Author's Note: Sorry that it took a little while to update...a thunderstorm knocked my power out and this is the first time I've been able to get online. As always, hope that you like the chapter and reviews are always appreciated.
xXx
In contrast to desert days, desert nights are cold, and lonely for the solitary traveler. It was times like these that she felt farther away from Logan than ever, and she seriously considered going back to him, falling into his arms with tearful apologies and kisses to heal all of the wounds that she'd inflicted upon his soul. Almost two weeks had gone by; two lonely weeks of riding her winds across the entirety of the continent from which her ancestors had been born, the land that she still felt was her own.
She traveled by day, through the sands of the Sahara and Arabian deserts, to see the pyramids at Giza once again, or to dip her toes into the Atlantic ocean on the shores of Africa's coastal cities. Once, she'd spent a night in Morocco, but the sights, sounds, savory smells, and city lights had failed to heal her shattered spirit, and all the while she could think of nothing but how much nicer all of it would be if he were with her. When she closed her eyes, she had a perfect picture of the two of them, Logan wrapped in her arms as they rode the winds together, flying into the night, into eternity.
The thought of it brought tears to her eyes, and she shivered in the harsh chill of the night. She clutched her scarlet shawl even closer to her body, but it provided no comfort. She knew that the only thing that would warm her would be his touch, his hands on her bare skin, teasing and caressing, making her moan and forcing her to beg for more.
"No," she shook those thoughts away, but couldn't help but wonder whether she'd ever have that again. Only if she decided to go back to Logan. No other man ever would, ever could touch her like that again. How long had it been, since they'd made love, really made love, and not just rolled around in bed for lack of anything more stimulating to do? Oh, Goddess, that last time had hurt her, torn her soul.
"But only because I let it hurt me," she thought, "and I hurt him with it, too." This was why she knew that she couldn't go back, not yet anyway. She wasn't over it, it was still all that she could think about, her pain, and how she let it wound him. She'd tried to brush it away, and, when that didn't work, she simply tried to hide it, but he could always tell, and when she was in pain, he tried to steal it from her, to make it his own so that she wouldn't have to feel it, a process that only resulted in both of them hurting.
Unconsciously, her hands traveled down to her belly, which once again lay flat and smooth upon her bones. This wasn't the way it was supposed to be, and she'd give anything to change what had happened, and what she feared would never occur again.
"Not if you don't let it," she scolded herself, "You could have that again, you could have everything, if you'd only let this one go and be willing to try again."
Suddenly, her own thoughts were interrupted by a psychic jolt that sent her reeling.
"Ororo, can you hear me?" Professor Xavier's voice invaded her mind.
"Yes. Yes, I hear you," she replied, trying to use her mind to communicate.
"You need to come home, Ororo, as quickly as you can," he replied, "It's Logan. He's…he's dying, Ororo, and I know that he wouldn't want to go without you by his side."
"What?" she asked out loud, but there was no reply.
"Oh, Goddess," she muttered. As she summoned her winds and took off into the starry sky, she felt her heart break all over again.
xXx
"What happened?" she asked tearfully, curling herself into a ball on the black leather sofa. Professor Xavier moved closer to her, taking one of her hands and caressing it with his fingers.
"Magneto," Hank replied sadly. Ororo's head jerked up.
"Magneto? But, I thought…" she stammered.
"Yes, so did we," said Hank, "but it seems that the effects of the cure are beginning to wear off for all of the mutants who took it. He was greatly weakened; that was apparent to everyone when he showed up, but his powers were so strong before the cure that he still managed to do quite a bit of damage, and not only to Logan. Several students and a few teachers are also in the medical wing."
"He snuck into the school with no intent other than to destroy everything and everyone in his path," Charles informed Ororo, "He was obviously crazed and enraged. When Logan got wind of what was happening; he fled to face Magneto, to protect a group of very young students who were being attacked and could not defend themselves."
"One of the human teachers saw what was happening, but knew that he could do nothing, so he ran to rally up all of the mutant teachers," Hank elaborated, "I was the first to arrive, and I was horrified to see that Magneto was just…throwing Logan around, slamming him into walls and furniture. It was terrible, Ororo, he was already unconscious and his bones were just twisted and broken. When a few other teachers came, we were able to put a stop to it and apprehend Magneto. He's been taken away to another plastic prison, and I swear with my life, Ororo, that I'm going to do all that I can to have him tried for murder and handed down the death sentence."
"But what about Logan?" she asked.
"I did all that I could, Ororo, but his internal injuries were simply so severe; he was dying before I even began to work on him," said Hank. What he did not share with the weather witch was the fact that he felt, with the work that he'd done to save him, Logan could have pulled through, but, he'd simply seemed to have given up the will to live and had surrendered to his injuries. Dr. McCoy said nothing about this, though, because he knew that it was already too late.
"He's been in the medical wing for two days, hovering between life and death," the professor informed her, "We didn't call you at first because he was actually doing well for the first day and a half. And then, yesterday, he took a turn for the worst, and we knew that nothing could be done for him. We think that he's just been waiting for you, my dear, to come back to him and make your peace, so that he can die knowing that you loved him enough to come back."
"No…no no…" Ororo sobbed, "Where is he? I want to see him. It can't be true…it can't…"
"I'm afraid it is, dear, but I'll take you to the medical wing, just so that you can see for yourself," said Hank, taking both of her arms and helping her off of the sofa. He accompanied her to Logan's room in the medical wing, and then left the two of them alone so that she could say her goodbyes.
xXx
"I caused this, didn't I?" she said, taking Logan's hand and staring at the faint pulse waving green across the heart monitor by his bed. She knew that she'd get no answer; according to Hank, he'd been in a coma from which he couldn't be revived for the past two days.
"I wanted to stay with you," Ororo told him, "I should have stayed with you, but I thought that I was doing more harm than anything. It turns out that the best thing that I could have done would have been to stay. You were always by my side, Logan, through everything, even when it was difficult. But then, when things got tough, I left you here alone. I'm not as big of a person as you are. I put on my brave mask for everyone, but I melt inside as soon as things are too much for me.
You knew that; it's why you tried so hard to protect me, but I just couldn't let you. Maybe if I wouldn't have gone, I could have prevented this, I could have done something. I don't know what I'll do without you, Logan. I honestly don't."
Wiping the tears from her eyes, she turned away from him and went to the window, pushing the curtains aside to behold the storm that was brewing in the once-tranquil sky.
"Oh, Goddess, don't take him from me," she pleaded with tears in her eyes and lightning flashing in the sky before her, "I need him with me; he's all that keeps me alive. He's given me everything, and I've been too selfish to see it. If only I could save him somehow, I'd dedicate my life to repaying him for everything he's done for me."
The rain, by now, was streaming down in torrents. Beyond her own sobs, she could hear the cries of students whose outdoor activities had been interrupted by a rainstorm when the forecast had called for sunny skies. She closed her eyes and shook her head in a vain attempt to drive the tears away, but she had no control over the situation anymore.
Behind her, something beeped, and she turned around and ran back to the bed. When she glanced at the heart monitor, fear struck her heart just as another lightning bolt crackled through the sky. His heart rate was rapidly decreasing; Logan was dying right before her eyes.
On impulse, she braced both of her hands on his chest, and began screaming for Hank while begging Logan not to leave her at the same time. Ororo rested her head on his chest just as the heart monitor sounded out a flat beep and the green line on the screen went flat.
"Nooo!" she wailed against Logan's chest, her tears soaking his white hospital gown. The world around her spun and then went black as she lost all control over her mind and body. The last thing that she heard was the electric sizzle of lightning shooting through her fingertips before she felt pain rip through her body and she lost consciousness.
