Cassandra: I signed up, check it out, and thought it too complex. I think I'll stick with FF.net. Yet, thank you so much for sharing the info with me!
Blue: Hey, hey, hey, don't you dare bow down to me. I'm not worth it. Lol. Glad I could be of service during your snow day. And I appreciate you putting this under favorites in order to keep an eye on it. I was real conflicted about doing this story at all. You've just given me a big boost!
Chaos: Lol. Don't they? It's the way every single movie and book goes!
Snoob: I'm typing every chance I get! phew I'm glad this is almost over.
Hip-Ban: Maybe you are…maybe you aren't…Didn't really expect me to tell you, did you? Lol.
Blix: Ding-dong the General's dead! The General's dead! The General's dead! Ding-dong the wicked General's dead! And that's all I've got to say. Lol.
Veronica: In my stories, Logan always has feelings for Rogue. Lol. Now, whether he acts on them directly or not is another matter entirely. insert smilie
Wapps: You know you're not the first one to call me evil. Lol. Oh well. I guess it comes with being the Queen of Cliffhangers. Lol. I just love it!
TKP: I can't help it! Leaving cliffhangers has become my trademark. I can't stop doing it! It's an addiction!
Pine: I always love protective/angry Logan. sigh
Beanie: Hahaha…I loved your review, especially the last few lines. They made me chuckle. Anyway, don't worry, my friend, the broken mirror will be explained in this chapter.
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Chapter Sixteen
Prophecy
PART ONE
The rain cascaded down the smooth glass leaving trails of angels' tears. The sky rumbled with anger and ignited in a fury of blinding lightening bolts. A howl pierced through the fog and Xavier squeezed his eyes shut. He rolled away from his desk and turned to peer out the window. A forlorn, murky figure stood in the pouring rain, roaring in his agony.
Logan, his mind whispered out to him. It wasn't your fault, Logan.
The dark silhouette whipped around and glared up toward the professor through the sheets of rain. Like hell it wasn't! I even told her on the jet that she was going to get herself killed. I knew she was going to die! We all did, damn it!
Xavier bowed his head, moisture seeping from his weary eyes. It was her time to die, Logan. If not at the Lake then, it would have happened somewhere else. Charles sighed, shaking his head sadly. It's why Keira saw her death. Rogue was destined to die.
That's bullshit, Charles! Bullshit! She wasn't destined die! She had only begun to live!
We aren't expected to understand our destiny, Logan. We're only expected to accept it. Her death is a tragic loss, but carrying around the guilt won't change the events of the past.
Logan growled and marched away.
PART TWO
Hours later – after visiting her grave – Logan staggered into his room, water dripping from his clothes and pooling onto the hardwood floor as he stomped from one side to the other. To Hell with Keira's vision! Marie wasn't supposed to be dead. He should be able to find her on the back patio, curled up on a chair and studying for her next exam, joking with Swamp Rat and rolling her eyes at Logan's cigar.
Wolverine roared, his claws slicing through his knuckles and shining like glimmering knives in the moonlight that seeped in through the large windows. "Fuck," he screamed, smashing his fists into the vanity. The mirror shattered, hundreds of sharp shards flying; a few embedding into his hands.
"Why did you wonder off," he shouted at her memory. "You were supposed to stay with the group!"
He jabbed his claws into the eighteenth century painting and yanked his arms down, tearing the irreplaceable work of art.
His rage unleashed, he picked up the nightstand and tossed it across the room. It crashed into the dresser, cracking both pieces of furniture. Unsatisfied, he ripped his mattress to shreds, crying out when one of the springs carved into his forearm. Blood pooled down his arm and trickled off his fingers onto the floor. Logan watched, mesmerized, until finally collapsing onto his knees, wrecked with sobs.
They had spent little time together and were usually bickering or training. Yet, in the less than two weeks she was there, Logan had grown to care about her. They'd sat in his room, bonding over a box of pizza. No one had ever bothered to try and reach him, but Marie had done so with a few simple words and a touch.
Now it was too late. It was too late to find a way to take away her pain. It was too late to turn that strained relationship of understanding into anything more. It was too late to allow him self to fall in love with her.
If only he'd listened to his gut instinct and kept her from getting on that jet.
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The following morning, he couldn't bring himself to join the team on another mission. Instead, he hopped the earliest flight to Mississippi. He had another score to settle.
End Chapter Sixteen
