Part Three
Ororo stood in the rec room admiring the newly re-decorated Christmas tree and nibbling at a Lebkuchen cookie Kurt had set aside especially for her. The mounds and piles of brightly wrapped Christmas presents had already been laid out around the room, and the warm lights of the Christmas tree shed an almost dream-like glow on the classic Christmas scene. In that moment, Ororo almost expected Jean to walk through the door, and her eyes filled with unexpected tears.
She heard the familiar whir of electric wheels behind her, and she quickly wiped her eyes.
"Good evening, Charles," she greeted her mentor, turning to grace him with a welcoming smile.
"I came down to see the tree," he said. "The children were very enthusiastic about it at dinner."
Ororo grinned, striding over to the tree and gingerly removing one of the new, edible decorations. It had been attached to the tall, false pine with a narrow, red ribbon that ran through a carefully bored hole.
"Kurt made them," she said. "The children decided they were too beautiful to eat right away, so we put them on the tree instead. Like those Swedish cookies Kurt was telling me about…Pepparkakor."
"Indeed..."
Even without his telepathic gifts, her uncharacteristic, almost giddy tone would have revealed her feelings for the quiet, blue German. He took the palm-sized cookie she held out to him and examined it closely, somewhat surprised and very pleased to hear the reticent young man had chosen to open up so much.
"Why, this is me!" he exclaimed with pleasure. "And a very good likeness too, if I may say so myself."
"Yes," she said as she gestured to the brightly lit tree, unable to contain her enthusiastic pride. "Look at what he carved. He made one of you, me, Logan, Scott, and many of the children. Aren't they beautiful?"
Xavier nodded, thoughtfully running a gentle finger over his cookie double.
"Yes, indeed. I always had the impression there was much more to that young man than he let on."
"He's just shy, Professor," she said, taking the cookie back and replacing it on the tree. "It's only natural, considering his background. But he's dealing with it very well."
"With your help," the professor observed approvingly.
She turned back to him with a thoughtful expression.
"Did you know he invited me to attend midnight mass with him tonight? He's very excited about going, but it surprised me that he would want to enter such a crowded building after seeing how hard it was for him to approach the children this afternoon. On Christmas Eve, the cathedral is certain to be packed to capacity."
Lowering herself gracefully onto the arm of the sofa, she fixed the Professor with a searching stare.
"He told me you had given him an early Christmas present, some kind of watch. He seemed very sure that it would allow him to get in unnoticed, but he wouldn't tell me what it does. He seemed almost...afraid to tell me."
The Professor nodded his understanding, but his face revealed nothing.
"And naturally, you're concerned," he stated.
"Well, quite frankly yes," she said in her sternest 'teacher' voice. "What is that thing you gave him, Charles?"
Before the Professor could respond, a soft BAMF! sounded in the corner, accompanied by the faint scent of sulfur.
"Ororo, it is almost time to go. I've started the car to let the engine warm up a bit, but—" Kurt cut himself off when he noticed she was not alone in the room.
"Ach, Herr Professor!" He beamed. "Frohe Weihnachten! What do you think of our new Christmas decorations? Sehr schön, nein?"
The Professor smiled at Kurt's enthusiasm.
"Sehr schön, indeed, my friend," he complimented the grinning man. "Kurt, I am pleased to learn you've asked Ororo to share this trip with you. It should be a beneficial experience for the both of you."
Kurt glanced at his bulky wristwatch.
"Well, it is an experience we are going to be late for if we do not leave soon," he said. He shifted his feet, suddenly extremely uncomfortable. "I was rather hoping we could get there and choose our seats before it became too crowded..."
He rubbed a thick finger against a large button on his watch, and Ororo watched, concerned, as a slight shudder ran down his tail.
"Kurt, are you all right?" she asked.
"Jawohl, Fräulein," Kurt said and smiled at her, lacing his fingers behind his back. "I am just excited, that is all."
Ororo's expression darkened.
"I know something's up," she said angrily. "There's something about that watch of yours that neither you nor the Professor are telling me."
Startled by her attitude, Kurt looked desperately at the Professor, his tail lashing in agitation.
"There is no harm in telling her, Kurt," Xavier assured him gently. "After all, you were planning to show her anyway, weren't you?"
Kurt nodded, drawing in a deep, shaky breath.
"But she likes me now," he said in German, his voice at the edge of cracking. "She likes me despite what I look like. Even when we first met, she was never afraid. That has never happened before!"
He sighed dejectedly, focusing his gaze on the carpet beneath his feet.
"What if... What if I show her and she finds she prefers what she sees to..."
He trailed off, holding up his tail and waving it in silent demonstration.
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that," she snapped, annoyed at being kept out of the conversation. A sympathetic thunderclap sounded in the distance, and Kurt's posture collapsed into a miserable stoop, wrinkling the elegant suit he had changed into after dinner.
I think you should give her the benefit of the doubt, Kurt, the Professor projected to him telepathically. If she truly likes you for who you are, a mere holographic disguise should do nothing to change her feelings for you.
Kurt's golden eyes darted nervously over to the fuming Ororo as he answered, "Are you sure?"
The Professor favored him with a kind smile.
The real question is, are you? Don't you trust Ororo's judgment?
"Of course I do!"
The Professor projected a mental shrug.
Then prove it.
Ororo fixed both of them with her most scathing glare, her white hair rising as it grew charged with static electricity.
"Look, guys, if someone doesn't start talking out loud and in English very soon, I'm going to bed and I'm not getting up until tomorrow morning."
Kurt took a hesitant step toward her, his head drooping with guilt.
"I am very sorry, Liebe," he said sincerely. "I should not have kept this from you as I did. It was just..."
He trailed off, looking up at her through dimly glowing golden eyes.
"I was afraid as to how you might react."
Ororo wrinkled her brow.
"Why would you be afraid?" she asked, her tone more gentle this time.
"Because I am a fool - a paranoid, doubting fool."
Ororo narrowed her eyes disapprovingly.
"Kurt..."
The blue man sighed deeply, then looked at her.
"It's a holographic image inducer," he explained, holding his wrist out for her inspection. "When I push this button," he pointed to the large, yellow button he had been fingering before, "an image made entirely of light appears around me, covering my true form like a mask."
He sighed again, dropping his wrist to his side and his voice to a soft mumble.
"This device can make me appear as a 'normal' human," he said, his eyes fixed on the carpet.
Ororo glanced at Charles, her eyes wide with amazement.
Charles shook his head, a subtle indication that she should not display too much enthusiasm for Kurt's new toy.
Taking the hint, Ororo turned back to Kurt.
"Is that all?" she said, injecting a lightness into her tone that she didn't quite feel. "It's an intriguing invention, but what did you have to be so scared about? It's just an illusion. The real you would still be there underneath."
Kurt looked up, his golden eyes wide.
"The 'real' me?" he repeated in a slightly wondrous tone.
"Yes, you know..." She strolled over to him, brushing a slender hand against his scarred cheek. "The devilishly handsome blue acrobat who has been making me laugh all afternoon? Surely you know of him."
Kurt blinked at her, a smile spreading slowly across his face.
"I think I might have seen him somewhere," he said.
Ororo sighed and touched his arm.
"It's awful that you need a thing like that just to go to church," she said with real force. "You shouldn't have to disguise yourself."
Kurt's gaze grew distant as he recalled the brief conversation he had shared with the mysterious shapeshifter, Mystique, the night before the events at Alkali Lake.
With her blue skin and bright yellow eyes, Mystique had been the first person he had ever met who looked anything like he did. Surely she had gone through the same cruel taunts and bigoted violence he had been forced to endure all his life. Yet, when he had asked her why she didn't choose to remain disguised all the time, to use her powers to look like everyone else, she had come out with a reply that had forever earned her his respect - despite the disturbing fact that she was a morally unscrupulous terrorist. The echoing memory of her blunt answer - "...Because we shouldn't have to..." - converged in his mind with Ororo's angry statement, strengthening his resolve to keep the vow he had made that afternoon.
The image inducer was just a device, a tool he would have to use until that long-imagined day when it would no longer be necessary for him to shield himself from the hate of strangers. And now, Ororo's reaction had assured him this tool, this necessary evil, would not change the way his friends saw him.
The grandfather clock in the corner struck the quarter hour, startling Kurt from his thoughts. He smiled brightly at Ororo, his golden eyes soft.
"I told you I was a fool," he said with a gentle chuckle. "You are a truly wise woman, my dear friend, and I should never have doubted you. Are you still angry with me?"
Ororo shook her head, an exasperated smirk twisting her lips.
"Oh, Kurt," she sighed. "I don't think I could ever stay angry at you."
Kurt straightened, his face now split by a bright grin.
"Then you will still come with me to the mass?"
"Of course I will!"
"Then we must get a move on!" he exclaimed. "The car is going to run out of gas before we even get it out onto the road!"
"Good night, Charles," Ororo said, wrapping her arms around Kurt's shoulders in preparation for a teleport.
"Merry Christmas, Herr Professor," Kurt added. "And, thank you!"
"Merry Christmas to you," Xavier responded. "Be safe."
Kurt's tail wrapped itself securely around Ororo's waist, then the two of them were gone in a flash of smoke and a BAMF of imploding air.
Casting one last glance at the edible Christmas tree decorations, Charles Xavier grinned to himself and wheeled out of the room.
To Be Concluded...