~1982~
Charles P. O. V.
It's 11:50 pm on a Wednesday evening. It's mid-summer so it's just warm enough to have a few windows open around the mansion, letting in a subtle cooling breeze. Currently, Hank and I are sitting in my office; stacks of papers surrounding us. You see, we applied for permits to become a school late last year and thankfully those permits were approved. We have until late September time to finalise all the plans and approve the applicants. Once news of the school began to spread we received more applications than we ever thought. However, due to the overwhelming amount of applicants, we're debating on putting the starting date off a few months until we have more teachers on staff.
As Hank and I are going over some of the paperwork, I could suddenly sense another presence within the house. Dropping the paperwork in his hand Hank spoke
"Charles? What's wrong?" I put my file down, looked at him and said
"Hank, I'm afraid we are not alone. There's someone else here"
"Where?"
"Follow me" We left my office and headed towards the kitchen.
As we approached the kitchen, I decided to reach out
"Can you hear me?" It didn't take long for someone to reach back
"Hello is someone there" It was a young girl and she sound terrified
"Hello, child"
"Who…Who are you?" Just as we were about to turn and enter the kitchen I said
"I was just about to ask you the same thing" We turned into the kitchen only to see a young girl, who couldn't have been much older than 13, getting ready to jump out of the window and run away. Upon seeing this I raised my hand and said
"Wait, it's okay. We aren't going to hurt you. We want to help you" With some hesitancy the young girl stepped down from the window ledge and spoke
"You… You're the one I heard in my head"
"I am. I'm Charles Xavier and this is my good friend Hank McCoy. And who might you be child?"
"I… I call myself Inara. Just… Just Inara" I glanced at Hank for a moment before looking back at the child and saying
"and what of your parents? Where are they?"
"I don't… I don't remember. I don't think I have any. The only thing I really remember is that I have to run" Hank then spoke
"Run from what?"
"I… I don't know"
I could feel just how distressed the child was getting so decided to change the subject. Using my abilities, I opened the fridge and brought out the ingredients needed to make a nice sandwich. As the items landed on the kitchen surface, I said
"Hank, perhaps you wouldn't mind making our guest a sandwich and then perhaps we can look at finding her some fresh clothes and somewhere warm to sleep" Inara looked between us and said
"I just broke into your home and now you're offering me food and a place to stay. Why?" I smiled at her before saying
"We mutants need to stick together. Now please come sit" Hank began preparing the food whilst the girl cautiously sat down at the end of the table.
She pulled her sleeves over her hand and began fidgeting with them as I said
"You don't have to be afraid" Her head shot up as she said
"Who said that I'm afraid?"
"I'm gifted like you, a telepath. I can see inside of your mind" The lights then flickered and water came out of the tap. Inara then said
"I'm not just a telepath". I looked into her light purple eyes and saw electricity zapping around them, purple irises were surrounded by black. When she realised what she was doing she dropped her hands and took a shaky breath, as she did that everything stopped. She then said
"I'm sorry, I can't always control it" I looked at Hank and said
"Hank my old friend, I do believe we've found are first student… Inara how would you like to stay here and learn to control your gifts?"
A few months later…
"Okay Inara, just focus on the water. Reach out and focus on the molecules" As I entered the training room Inara was sitting on one of the tables in front of a bowl of water with her hand stretched out. The water was shaking slightly in the bowl but it didn't move much more than that. I could feel frustration rippling off of her. She lowered her hand and let out a groan before saying
"I can't do it, Hank" Hank moved the bowl of water before leaning against the table beside her. He folded his arms and said
"Well stop talking like that and you might. When you reached out for the water, what did you feel?"
"I could feel the particles vibrating and flowing together as one"
"That's good means you connecting with the water. The next step is getting the water to move"
"We've been trying to do that for weeks, Hank. Nothings happened"
I cleared my throat and spoke
"Have patience child. Since being here, you've made masses of improvements trying to control and use your abilities. This is just another hurdle you will overcome in time. Now onto other news, I've just got off the phone with the education secretary" Hank stood up straight and said
"And?"
"All of the applications, permits, everything has been approved. Starting from the next academic year Xavier's school for gifted youngsters will officially be recognised as a boarding school"
Inara clapped and said
"Woo Finally some other people around here…No offence" Hank patted her shoulder and said
"None taken kid. It'll be good to see you socialise with kids your own age" Keeping his hand on INaras shoulder, Hank looked at me and said
"What about the other thing? Heard anything about that?" Inara looked between the pair of us as I said
"As a matter of fact Hank, I have" Inara then said
"Does someone wanna fill me in?"
Hank removed his hand from Inaras should as I moved slightly closer to the table whilst speaking
"Inara, what would you say staying here permanently… As my daughter" she looked at me in disbelief before moving off the table and saying
"S…Seriously you aren't just saying it because of my gifts?"
"Of course not Inara. Since you came here just a few short months ago I've felt nothing but love towards you. The love a father feels for his daughter" Her eyes began watering as she launched herself away from the table and into my arms. She gripped the back of my jacket as she said
"Yes… Yes. I want to stay. I want to be your daughter" I ran my hand through her hair and said
"Welcome home Inara Xavier."
