A Moment in Time [X-Men First Class]

8.

      Charles and I walked along a gravel pathway in silence.  He was taking me to a spot where I would be training.  I was finally going to have an actual session, not just me breaking everything in a room.

       He led me to a clearing in the woods. The large trees created a canopy with their leaves, cooling us from the intense heat of the day. Birds were chirping happily, and there was a slight breeze. Everything was so serene. I took in a long deep breath of the fresh air and let it out slowly.

      "This is so beautiful." I said with a smile while turning to Charles. He stared at me with a slight smile. It was almost like he was in a trance.

"Yes it is." He replied in almost a whisper. I could feel a blush creeping onto my face. I wasn't used to this much positive attention, especially from a man.

   He cleared his throat and said, "Right, yes, we should probably get to your training", clearly flustered.

I suppressed a giggle, Why is he making me so giddy? Normally I'd never be like this, I thought to myself.

       "Yes you're right." I said quickly, praying that he didn't hear my thoughts.

"Alright your mutations are telepathy, telekinesis, and you can also seem to freeze people, correct?" 

      "Yup."

      "I think we should start off with your telekinesis."

"Okay what would you like me to do?" I questioned, eager to get started.

      "In the past  you have only experimented with moving small items, now I would like you to try moving something larger." Charles explained.

     "Okay, so what would you like me to move?" I asked, confused.

     "I would like you to move that", he said while pointing to an incredibly large boulder. I became very nervous, my mouth and throat became dry.

"I don't think I can do that, like you said before, I haven't moved anything that big." I said becoming more nervous and flustered by the second.

"It's alright, I believe you can do it", Charles said with a kind smile, "At least give it a try."

         I sighed and nodded my head. Turning to the boulder I held out my hands and focused. I felt an immense strain on my shoulders immediately, so I let the boulder, that barely moved, go.

"I can't do this." I said to Charles out of breath.

"Yes you can, I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Erik, I believe that true focus lies somewhere between rage and serenity, you have dealt with many things in your life and I understand it's hard to focus, here let me try something." Charles said.

While he was talking, he moved to stand in front of me. I looked up at him wondering what he was doing. My question was answered as he asked

      "May I?" while gesturing to my head.

      "I suppose I don't have much of a choice."

Hesitant, I shook my head 'yes'. He placed his index and middle finger of each hand on both sides of my temple and closed his eyes.

         I closed my eyes as well and as soon as I was flooded with memories from my life as a child.

         My mom had me on her lap and my baby sister in her arms. She was telling us a fairytale, The Ugly Duckling. Once she had finished I looked up at her and asked, "Mommy, will you always love me? Even if I'm different?"