An ascertained trait of Logan was that he was a morning person. Only he, Xavier, and Ororo shared his preference for early dawn rising; he enjoyed the moments of serenity it provided. He had come to appreciate that even more after taking in Shortie. Luckily, though, she was not a morning person, preferring sleep at almost every opportunity. Again, luck was on his side, as she gave little fuss when it came to bed time, unless she was greatly entertained by a certain activity. At seven in the morning, fifteen minutes after sunrise, she lay silently in her bed, dreaming into another realm as her father relaxed in what could be called the back yard, watching the first of the dead leaves congregate on the surface of the water of the pool. It was the mindless pass times he found peace.
He was distracted by the sound of two animals hissing at each other, far away enough for others to not be able to hear it. He sensed no reason to raise his guard any higher, and this was confirmed when he saw two cats cutting a corner at the edge of the property that wasn't densely wooded. He had seen them around the house before; he had opted to exterminate the mangy creatures when they would meow incessantly, but his colleagues pleaded that they were causing no harm to anybody. Still, their presence bothered him. Ignoring them, he fell back into his peaceful trans, only to be rudely interrupted by Hank, who came to tell him he was about to be late for a lecture. Groaning, he reluctantly arose from his chair and walked into the building with him, asking about his lessons with Shortie.
"Oh my, Logan. She has exceeded my expectations by far. Why, just yesterday, a student in my physics class was too frustrated to solve a problem involving static friction. She left her post next to my desk and solved it within two minutes!" Hank said, proud of his young pupil.
"I thought you were a biologist?" Logan questioned.
"That can't be all you got from that. Anyway, her intellect is very impressive. We are thinking of accelerating her lessons to a more advanced pace by testing her to see where she stands."
Logan had been quite surprised by this revelation. Sure, he realized Shortie was a bit mature for her age, but he never really considered the possibility of her being a genius, as she acted like any other child. Still, it was not too hard to believe, as Logan was fairly smart himself, being a polyglot and mechanic. Soon enough, he found himself in his classroom full of expectant students. The last of the bunch piled in as the clock struck seven fifteen, and the very last of them happened to be his daughter, still in her pajamas. He chuckled mildly, picking her up and setting her on his desk.
"You know you don't have class until noon, right, darlin'?"
"I wanted to watch you teach, daddy!" She beamed.
Had Shortie not been in the room at the moment, he would have snapped at the students for cooing at her calling him "daddy". Many of the pupils found it hard to believe that he of all people wound up being a parent (at least permanently- the story of Daken and X-23 were painfully known all too well, but never mentioned). Despite his small stature, he was actually feared by most of the student body, for they feared that he could easily slip into a berserk rage at any moment and take it out on them. Most would ration that he would never would-and he most likely wouldn't- but they could never feel at ease. He settled with a daunting glare that did the trick.
Five classes had transpired before it was time for Shortie to spend her afternoon with Hank. The whole time, Logan had noticed, Shortie was enamored by the two cats that had been chasing each other about near the window. Occasionally, she did pay attention to his lectures, only to evade the affectionate stares of the softer students. Before she was sent to Hank's room and Logan went for his lunch, she was beseeching him to consider adopting a kitten for her to play with and love. Naturally, he objected.
"But daddy, a kitty out there needs me! I can't rest knowing I'm not giving it my unconditional love!"
"I said no, and leave it at that." He sternly countered.
She knew better than to rebut, so she sadly left to go to class. He truly did feel a bit guilty for denying her the only real request she ever made, but not enough to give in. Brushing off the feeling, he grabbed his cooler and pulled out his lunch, sitting down to eat and read the paper. The waste of the main story was centered around the beginning of archery season. He half expected Clint Barton to be swinging about the woods, maybe even paying the facility a visit.
After Shortie was relieved from her class for the day, she bolted outside, running past a small group playing Frisbee, modified to their mutations, of course. She reached the upper left corner, a magnificent oak tree guarding the forest, the same tree she used to conquer her acrophobia. She considered climbing it once more, but she was immediately distracted by a soft sensation rubbing against her legs. She looked down to find the two apparently friendly cats nuzzling against her. She quickly bent down to their level to play with them, enjoying their company for about an hour. In that time, she found a few turkey feathers; the cats enjoyed them greatly. She would have them jump around to get them, only to raise it higher for a moment. Soon, though, the call for dinner was made, and she had to part ways with her new comrades for the day.
When Shortie was getting settled for bed, she was trying to find suitable names for her "pets"; she noticed the boy, a long haired Maine coon colored black, gray, and white, was quite large, and resembled a bear. The other, a female, had an ash hue, a smaller stature, and usually stayed behind the Maine coon, like that of a shadow. As Logan tucked her into bed, she asked him to translate some words for her. Intrigued, he agreed.
"How do I say 'bear' in Japanese?"
"Kuma."
"And "shadow" in Spanish?"
"Sombra. Why do you ask? Seems pretty arbitrary."
"Just curious."
After the last crevice was fastened, he sat on the edge of her bed, admiring her beautiful little face. Despite having her for around a year now, he still could not get over the shine of her eyes, the color switching from ocean blue to emerald green inexplicably, to her fiery red hair that resembled Jean's, but a shade or so brighter. He could see the the tired expression on her face, so his speech was going to be concise.
"Listen, darlin', I know you want a cat, but we just can't have one with our livin' situation. If we were on our own, things would be different. Hell, we'd probably have a dog. I just want ya to know I'm not doin' this on purpose, Shortie."
"I know daddy. It's fine."
"I guess you really a smart pumpkin. Did you do any testing today?"
"No." She stifled a yawn. "Daddy?"
"Yeah?"
"If I fell from a tree, would you catch me."
He stroked her cheek gently, the smoothness contrasting with his calloused hand.
"I'll always be there to catch ya. I promise."
With that, he kissed her goodnight and went to bed himself. The next morning, Shortie was allowed to sleep in until ten. As soon as Logan woke her up, she threw on the first outfit she saw in her drawer and dashed outside. Reaching her usual spot, she sat and patiently waited for her friends to emerge from the woods. Do her disdain, their was none.
Curiosity and worry overcame her judgment, so she ventured off into the unknown and searched in the woods. She soon found herself surrounded by trees; she found it quite peaceful to be away from people. A few butterflies flew directly in front of her face, one hovering for a few moments, making Shortie giggle ad smile. The sun was hiding behind the overcast at this point, hindering her from estimating her time spent in the woods. She was too preoccupied enjoying the scenery to see where she was walking, and she stepped into something sticky. Looking down, she saw the corpse of who she planned to name Sombra.
"No! No, no, no, no!" She screamed, beginning to cry.
She crouched down to her friend, seeing an arrow stuck right through its midsection. On her knees, she slowly, shakily, stroked the fur not soiled with its blood. Her tears were uncontainable. The only thing distracting her was the sound of walking. She looked around, but saw nobody. Frightened, she stood up, and started to walk back. Adding to her fear, she walked the same amount of distance it took to get where she found Sombra, but was still in the woods, the institute nowhere in sight. She was beginning to panic.
"DADDY!"
Dropping his book, Logan heard what he knew to be Shortie. To his terror, he could hear that she was quite far away. He stormed past Ororo, who had been looking for him to talk about taking Shortie out for a girl's day with Jean. She didn't have time to yell to him, as he was faster than a bat out of hell. As soon as he was outside, he took a long sniff, and picked up on her trail. Wasting no time, he began running again.
Because Shortie had panicked and ran, she fell and broke her leg, without a doubt, as it had been a compound. It had hurt too immensely for her to scream, and she went into shock in a few seconds, much to her relief. She wasn't too worried about her injury, but she was certainly afraid to stay in the same place. She began crying again, covering her eyes, hearing the rustling once more. She felt a weight suddenly on her lap, and let her hands down to see the Maine coon sitting on her lap.
"Kuma! You're alive!" She beamed, finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.
Sadly, her candle was cruelly blown when she saw a hunter with a crossbow a dozen or so yards away from her, dressed head to toe in camouflage. He had an ambiguously detailed face, aged. She saw him rub his crotch a bit before smiling, truly frightening her. He began walking towards her, telling her it would all be over soon. She was yelling, making him walk faster towards her. Before he got too close to her, Kuma sprung from her lap and latched its claws right into the man's face, sending pain his way as he felt the claws in his eyes. His weapons fell from him, mainly his crossbow. He grabbed a knife and stabbed it right through Kuma, inadvertently stabbing himself. As he fell, the knife left the cat (and his face), and the two fell, limp. Shortie was too afraid to speak; she noticed her leg was already healed, so she ran to where Kuma lay. The poor creature was still alive, straining to breathe.
"Shortie!"
She was suddenly scooped into Logan's protective arms, which promptly hugged her tightly. He couldn't help but see the corpse of the hunter with a small but lethal puncture wound to his cranium. He also saw the bloodied cat, the same on who was running around the campus. He felt bad for the little guy.
"He tried to take me but Kuma saved me!" She cried nearly incoherently.
She writhed out of his grasp and held Kuma in her arms. Logan could see that he was beyond saving as was only going to suffer at this point. He put a steady hand on her shoulder, trying to console her.
"Do something, daddy, he's hurting."
Only knowing one thing to do, he told Shortie to say goodbye. She gave the kitty a kiss on the head.
"I love you Kuma. I'm so sorry."
Logan put a hand at his head to steady him. Placing the other at the side, he quickly unsheathed his middle claw, the cat dying instantly. Shortie lost it then, holding the dead creature to her chest. She looked up to her father who could only pull them into a hug.
As per Shortie's wishes, he had Kuma and Sombra were buried next to each other on campus. She also asked for a private funeral with her, Logan, Jean, Scott, Ororo, Hank, and Xavier. Much to Logan's surprise, they all dressed in fine funeral attire; even more baffling, Ororo managed him into a suit, claiming it beneficial to her grieving process. Logan and Shortie stayed the longest, only having to leave when it began to rain. Before going inside, she left the last feather she had saved for what was supposed to be another playing session. Logan lifted her into his arms, offering a sympathetic smile before kissing her cheek.
"Chin up, kid. They're happier now."
"Promise?" She asked sadly.
"I do."
He could only hope so for her sake.
(So so so so sorry for the hiatus! I just started school back in September, and I also just moved. So I've been pretty busy, but believe me, I've been using the time off to think of some ideas I think you guys will like. This chapter is dedicated to my cat, Kuma. He is alive and well, I just felt like writing something in his honor. I love my kitty haha. Anyways, I give you this sad chapter to wring up some feels).