Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men. Ilehana Xavier belongs to Corrinth. All other characters belong to me.

A/N: Thank you to all my reviewers out there; you really are all stars.

Scene 32 Day 07, Sunday.........

"Qu'est-ce qui?"

"Good question." Blaze answered Remy with a warm and very relieved smile. "I have no idea what happened..." And neither did it matter, not to her, not now she was safe in the knowledge he wasn't about to leave her just yet...

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"So how did the debate finish, Hank? Seemed to me you were whipping that presenter's backside before we had to leave you to it?" Scott asked as casually as he could. On the other end of the line as they both waited for the Professor to come take Hank's call, Beast could only smile.

"I think the phrase is that I took him to the cleaners, Cyclops." Beast had never sounded smugger. "I'm booked to come talk again next week, not to mention the other networks, and several prominent universities..."

"So I guess you'll be too busy to come back and visit any time soon?" Cyclops dug shamelessly, knowing Beast knew what he was talking about.

"I'm afraid I wont be able to make it to Colossus' funeral, no. I'm sorry Scott, but the public needs to know what I can tell them, especially now a cure has been isolated..."

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Bobby flicked channels on the TV professionally, soaking up the news and the glory like a sponge in melt water.

"The President's assistant, Marta Marshall, wife of businessman Harold Marshall, has been arrested today whilst attempting to board a private jet to the Caribbean...."

"Evidence has come to light from an unnamed source that pinpoints the President's aide as to being in control of the viral terrorist threat again the mutant population. Whilst her motives are still unclear, her arrest has sparked a wave of..."

"The body is presumed to be that of Mr Jackson, found at the seat of the blaze at the distillery yesterday evening..."

"Several unmarked graves at the distillery have been exhumed this morning, presumably containing mutant test subjects for the horrific viral project..."

Bobby sat back in his seat, dumping the remote on the cushion. He could take the credit for the links between the viral terrorists and the White House, but the police had done the rest to actually catch the one responsible. As for the unmarked graves, containing the bodies of mutant street kids who'd never had the protection that the Xavier School was all about? Well he couldn't take the credit for that either. Nobody had cared enough about those kids to record their final resting places in a computer file. But Blaze had cared, had got all the information from Jackson before she had killed him, and so gotten revenge for the children the X-Men had failed to protect.

Once the investigations were completed, the Professor and Blaze had already laid claim to any of the dead children whose relatives could not be traced. Not one of the X-Men could explain why Blaze of all of them was so adamant that their bodies were protected in death, as they had not been in life, but none could fault her for it.

"In related news," The TV anchorman continued, "The President has turned to Senator Hawley, known for his pro-mutant stance, to aide him in what has been dubbed the 'viral clean-up operation'. Hawley's aide, Matthew Cooper, had this to say earlier..."

Bobby sat up a little straighter and hit the volume button as the shot cut to Matthew, stood in a crowd of frantic journalists, looking like he belonged there, as if he was in his element. The crowd were captivate, and for a second Bobby could perfectly understand why friends like this were exactly the type of people the X-Men needed to cultivate, if they were to peacefully change the world for the better...

"We have to remember," Matthew started more confidently than he felt, but knowing the moment was his to take. Let Blaze keep her life as an X-Man, he belonged here, in the political circus, making a difference in the way he knew best... "Not one of us is invincible. No one can predict the future; know who is going to be a mutant and who is not. At birth we are all the same. It's what we do after that that makes us who we are. Mutant or human, it's what we do with our life that counts in the end. What these terrorists have done will count against them; but in sending them to justice, we cannot forget the precious lives that they have already destroyed..."

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Finally, Jubilee got to share her grief. Got to see it reciprocated in the hearts and faces of her colleagues. Havoc and his friend Sian had joined them, dressed in matching black, their dismay tangible and their support for all the X-Men unwavering. More than that, the summer's graveyard was packed with mutant children. They had swarmed here in their droves to send off their much beloved tutor, their fellow student of the Xavier School, their hero and their friend. Colossus.

There were a few faces missing that Jubilee would have taken comfort from seeing there. She missed Kitty and Rogue, and even Pyro, with an ache of good times long gone. How scattered now were her former classmates? Only she and Bobby were left that called the Xavier School home... Beast had not made it today either, and neither had Matthew, but she could not fault either of them for the hauntingly beautiful flower arrangements they had sent. They sat in pride of place alongside the rest, colour strong in the bright summer sunshine.

Gambit was not well enough to leave the infirmary, let alone come to the funeral. Blaze had opted to stay with him, more out of disbelief that her friend was going to be okay than any other conscious thought. Jubilee had found it strange at first, but she couldn't hate Gambit or Logan for surviving the disaster that had claimed her former classmate. What type of person would that make her for holding their good fortune or their mutation against them? She'd been to see Gambit just before she had left for the graveyard, though it had taken all of her courage to do so. The sight of him sat up in bed, taking Blaze's clumsy nursing with good humour, had been a poultice to Jubilee's hurt. Now at last it really was all over. And it was that relief that helped her more than anything.

As a songbird filled the air with a sombre yet beautiful melody that could have well been compose in Heaven, the minister concluded his graveside rites with holy passion. The sermon had been lovely; there was not an unmoved soul amongst them. From the youngest child to Xavier himself, they felt keenly Peter's loss. But just had Nightcrawler had suggested they would, they also celebrated his life. A life of comic artwork that had always made those he shared it with smile. A life of bravery, no matter the circumstances, and of self-sacrifice for others. Surprisingly, it was Cyclops who summed it up succinctly, making Jubilation smile proudly through her reams of thick tears.

"Goodbye Peter. You were what being an X-Man is all about..."