Emma nodded to me as I entered her office, "Scott warned me you were coming. Thought I'd let you know, he locked up all his bathroom products."

I laughed, "Yeah, good to know he still sleeps in fear. It's a bit overboard though."

"After what you did to his mouthwash, I doubt it." She said, a small smile gracing her lips.

"By the way, any chance he uses leave in conditioner?"

"Why, so you can slip pink hair dye into it?"

"… I was thinking more of a gold color, but okay, pink it is!" I smiled.

She gave me a stern look, "Enough joking, you had an issue?"

I took a deep breath, "How long have you known I had suppressed memories?"

She set her paper down, "The first time I saw you."

"And you didn't tell me because…?"

She sighed, "I thought it would be best for the memories to come to you themselves."

"Emma!" I protested, "You let me go all these years, in your class, on your team, and you didn't once think it would be a good idea to try and mention it to me?

Frost gave me a warning glare. "I had your mental health in mind Mio. You had just been through a very emotional and physical trial, and I wanted to spar you the sorrow these memories certainly hold. Extracting them is a very painful process."

"Well, I can take it." I insisted, "So get them out, I wanna know what Romulus tried to hide from me."

She paused, "Mio, if I may, your father is a very bad man, but he knows first hand how disturbing it feels to have your memories taken, then altered, and then the truth revealed. I doubt, even with a black hole for a heart, he would keep something like this unless they were so painful, he felt he must."

"My father is scum. Give me back my memories."

Emma sighed, "Very well, relax your mind."

I closed my eyes, going into deep meditation to try and calm my mind for Emma. "Wait!"

Emma sighed, "What Mio?"

"If my memories drive me insane, I want you to tell Gambit, I never understood a word he said." I said, putting on the most sincere tone I could manage, "And that, is the only reason I never bitched him into his grave, like Scott, or Hank, or anyone else. Because I just couldn't think up a come back to words I'm not sure if he said or not."

She rolled her eyes, "Alright then, memories?"

"Oh, yeah." I said, going into meditation again.

I felt her icy presence in my mind, a gentle prick at first, before it tore through everything I was. I was in so much pain, I couldn't even scream. Everything was cold, so cold it burned. Every breath I took, every move I made, amplified it times ten. This was the worst pain I've ever felt. And the times I've been gutted, it was nothing compared to this.

Just as suddenly as the pain started, it stopped, replaced by memories.

I was four.

My mother twirled me around in the air, and we both laughed. She tickled me, and I screeched, trying to wiggle away. She grabbed me, pulling me into a hug, leaning against the barn wall. "Mama wa anata ni hijō ni mio o aishite iru." Mommy loves you very much Mio.

Emma's voice echoed through my head, "This is wrong."

Something snapped back into place.

I was four.

My mother was inside, making lunch, and I was playing outside by myself. I was at the edge of our property, using a tree branch as an imaginary sword, defending my home from samurai seeking to steal it from us.

A voice snapped me out of my play, "Well, looks like the tiny ninja's tale ends here."

My head snapped up to look at a man much taller than any man in town. He had long blonde hair, and a lot of ear rings. He wore black leather clothes, and looked like nothing I had ever seen before.

I stood straight, dropping my fake battle stance, staring at him. "Who are you?"

My mother had taught me English as a secondary language, I remember now. She had spoken it fluently, and I had learned it easily. So that's why English was such a difficult language for me to learn from Logan. It had been suppressed so deep in my mind, my head was literally repelling the thought of me learning it.

The man smiled at me, "Wild Child, and you, are Howlett Mio."

I shook my head, "No, I'm Fukui Mio."

My mother's name had been the only one I had known.

He grabbed my arm, yanking me towards him, "No matter what your name is, I have my orders, no loose ends."

He raised his hand, and that's when I saw his claws. Big, long, cat claws, ready to tear me to shreds.

"No!" I protested, trying to pull away, and then taking my stick, waking him in the head with it.

He grunted, growling at me as he prepared to kill me. Before he could though, someone grabbed him from behind, then threw him into a tree. He grunted, glaring at the new man who had just saved my life.

He stood, shorted than the blonde man, but he looked more like the people I had grown up around. He had black hair in a style that some of the teenage boys in my village wore, called a mo hawk. He was wearing a dark purple button up shirt, with a dark green vest covering it, and dark pants with chains hanging off of them. His clothes looked like pictures I had seen American models in magazines wear.

Wild child stared up at this new man, eyes wide, "Daken, you heard Romulus! We were ordered to kill her."

The man named Daken held his arms out, and there was a loud *snikt* sound, as three knives popped out of his hands, "Yeah, I heard Romulus. I can also hear every instinct in me, screaming at me to protect the fruit of my loins. So, piss off."

Wild Child lunged at Daken, "Traitor!"

In three quick swipes, Wild Child laid dead at my feet.

I stared up at the man, Daken. Daken meant mongrel in Japanese, it was a cruel name given to those who were only partly Japanese. However, it was nicer than calling them swine. He had just saved me, half breed or not, this man had saved my life.

I dropped my stick, and folded my hands, bowing to him, "Thank you sir."

The scene changed, but I knew what happened after that. Daken had walked me back to my house, and had stayed the night. In the morning, my mother had called me to breakfast, and told me Daken was my father. She told me he had left, and would not be back for a long time, but would come when he could.

I was five.

I struggled against the children pulling me away from the barn, towards the edge of the hill, "Let me go!" I ordered.

The oldest one of them, a girl names Ai smirked, "Sure thing."

They shoved me harshly over the side, and I tumbled down, hitting my head against a large rock propped up against the side of a tree.

The kids rushed over, gasping as they saw me groaning in pain, and holding my head as blood oozed out. One of the younger girls turned to Ai, "She's bleeding!"

"You don't think I know that?" Ai snapped, turning away and running, "Just leave her there!"

They ran off, leaving a six year old girl with a bleeding head wound suffering and alone.

I laid there, sobbing a the pain that I had never experienced before, until I came to the startling realization that the pain was fading slowly. Eventually, it was gone. I felt around for a cut or scab, but the flesh and skull were fine, and the only evidence there was an injury was a splatter of blood.

I started shivering at what had just happened, holding up my blood covered hands, staring at them, "What am I?"

Emma's voice sounded again, "This memory is also wrong."

I was five.

I struggled against the children pulling me away from the barn, towards the edge of the hill, "Watashi ga yukō!" Let me go I ordered.

The oldest one of them, a girl named Ai smirked, "Kakujitsuna mono." Sure thing

They shoved me harshly over the side, and I tumbled down, hitting my head against a large rock propped up against the side of a tree.

The kids rushed over, gasping as they saw me groaning in pain, and holding my head as blood oozed out. One of the younger girls turned to Ai, "Kanojo wa shukketsu shite

!" She's bleeding

"Anata wa, watashi ga shitte iru to wa omowanai koto?" You don't think I know that? Ai snapped, turning away and running, "Chōdo soko ni kanojo o nokoshi!" Just leave her there!

"Chōdo kanojo o nokosu?" Just leave her? Asked a familiar voice. "Mā, watashi wa anata no chichioyadearu koto o nikumu." Well, I'd hate to be your father.

They all turned around, seeing Daken standing there, glaring at them. Ai spoke up, voice trembling, "Anatahadaredesu?" W-who are you?

He grabbed her by the front of her shirt, lifting her into the air, "Watashi wa kanojo no chichioyadashi, watashi ga imamade anata wa nidoto kanojo o kizutsukeru no izureka o kyatchi shita baai, watashi wa anata ni sore kara, anata no ryōshin o korosudeshou." I'm her father, and if I ever catch any of you ever hurting her again, I will kill your parents, then you.

They ran off, leaving me with my father. I wanted to stand up, to show him I wasn't afraid of those girls, and that I was strong, but it just hurt, so much!

I laid there, sobbing at the pain that I had never experienced before, until I came to the startling realization that the pain was fading slowly. Eventually, it was gone. I felt around for a cut or scab, but the flesh and skull were fine, and the only evidence there was an injury was a splatter of blood.

I started shivering at what had just happened, holding up my blood covered hands, staring at them, "Watashi wa nani?" What am I?

"Speak in English. Last time I saw you, you could not speak it properly. Show me you have improved." He ordered, walking over to me.

"To answer your question, you're better." Daken said, coming to crouch down next to me, wiping the blood off my face, "They know you're better, and they want to make you think that you're weak, but you're not. If any of them rolled down that hill, they would be dead by now. You are as healthy as you have ever been, and it hasn't even been two minutes."

He stood up, grabbing my shoulders and making me stand also, "My blood flows through your veins, it makes you strong. One day, when I stand over the world, ruling it, you will be beside me."

He stood there, and in all my life, I had never seen a man stand taller. All the men I had grown up around where humble farms, store owners, and a few teachers. None of them would have the nerve to stand so tall, to ever look a man like my father in the eyes. None of them displayed the kind of power this man did. I could smell it on him, he displayed power in every motion, in every word.

"Well, Mio? What do you think of that?"

I snapped out of my trance, and grinned at him, "I want to be just like you, father."

I screamed, jolting out of my memories, sitting upright in my chair, I panted, looking around wildly, sweat pouring down my face like a river.

Emma looked up at me with sympathy. "Mio-"

"Frost!" I snapped, "I… I don't feel well."

She held up a hand, and her trash can drifted over toward me. I grabbed it from the air, and clutched it to my chest, throwing up in it.

I spit out what was left of my lunch, and then looked up at Frost weekly, "Ugh… you mind if… we just pick back up tomorrow?"

She stood up, walking over to me, and patted my shoulder, "Take all the time you need. We can pick this back up anytime."

I shivered, "Frost… I told him… I said I wanted to be… just. Like. Him."

"Mio, every girl says that to her father at some point-"

"My father is a mass murdering psychopath!" I said, standing up quickly, still holding her trash can tightly. "I just… I-"

"You were five Mio, you didn't know what he was like at the time. You didn't know him at all. You grew up in poverty, and saw a man who radiated power, wealth, and a way of living you had never heard of. You wanted that, who in your position wouldn't have?" She said gently, "You should get to sleep, we'll start again tomorrow, before lunch."

I nodded weakly, "Sounds good."