"Doorways of the Soul" by Syreene
*Once again, all X-Men are property of Marvel. Romana Verone is an original
character. No profits are being made from this story.blah, blah, blah.
*This story takes place after "Keep Your Tail Up."
"So, why did God make mutants, Mr. Wagner?" questions a young girl with curling ram horns coming out the sides of her temples.
-Ach, you knew this one was coming, Kurt. Ever since the day you asked Scott if you could teach this class-
Three days earlier.
"I've really got to thank you, Scott, for giving me this chance with the school again." Kurt said as the bell rang and students began passing them in the hall as they walked.
"Not a problem at all, Kurt." Scott answered with a smile as he clasped him on the shoulder. "With the Professor gone, we have to do what we think is right for the students. We've been doing our best to train them physically and mentally, but we've been sorely lacking in the emotional department lately."
"Did you see who that was? Wasn't that Mr. Cyclops?" whispered a girl with snakes writhing about her head like hair as she walked quickly down the hall with her girlfriend.
"Ooh, yeah!" Answered the other girl with a giggle. "But who is the other guy? He looks kinda cute!"
"S-s-s-syclops.s-s-syclops." the snakes hissed as the echo of the giggling girls floated down the hall.
"It was silly of me to leave the school, thinking I could do more on my own. There are too many students here who must have the question 'Why?' dominant in their minds. At least maybe now, with this theology class, we can try to figure out why not." Kurt smiled with a lopsided grin as they stopped outside his classroom door. He gazed through the window at the variety of mutants waiting for him, some with fur, some with horns and wings, others looking rather normal until they opened their eyes. Kurt took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he put his hand on the doorknob and braced his shoulders.
"You'll do fine, Kurt." Scott said with reassurance as he looked through the window with him. "Just remember that they are all going through the same questions of self-doubt and fear that you did."
"Ja, mein freund," Kurt answered as he opened the door. "I just hope I can find the answers."
"Mr. Wagner?" asks the girl with the horns again.
"I'm sorry, Holly, I got lost in thought for a moment." Kurt says as he stands up from his chair and walks around to the front of his desk to lean on it, his tail curled about his waist. "You wouldn't be asking that kind of question if you didn't already have some ideas about the answer, so I would like to hear what you think."
"Well," Holly says in embarrassment as she finds something absolutely fascinating about her desk and continues quietly, "my Mom told me that it was my punishment for making Dad leave."
Saddened by such a painful admission, and the fact that many of the students all started finding something fascinating with their desks as well, Kurt goes to Holly's desk and crouches down beside her. "And do you believe that?" he asks gently. Holly doesn't say a word, but the fat tear that drops onto her desk speaks volumes. Kurt stands up and looks around at the quiet mutants. "Many of you have been told that the reason you were a mutant was because you were being punished by God, or because you deserved it for being bad. To tell the truth, for a long time I believed it about myself." Kurt walks back to his desk and pushes himself up onto it in a cross-legged position.
"I didn't find this out till much later, but my mother was chased away from her home in Germany by an angry mob when she gave birth to me. During the chase she was knocked down a waterfall, and although she managed to save herself, I disappeared in the waves."
"How did you survive, Mr. Wagner?" asks another boy as he raises his hand carefully to avoid cutting those around him with his bladed forearms.
"I don't really know, Thomas." Kurt answers as he entwines his fingers in his lap. "I would like to think, though, that God had a greater purpose for me. Why would God make me the handsome blue furred devil that I am, and let me live after going over a towering waterfall, only because he didn't want me? That didn't make sense."
"I know, I know! It's like when there was this girl learning to ride her bicycle on my street," starts another girl, her feet tapping excitedly under her desk. "My mom said I wouldn't amount to anything and being a mutant only proved it, but when that little girl fell off her bike in the street in front of that car, I just had to do something! So I jumped out the window into the street, grabbed the girl, and leapt into a tree so no one would see me. I was afraid to tell my mom what I did, because I knew it proved her wrong. I AM worth something.I saved a girl's life, right?"
"Exactly." Kurt answers with a smile as the students start to look up from their desks with the glimmer of hope in their expressions. "Can anyone else tell me of a time when they used their mutant abilities to help others?"
Holly inches her hand up slowly off her desk as Kurt scans the students deep in thought.
"Holly?" Kurt asks gently. "Tell us how you used your abilities to help someone."
"I.I." she stammers shyly.
"It's all right, meine madchen. You have nothing to hide, here. We are all in the same boat." Kurt says with a friendly smile and a wink to ease her nervousness.
"I.I saw my Dad drinking one night." Holly began, once again fascinated by her desk. "He was getting really mean and angry, and he started yelling at Mom. She started crying, and it just made him angrier! When he.when he started hitting her, I.I had to do something. I just put my head down and ran like those goats in the mountains, and I." her words fade off as she sniffs and wipes her eye with the back of her hand.
"What happened, Holly?" Kurt presses as some of the students around her scoot their desks over to provide support.
"I got him with my horn in his knee and crushed his kneecap," she whispers.
"Woo hoo! You go, girl!" hollers a girl with red pupils and scales traveling up her arms.
"Yeah! Father or not, you don't treat people like that," agrees Thomas. "You were protecting your Mom!"
"But she.Dad left after that!" Holly cries. "It was my fault!"
"Nein, liebchen. It wasn't your fault that your father left, no matter what anyone says. Too many times, ignorant people will blame the unknown before they will look to themselves for fault." Kurt says as he opens his arms and Holly launches herself from her desk into his hug with a sob. "You did the right thing, and used your mutant ability to save your mother from a cruel and abusive alcoholic of a husband, who could have killed her if you hadn't done something." The class nods in agreement as Kurt continues. "Your father left because someone finally stood up to him, even if your mother doesn't want to admit it. It wasn't your fault."
"Thank you.I just needed to hear it from someone else.thank you so much!" Holly sniffs.
Kurt is about to respond when someone yells, "Group hug!" With a clatter of desks the students all gather around Holly and him with open arms as they try their best to hug everyone at the same time. With a huge grin on his face, Kurt looks at the different mutants all gathered together in love and support of one another, and can't help think about Romana.
-I wouldn't have been able to do this without you, liebling. Why did I think I needed to search for people who needed my help, when there were so many right here? I only hope that your time here at the school is going just as well.-
*Once again, all X-Men are property of Marvel. Romana Verone is an original
character. No profits are being made from this story.blah, blah, blah.
*This story takes place after "Keep Your Tail Up."
"So, why did God make mutants, Mr. Wagner?" questions a young girl with curling ram horns coming out the sides of her temples.
-Ach, you knew this one was coming, Kurt. Ever since the day you asked Scott if you could teach this class-
Three days earlier.
"I've really got to thank you, Scott, for giving me this chance with the school again." Kurt said as the bell rang and students began passing them in the hall as they walked.
"Not a problem at all, Kurt." Scott answered with a smile as he clasped him on the shoulder. "With the Professor gone, we have to do what we think is right for the students. We've been doing our best to train them physically and mentally, but we've been sorely lacking in the emotional department lately."
"Did you see who that was? Wasn't that Mr. Cyclops?" whispered a girl with snakes writhing about her head like hair as she walked quickly down the hall with her girlfriend.
"Ooh, yeah!" Answered the other girl with a giggle. "But who is the other guy? He looks kinda cute!"
"S-s-s-syclops.s-s-syclops." the snakes hissed as the echo of the giggling girls floated down the hall.
"It was silly of me to leave the school, thinking I could do more on my own. There are too many students here who must have the question 'Why?' dominant in their minds. At least maybe now, with this theology class, we can try to figure out why not." Kurt smiled with a lopsided grin as they stopped outside his classroom door. He gazed through the window at the variety of mutants waiting for him, some with fur, some with horns and wings, others looking rather normal until they opened their eyes. Kurt took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he put his hand on the doorknob and braced his shoulders.
"You'll do fine, Kurt." Scott said with reassurance as he looked through the window with him. "Just remember that they are all going through the same questions of self-doubt and fear that you did."
"Ja, mein freund," Kurt answered as he opened the door. "I just hope I can find the answers."
"Mr. Wagner?" asks the girl with the horns again.
"I'm sorry, Holly, I got lost in thought for a moment." Kurt says as he stands up from his chair and walks around to the front of his desk to lean on it, his tail curled about his waist. "You wouldn't be asking that kind of question if you didn't already have some ideas about the answer, so I would like to hear what you think."
"Well," Holly says in embarrassment as she finds something absolutely fascinating about her desk and continues quietly, "my Mom told me that it was my punishment for making Dad leave."
Saddened by such a painful admission, and the fact that many of the students all started finding something fascinating with their desks as well, Kurt goes to Holly's desk and crouches down beside her. "And do you believe that?" he asks gently. Holly doesn't say a word, but the fat tear that drops onto her desk speaks volumes. Kurt stands up and looks around at the quiet mutants. "Many of you have been told that the reason you were a mutant was because you were being punished by God, or because you deserved it for being bad. To tell the truth, for a long time I believed it about myself." Kurt walks back to his desk and pushes himself up onto it in a cross-legged position.
"I didn't find this out till much later, but my mother was chased away from her home in Germany by an angry mob when she gave birth to me. During the chase she was knocked down a waterfall, and although she managed to save herself, I disappeared in the waves."
"How did you survive, Mr. Wagner?" asks another boy as he raises his hand carefully to avoid cutting those around him with his bladed forearms.
"I don't really know, Thomas." Kurt answers as he entwines his fingers in his lap. "I would like to think, though, that God had a greater purpose for me. Why would God make me the handsome blue furred devil that I am, and let me live after going over a towering waterfall, only because he didn't want me? That didn't make sense."
"I know, I know! It's like when there was this girl learning to ride her bicycle on my street," starts another girl, her feet tapping excitedly under her desk. "My mom said I wouldn't amount to anything and being a mutant only proved it, but when that little girl fell off her bike in the street in front of that car, I just had to do something! So I jumped out the window into the street, grabbed the girl, and leapt into a tree so no one would see me. I was afraid to tell my mom what I did, because I knew it proved her wrong. I AM worth something.I saved a girl's life, right?"
"Exactly." Kurt answers with a smile as the students start to look up from their desks with the glimmer of hope in their expressions. "Can anyone else tell me of a time when they used their mutant abilities to help others?"
Holly inches her hand up slowly off her desk as Kurt scans the students deep in thought.
"Holly?" Kurt asks gently. "Tell us how you used your abilities to help someone."
"I.I." she stammers shyly.
"It's all right, meine madchen. You have nothing to hide, here. We are all in the same boat." Kurt says with a friendly smile and a wink to ease her nervousness.
"I.I saw my Dad drinking one night." Holly began, once again fascinated by her desk. "He was getting really mean and angry, and he started yelling at Mom. She started crying, and it just made him angrier! When he.when he started hitting her, I.I had to do something. I just put my head down and ran like those goats in the mountains, and I." her words fade off as she sniffs and wipes her eye with the back of her hand.
"What happened, Holly?" Kurt presses as some of the students around her scoot their desks over to provide support.
"I got him with my horn in his knee and crushed his kneecap," she whispers.
"Woo hoo! You go, girl!" hollers a girl with red pupils and scales traveling up her arms.
"Yeah! Father or not, you don't treat people like that," agrees Thomas. "You were protecting your Mom!"
"But she.Dad left after that!" Holly cries. "It was my fault!"
"Nein, liebchen. It wasn't your fault that your father left, no matter what anyone says. Too many times, ignorant people will blame the unknown before they will look to themselves for fault." Kurt says as he opens his arms and Holly launches herself from her desk into his hug with a sob. "You did the right thing, and used your mutant ability to save your mother from a cruel and abusive alcoholic of a husband, who could have killed her if you hadn't done something." The class nods in agreement as Kurt continues. "Your father left because someone finally stood up to him, even if your mother doesn't want to admit it. It wasn't your fault."
"Thank you.I just needed to hear it from someone else.thank you so much!" Holly sniffs.
Kurt is about to respond when someone yells, "Group hug!" With a clatter of desks the students all gather around Holly and him with open arms as they try their best to hug everyone at the same time. With a huge grin on his face, Kurt looks at the different mutants all gathered together in love and support of one another, and can't help think about Romana.
-I wouldn't have been able to do this without you, liebling. Why did I think I needed to search for people who needed my help, when there were so many right here? I only hope that your time here at the school is going just as well.-