Welcome back! If you're not fully caught up, well ... you've got a lot of reading to do, don't you now?

This series (the 714 as we like to call it) starts HERE with odd numbered volumes with even numbered volumes on robbiepoo2341's profile. The story just before this was 'The Initiative' and can be found on her profile. Without further ado - let's get to it!

Chapter 1: "Land of the Rising Sun"

About halfway through the summer break, Leslie Ann packed her things to go for a trip to Japan with Logan and K — and Kate and Kurt, apparently, since clearly, Hawkeye wasn't about to pass up the ninjas and Kurt wasn't about to pass up the chance to go across the world with his best friend.

She was excited about the trip, and not just because of how much she'd loved the last one — even with the ninjas grabbing her like they had. She was excited to go to a place where her family hadn't been in the national spotlight for the past few months, where people didn't know her name for any other reason than that she had introduced herself that way. Sure, there was the possibility that people would still have heard of the Leslie Initiative, but… it was much slimmer. And she needed a break.

She was glad, obviously, that things were being cleared up. That the Initiative was shut down. That her parents were so passionate about standing up in her defense, that the X-Men were enjoying the first good press they'd had in ages on this kind of scale. All of that was good. But it was totally wearing on her.

But Logan and K had gone to Japan over spring break and okayed the trip, which meant she was going to get her summer away from home, even if it was just a few weeks, and even if it was with more people than she'd originally bargained for.

There was a knock at the door, and Leslie Ann turned around with a little grin when she saw that Neil was standing there, leaned against the doorway. "Just a few weeks, right?" he asked with a small smile.

She grinned at him and bounced over to throw her arms around him into a hug. It always felt different hugging Neil because of all the scales that seemed to go different directions every time, and it was even more fun kissing him, because he was just a little bit cold-blooded, and it was always cooler than she remembered from the last time — cool scales on her lips.

"I'll take lots of pictures," she promised.

"You so won't," Neil said, grinning at her as he shook his head, still holding her close so that they were hugging. "You'll be too busy with all the trees and bamboo and stuff."

"And ninjas."

"And ninjas," he agreed. He kissed her again, and she grinned. "I know you're an X-Man again and everything, but could you try and not get killed for me, please?"

She giggled. "You're overdramatic. You've seen the group I'm going with, right?"

"Uh-huh. You know Professor Elf calls him 'ninja bait' right?"

"That's the whole point, scale breath," she teased him.

He rolled his eyes at her but finally let her go so she could go back to packing all her things — toothbrush, toothpaste, hair scrunchies, the whole shebang. She even made sure to pack a few books in case, by some weird happenstance, things ever got boring out there. Which she doubted.

Plus, she thought it was really cute to see the grin on Neil's face when he saw her pack away his favorite book, the one he'd recommended she read when they were hanging out.

The pair of them held hands all the way down to the hangar — Scott had finally stopped looking like he was going to fall over when they did that, though Leslie Ann was pretty sure half of it was just for show — and Neil helped her put away her suitcase.

"Try not to fall for any cute mutant girls while I'm gone," Leslie Ann teased as she hopped back out so she could wrap her arms around Neil and steal another kiss.

"Yeah, that's a real danger."

"I'm serious, dragon face," she teased.

He shook his head at her, rolled his eyes, and kissed her again before he headed off, and Leslie Ann climbed into the jet about two seconds before Kate and Kurt literally popped in, a poof of smoke announcing their entrance as well as a few smaller ones for the bamfs.

Logan and K were already in the jet, taking up the pilot and copilot spots, and just waiting for the others to finish doing … whatever. They were obviously conversing very quietly, to the point that no one else could hear what the two of them were saying between themselves.

"I want to thank you for your little suggestion," Kate called up to K with a grin. "Auntie America is a thing of beauty. And babysitting three of 'em for a few weeks… Lucy was laughing so hard."

"You know she wanted to offer. She just needed a little … push," K replied as Logan got the plane going.

"Yes. Three little elflings dumped on her head was definitely a push," Kate cackled.

"It only would have been better if she'd been stuck with Jolie too," Logan added.

"What? And kill her dead?" Kate giggled. "She's my best friend, Logan. Shame on you."

"She'd live. And end up beggin' Billy to twist fate for her."

Kate grinned. "I think you only get one Abracadabra for your money," she teased.

"So the next one's a hocus pocus?" he countered.

"Yes, exactly." Kate laughed and leaned back into Kurt. "So, who's watching yours? Because if it's Heather, I hope you're prepared to fight her to get 'em back."

"It is," Logan replied. "But she's in the middle of the adoption process, so she'll be fine. Said it was good therapy to have little ones around 'er in the meantime."

"Oh, I didn't know that!" Kate said, sitting up a little taller.

"They tried the foster route to start," K explained. "But they were getting tired of not being able to keep any of them for one reason or another."

"Well, good for them," Kate said, grinning. "It's about time they got one of their own, considering the way she is with Sadie."

"And Elin. And James …"

Kurt chuckled. "Yes. All three of them. But you have to admit, she's wrapped around Sadie's little finger."

"Like you're not?" Logan challenged.

"This isn't about me," Kurt said, putting one hand over his heart. "This is about your Canadian friends. I am hopeless with your little girls, not to mention your tiny doppelganger."

"So … you were hopin' you were the only one?"

"I enjoy seeing other people just as hopeless as I am," Kurt laughed, leaning back as he pulled one arm tighter around Kate.

"Yeah, that's it," Logan chuckled. "Go ahead and make over your girl. We can wake you when we get there."

Kurt chuckled in return and leaned over to kiss Kate behind her ear, though he was still looking Logan's way. "The same hotel as usual?" he asked.

"No," Logan said, letting out a breath. "I got a different place this time. We're gonna skip Tokyo this time out. At least for most of it."

"Why?" Leslie Ann asked, honestly curious.

"He prefers a nice osaka on Mount Fuji," K replied with a smirk.

Kurt raised an eyebrow Logan's way for a moment before he simply shook his head. "Let me know when you arrive, and we'll meet you there," he said before he and Kate disappeared to the back of the plane again — though not before they were both wrapped up in a kiss.

"We're getting separate rooms, right?" Leslie Ann asked.

"Oh, yeah," Logan said with a nod. "Better'n that, we're gettin' a house."

"Good." She shook her head and leaned back with a little smile. "They're … umm… yeah."

Logan and K smirked at each other for that one, and they turned their attention back to flying — and Leslie Ann to the book Neil had given her.

The little area of Kawaguchiko was a lot smaller than both Leslie Ann and Kurt were used to seeing when they went with Logan to do … whatever they meant to do but always ended up fighting ninjas.

Truth be told, it had Kurt a little concerned — the distance from the city. The tight-knit nature of the people that lived there. He was sure that they were sending messages to whatever ninjas ran the area. The fact that they kept looking at them wasn't doing anything to help him relax. Even less so when he couldn't figure out if it was because they were foreign or because of his own fuzzy blue appearance. The uncertainty of it had his hand drifting to the pocket that held the image inducer he always carried, though of course, in the open it was too late to change that.

But, as usual, Logan didn't seem bothered in the least as he and K led the way down the trail and through the deep greens of the forest in the foothills of Mount Fuji as they headed toward Saiko Iyashi no Sato Nemba: The Samurai Village.

Leslie Ann, on the other hand, seemed to be simply entranced by the beauty of it, especially the deep greens and the plants. As far as she was concerned, it was the perfect place to start out the Japan trip, and it was hard not to smile at her enthusiasm when the foliage around her kept growing a little taller and a little brighter as she passed.

The houses there all had straw roofs, and the village itself was on a system that looked like it was terraced — which really only made the view of the famous mountain in the distance all the more impressive for every house there. Stairs were everywhere, as were the concrete channels that made sure water made its way through the village, giving them plenty to see on the way to the edge of the forest, where Logan had managed to get an old friend of some sort to give them a place to stay for the time that they'd be there.

It was a beautiful view, but it still didn't stop Kurt from pulling Logan aside for a moment once they were at the little house. "So," he said, very quietly, "why the change in plans — really?"

"Wanted to go to the mountain," Logan said evenly. "I was just in Tokyo."

"Logan." Kurt raised an eyebrow.

Logan stared back at him with a blank expression. "What's got you so spooked?"

Kurt finally had to shake his head and let out a breath of a laugh. "You know I'm just as game to fight ninjas with you as ever. But please, if you're going to call down something bigger, give me notice," he teased.

"Shouldn't be any ninjas," he said, shaking his head. "Not from what I understand." He didn't drop his gaze as he turned to show Kurt to his room.

"Well, that's no fun," Kurt said with a slowly growing grin.

"The Hand is all worked up dealing with Harada's son," Logan called out from across the house, well out of Kurt's reach. "And Daken's been makin' 'em miserable to pass his time. Pretty sure, if recent history is an indicator, I'm not high on the priority list right now."

"Meaning that we already got a week in Tokyo with no interruptions," K explained.

"What must that have been like?" Kurt asked in mock horror. "To have your bait so blatantly ignored?"

"Busy," Logan replied.

"He was absolutely not ignored," K promised with a smirk.

Kurt shook his head with a little smirk and then teleported back to where Kate was unpacking a few things. "You're such a worrywart in your old age," she teased him as he wrapped her up from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. "You'll go gray that way."

"I thought you said it made me look so distinguished," he teased her as he gently kissed the base of her jaw.

She grinned at him. "I did say that, didn't I?"

He nodded into her hair. "Yes, and seeing as I haven't aged a day since we met, I thought I should do a little worrying so I can be so distinguished — just for you."

"You vain little imp," Kate said, shaking her head. "What do you mean 'haven't aged a day'?"

He fixed her with his most stricken look. "What?"

Kate tried her very best not to laugh at the perfectly innocent expression on Kurt's face, but it was nearly impossible. "You … you're just a horrible liar."

"Lächerlich," Kurt laughed as he pulled her closer to kiss along the line of her jaw, very gently. "I am nothing but wonderful."

"You're something alright."

Kurt chuckled and kept up with the kisses until Kate had to let out a laugh and turned in his arms to face him better and steal a proper, more involved kiss. When it broke, she was grinning widely. "Do you remember the first time we went to Japan?"

"Oh, vaguely," Kurt teased her in a low rumble. "Was it terribly eventful?"

Kate laughed and kissed him all over again. "I don't think we slept at all," she teased.

"Well, far be it from me to break with tradition," he whispered with a sly smile before he simply swept her up and pulled her into a deep, lasting, traveling kiss.

Back in Westchester, most of the mansion residents were taking the opportunity to spend the summer getting their breath back and trying to relax after everything that had gone wrong with the MRD.

In particular, the little McCoy family was spending more time with the newest member.

At the moment, Hank was positively entranced with Jolie, ruffling her hair and chuckling to himself as he moved a few things out of reach of her constantly swaying tail. Like Kurt's tail, it was busier when she was engaged — though she didn't have the control over hers that Kurt did.

Daisy leaned over Hank's shoulder and rested her chin there as she watched the little girl. "Hello, little one," she practically cooed, getting a little smile from Hank and a giggle from Jolie.

Hank turned his head to kiss her cheek. "She always gets excited to see you, my dear."

"Oh, you're confused. You're obviously her favorite," Daisy teased right back. "I don't mind. You deserve to have Daddy's Little Girl."

Hank's smile only widened when he heard it. He had known when he married Daisy that he would become a stepfather, and he absolutely loved having that role in Tyler's life. He wouldn't trade anything in the world for the privilege of guiding Tyler — and of knowing that Daisy trusted him with her son.

And yet, there was something about being called "Daddy"...

Hank smiled and kissed Daisy again. "I don't mind either."

Back in Japan, Logan had taken Leslie Ann to her room, situated between his and Kurt's. "We shouldn't come into any trouble," Logan said. "But just in case, you've got both of us within an arm's reach."

"Thanks," she said with a smile and a slight bounce in her step. "It's really beautiful — this place. You take me somewhere new every time, and it's always amazing."

"It's what happens when you go to Japan," he replied with a smirk. "Little more traditional this time around too. The owners will be by to cook for meals. We can head into the forest once you're over the jet lag."

She beamed at him and rushed over to throw her arms around his neck in a hug. "Yes please. The trees here are beautiful," she said. "It's totally different to the forest back home. Just… a different feeling, you know?"

"I do," Logan agreed. "Part of why I like it here. It's a different kind of peaceful."

"Exactly!" She tapped the side of her nose. "I was trying to explain that to Neil, but I don't think… I think it's hard for people to get."

"Can't explain it," Logan replied. "Gotta see it firsthand."

She grinned and then hugged him again. "Thanks for letting me come. Really."

He just chuckled and gave her a little squeeze back. "Most kids don't like to come back."

"Well, not everybody gets it — even if they see it firsthand," Leslie Ann said with a shrug.

Logan nodded and gave her a little smile as he dropped his voice low. "Kurt doesn't know it yet, but this is a samurai village."

"Really?" she asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "So we are going to have fun."

"We always have fun," Logan said. "But hopefully it'll be a little less heavy than it was last time."

"Well, I wasn't an X-Man back then," Leslie Ann pointed out. "I can handle it."

Logan just smirked. "We'll see. Get your rest. We'll get started sooner than later, I'm sure."