Author's Note: For those of you who have reviewed, and read the first three chapters, thank you. I really like how this is turning out. ^-^ Anyway, onto this chapter! Again I will try to make it long, so that the whole thing is really good and long. =)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the X-Men, Stan Lee does. Unfortunately… Why is fate so cruel?!?!

Bladewing

Chapter Four: Tour of the Town

            "A canvassed room?"

            "Yeah, I wanna turn my room into a giant canvas. For drawing and then painting over it."

            "Well, I must say, this is the first time anyone's ever wanted to paint anything on in the Institute, besides from it's normal color for repairs," Professor X was a little worried over the discussion.

            "Please Professor? I swear, nothing inappropriate and blah, blah, blah. I swear! Please!" Tara was so desperate to be able to paint her room to her liking.

            Charles looked at her, quirked an eyebrow, and finally agreed.

            "Fine, you may paint your room."

            "Yes!!!" Tara exclaimed jumping up and down a little, and then doing a little victory jig.

            "But after you're done, I want to see the final project first. Agreed?" he smiled and put out a hand for her to shake in agreement.

            She smiled back and shook his hand.

            "Agreed."

            "So, Tara, have you had any trouble with your wings so far? It seems like they can be quite a hassle at times," he asked with interest. Tara thought for a moment.

            "Yeah, but nothing big. It's just really annoying having to slit holes in my shirts and stuff then getting them through the shirt after," she turned around, a large messy slit in her sweat shirt where her wings were free. Under it, her t-shirt color was slightly shown, but the cut was smaller.

            "I thought that might be a problem," he thought for a minute, "I'll get to work on your X-Men uniform as soon as I can. Hopefully Mr. McCoy can help me devise a way to make it easier on you."
            "Thanks! Uh, I gotta go now. So much to see, so little time!" She turned to leave, careful as not to cut the Professor in any way. Then she started to race out the door.

            "I want to see you later Tara. At 3 pm! Meet me in the back of the Institute!"

            "Got it!" She waved behind her as she went, her wings still dragged on the floor, but because they were bandaged well, it did no damage.

---

            Outside she stood in front of the fountain in front of the Institute.

            Now, which button makes that holo-thingy work... She only had two buttons to push, but she never did listen too well when it came to instructions. Kurt bamfed in front of her and Tara fell over.

            "Hello Tara! Nice to see you up," he put out a helping hand to help her up.

            "Same here Kurt. Hey, which button makes the hologram part work?" She was still trying to decide which button to push, looking at it on her wrist.

            "But there's only two buttons."

            "I know, but I don't wanna push the wrong one and make something go off."

            "Okay. You push this one," Kurt pushed the button on the left, and her wings disappeared, and her sweat shirt and shirt appeared to be normal.

            "Cool. Thanks Kurt," she looked at her back, "Ya know, even though it looks like their not there, it's a wonderful sight."

            "What do you mean?"

            "The fact that I look normal. It's great. I don't have to run from others."

            "But that doesn't mean their not there. They still are. Besides, you don't have to run from me, or any of the other X-Men. If anything, I should be running from you."

            "Why?" Tara stopped looking behind her and turned her gaze at Kurt. His holo-watch was set, and he didn't appear as a mutant. Just as a normal high school kid.

            "Cuz I'm the one with the blue skin and pointy ears."

            "Don't forget the tail!" Tara said cheerfully.

            "Ya, the tail," Kurt sighed.

            "But I like the tail. It's cool. And the blue skin and pointy ears. And yellow eyes, and the two fingers. That's just too awesome." Tara smiled at him, and it reminded him of himself, with one of his own big goofy grins on. There was a small silence.

            "Hey! Vanna take a tour of the town? I could show you all the cool spots."

            "Sure! That'd be great. Let's go!" She grabbed his arm and led the way, as if she was knew exactly where she was going.

            "Don't you think I should lead the vay?" Kurt said, stumbling over his feet a little. Tara stopped short.

            "Yeah… That would make more sense, wouldn't it? But, the Professor told e to be back by 3."

            "Vhy?"

            Tara shrugged, "Dunno. Whatever it is, I gotta be back by then."

            "Vell, vith my teleporting povers, and the vact that ve have two vatches, I think ve can make it back on time. Now let's go." They walked to the gate, leaving the Institute behind them.

---

            They were soon inside the heart of Bayville. It was a large city, like most of the cities in New York. People were everywhere, hurrying on their own way, talking on cell phones, or just taking a stroll along the sidewalks. Kurt had shown Tara some of the places he liked the most. Including his favorite fast food place.

            As they walked into another one of Kurt's favorite places to eat, a pizza place, they spotted Corai and Klara, along with Todd and Lance.

            "Hey guys!" Tara said, waving to the four of them. Cor and Klara waved back, Todd and Lance pretended not to notice. They were sitting in a booth towards the back, Todd across from Klara, Lance across from Cor.

            "Who are your friends?"

            "Yo, we're they're boyfriends. Got it?" Todd said, Lance sighed.

            "Whatever," Tara shrugged at Todd, who made a little pouty face, not getting the attention he was hoping to get. Even if it was a little negative.

            "This is Lance," Corai introduced. Lance gave a little wave.

            "And this is Todd," Klara introduced. Todd made a tiny smile at Tara, then continued to pout. Klara gave him a playful kick from under the table.

            "Ok, ok, I'll be nice," Todd muttered , rubbing his leg.

            "Mind if we join you? I'll help pay."

            Kurt was a little hesitant at the thought.

            "Sure," Cor and Klara said in unison. Tara took a spot next to Cor as the two of the moved in a little. Kurt had no choice but to sit next to Lance, who gave him a nasty, but kind look. Kurt gave a friendly grin and smile.

            "Hey guys. No hard veelings, right?"

            "Huh?" Tara looked at Klara and Cor, "What's he talking about?"       

            "It's a long story," Lance started.

            "Here's the deal yo, we're," he pointed to himself and Lance, "are in the Brotherhood. You's guys are in the X-Men. And let's just say we're not the best of friends."

            "So you're mutants too?" Tara said. She never expected there to be so many.

            "Yeah. What of it?" Lance said defensively.

            "Sooooo," Klara said, quickly changing the subject, "what're you guys doing today?"

            "Kurt's," Tara said, getting cut off by Todd.

            "Taking you on a date? Huh? Huh?" Todd teased. Kurt blushed, trying to hide it.

            "Nah, he's giving me tour of the town. Well, city. It's so much more interesting than the stupid, boring ol' town I lived in." Just then the waitress came with the pizza.

            It was a large half pepperoni, half extra cheese pizza. It was steaming and the smell reached them all.

            "Great! Just vhat I needed!" Kurt said, taking a piece of pepperoni and extra cheese.

            "But you just ate two hamburgers at that fast food place!" Tara said, only a little surprised.        

            "Yah, but you can never have too must of a good thing," Kurt said, already several bites into the slice. They six of them ate the pizza in a matter of minutes.

            "Man was that good. Much better than the usual house fly," Todd said, settling into the seat.

            "House flies?!"

            "Yeah, so?"

            "He eats house flies?" Tara said, turning to Klara for support.

            "Yeah… See, his mutant power is that he's like a toad. His nick name is Toad. And that's something you've got to stop," Klara said to Todd, reminding him once more.

            "Yo, I can't help it if it's the only thing in the dump we live in to eat."

            Lance grunted at the thought of their awful home. Tara's holo-watch beeped. Looking down at it, she saw it was ten of 3.

            "Crap! We gotta go! Here's some money," Tara pulled about ten dollars out of her pocket, "If it doesn't pay for half of it, I'll give you some more later. C'mon Kurt," she grabbed him and he almost fell out of the booth.

            "Where ya going?" Cor asked.

            "The Professor wanted to see me back at the Institute in ten minutes!" her and Kurt rushed out the door.

            Tara was practically dragging Kurt down the sidewalk.

            "Tara! Tara! Vait! Vait up!" he pleaded. Kurt stopped short.

            "Hold it!"

            "But, we have to get back, quickly!"

            "Don't vorget. I can teleport," Kurt smirked.

            "Oh yeah. Ok, let's go."

            "Virst we have to get out of sight," he pulled her into a nearby alleyway.

            "Ok, here ve go," he said, holding her hand. They disappeared into the other dimension Kurt traveled through when teleporting.

            In a split second they were in from of the Institute's statue. Charles Xavier wheeled his way over to them. Ororo and Jean were following him. An X-Men uniform was in his lap. Tara turned off her hologram.

            "Ah, you're back. Good. Kurt, you can go. Or stay, the choice is yours."

            "Stay for what? What did you want?" Tara asked curiously.

            "It's time to start using those wings of your Tara. You can't just hide them or drag them around forever."

            "Uh, ok."

            "I've got your new uniform here," he handed it to her, "The slits in the back are elasticized so that they stretch for your wings. And don't worry about cutting it. Mr. McCoy and I have figured that out too, it's just a bit too complicated to explain."

            "Cool! I'll go change into it now," she ran past them all, hunched over a bit, careful not to drag her massive black wings.

            "She really is one of a kind, isn't she?" Xavier said, watching her go.

            "We all are Professor," Jean said. Kurt and Ororo said nothing, but Ororo watched how Kurt watched Tara. No one but she really noticed that he was still standing there.

            In a few minutes Tara was back in front of the Institute. Her X-Men uniform was like none of the others, yet still similar. It was a base color of black, with green sleeves, starting about a quarter down from her shoulder. On the back, right where her wings were, was a large green X. Her shoes that went along with the uniform were black. As she ran toward them, she was again, hunched over a bit. She had taken the bandages off her wings, so that they wouldn't restrict her.

            "So Professor, what now?" she said eagerly.

            "First things are first. You must learn to control the nerves and muscles that are in your wings. Try to stretch them out." Tara thought for a moment on how to do this. Since people did not normally have wings, it would be quite difficult to learn to do something that is abnormal.

            Tara thought about how the movement of her wings would feel like once she started to stretch them. But to no success.

            "I can't."

            "Try again." Again she thought about her wings moving, but nothing happened. Xavier read her thoughts, knowing that it was a little stressful.

            "Try to relax. It may just happen, like the way our heart just keeps beating without us having to give it much thought at all." Tara just stood there, feeling like a fool. Everyone's eyes were on her, and she got very nervous, having quite a bit of stage fright. Thinking again about her wings, about being stared at, being watched, her wings seemed to tense up more.

            I'll never fly. These wings are useless. I'll never make it to the skies.

            Her wings slowly began to open. Charles smirked. Tara didn't even notice it, but her wings were spreading and everyone was smiling.

            "Tara! Your vings are moving!"

            "Huh?" She looked behind her. Her wings were more open, but they weren't moving, "But how?"

            "It seems that when you think about flying, you will start to fly," the Professor stated.

            "But, how do you know that?" Tara questioned suspiciously.

            "I'm a telepath. I can read your thoughts," he smirked.

            "So, if I think of flying. I'll just kinda, fly off?"

            "Well, that's something you'll be able to control with practice."

            "Cool!!!" Tara thought hard about flying, and her wings immediately zipped out. Kurt had to teleport to avoid their razor edges, and she ended up slicing part of the statue.

            "Sorry! I didn't mean it!" Tara said, staring at the statue, now squirting water out of one side.

            "It wasn't your fault," Charles said, although he was upset about it. But it could be fixed. "Let's move on, shall we?

            "Now that you know how to control your wings, to some degree, try to close and open them repeatedly."

            Tara thought about flying, and controlling her wings, and her wings closed slowly, then reopened, a little bit faster. She just repeated the action for about twenty minutes. She didn't enjoy it, since it was so boring to her, but she was now able to control how fast or slow they open, almost perfectly.

            "Can we stop this?" Tara asked, her wings opening very fast for several times, and then very slow others, then at a medium speed.

            "Fine, but we will continue the exercise later. Want to try hovering? Basically just flapping your wings at a steady rhythm, just for a little bit to be a little above the ground."

            "Sure! No problem!" Tara said confidently. I hope.

            She started her thoughts, and her wings started a small flapping. Ororo made a small gust form her hands to help lift Tara. Her wings flapped faster, Tara getting used to controlling her wings. She went a couple inches off the ground, with the help from Storm, her providing the wind for Tara's wings to use.

            Tara's lesson went on for another hour or so, and by then she had control over her wings to hover above the ground quite some, go forward several feet, and control how fast or slow her wings open and close. Kurt had left about thirty five minutes after the lesson had started, for his own reasons.

            Tara was hovering and flying a little bit when the Professor told her the lesson was over. Jean had left five minutes before, the Professor letting her go. She was only there in case something bad had happened and she would have to get Tara from hurting herself from falling or anything else.

            "You've made great progress Tara. It's nice to know that you can use them now."

            Tara beamed at him, still flying around and hovering the little bit she could, not wanting to stop.

            "This is so much fun! Thanks Professor!" she flew over to him and landed.

            "Hey, is there any way I can stay in the uniform, but when the hologram is on, make it look like I'm not wearing it, but normal clothes?"

            "That's what Kurt's does. Here, I'll do it now," he took the watch from her, and played around with a little knob. Then he handed it back to her.

            "There, that should work."

            Tara pushed the left button, remembering this time, and the hologram was activated at it made her seem like she was wearing her black sweat shirt, some dark blue jeans, and a black t-shirt.

            "Yahoo!" she ran around like a little kid, jumping up and flying the few feet she could here and there.

            "Like you said before, she really is one of a kind," Storm said, her and Charles watching her.

            "Yes she is," she smiled at her joy, "and I'm glad she is."