DISCLAIMER: I don't own X-MEN, or the song "Beauty": Music by Yoko Kanno,

Words by Chris Mosdell.

BEAUTY IS WITHIN US: EVEN US MUTANTS

Nightcrawler was sitting in the front pew of his church house. He was holding his silver cross with his navy blue hands and saying his prayers. Once he was done Nightcrawler looked up at the black marble cross right in front of him. He smiled as he left the front pew and walked out of his church house to the nearby playground. There, Nightcrawler looked for a tree with a branch that was the highest above the ground. Once he found it he jumped and grabbed the branch with both of his navy blue hands. Using his long manila-colored fingernails he gripped onto the branch as he started to swing. Nightcrawler kicked his legs out slowly getting himself to swing in a, smooth motion. The sound of chirping crickets filled Nightcrawler's ears, making him smile and feel very relaxed.

While Nightcrawler continued to swing on the tree branch, a young green-skinned figure walked toward the playground. Toad, a half-amphibian, half-human mutant, was feeling very sad and lonely. He walked toward the swing set choosing the farthest swing on the right side - (ironically it was the swing that was right in front of Nightcrawler's tree). He lifted his brown string less shoes - (with webbed feet underneath) - off of the ground and gently swung his legs. Nightcrawler watched Toad with curiosity.

"I wonder what that frog has been up to lately." He thought as he let go of the tree branch.

Nightcrawler slowly walked toward Toad. As he approached him he noticed an upset expression on his face.

"Hey, Toad."

"Hey, Nightcrawler." Toad said sadly.

"What's got you so blue?" Nightcrawler teased, only to receive a silent glare from Toad.

"You really want to know, "blue boy"? My green skin." Nightcrawler shook his head.

"Come on, Toad..."

"I'm serious!" Toad jumped off of his swing. He stood right in front of his mutant brother, took a deep breath and let out all of his stress. "My girlfriend dumped me tonight." Nightcrawler could see where this was going, for he could relate to such stress. "She said she couldn't get used to the way I am, to who I am, to WHAT I AM!" Toad took a few more deep breaths before continuing. "She said she didn't like the way other people looked at me in public, and how her parents treated her for going out with a green-skinned "man". Worst of all, she couldn't stand my tastes."

"Your tastes?" Nightcrawler gave Toad a puzzled look.

"She doesn't like the food I eat, nor does she like watching me eat it. Wouldn't you know that she called me a devil just because I ate a dove!"

Nightcrawler tried not to laugh. Toad frowned at the sight of Nightcrawler's navy blue cheeks turning bright purple with laughter. (A/N: Bright purple because his skin is blue, blue and red make purple). Toad turned his head away from Nightcrawler, blushing an ugly dark greenish-reddish blush. Nightcrawler placed his hand on Toad's shoulder, Toad sighed heavily.

"I just don't understand why, why she couldn't love me for what I am. I am a mutant! Why couldn't she just love for me who I am? A mutant!" Nightcrawler shook his head. "Somebody might as well put me on the dissection table and dissect me alive!" Nightcrawler glared at his mutant brother.

"Awe, Toad…"

"I'm serious! Life is just that bad for me, now! She just made me feel so hideous!"

"You thought she was beautiful, right?"

"Of course, and even though she isn't mine anymore I still do. I just wish she would have continued to think of me the same way. As a handsome being." Toad looked up into the sky. The stars reminded him of the first time he and his girlfriend had gone star gazing. "I always she was as pretty as the twinkling stars."

"I'm sure your girlfriend had seen some beauty in you before. She probably thought you were the most handsome being on earth."

"Before," Toad said sarcastically. "I just can't live without her. She was my one human friend, and now I don't have her anymore because of what I am." Toad started to cry. Nightcrawler silently smiled. Toad felt as if a lecture coming on.

"You know, there is beauty in all of us." Toad rolled his eyes. "No, I mean it. Listen," Toad turned away from Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler placed his hands on his mutant brother's shoulders, Toad looked back at him. "Listen to what my mother always told me, whenever I felt like my world was crashing down. Like I was mutated, and it was not worth it for me or any of my kin to live." Nightcrawler took deep breath; Toad listened to his mutant brother carefully.

Oh mother dear
Look what you've done
To your forlorn and once beloved son
Why was I born at all?
Oh mother dear
I'm such a freak
A mutant man, a woman underneath
Why was I born at all?

It's you I blame for all the shame
This anguish and this aching
The mirror turned against the wall
Myself despised, forsaken

You say, "Beauty is within us, your mother knows"
"There's a beauty that's within us, just like a rose"
You say, "beauty is within us, so let it grow"
But it's grown so dark and ugly

Toad was surprised when the "lecture" turned to be so powerful and beautiful, (and a song). He became inspired to share what his human mother always told him when he was feeling mutated. Toad took a deep breath; Nightcrawler was ready to listen to his mutant brother.

Oh mother dear
I curse you so
For breathing life into your wretched son
Why were you born at all?
Oh mother dear
I love you so
Oh please forgive this anger in my soul
Without you I'm alone

It's me who's been eternally damned
Trapped inside this cage, a ruined man
All damaged and depraved

Oh mother dear
This misery
Has settled like a stain upon my skin
- a vast unspoken sin

(Nightcrawler takes a deep breath and joins Toad.)

Nightcrawler & Toad:

And my mistake is much too late
But your mistake was trusting
That out of grief, a goodness comes
And love comes out of lusting

Nightcrawler:

You say, "Beauty is within us, your mother knows"
"There's a beauty that's within us, just like a rose"
You say, "beauty is within us, so let it grow"
But it's grown so dark and ugly

Toad:

You say, "Beauty is within us, your mother knows"
"There's a beauty that's within us, just like a rose"
You say, "Beauty is within us, so let it grow"
But it's grown so dark I can not see you anymore

Nightcrawler & Toad:

Oh beauty is within us, mother knows
Oh beauty is within us, like a rose
Oh beauty is within us, let it grow
Oh mother dear, let me out of here!

Nightcrawler and Toad smiled at one another. Toad began to feel much better about himself, and Nightcrawler was glad that he could help his mutant brother. Toad began to feel the courage to move on without his human girlfriend. Nightcrawler returned to his church house, and Toad returned to his Brotherhood Lair home. Both mutant brothers left one another feeling their thoughts of mutation slip away into thoughts of Beauty.