Chapter 2

Current time

Sighing again for the fifth time that day, Rose removed her legs from the water and stood up from the lakes edge. Stretching a bit, she put her hand through her hair. She had changed much. She was no longer afraid to show her feelings, and she was much more open to people. She was now at the age of at least 70 or 80, she had lost count over the years; she only looked around 17 or so. It was strange, because as soon as she was finished with puberty, she had stopped ageing all-together. She had been that way for seven or so decades. It was also the same amount of time, give or take a few years since she had seen her beloved Erik. After getting over the horrible guilt of killing her best friend, she fell asleep after not being able to for a week, and had a dream of him, and since that day, she always believed that he was alive. He had to be, and traveled everywhere trying in vain to find her best friend and only person she ever counted on. But over the years she started losing hope, and she ended up staying in a forest area next to a small town. She was discovered by a hiker, who was entranced by the beauty of the woman. Sensing the food in the hikers backpack, she asked for some, being quite hungry. He gave her some, and she smiled.

"In return for your kindness, I will give you a gift as well. You have two choices. Youth, or a visit." Confused for a minute, he asked "what's a visit?" giving a small laugh, she responded "you can have a visit from a dead friend or loved one." He was surprised, but delighted. Tapping his chin, he contemplated. He was getting old, didn't have a family, and had no real job, he could start over again. Coming to a decision, he spoke up, and said "I would like youth please." With another smile, she nodded, and concentrated, and put her hand on his cheek. While closing her eyes, she said "this may tickle or hurt, depending on the person." Which made the hiker nervous. But suddenly, a tickling sensation overcame him, and he had to laugh. As he was laughing, his voice got higher and higher, sounding younger, his facial features changed too, as well as his hair. The wrinkles disappeared from his face, and his peppered hair turned back to a dark black, and grew so there were no more bald spots. His body turned more muscular, and soon the transformation was complete. Running over to the lake, he stared at his reflection, and gasped.

"I look like I did twenty years ago!" he told her overjoyed. He went up to her, and shook her hand vigorously, saying over and over "thank you, thank you, thank you!" Rose laughed with the now handsome young man. "You're welcome Steven! Now I must go, but good luck with your new life!" she replied, before walking off and disappearing into the trees. He stood still a moment when he realized something. "Hey, I never told her my name." Before shrugging and making his way back to the village to tell everyone about the beautiful young woman who gave wishes if you gave her a gift. And many people thought he was a Looney kid on crack, but some did try their luck and went to find the woman in the forest of wishes. Many of them came back either younger, or much happier because they got to see a deceased loved one for a few hours. But some unlucky ones, well, they never came back at all. Those ones were the ones who were rude hateful people who demanded the wish and who didn't come with a gift. Rose never appreciated being disrespected, so she added them to her soul jar, which was growing.

The wish giver soon became a sort of legend in the small village, and it quickly spread to other villages that came to get their wishes as well. Rose stayed there for quite a while, living in a little hut, but came out and went near the lake to see the hikers when she sensed them coming. She could tell if their souls where good or not, because it were floating above their heads. Literally. The soul was basically a circle floating above their heads, and if it's unearthly green light was tainted with black about halfway, it was evil, and horrible. But if it only had a small amount, which was normal, she granted the wish. She was quite peaceful like this, and was happy with her reputation.

NO-ONES P.O.V

Charles Xavier wheeled his wheel-chair through the halls of the school for gifted youngsters. He was heading toward Calibro, for his annual check up on the mutants to see if there were any young mutants in need of help. He soon was hooked up to the ingenious machine, and was searching through the thousands of mutants. It was going as usual, every once and a while picking up a few new ones, when suddenly he saw something new. And incredibly powerful mutant, who surpassed even the most powerful mutant who he had found before. It was a she, and for some reason, he couldn't make out her face. This was very unusual, and definitely needed to be checked out. Scott, storm, I need you to go fetch a new mutant. I can't tell her age, but she might not have any control over her powers. We need to get to her immediately. The two responded, and was soon off in the jet, making their way to the new mutant. The professor sent them the coordinates, and they set their course to Iceland. It didn't take them long to get there, what with the super fast jet, and they landed safely. Now all that was left was to convince the mutant to let them help her.

-W-I-S-H- -G-I-V-E-R-

Rose was resting on a long rock by the lake today. She had taken off the outer layers of her dress, and she was quite comfortable, that was until she could sense souls coming through the woods. Well, that and the horrible crashing sound the people were making while walking. They were so loud they were probably waking the dead. Okay, maybe not, but they certainly disturbed her relaxed state. Sighing, she rose herself off the rock slowly, just as Scott and Storm broke through the underbrush. Her silky black hair was still touching the rock, although it made sense since she had it down to her ankles. Scott's eyes glazed over, star struck by the beauty before him. Standing up slowly, Rose made her way over to them, each step slow and graceful. Clasping her hands in front of her, she asked in her musical voice "How may I help you children? Do you request a wish? Do you want to visit a dead family member or a friend?" they were quite for a moment until Storm spoke up. "Uh... okay, no, we're not here for a wish, but we are here to bring you back to the school for gifted youngsters. It's a school for mutants like you. We can help you control your powers." When the white haired woman was done talking, Rose let out a tinkling laugh.

"You think I need help with my powers? I'm sorry dear, but I have much more experience than you." Storm almost snorted, but restrained herself. She must be in denial about her powers. She thought. Suddenly her communicator went off. Looking up, she pushed the still spaced out Scott and said "Magneto. Logan needs help." Scott shook himself than said "okay." Storm walked over to Rose and took her arm and said "come with us. You'll be safe at the school. We just need to take a quick detour." Rose looked down at the hand on her arm, and thought about it. She's been in this place for a long time now, and she was getting bored. So, why not humour these kids? Coming to a decision, she finally nodded, and said "Okay." Before walking with them to their jet. "Das ist erstaunlich!" (this is Amazing) she said in awe, looking around. Because truthfully, she's never seen a jet before, she's been living in forests for years and years! She sat down, and somehow figured out the buckle. But it made her extremely sad. It was made out of metal.

And whenever she saw something made out of metal, it always reminded her of her dear sweet Erik. She gave a sigh, but also gave a gasp when the jet suddenly lifted up in the air and took off. It was quite different, and it scared Rose somewhat, so she gripped the sides of her seat until her knuckles were white. She was extrememly relieved when they landed sometime later, and she quickly unbuckled and stood up, but she was told to stay in the jet because it was dangerous outside. She didn't like this, but did anyway to make the children happy. So she got back in her seat again, and crossed her legs, smoothing out her skirt. Well, what was left of it. It had grown old over the years, and she kept having to repair it and make it shorter. It used to reach her ankles like her hair, but now it only reached her upper leg. She found whenever she was figity, she played with her hair, like she did now. She tied it up into a braid, that went over her shoulder and reached below her waist. She was quite happy quietly sitting, but almost fell of her chair because of a loud explosion.

"What was that?" she asked herself, and scrambled to stand up. Rushing over to the window, she peered out, and gasped at the fight that was going on. There was shooting, tongue's latching onto things, and weird supernatural storms, it was chaos. There was another explosion, and it knocked Rose over this time, and she hit her head on the metal part of a chair. Rubbing the sore spot, she said "Ow." And stood up again, and there, coming out of the mist was... no, it couldn't be! "Erik!" she shouted, and she knew she had to get out there. Her Erik was alive! She frantically searched for the button the white haired Girl pushed, and found it. She slammed her hand down onto it and whipped around. She flew down the ramp, and ran her way through the battle. She was so close, but Storm shouted "Hey! Go back! It's too dangerous out here! Go back to the Jet!" But her cries fell on deaf ears. Rose didn't care about anything now; all she wanted was to get to Erik.

Storm shouted to Logan "You're the closest! Get her!" and Logan snapped out of the daze he was in after seeing her, and rushed after her, trying to 'save' her from Magneto. He managed to grab her around her slim waist, and she struggled. No! They were stopping her from seeing the one person she hasn't seen for sixty years! His face was completely different, but his soul marking is exactly the same! "Let me go!" she shouted, trying to twist out of his grip. Now she was mad. Turning around, she looked at him with her now unnatural green eyes, and got him to let her go. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, right up to Erik. He had a righteous look on his face at first, but then when he saw her face, all confidence washed away, and his eyes widened. "Rose?"