Disclaimer – I am a fish. No, I am a fan. Either way, they're not mine.
A/N – Written as part of the Ten Minute Challenge. Keyword: fair.
Feedback – As ever, begged for and valued above golddust.
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Unfair
© Scribbler, December 2004
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She found her out on the cliff top, throwing stones into the surf. She was too close to the edge, swinging her legs over that crumbly bit of ground the Professor had warned them not to go near.
"Tabitha?"
She didn't stop throwing.
Amara tucked her hair behind her ears and sat down. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"What's to talk about?" PLIP
"Come on, I know you better than that."
PLIP "I don't think there's anything more to say." PLIP
Amara wetted her lips and tried not to look down. It was a long way, and at the bottom… only water. She shivered.
Tabitha paused long enough to look sidelong at her. "You cold?"
Amara shook her head, but accepted anyway when Tabitha took off her jacket and passed it across. She nestled into the collar. It smelled of peach shampoo, motor oil and cinnamon. "Thanks."
Tabitha shrugged and went back to throwing stones. She scooped up handfuls of pebbles off the ground and threw them one by one, not letting another fly until the last was gone.
Amara brought her knees up to her chin. "You're… upset?"
PLIPPLIPPLIP Tabitha threw the entire handful. "Of course I'm upset."
"I…" ...wish there was something I could say to that. Wish there was a way to make you feel better. "I would like you to come back inside."
"Yeah, well, maybe I don't want to go yet."
"Oh." She pushed her chin further into the collar. "Are you upset with me?"
"What? No! I'm just pissed with them." Tabitha gestured across the bay, to the clusters of buildings where lights were blinking on. Maybe even beyond. "All of them."
"I didn't realise this was such a… touchy subject." Amara chose her words carefully. "On Nova Roma there is no real distinction."
"Want to go back there to live? I'll hide in your luggage." Tabitha sighed, letting the pebbles trickle from her hand. "Sorry. I'm being pissy."
"Jean said you had a right." Jean had been there when they announced it, had caught Amara's wrist and held her back when Tabitha bolted from the room.
Tabitha snorted. "Yeah, well, she would. Little Miss Politically Active."
"She's our friend - "
"She also doesn't know what this feels like. Sure, she's a mutant, but there's been no legislation saying mutants don't have the same rights as everyone else, yet, has there?" Tabitha's eyes flashed. "The majority of American people voted against me and my life. There's no way not to take that personally."
"You forget, they voted against me, also."
"I… yeah." Slowly, Tabitha slid an arm around her shoulders. The embrace was brittle. "It's just not fair, y'know? Isn't bad enough we gotta be mutants, now we've got the anti-gay parade after us, as well. Two sets of bigotry. Aren't we the lucky ones?"
Amara leaned against her, hoping her warmth might thaw the brittleness. "We'll survive it. It's what we do."
"We shouldn't have to, though. Who gives them the right to say that we shouldn't exist, just because… because…"
"Because we care about each other?" Tabitha always had a hard time saying it.
"Yeah." She sighed and let her chin drop onto her chest. "They call it a choice. Do you believe that? I didn't choose to… to love you. It just happened that way. And I wouldn't change it," she added hastily.
"I know." Amara's voice was quiet.
"But if being gay is a choice, then so is being an asshole," Tabitha said with more fire. "Why should we change if they won't?"
A cold wind blew against Amara's cheek. She didn't move, but the brittle arm curled around her and softened.
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FINIS.
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