Note: I started (and completed) this fic in the year 2005. Obviously I've never submitted it on here before now and I can (for the most part), see why. The writing is weak due to my younger age and never felt right for me five years ago. However, now that I've given myself distance from this piece, I see many of it's good qualities as well. This is set in an alternate universe. No X-Men, no mutants, etc. Like many things in life though, the connection between my two favorite characters is there (and will always be there no matter how old I get).

'…And two shall walk some narrow way of life

so nearly side by side that, should one turn

ever so little space to left or right,

their needs must stand acknowledged, face-to-face.

And, yet, with wistful eyes that never meet

and groping hands that never clasp and lips

calling in vain to ears that never hear,

they seek each other all their weary days

and die unsatisfied - and this is Fate!'

- SMS

"That'll be $4.95, please." Why anyone would ever want to waste $4.95 on a pair of ugly sunglasses was beyond Jubilation Lee's mind. There were other things that $4.95 could buy, like food or something. Resisting the urge to turn up her nose, she handed back the customer's change with a fake smile. There was only one more customer in her line, which meant Jubilation could take a break right after this one.

Without looking up, she hastily scanned the products. Just as she was about to ring everything up, a gruff voice interrupted. But when Jubilation looked up, her ears and her head couldn't dissect his words. She heard his voice all right, but everything else was just a… nothing.

His eyes. Oh God, his eyes were… so… beautiful; dark brown, with little specks of a lighter brown, a perfect mix that was ever so appealing. Jubilation couldn't stop staring and she didn't wantto stop. She felt a rush of warmness that started from her heart and edged it's way right down to the tips of her toes. But as much as she wanted to dwell… she had to come back to reality.

"Uh… what'd you say?"

"I said, ya fergot tha toothpaste." Flushing quickly, her face growing hot, she reached for the toothpaste. But the stranger's hand gripped it tightly. "I changed my mind. Think I got enough back home."

"Uh… okay." She drew her hand back and mistakenly brushed the back of his hand along the way.

Sparks. Bum. Bum. Sparks. Bum. Bum. SPARKS!

Yes. Jubilation's mind was screaming at her and her heart felt like it was going to pound out of her chest. Pulling her hand back and closer to her own self was one of the hardest things she had done in all her life. But ringing everything up, and quickly handing back the change (no touching) had to be done. Looking into his eyes for what she swore would be the last time; she pulled her now change-less hand away from his and turned away towards bagging as quickly as she could. She didn't notice the man who continued to look directly at her face, trying to get another look at her sapphire eyes and how he had to force himself to leave, get into his pick-up and drive away.

He couldn't help but feel as though he was missing something. As he put the pick-up in drive, there was a feeling within him. That girl was nobody, just someone who worked in a supermarket. But as he looked at her, there was a feeling of something he couldn't explain. Sadness seemed to fill him and he felt like he had lost something, but he knew he had everything that he had gone in the store with. Just a lonely man grasping at straws. Grasping at anything so he wasn't alone any more.

As the pick-up took off and sped out of the parking lot, Jubilation couldn't help but watch. That guy was nobody, just a customer who had taken back toothpaste instead of buying some. Why should she feel like she should be in the truck beside him making jokes and cracking up? Sadness filled her as he drove away. There had been something about him, even if he was just a supposed nothing customer. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she felt like something was lost and yet didn't know what. As she left her station, turning off the light as she went, she couldn't help but shake her head gently. What could that one man possibly offer her? She grabbed a cigarette from her pocket when she reached the outside of the mini-mart and lit the end with a red lighter. What could anyone possibly offer the poor orphan girl? She was nothing special and would never be. Only a faded and worn out penny in a world of shiny quarters; no one wanted her. Why would that man be any different from all the others?

But he could be. In a different life, in a different time, he would have been different. And she? She would have been special. In another life. But not in this one. Not this time.

end.