I DO NOT OWN LOGAN.
"So, this is it?" Mariko wonders as she stands with us by the stairs of the plane a few days later. "You're leaving back to New York." Dad nods and sighs.
"Yeah. There's things that I have to take care of there," he tells her. Dad looks down at me and then back at Mariko and Yukio. "Plus, I have to see that Laura gets back to her own time safely." Mariko's eyes fill with tears, and she moves to hug him. He hugs her back, and I can tell that they care for each other, though I'm not really sure why since they've known each other for about a week, but what do I know? I guess I'm still a little bitter that they actually hooked up with me in the same room, which I think is really gross. When they pull back, Yukio and Dad share a short hug. Then, surprisingly they each give me a hug. I kind of feel uncomfortable, especially since one of them had sex with my dad, but I don't want to be rude, so I hug them back.
"We're going to miss you guys. I wish you could stay," Yukio says.
"Yeah, buy it's time for us to go home. Take care of yourselves." Mariko smiles.
"You too, Logan. And Laura? Good luck, with everything," she says.
"Thanks," I smile back at her.
Dad and I climb onto the plane, and I look out the window as plane leaves the ground and think about what happened after Dad killed Shingen.
Dad found Mariko bound and gagged in a small, dark room. Apparently Shingen had planned to stage her death as an accident in order to get the money that Yashida had left her. But he had wanted to take care of Dad and Yukio first, so that she could see their dead bodies or something, which I think is an overkill if you ask me. When Dad let her go he told her everything that happened, and I can tell that she hadn't been surprised. I have a feeling that Shingen let money control him long before this.
Once word got around that Shingen was dead, his guards that he'd had guarding the building where he kept Mariko offered their surrender and announced their loyalty to Mariko. After all, she's the head of her family name, now. She owns everything that her father and grandfather owned.
Mariko then had to do a lot of damage control after that. She buried her father as a sign of respect but refused to hold a funeral. She also had to make sure that the media didn't get ahold of the full story. She just told them that her father had gone crazy and had tried to have her killed to get the family money, which is true if you think about it.
Meanwhile, Dad had called Charles back in New York, and told him what happened, and told him about Transigen. I expected him to do it, but it kind of scares me that the others might decide to take down Transigen before I'm born. I'm hoping that Dad makes the right choice when deciding when to take them down.
The flight from Japan to New York is long and boring. I sleep most of the time, and dad and I even play some board games that neither of us know how to play in order to pass the time. And I'm happy with the sense of normalcy that I feel as I beat him at something called Candyland.
"Can I ask you something?" I wonder as I move my game piece over three squares. I land on something called community chest, and I pick up a card. Get out of Jail Free Card. Great, just what I need.
"What is it?" Dad is more concentrated on his fake money to look up at me.
"How do you really feel about me?" He frowns.
"What do you mean?" I sigh. He's really gonna make me spell it out, isn't he?
"I know that for the past one hundred- eighty something years, you've been a lone wolf. You just fought in wars and had one-night stands. I know you've never wanted a family before. And that's understandable because of the aging thing, but what do you think about me? Do you want me to be born? I mean, you have the power to make sure I'm not." Dad looks up at me then, with a cautious look on his face. He's quiet for a moment, thinking.
"It's true that I've never wanted a family because I know that I'd outlive them all. Ya know, the closest I've come to settling down and having a family was with this woman. A mutant named Kayla, back in the nineteen-seventies. We lived in Canada, she was a schoolteacher and I was a lumberjack." I snort and smile. "What?" He's smiling, too.
"Nothing. Just… I can totally see you being a lumberjack, that's all." He rolls his eyes and continues. "We lived a relatively normal life, and I really loved her. But then she was kidnapped by…" He takes a deep breath. "Someone. I thought she had died. But then I was approached by a guy named Stryker. He's the one who coated my claws in adamantium." He pauses to take a deep breath. "It turns out that Kayla was forced by Stryker to 'keep and eye on me'. But I got away from him, from all of them. I never saw Kayla again, I don't know what happened to her."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I'm trying to tell you that I've never gotten close to anyone before. The only time I did, I was betrayed and she's most likely dead. But now that you've showed up… well… you're something else. You've gone out of your way to make sure I live. You've saved my life more than once. And you can defend yourself. On top of that, you're my daughter. So, yeah. I'm happy that you were born… or will be born in a few years." I smile warmly at him, and he pulls something out of the breast pocket of his jacket. The picture of my mom that I gave him. He sets it down on the table between us.
"You have her eyes," Dad tells me. "And her smile. Thankfully. I look like the Grinch when I smile." I snort out a laugh and shake my head.
"Let's get back to the game," I say, laughing under my breath.
"Looks like I'm about seven spaces away from Free Parking." I shake my head.
"Your chances of rolling a seven are low," I say, trying to intimidate him. It doesn't seem to work, as he gets an evil grin on his face and I find that he's right. He does look like the Grinch when he smiles. He shakes up the dice in his hands, blowing on them, and then releasing them onto the board, revealing a four and a three. My mouth drops open as I watch him move his piece to Free Parking and takes all the money in the center.
"You cheated!" I accuse. He shakes his head.
"Nope, just got lucky." I laugh.
"It's not over yet."
"Oh, it's been over since the game started." I snort and roll the dice again, continuing the game.
"Are you nervous, Laura?" Jean asks me a couple days later. We arrived at the X-mansion yesterday, and we've spent all of today resting and right now we're having a dinner party of sorts before I go back to my time tonight.
"About what?" I wonder.
"About traveling through time again. And going back to your time. It must be scary."
"It is, but I have to do it. I can't stay here forever. I'm just going to have to hope that everything that you guys do from now on will lead to me being born."
"I'm actually going to kind of miss ya, Junior," Scott tells me. "You tend to make things more interesting." I sigh and look down at my barely touched plate.
"I just realized that for you guys, you'll have to wait five years until I'm born, and then another fourteen years until I "get back" here. While it'll only be a few seconds to me."
"That is crazy," Hank admits.
"We'll be okay," Dad tells me. "And this way, we'll be ready for you when you come."
"Yeah, not like this time. We're still not sure about what to do with you," Scott comments. I roll my eyes.
"Just finish your food. You know what they say about time traveling on an empty stomach." I smile at my father. I finish my dinner for him, even though the anxiety makes me feel nauseous.
After all the dishes have been done, and the extra food has been put away, everyone sits in the living room. I sit in the middle, on a coffee table, with everyone all around me. I rub the face of the watch and take deep breaths. This will be painful, I know that. And I know that I've been through worse pain than that, but it's the anticipation that's killing me.
"Are you ready?" Dad asks. I look around myself, and nod.
"I'm ready to go home. Back to a time that I'm familiar with." I stand up and go over to Charles, who sits in his wheelchair looking sad. I bend down and give him a strong hug. I hope in the present Charles will be okay. Because if he's not okay, then everyone else won't be okay.
"Take care of yourself, Charles," I whisper in his ear. He nods at me as I pull back. Then I move over to my dad. I look him in the eyes, and sigh.
"Remember what you promised, okay?" I ask. He nods, looks me up and down for a moment. He shakes his head and pulls me in for a tight hug.
"I'm gonna miss you, kid."
"Me too." I find myself holding back tears as I finally pull back from him, and step back into the middle of the room. It's gonna be okay. I'm going to see them in a few minutes. Just close your eyes and it'll be over before you know it.
I set the time on the watch to the day that I left for the past.
"I set the date for June sixteenth, two thousand thirty-three. So, until that day, I won't remember anything that's happened in the past few weeks." I look around myself one more time, taking in the faces of the people around me. My eyes lock with Dad's and smile at him.
"I love you, Dad," I tell him. I've never said that to him before, I guess I wasn't ready before now, because I wasn't sure if I would be successful in this. But saying it now just feels right.
Dad seems taken aback for a moment, having not expected me to say that. But he recovers and lets out a breath.
"I love you too, kid."
I look down at my watch and press the big button on the side of the watch. Then I'm physically pulled out of that time and a second later, I'm overcome by a whirlwind of pain and darkness.
A/N: Please review!
~Gina