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Logan had had enough of the noise and light of the mansion. It could be so suffocating at times. Times like now. He didn't even want to flirt with Jean. Now I know I need a walk. Logan smirked and walked outside.
As soon as the night air hit his face, he felt the weariness of the inside fade. He walked until he could no longer hear the noise of the mansion. He smelled the nature around him. Felt the wind on his face. A calm settled on his face.
A subtle frown crossed his momentarily calm features. He smelled something. He sniffed the air.
His face slipped into indifference. It was Storm. By the smell of it, she was about 10-15 minutes in front of him. He shrugged. It was unlikely that he'd meet her. She was heading the way he was, by the smell of it.
Logan walked a few more steps when he heard it. He stopped and listened. It sounded like human breathing. Logan put two and two together and figured 'Ro had stopped and taken a rest. He started walking again.
He walked until he hit a path. He followed the path and found Ororo, bent down, and tying her shoe.
"What are you doing out here darlin'?" Logan asked.
When Storm heard Logan's voice, she was startled out of her thoughts and her body reacted accordingly. She stood up. "Logan, you startled me."
"Not like I can help it darlin'." Logan replied, giving her a feral smile.
Storm didn't reply.
"Come on 'Ro, what brings you out here?"
Ororo hesitated slightly. She cleared her throat and calmly answered. "I came to look at the stars."
"Wouldn't you see them better over there?" Logan asked, pointing with his head to the clearing a few feet away.
"You are correct." Storm stood straighter and walked defiantly to the clearing. She stopped in the middle of the small open field and lied down on her back. She stared at the night sky as the stars twinkled at her.
Logan silently joined her. He always liked her peacefulness. She was one of the few people that he didn't smell a thousand emotions from constantly. She had an inner peace, which she kept in touch with regularly. He liked spending time with her, just to feel that peace. She gave him peace, not that he'd ever admit it.
"When you first came here, what did you think of the stars?" Logan finally asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence. He enjoyed the silence, but was also curious about her. He had heard from Jean that she had come from Africa to New York when she was just a teenager. He was genuinely interested in her answer. He remembered seeing the stars when he had "woken up" in Canada. They seemed wrong to him somehow…
He quickly shook his head to prevent the on slaughter of emotions that he would come if he let himself remember that day… He finally noticed that Ororo had said nothing.
"Well?" He prompted her.
Ororo hesitated for a moment longer. She finally swallowed the lump in her throat and spoke.
"I arrived here during the night. I was so exhausted that I feel asleep on the plane. I didn't even see the mansion until the next morning. That evening I looked out the window at the cloudless sky and found it unfamiliar. It looked so wrong." At the last word, Ororo's voice broke slightly. She cleared her throat and started speaking again. "None of the stars were where they were suppose to be. I remember running outside until I no longer could see the mansion. Then I had collapsed on the ground, looking at the alien sky. I cried. I was heart broken. Everything seemed to change so fast, nothing was the same, not even my beloved stars."
Ororo paused, lost in the memories. "I remember connecting the stars to form different shapes. Then I would make up stories for each new shape."
Ororo paused again.
"Tell me one." Logan asked her before she would say anything else.
Ororo thought about that request. She didn't like taking about her past. She didn't like to think about the days when everything seemed strange and frightening. And yet, she had held it in so long, what harm could it do? It wasn't like Logan would remember it tomorrow. And besides, I haven't thought about this in a long time. Convinced that this couldn't lead to anything bad, she answered his demand.
"Alright, I'll tell you about the snake. He" Logan interrupted her before she could say another word.
"No. I want you to tell me story in the language you originally made it up in."
"Excuse me?" Maybe Storm hadn't heard right. Why in Goddess's name would he want me tell him something he couldn't understand.
"You heard me."
"Why?"
"'Cause the story meant more to you then. Besides, it would ruin the memory if you translated it."
Ororo paused. She thought about it, but still didn't see the harm in, so she gave in. "Alright."
Ororo started speaking in a language Logan had never heard before. He closed his eyes as he listened to the soothing tones that Ororo used to tell the story. Truth be told, he only wanted to listen to her voice, and not think about what she was saying. Listening to her speak, he felt a peacefulness settle on him like a blanket.
Ororo noticed his relaxed posture and kept talking. She told him all her stories. And when she ran out of those, she talked about some of the happier times she had spent under the African sun.
Eventually she let her voice trail off, forgetting that Logan was still laying beside her.
Hearing the voice gone, Logan woke from his peaceful lull and realized it was about one thirty in the morning. Logan smirked.
"Come on 'Ro, it's late, and you've got classes in the morning."
That pulled her out of her silent reverie. She looked at her watch and gasped. "Goddess, I should have been in bed hours ago." She stood up and flew to the mansion.
Logan had sat up and watched her go.
"Night 'Ro…" He said to the silent night.
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Hope you liked!! All suggestions are welcome. I do have a plot, but I'm not totally good at expressing what I think. This is my first X-Men fic. Please Review!! ^_^