Disclaimer: Oh, woe unto the day when my dream to own this show comes true . . .
(aka, me no own XME)
A/N: Ah . . . Right . . . I used to right fanfiction. Sorry about the wait, I told y'all this thing was only going to be updated sporadically. Now, I have something to clear up: This is merely a collection of all my XME songfics. There is no plot, they are all unrelated.
Remember Me This Way
"Logan!"
He winced. He'd actually been hoping he could get out of here without having to see her, but she seemed to have a sixth sense that pertained only to when he was leaving the Institute for long periods of time. "Ah - 'Roro."
"You are leaving again," her voice was accusatory. "Just when we are getting back on our feet, you turn tail. Did Evan leaving throw you off so badly that you feel it would be all right to leave Xavier, Hank and I with the students? Four teachers are barely enough to keep them in control normally, Wolverine. You know that with Evan's - desertion - it has become more difficult."
He hadn't turned to face her yet. He knew what her face would look like - every time she'd managed to confront him before he'd gone away, it had looked the same. For three years they'd been the only permanent residents at the Institute, with Xavier's sometime-students or short-term students popping in every once in a while. The first time he'd gone away had been the hardest, and it hadn't gotten easier since. Walking out that door with someone like Ororo standing behind you and demanding you stay is hard, but he'd done it before. He was sure - almost sure - he could do it again.
"I know, Roro. But I gotta get outta here. Not for long, but - this place's so damn crowded. If I don't leave I think I'll hurt something."
"Then hurt it," Storm demanded in a cold voice. "We need you here."
He almost accused her of being Mystique. Ororo had never - never - spoken to him like that. It was rare enough that Ororo showed emotion at all - that she was so angry at him for leaving was slightly shocking.
"What?" he turned to her. Ororo's face - somehow more intense that it usually was, when he left. "Who are you, and what in the hell have you done with Ororo?"
Her face lightened a bit, lightened in sadness with a hint of despair. "She has gone into hiding," came the almost-whispered answer. "The world knows about us, Wolverine. Our faces have been splattered all over the news. It - frightens me. In a way I have never been frightened before," the cold mask came mostly off and Ororo Munroe stood there again, or a version of her at least, with her arms wrapped around her shoulders as if she were cold. "I have always had the trump card my mutation gave me. Only now my opponent has snatched a glimpse at my deck, and nothing I do is really - secret. There have only ever been a few people I have put my trust and assurance in, Logan. By nature, I do not trust easily. With Evan gone now, it has come down to you," she looked at him with eyes he thought he knew. Bright, brilliant blue, a strand of long white hair hanging delicately over one. They were the eyes of an African goddess - and to him, perhaps to him alone, they showed an inner vulnerability.
*
[Ororo]
Every now and then
You find a special friend
Who never lets us down
Who understands it all
Reaches out each time we fall
You're the best friend that I've found
I know you can't stay
But part of you will never ever go away
Your heart will stay
*
Ororo had been alone, above - or below - it all for most of her life. When she became part of life, instead of a bystander, he had been there.
"I know your nature, Logan. You wander, but you always come home. I - yes, I, I wish you to stay, not because of the students or because of the public knowledge of mutants, but - because of me. Yes, yes I am that selfish," her blue eyes hardened a bit, became more familiar in their determination. "I have known you since you came here more than half-mad, and you have known me. We have been friends," the stress in the word was slightly aggravated. "for all that long time. Have I ever yet asked something of you I did not truly need? I - me, myself and I, all alone - need . . . Goddess!" she exclaimed, as if suddenly realizing she had gone on a full-blown tangent. "I . . . Yes," she waved her hand at the silent Wovlerine. "Go, Wolverine. Nothing I have ever said before has stopped you."
The bag slid off his shoulder.
*
[Logan]
I'll make a wish for you
And hope it will come true
That life would just be kind
To such a gentle mind
If you lose your way, think back on yesterday
Remember me that day
Remember me that day
*
"Maybe, darlin', but the world, as you just reminded me, has changed quite a bit since my last jaunt. An' I think the Institute changed, too, in ways I mighta missed," he took a step towards the still weather-witch, bringing them about three feet apart. "Finish what ya were going to say."
Ororo sucked in a breath, steeling herself. "I need a friend. You are something I have never been able to replicate. Why do you think I confront you every time you take to wandering, though I know it will get me no where? And Charles is wonderful, but being a telepath cannot replace a night spent talking about days when life was far, far different than the comfort we suffer in this place," there was just the hint of a grin at the word 'suffer' on both mouths.
"Yeah," Logan nodded, her grin widening. "we did do that a time or two, didn't we?"
Storm laughed. "Two? If you will recall, we stayed up at least four different times our very first year here."
"Look, Ro," Logan sighed. "We've done the "pouring-our-hearts-out-to-each-other" thing more times than I care to think about. Chuck can't get into my head well - you think he knows half of what you know about me?"
Ororo's smile turned mischievous. "I highly doubt he knows about the pink - "
"Not one more word. Yer in a house fulla telepaths."
She restricted her smile to one shared between two people who do, truly, know everything about one another. "Stay. We both go a little insane in this place sometimes, Goddess knows for similar reasons. Did it never occur to you that I need you for balance - just as you need me?"
"I don't think I've ever met anyone like you, Ro," Logan shook his head. Reaching up, he put a hand on her shoulder. "Alright. But you have to help me unpack."