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Father/Daughter Dance

Summary:

X-Men have a father/daughter dance. Rhythm and Natera meet face to face for the first time.

Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Notes:

Rating: PG
Universe: Mine but very very very AU.
Summary: X-Men have a father/daughter dance. Rhythm and Natera meet face to face for the first time.
Disclaimer: The X-Men belong to Marvel and 20th Century Fox. No money being made or exchanged, no profit whatsoever. Rhythm Mackensie is MINE! Hands off! Natera Rose is on loan from Wolverine6claws. Like Rhythm is mine, Natera Rose is his, PAWS OFF!

Chapter Text

 

Father/Daughter Dance
by SisterWine
sisterwine75@hotmail.com  


Part One

It was an overcast morning when Rhythm finished her run. She was halfway back to the mansion when a taxi passed her. Following the car into the gate and around to the front steps, Rhythm kept her eyes one the windows of the car as she came up to the front steps. She stopped with her back to the car. Bending over to check her shoelaces and casually glance back at the young woman who stepped out.

Standing up and turning around to greet the guest, Rhythm took a moment to look the girl over. She took a step forward and raised an eyebrow, "can I help you?"

A young woman in a sea-green summer dress and a denim jacket stood smiling at her and gripped her small cloth purse, while the driver retrieved the two suitcases from the trunk. Her long white hair with a dark underneath was kept nicely in two braids. She waited for the taxi to drive away before speaking. "I am looking for Professour Xavier. He was supposed to pick me up at the airport, but my plane was early. Have I missed him?" She was about as tall as Rhythm and stood very straight and ladylike next to the young Cajun.

"Plane huh? Where ya from?" Rhythm looked the girl up and down again and noted her accent. For as much as Rhythm could tell, the girl was about her age, 16. Her lavendar running suit was getting hotter as the sun made its ascent, and she wanted to go inside.

The girl adjusted the strap on her shoulder and smiled nervously. "Here, but I spent three months in Kenya. I was spending the summer with my aunt." She was getting anxious on getting settled in and seeing her family.

Rhythm had her questions but kept them quiet as it wasn't her business to meddle in the affairs of a girl she just met. "You just here to see de Prof?" Her stomach growled and she was starting to itch from the sweat. Wiping her brow with her right arm, Rhythm hoped she wouldn't get stuck with the chore of a roommate. Something inside her gave her the feeling of familiarity about the girl.

"Certainly not. I am actually here to see my--"

"Natera!" Logan shouted as he parked the motorcycle he had sifted off of Scott and got off of it, kicking the stand down.

The girl turned and smiled before running to greet her father. A quick little embrace before realising that another pair of eyes was upon them. She looked at Logan and blushed as he whispered a doting name to her. The girl stood a few inches taller than Logan and resembled him to some degree that Rhythm minutely saw.

Rhythm watched a bit confused. Errm, Logan's-- daughter? She waited patiently to be introduced as she was about to get to it before he drove up. A corner of her mouth turned up and an eyebrow raised as she watched the little display of affection. The wait was getting unbearable. "Ahem." Her voice was low as not to seem rude but caught Logan's ear just the same.

Catching Rhythm's eye, Logan walked his daughter over to stand with her again. "Rhythm MacKensie, this is my daughter Natera."

Natera nodded a hello and Rhythm followed politely. "So you are the girl I have heard so much about." She gave the girl another quick glance over and tried to imagine life with the interesting troublemaker. From what she had seen of Gambit, she could assume that Rhythm stood a little taller than she did, back to back. Rogue had been pretty tall as well, and quite a beauty. Rhythm took after her mother in looks but, her father in charms. Natera imagined the friendship to the smallest detail, and enjoyed it. Moreso, she was glad that there was a girl her age, who she had felt like a sister to as her mother and father wrote about the devious little Cajun Princess.

"Depends. What exactly was said about me?" Rhythm eyed Logan for some insight but found none.

Natera smiled a bit and decided to explain her favourite tidbit about the girl. "Just that you are the only student to single-handedly infuriate the training sequence and put it out of commission for a few days. My father told me all about how he and Gambit had to fix it. That was quite a number you did on her."

Rhythm smiled and bowed playfully. "Ah, thank you thank you. But, it wasn't really me, she just needed a break and an update." A glance at Logan let her know that they were pressed for time as another mission was getting ready to deploy. "Listen, uh, why don't I show ya upstairs an' we get ya settled in an' stuff?"

"Go on up, darlin. Get some rest and we'll be back by supper." Patting her back, Logan winked at Natera warmly and nudged her up the steps.

Rhythm raised an eyebrow and as if hearing the unspoken words of Rhythm becoming a "buddy" to Natera. She hadn't really minded all that much, she just wished that it was a little harder to get a roommate. "No sweat, mon cher. She feel like she right at home, back in de bayou, non?" Quirking a grin, Rhythm kissed his cheek and turned to escort the girl up to her room. She opened the front door and waved the young woman inside, waiting for Storm to hurry down the corridor and greet them.

With open arms, Storm rushed up to Natera and hugged her, happily. "My child. Oh, you are home." Pulling back to look at the young woman in her arms, the goddess was so overjoyed that she simply lost her words and hugged her again. "I trust that your flight was well?"

"Yes, mother."

Storm leaned back and smiled. "Good. You have a room all set here, or would you--?" Not quite able to get over how much her daughter had grown in the few months she had been away, Storm was taken aback by the pretty young woman that stood before her.

"Yes. Miss LeBeau," taking a moment to glance over her shoulder at a slightly shocked Rhythm, Natera offered, "has granted me the courtesy of rooming with her. We were on our way up to get settled."

Rhythm smiled as Storm glanced over at her in confirmation. "We clean her up and get her some 'Z's' and she be as good as new when ya get back."

Nodding, Storm gave Natera one last hug and kiss on the cheek before sending them on their way. "We shall see you tonight, child. We have alot to catch up on." She and Logan stood in the foyer and watched the two young women walk up the stairs and down the hall to Rhythm's room. "After so long, she has returned home to us, Logan. My baby girl."

-------

Rhythm opened the door to her unusually decorated room, and let her guest be the first inside. "You can have dat bed," she said, pointing to the clean linened bed on the right wall. "Wasn't really expectin company so, it's a little messy." Her eyes fell over the pile of clean and neatly laid out clothes on her own bed.

"Really, it is fine. It looks cozy." Natera stared at her bed for a minute and then turned to look at the other girl in thought. "You are not a party girl, are you?"

Shaking her head, Rhythm smiled and giggled a bit, "no. Poppa would have my hide if I snuck out again. There is a dance next weekend, if yer into that stuff?" Moving some clothes, Rhythm sat on the edge of her bed and admired her roommate. "Why don't ya put yer bag down, and I'll show ya the washroom so you can clean up. Trust me, I know how good it feels to slip into a hot shower and cool bed after a long flight." Rhythm stood and waved the girl down the hall, to an empty room. "This is my momma's room. She'll be here later on, too. But for now, you can use her shower. She won't mind, I always use her washroom."

Natera thought for a moment and agreed. Walking back to get her things ready, she could picture herself becoming very good friends with the Cajun girl. With a towel in one hand, and a small bag of necessities in the other, Natera was on her way to a nice hot shower. She was glad to have been able to see her parents before they left, but she was even more glad to have made a friend at the beginning.

Throughout her bath/shower, Natera reveled in finally being home again with her family. She had missed them but knew she was needed in Kenya. She wondered if she would miss the bird feather and grass bed underneath the thin blanket while she slept on a firm downe mattress. Natera had grown accustom to a warm breeze wafting through the room and wondered if the Cajun girl would let her have the window open.

Drying off, Natera listened to the quiet hum of Rogue's bathroom. She had completely lost herself in the silence and had quite the surprise when she opened the bedroom door to noise filled corridors. Hurrying back to Rhythm's room, she knocked and waited for Rhythm to open the door before going in. Knocking again, she listened more closely to the muffled voice telling her it was open.

Natera opened the door and slipped in, closing it behind her. "Is it always this noisy, here?"

"Oui. Ya get used to it." Rhythm lay on her bed, on her stomach, and read her history book.

Sighing, Natera walked to her bed and placed her things down to get dressed. Looking around for a screen to shade herself from Rhythm, she became dismayed at the lack of privacy. "Is there a place where I may dress?"

Crawling to her knees and turning around on her bed, Rhythm sat with her back to Natera. "Dis better?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"Not to alarm you but, uh-- I've seen a few girls naked, before. So, it's no big. My girlfriend and I do it all de time."

Natera glanced back over her shoulder as she fixed her brastrap. "Your girlfriend?"

Rhythm smiled. "Don't worry, I ain't gonna try nothin. Known Kim most of my life. Poppa say we better wait for the deeper stuff.… like 'til we're 30, or somethin. Not real interested in sex right now, anyway."

"I see. Your parents approve of you and her, then?" Natera pulled up her shorts and turned around to see Rhythm still facing the wall. The new bit of information interested her but it wasn't something that she would hold against a person she hardly new. She was taught to respect people's privacy and appreciate who they are instead of how they appear.

Rhythm shook her head. "Not really but, we don't flaunt it or anything like that. Logan's been like my poppa's twin. It's scary. Done?"

"Yes."

Turning and standing up, Rhythm grabbed her book and stepped towards the door. She checked her watch, 9:30. Perfect. "Why don't you catch some sleep, and I'll show you around later. I got some studyin to do, and de Prof needs his assistant. So, you come on down when ya wake up, and we get ya set up." Smiling, Rhythm reached for the doorknob as Natera yawned and agreed on the plan. "Night, cherie."

"Good... night," Natera called as Rhythm was already out of the room and closing the door behind her.

-------

Natera slept better than the past day from the long plane rides. The hours at the Miami airport had really taken it out of her, rushing about and then waiting for what seemed an eternity as her plane pulled up to the terminal. Rolling onto her right side, and staring out the window before sleep finally took her for the last moment, Natera inhaled and smiled at the thought of she and Logan running in a grassy field.

The sun was bright and drove the clouds away from the bright blue sky. She laughed and ran in circles while Logan chased her, laughing behind her. Looking down at her summer dress, Natera spun around to watch the skirt hoop out and scream as Logan finally caught her and spun with her around in a circle. "Daddy!" The gleeful yell made her jump in her sleep and roll over to face the door.

A deep, contented sigh escaped the visitor and Rhythm looked up from her studies to raise a brow at the girl. Natera had been asleep for four hours now, and hadn't cared about the day at all, or so it seemed. She went back to her Bio-Chem book and turned the page only to hear another sigh as well as another movement. Clearing her throat, Rhythm stretched and moaned under her breath and changed positions to lie on her stomach, facing the end of the bed.

Fifteen minutes later, Natera bolted upright and sat staring at an observant Rhythm. "Is it noon yet?"

"Nope. Little past."

"What is the time?" Swinging her feet over the side and standing up to stretch her stiff legs and arms, Natera waited for the answer. Looking to her roommate, she cocked her head to one side and waited.

Rhythm ran her tongue along the roof of her mouth and checked her purple indiglo watch on her right wrist. "S' about two-thirty." She hadn't been exactly prepared to hear the other side of the time-telling bit and had jumped back to dodge the explosion of shock, with wide eyes.

"Two-thirty! I slept all that time and you did not wake me?" Walking to the side of the bed, Natera stared at Rhythm with mild exasperation.

Rhythm closed her book and replaced the well-worn poker face that Remy had so frequently worn with everyone, and shrugged. "You mean I didn't try hard enough. You were gone, girl. I tried for an hour to wake you, but you sleep like Logan after a few too many beers; dead."

Natera fell silent and stepped back to let it sink in. She had never been that heavy of sleeper. She felt bad for yelling at her roommate when it wasn't the Cajun's fault she didn't wake up. "I am sorry. May I still have something to eat?" Her stomach growled and she placed her hand on it to muffle the sound. Her cheeks flushed red as Rhythm smiled and nodded before getting up and ushering her to the door.


End Part One.

sisterwine75@hotmail.com