X-Men: The Movie

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own X-Men. It belongs to Marvel.

Title: Love Tale of the Past

Setting: Before Storm's time; before the meeting of her parents.

Genre: Comic/Romance/Drama

Author's Note: Sorry it took so long for this update. The holidays came around and my computer broke down. I've been spending the last week or so trying to get it back up and running like it was. I had to clear my whole hard drive which had this chapter complete on there. So frustrating.

Summary: David Munroe's photography job takes him to a tribe in Kenya where he finds the High Priestess, N'Dare. The two fall into a forbidden love which is frowned upon the tribe. (R&R)

Chapter Seven

Salvation

Hospital

Every part of his body was aching in pain. He never experienced any type of horrible pain such as this. His whole body was just so exhausted from all the recent events. He felt so thankful to be laying down on a… bed? Or, at least, it felt like a bed. All David remembered was blacking out. The young man opened his eyes, inhaling deeply. It took a while of them to focus, but when they finally did, he noticed that they were in… a hospital of some sort?

Instantly, his stomach turned over. Where was N'Dare? He scanned the room quickly, spotting Rob fast asleep to his right, but an empty bed to his left. His heart skipped a beat. Did something happen to her? If something happened to her… He didn't know what he'd do.

"Robert." David spoke, his voice was so scratchy. His mouth was dry; he was craving water. The young man gazed to the side of the bed, instantly spotting a bottle of water. He grabbed it. It was nowhere near cold, but at the moment, he didn't seem to care… just as long as it was water. He brought the brim to his lips and tilted it up, allowing the liquid to run down his parched throat, feeling it unclench. It was the best feeling in the world. He truly didn't know just how dehydrated he was.

The journalist who was on the bed next to the photographer was still fast asleep. The man didn't look like he was going to be walking up any time soon either. David quickly downed half the bottle of water before returning it to his bedside. He still felt too weak to move his legs. Searching for N'Dare was out of the question. Where were they anyways? Did it matter? They were safe… Away from the jungle. Away from Hungan and that tribe. He sighed in relief, resting back down on the bed, rubbing his forehead. They were going to be going home. This was going to be all behind them; just a horrible memory, nothing more.

David was still exhausted. His eyelids became heavy once more as he mumbled to himself that he wouldn't fall asleep, not until he figured out where and what happened to N'Dare, but the exhaustion was just too great. The man was instantly asleep within minutes.

Couple of Hours Later

Rob was staring off into space, still not believing what happened to him and his close friend over the course of these last few days. This trip was supposed to be a nice vacation, if you will. They were supposed to be relaxing, soaking up the culture so he could write the story when getting back home to the states. Hell, now he didn't even care about the story. His superiors had the office were not going to hear the end of this one.

The door to their room opened. Two men rolled in another bed. Rob sat up to give himself a better look. There she was… the source of all these problems. The beautiful African 'goddess.' She appeared to be wide awake… When the men left, she turned her head towards the sleeping David next to her before gazing up towards the journalist.

"Is… Is he alright?" N'Dare asked softly.

Rob stared at her for a moment. Her waist was wrapped in bandages. Good, she had been taken care of. On that ride in the river, he was dead sure she wasn't going to survive. She was fighter, this one. David had a good eye, but Rob didn't know if his friend was fine or not.

"I'm not sure." He answered truthfully. "He has been up, I guess. I don't know… Barely woke up myself. How're you doing?"

N'Dare half nodded her head slightly, "Now, I am alright. They have been watching me carefully, making sure that my wound wasn't infected."

"That was a pretty nasty shot…" Robert mumbled, shaking his head.

"I have never seen a gun before in my life." N'Dare admitted. "My… The village people still use bows and arrows… spears, knives."

"Like the old times…" Rob shrugged lightly. "Why… are you so much more educated then those of the people in your village? If the village had to contact will modern civilization… how?"

N'Dare smiled lightly, "You two weren't the first 'outsiders' to come among us." She answered. "There were some before you. I was determined to learn from them. I was interested in what I didn't understand. The people considered me a goddess. What good is a goddess who understands so little?" She pointed out. "I thought if I knew more, then I could change our ways for the better…"

"That surely didn't work out the way you wanted it to." Mumbled the man next to her. N'Dare's eyes instantly gazed towards David, who was staring back at her, smiling. "I'm glad you're alright…"

"And what of you?" She asked. "Are you alright?"

"Just a little thirty." David answered as he sat up as well, feeling a ton better then he did only hours ago. "Not to mention sore, but fine nonetheless. We got out there." The smile on her beautiful face grew. David loved it. He was going to take her far away from his place, as far away as New York to be exact. The photographer couldn't help but think that he was now responsible for her. She had nowhere else to go; the village was all she knew. True, she could stay here, wherever here was, but he didn't want her too. He wanted her to come back with him.

"You have a great amount of courage, David." She commented.

David shook his head, "I had to get you out of there, N'Dare. It's my fault you got hurt. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself knowing that something happened to you because of me."

Robert couldn't help but roll his eyes. This gushy talk had to stop and fast. "Alright you two lovebirds, we're still stuck in some foreign country where we have no idea what's going on. We need to find someone who can speak English and get on the nearest transportation to the States."

"Rambling, Rob." David turned his attention to him. "None of us are in shape to go anywhere, not for a few days at least. N'Dare can speak Swahili; we're going to be fine."

"Hungan. Are we safe from him?" Robert asked.

N'Dare nodded, "He would never come up this far from the village. For the most part, he has what he wants."

"Yeah, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind if we were dead to boot." David mumbled, clearing his throat. "What about Cyni? The rat was working for Hungan and he does come up here, right? I mean, he was our tour guide before all this shit happened."

"I'm dragging the two of you behind." N'Dare pointed out, matter-o-factly. "You two are suffering from exhaustion, dehydration. I'm the one who got shot on top of it all."

"Which wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for me." David replied automatically.

Robert sighed heavily, "Alright." He raised his voice before N'Dare could remark. "They are going to release us in a few days, right? Once that happens, then we can find a cruise ship back home. I mean, there is bound to be one, right?"

"Not all of us have U.S. passports." David stated, gesturing towards the former High Priestess. That was a giant problem. How the hell were they going to get N'Dare back to their country? There was no way David wanted to leave her behind. Sooner or later, Cyni would return and, face it, N'Dare stuck out with that pure white hair. Cyni would find her, which would follow by Hungan. David couldn't allow that to happen.

"Then we're going to have to sneak her aboard." Robert responded. "How hard can it be? People do it all the time."

"Unfortunately true." David mumbled in reply, gazing towards the white haired wonder once more. "What do you say…?"

"I can try, can't I?" She shrugged her shoulders. "It would be better if I know what I am doing… When we are released, would it be possible to see this ship? Or just the dock?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Robert laid back down on the bed. "We just got to make it fast and don't be suspicious." He added, glaring at David. "It can screw us all over."

"We'll be fine." David reassured, sighing. He was still a bit tired.

"I'm serious, Dave." Robert spoke up. "If we're caught smuggling N'Dare into the States, then it's over for us as we know it. I'll loose my job-"

"Loosing your job isn't the only thing at stake here, Rob." David remarked. "I know how serious this is and I know it's going to be hard, but we can't leave her here! It's my fault she can't go back to her tribe. If she stays here, then she will only be discovered in a matter of time. You know that."

The Pier – Two Weeks Later

"We only have one shot at this." Robert mumbled, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his dirty jeans.

The three of them were gazing up towards the massive cruise ship. They had been released a couple of days ago. Well, N'Dare had been released a couple of days ago. The doctors wanted to make sure that everything was alright considering that she never had a medical exam done before. David and Robert had both been out for well over a week or so. They had been around, trying to get tickets, which they had succeeded in doing. Now the three of them stood on the pier. N'Dare was still dressed in her typical tribal outfit. David worried that she stuck out a bit much, but the woman refused to change until she was on the ship.

In the few days she had been out of the hospital, she done nothing but study the pier and, well, shopped at the local street market for new apparel. If she was going to start her life over, she wanted to completely start it over right down to the clothes she would be wearing. David just didn't want her walking around New York in well… that skimpy outfit. Not that he had anything against the tribe, well, yeah; he did have something against the tribe, but not the clothes N'Dare was currently wearing. Man, this was confusing. He was just hoping they would get to New York.

"I won't mess up." She reassured. "I'll glide in from the back and hide away in the appropriate room until you two get there."

"Are you sure?" David asked, handing the extra key to said room to her.

N'Dare nodded. "As we speak, a light fog is rolling in. The chances they'll be able to see me on board are slim."

"Then this is where we split up." Robert announced as people began to crowd the pier.

David turned to N'Dare, who smiled at him. She stood up on her tip toes and to place a small peck on his lips – he was so tall. Just as she explained, a fog started to appear, rolling into the pier. David had a hard time just seeing her in front of him. This better had work. "I'll see you in a bit." She whispered before taking off as Robert and David stayed still. They knew once the fog settled, then they could move on; that would mean N'Dare was safely on board.

Evens he had a hard time moving around in the fog. It took the weather witch's eyes to adjust to the sudden change. She eased herself onto the polished wooden dock of the giant ship. She had done this before the sun was out; she practiced for ages. If she was correct, then she wasn't too far away from the rooms. She could stop the dense glow of flashlights – they were patrolling the boat; she had to be careful. N'Dare silently felt her way around and quickly found the handle. She pushed the door open and stepped inside the room.

She sighed in relief. Now that the hard part was over, things would be a hell of a lot easier from this part on. The small hallway was empty. She stared to walk. The room was close. If she remembered correctly, it was right around the corner.

Back on the pier, both Robert and David inhaled sharply as the fog lifted. She was on board. They glanced at each other. Things were smooth sailing from here on out. They were finally heading home.

To Be Continued