*-*-* Weeping Willow *-*-*
*-* Chapter Seven *-*
"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."
~ Mother Theresa
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
After Christmas, winter seemed to melt away into spring. Willow was excited. She had gotten permission from Professor Xavier to grow things in an area of the sweeping lawns outside the mansion. She spent all day outside, focusing her power. Anyone that came near only stood silently and watched.
"Hey," said the voice of Jean Grey softly as she came towards Willow, who was on her knees in the grass moving her hands like a flamenco dancer. Woody Clematis vines weaved in and out of each other, large pink blossoms and large arrow shaped leaves unfurling as they went. Jean silently looked on, transfixed by the plants. Willow's eyes glowed a soft green from concentration. Jean could see now what the Clematis vines were forming. It was a rectangle shaped table whose legs were attached to the ground. Willow stopped moving her hands like she had been. She moved both her hands, palms down, fingers pointed towards the ground, up slowly. Out of the ground and climbing up the leg of the table was a thin, yet soft mat of feathery green moss that was tinted slightly with dark red. Underneath the table, thousands of forget-me-nots bloomed, and close on either side grew two ferns. When this was done, Willow got up and moved to one side of the table where she moved her hands as she did with the table. Jean watched closely. The vines came out of the ground and weaved in and out of each other. After a few minutes Jean could tell that it was a chair with a beautiful tall, rounded back and large arm rests. Willow covered the seat and the arm rests with the same feathery moss. Forget-me-nots creeped a little ways up each chair leg and stopped, filling in the area under it. She got up and moved to the other side of the table. Here she made an identical chair. When she was done, she dropped her hands to her lap and blinked once, making her eyes stop glowing. She turned around and saw Jean.
"How long have you been here?" asked Willow.
"Long enough. This is beautiful," said Jean.
"You wanna siddown?" asked Willow, offering Jean one of the chairs.
"Oh, I couldn't, they're too pretty," said Jean.
"I made them for sitting, so you might as well have a sit," Willow said. "Try them out. I'll tell you if it starts to break." Jean made her way over to one of the chairs and sat down. It was really quite comfortable.
"Lovely," said Jean. Willow smiled with satisfaction. She got up, her legs shaking beneath her, and sat down in the other chair.
"Now people can sit under this tree and talk, or have lemonade," said Willow with a tired sigh and a smile. "I hope people aren't afraid to sit on them."
"If they see us here, they'll know," said Jean. "You have a fantastic gift, you know. You can do so much with it."
"It has limits like no tomorrow, though," said Willow.
"All mutations do," said Jean. There was a pause in while Willow could hear the shouts of laughter from the children in the basketball court and the birds chirping in the tree above.
"What's the date today?" asked Willow.
"March the first," Jean replied.
"Okay. I sort of lost track of what day it was," said Willow. "I start to forget things when I work this hard."
"Are you going on the field trip, or are you going to stay here?" asked Jean.
"When is that again?" asked Willow, her cheeks turning pink from embarrassment.
"March twenty-second to the Museum down town. It'll be interesting, I promise," said Jean when she saw the half-skeptical look that flashed briefly across Willow's face.
"I'll go," said Willow. "Sure."
"You look tired. Maybe you should go take a nap," said Jean.
"I've got homework," said Willow. "I got Geometry and four chapters of Catcher in the Rye to read."
"Don't tire yourself out," Jean told her.
"I'm fine. It's alright," Willow assured her. A breeze ruffled Willow's chest length hair. She'd gotten it cut after Christmas (which wasn't exactly the original plan,) and had been keeping it the same length ever since. "I love it here," she sighed almost sadly.
"I'm glad you do," said Jean.
"I dunno what I'm going to do after this year. When I'm officially done with school," Willow said. She was obviously upset and had been worried about it for some time. "Guess I'll be on my own again."
"You don't have to if you don't want to," said Jean. "You could stay and teach."
"Ah, I dunno if I could teach...," Willow said, mumbling accidentally.
"Think about it. You're welcome to stay as long as you want," Jean said with a smile as she got up.
"Thank you," said Willow. "I don't want to be any trouble, though."
"You're no trouble. You're quiet as a mouse and one of the most frugal people I know. Consider it, though," Jean said. "Are you going to come in?"
"No, I'll stay here for a little while," said Willow.
"Alright. Talk to you later," said Jean.
"Bye," Willow said. She watched Jean walk towards the mansion. She's so helpful, thought Willow. She really did have quite a bit of homework to get done, but a rest didn't sound half bad. She shifted her weight in the chair, which creaked forgivingly, and closed her eyes. Homework could wait for a little while.
When Willow woke up, it was almost dark out. Her skin rose into goosebumps as a cold breeze touched her bare arms. She got up from her chair and made her way back to the mansion. A blast of warm air greeted her as she went in the back door. She was met with voices and laughter and the sound of dishes off in the kitchen being washed. She had never once took for granted the feeling of belonging and coming home where it was warm and she was wanted.
"Come on, you guys, we're gonna be late to the bus," Willow told the others. It was the day of the field trip and Rogue and Jackie were still messing around in the bathroom.
"Shut up for a second, alright? We'll get there, don't worry," Jackie snapped at her as she brushed her hair. Willow rolled her eyes and snatched a black scrunchie off her end table. She tied her hair into a ponytail. Her bangs still weren't long enough to put back with the rest of her hair, so they hung down to her cheeks. The cowlick over her left eye kept the hair out of that eye at least. She put on her lighter, pinstriped coat as Rogue and Jackie came out of the bathroom. They hurried down the hall and down the stairs to the front of the mansion. Outside were two busses that were parked by the curb.
"Come on, you three," Storm said. She had a checklist in her hand. "That's everyone who said they were coming," she told Scott, who was driving the bus they boarded. Jean was driving the other one. Jackie, Rogue, and Willow made their way to the back where Bobby, John, and Jubilee sat. Storm got on the bus.
"Is everyone here?" asked Scott, turning around to the students. No one said anything; they just talked to the people around them. "Alright, we're leaving...," Scott yelled over the buss of kids. "Can't say I didn't warn them," he shrugged as he left the curb.
In the back of the bus, Bobby had his arm around Rogue. She looked nervous whenever he got too close.
"Relax," Bobby said softly in her ear. Rogue smiled at him. Willow watched them for a few moments, then turned away. For some reason she felt very alone, which seemed silly. She was surrounded by so many people, why should she be lonely? But Rogue and Bobby...Willow couldn't help but feel a little...what was this feeling? She'd never had it before. Willow was eighteen years old, nineteen next month, and she was still discovering new emotions. She really had been sheltered all her life. She dismissed the alien emotion and saved it for later analysis. She stuffed her headphones into her ears and cranked up the poppy sound of The Cars. She pressed her forehead against the bus window and watched Westchester's suburbs pass blurrily. She could see Rogue and Bobby cuddling out of the corner of her eye. That feeling was back again! What was it? It was going to bother Willow until she found out. All she knew was she wanted rip them apart. But that was horrible. They were both her friends. It really was a terrible thought. She was ashamed that she ever imagined doing such a thing. She gazed up at the clear, blue sky for the rest of the way there.
The buses slowed to a stop outside the museum. All the kids in the bus got to their feet and filed out, joining the rest of the kids that had already come off the other bus.
"Alright, everyone, quiet down!" called Storm over the large group of kids. "I expect you all to be on your best behavior. The museum was kind enough to let us come here today, and I want all of you to be respectful. I don't want you touching anything or being loud, and please, everyone try their very best not to make a scene." With that, they all herded inside behind Storm and Jean. Professor Xavier and Scott brang up the rear. Willow looked at everything and could hardly contain herself. The building was vast, white, and had great Roman columns holding up the entryway. Outside stood many statues of people she didn't know. But they were beautifully sculpted. Inside, there were displays of everything imaginable. Geological time, the evolution of humans, Indians, Egyptians, and things that they didn't even get time to see. They were walking through the cave man display when Jackie nudged Willow painfully on the arm with her elbow.
"Ow! What the-," Willow started to say.
"Come on. We're getting lunch," Jackie said. They slipped away and joined Rogue, Bobby, and John outside the main group. On their way to the food court, Willow could hear one of the many wall-mounted televisions blaring about something.
"Wait a sec," Willow said. She stopped to listen to the news report.
"An assassination attempt on the president today has left everyone shaken this morning. At approximately eleven o' clock, one or more mutants launched an assault on the White House, seriously injuring the White House security staff. Although there were no casualties, President McKenna has been evacuated to Camp David until a full search can be conducted...," the news reporter said.
"Wow," muttered Jackie. "People are nuts these days. Fucking bonkers."
"No kidding," John agreed. "Come on, I need food." They bought lunch from one of the many fast food restaurants in the museum's food court. Jackie and John had McDonalds, while Rogue, Bobby and Willow bought Taco Time. They picked out a table and sat down.
"How the hell could someone seriously injure the entire security staff at the White House?" wondered Bobby.
"I dunno. There'd have to be more than one of them," Jackie mused.
"Depending on what their mutation was. It is possible for a single person to attack the President," John pointed out.
"It's hard to believe. And kinda scary. Ah mean, who says they won't try it again?" asked Rogue.
"We could have a dead president by tomorrow," John said half joking with a grin before he sipped his pop.
"Be nice," Willow told him, hitting him on the shoulder with the back of her hand.
"I'm kidding. Am I allowed to joke?" he asked.
"Fine, fine," Willow sighed.
"Every time something like this happens, more people start to hate mutants," said Bobby.
"They join the dark side," John said with another amused grin. They got up and threw their trash away before coming back to the table. John got out his shark Zippo lighter and started flipping the top off and on making an annoying clicking sound.
"Wouldja stop that?" asked Jackie, obviously annoyed.
"Free country," John said simply, flipping the lighter and smirking. Jackie reached over and held the tip of her index finger over John's shoulder. A large blue bolt of static electricity shocked him on the shoulder. John yelped in pain.
"Please," Jackie said in a serious voice.
"Quit fooling around Jackie, or we'll be kicked out," Willow warned her. This was one of her adult moments. Sometimes her friends really did act like kids.
"Relax," John said to Willow as he began to flip his lighter again. Jackie nearly glared at him.
"Hey. You, with the lighter," said a new voice. They looked up and saw two boys. They were both around seventeen and they had dark hair and eyes. One of them slipped a cigarette from the beat up pack he was carrying. He pocketed the rest of the cigarettes in the back of his jeans. "Can I have a light?"
"I don't think so," said John, flipping his lighter closed with a particularly loud snap.
"Come on," said the cigarette boy's friend.
"Why don't you ask someone else?" asked John, a smirk curling over his lips. Both of them were getting angry. Bobby smiled and sniggered, finding the two of them amusing.
"Come on, you aren't using it," said the one with the cigarette.
"Am too," John said shortly.
"One light."
"Um...no," John said. Willow could tell he loved making the two of them angry.
"Why're you being such a dick?"
"Yeah, why're you being such a dick?"
"'Cause I can," John grinned. Bobby snorted. Although the whole situation was rather amusing, Willow was afraid of any impending violence that could befall John or the rest of them.
"One light," said the one with the cigarette. This time he reached over and took the lighter from John.
"Hey!" he cried, but the other boy stepped in front of the one with the cigarette. He lit his cigarette and tossed the lighter back to John over his friend's shoulder. He inhaled deeply, and as he did, John narrowed his eyes at the smoker. All at once the cigarette disintegrated and a plume of flame shot out of the end where the boy was inhaling. Not only did it scare the bejesus out of him and knock him over on his can; it lit his shirtsleeve on fire. Willow gasped and covered her mouth with one hand. John sniggered openly at this and he leaned over to get a better look at what he'd just done. Bobby quickly stood up and held out his hand. A blast of cold air extinguished the flames, but also froze all the moisture on the right side of the boy's face and arm. Willow found herself on her feet, looking to see if the boy was all right, but he wasn't moving. No one was, in fact. She looked around and found everyone in the food court frozen in place.
"Bobby, what'd you do?" asked Rogue quietly, looking around.
"Not this," Bobby muttered.
"I did," said the voice of Professor Xavier as he steered his wheelchair through the stationary patrons. "And the next time you feel like showing off, don't." He was irritated. "After the attack on the President, I would have thought that you'd have a little more sense. Come on, we have to go now." The five of them followed Xavier out of the food court where they met Jean, Storm, Scott and all the other kids. All the little kids were glaring at them as they passed, unhappy their trip was cut short because of the reckless big kids. Once they were outside the museum, the Professor let the people go, and they began to move again. Everyone piled on the buses and the students were driven home.
"It's lame that we have to go home. I was having some fun," John said.
"You could have really hurt those two. Besides, some of us are a little nervous around fire," Willow said.
"It really wasn't cool, man," Bobby told him. John grinned and almost laughed like he couldn't believe they were coming down on him.
"Do you guys have the sticks in your asses shoved up there that far? He would have been fine!" he told them in a sort of 'what, are you stupid?' voice.
"Maybe, but it's probably best not to take your chances in public," Willow said.
"Oh, right, like you didn't pin those two greasy shmucks to the theatre wall last December," John said sarcastically.
"That was different. It was self-defense, and they were gonna steal our car. And, there was no one around," Willow said. "You lit a guy's arm on fire in the middle of a crowded museum."
"What about Bobby? You aren't bitching at him!" John said, trying to take the focus off himself.
"Bobby was fixing the problem, not creating it," Willow shot back.
"I don't appreciate you trying to scold me like you're my mom, or something," John said, glaring at her. Willow was becoming intimidated. "I don't need to be told what to do, especially be someone like you."
"And I thought I was immature for my age," Willow muttered. "You've got me beat."
"You know what? Fuck you, Willow. You're always acting like an adult towards me, and it's really getting on my nerves," John spat angrily. "Either chill out and act like a kid, or don't hang around me. I'm sick of you." Willow tried to keep a straight face, but she felt like crying. She wasn't fairing too well against John's intimidating voice. She was angry and hurt at what he'd said. She turning away and put on her headphones. She turned up the volume as loud as it would go to drown everything else out. She wiped away the solitary tear that escaped and slid down her cheek. Why's he so mean to me? Am I really that bad? She wondered sadly as the bus bumped towards the mansion.
The bus unloaded and everyone made their way back to their dorms. Willow dragged her feet and lost the other four of them in the crowd of kids. Her face was pink and her head was down. She felt a hand on her shoulder. Willow looked up and found Jean walking beside her. Willow took off her headphones.
"What's wrong?" asked Jean.
"I just, uh...," Willow sniffed as she rubbed her eyes. "I just got in an argument with John. That's all."
"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Jean. Willow nodded. When they got inside, Jean steered her down a few corridors to the room she shared with Scott. She opened the door for Willow and they both stepped inside. It was a nice room. Cool, cozy, and it smelled faintly of lavender. It might have been bath oil or a candle. Willow could tell it didn't come from an actual plant.
"Have a seat," Jean said motioning to the edge of the bed. Willow sat down. Jean pulled the armchair in the corner over to the bed. Just like Yolanda had done. "What did he say to you?" asked Jean.
"I was sort of telling him off for doing what he did and he yelled at me and tried to stick the blame on Bobby, and then he told me to...to...," Willow didn't know if she wanted to repeat what John had said.
"Go on," Jean coaxed.
"He said 'fuck you, Willow.' But he sort of spat it at me and glared, and I...I dunno, I just felt really small all of a sudden, and I wanted to cry," Willow said, tears cascading down her face.
"You're just sensitive," said Jean. "John shouldn't have yelled at you. Is that the only thing that's been bothering you? You seem to have more on your mind..."
"That's cheating, you know," sniffed Willow. She thought she felt Jean shifting around in her mind a minute ago.
"Do you want to talk about anything else?" asked Jean.
"Well," Willow said slowly as she dried her tears with her sleeve. "When we were driving to the museum, I saw Bobby and Rouge sort of...holding each other, and for some reason it made me sort of...mad, I guess. Maybe mad's not the right word."
"Jealous," Jean said. "That's jealousy."
"It's a horrible feeling," Willow said sadly. "I hate it."
"Unfortunately every human feels jealous at some point," Jean said in her comforting, yet scientific way.
"It's just that...I guess when I was watching them, I wondered why I don't have a Bobby...not necessarily Bobby himself, but I mean someone like him," Willow confessed.
"You just have to find the guy that's right for you. He's out there somewhere. I didn't ever think I'd find someone to love me, either, but then I met Scott," Jean said, a little smile forming at the mention of Scott. "You know, sometimes when a girl doesn't have any male influence in her life, like a father or a brother, they can become sort of...hungry for male attention."
"I don't think that's it. I mean, I don't mind being alone, I just wish I had someone...d'you know what I mean?" asked Willow, unsure if she was making any sense.
"Of course," Jean said tenderly. "You'll find someone, I promise. You're very pretty, and you're nice. He's out there, don't worry."
"Thanks, Jean," Willow sighed. She was feeling a little better after her first real girl talk.
"Is there anything else?" asked Jean.
"No, I'm okay," Willow said. "I think I'm just gonna go upstairs and take a nap."
"Alright. I hope you feel better," Jean said.
"Me too," Willow said. She smiled all of a sudden. "One problem right after another," she sighed, shaking her head.
"That's life," Jean said lightly with a shrug. "But whatever hard stuff you live through will only make you stronger." Willow nodded before she headed for the door.
"Thank you for talking with me," Willow said, turning the doorknob.
"I'm always here to talk," Jean said. Willow smiled before she left Jean and Scott's room.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Did I make Pyro too much of an ass? Please tell me! Kurt enters the story again in the next chapter.
