Disclaimer: Sigh…Yeah…this always makes me sad. This is the part where I hafta admit I own nothing, I'm nothing but a poor little peasent with a computer and a mental problem. On the other hand, I get to say that I own Thorn and I'll kick your ass if you abduct her. That's reassuring, but I really wish I owned Kurt though…
Author's Note: I was originally gonna post the next two chapters as one, but the posting bug bit me (Dammit…stupid little flea…OUCH!) so I's gonna post this now and, if my teacher's cooperate, I will post more soon! Oh, and I was so happy with all the replies I got! Keep it up and I'll keep it coming!
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"Did you see her move?" An excited Jubilee asked her friends, dancing around them in her usual animated way. Her beautiful dark hair hung loose, her almond dark eyes shining. They, for once, returned her enthusiasm.
"Yeah!" Kitty agreed, flinging her brown curly hair over one shoulder, "That just shows you guys that women can really do anything men can. Even beat Wolverine." These last words were tinged with admiration.
"Technically, she didn't beat him," Bobby corrected.
"You say what?!"
"Well, she kicked his ass first, but then he took her down, so it was a tie." Bobby explained, absentmindedly toying with the ice he was creating with his fingers. His blue eyes were furrowed a bit in concentration, and without realizing it, his blond curly hair became tinted by frost.
"Chauvinists." Kitty grumbled. But she didn't argue.
"So what exactly are we doing again?" An annoyed John asked, his dark eyes scowling. Well, he might not have been annoyed…it could just have been his naturally cheerful disposition. He flicked his lighter in a steady rhythm, much to the annoyance of his friends.
"Thorn told me to meet her in her garden," Rogue told them, for the second time, "Ah volunteered to help if she needed it."
"So why are you dragging us along again?" John muttered. Kitty elbowed him in the ribs and glared at him.
"Ah'm not draggin' you anywhere." Rogue said defensively. "Ya don't hafta come."
John had nothing to say to that. Truth be told, he had a soft spot for Rogue and when he talking to her, he would occasionally abandoned his icy exterior. Okay, maybe 'icy' is not the best term to use when describing someone named 'Pyro'…
The group of teens had reached the back doors by now, and left the school, laughing and talking. They made their way to the greenhouse, still discussing the finer points of their previous class.
Thorn was waiting, hands on her hips, in the garden, frowning a little at the vegetables. The vegetables actually seemed to be wilting beneath her intense gaze.
A smile graced her lips as she noticed them. She dropped one hand and let it hang at her side as she raised an eyebrow elegantly.
"Took your time, didn't you?" Thorn inquired with amusement. She saw Jubilee open her mouth in protest and she raised the hand at her side to silence her. "I'm just kidding." She said, laughing a bit. "Sorry, but you guys are gonna have to get used to my perverse sense of humor."
"What's perverse mean?"
"Moving on!" Thorn declared, ignoring the innocent question purposefully. "You guys will be weeding my flower beds. Make sure you get weeds and not my plants! By weeds, I mean thistles and dandelions, not roses and daisies. If you aren't sure, don't touch it. You got that?"
The kids nodded complacently.
"Great. Throw them over in the compost pile there." She gestured to the decidedly ripe heap, concealed in a wooden structure. "I'll be in the greenhouse if ya need me." She smiled again and left them, a bit overwhelmed at the orders.
After a moment of silence, Bobby ventured to speak.
"She's very good at barking out orders like that, isn't she?"
There was a silent, but unanimous agreement.
Thorn smiled slightly to herself as she walked through the greenhouse, running her fingers over her plants in a gentle caress. She'd never before regretted her mutant powers and she probably never would. Those powers had saved her life more than once, that was for certain. The union she shared with the plants…it was beyond words. She could hear their murmurs, feel their joy, experience their pain…
_ Was it worth it, the pain? _ She wondered absently.
Yes.
The answer came, leaving her no doubt. Her tough façade, the sarcastic exterior abandoned her, leaving her with the blind faith of a child. She'd never lost that, but in many ways, she'd never grown up. In other ways though, she'd had to grow up much too fast.
She fingered the small, worn cardboard box in her pocket. Memories swirled, unbidden, in the recesses of her mind, but she shoved them away roughly.
Thorn had reached her worktable and shelf in the back of the glass building. She stopped and her gaze traveled over the contents of the rough wooden slab. A trowel, a spade, fertilizer, a few pots…nothing much. Her emerald eyes moved upwards to consider the shelves that were loaded with tools and plants. Her hand carefully brushed away the fronds of a trailing fern to grasp a small pot.
She brought the pot delicately to her chest, regarding it with eyes filled with an adoration usually reserved by children hugging a favorite blanket or stuffed toy. Settling it in one hand, she dipped her hands into the vessel.
Slowly, a small, snake-like object unfurled, wrapping itself around her fingers. It was soon joined by a second vine, this time less hesitantly, as if greeting an old friend. Thorn smiled and the vines grew, waving and reflecting her mood like a mirror. They twisted around her arms like twin serpents, but gentle and loving at the same time.
"My oldest friends…" A soft wistful voice intoned. Thorn sighed and stood, the plants moving ceaselessly about her.
She could hear the kids' loud, arguing, voices and decided she better check on them to make sure no one had been frozen, or blown up, or impaled upon a stick or something.
Thorn smiled "Enjoy it while you still can." She advised them softly.
Bobby shook his head at his roommate. "I'm telling you man, being frozen to death is much worse than being burned to death." As if illustrating his point, he stretched out a finger and froze a thistle, then carefully shattered it.
"Yeah right." Pyro scoffed "Have you ever been burned to death?"
"Will you guys shut up already?" Kitty muttered, irritated.
"Seriously." Rouge agreed. She was currently trying to grasp a pile of weeds without killing herself on the thorns. Bobby's serious expression softened and he took it from her and put it in the compost heap. She smiled shyly at him and he wrapped an arm around her waist, playfully spinning her around.
Kitty watched them with fondness, while John glared sourly. Jubilee, wishing to distract her friends from Rouge and Bobby's private moment, spoke to John.
"Your just jealous of our wicked powers," She said, throwing a handful of "poofs" at him.
He ducked and rolled his eyes. "Yeah. You caught me. I'd trade in my firepowers so I can create useless little fireworks and walk through walls. Whee." He deadpanned.
"Useless? Who you callin' useless bub?" Jubilee challenged.
"Bub?" Bobby asked, joining them, hand still resting comfortably around Rouge's waist. "You sound like Wolverine."
Rouge looked a little upset. "Will you guys call him Logan? His name's not Wolverine. That's what the doctors called him." This statement brought curious stares all around, but Bobby just tightened his arm reassuring. He understood she had lapses of memories from the personas she absorbed, something that was initially disturbing, but he was used to it by now.
"Only if he'll let us," Kitty said meaningfully, and the others nodded in agreement. They didn't want to get on his bad side.
Pyro, obviously still mulling over something said earlier, directed a question at Jubilee "So…you guys think you've got better powers than us?"
Groans erupted from everyone. "You've just gotta be the best at everything, don't yah John?" Rogue said in exasperation.
"You have one major ego problem goin' on in that weird little head of yours Johnny-boy." Kitty muttered.
But Jubilee was not perturbed. "Yes, actually, I do. You got a problem with that?" She challenged.
"Sure do." John replied, giving them a rare smile, which was scarier than his scowl.
In an unspoken challenge, they stepped back, their friends clearing out of their way, protesting feebly.
"Will ya'll just knock it off?"
"Dammit John, we don't have time for this!"
"Thorn's gonna kill us…"
"Thorn?! What if Logan catches us messing around?!"
This last comment brought more despairing moans, but the two mutants ignored them. Jubilee raised her hands and John did the same, flicking his lighter open.
A sudden barrage of fireworks flew at John and he blocked them with a solid wall of flame. The flame reshaped itself into an image of the young Asian mutant, sticking her tongue out at his opponent.
Jubilee ground her teeth together in anger. Her image suddenly raised a fiery palm and threw a ball of flame at her, John's way of mocking her power.
Jubilee threw herself into a forward roll, swearing silently as the flame scorched her hair.
The flame, of course, behaving according to Newton's Law, kept going until it hit something.
Namely Thorn's compost pile.
"Oh shit…" Jubilee murmured softly.
Thorn chose that moment to leave her greenhouse.
For one, brief, but blessed moment, Thorn didn't see the accidental pyre. Then it was all she could see.
Flames filled her vision and smoke claimed her nostrils. Screams and cries echoed dully in her ears as she ran…not fast enough…her neck...on fire. Sudden, lacerating pains split her back and her leg splintered…again…make it stop…_leave them alone_…
"LEAVE THEM ALONE!!!" The kids watched, terrified, as the woman fell to her knees, gripping her head with both hands. Bobby, belatedly, raised a hand and froze the flames. In his panic, he managed to freeze a tree and about everything that was within a twenty foot radius of the compost heap.
"Thorn!" A voice barked behind them. The kids spun around to see Logan race towards them, his eyebrows knitted in concern.
"We don't know what happened…we didn't mean to…it was an accident…" Kitty's excuse ended in a whimper as she watched them.
"Get back to the school…she'll be alright." Logan told them gruffly. Wanting to help, but clueless as to how, the teens turned away reluctantly.
Logan slid a shoulder under Thorn's arm and helped her to her feet, leading her inside the steaming glass house. She pushed him away from her and made her way unsteadily to the back, to her workbench. Logan, though uninvited, followed her, noticing for the first time the green vines that waved themselves agitatedly about her.
"What was that back there?" He asked her softly. He didn't expect an answer and didn't get one. "You really scared those kids." What he was saying, they both knew, was that they both had been scared, but they were too proud to say it. He could smell the fear emanating off her.
"I just…don't like fire much," Thorn said, a weak smile on her face. Not that Logan could see it, since her back was to him. She fished the small cardboard box from her pocket and rubbed her thumb across it, then absent-mindedly massaged her throat.
The movement was not lost on Logan. He came up next to her, looking first at the box, then at her neck. She stared past him, unseeing.
The scar on her neck…he had noticed it the first time he met her…in the garden…it was a burn.
"What happened to you?" He asked in a gentle voice even he didn't know he could summon.
"I can't remember…" She answered; a statement he sensed was only half-true.
"I know the feeling." He replied. He watched her hand as she slid the box open. It was one of those old matchboxes that had a box inside a sheath, usually sliding out to reveal assorted matches.
Instead, it contained a picture, well-fingered and old, folded and curling a bit at the edges. A beautiful woman, smiling at the camera, had her hand on the shoulder of a kindly-looking man with graying hair. Between them stood a little girl with curly brown hair, a wide smile, and green eyes.
Thorn…she was so young, so happy. Bitterly, Logan wondered how old he had been when this picture was taken.
On top of the picture were three seeds. Worn smooth by handling, they gleamed dully at him.
"It's all I have left," She whispered "Besides these guys." She patted the vines reassuringly. They were going crazy, like they were frightened or something. Could plants possibly be able to remember, or were they reflecting how she felt at the memories?
"I'm sorry…" Logan began, but Thorn turned her head away from him and snapped her hand, shutting the box.
"Well, thanks for stopping by Logan!" Thorn declared with fake cheer. "I had a great work-out at the gym today, but it wore me out, so I'll just catch a nap now, shall I?" Without waiting for a reply, she pushed him forcefully towards the door,
Logan stumbled, caught off guard, and left. He respected her privacy; he could relate to what she was going through.
Thorn shut the door behind him and leaned her back against it. She huddled over, raising her hands to cup her face, straining to hide the tears that leaked through her fingers.
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This could take awhile…..
Faith- lmao..I laughed pretty hard reading your review. Thanks for your enthusiasm! I'm glad you liked the song part, cause I was worried about that. Yes, Logan did need an ass-kicken. Keep up with your wicked story!
Crazy4lordofring- lol…I love you too. I hate choir…I hope "Hitler" dies…you know what I mean._ Down with Hitler's School for the Gifted!!!!_
Reyns- Thanx for reading my story!
Dragon-denna- Oh my faithful fan, I give you more!
Exiesgoddess- *laughs* I agree…he's way too stuck on the Jean thing here. I'm glad you like the music!
Amy Potter 13- WHO YOU CALLIN' A FREAK?!?!?!? Just playin wit cha…don't forget I'm the one who introduced you to Logan!!! _Yes! The fuzzy man gets to go!!_ LoL…I love that…
Keep replying peeps! And if you haven't seen it yet, go see X2!!!!!
