21) Familiar feelings

I'm back! Okay, so it's been a while since I've seen the movie so please feel free to correct me. Enjoy!

Joy and Sadness. That's what the once proud and stoic Erik Lehnsherr felt when he looked at his daughter, his little Nina. She looked a lot like her mother, but her mischievous grin and strong hands were miniature versions of his own.

Of course, life was always a bitch to Erik, so his first child had to remind him of his old friend.

No, she was much more than that to Erik. And yet, after all their intersecting, scuffling, and rekindling, the endearment old friend was the simplest way to describe the elusive, maddening Ms. Charlotte Xavier. And even after about another decade of the ultimate silent treatment, Erik could not get away from her; she was always on his mind.

No woman, including his current wife Magda, ever remained in his mind for so irritatingly long. Of course, Magda was a wonderful spouse, mother, and friend. She had kept his secret and gave him the child they both always wanted. To protect their daughter, she loyally hid his true identity from their tightly knit community in Poland. Also, Magda was one of the most beautiful women he had ever met.

But did she challenge him like Charlotte did? Never. Did she ever question his morals or his character? Hardly. Did she ever make him feel both loved and feared at the same time? Nope. In fact, no woman had ever pushed his limits so much as Charlotte because both men and women knew when to draw the line with Erik. Everyone except her, she who fights him to this day, for what she believes is right.

Although Charlotte's unquenchable loyalty to her beliefs expectedly infuriated Erik, it simultaneously earned his respect. Perhaps that was why Erik decided to settle down among humans. That was what Charlotte had wanted from him all along, wasn't it? Peace for himself? Peace between himself and humans? Later after he left Washington D.C., Charlotte had telepathically suggested that he should start a family and forget all that had occurred. Therefore, he did the former, but the latter was becoming more and more challenging everyday.

Erik trudged home from work, greeted by his smiling wife who snuck up from behind him and planted kisses on his cheeks. Later that night, he tucked his little girl to bed, singing her the lullaby his parents once sang to him.

How much has changed since then. Time does wonders.

"Who taught you that song?" Nina wondered, interrupting Erik's train of thought.

Erik grinned fondly at her. "My parents."

Nina watched her father with sympathy. "What happened to them?"

Erik's eyes darkened a measure, but he shoved away his morbid thoughts. He did not want to frighten his little angel. "They were taken from me."

And that was when Erik saw it, the tiniest, slightest sign of his old friend, his Charlotte. Nina's kind eyes watered a little, but her voice did not waver, and her eyes remained on Erik.

In that moment, she looked and acted just like her.

"Will someone take you away from me?"

"Erik, why did you leave me?"

Erik swallowed until it hurt and kissed Nina's forehead. "The people you love never leave you." Even when you want them to, even when they're slowly killing you because you're not with them. Even if you cannot have them back, ever, because of hate... something I wish you would never know.

"They stay with you, in your heart." Like Mother, Father, and... the old friend.

xxx

Nervousness and Giddiness. That's what the usually calm and collected Charlotte Xavier felt when she found the infamously attractive Moira MacTaggart with Cerebro. Charlotte could not describe it. She felt like she was in her twenties again, flirting with both sexes! Those warm, brown eyes took her back before the seventies, before Cuba, before everything. Moira, sweet and trustworthy Moira, took her back to the simpler times.

Wait a minute! Charlotte caught a glimpse at Hank's dumbfounded face and mentally smacked herself. I'm wasting precious time! I need Moi- answers! Right! Answers...

To end Hank's awkward waiting period, Charlotte spoke up. "Hank, it's her."

"Who?"

"Moira." Sweet genome. Even her name sounds too sexy!

"Give me the details," Hank told her earnestly.

"Well, she looks amazing." Charlotte was on cloud nine at that point. "Barely aged a day."

Hank just smirked knowingly and shook his head. "I mean other details, like where she is? How she can be of any help to us?"

Charlotte fought off the blush rising to her cheeks and gave Hank a stern look. Then, she gave him a quick synopsis of her plan.

"So... you wanna go see Moira?"

Charlotte's eyes remained on the projected image of Moira. "I wanna go check her out - check out the situation, I mean!" Charlotte hastily cleared her throat and shut Cerebro down. "And just so you know, that did come out wrongly, and you will not utter a word of this to anyone else. Am I understood?"

Hank's smirk was at its greatest point. "Oh no need, professor. You see, Cerebro has a few side effects. One particular side effect is that it tends to project the thoughts of its host when the heart of the host beats rapidly and erratically."

"Well isn't that peachy," Charlotte mumbled, wheeling past the amused scientist.

xxx

"So you and Moira, huh?" Alex chirped. She just rolled her eyes. But as Charlotte wheeled down a hallway with Alex and Hank right behind her, three bright smiles never wavered. Charlotte, for once, did not care that she looked like a giddy schoolgirl in front of her curious students. Her cheeks were red from both embarrassment and delight, but she could care less. After almost twenty years, she was finally going to see Moira.