"A Day at the Beach"
It was one of those perfect summer days, not to hot, nor too overcast, nor too sunny, so it was fitting that when Tabitha suggested a beach day for the X-men it was well-received. Jamie had recently taken a photography class and was eager to test his skills, despite the fact that in the end he appeared in only 3 of the 200 or so pictures. These pictures were framed and hung in a "artistic" cluster on the wall in one of the parlors where the inhabitants of the Xavier Institute passed them daily, occasionally pausing to remember the golden afternoon chronicled in the pictures:
A snapshot of Remy, playfully tugging Logan's hand in a futile attempt to get his lover in the water, at the very second a wave was rising behind him, seconds away from soaking them both;
Kitty tossed over Lance's shoulder as he carried both her and the football over the goal line in the "Boys vs. Girls" football game;
Betsy and Emma, silhouetted against the sunset and sharing one of those passionate, soul-searing kisses, guaranteed to break the hearts of every single person nearby;
Amara and Tabby falling all over each other in laughter, as in the background a perfect circle of water exploded around a very surprised Kurt;
Pietro and Evan sharing a sweet kiss from opposing sides of the volleyball net;
Jean, hand held over Scott's glasses, "Guess Who?" style, in what was remembered by all as the only effective attempt to tease him into a better frame of mind;
Bobby and John, arms around each other in a brotherly way, both talking animatedly to Jubilee, despite Bobby's flaming swim trunks and John's frozen shirt;
Ororo, Charles and Hank, talking animatedly at a picnic table, while in the background Sam was seconds from impact with the ground;
Rogue and Wanda, both managing to look comfortable completely covered up at the beach, stretched out side by side, each with her own paperback novel;
The view over Ray's shoulder as Rahne and Laura both raced to catch the football he'd just thrown;
The New mutants celebrating a win at Mutant Ball with the former Brotherhood they'd just beaten, Lance and Bobby shaking hands, both grinning;
And finally, the largest print, in the largest frame, surrounded by all the other pictures, was a group shot, of everyone (including Jamie and minus Beast, who'd taken the picture) seated around the bonfire, Lance had an arm around Kitty while his other hand was holding up two fingers behind Scott's head, Remy was cuddled up in Logan's lap and both were smiling at the camera, Tabby stood off to the side, arms around Amara nonchalantly, while nearby Pietro and Even both glared and her and looked singed, John had seconds before managed to successfully light Bobby's hair on fire and it was still smoking while Ororo looked to be in mid-lecture at the firebug, some were forcing smiles at the cameras for posterity's sake, others were clearly restraining laughter, and Laura just looked irritated at everyone's antics.
It was a favorite picture by all in the mansion, despite the fact that they'd taken several more, much nicer group shots, but that one showed the Xmen as they were: chaotic, scattered and crazy, but also as a family.