I spoke. "Ash, I know you feel betrayed now, but please, just listen to me." He nodded slowly, reluctantly.
"You have saved my life, and I have refused to tell you my secrets because I knew how you would react. Now, I have no choice. That letter will tell you everything. Please, no matter how much you come to hate me, read it before you destroy it. You don't have to read it immediately, just please read it...someday."
I stood back, closer to the window, and changed to my natural form. His eyes grew wide, and he opened his mouth to call an alarm. I felt tears spring to my eyes, and I spoke before he could shout. "Forgive me, Ash. I never wanted to hurt you, but I had no choice." I spun and launched myself out the window. Behind me, Ash ran to the window, one shout escaping him, and above the clamor, Aisa's wailing howl broke my heart. I flew away from the place I felt at home, driven away by the past.
Q
Ash fell back from the window, pushed aside by older and wiser heads, who had warned him about the woman he had saved, and somehow along the way, fallen in love with. While they clamored and shouted frantically, he sank onto her bed. As they walked out, his father turned to him. "I'm sorry, son. She tricked us all." He bowed his head, walking out the door. As it shut behind him, Ash felt a wet nose nudge his hand.
He looked down to see Aisa. She nudged his fist again, and he opened it to see the letter Anna ... no, Mama Aqua had handed him. He stared at it for a long moment, until Aisa barked at him, and nudged his hand again.
Heaving a sigh, he slowly opened the letter, reading.
"Ash, my name is not Anna. You must know that by now. I am really Mama Aqua, the mutant that you hate so much. I'm sorry, Ash. I hoped it would never come to this; that this letter would be destroyed unopened, but my hand was forced. I would have told you the truth long ago, Ash, but then you told me how much you admired Magneto, and even worse, who your brother was.
This is something that I never wanted you to hear, but Magneto is my uncle. My own family. That should make us allies, but you don't know my uncle. He is a sadist, Ash. After my parents died, he adopted me, and put me in the care of a man whose name I will always be afraid of: Sabertooth. I know this is something you never want to hear about a family member, but he was my captor. Whenever Magneto had an experiment he wanted to try, I was his guinea pig, and Sabertooth was the one who performed the experiments. My uncle made him train me as a dancer, an assassin, a stripper, a performing animal, anything he could think of for his "research."
I learned quickly how much pain can be inflicted on a person before they die. Every time I refused to learn a new assignment, Magneto turned me over to Sabertooth for "teaching," as he called it. Soon, I would never question anything that Sabertooth told me to do. I didn't fear the throne, I feared the power that enforced it.
I escaped, and Magneto sent Sabertooth after me. I found the X-Men, and among them, the one man that Sabertooth hates the most: Wolverine, my brother. Our brothers hate each other, and somehow, we found each other. The one person your brother wants the most, you healed. The one man you hate the most turns out to be the brother of the woman you love. Yes, Ash. I knew your feelings long before you did. And I love you too. I will always love you, even though you want me dead. Goodbye, Ash my love. We will not meet again, though I should wish it otherwise. Goodbye.
-Mama Aqua"