"When liberty returns, I will return."
[xxxxx]
Chapter 23: The Return
In the morning, Lenore awoke with an odd feeling. She knew the room she was in, with its pink curtains and crispy sheets and the bins of Barbie dolls that sat stacked in the corner. And yet, it was as if she woke up in this bed for the very first time.
She pushed back her covers and stood up, but her legs were not strong enough to hold her up, and she fell back down on the bed. Again, she stood up and forced her legs to carry her to the bathroom.
Lenore brushed her hair back into a ponytail. For a few minutes she studied herself in the mirror. The same freckled pale skin, blue-green eyes and red hair... but somehow, something was different. She found some make-up in the cabinets and applied it in hopes of making herself familiar, but it hardly helped.
As she changed into her day clothes, everything seemed to move in slow motion. She found a purple sweater and a pair of jeans, modest enough not to look like they were bought from the kids' section.
It was early about five o'clock, and it was still dark outside. Besides the early time, she stepped out into the hall quietly, not wanting to disturb any slumbering students.
She tip-toed down the hallway and to the left, wincing when she stepped on a creaky floorboard, but continuing on when the sleeping mansion seemed to go undisturbed.
Finally she came to a door and quietly pushed it open, shutting it in the same fashion. She turned around the face Logan, snoring softly in his sleep. She approached him and sat beside him on the bed.
"Logan..." She whispered and shook him a bit. He grumbled in his sleep and shifted, but otherwise didn't move. She shook him again and whispered his name again, this time a bit louder.
He turned his head toward her and his eyes slowly blinked open. "Lenore?" He asked in a groggy voice.
"Yes. It's me." She said. He sat up and she saw in the light of the moon that he was bare-chested. A feeling of awkwardness arose in her, which she found odd — she couldn't recall a moment of feeling awkward around Logan before.
"Did you just wake up?" He asked. "Are you—"
"Yes," She answered briskly. "I can remember everything... it's not all pleasant though."
His strong hands held her forearms and she saw his tired eyes glimmer in the moonlight. "Try not to think about it too much... you feel alright, don't you?"
Lenore looked away from him, down at the dark shadowy floor. "I don't know... Logan, everything's going to be different from now on, isn't it?"
He didn't answer, so she just hugged him. Even Logan, one of the few people she was able to count on in the past few months, was different. She always remembered thinking of him as this strong courageous man, but even through the same memories he was someone else... someone rude, arrogant and ungracious.
"I still love you, Logan." She said, and nuzzled her face into his neck. A moment later she regretted saying anything at all.
[xxxxx]
After her morning routine of showering, dressing and coffee, Samantha headed down to the lab, where she knew she'd find Hank. She entered the lab to find him peering into a microscope and sat across from him at the workstation.
"Good morning, Dr. McCoy." She said, and his head popped up at the mention of his name.
He smiled when he saw her, and removed his glasses to their regular home in his breast pocket. "And a very good morning to you, too, Dr. Barrington. What have we here?" He pointed to the extra mug of steaming coffee in her hand, and Samantha slid it across the table to him.
"I just thought you might want some early morning caffeine to brighten up the day." She said with a smile.
He smiled back and slowly sipped his coffee. "So, what's the status on Lenore?"
"She got up early this morning. She remembers everything apparently. Now she's on a walk with Warren. She seems pretty happy, for a woman in her situation."
Hank sighed and sipped his coffee again.
"What is it?" Samantha asked, sensing his discontent. "Aren't you happy that this is all over?"
Hank looked away from her and sighed. He rubbed his temples for a moment and took his glasses from his pocket to fiddle with them. He looked back to Samantha. "I'm just..." He sighed again. "We're going to have to befriend Lenore all over again. She's a new person now that she has her memories back, and I'm certain that she doesn't see us in the same light as she did when she first arrived here."
Quietly, Samantha sipped her coffee and stared down at her hands. "I hadn't though of that." She said at last. "Do you think she'll adjust?"
"If she does, it won't be overnight."
"We're not the older, wiser aunts and uncles she once saw us as, are we?" Samantha said with a sigh. "Who knows how she'll take to us... especially Logan, for that matter."
Hank nodded. "And Logan has grown so attached to her. He's already replaced Rogue with Lenore as his lamb, and now there's no one left to focus his affections on... I'd be more concerned for Logan."
Samantha shook her head and sipped her coffee. "No, I'm not worried about Logan. He can hold his own."
After a moment of silence, Hank cleared his throat. "Samantha, I don't mean to be nosy, but... you are staying the rest of year, aren't you?"
Her fingers played at her mug, and her lip quivered a bit as Samantha tried to sort through her thoughts. When she thought of the hectic times of the past months, with the days going by not one just like the other, life seemed to have quickened to an incredible speed.
And then she thought of her days before arriving at the institute, spent working at the office, when going out to rent a romantic-comedy was the highlight of the month. Until seeing how exciting life could be, she had never noticed how meaninglessly her years had been wasted. And yet...
"I don't know, Hank..." She said, sighing gently. "Don't get me wrong, seeing you again has been great, and everyone here has been so hospitable, but I have a life in New Jersey. I have a house, a job... I have bills to pay and patients waiting for me..."
"Perhaps just until the end of the school year? We're low on teachers and—"
"Hank," Samantha said abruptly, "I really can't. Besides, I don't think Jacob would appreciate me hanging around here too much longer. I came here to help Lenore, and I've done my job. It's time that I go home."
"Maybe you could—"
"Hank, I —"
"No, listen to me." He interrupted harshly. He took her hand and held it firmly in his, and looked into her eyes. "When I heard you were here at the institute, I felt like I haven't in years. The time we've spent together hasn't just been great, it's been wonderful and amazing. I need to you stay... please." He paused. "I love you."
"Henry..."
[xxxxx]
The snow illuminated the woods that surrounded her, and seemed to go on forever in each direction. The trees, all but a few evergreens, were barren. Occasionally a branch would snap under the weight of the snow and come tumbling down with a flurry just behind it.
Lenore looked down at the water-proof boots Samantha had lent her. They weren't fashionable, but they were efficient, and she admired how they crunched in the snow. She listened to the sort of music her steps made in sync with Warren's.
In her mind, when she thought about all of the days she had spent at the Xavier Institute, everything seemed like it had been in a dream, or that during that time her body was being controlled by something other than her own will. She had thought about leaving now that her memories were back, but everything here at the institute was so pleasant that she thought it crazy that anyone should want to leave. A small little utopia, tucked inside the confines of these few acres. Logan had said it wasn't likely that Adrian should try and find her again, and she trusted what Logan said.
"Warren," Lenore asked, the first words spoken on their walk for a while. She didn't break her stare into the deep woods. "Do you think it's bad if I'm still afraid of Adrian?"
He thought for a moment, and shrugged. "It's okay to be afraid, but not too afraid. Not to the point where your fear is keeping you up at night." He paused, and looked at her. "Is it... keeping you up at night?"
"No." She said simply, and turned her neck to look at him. "I know I always have you to protect me." She smiled at him, and he smiled back.
They stopped and Warren gave her a kiss on her head. She returned it by kissing his cheek gently. "You're too nice to me, Warren." She stared up at him for a few moments, searching his face for something to give away his thoughts.
Abruptly, he leaned down and kissed her softly, but Lenore pulled back, surprised. "Warren..." She said with her eyes wide in surprise but before she could say any more, he grabbed her and held her closely, then kissed her, much more passionately than before. This time she didn't pull away, but locked her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
[xxxxx]
When Storm woke up, she didn't know what day it was, and she had trouble recalling the month. She walked into the kitchen and half-expected Jean to be there, sitting at the breakfast table with a cup of coffee for both of them. But she wasn't there, and neither was Scott, nor the Professor. She felt a ping of disappointment as she looked around the empty kitchen, but stifled her negative feelings and continued on.
During lunch she had her office to herself, and spent the time going over some of the institute's finances and reminding herself to take a bit of her sandwich every so often. It was almost the end of lunchtime when there was knock at the door.
"Who's there?" She called, looking up from her papers work and taking a moment to remove herself from the deep thought she had just been in.
"It's just me." Logan's voice called back.
"Come in then." she said, beginning to go back to work. He was probably just here with those papers she had asked him to get from Hank. It wasn't anything important, just—
She looked up to take the papers from Logan, or maybe a folder or a file, but Logan's hands were in his pockets and he carried nothing with him.
She expected him to say something, to explain his visit, but he just stood in front of her desk and smiled. It wasn't his usual, sly, amused half-smile, but this was a smile she had never seen him use before. He showed no teeth but spread his grin as far as it could go across his face and his eyes crinkled happily.
But Logan said nothing and only looked at the open door of the office where there stood a man. He was bald and handsome, with thin dark eyes. He wore the same thin, wide smile that Logan did, and Storm recognized him in an instant.
She ran to him the moment she remembered how to move, and embraced him lovingly.
"Careful, Ororo," His soothing voice said as he petted her hair affectionately. "I'm still getting used to having legs again."
"Oh, Professor," She said as tears of joy fell from her face. "When... how...?" She had so many questions to ask him, but she couldn't find her voice. She was too happy, too afraid that any second she would wake up from this cruel dream.
"All in good time," Xavier said, smiling. "Now, why don't you get us all some tea? We have a lot to get caught up on."
And so it ends! I apologize for the last few chapters being so short, but I had to break it up for organization and chronological reasons. Well, I hope you enjoyed it! I know I did. The next few chapters are just going to be thank yous and credits and all that jazz. Watch out because I'm actually thinking about a sequel! I already have a few chapters of it written, actually :D
The quote is from Victor Hugo!