Chapter 19
Fear and embarrassment swept slowly overSami as one by one, she met the eyes of those humans standing in front of her. Embarrassed, because each one of them now knew her secret and fearful because she didn't know if they would accept her as she was. But then suddenly her mother began walking towards her, her arms open wide and Sami flung herself into them with a cry. Marlena broke the hug first, her hands sweeping over Sami's face and body, checking for injuries. "Are you alright? She asked frantically. "Are you hurt at all?" "I'm ok, Mom. It's one of my better powers. I heal really fast." She said and her mother laughed and gave her another quick hug. "Wish we all did." Eric said limping forward trying to work a kink out of his shoulder. "Oh my gosh, Eric!" Marlena exclaimed running towards him. "Quit it Mom!" He said, shrugging off her fussing "Uh, a little help here sis?" Sami laughed and pulled her mom away. "Mom, let me take care of him ok." Sami grasped his shoulder and concentrated on it as the warm glow seeped out of her body and into Eric's. "Ooh" Marlena breathed as she and the others watched amazed when Sami did the same thing to Eric's leg, healing his injuries quickly. "That's incredible." Tony whispered in awe. "You ain't kiddin." Her dad said. Sami finished her healing and stepped back, watching Eric closely as he shook his leg out and shrugged his shoulder. "Better than before!" he said to the group with a smile. "Thanks Gene." "Yeah, just don't make it a habit." She said with a smirk. He laughed and pulled her into his arms.
The next few days passed in a blur as Sami was baraged with questions from her family about her abilities. Sami did the best she could to fill them in and asked them all to keep her abilities and everything about the X-Men to themselves. Everyone agreed, even Tony, which made her a bit suspicious. But after taking him aside and having a long chat with him, she was convinced that he wouldn't breathe a word. His guilt over her accident was palpable and Sami almost felt sorry for him. She also felt that he really did care about her and so she was able to forgive him, so long as he kept her secret. They parted ways, not exactly friends, but no longer enemies. The past was over after all and it was time to start anew.
Sami didn't return to Salem with the others. John came up with the lie that Sami had been sent away to a facility in London to recover and it would be months before she returned. In actuality, Sami had decided to stay at the new Xavier School in Pennsylvania to begin training to become one of the elite X-Men. Although she would miss her family, and especially her son, she knew in her heart that she had been given incredible gifts and that she had to use them to help others. She had spent almost her whole life trying to find her place and at long last it seemed that she had.