Lyrissa's Sparkles

he trip went by fast as it was filled with pointless conversation about everything under the sun, and before long there were parking in the overly packed parking lot.
“All right. We have some rules to go over before going in. Number one, we stay together. No wondering off, no matter what, okay? I don't want anyone going missing.” Jean announced. Everyone nodded their understanding. “Number two, we never use our powers, unless one of us tells you to.” she continued; earning more nods. “And three, have fun, and don’t let me forget Gambit’s cards.” Rogue added with a laugh. “Should we get them first?” Kiera suggested. “Nah, if we forget he can bring his butt up here and buy his own dang cards.” she smiled.

The first thing they did when they got in the mall was head into a shoe store. Kiera, Jazz, Allie, and Lyrissa’s shoes were all pretty worn out, and all but Allie needed boots for training anyway. “So, what kind of shoes do you want?” Jean asked as they walked through the isles. “Pwetty ones!” Allie piped up happily. “Sounds good. What about you girls?” she laughed. “Comfortable ones, if I’m going to be doing the same things you guys do in training… I want comfortable shoes.” Jazz answered seriously. Kiera and Lyrissa both nodded in agreement. “And your other pair?” Storm asked. “We get two?” Kiera and Jazz gasped together. Lyrissa couldn’t help but to laugh at their excited expressions. “Well duh. Can’t expect ya to only have one pair of shoes right?” Rogue laughed. “Cool… then I want some like yours!” Kiera smiled. “I want some cute sandals.” Jazz replied blankly; totally distracted by the hundreds, upon hundreds of shoes to choose from. “I need a new pair of boots.” Lyrissa sighed as she looked around. “I thought we just covered the boots.” Storm commented questioningly. “No, not combat. Riding. To be honest, I need a whole new suit. Mine’s trash, and it’s getting cold which means I need warmer gear anyway.” she explained. “What about you Jubilee?” Kiera asked. “Me? I don’t need any new shoes right now, I just wanna shop.” She laughed.

Jean and Allie went into the kids section to search for pretty shoes, while Storm, Jazz, and Kiera went to look for combat boots. They both decided they wanted something different from everyone else’s boots. Lyrissa, Jubilee and Rogue went in search of simple black, goes-with-anything, combat boots, because Lyrissa wanted her boots to be able to match whatever X-suit she is given. Since it didn’t take long to find them, the two went to look for Lyrissa’s new riding boots.

“Lyrissa, how about these ones, they’re nice.” Jubilee suggested; holding up a pair of black boots, with a silver glittery stripe down the outside. “They are nice, but not for me.” she smiled and kept looking.

“Why not? I thought they were perfect. Matches your hair too.”

“That’s why. I’m too glittery as it is! My hair sparkles, all of it. If you look, my arms are sparkly, and so are my eyebrows. If I wore clothes with more sparkles… you’d have to wear sunglasses just to look at me.” Lyrissa laughed the last part.

“Ohh! How about these ones?” Rogue held up a pair of deep purple boots, with lighter purple X stitching down the outsides. “Those are perfect! Probably wouldn’t go with my bike… but I can change paint or something. You’re awesome Rogue!” Lyrissa exclaimed and tried them on. They fit nice, and the heels were only half an inch. It was like they were made for her feet; which for her was hard to find. “Ya know, I think you could fight in those… we’ll try it when we get back.” Rogue smiled after watching Lyrissa walk up and down the isle comfortably. “Yeah… Scotty would have a fit. They’re not ‘regulation’.” she giggled. “That is totally something he would say too!” Jubilee laughed.

“Look-it, look-it!” Allie shouted as she ran up to them. “Jean found these. Awen’t they pwetty?!” She beamed. holding out a pair of baby pink slipper-style shoes, with darker pink buckles, and small shimmering bows on the toes. “Oh Allie, they are! Do they have ‘em in my size?” Rogue replied. “No silly, these awe kid shoes! You need lady shoes.” she giggled. “I guess I do. Care to help me find a pair?” she sighed playfully. “Yeah!!” Allie shrieked. “You don’t mind, do ya Lyrissa?” Rogue asked, as she got ready to go. “Nope. Have fun!” she smiled; she really was having a good time, and this was only the first store.

Half an hour later, they were standing in check out. Everyone had at least one pair of new shoes; even Jubilee, who wasn’t planning on buying shoes, had gotten a new pair of boots. Jean sent Everyone ahead of her before they rang up the shoes, so no one could see the total which came to nearly $230.00.

“Can I put on my new shoes? Pwease?” Allie begged as soon as she walked out of the store. “When we get in the car. We’re going to be here a while, and I don’t want you getting blisters from wearing brand new shoes like that, okay?” she answered softly. “Okay.” Allie sighed; she was a little disappointed, but didn’t push it.

“So where to now?” Jazz asked. “Ice cweame!” Allie answered loudly; her voice squeaking with childish joy. “Yah know, some ice-cream doesn’t sound too bad right about now.” Rogue agreed. “Then it is settled. We will go for ice-cream.” Storm finalized with a smile.

Ordering the ice cream was a bit hectic for everyone involved. Allie couldn’t decide if she wanted gummy bears, or sprinkles on hers, Jazz couldn’t pick between Rocky Road, or Bunny Traxx… even Jean and Storm and Rogue were having trouble deciding on what to get. Eventually though, they were seated at a café table, enjoying their snack, and watching Allie make quite a mess.

“Are you enjoying your ice cream?” Storm laughed. Watching her drop a spoonful down the front of her shirt. “Mmhmm!” she nodded. She knew better than to speak with her mouth full. She may have been living in a sewer, but she had been taught manners. “Good. What kind did you get anyway?” Kiera asked. Allie’s was the only green, pink, and yellow swirled dish at the table. “The pwetty one.” She answered simply. Which earned a laugh from the whole group; except Lyrissa.

Lyrissa hadn’t touched her ice cream, nor did she look up from it. She just stared into the melting double chocolate sundae; entirely lost in thought.

“Lyrissa, are you okay?” Jean asked telepathically. Noticing how off she was.

“Fine, don’t worry about it. Just thinking, that’s all.” She had learned how to reply to a telepath from her Uncle Charlie a long time ago.

“You seem … distant. May I ask what you’re thinking about?”

“Jean, we both know you can just see or hear it. It’d probably be easier that way too. No, I don’t care if you find out. No big secret.”

Jean looked deeper into Lyrissa’s mind until she found the images that were somehow triggered by the ice cream sundae.

~

Lyrissa was sitting at a picnic table with her Professor Xavier. It was a very nice, warm summer day, and he and her father had gone to the park to discuss business so Lyrissa could play. They had just sat down with some double chocolate sundaes when her father got a call and had to leave for a short while. Xavier volunteered to watch her for a while.

She was only seven years old at the time, and looked adorable with her long dark hair pulled up into braided pigtails. Her mutation hadn’t manifested yet, which meant her hair didn’t have even a hint of sparkle.

“Hey Uncle Charlie?” she asked quietly.

“What is it, Lyrissa?”

“Did you know my mommy?” she asked through a mouthful of whipped cream.

“Yes, I did.” He was being cautious with his answer, knowing what she was going to ask due to his telepathy.

“Daddy doesn’t talk about her much. He only says she was real nice, and loved me very much. And that she sparkled when she was happy… whatever that means. Can you tell me what she was like?”

“Well, she was nice, and did love you very much, and she did sparkle when she was happy; mostly when she was holding you. She loved chocolate, and her favorite happens to be the same as yours. Double chocolate sundae, with extra whipped cream and chocolate sauce, and cherries.” She joined him in describing the ice cream.

“You and daddy both say she sparkled… how can somebody sparkle?” she hadn’t been told about mutants yet. Dr. Jennings thought it best not to tell his daughter until she was older.

“Uncle Charlie, how did she die?” she dropped her tone as if she were afraid someone would hear them.

~

Suddenly Jean saw a door slam over the scene, and snapped back to what was happening outside Lyrissa’s mind. “You two alright?” Jubilee asked nervously. “Fine.” They answered together. “Okay… so where to next?” she asked with a shrug. “Clothes!” Jazz and Kiera answered with all the enthusiasm of any adolescent girl set lose in the mall for a shopping spree. “Ohh yeah, let’s do that!” Lyrissa agreed; she really did need new clothes. “All right, let us go.” Storm nodded as they all stood up. Lyrissa quickly ate all five cherries out of her now soup-ish sundae before dropping it into the trash.

The clothing store was very close by, and had all sizes so there was something for everyone. This time Storm took Allie to look at kids things, Jubilee, Kiera, and Jazz all went with Rogue, and Lyrissa and Jean went together. Jean had telepathically told Rogue and Jean before they went in that she wanted to talk with Lyrissa for a while; she did not tell them what about, in order to respect Lyrissa’s privacy.

“So what kind of clothes should we try on?” Lyrissa mused as she purposely picked up the loudest, craziest, shirt she could find and threw it at Jean. “Oh, only if you try this one!” she laughed; tossing a neon green T-shirt to her. “Hey, I like this one!” she laughed. They continued picking things out for themselves, and outrageous things for each other, and before long had their arms full of clothes to go try on.

They spent quite a while in that store, and only bought a new shirt for Allie. Hers was really covered in ice cream. The people working in the store let Allie and Lyrissa use the dressing room to change out her shirt, and gave them a bag to carry her old one in. That way they didn’t get any ice cream on anything else.

The rest of the day went pretty much the same. Jean had tried a few times to talk to Lyrissa about what she had seen at the table, but was pushed away with a quick subject change. Even as a telepath, she wasn’t able to tell if Lyrissa was beginning to cope with what had happened in the labs, or if she was simply putting on an act to fool them into believing she was. One thing she did know is that Lyrissa had no control over the sparkling of her hair, so if she was just acting, she was also fooling herself.

“Man, we’ve been in there a long time…” Lyrissa gasped as they walked into the parking lot. The sun had already gone down, and the lot was a lot less crowded than when they went in. “We did get a lot to show for it though, didn’t we? I mean just look at all this stuff we’re carrying! I can’t wait to see how the boys react to this.” Jean smiled as they walked. Everyone except Allie had between two and four bags per hand; Allie only had one bag, and her very large pink and yellow stuffed tiger she named “Wogan”. “They’ll be perfect gentlemen, and help us girls carry all this stuff, that’s how they’ll react Jean.” Rogue replied. Earning laughter from their entire group.

Once at the car all the laughing stopped for a short while, before they succumbed to even more fits of laughter. “There is no possible… way to fit all of this in the… car, with all of us!” Jazz gasped through her laughing. “Not comfortably. But we’ll fit.” Jean replied with equal amusement.

After twenty minutes of in-car-Tetris, they were finally ready to go. The floorboards were filled with bags, and most of them had bags in their lap; Jean was right, it wasn’t comfortable at all.

The ride home was nearly silent. Allie had fallen asleep before they even left the parking lot, and as they drove everyone else realized just how tired they really were. That is until they got to the mansion. Then the energy returned full blast.

“Skyclops! Look what Jean got me!” Allie beamed as she ran over to him. “What did she get you?” he laughed. She just pointed at her new shoes in response; jean had put them on her before walking into the mansion so she could show everyone. “Well those are nice.” He nodded. “Thanks!” she squeaked happily.

“And who is this?” The professor asked. Motioning to the stuffed tiger that she was holding. “Uncle Chawie! This is Wogan!” she answered after crawling into his arms and struggling to get comfortable. Scott immediately failed at holding back his laughter at her naming a pink, yellow, and fluffy stuffed tiger after Logan.

“Hey Cyclops, Jean needs some help carrying some stuff in.” Jubilee said as she walked through the room, carrying two bags. “All right.” He nodded and went to leave before the Professor stopped him. “Scott, take Hank with you, he isn’t far from the garage.” He smiled. Then took Allie up to bed.

“Oh my…” Beast gasped when he saw the insane amount of purchases around the car. “You said, you were going to the mall, for a day out and to pick up a few things. Jean, this doesn’t look like a few” Scott said with a shocked laugh. “Allie needed some toys.” Kiera explained. “And we needed shoes.” Jazz added. “And some new clothes.” Lyrissa nodded. “And then we saw these awesome curtains for my room.” Jazz gasped excitedly. “Do not forget the hats.” Storm laughed. “No one could forget these hats hon.” Rogue smiled. Holding up a very unique hat with beaded strings coming off the top like colorful dreads.

“Hey, we’re still here ladies.” Scott reminded as they all got lost in conversation. “Where would you like us to bring all of this?” Hank asked. “Uhm… it’s all kind of mixed together. We haven’t sorted out who’s stuff is where yet.” Jubilee smiled innocently. “Just help us bring it to the front room Scott. We’ll sort everything out from there.” Jean nodded with a grin. The guys both nodded and picked up the heavier bags; they were surprised at just how heavy those bags were.

Gambit, Logan, Andrew, Max, and Jamie were playing cards in the living room when the girls, Scott, and Hank walked in with the baggage. “My, my, girls. You buy a little much, no?” Gambit commented as they set everything down. “There’s more…” Scott sighed as he and Hank went back down to the garage for the last few bags. “Told ya they’d be gentlemen Jean.” Rogue smiled before digging through the bags and tossing three decks of cards at Gambit. “Thanks Cheri, I knew you wouldn’t forget dis ol’ Cajun while you were out.” He grinned.

“What is all that stuff anyway?” Jamie asked after speeding over to them in an orange blur. “Shoes, socks, shirts, pants, skirts, tights, toys, curtains, a rug, some bandanas, funny hats, jewelry, paints, crayons, coloring books, a half eaten bag of marshmallows, and a whole bunch of other stuff.” Jubilee answered as she helped sort the stuff into piles. “How much did ya spend?” Logan asked curiously. “Don’t worry about that.” Jean laughed; Xavier had given her a very large budget for the day.

“Hey, where’s my airbrushes? I know we bought them… I really need those to finish Bad Boy’s paint.” Lyrissa sighed as she looked over her growing pile. “Probably with my new gloves.” Rogue answered as they continued sorting.

“That’s the last of it. Anything else you need?” Scott sighed as he and Beast set down the last two bags. “No, thank you Scott.” Jean smiled sweetly. “You’re welcome Jean.” He nodded, and left the scene. It looked like someone had dumped
the entire mall into the living room.

“Found them!” Lyrissa announced suddenly, and happily. Tossing Rogue’s new gloves to her. “Thanks Sugar.” She smiled as she added them to her pile of stuff. “And hey, here are your brushes!” Jazz grinned. “Wicked, thanks.” Lyrissa replied as she added them to her own growling pile.

It took an hour to sort out everything, and then another twenty minutes to get it all to their proper rooms. Jazz and Kiera went to bed as soon as they were finished, and Jean followed suit soon after. Lyrissa also crashed before long; once she got her room set up the way she wanted it.