Grief
It was Rouge who found Logan. Professor X had felt something ominous during that afternoon, and he told Storm and Rouge to find Logan and Akira. Storm found nothing of Akira, but Rouge found Logan, bleeding underneath a tree. He was unconscious and pale beside the green and lush grass. Rouge and Storm had together lifted the heavier mutant and carried him to the med lab. Professor X had met both of them there, trying to comfort a crying Rouge and a raging Storm.
"Why would Akira do something like this?" Rouge whispered. Her tears had not ceased, but now she was calmer, staring sadly at Logan's motionless form. Although Logan's wounds had healed, he was still unconscious. Professor X expected that Logan's body was internally recovering from the damage – and shock. He told Rouge and Storm this, and somehow both mutants were not comforted. They care for him, Professor X thought with a smile. Logan's attempts at love had ended in tragedy, but perhaps there was a chance he could learn how to trust again. Akira had another chance as well.
"Perhaps he had been locked up in Stryker's prison for too long?" Storm suggested. She had wanted to look for Akira, but Professor X had forbidden it. He didn't know how Storm would react seeing the mutant who had attacked her friend. He hadn't told them about the vendetta Akira had with his father.
"But isn't Akira just a boy?" Rouge whispered. Professor X had seen her thoughts, and shared her concern for Akira's emotional state.
"Akira is older than he appears to be," Professor X explained calmly. He watched as Rouge looked at him curiously, and Storm had a similar expression on her face. "Do you remember when Akira talked to you and Bobby, about his mutation?" He asked to Rouge. She nodded. "He doesn't age, Strom. His body has been twenty-four years old since 1890." Rouge's eyes widened and Storm looked at Logan, her forehead crinkled.
"Does Logan have the same mutation?" Rouge asked. Professor X nodded. Amusement appeared on his face when Rouge realized how old Logan could be. "So he's older than you, Professor," she breathed. The teenage mutant was silent for a while, watching Logan's still face.
"What does Logan have to do with Akira?" Storm asked. She had now torn her gaze from Logan's face and was now looking at the Professor for answers. "They have the same mutation, but they were born continents apart, and we don't even know how old Logan actually is."
"Logan is Akira's father."
Professor X said this calmly to them, hoping to make the puzzle connect. Rouge remained still where she was. Professor X couldn't see her expression on her face. Storm's somber expression became confused. "But how…?"
"Logan travelled to Japan after the Civil War in 1866. He fell in love with a Japanese woman, and they were married a year later. She was murdered by a human who found out that Logan was a mutant." Professor X had seen Logan's grief-etched memories with his very eyes. He felt his agony and pain as he held his wife's body in his arms.
"Akira was a product of their marriage then. He thought that Logan murdered his mother," Storm concluded. Professor X nodded, sighing. Akira had run after he had wounded his father, and Professor X had witnessed the memories of his foster family's murder and Stryker's lies.
"Stryker fed Akira lies, you two." Professor added sadly. "He told Akira again and again that it was his father who killed his mother. I suppose he hoped that Akira would want to kill his father himself, saving him the energy of killing off his former experiments." He shook his head.
"Will Logan regain his memories?" Rouge asked. She had not moved from Logan's side.
"Perhaps, Rouge." The three continued their vigil.
"I am nothing like you."
Somewhere his voice echoed in his head. He tried to reach for something, anything, but he ended up holding only empty air. Logan knew he was talking to someone long ago, someone he knew, but he couldn't remember who he was.
"Tell me something Jimmy. Was she worth it?"
Who was worth what? He couldn't understand why that person was calling him Jimmy either. Then a sudden memory engulfed him. A woman cradled in his arms – not the beautiful woman with the soft smile, but the raven-haired one. Blood was on her face. Another memory seared through him. He was running, running toward the man who had killed his father – only to find out that the man he killed was his father.
"What are you?"
The disgust and revolt in her voice made him want to choke. He wanted to snarl, "A mutant." But he couldn't. The woman lying on the floor was someone special.
"James…"
He heard the man who he though had been his father's voice. He heard her voice, the one who had died with their unborn baby. Her name had been Itsu.
"Jimmy…Logan…"
All these names made him confused. Who was he? He had to open his eyes.
Logan awoke to find Storm and Rouge by his bedside. Rouge was holding his hand in her smaller one, and wept at his open eyes. She moved to embrace him, but he firmly but gently pushed her arms away. He didn't notice the gaping hole in his shirt.
"Where is Akira?" He asked. Neither Storm nor Rouge would answer him. "Where is Daken?" he asked again.
"He's at the Statue of Liberty, Logan. I found him with Cerebro" The Professor wheeled in calmly to face him. "Or should I say James?" He smiled.
Logan did not share the Professor's joy. "I'm going to the Statue of Liberty," he snapped. He stood and was about to exit the med lab when the Professor barred his way.
"Logan, your body hasn't healed enough yet."
"I'm almost two hundred years old, Professor," Logan said with a smirk. "I can take care of myself."
As he exited out the door, he heard Rouge whisper, "How old did he say he was?"