| Epilogue, by stormfreak I Am Not Fine Harare Academy � D Building The bell rang, ending the third period and cutting though Ororo�s thoughts. It had been two weeks since she had asked for a divorce. And if she thought her life had been hell, she wasn�t prepared for the uphill battle ahead. Only with Remy gone could Ororo see how much work she had been spared in her home, even when Remy was gone from time to time. Remy had moved out rather unceremoniously. He had taken the motorcycle, but had left Ororo the car. When she asked him how did he feel about the house, he had replied. "I built it for you and our family. So keep it." It was then that she wanted to throw her arms around him and beg him not to leave, but pride froze her tongue. "Thank you," has all she said. Remy shrugged. "I�ll be back fo� t�rest of my t�ings when I find a permanent place t�stay. Is dat okay?" Ororo nodded, mute. He bent to kiss her cheek, but she had jumped a mile. Their eyes met, Remy spoke. "Stormy � I mean, Ororo�are you okay?" Ororo forced a weak smile. "I am fine, Remy.". Too scared, too lazy, or too deep in disbelief, Ororo had yet to tell her children that she and their father were divorcing. She had simply told them that their father was on a longer business trip, and they accepted that. Later on that night, in her king-sized bed alone, Ororo thought for the first time that her children had a and habit of swallowing things blindly. Why didn�t one of them kick up a fuss? Because you raised them this way, a voice in her head nagged. You wanted obedient, passive robots. Now you have them. "Ro?" Mary Van Dusen, a friend of Ororo�s and the kindergarten teacher that had replaced Rogue, entered the classroom. "Didn�t you hear the bell? It�s lunchtime, honey." "What? Oh, yes." Ororo stood up, wavering slightly. She had spent the previous night in her bedroom nursing a bottle of tequila and crying on Mary�s shoulder. It had taken nearly an hour to convince a screaming Ajita and a terrified James that this teacher would not be at their window at night, and her mind had been shot to hell ever since. "God, Ro, you look terrible." Mary walked over to Ororo and hooked her arm under Ororo�s shoulder. "I told you to call in sick today." "I am�quite fine, thank you." Ororo murmured, her mouth too dry to pronounce the words correctly. It was a lie, same as nearly every word that had been coming out of her mouth lately. It seemed to be the same lie, too. I am fine. I am fine. I am fine. "Ororo?" Bibi walked into the door. "This just came for you, special delivery. It�s from a lawyer." She chucked as she handed Ororo a large manila envelope. "Now, what in the world do you and Remy need with a lawyer? You�re way too young to make a will." Mary�s brown eyes suddenly grew wide. "Ororo, you don�t think-" "I do not think anything anymore, Mary," Ororo replied dully. She ripped open the letter. Though she knew what the contents would be, she had to see it for herself. She had to know � and face � that it was really over. All it took was reading the first two lines. Remy E. LeBeau vs. Ororo N. Munroe-LeBeau Terms of Divorce She felt her whole world shattering. Or was that her heart? "Ororo-" Mary was reading over her shoulder. "Oh, Ro�I�m so sorry. I didn�t think it would really come to this�not really � Ororo!" "Oh, child," Bibi whispered. She knelt next to Ororo, who had slipped to the floor in a trance. Bibi glanced at the fallen letter quickly, then moaned in her throat. She placed Ororo�s head in her lap. "Child, speak to me, please." "It all comes back to you, does it not, Bibi?" Ororo whispered through tears. "I took Remy away, and now the Bright Lady has taken him away. She is punishing me for my faults-" "Ororo, no!" Mary gasped, but Ororo continued. "I took a man away from another woman, and she is dead because of me. The Bright Lady took away my child, and all of the children I would have had n the future. Now she has taken my husband because of my foolish pride." "Ororo." Bibi crooned in Ororo�s ear. "Yes, you have put your hubris before you. I love you too much to negate that. But it is not too late to talk this out with Remy. He still loves you, I know. All the two of you need to do is talk things out. Everything will be fine, you will see." Fine. How loaded that word was. "Bibi?" "Yes, child?" Her throat became choked. The lie she was about to tell was stuck in her throat. Why was she still lying? "Ororo?" Who was she trying to impress? She was lying in a room, hung over with her head in her surrogate mother�s lap. "Ororo?" Mary�s voice floated from above. "Say something, please." Ororo took a breath and screamed: "I�am�not�fine!" End |