Lyrissa's Sparkles

Wolverine and Beast were met with worried whispers as they carried Lyrissa’s seemingly lifeless body through the mansion up to her room; which was still a complete mess from searching for her missing boot. There were clothes everywhere, her bed was a mess and buried under books, papers, shoes, CDs, and a hundred other things. “She couldn’t find her boot earlier. I helped her trash the place for it.” Wolverine explained after noticing Beast’s confused look.

“I see. Perhaps she should stay in another room until she is recovered. If she were to wake up, and try to leave she could fall and worsen her injuries. Besides the fact it would be harder to get to her if she were to need our help. Unfortunately, after housing all of our new guests, we don’t have any extra rooms left.”

“She can use my room. The couch’s comfortable anyway.”

Beast nodded and Wolverine took her to his room, and put her in his bed. Even as bruised, bloodied, and unconscious as she was, to him she never looked so strong. Normally he would’ve thought anyone who would just lie there and take that sort of beating would be weak, but knowing why, and hearing what she had said from Rogue and Storm, his opinions couldn’t be farther opposite. He gently touched her arm and noticed how cold she was, so he put an extra blanket over her in hopes it would help.

“Logan?” she groaned, her eyes weren’t even open far enough for someone to tell she was awake. “Yeah, I’m here.” He answered quietly.

“What happened?”

“We found out Jack was the masked troublemaker, and ya refused to fight him.”

“After that… after he beat the snot out of me… how’d we get back here? Did the jet run?”

“Yeah. It ain’t lookin’ pretty, and we probably won’t be flyin’ it any time soon, but it got us home.”

“You probably think I’m pathetic right now…”

“Nah, don’t think that.” He smiled as he caressed the side of her face.

She smiled and tried to sit up, but he gently pushed her back into the bed. “Get some rest, Jack didn’t exactly go easy on ya.” He ordered, keeping his hands on her shoulders to keep her lying down. “But where are you gonna sleep? This is your room…” she asked. “There’s three couches downstairs, I’ll use one of those. Now relax and get some sleep. I’ll be up here in the mornin’ to check on ya.” He smiled, kissing her head before leaving the room.

The next morning Lyrissa quietly forced herself out of bed, and made her way down the halls to the bathroom to get cleaned up; she also wanted to see how much damage Jack had caused. “Lyrissa! What are you doing out of bed? You should be resting, go lay down!” Cyclops gasped when she rounded a corner and came face to face with him. “Scotty, I have to pee, and really need a shower. Please let me go.” She sighed painfully, the bruising that covered most of her body was making it hard to breathe, let alone stand there and argue.

“Fine, but I want you back in bed as soon as you’re done. I know how much you hate being the helpless, co-dependant, damsel in distress Lyrissa, but you can’t overwork yourself right now.”

“All right Scotty, I’ll go back to bed as soon as I’m done with my bath okay?” and with that she pushed past him and went to the bathroom.

As soon as she closed the door she took a hard look in the mirror, and gasped. Half her face was yellow and blue. Her lip was still a little swollen, and she could see where Jack had split it still.

She ran some hot water, and kicked her clothes around the bottom of the door to trap any steam from escaping, and soaked away any thoughts that were buzzing in her head. The only thing going through her mind was the sound of her own breathing. Eventually she fell asleep.

~Dream~

Lyrissa sat in a garden so vast she couldn’t see where it ended. There were plants so beautiful they couldn’t be described, with flowers so big she could curl up in one of the blooms and fall asleep. She was sitting on a finely carved marble and stone bench, with her feet curled to the side next to her, leaning on the edge of a fountain.

The fountain was brilliant. The statue in the center was of a beautiful young woman, carved in an eternal dance. Her hair was flowing behind her, her face firm in concentration, her dress flowing as it would be if she were real. Shimmering, crystal blue water came from the palm of her raised hand, and ran through her other into the fountain base. The water seemed to glow in the warm, almost golden haze of light that came from the sun that was either rising, or setting; she couldn’t tell since for some reason the sun was in the south.

She heard something move in the bushes ahead of her, and gave in to her curiosity. She stood from her bench, and felt the warm stone path under her feet. Her long white dress, accented with green ribbons around her short sleeves, around her bust, and wais, which were all accompanied with white lace fell to rest at her ankles. A green garland held her hair back loosely as she walked through the garden.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” she asked, her voice nearly echoed through all the stone statues and figures who watched her every move. “Oh, hello. I didn’t mean to disturb you. I was just admiring your marvelous garden. It really is the best I’ve ever seen!” a young woman, dressed exactly as she was, only with light brown hair, that also sparkled, and purple eyes smiled.

“Thank you, but it isn’t my garden, I don’t know who’s it is.”

“Oh, well have you seen the roses? They’re the most curious of flowers I’ve seen.”

“No I haven’t.”

“Oh you must see them! Follow me.” The girl grabbed Lyrissa’s hand and led her through winding pathways until they came to a rod iron fence, and finally a large gate. “They’re through here. Oh they are so brilliant!” the girl smiled as they entered the rose garden.

Inside Lyrissa could only gasp. There were rose vines, bushes, stems, and even trees that grew roses. Some were simple red blooms, or yellow, pink, orange, and even light purple. The usual colors of roses you would find in any florist’s shop. Others however, were unlike any roses she had ever seen. Bright blue ones, as big as her hand, roses that looked like the night sky, with stars and all, tiny silver roses that grew on white vines around the fence and gate, gold roses that grew on stems made of emerald, dark purple roses that’s petals when dropped turned to gems and shattered, and in the center, a rose so captivating, she couldn’t resist walking over to touch it’s petals.

The rose’s bloom was as big as she was in all directions. It was the brightest flower she had ever seen, and was reflecting every color in the garden. When she was close enough she saw that each petal was a mirror, and saw herself staring back in wonder through every petal as she admired the unique rose.

“That’s the only rose of its kind. I’ve read about the legendary Mirror Rose, but I never knew it existed until I found it here. Amazing, isn’t it?” the girl mused.

“Yeah…”

“It’s said that the Mirror Rose can’t grow without being surrounded by other roses. Roses are very magical flowers, the ones growing here especially. The Midnight Roses, which look like the sky at night, block any nightmares to anyone who sleeps under their blooms. The Water Roses, which are the bright blue ones over there, not only can their seeds grow in water without any soil, if you eat their stems you can breathe under water. And if you eat the petals, you can walk on water. But if you eat the leaves, you’ll drown.”

“How?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen anyone eat the leaves.”

Suddenly water rushed in from all directions, and Lyrissa inhaled a full breath of water.

~Awake~

Lyrissa woke up sputtering and coughing; apparently she had slid under the water while sleeping, and nearly drowned herself. “Are you all right Lyrissa?” Storm asked through the door. “F-fine Storm! I fell asleep and I guess I went under on accident. I’m getting out now before I kill myself.” She laughed as she pulled the plug and started to dry off, being careful not to push too hard on any bruises. “Andrew would like me to tell you he will tie you to the bed, and lock you in Logan’s room if you don’t keep resting.” Storm laughed through the door before walking away. “Yeah I will! So get out of the bathroom and go to bed!” Andrew yelled from somewhere down the hall.

Lyrissa pulled her clothes and slowly walked out of the bathroom, and the opposite direction of Logan’s room, down to the kitchen. “Ah, hello Lyrissa. How are you feeling?” Beast asked as she passed him in the hall. “Been better, but alright I guess. How ‘bout you Hank?” she smiled. “Doing fine myself, thank you. Andrew and Scott are both in the kitchen, just as a warning.” He replied. “Ugh… I’m fine, why can’t they just chill out? I mean, seriously I’ve been through worse.” She whined.

“I know, but you must understand how much everyone here cares about you. Andrew has taken to taking his rage out in the Danger Room, and has been either in there, eating, or asleep since we got back. Scott, you know how he feels about you, you’ve become like a younger sister to him. If this had happened to Allie, would you be passing it off because she’s been through worse?”

“Oh god no, I’d be going after whoever did it.”

“And it has taken a lot of persuasion from the Professor for all of us not to go after Jack; Andrew, Scott, and Logan especially.”

“I guess you’re right… its just annoying I guess.” She sighed.

“I know it must be, you have always been extremely independent.”

“Well, I gotta get something to eat before I die right here in the floor, and then clean my room so Logan can have his back.”

“Not until you’re more recovered, Lyrissa. I don’t want you overworking yourself. Logan has agreed to sleep on the couches downstairs until you’re healed up.”

“I’m not winning this argument am I?” she asked in mild defeat.

“No, you’re not. I won’t keep you in bed for days on end as some of the others may want, but I do want you taking it easy the next few days.”

“Alright Hank, I’ll get food, and go back to Logan’s room.” She sighed and walked off.

“Storm said you nearly drowned yourself, what happened?” Jean asked with a smile as she entered the kitchen. “Fell asleep.” Lyrissa shrugged. “Dat ain’t a smart thing to do Petit.” Gambit teased. “Really Gambit? I thought it was genius.” She sighed sarcastically, taking a seat next to Scott, who didn’t look too happy.

“She’s not going back to bed Scott. Besides, it’s not like she’s in the Danger Room or anything, she’s just come down for some lunch.” Jean sighed. “I know. I just don’t want you to get hurt any more than you already are Lyrissa.” He answered. “Sitting in a chair, eating Pizza isn’t gonna make this worse, Scotty.” She smiled.

Suddenly a football came flying through the doorway, nearly hitting Lyrissa in the face. She jumped and teleported to the sitting room, three feet above the back of the couch; causing her to fall, bounce off that, and hit the floor. “ARGH! I HATE TELEPORTING!” she screamed as pain shot through nearly every inch of her body. “How many times have we told you, no ball in the house? Not only could you break something, but also it’s dangerous!” Jean scolded, but Lyrissa couldn’t see whom she was yelling at. “Sorry Miss. Jean! We didn’t mean to, it was an accident!” Jamie and Max defended.

“You okay?” Gambit asked as he helped Lyrissa off the floor. “Don’t!” she gasped, lying back onto the floor, “I don’t wanna move yet Gambit, right now I don’t even wanna breathe.” She gasped and grunted through the pain. “You want I get Beast an’ have him take a look? You maybe broke somethin’, I think it be best, no?” he asked. “No… it’s fine. I’m fine…” She breathed slowly getting up, using his arm to pull her weight off the ground.

“She okay?” Scott asked as Gambit helped her back into the kitchen. “Who threw that?” she asked as they both helped her sit down. “Jamie and Max. Jean took ‘em for a talkin’ to. We’ve been tellin’ those boys not to play football in the house, but they ain’t been listenin’.” Rogue answered with a sigh. “They’re six, and eight year old boys… why would they listen?” Lyrissa tried to laugh, but it came out more of a pained grunt. “Because Jean and I ain’t the only ones who told ‘em.” Rogue answered. “Well, we didn’t have a whole lotta rules in the sewers. We had to play ball in there, because we couldn’t go up top ya know? They’ve pretty much grown up without rules. Put them in their place, and make them respect you. That’s the only way they’ll listen.” Lyrissa explained.

“Two questions, how, and why?” Scott asked, furrowing his brow behind his glasses. “Tons of ways. I outsmarted them once, beat Andrew up once, and lost my temper another time. After that they listened to me. Its kind of the same reason I didn’t fight Jack… there’s a code. Andrew lived by it longer than me, but I adopted it after a year or so.” She answered. “And what code is dis?” Gambit asked. “You respect the leader, and don’t challenge unless you’re ready for a fight for it. Its not always physical, but it’s still a fight. Andrew and me got into it physically, when I refused to do something he told me to do, and I won the fight. Barely. Dante tries to outsmart me a lot, but you have to keep arguing, until you win.

“Another rule is no dead weight. Even Allie worked down there. Then there’s the fighting rules, which usually ends like me right now; black, blue, sore, but happy with yourself.”

“What rule, demands you don’t fight back when someone’s trying to kill you?” Scott asked heatedly. “A good one. Jack saved my life in a fight, and in return I owed him mine. The rule we lived by was after that you don’t fight the person who saved you. The only way out, is to save their life, or in the event they try and kill you, you let them. I know you think it’s a stupid rule, but think about it. Would it be right if I let all of you waste him, after he nearly got killed saving me from the Michaels brothers? You just don’t fight back, you owe them your life, which means you don’t endanger theirs.” She explained. “So if he attacked you again, you’d just let him kill you?” he argued. “No, we’re even now. I let him go after that fight, and thankfully none of you went after him. There’s only one fight where you stay down. After that, there’s nothing keeping you from defending yourself.” She answered.

“Ya know, the whole honor thing’s kind of the way we live here Cyclops. We don’t start the fights, we finish ‘em, and we try to avoid killin’ anyone unless we have no other choice.” Rogue commented. “And if Sabertooth saved Wolverine’s life, do you think he’d just sit there and take the beating next time?” he argued, he really didn’t like Lyrissa’s code. “Scotty, Logan probably wouldn’t need saving in the first place, and even if that did happen, they’d probably just go back to fighting next time like the rescue never happened. You guys live by different rules, and he doesn’t even follow yours because he lives by his own, remember?” Lyrissa smiled, finishing the pizza Jean had served her before Jamie and Max’s football made her teleport.

“Hey, I’m gonna hit the library and do some nice, quiet, uneventful, reading. Besides, the chairs up there are big and fluffy… these kitchen chairs aren’t the best after having you butt whooped.” She added and got up, gasping and hitting the floor. “You okay?” Rogue asked quickly, helping her up. “Yeah, just stood up too fast I think. You guys ask that question a lot don’t you?” she chuckled. “Ask what?” Scott asked. “Every time something happens, one of you is rushing over askin’ ‘you okay?’ and you all do it. Logan does it, you do it, Gambit does it, Jean does it, Rogue just did it, the only people who don’t ask that are Hank, Storm, and Uncle Charlie; and they usually say ‘Are you all right’ or in Hank’s case, ‘oh my, what happened?’” She answered before slowly making her way to the library.

She read for a while, but in the quiet all she could think about was the dream she had. All those roses, in so many different colors, and designs, and the Mirror Rose, which was more beautiful than anything she had ever seen before. Not to mention the girl. Lyrissa tried to remember what she looked like, but couldn’t. She couldn’t remember her face, build, voice, or even what she was wearing. She just remembered that she was there.

She found a pen and some paper and started to sketch the garden, with the Mirror Rose in the center. She drew herself standing in front of it wearing the dress she had worn in her dream, touching a petal, and her many reflections in the petals. Once she was satisfied with her drawing, it looked like a black and white photograph. She set it aside and drew two roses on draping vines on opposite corners of another piece of paper, and then started to write; picturing her dream the entire time.

She had never been one to write good poetry, but she was happy with what she had come up with. “Lyrissa, could you please help Rogue with Kiera and Dante? They’ve taken to using their powers instead of words in their argument. I would help, but unfortunately I have my hands full with Andrew, Max, Jamie, Jazz and Box in the Danger Room with most of the X-Men. Rogue and Jean are the only two who aren’t training, and Jean is dealing with the other children at the moment.” Xavier asked suddenly. “Sure thing Uncle Charlie. Where’s she at?” she thought in reply. “Outside in the back.” He answered. Lyrissa sighed and pushed herself out of the chair, leaving her drawing and poem on the table.

“Now, knock it off!” Rogue yelled as Kiera threw a ball of energy at Dante, who dodged it and kept taunting her. Rogue was floating about ten feet off the ground, holding Kiera so she didn’t kill Dante. Dante levitated off the ground, pulled Kiera’s hair. “Kiera tried to throw another energy ball at Dante, but when she did it grazed Rogue’s sleeve, slicing through the fabric and exposing her arm. “Alright, that’s enough!” she yelled, flying to the ground and grabbing Dante by the back of the shirt. Dante blinked and was suddenly behind her, sticking his tongue out at Kiera.

Dante ran up to mess with Kiera again, and Rogue grabbed him by the arm and pushed him to the ground. “I said knock it off. Both of ya, now quit!” she yelled sternly, holding him on the ground. “S-sorry Miss Rogue… I’ll stop.” Dante said quietly, he had never seen her yell like that before she was serious now. “Yeah, I’m sorry too. I won’t use my powers like that again I promise.” Kiera agreed. “Good. Now I’m gonna let go, and I want both a ya’s to be good now, ya hear? No more fightin’, no more arguin’ no more attackin’ each other with yer powers. Got it?” Rogue asked, keeping her strict I-mean-business tone. Both kids nodded, and she let go.

“You two are so lucky I’m beat all to heck, otherwise I’d have really let you have it.” Lyrissa commented angrily from the back porch. “Sorry Sparkles.” They both replied together. “We’ll be in our rooms.” Kiera mumbled as they both walked past her and into the mansion.

“Sorry I couldn’t get here to help ya Rogue, I was moving as fast as I could… stairs just aren’t nice to me.” She laughed as Rogue joined her on the porch.

“No problem sugar, I think I got the point across.”

“That’s what I meant before, about putting them in their place. Those two’ll probably listen to you a lot better now.”

“I didn’t wanna have to do that. They just wouldn’t quit fightin’.”

“I know. I didn’t wanna black Andrew’s eye either, but he wouldn’t quit arguing with me.” Lyrissa laughed.

“So how ya holdin’ up, ya look sore.”

“No… Jack kicking the life out of me tickled.” Lyrissa answered sarcastically.

“Yeah, I could hear ya laughin’.”

Back inside the mansion, the Danger Room session had let out, and Logan went to the library looking for Lyrissa. He opened the door and didn’t see her, but he did see a picture sitting on the table under a lamp. It wasn’t until he picked it up and examined it that he realized it was a drawing. The way Lyrissa’s hair and dress fell looked so realistic, creases and wrinkles in the fabric’s dress, falling petals from roses in the background of the garden, the awe in the many reflections of Lyrissa staring back at her figure from the petals of the giant rose, it all looked so real. He had seen her work on Bad Boy, and knew she was good at art, but this flat out blew him away.

He looked back at the table and noticed another piece of paper with rose vines on two of the corners, and a short poem written on it.

“In the garden where the roses bloomed, stood the flowers she had to dream to view. With shimmering petals, made of emeralds and gold. Silver and white. And even the midnight sky.

“In the garden where the roses bloom, she never felt so at home as that night. In awe and in wonder, as everything passed. She could only wish it hadn’t gone by so fast.

“In the center stood the Mirror Rose, who’s bloom was so tall, looking at her many reflections she had never felt so small.

“And the girl whose face can’t be seen, she spoke of magic in her dream. And though her voice can’t be heard, she can still remember every word.

“Because in the garden where the roses bloomed, surrounded by flowers magical and new, she found another world to travel to; a new friend to guide her way, a new place to spend her days. Standing on the tips of her toes, just so she could again see herself through the Mirror Rose.”

He looked back at the drawing, and it seemed even more amazing next to the poem. “Kid’s got talent.” He smirked to himself as he admired every detail of the work. “What was that Logan?” Hank asked; he had been passing by the library and overheard Logan’s comment. “This drawing and poem Lyrissa did. Look at it.” He answered, handing his friend the two pieces of paper. “Fascinating! The detail in this drawing is simply amazing, at first I would’ve guessed it was a photograph if it wasn’t for the mirrored rose next to her.” He beamed. “And the fact she’s in a dress with corset laces.” Logan added with a smirk. “This really should be framed, it is perhaps the best piece of artwork in the mansion. The creativity in the roses is unlike anything I’ve seen, we’ll have to ask her permission of course.” Hank continued. Logan nodded in agreement and followed him out of the library.

They found Lyrissa on the back porch with Rogue and Storm. They were lounging in the chairs, while Lyrissa stretched out on the floor in the sun. “You girls have no idea how good this feels after your ‘friend’ tries to kill you. Its like the sun bakes away the stiffness.” She smiled, emphasizing the word “friend”. “You are taking this very well. I would have expected more rage after such a betrayal.” Storm commented. “I’m trying not to dwell on it. Trust me, if I see him again I’m gonna kill him. I got that jerk almost six hundred when I raced before bringing all of you! And I brought him here with all of you… which means you should probably tighten defenses. Since he’s probably mapped them an all.” She replied lazily.

“I’m sure cyke’ll be all over that.” Logan commented, making his, and Hank’s presence known among the girls. “Hey there Wolverine, Beast, what’cha got there?” Rogue smiled. “A drawing and poem of Lyrissa’s. I wanted to ask her if she would mind if we framed them? They are truly brilliant.” Beast answered. Lyrissa’s whole face went red. “What is wrong?” Storm asked. “I forgot about those…” she answered blankly. “Well let me see ‘em.” Rogue said as she took the papers from Beast.

“Ah shoot honey, where’d ya learn to draw like this?” she beamed. “Random doodling. Lots of it.” Lyrissa blushed. “The poetry I can tell came from your heart. It is as beautiful as your drawing.” Storm commented after taking the papers from Rogue. “Thanks. I was just messin’ around. Not being allowed to have any fun and all.” She smirked through her embarrassment. “Would you mind my framing and hanging these?” Beast asked. “I guess not, go ahead.” She shrugged. “Wonderful, I’m sure it will be appreciated by the others as much as it is by us.” He cheered before taking her work and walking away.

“So, I heard ya let Kiera and Dante have it.” Logan smirked to Rogue as he sat down next to Lyrissa. “They wouldn’t quit fightin’ so I had to straighten ‘em out. That’s all.” She answered, kicking her feet up and lounging again. “She pinned Dante to the ground, while holding Kiera by the arm, and yelled at them both.” Lyrissa explained. “Way to go!” he laughed. “You do not find that to be a little too much?” Storm asked. “Nah, not for us. Like I said, earn your respect… they don’t listen to you as much, because you’re too nice to them. They listen to Logan, because they’re terrified of him. They think he might kill ‘em.” Lyrissa laughed. “I ain’t sent anyone cryin’ to Rogue and Jean yet.” He smirked. “Shut up!” she laughed, hitting him in the arm, and then groaning it the pain she caused herself by moving so fast.

“Careful.” He gasped; putting his hand on her arm like it would make her feel better. “Man, this sucks… I hate being hurt!” she growled. “Never met anyone who does sugar.” Rogue sighed.

Suddenly there was a loud bang, and a very high-pitched scream coming from the living room. Lyrissa got up as fast as she could, and with Logan’s help raced to see what had happened. Rogue and Storm went ahead of her incase there was a fight.

“You aren’t welcome here!” Scott bellowed, keeping his hand on his glasses. “Please, I just need to see if she’s okay. There’s a reason I didn’t kill her ya know! Cool off dude!” Jack pleaded. There was another crash, and the same screech. “You are so dead!” Jazz screamed. “Jazz, calm down. We can handle him.” Scott said sternly.

Lyrissa and Logan hadn’t made it to the others yet, since her racing was somewhat of a slow hobble, but she could hear everything that was going on. Logan was growling as they moved, and she knew it was because he wanted to rip Jack to shreds.

“YOU! HOW DARE YOU COME HERE?” Andrew shouted, malice dripping from his every word. She could tell he had just made it to the others, and wished she could move faster. There was a hard thud, and another crash. Then Lyrissa remembered she could teleport. She wasn’t good at it, but it would move her faster. She closed her eyes and tried to teleport to the front room. To her surprise, her and Logan both appeared standing on the ground, in the center of the room.

“Jen! Tell your friends to back off man, I just came to see if you were okay!” Jack begged as soon as he saw her. Andrew was telekinetically holding him off the ground, stuck to the wall with his head just inches from the ceiling. “I told you last night, you are nothing to me anymore. We’re even, I didn’t fight back, you left me there, as far as I go they can kill you right now and I’ll help dig the hole.” She spat. If he wasn’t holding her upright, and if Andrew wasn’t keeping Jack so far from his reach, Logan would’ve clawed him to bits already. “See? That’s what happens when you betray someone! She’s family, so you betrayed us! You never saved my life, I don’t owe you squat!” Jazz screamed, throwing another purple light at the side of his head. Jack let out a high-pitched scream, identical to the ones she had heard before; the ones she was sure had come from one of the girls.

“Jen please… I wanna be on your side, I wanna help you fight the Brotherhood. I was wrong, I saw what they’re doing, its bad Jen. Bad, bad, bad.” He went on. “He’s wying.” Allie stated from the doorway, in a voice so dark it was almost scary to know it had come from such a sweet little girl. “You must be Allie! Oh man Lyrissa’s told me so much about you! Come on, you should know I’m telling the truth, tell ‘em it’s okay to let me down!” Jack begged. “Hey, you leave her alone. She young, but she ain’t stupid.” Gambit warned, holding up the charged card he had been holding since Lyrissa and Logan showed up.

“Jack?” Kiera gasped as she, Max, and Xavier joined them. “Oh you WANKER!” Max screamed getting ready to throw an attack of his own at him. “Calm down, everyone. Andrew, please put Jack down.” Xavier ordered calmly, but without losing the authority in his voice. “Huh, fine by me.” Andrew huffed, and let Jack fall. Jean caught him just a few feet from the ground, but then let him drop the rest of the way on ‘accident’. “I would like a word with him alone.” He announced, giving everyone the cue to leave so Xavier could have a chat with Jack. “But Professor-” “Scott, now.” He interrupted. Scott sighed and left the room angry. To prevent eavesdroppers, Xavier took Jack to the front porch for their conversation.

“I wanna see Mr. Summers blast that jerk through a wall.” Kiera stated angrily as she sat in what was left of the sitting room with the others. “Or just have Miss Rogue fly him off a cliff, there’s one close by you know.” Max commented. “Then Miss. Storm can hit the water with lightning bolts, and electrocute him.” Jazz added. “That’s enough guys, the Professor doesn’t need us thinking up ways to commit murder.” Jean sighed. “Not murder if he tried to kill one of us.” Box explained. “Is that how you think?” Scott asked everyone who had come with Lyrissa to the mansion in surprise. “Box and Jazz used to be in a street gang. That’s part of their rules, if someone attacks one of your people, their life is fair game.” Andrew explained.

“Hey Logan, did you ever finish fixing up your Jeep?” Lyrissa asked, not wanting anyone to ask about Jazz and Box’s gang life. “Nope. Did find a few bolts though, why?” he answered, knowing why she was asking. “You’re not working on anything until you’re healed up Lyrissa.” Scott stated firmly before she could answer. “Why not Scotty?” she pouted. “Because you’ll die!” Andrew yelled quickly, louder than he meant to and making several people jump. “No… I don’t wanna die!” she whispered dramatically. “Then keep youw hands out of wogan’s engine.” Allie said firmly. Everyone was amused by her comment, but Andrew was the one who snorted as soon as she spoke. “What?” she asked with a giggle, feeding off of everyone’s joy and amusement. “That was bloody awesome, that’s what!” Max laughed. “Ah man that sounded so wrong!” Dante laughed. “You guys are bad.” Jean laughed. “Look who’s talking, you’re the one who had to close your eyes to keep from laughing!” Lyrissa pointed out. “Dat’s true.” Gambit agreed.

Xavier coming back inside without Jack cut their laughter short. “So?” Lyrissa asked. Allie was right he was lying. He came here to gain our trust, and keep us away from the Brotherhood, and their plans. Whatever they may be. He wasn’t told what they’re up to, so I wouldn’t be able to read his thoughts and find out.” He answered. “As long as he’s staying away from here, I’m happy.” Andrew nodded comfortably. “I think he’s lucky Lyrissa ain’t able to fight. She’d probably have killed him.” Rogue commented. “Yeah I would.” Lyrissa agreed coldly. “He will not be coming back. I warned him that if he returned, I would not hold any of you back.” Xavier sighed. “Good, I hope he does come back.” Box snapped. He received a disapproving look from Xavier as the crowd dissipated.

A few minutes later Lyrissa was lying on Logan’s bed, with her eyes closed thinking about that dream she had; the fountain specifically. In her dream she half expected it to come to life and dance for her. She was smiling as she recalled the entire event. The strange girl she couldn’t remember, except that she was a girl who led her to the roses… oh the roses! She sparkled like the Midnight Roses’ stars when she pictured them. All the different kinds, colors, and sizes… it was awe inspiring, even as a memory. And then there was the Mirror Rose, which was the most wonderful of them all, because it reflected the beauty of everything around it.

“What’re ya thinkin’ about?” Logan asked quietly as he sat next to the bed. “Roses.” She smiled.

“What about ‘em?”

“I don’t know, how beautiful they are. How magical they can be… I had this dream earlier, before I nearly drowned myself in the tub. I was in this garden, wearing the dress I drew in that picture, watching an amazing fountain. It was all so real, I could smell the water, and feel the splashes every once in a while. I could feel the sun, and the warm stone path in the garden, since I wasn’t wearing any shoes.

“And there was this girl, I can’t remember what she looked like or anything, but she took me to this part that was a rose garden. It had so many amazing roses… roses you can’t even imagine!” she mused, keeping her eyes closed.

“Really? What’d they look like?” he smirked, though he was fully interested.

“There were gold roses, growing on stems that were made of emeralds.” She grinned.

“That it?”

“Oh god no… there were these dark purple ones, that’s petals turned into gems when they fell off, and shattered when they hit the ground, and Water Roses, which were bright blue, and as big as your hands. There were Midnight Roses, that were dark blue, almost black, and sparkled with stars, they looked just like the sky at midnight! Some even had wisps of clouds! And silver roses, that grew on a white vine, and so many others. Then there was the Mirror Rose; oh Logan I wish you could’ve seen the dream, that way you could know how beautiful it was “she sighed

“I saw it in your drawing. It really is nice.”

“No, I mean in color… I’ve never seen anything like it. She said it was the only one of it’s kind.”

“Who said?”

“Oh, there was this girl, I can’t remember her at all, only that she was there and took me to the roses. She explained about some. Like the Midnight Roses could block out nightmares if you sleep under them. And Water Roses, if you eat the stems you can breathe under water, and if you eat the petals, you can walk on it. But don’t eat the leaves, or you’ll drown.”

“I’ll remember that next time I find a blue rose.” He smirked.

“You think I’m going crazy?” she asked suddenly, opening her eyes and turning to face him.

“Nah, I think ya had a dream, and let yer imagination run with it.” He smiled.

“I’m gonna let ya get some sleep, so ya can go back to yer garden.” He announced, kissing her lightly. She whimpered when he pulled away and left, but was soon asleep, hoping he was right, and she would have the dream again.