AN: Sorry 'bout the short chapters. I started this when I thought a page of text made a good chapter length. Oops.
He wasn't surprised in the least that she wasn't crying. In fact, if he couldn't visibly see her numerous injuries, Logan wouldn't have known that she was hurt at all. When he had come to, Xavier was hovering over him, making sure that he was all right. Before he could even move, Xavier had then asked him to follow Storm, as she had slammed shut her mind to him. Logan's first impulse was to deny his request, as he had no intentions of confronting Ororo again. However, he saw and felt the hurt on the Professor's face over Storm's refusal to talk to him, so he got up and trailed her.
It was remarkably easy to follow where Storm had gone. Droplets of blood formed a nice, neat trail for him to follow. After approximately ten minutes, he saw Ororo floating inches above the ground; her blood-soaked clothes discarded a few feet away. The light drizzle both washed her off and helped form distinct rivers for the blood to follow. Without turning around or acknowledging his presence in any way, Ororo asked, "Is my best good enough?"
"What?"
"When we were returning from the mission, everyone told me that I had done my best, and that is all that mattered. I do not need mollification, I need honesty. Is my best good enough?"
Logan slowly walked toward Storm, wary of being struck once again. Once he was beside her, he reached up and placed a hand at her back, trying to keep her calm. "If we were satisfied with our best, we would never improve. If this, here, is the very best you can ever do, then no, it isn't. And it never will be. If it is, you can quit training, 'cause you'll never improve. This level isn't good enough, obviously. You're damn good, but it ain't enough."
Ororo sunk down, collapsing on the ground. Eyes watery, she looked up at Logan. "Thank you." A sudden gust of wind caught Logan off guard, and caught under Ororo to lift her. "I am going to the Medlab now. Thank you, my friend."
"I'll help you."
Paused in midair, Ororo turned to look at Wolverine. "What?"
"I'll help ya. I'm the best marksman there is here, you wanna learn how to avoid the gunfire, I'll help ya. You can learn."
Storm smiled a bit, and lowered herself down to Logan's height. Kissing him softly on the cheek, she whispered in his ear "Thank you once again. You are a true friend." She then carefully floated back to the mansion, while Logan wondered what the heck he just got himself into.