(A/N): I'll have you know that I'm now of the opinion that Noh should do his best snooty snootiness with a lollipop in hand. I love that mental image.

Chapter 7: School of Philosophy

One of the only advantages, in Noh's opinion, of rebuilding the school was that, at least temporarily, the living and sleeping arrangements were all a bit jumbled.

While that wasn't the best for privacy, it did mean that they were all together, and Noh wasn't even going to try to hide his smile when he woke up with Jubilee so close to him that he only needed to breathe a little deeper to put his face in her hair.

If he'd been alone with her, he might have curled up next to her and gotten lost in being with her for a while, especially when Jubilee was one of the few constants he had in this new world. His mental peace had been shattered, his philosophies were questioned, and his new home had been destroyed… but waking up next to Jubilee was still a reminder of just why he wanted to stay on Earth with the X-Men.

You're lucky Logan's not the one with mind-reading abilities, Jean's voice rang in Noh's mind.

Noh smiled but didn't move from where he was lying by Jubilee. And you are such a model of restraint.

Sometimes, Jean said, and the smile in her mental voice was clear enough that Noh picked his head up to look for her — and found her smiling not too far off, where she was leaned against Scott.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying my time here on this planet. And nothing wrong with choosing who I want to spend that time with, Noh pointed out. You married your teammate; you have absolutely no reason to say anything to me.

Oh, I wasn't complaining, Jean assured him. But Logan will if he thinks you're getting up to no good.

You have strange ways of thinking about sex.

Jean let out a choked sort of laugh out loud and then covered her mouth — though that couldn't hide from anyone in the vicinity the fact that Scott was laughing at her as hard as he was. Noh...

I just think you have a strange view of things if you call it "getting up to no good" when it fact, it's quite—

Noh, I swear, if you say that out loud around Jubilee and Logan, you're going to end up getting clawed. I'm serious.

Noh shook his head at that, though he was smirking hard. Such backwards views…

Noh, it's not — you know she's like a daughter to him, don't you?

Yes, and she thinks just as highly of him.

Then you have to understand: he doesn't want her to get screwed around.

Noh frowned at that and shook his head lightly. I have no intentions of ever hurting her. I thought I made that clear.

I know, Jean said gently. Trust me; I know.

Then why—

It's instinctual, Jean explained. It's purely protective, and he can't entirely stop it.

I'm glad she has such protection, but honestly, Jean, I can promise you that I have no intention of hurting the only constant I have in this world.

Jean couldn't stop her smile at that, though she did hide it behind her hand. You two are so sweet — you know that?

As my Jubilee says, 'Sweets for the sweet.'

Jean simply smiled a little more at that, though by that time, more of the group was starting to wake up, so their conversation tapered off — for the moment.

Once everyone got moving, it was more or less back to work. They still had a lot of rebuilding to do. Even if Magneto's brief appearance had actually significantly sped things along, that didn't change the fact that there was more to rebuilding than clearing rubble and putting up walls.

Most of the day was spent in honest, hard, grueling work. Since Noh was among those who had enhanced strength, he was involved in a lot of the bigger projects, but most of the students were helping out too. Even some of the newest and youngest members of the group did what they could — mostly by moving boxes of supplies where they needed to be or working to get furniture or furnishings into finished rooms.

To Noh's surprise — and delight — when he paused to take a break, he wound up sitting in a group that included Charles Xavier and Jean. And while Jean had spent the morning teasing him about his intentions when it came to Jubilee, it was clear Charles had a more serious topic of discussion in mind.

"Would you walk with me?" Charles asked Noh.

Noh raised both eyebrows but nodded his quick agreement, taking up a position behind Charles as they wandered out around the grounds. The estate wasn't quite back to its usual splendor, but without the rubble littering the grounds, it was almost pleasant to walk around, though Noh knew better than to get lost in what used to be.

Finally, they came to a stop much farther out from where the rest of the group was, and Charles smiled lightly up at Noh before he let the expression fall to a more serious one again. "I know it hasn't been much time since what happened, and there is so much for you to process," he said gently. "But I wanted to thank you first. Jubilee told me about your… conversation with Erik."

Noh let out a scoffing noise. "He has the right ideas, but his foundation is lacking."

Charles smirked lightly. It was always interesting to watch when one of his students would interact with Erik, and Noh was no exception. Though Charles wasn't entirely surprised to find that the two of them were of similar opinions when it came to genetic superiority, Charles was, at least, relieved to see that Noh wasn't taken in by the superficially superior mindset. "Erik and I have always disagreed, but we have remained friends all the same."

Noh made a dismissive motion with one hand. "That does not surprise me," he said. "You are all of different minds, and so it's only a matter of course that when you disagree, it does not interfere with your relationships." He paused. "Though this particular disagreement does seem to be the source of more… animosity than the smaller ones. I think. It's still difficult reasoning what is a big and what is a small disagreement, especially in matter of opinion and in matters where neither side is entirely in the right."

"I'm afraid that's the case with almost any matter of opinion," Charles said with a light smile.

"Chaos, as always," Noh said. "Such is the way of this world."

Charles nodded, though his gaze was fixed firmly on the young man standing beside him. "Noh," he said gently, "I wanted to speak with you about what happened with Bastion."

Charles could see the moment Noh straightened up, as if he was preparing for a fight, but he was entirely sure it was an unconscious reaction. Still, even the slight movement told Charles that Noh still wasn't entirely convinced that the X-Men would be alright with the way he'd dealt with Bastion, and the quick response only proved that: "I couldn't let him continue—"

Charles held up a hand, sure to keep his expression as open as he could, since it was plainly apparent Noh wanted to do right by him. "Noh, you misunderstand," he said. "I meant what I said: there are some circumstances, such as this one, where our rules must be broken."

"Ah." Noh tipped his head. "Yes, well… yes."

"It's not a solution to every problem, and I'm loathe to use it at all if I can help it," Charles clarified.

"That's my understanding," Noh said.

Charles frowned at his tone. Even if the young man's psychic defenses hadn't been torn down to the point that he was a completely open book to any telepath around him, the way he worded his answer alone said that he wasn't happy about the arrangement. "Noh," he said gently, "we can't ask people to change their minds about us if they are scared of us."

"They are scared of you. They've made up their minds and decided to turn that fear into a murderous rage." Noh crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Your philosophy is not going to stave off that kind of mania."

"Not from the worst offenders, perhaps — but it can prevent its spread," Charles said pointedly, both eyebrows raised. "That is our goal, after all."

"And yet your team goes to war against those 'worst offenders'," Noh pointed out. "Why not stop them as we stopped Bastion? They aren't the ones whose minds can change by your philosophy of example."

Charles' frown only deepened. "And then what?" he asked.

"What?"

"What do you propose we do after we act as judge, jury, and executioner?" Charles asked. "How do you determine when someone is truly past the point of no return? At what point do you look at a person and know, definitively, that there is no kindness that can turn them from their path?"

Noh paused. "Well, certainly those like Bastion—"

"Are the only exception to the rule," Charles said firmly. "But there is a reason those exceptions are few and far between. I'm not willing to let our team because an execution squad. That line should be defined so brightly that when we do cross it, in rare instances such as you have just seen, we can know without a doubt that we exhausted all other options." He met Noh's gaze. "That, my young friend, is how you know a person is truly past the point of our help."

Noh was silent for a long time before he finally, slowly, nodded. "Yes," he said at last. "I see."

Charles smiled tightly and then reached over to rest a hand on Noh's arm. "I hope you do," he said. "But I understand your confusion and frustration. Believe me; I know how simple it must seem to follow the easier path."

"I prefer the path of efficiency," Noh said.

"And I prefer the path with the fewest bodies," Charles said, his tone a bit more blunt than Noh was used to hearing from him — enough so that Noh turned toward him with a more open look than before. "Noh, violence begets violence. The more death we sow, the more we radicalize any people who hadn't decided to hate us before. There are still people who can be convinced, and I'm not willing to throw them away because others won't be."

Noh frowned and then leaned against the nearby tree. "I'm not entirely sure that I agree."

"I know," Charles said. "But I can only explain to you why we do the things we do and hope that you can understand it on your own, in time."

Noh nodded at that. "I appreciate your respecting my free will," he said frankly.

Charles couldn't help but smile when he heard it. He could remember a time when Noh barely understood the concept, and now, he was jealously guarding it for himself. "Yes," he said. "And that was something else I wanted to speak with you about."

Noh raised an eyebrow but didn't shift his position at all. "Yes?"

"I wanted to apologize," Charles said. "Bastion used my knowledge of everyone to take down the team, and for you in particular, I am quite sure losing control of your mind once more, after everything that happened with the Kree, must have been upsetting."

It was apparent Noh hadn't expected the direction of the conversation, and for just a moment, he let that surprise show on his face before he recovered and shook his head lightly. "I can recover well enough, but thank you for your concern," he said. "I simply need help to reconstruct my defenses, when you have the time." He gestured toward their home. "You have other things to focus on."

"And yet I do my utmost to make sure that my students never feel neglected, no matter what the circumstances might be," Charles said gently. When Noh still didn't look like he believed him, Charles tried a different tactic. "Noh, you and I have put in too much work together for me to ignore it when that work is undone."

"Perhaps we should try to construct something more durable than a bubble," Noh suggested at last, though he looked almost weary at the thought — not that Charles would blame him. Since the boy had arrived on their world, it seemed, he had been constantly trying to build up his mind. It had to be disheartening to still have so far to go — and to feel like all that hard-won progress had been erased. Again.

"You were doing well," Charles promised, not about to let Noh get too downhearted if he could help it. "And it was more of a dome than a bubble, really. You very likely would have been able to withstand an assault that hadn't been quite so directed — by my hand."

"Professor, I bear you no ill will," Noh said, misreading Charles' expression entirely.

Charles smiled. "And I'm glad to hear that," he promised. "But I am still sorry for what happened to you."

Noh matched his smile. "Perhaps I can share something of my philosophy with you, then," he said. When Charles nodded, his smile widened. "You see, because my crew and I traveled between dimensions, we often saw other possibilities, other timelines. It would have been easy for us to get lost in anything but the present moment, anything but our mission." He held up a hand. "Yes, being part of a hive mind certainly helped us to stay focused, but there was more to it than that. We understood the perils of looking for a life other than the ones we had, and so we simply learned to let the past and any possible futures be and focus exclusively on the present - and the ways in which the present could be shaped to a more favorable future on our own paths and the Empire's."

Charles nodded thoughtfully. "I'm sure that was helpful, considering the nature of your mission."

"Exactly," Noh said. "But I think it can still apply to this world." He gestured toward the half-built mansion beyond them. "What happened here was terrible, and I will not forget it or forgive it. But I accept that it happened. My focus is not on what should have been or on any past that did not happen. I cannot change the past, and so I focus on changing the future. Right now."

Charles couldn't help but smile when he heard it. "I think that's an excellent philosophy," he said. "One that I've heard a few times here as well."

"Then perhaps we can both learn from each other," Noh suggested. "I will try to temper my tendency for enforcement, and you can try to live for what is rather than what is not or what is true in a different reality."

Charles' smile warmed up considerably as he heard it. "Thank you, Noh."