AN: I know absolutely nothing about Amara's siblings and names, if she even has any. Therefore, I am sorry if I get it wrong or if it offends you. Also, this is the rewritten chapter three. I liked the first one, but after that I wasn't sure what to write. With this one though, I've got ideas for at least two more chapters. Oh, and it's still not a songfic because I can't find one that fits right.

The Professor looked over his desk at the three former Acolytes. Amara had called him, Jean and Rogue when they arrived. As he questioned them, he lightly touched their minds. Although he had learned that he could not easily read their minds, a light touch gave him insight into their feelings. He couldn't detect anything that gave him pause. He thought this over for a few minutes. It was obvious they had no where to go, and he couldn't in good conscience let them leave. "Why did you choose the Institute?"

"Well there aren't a lot of mutant friendly places anymore." Remy pointed out.

"'Cept the sewers." John added. "But let's face it, Colossus here ain't really built for small spaces and Rem' flatly refused to get his trench coat all mucky." Charles made his decision.

"You can stay, for a while at least." His students' reactions were varied, though not unexpected. Jean was thoughtful, accepting his decision, Amara was happy, but hiding it well. Rogue, on the other hand, was neither accepting nor happy. The feelings of distrust and unhappiness were rolling off her like waves. "Jean, Rogue, you are excused. Amara, I want you to give our new members a tour." The girls nodded and headed out, the boys following.

"So will the lovely cheré be joining us for the tour?" Remy asked Rogue.

"Bite meh Swamp Rat." She hissed at him as she walked past. Jean had split in the opposite direction.

"Well, off we go." Amara told the three. She led then off, ignoring John's snicker.

~~~

Amara showed them the library- "We can read the books here or back in our rooms.", the danger room- "Where we train and also where we have extra sessions with Logan early in the morning when we make him mad.", the kitchen- "Be here early or don't eat" and the boundaries between dorms. "Anyone caught going to the other side after 11 PM spends an automatic two weeks with Logan, one-on-one Danger room sessions." Ending up at their room, she opened the door. "This is your room, you're all going to have to share, I hope that's not a problem." They all shook their heads no. "Great! I'm going to be outside if you need me." she was gone.

"What now?" John asked.

"Normally I'd say unpack but it's kind of a dud because everything burnt up." Remy said casually.

"Yeah, sorry bout that." He brightened. "I'm going to head to the kitchen, see what these guys have to eat around here."

~~~

John was half-in, half-out of the fridge, digging around for food when he heard someone come in. He ignored them, focusing on the contents of the fridge.

"Hey Ray." he heard a girl say.

"Ray?"

"Ray!" he found the last ingredient for his sandwich and stood up. The girl was standing in front of him. She blushed. "Sorry, I thought you were someone else."

"No problem." He dished some of the horseradish out and dumped it on his sandwich.

"I'm Rahne. You new around here?"

"You could say that. Just joined this morning." Rahne looked at him, his face finally clicking.

"Oh! It's you Pyro. Well, welcome to the team."

"Glad to be here."

"Hey, if you're looking for Amara, she's out back, in that little clearing." John was a little surprised, then shrugged it off.

"Thanks sheila."

"No problem laddie."

~~~

He wandered around to the back of the Institute, finding Amara right where Rahne said she would be.

"Hey." he sat down beside her.

"Hi John."

"So I met a friend of yours earlier."

"Which one?"

"Said her name was Rahne."

"My roomie."

"You told her?" he asked, surprised.

"Not intentionally. She's a metamorph, turns into a wolf. She smelt you. The Professor and Logan know too." Amara felt John tense beside her. She laughed. "Don't worry. The Professor doesn't mind, else he would have told me, and he's not letting Logan kill you. Otherwise, you'd probably already be six feet under."

"And that makes me feel so much better 'Mara."

John pulled Amara closer and she snuggled up to him, giggling.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing. You."

John looked at her, confused. She took that opportunity to lean up and kiss him. Pulling away, she grinned.

Remy wandered around the mansion, mapping all possible routes, eventually ending up in the rec room. The only other occupant was none other then Rogue.

"Hey cheré."

"Go 'way swamp rat, Ah'm tryin' ta read."

Remy glanced out the window and saw the students having a snowball fight. "Why ain't ya outside with de others?"

"I don't like snow." She was purposefully giving him short answers in the hope that he would get the hint and leave.

"Alright cheré, have it your way." Remy said after a few minutes of silence. He left. Rogue looked up from her book and noticed he had left a card behind. "Queen of Spades…" she said. Last time it was the Queen of Hearts. Wait a sec- wasn't there another name for it? The Bitchy Queen. The little voice in her head told her. "Very subtle Cajun, very subtle." Her voice was full of laughter as she spoke to the empty room.

"It's getting kind of cold out here." John said.

"Yeah. You want to go in?"

"Sure." Amara got up and tossed a snowball at John before sprinting back to the mansion. John immediately gave chase. He caught up to her and tackled her, dragging both of them down into the snow. They lay there for a while, catching their breaths, before John hoisted himself to his feet and put his hand down at her level. "Come on." He pulled her up and, soaking, they walked into the mansion together.

"Amara!" Kitty yelled down the stairs as they entered the house. "Phone call!"

"Thanks Kit!" she went into the front hall to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Amara?"

"Daddy!"

"Can you come and visit us before the holidays are over? We want you to spend New Years with us."

"Sure! I can't wait to see you guys again. I'll ask the Professor if he can fly me over."

"No, don't do that. We don't want to put him out. We sent you a first class ticket in the mail."

"Thanks Daddy. I'll see you then." They said their good-byes and hung up.

"I'm going home!" she said excitedly. "I get to see my family again."

"You're going home?" John asked her.

"Just for a few days. My parents want to spend New Years with me."

"That's-that's great."

"I won't stay. I'll be back before school starts again."

John swept her into a hug, smelling her hair. "You better."

~~~

There were mixed feelings approaching Christmas. One the one hand, it was Christmas. One the other, they were losing a student for a week. They were such a tight-knit group it was hard to imagine such a thing. On Christmas Eve morning, they gathered around the tree and handed out presents. Amara ended up with a cell phone from all the adults at the Institute, with their number already programmed in, so she could keep in touch. She got various gifts of makeup, clothes and jewelry from the other students. The last present Amara received was labeled "From Santa". Looking up at John, he winked and gave her a grin. Opening the secret one last, she discovered a necklace and pendant. The pendant was a flame, and written on it, cleverly worked into the pattern, were the letters A and J. She smiled at John.

"Hey Rahne, help me put this on?" she asked. Rahne lifted up Amara's hair and did the clasp at the back.

"Thanks." The other students had all got what they wanted as well, and they spent the rest of the day trying out various presents.

~~~

On Christmas Day, they were at the airport to say good bye to Amara. She hugged all of them and promised to call everyday. Getting on the plane, she watched the ground disappear as it took off. She fell asleep soon after take off, and didn't wake up until one of the stewardesses asked her if she wanted something. Realizing how close they were, she stared out the window, trying to identify the landmarks as she passed. Getting off the plane, she saw her older brother Shawn waiting for her. She dropped her bags and almost toppled him over when she gave him a hug.

"Hey smallfry." Shawn said, ruffling her hair. "Ready to go back home?"

When they had stepped off the ferry, she stood there for a second, taking in the familiar landscape.

"Miss it?" Amara nodded.

"Well then, let's get you back, shall we?"

She grinned and hoisted her bag over her shoulder, heading for the palace.

When she opened the doors of the palace, she was bombarded by a host of children, most between ten and five. "Auntie Amara!!" They all yelled. She dropped her bags at the door and swept as many as she could into a hug.

"How have all my favourite nieces and nephews been?" All of them started talking at the same time and she listened and nodded to them, with the youngest in her arms. Her brothers and sister, all older than her, had two or three kids, Mari was about to have four, she learned. She was "rescued" a few minutes later by the various parents, then her siblings came to say hi. First was Mari, the oldest at 29. Second was Jesse, who was 27. Last were her parents, who she greeted properly before giving them hugs.

"You have grown so much dear." Her mother said. "We are glad to have you back."

"We have much to catch up on." Her father said. "But first, unpack and spend some time with your brothers and sister."

~~~

At dinner, Amara found herself across from an empty chair. The owner came in later, and her father led him over to introduce him. "Amara, this is Price Faris. He's staying here for a while." Amara glared at the boy across from her as soon as her father left.

"You used to put bugs in my hair and fling food across the table at me when no one was watching." The prince reddened.

"Guilty. But I apologize." Amara didn't forgive him and ignored him for the rest of the meal. Amara's parents watched them worriedly.

~~~

"Yes?" Amara asked, sticking her head in the door. "You called me?"

"Come in dear." Her mother said.

"We wanted to talk to you about your future." He father said. Amara tensed. Talks that started off with this were never good news.

"At birth-" That wasn't a good sign either, she thought "-you were engaged to the prince of a neighbouring land, as were all your brothers and sisters, although most of their betrothed were nobles from Nova Roma. Anyhow, your betrothed is Faris."

"What?! I can't marry him! I hate him! And besides, I'm too young!"

"The engagement ceremony is on New Years." Her father continued. "The actual marriage ceremony won't be for a few years."

Amara froze. "No. I can't." she said.

"You can, and you will." Her father said. "You have two choices young lady. Marry the Prince or give up all ties to this family." Amara stared at her father and saw he was serious.

"Very well." Her voice was frosty and her expression hard.

"You will cut off all contact with anyone from the Institute. And get rid of that necklace." Amara stopped her face from showing the horror she felt at the last request. She swept her parents a curtsy before exiting the room. Up in her bedroom, she slowly took the necklace off and placed it gently in a music box her parent had given her. A single tear fell on it as she closed the lid. She used a small amount of her power to melt the clasps together and took it to Shawn's room. She gave it to him and started to speak, ignoring his startled gaze.

"Whatever you do" she pleaded with him. "Don't do to your daughters what Father did to me."

She ran back to her room, throwing herself onto her bed, not caring how wrinkled her dress got. With John, she had forgotten she was a princess, forgotten she had obligations. It had been liberating. And now she had to give it up, without saying goodbye. What was he going to think?

~~~

It was a week later, and she found herself always reaching for the necklace she no longer wore for reassurance she could never get. It was the engagement dinner and she found herself unable to feel anything. She was sitting next to Faris, and he kept smiling and reaching for her hand, seemingly disappointed when she didn't react. She was cold inside, unable to feel the warmth that had once resided in her veins. Dinner came and went, signaling the beginning of the ceremony. Faris led her up to the dais, getting down on one knee and holding her hand in his. "Amara Aquilla, Princess of Nova Roma, I humbly ask you-" More like father commanded. "- to take me, Prince Faris of Arabia as your fiancé." Her father glared at her and she realized she hadn't responded yet. She nodded weakly. Faris started to place the ring on her finger, the one that will mark me as his. Strange, how such a small and insignificant thing can change your life. And it's not ugly or anything. It would just be so much better if John were the one in front of me… Something snapped. She flared up, more brilliant and powerful than before. She advanced on her "fiancé" first.

"I would rather die than marry you." She told him. "You are the most ignorant man I have ever met!"

"How could you raise him like that?" she asked her "in-laws". "I would be ashamed to call you parents!"

She turned to the room, making sure they could hear every word she was about to say. She took a deep breath and lifted off her tiara, throwing it on the floor.

"I refuse to get married to this wretch and I accept the consequences! I forfeit any claim to the throne of Nova Roma and sever all ties to the royal family!" With that, she ran out of the room. The only noise was the still spinning tiara as it hit the floor.

~~~

Amara ran to Shawn's room, bursting the top of the music box of and grabbing her necklace. She threw her favourite outfits in her bag, ignoring every thing else and headed out to wait for the X-Jet.

When it arrived, she walked on silently, fully intent on ignoring everything and everyone until she caught sight of John. Her eyes started watering and her knees buckled under her, almost falling before he caught her. "They abandoned me John! I'm an orphan!" Burying her face in her hands, her shoulders shook as she cried. John tightened his embrace.