A lot has changed since I left. Before… I remember the warm summer days, lying outside the mansion with Jean talking about boys (mainly Scott) and about school (mainly the professor), now all these people are gone. Sure, I still have Ororo, but I feel like something has changed in her. She's no longer a child, and she knows it.

I stand on the front step, waiting for something to pull me inside, but nothing ever does. There's no reassuring voice in my head saying 'Memery, what are you waiting for? It's safe I promise'. Jean killed that voice and its source forever.

I adjust my grip on my bag handles, the warm sun is making the leather strap hot and is making the contents feel like it weighs a hundred pounds.

Don't be stupid. This is your home. Go in. Why aren't you going in?

I take a step, and suddenly the weight of the memory seems to lift away, at least my mutation will keep parts of them with me. I open the front door and am momentarily stunned by the silence. I want to call out, but somehow that seems wrong. Instead I walk to the Professor – I mean Storm's office. I knock lightly, and hear her soft voice mumble a response. I peak my head in and smile when I see her. I've missed her.

'Kathy!' she screams, and jumps out of the chair. I drop my bag and wrap my arms around her. 'What are you doing here?' she says, excitedly.

'I just heard.' I respond dryly, trying to keep the pain out of my voice.

'Oh Kathy, I'm so sorry. I wanted to call you, but I knew you were graduating and I didn't want to ruin it for you.' She goes quite for a moment, 'how did you find out?'

'When the Professor wasn't at graduation I knew something was up, so I called Hank. He told me everything.' My voice doesn't sound like my own, and I know she must hate that, Ororo hates to see anyone unhappy, so I try to cheer up.

'Why don't I go and put this in my room' I say pointing at my bag, 'and then we can catch up.'

'OK,' she says, 'you know where it is.'

As I turn to leave she goes back to the desk, at the last minute I feel like I should say something to let her know I'm not angry at her, so I say 'Ororo, I'm really glad to see you.'

'You too Kathy,' she responds with a gentle smile, 'I'll see you in half an hour.'

I leave Ororo and walk up the stairs to my old room. I push open the door and am suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of home. The smell and feel of this room reminds me of my childhood, and almost every memory of my childhood is related to either Jean or the Professor. It's nice to think they're still here… somehow.

My bag isn't big and so it doesn't take long to unpack. I sit on the bed for a moment, but I can't contain myself, I have to see it. I rise from the bed and go up another floor. Soon I'm standing at the large wooden doors that separate me from my sanctuary and I push them open. The library always was my favourite place in the world, it was the Professor's and my little haven. I think I've read every book in here at least a dozen times. Sometimes I just love to know how it's all going to turn out. I turn down the first isle and run my fingers over the titles until I find it. The smooth leather cover. I pull it off the shelf and sit in the large window seat. I run my fingers over the title and then flip it open. This is the only book the Professor wrote and keeps in this library, and he put it here for me all those years ago.

One afternoon, I had found myself at a loss after having read every book in the building. The Professor had told me that I should write my own story, but I knew my talent was not for writing. After begging for hours, he'd let me into his personal library and told me to select a book. There were classics and fiction and fairytales, but this is what I chose. The first essay he had ever written about mutation. It was approximately a hundred pages long, handwritten, and he had bound it in a leather cover with a makeshift elastic band holding in the pages.

Now staring at his cursive writing, it's all I can do not to cry all over the pages, and smudge the ink into oblivion. After a while I close book, and return to my room, placing it on my shelf. It doesn't mean anything to anyone else anyway. I wash my face, to stop my eyes looking quite so red and I go downstairs to meet Storm. This may be harder than I'd thought.

In the kitchen, Storm is cleaning up after the kids lunch, some things never change, but when she sees me she sets down the cloth and comes over. 'Come on, let's get you something to eat.' (At this I assume that I didn't do a very good job covering up my tears). We walk to the dining area where some of the other staff are having their lunch and sit down. I'm introduced to Rouge and Bobby and Kitty, who all seem to be very sweet kids.

'So, why did you leave?' Bobby asks, and I see Storm shoot him a disapproving look, but I don't mind.

'I was getting my degree,' I respond, 'in literature'

'Literature?' Rogue asks, and I understand her confusion, mutants in general seem to have a flare for science.

'Yea, the Professor thought I could teach here someday, if I had my degree.'

'Did you ever go to college Storm?' Bobby asks,

'No Bobby, Kathy's a special case.'

'Who's Kathy?' a voice says from around the corner.

'Come in and see!' Ororo shouts back. A man appears in the door and stops when he sees me, I stare at him a little as I watch his life flash by.

'Logan,' Storm says, 'this is Kathy, she's an old friend of mine and Jeans. An original X woman. Come and sit down.'

The man snaps out of it and sits opposite me at the table before helping himself to food.

'So,' Kitty says, 'what's your power?'

'Well…' I say, casting Ororo a look, she knows I hate explaining my power, 'I see things.'

'Like, what sort of things?'

'It depends. When I look at a person, their life flashes by in an instant. When I'm asleep, I sometimes see fragments of the future. Basically, my brain can time travel, but it isn't nearly as cool as it sounds.'

'Well it sounds pretty cool.' Says Bobby, and I'm thankful they don't press for more details.

'So,' Logan says, looking at me again, 'you knew Jean Gray.'

'Yeah,' I respond, 'I did.'

He nods and then lifts his plate and leaves.

'Don't mind him.' Ororo says, 'he's going through a rough time.'