Memories

Chapter Nine

The day was like any other for Charles; he was sitting in the library, staring out the window. The only difference was that today he had company. Hank McCoy sat next to him quietly, thinking. Thoughts were turning over endlessly in his head, his thoughts never quite at a standstill.

There had been few moments in Charles's life where everything in his head went quiet.

All of those moments had centered around one person- one woman. She has walked out of his life now, though. He didn't believe he'd ever get another moment of quiet. That was okay though- if she wanted to be free of him, Charles would let her go.

"Professor, what are we going to do?" Hank asked finally, breaking the silence that had filled the air. Charles was startled out of his own thoughts by the question, and it took Charles a moment before he had gathered himself enough to answer.

"We're going to create the school and protect mutants. We're going to show the humans that we aren't dangerous and that we can all live in peace. That's what we're going to do," Charles said, his eyes wandering to stare out the window to stare up at the clear blue sky. Clouds drifted by aimlessly, heedless of the problems of the people below.

"But what of Erik and his group?" Hank asked, unsure of how Charles would take his question. "We'll try to show them that mutants and humans can coexist peacefully, and we'll hope that one day they agree with us. But we can't force them- it's their choice to make," Charles said, his piercing blue eyes boring into Hank.

Hank ducked his head, ashamed that Charles knew of his thoughts about kidnapping Raven and forcing her to see that they don't have to resort to violence. Of course, he would never really kidnap her, but the thought had crossed his mind once or twice.

"How close had you and Erik been, Professor?" Hank finally asked the question that had been dwelling in Alex's, Sean's, and his own head for months. It was hard to think that Cuba had been months ago.

Charles looked back out the window, memories of his time spent with Erik flashing through his mind like a picture album. Nostalgia tinted the images, making the memories seem much sweeter than they had been.

"Close enough. As close as you and Raven had been, perhaps closer," Charles replied, not looking back at the scientist. Charles did not wish to see his reaction, or feel it. Charles quickly put up his mental blocks, barricading Hank's emotions and thoughts as best as possible.

What he had with Erik had been something special- or, at least, Charles believed it to be special. He did not want to taint the memory any further with the opinions of his students. Yes, Erik was now a murderer. Now, Erik had crippled Charles. Now, Erik was, technically, their enemy.

But Charles had still loved him- still did, if he was willing to admit it. Erik had also confessed his love at the time, and that had been good enough for Charles. Charles had known that Erik was a good man, but Erik's mind had been corrupted in his search for justice, for vengeance. Erik wasn't a good man anymore. He was a great man, still, and Charles hoped that he could be a good man once again.

Charles just wished they'd met long before the world had convinced Erik that life was war.

"Professor, I'm sorry," Hank said finally, once again bridging the silence. "Don't be. I had been happy. We'd loved each other. Now it's over," Charles replied, brushing it off. He refused to let the pain get to him.

"Professor!" An excited, bubbly voice cheered as footsteps of tiny children were heard. Two tiny forms were a blur as they raced across the room and threw themselves at him, giggling and laughing about something only they knew.

The two five-year-olds looked up with their shining eyes, smiling widely at Charles, who smiled right back. "Hello Pietro, hello Wanda," Charles said sweetly, smiling at the twins. Charles petted Wanda's brunette head and brushed his fingers through Pietro's white-blonde hair.

"Professor, we got to bake cookies, and they're really good!" Wanda squealed excitedly, and Charles now noticed the crumbs on the edges of their mouths. "I see. Well, what kind are they?" Charles asked curiously, brushing off the crumbs with his thumb from her face, then did the same to Pietro's.

"Chocolate chip!" Pietro pipped, smiling widely. Clearly, he loved their choice in cookie, and Charles tended to agree. "Ah, yes. The wonderful chocolate chip cookie. My favorite," Charles replied, grinning at the two children. The children soon led Charles out of the library and down to the kitchen, and Charles found Ororo standing there, flour on her jeans and t-shirt, cookie in hand as she ate it.

"Ororo helped us," Wanda explained as her twin ran to stuff another cookie in his mouth. "I was going to put sprinkles on them, but we don't have any." Ororo pouted. Apparently not too offended by the lack of sprinkles, she took another bite of her cookie.

"You all don't need the extra sugar," Charles replied, stealing a cookie for himself as Pietro ran out of the room with Wanda following close behind. If the sound of more footsteps running toward the kitchen was any indication, Charles would say that they went to go tell the rest of the house about their messy creation.

The counters were covered with flour and frosting, cookie cutters strewn around with dough still attached, long forgotten by their creators. Dirty pans were laying in the sink, not allowing for any more dishes to join them. The cookies, thrown together with childish glee, covered the table, a blanket under them to keep the table clean.

The cookies, a wonderful chocolate chip, had messy designs painted on them. Since it was December, the cookies were in the form of snowmen and women, boys and girls, and Christmas trees.

That reminded Charles- he needed to get a Christmas tree. No matter how little he wanted to celebrate, the kids needed something to celebrate.

The other children came and crowded around the cookies, grabbing what they could reach. Kitty's chubby fingers grabbed at a green Christmas tree off the edge of the table. Bobby grabbed a snowman who possessed a red scarf, scarfing it down with zealous. Rogue grabbed a little boy cookie who had a green shirt and blue pants, biting off his leg and groaning with delight at the taste.

Ororo took a little girl cookie who had a pink dress, nibbling on her head. Jean took a snow-woman, taking a bite of the 'bow' made out of frosting on her head. Scott took a snowman, taking a big bite, taking the snowman's whole head, his red scarf, and one of his black buttons.

As they ate their cookies- Alex, Sean, and Hank joining them- a knock sounded on the door, startling the whole family.