Kitty was still blushing furiously as she tried to come up
with a way to raise the next uncomfortable subject with the Professor.
It was a bit of a shock to discover that she and Illyanna had been
projecting their thoughts while in bed together, so much so that she
found it hard to continue.
"There's something else we wanted to tell you," Illyanna gave
Kitty a sympathetic glance. She took a deep breath, "We're not going
to be coming back to rejoin the X-men, sir. I think we'll be staying
on with Doctor Strange."
Professor Xavier smiled slightly, "To be honest, I was rather
expecting that."
"Don't tell me we projected that thought to you, too," Kitty
laughed.
"No, no," the Professor shook his head, "it was more from how
you acted when you came back here the last time."
"What do you mean?" Illyanna asked curiously.
"You were so happy together, and with what you were doing,"
Xavier said simply. He rolled his wheelchair out from behind his desk
as he mused, "Now we need to decide how to break it to the rest of the
team."
"Huh," Illyanna blinked, "I hadn't thought about that."
"He's got a point," Kitty sighed. "Some of our friends are not
going to take this very well, either piece of news," she said.
"I'd better go tell Piotr personally," Illyanna nodded.
"Ororo, then Logan," Kitty agreed.
"Good luck," the Professor wished them as Illyanna disappeared
with her stepping disks and Kitty rose up in the air and phased
through the roof. "And I'd best give Scott some warning," the
Professor mused, focusing his telepathy to send out the message.
Kitty walked down the upper hallway, quickly being waylaid by
an ecstatic Lockheed the dragon. It cooed happily as the small gray
creature flew in little circles around her before settling down on her
shoulder. "Looks like we'll be moving," Kitty murmured softly,
scratching him behind the ears.
Girl and dragon soon reached the ladder up to the Attic,
climbing up into.. green. Ororo's personal domain, the attic was
almost a forest of green, plants handing down in baskets from the roof
or sitting in pots on the floor.
"Kitten," Ororo smiled as soon as she saw Kitty making her way
through the leaves.
"Hey, Ororo," Kitty said nervously.
Ororo surprised her by stepping forward, quickly folding the
girl into the warmth of her arms. "You know," she said to her softly,
"I was just thinking about what it would be like when you came home to
the mansion for good." Kitty tensed up, and Ororo gave her a gentle
smile, "But that isn't going to happen, is it?"
"No, it isn't," Kitty agreed, glad to see the warmth and
understanding in Ororo's eyes, "I'm staying on with Dr. Strange. I
think I can do more good there, honestly."
"I understand," Ororo kept a firm grip on her as she
continued, "but please remember to visit us. I'll miss you a great
deal, little one."
"You don't seem too surprised," Kitty noted.
They walked together towards the ladder as Ororo admitted, "I
saw the look on your face when you talked about the magic, Kitty. I
knew you had found your calling, even if I wasn't quite willing to
admit it to myself."
"Thank you," Kitty turned back to hug her.
Ororo hugged her back, and Kitty as surprised to see a few
tears glimmer at the corners of her eyes. "If you need help, call,"
she said quietly, "we will always be here for you." Kitty nodded, then
descended the ladder to the hallway below. Only once Kitty was safely
gone did Ororo let the tears flow, silently mourning the departure of
a girl she regarded as a daughter.
Illyanna summoned the stepping disk, disappearing from the
Professor's office and reappearing in the dimension of Limbo. A few
steps and she reappeared in Piotr Rasputin's rooms, the slim blonde
dropping on his bed with a soft thump.
"Snowflake," Piotr looked up in surprise, wiping at his paint
smeared hands.
"Hey, big brother," Illyanna smiled up at the dark haired
young man. She sat up on the side of the bed, "I've got some news."
"Did Katya decide.." Piotr asked, and a blushing Illyanna
suddenly remembered the topic of their last discussion.
"Oh, yes," Illyanna gave him a little grin.
"As long as she treats you well," Piotr said to her firmly,
"then I'm glad." He paused to look over at her curiously and asked,
"When are you finishing your magical training so that you can come
back home to the mansion?"
"I'm not, exactly," Illyanna wished there were a smoother way
to say it, "I'm going to be staying on with Doctor Strange, continue
to develop my magical gifts."
"But what about the X-Men?" Piotr frowned, "The Professor has
even organized a new class that we call the New Mutants."
"I can just see Kitty calling them the X-Babies or something
like that," Illyanna remarked, wining a surprised smile from her elder
brother. "Piotr, I can do more good with my magic than as a member of
the X-Men or a New Mutants."
"I don't know if I approve," Piotr finally said, "but you're a
grown woman, Illyanna." He smiled slightly, "But we will have a place
for you here, should you ever change your mind."
"Good enough," Illyanna got up, giving him a hug.
Logan looked up in surprise as Kitty walked up the hall
towards him, "You that anxious to see me again so soon?"
"Something like that," Kitty agreed as she took up a spot
beside him at the window, looking out over the mansion's back yard.
Logan gave her a look, his nose twitching slightly. "You went
to see Ororo," he noted, "it must be pretty important, whatever it
is."
"Wish I could do that some days," Kitty noted. She took a
nervous breath, "Illyanna and I, we're going to be staying on with Dr.
Strange."
"Good," Logan said crisply.
Kitty blinked at him in surprise, "Huh?"
Logan gave her a look, "Surprised you? Kitty, you can't make a
chick climb back in the nest once it's spread it's wings. Tryin' to do
so just annoys the bird."
"Thanks," Kitty smiled.
"Not that I ain't going to miss you," Logan put an arm over
her shoulder, hugging her to him awkwardly. "An' you need anything,
just call. I've had some personal experience with the sort of things
you're gonna be running into."
"You've had experience with everything," Kitty laughed. She
slipped free from his grip, giving him a thoughtful look, "You know,
I've never really had the guts to ask this before, but.. just how old
are you, anyway?"
"Don't really know," Logan admitted with a shrug. He gave her
a slight smile, "But I got memories from well before World War one,
kid."
"Wow," Kitty blinked as they fell into step together. She
frowned suddenly, "What did you mean, you had experience with the
things we're going to run into?"
"Wondered if you'd ask that," Logan chuckled. "Ran into
something nasty up in Tibet, once, when I helped out an old coot
callin' himself the Ancient One."
"Dr. Strange's old master?" Kitty gulped.
"Guess so," Logan shrugged, "he knew the mojo, anyway. We
cornered this beastie, but the thing healed almost as fast as I
did..." he continued as they walked.
Back to Kitty and Illyana: A Tale of Magik! Index - Back to Non-Anime Fanfiction Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction