All I Ask of You

AMANDA

No more talk

of darkness,

Forget these

wide-eyed fears.

I'm here,

nothing can harm you -

my words will

warm and calm you.

Kurt looked up, astonished, through the hair that barred his vision. Amanda stood on the ground below him and was seemingly searching for a way to get up to him.

"How - how did you find me?" Kurt stuttered. Even his teammates hadn't been able to find him, secured as he was in one of the trees on the far end of the Xavier Institute grounds. Jean had been far too tired to perform a mindscan, especially with keeping people from noticing that the Brotherhood boarding house was a little more full than usual. The Brotherhood, especially Wanda (now bearing the entirely appropriate name Scarlet Witch), hadn't been willing at all to forgive Mystique for giving their secret away to the world. Although the 'shifter had fled the ruins of the Institute in bird form, the only thing that kept her tail unsinged was that Ororo was far to tired to go after her.

Neither the X-Men nor their allies-by-default had felt much like talking, so they ate something and sought a place to sleep - which, for the X-Men, was more often than not the floor. But Kurt couldn't sleep, no matter how much he needed it. So he'd wandered back to the Institute, unable to shake the idea that it was all an awful dream.

But why would Amanda be in a nightmare?

She shrugged as she gained the first branch. "After I saw you on the news, I - I was worried. I know you've kept you and your friends identities secret, and I saw a bunch of you get captured by that - whatever it was."

He sighed as Amanda gained on him. "It's called a Sentinel. It's a mutant hunter-killer robot."

She nearly fell out of the tree with her gasp. "A what? Why? There's nothing wrong with you!"

"You're the first person I've met who thought that," he hesitated. "You were worried? About me?"

"Of course I was worried about you, you fuzzy-brained blue elf!" she shook her head when Kurt just gave her a strange look, as if he wasn't used to being cared about by anyone other than those like him. "As to how I found you, I figured out that the kids at the boarding house were mutants too, and that you'd end up there after . . ."

"Mystique blew it up," Kurt growled.

Amanda just nodded as she finally came even with him on a different branch. "So I went there, and Jean answered the door and subjected me to what she called a 'mind-probe' without so much as a by-your-leave."

"Let me guess: Storm gave her a blistering lecture on it afterward."

"Yeah. I didn't need my head looked over like a filing cabinet. It was uncomfortable, to say the least," she grumbled. "Then they said you were upstairs and asleep, but when Jean telepathically looked for you and didn't find you, the white-haired woman - "

"Miss Munroe."

"Right. Said you were probably out to catch a breath of air, and that it wasn't worth trying to find you."

He cocked his head at her. "You came after me anyway?"

"Well, sure," there was her shrug again as she hoped he couldn't see her blush. "Like I said: I was worried about you."

AMANDA

Let me be

your freedom,

let daylight

dry your tears.

I'm here,

with you, beside you,

to guard you

and to guide you . . .

They sat in companionable silence for some time, Kurt trying to sort out everything that was happening without becoming loudly hysterical. Or quietly hysterical, either, although he was edging towards it. "I've - never heard that from anyone but the Romani I was raised with. And the X-Men, but . . ."

"They're all mutants too, and those who grew up with you were used to your quirks," Amanda finished for him. His comment alerted her that she would have to tread lightly if she followed up on it. What will happen if I do - and what will happen if I don't? Either choice was open to her, especially as Kurt had fallen silent again. If I don't, Kurt might not know I'm sincere. That I do understand where he's coming from, and why he's afraid - though he won't admit it - to feel anything besides basic friendship where I'm concerned. Because I'm human, and might turn my back on him any moment. She silently cursed those who had forced Kurt to need that mentality; she had no doubt that he did need it. So if I do follow up on it, if I can get him to see that I mean what I'm saying . . . That scared her almost as much as Kurt thinking she was playing him for a fool. She had had a few boyfriends before, but none of them had affected her the way he had. Before she met him, she'd never believed in Love At First Sight, or even that she'd ever really love anyone before she decided she was ready.

However.

I think - I think I really do love him. Blue fur, elfin ears, fangs, yellow eyes, spaded tail, BAMFs and all.

KURT

Say you love me

every

waking moment,

turn my head

with talk of summertime . . .

"I find it hard to believe that I'm the first human to find out about you," Amanda's comment surprised Kurt. "How long have you had that watch?"

"Only since I came to the Institute. The Professor designed it for me," Kurt answered, a bit puzzled. "Before then, if I wanted to go anywhere off the grounds the troupe had claimed, I had to wear a robe that rather resembled a monk's habit. The few times someone who wasn't Romani discovered that I wasn't wearing a costume I found myself coveted by pitchforks and torches."

"So am I the only human who's ever discovered you and liked what I saw?"

Kurt stared at her for a moment. "You - I know, I mean, you couldn't possibly have hidden it this long if you thought I looked demonic - but you don't just ignore it, the way I look, you - " he couldn't force any more out of his throat. He was incredulous, and more than a little afraid.

She smiled, a little shyly. "You are cute, you know. You're beautiful inside and out, Kurt."

KURT

Say you need me

with you,

now and always . . .

promise me that all

you say is true -

that's all I ask

of you . . .

Kurt was absolutely stunned speechless. His foster parents, the Romani, had all expressed similar sentiments before, but this was Amanda. American born and bred, having never seen him before he made a mistake with his image inducer. One she wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't been staring dreamily at him at the time, she'd confessed red-faced.

He had always assumed that the only reason she hadn't confronted him earlier was because she was getting over his demonic appearance. It hadn't occurred to him, especially after she had been so fearless when faced with him at close range, that she simply might have been shy.

Even some of the Romani had been able to do little more than ignore his mutation.

Yet she, a girl who'd been raised in a contemporary American home, who'd never met with anything stranger than the occasional exchange student, not only accepted his oddities, she liked them!

Amanda bit her lip a little, and tried her very best to keep from babbling. She had so many things she desperately wanted to say, a small idea of how to say a few of them, but none of it would work if it all came out in one breath! "I - I do mean that, I mean, as Disney as it came out, it's true. A second look is really all it takes to see a fun-loving elf, not some sort of demon. Everything from the fur to the tail is uniquely you, and I wouldn't change anything. Except maybe the fact that I'm telling you this and my face is bright red (which I'm sure you can see) and I'm sitting in a tree which means I can't make an awkward escape and now you're staring at me as if I've grown Angel's wings."

Well, there goes my ability to control my babble.

AMANDA

Let me be

your shelter,

let me

be your light.

You're safe:

No-one will find you

your fears are

far behind you . . .

Amanda's sudden silence snapped Kurt out of his astonished trance. "Mein Gott," he whispered. "You - really?"

She nodded. "I always thought so," she paused, then continued. "I also think you needed that. Like I had to tell you, especially after what happened, that not every human is going to react in fear and hatred. I didn't want to give you a chance to start thinking of me in those terms. I . . ."

She couldn't say it.

I have to say it! she mentally shouted at her throat, trying to force words past her fear. I have to say it, but I have to explain, too! And give Kurt a chance to talk!

Kurt stared at her as if in a trance. It was becoming more and more likely that this really was a dream. He hadn't even told her about the others being mutants, let alone that he ran around in red-on-black spandex and tried to protect an unwary world from mutants with 'plans'. Yet she came after him, willing to give up her own sleep and risk the other X-Men's displeasure to come and find him. If she was lying, would she have gone through all that trouble? Would she be that red if she wasn't telling the truth? "I can hardly believe what I'm saying, but I believe you. That you actually think that," he said slowly, as if he was still convincing himself even as he said it.

"Oh good," she breathed, voice a bit higher than normal because of tension. "Because I think I've gone and fallen in love with you."

This time he did fall out of the tree.

"Kurt?" she leaned over the branch he'd been perching on, long hair arrayed around her face by branches. Kurt looked up at her, yellow eyes shocked. Amanda giggled at the sight of him sprawled under the tree. "Sorry," she called down apologetically. "I didn't know you were going to fall out!"

"You what?!" Kurt screeched, as if it the meaning of what she'd said only now penetrated. "But - How - I - Amanda, we're only sixteen!" he sat up slowly, making sure he hadn't hurt himself. His tail was complaining about being squashed but other than that he seemed fine.

"Yeah, I noticed that," she gathered her hair up from the tree, wincing a few times as it pulled, then threw it all over one shoulder so it wouldn't get tangled as much on her way down. "I just can't seem to find another explanation of why a day doesn't go by where I don't think of you."

"I am rather unforgettable," he gave a weak grin.

Amanda laughed as she jumped off the last branch. "That you are, Kurt. I'm sorry I knocked you out of the tree." She murmured, "Maybe I shouldn't have said anything."

"Nein," he shook his head. "I think I needed to fall out of the tree."

Now it was Amanda's turn to send a confused look.

Kurt tried to explain. "You know I grew up like this. I've always had to be careful around people, and it turned into an excuse not to get close to anyone. I'm just so used to thinking that people will run screaming from me that you're something new. It took falling out of a tree to get the truth knocked into me."

That was a little confused . . . He hoped she understood what he was trying to say so obliquely.

KURT

All I want

is freedom,

a world with

no more night . . .

and you

always beside me

to hold me

and to hide me . . .

"So you don't think I'm nuts?"

Kurt laughed as he stood up, pulling Amanda off the grass. "I think you're nuts for falling in love with an elf, but - no. Come on. I think you ought to be properly introduced to the X-Men and the Brotherhood before we go gallivanting off to the others rescue."

AMANDA

Then say you'll share with

me one

love, one lifetime . . .

Let me lead you

from your solitude . . .

"And you ought to meet some of my friends. Maybe not you, fuzzy, but I think you'd like them. I know they'll like you," she linked their arms and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked back toward the boarding house. Then she sighed. "Are you sure?"

"What?"

"Are you sure the other Institute people even want you seeing me? As a human I'm kind of a liability," she pointed out.

AMANDA

Say you want me

with you

here, beside you . . .

anywhere you go,

let me go too -

that's all I ask

of you . . .

Kurt rolled his eyes even though no one could tell, what with them being golden from lid to lid. "That would make us as prejudiced as them, which would be Dumb."

You could hear the capital. Amanda giggled. "Good. So, shall we stick together no matter what everyone else thinks?"

"Why should what they think make a difference? I don't see you deciding I'm a demon," he paused. "Thank you, by the way."

"For what?"

"One: for coming to get me. I was probably going to end up spending all night brooding in the tree."

"Don't brood. It doesn't suit you."

Kurt laughed. "Ja, libeling. Whatever you say. And . . . for looking twice."

KURT

Say you'll share with

me one

love, one lifetime . . .

say the word

and I will follow you . . .

She smiled. "You're more than welcome, Kurt, although I personally think I got the better end of the deal. A fuzzy elf of my very own."

BOTH

Share each day with

me, each

night, each morning . . .

He looked down at Amanda, her long hair tangled with twigs and dark brown eyes looking up - but only a little - at him. For a breathless moment, the world stopped.

AMANDA

Say you love me . . .

KURT

You know I do . . .

They kiss.

BOTH

Love me -

that's all I ask

of you . . .