Uncanny X-Men 1943

Chapter 23

Ororo's stomach flipped at the sound of the late-night knock at the door. Any callers at this hour were surely bearers of bad news. She forced herself to breath before rising from the armchair and heading to the door.

"Good evening," she said, opening the door a little, but not removing the chain.

Two young women stood outside. "Good evening. Is Miss Munroe in?"

"I am Miss Munroe," Ororo said, getting a better look at the short, Oriental girl in a mustard yellow coat who looked fresh out of school, and a taller, darker girl behind.

"Oh, wonderful. Good. Means we got the right place. I'd be pretty embarrassed otherwise, and it's late and we're kind of in a hurry." It was the Oriental girl who spoke.

"I'm sorry girls, but whatever it is you're selling, I - " Ororo went to close the door.

"Wait, we just - "

"Scott Summers sent us," the taller girl said, stepping closer to the door. Out of the shadows, Ororo could see that she was wearing a standard issue coat, yet she spoke with a thick French accent.

Ororo's eyes widened with realisation.

"I probably should have led with that, actually. I'm Jubilee, by the way. This is M."

"Call me Storm," Ororo said, and unhooked the chain from the door. "And you had best come inside."

...

"I can't get to sleep," Rachel said, staring at bedroom the ceiling.

"Have you even tried?" Kitty asked.

"No. Have you?"

"No," Kitty admitted, "I can't turn my brain off."

"I don't know if I'm excited or scared or both or something else," Rachel said. "Is there a German compound word for that?"

Kitty chuckled. "I don't think so. I didn't realise how much German I'd forgotten until speaking with Kurt this week. I can still read it perfectly well, but speaking in German now feels so - foreign. Which is bizarre."

"Do you miss it?" Rachel asked.

Kitty considered the question for a moment. She wasn't going to cry tonight. It wasn't fair on Rachel. It was better to make light of the situation. "Sometimes. When I first left, I thought it would just be for the summer... I guess I found a endless amount of Summers."

It was Rachel's turn to laugh. "That is so lame."

"Don't tease!" Kitty said.

"Sorry," Rachel said, "But - "

"Yes, I know what you mean," Kitty said, knowing Rachel had asked the question in earnestness. "But now I'm not sure I can imagine going back. Even if everything was the way it was before I left, I - I don't know if I could. If I want to."

"We will help you try and find your family," Rachel said, rolling onto her side to look towards Kitty in the dark. "If you want. I know Emma would want to help. We all do."

Kitty rolled to face Rachel. "Is it all right if I said I'm scared to look, because we mightn't find anything? Besides, how can we look with the war still going on? We only knew this was happening for certain last week. And Emma's not here..."

"Yet." Rachel said, finishing Kitty's sentence. "Emma's not here yet. And the war's not over yet. But dad's bringing her home. Just you wait. And - and the war will end. It just has to. We can't lose now."

"You sound very sure," Kitty said.

Rachel bit her lip. "Can I tell you something I shouldn't know?"