Constellations
Chapter 2: Draco
It had been four months since Kitty had left her parent's home. It was almost the year anniversary of the dispersion of the X-men. She looked up at the big cargo ship and sighed. Kitty had finally made the decision to take a trip to Genosha. It wasn't exactly what she had been hoping to do but the circumstances were leading her in that direction. Kitty had truly wanted to explore the world longer and to meet new people; mutants and humans. She had been trying to lose the MRD for the past week with no such luck. They had been perusing her tirelessly. She didn't know if they knew she was a former X-man or if they were just hot on her trail but it was getting ridiculous. They seemed to know her appearance so she could hardly walk around in the daylight because they had been swarming towns lately. Maybe something big was going down because she was sure the MRD had never been that big and weapon affixed before.
Kitty tactfully made her way towards the water without being noticeable. She definitely should have been invited on more of the stealth missions because she was good at it. When she closed in on her destination she looked up at the boat that would supposedly be transporting her and any other mutants to Magento's haven. The vessel was big and sturdy, meant for transporting large and heavy boxes to places all around the world, but a lot of these cargo ships had started to transport mutants for easy money.
The guard glanced up and when he noticed her lurking around he barked loudly, "What are you doing here kid?"
Kitty crinkled her nose at the word kid but moved from the shadows and replied nonetheless, "Is this boat transporting mutants to Genosha?"
He looked surprised to hear her reasoning then rolled his eyes like he should have known better, "If you got the cash."
She pulled the envelope of money from the front pocket of her backpack and handed it to the man. He plucked it from her hand tentatively then waved her on. It had taken a while to get that cash because she wasn't at a permanent address and it had to be forwarded about three times before she received it. It wasn't her fault she'd had to disappear from some of the areas she'd been staying at. As she crossed the wooden plank that connected the dock to the ship she felt her heart starting to pound faster and faster. Maybe this hadn't been a good idea after all. When she told her parents that she was seriously thinking of heading to Genosha they'd been thrilled. Of course that was probably due to the fact that they hated her wandering the streets with the MRD coming down with iron fists. If they couldn't have her come home to them then Genosha was the second best choice.
When her feet tapped on the metal of the ship and then the wooden deck she felt even more nervous. She'd kept in contact with Bobby for some time and she'd mentioned the idea of going to Genosha. He'd seemed really surprised, but he didn't bash the idea like she expected him to. A normal reaction from Bobby would have been something like, 'you're crazy for going to the metal mania's place' but he'd only said 'I hope you get there safely and keep in touch.' Maybe he was starting to get tired of the way people were treating mutants too. She hadn't seen or heard from Logan, Hank, Ororo, Rogue, or Scott since the explosion and the one person she wished would have contacted her didn't. Kitty plopped down on the side of the boat and looked at the railing cutting through the ocean scene. As the beautiful water splashed up she felt the boat rock back and forth. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again there was a young girl, probably around seven or eight, standing before her.
"Hello," the girl greeted.
"Hi," Kitty greeted back with a smile.
The girl answered the smile with one of her own, "Are you going to Genosha?"
"Yes I am, you too?"
The girl nodded and glanced away towards the sea.
"Are you nervous?"
"A little," the girl responded, looking upwards.
Kitty looked up at the sky as well and noticed it was starting to dim. The brightest stars were shining through the dusk darkness. Her eyes easily fell on Arcturus, one of the five brightest stars that there was.
"Do you like stars?"
Kitty quickly looked at the girl with wide eyes.
"It's only that you've been staring at them for a while and it makes you look lonely."
She had almost forgotten how perceptive kids could be, it had been almost a year since she spent any time with some; "Yeah I like the stars. Do you like them?"
"I think they're pretty."
"You see that one," Kitty pointed with her finger. When the girl gave an affirmative nod Kitty continued, "That one is Arcturus. It's one of the five brightest stars in the sky."
The girl looked back up at the star with big eyes and mouthed 'wow.'
"What's your favorite animal?" Kitty wondered conversationally.
"I love dragons," the girl replied, whipping out a long red tail from under her coat that looked almost exactly like a dragon's tail, with nothing but a human body attached to it.
Kitty laughed slightly looking at the tail, "Well I can see why!" She started scanning the skies with her eyes and when she found what she was looking for, the girl's red eyes followed the line Kitty drew with her finger in the air showing it as she explained, "That constellation over there, it's called Draco and it means dragon."
"Oh I see it! It looks so cool!" the girl exclaimed, her eyes transfixed with the picture the constellation made.
Lately she'd been looking up at the night sky more and more often, whereas the months after the explosion she hadn't bothered to even glance up at it. She'd wondered about the reason but with the young girl pointing out the obvious, she'd really had to start thinking about it. Maybe it was the thoughts of Kurt coming back to her that had made her finally able to look up at the sky with a smile again. She let her eyes flutter shut as she remembered.
Kitty was just putting her hairbrush down on her dresser when she heard a bamf behind her and saw a blue boy reflected in her mirror.
She let a scowl appear on her face and looked at his eyes in the mirror, "Kurt what did I tell you about just teleporting into my room."
"Zat I could do it vhenever I vanted?" he asked with a half-smile on his face and a shrug.
Kitty shook her head but let the scowl fall away, "So what's up?"
"Do you vant to go onto zee roof tonight?"
"But we've been up on the roof three times this week already."
"I know but I love looking up at zee stars vith you, Katchzen."
Kitty got up and turned to him, smiling.
That was all the encouragement he needed in answer and instantly they both appeared on the Institute roof. Kitty sat down and looked up at the bright constellations in the sky. She wrapped her arms around her legs and pulled them up to her chest. It was a little chillier than she had expected.
Kurt sat down next her and was inching his way over when Kitty suddenly jumped up and pointed out a constellation, "Do you see that one Kurt?"
"Vhere?"
She outlined it with her finger, "There."
"Ah, zat one is very interesting looking. It's called Draco."
"Draco?" Kitty raised an eyebrow.
"Ja, it means dragon in Latin I think."
"Draco," she tested the word on her mouth a second time, "How do you know?"
"I spent some time looking up zee constellations on zee computer zee other day."
"You're really getting into this, aren't you?"
"Ja, I used to look at the night sky all zee time in Germany, zere vasn't much else for me to do. Und its fun to have something in common vith someone you spend a lot of time vith."
Kitty blushed slightly and looked back at the dragon constellation that was bringing her closer to this boy.
"What are you thinking about?" the younger girl asked curiously.
Before Kitty could reply to the question a woman who looked to be in her late thirties and probably a worried mother rushed up to the girl saying, "What did I tell you about walking away from me?"
"But she looked so lonely."
The mother finally looked over to Kitty seemingly to notice her for the first time, "Oh I'm so sorry; I hope she wasn't bothering you?"
"No not at all, she was actually keeping me company."
"Are you headed to Genosha then?"
"Yes," Kitty replied while standing up and holding out her hand, "Kitty Pryde."
The woman took it easily, "Rebecca Sands and this is Nina, it's so nice to meet you."
"It's wonderful to meet you too. Do you know how many mutants are on the ship?"
"Not many, besides me and my daughter and you of course, there are two others."
Suddenly the man who had let them on the ship appeared. He looked at the trio with distain and said rather harshly, "I thought I told you people to stay below!"
The mother pulled her daughter in the other direction and after receiving an expectant look from the man, Kitty followed after them. She entered the boiler room with the others and observed it superstitiously.
"This is where they expect us to stay?"
"Well," Rebecca hesitated, "they are transporting us illegally."
Kitty sat down and leaned her head against the metal wall behind it. Nina sat down next to her and Kitty smiled.
-----
It had been four days since the start of the voyage and she was getting more and more antsy each and every day. It was hard to stay cooped up in the boiler room and the closer they came to Genosha the more nervous Kitty got. Sure she worried about Magneto and what he'd think, but another thing that worried her was everyone else. What if someone like Kurt went looking for her? She was pretty sure no one would think to look for her on the island. If they did by some chance ask her parents, she wasn't sure what they'd be told. Bobby was a good bet, but if they didn't ask him then they would never know. She looked at her watch and sighed. It was mid-afternoon and she was still cooped up in the boiler room with everyone else.
"What's the matter?"
Kitty looked up at Nina and smiled, "Nothing, just feel a little trapped is all. Hey want to escape to the surface for a little while?"
"Can we?" Nina wondered eagerly.
"Sure it can be our little secret."
Kitty grabbed the girls hand and they slipped through the thick metal door that had kept them specifically locked in that room. They ran up the steps and sighed happily when the sea breeze hit their faces.
"I like you Kitty, you're really nice. A lot of people seem to be nice, but when they see my tail they get frightened and don't like to talk to me anymore."
"Well then that's definitely their loss because you are such a sweetheart Nina. I can see how much your mom cares about you, you must be close."
"Yeah," Nina agreed, "Mom is always so great to me."
Kitty was about to reply when she saw a jet flying towards them. She stared at it in disbelief for a few moments. Who could it possibly be? The X-men had practically broken up with no thoughts at all of reuniting, but here was a suspicious black jet. And if by some chance they had come together again there was no way they would have found her and come all this way, was there? But then who else would be flying a jet towards a cargo ship that illegally transported mutants: to her specific ship. Her eyes squinted up and there was no way she couldn't recognize that profile in the window. Kitty grabbed the girl's hand and took her back down to the boiler room.
"Look Nina, I'm not going to be able to go with you to Genosha."
"You won't?"
"No you see, remember when you said I always looked lonely? Well that was because my friends and I got split up a year ago and it was really sad, but I think they're coming back for me, so I'm going to go with them."
Nina perked up, "So you won't look so sad anymore, you'll be with your friends?"
"Yes I'll be with my friends and really happy."
"But I'll be really sad without you Kitty," Nina stated.
Kitty looked around and noticed Nina's tail twitching slightly, "Whenever you feel sad or lonely just think of the dragon constellation or if you can, look up at it. I'll be thinking of you when I see it too, so you shouldn't feel alone anymore."
Nina's eyes lit up and she nodded vigorously, "You won't forget me?"
"Of course not, and if you ever need me, you can find me with the X-men."
"You're an X-man?" she exclaimed.
"Shadowcat here," Kitty pointed at herself then put her finger to her lips, "But shh it's a secret, ok?"
"I won't tell anyone I promise!"
"I know you won't that's why I told you. Take care of your mom ok?"
"I will."
Kitty gave the girl a brief hug then grabbed her backpack; she grinned at the girl with a wave and then was back up on the deck just as quickly. The jet pulled up alongside the vessel. With a tug to her bag to secure it she moved back a couple of steps then leapt into the air phasing through the hard steel and coming face to face with a three person crew.
She ignored the slight pang she felt at not finding Nightcrawler among them but plastered a big smile to her face anyways, "Well it's about time!"
Logan and Hank grinned back at her then the duo maneuvered the jet and headed off to their destination. Kitty didn't know where they were headed, what they were planning to do, or what they expected her to do, but she didn't care. She was so glad to be back with them and more than a little relieved that she didn't have to see Magneto alone in the near future.
Kitty moved towards Bobby giving him a look, "I thought I told you it was a secret that I was going to Genosha, Bobby."
He gave her a sheepish grin, "So you didn't want to be rescued by us?"
"Of course I wanted you to come get me, I would have beaten you up myself if you didn't!" she laughed as she punched him lightly on the shoulder.
She couldn't contain her joy at seeing Bobby, Logan, and Hank together again with her. Now if they found a few of the other originals, specifically one in particular, she would be really thrilled.
