Raven arrived home, setting her bags of groceries on the wobbly card table. She clicked on the light and pulled the keys out of her teeth where she had stuck them so she could open the door. It had been another long and disagreeable day at work, not that that was anything new. She sat in the equally wobbly chair and wished. She just wished that she could become someone else. Like her boss from work.

Her boss was blonde, beautiful, and extremely rich. Who wouldn't want to be her? Her skin was smooth and tan, while Raven's was pale. Raven's hair, of course, was dark, nowhere near the blonde she envied so much. Raven closed her eyes, hung her head, and felt her hair touch her legs. That was strange. Her hair wasn't long enough for that. She opened her eyes and saw that her hair was blonde. She stood up. Her arms were tan, her hair was blonde... Raven ran to the mirror and laughed.

Mystique was back.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Logan ran out of his room. He had to find Storm, he had to tell her, or if she already knew, he would share his joy with her. He had to, he needed to. It was all he could think about.

He turned a sharp corner to find Storm running equally as fast towards him. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her into his room. He drew her to him and held her close. Storm was so happy just to be right there. She couldn't help feeling that this was where she belonged- in Logan's arms with tears of joy running down both their faces.

Logan let himself go. The raw emotion just flew over him. It was all too much- having the professor back, and having someone he could learn to love as much as he had once loved Jean. He pulled back from Storm, bringing his mouth down to hers. No words had yet been said between them.

Xavier frowned as he stood in the hall outside the door of the embracing couple. He saw that Storm loved Logan, but Logan was detached from her, feeling like a separate person. That wasn't how it was supposed to be, Xavier knew. And then he felt Jean flit past in Logan's mind, and Logan then merged with Storm, the two of them feeling like one being. Xavier frowned, wondering. He wouldn't dive any deeper into personal affairs. He would ask Logan himself.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Leah slipped into her turquoise dress that set off her eyes. She looked at herself in the mirror, feeling that for once she actually looked reasonably beautiful. She grabbed a handbag and slipped on her white sandals, just as there was a knock on the door. She smiled and found herself running to answer it.

Angel was standing in the doorway, wearing a suit that effectively hid his wings. She sucked in her breath. He looked absolutely amazing.

Unbeknownst to her, Angel was thinking that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He chided himself. Stop it. You're laying it on too strong, he thought as he drew his finger across her face. She grabbed his hand, and slid her hand into his. He smiled, shoving his blonde hair out of his eyes.

"Ready then?" he asked sweetly. She grinned up at him.

"As I'll ever be."

The left the mansion together, hand in hand. They both kept glancing at each other, quick embarrassed glances, almost as if it was a dream and they could wake up any second. Neither particularly liked that idea, though.

They climbed into one of the school's cars, Angel's favorite, he told her, because it was very large and spacious. He expertly maneuvered it through the thick crowd of others and onto the street. He drove smoothly, and she just sat with her handbag in her lap, grinning at the steering wheel.

How she wished she could just lean over and kiss him. It had been a long time since she had kissed anyone, and he was so desperately attractive. He stopped the car in the parking lot of a restaurant, but neither of them got out. He even left the keys in the ignition. He looked over at Leah, waiting for a response to his actions.

She sat there, wondering if he was having similar thoughts as well.

"Do you really want to do this?" she asked quietly. He chuckled.

"Depends on what 'this' is," he replied, equally quietly.

"Going out to dinner."

"You have a better idea?" She smiled at him and he maneuvered the car over to the entrance ramp. "Alright, let's go."

A while later, Angel and Leah sat together on a blanket in a local park. It was near the edge of town and there weren't many houses around. They had gone to the store and picked up wine, cheese, and little chocolates.

Leah felt that she was having the conversation of her life. She was so fascinated with him and with everything he did. She almost stopped paying attention to his maleness and her need for him. She was staring at the blanket and smiling into her glass of wine when she saw Angel move it off the side of the blanket. She looked at him questioningly, but he just smiled.

He was nervous as hell. Not that he would ever admit that to anyone. But as he moved closer, he really felt that it was the right thing to do. He stroked his hand over her face, and saw her close her eyes. He pulled away and her eyes fluttered open, confused. He sat back down on the blanket.

"Leah, I'm sorry," he said softly. "You're just too beautiful." She gazed at him for a moment before turning his chin with her hand and bringing her mouth up to his.

"Me?" she said between kisses. "You're the beautiful one." He laughed and pulled her closer.