"Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance." – Samuel Johnson
Kimberly frowned a little as she crammed her papers back into her notebook and high-tailed it out of math class, waiting impatiently outside of the door to Logan's classroom as the art lesson drew to its end.
"And so, " she heard Logan say as the door opened, "draw an improvement on my stick figure depiction of the Canadian wilderness for your homework tonight." There was an awkward silence. "Class dismissed." Striding out of his classroom, he propped the door open, holding it as his class filed out.
"Interesting class, Jess?" Kim prompted as her friend finally came out of the room, expression rather disgruntled.
"That'd be a nice term for it, " Jessica groused. "How did he ever become the art teacher? He knows nothing about art!"
Kim did her best to hide a smile. "I'm sure they'll find a better teacher in the future." She paused. "Have you seen Nat at all yet, this morning?"
Jess shook her head. "She wasn't at breakfast. And she was already gone when I woke up this morning." She frowned a little. "Her uniform was gone, too, but I don't know why she'd be training this early in the morning."
Kim's brow furrowed slightly, and the telepath sighed. "Consequences, " she muttered aloud, turning her dark gaze onto Jessica. "They're paying the price for taking Cyclops's motorcycle and car."
"Kurt and Natalie?"
Kimberly gave her a wry smile. "Bobby, Rogue, Jubilee, and Pyro commandeered his car."
In the Danger Room, Natalie cursed avidly as she was forced to duck and roll across the burning ground to avoid the rampaging Sentinel, creating a solid block of shadow just ahead of her in an attempt to impede its progress. She, Kurt, and the others were tiring quickly, especially after being out a little past midnight, and Scott was showing them no mercy in their morning training session.
"It's heading back this way!" Kurt shouted, teleporting directly in front of her. "You're supposed to be field leader in here this week during our regular sessions, too." He grimaced momentarily. "I can't believe we still have those to go through, this week. Any ideas on how to counter this thing so that he'll finally let us off?"
"Get Jubilee, " Nat responded, "and bring her over here." Her weary expression quickly became determined. "I have an idea."
Kurt vanished, reappearing scant seconds later with Jubilee in tow.
Eyes narrowed in concentration, Natalie pulled their shadows around her, constructing a solid platform, which moved to hover near Jubilee. "Get on it, " she ordered. "I'm going to carry you up to the main panel of the Sentinel. Shoot a few explosions directly into it – its main weak point – and then it should be over with. I'll get you back down here."
Jubilee's eyes widened momentarily. "You can do that?"
"Just go!" Nat barked.
She complied, and was soon gliding effortlessly toward the Sentinel. The minute its gaze turned onto her, she was ready. Sparks flew forth from Jubilee's hands, shooting straight through the center of the Sentinel and burning through enough of its wires to begin short-circuiting the machine.
"Simulation complete, " the mechanical voice informed them. Around them, the landscape shifted, the still-crackling form of the Sentinel fading into a holographic projection, and then dissipating completely. The platform with Jubilee lowered back down to the floor, flattening itself back into a simple, two-dimensional shadow.
"Efficient job handling the Sentinel, " Scott said at last, begrudgingly. "Good leadership, Natalie. You're all dismissed to change out of your uniforms and clean up. Meet me in the garage after lunch. You're going to fulfill more of your punishment by cleaning my car and motorcycle."
"So much for hoping for a nice, normal rest of the day, " Rogue sighed as the tired teenagers finally exited the Danger Room. "I think we have just enough time to change out of these uniforms before lunch."
"Knowing Cyclops and his punishments, he'll probably keep us out there until dinner scrubbing at his car and bike, " Bobby groaned in resignation. "And he won't just take a spray of water and soap slapped on it, either."
"If he lets us use our powers while we clean, I can dry it off fast, " John murmured, flicking his lighter open briefly to stare at the flame. "Real fast."
"Hey, Pyro, relax. He'll probably make sure that we end up cleaning them without our powers, " Bobby responded, as the group trouped into the elevator and began rising toward the ground-level of the mansion. "You know Cyclops."
Natalie exchanged a glance with Kurt as they emerged near the main staircase and began ascending it, briefly glancing down toward the entrance hall. Perhaps taking the motorcycle and following the other four teenagers hadn't been the most prudent thing to do, but she knew, as Kurt grinned at her, that she wouldn't have traded that crazy ride for anything else in the world. She would do it again in a heartbeat, especially if Kurt were along for the ride.
So you survived the Danger Room?
Nat grimaced a little as her friend's voice momentarily filled her mind. Yeah, we all managed to, she returned, somewhat wearily. Don't wait for me at lunch. As soon as we get done eating, we're heading to the garage to clean the car and bike.
There was a brief pause. I'm sorry, Nat. That's definitely not cool, but the Professor did say that there would be consequences.
Gee, really? I had no idea, she quipped back, wryly. I'll catch up with you guys later on tonight.
This time, the pause was definitely longer, and she thought she felt a brief shift in the back of her mind, as though something – or someone – had just left it. As she reached their shared room, Natalie wasn't terribly surprised to find it empty; Kim and Jess were still in classes, after all. Sighing, she made her way toward her dresser and began rummaging about for a fresh change of clothes. It was going to be a long day.
Cleaning Scott's car and motorcycle ended up turning into a monumental task that took nearly an entire week to complete. Every single afternoon, Nat, Kurt, and the other four teenagers headed to the garage and scrubbed the surfaces of the vehicles squeaky clean. They hammered out dents on the fender of his car. They polished the chrome accents on the bike. And every single evening, when they were through, the owner of those vehicles would inspect their progress, and promptly find something else that they missed. "You can fix this tomorrow, " Scott Summers informed them, and after the fifth day, it honestly began to feel like a routine. Natalie couldn't remember a time when she had seen her friends less; the only time the trio had to talk during that period was in the evenings before they all fell asleep, usually exhausted – Kim and Jess, from training, and Natalie, from double-training sessions and vehicle-scrubbing. And so it came to pass that all of them welcomed the end of that week in February, marking the fifth month since they had arrived at the mansion. Scott finally begrudgingly admitted that both car and motorcycle were now squeaky clean and practically as good as new, again, and let the six students off of the hook.
"Think they've learned their lesson?" Storm joked as she watched the six wayward mutants emerge from the garage with triumphant expressions.
Professor Xavier chuckled from behind his desk, wheeling around it to peer beyond the doorway of his office into the hallway. "Do teenagers ever 'learn their lesson', Storm?" he replied, smiling. "I do think that we won't see a repeat performance of their joyrides for at least a few more months."
"That reminds me, Charles, I came to ask you if you'd mind me throwing together a school-wide event, so to speak, " the weather goddess added. "Valentine's Day is next weekend, and I think it would be a good idea for us to throw the students a small party. It would provide them with a good opportunity to loosen up and have a little legitimate fun."
"And it would provide us with the perfect opportunity to nurse more headaches, " Logan commented as he paused in the doorway. "Unless you plan on making this a non-chaperoned event, that is."
"Logan, they're teenagers. Do be reasonable. There's no way that we could make something like this a non-chaperoned event. We're going to have to be there to keep an eye on them at all times."
Wolverine didn't look horribly fazed. "Can we take it in shifts?"
"Alright, Storm, you may give them a party, " Xavier said at last, effectively halting the banter flying between the other two mutants.
Ororo Munroe pretended to consider Logan's words for a long moment. "I don't see why not, Logan. And you can take the first one."
Logan stared after her smiling form as she serenely breezed out of the office, and turned toward Xavier. "You wouldn't be able to uh, persuade her to change her mind about this, would you?"
He received a small smile in return. "I'm afraid not, Logan. Besides the ethical issues behind such an act, when Ororo makes her mind up about something, you can safely assume that she'll see it through."
Logan shrugged a little as he stepped back out into the hallway. It was worth a shot.
The Valentine's Day party was all that most of the students chattered about throughout the week that followed. According to the red-and-black flyers that Storm had posted around the mansion, students were permitted to escort or be escorted by one another to the dance, although coming alone certainly wasn't discouraged. However, there were a few students who had at least a couple of reasons to not chatter about the event constantly.
"Whose grand idea was this, anyway?" Natalie griped for the upteenth time, glaring at one of the offensive flyers as she stalked past it on her way to their shared dormitory.
"I'm pretty sure that you can guarantee it wasn't Logan's, " Kim quipped wryly, not far behind her. "I saw him glare at one of the flyers on the wall right across from his classroom. The only person that I've seen give them surlier looks has been – you."
Natalie opened her mouth to reply, but froze as she opened the door to their room. There were two red envelopes just inside the doorway.
"Nat?" Kim prompted, after a moment. "What's up?"
Wordlessly, the other girl picked up the envelopes, and handed them to her friend.
As Kimberly took them, Jessica drew to a halt outside of the doorway, eyeing her roommates amusedly. "Is there a reason we're all just – standing here?"
"It appears as though you two got a bit of mail earlier today, " Kim replied after a moment, handing both of her friends one of the envelopes.
Frowning, Jessica opened hers, pulling out the hand-drawn, illustrated card that lay within. "Dear Jess, " she read aloud, "Your eyes remind me of the Mona Lisa's. I was wondering if you'd like to go to the dance with me on Friday night, but if you don't want to, or already have someone else to go with, have a Happy Valentine's Day, anyway." Although the card wasn't signed, a flush graced the girl's cheeks. "He – he actually asked me, " she murmured.
Nat exchanged a slightly confused glance with Kim. "Who asked you?" she demanded, bewildered, while beginning to regard her envelope with a rather suspicious expression.
"Colossus, " Jess confessed, face promptly reddening further.
Kimberly chuckled quietly. "Good for you, Jess, " she responded with a grin. "You'll have half of the girls in this place rather envious of you. You are going to tell him 'yes,' aren't you?"
"Well, I don't know, " she replied, slowly. "I don't want to go if either of you aren't going. And it would feel really weird if I went with him and you guys just kind of – tagged along …" She paused. "What do you think, Nat?"
Silence answered her.
Raising her eyebrows at Nat's utterly shocked expression, Kim gently tugged the open, heart-shaped card free from her friend's grip, and read: "Fraulein Natalie, if you would agree to accompany me to the dance this weekend, I would be very honored and pleased. Yours respectfully, Kurt Wagner."
"So are you going with him, then?" Jess ventured.
Natalie seemed to snap out of her daze, eyes narrowing slightly. "I don't do Valentine's Day, " she said at last, tonelessly. Something in her expression flickered as she seemed to think something over, and Kimberly could swear that she saw the gears turning in her friend's mind. "However, " she added, more slowly, "it is a party, and the perfect opportunity to have a little fun – and find out whose idea this was."
Jessica grinned. "Well, if you're going to be there, even to just ignite a little mischief, I suppose I might as well go ahead and go." Both she and Nat glanced at Kim.
"I doubt it, " the telepath said, in answer to their unspoken question. "But we'll see. Perhaps I should go – if only to attempt to keep you, Nat, from doing anything too unpredictable."
Natalie smirked. "If you go, maybe I'll try to keep my tricks fairly predictable. Just for you."
Kim laughed. "Predictable? The word isn't even in your vocabulary!" she teased, moving past her into the room.
"She does have a point, " Jess agreed, grinning. "Well, let's go down to dinner and get this answering business over with, Nat." She turned to add, "Coming, Kim?"
"In a few minutes, " Kimberly replied, gesturing toward the dresser. "I need to change really quickly. You guys go ahead and go on without me."
After her friends had left and closed the door behind them, the girl's gaze immediately caught a red envelope taped to the back of the door. Judging by the identical pieces of tape around it, the other two had been there, too, but had fallen sometime during the interim period. Prying it loose, she noticed that the sender had taken the time to write her name in Old English, medieval script. The card inside of it was simple, depicting a verdant, garden path that wouldn't look totally out of place at Darcy's estate in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Opening it, she marveled at the beautiful script flowing in neat, precise lines across the thick paper:
Although I'm rather fond of verse, I cannot write it well,
But I still hope that your Valentine's Day is swell.
Should you not attend the party, I think that you will find
The volume beneath your pillow able to keep you occupied.
Happy Early Valentine's Day.
It was unsigned, but the simple, heartfelt little verse made her smile, particularly as she glanced toward her pillow. It did appear to be bulkier than usual, even at its fluffiest, from this vantage point. Curiously, Kimberly crossed the room to her bed, and lifted up the pillow. Her smile widened a little as she beheld a slim volume entitled The Sonnets of William Shakespeare.