A/N: This Fic takes place shortly after the episode where the School Board votes to let Mutants back into school. (Memory fails me on the name.) However, from the moment the characters come into existence on the page, it's my show. (APOCOLYPS DOES NOT EXIST!!!!!)

A/N 2: In this fic, Jubilee and Rahne were not removed from the Institute. The reason is simple, and obvious. Their parents, although feeling that they weren't safe there, were even less safe in a location where they are the only mutant in an entire city of people who were willing to hurt or kill them.

AN 3: A lot of these aren't there. Many characters may act a little OOC, but I am going off of my memory and some research. If there is a major problem (Beast impersonating Dumb and Dumber, for example), then, for Heavens Sakes, TELL ME!!!! Also, I can't do accents for the life of me, so I'm going to type it normal. Besides, when these hands get going to typing, they don't stop for anything.

And now, without further ado.

River of Dreams

Chapter 1: The Eyes of the Blind See No Color

*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEE-*

Drawing his hand away from the alarm clock, Kyle Trevais groaned, sitting up in his bed to greet the new day. He smiled at the feeling of the sun on his face, and stood up from his bed. Stepping over the chair in front of his desk, he grabbed the clothing hanging over the back of it and put it over his arm. Turning, grabbing a metal pole as he did so, he walked to the door to his room, one hand on the wall. Reaching for the doorknob, he counted to three silently, and then opened the door, bringing the metal pole up as he did. A satisfying clang told him that he was right, and that his adopted father had been intending to wake him up. with the help of a bucket of ice, of course. The sound of cubes hitting each other, and the cold feeling near his feet informed him that the cubes were now covering the hallway in front of his room. Smiling at the man in front of him, Kyle lifted one foot off the ground, skimming it until he no longer felt a cold sensation on the sole of his foot, and then set his foot down. He quickly brought the other foot next to the first, and began walking down the hall, his hand on the wall the entire way.

Reaching a door, Kyle ran his hand along a series of bumps on the door. Smiling, he opened the door, and then walked in. Still running his hand along the wall, Kyle walked into the room. When his hand hit a hook on the wall, he put his shirt and pants on the hook, and continued further. Finally, his hand came across the curtain to the shower, and he followed the curtain to the far end. Reaching the other end of it, he ran his hand down the wall, found the faucet on the wall, and went up to the three knobs there. Turning the respective knobs to his preference, Kyle turned around, and went about his morning routine.

(AN: Now things get interesting, I'm not sure if the Mansion is rebuilt by the time they are allowed to return to school, but I'm going to say it is.)

*Meanwhile, at Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters*

Storm smiled slightly at the morning sounds of the Institute. Water running, teenagers shouting at each other to hurry up, complaining about various tests over breakfast, and various other discussions, all carried out at the top of the lungs. However, she quickly frowned as she saw Bobby and Evan racing each other down the staircase, Evan on a skateboard, Bobby on one of his ice-slides.

As she watched, Evan's skateboard came off the stair rail, without him on it. As Evan watched his skateboard go flying, he became aware of a hand on the back of his shirt. Following that hand to the face that was attached, he saw that it was a sight worse than death. Wolverine.

Before Coffee.

"Extra Danger Room sessions, with me. One week's worth, starting tomorrow. Let's see if that don't teach you to stop using that thing in the house," growled Wolverine. Evan gulped, and then nodded, not wanting to earn himself another week's worth.

Shortly after Evan's brush with death, it was time for both the X-Men, and the New Mutants to depart for school, an event they had grown to dread over the two weeks since they were allowed to return. Why you ask?

Simply put, they were now outcasts, freaks, lower than the nerds in the school hierarchy, and that is pretty low. From the time they walked onto campus, to the time they left the campus, they were harassed, bullied, and picked upon.

The ride to school was carried out in silence, as each student thought of the day to come, and wondered what horrors it would bring.

Scott pulled up to Bayville High, his face contorted into a thoughtful frown, and he obviously didn't like what he was thinking about. As the others piled out of his car, he didn't even bother to complain when Amara scraping the car with her backpack.

As Amara walked through the school doors, heading towards her locker, people backed away, only to close ranks again as she passed. Like I was a leper or something, thought Amara as she stood in front of her locker, entering her combination. A hand suddenly pushed Amara into the locker door, right as she opened it. Quickly turning, she found herself looking at four other girls, all of whom had once been her friends.

"Awwwww. Poor muttie can't even get the locker door open." Said the first one.

"When she can figure out what a locker is." Added another, her smile malevolent.

"Get out of here, freak, we don't want your kind here."

"Yeah, get out of here!"

As the four girls continued to taunt Amara, a small mob started to gather. Kyle, hearing the rather excessive amount of noise, began heading in that general direction, his cane skimming the ground before him in a slow, sweeping motion. Finally he reached the mob's location, and began working his way towards the front, trying not to bump into anyone to hard. When he neared the front, he was able to hear what was being said, and he didn't like it.

"Get out of here, bitch. Take you, and all your other muttie friends, and crawl back under the rocks you came from."

The situation suddenly became clear to Kyle, and became clearer when three other voices spouted support, and insults of their own from the small clear area the mob left in the center. Apparently, four girls had decided to gang up on another. And, mutant or not, no one deserves to be demeaned like that. He should know.

"Excuse me, ladies, might I ask that you leave her alone. I mean, what has she ever done to you?"

"She's a freak, man." Began one girl.

"And how do you define the word freak? If you are using the definition 'not normal,' then how do you define normal? If you define normal as you are in this case, 'like yourself,' then every person in this school is a freak! No two people are the same, and it doesn't matter if the difference is their hair, their eyes, their skin color, their style, their physique, their personality, or other, more unique gifts. That difference is what makes us. us, and because of it, there can be no clear cut definition of 'normal.' For what is normal to one person is strange, even obscene to another. For you all, it would seem impossible to walk down a street, and not see the trees and the grass and the birds. Yet for me." said Kyle, as he reached up, and removed his sunglasses, revealing a pair of light gray eyes, with no pupils, "it is normal. You have no room to judge who is normal and who is not, so be off with you."

As the crowd, still in shock from the telling-off they just received, Kyle replaced his glasses, and started to walk away. Amara, herself just coming out of shock; grabbed his hand as a call of "Wait!" blurted out of her mouth.

Kyle stopped, and turned to the young lady. "Yes?" he asked, his eyebrows rose.

"Why did you do that, shouldn't you have been in the crowd, taunting me too?" Amara asked, her tone slightly un-believing. "I mean I am a 'mutant freak.'"

Kyle smiled, and shook his head ruefully; "you are only a freak if you believe yourself to be. And if I were to have simply done the easy thing and stood in the crowd, then I would have been no better than that pack of judgmental fools." He started to walk away, and then suddenly came up short. Smiling a very embarrassed smile, he said to Amara "Excuse me, do you know where I can find the English II class, I've just moved here from Boston."

Amara looked at him for a second, and then nodded. "Yes, I'll show you, I'm in that class."

Kyle then laughed, the sort of relieved laugh you hear when someone's biggest problem has been solved. "Thank you, might I be so bold as to ask what your name is, mine is Kyle Trevais."

Amara smiled, "Amara Aquilla."

*Cafeteria, that same day*

As Amara came out of the lunch line, having finally managed to get the workers to notice that she existed, she realized that, just as the students had made an effort to get out of her way earlier, they were now making an effort to get in her way. Looking around, she saw the rest of Xavier's students at a table in the corner. She began making her way over there, trying her best to avoid the students. As she set her tray down on the table, she saw a young man being pushed around over near the wall. Looking closer, she saw that it was Kyle! Furious, she stormed over there, the other Xavier students watching, a few of the younger prepping themselves to help.

Upon reaching the spot, she suddenly realized that these four boys were the respective boyfriends of the four girls from earlier. Kyle meanwhile, was just getting to his feet, when one of the jocks pushed him into his friend, who held him tightly.

Amara shoved past them, and stood between Kyle and the other three Varsity jocks. "That's quite enough, you four. Why don't you go try to develop some brains, instead of picking on those who can't defend themselves?"

Two of the jocks simply laughed, as the third one pulled his fist back, his massive tendons creaking, his bones grinding. Kyle figured him to be about four feet away, a distance he could easily cover in the blink of an eye.

The jock holding Kyle never knew what hit him. One second he was holding the blind boy, the next thing he knows, he's on his knees on the ground, holding his stomach, gasping for breath.

The jock that had been about to punch Amara didn't know what happened either. Amara, however, saw it perfectly. As the jock threw his punch, Kyle simply grabbed his fist at the wrist, and pulled his arm up, twisting his wrist counterclockwise, shifting so that the next thing the jock realized was that the blind boy was holding his wrist in a very uncomfortable hold, just below shoulder-blade level.

Kyle then spoke up from behind the jock, his voice calm, yet laced with a cold that would make Bobby shiver. "Striking women is lacking in honor, I suggest that you go and sit down, and do not bother this young lady again." With that, he shoved the jock forward, and started to walk away.

Amara, in an incredible feeling of déjà vu, grabbed his wrist again. "That's twice," she said when he turned around to face her. "Would you like to sit with me and my friends?"

His sightless eyes looked at her, "Sure, why not?"

Amara smiled, and lead him over to where the other Xavier students were sitting. "Guy's I'd like you to meet Kyle Trevais." Kyle smiled at them, "I'm going to guess that you all share Amara's. unique gift, if not in the same form." The other Xavier students looked at him, shocked.

Rahne shook it off quickly, "Alright, pal, just what is your game? Why would you stick up for mutants?"

Kyle turned his face to her, and looked at her for a minute. "Because I know what it means to be scorned for something you cannot help. I know the pain of the tongues of serpents. And I know what it's like to be demeaned by a very public ridiculing."

Scott, shaking off his shock that a normal person was sticking up for mutants, spoke quickly. "Don't worry about Rahne, she's a little overprotective of her friends at times. Almost like a wolf." He said, not able to resist cracking a smile.

Kyle smiled at that, as Rahne looked suitably abashed. Bobby quickly changed the subject. "How'd you do that? I've never seen someone pull moves like those."

Kyle laughed, "I've been trained in martial arts since I was five. The man who raised me is the last living master of our style."

The rest of the students at the table looked suitably impressed, although Amara was wondering about something. "I thought that you were blind, though." She said.

Kyle turned to look at her, "I am." He then smiled, "But this style was originally developed to teach those without the use of sight how to defend themselves. Thus, it places a heavy emphasis on not using your eyes."

About this time, the bell to signal the end of lunch rang, and the conversation ended as the various students headed off towards their respective classes.

*Xavier Institute, after school*

As Rahne, Jubilee, and Amara walked out of the car dock, Charles Xavier could hear their conversation, and found the topic of it to be very interesting.

"I do it interesting that he could beat those two jocks when they were going to punch you 'Mar, but he wouldn't when they were beating him around." Said Jubilee

"You're right, Lee," Said Rahne, "I think he just wanted to catch 'Mar's attention."

"He wouldn't have known I was even there, guys. He is blind. You know, can't see. You didn't see him take off his sunglasses when he told off that mob before school. I did. His eyes had no pupils, and they were solid gray." Said Amara, taking on her higher-than-thou tone.

"I must agree with Amara, given the evidence." Said Xavier, sensing a catfight beginning to brew. "Generally, that kind of eye structure indicates a lack of sight. Now, I do believe that you all have a danger room session to attend to, do you not?"

Four groans sounded. Three of them from the girls as they trudged off to get ready, the fourth from Evan, who had just remembered his week's worth of extra sessions. Xavier smiled slightly, as he began to roll his wheel chair towards the control room.

*Trevais residence*

Kyle walked through the door, and walked towards his first-floor bedroom. Reaching the door, which he recognized by the Braille on the doorframe. Opening the door, he walked over to his desk, and set his backpack down on the chair. Turning around, he walked outside, heading out back. Once there, he grabbed a staff just next to him, and began walking towards the small dojo in their backyard. Upon reaching it, his hand came up, grabbing a small, very sharp dart from the air to his right.

He opened the door, and said to the apparently empty room, "You missed, sensei."

A chuckle came from the shadows, and from there, a man stepped forward. He had blond hair, blue eyes, and light skin. He smiled, once again marveling at the difference between him and his adopted son. His adopted son was of a medium-small build, with black hair, with the naturally deep-brown skin of the Native Americans. He himself was a large, portly man who would seem more at place brawling than practicing martial arts. But, even though he was the only living master of his style, he knew that his son, and pupil was far more skilled than he, and the only reason he wasn't a master was that he lacked the experience.

Kyle took a deep breath as he closed the door to the dojo. "There was a fight today." Kyle said, wincing as he anticipated the coming tirade.

Jacob Trevais tilted his head as he looked at his son. He wasn't prone to fighting, even though he was skilled. "Go on, what started it?"

"Well," Kyle began, as he related the events of that morning, and then continued on to lunch, when the four of them had attacked him.

Jacob Trevais nodded, "You did the right thing, son. You spoke up, and protected someone who was being persecuted for no reason. If other's wish to hold a grudge because you did so, then do not be afraid to protect yourself."

Kyle smiled, relieved that his sensei wasn't going to chew him out. "But," said Jacob "Just don't get carried away."

Kyle nodded, then went to start on his homework.

Well, what do you think? Like, dislike, flame, burn, become Pyro for a few seconds? Whatever your opinion, R&R!!!!!!!

R&R