●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●

 "This is yours?" Sean asked as they all stood in front of a huge mansion.

"No. It's ours." Charles said as they all smiled.

"Honestly Charles, I don't know how you survived. Living in such hardship." Erik said sarcastically.

"Well, it was a hardship softened by me." Raven said as she walked through the huge doors.

Mari walked over to Charles and bowed.

"Watashi wa anata no shakkin ni eien ni iru, chāruzu."

"There's no need to thank me, Mari. This your home now." Charles said as he chuckled.

Mari stood up and smiled as she walked into the huge mansion.

●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●

"You sure?" Charles asked Erik, as he pointed a gun at his head, ready to fire. The others were off training, but Mari stayed to watch the two men.

"I'm sure."

"Got it." Charles said as he aimed to gun, ready to fire. But he then put it down.

"No! No, I can't! I'm sorry. I can't shoot anybody in point blank, let alone my friend."

"Oh, come on! You know I can deflect it." Erik said as he made Charles aim the gun at his head.

"You're always telling me I should push myself."

"If you know you can deflect it, then you're not challenging yourself! Whatever happened to the man who's...who's trying to raise a submarine?"

"Well, I can't! Something that big, I...I need the situation, the anger."

Mari sighed as she watched the two continue to bicker.

"No, the anger is not enough."

"Well, it's gotten the job done all this time."

"It's nearly gotten you killed all this time." Charles said as he left to train.

Erik looked at Mari as she pulled out her sword. He watched as she went to a near by tree and swung at it. The sword danced between her fingers as she spun it and hit the tree. She spun it again and hit the tree again, making the cut deeper. She was lost in thought as she grunted while hitting the tree again and again. Forgetting that Erik was watching her.

"Mama!"

She let out a scream as she swung at the tree again, causing it to get stuck in the tree. Beads of sweat ran down her face as she breathed in deeply clenching her fist. She walked over to retrive her sword. But it was then taken out of the tree. She turned around and saw that Erik had now held her sword. He walked over to her and held it out to her. She hesitantly reached out for it, but Erik grabbed her hand and pulled her closer.

"I don't know what that was about, but it would be better for you to talk to someone you can trust about it to get it off your chest."

She looked up at him with her brown eyes as she hesitantly wrapped her arms around his waist. He then hugged her back. Mari pulled away and Erik handed her the sword. She looked up and smiled at him. 

"Dōmo arigatōgozaimashita."

Erik watched as the small Japanese woman walked away and smiled.

●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●

"You know, when I do this bad things tend to happen." Alex said.

"That's because you can't control it. It controls you. That's why we're here, Alex. That's why we're training." Charles said to Sean as he used his power to shatter glass.

"What you're doing is incredible. You're hitting a pitch with sound waves at the same resolute frequency as the glass. That's why it shattered. But this..." Charles said as he pointed at his larynx.

"...is like any other muscle in the body. You can control it. In each of us, two natures are at war."

"Robert Louis Stevenson; Jekyll and Hyde." Hank said.

"Top marks. The story wasn't about good and evil though, was it Hank? It was about man's animal nature and his struggle to control it, to conform. And it's that struggle which is holding you back." Charles said.

"No. Jekyll was afraid of what he could be capable of."

"And you are too." Charles said to Sean as he sat at the edge of the windowsill wearing Hank's man made wings.

"Now remember, scream as hard as you can."

"You need the sound waves to be supersonic. Catch them at the right angle and they should carry you." Hank explained.

"They should carry me. That's reassuring." Sean said.

"Good luck. And don't forget to scream."

Sean crossed his arms over his chest and fell out of the window and let out a pitiful scream, causing him to fail and fall.

"Ouch."

●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●

"If you wanna beat me this time, you have to set the beast free. On your marks. Get set. Go!" Charles said as he and Hank took off running. And Hank easily passed Charles. Hank passed him again and completed and finished the lap in a mater of minutes.

"Congratulations my friend! Robert Louis Stevenson would have been proud."

"Impressive, Hank. Feet like those, all you need is a red nose. Right Bozo?" Alex said as he walked by.

"I'm done here." Hank said as he left.

"Thank you, Alex." Charles said as he sighed.

●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●

Raven was lifting weights before Erik used his powers to lift it above her head.

"If you're using half your concentration to look normal, then you're only half paying attention to whatever else you're doing. Just pointing out something that could save your life." Erik said as he dropped the weight and Raven caught it as she turned back into her original blue form.

"You want society to accept you, but you can't even accept yourself."

●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●

Raven sits with Hank as he looks at her genes.

"You gotta see this. You're genes are extraordinary, you know that? You're cells age at half the rate of a normal female. When you're forty, you'll still have the look of a teenager. You...you have the most incredible cellular structure I've ever seen."

●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●

Sean stands at the top of a ladder at the edge of a giant satellite dish.

"You truly believe I'll fly this time?"

"Unreservedly." Charles said.

"I trust you.'

"I'm touched." Sean then turned to Hank.

"I don't trust him."

"Say nothing." Charles said to Hank.

"I'm gonna die!" Sean yelled.

"All right. Look, we're not gonna make you do anything you don't feel comfortable with, all right?" Charles said.

"Here let me help." Erik said as he pushed Sean off, Causing him to let out a scream that caused him to fly.

"Erik!" Charles yelled as he gave Erik a look as Sean flied around them.

"What? You know you were thinking the same."

"You see that?" Charles said as he pointed at a giant satellite dish across from them.

"Try turning it to face us."

Erik puts his hands up and tries using his power to turn the dish but fails.

"You know, I believe that true focus lies somewhere between rage and serenity. Would you mind if I...?" Charles said as he asked to go into his head. Once he did he made Erik see and old memory of his mother.

"What did you just do to me?"

"I accessed the brightest corner of your memory system. It's a very beautiful memory, Erik. Thank you."

"I didn't know I still had that."

"There's so much more to you than you know. Not just pain and anger. There's good to you, I felt it. And when you can access all that, you'll posses a power no one can match. Not even me. So, come on. Try again?"

Erik uses his power to move the giant satellite and this time succeeds in turning it.

●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●

They are all sitting down and listening to President Kennedy's speech on TV about the Cuba missile crisis.

"That's where we're gonna find Shaw." Erik said.

"How do you know?" Alex asked.

"Two super powers facing off, and he wants to start world war three. He won't leave anything to chance." Charles said.

"So much for diplomacy." Erik said as he turned to the others.

"I suggest you all get a good nights sleep."

●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●

Charles and Erik stand outside as they watch Mari train. She sat on the ground crossing her legs. Her hands up as if she was meditating. They watched as she slowly raised form the ground by using her telekinesis. Vines then started to pop out of the ground and swirl around her. The two men watched in awe. Mari floated into the air as her feet dangled. Her head bent back as she threw her hands out. Causing the plants to go out and hit all of the targets that were put out. Once they were destroyed she lowered herself to the floor. She opened her eyes and saw the two men approaching her.

"That was phenomenal, Mari! Bravo!"

Erik smiled at her and nodded her head. Mari smiled and bowed her head before leaving to take a shower.

"She's incredibly strong." Erik commented as he watched her walk farther and farther away.

"That she is my friend. That she is."

●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●

Mari sighed as she used the towel to dry her wet brown hair. She wore a blue top along with black shorts. She then climbed into bed and sat up as she read a book. Until there was a knick at her door.

"Ohairikudasai."

And the door opened to revel Erik Lehnsherr himself. He closed the door behind him as he walked in. Mari slowly put her book down.

"Erik?" She asked. Since she's gotten here both Charles and Hank have been helping her with here english. She still need a bit more practice though.

"You did great today."

She looked down shyly and smiled.

"Thank you." She said, her Japanese accent still strong. She felt weight on her bed and noticed that Erik sat down. Mari looked at him and she slowly set her book.

"You're incredible." Erik whispered, causing her eyes to widen a bit. Mari shook her head as she looked away, memories of her family flooding her mind. Her chin was lifted and she was meet with Erik's piercing gaze. He leaned in but before he could, Mari placed her fingers on his temple. She then guided her hand and put his two fingers onto her temple. As she did this she showed Erik her past, all of it. Once she was done tears ran down her face. She looked up at Erik and saw a single tear run down his face.

"Mari." He whispered as he looked at the crying Japanese woman in front of him. He leaned foreward and. closed the gap between the two. Mari's eyes widened before she hesitantly pressed her small hands onto the side of his face to deepen the kiss. She pulled away and rested her head upon his.

"Your past is who made you who you are today. So don't change a thing." He breathed out before kissing her once more.

That night Mari forgot all of her worries. She forgot about Shaw, Darwin, Angel and her past. And she is forever grateful to Erik for helping her see past that.

●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●

Translations:

Watashi wa anata no shakkin ni eien ni iru, chāruzu: I am forever in your debt, Charles

Dōmo arigatōgozaimashita: Thank you very much 

Ohairikudasai: Come in 

●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●