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8. Love and Loss

“Both”

Ororo’s last word rang in Logan’s ears as he entered back into Jubilee’s room.
She took one look at him and said “You like her.” It was more of a statement than a question.
“She’s OK.”
“Just OK.”
“Ok, she’s better than Ok.”
“I think she is ‘unique’ OK, not just normal OK.” She said suggestively.
“You don’t know what you are talking about.”
“As you wish. Although the others aren’t also that bad either. Miss Marie is young and Mrs. Summers is married.”

At the mention of Jean’s name Logan tensed, an action which didn’t go unnoticed by Jubilee.
“Wolvie, did something happen with Mrs. Summers?” she asked softly.
“I don’t want to talk about her” said Logan, walking to the window.

Jubilee decided not to push her luck and decided on a change of topic.
“Hey you didn’t checkout my new bed-spread.” She said hoping Logan would relax.
When Logan didn’t answer Jubilee stood up and went to where he was standing. “Logan….”she said, placing a hand on his arm.

Logan realized that Jubilee was worried, it was one of the few times she called by Logan.
Turning to face her slowly caressed her cheek and took a deep breath before speaking “Yeah looks great. Only the best for my Jubilee.”

Delighted that Logan had snapped out of his foul mood, she continued
“So when do I get to stay in that cabin of yours?”
“Soon. Get settled in, meet yer room mate. She’s a good girl. Kinda’ shy to start with. But once she gets going she’ll compete with you in jabbering.”
“Compete with me….no way. I am the Undisputed Unbeaten Queen of Gossip.” Said Jubilee with mock pride.
“I know. You give the old wives a run for their money. Come on change if you wanta. Its dinner time.”
“Just give me five minutes.” With that Jubilee ran into the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later they entered the dining room and everyone’s eyes immediately went to the odd couple. Jubilee was highly animated explain something to Logan who had an amused look on his face.

Ororo and Marie smiled at each other. They had witnessed a side of Logan they hadn’t been exposed to earlier. Scott gave them angry looks. He thought that any woman should avoid a man like Logan especially a teenager like Jubilee. Jean simply looked away tryig to avoid them.

The two men playing pool in the Rec room saw the couple too.
“Who’s that?” asked the tall giant gruffly.
“Dat Mon Ami is the newest student at ‘ere school.” Answered Remy Lebeau.
“So what is she doing with the runt” retorted Victor Creed.
“Runt?”
“Yeah…you know. Logan.”
“Oh. Dat petite be Logan’s friend.”
“Is she” said Creed giving them a hard look. He was even more aggravated when Ororo stepped forward to meet them. ‘The black bitch, she’ll smile and talk to the runt and avoid me. Just wait, I’ll get you soon bitch. You, your fuckin’ Logan and that tasty morsel he has in his hand.”
His thoughts were interrupted by Remy reminding him of his shot. He hung the pool cue on the wall and walked away.

Remy shook his head ‘Funny fella’ he thought and replaced his cue also and walked towards the small group collected around Jubilee.
“An’ who is this petite” he asked upon reaching the group.
Logan merely grunted so Ororo made the introductions.
“Remy this is Jubilee, the institute’s newest student and Jubilee this is Remy Leabeau one of our teachers.”
“Good evening Sir.” Said Jubilee bowing down.
“No No, you don’t call me sir, just Remy.” With that Remy bowed down and made his way to where Marie sat. If he had been a couple of years younger or Jubilee had been a couple of years older he would flirted with her. But not now, now he was in love with a woman and her pull had negated all of his flirtatious activities.

Dinner was served and Jubilee joined the rest of the children while Logan sat down with the teachers. He kept on turning to check on Jubilee until Ororo placed a hand on his forearm. “Logan she will be fine. Its only dinner.”
Logan nodded and started eating his dinner; however he checked again a couple of times before dinner end.

After dinner the students started moving towards their rooms. Jubilee came running up to where the teachers were sitting and stopped right next to the door.
“Psssst…….Wolvie. Hey…..Wolvie” she whispered.
Logan turned around in her chair to face her, but before he could speak, Charles answered.
“Come in Jubilee.”
Jubilee entered the room sheepishly “Sorry Professor, I didn’t mean to disturb your dinner.”
“It’s alright. Did you need anything?” inquired Charles.
“No No. I just wanted to say goodnight to Wolv….sorry…to Logan.”

Logan stood up and went to where Jubilee was standing.
“Sorry huh. I didn’t know you guys hadn’t finished eating.” She apologized.
“Hey its ok. Its not as if its going to run anywhere.”
Jubilee chuckled at his comment, “By the way, I met my roomie. A bit suburban, but I should be albe to work something out.”
“Now Jubes, you play nice. No nasty stuff.” Reminded Logan.
“ME…nasty stuff. You offend me old man.”
“OK OK, that’s enough kid. Now run off to bed.” He bent down and kissed Jubilee on her forehead. She in turn kissed him on both his cheeks, ruffled his hair and ran away to join her new friends.
The reaction from the people at the table had varied from amusement to happiness to anger, but Logan didn’t pay much attention to them. He quickly finished his dessert and stepped out for a smoke.

He was still smoking when he sensed her. In fact he smelled her, vanilla and sandalwood.
“You are smoking again?”
“So you come to scold me again. I had thought we had got over that.”
Ororo faintly smiled “No I didn’t some to scold you or fight with you. I came to remind of our deal. Tomorrow morning 6 AM. I’ll be at your door.” With that she turned away but stopped short at Logan’s response.
“I’ll be waiting with open arms.” He answered with a chuckle.
‘Two can play this game’ she thought. “Well don’t expect me to fall so easily into them.” With that she walked away, confident she had the last word.
However as she reached the front door she heard “I can wait.” She whirled around to find no one there.

Later that night, the cell phone rang again.
“Yeah”
“What’s the latest news? Why haven’t taken care of our little problem.”
“I am waiting for the right moment. In six weeks he tests the new security system of the north wing. That’s when it ends. And we just got a bargaining chip.”
“What type of bargaining chip?”
“It seems that he has a girl he fawns over. Real firecracker that one.”
“Now listen to me Victor. Stop thinking with your dick and use your brain for one in your life. It was this thinking that got you thrown out of the army and from your last job too.”
“Yes Sir Mr. Lehnsherr.”
“And don’t use my name on the phone. Call me Magnus or Magneto.”
“Yes Sir.”
With that the phone call ended. ‘Asshole. Once this thing is over, I’ll get you too.’

The next few weeks went along smoothly. Jubilee adjusted easily to the new environment and made quite a few friends. Her best friend was still Logan but now she had new best ‘girl’ friend, Kitty Pryde, her roommate. They used to gossip late into the night about the days events.

Meanwhile much to Jubilee’s delight, Ororo and Logan had grown closer. Thrice a week Logan used to teach Ororo Tai Chi while on the three alternating days Ororo used to teach him dancing. They had even started meeting on Sundays after lunch. They used to walk around the forest examining the various species of flora and fauna.

On one such Sunday they were walking side by side. Logan had recently discovered several mushrooms growing under an old fallen tree trunk. The terrain was rough and Ororo was having a difficult time walking. All of a sudden Logan caught her hand and pulled her closer to him.
“Wha…” she stopped when Logan placed a finger on his lips. He then pointed to the lake. Looking towards the direction he had pointed to she saw a small herd of deer. As they watched, they could see that the does were guarding the two fawns. Soon the deer left after having their fill of water.
“That was….amazing.” whispered Ororo.
“Nature usually is, darlin’” As they got up and started walking Logan didn’t let go of Ororo's hand, rather slipped his fingers between hers and holding her hand firmly.

Ororo smiled at this action. Over the past couple of weeks she had begun to have thoughts about Logan. Thoughts that weren’t friendly in the least, but romantic and erotic thoughts. She often wondered if Logan shared her feelings, but wasn’t sure how to approach him. Her past experience had left her deeply scarred and conscious of herself. Now holding his hand those thoughts came back. She gathered her courage and “Logan.”
“Hmm.”
“I have something to tell you and something to ask you.”
Logan looked towards her and smiled “Go ahead.”
“I…I wanted to say…..” she was interrupted by a loud call “Wolvie…….Wolvie….”
“Now what does Jubilee want?” muttered Logan. Looking towards Ororo “Hold that thought for a minute?” he said apologetically.
Ororo merely nodded her head.
As they emerged from the woods Ororo saw Jubilee, but her attention was drawn to the beautiful white, raven haired woman standing next to her. Jubilee was talking to her like they were old friends. When Logan saw her, he freed his hand from Ororo and waved at her. Ororo felt her heart drop.
“Hey Sage, howz’ it goin’?” asked Logan reaching near her. Jubilee said bye to Sage and started walking towards the mansion.
Sage hugged him and kissed him on his cheek, leaving a bright red lip stain. She then turned to face Ororo. Raising an eyebrow she asked “This is….?”
Logan turned towards Ororo. “This is Ms. Ororo Monroe. She is a teacher here at Xavier’s and a good friend.” “Ororo this is Tessa Sage. We have been together since our early days in the army.”
Ororo smiled at Sage and shook her hand. “I’ll leave you two alone. I am sure you have a lot of catching up to do.” With that she turned and started towards the mansion.
Logan looked at her back and whispered “Ororo.”

“I am sorry Logan” said Sage.
Logan turned towards her “What for darlin’?”
“For ruining your date” she answered.
“Huh…Na darlin’ this wasn’t any date. We just get together and unwind on Sundays.” Logan replied half heartedly.
“Then why does it seem if someone drove a spike through your and her heart?”
“Whatta ye talking about Sage? I said we ‘re just friends didn’t I.”
“Keep telling your self. I saw you two holding hands and the look on her face when you pulled yours’ away. And I also saw the look on your face when she left you and walked away.”

“Get to the point Sage. Why ‘re you here?” asked Logan curtly.
Sage sighed. Logan never got emotionally involved with any of the women he ‘dated’. But this felt different to her. However, sensing Logan’s walls starting to come up she decided to leave the topic for now.
“I have news for you. Is there someplace where we can sit and talk in private? I have some important and useful information for you.”
“Sure” With that he led her to the gazebo near the mansion.

Ororo watched the couple from inside her room. As she watched she felt her eyes get wet. Wiping her eyes with her hands she looked at the tear stains on her hands and wondered had this happened. She was crying for a man who had always acted as a friend towards her. Sure he flirted with her just as she had flirted with him. But somewhere along the line her feeling deepened. She thanked the goddess for avoiding her great shame. She was going to tell Logan about her feelings. If she had done that she would have lost face and lost him as a friend.

She looked at the two of them and thought ‘She’s a perfect match for Logan. Not like me, with my freaky white hair and blue eyes on a dark skin.’ She had thought of herself as beautiful once, just like her name said. Even Logan had said it the first time they met. But after Forge’s betrayal he had lost all confidence and had avoided dating altogether. ‘Well if you don’t get into the boat, you don’t risk capsizing.’

As she watched both of them got and started walking towards Sage parked Mercedes SLK. Logan had his hand slung over Sage’s shoulders. On reaching the vehicle they hugged each other and Sage kissed Logan again on the cheek. Ororo felt like a voyeur and turned away from the balcony.

At the same time,
Starting her vehicle Sage turned to face Logan.
“Logan”
“Yeah Darlin’”
“Tell her……before it’s too late”
Logan nodded his head “But what if she doesn’t feel the same way? I don’t wanna lose her as a friend.”
Sage thought for a while. “Don’t tell I love directly. Start with something else. Something simpler, but something she’ll understand. And make sure it doesn’t fall in the friend zone.”
When Logan didn’t answer, Sage continued. “Think it over, but like I said, don’t be late otherwise someone else may beat you to the punch.”
With that comment she drove away leaving a very confused Logan.
“I need to get a drink.” With that Logan hopped on his bike and took off for Harry’s.

When Logan didn’t come for dinner Ororo assumed that he had left with Sage for the night. What she didn’t know was that at the same time Logan was trying to gather courage and words to tell her about his wishes.
“Ororo, I like ya……Ya are more than a friend to me….Ya are in my heart. Aaahh crap. What do I say to her that doesn’t sound corny or crude?”
Suddenly it struck Logan, ‘Yeah that’ll work. I’ll ask her out for dinner and tell her then. First thing tomorrow morning when she comes for the run.’ With his spirits raised, he fell to sleep happily.

The next day Logan waited till 6:45 for Ororo, but she didn’t come. ‘Maybe slept in late. Will catch her at lunch.’

On reaching his office, he contacted Xavier for a meeting. Xavier asked him to come right over.

About an hour later,
“Are you sure this information is correct?”
“I’ll bet my life on this Chuck.”
“This is serious to the school and the children. I call a meeting of the teachers immediately.”
“Ah Chuck, if we keep the group as small as possible, atleast for sometime” said Logan.
“Sure. The less people know, the less chance of rumors and panic.”
“Exactly.”
“I’ll ask the senior teachers to meet me her Wednesday morning. You will be there>”
“If ya want me.”
“Sure. You have more knowledge about all of this than any of us.”
“Ok Chuck.”
“Thank you Logan for bringing this to my notice.”

Logan searched for Ororo at lunch and again at dinner. It seems that she was ill or busy or something, but she didn’t want to be disturbed. Deciding to leave her alone for the night, Logan retired to his cabin. However when the same thing occurred the next day, he decided to do something about it.

At 6 PM he climbed the stairs to Ororo’s loft apartment. Knocking the door he got a soft reply from inside, “Yes”
“’Ro it’s me, Logan.”
“What do you want Logan?”
“I just wanted to talk. I am worried about ya. Please just ten minutes.”

There were footsteps and then the door was unlocked. Logan opened the door to come face to face with a tired looking Ororo. Stepping inside he closed the door behind him.
“Why are ya trying ta avoid me?” asked Logan abruptly.
“I am not trying to avoid you. I haven’t been feeling well” answered Ororo.
“Bull. Everyone in the mansion and school has seen you in the last couple of day, except me.”
“Oh, I hadn’t noticed” said Ororo, trying to sound unconcerned.

Logan was taken aback with her flippant attitude. “Ororo did I do something wrong. We were having such a good time and suddenly you are angry with me.”
Ororo felt her heart breaking. Didn’t he realize what he was doing to her? However, she kept her face calm and emotionless. “No Mr. Logan, you haven’t done anything wrong. Although, I feel we should limit our interaction to a professional level.”
“But our runs, dances and forest hikes. We had such a great time.”
“Well I suggest that you look to your older and closer friends for that.”
“’Ro…..” he sadly muttered.
“Please leave me and address me as Miss. Monroe from now on.”

Logan was getting angry. He didn’t understand the reason behind the sudden change in Ororo. Things had been so great. It was the same thing all over, just like it had been with Jean. He was being dumped like old trash.
“Very well Miss. Monroe” he spoke gritted teeth. “You can be all high and mighty. I came here ‘cause I wanted to tell you something personal, but I shoulda realized it was too good to be true. You played me like a pro jus’ so you could have your fifteen minutes of fun at my cost. Well I hope I was able to amuse you, ‘cause I sure feel like the joker here. Good bye and Good riddance.”

With that he stormed out the door slamming it behind him. Ororo stood there for five minutes and then sudden collapsed to the ground crying and feeling drained.





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