A Summer of Sunsets
Chapter #14, “Reunion, pt. 2”
July 17th, 2004
Just Before Dawn…
Everything was dark.
It wasn’t that comforting, blissful void that’s oh-so-fleeting between consciousness & The Abyss, but instead a smothering suffocation with a cold reality that reminded her of Death…
Ororo’s body jerked out of sleep, and of course she had absolutely no clue where she was, as the fresh ocean breeze moved over her from an unknown source and a delightful aroma tickled her nose.
Squeezing her eyes as if to prepare them, she finally blinked the lids open, inhaling deeply and catching the unmistakable smell of breakfast cooking. As she sat up on the couch, sizzling sounds floated in from the kitchen, and she looked that way briefly before turning her eyes to the opened windows across the room, where the early morning breeze had been let in. The sky outside was still several shades of blue with a little pink, clarifying how early it was. At any moment the sun would make its appearance, giving the living canvas a whole new palette of colors to play with.
Sitting up, she ran a hand through her hair, scratching her head as she struggled to recall the dream (nightmare) from moments before, but already it had almost completely slipped from her mind. It wasn’t the first time in the past few weeks she’d had nightmares, and unfortunately she had trouble remembering the contents of even a single one. She had promised herself to see her father about it, but kept putting that meeting off; Charles had enough to worry about these days without the added worry of her subconscious stressors.
“Ti-i-i-ime is on my side”yes it is!” Came blaring from the kitchen suddenly, and she turned in that direction, recognizing Mick’s voice over the radio, as well as the deep, usually gruff voice whistling an accompaniment from the kitchen.
About to stand, she glanced down at herself, still wearing His warm flannel shirt…which had now been partially buttoned up. Staring at the dark plastic circles she knew she hadn’t touched since releasing them the night before, Ororo’s throat suddenly tightened as memories assaulted her.
With a slightly narrowed gaze, she turned her head slowly to the coffee table across from her to see her clothes from the evening before neatly folded in a pile and her newly cleaned tennis shoes carefully placed beneath the glass-topped furniture piece.
She sighed”for many reasons, for no reason”and stood finally, her mind made up. Just as she came to the table and reached for the clothes, she heard His voice from the door’s threshold behind her.
“Hey there.”
Ororo paused, still reaching out toward the clothes, and turned to look at him, a level of dispassion in her cool blue eyes.
Logan didn’t need to be close to sense her aloof attitude; he couldn’t remember ever seeing her eyes that pale of a blue. The ice in them was almost enough to chill him to the bone. ‘Uh oh.’
“I made breakfast.” He said lamely, pointing a thumb behind him.
Picking up her clothes, Ororo was already shaking her head, her eyes turned away from him. “Uhm, that’s okay. I think I’d better just”“
“Ororo.”
She stopped, but didn’t look up. It only took a couple of seconds before he was standing right next to her, his hands at his sides, his head cocked at an angle just a little as he looked down at her. Ororo’s eyes narrowed, but she could still see him peripherally, standing there all handsome and yummy in just a pair of comfy USMC sweatpants riding low on his narrow hips, his hair still wet from a morning shower. Trying very hard not to want to look up at him, she bore holes in her clothes with her eyes, straightening her posture as she refolded them needlessly (anything to keep her attention from those rock-hard abs and 20 inch biceps…).
Logan peered at her, a mixture of confusion and guilt on his face for a moment before he reached out one hand. Grasping her fingers as they held onto her clothes tightly, he pulled her hand open, taking the shirt and pants and dropping them back to the table. He reached up to hold her shoulders for a moment, looking at her face, but she still refused to meet his gaze.
“Ro.”
“Yes.” Still not looking…
“Have somethin’ to eat. We gotta talk. After that, if yer still mad, then…” He trailed off, leaving her options quite open.
At her hesitance, Logan dropped his arms, but held onto her left hand briefly before sliding his to her back, hugging her as much as she’d allow, and then propelling them toward the kitchen slowly.
---
They ate mostly in silence, sitting adjacent to each other at the island counter. He’d prepared quite a feast, laid out around them on the tabletop. Hot maple sausage, southern style hash browns, bacon, eggs (prepared 3 ways) and homemade Belgian waffles were generously accented with vanilla yogurt and an impressive display of a variety of sweet fruits. Of course he knew she didn’t eat meat, and he was glad he’d been to the market recently and had enough forethought to shop with her in mind.
At that thought, Logan realized just how much he had been thinking about them, like this, and he could fully understand now Ororo’s confusion (and hurt) at his ‘rejection’ the night before. Looking up from his high protein plate of goodies, he slowed in his chewing, watching her carefully dip ripe strawberries in a yogurt cup. Her movements told him she was deep in thought, and he knew exactly what those thoughts were.
“Darlin, if ya swirl that ‘berry in yogurt any harder, it’s gonna be ‘Blended Fruit’.” He observed, with only a twinkle of a smile.
Blinking, she looked at the abused strawberry, then put it aside on her plate, looking up at him. “I’m sorry, I’m just…uncomfortable.”
“I know.” He jammed a forkful of eggs into his mouth, chewing quickly before elaborating, “F’that, I’m sorry.”
Forgetting his food, Logan pushed the plates away, and dragged his stool a little closer to hers, so he was barely a foot away, as if they needed the extra privacy. Laying a hand on hers, he tipped her chin with his other hand, looking deeply into her eyes.
“That’s the last thing I want ya to feel around me, it’s just…” He stopped, for the first time a little unsure of where he was going with that statement.
When he paused, a look close to sympathy came over her face, and then she squeezed his hand when she saw the genuine conflict in his gaze. “Just what?”
Swallowing, he licked his lips, then met her eyes, searching them. “I think what we got goin’ here is pretty good. Really good, matter-of-fact. And I don’t wanna ruin it.”
Her change in posture told him a lot, and he quickly amended. “There’s no rush. Right?”
Ororo opened her mouth, about to question his reluctance, when she stopped, and really thought about it. Why was she so upset, anyway? Even Ro had to admit that she wasn’t sure exactly how far she would have let them go the night before. “That depends, Logan.”
“On?”
“What, exactly, we are doing.”
“What would you like us to be ‘doing’…besides the obvious.” He chuckled a little, but straightened up at her stern look.
“I asked you first.”
“No ya didn’t.”
“Logan”“
“Seriously, Ro…I…” He stopped himself, but the look she was giving him made Logan pause more. He knew that after weeks of dancing around the question, he’d have to eventually make some concrete assertions. Obviously, Ororo was a woman who didn’t take anything to chance”even relationships.
Lifting a palm to her cheek, Logan rested it there, then stroked the soft, silky skin, making her turn her face into his touch, despite herself. Ororo’s eyes fluttered closed briefly, and a look came over her face before she reached up to grab his fingers. She didn’t pull them away, though, just held them. Tightly.
“I…I care about you.”
Her expression seemed a little pained for a second, before opening her eyes and looking at him. “But..?”
“I ain’t ready fer that.” He said honestly. “Not yet.”
She nodded, and knew that she’d respect his decision. “Mind if I ask why?”
Brushing his fingers into her hair, down her neck, Logan didn’t hesitate. “My life right now doesn’t really allow what I’d want fer us, Darlin. Never really has. Part of the reason I ain’t married t’day.”
She watched him, inwardly gauging if he was being truthful, believing that he was.
“For the moment, I wanna leave it there. Is that alright with you?”
She only nodded, full of questions, but trying desperately to quell them…For the moment. “For now.”
“Deal. I know ya got questions…” ‘Do I want ya to have answers?’
“I do. But like you said, there’s no rush. We’ve got time, right?” She watched him stand, coming close to circle her in an embrace.
“Yeah, Darlin, we got time.”
---
July 17th
Later in the afternoon…
“We DON’T have time for this!” Scott was nearly about to tear his own hair out, vainly attempting to get the small gathering of Charles’ guests to agree on one small, crucial detail.
Marie looked over at him, by now bored with the whole affair, and blew a silky auburn tendril of hair out of her eyes. “Ya know Scott, it isn’t the end of the world.”
“Whatever Marie.”
Beth chose not to comment on the sour grapes between the two, instead directing her comment to the group at large. “Instead of trying to figure out a way t’get Charles back in time for the Reunion, why not just bring the Reunion ahead to meet him?”
The murmuring side-conversations ceased immediately, and even Scott & Marie stopped their eye-dagger throwing long enough to give that some consideration.
“Elizabeth…” Kurt’s gold eyes brightened, if possible, as his disposition lit up. “Dat’s a vunderful idea!”
“Yeah…” Scott stroked his smooth chin, the gears in his head working. They had no hope of pushing the reunion back until Charles & Erik returned from Genosha (God only knew when that was going to be, anyway), and besides, the guests were sure to have to return to their individual lives by then. But moving the date up..? It seemed such a simple, obvious idea, he wondered why he hadn’t thought of it.
“Hi everyone.”
Heads turned and eyes bugged as they caught sight of Ororo rounding the corner, going to one of the refrigerators to get a bottle of water.
“Guten tag.”
“Hey Ro.”
“Mornin’, Luv.”
“Hey Sugah…” Marie’s eyes twinkled, even though she tried her damnedest to stop grinning.
Scott was the only one who remained silent, his eyes trained on her every move. He had heard enough gossip to figure out that she was seeing someone, but much more than that he couldn’t guess. He didn’t think much of it initially, until she had begun disappearing almost every other day. When he caught Marie & Beth’s conversation earlier that morning, discovering that Ororo hadn’t returned home the night before…well, let’s just say it gave him more than a ‘pause’.
“Are we having a ‘family meeting’?” She smiled, coming to stand between Marie and Beth, who happily acknowledged their sister with knowing grins.
“Yeah, we’re planning on moving the Reunion date up so the Professor can attend.” Bobby supplied, snacking on a bowl of popcorn.
“Hm. That sounds like a good idea. I think he’d love that.” Ororo reached over and stole a handful, barely pulling her hand back before he could swat at it.
---
The particulars were quickly ironed out right there in the kitchen, and with their duties each of the co-conspirators dispersed to handle his/her business.
Marie was just about to pull Ororo away”no doubt to begin the Inquisition about the events of the previous night”when Scott raised his head from where he was busy writing down a list of who had what task.
“Ro, do you have a minute?”
Elbowing Marie to leave her alone (the Belle could tell she didn’t mean it really, and kept pestering her), Ororo looked up at Scott, unaware (or ignoring?) his quiet, aloof demeanor, and stifling a laugh at her sister, responded, “Sure, Scott. Marie”Marie; La-ter.”
The younger sister recognized the private look, knowing that the last thing Ororo was about to do was get into that conversation with Scott sitting right there. Her grin showed Ro that she was greedily anticipating their conversation, and she winked. “Sure. Beth & Ah’ll be upstairs when yer done.”
Rolling her eyes, Ororo let out something close to a scoffing laugh, but smiled to herself, her sister’s excitement heightening her own. When she turned to Scott, however, all traces of where (and with whom) her thoughts were, vanished into thin air.
“Yes, Scott?”
He kept writing for a few seconds, as if finishing a train of thought, before he looked up at her. “I realize you’re a busy woman these days, so I won’t keep you long.”
She almost took a step backward at his look and the unmistakably accusatory tone behind that remark. For a second she didn’t reply as he went back to the list, then crossing her arms, “I missed a couple minutes of a family chat about a party…I’m not one of your peons in the Fleet, Scott.”
He didn’t even flinch at her scathing tone, but did pause from writing again. “No, but you are supposed to be helping me put this reunion together. Something you seem to have forgotten, lately.”
“…Excuse me?”
The shadows in the kitchen changed drastically and a not-so-distant rumble beyond followed the sudden shift in cloud-cover outside.
Despite the very real threat, Scott looked up at her, silent, his eyebrow raised. Standing before him, Ororo’s eyes had just barely begun to cloud over white, flickering a milky shade over her usually startling blues.
It took every ounce of patience and calm within her not to fry his ass right where he was so smugly sitting. With the tense morning she’d already had, Ororo was in no mood to indulge Scott Summers’ bruised ego, nor his childish jealousy.
“Careful, Ro,” he pushed her buttons further, gathering his writing materials as if ready to depart, “You wouldn’t want Charles to see you lose your temper like that.”
With a short, low growl, Ororo imitated a look she’d seen Logan give once or twice before. She knew Scott was testing her, waiting for her to blow up and give him some more ammunition to work with, and it was that thought alone that kept her from giving him the satisfaction. As the weather cooled outside, and her eyes flickered back to blue, she gave a deep sigh, leaning on the table beside him.
“Yes, you’re right Scott…I shouldn’t have left you with all the work. We both know how hard it is for you to make a choice; especially when it really matters.” With that, she swiped her list from the table, turned and left.
He only barely turned in his seat, his eyes lowered behind his glasses. The expression on his face was mixed somewhere between defiance and pride with a shake of annoyance thrown in for good measure. He sat in the room alone for several seconds before finally reaching into his pants pocket and pulling out his cell.
‘Okay Ro; you wanna make this hard? I’ll give You the Choice to make…’
His phone’s SIM card held a contact number he hadn’t used in a long, long time, but he knew it was still good. She would have told him if it changed. After only two rings it clicked over, and Scott grinned knowingly.
“Hello, Emma.”
---
Later that day, a soft knock rapped upon Charles’ door to his bedroom, and he smiled warmly as Ororo came in. His daughter was completely radiant as usual, but her face was marred slightly with a look of concern he expected from her each day since she’d learned of his illness.
“Ororo, halili.” Charles’ Swahili was still flawless as he used an endearment from her youth.
She graced him with a smile, coming to sit beside him on the bed, her usual spot when she needed to talk. “Daddy…”
His smile faltered a little; Charles couldn’t remember the last time she’d called him that. It took him back to the early days; the hard times when he wasn’t sure he had done right by her by taking on her upbringing. It was always said in such an emotional way, and was so now, bringing Charles to wrap his arm about her shoulder, pulling her close.
Ororo rested her head against his collarbone, hugging him tightly and sighing. She wasn’t sure exactly what it was that told her she needed to see him, but she didn’t fight it. Ro had learned years ago to trust those instincts; when her “Psychic Voice”, as Charles called it once, spoke, she listened.
“What’s on your mind? You seem troubled.”
Ro thought about that question for a minute, unsure if she wanted to lay her seemingly superficial problems at his lap. Finally she just shook her head, “Nothing. Not now. Can I just stay here for a little while?”
He could feel her attempts to quell her emotional broadcast, and didn’t push her to elaborate or explain. Charles could tell Ororo’s emotions were all over the board”as were her thoughts. Hoping for a little levity, he smiled, “I hope you all aren’t about to strangle each other over the details of the reunion party.”
“They told you already?”
“It’s kind of hard to keep secrets from me.”
She couldn’t have understood the cryptic aspect of that comment, and replied, “Sometimes. Well, to answer your question, no, not really. I mean, yeah, I’m thinking about the reunion, but…”
“Other things have gotten your attention.”
“Yes.”
Charles was trying to be discreet without coming right out and telling her he knew she hadn’t come home the night before. He was inwardly livid at Howlett for what he perceived as the man taking advantage of his daughter, but Charles was not about to confront Ororo about it; he knew better than to do that. *Well, if you need to talk--*
*I know.* She squeezed his torso a little harder before murmuring, “thanks.”
*Well, not to change the subject, but I really appreciate the thought of moving the reunion up. I’ll have to tell Erik once he returns tomorrow.*
*Hm. I can’t take credit for it, but I agree it’s a good idea. I can’t imagine having it without you.*
Charles smiled a little somberly, reaching up to stroke her head carefully. A thought hit him, but he tried to hide his true intent through their link. *Ororo?*
*Yes sir?*
*You know, your new friend is more than welcome--*
“Dad…” She cut him off, shaking her head with a short laugh. “I’m not sure if I’m ready to subject him”or myself”to that torture.”
Charles laughed, not sensing her other reasons for possibly wanting to keep Logan out of her family’s line of sight. Ororo wasn’t even sure of the state of their relationship”despite the assurances she’d given Logan earlier that morning. She had a lot to think about already without having to worry about him mixed in with her crazy “Peoples”.
“No? Not even for your old man?” He hated himself for turning on the charm and guilt factors so high, but right then the ends had to justify the means.
Of course he knew he had but to say that before she leaned up, looking deeply into his eyes. “It means that much to you?”
“To meet this man that’s put such an adoring look in your eyes?”
She knew she had to be blushing, ducking her head a little before lying back against his chest. Ororo knew she couldn’t deny her father any request, just as he knew the same about himself and her. They indulged each other, it was true, but in that father/daughter, “Daddy’s Little Girl” sort of way.
“I’ll think about it. How’s that?” She amended, but knew in her heart it was almost a done deal. Charles knew that too.
“Thanks.”
---
It had been several days before Logan was finally convinced that she was avoiding him. He & Ro had missed their usual evening meetings four days in a row, and with his return to duty (well, he had to get through Physicals first, but he wasn’t worried about that) he found his down-time in short supply.
With 12 to 14 hour days in pre-mission prep sessions, Medical examinations and psyche appointments, it had gotten to Thursday of the next week before he finally made himself take a breather, thinking about their last conversation.
Logan wasn’t sure now if he handled things well with her. Telling half-white lies on top of it surely didn’t make him feel any better, but he had convinced himself (at the time) that it was in her own best interest. Now…
---
Picking up the phone, he dialed her number quickly; it had long since been memorized, but not put into the device’s memory. As he listened to the rings, he tried to decide
exactly how he was going to dig himself out of this hole without coming clean. When her voice came over the line, he smiled immediately”until he realized he’d gotten voice mail.
Logan took the phone away from his ear, looking at it in his hand for a moment before placing it back and saying, “Hey, It’s Logan. Gimme a call.”
Snapping the phone shut, he put it down on the nightstand beside the bed, and just stared at it for a moment. He’d never gotten her voice mail before. It was so far out of their routine, he wasn’t even sure what to make of it; if he should make anything of it at all.
Pushing down the weird feeling in the pit of his stomach, Logan turned away from the phone, getting up to get dressed and go for a run.
TBC…
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