Regina: Well, it's here. The next chapter for Trial by Fire. You know
(okay, maybe you don't!), I went online a while back, and went looking for
some good Amyro sites, and do you know what? There was only one (that I
could find)! And that site was the Amyro Fanfiction Archives - it's a great
site, though, so go and visit it if you have time. But that's not what I
was getting into. You know that old saying, 'If you want something done
right, do it yourself'? Well, I was working on a Flash animation, when I
decided: I'm going to build my own Amyro shrine! It's still being built,
but (I think) it's going to be good when it's done. It's got these cool
rollover buttons, which change from fire to a pic of either John or Amara
(I'm sorry, I'm just really proud of those!), and hopefully it'll have fan
stuff (if people want to submit it. It'd be a good thing, as otherwise the
site would have no fan art, as I can't draw!), an image gallery, and links
to other John and Amara sites (those are really hard to find, too! Anyone
know any good ones?). Anyway, the site'll be called Burning Souls (like the
chapter, and the poem I wrote). I can't put the address up here, because
when I do, the chapter won't upload properly. But I'll put it in my bio,
and I'll tell you this. The site is on Yahoo! Geocities, and the ID is
burning_souls_shrine. So give me about a week, and the first few pages (at
least) should be up.
Oh, and to make things clear, I own nothing mentioned in this story.
Trial by Fire
Chapter Ten: The Captive within the Flames
Amara gripped John's hand as she watched the flames build up around them. The heat did not affect her in anyway, nor did it John. But through the flames she could see the worried eyes of her friends as they watched her, John and the flames.
But although she was surrounded by heat, and the presence of fire would have, in any other circumstances, been comforting, she could not ignore the icy fingertips of fear that were working their way up her spine. She almost shivered with the thought that her friends and John seemed on the verge of fighting each other.
Over her.
Everything seemed to be happening as though it were a dream - the sound had a faded quality to it, and her vision was slightly hazy.
"I'm sorry, Amara," she heard Boom Boom say, "but this is just the way it has to be." She began to rub her hands together.
"Tabitha?" Amara whispered. Her voice, too, held a dream-like quality to it, making what was going on around her seem even less real.
"No," interrupted Iceman. "Let me."
Boom Boom stopped rubbing her hands together, and did not create the explosive she had been about to. Instead, she let Iceman move to the front line of attack, where he iced over, ready to try his luck against the wall of flames that, in his opinion, held Amara captive.
"Let her go," he warned John.
John did not reply, but the wall of flames that surrounded him and Amara grew taller, and the heat they gave out made the X-Men retreat slightly, until Jean threw up a protective telekinetic shield as a defence measure. Her hand went to her temple as she struggled to keep the shield up as the flames increased in size and temperature.
"John," Amara whispered suddenly. "Stop this."
He did not look at her. "I made a promise, love."
"They're my friends," she pleaded.
"Not anymore." His voice was cold.
"Please." The tears that leaked from her eyes instantly evaporated due to the heat that surrounded her and John. "Let's just go."
This time John looked at her. She could not read the emotion in his eyes.
"Amara!" shouted Boom Boom.
Amara looked at John silently.
With a motion of his hands, the flames dissipated. With a sigh of relief, the shield protecting the X-Men was dropped, and Jean almost collapsed, allowing herself to rest now that the strain now over. Cyclops caught her before she hit the ground.
"Thank you," Amara whispered, squeezing John's hand slightly.
He looked from her, to the X-Men, then back at her. "Let's go."
Without waiting for a reply, he began walking off, taking Amara with him.
The X-Men watched them go in silence.
*
Logan glared at the students when they returned to the mansion. "What were you thinking?" he asked, his voice bordering on a growl.
"We wanted to bring Amara back," Tabitha replied without hesitation. "Since you guys weren't doing anything about it, we -"
"Took matters into your own hands," Logan interrupted, his voice highlighting the fact that he was less than pleased with the students. He looked from one student to the next, staring them down. They all stared back, keeping their ground.
"Whose idea was this?" Logan asked when their staring bout revealed no new information. "Speak up!"
"It was all our idea," Bobby replied.
"We all agreed to do this together," added Kitty.
Logan's eyes narrowed. "And what happened then?" His voice was deadly whisper.
"We found them," Jean said.
"And?"
Silence.
"Well?" asked Logan. "I'm not going to wait around all day for you to tell me. There are other ways of finding out, but it'll be better for all of you if you tell me, straight up, what happened."
"Pyro was there," said Rogue.
"Was that so?" The students were unsure whether Logan was being sarcastic at that point in time. "What did he do?"
"He made a wall of fire around him and Amara," replied Scott. "There was nothing we could do."
"Nothing you could do? Nothing you could do?! You could have come to us first! That's what you could have done! Did you think of that?"
"No."
Logan folded his arms across his chest. "Thought so."
The teenagers waited for him to let loose, and attack them with whatever he had been storing up since they had left in search of Amara, but it never came. Instead, Logan seemed to calm down, and said, "That can't be helped now. We're going to go see the Prof. instead." He began to walk away, but when he saw that none of the students were following, he turned around and said, "You coming?"
It was a rhetorical question.
"Yes, Logan," they all chorused, and ran to catch up with their teacher.
*
"Amara, look at me."
The girl did not move.
"Amara, look at me," John repeated. "Please, love." John's voice was pleading, almost desperate.
Slowly, reluctantly, Amara looked up into John's worried eyes. But she did not speak.
She was seated on the cold ground, curled up, and her face had been buried in her lap until John had coaxed her to look up. John sat beside her, and cautiously put one arm around her shoulders. When she did not fight him off, or anything like that, he assumed it was safe enough to pull her close.
After what seemed like an eternity of just being in that position, safe in John's arms, Amara finally spoke. "What have I done?" Her voice was the barest whisper, and John had to strain to hear it clearly.
"What do you mean, love?" John's voice was gentle.
"This is all my fault," she replied, tearing away from John's embrace.
John opened his mouth, as if he was about to speak, but closed it again before any sound came out of his mouth. He had to let her release it all, all the emotion she was feeling.
"If I hadn't done this, I would still be at the Institute, and none of this would have happened. Everything would be normal," she added, almost as an afterthought.
"Love, we're mutants. Nothing that ever happens to us is normal. This most certainly isn't." He reached out and cupped her cheek in one hand. "If you hadn't done this, you would still be at the Institute, and not here with me. Would you want that? Would you want that this had never happened? That we had never met?"
Amara shook her head violently. "No! Never! I love you, John." That was the first time she had said it aloud, and it felt good to say it. It made things seem more real, more concrete, and stronger, less able to be destroyed. It was a good feeling.
"And I love you, too, Amara. You can't fight it. It's destiny. They don't know it yet, and that is something they will never understand."
"Never?" Amara asked.
"Never," John confirmed. "They will always be trying to tear us apart, no matter where we are, what we do. They will never understand what this is. And they will always hate me for this, Amara. They will always see me as the enemy, and that I took you away."
"Then what do we do?"
John grinned, but his eyes seemed sad for a moment as he said, "I have an idea."
Oh, and to make things clear, I own nothing mentioned in this story.
Trial by Fire
Chapter Ten: The Captive within the Flames
Amara gripped John's hand as she watched the flames build up around them. The heat did not affect her in anyway, nor did it John. But through the flames she could see the worried eyes of her friends as they watched her, John and the flames.
But although she was surrounded by heat, and the presence of fire would have, in any other circumstances, been comforting, she could not ignore the icy fingertips of fear that were working their way up her spine. She almost shivered with the thought that her friends and John seemed on the verge of fighting each other.
Over her.
Everything seemed to be happening as though it were a dream - the sound had a faded quality to it, and her vision was slightly hazy.
"I'm sorry, Amara," she heard Boom Boom say, "but this is just the way it has to be." She began to rub her hands together.
"Tabitha?" Amara whispered. Her voice, too, held a dream-like quality to it, making what was going on around her seem even less real.
"No," interrupted Iceman. "Let me."
Boom Boom stopped rubbing her hands together, and did not create the explosive she had been about to. Instead, she let Iceman move to the front line of attack, where he iced over, ready to try his luck against the wall of flames that, in his opinion, held Amara captive.
"Let her go," he warned John.
John did not reply, but the wall of flames that surrounded him and Amara grew taller, and the heat they gave out made the X-Men retreat slightly, until Jean threw up a protective telekinetic shield as a defence measure. Her hand went to her temple as she struggled to keep the shield up as the flames increased in size and temperature.
"John," Amara whispered suddenly. "Stop this."
He did not look at her. "I made a promise, love."
"They're my friends," she pleaded.
"Not anymore." His voice was cold.
"Please." The tears that leaked from her eyes instantly evaporated due to the heat that surrounded her and John. "Let's just go."
This time John looked at her. She could not read the emotion in his eyes.
"Amara!" shouted Boom Boom.
Amara looked at John silently.
With a motion of his hands, the flames dissipated. With a sigh of relief, the shield protecting the X-Men was dropped, and Jean almost collapsed, allowing herself to rest now that the strain now over. Cyclops caught her before she hit the ground.
"Thank you," Amara whispered, squeezing John's hand slightly.
He looked from her, to the X-Men, then back at her. "Let's go."
Without waiting for a reply, he began walking off, taking Amara with him.
The X-Men watched them go in silence.
*
Logan glared at the students when they returned to the mansion. "What were you thinking?" he asked, his voice bordering on a growl.
"We wanted to bring Amara back," Tabitha replied without hesitation. "Since you guys weren't doing anything about it, we -"
"Took matters into your own hands," Logan interrupted, his voice highlighting the fact that he was less than pleased with the students. He looked from one student to the next, staring them down. They all stared back, keeping their ground.
"Whose idea was this?" Logan asked when their staring bout revealed no new information. "Speak up!"
"It was all our idea," Bobby replied.
"We all agreed to do this together," added Kitty.
Logan's eyes narrowed. "And what happened then?" His voice was deadly whisper.
"We found them," Jean said.
"And?"
Silence.
"Well?" asked Logan. "I'm not going to wait around all day for you to tell me. There are other ways of finding out, but it'll be better for all of you if you tell me, straight up, what happened."
"Pyro was there," said Rogue.
"Was that so?" The students were unsure whether Logan was being sarcastic at that point in time. "What did he do?"
"He made a wall of fire around him and Amara," replied Scott. "There was nothing we could do."
"Nothing you could do? Nothing you could do?! You could have come to us first! That's what you could have done! Did you think of that?"
"No."
Logan folded his arms across his chest. "Thought so."
The teenagers waited for him to let loose, and attack them with whatever he had been storing up since they had left in search of Amara, but it never came. Instead, Logan seemed to calm down, and said, "That can't be helped now. We're going to go see the Prof. instead." He began to walk away, but when he saw that none of the students were following, he turned around and said, "You coming?"
It was a rhetorical question.
"Yes, Logan," they all chorused, and ran to catch up with their teacher.
*
"Amara, look at me."
The girl did not move.
"Amara, look at me," John repeated. "Please, love." John's voice was pleading, almost desperate.
Slowly, reluctantly, Amara looked up into John's worried eyes. But she did not speak.
She was seated on the cold ground, curled up, and her face had been buried in her lap until John had coaxed her to look up. John sat beside her, and cautiously put one arm around her shoulders. When she did not fight him off, or anything like that, he assumed it was safe enough to pull her close.
After what seemed like an eternity of just being in that position, safe in John's arms, Amara finally spoke. "What have I done?" Her voice was the barest whisper, and John had to strain to hear it clearly.
"What do you mean, love?" John's voice was gentle.
"This is all my fault," she replied, tearing away from John's embrace.
John opened his mouth, as if he was about to speak, but closed it again before any sound came out of his mouth. He had to let her release it all, all the emotion she was feeling.
"If I hadn't done this, I would still be at the Institute, and none of this would have happened. Everything would be normal," she added, almost as an afterthought.
"Love, we're mutants. Nothing that ever happens to us is normal. This most certainly isn't." He reached out and cupped her cheek in one hand. "If you hadn't done this, you would still be at the Institute, and not here with me. Would you want that? Would you want that this had never happened? That we had never met?"
Amara shook her head violently. "No! Never! I love you, John." That was the first time she had said it aloud, and it felt good to say it. It made things seem more real, more concrete, and stronger, less able to be destroyed. It was a good feeling.
"And I love you, too, Amara. You can't fight it. It's destiny. They don't know it yet, and that is something they will never understand."
"Never?" Amara asked.
"Never," John confirmed. "They will always be trying to tear us apart, no matter where we are, what we do. They will never understand what this is. And they will always hate me for this, Amara. They will always see me as the enemy, and that I took you away."
"Then what do we do?"
John grinned, but his eyes seemed sad for a moment as he said, "I have an idea."