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Chapter 2

After dinner and the following clean-up, Kendall retired to her attic bedroom. The attic was formally occupied by her parents, but they gave it to her for her seventeenth birthday. Logan and the other male x-men had built a log cabin out in the woods, not too far away from the mansion. Her parents now lived out there, giving Kendall the space she wanted.

The attic had always been her sanctuary. Ever since she was little, Kendall could come up here and be herself. Not just the smart, well- behaved, weather witch in training that everyone else expected her to be. Even while her parents still lived in it, the attic was her escape. It was large enough for her to amuse herself for hours, poking her nose into every crack and corner. Her mother would try to keep her out of the darker places, but her father liked to let her explore.

Kendall got into all sorts of mischief when she was younger, but after her powers developed, control became the most important word in her vocabulary. If she lost it for a second, a lot of damage could occur. Her abilities were linked to her emotions, she trained herself to show as little emotion as possible in public. In the attic, she could scream, cry, laugh, and just plain old jump up and down whenever she wanted, without causing too much of an atmospheric disturbance.

Kendall entered her room and flopped down on the bed. She stared up through the skylight and admired the stars. The full moon shone through the skylight, throwing light on and around her bed. The rest of the room was still dark.

"It smells like old coats up here." Kendall thought to herself.

She got up and went over to a small table and lit several candles. The largest of which was sandalwood scented, and her favorite. Kendall picked it up and used it to light more candles scattered around the attic. Her task completed, she placed the sandalwood candle in its original place and stood in the center of the room. She looked around and smiled contentedly.

"Now we need some music."

Music was Kendall's obsession. She loved all kinds of music, but Jazz was her personal favorite. It could calm her down when she felt like electrocuting someone and hype her up for her morning workouts. Kendall could play the piano herself and had even won a scholarship in an amateur competition.

She stood in front of her stereo and pressed a few buttons. The sound of John Coltrane's Tenor Saxophone started to pour out of the speakers. Kendall wrapped her arms around herself and slow danced around the room. Kendall remembered a few times when she would dance with her father when she was little. He liked John Coltrane and he made sure that his little girl did too. She swayed and twisted to the music, silently wishing for a partner. Kendall closed her eyes and found herself in front of her dresser.

She sat down and looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair hung around her face, looking slightly disheveled. Her blue eyes were slightly slanted upward. She smiled just enough to check out her teeth and ran her tongue over her canines.

Kendall was a little self-conscious about her teeth. She thought they looked strange compared to the rest of her face. Remy liked to tease her about looking like a Cheshire cat when she was up to something. He usually got punched shortly afterwards. Kendall reached behind her neck and removed her black choker. It had one of her mother's old lightning bolt earrings hanging from it. It was a Christmas gift from her Uncle Remy. Kendall loved it so much that she rarely took it off.

She put the choker down and ran her hands through her hair. It only reached her shoulders, but at one point a few years ago, it went down to her knees. Kendall had it cut when she started college and her mother had nearly had a heart attack. Kendall explained that she enjoyed having the extra weight off of her neck, but she honestly didn't care what anyone thought about it.

She absently played with her hair as she looked at the few pictures that she liked enough to have in frames on her dresser. The first one that grabbed her attention was a picture of her biological grandparents, David and N'Dare Munroe. The were standing in front of a large tree, somewhere on the Kenyan savanna. The picture itself was in a white frame. Kendall had never met her grandparents, but her mother had supplied her with hours of stories from before they were killed.

The picture in the gold frame was lying face down. Kendall picked it up and frowned slightly. Inside the frame was a picture of her parents, coming down the Blackbird's ramp after one of their missions. Logan looked a little more exhausted than usual, but physically, he was fine. Ororo had her arm around his shoulders and was limping out of the plane. She had a bandage around her right ankle and looked like she was in a lot of pain. Kendall's frown deepened as she recalled the story behind the picture. Logan had offered to carry Ororo to the infirmary, but she refused and insisted on getting there herself. She had gotten about three steps and almost fell over. Logan rushed to her side and helped her as much as she let him. Kendall had no idea how she got this picture, but she loved it just the same. She admired her parents love and respect for each other. Her father didn't want his wife in too much pain, but loved her enough to let her do things her way. Kendall smiled again place the picture back in its original position.

The next photo was rather silly and Kendall had to stifle a laugh just to look at it. It was a pic of herself , Jubilee, and Lucas Bishop that was taken at one of the many holiday parties that happened at the mansion. Warren had snuck the trio a bottle of wine and Jubilee and Bishop had proceeded to get falling down drunk. Kendall couldn't get more that a warm feeling in her forehead before her healing factor kicked in. She sat between the two and both Jubes and Bishop had kissed her on her cheeks.

Kendall sighed and fondly stroked the red frame. Jubes and Bishop were the only real friends she'd made in the whole time she was in high school. They'd all graduated together and went their separate ways afterwards. Jubilee had returned to California to attend some college out there. She and Kendall stayed in contact with one another via e-mail.

Bishop decided to travel the country and see what was out there. Kendall hadn't really heard from Bishop since the beginning of the school year and she was worried that something had happened to him.

The last framed picture Kendall owned was turned around to face the mirror. The black frame was covered with dust and Kendall turned it around. She felt her heart rate picked up a little while she dusted off the frame. It was a picture of herself and Bishop the day after graduation, when they were presented with their X-Men uniforms. They were trying them on and had posed for the picture afterwards. Kendall's was comprised of knee-high boots and tight leather pants. She had an equally tight black leather halter top that connected behind her neck. A pair of long leather gloves with adamantium bracelets were on her arms. Bishop wore a leather jumpsuit, much like her father's that showed off his beautifully toned body. Kendall remembered using all of the self-restraint to keep from ogling her friend.

Kendall didn't want to admit it to anyone else, but she had a huge crush on Lucas Bishop. He was about 6'2'', and was around 250 pounds of pure chocolate muscle. His blue-black hair was twisted into long dreadlocks. Bishop was the only student that could give Kendall a decent sparing match. He'd even beat her a few times. They were academic rivals and graduated numbers one and two in their class. Probably the best part of the entire package was that her father didn't hate him, as far as Kendall could tell.

A strong wind rattled the windows and Kendall felt the mansion shift from the force. Kendall sighed heavily and stood up.

"I'd better find some cold water before my repressed libido causes a tornado."

She stretched her arms over her head and jogged in place for a second or two. She started to head toward the small bathroom area of the attic, but paused mid-stride. It had gotten pretty late and chances were that no-one would be wandering around the grounds at this time of night.

"A quick dip in the lake would do me some good."

Kendall went to her closet and pulled out a deep purple, terry-cloth robe. She tossed it over her shoulder and walked over to the stereo and put her CD on repeat. Quickly, she walked over to the window and pushed it open wide. A strong wind rushed into the room. It extinguished some of the candles and Kendall mentally directed the breeze to put out the rest. She kicked off her shoes and stepped out onto the roof.





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