Family Ties
folder
X-Men - Animated Series (all) › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
51
Views:
7,044
Reviews:
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Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
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Category:
X-Men - Animated Series (all) › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
51
Views:
7,044
Reviews:
30
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own X-Men Evolution, or any of the characters from it. I make no money from from the writing of this story.
38
Family Ties Chapter Thirty Eight (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply
A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST
WOMAN ALIVE ™, Prophetic Muse and Hamster Witch, Tim One and Two aren’t amused
about the Harem…I think they’re plotting something… InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink are extra lovely for
archiving. J ProPhile gets all my leftover apples and
honey and Jubilee, Tex and Ramsey get ducks.
Lots and lots of ducks. They’ve
brought reinforcements, you see… *sigh
* Readers/Reviewers: I adore you. HonestlI daI dance happy
pagan dances because you read this. J
“What am I
going to do?” Kitty moaned, fingering Esther’s coined veil.[1]
“I’m sure
it can’t be that bad, Kit,” Esther soothed, chewing her lower lip
worriedly. “I mean, I know you and your
folks have problems and all, but surely your dad won’t freak on us at a
wedding. Would he?”
Storm and
Kitty exchanged glances. “Sarah,” the
older woman said to the second bridesmaid, “why don’t you go check on the
caterers? I think the door might be
locked to the reception hall…” Esther gave the young girl an encouraging
nod and soon the three were left alone in the bridal preparation room. “This is a long story, Esther,” Storm
warned.
“Can you
just hit the highlights, then?” she asked.
“I have to get married in a little over an hour…”
Kitty
sighed. “Okay, but it’s going to leave
you with more questions than anything.”
“You’re
making this sound like some mysterious revelation,” Esther laughed, sobering
when she saw the serious expression on her cousin’s face. “What is it? Are you dying? Am I
dying? What?”
“Have you
ever,” Kitty began, pausing as if she were searching for the best way to put
something. “Have you ever been able to
do some strange things without knowing why?
Like maybe read someone’s mind or something?”
Esther
snorted. “Things like that don’t
happen!”
Storm
sighed heavily and thunder rumbled. “Look
outside.”
Esther
stood on her toes and peered through the tiny window. “It’s a clear day…where’d the thunder come from?”
Kitty coughed
discreetly, making Esther turn, her moue of confusion clear. “I know you took biology in college…Do you
remember a lecture on point mutations and stuff like that?”
Esther
nodded. “What does this have to do with anything?”
Kitty
looked askance at Storm, who spread her hands as if to say ‘you’re on your own.’ “Esther, there’s no good way to say this,
but I’m a mutant.”
“Right. And I’m the Queen of England.”
“No,
Esther. I’m serious…” For proof, Kitty walked slowly towards her
cousin, phasing through a low table and a footstool in the process.
“Oell,ell,”
Esther said, swaying dangerously on her feet.
“There’s a
lot of us,” Kitty said somewhat flatly.
“Tons. The school I go to…”
Storm
stepped in. “Kitty is one of many
people in the world today that have somehow jumped ahead on the evolutionary
ladder…”
Esther
threw up one hand to stop all the talking.
“Are you the same person I’ve known for the past sixteen some-odd years?”
“Well,
yeah.” Kitty shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I
be?”
“Is this
why your parents flipped?”
“Well,
partially.”
Esther
closed her eyes and counted to ten silently.
When she opened them again, she fixed Kitty with a serious gaze and
said, “I’m not one to question the workings of the universe. If this is how God made it, it’s for a
reason. I’d love you even if you had
gills, you know. You didn’t need to be
afraid…”
Kitty burst
into sudden tears. All Storm could make
out through the crying was, “I was born with webbed feet, you know…”
The weather
goddess let herself out of the room, leaving the cousins to talk as they needed
to. Storm found herself standing in the
women’s balcony above the main part of the synagogue, looking down through the
ornately carve rosewood screen that, according to the discreet brass plaque on
the railing, was brought piece by piece from Morocco by a former congregation
member, long dead now. Even in a
house of worship, I cannot feel holy…
She sighed and sat on one of the wooden seats, staring at her hennaed
fingers, the designs applied at Kitty’s insistence. Marked to belong to a faith I do not follow, a sect I feel no
connection to. I don’t even know what
any of these symbols mean. She was
vaguely grateful that Kitty had not applied a Star of David to her hands
otherwise she would feel more of a fraud than she already did. I do not belong here. This is for family. I should go wait at the house until it is
time to return to Bayville. Storm
started at the sound of the door to the gallery opening below her and she
peered down to see who had entered.
Logan appeared just inside her line of vision, sniffed the air obviously
and turned, leaving her alone in the balcony.
Is he ignoring me or is my scent just too faint up here? He probably shouldn’t be in here,
anyway. Not before everything
starts. For that matter, neither should
I… Storm sank lower in the seat, feeling uncharacteristically glum. Being around so much familial activity was
disconcerting to her. She did not know
how to respond to shows of open affection such as that Kitty and Esther showed
each other, nor the concern of the three aunts, who insisted that she eat more
because she was too thin and looked “peaked,” whatever that meant, she thought
almost bitterly. That’s why women
like Astrid are attractive to people like Logan and Johannes. They may find the aloof goddess appealing at
first, but they end up with the warm, loving sorts. But I’m not aloof…I’m just…Just afraid. She cringed to admit it, even to herself,
but the possibility of her relationship with Logan ever turning into something
more than the far-too-infrequent bouts in bed, no matter how much she loved him
and he ostensibly loved her, was the stuff nightmares were made of. She could handle respect, worship and even
fear, but the more Logan demanded of her affections, her touch and open love,
the more scared she became. It’s not
surprising he should flirt with Astrid, even if she is married and happily so.
She is his ideal, no doubt, and I am just the image he wishes to obtain for his
own. It was a familiar pang that
she felt, sharp and hurtful and bleeding into her very soul.
“Storm?” Kitty hes hesitated to disturb her older
friend and mentor, finding her huddled in the women’s balcony after several
minutes of searching. “The wedding’s
going to start in less than an hour…People are going to start coming in soon.”
She nodded
and stood, smoothing her skirt carefully.
“Of course. Is everything…okay?”
Kitty
shrugged. “For the moment. When she gets back from her honeymoon,
Esther wants me to come visit her for the weekend so we can talk this all
out. I still don’t know what I’m going
to do about my parents being here, though…”
Storm
offered a weak smile. “Logan will make
sure your father does not cause a scene during the ceremony,” she assured the
young woman.
Kitty
chuckled at the image of her father cowering before Logan, but her mien quickly
became serious. “You said I could ask
you one question, right? The other day,
in the car…”
Storm
nodded, remembering. at iat is it?”
Kitty bit
her lip and looked at Storm intently, then shook her head. “I don’t know how to ask it.”
“Try.”
“If I can’t
do it, do I get a do-over later?”
“We’ll see,”
Storm laughed lightly. “What is your
question, child?”
“I have so
many, really, but I guess what I want to know…well, the best way to ask it is…Are
you happy?”
Storm
blinked, almost taken aback. “Am I
happ
“I guess
what I mean,” Kitty amended hurriedly, before Storm could possibly cut her off,
“is that, are you happy living in Bayville, are you happy being Storm and not
Ororo Munro, weather goddess and object of worship? Are you…I don’t know!”
She looked embarrassed and knew she was blushing.
Storm
frowned and laid a hand on Kitty’s arm.
“Honestly, child, no.”
“Why not?” Kitty heard the plaintive tone in her own
voice and winced inwardly.
Storm
sighed and rocked back on her heels, not sure how much to tell Kitty, how much
was truly important and how much was just her own muddled desires and
thoughts. “I’m not sure. All I know is that I am envious of what you
have…”
Kitty
gasped in surprise. “Envious? Of me?
Why?”
Storm
smiled kindly down at her, not willing to say any more. “Come on.
Your cousin is waiting and I know Logan is out there with Kurt, as well.”
Kitty did
not let this sidetrack her. As she led
Storm down the steps to the main entryway, she said over her shoulder, “You
promised me an answer, you know.”
“And I gave
you one.”
“Yeah, but
it was one of those goddessy answers where you have to figure it out on your
own later…”
“It will
give you something to do during the reception.”
“Gee,
thanks,” Kitty saarcaarcastically. At
the bottom of the steps, she stopped and turned to face Storm. After a moment’s hesitation, she threw her
arms around the woman’s neck in an embrace.
“I do love you, you know. You’re
kinda like an older sister or mom or something.” With that, she darted towards the bridal chamber, leaving a very
stunned and misty-eyed Storm staring after her.
[1] Even today,
many Sephardic brides wear gowns of bright colors and veils made or sewn with
gold coins. Kinda neat, really. A nice
break from white which is a mourning color in many cultures.
Disclaimers Apply
A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST
WOMAN ALIVE ™, Prophetic Muse and Hamster Witch, Tim One and Two aren’t amused
about the Harem…I think they’re plotting something… InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink are extra lovely for
archiving. J ProPhile gets all my leftover apples and
honey and Jubilee, Tex and Ramsey get ducks.
Lots and lots of ducks. They’ve
brought reinforcements, you see… *sigh
* Readers/Reviewers: I adore you. HonestlI daI dance happy
pagan dances because you read this. J
“What am I
going to do?” Kitty moaned, fingering Esther’s coined veil.[1]
“I’m sure
it can’t be that bad, Kit,” Esther soothed, chewing her lower lip
worriedly. “I mean, I know you and your
folks have problems and all, but surely your dad won’t freak on us at a
wedding. Would he?”
Storm and
Kitty exchanged glances. “Sarah,” the
older woman said to the second bridesmaid, “why don’t you go check on the
caterers? I think the door might be
locked to the reception hall…” Esther gave the young girl an encouraging
nod and soon the three were left alone in the bridal preparation room. “This is a long story, Esther,” Storm
warned.
“Can you
just hit the highlights, then?” she asked.
“I have to get married in a little over an hour…”
Kitty
sighed. “Okay, but it’s going to leave
you with more questions than anything.”
“You’re
making this sound like some mysterious revelation,” Esther laughed, sobering
when she saw the serious expression on her cousin’s face. “What is it? Are you dying? Am I
dying? What?”
“Have you
ever,” Kitty began, pausing as if she were searching for the best way to put
something. “Have you ever been able to
do some strange things without knowing why?
Like maybe read someone’s mind or something?”
Esther
snorted. “Things like that don’t
happen!”
Storm
sighed heavily and thunder rumbled. “Look
outside.”
Esther
stood on her toes and peered through the tiny window. “It’s a clear day…where’d the thunder come from?”
Kitty coughed
discreetly, making Esther turn, her moue of confusion clear. “I know you took biology in college…Do you
remember a lecture on point mutations and stuff like that?”
Esther
nodded. “What does this have to do with anything?”
Kitty
looked askance at Storm, who spread her hands as if to say ‘you’re on your own.’ “Esther, there’s no good way to say this,
but I’m a mutant.”
“Right. And I’m the Queen of England.”
“No,
Esther. I’m serious…” For proof, Kitty walked slowly towards her
cousin, phasing through a low table and a footstool in the process.
“Oell,ell,”
Esther said, swaying dangerously on her feet.
“There’s a
lot of us,” Kitty said somewhat flatly.
“Tons. The school I go to…”
Storm
stepped in. “Kitty is one of many
people in the world today that have somehow jumped ahead on the evolutionary
ladder…”
Esther
threw up one hand to stop all the talking.
“Are you the same person I’ve known for the past sixteen some-odd years?”
“Well,
yeah.” Kitty shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I
be?”
“Is this
why your parents flipped?”
“Well,
partially.”
Esther
closed her eyes and counted to ten silently.
When she opened them again, she fixed Kitty with a serious gaze and
said, “I’m not one to question the workings of the universe. If this is how God made it, it’s for a
reason. I’d love you even if you had
gills, you know. You didn’t need to be
afraid…”
Kitty burst
into sudden tears. All Storm could make
out through the crying was, “I was born with webbed feet, you know…”
The weather
goddess let herself out of the room, leaving the cousins to talk as they needed
to. Storm found herself standing in the
women’s balcony above the main part of the synagogue, looking down through the
ornately carve rosewood screen that, according to the discreet brass plaque on
the railing, was brought piece by piece from Morocco by a former congregation
member, long dead now. Even in a
house of worship, I cannot feel holy…
She sighed and sat on one of the wooden seats, staring at her hennaed
fingers, the designs applied at Kitty’s insistence. Marked to belong to a faith I do not follow, a sect I feel no
connection to. I don’t even know what
any of these symbols mean. She was
vaguely grateful that Kitty had not applied a Star of David to her hands
otherwise she would feel more of a fraud than she already did. I do not belong here. This is for family. I should go wait at the house until it is
time to return to Bayville. Storm
started at the sound of the door to the gallery opening below her and she
peered down to see who had entered.
Logan appeared just inside her line of vision, sniffed the air obviously
and turned, leaving her alone in the balcony.
Is he ignoring me or is my scent just too faint up here? He probably shouldn’t be in here,
anyway. Not before everything
starts. For that matter, neither should
I… Storm sank lower in the seat, feeling uncharacteristically glum. Being around so much familial activity was
disconcerting to her. She did not know
how to respond to shows of open affection such as that Kitty and Esther showed
each other, nor the concern of the three aunts, who insisted that she eat more
because she was too thin and looked “peaked,” whatever that meant, she thought
almost bitterly. That’s why women
like Astrid are attractive to people like Logan and Johannes. They may find the aloof goddess appealing at
first, but they end up with the warm, loving sorts. But I’m not aloof…I’m just…Just afraid. She cringed to admit it, even to herself,
but the possibility of her relationship with Logan ever turning into something
more than the far-too-infrequent bouts in bed, no matter how much she loved him
and he ostensibly loved her, was the stuff nightmares were made of. She could handle respect, worship and even
fear, but the more Logan demanded of her affections, her touch and open love,
the more scared she became. It’s not
surprising he should flirt with Astrid, even if she is married and happily so.
She is his ideal, no doubt, and I am just the image he wishes to obtain for his
own. It was a familiar pang that
she felt, sharp and hurtful and bleeding into her very soul.
“Storm?” Kitty hes hesitated to disturb her older
friend and mentor, finding her huddled in the women’s balcony after several
minutes of searching. “The wedding’s
going to start in less than an hour…People are going to start coming in soon.”
She nodded
and stood, smoothing her skirt carefully.
“Of course. Is everything…okay?”
Kitty
shrugged. “For the moment. When she gets back from her honeymoon,
Esther wants me to come visit her for the weekend so we can talk this all
out. I still don’t know what I’m going
to do about my parents being here, though…”
Storm
offered a weak smile. “Logan will make
sure your father does not cause a scene during the ceremony,” she assured the
young woman.
Kitty
chuckled at the image of her father cowering before Logan, but her mien quickly
became serious. “You said I could ask
you one question, right? The other day,
in the car…”
Storm
nodded, remembering. at iat is it?”
Kitty bit
her lip and looked at Storm intently, then shook her head. “I don’t know how to ask it.”
“Try.”
“If I can’t
do it, do I get a do-over later?”
“We’ll see,”
Storm laughed lightly. “What is your
question, child?”
“I have so
many, really, but I guess what I want to know…well, the best way to ask it is…Are
you happy?”
Storm
blinked, almost taken aback. “Am I
happ
“I guess
what I mean,” Kitty amended hurriedly, before Storm could possibly cut her off,
“is that, are you happy living in Bayville, are you happy being Storm and not
Ororo Munro, weather goddess and object of worship? Are you…I don’t know!”
She looked embarrassed and knew she was blushing.
Storm
frowned and laid a hand on Kitty’s arm.
“Honestly, child, no.”
“Why not?” Kitty heard the plaintive tone in her own
voice and winced inwardly.
Storm
sighed and rocked back on her heels, not sure how much to tell Kitty, how much
was truly important and how much was just her own muddled desires and
thoughts. “I’m not sure. All I know is that I am envious of what you
have…”
Kitty
gasped in surprise. “Envious? Of me?
Why?”
Storm
smiled kindly down at her, not willing to say any more. “Come on.
Your cousin is waiting and I know Logan is out there with Kurt, as well.”
Kitty did
not let this sidetrack her. As she led
Storm down the steps to the main entryway, she said over her shoulder, “You
promised me an answer, you know.”
“And I gave
you one.”
“Yeah, but
it was one of those goddessy answers where you have to figure it out on your
own later…”
“It will
give you something to do during the reception.”
“Gee,
thanks,” Kitty saarcaarcastically. At
the bottom of the steps, she stopped and turned to face Storm. After a moment’s hesitation, she threw her
arms around the woman’s neck in an embrace.
“I do love you, you know. You’re
kinda like an older sister or mom or something.” With that, she darted towards the bridal chamber, leaving a very
stunned and misty-eyed Storm staring after her.
[1] Even today,
many Sephardic brides wear gowns of bright colors and veils made or sewn with
gold coins. Kinda neat, really. A nice
break from white which is a mourning color in many cultures.