Lyrissa's Sparkles

Lyrissa was sitting on the floor of her bedroom in front of the chest they had brought from her old home when she was rescued from the labs. Xavier was next to her holding the key out for her to take. “Are you sure you’re ready to open this? You have been under quite a bit of emotional stress lately.” He asked. “I’m sure.” She nodded, almost trying to convince herself of it. He nodded and handed her they key, and she slowly unlocked the chest. She hesitated before opening the lid.

On top was a picture of her parents and her when she was a baby, and that was the first thing that met her eyes when she finally lifted the lid. Her mother looked like she could’ve been her twin. The only difference was her eyes were a very bright blue. Her sparkling made the camera reflect strangely and make her look like she was glowing, and it only made her look more beautiful. “So that’s what she looked like.” She whispered, slowly picking up the photograph. “Yes, and she was a very beautiful woman. Unfortunately, we were unable to get any good photos of her while holding you; she would sparkle too brightly, and cause the camera to reflect just like that.” He smiled, admiring the glowing face of Karma Jennings.

“There is a letter taped to the back of the frame.” He pointed out after a short while. Lyrissa turned the picture over and took off the folded pieces of paper, and read them.

“Lyrissa, I hope you never, ever have to read this, but if you are then the first thing I should say is I’m sorry. I can’t express how sorry I am for not being there for you right now, I know that there are times in life when you think it’s too hard to go on. But Charles is an amazing person, and will take care of you, just as your father has.

“I don’t know how it came to be, that I could have a daughter as beautiful as you. I don’t think I’ve stopped sparkling since the first time I held you. As I’m sure you know by now, I’m a mutant. There is a very strong chance that you are as well, but if you didn’t inherit mutation, don’t feel bad. There are two sides, and both are wonderful. If you did, then according to Charles you probably sparkle when you’re happy. My guess is you are drop dead gorgeous when you do that, if it is even possible to be more beautiful than you are now.

“There are some thinks in this box I want you to have. In order that you’ll find them, if you’re anything like me, are the picture, then this letter, and then my bracelet. My mother, who got it from my grandmother, who her mother gave it, gave that bracelet to me. Yes, those are real onyx and ruby stones, and real diamonds. I don’t know how much it’s worth, I never checked it; it was worth too much to even think of selling. The onyx roses (Onyx is the black stone) sparkle when you shine them, it’s really neat. I loved that bracelet, and always wanted to give it to my daughter someday. I hope that you’ll give it to yours one day as well.

“Some other things I should explain are the videos, and keys. The rest your father, or Charles can explain. The videos are of my wedding to your father, the baby shower that Charles held at his mansion, your first birthday party, Christmases with Charles and his X-Men, vacations, and other things. The most important one is the video in the black case, with the ribbon around it. Only watch that one, when Charles feels you’re ready. I won’t write what it is, he already knows.

“The keys are my twentieth birthday gift to you. You will find out what they are for on your birthday. I believe Scott and Remy hid it. Even I don’t know where they put it. Knowing Remy, somewhere muddy.

“Now that all of that is out of the way, I can finish this letter properly. Lyrissa Marie Anette Jennings, I love you with all my heart, and never, ever, wanted to leave you. If I have gone the way I expect to, don’t hate Sabertooth. If my suspicions are correct, you know what I’m talking about. Please, don’t let my death affect your views of anyone. Make your own judgments about them.

“There are a few things in there for you and the lucky someone who you fall in love with. My wedding dress is in the bottom, along with our wedding rings, and, the glasses from our toast. Once again baby, I love you. I love you more than the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and all of the water in the oceans put together, my beautiful, amazing, strong, wonderful, lovely daughter.

“Your devoted mother, Karma Elizabeth Jennings.”

Lyrissa cried very hard while reading the letter, and had to take several breaks so that she didn’t ruin her mother’s handwriting. She had started reading it out loud, but couldn’t read and cry, so she let Xavier read her mind while she read so that he could know what it said. “You’ll be getting that gift of hers in less than a month.” He smiled. Her hair sparkled at it’s brightest as she went through the chest. She pulled out the bracelet first and admired it; it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Pure silver, studded with diamonds, with onyx and ruby roses spaced along the chain. She quickly slipped it on and continued going through.

The wedding dress was beautiful, but she folded it back and put it back in the chest to keep it from getting messed up. By the time she was done, she had a stack of videotapes, two photo albums, a scrapbook, and a ton of her old toys and clothes, along with some of her mother’s jewelry, her favorite book, and her art set put in stacks all over her bed and floor.
“Can we watch some of the tapes?” she asked in the same tone Allie used when she really wanted something. “Of course, but not the one with the ribbon, I want that to wait.” He answered. “I wanted to watch this one anyway.” She smiled, holding up a tape labeled “Christmas Party: Xavier Mansion”. He smiled and followed her down to the front room, where they started the tape.

“Okay, it’s rolling.” Her father’s voice announced over the black screen. “Hey, you got de lens cap on Mon Ami.” Gambit laughed. “Oh for god’s sake Stephen.” A woman laughed, and suddenly the lens cap came off and showed a woman who looked a lot like Lyrissa laughing next to Jean.

“Thanks Karma.” Her father laughed from behind the camera. “You’re welcome sweetheart. Remy, where’d you put the baby? You were holding her just a second ago.” She smiled. “I give her to Storm, she in de kitchen now gettin’ a bottle.” He answered. “Thank you.” She smiled and left the room.

“Okay, this is baby Lyrissa’s first Christmas! We are celebrating with Charles and his family here at the Xavier mansion, where everyone’s meeting our little bundle of joy for the first time. Storm, show the baby to the camera!” her father beamed. Storm held Lyrissa up higher and smiled as the baby dismissed the bottle, and started sucking on her finger. “Maybe the formula isn’t good?” a younger Scott suggested as he helped Jean with some cookies. “No, she’s just not hungry. If you give her the pacifier, she’ll quit sucking on you like that Ororo.” Karma smiled. “It is all right, I do not mind it.” She smiled in reply.

“Charles, there you are! Come meet the baby!” Dr. Jennings announced, handing the camera off to Hank. Storm smiled and passed Lyrissa to Xavier, who held her carefully with a smile on his face. “She is beautiful.” He mused. “Almost as beautiful as her mother.” Jennings smiled. Karma rolled her eyes and went back to her conversation with Jean and Storm.

The screen went to static for a few seconds, and came back to show everyone crowded around the Christmas tree, getting ready to hand out presents. “I say we give Lyrissa hers first.” Rogue suggested. “Wonderful idea.” Beast agreed, passing Scott a small-bagged gift, since he was holding her at the time. He laughed and pulled out a baby pink blanket, with bright pink edging; the blanket that would eventually become Lyrissa’s Binkie.
Lyrissa couldn’t fight back her tears as she and Xavier watched the tape. “What’re we watching?” Jazz asked, sitting next to Xavier and handing Lyrissa a tissue. “My first Christmas.” Lyrissa laughed, wiping her tears. “No way, is that you Cyclops is holding?” she gasped. “Yes it is.” Xavier answered. “You were so little!” she squealed.

“Who was little?” Jean asked as she walked in to join them. “Oh, I remember that day! It was the first time any of us met you, and the last until you came to us later.” She smiled, sitting between Jazz and Lyrissa. “Why?” she asked. “Karma was worried about the Brotherhood. She didn’t want you around us until you were older, for your safety. We all understood.” Jean explained.

“LYRISSA!” several voices laughed and gasped from the TV. Lyrissa turned her attention back to the video as Jazz burst out in laughter. “Professor-X, rewind that! Please!” she giggled. He did, and Lyrissa watched as her baby self grabbed Scott’s glasses and started chewing on them happily, he almost put a hole through the ceiling. “Not for babies, Petit.” Gambit laughed, drying off the glasses and handing them back to Scott.

They watched the rest of the video in silence, Lyrissa focusing her entire attention on Karma whenever she was on the screen. When the video ended, she put in another.

The video started with her mother lying in a hospital bed, exhausted and sweaty, holding a small pink squirming bundle. “Ah, smile for the camera mommy!” her father laughed from behind the camera. “Stephen, I look terrible don’t put me on camera!” she laughed, holding Lyrissa up so she could be seen. “She’s so… Karma look at our little girl!” he whispered, it was clear that he was crying. “I know. Lyrissa Marie Anette Jennings, welcome to the world.” She smiled, bouncing the sleeping baby lightly.

“Charles wants to have a welcoming party when everyone has a chance. They’re a little busy with work at the moment though.” He commented, he had put the camera down on the table next to the hospital bed and was snuggled up to his wife and child in the shot. “Maybe Christmas.” He suggested. “Who could ask for a better gift? I don’t care if I never get another Christmas gift… I’ll be happy for the rest of my life.” Karma mused, her hair was gleaming, but the nurses and doctor didn’t care.

Again the entire video was watched in silence, someone handing Lyrissa a tissue once in a while, or putting their arm around her while she cried from seeing both of her parents, but especially the mother she never knew. When it was over, she noticed that everyone had collected around the television, and everyone who knew Karma was smiling sadly. Rogue quickly wiped a tear from her eye and smiled at Lyrissa when she noticed that she was watching.

“She was some woman Sugar. Ya turned out a lot like her.” She smiled. “Thanks Rogue… I’m actually happy I ended up at the labs now. If I didn’t, I never would have gotten this chest.” She laughed, wiping her tears away quickly as Logan and Scott came in, followed by the boys, and a covered spider tank.

“Why’s everyone crying?” Scott asked quickly. “Home videos. We just finished watching
Lyrissa’s first Christmas, and the video just after her birth.” Jean answered. “Oh, when you took my glasses after getting the blanket?” he laughed. “Yeah. I can’t believe that blanket looked like that. It’s so faded now.” She laughed.

“Well, Bennie’s home. Can we stick him in your lab now Beast?” Max asked eagerly. “Of course, right this way.” He smiled, leading all of the boys out to put Bennie in his new home.

“Is that Karma’s bracelet?” Scott asked, pointing to the new jewelry around Lyrissa’s wrist. “Yeah, she left it to me in the chest, with the letter.” She smiled, tears slowly rolling down her cheek again. “How many videos did she leave?” he asked curiously. “Twelve.” Xavier answered with a smile. “Plus the one I can’t watch yet.” Lyrissa added and he nodded his agreement. “Why can’t ya watch it?” Logan asked. “She said to wait until Uncle Charlie thought I was ready. He said it isn’t time yet.” She explained, scooting over so he could sit next to her, and then leaning on his shoulder. She was still sore from the beatings and everything else, but nowhere near what she was when she came home; he was still careful about putting any pressure anywhere.

The rest of the day was spent telling stories about Karma, and what she was like. The letter had been passed around to everyone, and Lyrissa showed off the contents of her chest. “I remember dat gift!” Gambit exclaimed after reading the part about the mysterious keys. “Yeah, we hid that really well.” Scott laughed. “Where at?” Lyrissa asked. “We can’t tell you that. But Karma’s right, Gambit picked somewhere muddy.” He laughed. She sighed and went back to going through the photo albums with Storm and Jubilee.

“No, no bloody way! Is this? Lyrissa is that you!?” Kiera gasped, holding up a picture of a small thirteen year-old-girl, in a green black and white cheerleading uniform, holding two metallic pom-poms over her head, and a very excited, toothy smile. “Yes… that’s me.” She laughed. “You were a cheerleader?” Andrew laughed. “Yes she was. And she was very good at it.” Storm smiled. “Did you do cheers like ‘Ready? OKAY!’” Kiera asked. “No, it was more of the dancing kind of cheer, and I only did it for a year. But, I can tell you that every time I went out with the squad, there were at least three X-Men sitting front row.” She beamed. “Yeah, until dat blonde kick Gambit in de face.” Gambit said bitterly. “I laughed so hard I almost peed when that happened! Stacey, one of the more… frustrating, squad members, rich, blonde, center of the universe, misjudged the distance, and during a back flip, kicked Gambit right in the chin. It was great!” Lyrissa giggled. “Not for me.” He commented.

“Hey, what’s this?” Logan asked, picking up a plaque. Lyrissa’s heart stopped as soon as her eyes landed on it. “Daddy’s award.” She whispered, taking it from him quickly. “I didn’t even see this before! How did I miss it?!” she exclaimed, holding it up so she could look at it better. “I dunno.” Max shrugged. “Well, I’m gonna hang it up.” She decided, taking the clock off her wall, that she broke, and putting it up. “Looks good.” Scott nodded. “Yep.” She smiled.
“Okay,” she sighed once all of her new belongings had been set properly, and her chest was put in her closet. “Okay what?” Logan asked, he was the only one left in her room with her at this point, everyone else had gone to do their own things, or in the boys’ case, play with Bennie. “I don’t know.” She smiled, snaking her arms around his neck and backing up until her legs hit the bed. “The door’s open!” Jazz called out as she walked past, not even looking over to them. “Not anymore!” Lyrissa shouted back, slamming, and locking it with one of her wisps. Logan smirked as she started kissing him.

He pushed her back onto the bed, careful enough not to hurt her, and she started to take off his shirt. He copied her actions as the moment heated up. “If the sirens go off, or if Scotty knocks on the door right now I swear,” she moaned as he kissed her collarbone. “Swear ya’ll what?” he asked, moving his kiss slowly up her neck, and right below her ear. “I don’t know, but I won’t… be happy.” She breathed, kissing his lips again.

A few minutes later, they were interrupted by a frantic knocking at the door. “Lyrissa! It’s me. Uhm… it’s really, important, that you open the door right now.” Andrew called through the door. “How important?” She demanded, not moving from her place on top of Logan. “Really important.” He answered.

“Is someone hurt?”

“Well, no.”

“Is someone bleeding?”

“No.”

“Is someone dying?”

“N-no.”

“Then what the hell is so important?” she demanded harshly. “Uhm… Bennie, is kind of…
well, gone.”

“WHAT?!” she yelled, jumping off of Logan and throwing on the first shirt she found in the dark room and opening the door. “Gone? What do you mean gone?” she asked, as if it were his fault the tarantula got lose. “Gone like, it’s not in the lab. We were playing with him, and Cyclops opened the door, it hit Jamie, who was holding him, and he dropped Bennie. Bennie’s fast, and now we can’t find him.” He explained quietly, not wanting Jazz or Kiera to hear. “Who all is looking?” she asked. “Cyclops, Beast, me, Dante, Jamie, Max, Box, Gambit, Rogue, and Jean. Storm’s keeping Kiera, Jubilee, Jazz, and Allie busy… no one wants them to find him.” He explained. “I’ll help look, but I’m not touching it.” She stated firmly. “I know, just yell and we’ll come to get him. Thanks Sparkles.” He breathed and took off.

“Logan, I’m sorry.” She sighed as he wrapped his arms around her waist. “It’s okay, I don’t wanna hear those girls scream anyway.” He smirked.

“Can you help look?”

“Yeah, if ya give me my shirt back.” He smiled. That was when she realized why the shirt she grabbed was so big on her, it wasn’t a pajama top, it was his. “Oh!” she blushed, shutting the door and taking off his shirt. “Here.” He laughed, tossing her one of her own. “I like that shirt though, it’s really soft.” She smiled as they left the room. “I know, ya said the same thing after that Halloween party.” He smirked. “That’s the shirt?” she giggled. He nodded and started helping her search for the spider.

An hour later, Jazz screamed the boys’ names in one long furious word at the top of her lungs. “FOUND HIM!” Andrew laughed, running down the hallway to one of the bathrooms. The door was locked, and he couldn’t get in. “DON’T OPEN THAT DOOR!” She ordered sharply. “Why are you yelling for us then?!” he demanded. “I’m not! I’m yelling at you!” she barked.

“Why?”

“Your freaking pet is in my sho-AHHHHHH!!”

“Well let me get in and I’ll get him!”

“NO!”

Logan and Lyrissa joined him by the door and watched their argument for a few minutes. “Jazz, can I come in?” Lyrissa asked, finally pushing Andrew aside. “AHH YEAH!” she yelled. Lyrissa teleported into the bathroom to see Jazz standing on the sink, wrapped in a very small towel, staring at Lyrissa’s feet. When she looked down, she found Bennie. With a yell of her own, she jumped onto the toilet and stood for a few minutes trying to decide what to do.

“Okay… I’m gonna teleport, and get my bathrobe. I’ll come back, and give it to you, then open the door and let Logan get Bennie. Okay?” she asked. “Hurry!” Jazz whimpered. “I will.” And with that she was gone, returning a few seconds later with a purple robe. As soon as Jazz put it on, Lyrissa opened the door with a wisp. “Logan get the spider! Andrew, get lost before she kills you!” she yelped as Bennie started crawling closer to her. Logan smirked and picked up the tarantula, and took it to the lab. “Okay?” Lyrissa asked Jazz as she climbed down from the sink. “Yeah.” She smiled. “Okay.” She grinned, and left the bathroom. For some reason, she was pretty tired, and decided to go to bed early.