Whoop. In honor of me reaching half-way through writing chapter eleven, and me getting a job (yay -.-) I'm giving you all chapter nine! We're drawing closer. I've decided now, that there are only going to be twelve chapters. So I've got a chapter and a half left to write, and you guys have four, including this one, left to read.
Plus the epilogue of course. Which I sorta am finished with, I'm just going to revise it and change a few things here and there, make it longer I think.

Well, enjoy, and it shouldn't be too long from now until you get chapter ten. As soon as I'm finished with chapter eleven, which I aim to be within this week, because I have easter holidays. Even though I'm working, I'll finish chapter eleven. And then chapter twelve should be finished before this month is over.
Soon, my dear readers. Soon.

Weeks passed. Weeks that turned into months. Not that many. Evelyn quickly became part of the big family that was the Xavier Institute. She didn't take classes, but just waltzed around in the corridors without a real purpose.

One day in March, Evelyn and Rogue were in her room, joking around, as usual. Evelyn tilted her head to the side. The two had grown closer, become friends, although Evelyn sensed that the young girl was still feeling very lonely. She noticed Rogue's hair was looking a bit torn and weathered. Maybe it was time for a hair cut?

"Rogue," Evelyn said, thoughtfully, but with a smile on her lips. "Would you like a haircut? I remember, you said you didn't like it, so, maybe a haircut?"

Rogue laughed carefully, looking hesitant. "You know how ta cut hair?" she asked, her southern voice ringing like bells in Evelyn's ears. Evelyn nodded, but said "Nope. But it always turns out really interesting when I cut people's hair. Not so stiff and stuff like when you go to a hairdresser."

Rogue shrugged. "Ah suppose. Don't really have anythin' better…" Evelyn grinned widely and dragged out a chair, grabbing a scissor from Rogue's desk. "Sit down, sit down. This is gonna be fun. You've got so lovely hair. But I'm gonna have to cut a lot, it's a bit torn." Rogue didn't really have much of a choice. Not that she minded; a change was welcome.

Evelyn took the scissor and cut off a random lock of hair. She held it up in front of Rogue, who looked horrified at the length of it. Evelyn giggled. "This is the point of no return," she whispered and cut off another lock. More and more hair disappeared, and Evelyn refused to let Rogue look herself in the mirror. Evelyn cut the white shorter than the rest, like bangs, hanging unevenly in front of her eyes. A gloved hand worked its way up to the back of her head, where the hair hung to the nape of the neck.

"Oh mah lord…" Rouge whispered, trying to grasp the non-existent hair hanging on her back. "It's… short!" Evelyn nodded. "Well, I think you look great! I think I managed to do a good job this time, and maybe you won't complain like Kurt does. Just because I thought he would look good in a Mohawk when I was fifteen… I learn from my mistakes. Sometimes."

Evelyn brushed away some hairs. "Now look, look in the mirror and say what you think!" Rogue stood up and looked. Evelyn was pleased with the expression. "Mah lord," Rogue whispered again. "It's… lovely. Well, I suppose it does somethin' for the face as well, but… Yeah. Thanks, Evelyn." Rogue laughed and pulled Evelyn into a tight hug. The small creature grinned wide and tried her best to hug back. Being short has its drawbacks, admittedly.

"No probs, Rogue." Evelyn smiled. "Anything for a friend."

"Touching, my dear. But now, rush along; don't stop, because if you stop you always take such a dreadful long time to continue again. We don't have all the time in the world, although it might feel that way…"
"Allo?"

"Hiiiya…"

"Evelyn! Comment Allez-vous?"

"Oh, I'm good, but I miss you like mad!"

He chuckled. "And I miss you, Ma chere. But whenever you miss me, hold the necklace tight and it's like, poof, I will be there. Non?"

Evelyn giggled. "But it's still not the same… I miss you."

"How are things at this mansion then?"

"They're great, me and Logan are getting along great, he seems a bit suspicious though…"

"How so, cheri?"

"Because, well, I might be acting a bit light-headed and giggly… Whenever I think of a certain someone… and I start blushing and stuff and he just… seems a bit murderous ya know?"

"Really?" his voice sounded so charming Evelyn wanted to melt. "And who be this special someone then, cheri?"

Evelyn grinned. "Well, stick around and maybe you'll find out…"

Rubbing her eyes, Laura rolled her head around before returning her gaze to the screen. VCR's should die, she concluded, because there was obviously something wrong with these tapes. Or maybe it was her VCR player that was broken. She'd seen a flicker of something again, but it wasn't there. There was no one else in there, no one but Evelyn Dahl.

"I'm going paranoid," Laura muttered under her breath, and got up to get herself a cup of coffee.

"Computer simulation; Evelyn, complete. Beginning start-up process."

Evelyn awed. "You're naming it all after little me?" She wrapped a curl of hair around her finger and smiled at Hank, who smiled back. "Why, yes, miss Evelyn," he grinned as she stuck out her tongue at the miss, "If you create a simulation, then of course it will be named likewise. You and Kurt worked hard on this one. Now, let's see how Logan does against it, shall we?"

Evelyn nodded vigorously, her curls flopping about. "Start it up, I've just got to put my hair up." She smiled and began the straining work of pushing her hair up into a ponytail. Meanwhile, the simulation began and through the cameras, Evelyn, who was too short to reach up to the windows, saw Logan studying his surroundings carefully. It was a meadow, full of flowers and butterflies and green, green grass. What Logan didn't know was that sword-fighting orcs would come up at any moment, and Logan would have to fight them with only his claws.

Sometimes, Hank and Kurt had concluded, Evelyn could be a bit morbid. There was just something about the happiness in her voice when she described the gruesome things the orcs could do to a person, if they were in the real world.

"Hey Sparky, didn't you say this thing was supposed to be difficult? Huh? It's just a whole bunch of butterflies, what're they gonna do, huh? Blow me away?" Logan's voice sounded through the speaker and Evelyn giggled. "Just wait, Logan," she said through the microphone. "Just wait and see."

Moments later, the meadow grew dark and out of the surrounding forest came about a hundred orcs, looking like they were just taken from the movie-version of Lord of the Rings. Gruesome sights, each an every one of them, with dark armors and large, dangerous swords, and all of them had a vicious look upon their faces, a sadistic, gleeful smile, because they were many and Logan was one.

Logan growled and got into fighting stance, extracting his adamantium claws. The orcs didn't seem phased by this, but rather, they seemed exhilarated.

Then the fighting began. Evelyn squealed in delight as Logan made the first move, chopping off the head of the orc closest to him. The others let out horrid battle shrieks and moved in as a solid unit. Logan fought well, chopping off limbs and stabbity-stabbing wherever he could. The orcs fought hard and brave, but Logan was stronger. Not that they were planning on giving up…

Suddenly, all the orcs froze. Logan growled, taking his moment to heal and wonder what the hell was going on. Then, a trumpet sounded, and the orcs fled in to the woods in utter chaos. Logan remained, laughed, spat out some blood, and jeered into the microphone. "You call this challenging, Sparky? This was nothing, I've been through worse against Bobby, so you know, you'd better…" he fell silent as all the butterflies returned. But now, they were darker, and in front of them, the butterflies began burning, crumpling to the ground with a horrible cry of agony.

"What's that suppose'ta be good for, huh?" Logan asked, turning away from the ashes of the butterflies. "Evi? Is this supposed to be a challenge?" Evelyn giggled. Behind Logan, the ashes of the butterflies rose, and together they all formed an enormous, black, gruesome, deformed butterfly. It flapped its newly created wings a few times, before hovering over Logan, who was still staring up into nothing.

Then the butterfly swooped down over him, and after hearing Logan scream, the simulation ended.

Evelyn peeked into the cameras, where Logan was lying face down. He groaned loudly and got up, wobbling a little. Then he laughed. "Sparky, you got me. You got me. Tricky little one, aren't cha? Now, let's do that again…"

He stared out the window. Four years now, to the day. Something inside of him couldn't help but breaking, and on this day, he couldn't help but let it out. He'd bought a blue rose, and right now, he was mindlessly picking the petals one by one. He watched them fall to the floor, in a small pile. He would burn them later, he decided.

The door opened and light shone in from the corridor outside. He knew who it was, and right now, he really didn't feel for it. These were feeling he was supposed to have overcome, and he hadn't. He felt weak, ashamed, and now, exposed.

"What are you doing?" a deep, masculine voice asked, and he shrugged. He wasn't sure if his companion saw it, but he didn't say anything. His companion moved closer, and somewhere deep inside, he felt his heart break with every step. This was the man he was now supposed to care for, and yet, his mind was so trapped in the past.

As he felt his companion's hand on his shoulder, the gentle touch, saw the foot step over the petals, he smiled and cast away his thoughts. "Are you sitting here and moping?" his companion asked, an underlying laughter in his voice. His companion moved slightly and he stared at the petals, still smiling, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

He was supposed to be over this. It had been four years. Three years was a lot of time, more than enough. He felt a gentle kiss on his check. Turning his head slightly, he felt the other man's arms moving around him. As they embraced, as the night gathered up his thoughts, his soul wept for all that should have been.

And all that never seemed to be again.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!"

The words echoed throughout the main entrance when Logan entered. The voice was high-pitched and panicky, hurting Logan's sensitive ears. All he saw was a small, blue fuzz running around in a circle at a very high speed.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God…" the fuzz kept repeating. Logan sighed, but smiled, and stood in front of the blue fuzz. It bounced off of his chest and fell to the floor. Two big, electric blue eyes stared up at him.

"Evelyn, what's up?" Logan asked, raising an eyebrow. She stared at him, nearly teary-eyed.

"I haven't written my speech!" she whispered, sounding near terrified.

"What speech?"

"My wedding speech, of course!" she exclaimed, as though he was an idiot.

Logan stared at her. "Evelyn, you're not engaged. For crying out loud, you're not even dating anyone!"

"So?" Evelyn said with an innocent grin and an air of ignorant, childish innocence. "Besides, what do you know?"

"You're dating someone?" Logan growled, and Evelyn chewed nervously on the sleeve of Kurt's button-up shirt. She'd 'borrowed' it that morning when she'd been too tired to put on pants. Kurt's shirt reached to about mid-thigh on her. She had since then put on a pair of jeans though.

"Didn't say that," Evelyn mumbled, but the sudden grin on her face, combined with the blue tinge on her cheeks, told Logan different.

"What's his name, age, and current location? I need to smash his head in."

"Aw, Badger! Didn't know you'd grown so fond of me." Evelyn cooed, standing up. She wasn't tall enough to face Logan, but she straightened up to do her best. She liked being with Logan, because she could make him feel taller (he was the shortest man in the mansion) and because he was funny to watch when he got frustrated.

"Seriously, Evi. Who's this guy then?" Logan tried real hard to keep the hatred out of his voice, but Evelyn heard it there. It was, however, ignored to give place for the warm feeling she got inside, from thinking about Remy.

"Never you mind, Badger! He's a great guy, that's all you need to know. He's kind, and gentle, and ha makes me laugh, not to mention he's gorgeous, and -"

"What are ya, in love with the guy?"

Evelyn thought for a moment, and then blushed an even darker shade of blue. "Shut up!"

"Didn't say nothing."

"But you thought it!" Evelyn exclaimed and hid behind the sleeve. She peeked over the edge and saw Logan staring at her, so she hid again.

"Kid," Logan said, moved closer and poked her shoulder. "C'mon. Tell me."

Evelyn looked up at him and grinned. "You'll just have to wait and see!" and with those words, she ran up the stairs in a flurry of giggles and blue.

Another place. Another time, almost. Another man, staring at his cup of morning coffee. Mindlessly he stirs the coffee, wondering why he is thinking of her on this day of all days. Maybe it was the way the sun had shone in through his window this morning, it had reminded him of his younger days and reminded him of her.

He had found that shirt though, the one she had borrowed from him, or rather stolen, maybe four years ago. It was lying in his closet this morning, for some strange reason it was on top of everything else. Immediately the image of her popped into his mind, and he couldn't get her away.

It had been over four years and yet he found that she was as fresh in his mind as the cup of coffee in front of him. It hurt, it hurt so much, everything about her hurt. How she would curl up in the middle of the night, how she'd stand on her tippy-toes to reach up and kiss him, or anyone else… How she'd hang on to his leg and not let go…

He struggled not to cry. He wasn't that kind of a person; bad things happen and they happen, all you can really do is…

Well… live?

"Evelyn! Why aren't you suited up?" Hank asked, and Evelyn shrugged. "Well, see, I don't like looking like a twelve-year-old. Which I would in one of those suits. Because, well, I have a tendency of looking like a twelve-year-old. So, I decided I'd just, wear this; besides, this seems more comfortable." Evelyn grinned.

They were on their way somewhere to do something, and they flew in the big black plane the X-men ('cause that's what they were, the X-men) called the Blackbird. Ok, that wasn't very descriptive. They were on their way to some place where some dude was attacking. Yes, Evelyn had fallen asleep when they were discussing it. She really was a twelve-year-old; she had the mind of a twelve-year-old and she was stuck in the body of a twelve-year-old. Most of the time.

She had to remind herself that she was, actually, eighteen. Believe it or not. She didn't.

The more comfortable clothes she was wearing were actually gray sweatpants and a blue tee. She pulled her hair back and twisted it into an odd bun with a huge scrungie. To this, she was wearing a walked in pair of sneakers. All the others were wearing odd leather suits, something about team spirit.

"Alright, team," Storm said, smiling tensely, "We're almost there. So, I suggest you all get ready, because –" she couldn't finish her sentence because something hit the jet, and Evelyn, who had been looking out the window, saw a lot of fire.

Distracted, Evelyn didn't notice Cyclops landing the plane and everyone getting out. Not until Kurt bamfed in again to get her. "Sparky, zis is no time to play now. Can you be serious, liebe?" Evelyn nodded. "I'm not stupid, ya know, Kurt."

Kurt gave her a grin. "Nightcrawler. Zen hold on, Sparky, and I'll get you out zere, Ja?" Evelyn grabbed hold of Kurt, pulling him into a tight hug, and they teleported out.

The battle had already begun. Although they were outnumbered, the "bad guys" had one big advantage; they obviously weren't afraid of hurting people or the X-men. Evelyn studied closely. She only guessed who were the bad guys by who she hadn't seen with the X-men before. One guy was shooting fire out of his palms; it was looking very pretty, even if he singed Kurt's fur. Another guy was all shiny and threw stuff at Beast and Wolverine, or Hank and Logan, and he was very strong, because he picked up a car and threw it at the guys, although he didn't hit.

Then there was a girl in a red coat who seemed to do whatever she wanted. She made Cyclops' laser beam go toward Storm instead, although she flew away from it before it could hit her and she was kind of busy being chased by the laser beam since the girl in the coat was making sure the beam didn't stop.

High, high above all of them, was a man in a dorky looking helmet and a long cape; he was watching everything that happened.

Wind blew up around Evelyn, she frowned and spun around, looking carefully, and she saw it was someone running very, very quickly. Evelyn felt a push and she fell down to the ground, and the running stopped.

"Am I too fast for ya?" a boy in his mid teens said, smirking. "Maybe I should give you a chance too, huh? Are ya part of the X-geeks?" he was talking very quickly and Evelyn just smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I suppose I'm part of the X-geeks. Hi, I'm Evelyn, but they call me Sparky. What's your name?"

The boy rolled his eyes. "I'm Quicksilver. And I don't have time to stand around here. If you're part of the X-geeks," he ran over to the other side of her, "Then I'm supposed to fight you. Although you seem kinda weak. So maybe I'll let ya pass. What d'ya say about that, little girl?"

Evelyn thought. "Tell me, are you always this quick? Gee, then I feel sorry about your future girlfriends… I really do. And, I'm sorry about this too," Evelyn smiled widely and put down her hands to the ground, leading current through the air and in a wide circle around her. Even if Quicksilver decided to run, he would only have electricity to run into.

While Evelyn was busy giggling at Quicksilver's pain, someone took hold of her and dragged her away from the battle. Shocked, Evelyn let the electric layer around her body emit, and whoever had grabbed her dropped her, hard on the ground. The person who grabbed her landed some feet away.

Grumbling, Evelyn got an bolt of electricity in her hand, ready to throw it at her attacker. The attacker, a man wearing a long, brown trench coat, got ready too, crouched, kneeling on one knee, leaning on one hand for support and holding a glowing card, the Ace of Hearts, in the other.

"Cheri, please, I dun want ta hurt ya. Really. I just wanted ta take ya away from de battle, oui? I dun want ya to get hurt, cheri, please. Scarlet Witch be eyein' ya and Pyro too."

That voice. That accent. He looked up at her and Evelyn gasped, the electricity disappearing into her skin. It couldn't be. It can't be, I don't want it to be. Please God tell me it isn't – but it was.

Damnit.