I shall try to start updating a bit quicker from now on. I've gotten back on my X-Men kick and am rarin and ready to go!

All in all, Ellie was decidedly NOT impressed. The giant hairy dinosaur golf ball looked on the inside quite exactly like she thought it would. It was boring. It was filled with odd blinky buttons and lights and strange wires. It was overpowering her sensitive nostrils with its stench of metal and man. She wasn't even fazed by the odd little floor panels that lifted slowly to allow them access like a futuristic trap door. There were no illuminating lights inside for the walls seemed to be oddly opaque, letting in enough light to make seeing a nonissue, but not so much that it hurt their eyes. Even though the entire thing sort of hurt Ellie's eyes with its blatant use of modern technology. Anthropologists did not do well with technology. Particularly when those anthropologists happened to be part beast.

Of course, Charles' adrenaline had spiked the second he'd seen the trap door start to open. This for him was better than candy. And almost nothing was better than candy. Right?

The sphere was also much smaller on the inside than it looked from the outside. Ellie began to feel rather claustrophobic. She was channeling impala today and they preferred the savannah. You know, miles of open grassland, umbrella thorn acacia as far as the eye could see. Well, anyway…

Hank was there, approaching them from around some sort of small blue dais in the center of the ball, complete with railing. Above it hung a rather odd contraption made of a transparent upside down bowl, lots of lights and even more tuby looking things. It was actually quite frightening to Ellie. And of course, standing somewhere off to the side of Hank was the one mutant she could have gone her entire life without seeing again.

She didn't want to-really, she didn't!-but she somehow managed to catch Erik's eye anyway and was effectively shocked at what she found there. In that gaze she found concern and, wait-no, it couldn't possibly…

But there it was, plain as the scar on her face. In that gaze she saw an apology. His eyes were practically begging her to forgive him. They asked if she would mind talking later, and she nodded once, imperceptibly. God forgave, right? Why shouldn't she?

Hank chose that moment to speak, and Ellie forced herself to listen even though she had absolutely no interest in him or his words whatsoever.

"Ah, I call it Cerebro," he began tentatively, and Ellie rolled her eyes as Charles laughed excitedly. He was having way too much fun with this.

"As in the Spanish for brain?" Charles asked. What a clever name! And what a clever machine too! He could practically feel himself hopping out of his skin! He glanced at Ellie who merely rolled her eyes again, and then at Raven who's eyes danced but not for him. She was focused on the lanky young genius who'd designed all this.

"Ok, so the electrodes connect Charles to the transmitter on the roof," Hank continued, grinning broadly at Charles' obvious interest in his work. He motioned to the device in the center as he spoke, and suddenly the design made sense. It was a helmet with an array of little sensors that all hooked up to several machines at the side of the room opposite them. Charles practically leapt onto the edge of the little platform to peer at the myriad of brilliant little devices. Blue light from above and below illuminated him, making him shine like Christmas in July. This time when he glanced at Ellie, she was grinning too, excited because he was excited.

Having fun? She asked him.

More than you can imagine, he answered, his mind-voice sounding oddly breathless.

Oh, I have a pretty big imagination, Ellie quipped. Charles only smiled.

"When he picks up a-ahem-mutant, his brain sends a signal through a relay and then the coordinates of their location are printed out here," Hank explained as he moved around the room to motion to a slightly smaller box near the end of the line. Erik and Raven eyed it with both fascination and confusion. Charles loved Raven and Erik was obviously very bright, but this was just over their heads. At least Raven pretended to be interested for Hank's sake.

"You designed this?" Charles heard her ask as he continued to gaze, enraptured at the receptor in the middle of the sphere. He ran his fingers over his scalp as he tried to fit it all into place. How utterly, magnificently brilliant! Never in a million years would he have been able to create something like this, and not matter how much he stared, he couldn't for the life of him figure out how it worked! But that in itself was part of the beauty of the thing. It was so completely beyond him, and that only made it all the more intriguing.

Feeling he had waited long enough, Charles stepped onto the dais and grabbed the receptor, lowering it down onto his head and winking at Ellie as she eyed the contraption warily. Then, he situated his hands behind his back and waited patiently for Hank to finish making adjustments.

"What an adorable lab rat you make, Charles," sounded a deep voice to his left. Erik came round to stand between him and Ellie, a smirk on that steely face of his. Charles's composure never wavered.

"Don't spoil this for me, Erik," he said coolly, ignoring the smug satisfaction on Erik's face.

"I've been a lab rat," Erik pricked. "I know one when I see one."

"Ok," Hank mumbled, half to himself, effectively cutting off what Charles was sure would have become a rousing debate on the definition of lab rat (Charles figured that he did it on purpose). "Great." He stepped up onto the platform and twisted a few knobs on the helmet before asking, "Are you sure we can't shave your head?"

"Don't touch my hair."

Ellie laughed and thought, You and that hair.

Charles would have replied, but Hank chose that moment to flip the final switches and turn the universe upside down.

In a brilliant flash of white light, eternity opened up to him and he had to grab the railing to steady himself, unable to stifle a gasp of surprise. His eyes opened wide, but suddenly he wasn't there anymore.

He was everywhere.

Ellie felt a stab of fear as the helmet lit up stark white, casting an odd glow on its subject. His hands jerked out to grab the railing and he made a sound as if he were in pain. His heart rate had jumped and his breathing was beginning to quicken. The needles on the machine nearest Hank began to wiggle and twitch and he turned to them excitedly and exclaimed, "It's working!"

And Charles began to laugh. She stood directly in front of him, peering into his eyes but he was no longer looking at her. She didn't think he was really even there anymore. He laughed whole heartedly, a magical sound Ellie hadn't heard in the longest time and she found herself laughing too.

OxOxO

A while later Ellie lay sprawled on the closely manicured lawn of the courtyard, glasses on and a sheaf of paper in her hands. Just because their lives had done a one eighty didn't mean that all responsibility ceased to exist did it? As much as Ellie would have liked to believe that was true, she still had work to do, and laying about all day while she waited for someone to make a move on Shaw or Shaw to make a move on them would drive her insane. Literally, insane. So, she'd dug her latest research paper out of her bag and settled down in the courtyard with as many snacks as she could wrap her arms around, a blanket, a pillow and a case of her favorite soda.

Pepsi. Yum!

All in all, she was having one pleasant afternoon. Especially since she'd left Charles' incessant babbling far behind. He'd been wandering around since being disconnected from that machine and talking the ears off of anyone who would stand still long enough for him to get started. After about an hour Ellie had had quite enough. He hadn't been able to find her yet and lucky for her she could smell him coming a mile away. There wasn't even a contest really.

Smiling at her own cleverness, Ellie popped the top on another Pepsi and crossed out a few words that were beginning to irk her.

And there she stayed until the light became too weak to read by, so she packed up and made her way into the common room feeling more relaxed than she had in ages. Even the crick in her hip wasn't bothering her quite so much. She arrived to find Charles and Erik deep in conversation on one of the black leather couches. Charles waved as she came in and sat down across from him, never breaking his conversation. Or concentration? Regardless, he continued speaking and Ellie waited her turn.

"Yes, the young man in prison seems promising enough. We'll have to teach him some control though. I think we should get going immediately," he was saying.

"Where are we going?" Ellie asked, unable to help herself. She adored travel.

Charles suddenly looked uneasy and he wouldn't meet her eyes. "Ah, well my dear, I'm afraid that, uh, it's just going to be Erik and I this time," he said hesitantly. When he finally looked at her he was practically begging her to understand.

Her face, just moments ago lit up with excitement, fell. "But I always go with you," she mumbled dejectedly.

Charles sighed. "I know love, but I need you here to keep an eye on things. We can safely assume that with two of us gone, Shaw will take this opportunity to move in. I need you here to protect them."

"Them who? It's just me, Raven and a couple of idiots," Ellie snapped.

"We'll be bringing some young men and women back with us, and it'll be up to you to keep them safe."

Ellie hated to admit that it was a rather important job. "But why can't Erik stay here and watch them? I'm sure he's much more capable than I am." She also pointedly ignored the smug little grin the metalbender flashed her way.

"Well, you see, I need someone along who's good at persuasion. The peaceful kind," Charles said, giving her a pointed look. "Besides, male bonding and whatnot."

"Fine," Ellie stood, flipping back her fiery hair and stalking out of the room in a huff. "I can take a hint. Go bond and have fun without me." She continued to mumble to herself all the way back outside. "That smug little…I always go…I can't believe I'm going to be stuck here with these idiots…."

She was still fuming an hour later when Erik found her in her room, her nose firmly stuck in her favorite book, Jane Eyre. He didn't ask to come in, or even make his presence known. He knew that she knew he was there. He simply walked in and sat down on the edge of the bed and waited for her to speak. He didn't have to wait long.

"You have some nerve coming in here like this, Mr. Lensherr."

"I was under the impression that you'd agreed to talk with me for a while."

"So I had." Ellie marked her page carefully and set the book aside, sitting up cross-legged and fixing him with those two bright emeralds in the middle of her face. "Speak," she commanded, lifting her chin and looking every bit the role of regal queen of old.

"Alright, I apologize for what happened the night before. It wasn't meant to be that way," he said quietly.

"Wasn't meant to be what way? Painful, invasive, cruel? You used me Lensherr. You stole something from me that I will never get back."

"Now wait just a moment," he said, leaning forward and waving a pointed finger in her face. "I stole nothing. You gave willingly and as I recall, you had no intention of being gentle yourself." He lifted the sleeve of his black turtleneck, revealing a multitude of purplish bruises and long, thin claw marks.

Ellie's head dropped forward and she covered her mouth with both hands. It was worse than she'd thought. "Oh, Erik, I'm so sorry. I had no idea what would happen. Ignorance is no excuse for such a heinous act."

Cool fingers lifted her chin and forced emerald eyes to meet steel. "Don't apologize. Your ability is almost impossible to control when aroused. I understand. Besides," he leaned even closer and grinned a naughty grin. "I like it a bit rough sometimes."

"And that is quite enough of that!" Ellie cried, swatting his hand away and sending him a playfully reproachful look. "Apology accepted, by the way."

"Thank you," he said with a smile.

In the instant after a companionable silence fell between the two, Erik leaned over to plant a gentle kiss to the scar on her cheek. He pulled away to look her in the eye and she felt the jagged white line warm as if lit from within by a softly glowing ember. For a moment, with the way his eyes seemed to dance for her and the way the entire right side of her face felt warm and whole, she felt beautiful.

His fingers threaded through her auburn hair as he reached up to sweetly cup the nape of her neck and she closed her eyes as Erik leaned forward again.

She didn't start and she didn't hesitate when his lips ever so softly brushed hers, like a gossamer feather. Her hand found his waist and rested there as she pulled him closer, slowly, tenderly deepening the kiss.

And that was the way it stayed. He didn't press, he didn't pry and he didn't try to take it any further than where she wanted to go. He let her take control and simply followed suit.

Soon, Ellie's entire body was warm and sparkling with benign energy just like her scar. When he finally pulled away just far enough to press their foreheads together, she was flushed and practically glowing with so many emotions and sensations that had since been alien to her. And all of them were excellent.

"Why didn't it happen this way the first time?" he whispered.

Ellie only shrugged. "Apology accepted, now let's move on."

"Agreed."

"So you and Charles are leaving at first light then?" she asked.

"Yes. We'll be away for a few days."

"Well, both of you be careful," she said sternly, giving him a proper 'mom' look.

"Yes ma'am," he said with a wink. "I should probably get some sleep."

"That's a good idea."

And he quietly got up and left the room.

Ellie laid back down and covered up, trying to ignore the tiny seed of unease beginning to blossom in the pit of her stomach. It wasn't as if she were betraying Charles. You can't cheat on someone who doesn't even know you love them. Besides, maybe Erik could help her get over him and get on with her life.

Despite her doubts, Ellie went to bed feeling lighter, happier and better about herself than she had in a long, long time.

XoXoX

Something rather odd had just happened. Charles had been in his room packing when all of a sudden, a rather metallic taste of apples overloaded his senses and emerald clouded his vision for a moment. It was Ellie, and she was happier than he had ever felt her before. He found himself smiling with the sheer force of the emotion and even whistled a brisk little tune as he put away his things and prepared for bed. He didn't bother to find out just what had made her that way, just as he didn't bother to wonder why her flavor had contained the odd tang of metal for a moment. He went to sleep with a blissfully ignorant smile on his face, one he wouldn't really think about until several weeks later when all hell broke loose and it became time for him to make a very important decision.

OxOxO

The next morning, Ellie and Raven waved goodbye to the two men and wished them luck as their glossy black car disappeared around the corner.

Suddenly, all was silent. The girls lowered their hands and stood there. And stood some more…

…and some more…

…and looked at each other…

…and realized that with the guys gone, there was absolutely nothing to do.

Hank was busy in his giant hairy golf ball thing and had asked not to be disturbed. Mr. Broadmoore had disappeared into his office to do…something and Moira was probably off sulking because Charles hadn't gotten down on one knee and asked her to accompany him. Which left Ellie and Raven standing in the middle of the driveway doing nothing.

After a moment, Raven turned and went back inside. Ellie shrugged to no one in particular and went for a good run. She hunted a bit, swam in the little stream a bit, flew a bit and sang a bit. By the time she returned to the facility, she had managed to kill the rest of the morning and a bit of the afternoon so she set about doing laundry. She managed to sniff everything out that she needed and by the time that was done, it was time for bed.

The next few days followed much the same pattern. She would kill time playing games with Raven in the common room or she would go out for a while, then she would come in and do some work and then she would sleep. The next day, rinse and repeat.

The first time the boys came back, they smelled heavily of smoke and about a thousand different kinds of cheap perfume. Ellie and her poor sensitive animal nose just about choked to death. She choked even more when she saw the lovely stripper they had brought home with them. Yes, stripper. The little thing tried to look down her nose and sneer at Ellie and it might have worked to if Ellie hadn't been about a good six inches taller.

Fine, Ellie thought. Let her sneer and act as if she's better than me. She's an insect and if she tries anything, I'll squish her like one.

And then, just as soon as they had come, they boys were gone again and the cycle continued.

The next time they returned they brought home a tall, lanky black man with large eyes and a kind disposition. Darwin, he was called. He was funny and chivalrous and Ellie found him refreshing. She and Raven formed an easy friendship with him, a relationship that made the endless days spent lounging about a bit more bearable.

The next time the boys came home empty handed and more than a little disenchanted about the mutant they'd found.

"He had the biggest mutton chops I've ever seen," Charles said incredulously. "He was huge and powerful and obviously not too friendly. His mind felt a lot like yours does, Ellie. His name was James, I believe."

And then they were gone again.

About a week later they brought home an awkward young man who, within the first few minutes of setting foot in the building began to rub her the wrong way. He had a horrid carrot top and matching complexion. He thought he was truly hilarious but in reality his lame attempts at joking made her feel quite nauseous. In fact, she could barely stomach his presence for more than an hour.

The final addition to their ridiculous little band made her feel somewhat better. He was young, tall and broad-chested with close cropped hair and a don't-mess-with-me look that matched his attitude. Ellie caught him eyeing her more than once and returned the appreciation readily. She learned that his name was Alex Summers and he'd been in prison for a few years for a power he couldn't control. She felt she could relate to that. Charles was the only thing that had stood between her and the stony lonesome on more than one occasion.

And that was the day they came home for good.

The group had taken to gathering during the daytime in the common room to play pinball, sip sodas and socialize. Ellie only accompanied them because it was her duty. She couldn't exactly "protect" them while she was roaming about on her own could she? Though there were a few things she would much rather have been doing. Like, smashing her head against a wall perhaps? Anything-ANYTHING-was better than listening to Sean try to impress Angel and Raven (he'd given up trying to impress Ellie the first time she'd given him a black eye). Even Hank emerged from his cave more often to sit with them. He, Darwin and Raven were the only things keeping her tethered to the world of the sane.

Alex had been settled in and Ellie had spotted Charles walking across the courtyard with Erik and Moira. She leapt to her feet, the dusty film of boredom that had settled over her shaking free as she strode toward him with every intention of giving him a monstrous hug. Before she could even reach the door, however, he held up a hand and projected, No.

The simple word stung her as if he'd slapped her and she recoiled from the sharpness of it. He didn't even look in her direction or even hesitate in his secret conversation but kept on walking as if nothing had happened.

Shocked, she turned and walked back over to one of the black leather chairs and plopped down, dropping her head onto one hand and staring at the floor. The children were laughing and pricking with each other, arguing over what code names they should give themselves. Each in turn stood and revealed their mutations, earning enthusiastic oohs and ahs from the others.

Ellie watched without really seeing. She was much too busy sulking to pay any attention.

Angel grew bug wings and spat acidic fireballs like some sort of alien freak. Darwin could adapt his body to survive any environment and Sean could shriek and shatter glass. Ellie really couldn't care less what names they gave themselves as long as they didn't pick on her to play show and tell.

Unfortunately, this was not her lucky day.

"Come on, Elle!" Raven pleaded, ignoring the smoldering glare her whining got her. "Please! You're so creative, I want to hear what name you come up with!"

Grumbling to herself about the annoyance of youth, she limped to the center of the room and flipped back her thick curtain of hair.

"I suppose I'll be…" She tapped a finger to her chin and thought while trying to pretend that she wasn't beginning to enjoy herself. "…Feral."

"Perfect!" Raven cried. "Now show them why."

Now Ellie wasn't even pretending to not have fun. With a sideways smile and a dangerous glimmer in her eyes she concentrated…

…and melted smoothly into the sleek body of a black jaguar.

For a moment the room was frozen, then all at once six teenagers all began shouting with amazement and a little fear. Angel leapt to her feet with her hands over her mouth and Alex reached out to stroke her fur. She looked over at Raven who was smiling appreciatively and melted again, this time into the form of a hawk.

"Incredible!" Hank breathed, peering at her with eyes wide as dinner plates. Ellie flapped up to land on his shoulder and nuzzled his cheek with the top her head. Then she fluttered back to her chair and morphed back to normal.

"That's amazing!" said Angel (Ellie supposed she couldn't be all bad).

"Wicked," Alex said, nodding his head and looking rather impressed.

She glanced around at the rest of them and found identical looks of awe and a hint of fear on each of their faces. Ok, it wasn't that incredible. It was just a mutation.

"Ok, um, next!" she said, rubbing the back of her neck as her face began to heat up. Contrary to popular belief, she really didn't like all of that attention. Don't get her wrong, she loved to be noticed as much as the next girl, but the way they were all looking at her as if she were some sort of deity come to Earth made her uneasy. She didn't deserve all of that praise, and she certainly was no deity.

"Alex, Alex, Alex!" She laughed as the others chanted, trying to pressure the young man into showing them what he could do. He relented, though he didn't look happy about it.

"Get back when I tell you," he grumbled and the group moved to sort of stand behind the wall, though Ellie really couldn't see the effectiveness of this as they were stacked out so far trying to see what was going on.

"Get back," Alex said (looking quite stellar in that white t shirt and black leather jacket) and they moved behind the wall…only to move right back again so they could see. "Get back!" he growled again, but this time no one moved. "Whatever," he grumbled as he started to make a motion like he was hula hooping. Red rings of solid energy surged into being around his body and he expelled them outward where they went flying in all directions, shearing the nice metal statue that Angel had earlier demonstrated on in half. Ellie didn't think she'd ever seen an ability with quite so much destructive potential or a mutant with quite so little control, including herself. Her mouth hung open and her eyes stretched wide as she thought, he's even worse at his power than I am. It's as if he has no control of them at all, as if they control him.

She clapped her hands as he stepped back inside the window Sean had shattered and the rest of the group whooped their appreciation.

Darwin seemed to think congratulations were in order and procured a round of sodas from the fridge and turned up some lively music and began to dance. Soon Ellie and the rest of them followed suit, forgetting for a while the dark apprehension that was hanging over them about the inevitable showdown. She danced and laughed and they danced and laughed, letting go and just having a grand ole time being kids for a bit longer. Ellie didn't keep track of the many different times she morphed, each one earning the same enthusiastic reaction from her charges and each reaction electrifying her and making her feel important and admired.

She couldn't remember a time when she'd had more fun, when she'd been able to relax and just be herself so completely around other people.

That is until a shrill, grating voice shattered the carefree illusion they'd managed to build around themselves.

"WHAT are you doing?" Moira MacTaggert screeched.

The universe halted and Ellie's heart sank to the floor. Hank dropped from the chandelier and Darwin melted back into his normal self and Alex and Sean dropped the chairs they'd been hitting him with and Raven hopped down from the couch she'd been dancing on and Ellie slowly fluttered to the ground, looking up at Charles with crushing shame in her golden hawk's eyes.

XoXoX

Just moments before…

"We've got intell that Shaw is meeting with the Soviet Defense Chief in Moscow," the CIA leader was saying to Agent MacTaggert. "So go ahead, say it," he said to her, sitting down across from her in his spacious office, dimly lit in the dark of the night.

"I'm not going to say 'I told you so', you know why I'm here," she replied.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, clearance to bring along your mutants, fight fire with fire. Makes sense," he said, glancing around at the other men in the room as he did.

"Wait," protested the man to his left. "You're ok with this? Sending in a bunch of untrained, unauthorized freaks?"

"These freaks are dedicated, hardworking, people," Mr. Broadmoore's voice sounded from the gloom at the opposite end of the table.

And that was that.

Charles and Erik were waiting for Moira as she left the room, Charles, of course, having been listening to the entire conversation and relaying what was said to his friend. A pang of amusement hit him and he had to fight not to laugh as Erik's lip curled at the word, 'freaks'. The man was just so sensitive.

"Your plane leaves for the Soviet Union in an hour," Moira said as she took off briskly down the hallway, Charles and Erik following respectfully behind. He was trying to concentrate on what she was saying, but a torrential babble of thoughts, tastes and sensations was becoming louder as they walked.

"I'm telling you, these kids are not ready for Shaw," said Erik, moving to walk a bit ahead of Moira.

Charles disapproved of this blatant lack of respect but said nothing. It was becoming difficult to differentiate between what thoughts were his and which weren't. What on God's green Earth was going on anyway? He tasted fruit and nuclear energy and wilderness and carrots and pure sugar all at the same time while colors exploded and swirled together in a big chaotic jumble at the corner of his mind vision. He managed to toss together a coherent thought and speak without totally screwing up. "They may surprise you. They're an exceptional bunch of young people."

It was then he realized that the babble wasn't only in his head, it was outside it too. He saw Erik and Moira's confused looks and was relieved that at least he was not finally going bonkers.

"What the hell?" Moira asked as the three rounded a bend and came upon the courtyard.

What the hell indeed, Charles thought to himself as the image hit him.

The wonderful statue lay in pieces scattered all over the lawn and bits of glass littered the concrete from a window that was no longer there. Raven was dancing on a couch to some God-awful music as Sean and Alex took turns hitting Darwin with chairs who appeared to be covered with scales.

"Harder!" the young man cried as Hank hung upside down by his feet from the light fixture and Angel and Ellie hovered around him.

Charles found that he could only stare in abject horror at the destruction and chaos that had become of the once dignified and pleasant room. These children, whom he had been defending not moments ago, had turned it into their own personal playground. Even his own sister was behaving as if she had no sense of respect or sensitivity to what the poor man who cleaned everything would think when he saw this. And don't even get him started on Ellaina. She was supposed to be watching them, protecting them and making sure they didn't get into trouble and here she was egging them on and participating in this vandalism. The worst part of it all was that she had betrayed his trust. Her, his Ellie, the one person he could always count on for anything. Suddenly, he almost wanted to weep.

"WHAT are you doing?" Moira demanded while Charles could only stand with his hands in his coat pockets, his disappointment was so great.

They all stopped, Hank, Angel and Ellie dropping to the floor, the hawk refusing to meet his eyes. Shame engulfed her and she shrank in on herself. At least she had the decency to whisper to him, I'm so sorry Charles.

"Who destroyed the statue?" Moira asked, looking at them all as a mother would an unruly brood.

"It was Alex," Hank spoke up, earning him disapproving looks from some while Raven insisted,

"No, Havoc. We have to call him Havoc, that's his name now." The chastised looks from a moment ago vanished as she stepped forward and spoke to Charles and Erik with a smile on her face. "And we were thinking, you should be Professor X and you should be Magneto," she said excitedly as she pointed to each of them.

Moira looked back at him incredulously, but he said nothing. He had never in his life seen such complete and utter lack of care or respect for others and he had never been so let down. To see his sister standing before him smiling as if she'd just come up with something spectacular and done nothing wrong broke his heart.

"Exceptional," Erik said. Charles ignored him.

Raven's smile vanished as he began to follow Moira and Erik as they walked away. "I expect more from you," he managed to say. And especially from you, he projected for Ellie's thoughts alone. I'm so disappointed. I trusted you, Ellie.

I know, she murmured as he severed the connection. I failed you again, but I promise that it will be the last time.

The last thing he saw as room and dejected teenagers disappeared from view was a barn owl, whisking silently away into the night.

Stung and hurt as he never had been before, he didn't waste a thought on wondering if she would ever come back.

Well. There we have it. This is a Thanksgiving gift to all of my loyal readers. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about most of this. There was a lot of little things and nonsense that would have REALLY bogged the story down that I left out. It worked in the movie, but putting it all in writing would have been really awkward so I left a few little bits of that scene out. Please let me know what you think of my interpretation so I can take it down and fix it if it's heinous.

I hope y'all had a magnificent holiday and I love you all big!

Now, you can return the love by reviewing! :)