Alright, alright, here's the new chapter. I know it's short, bear with me, I had a lot of problems on this story that I needed to fix before I could post this new stuff.

Anyway, new thanks to Kiara. You did /not/ review before. But I forgive you.

Anyway, to anyone who's reading this beside ~*Chaya*~, I suggest you read the whole thing again so you remember what's happening. I had to reread before I started writing again, plus I added some stuff to the previous chapters.

Diane opened her eyes as slowly as she could. She had rested for a long time, she knew. Everything looked very different, somehow. She blinked several times, then shook her head to clear it. She was alone, it was afternoon, and everything in the room looked fairly…oh, wait, she was in Nightcrawler's room. Damn him. Why did he keep putting her in HERE when her room was about two steps away?

**I prefer to have you under a watchful eye, leibling. Especially when you're sick.**
~*Sigh.*~
**Sigh…yourself. You've been asleep for FOUR whole days. I hope you're better**

~*You…*~
**Me?**

~*Oh, nothing…you're so cute sometimes.*~

**Who are you, and what have you done to Diane?**

~*Shut up. That's the problem with you.*~

**Me?**

~*Here we go again…*~

Nightcrawler suddenly appeared in the room. He hung from one of the bars on the ceiling and swung back and forth from his tail. As he passed her, he kissed Diane on the forehead. "I see that you are finally awake…and kicking…"

Diane sighed. She refused to get up. She was warm, she was comfortable, and as long as Kurt didn't leave, she wasn't alone. He landed on the bed.

"Everyone has been worried about you…"

"Why? Chaya healed me."
"Oh, you know how people are when someone they're close to gets hurt. All rationality goes out the window. They kept pestering me."
"Because you were in here 24 hours a day, I take it."

"Yes…"

"And you speak of rationality."

"Oh, hush." He mumbled, turning slightly red. Diane sighed hopelessly. Little did he know, it was rather hard for her to argue with him. Perhaps, by the way he was suddenly smirking, he did. She frowned inwardly. She'd have to work on that. But now she glanced up, her bright blue eyes meeting his golden ones, her blue metallic love shining from behind them for a second before she said,

"Oh, come on, help me up, I need food. Haven't eaten in a long time, almost a month by the feel of it…"

"Only a couple of days…" He started to say, but gave up, half-picking her up. "You going to wear this thing down there?" He gestured at her tank top and baggy pajama-bottom pants.

"Y'know, fuzzy, at this point, I'd go running for food even if I was buck naked. Come ON!" Nightcrawler shrugged, giving Diane a shoulder to lean on as she made as fast tracks as she could with her stiff body.

Once in the kitchen…

Diane left after what seemed to be record time, leaving a pile of cans and dishes, still looking as she always did, even after wiping the whole kitchen and refrigerator clean of anything edible. Then she retreated to her room, presumably taking a shower, because the water was running…for about two hours.

She returned for dinner, though she didn't eat anything, she simply sat looking extremely happy…for Diane. The rest of the X-men had been warned not to bother her, becoming a werewolf obviously was not a pleasant experience. So Diane was not pestered, though she did receive thanks and hugs and such.

Kitty had been particularly struck by the whole experience, she had bought Diane a pair of some of the nicest tap shoes the short blonde had ever seen. She had said goodbye to a friend before…but had never seen one dead, and not one that she had bonded so well as with Diane.

"OH, wow…Kitty…these are wonderful…" Diane murmured when she opened them.

"I…" For once the youngest X-man didn't seem to have much to say. "I figured you tapped as well as took jazz…" She said finally. Diane didn't really need to say anything, her thanks hung in the air between them.

To lighten the mood (it had been getting rather thick) she took them out of the box, immediately replacing the shoes she'd been wearing before. She did a few practice run taps, the clucking sound echoing through the room. They were casual, easy steps, but the way she moved showed that she was an experienced tapper. Then she stood in the middle of the room, closed her eyes, and picked a song. She stood for a long second before her golden voice took over.

"Zoom, zoom, zoom zoom, the world is in a mess, with politics and taxes, and people grinding axes, there's no happiness…" She tapped as she sang this, her feet gliding and clicking to obviously practiced dance steps. "Zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, rhythm lead your ace, the future would not fret me, if I could only get me, someone to slap that baaaaase…" *clickityclickityclickityclick* "Happiness is not a riddle, when I'm list'nin' to that big base fiddle," *taptaptaptaptaptaptap* "Slap that base, slap it 'till it's dizzy, slap that base, keep the rhythm busy, learn to zoom zoom zoom, slap that base!" Now she was completely drawn into the song, her eyes shut as she concentrated on her feet, which flicked and tapped as though they had a mind of their own. "Dictators, would be better off, if they zoom zoomed now and then, today, you can see that the happiest men! All got rhythm! In which case, if you want a bubble, slap that base, slap away your troubles, learn to zoom zoom zoom…Slap that BASE! Slap that base, take it like a tonic, slap that base, keep your Phil Harmonic, learn to zoom zoom zoom, slap that base." It was around now that everyone realized that the music from the song was not just her singing, but was also coming from the air around her...rather strange...but it worked perfectly with her dance. "Dictators, would be better off if they Zoom! Zoom! now and then, Today! You can see that the happiest men! All got rhythm! All. Got. Rhythm!" Now she stopped tapping for a moment to sing the climax of the song. "In…which…case…if you want a bubble…slap...that…base…slap away your troubles, learn to…zoom…zooom…zooooooooooom, slap that BASE!" She ended with her arms above her head, not even really breathing hard. She opened her eyes slowly to find everyone staring at her. Then she bowed. Everyone clapped.

Later, Diane was on her bed, in her¸ room, running her hands over her new tap shoes, her eyes far away, so obviously thinking about something else. I died. She realized, I was really, truly dead there for a second. Indeed, she had been. I remember it…it was like a black pit…but something pulled me back…She didn't even have to think hard about what it was, she already knew. Everything seems to be happening to me…She murmured, running a hand through her blonde hair, which she had taken out of her usual braid. It must be because I'm new. She thought finally, after a moments quiet contemplation. But something intruded on her quiet thoughts.

**No, my dear, you should know better.**

~*I should?*~

**Nothing is because you are new. Things like that…like…** His mental voice paused for a second. **Like your coming back to life. It is all like your defeat of Eternal…You lived…because your will for life, your love to live was so strong…**

~*Must it always come back to love? My love in particular?*~ Her mind voice snapped a little testily.

**Love is the golden thread that holds people together. Of course it'll all come down to that. And yours…yours is very strong, it has a way of changing people…for life.**

~*Please.*~
**I'm perfectly serious.**

~*That's the problem.*~

**I know, but you need to hear it.**
~*I do not!*~

**Too bad. Like today…everything you do seems to have an effect on a lot of people. Your dance brought everyone out of the sad stupor everything was in since the werewolf attacked. It brought everyone to realize that you were alive, you showed them that life goes on…and it does…**

There was a long pause. Kurt could feel her thinking…and he knew she didn't like that one bit. But he could also feel that she knew he was right…something that she didn't like either.

~*I suppose…*~ She said finally, surprising him. He hadn't really expected her to agree verbally. He felt a mental sigh of resignation, and knew that she'd given in, for whatever reason. He decided to change the topic…so he teleported to her room. He took a look at her shoes and smiled, showing off his fangs.

"You really did a nice dance today…you've practiced that?"
"Oh, of course…" She asserted quickly. "It's from a play I was in a long time ago, Crazy for You, it's a Gershwin musical…I love it and most of the songs in it. Most of them fit me…" She sang a line…"You better dance little lady, dance little man, dance whenever you caaaaan…That's from Shall we dance…" She seemed to think for a moment…"Music is the magic that makes everything sunshiny, dancing makes my troubles all seem tiny…when I'm dancing I don't care if this ol' world stops turning, or if my bank is burning, or even if Romania wants to fight Albania…Because you see I'm dancing and I can't! Be bothered now!" She almost smiled at Kurt, but she didn't. "That one's from Can't Be Bothered Now…I really love that musical…you really should see it some time." Kurt grinned at her.

"Sounds interesting. I really haven't seen many musicals…"

"You have no idea what you're missing!" She said in an shocked (for her) tone. "C'mon." She said grabbing his hand and dragging him off.

About an hour later, Diane had found a TV and a VCR, stationing them in Kurt's room before speeding off and getting a stack of videos. Then she stationed him on the bed, and slipped the first video in. She informed him in a matter of fact voice that this was the musical she had been singing from, Crazy For You. They both watched it in relative silence, though Diane sang all the songs that she liked, which was most, and did the best of Tessy's parts in the songs. However, by the end of the movie, Diane was really very tired, and she fell asleep without a second thought for where she was.

Over the next few days they watched the rest of the stack of movies, which included The Music Man, The Wiz, My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, and Cats. Diane was in a really good mood, she was constantly whirling down halls singing songs at the top of her golden voice. It raised the spirits all over the mansion.

The days began to get colder again, and Diane's time in the mansion lengthened to almost year. Finally, one day in early December, it snowed. Diane, who loved the snow, was one of the first people outside when she realized there was snow on the ground. The snow was in perfect packing form, wet and slightly sticky. She found that it made perfect snowballs, and it also packed nicely around a piece of her power.

She made a slushy ball, and shimmied up into a tree, waiting for some unsuspecting person to come out of the mansion.

That person was Logan.

The snowball with the power-core floated out of the tree Diane was perched in, finally coming up behind and smacking Wolverine in the back of the head. The short man whirled.

"Alright, who threw that?" He asked gruffly. The core of Diane's power rolled itself into another ball of snow, flying and bouncing off the back of his head yet again. This time he looked thoughtful. Then…

"C'm out, c'm out wherever you are, Di." He said, making himself a slushball of his own. Diane had to fight as hard as she could not to giggle. Instead, she leapt out of the tree, landing just out of Wolverine's reach…a couple inches above his head. She danced back and forth, her powerball still bouncing off the back of his head when he was too busy trying to get her. She was so involved, she didn't really hear or see the snowball that splattered over her back. She fell off her piece of air and into the snow, still trying to find her attacker. She located Kurt's chuckle finally.

"Hey, you're supposed to be on my side!" She yelled, this time quickly scooping a snowball and throwing it at him, though it only sliced through a cloud of smoke and brimstone. "No telelporting. I can't hit you."

Then Cyclops came outside, wondering what was going on.

"Snowballs, Cyke!" Logan yelled, before pitching one he'd had behind his back at the leader. It hit Scott full on the face, splattering over his red glasses. Scott yelled defiantly, and threw one back., which missed, though it still spun off in the direction of the mansion door…that opened at that moment.

Kitty managed to phase, and the snowball splatted somewhere in the hall. She laughed, running out into the snow, scooping some as she ran, then throwing one at Cyclops, which he zapped out of the air.

Pretty soon it was a pitched battle, snowballs where flying everywhere, and there were balls of brimstone everywhere. Diane was running around and inch above the top of the snow so she wouldn't sink in. Pretty soon she learned to anticipate Kurt through the mind link, and finally, she pretended to aim at him, and when he teleported, she threw at the spot she knew he was going to appear. The snow landed right in his fanged smile. He spluttered in protest, then dived for Diane, who flipped out of his way, landing on Logan's shoulders, and pushing off, which messed up his aim at Kitty, causing the snowball to hit Cyclops, who had been aiming for the flipping Diane.

Nobody really noticed Storm. Until she announced, "You know, I believe that I found the remains of a snowball in the hall." The only response she got a was a pitched snowball from Kitty's direction, which she easily dodged, before muttering, "Amateurs."

The wind began to whirl, clouds pouring over the people in the battle. Pretty soon thick snowflakes began to fall, adding even more confusion to the pitched battle, as now the viewing was obscured, they only way you could locate someone in the downpour of white, frozen flakes was either if they hit you, or they said something. Diane had an advantage. She could always tell where Kurt was, and so he kept getting plastered with snow, until his fur was almost caked...or at least, the fur on his face was.

He was trying to find a dark shape in the snow to throw the snowball at when he was tackled from behind.

She snow-caked blonde hair gave her away. She was out of breath, her cheeks were flushed, and there were snowflakes in her eyelashes. A glowing field popped up around the both of them.

"I say we team up…" She whispered, almost smiling. He nodded.

"Can you give me a shield? I can't see anything in this soup." She nodded, and the shield around them split into two parts. Then she dashed off again. Pretty soon they were in two teams. Logan, Kurt, Diane, and Kitty, vs. Scott, Ororo, and Piotr, who had come outside to see where everyone had gone.

Forts were created, and there was an arsenal off snowballs behind each. The battle went on.

Around lunch, the exhausted, dripping X-men cam tumbling back into the mansion. Diane's long blonde braid was almost frozen stiff, Kurt's fur was matted with snow, and everyone was soaking wet.

I see you looking at the monitor. Review this.

And, as usual, send any ideas to dragonkeeper10@hotmail.com