Part One - A Bizarre Announcement
In all honesty, when the Professor announced one morning that he had bought an island in the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, it didn't come as much of a shock. The man seemed to have an infinite supply of funds, which still, five years after I first stepped through the fancy doors of his *School for the Gifted*, I have no idea of the source. I don't think anyone does, except maybe Jean, for she has been his student the longest, and, well, you know what they say, like sticks with like, them both being telepaths and all...
There's that expression - money doesn't grow on trees - but in the Professor's case, I seriously started to wonder if he didn't, in fact, have a crop of mutated Firs tucked away somewhere, that by some freak of nature, had started to flower money instead of needles. The world was changing at an alarming rate. Mutants, after all, were popping up left, right and centre, so why should trees be any different?
But I'm going off on a tangent here. Let's return to the subject at hand...
The island.
33.5 acres, 4 miles from the mainland, dry season from Jan 1 to May 15, average temperature about 80 deg F all year around. Coconut trees. Vibrant bird life. Sandy beaches. Nothing poisonous...
Your typical tropical fantasy.
Nice.
Or so we thought...
Scott immediately decided it would be a great place for him and Jean to get married and even spend their honeymoon. They hadn't set a proper date but everyone knew it was inevitable. Now it seemed that the Professor's sudden purchase might hurry things along a bit.
The Professor agreed that the island, would indeed, be an ideal place for such an event, but stressed that it couldn't be for at least six months. That's when he dropped the bombshell. The reason *why* he had bought the island in the first place.
Just think Tom Hanks in 'Castaway' but without the tragic plane crash. Or 'Survivor' but with less people and without the cash prize.
Two people in fact. Two X-Men, names plucked at random over a six-month period, deposited on a small tropical island, with just the basics, no outside contact (except for emergencies only), not allowed to use their mutant abilities in any way (again, except for emergencies only!)...and here's the kicker...here's where the warning bells start tolling in your ears...for thirty days!
Thirty days!
One whole month!
Now you might think I'm panicking unnecessarily. A gorgeous tropical island, you protest, with sandy beaches, unrelenting sunrays, gently swaying palm trees...
Yeah, great if you have a five star hotel behind you pampering to your every whim, but let me repeat one more time - just-the-basics. That means no luxuries, minimal food, a meagre offering of essentials like matches, torches, sun-block, first aid kit - blah blah blah, - and no shelter - we have to make that ourselves on day one.
And if that wasn't Robinson Crusoe enough, we were to discover that this island had *never* been inhabited. Which meant nothing had been built on it. Having to make our own shelter was the *least* of our worries. There was no power generator, no septic tank, not even a water tower. Nothing had been installed whatsoever. Our only mod con, if you can call it that, was a small well that offered clean fresh water.
Whoopee! Forgive me if I don't leap around with joy!
It transpired that the Professor wanted to test our X-Men credentials to the limit. Wanted to see just how well we could cope, forced to resort to our own devises. Said it would be a good experience for all of us.
Yeah, right! It also *transpired* that he wouldn't be doing it though. Being in a wheelchair and all. Now I have every sympathy for paraplegics, and, well, it *would* have been kinda difficult manoeuvring that big ole chair around the island, but still, I couldn't help but frown, Logan-like, at his easy escape.
The subject of pairing up was the first issue raised. Rather amusingly so. Scott huffed that should a drawing of names bring up Jean and Logan, there was no way on earth he would allow it to happen. Logan threw back that if ended up with Scooter, only one of them was gonna survive the month. And it was gonna be *him*.
Storm, being Storm, was a little more practical and asked why three people could not be drawn instead but the Professor insisted that he wanted as few individuals as possible on the island at any one time, to keep it more isolated, more mentally testing. He added that he *would* have preferred just one person at a time (I think he *has* been watching 'Castaway' too many times!) but that it might prove too risky since not everyone shared Logan's healing ability.
And after Scott and Logan's little spat there seemed to be a genuine excitement beginning to develop amongst the group. People seemed to quickly warm to the idea. Perhaps it's because we're kinda different to the outside world, are used to a few knocks, a bit of a struggle, and plenty of battles in our time.
I think we felt that we could rise to the challenge.
I say we, but in truth, I still wasn't sure about me in particular. I can take a bit of roughing it, grudgingly so, but I...I kinda like my luxuries...even the basic ones...like showers and soft mattresses and a little bit of lip gloss...
And it seemed Logan did too. At least the basic ones. The look on his face when he was informed that cigars and beer were included in that off-limits list, was nothing short of priceless! Scott seemed to think so too - cue slanging match number two.
But as I watched them bicker like two overgrown kids I knew only one thing. That I wanted to spend those thirty days with Logan.
Although it terrified me at the time, I knew from the moment I first saw him in that god-awful fighting cage in Laughlin City, that we were destined to be together. I knew, as my timid gaze began to roam his beautiful muscular body, eyes widening with a combination of terror, excitement and, dare I admit it, desire, at the raw animalistic rage on his face, that it wasn't just the typical adolescent fantasy expected of girls my age but something deep and instinctive, an awareness that rose up to engulf me like a wave of fire, enveloping my senses until I could hardly breathe.
Although I did manage to keep on breathing. Just long enough to scream: 'Look out!' when a disgruntled loser of his earlier cage fight made to stick a blade into his back.
He reacted like the wind, so quick, so smooth, so unconsciously, that I was momentarily stunned. No longer by fear or terror or anything negative, but by awe.
And when three metal claws tore out from his knuckles to pin his attacker against the wall, still, I wasn't afraid...simply overwhelmed by the realisation that he was like me.
A mutant.
And this knowledge made my heart soar, because it secured my belief in our shared destiny.
But hey...I'm off on yet another tangent...a tad melodramatic this time...end pretentious background music...
Let me put it more bluntly...
Basically, I fancied the socks off the Wolverine!
And the thought of spending thirty days on a desert island with him was enough to send my hormones into overdrive! Major overdrive!
Could you get a more perfect scenario to turn two close friends into...lovers? And I knew instinctively that my feelings were not one sided. That I wasn't clutching at straws. I could see it. See it in his eyes, in his smile, in the way he moved, the way he breathed when he was around me.
But I could also see what had been holding him back for the past five years. What kept him distant even when he wrapped me in his arms after a particularly trying day. I saw every doubt, every misgiving, every issue associated with age and him not being right, or good enough for me.
But he was cracking under the strain of wanting. The Wolverine wasn't used to not getting what he wanted. Part of me hated seeing him suffer but another part relished every moment of his torment. Because it gave me hope.
And now I was a woman. Twenty-one years of age. And although he fought to keep hold of them, issues were slipping like sand through his fingers.
And I was desperate to be crushed into those golden sands by his hard muscular body.
Tropical island sands to be precise...
I knew that the chances of getting paired up with Logan were slim but I found myself praying every month. Every month that damned draw took place. Destiny owed it to me! To us! We had been *wanting* for too long now. And...well...it was hard to be open about our emotions at the Institute. When you shared a home with so many prying eyes. It kinda stifled us. Kept holding us back.
Storm and Bobby were drawn first. An unlikely pairing but neither seemed too disappointed. Just kinda surprised. I know Storm would've liked to have been paired with Kurt and probably Bobby with Kitty, but these things are so random. And in this case, are supposed to be. In a crisis you don't know who you're gonna end up with. That was why I still tried not to get my hopes up for me and Logan.
The month passed quickly and Storm and Bobby returned. A little thinner, a little worst for the wear but both admitted that it had been a useful and somewhat humbling experience.
And it was draw time again.
Hank and John.
And then Scott and Jubes.
Jean and Kitty.
Every draw that didn't bring up mine or Logan's name made me breathe a huge sigh of relief. It didn't matter that I was a bundle of nerves by month five, my anticipation stretched to breaking point. All that mattered was our odds were getting better.
I think it was getting to Logan too. Because from the moment the Professor first announced his incredible purchase he began to change. Started to act strange around me. Nothing that affected our friendship as such, but that *look* in his eyes began to burn with a greater intensity. With almost a desperation. I just knew it would ignite once we stepped onto that island. And I wanted nothing more than have its flame envelop me completely.
"Logan and...Marie."
I couldn't believe it when the Professor said our names. At first I though I was re-living the daydream I had had every day for the past five months.
I felt Jubes dig me in the side with her elbow. "Lucky girl," she whispered enviously.
Yet as the good news sunk in I accepted that, deep down, I had expected it all along. Knew that destiny wouldn't abandon us. It was steering these events just like it had steered me into that freezing trailer all those years ago. Scott's tut didn't really surprise me. Actually, several eyebrows were raised, although not one of them belonged to the master of brow-raising himself. If anything, Logan seemed pretty taken aback. Shocked.
And...scared?
It was at that moment that I began to have doubts, wondering if all those looks, all of my romantic notions, were nothing but wishful thinking? What if I was creating it all - that it was all in my head?
As I watched Logan, for the first time ever I couldn't, for the life of me, read the look on his face. Couldn't work out what that fear meant.
And that's when I got scared.
What if he *did* just see us as friends?
Thirty days, I reminded myself, and the words began to echo around my head like some haunting melody.
Thirty days...
The Professor snapped me out of my worrying reverie when I felt him slip a small book into my hands.
"One luxury I *will* permit," he started kindly. "Should you choose to use it." I peered down blankly at the small, hardback journal.
"It is, and will always remain, private," the Professor reassured. "So feel free to write from the heart."
I was aware of Scott making some sarcastic remark to Logan, no doubt about *writing from the heart*, but somehow, I couldn't register the words. Couldn't summon the strength to.
Overwhelmed by all manner of emotions, the silliest thought suddenly entered my head.
What if my pen should run out half way through the thirty days?
Would Logan let me use his?
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Story Notes:
This was written for the W&R '30' themed 4th birthday anniversary!