Disclaimer: I own only Laura (aka Blaze) and Jessica (aka Raven). Marvel
retains all rights to the X-Men. Ilehana Xavier (aka Vixen) belongs to
Corrinth.
Chapter Four- Xavier Mansion
I run into Remy seconds later, still in the corridors of the mansion's lower levels. The sound of the jet approaching without its stealth mode was obviously what woke him. Sleep still clings to his eyes, and he is dressed only in boxer shorts and dark blue dressing gown. My heart stops when I see him and my feet follow suit.
Sometimes Gambit forgets that I'm his wife now, tells me off on occasion like I'm still his apprentice I haven't been for fifteen years. But this is not one of those times where a glance from me will calm him down, not some silly row over nothing at all. He is furious, not an emotion he often gives into to, and why? Because I am a selfish fool, and because that scares him more than anything.
Last time I was pregnant with his child, I fled this home of ours. I did not tell anyone, I had no intention of coming back. I thought I was protecting him, and our child, thought I had no choice. When I did return, I guarded the secret of our daughter like life itself. Ten years it took for him to find out about Jessica, ten years of his daughter I stole from him. There will always be that thought there now in the back of his mind that I may run again. That I may take this unborn child away without so much as a good bye.
I dutifully drop my eyes as he stops a few paces from me, ashamed as he tries to find the words with which to describe what I have just put him through. There is nothing I can say as he asks me what I was thinking, fear thick on his voice. I only wait; trying to remain calm when it is the last thing I am any good at, until it slowly dawns on him that both the baby and I are fine. I hope someday he will realise I am never leaving again. Then he hugs me, breathing in my hair and wrapping me in love. I am never more complete than when I am here.
"Where you go anyway Chere?" He asks, suddenly realising that if I wasn't running away then I must have had some destination in mind. I wriggle away from him a little, wanting to see his face as I tell him my news.
"I found her!"
"What? Who?"
"Me, Remy." Ilehana is behind me, Logan's arm tight around her shoulder, hers wrapped around his waist for the entire world like a pair of amorous teenagers. Gambit's jaw literally drops open, making him gape like a guppy and me laugh out loud. He drops me abruptly and goes to sweep Ilehana into a hug, making her laugh too.
"Now this is the type of welcome a girl could get used to coming home to!" She jokes, eyes wandering over Gambit's lack of clothes. Logan growls a warning, and I have to hide my grin with a hand. Remy grins too, but appeases Logan by letting Ilehana go. I'm never jealous of the flirtatious friendship between Gambit and Vixen, that department is well covered by Logan. I'm only immensely happy, as Gambit wraps an arm around me again, that within two seconds of her arriving home Ilehana is slotting right back in as though she never left. Much has changed in five years, but some things will forever be the same.
And when a powerful telepath realises she hasn't had bacon in five years, her three companions cannot fight similar impulses. We head for the kitchen and breakfast, Gambit pulling on training gear as we walk. Logan's terrible joke about the married couple starting to dress the same is only silenced when a fireball near singes his sideburns.
In the school, Gambit and I drop back unbidden as Scott Summers rounds a corner and near walks straight into the woman who calls him brother. Remy and I miss witnessing that reuniting though as we are suddenly mobbed by a twelve-year-old streak of energy. Jessica, known also as Raven, hugs us both good morning and kisses the bump. She is so looking forward to being a big sister. Suddenly she spots the lean blonde hugging Cyclops tightly not so far away, and her red-on-black eyes narrow suspiciously.
"Jean is not going to like that." Gambit and I crack up at her observation. She's a very observant child, our daughter, and for one so reasonably innocent she has a wicked sense of humour. She's not a big fan of Scott and Jean, echoing her father in most things. And she is completely confused when Scott glances over at us having heard Jessie's words and grins through his tears. Raven frowns and asks. "Who is that anyway?"
"Ilehana Xavier, the Vixen." Gambit fills in, as if repeating it one more time will make the whole thing make sense.
"Isn't she kinda dead?" Raven asks sweetly in her American accent.
"You 'bout as clued in as us, Petite." Gambit consoles her with a happy shrug. "You learn pretty quick you ain't never gonna know what card an Xavier gonna play next."
Raven has more questions; she always does no matter what we tell her. Too bright for her own good, I swear proudly. But she doesn't get chance to ask as Ilehana finally succumbs to my mental pleading and comes to be introduced to my daughter.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you face to face, Raven." Vixen greets the twelve year old like an adult, making our independent Jessica warm to her instantly.
"Everyone always talked about you being dead." Raven doesn't scoot around the point. "What happened? Are you back to stay? And what's all this stuff about Xaviers and Guardians and Watchers and whatever? Why'd this place start up in the first place, it was your dad wasn't it? And........."
"Jessie!" I moan, trying to quiet her down, but Ilehana only smiles a little sadly. I can see in Jessica's eyes the seed of hero-worship starting to blossom. All the stories we'd told her of Ilehana and her father the Professor since she came to the school, now faced with the reality of the legend, I know she will not be disappointed. Ilehana agrees to tell Jessica all she can, all she can understand herself, but later, when things are calmer and she has said all her hellos, and Raven is appeased at that I think.
One thing I do know for sure, is that this school, this mansion, is a legend in itself. It is so much more than a building of bricks and mortar; it has been a home and a refuge for possibly hundreds of troubled souls. It is a symbol of hope, in that no matter how many times those with power try to crush all that it stands for; it survives and continues to serve. It is the legacy of the Xaviers, both of them. And now one of them has come back to us, our Ilehana returned to us, it has a heart that beats once more.
After all, there is no home like this.........
The End
A/N: Dedicated to the best pair of OCs in the world, Ilehana Xavier and Laura le Beau! Long may you be happy!
Chapter Four- Xavier Mansion
I run into Remy seconds later, still in the corridors of the mansion's lower levels. The sound of the jet approaching without its stealth mode was obviously what woke him. Sleep still clings to his eyes, and he is dressed only in boxer shorts and dark blue dressing gown. My heart stops when I see him and my feet follow suit.
Sometimes Gambit forgets that I'm his wife now, tells me off on occasion like I'm still his apprentice I haven't been for fifteen years. But this is not one of those times where a glance from me will calm him down, not some silly row over nothing at all. He is furious, not an emotion he often gives into to, and why? Because I am a selfish fool, and because that scares him more than anything.
Last time I was pregnant with his child, I fled this home of ours. I did not tell anyone, I had no intention of coming back. I thought I was protecting him, and our child, thought I had no choice. When I did return, I guarded the secret of our daughter like life itself. Ten years it took for him to find out about Jessica, ten years of his daughter I stole from him. There will always be that thought there now in the back of his mind that I may run again. That I may take this unborn child away without so much as a good bye.
I dutifully drop my eyes as he stops a few paces from me, ashamed as he tries to find the words with which to describe what I have just put him through. There is nothing I can say as he asks me what I was thinking, fear thick on his voice. I only wait; trying to remain calm when it is the last thing I am any good at, until it slowly dawns on him that both the baby and I are fine. I hope someday he will realise I am never leaving again. Then he hugs me, breathing in my hair and wrapping me in love. I am never more complete than when I am here.
"Where you go anyway Chere?" He asks, suddenly realising that if I wasn't running away then I must have had some destination in mind. I wriggle away from him a little, wanting to see his face as I tell him my news.
"I found her!"
"What? Who?"
"Me, Remy." Ilehana is behind me, Logan's arm tight around her shoulder, hers wrapped around his waist for the entire world like a pair of amorous teenagers. Gambit's jaw literally drops open, making him gape like a guppy and me laugh out loud. He drops me abruptly and goes to sweep Ilehana into a hug, making her laugh too.
"Now this is the type of welcome a girl could get used to coming home to!" She jokes, eyes wandering over Gambit's lack of clothes. Logan growls a warning, and I have to hide my grin with a hand. Remy grins too, but appeases Logan by letting Ilehana go. I'm never jealous of the flirtatious friendship between Gambit and Vixen, that department is well covered by Logan. I'm only immensely happy, as Gambit wraps an arm around me again, that within two seconds of her arriving home Ilehana is slotting right back in as though she never left. Much has changed in five years, but some things will forever be the same.
And when a powerful telepath realises she hasn't had bacon in five years, her three companions cannot fight similar impulses. We head for the kitchen and breakfast, Gambit pulling on training gear as we walk. Logan's terrible joke about the married couple starting to dress the same is only silenced when a fireball near singes his sideburns.
In the school, Gambit and I drop back unbidden as Scott Summers rounds a corner and near walks straight into the woman who calls him brother. Remy and I miss witnessing that reuniting though as we are suddenly mobbed by a twelve-year-old streak of energy. Jessica, known also as Raven, hugs us both good morning and kisses the bump. She is so looking forward to being a big sister. Suddenly she spots the lean blonde hugging Cyclops tightly not so far away, and her red-on-black eyes narrow suspiciously.
"Jean is not going to like that." Gambit and I crack up at her observation. She's a very observant child, our daughter, and for one so reasonably innocent she has a wicked sense of humour. She's not a big fan of Scott and Jean, echoing her father in most things. And she is completely confused when Scott glances over at us having heard Jessie's words and grins through his tears. Raven frowns and asks. "Who is that anyway?"
"Ilehana Xavier, the Vixen." Gambit fills in, as if repeating it one more time will make the whole thing make sense.
"Isn't she kinda dead?" Raven asks sweetly in her American accent.
"You 'bout as clued in as us, Petite." Gambit consoles her with a happy shrug. "You learn pretty quick you ain't never gonna know what card an Xavier gonna play next."
Raven has more questions; she always does no matter what we tell her. Too bright for her own good, I swear proudly. But she doesn't get chance to ask as Ilehana finally succumbs to my mental pleading and comes to be introduced to my daughter.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you face to face, Raven." Vixen greets the twelve year old like an adult, making our independent Jessica warm to her instantly.
"Everyone always talked about you being dead." Raven doesn't scoot around the point. "What happened? Are you back to stay? And what's all this stuff about Xaviers and Guardians and Watchers and whatever? Why'd this place start up in the first place, it was your dad wasn't it? And........."
"Jessie!" I moan, trying to quiet her down, but Ilehana only smiles a little sadly. I can see in Jessica's eyes the seed of hero-worship starting to blossom. All the stories we'd told her of Ilehana and her father the Professor since she came to the school, now faced with the reality of the legend, I know she will not be disappointed. Ilehana agrees to tell Jessica all she can, all she can understand herself, but later, when things are calmer and she has said all her hellos, and Raven is appeased at that I think.
One thing I do know for sure, is that this school, this mansion, is a legend in itself. It is so much more than a building of bricks and mortar; it has been a home and a refuge for possibly hundreds of troubled souls. It is a symbol of hope, in that no matter how many times those with power try to crush all that it stands for; it survives and continues to serve. It is the legacy of the Xaviers, both of them. And now one of them has come back to us, our Ilehana returned to us, it has a heart that beats once more.
After all, there is no home like this.........
The End
A/N: Dedicated to the best pair of OCs in the world, Ilehana Xavier and Laura le Beau! Long may you be happy!
