Part 1

By Maigen Green

It was an unusually cold July 4th, but then again the wheather had been very odd since the Chemical Wars of 2019. The rain, which was slightly less acidic than usual, poured down and hid any trace of sunlight. Anniston LeBeau did not care. She had seen her share of hardships and pain and had quickly learned that the rain did well to hide unwanted tears.

Looking down on the two tombstones worn both by time and wheather, she was once again thankful that the rain was there to hide her tears. She slowly knelt down toward the decaying cement, the words were barely legible. Though she didn't need to see them. She knew the words by heart.

7/4/08

Here lies Remy and Rogue LeBeau,

young lovers who's time ended all to soon,

May their spirit live on in their children.

Under that was a simple X. It was under all of the names in this enourmous cemetary.

Anniston picked up an old log off the ground and sat down beside her parents grave. She remebered few things of her parents. The thing that stood out most was the day of their death. Anniston proped her head up on her hands and began to think back on that day.

She could hardly sleep a wink that night. Momma had told her not to expect anything special today, but Poppa had told her that their was going to be a grand celebration for her 6th birthday. Poppa was always doing things like that, he never could keep a secret. With the first sign of sunlight she was wide awake. She knew how Momma and Poppa hated to be woke up so early, so she tossed and turned in bed trying to go back to sleep. It was useless. She looked at the clock, she knew how to read time, but Uncle Scott had gotten her a digital one so that she could see what time it was easier. The big bright red numbers read 5:47. She knew her Momma and Poppa wouldn't be up so early, but she just couldn't lay in bed any more. Maybe Uncle Wolvie was up. She really liked Uncle Wolvie.

She quickly got dressed and slowly crept downstairs. She looked everywhere she thought he would be, but she never found him. Finally she heard her tummy growl and went off to the kitchen to find something to eat.

A few minutes later she was seated in front of the t.v., watching Scooby Doo re-runs and eating Coa-Coa Crispie cereal.

"Hey Darlin'," a ruff scratchy voice said from behind her.

There was no need to look, she knew that voice better than her own.

"Hey Unca' Wolvie," she smiled, showing that one of her front teeth were missing.

"What you doin up so early?" his voice had a hint of teasing in it.

"I couldn't sleep. To excited." she she mumbled as she shuved a big spoon full of choclate goo in her mouth.

"Excited? Bout what? Oh your excited because today's the 4th of July, fireworks and icecream, huh?" he asked with a smirky grin.

"What you mean you forgot? It's my birthday. I'll be six years old." She said with disapointment in her voice.

"Oh course not Darlin', how could I forget my favorite niece's sixth bithday? You growin up on me." he said as he scooped her up into his arms. "C'mon let's go see what kinda trouble we can get into."

Giggles could be heard all over the house as the two walked out the door.

She waited patiently on the bed as her Momma picked out her cloths, made her take a bath, and then brushed her hair and teeth. Her Momma was helping her get dressed, while Poppa was geyting her brothers, Cody and Jean-Luc, ready.

She hated baths, and she wouldn't have had to take one either if Uncle Bobby hadn't of made her and Uncle Wolvie slip into a mudhole. Of course her and Uncle Wolvie couldn't let him get away with this. They had a mud fight for a good part of the morning. Her momma had made pictures of her, Uncle Wolvie, and Uncle Bobby standing there with mud all over them.

She was all dressed and ready to go. Her parents had told her that they were just going to have a small 4th of July celebration, but she knew better. As they neared the kitchen she could hear hushed talking and smell hotdogs cooking outside. Her Poppa opened up the door leading to the dinning room and to her amazement it was filled with bright baloons and streamers. Everyone was there. They ate and opened presents inside, then when that was all over they went outside to watch fireworks. It was the best night of her life. It was soon 10 o'clock and time for bed. She tried to get her Momma to let her stay up later, but when she yawned three times in a row it blew her cover. Her Momma and Poppa lead all three of them upstairs, Cody and Jean-Luc were telling her that she had something on her neck that was big and green. They kept on untill she turned around and punched them both in the nose. She was afraid that her Momma and Poppa would get mad at her, but all they did was laugh and tell them that's what they deserved. Momma and Poppa kissed them all goodnight and within minutes she was asleep.

The rest was very hazy. Sometime during the night her Momma had grabed her and began running down the hall, she could hear screams and explosions all around her. They finally meet up with Poppa he had Cody and Jean-Luch in his arms. They yelled something at each other, something that either she couldn't hear or had forgotten.

Minutes later they were in a metal room. Her Momma and Poppa had told them to be good and stay here, that they'd only be gone a little while and then they'd come and get them. They had told Jean-Luc that because he was the oldest he should watch over Cody and Anniston. They left, with the door sealing and locking behind them.

The three scared children had huddled together. They listened for hours untill they heard a giant explosion and the room began to shake. The layed there for hours more trying to fight off sleep untill one by one they drifted off to sleep.

Anniston didn't know how long they'd been down there. One day they heard voices and the door opened. There stood a tall woman who she later found out to be Dr. Moira McTaggart and Wolverine. Wolvie quickly went and picked up Cody and Jean-Luc, while the woman picked up Anniston.

They stayed in an infermery on Muir Island for quite sometime. They would cry for their parents, but they never came. One day Aunt Ororo and Uncle Wolvie came and told them that their mother and father had been killed fightening against an evil villian. Sean-Luc quickly asked who the attacker had been. They hadn't been able to identify them. Or at least that is what they were told.