End of the line guys. Thanks to everyone who read the story. Mini Logan to all who sent feedback.
Disclaimers: I don't own any of the familiar characters. Kate is mine.
Epilogue
Five years later:
The tie was going to kill him. He was certain of that. He wasn't sure if he had ever been hung in his life but he was sure this was how it felt. The crowd gathering on the lawn was starting to get loud. Alcohol was flowing freely and some of the guests had taken the opportunity to start the celebration early. Laughter and shrieks from the children in attendance floated up to his open window. A fair number of those kids were human.
In the past five years, more and more human students had been admitted to the school. Logan, never comfortable around kids, had watched with growing horror. He had become what he had never wanted to be; a teacher and role model to a bunch of ankle biters. Strangely enough, he didn't find domestication all that restricting. He still needed to get away from time to time but he found that he could live with the changes, as long as Jubilee was with him.
The change in his relationship with Jubilee was the most remarkable change over the past five years. At first, it was a shared grief that defined their interactions. Gradually, it became more. Two years ago, he finally admitted to himself that he loved and needed her as a man. Fear of those feelings made him run, thinking he was protecting her from a dirty old man. She hunted him down and ripped him a new one for his cowardice. He finally worked up the courage to give their love a chance and hasn't regretted it since.
There were objections at first but a quick "Fuck off" from Jubilee silenced most of them. Scott, oddly enough, immediately supported them, asking what took them so long to figure it out. Jean was very loud in her objections sometimes actively sabotaging their nights. A dressing down by the Professor finally stopped the torment she was dishing out.
Logan, never quiet when it came to sex, found that Jubilee was just as vocal. One day, a month after they had returned to the mansion, the students petitioned Xavier to have the lusty couple moved for the sanity of the residents of the wing. The next day, the red faced couple moved to a two room suite on the opposite end of the mansion. The students still giggled every time they was them together.
The shooter had been convicted earlier in the year of capital murder. Logan and Jubilee had testified for the prosecution. They admitted to being members of the X Men and both explained the non aggressive commitment of the group. The defense had several times tried to get them to disclose the location on the X Men without success. He then tried to push Logans' buttons with racial slurs and innuendo of a breeding program run by the X Men. He only stopped after he was cited for contempt of court. Logan, as Kates' lover at the time of her death, had also been invited to testify during the punishment phase of the trial. He declined stating that he didn't care what happened to the guy, as long as he never saw the light of day again. He was sentenced to death on Friday.
Returning to the present, Logan fingered the letter Xavier gave him that morning. He was reluctant to open the letter; it was from Kate. He still felt guilty falling for Jubilee so soon after Kates' death. He felt it cheapened what he and Kate had together. He straightened his back and opened the letter.
My dearest love,
Congratulations on your wedding day. Jubilee will make you a wonderful wife and partner.
Yes, I did foresee this happening. Do you remember the vision I had when we first met?
Logan thought back to the first day they met and remembered the odd look on her face as she had the vision. She told him that he would soon meet a woman who would keep up with him and complete him.
That woman was Jubilee, the letter went on. I know you had known her for many years but only as a child. It was then that you began to see her as the remarkable woman she had become.
She is the missing part of your soul, Logan. She completes you in a way I couldn't. She is the woman you were born to love.
Don't feel guilty about the love you have for her. I always knew I wasn't the one you were searching for. I can't hate her because she is the only one who can make you happy. I also can't hate her because she was the best friend I ever had.
Take care of each other but remember that there will be time when you are separated. Jubes is much more powerful than you and can take care of herself. If she should get hurt, it was the fault of the person who hurt her, not you. The same goes for Jubes.
Have a good life, my love. You won't hear from me again.
All my love Kate
Logan sniffed and wiped the tears from his cheeks. Folding the letter, he placed it in the wood box he had made while they were in Canada. He would share the letter with Jubilee later. He straightened his tie and left the room.
The ceremony was beautiful. Logan was stunned when Jubilee walked down the isle on Seans' arm. He had never seen a more beautiful woman in his life. She chose a very pale yellow dress that hugged every curve. Jean, Ororo, Rogue and Kitty were in butter yellow. Paige, as maid of honor, was in a slightly darker color. Roses and lilies were everywhere, the scent hung heavy in the still air. Logan knew he wouldn't have lasted if the wedding had been indoors. The overpowering scent of the flowers would have made him nauseous. It was still enough to make him feel queasy. Storm saw the look on his face and took pity on him, sending a light breeze over the group to dissipate the scent.
After the ceremony, Sean approached Xavier, anxious to get some answers to questions that have been bothering him for years.
"Charles," he asked. "Do ya have any idea why the Friends of Humanity have been so quiet lately?"
"That is Kates' doing," Charles replied. "She looted their bank accounts and redirected the money to more worthy causes. The FOH now funds mutant shelters and scholarships all over the world. She left a worm in place so that new donations are redirected elsewhere."
"Smart gel," Sean remarked, impressed. "What about the human students? I never thought I would see the day you would have humans in the headquarters of the X Men."
"Kate again," he replied. "She left her estate to the school with the provision that I maintain a ten percent human to mutant ratio. If I didn't, the money would go to the Friends of Humanity."
"How could she be sure that you would?"
"She left a surveillance program in our computer system. On May 6th this year we had a twelve percent ratio and I got a message on my computer that said 'Surveillance ended, good luck Charles". It was signed by Kate."
"It couldn't have been that much money, Charles."
"Her estate at the time of her death was worth 2.3 billion dollars. I couldn't let the FOH get a hold on that kind of money. I had been thinking about admitting human students since she threatened to take us to court for violating Brown v Board of Education. She found a better way of forcing my hand. Very effective, her final solution."
"She was a remarkable woman, Charles," Sean told him.
"Yes," Charles said quietly. "She was. She told me that the tension would get much worse before it got better and she was right. Things are worse now than they have ever been but remarkable things have been happening. The Governor of Kansas has requested help with a drought that has plagued the state for over a year. Storm will meet with the Governor next week to discuss options. Jean has assisted the FBI with several kidnapping cases in the past three months. Logan and Jubilee are working with the Secret Service to assess the Presidents protection from mutant terrorist threats. Things are looking up. Strange that Kates' murder isn't what the mutant rights groups are quoting. They have found a cause in what Logan said that day. I would have never figured him to be the center of a civil rights movement. Life is full of surprises."
"Logan," Sean called as the bridegroom made his way to the two men. "Congratulations on getting a fine gel. You take good care of her, ya here me."
"Don't worry about her, Cassidy." Logan growled. "We'll take care of each other. Chuck, can I talk to ya?" he asked as Sean wandered over to Emma.
"You read the letter?" Charles asked.
"Yeah," Logan replied.
"Do you feel more comfortable now?"
"Yeah, I do. Jubes is the woman for me. Even Kate agrees.. She said that I wouldn't hear from her again."
"No, you won't," Charles agreed. "But Bishop will."
"Bishop?" Logan asked, surprised.
"The remaining letters are addressed to Bishop. I gave him the first one today."
"I wonder what they say," Logan mused.
"I have no idea but I'm sure they are interesting."
Bishop had spent the entire day making the wedding guests uncomfortable. His job was to guard the lives of the X Men and he took that duty seriously. He stared at and intimidated everyone who was not an X Man until the guests started giving him a wide berth. He stood at the door of the mansion, glowering as the Bride and Groom left for their honeymoon in Japan. He maintained that position until the last guest had left and the team came inside for the evening. Only the did he open the letter.
He didn't know Kate well. He had never trusted the human woman who had computer skills that intimidated him. He wondered why she would send a letter to him written before her death. His curiosity got the better of him and he unfolded the letter.
Bishop,
Watch over their children. They will be vitally important in the future.
Kate
A rare smile lit his face. She had known.
"I will guard them with my life, Kate," he promised, his mood much improved. He pocketed the letter, entered the mansion and closed and locked the door.