“It’s hard to imagine it being something other than a school,” Ororo mused, gaze flickering around the hallway. The sounds of other students bustling about echoed around them, and it was hard to think that there would have been a time when there was less noise, even silence.
It was vastly different to where she had grown up, contrasting her old home in every way possible, and yet there was a sense of belonging here that she had never felt there. She had felt it as she watched the mansion take shape as the mutants worked together to repair it after the destruction that had been caused, something she was ashamed to have been part of.
Apocalypse had given her a false sense of purpose, made her feel as though she was part of something, only for her to see Raven, the very mutant Ororo had grown up idolizing, out there fighting against what he had been trying to achieve. In that moment she had known that there had to be another way, and seeing the school for the first time had only made her more certain that she had chosen right. War was not the way for mutants to belong in the world.
What the Professor had built here gave them a future, a place where they could grow up and embrace who they were, as opposed to fearing it. For the first time in as long as she could remember, Ororo felt truly at home, but she couldn’t help wondering whether Raven felt the same. It wasn’t hard to see the place was not quite as enchanting for her as it was for the students.
“Do you think you’ll stay?”
