The checkered cab pulled up to the gate as ordered. The woman told him not to drive through them, though she didn't tell him why. She hadn't been back here in almost two years. Not since she turned 18. She had no idea if the security had been updated and didn't want to risk getting the cab blown up. She knew she'd still be on the system, though. She was still part of the X-Men, after all.
She paid the cabby and shouldered her army-size duffel bag. The cab drove off as she entered the gates and made the walk to the front door. It was odd to not be rolling up the drive, but that wasn't how she wanted to come home. She was a grown up now and it was time certain people knew that.
Her yellow trench coat fluttered in the breeze and showed of the silk shirt she had bout in China. She looked good in oriental clothing, but her jeans were still all-American. As were her trademark pink shades perched on the top of her head. Jubilee was glad to be home.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A rugged man in a cowboy hat walked towards the back door of the mansion. He had enjoyed watching the sun rise over the lake while he smoked his morning cigar. It was one of the little rituals that made his life here so comfortable.
Normally the X-Men didn't eat breakfast together, but on days when they did special training it only made sense. On those rare days it was his turn to cook. He really couldn't complain. No one even tried to make him cook dinners and these training sessions only came around once a month.
He remembered the first time he had been talked into making breakfast. Chuck had told him he had to take his turn cooking sometime, so this arrangement was made. Knowing everyone would get sick of fried eggs, Jubilee had taught him how to use the waffle machine.
He chuckled at the memory of that scrawny kid teaching him anything. It had worked though. Wolvie's Waffles had become a once a month treat for everyone. Not that he would ever admit how proud he was of that.
He froze as a familiar scent caught is sensitive nostrils. The breeze smelled like Jubilee. For a moment he wondered if his memory had supplied the scent. It had been almost two years after all. But no, this smell was subtly different, but definitely Jubilee.
Logan increased his pace and headed for the front of the mansion. He smiled a little at the thought of having his little shadow back. Jubie could be a pest, but she was a pest he had missed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jubilee climbed the steps to the mansion with a smile on her face. She had left on her 18th birthday, but she had still been a child. This was going to be her first time in the mansion as a woman. Even her body agreed with her.
Sometime over the past 21 months her body had finally finished forming. Her hips had rounded, her breast swelled, and even her face and sharpened in all the right places. She couldn't wait to see the surprised look on the faces of her friends. The 'kid' had become a woman and not one of them had ever
really excepted that it would happen. She especially wanted to see that look on one face. A face that had stayed with her no matter how hard she tried not to think of him...
She hovered on the porch enjoying this moment. She had found her birth family, the grandparents and older sister she had never met while her parents were alive, and realized what she should have known all along. This was were she belonged. She just hoped the others were as glad to have her back as she was to be home.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Logan slowed as he walked up to the porch where she was standing. All he could see was that damn yellow trench coat. He shook his head in amusement. Some things never change.
"Welcome back short-stuff."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jubilee jumped and spun around. There he was, looking just the same as she remembered him. He had been away the day she left. The day after her 18th birthday.
She had arranged it that way, packing the moment she knew he was gone. He would have offered to come with her if she had told him. She had known she wouldn't have been able to say no, so she had snuck off living a good-bye letter in his room.
Only Xavier had known why she was leaving, and he had understood why she didn't want to say good-bye. This was something she had to do on her own. Find her past, her heritage, and herself.
"Well if it isn't the ol' Canuckle-head himself!" She dropped her duffel bag on the porch and hopped to the ground. "Glad to see me Wolvie?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Logan could barely believe his eyes. This was not the Jubilee that had tweaked his nose and annoyed him daily. This was a grown woman! What was even worse was that she was beautiful.
