Chapter Eleven:
Mary escorted their guests outside and watched them closely. She wished she was able to remember something about this, maybe then she would not have been terrified about what they were about to show her.
The woman called Storm stepped away from the group and raised her hands above her head.
With quiet wonder, Mary watched as clouds began to gather in the clear morning sky. Something in her felt the earth respond as the woman began to create rain clouds over the desert.
Above the small jet, the clouds broke and a small patch of rain began to fall. Small streaks of lightning ran across the sky, and Mary felt the wind sigh as it blew past her ears. The entirely unnatural occurrence did not feel unnatural to her and the dry ground took in the water greedily as it fell.
Mary glanced over at Storm, and suddenly felt unnerved. The woman's eyes had lost all their color and were glowing with a strange white light. She took a nervous step backwards, transfixed on the woman's form against the dark clouds.
"Miss Sloane?" a concerned voice made her jump and she glanced around quickly.
The rain died away, and the sun shone brightly once again.
The Professor was next to her and she glanced down at him.
"Sorry," Mary said, "Just…It just…It was surprising. I had no idea mutants could do things like that."
"That and more," Scott said with a reassuring grin, "Every one is unique."
"Oh," Mary said, then added defensively, "And you think you can help me learn about my gifts…"
"Yes, we do," Xavier said, "If you would like us to."
Mary sighed, and folded her arms. She slowly walked a few steps away from her guests and looked across the land towards the mountains. She was weighing her next words carefully, frustrated by what she knew these people wanted to ask.
They could be as tactful as they wanted. Her visions always ended the same way...
A few moments passed before she could speak again.
"You..." she began, and then sighed and turned to face them, "You...want me to go back with you."
Xavier smiled knowingly, "That is one option, yes. You are, of course, always free to simply stay in contact with us by phone or e-mail. Most mutants we contact choose to stay at their homes, knowing they have the opportunity to come to the school if they feel their powers are becoming unmanageable..."
"Yes, but you want me to go back with you now, right?" she asked firmly, but with growing agitation, "That's why you came out here, Professor, isn't it?"
"We simply came to you because you asked," Xavier said calmly, "To give you any assistance we can..."
Mary shook her head, "That's not what I mean. I mean, you, yourself, Professor. You came out here specifically because you think I should come to your school."
"Why do you say that?" he asked.
Mary sighed, "You know why. You know cause Nana explained to you what's been happening to me. What's always happened to me..."
She glanced around at the patient faces watching her, and finally settled again on the Professor. His gaze never wavered, as he waited for her to put her own mutation in her own words.
"I see things," she said, "Things in the past, things in the future...things that are happening right now. The Elders call them 'visions' but the feelings I get are more than that. I just…know things and I don't know why. What people are doing, what they feel, where they're going. Sometimes I'll be talking to someone and realize I already had the conversation because I 'saw' it weeks before. Then I get frustrated...like I am now...because I know you wanted to ask me to come back to your school from the moment you found me but you're all too polite to just say it. Now I have to wait through a conversation I've already had to finally answer a question I don't have an answer for."
Mary took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She had not meant to just spill everything out like that. Especially on people who are just trying to do some good in the world.
"But," she finally said, opening her eyes again, "I knew you decided to join Mr. Summers and Ms. Monroe because, for whatever reason, you think I should come back."
Xavier stared at the girl for a moment, a curious frown creasing his brow.
"The vision changed," she continued, "For weeks, I've been seeing the two of you. Same old routine, you visit, you ask questions, you head home. But two days ago, the vision changed. Suddenly, there were three, and I was going to have to make a decision."
Mary trembled as she spoke, but not from another wave of her gift. Just weeks worth of tension flowing out of her. Now, for her own big question...
"I want to know, before I do decide..." she said, and then continued slowly, "Is it because you think I'm dangerous? Is that why you want me to go?"
Her face grew stony, "People here think I am. The Elders, they've seen things but they won't tell me. I know you're a psychic, Professor Xavier, I know you can see things too. So tell me...am I dangerous?"
A sudden anxiety (which Xavier felt was closer to fear) filled Mary's eyes.
So that's why she was so worried to meet us, the Professor thought, She thinks we're here to cart her off to some institute for unstable mutants. She thinks I've seen something in her that might be a threat to others.
Xavier smiled with honest relief and shook his head.
"No, I don't think you are," he replied, watching the girl blink with surprise, "You are right, however, that I chose to come myself because I would like you to return to the school with us. Your gift seems very strong, Mary...these 'visions' that you have, something like precognition. Your grandmother told us they've become more difficult for you to control recently, and we would like to help you learn to manage them without suffering the overwhelming effects she described."
He noticed the girl shifting uncomfortably, but Xavier's remained steadfast and confident.
"I may have concerns about your own safety, but I don't think you are a danger to anyone else," he said, and then added with amusement, "Except lottery officials, perhaps..."
Mary laughed then, a quiet and nervous sound, but her own relief at Xavier's words was obvious. She looked around at her guests and smiled.
"Thank you," she said, "And don't worry about those lottery guys...Nana would kill me if she caught me cheating like that."
Mary's face grew dark then, and she glanced back to the house where she had lived her entire life.
"And I appreciate the offer, Professor," she said, and then met his eyes again, "But I can't. I can't leave my grandmother right now. She hurt her leg last year and it's tough for her to get around. She's...she's not well. I'm...I'm sorry..."
Mary turned quickly and walked off towards the house, leaving her guests behind. Scott took a step forward, but Xavier halted him with one hand and shook his head.
"Give her a moment...It must be her decision."
Mary walked away guiltily, staring at the ground as she moved.
She knew it was disrespectful to just turn ones back on someone, but she also knew this was the only chance she would have to stay. She did not want to leave home, she had never been anywhere else, and part of her was terrified of being anywhere else but here.
Thoughts and voices rose in her mind, demanding she stop and go back. This is not the way it was supposed to go. She was meant to move on from this place. Each step towards the house was a struggle with herself, but Mary fought against those urges with thoughts of her grandmother, thoughts of her responsibilities to her family.
Mary reached the front door and stepped through. She nearly fell on her face as she tripped on something lying just inside the house. It was soft, but seemed very heavy.
She glanced down...and with wide eyes noticed two suitcases blocking her way. Mary gaped in surprise and glanced up as her Nana walked from the back bedrooms with an armload of clothes. Mary could tell that the older woman had been crying, but now Nana's eyes were dry and her jaw set in her task.
"Nana," Mary said, "What are you doing?"
"Packing your things," she said simply, looking at Mary as if that had been a very silly question.
"Nana...how did..." Mary said with a frown, "No...please, stop. I'm not going anywhere..."
"Of course you are," Nana replied, "You always do…now, go get what you need..."
"No," Mary nearly shouted, "No, I'm won't. I can't."
Nana put her hands on her hips, "And why not?"
"I won't just leave you here," Mary replied, "Nana, you..."
"Your Nana..." the older woman began, "...is a grown woman who can take care of herself."
Nana walked up to Mary and stared up at her, waving one finger scoldingly. The gesture was almost comical though Mary would never have laughed.
"You think you are the only one who knows things," she began, "Or do you forget who raised you all these years? Hmm? I know things. I know more about you than anyone else, Mary-Rose. I know why you are afraid. Your mama...she bring you here to us because she think we can help you, because she couldn't find help in her own church. She always believed the answers would come to you in time. But, there's nothing else you can learn here. The Elders have been silent for too long and they are too old to change their ways. They fear you, my Rose. And that is their weakness. But, those people, out there, they don't have that fear."
Nana put a hand to Mary's cheek, which was now damp with tears of her own.
"When your mama found me and your papa, we knew the child she carried was blessed...was gifted. You have the light that shines in the darkest places, though you can't see it yet. Ten years ago, that light was lost...now you must find it again, however difficult the journey will be."
Mary collapsed into the old woman's arms and wept. Her tears were bitter in her throat. It was not fair. Why should she have to leave everything she knows? Why do the answers always need to be found so far away?
"I...I don't...understand..." she said through her sobs and her Nana stroked her hair lovingly.
"You will, My Rose," she said with a shining smiled, "You will..."