Soleanna woke up with a start in a cold sweat. She had shot up from her bed, noting that the lights were dim. She was breathing heavily before she realized that she was still in the Xavier mansion's infirmary. So it wasn't a dream, she really had made it back. She looked down at her hands, seeing that she wasn't in any pain. Her head didn't feel groggy like when she had thought she had dreamed waking up here. She then noticed that she was floating in the air. She must have launched herself into the air when she woke up. That was a good sign, her powers were working. She jumped a bit when a light was turned on.

"Well this certainly is a good sign," said Jean smiling.

"Oh?" questioned Sole, lowering herself back on her bed.

Jean nodded, walking towards her with her clipboard, "You seem surprised to be here."

"I just thought it was a dream."

"So you have no recollection of waking up at all?"

"No I do, I just thought I was dreaming that."

"Good that your memory is intact. I also see that you've gained your flight as well, would you be able to test out the rest of your powers?"

Sole nodded, speaking to Jean with her mind, bending a steel plate with ease and then charging it, as well as running to the end of the hall and back. She turned off Jean's powers for only a minute and once they were restored, demonstrated Rogue's original mutant power, taking a small sample from Jean. The last thing to test would be the invulnerability, which Jean was going to do in the danger room. The red head faithfully wrote everything down on her clipboard, however, the results to her liking. She ran a couple more tests, while Remy and Rogue walked in to see their daughter.

"How ya feelin', sugah?" asked Rogue smiling.

"Normal," she answered simply.

"I'd say. You've complete recovered from all your injuries, and all your powers are present and accounted for," said Jean brightly, "Xavier wants to see you as soon as you get a moment."

"I assumed he would. I know me being here doesn't scream happy occasion."

"Ah'm happy t'see ya!" declared Rogue.

Sole laughed slightly, taking off the little monitors that Jean and Hank had placed all over her. She ran a hand through her hair, feeling dirt still in it. She definitely needed a shower. Making sure she was covered, she took off the sheets that she was under and stood up, looking for her clothes.

"Here, petite," said Remy, holding out the clean dress that she arrived in.

"Thanks," she took it gently, gazing at it a moment, "Any place I can shower around here?"

"Well while ya were out, we had time t'get yer room in orda," said Rogue.

"I thought it was just a guest room?"

"It was, but ya came back," Rogue smiled.

Sole smiled back at her, following them out of the infirmary. Her mother seemed to be the happiest person in the world to see her back, same with her father. Sole was happy to see them, but it was a very confusing way to look at things. They were the same parents she had in her future, only, they didn't know how things were going to happen. They knew her better two years ago when she had first come to them. It was as if she had two sets of parents, but she loved them all just as equally. The only thing that bothered her about being here, was that she enjoyed being here better than in her own future. She only wished that she could know why.

"It jus' de same as before, petite, like y'never left," said Remy.

Sole nodded, her eyes distant. It was the first time in two years that she felt home, but she didn't want them to know that. She didn't want them to think that they failed, because they didn't. It was her who had the problem. They left her alone then, Sole walking to the bathroom. She started the water, running a much needed bath. She looked at her reflection, her eyes sad. There were dirt smudges all over her face, her long strawberry hair in complete disarray. It would be a great effort just to untangle it. Her cuts and bruises had healed, but there were still some blood stains from when they existed.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered what brought her here. The horrors of what happened fresh and the journey here making all that pain come back. She cried then, unable to contain it anymore, dropping to her knees. She was glad that no one was here to see her right now. But since she had made it back, at least she had a hope of fixing her mistake. How could she have been so stupid? Wiping away her sorrow, she got into the bath, the water turning her skin red instantly. She submerged herself washing away everything she could. If only the water could change the past for her, then she wouldn't be in this mess.

...

She felt clean, the sun shining, though she found it inappropriate. She had her blue dress back on, and two single flowers. Her head was down as she walked through the grounds towards the grave sites of Maddock and Lune. Her tears had dried up, but she had not been here in two years. While Lune had been in her life once she got back, he was not the same brother who sacrificed everything for her. And Maddock, the one she loved, still mourned for, he was still dead to her. It was hard to let him go, but she knew it was the right thing to do.

"I take it you never found him," stated Logan.

"I did," she replied, kneeling down to lay her flowers.

"Yet you still mourn, child," said Ororo gently.

"I suppose I do. He is different now. I went to find him about six months after I went home, but he was completely different. He never had to really fight, wasn't forced into a world he didn't belong in. As a result, he found someone else, someone who will keep him safe, that can be there for him. It's really the best I could ask for, so I left him to live his life."

They didn't say anything. Sole stared at the letters that read back to her as Maddock. She wished he was here, but she was done crying about it. He was happy, and the one who sacrificed himself for her, he was no longer struggling to live in this world. Lune ensured that his life would be better, had made it so that she couldn't feel guilty about it. Sighing, she rose to her feel, looking into the sky. She remembered the first time she ever saw it, smiling slightly.

"Despite the reasoning, it is good to see you again," said Ororo, once Sole had turned to face them. Sole embraced the woman, becoming closer to her in the last two years. Of course, this one didn't know that, but Sole didn't have any different feelings. Once Sole had collected herself, she smiled at them, putting away her sorrows.

"I've missed all of you, no matter how complicated it can be. I see you all, but it's not exactly the same as when I was here."

"Must be tough," said Logan.

"It can be. Let's go, I should probably explain myself, you've all been patient enough."

...

In two years, the mansion hadn't changed much. There were more young mutants here than she remembered, but that only made sense, seeing as their acceptance wasn't quite there yet. Some of them looked apprehensive at Sole, but she ignored them. As she stepped into Xavier's office, she became slightly scared of how she was going to do this. Scott was there, with Jean. Hank, Emma, Bobby, Kurt, Jubilee and Kitty, Remy and Rogue, Ororo and Logan walking in with her. Xavier sat at his desk with a smile on his face. Sole took a seat where she could see everyone, only wanting to tell the story once.

She let out a big breath, "Okay. I'm finally here, and no, it's not because I'm visiting, though I wish it were.

"Two years ago I went back home. Nothing really had changed from where things are now, the world was more peaceful and I was able to spend time with my brother. It was the kind of life that we all fought for while I was here in the first place. But something happened here, something to change all of that back to the way it was. No, worse than the way it was. This dark cloud appeared, and slowly moved, eating everything in its grasp. My peaceful life was no more, and I was thrown back in the world of chaos and destruction.

"But it wasn't like last time. So many more casualties, more slaves. My brother and Maddock were already dead, same with my mother. I only had my father and uncle fighting, and my father was gravely injured. Forge brought me back, but the last I saw, we were all about to die, our hideout found. I escaped just before the blast, which is probably why I was overshot. What happened?"

"There was an earthquake a few days West of here," said Scott.

"You were found two days after that. Your presence caused a cave-in, burying you underneath it," said Hank.

"That explains a lot," mused Sole.

"What has happened to cause those events?" asked Xavier.

"Project Paradise."

"I thought we torched that idea?" asked Logan.

"Yes, the whole lab was destroyed and every file," said Jean.

"But I didn't kill anybody. Because of that loose end, the idea still lived in the minds of those who were in the labs. I didn't even think about erasing them," explained Sole.

"There must have been hundreds there."

"That's no excuse for sloppy work."

"So now what? How are we supposed ta find who's doin' all this?" asked Rogue.

"I deleted everything to do with it, but our memories can pull out faces and put names to them. All I know is, someone's pulling the strings and it's not my brother this time."

"Sounds like the world's gettin' more fun again," said Logan dangerously.

"I pray that we can fix this before there are any casualties," said Xavier gravely.

"You and me both," said Sole, looking out the window, her eyes distant. She had to save her father, and the rest of her family. The image of him came to her, but she quickly sought out Remy in the room. Seeing him here made her feel better, feel as if she was safe and it was all just a bad dream. She knew better though, and she was not going to fail this mission. If she had to, she would kill every last person who ever had known her existence. That was a promise.

...

ta-da! love you!