[Single? No More!] – The Inevitable Question

Sometime later,

"Bye, Charles! Take care!" Val said as he left Charles' office and headed downstairs.

He walked through the hallway while smiling and greeting the students. While walking out of the main door, his mind wandered to the events that happened earlier, 'Storm seems to be doing good as a teacher, as Charles said. I should probably check how the lessons in her class are. Though, she could really improve her social skills.'

He smiled and shook his head, 'Hah! Now, that's a lesson she needs to take quickly and efficiently. And she seems okay. I found no trace of the Death Seed's influence on her, which is a good sign.

However, it was weird that she was quickly free from its influence. Psylocke and Archangel, too. In the comics, if one wanted to be free from the Death Seed's influence, one had to use the Life Seed, and even then, the results were irreversible.

Because Death Seed changes the personality of a person just like the Life Seed, but when inserted into a person who has been given the Death Seed, it forms a new persona after completely erasing the person's earlier persona.

However, none of that was necessary here. Charles said that the Death Seed remnants emerged from Archangel and Psylocke's bodies in the form of a mist similar to what happened with Storm a few days after I killed Apocalypse.

I thought I had to use the Life Seed, but that's pretty convenient, and I was fortunate that the remaining traces of Death Seed just got out of them without putting up much of a fight.'

He stepped into the garden outside, took a deep breath of the fresh air, and thought, 'So, right now, there aren't any pressing matters to take care of or handle, so let's have a little bit of a break.'

He put his hands in his pockets and walked ahead while whistling happily.

As he was strolling in the garden while greeting some of the excited students, he spotted Jean sitting on a bench and thought, 'Oh, right! I had promised Charles that I would teach her how to control her powers. Now, looks like she doesn't have classes, and since I'm here, I might as well fulfill the promise that I made him and have an excellent talk with her while at it.

I've interacted with her a few times, like a few words here and there, but I never really had a decent conversation with her. So, might as well have that.'

Val excused himself from the eager students and walked toward Jean.

Meanwhile,

Jean was engrossed in the comic she was reading, but still, her telepathic abilities enabled her to keep track of the people around her. That was also why, before anybody could even call her, she was always aware of their presence, but lately, she didn't seem as sharp as before due to her powers occasionally going berserk.

Right now, she felt an absurdly strong and familiar mind approaching her and thought, 'Huh? Professor Xavier?'

'No, definitely not him. This one is extremely powerful. Almost like a steel wall.' Jean looked up from the comic, where she sensed the person's mind who approached her, and her eyes widened when she saw...

'Starlance!'

Instantly, an overwhelming, blissful, and joyous sensation ran through her. Her eyes shimmered, and the corner of her lips slowly curved until she broke into a genuine yet adorable and uncontrollable smile.

She put her hands on her chest as her heartbeat became slightly louder and frantic with every passing second.

Seeing Val approach her while waving his hands at her with a smile, a comfortable and safe feeling surged in her heart as she felt her tensed body slowly relax.

The heat that accumulated in her cheeks began heating up her face, but she could feel the chill breezy wind washing the heat, turning her body's hot temperature back to normal.

Every time Jean laid her eyes on Val, the warm and loving sensation in her heart only got stronger. In a weird but comforting way, she felt like a little kid around her crush.

Her attention on the comic was long forgotten. She glanced at her hair and realized that even the color of her hair had started shimmering a brighter shade of red.

For some unknown reason, seeing Val's golden glowing eyes look at her made her feel a warm and loving sensation within her.

But...

Even though she had a broad smile, her thoughts were, 'These feelings aren't mine!'

She looked at Val's approaching figure happily and thought, 'Yes, I know these feelings aren't mine. I don't know why I think that, but I just believe that these emotions I'm experiencing don't belong to me... because every time I hear about Starlance, I have a nostalgic feeling in my heart, and my eyes tear up sometimes. I also have dreams of a fiery woman with a golden-white man, but I cannot remember either her or him, and that makes me sad... but when I hear about Starlance, my happiness skyrockets.

This wasn't happening to me before, but right after the Apocalypse fiasco, this emotion... this happiness, it... it started overflowing in my heart and has never shown any signs of stopping, and I have a feeling that...'

Jean's thought momentarily trailed off, looking at the sunny and beautiful sky, '...it'll continue to overflow like this and may end up drowning me someday.'

She sighed heavily, turned her gaze toward him, and thought, 'In that case, I must tell someone about these dreams as soon as possible and why I can feel happiness welling up in me and erupting occasionally for no particular reasons.

And who's better than the person responsible for these emotions, right? If I inform Professor X or Professor McCoy about this, they won't be much help, but if I tell Starlance about it, he could be helpful, considering that he's responsible for these strange emotions.'

She got up from the bench and waited patiently for him with a smile. As soon as he arrived, she opened her mouth to greet him when...

* TAP * TAP *

"Hmm?" Val felt somebody tap on his shoulder, and he turned around to look who it was. But, as soon as he turned around, he discovered that it was none other than Storm.

He noticed that she was wearing a dark blue dress that outlined the curves of her body very well with silver earrings, and the first thought that popped up in his head was...

'Damn! She's beautiful!'

Storm smiled at Val and said, "I've wanted to thank you for what you did to me. If it wasn't for you, I would still be in Apocalypse's control and would have indeed been killed or killed someone by now. "

Val listened to her with a smile and thought, 'Ohh! She's thanking me for beating the Death Seed out of her. But that's okay. She's cool. She doesn't need to thank me for it.'

Storm looked at the ground timidly, then suddenly raised her head and took a huge breath of courage before saying, "But, this isn't all I wanted to say."

'Hmm? What does she want to say?' Val thought.

Storm tucked a strand of her white hair behind her ear, smiled sweetly, and in the most alluring voice, said, "How about I thank you over dinner?"

The smile on Val's froze, and he stood still like a statue while a single question repeated in his head.

'WHAT THE FUCK?!?!'