Storm walked from the den into the hallway, her face blurred and frowned. She didn't like to be sad like she was at that moment but her recent encounters with the young Mr. Tolensky had unnerved her to the core. She had seen the future of the mutant race and she didn't like it. She had to talk to the Professor. He knew now, the telepath had a very good idea of what had happened. With that, it meant that the Professor might know better what to do. In any case, she needed to speak to him. She knocked on the door of the Professor's study and walked in after he beckoned verbally.

Professor Xavier sat behind his desk and stroked his chin, a pair of headphones on his head and a frown on his face. He saw Storm come in and slipped the headphones off, rubbing his face for a moment. "Is Todd asleep, Storm?"

"Yes he is, Professor. He fell asleep on my lap as we finished talking and I put him in the anteroom by the side playroom. He should be asleep for a long time. He's so exhausted emotionally that I didn't think sending him home was the best idea," Storm said, her own voice low and tired. "Did you hear everything, Charles?"

"Yes I did, Storm and I must say I'm not surprised this happened. But I'm glad it happened here instead of on some battlefield somewhere. The real question is now, what do I do about this? What do we do about this?" Charles asked rhetorically as he softly wheeled to the side of the couch. "Sit down, Storm. We need to talk." Storm did so and for a moment, neither spoke as both tried to get their thoughts together.

"Storm, what do you think of this situation?" Xavier asked.

"How do you mean, Professor?"

"What do you think about Todd coming here? What do you make of all this?"

"Well...for starters, I think we really need to work with Logan's personal skills," Storm said with a small sad smile, "And I also think we need to think about letting Todd join us if he so chooses. He's only a child, Charles but he's already seen so much pain. Holding him in my arms...I couldn't help but feel like he wanted me to mother him and be there for him. It feels like he's never had anyone there who cares. Mystique might try to care but I don't think she really cares."

"Not the way Todd needs, you mean?" Charles asked, his mind now working in its trademark probing mode.

"No. He needs a family. He needs parents who can be more then just order givers. He...he felt right in my arms, Charles." With that Storm's face flushed a little and she looked down at her hands for a moment to steady her. "I guess that's just my motherly instincts talking, isn't it?"

"No, Storm, it's not. It's your human side talking. My question is how much of this is Todd speaking from the heart?"

"You mean you don't believe what he is saying to be true?"

"I believe every word of it. His mind is too clear and focused for it not to be. My question is whether or not Magneto is using him for something more. We've not seen him for a while...but it begs to question. We cannot be too cautious." Charles sighed and tapped the side of his wheelchair lightly with his fingertips. "I so wish things were not like this, Storm. I wish our home could be a way station for all mutants, regardless of point of view. I...I regret what we did to Todd Tolensky."

"Just why did you put Todd through what you put him through, Charles? None of the other students had to go through what he had to just for admission here. Why Todd?" Storm asked her curiosity and concern getting the best of her.

"Can you believe that it was actually a mistake, Storm, an honest mistake?" Charles stopped for a moment and looked off into the distance. His eyes seemed sadder then normal, almost as if the mistakes of the past were finally coming back to kick him squarely in the ass. "Todd was the first person we had actively recruited for this school in the context of making the new generation of defenders of the mutant race and ideals. I let Logan convince me that we had to create the new generation of mutants able to fight from the outset and I was foolish enough to give his opinions more credence then necessary. He's right...but he was also wrong. And I was wrong to listen to him that far.

"In being here with the others now, I've come to learn that these are still children we deal with. These are children who are scared and angry, confused and frustrated and we cannot treat them as little toy soldiers before they are ready to accept the responsibility of who they are as mutants." A pause. "We can never treat them as if they are nothing but soldiers. There are still dreams to be realized in these walls. There are still hopes to not be dashed in these walls. I'm still optimistic that one day Jamie will be able to be free to go as he pleases and not be confined to these walls."

"It's big of you to face your mistakes, Charles, but what about Todd's situation now?" Storm asked, her voice beginning to show a little bit of strain. She didn't like how she didn't know what would happen with Todd, as the little guy had begun to worm his way into her heart. "What are you going to do for him now?"

"I'm going to do what I should have done a long time ago when we first saw his talent. I'm going to offer him a position here and a place to stay. But I'm also going to tell him what I have told you. He does deserve it. I see that now." Charles cracked a small smile and shook his head. "I know I run the risk of having Logan rip his head off...but it's time I rectified a mistake that has haunted me for a long time now."

"This has bothered you for longer then you've let on? Why have you not said anything about it?"

"It has, but it wasn't anything I felt I could talk about. Until now, that is. I didn't feel ready to admit that I had made a mistake like this to someone like Todd because I didn't realize that some of our students here are going to come here rough and raw. Todd was the first person here who made me nervous; in touching his mind I felt pain like I had not felt pain in a long time. It scared me a little to know that that much sorrow could be in that little of a person." Another pause, this one longer and more pregnant. "I forgot how hard it can be to be a child, even if you have the best of situations. And Todd, like so many others, comes from the worse side of situations. I could hear that from your conversation in the kitchen, let alone from the stuff I've pulled from the flotsam and jetsam of his mind. I forgot what it's like to be a child and I don't want to deprive Todd of a second chance at a childhood, even if it's here as a fighter."

"Do you think he will fit in here?"

"I do. Even with Kurt, whom I suspect likes Todd a lot more then he lets on. They are rivals...but not rivals in the same way that Pietro and Evan are. You know, one day, Evan and Pietro are going to have to work their issues out...regardless of what side they are on," Charles said, looking pointedly at Storm.

"I agree completely, Charles, but talking to Evan now is getting more and more difficult. He's beginning to come apart as a part of his mutation and I'm not sure he's ready emotionally to take the next step in his mutation, whatever that might be," Storm replied, her voice still thin but growing less strained as she realized that things were going to happen between Todd and Charles.

"Well, see if you can have him speak to me. I might be able to draw some more out of him." At that, Professor Charles Xavier rolled back to behind his desk and began to tidy things up. "I'm going to go to bed, Storm. Please have Todd stay the night and then have him come talk to me in the morning."

"All right, Charles. Good night." Storm left the room and walked back to the anteroom, noticing that Todd was still sleeping on the spare couch. She pulled up a chair next to him and began to look at him closer. She saw that despite all his toughness outside, when he slept he was an attractive child. Not beautiful like Bobby Drake, she mused, but still far less ugly then he assumed was so. His skin was smooth and soft, pale but flecked with little spots of color. His breathing was light and gentle, calm and untroubled. She knew he was resting comfortably and a smile slid over her lips when she realized that she had made this possible. She felt him growing on her. She liked the feeling of being needed as more then just a 'big sister' to the rest of the house. She liked feeling like a mother.

A few moments later, the others in the house re-emerged from their night out and most went straight to bed. Kitty Pryde, however, phased through the wall into the anteroom from the playroom searching for a paper she had left previously. She didn't expect to find Storm sitting on a chair, watching over what appeared to be a sleeping Todd Tolensky. The Toad? Why would the Toad be here?

"Storm, what's going on?" Kitty asked in a low voice, her feet taking her to Storm's side.

"Todd's staying the night with us, child," Storm replied, her voice soft and motherly, a smile still on her face. "We talked. He had things to say. He was tired...so I gave him a quiet place to sleep."

"Oh."

"...Kitty, what would you say to Todd coming and being a part of us again?" Storm looked in Kitty's direction as she asked the question. "Do you think the others here would accept him?"

"I'm not sure, Storm. I mean, it's not like he's the most popular kid in the school. Like, he's creepy and slimy and all that. But I don't think he'd be hated here. He might be accepted more by the New Mutants then the rest of the crew at first. Like him and Kurt are still kind of raw in how they relate..." Kitty said, her voice trailing off as she looked at Todd's legs and saw for the first time what Storm was seeing. For a moment, she felt lost as she watched Todd on the couch sleep and breathe. She saw the pale, buttery skin, the smooth silky arms and forehead, she bones in his cheeks that made for definition. She saw his ass, defined in spectacular fashion by his position on the couch. Her eyes stayed there much longer then she intended and she didn't notice Storm staring at her until a moment after she realized how cute he might be if he wasn't so creepy.

"See anything you like, child?" Storm said with more then a bit of playfulness in her voice. Kitty blushed and shook her head in the negative.

"Like, I was just looking at how quiet Toad...er, Todd is when he sleeps. Yeah!" At that, Kitty waved goodbye and phased out of the room through a convenient and nearby wall. Storm shook her head for a moment and smiled. This was certainly a new turn of events. The room was warm and cozy as Storm brought over a blanket and tucked Todd in. She put the chair back in its place and walked out. Things would be much different tomorrow. She could feel it.