Reawakenings

-1-

It was the night of the new moon and it was dark out. The few stars that shone in the sky barely shed any real light. Everything was quiet inside the sprawling country mansion, a place of slumber for all its inhabitants at this late hour. That is except for one lone figure who stood in one of the balconies looking out over the gardens surrounding the Xavier mansion.

She was quite an intimidating figure- tall, dark-skinned, long white, whit hair and eyes that when angry clouded over, bolts of lightening flashing as she brought out the onslaught of terrifying storms and mass-floods…. She was a mutant and proud of being so. Hers was the gift of controlling the weather, hence her mutant name- Storm!

And yet with all that power she never once lost track of her good, caring nature that made her an easy person to talk to. She could be the wisest of sages or the easy-going best friend.

But that night her weaknesses were too clearly betrayed. Ororo Munroe sighed. The last year had been an especially hard one, kicking off with the shocking deaths of the Professor, Scott Summers and Jean Grey. Through this great hardship it was Ororo's job to step forward as the new headmistress of the Xavier Institute and unite everyone together. And throughout the rest of the year she was to become a pillar of strength that many would relay on.

But nobody ever said it'd be easy!!!

Soon after Jean's death, Logan suddenly disappeared leaving Ororo with the tedious task of finding a replacement. It was hard-going with many potential employees refusing the job because they had heard about the deaths and believed the school cursed! Than there was also the fact that she didn't want him to leave. And on many occasions, her own personal feelings almost got in the way of better judgement when she considered going after him…..

Ororo shook her head, sending strands of hair to fly around.

'No!' She shouted in her head. 'You don't have any feelings for him. Logan is like your brother!'

She took a few deep breaths, calming herself down. Soon her mind went wandering to the next problem nagging at the back of her mind.

Marie!

Marie had become a growing cause for concern for the faculty members of the Xavier Institute, through out the last year. Now as it happened Marie was the only student to get the cure and hence was the only non-mutant in the whole school. Many had complained, especially John Allerdyce, who had been readmitted into the school, saying that she was encroaching on their safe haven and that they felt uncomfortable.

However, Ororo didn't have the heart to kick her out. The poor girl had been through a lot and it was no wonder that she had wanted to give up her powers. Even as a mutant, Marie had been a bit of a freak at the Institute as she could not touch anyone for fear of absorbing abilities and causing undue harm to them.

Ororo stopped her train of thought to take another deep breath.

That's when she heard it.

That low, rumbling sound that had punctured the sleepy silence that had wrapped its tendrils around the school.

There it was again. But this time it was louder and much closer.

Ororo quickly walked back into the mansion towards the front doors.

In the front hall she saw something that distracted her from her mission. She could feel a presence on her back and when she turned toward the staircase Ororo could just make out a figure sitting or crouching in the surrounding gloom.

Working on instinct, Ororo's eyes clouded over, preparing to blast the stranger that lurked in the hall.

"Storm!!" That voice was familiar and as she returned to normal, Ororo could see that the figure was a red-head sporting that recognizable white streak that had become their trademark feature.

"Marie! You gave me a fright." Ororo whispered. " I almost blasted you away."

"Sorry." Marie said as she approached Ororo. "I didn't think anyone'd be awake."

Ororo sighed again and walked up to the girl, both of them sitting on the bottom step.

"Don't worry about it. Anyway, why're you awake?" Ororo questioned. "You're supposed to be in your room."

In a moment Ororo had turned from caring friend to strict disciplinarian. Marie glanced at Ororo warily.

"Couldn't sleep. Had a lot on my mind."

"Me too, me too." Ororo murmured. The silence that came after seemed to stretch for miles and last forever. But it was broken a minute later by the rumbling of a-

"Motorbike!" Both women exclaimed. They both approached the front door which opened a minute later to reveal a very familiar figure. He was tall and scruffy but through the scruffiness and hair you could see that he truly was a very handsome man.

"Logan!"

"Logan!"

"Where the hell have you been?" Ororo yelled.

"You left with no warning!!" Marie cried.

Logan looked at the two women for a moment and then put his hands up to protect himself.

"Whoa! Whoa!" he cried. "No 'Hello Logan' or 'We missed you, Logan!'"

Marie was the first to crack; she smiled and ran towards him, burying her head in his chest. Startled by this sudden show of affection, Logan regained himself and put his arms around her.

"God! I missed you, Logan!" Marie murmured.

"Missed you too, kiddo." Logan replied.

Ororo watched this with a small smile playing at her lips. Logan and Marie had a special kind of relationship. Back when Marie had first acquired her powers and run from home, Logan had helped her out and since then a bond had been forged with the two of them looking out for one another.

When they'd finished embracing, Logan kissed the top of Marie's head and then turned to Ororo. He put his arms out, waiting. She laughed and walked up to him. The two briefly embraced then pulled away.

"Well, it seems like the two of you have switched hairstyles." Logan observed.

"Ah felt like a change." Marie said, playing around with her shin-length hair.

"Haven't had time to get it cut." Ororo replied.

"So are you staying?" Marie questioned.

"I intend to." Logan answered.

"Good!" Ororo said. "We'll need all the help we can get."

"Well, goodnight Logan." Marie said. "Goodnight, Professor Munroe." She, then, headed up the staircase towards her room. Ororo regarded Logan for a moment.

"I hope you're ready to be back, Logan." She said, as she, too, headed for her room. "Not many of us have been able to escape like you."

Logan stared at her retreating back, her words echoing in his head.