Psylocke stopped Kitty as they escorted Mystique in. "Could I talk to you a moment?" Elizabeth asked her quietly. Kitty gulped, and nodded. "Rogue, I'll meet you in a few minutes," Kitty called to her. Rogue waved, Storm and Mystique on either side of her. Kitty and Psylocke walked into the kitchen, where Kitty quickly took the offensive. Bowing, she said "Elizabeth, I'm really sorry for interfering with you fight with Vargas. I know you wanted to take him on, and I'm sure Rogue really appreciated the help, but.." Psylocke held up a hand, an amused smile on her face, "Kitty, it's all right! I just wanted to thank you for maybe saving my life." She grinned a bit, adding, "But if you really must apologize, I certainly won't stop you." Kitty blushed brightly, looking downwards and unsure of what to say. "You're welcome," Kitty said with a wry smile. "I don't think I've ever seen you fight like that," Psylocke said softly, "he was totally outmatched. How did you do that?" Kitty just shrugged a bit uncomfortably, "I guess I've never had someone I loved in that kind of mortal danger before." Vargas had attacked the X-men without warning, ambushing the team with his two aides. Distracting part of the team, he pursued Rogue with a vengeance, his sword a precision instrument in his hands. Psylocke intervened, crossing her psionic blades with the mysterious, dark hared warrior, but Kitty quickly realized that Elizabeth was outmatched by this physical wonder. As Vargas was about to deliver a killing blow, Kitty intervened. For what might have been the first time in her life, Kitty fought an enemy without any of her self-imposed restraints, knowing that Rogue and Psylocke would likely die if he was able to defeat her. She called upon all the combat skills Wolverine had worked so hard to develop in her, and then she combined it with a savagery that she had never experienced before. Finally realizing that he might be in serious danger, Vargas withdrew, taking his allies with him. Psylocke took a half step back from where Kitty stood, falling down to one knee. In perfectly clear Japanese she asked her, "Sensei, would you take this unworthy one as your student?" Kitty looked at her in shock and disbelief, "What?" "There goes the smooth approach," Psylocke sighed softly. She gave Kitty a wry smile as she explained, "It's obvious that you've become a better fighter than I am. If Vargas attacks again, I want to be ready for him." Kitty sighed, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. "You should really go to Wolverine," Kitty said, sounding a bit desperate. "I don't think so," Psylocke said, shaking her head a bit, "you may have even surpassed him." At Kitty's disbelieving look, she elaborated "Despite all that Logan's learned about fighting over the years, he's still a brawler at heart. You've taken all he taught you, mixed it with your ninja training, and made it your own." Kitty looked at Psylocke steadily, and realized that she meant what she said. Kitty sighed wearily, "OK, I'll do it. But on one condition." Psylocke looked at Kitty enquiringly, and Kitty added "Rogue gets to sit in on our training sessions." Elizabeth frowned, "Why?" "Because I don't want my girlfriend getting jealous," Kitty explained with a fierce blush. Elizabeth broke into quiet laughter, even as Kitty blushed harder. "When do we start?" Elizabeth asked eagerly. Kitty smiled, "Six AM tomorrow morning, I think." She sighed, "Rogue is not going to be happy about this." "Thank you," Elizabeth said with a smile and a respectful bow before she left. Kitty stood there, still mildly stunned by Elizabeth's actions, for a few moments, then went upstairs. Raven looked over at Ororo thoughtfully, "So you and your merry band are chasing Destiny's diaries, Wind Rider?" "Yes," Ororo said with a nod, sitting with Rogue as Raven began to unpack her bags. They had both offered to help, but she wanted to do it herself. "Now, here comes the important question," Raven said, looking up to give her a piercing look, "do you intend to use them?" "No," Rogue spoke up calmly. Storm gave her an odd look, but nodded her agreement. "Why not?" Raven said with a bit of honest surprise in her voice. She had devoted half her life to following one of the diaries, and she couldn't imagine not using them. "The diaries may tell the future," Rogue said with a shrug, "but I'd rather live my life without them, and at least keep the illusion of free will." "Very eloquent," Raven noted thoughtfully, even as she began to digest what Rogue had said. It made a lot of sense to her. Rogue shrugged uncomfortably, "It's hanging around Pryde, probably. She's a good influence on me." Storm kneeled forward, "I don't intend to leave the diaries in the hands of our enemies, the damage they could do is immense. But I don't think any human is wise enough or capable enough to use them to shape the future." "I certainly learned that lesson," Raven sighed softly. She shook her self, and looked up to meet Ororo's gaze again, those striking blue eyes. "The past is the past," Ororo said gently. She stood up, and actually smiled at Raven as she said, "I'll leave you two to catch up." Kitty smiled at Ororo as she passed her, then headed into Raven's new room. Rogue was in the process of asking her mother, "What's the story between you two?" Raven rolled her eyes. "There's no story," she insisted. Kitty chuckled softly. "The way you two acted outside says otherwise," she pointed out with a sly grin on her face. "Your girlfriend is far too perceptive," Raven groused to Rogue, who just grinned at her cheerfully. She began to stuff socks into a empty dresser drawer as she reluctantly said, "We, well, we flirted once, a long time ago." "Oh ho!" Rogue chuckled softly, "Flirting! Now we're getting somewhere. But details! We want details!" "Next thing I know, you'll be wanting a bedtime story," Raven sighed. Rogue smirked as she said, "Nah, I have Kitty for that." Raven gave Kitty a look, and noticed the brown girl blushing fiercely. Kitty noticed that Raven was looking a bit put upon, so she put her hand on Rogue's shoulder to gently guide her out of the room. "C'mon, love, we'd better let her finish unpacking," Kitty said gently. She sighed as something else occurred to her, "Besides, I better explain why we'll be having a six AM wake up call for a bit." Rogue was following Kitty out while asking her plaintively, "Why do I have to be up then?" Raven watched them go with a great deal of amusement. Raven finished her unpacking before sitting down on the edge of her bed. She thought about the look on Storm's face when they met, the nervousness she had been feeling. 'Not a good sign,' she thought with a little smile. Elizabeth was dressed in her battle costume, looking agile and ready for anything. Rogue sat on a desk chair, while Kitty only wore a sweatshirt and shorts. Kitty stretched her body, giving Psylocke a cheery smile. "All right, I want you to attack me," Kitty said seriously, "summon your psychic blades and come at me all out, all right?" The glowing katana's appeared in Elizabeth's hands, pure telekinetic energy as powerful as her will could make them. "Are you sure?" Elizabeth asked. Kitty gave her a small wave, "Lets's go." "You asked for it," Elizabeth answered, and charged, blades ready. In less time than it takes to tell she found herself laying flat on her back, Kitty's foot resting gently on her throat. "Lesson one," Kitty said, helping Elizabeth up to her feet, "is that you rely on the blades too much. You haven't really worked them into your fighting style, either." Elizabeth rubbed at her throat, giving Kitty an even more respectful look than she had before. She nodded a bit ruefully, "You make that look so easy." "It's not, trust me," Kitty said with a grin. She looked Elizabeth over thoughtfully, adding, "You shouldn't be so out of breath, either." "I haven't been training as much, since we left the other X-teams," Psylocke admitted. "I guess we start with the basics," Kitty said thoughtfully, "then we'll figure out a way for you to use those blades better." She turned to ask Rogue what she thought, and noticed her girlfriend had fallen back asleep in the deck chair. Elizabeth and Kitty shared a impish smile, before each of them took one end of the deck chair and carried it over to the shoreline, just at the edge of the rising water. Kitty led Elizabeth off on a jog, and a few moments later they headed back, just as the water reached Rogue's feet. Rogue woke up with an incoherent squawk as she was suddenly soaked to the waist by a playful wave. "Pryde!" she roared, getting to her feet. Kitty and Elizabeth stood together, catching their breaths from the run and laughing softly.
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