. Inside the blanket was a small photo that had a man, the woman, and this child. On the back there was a single name, Niaga Marie Monroe.

*****

"Niaga! Come back here now!" Sister Retsis yelled at the twenty year old girl who was playing baseball in the courtyard. The girl's red hair now had black tips and her red eyes shone brighter than before. She was tall, about 5'8" and was wearing loose fitting, patched up jeans and a t-shirt that was about two sizes to big for her.

Niaga tossed the baseball to another child she was playing with and jogged over to the nun. "What's up sister?"

"Niaga, I need to speak with you inside." Sister Retsis said. She led Niaga to a small couch that sat in the living room of the orphanage.

"Is everything alright, sister?" Niaga asked, concern on her face.

"Yes and no." Retsis began somewhat hesitantly. "You are legally an adult now and the cardinal in charge of our humble home has decided that it is time for you to move on in your life."

Niaga looked at the sister, shock and hurt on her face. "You're kicking me out?"

Retsis looked around, as if making sure that no one was listening to their conversation. She then pulled a crumpled pamphlet from the interior pocket of her habit and handed it to Niaga. "We both know that you are.special. You have abilities that no one else here has. I know I didn't do very well in teaching you skills to work and such, but this place, this school, they can teach you everything you ever need."

Niaga smoothed out the pamphlet. "Charles Xavier's School for the Gifted?" she read, confusion in her tone.

"I have spoken with Professor Xavier personally and he assures me that it is gifts such as yours that are welcome at his school. He wants you to go there and to teach you. He is willing to wave all tuition fees and he will come here to pick you up. He can teach you everything you ever need know, Niaga." Sister Retsis said, trying to persuade the girl to give in.

Niaga took a deep, unsteady breath. "But.but what about the other kids? What will you do if the heater goes out again? Or worse." She asked, a mixture of worry and fear in her voice. "Did the cardinal find out about my 'special ability'?"

The nun sighed. "Yes. I'm sorry, Niaga, but I really do think this is the best thing for you." She said.

Niaga looked into the sister's eyes and nodded. "If that is what you want me to do, sister, then I will do it."

Sister Retsis smiled. "Thank you. The professor has already sent someone here to get you." She said with a wink.

Niaga laughed. "You knew I was going to give in! That's so not fair!" she said with a grin. She stood and hugged the sister. "I'll go pack.thanks for everything Sister Retsis." She said before running down the hall to her room to put her few belongings in a backpack.

A few minutes later, a large plane landed behind the old orphanage and a man, with short brown hair and red sunglasses, and a woman with short, white hair approached the nun, speaking in whispered voices. Niaga watched from the doorway as the three of them approached.

"Hello Niaga." The man said. "My name is Scott and this is Ororo. We are here to take you to school." He said with a warm smile.

Niaga nodded, but said nothing. She followed Scott and Ororo to the jet and was about to board when she felt someone grab her hand. She turned to see the nun, tears in her eyes, clutching a small photograph in her hand.

"When your mother brought you here, this was with you. I wanted you to have it before you left." The nun said, handing the picture to Niaga with a shaky hand and teary eyes.

Niaga took the picture and smiled. "Thank you for everything sister. You know, you really did teach me all I need to know, God and love." She said before hugging the nun and walking up the platform to the plane. She sat in the furthest seat from the cockpit, wishing she were back in her room in the little, near-collapsing orphanage surrounded by familiar faces and the only mom she ever knew, Sister Retsis.

*****

"She's quiet. How do you think she will adjust in the school?" Scott asked as they flew from the coast of Ireland to Xavier's school in New York.

Ororo sighed. "I don't know. She'll probably end up like the other children do. She'll make friends, learn skills, and master her abilities. We won't really know until we get her home and let her adjust to the environment." She answered.

Scott nodded his agreement. "I just hope she doesn't cause any problems.after everything that just happened with Stryker, we don't need any other stress."

"I'm sure she'll be fine. I think the professor already has plans for her." Ororo replied. They rode the rest of the way to New York in silence.

Scott landed the plane at the school and he and Ororo lead Niaga to a large office. In the middle of the office was a large desk with a man sitting behind it. He smiled at Niaga and motioned for her to sit down. Niaga sat down, looking around uncomfortably.

"Hello Niaga. I am Charles Xavier and I run this school. Sister Retsis told me that you have some very interesting abilities and that we may be able to help you with them." The man said with a warm smile.

//I already know how to control my abilities, professor.// Niaga said, showing one of her abilities, telepathy. //I appreciate your offer to teach me, but I believe I can handle my skills well enough.//

The professor smiled. //You have great control over your telepathic abilities, but what about the other ability?//

Niaga blushed slightly. //I learned my telepathic powers; I will eventually gain control over this.// she replied. As she spoke with the professor mentally, a small flame appeared in her hand. As she moved her hand, the flame grew and shrunk, eventually flickering and disappearing.

"You will fit in very well here, Niaga." Charles said aloud. "Perhaps you can even assist our telekinetic and telepathic children in gaining control of their gifts. Ororo will show you to your room. Welcome to the school."

Niaga nodded and stood. She bowed her head slightly to the professor and Scott before following Ororo to a large bedroom. There were four beds in the room, three of which already had a trunk at the bottom of them. The one that was left was next to the window, in the corner of the room. Niaga walked over to the bed and placed her feeble belongings around her, placing the picture that was given to her under her pillow.

Ororo left Niaga alone to 'set up her area'. Due to the fact that she had little to nothing, this task took only a few minutes. When she finished, she looked out the window, watching the children on the school grounds. She was interrupted by three distinct giggles entering the room.

The three girls stopped laughing and looked at Niaga, unsure what to think. She was older than them, in her early twenties, but her clothes looked as if they had somehow survived five generations. The knick-knacks on her bedside table consisted of a Bible and a baseball in a baseball glove. The girl was looking out the window forlornly, as if she had never been so lost. The three girls looked at each other, none of them wanting to say the first words.

Finally, one of the three stepped forward. She had brown hair with white bangs. "Hi. I'm Rouge. I take it you'll be sharin' a room with us?" she asked, her voice containing a slight southern accent.

Niaga turned and faced the girl, her normally bright red eyes, dulled. She nodded in answer to Rouge's question.

One of the other girls stepped forward. She was Asian with long, black hair. "I'm Jubilee and this is Shadow Cat, or Cat for short." Jubilee said, motioning towards the third girl, who had shoulder length brown hair. Niaga nodded her hellos to the girls.

"Would you like us to show you around?" Cat asked timidly. Niaga shook her head and quickly maneuvered around the three friends, and turning down a corridor without looking back.

"Well that was kinda rude." Rouge said after Niaga left the room.

"I wonder what her problem is." Cat said as she glanced at Niaga's bedside table, looking at the three simple items that were placed so lovingly there.

"Give her a break." Jubilee said as she sat on her bed. "She just left some form of life to come here. She'll come around eventually."

*****

Niaga quickly made her way down the corridor, ignoring eye contact with all of the other students and teachers. After getting turned around a little bit, she found her way to a back door. She opened it and walked outside. She walked to a large tree that stood alone, near the gates of the school. She sat with her back leaning on the tree and her knees up to her chest, observing the other students. For the first time in her life, she felt completely alone.

*****

Scott watched Niaga from the window in Charles Xavier's office. "She isn't a very sociable girl, is she?" he asked, his eyes turning from the girl to Xavier.

"Unlike most of our students, she was very happy where she was. She enjoyed living with the nun and the other orphans." Xavier explained. "She is confused as to why she is here because she has almost mastered control over her abilities and she feels as though she was abandoned by Sister Retsis and she is hurt by that."

"The sister said that she got along very well with the other kids at the orphanage. They looked up to her." Ororo said. "We were also told that she has a lot of skills, besides her mutations."

"What kind of abilities?" Charles asked.

"The nun said that she knows numerous forms of martial arts and knows Japanese and Chinese sword fighting techniques." Scott said as he sat in a chair opposite Xavier. "Apparently there was some old martial arts master at the church the nun attended and he taught Niaga."

"She is also considered a prodigy. She was one of the smartest girls in Ireland." Ororo said.

Xavier turned his wheelchair around so that he could look out the window. Niaga was still under the tree, watching the rest of the school as it went about its daily tasks. "She is a very talented woman, though, in many ways she is still a child. Ororo, take her into town. Buy her some new clothes and try to talk to her. Get to know her. Try to make her feel comfortable."

"Sure thing professor." Ororo said. She went outside to where Niaga was sitting and kneeled in front of her. "Hey Niaga." She said with a smile. Niaga didn't move. "Listen, the professor wants me to take you into town. I'll show you around, maybe get you some new clothes and stuff."

Niaga nodded and stood. Ororo led her to the garage and the two climbed into a white Neon and Ororo drove them to a large mall that wasn't to far from the school. They walked around, looking at the clothes and other stores in the mall.

"See anything in particular you like?" Ororo asked. Niaga stood in front of a window that had a mannequin that was wearing a black shirt with red flames on the bottom of it that tied on the sides, a mid-thigh length black skirt. It also had knee-length black boots that had buckles up the calf and a floor length black trench coat. Ororo looked at the outfit with a raised brow. "You want that?" she asked, as if wanting to make sure she understood.

Niaga smiled slightly and nodded. Ororo sighed and took Niaga in to buy the outfit, and five or six others that were similar. Niaga wore the first outfit out of the store.

The two continued walking through the mall, very rarely stopping at the stores, even though Ororo tried many times to convince Niaga to buy more 'girlish' clothes than the gothic style that she had chosen. Niaga simply shook her head with a small smile on her lips. Ororo had finally given up trying to dress the girl in 'normal' clothes and the two began walking towards the exit.

Niaga occasionally glanced around her, but stayed near Ororo, at least until she saw one store in particular that interested her greatly. She pulled away from Ororo and stared in the window. After a few minutes of walking, Ororo finally noticed that Niaga was no longer following her. She quickly re-traced her steps and found Niaga staring in the window of a knife shop.

"What are you looking at?" she asked her.

Niaga pointed to a sword, nearly eight feet in length with a thin blade. "It's a masamune. A form of kitana." She said. Those were the first words she had spoken aloud since they left the orphanage. She then pointed next to the sword. "Real ninja throwing stars." She said, her voice in awe. She pointed out a few other weapons in the window such as psis and a bow and arrow set.

"The sister said you know how to use weapons like that. Is that true?" Ororo asked, smiling at the awed look on Niaga's face.

Niaga nodded. "I was taught by a man in our church, but he taught me with sticks and wood planks, he didn't have any real swords. He also taught me how to do martial arts and shoot a bow and arrow. I can fight with renaissance swords as well." She said quietly.

"Come with me." Ororo said. She took Niaga's arm and drug the girl inside. "The professor told me to get you some things for your room, anything you would like. Pick out some stuff and we'll get it for you." She said.

Niaga looked at her in shock. "But, alone these things can cost hundreds of dollars! The masamune alone costs five hundred! Not to mention the other kitanas."

"Don't worry about the cost. Point out what you want and we'll get it for you. Don't worry about the money." Ororo said. She then conversed with the sales clerk with Niaga looked around the store, her eyes gleaming at the weapons.

After nearly an hour in the store, Niaga picked out the masamune, a wakazashi, a kitana, a set of psis, a set of throwing stars and a bow and arrow set. They also stopped at a music store and picked out about ten CD's and a stereo for her room.

When they reached the mansion, Scott and Ororo helped Niaga carry her new items to her room. When she arranged her area how she wanted it, she ran to the professor's office, a huge grin still on her face. She ran in the office and threw her arms around the professor.

"Thank you so much, Professor Xavier!" she exclaimed, her arms still around his neck.

Charles smiled. "I am glad that your trip pleased you. Ororo informed me of the weapons you chose. I would be interested to see you use them some time."

"Of course, I will be using them often." Niaga said as she straightened up, still wearing her smile. "I'd gladly give you a demonstration. In fact, I think I'd like to practice with them now." With a wave, she left the office. She walked back to her room and took her throwing stars and swords out to the tree that she was sitting next to earlier. She also brought a portable CD player with her and two of the CD's that had been bought for her. She set up the CD player near the tree and put in 'Fallen' by Evanesance and pulled out her masamune.

*****

"Hey Rouge, have you met that new girl?" Bobby asked. Bobby had short, brown hair and blue eyes.

"Briefly. Before she ran out of the room to keep from talking to us." Rouge answered, annoyance in her voice.

"Check her out now. Storm took her into the city and she came back with all sorts of Japanese weapons and she is in the courtyard using them right now. A whole bunch of us are watching her, she's really good." Bobby said. He grabbed Rouge's hand and led her to the courtyard.

As he had said, a large group of about twenty or twenty-five teenagers had formed a half circle around Niaga as she practiced with her wakazashi. Even some of the teachers had made their way down to watch the new girl, including Nightcrawler and Scott.

Niaga on the other hand, was so enveloped in her practice, that she had not noticed the group until she turned to get her throwing stars from behind her. She placed the wakazashi in its sheath and turned to set it down. As she did, she saw twenty pairs of eyes watching her intensely. She blushed slightly and looked down, unsure if she should continue her practice.

"What's goin' on over here?" a rough voice said. A man walked out from behind the tree that Niaga was practicing near. He had black hair that was spiked up on the sides. He lit a cigar in his mouth and leaned against the tree.

"We were just watching the new girl practice, Logan." A voice said from the crowd.

Logan looked at the weapons that Niaga had laid carefully on the ground. "Did we go back in time a few centuries or somethin'? What is all this stuff?" he said, tapping the masamune with his boot.

Niaga's eyes flashed in anger. "Don't kick them!" she yelled. She knelt beside the sword and carefully inspected the area he had touched, making sure that he had done nothing to them.

Logan looked at her with a raised brow. "It's just some old sword. Not nearly as good as these." He said as he let his adamantium claws come from his fists.

Niaga glared at him. "If used properly, anyone could easily beat you using these weapons. I could beat you now with just my throwing stars and bow and arrow." She said, her tone icy.

Logan laughed. "Yeah, right kid. Ninja stars and an arrow?" he said as he laughed again.

Niaga stood, her fists clenched as she continued to give Logan a stony glare. "If my weapons were dull, we could put it to the test. My throwing stars and bow and arrows against your claws."

"They don't need to be dulled, you aren't going to scratch me anyways." Logan said, his voice matching her cold tone.

"Logan, that's enough. Leave Niaga alone." Scott said as he pushed his way through the crowd.

Logan and Niaga both turned their glares to Scott, who stepped backwards slightly from the menacing gazes. "If he wants to die, then allow me to retrieve my arrows from my room. We will see whose weapons are more suited for battle." Niaga said. Before Scott could protest again, Niaga had walked through the crowd and to her room, everyone quickly moving out of her path. She returned a few minutes later with a bow in her hand and a quiver of arrows on her back.

Logan set his cigar down and stood, waiting for Niaga to make the first move, which she gladly did. She circled Logan slowly and in a swift, fluid motion, she jumped in the air and kicked Logan in the face and stomach and landed while he was still doubled over, the wind knocked out of him. She pulled an arrow from her quiver and shot it, missing Logan's head by centimeters and sticking in the tree behind him.

Logan looked from the arrow to Niaga, who was standing proudly ten feet in front of him. He glared at her, retracted his claws back into his fist and stormed off, heading towards the mansion. Niaga pulled the arrow from the tree and placed it back in her quiver. By this time, the CD player had stopped, so she put it on number six, a song called "Tourniquet" and picked up her throwing stars to continue her practice.