Epilogue

Jean knocked on the door. She looked at Logan. "Be polite." He grunted in response.

The woman who answered was small and plump. "Hi," Jean said with a smile. "I'm here from the school, to talk to your daughter?"

"Oh, wonderful!" The woman said, leading Jean and Logan through the house. "Now, you have to know, she's different from most kids her age."

"We're all different at Xavier's," Jean replied. She lifted a picture frame with her mind, then sat it back down gently.

"Oh," the woman replied. "Oh, my." She cleared her throat and knocked on a bedroom door. "Sweetheart? There are some people here to talk to you. From the school?"

"I'm never going to school again!" They heard the girl yell. "I'm a freak."

"Oh, dear," the woman said sadly. "Please open the door."

There was an angry sigh, and the door was pushed open. "What?" the teenage girl snapped, pushing some bushy brown hair out of her eyes.

"Hi. Katherine, right?" Jean asked.

"Kitty," the girl responded.

"Well, Kitty, my name is Jean Grey-Summers. This is Logan. We're teachers at the new school for gifted children, Xavier's."

"I don't think I can help you," Kitty said miserably, sitting on her bed. "I'm not gifted. Just a freak."

"I'll leave you to talk," said the mother, smiling and shutting the door. Jean looked back at Kitty. She sat beside her on the bed. "Kitty, you're not a freak, I promise. Why don't you show me what you can do?"

Kitty hesitated, then stood – and walked through the bed.

"Huh," Logan said. "That's freaky."

Kitty looked at him with wide eyes.

"Logan!" Jean snapped.

"I'm just yanking ya, kid," Logan said. "Can anything be freakier then this?" His claws shot out, and Kitty jumped back with a yell.

"We're all gifted," Jean said gently. "Look." She lifted several of Kitty's things into the air. "I'm telekinetic, and you can phase through anything solid."

"What are we?" Kitty whimpered.

"We're mutants, Kitty," Jean said with a small smile. "At Xavier's, we can help you and students like you."

Kitty hesitated. "Do we get codenames?"

Jean smiled. "Yes. Two of your teachers, Ororo Munroe and Scott Summers, my husband, often go by Storm and Cyclopes. Logan here goes by Wolverine."

"And you?" Kitty asked eagerly. "What are you called?"

Jean looked at the girl a moment. "I'm called Phoenix."