Relief flooded into me as I saw the skin of the person in front of me, peel away to reveal a blue-skinned girl. Her short red hair moved with the wind as she stood before us. A light smirk donned her face, when she finally mutated back.

"Mystique," I sighed. "You scared the living daylights out of me," I took a deep breath to calm myself. I uncurled my fist, the same fist that was about to set her on fire a few moments ago had it not been for her quick transformation.

"Sorry," she gave me a humored smile. "Had to stop Azazel over here from killing Beast and Havoc," she waved a hand to the two males who had effectively taken down Azazel while he was distracted. Havoc high-fived Beast as they towered over the red man on the floor.

"Good job guys," I grinned as I made my way over to them. I gave them each a fist bump in congratulation.

"All in a days work," replied Havoc proudly, as he puffed out his chest. Beast just smiled and crossed his arms, showing his fangs in the process. It seemed like everything was okay for now. Angel and Azazel was down for the count and Riptide was taken down sometime ago. All that was left was Shaw, and I'm sure Erik was dealing with him at this moment. I exhaled a sigh of relief and relaxed a little. I heard metal against metal as debris was kicked away behind me. I turned around quickly to see what was happening.

"Erik!" Charles screamed as he rushed out of our broken jet. Agent MacTaggert trailed him as her gaze fell upon the submarine. I furrowed my brows in confusion. What's going on?

"Charles? Is Erik okay? What happened?" I asked as I approached him.

"Erik…he-," he trailed off as he stared wide eyed at something behind me. I turned around quickly to see Shaw floating out of a hole in the submarine. I growled, my hands instantly covered with fire. That was, until I noticed that he was limp and lifeless. Behind the floating man, Erik walked to the edge of the hole. His hand was extended to hold the man in mid-air.

"Today our fighting stops!" Erik shouted. My jaw nearly dropped at the helmet he was wearing. Wasn't that the same helmet Shaw had to stop Charles's telepathic powers? We all stepped forward to see what was happening. Erik lowered his hands and let Shaw's body fall to the floor. It lay there, unmoving, dead as can be. Our attentions went back to Erik, as he somehow descended in the air. "Take off your blinders, brothers and sisters." He looked at all of us with a gaze so strong that it nearly caught me off guard. "The real enemy's right there," he pointed to the battleships in the water. "I feel there guns moving in the water," Erik started stepping towards the ships. "Their metal, pointing at us," he directed to himself. "Americans, Soviets…humans. United in their fear of the unknown," he growled. Charles started moving forward as well during his little speech. We all stared at them, anticipating what was going to happen. "And all of them are scared, my fellow mutants!" he shouted. He stepped over debris the make it to the shore, closer to the water's edge. "Go ahead Charles," he looked over to the brunette. "Tell me I am wrong."

Charles brought two fingers to his temple and directed his gaze to the ships. He concentrated as he went into the minds of the sailors on deck. I approached them slowly, scared of what Charles was going to find out. The man slowly lowered his hand, nodding at MacTaggert. She rushed over to the jet, jumping over the pieces of metal as she went. There was silence on the shore, except for the shouts of the agent. Charles turned from the jet to the battleships, wide eyed. There were multiple shots heard as the ships unleashed their missles. We all stepped back in surprise as we readied ourselves. Charles and Erik being the only exceptions. As the explosives grew closer, I lit my hands on fire, preparing to throw the fireballs. As long as they didn't explode on us, it'd be fine. But, Erik stretched out his hand and stopped all of them in mid-air. They dangled there, fuses put out. They slowly turned around to be aimed at the ships.

"Erik! Don't do this," I cried as I stepped forward.

"You said it ourselves Erik," Charles said quickly. "We are the better men. This is the time to prove it." Erik did not stop. "There are thousands of men on those ships. Good, honest, innocent men! They are just following orders," Charles raised his voice, curling his hands into fists.

"I've been at the mercy of men just following orders," Eric murmured. He slowly tilted his head towards Charles. "Never again." Erik sent all the missiles heading back towards their original owners.

"Erik! No!" I screamed as I started running forward.

"Release them Erik!" Charles shouted. The missiles were moving in an incredible speed.

"No!" Charles yelled as he tackled him. I quickly jumped over their fighting bodies and sent waves of fireballs at the missiles. A good majority of the fire hit and exploded the weapons mid air. Others exploded themselves when Erik lost concentration. But, some still survived and started heading towards the ships when Erik got the upper hand in the fight. Our group approached the two men but Erik used the metals in our suits to send us flying.

"Stay back!" Erik shouted angrily as he wrestled Charles. Every few times the Charles got Erik to punch him, some of the missiles exploded. Eventually, Erik got back up and stuck his hand out. The metal of the explosions went speeding towards the ships at his will. They were almost there but a gunshot near us sounded. My attention turned towards the direction it came from. Agent MacTagger was shooting at Erik, making him lose concentration almost instantly. He stopped the bullets and with a sweep of his hand, sent one in another direction. That direction was exactly where Charles was at. Charles fell when the bullet entered his side.

"Charles!" I screamed as I rushed towards him. Erik reached the man before me, propping him up in his arms. Erik used his mutation to quickly take out the bullet.

"I'm so sorry!" Erik cried. He looked up as the rest of us approached him. "I said back off!" he screamed. "You…" he glared at the agent. "You did this!" He raised his hands to control the dog tag around her neck. She opened her mouth in shock as he slowly started choking her.

"Erik! Stop…please," I dropped down next to Charles, a tear slowly streaming down my face. He ignored me and continued pressing the dog tag against her neck. "She didn't do this Erik," I pushed his shoulder. "You did!" He slowly turned to look at me and lowered his hand.

"Us turning on each other," Erik looked down. "It's what they want! I tried to warn you Charles," Erik shook Charles a little, his voice laced with sorrow. "I want you guys by my side," he looked up at me. "We're family." He looked at us sadly. "All of us together, protecting each other," he waved his hands at the mutants standing behind us. "We want the same thing," he nodded, his voice shaking as he talked.

Charles chuckled. "My friend," he breathed. "I'm sorry. But we do not," he shook his head. His eyes bore into Erik as he told him this. They stared at each other, trying to figure out what each of them meant.

"Erik," I whispered. He looked up and slowly beckoned for MacTaggert. She rushed over, taking Erik's place.

"I'm so sorry!" she cried over and over again.

"It's okay," Charles replied as he slowly helped her prop him up. He grunted in pain as she held him.

I got up and looked at Erik's back while he approached everyone else.

"This society won't accept us," Erik pointed to the injured Charles. "So we form our own! The humans have played their hand," he waved his hands towards the battleships. "Now we get ready to play ours," he frowned. "Who's with me?"

Everyone looked at each other, unsure of what to do. "No more hiding." he whispered. This seemed to perk Mystique's interest. "No more hiding," I saw her lips say. She slowly started to limped over, almost as if she was in a trance. Her eyes trained on Erik's figure. "No more hiding," she whispered again.

"Mystique?" Havoc whispered as he held a hand out to try and stop her. She shook her head no and continued. Instead of heading directly to Erik, she took a little detour. She walked over to Charles and kneeled down next to him. Charles grunted in pain as he tried to push himself up to talk to her.

"You…you should go with him," Charles said through his labored breathing. "It's what you want."

"You promised me you'd never read my mind," she stroked his head with a gloved hand. Her eyes watered as she stared at her childhood friend. Her heart ached at his pain.

"I know," Charles whispered as he gave her a weak smile. "I promised you a great many things, I'm afraid. I'm sorry," he stared into her eyes. He took her hand and kissed the back of it. She responded with a soft kiss to his forehead. His face dropped as she started to get up. Up and away from him, away to God knows where.

"Take care of him," Mystique directed to the agent. MacTaggert gave her a nod and watched as Mystique got up. She stood next to Erik and looked at us. Angel, Azazel, and Riptide, soon joined his side, seeing him as a new leader in place of Shaw. I shook as Erik turned around to look at me. His gaze pierced my soul as he held a hand out. I stared at his outstretched fingers. Oh how tempting it was to just go with him and be with him forever.

"Emilia?" he whispered. I took a step back, tears falling as I stared at his shocked expression.

"I'm sorry," I whispered as I walked past him. My head hung low as I walked towards my friends. I joined Beast's side, crying quietly as I stared at the man who I loved. Erik's eyes saddened as he met my gaze.

"Why?" he asked.

"I just can't. I'm sorry," I whispered. Banshee walked over and put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"It'll be okay," he muttered, patting my back softly.

"And Beast," Mystique started. "Don't forget! Mutant…and proud," she said bravely. Beast looked to the side, unable to meet her eyes anymore. I watched as Erik nodded at Azazel. In the last few seconds, he turned to look at me. He mouthed a few words before the red smoke appeared as they teleported away. And at that sight. The sight of the lingering remains of where they stood. The smoke slowly floating away. I broke down.

"Erik," I sobbed as I covered my face. "I'm so sorry," I cried as I fell onto the floor.

"Wildfire…" Havoc mumbled as he awkwardly patted my back. "It'll be okay," he comforted.

"I love you…Erik," I whispered as I stared at the place where he last stood. I felt my three companions leave my side. And that's when I realized Charles was in a much worse situation then I was. I quickly wiped my eyes and made my way over.

"Charles!" I sniffled. Havoc tried picking him up but he screamed out in pain.

"Don't move!" Beast shouted.

"Guys," Charles whispered. "I can't feel my legs," he breathed out in shaky breaths.

"What?" MacTaggert gasped.

"I can't feel my legs," he bit his lip. "I can't feel my legs." He repeated it as he looked up at us.

"Charles," we all looked at each other. What do we do?

I burrowed my face into a soft white scarf. The cold air swirled around me as I stood staring at the sky.

"Morning," a voice spoke behind me. I turned around slowly to see a teen with curly red hair. Millions of freckles littered his pale skin. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," I whispered as I looked at the ground. "Just a bit cold this morning."

"You know what I mean," he raised an eyebrow. "You miss him don't you?" He walked towards me, hands in his pockets.

"I do," I answered curtly. "I miss him a lot," I sighed. I shivered as a particularly cold wind blew past. "But I have a feeling that one day I'll see him again. And one day we'll be together…forever," I whispered the last part.

"Well, for now you aren't alone, you know?" Sean gave a small smile. "You have Alex, Charles, Hank, and I. We're here for you," he patted my shoulder. "We'll take care of you."

"Thanks," I gave him a soft hug. "I love you guys," I whispered. I let go of him and took a step back, a small tear rolling down my cheek.

"We love you, too," he chuckled. "Look, if you need anything, come tell us alright?" he tilted his head to the side a bit in question.

"Definitely," I nodded.

"Well, I'll be leaving you now," he sighed. "Alex is making breakfast and you know what happens when Alex makes breakfast."

"I can't even burn food like he does," I laughed. "Make sure he doesn't burn the whole mansion down," I ran a hand through my hair.

"You got it captain," he saluted and ran back through the glass doors.

I let out a breath of air when he left. "Erik," I trailed off as I look to the skies again. "I hope one day we'll meet again, not as enemies, but as lovers and friends. I love you," I whispered. I turned around and made my way back into the house. In my mind, I remembered those last seconds he was on that beach. I remembered that broken look he gave me. I remembered the words he mouthed last. And I know, what he said last would be with me forever until our hands touch, and our lips meet once more.

"I'll find you. And then we will be together for eternity."

As the glass doors slid shut, a small red bird sat on a tree branch next to a beautiful black bird. They chirped a merry tune that was carried off with the wind before flying off together. Their lives with each other starting today.

The beauty of a flickering flame, soon spreading like a wildfire. Trying to protect the one's it loves, but destroying life in its process. Soon it dims to let the cold surround it, and then it'll finally understand its power. But it'll continue to weep in sorrow, alone and empty. When people finally figure out its past, they cower in fear at its destructive powers. Because as all fears go, they don't understand that the flame feels pain as well. But when that little fire finds someone to care and tend to it, it will burn for eternity. In the heart of its lover.

A/N: Thank you guys so much, especially those who have been with this story since the very beginning. You have made writing this story a great journey and I hope you guys liked reading this. Thanks to you guys, this is my most successful story on FF and you guys are my inspiration to continue writing. Thank you for sticking with me, reviewing, putting this on your favorites, and following. As I said in the last chapter, there might be a sequel so keep an eye out for that. I might even hold a little OC contest and add the winner as a character in the sequel if I do make one. If you like the idea, or just want a sequel, feel free to leave a review about it. If you like my writing style, I'll be coming out with a new story soon, or I'll be re-editing my old stories and finishing those, so you guys can check that out soon. At the bottom of my profile, I'll have all my story statuses so if you need something to read, go check that out. Anyways, thank you guys so much. You are the most awesome readers in the entire universe. Our little adventure ends here, but I'm sure a new one will begin. See you guys soon~