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Author: Batman_Wolverine
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the x-men character in any of the different Marvel universes (Cartoon, Comic or Movie). All owned and copyrighted by Marvel Comics.

Once upon a time, (a clichéd but still evergreen way to start a story)….

Well, anyways….

…Once upon a time, there was a girl. A sweet little girl, she lived with her mommy and her daddy in their small but cozy house in the middle of the most peaceful place on earth. As with any sweet little girl of her age, this girl too loved dressing in pink flowery dresses and playing mock house and tea parties with her dolls and toy kitchen set. She was so sweet that everyone around her loved her and she was the best friend of all the children in the area.

Too bad this story is not about that sweet little girl.

----

“Stay still child,” a pair of hair pins sticking out of her lips, a handful of half braided soft silky fresh snow colored hair twisted around her fingers, the young ebony skinned mother yanked her precocious progeny towards her and away from the back clunky plastic gadget lying on the cheap but sturdy wood and glass table not five feet away from them. “Your father is waiting for you.” She instructed with a molasses smooth but heavily accented voice her fingers resuming their swift and coordinated actions. “So stop jumping around and let me braid your hair.”

“Ugh.” Not one to stay silent for long, the young girl, although electing to stay still gave a vocal display of her displeasure, deliberately contorting her face into winces and scrunches as she ughed and hmphed in tune with her mother’s soft pulls. “Why do I have to go?” She cried out, twisting her head as her mother finishing one half reached for the remaining hair. “And why do I have to wear this…this…this dress.” She, not for the first time, pulled down at the lacy red and pink dress that she had on. “Why can’t I stay home and watch the TV.” Her bright blue eyes seemed to light up even more as she turned back towards the rather bulky looking wood, glass and metal box placed against the far side of the room. Ever since her father had bought it five months back, it had been something that she never seemed to grow tired of and on more than one occasion, she would sit alongside and try to imitate the various people appearing on it. In fact, she had even commandeered a sizeable cardboard box and placing it on a side table had made a make shift TV of her own, one that played her very own TV show, which her doting father had loving named as The Ororo Monroe Show.

“Because your father is going to take you to where he works,” N’dare rote repeated the words that she had spoken more times in the last eighteen hours than she cared to count. The previous evening, her husband, Ororo’s father, David had come from work and told her that the boss had declared today to be a ‘bring your child’ to work day, whatever that meant. And in accordance with that, he had would also give the workers half of the day off. A native of Kenya, N’dare was still not conversant with the customs that people on this side of the world seemed to follow. A princess of her tribe, N’dare had come to America after meeting, falling in love with and choosing David Monroe to be her husband.

Although she missed her tribe and family, N’dare was more than happy with the life that she and David had created for themselves. And even though she might not be the Queen as she might have finally become had she continued to live in her matriarchal tribe, she was nevertheless the Queen of her household, of her domain, complete with her King and their very own princess….a princess who right now was starting to get on her nerves.

“Ready Princess?” David’s voice sounded from the kitchen his tall well built form stepping through the door the next instant and causing Ororo to still her tries to pull away from her mother and get a hand on the rather large and clunky TV remote. What compounded her disinterest at going out was that it was a Saturday, morning at that, meaning a time for the Superfriends cartoon and her favorite superhero, Wonder Woman. Ororo loved the way Wonder Woman never stepped back from a fight and kicked bu….uh, the word that she wasn’t supposed to say. ‘Just like me.’ Along with the cartoon, the other show she almost never missed was the live action Wonder Woman show that came in the evenings. The first time that she saw that one, Ororo was so taken by it she herself tried the whirl around and change clothes action…just to see if it worked in real life. However, instead of her clothes wonderfully changing all Ororo got was a serious case of vertigo and a lump on her forehead, courtesy of her bonk against the living room sofa.

Ororo prided herself at being just like the Amazon Princess…well, at least in the kicking bu…the word that she wasn’t supposed to say, side of things. There wasn’t one girl or boy of her age that had escaped her fists and her magic lasso…well, the three feet long piece of yellow nylon rope that N’dare had cut out for her….after her repeated non stop pleading...for five straight days.

“Pappa. Don’t wanna go.” Ororo ballooned her cheeks, jutting her lower lip out in a pout. It was her tried and tested, sure shot bull’s eye face. “Please papa. ’l miss Supa’freinds. Please. Please. Puleeeassseaa.”

“Sorry princess.” David grinned at his daughter’s mannerisms. Dressed as she was, with her hair all but done, she looked more like a doll than a six and a half year old girl…at least to his eyes. Then again, he was accustomed to seeing her in the shorts and pants that she usually wore. This dress, one of two good ones that Ororo had, had been bought from his first salary from his job as a die operator at the DWS (Detroit-Windsor Steel) Works, a place where he was a full foreman now. “’nyways, yor show comes tomorrow too. See it then?”

“But Daddddiee,” Ororo pleaded. “Today’s new one. T’morrow it’ll be old.” She pouted again, harrumphing at missing her favorite show. Truth was, she also knew that she would get to see the repeat of today’s show tomorrow, but like any other child, she wanted to get double viewing instead of just one.

“There. Done.” N’dare’s clap cut into the emotional blackmail that Ororo was hoping to lay out. “Show me.”

Turning around, Ororo put on an extra special sullen look, scrunching her nose to contort half of her chubby cheeked face out of symmetry.

“Don’t do that.” N’dare smoothed her cheeks. “It will get stuck like that.”
“No it won’t.” Ororo was quick to respond. “An’ if does then good. Won’t haveta go out.”

“Yeah, but then you won’t get to grow up to be beautiful like yor mamma,” David chuckled as he returned from the kitchen, a metal lunch case in one hand and a water bottle (for Ororo) in the other. “You wanna be like your mamma, don’ you?”
“Uhn,” the twin long silvery braids swayed slightly as the small head tilted as if in deep thought. “Umm, ‘k.”

“Good girl. Now kiss mamma bye and lets go. The bus comes in five minutes.”
“Oooh, bus ride,” cerulean eyes lit up again. “Hurry, hurry. We don’ wanna miss it.”

“Yeah, now she wants to go,” David chuckled as Ororo’s practically flew out of the room.

Bidding N’dare farewell, seconds later he too headed towards the elevator and impatient Ororo urging him to hurry up.

----

About three quarters of an hour later,

“Now don’t go running around,” David was instructing in a even but firm tone. “’specially not in there.” He gestured towards the huge warehouse like building about a hundred feet from then.

“’k.” Ororo nodded, pulling at the rather intricate and difficult to undo braiding that her mother had done. She did not understand why did she have to tie her at all. Why not just leave it open, especially in such a cool windy autumn day like this one. Moreover, if any other kid made any comment about the color of her hair, which was an almost given, she would get a free excuse to sock him or her….just as she had done to quite a few of the punters near her home.

“An’ no fightin’,” it was almost as if her pappa was able to hear what she was thinking. Maybe he could…just like the bald white man who had come to her school last month. ‘What was his name,’ Ororo wracked her brain. ‘Po…Por…Porefe….’

“Ororo?!”

“Huh. ‘k. No fightin’.” Ororo nodded quickly.

“Good girl.” The duo stopped as they reached a door. Usually the factory’s cafeteria, the one storey building had been turned into a play center for the smaller kids for the day. Of its six exits, only one was open today and that too had not one but two guards placed at it…so that none of the kids got out and lost his or herself. “Now go in. Your bag has your drawing books an’ colors…”
“An’ my W’nder Woman doll?” Ororo was quick to exclaim.
“An’ your Wonder Woman doll,” David patted her head and opened the door for her, nodding at the two men and the two lunch ladies on the other side.

Not even a foot inside and Ororo’s steps stilled at the large gathering inside.

“Pappa.” She drew back, looking up at her six foot plus father, her quivering lower lip and eyes conveying her apprehension.

“Hey. Come now,” David knelt to Ororo’s level, a protective arm draped over her shoulder. “Just fifteen minutes and then I’ll take you to show where I work. ‘kay?”

Daring another glance through the open door, Ororo gave a wary nod. “’kay.”

“Hey. Who’s a brave girl?” A gentle tickle under her chin and Ororo’s giggles rang out aloud.

“’m a brav’ girl. ‘m Ororo Monroe.”

“Good. Now go.”

This time when she entered, Ororo had her slim shoulders squared…almost as if going on a mission.

---

Some time later,

“Hey you.” Not getting a response from the solitary boy, Ororo threw her bag down on the table he was sitting at. “Hey!”

Starting at one end of the three hundred seating capacity cafeteria, Ororo soon made her way through the various groups which had formed all on their own. None of them appealed to her, not even the freaky clown that was putting up a show on one end of the hall. Looking for a place to set down her bag and water bottle, she stopped when at one end, away from all the other children, sat one single pale skinned boy. What was even more intriguing…not to mention odd was the way he was dressed. Even though Ororo herself had a sweater underneath her dress, not to mention her emergency full sleeved sweater in her bag, it was nothing compared to the polar trek garb that this boy had on. Along with thick pants, he also had a full jacket, the hood drawn up, with yet another cap peeking out from underneath it. Even his hands were covered up with woolen gloves.

‘Whatta weenie,’ thought Ororo, her feet finding themselves moving towards him.

“Hey.” The boy peeked out from underneath the heavy hood shading his face, his innocent eyes widening at the frown on Ororo’s face. “Sorry,” he apologized. Holding up his hands, and the GI Joes in them, as an explanation for his delayed response, he jerked his head to reveal more of his face. “Wanna play.”

“No way!” Ororo snapped at the strange boy, feeling sorry the next instant at the way he seemed to shrink into himself.

“’k.” Nodding slowly, the boy pulled his hood back, his face once again shrouded behind the mock fur front.

‘No fightin’.’ Her father’s warning echoing in her head, and feeling rather sorry for the way she had spoken to weenie, Ororo moved to the other side of the table, directly in front of the seemingly subdued boy. So intent was she making up for her actions and not causing any trouble for her pappa, that she did not even stop to think as to why none of the other children were sitting near this boy or why hadn’t he gone to play with the others.

“Hey.” She called out again, a little softer this time, watching intently as the boy warily lifted his head. “Sorry.”
“Sorry? For?”
“Yeah, sorry. For…for…sorry okay.”
“’k.” A near mute nod responded to her attempt at an apology.
“’k.” Thumping her bag down, she herself climbed onto the bench. “’m sittin’ here.” That was as close to a request as she was going to get.

“Whatcha playing?” She inquired as she settled down and flipped open her bag, reaching for her own doll.

Still in shock that someone was sitting on the same table as him, the boy mutely held out both of the action figures grasped in one hand, his free hand pushing forth a box containing more of them.

Leaning forward for a peek, Ororo tsked at the varied collection inside. GI Joe, Batman, Superman, Phantom, He-Man, and many others that she did not even know the names of, there was a lot of a them. But not the one that she looking for…and she was happy about that.

“You don’t have this one,” tilting her head up in pride, she set on the table, her foot tall Wonder Woman doll. Although not of the same quality as the boy’s dollies or as many, hers was the biggest one.

Even before the boy could respond, a rather pudgy woman cut into their conversation.

“Hey girl,” her voice boomed throughout the hall. “Get away from there.”

Frightened by the sudden intrusion, Ororo all but fell over the side, her doll slipping from her fingers.

“Go away. Don’t trouble the sweet child.” The salt n’ pepper hair woman cursed again. “Git.”

Not knowing what wrong had she committed exactly, Ororo understood enough to know that whatever it was, it had something….or everything to do with this boy.

Moving as fast as she could, her entire body shaking in fear, Ororo near about forgot her toy, only stopping when the boy pushed it towards her, along with a Batman and Superman figures of his. “Here. You can have these too. Make a…”

“I don’t want your things,” Ororo pushed the two toys away as she left the table. Slipping over the edge, both action figures hit the hard floor, Superman losing his head.

---

“Why’d you sit with him?” A boy sneered at Ororo as she hurried towards the door. “He’s a rich boy. Freak, always sick or something.”
“Hey, look at her hair,” another boy piped up. “Its white. Maybe she’s a freak too.”
“Yeah, she’s a freak.” A third youngster joined the first two. The three of them had just started chanting, ‘freak, freak, freak….’ When one of the previously closed doors was flung open, this time for a very special person.

Seeing her father accompanying the strange man, Ororo broke into a sprint, nearly barreling into David who got down just in time to catch her from slipping past him.
A flurry of tears and gesturing accompanied Ororo’s recounting of her story of how the fat lady had threatened her and how the others teased her about her hair.

Seeing the same woman fall in step with her and noticing that her father was walking towards the table where the boy who had got her scolded sat, she turned her face away, her slender arms tightening their grip.

“I am sorry Monroe,” Ororo’s ears perked up at the smooth cultured tone that the other man used. “What’s her name?”
“Ororo.” David answered as he gently tried to break Ororo’s hold around his neck.
“Sweet girl.” The man’s spoke again, his voice holding none of the anger that the old woman had had. “Come here son.”
“Yes sir.” The voice and a thump of small feet landing on tiles caused Ororo to tilt her head slightly and look down at the same boy with she had been sitting coming around the table towards her….well, towards his father.

“Ororo…Ororo.” The soft repeat of her name by the other man and a little forced help from her father and Ororo found herself looking at the young boy who had himself stepped behind his father, his gloved hands still holding the remains of his broken toy.

“Your name is Ororo?” The man, David’s boss and owner of the factory, John, deliberately softened his voice.
“Uhn-huh.” Wide eyed, her tears all but gone, Ororo nodded in response. “Ororo Monroe.” She stressed on her last name.

“That’s a very good name.” John returned with a smile. “This,” he drew out the boy to in front of him. “This is my son. Tell Ororo your name son.”

Craning his head to look up, first at his father and then at Ororo’s, the boy stepped forward and held out his hand to Ororo.

“’m James….James Howlett.”

Note: Don’t know what I have going on here, only that although the characters will have their mutant powers, this fic won’t (most probably) have the X-Men as we know them. Will have a little bit of everything.

Also, working on next updates for both X-ed and Y&T. Both of them are either too complex or too angsty for getting out rapid updates.

Made some changes in this chapters (the ending)....due to a different/later subplot.

Please Review!!





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