Chapter 7: Understanding her Powers
It had been a long month for Rose. Her garden seemed to grow too slow. One night, Rose woke up and couldn't fall back to sleep. She tossed and turned for a moment, then sat up and sighed.
(Hey, keep it down. Some of us are trying to sleep!) Diamond complained.
(Fine, I'll go take a walk,) Rose snapped.
(Good ridden. You're too noisy tonight,) Diamond snapped back.
Rose sighed, and got out of bed. She carefully opened her door, and went down the hallway. She just wandered, feeling strangely energetic. She pushed her light blonde hair back. I wonder where I'm going. I have no plans, just to wander about in the dark of night. Sisi would call me stupid. Oh, well, Sisi isn't here anymore, so I can be me.
She smiled. Suddenly, she heard something. She went closer to a staircase that led upward, and heard someone calling her name. She took a few steps up the stairs, and heard at least what was being said.
(Hey, you're that Rose kid! Come and visit us! PLEASE! We'd all love to meet you!) several plants called. Rose smiled, and carefully climbed the rest of the stairs.
When she got to the indoor garden, she gaped at the magnificent plants. (Hi, all of you!) she cried, and the nearest one stretched towards her.
(We love it here, Rose. You are really nice,) it told her.
"O, you're happy!" she whispered, delighted.
Suddenly, the lights flipped on. Rose whirled around to see Ororo glaring at her. "What are you doing here?" Ororo demanded.
"I heard s-someone call my n-n-n-name, Ororo," Rose stammered, frightened. "I c-c-came up to s-see who it was."
"Who called you?" Ororo demanded.
Rose stared at her. Oh, no! I can't say it was her plants, or she'll think I'm totally nuts! Think, Rose, think! "It might have been a figment of my imagination," she said, inspired. Ororo raised an eyebrow. Oh, no! She suspects something. "You have a wonderful greenhouse, Ororo."
"Thank you, but that doesn't explain why you are here in the middle of the night."
"I couldn't sleep, and I decided to take a walk," Rose answered as honestly as she could. At least I stuck mostly to the truth.
"Well, you'd better go back to bed," Ororo told the girl. "Now, shoo!" Rose scampered down the stairs, and to her room.
Her lessons with Logan often went far too fast for her. It was that time of day again. Logan met Rose at the usual place, but then led her outside, near hr garden. "Today we practice on uneven ground," he told her in his rough voice. "Now, do our warm-ups."
After Rose had warmed up, she and Logan began. The first thing they did was when Logan aimed one hit at a time and Rose blocked them. She was beginning to fall into the pattern when a large, green tomato hit Logan's cheek. Rose gasped.
Logan began to look around for the person who threw the tomato. His head was snapping this way and that when another green tomato hit him on the forehead. He stared towards Rose's garden.
"Who's in you're garden?" he growled.
Oh, no! "It's Carla and Jordan!" Rose cried, angry at herself for forgetting to warn them.
Another green tomato flew at Logan. He reached up and sliced it into pieces with three metal claws that somehow popped out of the back of his bare hand. Rose began to run towards her garden, hunching down low to avoid the tomatoes still flying at Logan.
"Carla, Jordan, stop!" she cried once she got there. "Logan isn't hurting me!"
(He isn't?) Carla asked. Jordan held one of his tomatoes, ready to throw it.
"No! Logan's teaching me how to protect myself!" Rose cried, fearing what Logan might do with the metal claws. She heard him come up behind her.
Jordan hurled the tomato at Logan. (Leave her alone, you big bully!) he cried. Rose groaned.
(Jordan, stop it! You are going to get us into a HUGE amount of trouble,) Rose complained.
"Rose, next time, tell your friends here not to throw tomatoes at your teacher," Logan suggested, staring hard at the tomato plants. It's hard to believe a plant attacked me, he thought to himself.
"Yes, sir," Rose answered, shamefaced. What makes him think they'll let me stay? I mean, my friends just attacked him because I was stupid enough to forget to warn them not to! How could I forget? That's why I've always been sent back to the orphanage, Rose thought glumly.
"Come on, kid. It's time for the rest of you're lesson," Logan told her, jerking his thumb to where they had been practicing, his metal claws nowhere to be seen.
After they'd finish her lesson, Rose scurried back up to her room to shower and change. Logan looked at the tomato plants for a moment. That's weird. They already have flowers ready to be pollinated, he thought. No more guessing with this girl. Her powers only can have to do with plants. He walked back up into the mansion, and went to teach his next lesson. I'll definitely have to tell the Professor once I'm done with these kids. He heard the usual groans as he entered the room. The corner of his mouth twitched, and he made sure everyone was there.
Oh, boy. Why is my life so messed up? Rose wondered as she sat in her room. I mean, Carla and Jordan are my friends. I know why they want to protect me, but they have to not move when other people are around so no one will freak out. Oh, boy, why am I so stupid?
She paced in her room, ignoring the time. Diamond seemed to watch her pacing. (Don't be such a seedling, Rose. If you want to remain tall and beautiful, you have to not worry. You want to tell me about it?) he asked.
"Sure," she sighed. "It's Carla and Jordan. They attacked Logan during practice."
(But they can't do that. Logan is your teacher, no your enemy.)
"Yeah, well, they didn't know that. Now I'll be sent back to the orphanage and I'll have to deal with Sisi again!"
(That idiotic girl who was mean enough to call you crazy? That Sisi?)
"Yes, and she isn't idiotic or mean."
(Sure, Rose. Forget the fact that you still have a scar from when Sisi attacked the garden the first time. Forget the fact that you think she might only be using you. Forget everything that is negative about Sisi, and only remember the good stuff).
"Hey!"
(It doesn't matter that Sisi isn't a good friend at all. Real friends tell each other secrets that they don't tell anyone. Real friends tell each other how they really feel.)
"No, real friends are there to hang out with you. People you trust are the ones you tell everything to! You're one of the plants I trust."
(That's only because the humans are too stupid to talk to us plants. Did you ever see someone talking to plants?)
"No, but that –"
(Don't interrupt me. Now, where was I? Oh, yes. You do have real friends in us plants. You may even have a real friend in that girl, Kitty. You just can't accept that! And you want to know why? It's because of that fake friend of yours, Sisi. Sisi Forge is the most evil human I've ever heard of! I'm glad you're not with her anymore, because she is absolutely nuts and evil!) Diamond's words hit Rose hard. She stared at him in shock. (Yes, Rose, I think that Sisi of yours is the nuts and crazy person. You are entirely sane.)
"Than why can I talk to plants?" Rose demanded.
(Because you are far more intelligent than most of those idiotic people in this world. You are of the root and leaf. You are my human, and I know this because you are far too smart to be anyone else's.) Rose's eyes filled with tears. She sank onto her bed, and began to soundlessly cry into her pillow.
Logan found the Professor using Cerebro to scan for more mutants. "Hello, Logan, what's on your mind?" the Professor asked without looking away from the screen.
"It's about Rose. Her powers aren't telekinesis, Professor. It's got something to do with plants," Logan told him.
"Oh?" the Professor asked, turning around and looking at Logan. "How did you figure that out?"
"I took Rose out for her lesson today, and we were near that garden of hers. After a few moments, her tomato plants started hurling tomatoes at me. When I walked up behind Rose, one of the plants threw another one at me. After the lesson, I noticed that the plants had new flowers where they didn't have before. If that doesn't tell me about her powers, I don't know what else will," Logan told the Professor.
"Hmm…Can you go find Ororo and have Kitty get Rose? She needs to know about us, because she doesn't know yet. She also believes she's crazy," the Professor told Logan.
"Humph. She actually thinks she's crazy? Then we'd better let her know, and fast. I'll get Ororo and send Kitty to fetch Rose," Logan told the Professor, and left.
"I told you, Rose, it was just a matter of time," the Professor amended.
