The sun was shining, the breeze was gentle, and the beaches were white after last night's sudden rain storm. And the X-Men were taking a well deserved day off. It all started in the living room, where Rogue, Kitty and Elizabeth had just returned from their morning work out. Elizabeth had flopped down in a chair and groaned softly. Rogue walked into the kitchen, grumbling under her breath about crazy ladies who felt the need to beat each other up so damn early in the morning. Kitty, of course, was bright eyed and bushy tailed, gaining a glare from almost everyone just getting up. "God, the beach was nice this morning," Kitty said with a happy sigh. She looked thoughtful, "Hey, why don't we all go down to the beach, today?" Elizabeth waved a hand weakly, "She's probably just looking for someone different to beat up today." With a theatrical groan, she cried, "Don't do it!" Neal laughed softly, standing behind Elizabeth and gently rubbing her shoulders. She closed her eyes and gave a soft sigh of contentment. Rogue was frowning a bit, "You know, we really haven't taken advantage of the closeness of the beach. I agree with Pryde, let's hit the beach!" "It's not a bad idea," Ororo admitted, "we could certainly use a break." Raven had been silently sipping her coffee so far, so she asked her, "Would you like to come along?" Raven looked a bit startled to be asked, "Yes, if no one minds." Rogue grinned suddenly, "Can I pick out your swimsuit?" "Oh, no," Raven quickly said. She got some inquiring looks from the other X-men, and with a soft laugh she elaborated, "Last time I let her do that she put me in a thong bikini, for gods sake!" "I bet you looked good in it," Ororo said with a mysterious little smile. She noticed Sage stumbling in, hair sticking up and dressed in her pajamas, and added, "By the way Sage, you're going to the beach with us, too." "What?" Sage answered, nearly dropping her coffee cup. "You could use the sun," Bishop noted with a grin. He was dressed to go, "Sorry I can't tag along, but I've got to keep an appointment with the police department." "Did somebody catch you?" Neal said with a little smile. "No, nobody caught me," Bishop said, rolling his eyes, "I'm setting up a new cover identity as Lucas Bishop, Interpol officer. I'll have to see you all sometime this evening." He headed off, and the other X-men split up to start getting ready. Raven Darkholme smiled slightly, laying down on the beach, the sun beating down on her. Her brown hair swept past her shoulders, stylish sunglasses concealed her eyes and her skin was already lightly tanned. She noticed the admiring glances of several men and woman passing by, but there was only one person she really wanted to get the attention of. The bikini Ororo was wearing was legal, but only just barely. Pure black, it was a daring number, consisting of a skimpy top and bottom that anyone with any body modesty at all would avoid like the plague. It was obviously a weapon of the seduction variety, and poor Kitty was still blushing a bit, just looking at her. "When are they going to do something?" Kitty asked Rogue in a irritated tone of voice. She continued, "They've been dancing around each other all week." Rogue turned over so that her back was exposed to the sun. "Could you put some lotion on me, honey?" Rogue asked Kitty sweetly, trying to distract her from the topic. The little bikini Rogue was wearing left her bottom mostly exposed to Kitty's suddenly eager gaze. "Sure," Kitty said softly, rubbing some lotion between her hands and then going to work on Rogue's backside, thoroughly protecting it from the sun. Watching this, Elizabeth chuckled softly, even as Neal lotioned her back, too. She hissed loudly, as Neal pressed down on her side a bit too hard. "Sorry," Neal apologized, "was that another bruise?" Elizabeth nodded wearily, and Neal remarked, "Kitty must be a harsh taskmaster." "You have no idea," Elizabeth softly sighed. "It's even scarier to realize that she was holding back on the first day she trained me," she said with a wry smile. Neal shook his head, wondering if his girlfriend had some kind of masochistic streak. He had watched one of their training sessions, and it had seemed quite simple. Kitty demonstrated a move, and then she asked Elizabeth to use it. If she got it right, Kitty ended up on the ground. If she got it wrong, Elizabeth usually ended up on the ground instead. It certainly seemed to help her remember the next time, but still... Sage watched the group silently, laying back in her one-piece suit, her black sunglasses completely concealing her watching eyes. Her mind worked tirelessly, sorting, analyzing, even as she relaxed under the warm rays of the sun. "You should really be mingling more with the others," Ororo said, taking a moment to kneel down beside the dark hared woman. "And you should probably be over talking to Raven," Sage answered her with a little smile. She noted with some amusement that is was possible to see Ororo blush, if you were attentive enough. Changing the subject, Sage quietly said, "I was reading through our volume of Destiny's Diary, and I've noticed some irregularities." Instantly back in business mode, Storm asked "What do you mean?" "There are differences between what's been happening in the real world and what's written down in the Diary," Sage said very quietly, so that the other X-men couldn't hear them. She added calmly, "It's not a large difference just yet, but I do suspect that it will grow over time." "How is that possible?" Storm asked. Frowning fiercely she asked, "I thought Destiny's power was to see the future?" "A most probable future," Sage corrected her, "but improbable things can happen, sometimes. Something you might never be able to predict." "So something improbable happened, creating a divergence from what Destiny predicted," Storm said softly. Sage just nodded a bit in reply. "You know what the divergence is, don't you?" Storm said more than asked. "Them," Sage said, nodding to where Kitty and Rogue lay, "there's no mention of them being together in the Diary at all." She finished softly, "Any event predicted in the diaries involving us or Rogue is now up for grabs." "But our enemies don't know that yet," Storm finished. "They'll continue to go after the Diaries," Sage agreed, "and some of the predictions in them will still be valid. Just not all." Storm nodded. "Nothing we can do about it today," she said, sighing softly, "but we'll have to keep it in mind." With a small smile she admitted, "Personally, I rather like being free of prophecy." A young woman jogged up the beach towards them, her long blond hair swinging around her. She was obviously athletic, and wore the swimsuit of a lifeguard. "Have either of you seen a ten year old boy?" she quickly asked them. "I'm sorry, but no," Ororo answered, looking around them for a moment curiously Gazing out over the water, her eyes widened as she saw something in the distance. "Is that someone out there?" she asked her, pointing. The blond turned, her eyes narrowed, and she cursed softly. She ran to the water, diving in and swimming out with a smooth, well practiced motion. As she swam, she began to glow softly. Sage's eyes widened, "She's changing," she said softly to Storm, "adapting to the water!" Storm frowned, she hated just standing here watching, but using her weather powers in a situation like this could make things much, much worse. She pointed to another figure swimming to the boy, "Who's that out there?" Raven willed herself to change, letting her body become slick, cutting through the water smoothly. "I can't believe I'm doing this," she grumbled to herself. But she still swam onward, finally reaching the boy's side. He flailed around wildly, but she managed to get a grip on him. He seemed a bit startled at her blue colored skin, so she willed herself to a more human form. Keeping his head above the water, she calmed him down even as she saw a flash of gold approaching her. The blonde came up by Raven, trading water with a little smile on her face. Before either of them could say anything, the were swamped by a massive wave. The lifeguard's body blazed golden a moment, then she pulled them all from the water on golden wings. Raven gaped at her a moment, then managed, "I'm impressed." They reached the shore in seconds, descending into the X-Men's midst. "Mom, you all right?" Rogue cried out, running to Raven's side. "I'm fine," Raven assured her, then she turned to the lifeguard, "Is he all right?" "He's fine," she said with a smile. "That was a good job, by the way. My name's Heather Cameron," she said, offering her hand to her. "Raven Darkholme," she said, taking the hand and shaking it. Ororo looked at her, her eyes full of questions, and Raven shrugged at her eloquently. She had no idea why she did it either. The young boy was quickly claimed by a frantic mother, but not before he softly thanked Raven and Heather for what they had done. Raven blushed, stammered, and in no way did she look like the former evil mutant she was. They gathered up the beach a bit to talk. "You're a mutant, are you not?" Ororo quietly asked Heather, curious to hear what her answer might be. And wondering if she had met another new recruit already. "I'm just Lifeguard," she answered Ororo simply, "whatever ability or form I need to save someone's life, I can somehow gain." The introductions quickly began, and Kitty noticed something rather odd. Sage seemed to hang back shyly from the tall blond woman. Kitty stepped up behind her, and when the time was right, gave her a firm shove. Sage stumbled, falling forward against Heather, who gently caught her. She smiled down at Sage gently, helping her straighten up before asking her "And what's your name?" "I'm called Sage," she answered her softly. Heather gently tugged down on Sage's sunglasses, revealing her dark eyes. "It's nice to meet you, Sage," Heather said to her with a small smile.
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