Chapter Six

A Gift, A Curse, A Destiny.

A few days past, no sign of Mystique or of the Brother Hood.

The long wait for Yoshiko had finally ended and the day had arrived when Dekua and some of the other Temple Monks would be coming to the institute to check up on Yoshiko and her progress.

It was a Sunday morning, 4:37 in the morning, and Yoshiko was trying to decided if she should wear her traditional orange sari or her new American clothes that she bought last week with Jean and Kitty. She got very frustrated and just put on both, her sari dress over her blue jeans and she put on a sandal on one foot and a tenni shoe on the other. She left her hair hanging in her face and scurried down the hall, and down the stairs to the front door of the mansion. She took a seat on the floor by the door and sat there starring at it as if waiting for Dekua to walk right on in.

Kurt woke before all the others, he got dressed and didn't bother to put on his hologram watch -Yoshiko was finally use to him- he teleported into the kitchen and grabbed some fruit and a pear. He started to teleport around the school in search of Yoshiko, he was just about to give up looking for her when he saw her sitting in front of the front door peering up at it as if waiting for something to happen. He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, a bit startled she looked over her shoulder to see Kurt holding out a pear for her. She took it in her small hand and smiled up at him.

"Arigato Kurt-oniisan, (Thank you Kurt,)" Yoshiko said as she took a bite of the pear, "Onegai-simasu kakaru seika" (Please. Take a seat.)

"Um... okay?" Kurt wasn't too good with the Japanese language, but he took a wild guess and sat down next to her, "What are you waiting for Yoshiko? You can go outside when ever you want, you don't have to wait for someone to tell you you can."

"Ano hito irassy-aru..."

"What?"

"Hm?" Yoshiko shoke her head and looked up at Kurt, "I sorry, I did not mean to mumble." She fumbbled with the pear in her hands, "I waiting for Dekua and others, why you wait?"

"You looked like you could use a friend," Kurt gave a small smile, "May I ask you a question? How can you never sleep? Have you even ever tried!?"

"Seep? Slep? Slee-eep?" Yoshiko stumbled with that word, "Xavier-sensei has encouraged me to try to but I never feel," she stopped and looked off into the distance as if looking for the right word.

"Tired?" Kurt asked, "Out of energy?"

"Hai! That word!" Yoshiko took another bite of her pear.

Kurt ruffled her hair and stood up, he would never understand her! Are all little kids like that? He teleported to the kitchen, grabbed another paer and teleported back and handed it to her with the one she already had.

"Here! You need to eat some more," Kurt said, "Your all skin and bones!"

Charles walked into the darkness, yes walked. He was fully aware that this was just a dream, but somehow it felt more than real. The ground was covered with thick cold fog, cold? How can a dream feel cold? He ignored the fact he could feel the coldness around him and continued to walk into the foggy surroundings. He stopped dead in his tracks when he herd a soul piercing scream, it sounded like a someone was being tormented, it sounded like... Yoshiko!

"Yoshiko!" Charles yelled into the dank fog, "I'm coming!!" He raced through the fog, cutting through it like a hot knife threw ice, "Yoshiko! Stay calm! I'm coming!!"

He ran, and ran through the fog but never reaching the destination where the screaming was coming from. The scream grew louder and more heart breaking, he wanted to reach her! He wanted to help her! But he couldn't get to her!

"Boku onegai simasu desita!!" (Please help me!)

"I'm coming!"

He tried to reach out to her mentally but nothing worked, his powers seemed dead in this shadow realm. So, he ran faster, in hope to make a difference between their distances. The screaming seemed more frantic, more soul killing, until-- it stopped... Charles shook his head in fear, he didn't want to know what had done this to such an innocent child.

He stopped, he saw Yoshiko standing and looking down at something at her feet, he ran to her side to see what had happened.

"Yoshiko, are you--" He gasped and looked at the child at Yoshiko's feet.

He dropped to the ground and cradled her in his arms. It was Yoshiko, the Yoshiko in Charles's arms was a Yoshiko with white hair, pale skin, and her neck was bruised with finger markings as if something choked her to death... not something, but someone. He looked up at the other Yoshiko, she had black hair and her eyes were darker than anything he'd ever seen. Her eyes glared at the limp body in Charles's arms, dark Yoshiko raised her hand and a black fire rose from the dead Yoshiko's body. Charles dropped her from the touch of the flames, her body disappeared into ash and the dark Yoshiko was the only one left.

"Yoshiko..." Charles stood on his legs at looked down at her, "Why?... What are you trying to tell me..."

"You seem nice...:" Yoshiko's voice was harsh and rusty, "But, you can't help me...."

"Yoshiko!" Charles took her by the shoulders and bent down to her level, he starred into those dark eyes, "Please! I can help you. Just let me!"

"I tego arcana dei...." Yoshiko waved and the walls of the dream seemed to crumble at her very touch....

Professor Charles Xavier woke with a start as he gasped greedily for the air around him, he looked about as if waiting for something to jump out and attack him. He settled down when he realized he was back in the real world, his heart beat rushed back up when he herd screams come from the student's corridors. He tried to get to his feet but fell to the floor when he remembered he couldn't walk, he rushed his chair over to him with his mind and propped himself up in it and wheeled down the hall to the other's rooms. He first entered Kurt's to see he wasn't there, he went to the next one. Evan's room was covered in spikes, his room was always like that when he had a nightmare.

"Evan! What is it!?" Charles looked back down the hall to see the other students start to come into the hall, some crying, some shivering with fear but trying to comfort the others. It was total chaos.

"It's Yoshiko!" Evan stumbled out of his bed, "Something's wrong!"

Kurt teleported into the hall, his looked about frantically and ran to the professor when he saw him. His face had panic written all over it.

"It's Yoshiko!" Kurt said, "Something's wrong with her! Come quickly!"

Charles followed Kurt as he led the way, the rest of the school followed as well in bewilderment. They wanted to know the answers to their questions and what had happened, when Kurt showed Yoshiko sitting on the floor by the front door with her hands cupped around her ears screaming all the students started to talk and ask questions all at once.

"That's the girl from my dream!"

"Is she all right!?"

"What's going on!?"

"Hey! That's Yoshiko!!"

"QUIET!!!!!" Charles yelled at the top of his lungs, the place was silenced at once except Yoshiko's screaming, Charles never had to yell at the students before like that, "EVERYONE! Please!! Just calm down! Where's Jean Grey!?"

"I'm right here Professor!" Jean came down from the steps, she was still in her nightgown, the students parted letting her pass, "What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know," Charles noticed the small sparks of black and white lightning come from Yoshiko's hair and her tightly closed eyes, "Look, I want you to put a shield over her in case she starts to fire."

"Tyotto... tyotto... tyotto..." Yoshiko's screaming ceased and came down to a hushed whisper, "Tyotto... tyotto... tyotto...."

"What is she saying?" Ororo walked over to where Charles and Jean were, she was wrapped in her robe, "Is she going to be okay?"

"Tyotto," Jean said as she wrapped her mind around Yoshiko, "It means, I'm not afraid."

"What does she have to be afraid about?" Kitty asked as she watched from a distance.

"It was probably the other kid," Rogue said, "I had a dream, Yoshiko was killed from this one kid. Maybe she's fighting the thing mentally."

"You had that dream too?" Rahne asked.

"I had it too!" Evan said, "Did we all have that dream!?"

"Tyotto... tyotto... tyotto..." Yoshiko's hands dropped from her ears and she grew limp and laid out on the floor, "Tyot.. to... tyotto... tyo........"

She fell silent, her screaming gone, her voice along. Charles looked to Jean and nodded, she dropped her shield. Charles wheel closer to Yoshiko's limp body, he raised her with his mind. She looked so quiet, so peaceful, but he couldn't see the years of pain that lay beneath her eyes. He brushed aside her bangs, he never seen her sleep before...

"Yoshiko?" He tried to reach her mentally.

When he got no response, he decided to walk into her mind himself. When he looked into it, it was like a blank piece of paper. No memory...

"Hm..?" Yoshiko's eyes started to flicker open, she gazed sleepily up at Xavier.

"Yoshiko," Xavier looked into those beautiful multicolored eyes, "Are you okay?"

Her eyes shut as she passed out in his lap. Just then the door bell rang, everyone starred at the double doors wondering who could it be at six in the morning. Jean opened the door, three Monks in the traditional orange robes stood on the door step.

"My name, is Dekua," One of the taller slender men said with a bow, "Is this where Professor Xavier-sama lives?"