I'm Coming Home

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This was a strange situation for Raven to be in, as she stood outside of Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. She carried a duffle bag with the strap hanging over her shoulder - and that bag held all of her belongings...which were very few. It had broken her heart to leave the Brotherhood - or rather, to leave Magneto, but this was her home. She'd had a bit of a conversation with Charles.. he'd broken down her walls, and the two of them managed to hash things out. By the end of it, Raven realized one important thing: Charles needed her more than Erik did.

It was another thing about the two of them that they had in common. They both fell in love with Erik, they both got shot by Erik (whether directly or inadvertently), and they both had to leave him for the 'greater good'. She wasn't donned in blue, at the moment. She was in her normal, blonde, human form. If she was going to turn over a different leaf, to change, then maybe it meant to sometimes look the part of normalcy. It was slightly hard for her at the moment to go from completely being free in her natural form, to suddenly switching to look like a normal human. Probably for the best for the moment.  Everyone else was used o seeing her as the blue tag-along of Erik... in this form, she was Raven... with a clean slate.

As she walked inside, she looked around, noticing children and teenagers of all ages rushing about. She walked the halls toward the office she knew to be that of Charles. She kept her eyes peeled for Logan, wondering if she'd see him. She hadn't heard anything about him really since she dropped him off with Charles after rescuing him. Once she reached Charles's door, she took a deep breath, and opened the door without bothering to knock. She didn't have to... she knew, that he was expecting her.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes," she mused with a soft smile.

[x]

Raven was coming home. She was coming home of her own volition and Charles was ecstatic. He’d been fidgeting in excitement ever since their conversation through Cerebro—Charles had only brushed against her mind to ensure that she was still safe and happy wherever she was, and it had gone from there. He’d made so many mistakes when it came to her, done so much wrong in his desire to keep her from harm, that her decision to return to the estate was both startling and felt just a bit like redemption.

He shifted in his wheelchair as he tried to focus on the paperwork in front of him; he was still readjusting to the wheelchair, and as such his back typically hurt and he kept getting the increasingly urgent desire to get up and move—which he couldn’t do, not without Hank’s serum and Charles had made a promise to himself to never go back to that. He was needed much more as a crippled telepath than a mobile human.

There was a tug on the telepathic shielding Charles had been rebuilding ever since his decision to end his dependency on the serum. The school needed protection, after all: a sort of early warning system by which Charles could be alerted of any danger while there was still time to evacuate. But there would be no need for evacuation, he realized with a sigh of a relief and burst of excitement; Raven’s mind had crossed through, and she would be at his door any minute.

The more active of his student body paid her no need as she made her way to his office; no hints of alarm but a handful of glances and mental inquiries as to who the blonde was. He was a little surprised she’d shown up blonde; the majority of his students had seen her actions in D.C. and knew her blue form as the woman who saved the President. Raven’s natural form would have been met with awe and perhaps a bit of hero worship from his younger students, but the choice wasn’t Charles’s to make. Only Raven could decide what form she wanted to employ.

He wheeled himself out from behind his desk as Raven opened the door, still ridiculously happy to have her home.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” she said with a soft smile, and Charles smiled in return.

“I could say the same for you,” he replied, pushing himself a bit closer to her, smile still strong on his face. “Welcome home, Raven. I hope the journey was pleasant?”

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At first, Raven was nervous. She knew there wasn't a reason to be, of course.. This was Charles, after all. Her brother. The two of them had been through a lot of trialing times, but no matter what, she knew - after the Cerebro conversation, at least - that Charles would always be there for her. He'd always accept her, and as far as Raven was concerned, he'd always  need her just like she'd always need him. Of course her life with Erik had been wonderful while it lasted, but it just wasn't right. After everything that happened with Trask, she knew that it was time for a change. And so, after saying a heartfelt goodbye to the man that both of the Xavier siblings held a candle for, she was back in Charles's graces, where she belonged. It would always come down to her and Charles against the world. 

The smile on Charles' face said it all. He was happy that she was there, and all of the nervousness that she had felt standing outside of his office had diminished. He asked about her journey, and in response, she slightly inclined her head. "Long. Too long.."  She gave him  small smile "But the destination was worth it." Without hesitation, she crossed the short distance between them, bent at the waist, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, giving him probably the tightest hug that she could manage without hurting someone. She promised herself she wouldn't cry, but well.. Raven broke promises before. "I missed you," She admitted with a slightly trembling voice. 

She wanted to apologize...or say -something-... but there were no words at the moment. Words didn't have to be spoken, though. Everything she wanted to say was in that embrace.