Chapter Seven:
The Origin of Splinter
January 20
Saturday morning, Shaina woke up and found that she had kicked the blankets off of herself during the night. So, she was freezing.
She wrapped herself back up, and then looked at the clock. It was 8:40 AM. For a second, she panicked, thinking that she had overslept; but then she realized that it was Saturday, and she didn't have work. She tossed and turned for a few minutes, and then reluctantly got out of bed and dressed. She headed off to the kitchen for something to eat.
On her way there, she saw Keri, sitting in the living room. She had a bowl of cereal in her lap, and was watching Yu-Gi-Oh attentively. As one of the characters made a funny face, Keri laughed, and then noticed Shaina. "Hello!" She greeted. "Would you like watch Yu-Gi-Oh with me?"
Shaina smiled. "I'll pass." She continued on to the kitchen, where he found Rogue, eating a bagel. The small TV in the kitchen was playing the news, which immediately turned to a commercial break. Shaina got herself a banana, and sat down a couple of seats away from her. There was a pause, and then Shaina said, "Good Morning."
"Mornin'," Rogue said, without taking her eyes off of the TV.
Shaina turned to see what Rogue was watching so attentively, and found that she was just watching a cat food commercial.
So, she's still ignoring me, Shaina thought glumly. Well, that was incorrect. Rogue was still talking to her, so she wasn't being ignored. But it was just that ever since that game of capture the flag, Shaina had gotten the feeling that Rogue felt that talking to her was annoying, and therefore, should be avoided, or kept as short as possible. And the worse thing was that Shaina didn't know why Rogue was acting this way.
Trying to make conversation, Shaina joked, "So, is that your natural hair color?"
Rogue glared at her, as if she had been insulted. "Yea, Ah'm part skunk!" She snapped sarcastically.
Shaina was about to explain that she hadn't meant it to be an insult, but they were all interrupted by Keri, who phased through the wall, looking cross. She stormed over to the counter, and slammed her bowl down in the sink. She swished water around in it, and shoved it in to the dishwasher. Then, she turned to the surprised Rogue and Shaina. "Four commercial breaks in one 30-minute show! Honestly, what's Kid'sWB's problem?!" She stormed out and flopped down on the couch.
Shaina looked at Rogue. "Uh, I didn't mean it that way…"
Rogue ignored her, finished her bagel, and licked the cream-cheese off of her fingers.
Sailor Chicks wandered in, looking around with interest.
Shaina looked down at her. "I know what you're doing, and the answer is no. This is the busiest room in the institute. You're better off having them on the couch in the living room."
"Meow?"
"The laundry room? I dunno…"
Rogue give a half-sigh, half groan.
Shaina turned to Rogue, her eyes narrowed. "I'm sorry, am I bothering you?" She asked coolly.
"No, MA'AM," Rogue replied, putting an extremely large amount of emphasis on the second word, so Shaina could actually see in slow-motion the necessary lip and tongue motions. "In fact," (More extreme emphasis), "Ah think Ah'll jus' leave, so you can continue yer conversation with yer cat." She got up off her chair, and stalked out of the room.
She passed Logan, who had made it to the doorway and turned sideways to let her through. He watched her go, a look of surprise on his face. "What was that all about?" He asked Shaina.
Shaina sighed, and looked at her half-eaten banana. "I honestly have no idea," She admitted.
***
Later that day, after lunch, Logan approached Rogue. "Hey, kid, what's goin' on with you and Shaina?"
Rogue looked at him. "Whaddya mean?" She asked, though she sounded as though she knew exactly what he meant.
"I mean, it seems like you've been at her throat since last Tuesday. Are you OK?"
"Ah seriously don't know what you're talkin' about," Rogue replied, with the same sound in her voice.
Logan groaned. "You've been talkin' to her funny, like you're mad at her or somethin'. The Professor's noticed, too. Are you two havin' an argument or somethin'?"
Rogue sighed. "It's kinda like that…it's just…it's a girl thing."
Keri popped up. "You got P.M.S.?"
Rogue's eyes shot open, and she cringed. "No…ah…don't…have…P.M.S.," She moaned, embarrassed. She turned to Logan. "Look, ah gotta go. Ah'll talk to ya later."
Logan nodded. "And, can ya at least try to be more civil to Shaina?"
"Yea, yea…" Rogue replied, walking off.
Keri watched her go, and then looked up at Logan. "Do you even know what P.M.S. is?"
Logan pretended that he hadn't heard her.
***
"I talked to Rogue, and she sounded like she didn't know what I was talkin' about." Logan notified Shaina.
Logan had caught up to her in the kitchen, as she was eating a snack. He had just finished telling her about his "discussion" with Rogue.
Shaina sighed. "I'm completely stumped. Why has she suddenly decided that she doesn't like me?"
"Rogue's really not the easiest person to get close to. Does it particularly bother ya that she doesn't like you? Ya seem to be pretty popular around the institute."
Shaina looked down at the counter. "Well, it's not that she doesn't like me. It's that I don't know why she doesn't like me."
Keri skipped in to the room. "Hey, Shaina! Professor wants to see you!" She leaned over and whispered, "I think it's got something to do with Rogue."
Shaina's eyes lit up. "Of course! If she won't tell me why she hates me, maybe the Professor can tell me for her!" She stood up and walked out towards the Professor's office, and Logan followed.
When they arrived, the Professor was waiting for them. "Hello, Shaina. And Logan."
"Keri told me that you wanted to see me." Shaina clarified.
The Professor nodded. "Yes, that's correct. I need to discuss something with you…" He turned to Logan. "…Privately."
"I gotcha, Charles," Logan sighed as he walked out of the room.
When Logan had fully departed, the Professor turned his attention back to Shaina. "As I was saying, there's something I need to discuss with you."
Shaina shrugged. "If it's about me and Rogue, I honestly don't know why she doesn't like me."
The Professor nodded. "It's got something to do with that. But there's something more to it. You see, when new students or faculty come to the institute, I usually do a background check on them. Since we've been so busy lately, I haven't had time to do one on you."
Shaina examined a loose thread on her shirt sleeve. "When you say, 'background check,' you really mean, 'read my mind', right?"
The Professor nodded. "Right. It's completely harmless, we're just going to check things like when you discovered your power, if your power can be dangerous, and just to make sure that you're not under the influence of a-third party. Now, I'll make you a deal: if you let me run a background check, I'll see what the problem is with Rogue."
She considered this proposal. "Is this gonna hurt?" She asked.
"Not physically."
"That's nice. I dunno, it seems weird that someone's gonna be looking around in my head…"
"I won't pry. I'm just going to take a quick look. I'll only take a thorough look at memories that stick out the most, which will be what I told you I'll be looking for."
Shaina took a deep breath. "You're gonna be the only one to see, right? And no one's gonna know??"
"Not unless I feel it is absolutely necessary."
Shaina shrugged. "Alright. I guess so."
"Good. Sit down." When Shaina obeyed, he wheeled over, and held his hands to her temples. "Now, just relax…"
Then, a very peculiar feeling spread over Shaina: as if inside of her head, a movie was playing, and she was the star. She began to see things that she remembered faintly, like Christmas at a young age, and playing with a black cat that belonged to her family. And then there things she remembered more vividly, like winning a gymnastics tournament, being hired at Bayville Elementary, and adopting Sailor Chicks.
But some of them stuck out the most, and that's what the Professor looked at:
It was 14 years ago, and Shaina was late for class. She ran down the hallways of her junior high school, towards her chemistry class. Finally, she made it and burst in to the room. "Sorry I'm late, Mr. Sango!" She breathed. "My locker jammed, and I had to hit a few times before it would open!"
A stern-looking teacher turned to her. ""I'm not in the mood for your elaborate excuses, Hope. Now, sit down."
Feeling glum, she sat down at a table, next to a girl with strawberry-blonde hair and green eyes. "Hi, Shaina," The girl greeted.
"Hey, Kayla," Shaina sighed. "Wow, late three days this month. Looks like I'm going for record."
Kayla smiled. "Don't worry about it. What's Sango gonna do, give you detention?"
Mr. Sango cleared his throat. "Today, we're going to be doing a practical experiment with partners. Here are the partners:…" He went on rattling off pairs of names, until he came to, "Hope and Doydle."
A girl who had fluffy blonde hair, blue eyes, and a lot of make-up on jumped up. "Sir! Can't I please work with Joey?! Please?!" She gestured over to a boy sitting next to her.
"And I'd kinda prefer to work with Kayla," Shaina ventured.
The teacher glared at them. "NO! Now, get with your partners!"
Shaina and the girl sat down at a table, and got their stuff out…at least, Shaina did. The girl got out a bottle of pink nail polish. "So, I hear Daren dumped you," She said casually.
Shaina, who was measuring out acid, glared at her through her goggles. "No, Stacey, we both decided that it was over."
"That's not what I what I heard," Stacey chirped, focusing her attention on painting her nails.
"Well, then you heard wrong."
"I'm sure."
Shaina narrowed her eyes. "Excuse me, but we have work to do."
"Touchy, touchy. Did you know he's going out with me now?"
"What?" Shaina hissed.
Stacey smirked. "You heard me. He's going out with me now."
"Why? You blackmailing him?" Shaina growled, holding the test-tube of acid by its lip.
"News flash, Hope, guys don't go for 'plain-Janes'. They like make-up and perms. You understand, don't you?" She gave a short laugh, and then said, "Oh, wait. No, you don't."
Shaina fondled the two reddish-brown pigtails on the top of her head. "You should, though. Considering you go through three boyfriends a month."
Stacey looked at her for a while, and then said, "Anyway, get to work on this thing, will you? If you're not good with guys, then perhaps you're good at chemistry."
"Why do I have to do all the work?" Shaina demanded.
"Hello!" Stacey held up her hand, which sported perfect, pink nails. "I've gotta look good for Darren! We're going to see a movie tonight…what was it? Oh, yes: Peach Basket.
That was what got Shaina. She had been waiting for weeks to see that movie, and Darren had promised that they would see it together, despite the fact that it was a 'chick-flick'. In fact, if they hadn't have broken up, then they would've gone to see it tonight.
Shaina was filled with a mixture of rage, jealousy, and sadness. She was giving Stacey a look of pure hatred, but had she been looking at the test-tube, she would have seen the long, jagged cracks spreading over it. It soon got her attention by shattering and spilling acid all over the table.
Stacey let out a shriek, and Shaina just stood there, dumb struck.
The class was immediately filled with voices:
"What happened?"
"Did she drop it?"
"No, she's still holding the lip of it!"
"Then what happened?"
"Maybe it leaked?"
"Are they alright?"
"LOOK AT THE TABLE!"
Shaina obeyed that last command, and saw that the acid was burning a hole straight through the table, with the kids "oohing" and "ahhing". Stacey was whining about how scared she had been.
Mr. Sango rushed over. "Are you two alright?" He noticed the piece of the test-tube that Shaina hand in her hand. "It probably had cracks in it, and the acid broke through it."
Shaina was about to say something, but then she felt something burning her wrist. She looked down and saw that the acid had burned through her lab coat, through her shirt sleeve, and was faintly on her wrist.
Mr. Sango noticed, too. "Oh, Hope, you've got it on your wrist! Go flush it with water!" He pointed to a sink in the classroom.
Glad to get away from the crowd, Shaina walked to it, and using her non-burned hand, turned on the faucet. As soon as her skin came in contact with the metal, it began to crack and split. Feeling scared, she rubbed her wrist under the water until it stopped hurting. When she put her hand back on the tap, she had barely managed to turn off the water when it became so cracked it broke off in her hand.
Mr. Sango walked over. "Has it stopped hurting?"
Shaina nodded.
"Oh, but you've got a red mark! Go see the nurse." It was then that he noticed the broken tap. He looked at her. "What happened?"
"I…don't know," Shaina moaned, trying not to cry.
"First a faulty test-tube, then a broken tap. What's school playing at?" He asked no one in particular.
Shaina was on her way out the door, but then she stopped. She put her hand on the doorway and was about to ask if she should take her things with her, but then she saw cracks form on the wood like a black spider web. She whimpered, and ran out, holding her hands together.
Finally, she made it to the nurse's office. She turned the doorknob, trying to ignore the fact that it, like everything else she had touched, became covered with cracks and splits.
The nurse looked up at her. "Hello. What can I do for you?"
"I've got…a burn on my wrist…acid, from chemistry, Miss Jamel," Shaina croaked.
"Oh, well, let me see that!" Miss Jamel walked over, and took Shaina's wrist in her hand. But as soon as Shaina's hand touched the nurses' white coat, it tore and shredded.
Miss Jamel pulled back. "Huh? What happened?"
Shaina burst in to tears. "I DON'T KNOW! SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH ME!"
Miss Jamel put her hands on Shaina's shoulders. "Shaina, calm down! This couldn't have been your fault! The cuts are too clean!"
Shaina nodded, trying to convince herself that this was true.
Abruptly, a boy with untidy blonde hair and blue eyes popped in to the nurse's office. "Hey, Miss Jamel? Do you have any Dixie cups? We're all out in the Animal Science Lab." He turned to Shaina, and a smile flickered visibly over his lips.
Shaina was not in the mood for boys right now, what with the whole ordeal with Darren and now this strange thing that was happening whenever she touched something.
Miss Jamel nodded. "Yes, Tucker. Just wait a minute." She looked at Shaina. "Shaina, why don't you sit down? You're obviously very upset."
Shaina hesitated. What would happen if she did?
Miss Jamel smiled at her. "It's alright, just sit down."
Shaina sat. The chair did nothing. She breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe this whole thing didn't have anything to do with her. However, she was soon proved wrong, for as soon as her hands touched the chair, there was a horrible ripping and crashing, and Shaina found herself sitting on a pile of chair pieces.
The two stared at her.
Shaina lost it. She buried her face in her knees, and sobbed. "I don't know what's happening…what's wrong with me?…I just touched it…"
Miss Jamel walked towards her. "Shaina, it's…"
"JUST GET AWAY!" Shaina screeched.
"And that's how it happened."
Professor X's voice snapped Shaina back to reality. She looked up at him. "Yea, exactly. Whoa, that was weird…"
The Professor nodded. "Well, usually, mutant abilities surface for the first time at periods of heightened emotional stress. In your case, it was of a combination anger, jealousy, and sadness. And, just as you experienced, powers are often uncontrollable when they first surface."
"Ya don't need to tell me twice," Shaina commented, exhaling.
The Professor made an odd face. "But I saw something strange. You learned to control your power, and you also interacted with another mutant at that age…"
Shaina looked sad all of the sudden. "Yea…You wanna take a look?"
The Professor nodded. "If it's alright."
"Go ahead." She leaned over and closed her eyes.
He held his hands to her temples once again, and the memory picked up, right where it had left off:
Eventually, Shaina's mother was called to take her hysterical daughter home. The best explanation that Miss Jamel could think up was that Shaina had inhaled some of the chemicals they were using in the lab besides the acid, which had made her delirious and made her think that the strange destruction of school property (which was blamed on an unknown prankster/vandal) was her doing.
So, Shaina was taken home, although she refused to touch anything. She kept her hands jammed together throughout the entire ride home.
"Why don't you try to take a nap?" Asked Mrs. Hope asked Shaina gently, as if she were talking to a fussy toddler.
Shaina nodded. "Sleep is good," She assured herself out loud. Since she didn't know how she was going to undress without using her hands, she just flopped down on her bed in her loose jeans and t-shirt. She tried to take out her pigtails, but as soon as her fingers touched the elastics holding them in, they just snapped in half and shot off. Clenching her hands together, she laid on her side and fell asleep.
A few hours later, when she woke up, she absentmindedly stroked her pillow. Abruptly, she snapped up, realizing that she could touch things again. She tested it again. Nothing. The cracks were nowhere to be seen. She breathed a sigh of relief.
When she walked downstairs for a snack, her mother was sitting in the living room. "Shaina! How are you feeling?" She asked.
"Great," Shaina replied. "I think that nap was all I needed."
"You certainly gave us all quite a scare."
"Sorry, Mom."
Shaina took her snack up to her room, and then she got a peculiar idea. She got out a couple of crayons, laid them on her bed, selected one, and pressed her fingers down on it. No cracks. Shaina then concentrated hard on actually cracking the crayon, and slowly but surely, the cracks and splits appeared on it. In less than an hour, she had figured out that now, she could only crack things when she concentrated. Shaina then figured that maybe, just maybe, being able to make things crack would come in handy…
The next day at school, the school was abuzz about the prankster/vandal who had messed up so many things and almost caused a girl to not only get hurt, but to also go crazy temporarily.
Shaina rolled her eyes during lunch. "This is so stupid."
Kayla shook her head. "Shai-na! If you had seen yourself, then you'd know why everyone's making such a fuss about this! That whole thing with the test-tube was so not funny! I mean, you could've gotten a 3rd degree burn!"
Shaina was quiet. She wasn't sure that now was the time to tell Kayla about her new 'technique'.
That day, when Shaina was walking home from school, she was stopped by the boy she recognized as Tucker from the nurse's office.
He seemed to recognize her, too. "Are you that girl? Shaina, I think it was?"
"Yea, and you're Tucker, right?" Shaina replied, wondering what this was about.
He exhaled. "Man! You would not believe how long it took for me to find you! I had to ask so many people!"
"What's going on?" Shaina asked.
His expression turned serious. "Look, you know that thing you were doing yesterday? Making objects crack and break?"
Shaina stiffened. "That wasn't me. Everyone in the school seems to think it was some prankster/vandal."
Tucker rolled his eyes. "Yea, right. Well, it's just…" He stopped, as if trying to find the right words. "Look, I'm not quite sure what the deal is, but…you're not the only one with gifts. I've got one, too."
Shaina looked at him funny. "What do you mean?"
He walked towards her. "Hold out your hand," He commanded.
Shaina hesitated, and then held it out. He put one of his hands near her forehead, and the other, one he cupped over her hand. Then, he concentrated. He lifted up his hand, and Shaina was shocked.
It was the most beautiful butterfly she had ever seen. Were its wings silver or shiny lavender? Or perhaps metallic blue, it depended on the angle and light. It was so calm, sitting in the palm of her hand, flapping its wings gently.
She had to touch it. But as soon as soon as she brought her fingers to it, it disappeared, exactly like smoke rising from a freshly-blown out candle.
Shaina looked up at Tucker. "What…was that?"
He gave her a small smile. "My gift. I can make people see things…but it fades if they try to touch it."
"Whoa…" Shaina touched her empty palm. "You can do that?"
"Yea. I dunno how, and I don't think I should tell anyone, either."
Shaina folded her arms over her chest. "So…you and I have powers…Question: Why?"
"I have no idea. But you gotta admit, it's cool." He smiled at her. "Well, I just wanted you to know that you're not alone…"
Shaina returned his smile. "Thanks."
"So, it turns out that Tucker was a mutant?" Asked Professor X.
Shaina nodded. "Yea. He and I became friends. Though after awhile, he started calling me, 'Splinter', which is where I got my code name, and I started calling him, 'Morpheus'.
"'Morpheus'?"
"The Greek god of dreams. Anyway, we actually ended up dating, until…" Her voice trailed off.
The Professor looked at her. "Until what?"
Shaina smiled weakly. "Forget it. It's behind me now." She rubbed the back of her neck. "So, I let you read my mind, now keep your end of the bargain: Why is Rogue so mad at me?"
The Professor nodded. "I think I know: tell me, did you kiss Logan on the cheek on Tuesday?"
Shaina blushed. "Oh, yea…But I was just teasing!"
He smiled at her. "So Rogue wasn't dreaming. But the fact of the matter is that Rogue and Logan have become friends over the course of the year, and, as Logan has told you, Rogue isn't easy to get close to. So, she feels jealous when another woman takes an interest in her male friend."
"That's it? But I don't like Logan that way, and judging by the way he acts, I seriously doubt that he likes me!"
The Professor nodded. "I know, though Rogue doesn't. Your only hope is to tell her. That's all for now." He paused, and then added casually, "By-the-way, Sailor Chicks is in Keri's room."
"She is? Thanks, I've been looking for her." Shaina replied as she stood up. "And yea, I will talk to Rogue." She walked out of the room, and immediately came face-to-face with Logan, who was standing outside the door.
"Hey," He greeted her.
Shaina looked at him. "Heavens to Betsy, have you been standing here this whole time?"
He shrugged. "Yea. It's only been about 10 minutes. So, what did Charles say?"
"That Rogue's experiencing the common jealousy that's to be expected when a woman shows interest in her male friend."
"Huh?"
"She's jealous because she thinks I'm in love with you."
"Oh…Wait, why would she think that?"
Shaina felt a bit uncomfortable. "Well she saw that friendly and teasing kiss that I gave you. And, she thought that it was something different."
"Oh, that? Yea, well, it kinda confused me, so I guess I can understand that."
Shaina nodded. "Look, I'm gonna talk to her. Woman-to-woman."
So, she bid farewell to Logan, and headed off towards Rogue's room. However, she made a quick pit-stop in Keri's room. Seeing as how the door was open, she walked in. "Keri? Is Sailor Chicks in here?"
Inside the room, it was as if punk rappers had decided to have a tea party. For on the bed, sat Keri, Mr. B, and Keri's teddy bear, alias "Teddy". Mr. B and Teddy were both wearing sideways baseball caps and dark sunglasses. Teddy had a microphone rubber-banded to his paw. But Keri was the 'punkiest' of them all, wearing not only dark glasses and the sideways baseball cap, but cargo pants that looked at least two sizes too large, and an enormous medallion around her neck. With great effort, she lifted up her head and said to Shaina, "Yo! You interruptin' Big-T, and that ain't cool!"
Shaina wasn't sure whether to laugh or be highly disturbed. "Whaddya mean, 'interupting Big-T?'"
"Hello!" She pointed to Teddy's microphone. "Ya don't just barge in! It rude, ya know what I'm sayin'?"
"Keri, I have no idea what you're doing, but I want to know one thing: do you know where Sailor Chicks is?"
Abruptly, Sailor Chicks walked in to the room. She was wearing dark glasses and a 'sock' hat. She sat down and looked up at Shaina, looking pleased with herself.
Shaina looked at Keri. "OK, what did you do to my cat?"
"Bein' pregnant made her bored. I showed her da high livin'! It's off da heezy-fo-sheezy!" He put her hands in the air and shook them.
"Huh?"
"It's off da hook!"
Shaina brushed some of her hair out of her face. "Alright, ya know, I'm just gonna leave…and I'm taking Sailor Chicks with me." She picked up her cat, and strolled out of the room, as Keri started rapping an incomprehensible song while jumping on the bed.
As they walked down the hallway, Shaina decided to strike up a conversation with Sailor Chicks. "Did you really agree to play, or did she just pick you up and drag you in to the room?"
"Meow."
"Yup, that's Keri. Sorry, I probably should've told you that I was meeting with the Professor."
"Meow?"
"Oh, it went well. He just read my mind and saw when I got my power. That kind of thing."
"Meow?"
"Yes, I found out what the deal with Rogue is. Apparently, she saw that little kiss I gave Logan, and now she's jealous because she thinks I like him. So I'm gonna talk to her." She walked over to the room that Rogue and Kitty shared, and was thankful to find that Rogue was in there alone, laying on her bed, reading a book. She set Sailor Chicks on the ground. "Maybe you ought to go."
Sailor Chicks looked up at Shaina, and then walked away towards her room.
Shaina turned, and knocked on the door jamb, even though the door was open.
Rogue looked up at her from her book. Her expression dulled. "Oh…it's you."
Shaina nodded. "We need to talk."
Rogue rolled her eyes. "There's nothin' to talk about."
"Yes there is!" Shaina argued. She took a step inside the room. "I know why you hate me!"
Rogue's expression softened. "Ah don't…hate you…"
"You sure act like it!" Shaina countered, taking another step in to the room.
"Ah just…it's…" Her voice trailed off.
Shaina approached Rogue's bed. "It's Logan."
Rogue looked sad. "Yea, it is."
"Do you mind if I sit down?" Shaina asked. When Rogue shook her head, Shaina sat down next to her. "Look, I know what you think, because the Professor told me: you saw that kiss I gave Logan,"
Rogue nodded.
"Well, I was just joking. I'm not in love with him. So, you don't have to worry about me seducing him and him forgetting all about you. OK? We're just friends, and a person can have more than one friend."
Rogue looked up at her. "Ah'll be blunt: Ah don't like you very much. It's partly because of that, and partly because we're so different. Ah don't think too highly of girls who kiss boys as a joke. But ah'll still be nice to ya."
Shaina nodded. "Yea, and I don't think to highly of you, either. But I'll be nice to you, too."
"So, do we have a deal?"
"Right. I'm glad we had this…uh…would you call it a conversation?"
"Chat." Rogue corrected. "Bye." She returned her book.
Shaina figured that this was the farthest she could get, and retreated to her room, where Sailor Chicks was laying in the bottom drawer of her dresser. Sailor Chicks had long since decided that this was the place where she wanted to have her kittens, and Shaina had taken all of her clothes out of the drawer and put in it a pillow and a towel.
Shaina walked over to her cat. "You OK, Sailor Chicks?"
Sailor Chicks looked up at Shaina, and gave her a look that Shaina understood completely.
Shaina's jaw dropped. "Tonight?! They're coming tonight?!"
Sailor Chicks just rested her head on the pillow, building up energy.
***
That night, around 9:00, Logan decided to visit Shaina because he wanted to find out if she had talked to Rogue. He made his way over to her room, and found that her door was ajar, and the light was on. Nonetheless, he still knocked.
Shaina opened the door. "Hey," She greeted. She then opened the door all of the way, gesturing for him to come in.
Logan got right to his question. "Didja talk to Rogue?"
Shaina nodded. "Yea."
"…And?"
"And she says that she still doesn't like me, but it's really nothing personal. It's just that we're so different. Though she says she'll still be nice to me. And that's alright, because honestly and truly, I'm not too fond of her. But the same goes for me: I'll still be nice to her."
"Whatever floats your boat," Logan commented, shrugging. That's when he noticed Sailor Chicks. The cat was laying in the bottom drawer of Shaina's dresser, breathing deeply. "Uh, is she alright?" He asked Shaina.
"Oh, yea. She's resting, because she's going to go in to labor in less than an hour," Shaina replied calmly, as if they were discussing the weather.
Logan's eyes widened. "You mean…she's gonna have kittens?"
"Yup. I'm gonna stay awake, in case she needs my help."
Abruptly, Keri, who was passing by Shaina's room, dashed in. "Sailor Chick's gonna have her babies?! When?! And do you know how many?!"
Shaina smiled at her. "In less than an hour. And I took her to the vet a couple days ago, and he saw four kittens in the x-ray."
"OOH!" Keri squealed, so excited it looked as though she might explode. "Can I watch?! Please?!"
Shaina shook her head. "No. It's not gonna be for a while, and believe me, the whole process is pretty gross. But you can see 'em tomorrow morning, when they're all dry and fluffy and cute."
Keri sighed sadly. "Alright…But you promise that I can see them tomorrow?"
"I promise."
"Alright." Keri's face turned happy. "Then, in that case, I'm going to go to bed now, because the sooner I go to sleep, the sooner it'll be tomorrow, and then I can see the babies!"
Shaina nodded. "Good plan. But remember, don't get attached to them. 'Cause when they get old enough, I'm finding homes for them…"
Keri nodded. "I know!" She skipped off happily towards her room.
Logan turned to Shaina. "You're givin' the kittens away?"
She nodded. "Yea. Kittens are cute, but they're curious and get in to everything. And then, they grow in to cats. I don't think I can handle having five cats in the house."
"I don't suppose I can argue with that. Well, g'night. And…uh…call me if you need me, I guess."
"I will. Good night."
He was almost out of the room, when he stopped and asked, "How long until the kittens can leave Sailor Chicks?"
Shaina smiled. "Six weeks at the very youngest, though experts agree that you should wait nine or 10 weeks."
"How long're you gonna wait?"
"I'll see how they are at eight weeks."
"Eight weeks…So that's about…"
"A little bit after the middle of March."
"March, huh?" He walked out of the room, wondering if he could survive four kittens and a cat in the institute until then.