Jubilee sighed as she wandered around her cottage. Rue had gone out and although Jubilee was coming to like the kid, she was grateful for the time alone. In such a short space of time, she'd lost nearly everything and was dumped under the water in a new world, her third.
She paced the floor as she passed her family photo, taken when she was just a child. Before her life truly turned upside down. Before her parents were murdered.
Jubilee took the photo from the shelf and studied it-her mother's face, her father's face. Would they be proud of her for who she grew up to be? Or would they be ashamed of her for being a mutant, like so many parents are? Would they be embarrassed she didn't live up to the 'Chinese are good at math' stereotype, because she was so bad at it? Would they still call her their 'xaio bǎobǎo'?
Jubilee sat down in the nearest chair, still with the photograph in her hand, thinking about her parents. Sure they had pushed her. Hard. But they wanted her to be successful. And although Jubilee had resented it somewhat at the time, she would give anything to have that back today.
She put the photo back on the table, thinking about her Aunt Hope who she never got a chance to properly know. She'd planned to adopt Jubilee, but died before she could, leading her to run away and be found by Professor Xavier.
'Enough dwelling on death', she thought. Jubilee forced a smile onto her face as she went into the kitchen to make herself a sandwich, and one for Rue for when she returned.
Jubilee took the bread from the bread in and the bitter from the fridge and got to work, creating the sandwiches. As she worked, she couldn't help but think about why she's taken the little girl in in the first place. Her mentor and teacher, Charles Xavier, had recently left the world and in the Convergence, news travelled fast. She knew if he came back, he might not remember her and he definitely wouldn't remember here.
Charles Xavier was the man who took her in when she had nobody. He'd helped her through her struggles. He'd helped her control her powers. He'd helped her with math. And since she'd been there from such a young age, he'd had her appear in a commercial for the school.
But now, he was gone. Like her parents. And her aunt. And Kurt. And Jean.
Those last two hurt badly as well.
Kurt, well, Kurt had arrived one day. Then he left and didn't come back. And Jean, well, fitting of her comic counterpart, she was always leaving and coming back, just as her comic counterpart was always dying and coming back.
That little thought made Jubilee smile. Sure they were gone now, but that didn't mean they were never coming back.
She was alone now, but she had Rue. She had Bao. She was keeping busy. She was getting on with life.