Chapter 8:
About three years later, Sienna sat perched on the edge of a small Japanese pond with her legs dangling over the edge as she swirled her fingers in the pure water. Any onlooker could think she was a statue cunningly designed to be lifelike but that was far from right. The only thing that betrayed her being alive was the motion of her fingers in the water and the darting of her green eyes from one place to another like a haunted animal. Straightening up, she aimlessly kicked one leg after another in a rhythmic motion and wiped her fingers on her clothes carefully. Sienna had a real flair for design and the scarlet red off-shoulder top with tight Capri jeans highlighted her white locks gracefully and added to the reflection of the blue water. Looking around carefully, Sienna focused on a spot and then looked away as her eyes scanned each area of the garden. A rustle made her start and she looked around quickly before dropping her gaze onto her legs.
Over the years, the daughter of William Stryker had filled out gracefully and become a stunning beauty. The look she had adopted was far from the bedraggled and tortured girl rescued from a lifetime of manipulation; she had become more confident but still was virtually mute. The students had finally accepted that she was different in that area and most seemed to understand her gestures and ocular expressions. Any time a newcomer came, however, Sienna would hide behind another student or watch from the shadows. This included new students but she soon tolerated them, the student body loved her no matter what. Every student and every member of the faculty treated Sienna like their little sister, protecting her as best they could from taunts, strange looks, reminders of her past and insensitive comments by new students. Any person she accepted became a person dearer to her than life. She had often written that she would lay down her life for them and she meant it. The staff had finally succeeded in drawing her out of her shell and had found that she had a warm heart, an over-generous attitude and an irrepressible laugh that sounded out more often every day.
Sighing, Sienna was alarmed when a push came and she fell head-first into the pond. Bursting out from under the surface of the water, Sienna started up at the visage of Remy Lebeau with his red eyes laughing as he spoke with his usual New Orleans accent. "De cherie distracted, non? Gambit know dis ta be fact' and dat somethin' Gambit like. De cherie scared, non?"
Slapping his hand away, Sienna rose from the water and shook her clothes, making the spray go all over Remy. Giggling, she slapped a hand over her lips and smirked at him as droplets of water came off the Cajun. Then, she threw water at him and ran off with Remy chasing after her, yelling out threats. Above, Xavier watched from one of the windows and smiled as he saw the two chase each other along the edge of the grass lawns. Turning away, Xavier made plans for his outing to visit Magneto with Scott...
