Author's notes:
I'm so sorry this took so long! But I'm really typing things up quickly lately, so hopefully (that seems to be the word I use most in my notes) the next chapters will be typed up shortly as well.
Huntress: Thanks! And you have to wait and see if she'll get to Xavier's. (cough)yes(cough)
I stared into the forest moodily. Moodily. The last thing I need right now is emotions. A fawn bounded out of his hiding place, took one look at me, and ran off. I know that he would have reacted the same way to any unfamiliar thing, but I couldn't help being hurt anyway. I was dimly aware of the tears dripping off my face. I was no longer trying to hide my emotions. My remaining flowers hurt horribly, but it was worth it. I am so tired of hiding my emotions. And not just hiding them – not feeling them, even.
The world suddenly swayed. Gasping, I grabbed a low branch in an attempt to right everything. I felt faint and dizzy, on the verge of swooning. I stumbled, trying to stand upright, unsure if there was something wrong with me or if this was a huge earthquake or something. No, something was definitely wrong with me. An earthquake wouldn't make anyone, even a mutant, feel so…drained. Falling from the shadow I had been in into a sun patch, I was temporarily blinded by the brightness as I looked straight at the sun.
I lay there for a while; I don't know how long exactly. After a short amount of time the world began to stop spinning, much to my relief. When everything was completely still and I was no longer feeling nauseous and faint I realized there was a very odd sensation on my head, where my purple flower had been. I now realized it had been going on since my dizzy spell, I just hadn't noticed it. It was almost an itchy feeling and a little tingly, but somehow I didn't feel the need to scratch it, even thought it was definitely similar to a normal itch.
Apprehensive, (the last time something strange had happened to my head, it hadn't exactly turned out well), I reached up to touch that spot. Completely shocked, I felt a little hard thing growing from the same spot on the hair-vine that had been attached to my "late" flower. The hard thing grew until I realized it was actually a bud. Even more surprising was that I could actually feel it, just like I could my "normal" flowers. I felt the bud unfurl and exhaled slowly, realizing I'd been holding my breath. As far as I could tell, it was another flower, just like the last one.
I couldn't believe it. I could regrow my flowers? Maybe…even other parts? I wasn't about to test it, but the idea intrigued me.
Scrubbing off tears (I had stopped crying when that faint spell came over me), I heard someone, probably an idiot college boy, yell, causing me to scowl. Yes, The Park – that's not its real name, but it's what everyone calls it – is a public protected forest, true, but it's a forest, a wild place for, well, wildlife. Not obnoxious humans.
"Kelly!" My head shot up as I heard Sam shout my name. I guess I should have expected her to find me, as this is my little hangout area. It's just a tree, but it's a gorgeous pine that's just perfect for sitting under and thinking, reading, or just about anything.
Sam skidded to a stop on her bike. I gave her a disapproving look. The bike trail didn't come this far, so we usually hid our bikes under a bush so we wouldn't have to bring our bikes through undergrowth, hurting The Park in the process. How Sam had managed to actually ride her bike this far off track, I have no idea.
"Look, Kelly, I'm really sorry about your flower, okay? It was really dumb of me." Her jaw dropped when she saw my new flower. "Gosh, where do you get all those things?" she asked incredulously.
I opened my mouth to say something, I'm not sure what, but a man's scream interrupted me. Several people suddenly crashed into view, rolling out of a thick clump of bushes. I couldn't make anything out except that they were all fighting.
Sam and I gaped at them for a second. Then an actual bullet clipped my arm and I yelped. "Kelly, are you okay?" Sam asked, having seen the bullet. "You're bleeding!" I looked down; it was true.
"Come on," I gasped. Sam yelled that she would catch up to me, so I ran to where my bike was hidden. In my panic it took me several tries before I was able to pull it out from under a bush. I was mounting it on the trail as Sam rode up. We took off.
A/N: I don't really have any plans to do anything along the lines of Kelly being able to regenerate other body parts, in case anyone's wondering, but I just thought I'd throw that line in. Please review!