"Erik, I need to talk to you."

Erik jumped. He turned in his desk and saw Charles in the doorway. He looked exhausted and somewhat harried. Erik briefly wondered why the X-men hadn't alerted him to Charles' arrival, but then again they probably thought that he was expecting him. Even if they knew he wasn't, Charles didn't look like he was in the mood to be stopped.

"Is something wrong?" asked Erik.

Charles hesitated before sighing. He shut the door to Erik's study behind him and sat down on the couch.

"One of my worst nightmares just happened," he said.

Erik made a small choking noise in his throat. What could have possibly happened?

"And the worst part is," Charles said, "that I didn't know that it was actually one of my worst nightmares until it happened."

Erik made a face, wondering what Charles was babbling about. He swiveled in his chair, his hands clasped up in front of him.

"Charles, what happened?" he said.

Charles didn't answer.

"For God's sake Charles!" Erik said, "Is your family alright? Did something happen at the embassy? What?"

Charles looked up at him, his eyes surprised.

"What on earth are you talking about?" he asked.

"I'm just trying to figure out what happened, with you talking like the world just ended," Erik said.

His friend looked aghast.

"No," he said, "No, nothing like that happened."

Erik leaned back, letting out a sigh of relief. A second later that relief turned to irritation.

"Then what's going on?" he asked, his voice sharp, "And just spit it out this time; don't leave me guessing, because apparently your nightmares are nothing like mine."

"I rather think they are," Charles said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Erik.

Charles sighed again.

"Do you know Doug?" he asked.

Erik frowned. His friend wasn't making any sense, but it seemed that he had to play along.

"Doug Ramsey?" he asked, "The somnambulist?"

Charles nodded.

"Of course I do," Erik said, "What about him?"

His friend ran a hand through his hair.

"He's dating Rahne," he said.

Erik blinked. Suddenly all of Charles' words made sense. He sighed and gave his friend a sympathetic look. His voice was all but a moan. Erik got up and sat next to Charles.

"I know she's fifteen," Charles said, sounding exasperated, "I remember myself at fifteen."

"Raven's told me stories," Erik said.

"But that's not how you're suppsoed to do it," Charles said, "And I swear she hasn't shown any interest in boys, then this happens! Where did this come from? Why didn't she give me any warning?"

Charles ran a hand through his hair again. Erik noticed how mussed it was.

"When did this happen?" asked Erik.

"She told us about it today," Charles said, "Although I rather think that it happened yesterday. It's when she last saw him. I think. I'm not sure."

His friend's words were agitated, and Erik couldn't blame him.

"It just happened so fast," Charles said, "And now we're going to have to meet him."

Frowning again Erik cocked his head.

"I thought you'd already met Doug," he said.

"I have, but not as Rahne's boyfriend," Charles said, "that's different."

His expression contorted.

"Doug's always been a good boy," Charles said, "But if he hurts Rahne then I swear to God that I'll leave him thinking he's a six-year-old girl for the rest of his life. I'll have David braid his hair."

Erik nodded in agreement.

"Sounds fair," he said.

Next to him Charles buried his face in his hands.

"Not really," he said, "I just…I'm not ready for this Erik."

He removed his hands and looked at the ground. Erik felt out of sorts. He didn't know what to say to his friend.

"What did Moira say?" asked Erik.

"She took it…better than me I suppose," Charles said, "She was always the one with her head screwed on right. I think she could see it coming."

He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"It's still hard for her though; Rahne was Moira's daughter before she was mine," Charles said, "But she's been my daughter for eight years, and that's more than enough for it to hurt when she starts growing up."

Erik put his hand on his shoulder.

"I think Rahne's always been yours Charles," he said.

A weak smile blossomed on his face before he rubbed his temples.

"It seems like yesterday that I was pushing Rahne on the swings," Charles said, "She was always running around, so much life."

Charles' voice became pained.

"When did she get so old?" he said plaintively.

Erik sighed, thinking of his own daughter. She had gone from being a girl he read bedtime stories to to a young woman attending high school.

"I rather wonder that about Lorna," he said.

Charles nodded. He gave him another weak smile.

"Too bad we can't pass laws saying that boys can't come near our daughters," Charles said, "Would've made things easier."

"I'm not ruling it out," Erik said.

His friend laughed. Erik didn't find it quite so funny, but he had the feeling that Charles needed something to laugh at.

"Thank you," he said, "I think I needed to talk to someone."

"No problem Charles," Erik said.

Charles managed another smile.

"I'll make sure to be there when this happens to you," he said.

Erik shook his head.

"I wouldn't worry about that any time soon," Erik said, "That day is still a very long time away for me."

"That's what I thought," Charles thought.

Charles' words gave him a moment of disquiet. He shook it off.

"Lorna doesn't really know any boys," Erik said.

Charles laughed.

"Well, that's one way of doing it," he said.

"I suppose it is," Erik said.


"I don't really listen to Allison Blair," Alex said.

"You should," Lorna said, "Dazzler's the best band out there. They tour other countries; and they started right here."

Alex shook his head. The two of them were sitting on the edge of the rose garden. Alex had finished with his training for the day and, as usual, Lorna had caught him before he disappeared. She preferred seeing him at the palace rather than at school; he didn't have to be so stuffy with her there and act as though he barely knew her.

She had to admit, for all intents and purposes, he did barely know her. However, they had been talking for weeks. Alex was someone that she was comfortable around. It felt like, somehow, he already knew her. She wondered where that came from, but she supposed it was just her mind playing tricks on her.

Lorna hoped that they would be able to reach the same level at school soon. They were already meeting for study groups in the Institute's library.

"Do you listen to anything that isn't made on Genosha?" he asked.

Lorna smiled.

"I think that's rather unpatriotic for a princess," she said.

"Hey, just think of it as foreign relations," Alex said.

She rolled her eyes.

"What do you listen to if you don't listen to Dazzler then?" she asked, "Which, by the way, is very negligent of you."

He rolled his eyes.

"The Beatles and the Rolling Stones are pretty good," Alex said.

She furrowed her brow.

"The whats?" she asked.

"You can't seriously tell me you don't know who they are," Alex said.

Lorna shook her head.

"Not a clue," she said.

"You're pretty insulated here, aren't you?" asked Alex.

She made a face.

"What part of me attending school for the first time this year don't you understand?" she asked.

"Okay, okay," Alex said, "I get it; sheesh."

He scratched the back of his neck.

"So you've seriously never heard 'Yellow Submarine' by the Beatles?" he asked.

Lorna frowned.

"Wait a minute," she said, "Is that the song that goes; we all live in a yellow submarine, yellow submarine, yellow submarine-"

"That's the one," Alex said.

He scoffed.

"You said you'd never heard of them," he said, "I knew you had."

"Sometimes Rahne plays records," Lorna said, her voice defensive, "Just because I can't remember what bands they are doesn't make me a liar."

He shook his head before tapping her forehead.

"You need to pay more attention," he said.

Lorna narrowed her eyes.

"Don't do that," she said.

"Or what?" he asked.

"You're going to get hit," Lorna said.

He frowned, looking at the space between the two of them.

"How could you possibly-" he began.

Lorna flicked her eyes over to his watch. She felt the metal for a minute before cocking her head. His hand flew up and smacked him in the face.

"Stop hitting yourself," she said.

"Hey!" he said.

She laughed. Alex rolled his eyes again.

"Okay, I get it," he said, "You control metal. Big whoop."

She grinned and tossed her head.

"Yes, I do," she said, "Don't forget it."

"Having a hard time right now," Alex said, rubbing his jaw.

Lorna frowned, feeling worried. She hadn't actually meant to hurt him; just show him that she could tease back. She wasn't used to this sort of thing.

"It doesn't really hurt, does it?" she asked.

He shook his head.

"No, it doesn't," he said.

"Alright then," Lorna said.

Feeling relieved Lorna leaned back against the stone wall.

"Hey, did you hear about Doug and Rahne?" Lorna asked.

"Yeah," Alex said, "Hank told me."

"It's great, isn't it?" she said.

"Well if you ask me it's about damn time," Alex snorted, "Doug followed her around like a puppy."

She frowned, both at the swearing and his words.

"That's mean," she said.

"But it's true," Alex said, "He was so obviously head over heels for her. Can't believe she didn't notice sooner."

Lorna shrugged.

"I don't have any experience with these things, but if Rahne really had noticed this would've happened earlier," Lorna said, "But maybe it's harder for the people involved to see it than other people."

Alex shook his head.

"You'd think it would be more obvious, not less," he said.

"Apparently not if what you said is true," Lorna said.

It was Alex's turn to shrug.

"I guess," he said.