Skye: Just a quick review from the last chapter; we've seen a stronger side to Elska but we also noticed another side that threatens to control her. Nah, only joking, that part of the story won't be relevant until the-

Phoenix: Bursts in abruptly, WE DON'T NEED TO GIVE IT ALL AWAY! That'll spoil it!

Skye: Aye, whatevs.

Phoenix: Isn't that a Scottish word?

Skye: Yeah, so?

Phoenix: ¬_¬ weirdo…

Skye: You realise that you're typing everything and I can see it? And we won't be deleting it…we never erase what we say.

Phoenix: That's why our stories are fraught with spelling mistakes. XD. Even Microsoft Word doesn't know what we mean!

Elska tossed and turned all night. The hundred or so times that she woke up, Rogue had told her that it was normal to have nightmares after something like that had happened. But whatever Rogue said, it didn't make the nightmares stop. And not only did she keep seeing his face when she closed her eyes, she was going to have to explain to Logan later. She could make her excuses but he knew that something was up now and hiding from it would only make it worse…and probably make Logan angrier.

After promising her she could sleep, she heard him down in the lower levels shouting at the professor, demanding to know what had happened. But the professor hadn't told anyone. She was grateful.

Even when she woke up at six in the morning – still having a few more hours to sleep – she couldn't find a reason. Nor could she find the reason why she felt so depressed. She got out of the bed as quietly as she could, not wanting to disturb Rogue. Feeling foolish for even having the though, she pulled on a thin jumper and a pair of slippers and crept downstairs. She wanted to watch the sun come up and the sky was already an orange colour. Once outside, she sat on her favourite bench at the side of the mansion. From where she was sitting, she could see the sun rising from above the trees and in the corner of her eye she could see the giant willow tree where she and Logan had shared that special moment.

Even though her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, the wisps of her fringe and hair from the back were being caressed by the cool air, fluttering innocently. She could not understand why she was crying, why these tears were sliding down her face. She could not understand why it was her life that had to be so Goddamn shit!

Why is it always me? she screamed internally.

Suddenly, a whiff of cigar smoke shot up her nostrils as she took a deep breath to calm herself. Damn. Logan was standing just around the corner watching her.

"How long have you been standing there?" she asked.

"I followed you," he said.

She wanted to scream: "That doesn't answer my question!" but in reality it did. And shouting would be taking out her frustrations and anger on him, when all he had done was try to help her from the start. So why was she feeling so angry at him. Did she think it was his fault because Sabretooth was his brother?

He lumbered over and sat down beside her. His every movement made her scream inside. She hated him. She wanted to turn around and hit him. She wanted to run from him and scream until her lungs exploded. Yet she couldn't understand why.

"What were you thinking about?" he asked.

"Why is it any of your business?" she shouted back at him.

He didn't react.

"Oh, Logan," she turned her body to face him. "I'm so confused. I don't understand why I'm having these feelings. I feel so angry and depressed and alone! I hate Sabretooth! I just want him to die! And I'm angry at all of you! All you guys did was try to help and I kept pushing myself away! And I miss Láska so much! If she was here, she'd know what to say! She always did and she was only eleven! God, why do I feel like this!"

He didn't say anything again, but studied her face, his expression contorted. Again, she couldn't understand. How had Láska managed to get into this? She just didn't understand.

"Ellie," he put his hand on her leg.

"Don't touch me!" she yelled, throwing his hand off.

He looked hurt only briefly.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"Wanna go for a walk?" he asked her.

She nodded, biting her lip in an attempt to hold back more tears. She stood up in time with him and he put his arm around her. They walked around the mansion in circles and other shapes that probably didn't even exist and talked about things. They talked about Elska and Láska and Elska's mother. They talked about the little snippets of his past that Logan could remember. They talked about Star Wars and how Logan would rather die than have to walk past another kid watching Star Wars on TV and enjoying it. They talked about Elska's father and brothers and her forced miscarriage. They talked about how they had first met. Then they hugged for a long time, soft kisses in between each murmur of 'I love you'. They did not talk about Elska and Sabretooth's meeting.

However, soon the children were awake and running around the playground like…well, schoolchildren. Elska watched them in earnest. She longed to be younger. Everything was OK with Láska there and her mother.

Well, it's still OK. You've got Logan and Rogue and all the other X-Men. A small voice told her. It was true. She turned to look up at Logan.

"I'm going inside. I need to have a shower," she said.

"Use mine; Rogue's in yours," he said.

"You can hear her from all the way down here?" Elska asked, surprised.

Logan laughed. "Yes, but the steam coming out of the open window up there gave it away too."

Elska's face went a little pink.

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Arm still tightly around Elska, Logan walked around the building to the front doors, his head circulating around all the things they had just discussed. About Elska's miscarriage. Her father had ordered her to bet an abortion. But she had wanted to keep the baby so badly. She was going to name it Láska if it was a girl. After months of refusing any form of abortion or adoption for the baby, her oldest brother had had enough. He had pulled her out of bed in the middle of the night and elbowed her repeatedly in her swollen stomach until blood had begun to pour down her leg. At fifteen years old and only five months pregnant, her baby had been brutally taken from her by her own flesh and blood. And although Logan wasn't big on kids and babies, he could not imagine the emotional and mental pain she must have felt.

Once upstairs in his room, he pointed out the towels to her and the more feminine shampoos that he had never bothered to remove, then sat down on his bed, gulping some forbidden beer and chewing on the end of his cigar. The shower stopped within fifteen minutes then she was sitting on his bed next to him. The short towel barely covered her thighs as she sat down and he had to resist grabbing her and taking her there and then.

Her dark hair was straggly and wet and beads of water slid down her neck and shoulders. She smelled of apple and strawberries. He knew that it was her favourite fragrance.

Then he saw the scar on her wrist from when he had first met her and was pleased to see that there were no new ones. But the image of his brother popped into his head. He had almost forgotten about it.

"You gonna tell me about Sabretooth now?" he asked.

It was almost as if she had been ready for the heavy feeling which immediately descended into the room.

"Logan…I will tell you. But you have to understand that it's hard for me to talk about."

He nodded, afraid of what he might hear. If Sabretooth had hurt her…or raped her, he didn't know what he would do.

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Elska was very scared to explain things to Logan. Scared of what his reaction might have been. But in truth, by the end of it he seemed a little relieved, as if he was expecting something much worse.

He put his arms around her and rested his chin on the top of her head. She pulled the towel down her leg a little more before responding and putting her arms around his torso. Her hair, although still damp, was drying now and she had the feeling that if she didn't brush it soon, she would be forever trying to untangle it.

She left Logan to go back into her room. She pulled on a pair of dark boot cut jeans and a SpongeBob t-shirt. She blow dried her hair and let it hang loosely by her shoulders. Her slightly side swept fringe, which didn't make sense because she still had a middle kinda side parting, was longer compared to the last time she had looked at her own face in the mirror.

Elska was unpleasantly surprised when she got downstairs to discover a band of mutants in the entrance hall with Logan and Storm standing in front of them, ready for fighting.

Skye: This chapter did feel like it was dragging on a bit. I promise some more action, probably in the bedroom (XD), in the next chapter.

Phoenix: And I know who the band of mutants are. XD.

Skye: Please review.