The journey back to the school was made in near silence. Jeryn had gone straight to the Blackbird from the brig, and taken the rearmost flight chair. Her diamond-hard psychic shields and averted head told everyone quite plainly that she wanted to be left alone. Cyclops and Storm murmured quietly to each other in the cockpit, coordinating launch and flight path with the Shi'ar flagship. Once underway, their journey took less than an hour.
The jet landed in pitch-blackness, since it was still the middle of the night on the eastern U.S. seaboard. The X-Men filed quietly off of the plane. Except for Jean. She went to her anguished friend and laid a sorrowful hand on the girl's shoulder before debarking. Whenever you're ready, she sent. Take your time.
The group assembled at the far end of the hanger, just inside the hallway that led to the complex underneath the mansion. They had only stood there a couple of minutes when they saw their young comrade exit the plane. Instead of following the X-Men, she immediately walked to an emergency exit that led to a deserted stretch of lakeshore and disappeared from view. Xavier turned to Wolverine and commanded, "Follow her."
Jeryn knew he was there, of course. She ignored him, knowing that he was only there to guard her back. Ten minutes' swift walk brought her to a concealed door that opened to reveal a deserted stretch of lakeshore. It was a beautiful summer night. Stars shone magnificently in the sky, reflecting clearly off of the lake's surface. The only sounds to be heard were those of a natural wilderness. She walked more slowly towards the water, making no note of Logan's emergence from the escape tunnel.
If he hadn't been so concerned about his teammate, the night would have enabled Wolverine to touch what little peace there was in his own soul. He climbed a great oak that offered a clear vantage point, and watched his colleague stride directly towards the water. She stopped on a short peninsula just meters from the water's edge, and stood there for a while with her eyes closed and head thrown back. Logan saw Jeryn drop to her knees; her sobbing was clearly and painfully audible to him.
Tears came to his own eyes when she dropped to all fours and howled out her agony. He needed no translator to decode the anguish in her voice. He had spent enough hours screaming his own to the world to recognize pain when he heard it. Wolverine's heart beat faster and he broke out in a sweat. It was very nearly possible for him to tell exactly what she was crying about, the tones and inflections of her voice touched the strings in his own soul so strongly.
Incredible relief came after an hour or so, when he felt a familiar touch on his mind and knew that Jean was checking on them. He felt her surprise at his own emotional state. How is she doing?
Logan was no telepath, but he could let Jean see through his eyes and mind. He felt the doctor's concern at the fact that the girl's pain continued unabated. Through his tears, Wolverine filled himself with the conviction that their friend would be all right so that Jean would pick it up from him.
She's needed this for a long time, the telepath conceded and projected into his mind. Call us if things start getting out of hand.
He filled his mind with agreement and felt Jean's presence withdraw from him. He did his best to settle down in the tree, with his companion's cries shrilling across his nerves like a bone saw. It was a long night for both of them.
The heat of the noon sun baking her black uniform was what finally woke Jeryn from an exhausted sleep. She rolled over and squeezed her eyes shut against the glare. The cool water lapped at the shore invitingly. Cat sat up and looked out over the lake, realizing that she had cried herself into unconsciousness. She closed her eyes and exhaled; the pain was still there, but it was bearable now.
The sun's heat was becoming brutal, and the water was too tempting. Jeryn stood and unzipped her uniform, letting it pool at her feet. Wolverine, still watching from his tree, was startled; the close-fitting military tank and shorts she wore beneath the armor hugged a woman's sensuous curves, not a half-grown child. He whistled to himself in appreciation, realizing only then that her preference for concealing clothing while at the school had been deliberate. No doubt a holdover from being hunted for so long – revealing such a figure would not only court trouble, but invite it in to stay for tea.
As tempting as the water was, Jeryn had something else to tend to first. She pulled a knife out of a leg sheath in her armor. Logan saw her walk barefoot across the shore to a stand of cattails and unceremoniously haul the largest one out. He grinned as she lopped off the top of the plant, scraped a foot-long section of the root clean, and began munching her breakfast. She wiped the knife clean on the leg of her shorts, and thrust it into a sheath-slit behind her back.
Good girl. Wolverine thought approvingly to himself. He relaxed, much relieved. Jeryn was obviously in command of herself again, and past the night's crisis. He allowed himself to settle more comfortably in his tree.
Mimic finished her breakfast and spent the afternoon swimming, floating in the lake, and napping in the sunshine while she thought. What she had told Xavier and the others was true; there was no hope of a known mutant claiming a monarchy in the current political climate. That dream had died as soon as she'd had to accept what she was. She dove cleanly into the clear lake water and spent some time exploring the sandy bottom as if she expected to find answers there.
She surfaced and rolled over in the water to float on her back for a while. There was a new peace in her soul that came from having served her people, by rescuing them from the danger that her brother presented. A sharp ache welled up as she thought of Devan, but she firmly closed that door before guilt could take hold. Father once told me that a king often had to make decisions that hurt him personally, because the actions of others left him with no alternate choices. She knew that intimately now. He'd also told her that his only rightful responsibility in those cases was to see that as few others were hurt as possible.
Jeryn hauled herself out of the water and lay down on the grass next to her uniform. It was time to leave the past behind, and think of her future. What do I do now? What are my options? Well, there were only two decent ones, really. She could remain with the X-Men as the Professor had been urging her to do. She could stay, learn, and teach. And eventually, she could join the X-Men in their fight for human-mutant peace. An honorable choice. And a good life, despite the danger. There are a lot of worse ways to live than being surrounded by friends you love and respect. It was tempting. She turned over onto her belly and let the sun and air dry her back.
In her heart, she knew that she couldn't do it. She felt the inner call pulling her to the other path too strongly. Born to the blood, the vacancy at Lillandra's side called to her to serve as she had intended to serve. As she had been born to serve. To turn away from it would be to turn away from who she was. The choice, she realized, had already been made. It had simply been waiting for her to listen to it. Besides, it's only a temporary assignment. Six months, a year at most, then I'll be able to come back. To come home.
Dry now, she stepped into her uniform and zipped it up. Late afternoon sunlight gilded her hair as she walked towards a certain tree on the edge of the forest. She spoke up into the branches with feigned asperity, "You might as well come down, before you start growing a prehensile tail."
Wolverine landed on the ground before her with a grin on his face. The woman before him stood at ease, completely at home in the uniform that she wore - with all that it implied. Logan felt his chest swell with pride, and spoke quietly. "Ready to go?" he inquired.
Cat looked at him with a face that was soft with a new-found inner peace. "Yeah. Let's go home."
They emerged onto the grounds to the west of the school just as the sun went behind the treetops. The students at play on the lawns were stunned at the sight of their classmate in a full X-Man battle uniform. They watched in amazement, all play temporarily halted, as she walked to the veranda with new poise. There was no trace of childhood left in her carriage.
The Professor was waiting for them. They mounted the steps to the wide veranda. Logan was the first to meet Xavier's gaze, and nodded with satisfaction at the look of anxious inquiry. A quickly veiled relief came over Charles' face as Wolverine turned to his companion. "Well, I think I'll go get cleaned up and get some dinner." He reached out and touched Jeryn's arm. "You take care of yourself, okay?"
The young woman nodded as he made to leave, and said, "Logan – thank you."
Her friend smiled back in return. "No problem. See you around."
Jeryn watched as Wolverine disappeared inside the mansion. She smiled to herself – she still had Jean's abilities, and could sense most of the X-Men watching her from various vantage points around the main building. She turned to face the one at her side.
Charles felt an unspeakable relief as he took in the unfeigned sense of peace permeating his newest student. Her psychic shields were firm, but they no longer had that impenetrable diamond-hardness. Even as he tested them out of sheer reflex, he felt them go transparent to his probe. A wordless welcome invited his examination.
Gently, carefully, Xavier extended his telepathic presence into Jeryn's. Her mind was completely open to his cautious touch, and he slid into her consciousness like a blade into water. She obligingly gave him her experiences of the past day, and invited him to look deeper into her thoughts if he felt he needed to.
She felt his awareness touch on those memories and absorb them, but what he needed to know most would not be found in dry recall. In response to his quiet plea, Jeryn dropped the shields that separated her inmost self from her memories and showed him the core of her being. To Charles' inestimable relief, he found her heart whole once more, and growing strong again. The break had been healed. If it took some time to regain its former strength, well, that was only to be expected. He rather thought that it wouldn't take overly long. His sense of relief and release was very clear to his student. They spent a few moments in wordless communion – for that space of time, equal partners in their quest for peace. Then they gently disengaged from the intimacy of mindlink.
Jeryn's face shone with the love and regard she felt for her mentor. The once and future princess laid a hand on Charles' shoulder for a moment in wordless affirmation of their shared dream. He covered the hand with his own in acknowledgment. Then without speaking a word, she left to seek a meal.