** ** indicates telepathic communication.
‘ ’ indicates thought
“ ” indicates spoken words
The marriage ceremony is over….and so is the celebration party.
He is sitting, alone, there but not there, watching from afar the joy on the faces of everyone present.
The bride and groom, both are the happiest they have ever been in their lives. They have finally found the togetherness that had eluded them time and again.
He can sense their emotions, the depth of their love and dedication for each other.
They have given their test of fire and its not destroyed them. It has only made them stronger.
Yet, he sits there, remembering the events of the past, looking over the people starring in those memories.
------
It had only been a short time since the Alkali Lake incident and things were slowly coming back to normal.
Logan had stayed back to help with the school, something that surprised everyone, except for the young girl who had become a woman in her own right during that terrifying event.
‘Something good always comes out of the bad,’ had been his thought, watching the unapproachable loner and the untouchable teenager, strengthen and guide each other.
It had all been going along smoothly until that day…the day two of his oldest students suddenly became strangers.
He never tried to find out what happened between them, not because he couldn’t, but because he didn’t want to intrude upon their privacy.
And even though time healed that wound too, things were never the same between them.
And that led to more problems in the future.
-----
Looking at each of them now, he feels the almost familiar level of camaraderie. She is the Storm, she takes everything in her step. She is that way.
He is the team-leader. He has to take everything in his step. He has learnt to do it.
The redhead standing next to him has played a big part in that journey, one that started the first day each of them came to him, young, inexperienced, fearful of the world around them.
They have learned to control their gifts and during their time here, have found love with each other. Found and almost lost it as well.
That leads him to his next subject, the platinum blonde woman dressed in her familiar and almost standard white.
-----
“Scott, Ororo, I would like you to meet Ms. Emma Frost,” he had been the one to introduce the newcomer to his two oldest teachers. “She will be teaching in our school for this term, possibly the next,” he had added with a smile that didn’t reflect on the faces of any of the three people present. “I would like you to help her get settled and get up to speed with our curriculum.”
“Yes Professor,” the white haired weather witch had answered serenely.
“Anything else Professor?” the withdrawn Scott has asked impatiently. He didn’t like the fact that new teacher was a telepath. He felt a sense of betrayal to his departed lover. It was as if they were trying to replace her.
How things would change within the next six months, even he couldn’t have fathomed then.
----
Jean came back, and is standing not twenty feet from him, looking stunning in her designer wedding gown, laughing and leaning on the shoulder of her husband.
Next to her is the maid-of-honor, the always-regal Ororo.
Their friendship has had its shaky times too, and just like the love of her two friends, Ororo’s friendship with either of them has bested all odds and risen above it.
She is happy, for each of them and hopeful for the life that lies before them.
She is happy for herself too, but not completely. Her happiness comes from being with the people who love her and whom she loves in return. But even then, there is something in her eyes that troubles the telepath. Something that he hadn’t seen for a long time and something he has been seeing frequently in the past ten months…..although with the passage of time, that look is fading in its frequency.
And that gives him hope
-----
“Ororo,” he had found her as usual in her greenhouse garden. It had been his gift to her on her eighteenth birthday, which had come during her second year at the institute.
“Yes Professor,” she looked up from the young sapling she was tending too.
“Nice day,” he had started with small talk, knowing that she would instantly get to the point…if she wanted to.
“Yes,” she answered with nary a glance at the clear blue sky.
“Yours,” he hinted towards her weather control powers.
“No,” the corners of her lips twitched just the barest bit. “I cannot tale credit for this. It is all thanks to the Mother Goddess.”
“Ororo,” his concerned tone had made her turn to him again. “You know you can come to me any time you want. My doors and ears are always open for you.”
“Thank you Charles,” the fact that she had used his name, told him that she didn’t want to discuss the topic he was hinting to….not now nor in the foreseeable future. “I will.”
He returned her plastic smile with a tender one of his own.
“Very well child. As you wish.”
-----
He is still waiting for that meeting, though with each passing day, the chances and the need for it seem to be fading.
She too has found a friend to share her time with, although if he is a replacement or a stand in for the one that left, he still doesn’t know.
He knows the reason for his leaving, even without entering the younger man’s mind he knows. After all its not the first time he has seen such a thing happen, and it wasn’t the last.
He has seen it again, both with the bride and groom and with the untouchable young woman standing away from the crowd.
She stands there, not only because of her mutation, but also because she doesn’t want to think about the things that she might never have…..marriage, a husband, children. It hurts too much to think.
He can empathize somewhat. He had felt the same way a few years ago, when he lost the use of his legs.
------
“Rogue, how are you feeling?” It was their weekly session to try to help the girl learn control over her skin. Even though, they were basically shooting in the dark, the young woman took to it with a gusto.
Except for that day.
“Ah’m fahne Professah,” even her usually lively drawl seemed tired and lifeless.
“Would you like to talk about it?” he offered kindly. He didn’t need his telepathy to know about her state of mind, it was all displayed on her pleasant visage.
“Its-its….” She started not once but a couple of times, finally shaking her head in denial. “Ah don’t wanna talk about it.”
“Is it about Logan?” he knew about the effect that his leaving had had on the teenager. He had taken the position of one of the two most important men in her life. Apart from a romantic interest, which she had in the Louisianan Gambit, the status of the gruff Canadian spanned from an older brother to an uncle, encompassing everything in between, including her best friend and closed confidant.
“Ah said AH DON’T WANNA TALK ABOUT IT,” her voice grew louder and cracked with emotion.
------
He regretted that mishap too. He did not know at that time that only the previous day she had had breakup and was still reeling from its aftereffects.
She is also alone in the crowd. The only two men she was completely comfortable with are not with her. One is thousands of miles away, somewhere in the Canadian wilderness, wile the other…the other is here, but not with her, not anymore.
They are going through a troubled time, something he blames himself for in a way.
Had he not asked the telepath to come to the school, his team-leader would have turned to him with his emotional problems and fears. Instead, he turned to her, leaving the woman he loved and who was in a fragile state herself, all alone.
She too could have come to him, but she didn’t. She wanted the love of a man….physical love, something tangible. Something that would make her feel alive.
That man in turn was falling in love for the very first time in his life. Not with the one who everyone expected him to be with, but with the other one. The one who always stayed in the background, working away from the limelight.
As for herself, the woman he was in love with, was still carrying the wounds of her previous love’s betrayal. Fearing the same this time around, she kept him at an arm’s length.
---
What happened between the both of them, he doesn’t know. Whatever it is; is buried deep in their psyches.
He wishes that he knew…
….That way he could try to solve it.
He could try and help them.
Note: Hope you liked my first take with Charlie Xavier. I hope you realised that it was him, otherwise it will be a failure on both my and your part.
Tried to get his views on everyone involved. Please review and let me know about your thoughts.
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