What I Really Want

Hello again, everyone from your friendly neighborhood Peach Wookiee. It's been some time since I wrote a GX one-shot but the time has come! This is for JillRG who requested that I write a story exploring a brotherly bond between Chazz Princeton and Atticus Rhodes. JillRG, it took nearly four months to figure it out and I hope you're still here to see it, but here it is! And I hope everyone enjoys it!

Disclaimer: Peach Wookiee only owns her stories. She just likes to play with the characters of GX.

Author's note: This story takes place after the events of Season Two.

Charles Xavier Princeton, more popularly known as Chazz or "The Chazz," walked aimlessly through the grounds of Duel Academy. In the past few months, the gray-eyed, raven-haired boy joined something that was similar to a cult, escaped it and then helped to bring it down. He'd betrayed people and hurt those he cared about. Alexis…I'm sorry, he thought, looking up at her window. As he did, different feelings surfaced within him. He no longer felt romantic toward her as he had for nearly five years when they'd started at Duel Academy Prep School. I can let you go…finally. He walked away from the Obelisk Blue dorms, not sure where he'd go next.

His footsteps took him down toward the beach. It was late afternoon and most of the students were at their dorms, but one student was out on the water. "WOO-HOO!" Atticus Rhodes shouted in triumph as he rode a wave on his boogie board. Chazz watched the nineteen-year-old young man with the brown hair, brown eyes and friendly smile ride onto the beach with ease, slightly envious.

Why didn't I get a brother like that? Why did I get them? Chazz thought sadly, thinking painfully of the brothers who had disowned him and barely spoken with him in the year since. Atticus was adored by many young women in the Academy, and lots of guys wanted to be him. Atticus was also Alexis's brother. Chazz sighed again, watching him. He's cool…he's even tried to help me…

Atticus, meanwhile, noticed the younger boy watching him on the shore. "Hey there, Chazz," he called when he landed on the beach. "How are you doing?"

Chazz was startled. "Um…nothing! Just…watching…" Oh, that sounded wrong!

"Watching me surf?" Atticus probed, still smiling. "You want to try?"

"I'd suck," Chazz explained.

"Have you ever done it before?" Atticus asked curiously, putting a friendly hand on Chazz's shoulder.



"Uh…no…I haven't…" Chazz admitted, surprised Atticus would ask the question. "Why would I have?"

"Well, you don't know if you'll suck until you try, right? And everybody has to learn how to do certain things, right? Do you have a wetsuit?"

"No…" Chazz was really surprised now. "Why?"

"I'll teach you, that's why, Chazzy…My bag's over there," he said, gesturing toward a duffel bag near a palm tree. "There's an extra wetsuit and I think I saw an extra boogie board lying around." Without another word, Chazz headed over, found the wetsuit and board and within 10 minutes was ready to learn to surf. "Okay, Chazz, you seriously haven't done this before?"

"No…and I'll do my best…" Chazz said tensely.

"Relax, Chazz, we're just having fun here…" Atticus said. "Okay, put your board in the water and then just step on…" Chazz did so, and the board came out from under him. He fell into the water, and heard Atticus laughing. "Oh, man, that happened to me a couple of times! Good times!"

But in Chazz's mind, he heard his brothers' mocking laughter.

"You're a Princeton," Slade sneered at him in his mind's eye.

"You don't get to fail even once," Jagger growled as he backhanded his little brother.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know how to play that game!" Chazz cried out. He was seven years old, unsure what he'd done to deserve to be hurt like this. Other kids had played worse, but they weren't Princetons.

Chazz snapped himself out of it and reacted as he often did when he messed up. "You think that was funny?" he asked Atticus angrily.

Atticus might've laughed, but then he saw the pain in the other boy's eyes and stopped. "Chazz, everybody falls down when they learn…why are you upset?" His brown eyes and his entire being radiated concern.

"I'm a Princeton…I'm not supposed to fail…at anything…" Chazz accepted the hand that pulled him up from the water.

"That's unrealistic…is that why you joined the Society of Light?" Atticus asked.

"Can…can we just…try again before I answer?" the younger boy asked.



"Sure thing," Atticus said, nodding and grinning. Chazz got up on the board again and he turned out to be a quick study. By the time two hours had passed and the sun was starting to set, he'd learned to ride little waves. "Good job, Chazz, you did great!" his teacher said happily.

"Thanks, Atticus," Chazz answered. "Now I'll answer you…I guess…I was trying to run from stuff again…"

"Huh? You mean like you ran your first year? Alexis told me about that…"

"No, it's not like that…I wanted to run from what I was feeling…I'm a failure, Atticus…I fail at everything…"

Atticus suddenly placed his hands on Chazz's shoulders, very gently. "You don't fail at everything, Chazz…what about the GX Tournament? You won that…"

"Only because Jaden didn't want to take my medals…I only won because he didn't choose to win…he was too busy saving the planet…"

"But you still won. You won against other opponents…" Atticus tried reminding him, but then thought quickly. "That's not it, is it?"

"No…Atticus…I have a confession to make…there's a reason I think I thought I loved Alexis all that time…" Chazz looked down. "I think it was because…I wanted to be around you…" Atticus's eyes widened.

"Uh…"

"Not that way!" Chazz yelped, realizing how that sounded. "She's got such a great big brother, and I've always wanted a brother who'd actually…" He couldn't talk and then felt the warmth of the older boy's arms and chest.

"Just love and protect you?" Atticus asked softly. The raven-haired boy with the stormy gray nodded and looked up at the boy with the brown hair and friendly kind brown eyes. "Chazz, I can do that…all you had to do all this time was ask…little brother…"

"Thanks…big brother…" Together they picked up the boogie boards and left the beach. After this day, Chazz had a big brother he loved and Atticus had a little brother to love and guide.

THE END

And that is the end of this story. JillRG, I hope you liked this. And I hope the rest of you liked it too. I just can't seem to escape fluff with a touch of angst, can I? Read and review!