Chapter Text
When you first opened your eyes in this world, it had been blurry. Colors mostly if anything. Warm fabric enclosed around you as you wriggled about. It was weird. You had been crying seconds before, yet the matter had been forgotten. Gentle and soothing voices wrapped around you like the fabric, like safety, like love.
You liked them, especially the soft tone and the deeper.
Those ones alone were the ones that promised a life of protection.
The other ones were unfamiliar, and you’d likely never hear them again.
Everything was so warm. Sleep was lulled back to you as you resided in your mother’s arms.
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You wondered years later if little you had ever known. Known that something was different in this world. That you weren’t from it.
Yet you had been raised here and you believed it all to be your first time. It was like a person trying to see the past and only drawing up blanks. You had learned to walk, to talk, write, and read all in this world.
You had learned who your parents were and their personalities. You had made friends. You had gone to school. You had done it all. But as you got older, you realized the things you had seen and heard were clicking in places they shouldn’t have. All the way up to you eventually remembering.
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You were around five years old when you had first heard of a group of people called ‘The Avengers’. Little you didn’t quite know what it was as you played with your figurines. Yet these ‘Avengers’ sounded familiar, causing you to pause. Brows furrowed as you pouted slightly, trying to remember.
Your uncle had mentioned it offhandedly to your mom at a family gathering. The strong scent of the cookout making you salivate, wanting a burger. That and the influence of your older cousin dragging you away from the ‘Adult Conversation’, caused the matter of the ‘Avengers’ to be forgotten.
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You were around seven years old when you first heard of the man named Magneto.
The TV screen displayed his violent acts, a news reporter matter of fact as she asked a question that sounded important. “Leaving many to wonder, ‘How long must we wait until Mutants like him are finally locked up?’”. Your dad groaned to himself, running a hand through his hair. Stressed in that silent way he often was then.
Your mother got mad at him for letting you see that bit of the news. She had said it was violent and that she didn’t want you knowing all of that sort of stuff. Your dad could only nod, sighing, seeing her reasoning and apologizing quietly.
Later that night, you snuck near their door as quietly as you possibly could because you heard them speaking in hushed tones minutes before after tucking you in.
“I don’t want her exposed to things like that! You know I don’t, she’s seven for heavens sake!”
You heard your mother exclaim, no doubt pacing in the room. You could hear the imprint of her feet to the carpet.
“You’re right, but she’s gonna be exposed to it regardless, sweetheart.”
Your father could only say, a fruitless tone to his voice. So uncertain in a way so unlike him. “She’s going to know about mutants one way or another… she could go to school with a mutant one day. I know it may seem bizarre, but we should at least teach her about them! Teach her to be kind despite their differences.”
You didn’t quite understand what a mutant was, but they sounded important.
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You were eleven when your parents died. They had died in a car crash.
Mangled bodies.
Twisted metal.
Red and blue lights with a siren.
You had been staying with your aunt and uncle while your parents were gone. They were on their anniversary date night. A drunk driver had ended their lives before they could even celebrate the years they had shared together. The love they had shared. It was all destroyed that night. Any remnant of it lived within you.
A piece of you died that night with them.
The funeral went by quickly as it proceeded slowly and torturously.
If there was a hell, you knew it was a funeral service. The tears never seemed to stop flowing, especially when you went to your new room.
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You were sixteen when you made friends with her. She was three years younger. Jubilation Lee. A firecracker of energy and spunk.
She was a foster kid, to which you felt was similar to your situation living with your aunt and uncle. Nevertheless, you became fast friends.
You often hung out at your house, playing video games on your uncle’s console despite being told to stay away from it. If not doing that, then you two could be found watching movies and playing board games.
When you were around her at times, sometimes you’d get flashes as it were, of her. Flashes in your mind of her in a comic book or in a show of some sort. You saw her in a comic book with a baby boy.
And then the flash would end, leaving only that hint of old familiarity there in your bones.
One night, when your uncle was away and Jubilation was over, you were playing on his console again. One of those starship games that never failed to bring out her competitive streak. You glanced over, seeing small bits of color leaving her finger tips, barely even there. You said nothing about it.
You continued on with the night like nothing ever happened. You didn’t know quite what to say to her. ‘Hey Jubes, guess what? I saw sparks flying out of your hands, that makes you a mutant! One of the most hated groups of people on earth! Congratulations!’ Of course you said nothing. You figured if anything, you’d tell her later.
And with that, the summer continued on. Seamless in your joy with her.
Jubilee was like the little sister you always wanted, a cousin of sorts. She was closer to you than a lot of the friends you had at school.
You had an entire summer with her and then she was gone.
A new foster home.
You missed her with your everything. But, something was telling you she’d end up being fine. She’d find a better place to live and grow. You shrugged it off as wishful thinking, but you knew it would happen in your innermost thoughts.
It was as certain as the sun rising.