The More Things Change, installment II
Hey everybody! I'm back again with installment II, as I've decided to call it. It's been a while since I posted the first three, but I've been bogged down with school. I really shouldn't have had time for this, but I wrote the Providence because I got an idea and decided to use bring it for my Writer's Guild meeting. Then Fitting hit me, and ABC's was just kind of this random idea I got. not entirely sure I like how it turned out, I think I rushed it a bit.
Again, all take place after Last Stand. Providence and Fitting involve in OC, but really it's not all that important. You only really needed to know, as of now at any rate, that she's a senior at the school, member of the X-Men, and has been there for years. Her power is to turn into a panther. While she is the center, or at the center, of these two pieces, it's really only because, for Fitting at least, I wanted to write it in a perspective that wasn't quite like the other students. In Providence I just kind of starting using her without much thought, as she's a character I've Rped a lot in the past.
And as always, I do not own, X-Men or anything related to it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Providence
She watches him as he flies through the air, an angel on angel's wings, soaring through the cloudless heavens. She wonders what it is like, to be so free, to be able to go wherever you want, no worries, no cares, just open skies and air currents.
It isn't that she's not free, that she couldn't leave if she wanted, it's just that there are so many strings. This is her home, the people here are her friends, her family. She has a job to do, a cause to fight for. Commitments. Ties. She has a past here. A history. Memories. Don't get her wrong, she loves the strings; they're what make her who she is. She likes belonging. It's just that sometimes she wishes she could, just for a little while, fly unburdened. No fences, no boundaries. Nothing to hold her back. After all, every girl, every animal, in some part of their heart, wants to be wild and unattached.
…
He watches her as she prowls through the gardens and around the lake, a sleek, black shadow on feline paws, weaving through the grass. He wonders what it is like, to be so grounded. To belong somewhere, to be loved and be important, rooted to a real home, no need to run, or fly, away.
It isn't that he doesn't belong, that he's homeless. It's already been made abundantly clear that he is welcome and accepted here, it's just that this is so new to him. Belonging, being cared for, having someplace you look forward to coming back to. don't' get him wrong, he loves flying, love being free to do what he chooses, to see what he wants to see, to go where he wants to go. It's just that sometimes he wishes there was a place he could have memories of, and tell stories about. That he had a common ground, a familiar territory instead of all this changing landscape. After all, even angels need a heaven to come back to.
…
They watch one another, unaware. Depthless emerald sees an unbound angel, as uninhibited as the wind. Crystal blue sees an ingrained panther, as essential as the shadows. Neither sees the dull smoldering of faint envy. Neither sees the hidden wish for even a fleeting moment in the other's skin. Neither realizes the paradoxical providence In their truest forms and their contradictory desires. Most of all, neither seems to notice the constant, intense, longing gaze of the other.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Fitting
It is raining. Not heavily. It is a slow, steady, constant rain that is never seems to get any better or any worse. The air is slightly gentle, no wind blows, but it is cold, somewhere below the surface. Numbing maybe, if she wasn't already so numb. The sky is grey, a dark heavy tone of the color that serves to completely stomp out any defiant stirring of cheerfulness which might attempt to make a stand.
It is all rather depressing, but she finds that somewhat fitting, as she gazes unseeingly forward. She has been sitting out here so long that it is almost as if none of this exists- the rain, the chill, the soaked and muddy earth she sits on. Almost, but not quite, she thinks, as a shiver runs rampant through her body.
Her gaze is before her, but it is unfocused, she neither needs nor desires to see anything in front of her. The only thing that she needs to see or perhaps wants to see is deep within her mind's eye, and that too is blurry, just a patch of incongruous grey color against an otherwise blank canvas. She really doesn't need to see that either, if truth be told. She feels is. She always feels its heavy presence in the back of her mind these days. The fact that she physically feels it not, pressed tightly against her soaked back, in inconsequential.
It is always with her, regardless of where she is. It guides her actions, gives her some unknown strength when she feels as though there is nothing worth fighting for any more.
That too, is fitting, she supposes. After all, she has always leaned on him for support. Why should there be anything different about his grave?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
ABC's
It is a class project, a ridiculous one in Kitty's opinion. The alphabet. What are they? Five?
Yet somehow their teacher, Mrs. Hawley who is still fairly new to the Institute and the school and whose power of speed reading is particularly dull, though probably useful in its own right, doesn't agree with Kitty's sentiments. No matter how passionately she argues against it in the final, precious moments of class as everyone around her scrambles to get as much of it done as humanly, or perhaps mutantly, possible, while trying to inconspicuously pack up their things.
Kitty is still seething quietly as she sits awake in her room that night. What is she going to write her 'ABC's' on? They are suppose to come up with a topic for their alphabet and then come up with a word or a word in a phrase for each letter that applies. The example given was, of course, English. Mrs. Hawley's ABC's of English. A is for appositive, B is for book, C is for creative, as in, make sure your thesis statements are creative, and so on. She still doesn't understand why they are wasting their time. Mrs. Hawley says it is suppose to be fun and thought provoking. A challenge for the mind and the imagination. Kitty thinks Mrs. Hawley has finally snapped her last piece of chalk, and how is that for a metaphor for crazy, Mrs. Too-Cheerful-English-Teacher?
Still, she is getting sick of not being done and venting to Jubilee, who finished her own list in class, because really, it's not getting her finished. And Jubilee is starting to threaten her with firecrackers if she doesn't stop anyway. So, with one final exasperated sigh, she puts her pencil on her paper and gets started.
…
Kitty feels rather proud when she turns in her paper the next day, satisfied that she has certainly earned a good grade on this assignment that was so entirely pointless. She thinks Mrs. Hawley will probably appreciate it as well.
…
The ABC's of being an X-Men
A is for always, as in 'always be ready for anything.'
B is for brooding, which is the most dangerous type of Wolverine to interrupt.
C is for creative, as in 'be creative when making up excuses and battle strategies.'
D is for Danger Room. Self explanatory.
E is for everyone, as in 'if anyone makes a mistake, everyone will repeat the workout.'
F is for fear, which is an often displayed emotion when Wolverine is behind the Blackbird's controls.
G is for gravy, which Bobby hates but Rogue loves.
H is for hot, like Peter when he's working out.
I is for ice cream, which the freezer always seems to be devoid of.
J is for Jubilee.
K is for karate, which comes in handy when the boys get cocky.
L is for lessons, which we all suffer through daily.
M is for movie night, also known as the best night of the week.
N is for never, like never give up.
O is for ocean, which we fly over in the Black Bird.
P is for pool, where we all love to hang when we can.
Q is for quality, because it's a hard letter.
R is for responsible, which everyone wants us to be.
S is for school, which young X-Men must attend
T is for teamwork, which is 'our greatest asset' or so says Storm.
U is for unity, which is much the same as teamwork.
V is for victory, which we always attain in the end.
W is for welcome, because anyone is welcome.
X is for X-Men, of course!
Y is for yelling, because someone is always yelling here.
Z is for zoo, because with all the different people and powers and things going on, this place can be like a zoo.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
That's installment II folks. I hoped you liked it. Now, I think I have a comment or two on the stories, now that you've read them. Not much for Providence, although I realized after I'd written it, when it was pointed out to me by the other Writer's Guild members, that it kind of undertones some romance. I honestly had not intended then when I wrote it, but now that I see it, I may dabble in making a follow up to it. And it is a Warren, at least partially so, story like I had said I'd probably write.
I've also realized that the grave that is referred to in Fitting isn't actually specified to anyone. I had actually given more clues, some clues, in the original version, but when I tried to figure out just how to finish it up I realized that it was better cut off where it is, so all hints ran away. It is actually not Xavier to whom she is referring, but rather Scott. I may write more little stories regarding her own, and perhaps others, mourning of Scott, because I find it sad that there isn't really any in the film. Everyone is sad about Xavier I was too, of course, and Scott, and Wolverine and some of the others get rather torn up over Jean, but it didn't seem to me that anyone had actually mourned for Scott. Which I find sad, because I think there are/were a lot of good points to Scott. Anyhow, so that's kinda part of my tribute to him. I imagine there will be more.
ABC's is just random. Not gonna lie. I think some of them are rather reaching, but I wanted to get this up. I may fix it at a later date, who knows. Sorry.
No real connecting theme in this one. Some times it works out that way.
Until Next Time,
AkaOkamiRyu