Chapter 19 (Logan)
I wake up screaming.
In my dream, Nori was engulfed by Jean's flames, but she'd burned up, leaving behind a pile of ash. The dream was incredibly realistic. The smell of burning flesh still lingers in my nostrils.
In reality, Nori reaches a soft hand out and takes my wrist. "Shh, Logan, it's okay."
I catch my breath. "Nori?"
"I'm right here, Logan," she says soothingly.
"Oh God," I say.
"Logan, will you put your claws back, please?" she asks gently.
"Oh. Yeah."
Remy looks at me, his red eyes glowing softly in the dark. "It's all right, mon ami. Everything's all right."
"Yeah," I say. "I guess it is."
Nori strokes my hair and sends out soft empathic reassurance, and we fall back to sleep. In the morning, Nori's still there, looking sweet and peaceful. She wakes up and catches me staring at her. She gives me a teasing smile and sits up.
"Morning, Logan," she says. "Nothing good on TV?"
I laugh and caress her cheek. "Nothing as good as my own personal soap opera."
She leans forward and gives me a chaste kiss before getting up to brush her teeth and shower. Of the three of us, Nori seems to be the one least affected by her own death. But then, she's also the one who doesn't remember it. In a weird way, though, Nori's probably the most well-adjusted of the three of us. She's the only one of us who'd routinely gone to therapy before coming to Xavier's, though truthfully Remy and I probably could have used it. Not that I plan to tell that to Xavier.
She hums to herself and pulls on black pants and a green blouse. I think about going back to my own room to shower, but I'm half-afraid she'll disappear if I leave her side. She smiles at me. "It's okay, Logan, I'm not going anywhere." My face shows a flash of surprise, and she says, "Sorry, anata, you're just thinking really loudly."
"I'll try to keep the volume down, then," I say. I give her one more kiss on my way out the door. Despite her assurance, I still shower and dress quickly. When I return, Nori's lounging on the couch and reading a magazine. Remy's still asleep. She sits up and pats the couch, and I join her.
"Do you think we should wake him up?" Nori whispers.
I look at him and bark, "Hey, Cajun. Get up."
Remy opens one scarlet eye. "Mm," he says.
Nori gives him a fond smile. "Hey, love, it's time for breakfast." He gracefully rolls out of bed and showers, emerging with the scent of black tea and cloves. He stands in front of the closet and considers wardrobe options. Nori rolls her eyes and sends a black shirt flying off the hanger and into his hand.
He laughs. "Oh, you like this one, cher? Hmm... but what else goes with it?"
She tilts her head and sends pants, boxers, and a belt all flying at him. "Perfect," she says. Remy shakes his head. He can't resist the urge to put the belt back and select a different one.
"I can't wear a brown belt with a black shirt, cher. I'd be a laughingstock."
"My bad," she says. "Get dressed."
He grins and pulls on the outfit. "Well? How do I look?" Nori purses her lips and hesitates. Remy raises his eyebrows. "You don't like it?"
"Oh, no, it's fine, it's just..."
"What?" he demands, surveying himself again in the mirror. He looks perfect, and he knows it.
"It's just, I mean, I think it would be a much more daring fashion choice to wear the brown belt."
I laugh out loud, both at Nori's line and at the look on Remy's face when he realizes he's been had.
"Not happening, ma mie. Let's go get breakfast."
She grins and rises off the couch, giving him a quick kiss before heading out into the hallway.
Downstairs the mood at breakfast is mixed. Remy and I are still fairly glowing with happiness at having Nori with us. Nori's her usual cheery self. But Jean and Scott are tense. After breakfast, we're having some kind of all-school assembly to tell the kids some of what happened. We've decided that they don't need to know all the details, but they need to know that Jean's been de-powered, and that the weird stuff that's been happening around the school will (we assume) stop. We've also decided that there's no reason the kids need to know what happened to Nori. Weird enough to have one teacher back from the dead, but two seems absurd.
After breakfast, we filter into the ballroom for the assembly. I sit on an uncomfortable metal chair. Nori's sitting next to me, cross-legged and holding hands with both me and Remy. If we've gotten a little lax about letting the mansion's adults know that the three of us are sleeping together, we definitely don't want the kids to know. But Nori holds hands with people all the time, so there's nothing particularly suspicious about us.
We sit quietly while Xavier, in his role as headmaster, explains the situation in his cultured British accent. He stresses the need for confidentiality and privacy-meaning don't call home to mommy and daddy about this. He also asks the students to be gentle if Jean needs a little time to adjust. He says he's sure they'll understand. Nori uses her empathy to gently project calm and love. I'm not sure how widely she's projecting. It could backfire if she's trying to calm the students-might make them feel manipulated. But Nori has a pretty good sense of these things, so I decide to just trust her judgment.
She opens up the telepathic link between me, her, and Remy, and says, How do you think Warren will take this?
I blink. I'd forgotten the kid's parents owned the company that helped make the cure. Don't know, Remy replies. You think his parents will try to cure him?
Nori gives a small shudder. Poor Warren.
The meeting goes off fairly uneventfully. Honestly, the kids were more freaked out before, when they knew Jean was doing something weird but they didn't know what. After Xavier dismisses everyone, Aiko slips up to the front of the room and embraces her aunt in a tight hug.
"Hey sweetie, did you miss me?" Nori asks.
Aiko squeezes her and Nori laughs. "I'm glad you're so happy, Auntie."
Nori smiles. "Me, too. Now get to class!"
Aiko sticks out her tongue and then leaves the ballroom. The day passes uneventfully. We teach our classes. Remy and I are both quietly skittish about letting Nori out of our sight for the length of the school day, and Nori kisses us and leaves our telepathic link open all day. We don't say much to each other, but it's nice to reach out and feel that she's still there.
The next day is Saturday, and we run a few errands with Nori. First, we go to a guitar store so Nori can buy new guitar strings. She grudgingly purchases a set of nylon and a set of silk-and-steel strings. She explains to us that these will be easier for her newly-tender fingers.
Next, we head into the city. I'm driving, and Nori directs me to Inkstop Tattoo, a little storefront in the Village. I'm not wild about the idea, but Nori wants to start recreating her lost tattoos, or at least some of them. She says, "Logan, you're welcome to go get coffee or something while I do this."
I scoff. "No, darlin', I'll stay with you."
As we approach the tattoo parlor, two clean-cut men in suits approach us. Remy and I both exchange nervous glances, but Nori smiles at them. Telepathically, she says, Don't worry, they're just Mormons. I roll my eyes. Taking in the three of us, the men direct their approach to Nori, the only one of us who's smiling, the only one of us who couldn't obviously take these men in a fight.
"Good afternoon, ma'am, have you ever read the Book of Mormon?"
"Yes, I have," she says. I snort with laughter. "I have," she says.
The Mormons are startled. I doubt they get that reaction often. "That's wonderful! Then, sister, are you a member of the Church of Mormon?"
Telepathically, she tells me and Remy, Years ago I asked a couple Mormon missionaries if sister wives were allowed to have sex with each other. Which, it turns out they're not, but they gave me a book and I read it out of curiosity. It's pretty weird, but like, so's the Bible. I try my best to bite back my laughter.
Aloud, she says, "Oh, no, I'm not. I'm pretty happy with my own religion. But thank you though. Where are you from?"
"Utah. I'm Elder White," one man says, extending his hand. Nori shakes it.
The other man says, "Elder Brown."
Nori grins. "Nice to meet you, Elders. I'm Midori. My name's a color, too."
"Really? What is it?" asks Elder White.
"Midori means green in Japanese," she says.
"Oh, that's interesting. Are you from Japan?" Elder Brown asks.
"My parents are, but I was born in Massachusetts."
Elder White says, "So, are you a Shinto?"
"I'm Buddhist," Nori says easily.
She chats with them for a fairly long time about religion, though she keeps trying to steer the conversation back to the men themselves. Occasionally the men look up at me and Remy to see if we're interested. Remy looks incredibly amused, and I'm not even trying to keep a glare off my face.
Finally, she says, "Well, it was really nice to meet you, but I have an appointment to get to. Good luck in New York!"
"Thank you, Midori, it was very nice talking with you," Elder White says. "Here, please take this card in case you change your mind about the Church."
"We'll pray for you," Elder Brown says. He glances up at us. "And your friends."
"Thank you," Nori says gravely. "Between you and me, those two could really use it."
Elder Brown nods seriously, and I finally burst out laughing. He looks at me nervously and the two missionaries head on down the street.
"What was that, cher?" Remy asks. "You thinking about joining the Church of Latter Day Saints?"
"Oh, hell no. I just always feel bad for those kids, especially the ones in New York. They have to go spend two years in some big scary city and they're only allowed to call home like twice a year, and everyone here is really mean to them. I just figure they could use a little love."
Remy rubs her shoulders affectionately. "You're the sweetest girl."
We walk into the tattoo parlor and a pale, petite woman with a black mohawk greets us. She sizes up the three of us and asks, "So, who's getting tattooed?"
"Me," Nori chirps, and the woman smiles. "I made an appointment yesterday? I'm Midori."
"Ah, yes, Midori. Have you given some thought to what you'd like?"
"Yep," Nori says, and she pulls a slip of paper out of her purse. It's the phrase "reason to believe" written in a pretty script. "This."
"Looks good," the woman says. "You'll be with Ben." She jerks her head toward a burly middle-aged man. Most of Ben's exposed skin bears some kind of tattoo. I see an eight ball, a dragon, "Mary Anne," and Snoopy, and there are more that I can't quite make out. There are three tattoo artists in the room, and he's the only one with an empty chair.
"Cool," Nori says.
"Come on over," Ben says. She crosses the small room and sits down in his chair. Remy and I follow.
"So, cutie, is this your first tattoo?"
"Uh... yeah," Nori says.
"Well, I'm thrilled to be your first." I've decided that I don't like Ben. "Can I see your design?"
Nori hands over the sheet.
"Hmm. Yeah. Easy-peasy," he says. "Where do you want it?"
Nori pushes up her sleeve and taps her left wrist, which looks strangely blank. He runs his fingers over her wrist. "Here? Below where your watch would sit?"
She nods.
"No problem. Just black?"
"Yeah."
He swabs her wrist with an alcohol wipe, washes his hands, puts on gloves. Nori nods approvingly.
"All right, let's do this," Ben says. Nori rests her wrist on an adjustable tray, and Ben picks up what looks like an implement of torture.
I give an involuntary shudder and take Nori's right hand. I hate it in here. I hate the smell of pain and ink, I hate seeing all the needles, even if I know none of them are going to touch me. Nori smiles at me and says, "Logan, if you want to go outside for a smoke, I'll be fine."
"No, I'm fine," I say, just a little bit too quickly. Remy says nothing. I can smell that he's just about as nervous as I am. Neither of us are big fans of needles.
Nori grins. "I'll take you both out for ice cream after this, okay?"
"Or maybe a beer?" I say, and she nods.
Ben starts his work on Nori's wrist. She gives a little hiss of pain, but then grits her teeth and sits still.
"We'll be done before you know it," Ben says, ostensibly to Nori.
"Cool. Hey, Ben, how long have you been doing this?" Nori asks. She holds up a breezy conversation with him while I try my hardest not to go berserker on the man who's repeatedly stabbing her with a needle.
"All right, what do you think?" Ben asks. Nori looks at her wrist, which is red and inflamed around the words.
"Perfect," Nori says. "It's just like... just like I imagined."
"Great!" Ben says. He bandages the tattoo, hands her a tube of ointment, and rattles off a list of instructions for Nori, who nods and listens carefully. She'd had to pretend like this was her first tattoo, since Jean had rebuilt her skin and erased all her old ones. But it was a small price to pay for being here at all.
I know not all the team members believed that Jean actually brought Nori back from the dead. She'd put everyone else she'd touched into a coma. But I knew, knew that Nori had died. I could smell and hear death, and death had touched Nori. She had been dead, and now she wasn't. And in that instant, the instant when Jean Grey had breathed life back into her, I knew that I was an idiot for thinking about leaving just because Nori would die one day. Of course it would hurt when she died, when Remy died. But I already loved them. It wouldn't hurt less if I left now; it would hurt more.
Out in the parking lot, I smile as Remy bends down to kiss Nori. I stick my hands in my jacket pockets and blink when my fingers close around a small piece of paper. I pull it out and find one of Nori's business cards, with a sweet message written on the back in Japanese. She turns back and sees me looking at it.
"Oh," she says. "I wrote that before. When we thought you were going to leave."
I smile and put the card back in my pocket. "I'm not goin' anywhere, darlin'."
"I know," she says happily.