A/N – Thanks to joyannahamsterovic, hailing from Warsaw, Poland, for leaving a recent review that inspired me to finish this! Long live RoLo fans from all over the world! And thanks to all that ever reviewed and my most sincere apologies to anyone I mislead when I told them I would update soon. Please forgive me, I really did mean to but things happened, lost inspiration, forgetfulness, moves, death in the family, handwritten endings lost, two of them. I try to never lie but this undid me. It will never happen again!
I don't even know if anyone will remember or care about a story not updated in a decade but I've finally brought it to an end in one very long chapter after going through all the other chapters and fixing mistakes and making it all flow better hopefully. I dropped this for ten years because another author was writing something similar regarding Forge and maybe Marie I think. I felt it best to go in another direction only I couldn't! Please also forgive any mistakes because this is so done, not going over it again, and I'm so done after writing 28 pages and over 14,000 words for this final chapter plus getting angry with myself for ten years about not finishing the story and now thinking I could improve it. I just can't proof no more! :D
Chapter Eleven – The End
"Did you just say you're going back to the school?" Scott demanded when Logan told him he'd found Ororo.
They'd taken the Blackbird to Kenya and checked into the Hemingways Nairobi hotel where Kitty had determined Ororo was staying after she'd moved from another hotel in the capitol. Logan had gotten the concierge to give them her room number with the aid of three sharp claws under the frightened man's chin. She hadn't been in her room though and Logan had gone looking for her, disregarding Scott's insistence that they stick to his plan.
"What plan?" Logan had asked.
"I've got a plan," Scott had said quietly.
"I've got a plan too, I'm going to find her!" Logan had declared and Scott had seen that he couldn't stop him. But now Logan, after having found Ororo, was declaring, "We're going back!"
"That's out of the question," Scott said. "We came here to bring Ororo back and that's what I'm going to do!"
"She wants to stay," was Logan's flat response.
"She told you that?"
"Look, I'm going back."
"What did she say exactly?" Scott demanded impatiently.
Logan shook his head. Finding Ororo hadn't been too difficult. No one had her scent, nothing close. Trying to talk to her, on the other hand, had been difficult. After all, what could he say? Come back and be with me even though I'm marrying someone else now? He'd seen she was fine where she was, even looked content, and he'd known all he'd bring her was grief so the best thing he could've done was turn around and leave her alone. But he'd stayed, watching her, unable to go. Now as he thought of how to explain the encounter to Scott he didn't know if he'd even done the right thing. He didn't know what good Scott would be if he knew what had happened but he was feeling a little desperate. He wanted to stay but felt he should go. Stay, go, either way there'd be trouble most likely. Trouble he didn't need to bring to her. So in his desperation he told him what happened.
-xox-
Wow. That was the only word that came to mind as Logan stood looking out at the beautiful cloud filled sky of the so called Dark Continent. It was anything but dark or anything like he'd expected. The air wasn't humid, the temperature pleasant. More than that, the view was stupendous. He was standing on the restaurant terrace of what seemed to be a pretty swanky hotel not far from where they'd "parked" the Blackbird in stealth mode on dry grassland in the Oloolua nature trail area, but away from the trails. Now he took a seat at one of the tables, and watched the woman he'd come all the way from New York to check on. He'd felt consumed with the necessity of making sure Ororo was good but now that he'd found her he didn't know what to say. She looked content, smiling to a man dressed in black slacks a black vest and a white shirt. The man put his hand on her wrist then gave a little bow after a few moments conversation in a language Logan didn't understand.
"Asante sana," Ororo said to the man who smiled and left. Logan didn't know she was thanking him for his careful assistance and he briefly wondered if the man was staff what with the respectful way he'd treated her. She should be a queen, he thought, worshiped! He'd only just recently discovered that Ororo's mother was a princess and once again he realized how little he really knew her.
Logan shook his head as a waiter dressed in all black approached. He waved him off then turned his attention back to Ororo. She was standing by the railing looking out at the fountains. He didn't blame her, the hotel was beautiful. And huge. He'd actually been ferried around the grounds in a golf cart in his search for her. She belonged in a place like this but it wasn't his style. He thought of how different they were and yet he kept thinking of how perfect she was, well almost perfect. He had to smile as he remembered her somewhat standoffish, cold attitude with him at first. He thought of their dates, dinner, movies, paintball brought a frown but he thought of snow and Valentine's Day and kisses that had made him want her like no other woman he'd ever known.
They'd gotten close and he'd been happy, surprisingly. He was sure she'd been too. After all the things they'd gone through as individuals and as a team it had been a welcome relief to find a little bit of happiness. And there had been no strings! Ororo wasn't clingy or needy. She'd remained as independent and as carefree as always. In fact, she'd been so undemanding after they'd started getting along better that he now saw clearly that he'd allowed himself to take her for granted. She'd shown him her soft side and he wanted that woman back. So he'd taken Scott up on his offer, packed up, hopped in the Blackbird, and headed back to Africa.
While Scott had piloted the jet Logan had planned exactly what he'd do when he found Ororo. It was easy to imagine a sensible, not too sappy way of confessing that he was worried about her but when actually confronted with her, well now all he could do was stare, his mind a whirl. Ororo looked completely at home in a simple halter dress in a vibrant red fabric that showed off her trim, petite figure. Her white hair was loose and blowing freely in the wind and she was smiling so happily it made him wish she would only smile for him and no one else.
All he could do was plop down in a chair and stare. His stomach felt woozy, his throat dry, his palms damp – damn nerves! Like he was a kid! But despite feeling tongue tied he could look at her all day and not get tired. She was what he wanted in a woman – natural and enchanting, unpredictable and there for him. And he'd seen that there was wildness within her too, that if triggered it might match his own even though she tried to hide it.
"What brings you here, Logan?"
Her words startled him, breaking his reverie as she turned to him.
"Cat got your tongue?" she teased as she walked towards him. She came and stood over him, one hand deftly waving her loose locks out of her eyes, the other lightly grazing the back of his chair. She moved gracefully, every move whispered of femininity but also of strength – no wonder he felt tongue tied, he thought as desire welled within him.
"You shouldn't be alone," he found himself saying.
There was no hint of emotion that Ororo could catch. Normally she would have grown angry but instead she was amused and her head titled back slightly as her laughter sailed out.
"I'm not sure I want your company, Logan."
"You weren't so uncertain before," he said with a hint of annoyance.
"Things are . . . different now . . . here."
"How do you figure that, darlin'?"
"I'm where I need to be."
"Me too."
Hands that controlled the power of the very elements went to her shapely hips. He couldn't stop his lips from curling upwards even as she glared at him.
"What am I going to do with you?" she said in mock frustration because his words were too tempting, too much needed, and she refused to let him get to her again.
He wanted to tell her what she could do with him – he had all kinds of suggestions – most of them involving his hotel room but sex was only part of what he wanted. A tidal wave of emotions were ready to leap forth, deep emotions he couldn't bring himself to quite let out yet, if ever, because he knew if he did that his admittance, his acceptance of how he felt, would seal his – their – fate for better or worst and so he reigned them in. Visions danced before him like heatwaves on the horizon, visions that had taunted him for too long. He'd never been sure what was real and what wasn't with his lost memories. Did he really know what love was and was it worth it, risking his heart and Ororo's? He literally gulped, suddenly unsure. What was he doing there? What had he hoped to accomplish?
"Where are you off to now?" Ororo demanded when he pushed his chair from the table and got up.
"Don't know," he said, "miscalculated I guess." He looked at her and waited.
Annoyance flashed over her face briefly then was quickly replaced with indifference. He wanted her to say something that would make things right or at least help him out. Only, despite the way she felt whenever he was near, she wasn't going to tell him how she felt. She'd had a lot of time to think. She'd decided she'd over reacted, that their growing closeness had made her feel as if she were falling for him but it was only the situation they'd been in, the so called engagement, the fight with Forge, the loss of her child and Logan being there for her. She didn't need him to take care of her now, she needed to take care of herself. Letting her feelings for Logan go was the only sane thing she could do.
Logan wiped sweat from his forehead then wiped the sweat off onto his jeans. It was hotter than he'd thought. But he was ice cold. Fear settled unpleasantly within him. And when she continued to say nothing he strode through the terrace and into the restaurant and he didn't look back. It was a mistake that, not looking back, not going back. But he decided this wasn't the time. He'd come after her and that should've been enough for her. She should have been thankful, met him with open arms, but she'd just been her old carefree, indifferent self. The hell with that!
Though Logan didn't tell Scott this, he'd continued stubbornly to his room insisting that he had no regrets about his decision. He'd made an effort, she hadn't. If she didn't want his help, if she didn't want to meet him halfway, well, that was her loss. She'd come to her senses after a while because what could she do in Kenya? Like she was really going to meet another man there! Not Miss high and mighty Storm! Not if she acted the way she had with him! His smug thoughts gave him bitter satisfaction.
-xox-
"I don't know why I'm surprised but you're a total idiot! The plan was to bring Ororo back, not to soothe your ego!" Scott said, shaking his head after Logan told his brief story but leaving out his inner thoughts.
"Soothe my ego?"
Scott ignored Logan as he pulled out his phone and started texting. Logan stood there staring at him realizing just how true Scott's words were.
"Hmm," Scott murmured as he looked up from his phone. "Jubilee agrees with me – you're a dick she texted." There was a cocky smile of satisfaction on Scott's face for a moment but then he was back to business. "I don't have time for this," he said, "I'm going to find Ororo and why don't you try getting back to the school without being discovered that you left the States illegally." And he walked off leaving a very flustered Logan standing by himself feeling very much the fool.
-xox-
There were days when Ororo barely understood herself so she never attempted to understand Logan. Complicated people you simply accepted and enjoyed if at all possible. And she had learned to enjoy Logan. But as he walked away from her she saw that she had enjoyed herself too much with him. She reached for the chair he'd so recently vacated. Dizzy, needing steadying, feeling lost. The seat, still impressed with his warmth, was solid, real, something to hold on to. She wanted to call after him – don't go, don't leave me! But she didn't. Why should she? It was clear he didn't feel as she did, that he didn't want her or need her. Well so what? Let him go!
She would forget him. Somehow. She'd tried hard to do just that for a week and now confronted with him she was undone. Memories rushed back. Damn memories! They just had a way of not letting go. The past always nibbles at the perimeter of one's mind. The good and bad, what might have been, the changes one might have made – hindsight. She already missed the X-Men, her family. Now she felt she would drown in agonizing longing for a man who had to care for her to some extent if he'd come looking for her but a man who was getting married to someone else now. Why did memories have to be such burdens? She didn't want to think at all. She wanted to soar skyward. And so she did, heedless of the waiter who was sitting idly at a table wondering what the white foreigner was to the returned goddess.
She flew without thought. Don't think, don't think, she kept telling herself. She refused to acknowledge what they had just done to each other, likely putting to rest forever any possibilities of what they might have shared. His fault, she told herself, he never told me, never confessed anything never showed the slightest interest of wanting anything more than kisses – sex. He had no right to – to what? To come to her as a friend, to be there for her? But she'd wanted to do this on her own. He should understand. Why did he have to ruin it by coming there, putting doubts in her head then leaving with only a few mumbled words? To seek him out now would be a mistake. They could only be friends. He had Callisto.
Finally she sunk slowly to the ground so that she sat, legs crossed, her face in her hands as if to cover her emotions like a shield, wishing she could shield herself from her memories. Blue skies slowly darkened as she fought for control. She saw Logan moving to lie on top of her there on her hospital bed. It had been she who had started the kiss, she who had urged him on, but she'd seen the depth of his need so clearly in those brown eyes. She smiled as she remembered their misunderstanding when he broke the vase of flower's he'd given her, their intimate moment lost. So many interruptions. Logan had wanted to talk but Scott had interrupted. His interruption had destroyed her. She was free of Logan because his friend Callisto had come to his rescue.
Had Logan thought that little of her that he'd just asked someone else to marry him when they'd been actually planning to get married? She bemoaned the fact that he'd never spoken all that she thought was plain to see. He hadn't spoken because she'd seen what she'd wanted to see. He wasn't in love with her. When had their mock relationship turned into something more for her at least? Paintball, when she kissed him? Why was she, why were they so afraid to admit the truth of what they'd had? When had she become a coward?
When she returned to the hotel she'd decided they'd talk. They'd laugh at their silliness, nothing more than a misunderstanding. He'd chide her and she'd pretend to still be angry and then he'd take her in his arms, press her close, so close she could feel the hairs on his arms rubbing against her, feel puffs of his breath tickle her neck as he breathed in the scent of her hair the way he always did. She smiled at the concierge. She'd been afraid before but now she would face that fear head on.
"Is everything okay, Miss?" the front desk attendant asked as she approached.
She nodded knowing she must look frantic even though she was fighting to stay calm. She took a deep breath then requested that he ring Logan's room.
He shook his head after looking on his computer for a minute. "It seems Mr. Logan is gone."
Ororo's stomach dropped. She tried to speak and nothing came out. Gone? Why hadn't he just said he wasn't answering?
"Is there anything else I can help you with, miss?"
"Did – did he say when he would be back?" was her desperate question.
"He checked out an hour ago, I don't think he's coming back, Miss."
An hour ago? Her stomach churned miserably. But surely he'd left word – a letter, a note? But no, there was no message, no trace that he'd even been there much less thought of her.
She smiled a fake, empty smile that belied the turmoil within her. So, they were both cowards. Then, impetuously, she boldly demanded to know what room he'd been in. His room was one floor above hers and housekeeping was just finishing when she got there. The woman cleaning the room knew her as many did in Kenya. She kindly let Ororo in when she explained that her friend had just left and she wanted to be sure he hadn't left anything. Once alone in the room she walked to the bed. She placed her hand on it, where he would have slept, but unlike the chair he'd vacated earlier it held no warmth. There was nothing in this room that held a shred of Logan's presence, not a forgotten comb or a used towel crumpled in some corner. He'd come seeking her and left without accomplishing anything – as if a dream lost when woken.
She could catch him. There might still be time. But she hesitated. Ultimately she couldn't help him any more than he could help her. He knew it as much as she did. What more could they do? So she did nothing. She would have to put all thoughts of Logan from her mind again. She would, she thought, even as she laid down on the bed he'd deserted without sleeping in, her nose deep within the pillow hoping for the slightest scent of soap and cigarettes, any tiny trace of him.
-xox-
"So, you and this Logan were actually going to get married?" asked a handsome, tall, dark, brown man with a distinct, clipped accent.
"It was a temporary solution, T'Challa," Ororo said to her old friend.
"Just going to get married – just like that?"
Ororo shrugged her shoulders. Her old friend had called her when she'd been at the Sarova Stanley hotel in Nairobi and urged her to meet him at the Hemingways Nairobi hotel in a quieter setting just outside the capitol. He'd arranged for her room then flown in to meet her. Word that the 'goddess' had returned to Kenya had spread quickly. Even now some of the people would move aside and give a small bow when they saw her. It had never been fulfilling, that part of helping her people, and now it was even less so. It brought back so many memories – too many. She remembered first meeting T'Challa, quickly dismissed the memory since it wasn't under good circumstances, and marveled that even though they seldom saw each other that whenever their paths crossed they always seemed to pick up where they'd left off. They had an easy going friendship which didn't seem possible and yet with him she felt at home. And she felt good.
Still, she suddenly smiled unconsciously as she thought of another man that she felt that comfortable with and yet barely knew. She recalled the way Logan had always been there for her, carrying her in his arms, moving in with her, wanting to raise her child with her. She remembered dancing in his arms, he'd danced so surprisingly smooth there in the snow off the terrace. But beating him in paint ball had been the most fun she decided. Her smile was full blown as she remembered the few kisses they'd shared, chaste, passionate, his solid body molded to hers. She had no memories like that with T'Challa but maybe that was a good thing.
"You were really going to marry him when you didn't even love the man?" T'Challa asked again, still confounded by the story she'd just told him.
She had no answer. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to admit the truth. People hide from it. They fear it. Yes, she'd planned to marry Logan and with no expectations. At first she'd suspected that Logan was in love with Jean since he'd wanted her for so long but that hadn't affected her. She didn't care. At first. Then she'd found happiness with him and had been surprised and satisfied with that. But Jean had admitted her conflicted and very jealous feelings. Ororo had told her to sleep with Logan, thinking that might get it out of both their systems. When Jean had said she just might that had hurt. And then Callisto came into the picture. She'd been hurt, angry, in denial.
A week away she'd managed to dismiss her feelings. She even believed she'd succeeded for a while. Believing otherwise meant that she would be hurt and she, like everyone else, didn't want to be hurt. But she'd been hurt and was doubly hurt now. She'd let down her defenses. She'd been a fool.
"So, is this Logan coming back?"
"Hmm? Oh, no he isn't. He's gone. And I don't want to talk about him any more. It's obvious I'm not marrying him."
"So, what must a man do to get a date with a beautiful woman like you – ask you to marry him?" He inquired and laughed, greatly amused.
"T'Challa," she chided.
"Okay, I will try to stop making fun but it is amusing. Really, what does a man have to do to get you to go out with him?"
"Ask?" she said and so he did. And she accepted. Why not? Logan wasn't coming back, she'd fairly ran him off. She couldn't stop living because she was in love with a man who would soon have a wife whether for convenience or any other reason. So she decided to move on as she presumed he would for what choice did they have?
-xox-
Ten years had passed since Ororo had made that decision. She would have never guessed that her mother's country would become her own country much less her family's. She was now head mistress of a large school that she and her family called home in Africa but not in Kenya. She'd settled in the nation of Wakanda. She studied her daughters now as they clamored for her to tell them how she'd met their father so that they could be born. They were three and five and both thought they knew everything. They were the best thing that had ever happened to her.
"You don't know the story but I do," the oldest girl told her little sister.
"That's not fair!" balked the littlest one.
Ororo sighed. But Forge, who was standing next to her and Scott, laughed. Mostly because Ororo was trying hard not to roll her eyes, something she'd long vowed that she'd never do in front of her children, and he knew she was struggling.
Scott put an arm around her and kissed her on the cheek. "I saved the princess," he said.
"I think it's a little more than that though you did gallantly come to my rescue," Ororo said and pecked him on the lips.
Scott grinned. "it's a fun story, kids."
"Yeah, lots of fun," Logan said sourly as he stood in the doorway looking at the little family.
"Well, you're late," Forge said as a little red head girl rushed past Logan and threw herself into the midst of Ororo's girls.
"Rachel!" the girls squealed as they hugged her.
"No running, Rae. Hi everyone," Jean said as she passed Logan and came in, the four year old child a duplicate of the pretty red head except she had brown eyes instead of her mother's green.
Callisto followed Jean in but stopped beside Logan and linked an arm through one of his.
"You going to tell them the story again, Ro?" Logan asked.
"I thought you hated the story as much as me!" Forge exclaimed.
"I don't hold grudges, Forge," Logan said, looking at Ororo.
"What story?" Callisto asked.
"How we all got together I guess," Ororo replied.
"Oh!" Jean laughed. "It is funny."
"I want to hear it!" Rachel said.
"The girls love the story and so do I," T'Challa said from the doorway and when Logan and Cal moved aside for him he held out his arms and Ororo went to him and hugged him.
"How's my love doing?" he asked.
"I missed you," Ororo said when she let him go.
"So, I see I'm just in time to hear the story to end all stories," T'Challa said with a laugh. "Would you like me to tell the girls how I asked you to marry me, my love?"
Ororo swatted at him playfully and he laughed again.
"But, my love I really do enjoy the story, please tell us and I promise I will be on my very best behavior," he said, dodging her blows.
"Well, in the end all was forgiven and everyone lived happily ever after despite our differences which makes up for the – well, everything I guess," she said.
"Even fighting side by side in the fight for mutant rights, not only here in Africa but in America and all around the world," Jean said.
"And made this school to help mutant children just like grandpa Charlie!" piped up her oldest.
"And we're going to be X-Men one day too!" trilled her youngest.
"I wish Jubilee and Kitty and Marie were here to tell their part. Weren't they supposed to fly out with you, T'Challa?" Ororo said but the king shook his head.
Scott, however, smacked himself on the forehead. "I forgot to tell you but the Pep Squad's holding down the fort in Salem for another week. They'll fly out next weekend with the Professor. With the student's gone for the summer they're cleaning up and throwing a dinner party for Charles – more plotting I'm guessing," Scott said, sure he was right.
And he was because the Pep Squad hadn't learned their lesson despite the heartache they had inadvertently caused Ororo and Logan. Jubilee and Marie, with a little help from Bobby, were working on the Professor and a woman they knew he liked plus they were always working to get Kitty and Peter together for good. This time they were sure Peter was going to propose with their latest plan which was to make him jealous at the party they were planning. They'd invited Peter Quill of the intergalactic Guardian's of the Galaxy because they'd calculated that his lady's man charm, good looks, and the fact that Kitty had a thing for men named Peter just might get to Kitty and thus open Colossus's eyes as to what he was going to miss if he didn't act soon. Scott preferred not to know. But Jean still had her book of wedding ideas ready and it had been quite useful to the Pep Squad.
Marie had been cured by Forge after his part in Logan and Ororo's break up and he had even fixed what he'd started with Logan. The men had let by gones be just that especially because Logan saw that Marie was happier without her power. She'd led a normal life although she hadn't gotten back with Bobby. She'd met a new teacher at the school a year later, a friend of Ororo's, one Remy LeBeau, older, which Marie seemed attracted to, extremely roguish, quite handsome and fun. After she'd graduated from college they'd started dating and soon after got married. She'd chosen to stay at the school and become a teacher like her husband and Jubilee and Kitty and Bobby. Now she and Remy were expecting a baby by summer's end.
Jubilee and Bobby were to be the godparents. The unexpected pair had actually started dating to everyone's surprise. It had started through texts, commiserating and even plotting together. Soon she was playing his favorite video games with him when they weren't texting each other and after that, they just fell in love. They'd been nearly inseparable before college and despite the Professor's objection they got married as sophomores. They'd both gotten jobs and supported themselves without aid, aside from school loans, and marriage hadn't affected their grades. They'd worked hard but they were happier and so Charles finally gave them his belated blessing with a little financial aid to ease their burden. They were a good team.
Kitty and Peter were a good team as well and they had dated eventually too. Everyone had seen that they were made for each other but the road had been bumpy and they broke up and made up a lot. She'd dated a few guys in between break ups and Peter had dated a few girls. They were together now, he'd recently proposed but they hadn't told anyone. Kitty was thinking it over. If the girls were throwing a monkey wrench into the mix with their meddling dinner party it was anyone's guess.
Over all Ororo was right though. They had pretty much lived happily ever after, aside from evil mutants, the usual villains and trials a mutant had to learn how to deal with. Oh, and John had gone to the dark side, unfortunately, and run off to fight humans and supposedly for mutant rights with Magneto and his brotherhood of evil mutants.
"Can everyone stop talking and tell us the story! I want to know how mommy and daddy got married!" Rachel cried in the blunt innocent way of children.
"I can tell you how that happened, your daddy came to his senses and grew some . . ."
"Logan!" Jean shrieked.
Logan chuckled as he came to stand beside Ororo. He slung an arm over her shoulders. "Miss me too, darlin'?" he asked.
"I always miss my best friend," she replied.
"You're just stalling, Logan," T'Challa said and Callisto laughed.
"He's got reason to," Cal said, thinking what an idiot Logan had been to let the woman he really loved and still loved slip through his fingers. But she was glad it had all happened because it had worked out for her and she'd been able to be with the man that she really loved.
"Please, please tell us, mommy!" Ororo's youngest pleaded.
"Alright, alright," Ororo said with a sigh. And so she told them the tale because it really wasn't as bad as she sometimes thought it was. And although it wasn't a story to end all stories, it had an ending that led to beautiful beginnings. Things had worked out in the end even if not exactly how everyone imagined it would. Life was pretty good and she was, well she couldn't have been happier.
-xox-
After Logan had taken his bag and left Scott had tried Ororo's room several times but she hadn't been there. He didn't have a clue where she was any more than he knew where Logan was. He didn't know what Logan was going to do, how he was going to get through airport security with his adamantium skeleton or get back into the country or to the school but then he didn't care. Ororo was his priority and frankly he felt she was better off without Logan.
When he tried once more to see if Ororo was in he stopped short. Two beautiful, bald, brown skinned women were standing on either side of the closed door. They looked oddly intimidating as they stepped in front of the door as one, shoulder to shoulder, barring entry.
"Uh . . . uh . . . I'm . . . here to see Ororo – I thought this was her room?" Scott said.
"The occupants of this room are occupied," one of the women said.
Scott glanced at the room number again. "Who are you?" he asked.
"We are Dora Milaje, the protectors of our king."
"What?"
"Our King is visiting an old friend," the other woman said. "When he is finished then you may see if the daughter of the princess will see you."
"Wh-what're you talking about?"
"Hey, what's going on?" Logan said as he came up to them.
"I don't really know. Thought you were leaving?"
Logan frowned but declined to comment.
"Look, I don't know who you are, er, Miss Milaje's, and I don't know who your king is but I know Ororo's the princess you're talking about and she'll want to see me."
"Us, she'll want to see us," Logan said, hoping she wasn't mad at him.
"I have to see her," Scott said with a sigh as he prepared to put plan B into action.
"When the king is finished you may see her if she wishes to see you."
"Look, I'm going to marry her and I'm not going to wait!" Scott shouted.
Everyone looked at him. And then a dark chocolate skinned man wearing what looked to be the briefest of briefs came to the door.
"What is going on? We are busy," he said in his precise, clipped accent that befitted one of royalty as he held the door so they couldn't see into the room.
"Who the hell are you?" Logan barked.
"I am the King of Wakanda, and who are you supposed to be?" T'Challa said with all his dignity.
"We are sorry for the disturbance," one of the Dora Milaje apologized.
T'Challa raised is hand and bowed his head briefly. "It is nothing," he said, looking at the men.
"I think we have the wrong room," Scott said.
"No we don't, she's in there, I can smell her . . . on him," Logan said.
"Oh! Then you are Wolverine! Of course. Ororo told me about you and what you put her through as well. You are certainly welcome to come in although my love may not be dressed . . ."
Logan shoved past the king and pushed the door open, however, he stopped in his tracks. Ororo was sitting on the bed looking at her phone but she was wearing only her bra and panties and he couldn't think or speak.
"Logan!" she cried as she looked up at the intrusion.
"I believe you will need to give my love a few minutes to make herself decent," the king said and firmly pulled Logan from the room.
"Wh . . . ?" Logan gasped as the door shut in their faces.
Scott was as flabbergasted as Logan.
Shortly the door opened and T'Challa let them in. The Dora Milaje resumed their position on either side of the door, passing a brief look of curiosity between them. Ororo was standing by the bed wearing a white robe now.
"I've come for you, Storm," Scott said as he hurried to her.
"Oh! Scott!" Ororo cried as Scott hugged her tight then lifted her into the air.
Logan frowned as he watched. He'd never seen Scott show much emotion even with Jean, except to kiss her in front of him like a kid showing off. And who was this so called king with Ororo? And why were they almost naked?
"I've come to bring you back, Ororo," Scott said when he let her go. "Everything's going to be okay. I'm going to make everything right. I'm going to take care of you from now on, the way I should have from the beginning." And he ended his declaration with a sweet kiss to Ororo's forehead.
"Oh," was all Ororo could manage.
"Ororo, I have something important to ask you," he said and he dropped to his knees before her.
Both Ororo and Logan watched dumbfounded as Scott pulled out a small box from his front pant pocket.
"Will you marry me, Ororo?" Scott asked and he opened the box and held it out to her.
"What?" Logan yelled.
"It's the only way, Logan," Scott said without bothering to look at his rival. "I'll take care of you and love you, Ororo – I've – I've always loved you and Jean knows, she's okay with this. We both love you and want you back where you belong, with us – with me I mean – marry me."
"But, Scott . . ."
"You may be too late for I would like to ask Ororo to marry me! Say yes my love!" the handsome king said with a charming smile.
"T'Challa!" Ororo cried.
The king smiled and shrugged his shoulders but said, "If a husband you need then I can be that husband. It is up to you my love but know this, as my wife you could travel anywhere without concern, even return to the States for no country can deport or detain a queen."
"Who the hell is this guy?" Logan burst out.
"We are forgetting our manners," said the king. "Won't you introduce me to your friends my love?"
Ororo frowned but said, "Logan, Scott – please get up Scott – this is T'Challa. He's an . . . old friend."
"T'Challa? T'Chalka's son, right – king of Wakanda," Logan muttered as he remembered the assassination of T'Challa's father some time ago.
"You are well informed I see."
"So you two know each other long?" Logan demanded.
"Since we were children, in fact, she saved my life."
"It's a long, boring story," Ororo said.
"Ororo hates stories of her past. She doesn't like to dwell on old memories," T'Challa informed them.
Ororo sighed. "We only knew each other for a little while," she said.
"Ah, sadly she left me. But we've run into each other here and there, once at Luke Cage's I believe – Power Man, you may have heard of him. Where were we my love? Harlem I think – right! You were with Misty Knight that day as I recall. But never mind that; as it is, I've kept tabs on my love over the years so that when I heard she was back in Kenya . . ."
"That why you were there for her when she lost the baby?" Logan bluntly asked.
"Logan!" Ororo exclaimed.
"What, Ro? It's the truth! I call it like I see it."
"I am here to help her now," T'Challa said firmly, even a little angrily. "I have arranged for her to stay here in one of the finest hotels Kenya has to offer. It is peaceful here, away from the noisy city capitol, and here she has her own butler to see to every need. And I will make sure she gets the rest that she needs."
Logan saw why T'Challa's temper had flared. He'd seen by the brief look of surprise on the king's face when he'd mentioned the miscarriage that he hadn't known. He couldn't help smirking at the king. King he might be but Ororo obviously wasn't confiding everything to him.
"Well, it's good to meet you, uh, your majesty – I don't really know what to call you," Scott said. "I realize we both want to help Ororo but she belongs with her family and that's in New York so you have to marry me, Ororo," he said, frowning because neither Plan A, getting Logan jealous, which had long failed, or Plan B or Plan C included Ororo marrying a king and living happily ever after as queen of her own country!
Scott took her hand in his then turned to face Logan. "It's the only way for Ororo to return home, both of you know it," he said, now turning to the king. "I don't know what's going on here with you two but I'm her family and I'm bringing her back where she belongs."
"Very gallant certainly sir but Ororo and I are old friends and she is very important to me. Her happiness means a lot to me as well."
"Come home where you belong, Ororo, that's what you really want, that's what will make you – us happy," Scott said.
Logan cursed under his breath. He'd come back because he hadn't been able to leave Ororo. Maybe he couldn't help her any more than she could help him but he just couldn't go without at least talking to her, really talking to her. Even if he didn't know what there was to say. Now, how was he going to compete with a king? They were already in the sack together and she wasn't even supposed to have sex by Jean's orders! Why would she sleep with this guy and not him? And when did Scott have time to get a ring? For that matter when had he decided he loved Ororo instead of Jean and loved her enough to marry her? And how could she want to marry anyone just like that, out of the blue? His thoughts stalled. Duh, he thought and his face clearly showed his line of thinking. She was going to marry an old friend, whether Scott or the king, just like he was going to marry Cal, he realized. So how did any of this concern him? It didn't. She could do what she wanted. He had no say in it because he couldn't help her even though he desperately wished he could. He nodded to himself as he came to a decision.
"Good luck," he said and he strode out of the room. But his thoughts were a whirl. She's mine, I'll kill him, kill them both! But he forced himself to keep walking. Scott was right. Logan couldn't help her. But Scott could. Or the king.
"Oh, Logan," Ororo whispered as she watched him go.
"Ororo, we can make this work," Scott said as he took her in his arms. "You love me just as much as I love you and we get along great . . ."
"I love you like a brother, Scott!" she said, pulling away from him.
"And I love you like a sister, Ororo but this is the only way we can get you back. We'll go along with this just like you and Logan were going to, for a year or two at tops, just long enough to make everyone believe it. Jean understands."
But Ororo knew it would be nothing like her and Logan. She'd fallen in love with Logan and she'd hoped that he might be able to love her. But there was still Callisto. She had changed everything.
"Does everyone know about your ruse of a marriage then?" T'Challa asked with a laugh.
"T'Challa, I wish you hadn't butted in, calling me 'my love' and acting as if there was something going on between us," Ororo said.
The king laughed again. "And yet you did nothing to dissuade me and so I couldn't help myself, Ororo. But, I believe he got what he so justly deserved."
"What're you talking about?" Scott asked, confused.
"Ororo may be a little upset because I continue to tease her over her pretend engagement to that fellow. But she told me what her situation is and I have asked her to come to my country for holiday, to rest and to take some time to deliberate as to her next course of action. She said yes to a holiday with me, we leave in a week, but apparently no to marriage to me, although if I get down on one knee, my love perhaps then . . . ?" The king broke off and started laughing.
Ororo smacked him on the chest but the king continued laughing.
"Er . . . uh . . . why don't you tell me what's going on here, Ororo? You're not going to marry him are you?"
"Scott, nothing is going on except that T'Challa has a poor sense of humor and seems to have no regard for friend's feelings."
"Now that is not fair, Ororo! But you must admit his plan was . . . intriguing at best and could never have worked. Or certainly I would expect the American government would not be that gullible."
"I would appreciate it if you'd keep your opinions to yourself," Ororo said.
"Was I . . . uh, interrupting anything between you two?" Scott asked, wondering at their easy camaraderie and remembering they had been nearly naked.
Ororo laughed. "We were just going for a swim. I guess it did look a little misleading." She wished she'd been mislead when she'd walked in on a very naked Callisto and a half dressed Logan. She'd tried not to remember that. She'd never felt so hurt and angry before. She'd been so hurt she'd wanted to hurt him too and had even thought of getting back with Forge after spending some time in Kenya. That was before she'd known she couldn't remain in America. Maybe that was for the better, she thought, too many memories, too much heartbreak. Just let him go! Forget him!
"A swim?" Scott asked as he took a better look at T'Challa and saw he wasn't half dressed but indeed just wearing a speedo. He had to chuckle at his assumption.
T'Challa chuckled too. "I knew he would think we were, er . . . well, I believe he did indeed get the wrong impression which was my intent."
"I don't understand," Scott said.
"When we assume . . ."
"Oh. Yeah, right," Scott muttered as he realized Logan had jumped to the same assumption he had. "Then you wanted him to think you and Ororo were having . . . well, uh, having an affair?"
T'Challa chuckled as Scott floundered. "Very astute. You are Cyclops, the leader of the X-Men, correct?"
Scott nodded. "I've heard of you of course, as the Black Panther, an Avenger, right?"
T'Challa nodded in return.
"Well, Black Panther, I've got a lot to talk to Ororo about, do you mind giving us just a few minutes?"
"Ororo?" T'Challa sought her permission with a wry grin.
She shook her head. "There's no need to. This is ridiculous, Scott."
"No, it isn't. We respect each other, we enjoy each other," Scott insisted.
"But what about you and Jean?"
"You mean what about Logan and Jean – them getting together in the meantime," he stated flatly.
Ororo looked away because that was exactly what she had meant even though she truly believed Logan wasn't in love with Jean any more. She suddenly felt ashamed.
"They won't," Scott said.
"They won't," she whispered, as if attempting to convince herself.
"No. No, they won't," Scott reasserted determinedly. "We'll both be there to make sure that never happens."
She looked at him then and they stared at each other, so clearly understanding his meaning.
"But we – you have to be at the school, Ororo, not here. Come back with me. Everything will work out. Trust me."
She bit her lower lip slightly then nodded but he saw the pain on her face. He drew her to him, leaned his head against hers and held on to her.
-xox-
That night none of the X-Men in Kenya slept and neither did the girls that Scott had labeled the Pep Club. Mostly because he kept texting the Pep Club, rejecting all of their advice since Plan A was a bust, Logan hadn't gotten jealous or at least not enough to act, and Plan B didn't seem to be working despite his true desire to marry Ororo to essentially save her. Jubilee, Kitty, and Rogue kept rejecting his ideas in turn. He was tired of letting kids run the show. Finally he dropped his phone on the bed, ran his hands through his hair, stretched, then turned over on his other side, ready to try to sleep. His phone buzzed and he rolled back over, glanced at it, saw Jean's picture pop up. He wondered how she could truly love him if she was so ready to let him marry Ororo. He'd ignored her calls earlier and he had no intention of picking up now. Let her think he was with Ororo right now, he thought angrily, and maybe then she'd know how it felt being unsure of the person you loved as jealousy ate you up. He had a sudden urge to go check on Ororo, maybe he'd tell Jean that's what he was doing!
Logan hadn't been able to stop his mind from racing and had found no peace in his new room. He'd wandered the grounds earlier, tried to accept what Scott had said after he'd proposed to Ororo in front of him and much to his shock. But he couldn't just let Ororo go. It should've been easy, it shouldn't have been a big deal. She'd agreed to marry him to help him out. He'd been okay with the decision, it was just a temporary arrangement. But something had happened. They'd finally began to connect. They understood each other, didn't have any expectations other than what was. She'd irritated him, intrigued him then enticed him and he'd fallen hard. He had tried not to fall for her but he knew he couldn't deny it anymore, he was crazy about her. And yet he had no right to hold onto her. But he still couldn't find it within him to let her go. Especially not so she could marry Scott or anyone else for that matter! And so he'd made his decision, to stay with her there. He would've gone anywhere she'd wanted but Scott had knocked him out cold with his out of the blue proposal, his annoying logic. Logan couldn't take her back home, the one place she wanted to be. And that hurt, like a knife twisting in his flesh kind of hurt only worse because he'd healed dozens of times from combat wounds. What he felt now, would the pain ever go away?
-xox-
Ororo wanted to cry. Why had Logan come back? To make sure she married Scott? Moonlight streamed through the windows in her room and she looked at the ring on her finger. Scott wanted her to go back in the morning and she'd almost agreed. He most likely assumed she would but she just wanted to run away. She never ran. You fought for what you wanted, dammit! You fought with your last breath, damn you, Logan! If it mattered, if you cared. It was so obvious he didn't. She thought of opening the window and taking flight, escaping somewhere safe. But where? If not here in Africa then where?
"I can never go back home," she whispered. She thought of all she'd lost, her baby, her teammates which were her family, her beloved job at the school, her entire life. And Logan. She'd never felt more alone or more pathetic or more miserable.
Soft knocking on her door startled her and for a moment she didn't know what to do. She didn't want to talk to Scott or T'Challa. She wanted to pull the covers over her head and ignore the world but instead she got up, slipped on a robe and house slippers then opened the door determined to tell whoever it was to leave her alone so she could think. She was shocked to see Logan standing there.
"We need to talk," he said.
Her face softened as happiness spread through her being and she nodded.
"Can we go somewhere?" he asked.
Again she nodded then closed the door. Logan stood there baffled but the door quickly opened again. "I-I just have to change, give me a minute," she said, smiling shyly.
Shortly she was back wearing a blue sweater over a white tee shirt with jeans and simple flats, her hair done up in a ponytail.
"Oh, wow, you look beautiful," he said because for some reason he felt she'd truly never looked more beautiful even as casually dressed as she was.
Once they were outside the hotel Logan stopped in front of a motorbike. He'd spent the better part of the afternoon wandering around Nairobi while feeling pretty low. But that had changed after being surrounded by a group of small children who chanted at him in a language he'd finally discovered was Swahili or Kiswahili. He had no idea what they were saying aside from 'Jambo' which he had figured out by then meant hello so he'd just kept saying Jambo back. That made them laugh as that wasn't the proper response although he didn't know. And when he doled out dollar bills until they ran out the children ran off, laughing even harder so that he'd laughed too, his mood lightened. The children hadn't been making fun of him he felt and in truth they'd only been calling him white man, white man as he'd wandered into a slum where perhaps missionaries were the only white people who ventured there. Later he'd bargained for the scooter, a plan forming in his mind. He'd heard something about possible violence due to the election and that it could be dangerous at night in Nairobi but he'd heard that about plenty of other countries and Ororo would be with him and really, she was a force unto herself.
"A boda boda!" Ororo exclaimed as she watched him get on the bike.
"Huh?"
"Boda boda, it's Swahili for motorbike." And she laughed. He grinned too then beckon to her. "Come on, this'll be our last date."
She looked at him, a little leery, her heart sinking at his words, but she climbed on behind him. Where they were going she didn't know or care as she held on to him. It was so good to be so close to him again! This was where she belonged, with him, her face pressed against his back, holding him, never letting go. If only he felt the same about being with her. But she tried not to think about that, just let the cool night breeze soothe her as they rode. She was home, under her beloved African skies and with Logan and for this one night that was enough.
Once in the city proper he found a suitable place to park the bike and they started walking in companionable silence and no destination. Logan was nervous though she couldn't tell. He'd changed his mind half a dozen times. He had a plan, he didn't have a plan, he didn't have a leg to stand on and he knew it. But he knew also, that he didn't want to go and he didn't want to lose Ororo. He took her hand in his as he thought this then pointed out some food vendors.
"Hungry?"
"Starving," she said and she was.
They got some street food after she showed him how to rinse his hands over a basin using the spigot of a somewhat rusted fifteen gallon metal drum of water. He watched how easily Ororo paid for the food, nyama choma, she told him. Expensive, he thought as she counted out five hundred shillings out of the money he'd held out to her. But she laughed when he asked if it would be worth the price and he laughed too when he found out it cost maybe eight dollars.
"This . . . is . . . delicious!" Logan said between bites, ecstatic over the meal of roasted meat, roasted meat, more roasted meat and roasted chicken which had been chopped up on a wooden board in front of them. He thought he tasted lamb and beef but wasn't sure what the other meat was except that it was indeed delicious and tasted familiar. The mystery meat he'd enjoyed was goat she told him later. The nyama choma was served with a pile of salt on the side and a pile of chilies, it had lots of fat and was a little chewy but hot and good. She told him that the ugali served with it was kind of a type of African bread made somewhat differently in different parts of the country. He thought it was like a sticky bread porridge almost and she just shrugged, supposing that was good a definition as any. Logan only knew that it was a meal so simple and perfect for him that it made him wonder that Ororo had chosen it. He'd thought the Burger Hut they'd passed earlier would've been their best bet but she'd really looked out for him, really knew him! Nairobi, Kenya was as full of surprises as Ororo was, he thought as he chewed.
They both ate hungrily. Neither had been able to eat earlier. Now they both felt more relaxed as they watched the crowd and enjoyed their meal. She'd easily known meat was Logan's favorite food after the time they'd spent together. She'd missed Kenyan food and was glad Logan had taken to it.
Music from somewhere started playing, maybe a passing matatu, she thought but couldn't pinpoint the source. People here and there began to dance on the sidewalk and after their meal and rinsing their hands Logan took her by the hand and they danced too. She laughed. He was surprisingly good at free style. She hadn't expected that. Her laughter was contagious and Logan laughed too. People stared at the couple, laughed, danced along, joining them. When the music stopped for a moment or passed on, he took her hand and they walked back to the motorbike.
She wondered that he'd known one of the best ways to get around Nairobi was by motorbike as they continued touring the city. Traffic was thick and erratic, cars, bicycles, small and large van type buses which were the matatus she'd seen earlier. They were covered with colorful graffiti and art, lit with LED lights and playing loud reggae style music, which Logan assumed was Kenyan music. All the vehicles seemed to wage war with each other as they zoomed along beside each other and headlong. She held on tight.
The hotel she was at was removed from the capitol as T'Challa had said, in the suburb of Karen, nothing like Nairobi. Nairobi was a place you had to see to believe. She wondered what Logan thought of it all. To her it was breathtaking and heart wrenching all at once. The shanties, slum villages, some open sewers still, such obvious poverty, the modern shopping centers, regal skyscrapers, luxury shops and five star hotels, houses behind iron bars and electric wires, the shabbiness and the beauty seeming to intertwine like a complicated puzzle. It reminded her why she had hesitated to leave Kenya when the Professor had found her and she realized that it was the same reason that had brought her back. She wanted to help.
Late into the night they left the city and when she saw they were headed back to the hotel she felt an ache in the pit of her stomach – their last date, she thought sadly. They'd be back soon and he'd tell her goodbye and she'd pretend he didn't matter to her and tell him to take care, be happy. And she'd never see him again because she would never go back to the school if he remained there married to Callisto. She wouldn't be able to stand it.
"Feels like decade's since we went out," Logan said as he parked in front of the hotel.
"Not that long, maybe a decade," she said and chuckled.
He smiled. It felt good to be together again despite all the uncertainties. He took her hand in his and they both smiled at each other.
"Let's go for a walk."
"Alright," she agreed.
But at that moment it began to rain. He sighed. Just when he thought things were going right, he thought. But in an instant the rain was gone. Just like that and he laughed when she winked at him.
"Shall we?" she said.
"You bet, darlin'!"
It was a pleasant cool night and their lingering made it all the richer. Ororo had forced herself not to sigh with contentment every time he'd held her hand. He didn't let go as they walked. They walked for a long time in silence and she began to wonder if he was lost. She stole a glance at him and saw he was looking at her which made her smile and she felt happier than she had all week.
He told her about the poor children that had chanted jambo at him and something else he couldn't remember.
She sighed. "Jambo means hello basically," she said.
"I kind of figured that out since it's the first thing everyone says to me," he replied.
"Well, you should say, 'Sijambo' whenever anyone says jambo to you, like saying hello back, just acknowledging their greeting. But you're right, Logan they were just street orphans, poor, needy, probably so lonely."
He saw the sadness on her face and his hand tightened over hers and she smiled at him which cheered him because he longed to make her happy always.
"Coming back here, seeing the poverty, the wealth, the disparity – it breaks my heart. I grew up as a street child in Egypt after I was orphaned. Those children could be me. I wish I could help them in some way."
He nodded because he'd felt that way about those kids too. He didn't have family, couldn't remember having a mother and father, siblings, cousins. He knew something of what she spoke of. His heart felt heavy and he felt a tightness in his throat and tried to not think. He didn't say anything because he couldn't speak just then as a wave of emotion washed over him.
After about twenty minutes she stopped, shocked, for there was a welcome sight. Looming ahead was the blackbird parked out on the grasslands for Logan had subtly removed the stealth mode with the remote that he'd pilfered from Scott's room.
He chuckled. "Thought we could maybe have dessert."
"Dessert?"
He nodded, serious. "Scott brought everything we need to make S'mores and I know how much you love chocolate, darlin."
She grinned, pleased that he'd remembered.
"Kind of damp though, to start a fire, looks like it rained out here. I didn't think it rained much here. This place isn't anything like I thought it was."
"No worries," she said.
"Hakuna matata!" he repeated her statement but in Swahili and he chuckled. It was the only Swahili that he knew but only because The Lion King was one of Marie's favorite movies and he'd actually given in once and watched it with her.
"You'll learn Swahili yet," Ororo said, smiling.
He doubted it but kept silent, letting her concentrate on summoning one of her warm, drying winds.
"You're good, darlin'," he said as he felt it warm up. The night had been surprisingly cool, cooler than he'd expected and he was just in a black tee shirt and black jeans.
"The best," she said, "remember that," she added because she couldn't help herself.
"Oh, I don't think I'll ever forget, darlin."
She felt herself weakening as her eyes teared over so she quickly went inside the jet where she pulled out a metal box then a rocket stove which they kept for emergencies.
"Perfect, Scott's boy scout training to the rescue," he said when he saw the box contained more than enough twigs and matches to get a fire started.
Once the ground was dry enough she spread out a blanket then got the stove going while he rummaged around in the back of the plane. He came back with the makings for their dessert and a liter of booze tucked under his arm. She eyed the bottle curiously.
"That's certainly not Scott's."
"Nope. It's fine Canadian whiskey, goes perfect with S'mores."
"S'mores and whiskey?"
"Yup."
"Did you bring glasses?"
He shook his head, twisted the cap which he tossed onto the blanket, and opened the bottle then held it out to her. "Who needs glasses? Go on, take a sip," he said.
She looked at the bottle then at him. He urged her on with an arched brow and a grin so she tilted the bottle and tasted the liquor.
"It's smooth," she said after a swallow. "I like it."
Logan was impressed. He'd half expected her to cough or choke but he realized he should never forget that she was a lady full of surprises. They sat down and soon they were roasting marshmallows and assembling S'mores.
"Mmm, these are surprisingly good with whiskey but why bring all of this? We keep emergency rations on board."
"We didn't exactly want anyone to know where we were going what with my status and yours." He paused, his mouth twisting slightly. "Scott told everyone we were going camping and I guess he thought bringing all this stuff made it look legit although I doubt anyone believed him."
She didn't say anything. They both knew if Immigration found out that he'd left the country he'd never be able to get back in. She laid down on the blanket and closed her eyes trying not to think. He looked up at the star filled sky then at her.
"I'm glad I came back. I'm glad you're here," she said, feeling his gaze upon her.
He was quiet for a moment then said, "I like it here."
She opened her eyes and smiled at the sky. For a time the silence of the night was peaceful and all cares seemed to be forgotten. She wished they could always be like this.
"Our last date," she murmured quietly.
He thought he heard her sob then knew he had and he pulled her to him and held her.
"You're not really going to marry Scott are you?" he asked as he caught the clean, natural scent of her hair. He couldn't help breathing in deeply, again reminded of how different she was than other women with their scented shampoos and perfumes.
She smiled, a sorrowful smile. Was that what she'd really have to do to go back and stay, just like him? Could she pretend to be happily married to her best friend's boyfriend while watching Logan married to another woman?
"I don't know, Logan. It's all so messed up. You and Cal, me and Scott. I guess we'll both do what we have to do in order to stay in the States."
"Look, Ro," Logan said as he drew back, "I've been thinking about this all day and all night, why don't we just stay here?"
"What?" She'd started to miss his arms around her but now she was so shocked she was certain she hadn't heard him right.
"We'll stay here, Ororo, just us. We could help those kids, maybe start an orphanage or something. Or maybe start a school like Charles's. Or we could go to Canada, where ever you want."
"What?"
"You want to help and so do I. Why can't we stay here and be together? I like it here, the food is great, the people are generous and there're giraffes you can see from the city! What's not to like, especially if we can help these kids and I know we can, darlin'!"
"I can't ask you to do that for me," she said quietly.
"You're not! I want to because I love you."
She caught her breath, stunned and overcome. He loved her!
"I want to get to know everything about you, how your mother's a princess or was, what happened to her and your father, how you were orphaned. I want to make you smile and give you peace. I want to make you happy and keep you safe. We'll do things right this time, Ro, and talk instead of jumping to conclusions like I did about you and T'Challa. I did jump to the wrong conclusion, didn't I?"
She smiled and nodded. "We were just getting ready to go swimming but what about you and Cal when I found you two together?" She had to know for sure.
"I love you, darlin', that was just Cal being Cal. I didn't even know Scott had put her in my room, I just found her there."
"But you were taking your shirt off!"
He laughed. "I was changing my shirt. I spent the night with you, remember? I wasn't going to shower there with her there like that so I just grabbed a clean shirt."
"Oh." She could believe that. It made sense. She did believe it.
And as if sensing her weakening Logan said, "I was stupid for not telling you all this before but you threw my clothes down and said you never wanted to marry me and, well, I guess I overreacted. I guess you got to me and I'm not used to that."
"Well, what did you think I'd think with you both so naked?"
He chuckled. "I guess I never thought about that. I only thought about how I felt. So let's make a pact that we'll never do that again."
She sucked at her bottom lip but said nothing.
"I want us to be together, here, Canada, anywhere."
Ororo looked at him in disbelief as he pulled out a small velvet ring box from his jean pocket and then got up on one knee.
"Will you marry me, darlin'?"
She still hadn't closed her mouth but she couldn't find it in her to say yes.
"I promise I won't be an asshole anymore and neither will you, okay?"
His heart stood still as he waited for her to nod or say something. But she just looked at the diamond ring in the failing moonlight.
"Okay, so am I jumping to another stupid conclusion then?" he asked as he stood up.
She looked up at him and slowly shook her head. But he didn't know what that meant. No he wasn't, no she wouldn't marry him, no he was crazy? He felt like an jerk.
"Logan, I'm a little tipsy but I'm still thinking clearly, I know you can handle your liquor but . . ."
"You love me," he said and when she started to speak he stated it again, "You love me, Ro."
"Alright, I do love you, Logan but to stay here or even moving to Canada, assuming I could even get a visa, you'd never see the children, our friends, all our students, and how would we even survive? How could we start a school or an orphanage? I have some savings but not enough for something like that."
"Well, I've got savings too but you know what, Ororo? You're making everything too damn complicated! Hell, you've got a king in your back pocket! I'm pretty sure he could use a little publicity and helping start an orphanage . . . well, however we get it going we can do it even if it's just you and me and it takes a decade or more."
"I like your idea. I think T'Challa would too."
"So?"
"I-I don't know. I don't know!"
He sighed, took her by both arms and said, "You do know. But I'll tell you. We'll get married, live here, get jobs, make new friends, have children here!" He pulled her into his arms now and kissed her and kept kissing her, making up for all the times he'd wanted to kiss her back at the school and hadn't.
And when they came up for air she leaned her head against his chest and sighed that contented sigh that she'd been holding onto half the night.
"Hakuna matata," he said firmly, now glad he'd watched that movie with Marie. Maybe Ororo was right and Swahili wouldn't be so hard to learn.
"So then we're going to get married," she said.
"And have a mess of kids of our own."
"And we're not going to care if we ever go back?"
"No."
"You're sure? I mean, what about Marie and . . . they'll all miss you."
"They can visit, we can visit – eventually. Except Scott. If he tries to kiss you again I'll have to kill him, you know that."
She laughed. "You're really sure you want to do this, Logan? It's not the Canadian whiskey talking?"
"There you go making things complicated again!" He grinned.
"I am aren't I? Alright. I'll try not to from now on."
He took her hand in his and she let him take off the ring Scott had given her. He stuffed it in a pocket then he slid his ring on her finger.
"It fits," she squealed, pleased. Scott's had been a little loose because he'd bought it for Jean years ago and her fingers were a little larger than Ororo's. Scott thought that it had certainly come in handy since he hadn't found the right moment to pop the question or worked up the courage to ask Jean to marry him.
"Maybe it's not as big as Summer's . . ."
"It's beautiful, Logan," Ororo said and hugged him. The diamond wasn't as large as Scott's as Logan had said but to her it truly was beautiful.
He took up the bottle, raised it high and said, in jest, "To Mr. and Mrs. Wolverine!"
She broke out laughing. "Oh, no, Logan that's too funny. But it does make me wonder – what is your last name?"
He shrugged then grinned and raised the bottle again. "To Mr. and Mrs. Munroe!"
She laughed again. He took a drink and was glad to see she was so happy and that she eagerly reached for the bottle in turn and took a sip.
"To us," she said and really couldn't have been happier sitting beside her husband to be, there under the African skies and Canadian whiskey burning in her throat.
-xox-
"And after that, that's how daddy married mommy!" Rachel said as she ran over and hugged Logan's knees.
"No, Rae," Logan said, patting the top of her head. "But kind of."
"I guess you could say that when I asked Ororo to marry me and had to work so hard to make her say yes, it was good practice for me to finally ask your mother to marry me when I got back," Scott said, holding is arms out to Rae who ran to him.
"And mommy didn't mind that Auntie Ro wore her ring first," Rae said.
"Maybe just a little," Jean admitted as she went up to Logan and put an arm around him.
"But we all lived happy ever after – you said we did, Auntie Jeanie," Ororo's oldest insisted.
"Well, not quite," Forge said. "I had a part to play in that. I'm not proud of what I did but . . ."
"You made everything right, mommy says so, uncle Forge," Ororo's youngest said.
"He did," Ororo confirmed.
"But, that's the best part," Cal teased.
"It's boring, isn't it pumpkin?" Logan said as he picked up his little girl who smiled and shrugged her little shoulders.
"I like to skip over that part," Ororo admitted.
"Well, we all know it," Jean said. "Your daddy got very sick and Ororo thought it was malaria somehow at first but it was his healing factor that Forge had . . . um . . . hijacked. But Forge flew to Kenya to make him better even though he also wanted to marry your mother."
"But he soon found out that he would have been struck down by lightning if he didn't help, so he did the right thing after he saw your mother truly loved your father. Plus, you don't mess around with your mother," T'Challa added and winked at Ororo who, despite her vow, rolled her eyes although everyone there knew she would've followed through with her threat. And even Forge knew what would happen to him when struck by lightning, just like anything else struck by lightning. But that part was one of the things Ororo didn't like to remember about the story.
"We're all here now, whole and healthy and that's all that matters," she said.
"But I loved it when you told me how Scott reacted when you told him you were going to get married and stay in Kenya," Jean said.
"Well, after I got over my shock that the Pep Squad's plan had backfired I did finally ask you to marry me at least, honey," Scott said and he put an arm around her.
"Yay!" Rachel squealed and hugged both her parents legs.
"It would've been a little awkward going through with the wedding that Jean had planned if I were marrying you, Scott but I think that was the sweetest thing you ever did for me," Ororo said.
"He was so afraid of telling me too because he knew I wanted your wedding to be perfect," Jean said with a laugh.
"Because I know you, Jean! Tell me you weren't upset? That's one of the reasons why I had to propose, so your efforts wouldn't be wasted!" Scott said, half teasing but half serious too.
Logan, who hadn't made any vows except to honor and to be faithful, forsaking all others, and to love Ororo always no matter what, rolled his eyes, having made no vow not to do so in front of his girls. He and Scott had never grown close and probably never would but then they lived a continent away usually.
"Now that's the sweetest thing a man's ever done for me, married me so my efforts weren't wasted," Jean said and giggled.
"And the sweetest thing Forge ever did for me was stop playing bad boy and admit his crime and heal Logan. Who knew we would get hitched after all that and start our own school for the Morlocks?" Cal said as she slipped into Forge's embrace.
"You were jealous of Marie."
"I was not!"
"If you say so, dear."
"Humph!"
T'Challa sighed. "So it would indeed seem that everyone lived happily ever after, all that is except the king."
"Only princesses live happily ever after uncle T," Ororo and Logan's oldest said reasonably.
"And so that must be why our very own princess and you, our two little princesses, are indeed very happy," T'Challa said as he reached out and tweaked the little girl's nose and ran a hand through her curly brown hair.
"You do have your wives in training," Scott said, having maintained a healthy respect for the kings Dora Milaje.
"But love such as all of you have found! I wonder," replied the king wistfully.
"You'll find your lady love one day, T'Challa, some where under the African skies," Ororo said as she put an arm around her good friend's waist. He sighed but slipped an arm around her and kissed her on the cheek.
"Best to get her drunk first – that's the only reason Ororo didn't marry me," Scott said and laughed when Jean thumped him on the head.
"But, Ro was only a little tipsy, isn't that right, darlin'?" Logan said and he put their youngest down and took his wife away from T'Challa. "No more kissing and hugging the wife you guys!" he added and patted Ororo's very large stomach for they were having a boy in just a matter of days.
"I love you," she whispered to her best friend.
"You know I love you too, darlin'," he whispered back then took her into his arms, leaned down and kissed her, deeply and soundly, because even after a decade of being married he'd never stopped loving her and, in fact, loved her even more.
She had stood by him through all the revelations of his past and had never stopped believing in him just as he'd staunchly done for her. The road hadn't always been smooth but remembering how hard it had been to find and to hold onto each other they never let small or big problems draw them apart. Despite everything that had happened with them, all of them, they'd overcome adversity and remained together, a firm, solid team devoted to each other and striving to help children and mutants.
Love had proven to be everything to Logan and Ororo, worth all the misunderstandings and pain. Thanks to the Pep Squad and the American government! Oh, and Valerie Cooper had been invited to the wedding, to all their weddings, often as Charles's date – more plotting that hadn't yet come to fruition. Now were exact details needed for what happened after Logan proposed to Ororo if they all lived happily ever after? Ororo didn't think so. She and Logan had long forgiven Forge for his part in trying to separate them but his antics had only drawn them closer. And her girls didn't know the difference but would later tell you, nope, they thought not. And so would their brother when he grew up and heard the story. All that mattered was that because of African skies and Canadian whiskey their lives had begun and they had just about the best parents any child could ask for.
~Finally Finished~
A/N – I hope this worked for you and it wasn't too messy and rushed. Maybe it kept you guessing a little? Once again I apologize for the excessive, ridiculous delay in finishing. I wish some stories that I really liked were finished, even after ten years! But, that said, I truly understand why a story can go unfinished. Maybe an author gets bored, no feedback or reviews and loses interest (reviews can be inspiring as in my case which got me to finish this) and they can help us write better sometimes or deflate our egos and stop us from writing I suppose, but maybe an author just gets fed up, as in my case with Saints and Sinners where I just killed them all off kind of and never posted the epilogue that I lost but found a few years back so really should post it, or an author may lose inspiration or, again, in my case may not want to seem to be copying someone else. Also, maybe they grow up and move away from fandom. I thought I had but I guess RoLo lives strong within me.