Leaving

[moonshadows]

The Frankfurt airport, at 1 in the afternoon, is not a place I'd ever thought I'd be. I'm very tense; my tail is curled tight around my leg and I can see everything that's going on despite the hood that hides my face. The clopping of my wooden sandals thunders in my ears above the din in the airport. If anything startled me, I'd be clinging to the rafters before I even gasped.

"Easy, Kurt."

"That's easy for you to say," I mutter, looking at the man on my left. He's in a wheelchair, which gets us a clear path in the crowd. "You look like them."

"You didn't seem to mind your appearance while you were in the circus," he points out gently.

"That was different. They knew me there. We were -all- different in the circus."

"And I'm taking you to a place where everyone is different, and not just because they're in the circus." He smiles reassuringly up at me, and maneuvers his way to the VIP counter.

"How can I help you, sir?" The lady smiles at us. Mr. Xavier smiles back.

"We have reservations," he says, and hands her our tickets and passports.

She checks our tickets, then opens his passport and checks the photo and stamps it in black ink. Then she looks at mine. My special, unforgeable passport, with my real name on it. The mild shimmering on the cover tells her I'm a mutant, and she pauses.

"Brother Wagner?" She looks up at me, taking in the monk's robe that covers me head to toe, and everywhere in between. "Would you raise your hood, please, so I can verify your identification?"

My hands start to shake. "Yes. But please, don't scream..." I can't hide my hands; my blue fingers show as they raise my hood. There's a tense moment as she takes in my face, then opens my passport. The holo springs up, me at the age of twelve, tail clutched between my hands. I realize I've never seen the inside of my passport before.

"You're Nightcrawler, the Blue Devil, from the Munich Circus! I love your act." She smiles warmly at me, and I relax a little. "Have a good trip in America, Brother Wagner." She stamps my passport in multicolored, sparkly ink and turns to Xavier. "I'll phone the desk and have them prepare for you. Here are your boarding passes, and have a good flight!"

*************

I don't think I like planes. It was exciting for the first half hour or so, seeing the houses and farms so tiny below us. But then we got over the ocean, and I realized that I couldn't make out any features of anything except clouds. Suddenly, with my pre-jump awareness, I realized that the plane was utterly alone up here, and that if anything happened, there wouldn't be anyplace to jump to. The thought terrifies me. I know it sounds silly to you, but it's the first time there hasn't really been anyplace for me to jump to. It would be like the first time Jean floats you off the ground...only it lasted for eight hours. The Professor had to 'sedate' me for most of the flight.