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His Strength
He was not someone other people looked up to. Down on, maybe, but never up to. He was the shortest, the youngest, and, according to most of them, the weakest. And this was the way it had always been, ever since he had come to the Institute. At least... until she came. She gave him strength he didn't even know he had.
It was a typical rainy Tuesday when he called them all to the Rec room. He sat there in his wheelchair, fingers steepled, gazing at them over the top of the little finger-teepee. Our young hero stood in the back corner of the room, all the older kids having taken all the seats, and dug his hands into his pockets, inspecting the rubber band he found there. The Professor addressed his students and Jamie half-listened to his teacher's words. He twisted the rubber band, untwisted it, moved it from finger to finger.
"We will have a new student joining us in a few short hours." There were a couple of excited murmurs from the New Recruits, but Jamie rolled his eyes. Great. Someone else to order him around. "I called you all here not only to tell you this, but to issue a request. Please try not to judge her on her looks, powers, or... parentage." said the Professor. "Of course not, Professor." came the voice of Scott Summers. Kissup, thought Jamie. Scooter would spit-shine the Prof's boots if it meant a promotion. "Out of curiosity, Professor, why would you even be concerned?" asked Jean Grey, Scott's partner in kissassery. "Well, the request to take in this girl came from an old friend... Magneto, in fact." There were murmurs from the students, but Jamie perked up at this. "Her name is Aria Lensherr, or, as I believe she goes by, Magnus." said the Prof. "Would that make her his daughter?" asked Jamie quietly. The bald man nodded.
The X-Men were assembled in the foyer, waiting for the girl. Out of all of them, only Jamie was not frowning. He knew what it was like to be despised and ignored. Bobby and friends had taught him that well. This girl, the daughter of their most hated enemy, would be even less liked. Suddenly, out of one of the large windows, they saw a car pull up, and out of it stepped the Master of Magnetism himself. He ventured around to the passenger's side, opened the door, and helped a young girl out of the car. She went to the back and picked up a large metal suitcase from the trunk. She put it down, threw her arms around the man's neck, kissed him on the cheek, and walked towards the mansion, levitating her trunk behind her. She set it down and knocked quietly on the door as her father drove off. Scott opened the door and looked down on her coldly as she stepped in. Jamie drew in a breath.
She was beautiful. White hair, all the way down to her waist, her bangs forming an M. She had deep brown eyes and full lips, high cheekbones, and a thin, swan-like neck. Her nose wrinkled at him as she smiled. It was cute, even if it was rather beak-like. From the neck down, matters only improved. She certainly didn't have a small chest, the spaghetti-strapped dress only serving to enhance that. It was purple, with red accents, and a large red 'M' on the bottom left corner. Her legs protruded from under it, long and thin, covered to the knees by metal boots, one red and one purple. Her gloves were the same story, but reversed. Her left side had a red boot and purple glove, her right had a purple boot and red glove. She had on a metal bracelet with musical note charms, and a red ribbon choker, also with a note charm. She brushed some hair behind her ear shyly, and beamed at the Professor.
"Uncle Charles!" she said, and her voice was enthralling, positively musical. "It's so good to finally be here!" Charles smiled at her, hands folded in his lap. "It's good to finally have you, Aria." She turned and smiled at the other X-Men, but her smile faded swiftly in response to the cold glares she got. Jamie pitied her. "Erm, hello... I'm Aria. Aria Raven Magnus." she said nervously. Rogue quirked an eyebrow at her, but nobody said anything. He walked over and put out his hand. She turned and accepted it gratefully, almost relieved. "Jamie Madrox. Multiple." he said, smiling at her broadly. "Aria Magnus. Jukebox, although I also go by Polarity. Oh, yeah, I'm 12, by the way. Guess I'm the youngest here... Daddy said the X-Men were all high school kids." She put her finger to her mouth adorably, pouted, and looked around at them. "I'm 12, too, actually." said Jamie, and picked up the heavy trunk. "Oh, thank you, but it's much easier if I just..." She extended her hand and the metal trunk floated off the ground. Jamie led her off through the mansion.
Eventually, the others got used to her. Pietro and Wanda seemed to be over often, chatting with their sister, and she displayed extreme talent with her powers of metal manipulation. She seemed to be unable to control the ability fondly termed as 'jukeboxing', however. Music played out of nowhere when she was around, like her own personal soundtrack. She and Jamie were fast friends very quickly. It happened one day, as they were walking through the garden, that the subject turned to family. "You talk about your father all the time... but what about your mother?" asked Jamie. Aria's cheeks burned bright with shame. "Oh, sorry, if you don't want to talk about her..." he said quickly. "Raven Darkholme." she said shortly. He stared at her, and she smiled back regretfully. "They'd hate me even more if they knew. Related to both of their worst enemies?" Jamie placed a hand on her shoulder. "I don't care. I like you for who you are. Aria, I-" She took him off guard when she spun around and kissed him.
"You people think you are heroes. I learned differently. Father would come home beaten and bruised, collapse into his chair, and I would climb up into his lap. He always had time and energy for me. He would read to me. He taught me to sing, you know. He taught me to control my power." Jamie pulled her close. Her lip quivered slightly, and suddenly she was sobbing. "I miss him, Jamie! Everyone here but you and Uncle Charles has been nothing but mean to me! The X-Men were supposed to be heroes. I looked up to them. But these people aren't heroes! They're... prejudiced jerks!" They sat on a bench and he held her close. He had never really had the courage to stand up to the older kids before... but now he had something worth fighting for.
"I need to talk to you!" came Jamie's voice, as he burst into the Rec room. The other X-Men were gathered there. "Who do you need, Jamie?" asked Jean condescendingly. "All of you! You're all to blame!" he growled. "What're you talking about, squirt?" asked Bobby. "Aria." That one word, that one name, held all the grit, conviction, and fervor Jamie had worked up. The others were instantly serious. "What about Magnus?" said Scott. "You need to stop what you're doing to her. She's not her father, stop treating her like she is." Jean smiled sympathetically at him. "Jamie, I'm sure you don't understand this, but she's probably a spy, a potential thre-" "Shut up!" cut in Jamie. The others went completely silent in shock. "She's not like that! She's a very sweet person, and she's very depressed right now! Because of YOU! You treat her with contempt, look down on her, and it's driving both of us crazy! She's on the verge of a mental breakdown!" He snarled all this at the others, who looked at him like he'd gone crazy. Perhaps he had. Crazy in love. "She was crying in the garden... and something she told me makes sense. You people aren't heroes! Heroes wouldn't act like this to a little girl. You're... you're sick, that's what you are. Sick, all of you!" With that, he turned and stormed off.
Aria was collapsed on her bed, crying quietly into the purple comforter. She flipped over and stared at her red-and-purple room. She fingered the choker at her neck. Jamie came in through the vent between their two rooms. Only they could fit through it, and they used the passageway often. He crawled out, replaced the vent, and sat on her bed. She sat up and leaned against him. He put an arm around her. She turned her head towards him. "Maybe I should just leave, Jamie." she said. "They don't want me here... even the adults." "No! I won't let you leave. You can make it through this, Aria. We can make it through this." said Jamie, drawing her a bit closer. A soft knock came on the door. It opened to reveal a sheepish Scott Summers. "Not to interrupt anything, but... Aria, could we talk to you for a minute?" She walked out, squeezing Jamie's hand for reassurance.
She came back half an hour later, smiling broadly. "Well! I don't know what you said to them, but I got a full apology, and they all want me to stay and feel welcome." She threw herself on Jamie and kissed him deeply. "I love you." she murmured, looking into his eyes. "Love you too." was his response. "I didn't know you had it in you." "Heck, neither did I! I guess the difference is having somebody worth fighting for." She hit him softly with a pillow. "Alright, you're going to put me into a diabetic coma if you keep going." she said dryly. This began a pillow war which lasted hours. They finally collapsed against each other, worn out and giggling. "Jamie..." she sighed, laying with her head in his lap. "Yeah, Aria?" he asked. "Thank you. For everything." They lay there and smiled, thinking about each other and about their lives. Jamie knew that he wasn't strong. But maybe he didn't have to be. She was his strength, after all.