Author's Note: I know, I know—it's been a million years! Between my original beta moving and my computer ceasing life, things have been a bit hectic. Anyhoo, another chapter finally makes its way to you, my pretties. This chapter takes place in the "past", prior to even the first X-Men movie. It does make use of a tiny bit of comic history and the basic school set up be semi-stolen from the Ultimate universe prior to the start of Ultimate X-Men but, well, who cares about that?
Disclaimer: Characters mentioned are used without permission and are trademarks of Marvel Characters, Inc and Warner Brother's Studio. I do not own them and am simply borrowing for my purposes. Please don't sue.

Special thanks to Beaubier once again and also my new beta ORIONSTORM04! Things would undoubtedly be more convoluted and poorly characterized without you both. :) Now, on with it!

Brown + Blue
by, Caliente

Chapter 2: The Meeting

19 Years Ago – 1985

Ororo Munroe had always been a quiet child. She'd already been on her own for years, picking pockets and stealing food to survive the streets of Cairo. Even in her gang of urchins, under the tutelage of a master thief, she often chose to retreat into herself rather than play their games. That wasn't to say that she let them walk all over her—she didn't. She was tough as nails beneath her thoughtful exterior. But she'd seen so much in such a short time, too much to be carefree anymore.

As she pulled up to the Xavier Institute, with the school's founder beside her, she silently wondered. She wondered if she knew that picking this man's pocket would lead to this, would she have gone through with it. Coming from such meager beginnings, she questioned whether she'd ever belong in such a large and imposing place. But above all else, she thought if the telepathic download Xavier had, for lack of a better word, forced, into her mind had worked. Would she really be able to speak English now?

Her answer came as soon as the car door opened. There was a tall man with white hair standing with a pair of teenagers—some of the school's students, she assumed. The man was smiling in a way that didn't quite reach his eyes, and hadn't made her nearly as comfortable as Xavier had.

"Hello, Ororo," he greeted pleasantly when she stepped out of the car, his voice heavily accented as it entered her ears. "I am Erik Lensherr. Welcome to New York."

She nodded once to him, not trusting her tongue to form the right words. In her mind, she heard the voice she now knew belonged to Xavier. *It's all right, Ororo. You're among friends here.* She glanced at him but still said nothing.

Lensherr shared a look with the bald man beside her. "These are my children. This is Wanda," he patted the girl who had wavy auburn hair, "and Pietro," who, at sixteen, was already the spitting image of Erik. "We are all mutants, as well."

There was a tense moment of silence before Lensherr nudged his children forward and moved to converse with Xavier. Wanda smiled warmly, while Pietro fidgeted and Ororo stared at them both stoically.

"So, our father tells us you're from Africa," Wanda said finally, breaking the silence. Ororo nodded again. "Well, I've never been there but Pietro and I are from Transia. That's in Europe."

Ororo stood there as silent as she had the moment she set foot out of the car.

Suppressing a sigh, Wanda tried again. "We're twins," she said, gesturing at Pietro and herself. "Do you have any siblings?"

Ororo shook her head and Pietro blew his white bangs out of his eyes, obviously bored. Wanda gave Pietro a Look. He rolled his eyes but acquiesced to his twin's silent appeal. "Why is your hair white?"

It was blunt, abrupt and just the thing to push her into responding. "Why is yours?" she returned, the words rolling off her tongue without thought. The English coming out of her mouth sounded strange and foreign to her own ears.

Raising an eyebrow, Pietro smirked. "It's weird."

Wanda pinched Pietro's side and he glared at her. She ignored him, smiling encouragingly at Ororo. "I think it's pretty."

The first hint of a smile graced the younger girl's face. "Thank you."

"Whatever," Pietro said, expression already bored again. He gave one last look to Ororo and his sister before zipping away, using his powers to leave them in the literal dust.

Wanda smiled apologetically. "Don't mind him," she told the other girl, "he's always grouchy." Taking Ororo's hand, she led her toward the mansion. "Come on, I'll give you the grand tour of your new home."

Home? Home. Ororo smiled. She liked the sound of that word.

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