stormfreak_beginning3

Disclaimer: The X-Men�not mine�etc. but y�all should know that by now.

This story may seem a little slow, and a little boring, but you know how you have to write at least one chapter to cross bridges and explain things came to be? This is it. This chapter doesn�t have a whole lot of Storm toward the end, and it told almost entirely from Remy�s point of view, but I�ll try not to do that in the future.

The End is the Beginning, by stormfreak

Part Three: Courage

cour�age, noun. From Latin COR, meaning heart. Mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. � as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

Mount Pleasant, Harare � Zimbabwe

Remy LeBeau stood at the top of one of largest waterfalls in Africa and collected his thoughts. He had made a ritual to jump from the cliff every morning, and would continue to do so as long as his body allowed.

It wasn�t for fun, or for therapeutic reasons. Far from it. At 7:00 in the morning, the water was cold enough to freeze a person to the marrow. The drop was far too short before plunging into an abyss of clear, blue beauty. The water was deep, and the time between reaching the lowest part of the water to the surface seemed endless. The first time he came off the mountain, he thought his lungs would burst before reaching the surface.

Remy jumped the cliff for courage.

He remembered the words the wise man had told him: "I have fought in war, son. I have met with kings and queens. I have had millions and lost every dime. I have rebuilt my empire on faith alone. But none of that tool more courage than having a wife and raising a family. I jump this waterfall to test my courage. And believe me, son � you�re going to need lots of courage to make your marriage work."

And with dat, Remy thought, he pushed me off th� cliff. Shoved, to be honest. Hell, he threw my ass off dat mountain. And here I am, about to do it again.

*

It wasn�t that the picture that Jean had placed in Rogue�s mind before she shut the isolation cell wasn�t accurate. It was. It�s just that it was a little�well�flawless compared to what it took to get Remy and Ororo on the hill.

Remy had planned to leave late that night, but surprisingly, it took approximately forty-five minutes for Storm to pack her things, write a letter to Jean, and say goodbye to the X-Mansion. It took Gambit even less � he was far less sentimental and was waiting in his car for Ororo to tie up loose ends.

From the time Gambit drove away from the school for what was to be the last time, from the time they checked into a hotel over 100 miles away, he waited patiently � expectantly, rather - for Storm to change her mind. Her countenance was so far from happy, that during the drive, he actually asked Storm did she want to go back. She had shaken her head silently.

"Den why do you look so sad?" Remy had asked.

Storm gave a tiny smile. "Would you believe, me, Remy, if I told you I am convincing myself not to go back, no matter what?"

In the hotel, they lay on a bed dreaming of where they would begin their new lives together.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Where were you planning?"

"I don� know; hell, anywhere." Remy ran a hand through his hair. He needed a haircut, and badly. "Did you want t�stay in th� United States?"

"I do not care." Ororo was blushing and smiling shyly.

Remy grinned, despite the seriousness of the situation. "Did you want to go back to Kenya?"

"No; that is the first place they will come to look, if they come to look."

"Well, did you wanna to get married here or somewhere else?"

"Married!?"

"Yeah," Remy sat up. "You do wanna marry me, don� you?"

"I �" Ororo pulled her body up, stunned. Married? He wants to marry me? "Married? Remy, are you sure?"

"Well, yeah. Oh, I guess I didn� mention dat when we were leavin�. I was mad as hell. But yeah. I wasn� t�inkin� cute apartment in Manhattan an� shackin� up. I wasn t�inkin� more along de lines of out in de country, as husban� an� wife." He paused, feeling panic at her silence. "Well, is dat okay?"

Ororo stood up and began to pace quietly. Remy knew better than to rush it, but his heart was dying inside. She don� want ta marry me. if she did, she�da said yes by now.

Suddenly, Ororo whipped around. "Rembrandt LeBeau! Some nerve you have! First, you assume I�ll leave the X-Men. Then, you assume I�ll marry you, and now, you assume that I�ll live in the country? You didn�t even propose!"

Remy�s heart went cold at her sudden outburst, until a smile spread on Ororo�s face. Then the laughter, cutting through the air like rain after a drought.

"Remy LeBeau! You cocky bastard! Of course I�ll marry you!" She leapt onto the bed, pinning Gambit down, her hair falling down around them both. He brought his lips to kiss her, and Storm�s mind began to spin. Mrs. Rembrandt LeBeau�me.

And that was that.

*

"How about Zimbabwe?" They were standing in a jeweler�s store in Virginia, still contemplating.

Remy�s mouth hung open, astonished. "Zimbabwe? Zimbabwe? Fifty-four countries in Africa, an� you picked Zimbabwe!"

"What is wrong with Zimbabwe?" Ororo asked laughingly.

"I don� know! I haven� exactly BEEN to Zimbabwe! The X-Men didn� have no missions in Zim-damn-babwe! I neva woke up an� said, "My, my, my, I t�ink I go ta Zimbabwe!"

"Remy," Ororo leaned against the counter, gasping for breath, "Please. You sound like a jackass. It is not like you have a preference of African countries. I did not expect you say, �Zimbabwe is bad, And Sierra Leone is in the rainy season, but let us try Angola.� "

"Ohhhhh�we have jokes today, I see." Remy pulled his fianc�e close. "You sure are talkin� smart considerin� dat I am payin� to put th' prettiest ring on yo� finger."

"Oh, I see." Ororo rolled her bright blue eyes and planted a peck on Remy�s lips. "So was that a yes on Zimbabwe?"

"Okay. Zimbabwe�s fine. Pick a ring an� let�s go."

"I do not really care about a ring, Remy."

Ororo said that, and Remy heard, it, but Remy knew she was lying. it was probably the first conscious lie she had told him. he knew she was concerned about cost. In the end, however, he had seen a ring that he fell in love with, a ring that he felt would compliment her hand. It was a solitaire diamond, and the band was platinum. Ororo�s eyes grew wide at the cost, but Remy waved that off and told the salesman to ring it up.

"Will you be paying for this by cash, check or credit card?" the overly excited saleswoman asked, obviously a slave to commission.

"Credit," Remy replied. He had emptied half of his entire bank account to prepay the ring on his card, but knew it would be worth it. The other half was in cash in his wallet. He reached into his back pocket, and froze.

"My wallet!" he cried!

"Remy, what is wrong?" Ororo called from the chair she was sitting end, on the other end of the store.

"My-my-my wallet is missin�!" Oh, my God! he thought. Half of his entire savings, gone. A credit card with a huge limit. And no dream ring for Ororo. For the first time in years, Remy felt like crying. Disappointment and fear filled his heart, and his mind was reeling.

Ororo rose from the chair and walked to the counter calmly. Too calmly. "We will take the ring," she declared and reached for her purse.

"Stormy, no!" Remy bawled. The last thing he wanted was Ororo paying for her own ring.

Ororo only smiled, and laid a credit card on the counter, much to the relief of the saleswoman and the confusion of Gambit. The saleswoman picked the card up, and promptly frowned.

"I�ll have to see some ID�Rembrandt LeBeau?" she questioned Storm.

And as Ororo pulled Remy�s wallet out of her purse and presented his driver�s license, Remy felt himself breathing again. He pulled Ororo close, and gazed in her laughing eyes.

"Good God, woman," he murmured. "Gambit can� take a joke, but don� ever do dat again. I can� marry you if I have a heart attack an� drop dead."

"I am sorry, dear husband-to-be," Ororo whispered, "but the opportunity was too good to pass up. Perhaps you will not take me so lightly the next time I attempt to have a serious discussion with you."

*

High on a hill in Harare, Zimbabwe, Remy placed the ring on Ororo�s finger and declared his eternal love for her. That was the easy part. On the hill, Remy was handsome, strong and confident, and his wife was beautiful, loving and self-assured. Picture-perfect, the photographer actually took Remy and Ororo�s wedding pictures for free because he thought that they resembled "the perfect couple."

The hardest part, he already knew, would be consummating his marriage. And despite his overwhelming lust for the woman he had married, he wasn�t looking forward to it.

Not that Ororo was overtly excited. She had spent the majority of the night in the beautiful Meikles Hotel

locked in the bathroom. Remy could hear her choked sobbing from the other side of the door. It put a pallor over Remy�s heart that would be hard to lift. He wanted nothing more but to wrap his arms around his new bride and convince her that everything would be okay. But how could he do that when her one and only experience with sex had been so violent and intrusive?

He knew not to take Ororo�s behavior personally. But it was hard, so very hard.

She came out on her own, eventually, finally. Her eyes were red from crying and her body trembled so hard, it was visible. And despite the fact that Remy had long dreamed of the night that he would be able to make love to Ororo LeBeau, he knew there was no way he could bring himself to do it that night. He spent the rest of that night holding her in his arms, listening to her frequently whispered apologies. Once, she even offered to try, but Remy did not want to start a pattern of sex out of obligation.

"Sleep," he whispered in her ear, and kissed her earlobe. "We have the rest of our lives, baby; you t�ink it has to be tonight?"

She trembled with unmistakable relief again, and Remy�s heart plunged into despair.

*

They had stumbled upon the place they would live quite by accident. While walking miles away from the hotel, hand in hand, Remy had heard something that sounded like rain. Upon walking for a few more miles, they were shocked to find a waterfall, completely out of place with the modern city.

"It is beautiful!" Ororo had gasped, walking upon the empty land that led to the waterfall�s path.

The land she had walked upon, Remy found out the next day, belonged to Adam Hartley, the richest man in Harare. But that did not bother Remy. His wife was in love with the waterfall, so he would give her the waterfall. He would talk to Adam Hartley about buying the land.

The natives at the local watering hole found him crazy, and did not hesitate to tell him so.

"I hope you are a rich man, foreigner!" an old man had chortled. "It will take many, many millions to buy land from Adam Hartley!"

"Maybe if you have a diamond in your pocket, he will allow you to buy a window!" another patron had chortled.

The bartender was sympathetic. "American, I understand that you have a dream for your wife. But Adam Hartley is not only rich, he is stingy. You should build your house elsewhere � the moon, for example. Try the moon."

It was the taunting and the laughter that caused Remy to go not to the man�s place of business, but right to his front door. He is a man, and I am a man. Why should I not knock on his door? A man with money is no more a man.

When the front door swung open, Remy found himself face to face with a tall, muscular looking man with green eyes and salt-and-pepper hair. "May I help you?" he asked, his accent British, his eyebrows knitted.

"My name is Remy LeBeau, and I am interested in purchasing your land."

Adam Hartley looked shocked. "Any particular reason why I should sell a portion of my land to you, of all the privileged people in Harare?"

"Sir, I would like to build a house fo� my wife. She�she likes th� waterfall."

"You and everyone else in Harare. Perhaps I should build a boarding house there; just let everyone live there and stare at the water."

Remy felt himself getting hot. "Dat has nothin� to do wit� me wantin� th' land."

"Oh, I see now! Well, I don�t sell to young swamp rats. Yeah, I said swamp rat," he added when Remy�s eyes grew large. "I lived in America for 15 years, and it is obvious that you are from Louisiana. Which means you could never save up enough money to buy my land. You are obviously poor."

That didn�t sit well with Remy, who had spent thousands of dollars to buy his wife, of all things, a ring. "An� it be obvious dat you are a pompous asshole!" he raged. "How dare you t'ink I'm poor! You t'ink a poor man would ask to buy yo' land? D'you t'ink I be a dreamer? I am a doer! You don� know a t�ing about me, an� you t�ink I can� afford yo� land! Well, to hell wit yo� land! And to hell wit� you, shithead!" He spun on his heel and left.

From behind him, he heard hearty laughter, and before long, a strong hand rested on his shoulder. "Young man," Adam Hartley said, "You have a goal and that is apparent. I like your style. In the heat of the moment, it takes a real man to call a rich man a shithead." He put his arm around Remy. "Please, come inside."

*

Inside the house of Adam Lloyd Hartley were some of the most beautiful items Remy LeBeau had ever seen, and he had been a thief long before he was an honest man. The house was tastefully furnished, but it full of beautiful figurines, intricately carved statues, and walls were filled with art stunning photographs that genuinely impressed Remy.

He noticed a picture of a tall, regal man decked out in the richest clothing and jewelry he had ever seen. "Who took dis picture, sir?"

"I did." Adam replied. "I am a retired photographer. I have been around the world four times, won a slew of awards, and have seen the most beautiful sights in the world. Now I live here, and run a photography school."

Remy stared at awe of the pictures of kings and queens, lavish castles, exotic animals and famous political figures. But halfway through the house, one picture stopped him dead in his tracks. The color drained from his face and his jaw dropped. My eyes, dey must be deceivin� me!

"Mr. LeBeau?" Adam noticed Remy�s expression. "Mr. LeBeau, whatever is the matter?"

Remy faced Adam. "You-you-this is my wife!"

"What? Impossible." Adam looked at the picture of a young, white-haired African beauty sitting in an expensive ivory chair. "That picture was taken over thirty years ago, in Kenya. Your wife was probably not even alive."

"But dat is my wife!" Remy knew it couldn�t be Ororo, but how many black, blue-eyed white-haired women could there be in the world?

"No, no. There has to be a mistake. What is your wife�s name, son?"

"Ororo. Ororo LeBeau."

"No, no, no. Her maiden name, son!"

"Huh? Oh � Munroe. Ororo Munroe."

For the longest time, Adam Hartley stood silent. Then he stumbled; so quickly that Remy turned to help him, but had his hand knocked away. Adam sank in a plush chair of Italian leather and stared into space.Tears formed in his eyes and the man let them fall. His green eyes were wide, but when he finally spoke, it was in a whisper. "David!" he said so quietly Remy could hardly hear. "David, you old goat! You said you�d have her; you said it! I didn�t believe it was possible, but you did, my friend! You did!" He put his head between knees and muttered aloud: "Unless I am incorrect, the father of your wife is named David Munroe. He married a princess named N�Dare."

"Yes�" Remy said slowly, "but�how you know dat? You know my wife?"

"No, son, no! I know her father! My God, he � I was his mentor! We were photojournalists together when we were assigned to cover the lands of Africa."

Adam grabbed Remy�s hand. "Come, come," he demanded and pulled Remy into a back room filled with boxes. For a quick second, Adam searched the boxes, then pulled one out to reveal a box full of photo albums. He removed one and began to flip. "I was assigned to cover the Ashake tribe in Kenya in 1971," he spoke quickly. "At that time, I had been a photojournalist for about five years. But David was the new kid on the block. He was from Harlem, and he had just graduated from college. It was his first big assignment.

"He took this picture," Adam flipped to an incredible picture of what had to be Ororo�s grandparents and mother, dressed in full royal attire. "It was there that we met the king and queen of the Ashake tribe, and their young daughter, N�Dare. She had to have been � oh, I�d say seventeen.

"David fell in love with her from first look. She was very beautiful, as you can see. She and her family was very humble, to be royalty and all. David and N�Dare spoke cordially our entire week-long visit. But I never, never thought he had a chance with her! Her parents made it very apparent that she would marry royalty!

"How is David and his wife? Fine, I trust?"

Remy shook his head. "They both died when my wife was a little girl. He was on an assignment in Egpyt, I believe."

Adam�s eyes grew wide. "My God," he moaned. "Some things simply are not fair; not fair at all. David was a good man; a fair man, and a talented photographer. He deserved to live much longer."

Remy�s knees felt weakened by all the new knowledge. "I have a picture�" his voice trailed as he pulled out his wallet and flipped it open to reveal his pictures of Ororo.

Adam nodded, smiling and wiping tears from his eyes. "You are telling me nothing but the truth," he concluded as he gazed at the stunning beauty. "Your wife has her mother�s hair and eyes, but she is David Munroe made over." He gave a low sigh, then suddenly stood up.

"Come with me, son. We are going for a swim."

*

The swim turned out to start with a murderous climb up the waterfall, followed by a long walk to the center of the nature-made beauty. Adam had stripped down to a pair of pants and bare feet. He began to yell to make his voice carry over the sound of the rushing water.

"I was drafted into the English Army about a year after I covered the Ashake tribe and met your wife�s father. After the war, I started a business, which later failed. I tell you son, I never would�ve lived to today and rebuilt my business if it hadn�t have been for the love of my wife, whom I buried last spring.

"I have fought in war, son. I have met with kings and queens. I have had millions and lost every dime. I have rebuilt my empire on faith alone. But none of that took more courage than having a wife and raising a family. I jump this waterfall to test my courage. And believe me, son � you�re going to need lots of courage to make your marriage work.

"There will be times when your beautiful wife is not so beautiful. There will be times when money is tight and luxuries are scarce. There will be times that you will want to throw your wife, your children, and yourself right off this cliff you�re standing on. There will be times that you want to pack everything you own, and leave.

"I tell you Remy, it takes a brave man to move to the opposite side of the world, and raise a family. But I believe you have courage. Any man who had the guts to knock on my door and ask to buy my land has what it takes to make a marriage work.

"So I tell you what. Jump off this cliff. And I will give you land. I will but you the materials it will take to buy your house. And you can live on the land for as long as you like, with no money to me.

"I believe in you, Remy. I respect you as a man, and as the husband of the daughter of my beloved friend.

"I hope you will except my offer."

And before Remy had the chance to say yes or no, he was airborne.

*

That was forty-eight hours ago. Since then, he had rented a little house in the village and moved himself and Ororo in there temporarily. Adam met and loved Ororo, and filled her time with pictures and stories about her father.

Adam became a bit of a surrogate father to Remy; a far better example that Jean-Luc LeBeau had ever been. He had ordered the materials to build the house promptly, and was told it would take 4-6 for them to arrive.

"Four to six weeks?" Adam had asked. "Come, live with me in my large and lonely house until the materials arrive."

"T�ank you, but I can�t," Remy declared. "Y�see�" his voice trailed.

"Trouble in paradise already? My God, Remy; don�t tell me I bet my money on a losing horse."

"No, no," Remy laughed. "It�s just dat�" He paused for lack of better words. "I have t�develop a better relationship wit� my wife We�we have never�we don��she�"

"Ahhh," Adam interrupted. "I understand completely, Remy. I hope you work things out�no man should have to live in a chaste marriage."

"I will if I have to," Remy replied. "I love Ororo wit� all my heart. I will neva force her t�do what she don� wanna do."

"Remy," Adam stated softly, "whatever your wife�s problems are with intimacy, you two will have to work them out as a couple. She cannot live with this forever. It isn�t healthy, son, whatever�s eating at her. Remember what I said about courage. Only a coward would allow himself not to touch his own wife without discussing why that is and trying to help her. I am not telling you that your wife has an obligation to have sex with you, but at least come to that mutual understanding. I am sure this is not pleasant for her, either. Do not run from her, Remy; she needs you now, more than ever."

That was the last conversation the two had, the night before. That night, Remy had come home to see his wife already asleep, her hair tousled, her breathing slow. Her manual, given to her from the school she would be teaching at, was lying next to her on the bed. She looked as beautiful as she had a few days ago, the day he decided he wanted to be with forever, away from the X-Men.

And now, Remy stood on the cliff looking down at the water. So peaceful. So calm.

I will do dis, Remy thought. I will love Ororo unconditionally, even if she neva touches me. It does not matter. I will build her a house, a family, a new life. I will do dis�because I have the courage to try.

And Remy LeBeau � former X-Men, husband, future homebuilder and possessor of courage - flung himself from the mountain and into the water below. .