107 ISSUE #100

" Hello, ma boy. I've missed ye. Ye've grown so much. Yuir almost like a completely different person." Mrs. Sinclair told her boy.

'Mom?!' The revelation completely took Noriko off-guard. She had just heard about his mother, but she didn't expect to see her so soon. Or at all.

" Mum, wha' are ye doin here?" Ian asked the woman. For the first time in months his accent returned. Whether it was a conscious act or one of reflex no one knew.

Ian's mother looked at the boy, downcast. Her face reflected one of guilt and shame. And rightfully so.

" I came tae see ye. It's been so long and.... I haven't been the best mother.

" Or any kind." Ian stated.

" I know. But I wanted tae change tha. Yuir ma son. And I...." Mrs. Sinclair spoke. However, when she saw the look of anger on Ian's face, the tears growing in his eyes, she knew that maybe she was just making things worse. " Ian, I really messed up. And I'm so sorry. I just want the chance tae make things better between us. I'm in town, staying at an apartment in the upper part of Salem. And if ye can find it in ye heart to give me another chance, I'd like tae be able to try and be a part of yuir life again." Mrs. Sinclair told the boy. She reached her hand out and placed a small card in the boy's hand with the address and her number on it. She smiled and then walked away, leaving the boy and his date still and silent.

After a few moments, Ian looked down at the card and tucked it into his pocket.

" Come on, let's get home before Summers has a fit." Ian said to Noriko.

Noriko nodded and grabbed on tight as Ian began to levitate.

.....

The flight back to the institute was a quiet and awkward one, neither Ian nor Noriko knew exactly what to say at the moment.

What started out as a good day, ended completely down the drain, for Ian. He didn't know what to say, but the time he got back to the institute, Scott and Emma were already on the front lawn staring him down.

The duo were ready to grill Ian and Noriko.

" What were you two thinking, sneaking out without saying anything? You could have been killed!" Emma exclaimed.

But her words went on deaf ears as Ian ignored the woman and walked right past them both, hardly even gazing in their direction, almost like a zombie.

" Mr Sinclair. Mr.Sinclair!" Emma yelled. But the boy never turned around.

Emma turned around to Noriko, Confusion written all over her face.

" Noriko, what happened?" Scott asked the young girl.

Noriko looked at the man and exhaled a deep breath.

" We went out on a date, to the grindstone. Everything was fine at first, but as we were leaving some lady claiming to be his mom showed up out of nowhere and invited him to her apartment." Noriko explained. She didn't tell them much, but just enough to curve their curiosity.

Scott and Emma both rubbed their faces, clear frustration radiating through their bodies.

" Alright, get inside. We'll handle it." Scott told the girl.

" Don't take this the wrong way, Mr. Summers. But I don't think it's any of your business, what's going on with them." Noriko told the man, she then walked past Scott and Emma.

Emma looked to Scott quizzingly. Her eyebrow raised at the man.

" Well, what do you wanna do?" Emma asked the man.

" We'll let things play out for now. But keep an eye on things just in case. Until then, there's not much we can do." Scott told the woman.

.....

After going inside, Noriko found herself surrounded by the remaining girls inside the institute. All of whom, wanted to k own what the date was like.

" So, how was it?" Megan asked the woman.

" Why, are you all so interested?" Noriko asked the girls.

" All we deal with is danger and death. It's nice to be able to just be gals every once and awhile. And besides this is too juicy to let go unnoticed." Megan replied.

" It was fine. We went to the grindstone, had some coffee and some food, checked on Luna, and we talked. That's about it." Noriko explained.

" Come on, Nori, Details! We need details, girl. What did you talk about, how did he treat you, was he funny, did he eat like a hog? Things like that we gotta know!" This time it was Cessily's turn to question Noriko

" I mean... He was very considerate, and daring, I'd say he was more than being a gentleman. We ended up talking a lot about our past, what it was like for us growing up. Me with my parents and him being a.... Well, a cripple. It was actually very sad to hear how his schools treated him. And how his parents turned on him for being a mutant. But it wasn't all bad. I learned about some of his interests, for example, did you know he's actually or supposedly really good with technology? He said since he couldn't be active physically, he instead worked on his mind. And then, oh God, he started speaking nerd. I mean I couldn't understand half of what he said. But it was kinda cute, the way he gushed about technology and stuff. Kinda sad he never actually gets to do anything with that brain of his. But I'm getting off track, I think that was about it. Nothing else of note happened.... Except I met his mom." Noriko threw in that last bit of information absentmindedly and the girls went crazy.

" WHAAAAAAAT!!!!" All of the girls shouted in unison. Even the Stepford sisters who were usually calm and collected, like their mother Emma, were astonished by this revelation.

" What was she like?" Cessily asked.

" Yes, I would like to know as well." Sooraya spoke up.

" Well, it was.... Awkward to say the least. I mean he said that when he became a mutant his parents kinda, well just pretended he didn't exist anymore. Cast him out. Now, she shows up and suddenly wants to make things better. I don't know what to think about it." Noriko explained.

" Oh no, is he okay?" Megan asked the girl.

" No, no I don't think so." Nori replied.

" Well, did you check?" Cessily asked.

" Check? No, I figured it would be better to leave him alone. Give him time to think?" Noriko spoke, though the tone she used made it almost as if she was asking the girls a question rather than making a statement.

" That's fine and all, but maybe you should go speak to him. Give him a shoulder to lean on. I know how hard it is to have your parents not accept you for what you are. And then for them to suddenly be accepting out of nowhere... It's confusing." Cessily explained. She herself had experienced something similar, during the last summer break.

" Trust me, Noriko. Sometimes, the best thing you can do for those you care about is too just listen to them and give them your own wisdom when they need it." Sooraya told the girl.

Noriko pulled her legs up to her chest and began thinking about what the girls had said.

.....

Later.

Ian spent the rest of the day sitting alone in his room, staring at the card his mother gave him. A mixed bag of feelings washed raced through his being. A part of him was happy, happy to see his mom again after so long. A part of him was angry, mad that she would just appear out of the blue like nothing was wrong. A part of him was sad, no need to be explained. But more than that all of his being was confused. What should he do was a question that raced through his mind. Should he go? Should he throw the card away? Should he pretend the meeting never happened at all and just move on with his life?

He was trapped deep within his mind, until a knock came at his door.

In was brought back to reality, he placed the card down on his desk and got up from his bed. And then he got up and answered the door. It was Noriko standing there.

" Hey, Nori. What's up?" Ian asked the girl.

Noriko looked up at his face, quickly taking note of the tiredness in his eyes, and hugged the boy.

" I thought maybe you'd like to talk. Can I come in?" Noriko asked the boy.

Ian nodded and stepped to the side, inviting Noriko into his relatively clean room.

Noriko looked around the place, it was quaint, it still resembled how the original rooms looked with the exception of some posters of different bands and video games on the walls.

" Looks nice." Noriko spoke.

" Hm, Thanks." Ian replied.

Noriko sat down on the boy's bed and Ian plopped down next to her with a sigh.

" That bad huh?" Noriko asked the boy, to which Ian just nodded. " Well, okay I'm just gonna pull the band-aid off, Ian, I think you should go." Noriko told the boy.

Ian looked to her for confirmation and Noriko nodded.

" Yes, I said it. Look, I'm not good at these things. I'm... Blunt. I try to get straight to the point. And sometimes it does get me in trouble. But! I do think maybe you should give this a chance. At least hear her out. And who knows, maybe she's serious." Noriko told the boy.

Ian took a deep breath and exhaled.

" You really think, I should go?" Ian asked the girl.

" I really do. This might be your only chance to reconnect with your mom and that's something you shouldn't hesitate to do." Noriko told the boy. She placed her hand on his cheek, the cold feeling from the girl's metal gauntlets sent shivers up Ian's spine. She looked into the boy's eyes and smiled, and he smiled back.

" Okay. I'll go. But I'm still not sure if it's a good idea. I mean, it's been so long, I don't even know what to say." Ian told the girl.

" Just say what you want. Tell her the truth. That's the best thing you can do. Be honest" Noriko replied.

Ian put his face in his hands. He knew she was right.

With one loud exhale Ian leaned back up and looked at Noriko with a smile.

" Thanks Nori. I really needed that." He spoke.

Noriko smiled and gave the boy a tight hug, to show her support.

Ian hugged Noriko back, and also gave her a soft kiss on the lips.

" Guess, I should go then. It's gonna get dark soon." Ian spoke.

" Of course, I'll give you some time." Noriko told the boy. With one last shared kiss, the girl left Ian alone to prepare himself both physically and mentally.

After what felt like an eternity Ian finally left his room. He was still uncertain about going. But with the urging from Noriko, Ian gathered his courage and prepared to leave.

However, when he got downstairs, he was greeted by Noriko and Scott, both of whom were dressed and ready to go as well.

" What are you two doing?" Ian asked the two.

" Well, Noriko came to earlier and said you might need a little bit of help. So, I agreed to come along, just to make sure nothing got out of hand." Scott explained.

" We just wanted to make sure you had somewhere there for you. I asked Mr. Summers to come just in case you needed some kind of help." Noriko explained.

After a few moments, Ian looked at the two and smiled again.

" Thanks." He spoke.

" Don't mention, now come on. We still have a curfew. But I think we can get away with bending the rules a little bit. We'll take the car." Scott told the two teens.

He had already pulled the X-jeep into the front of the school.

Ian and Noriko got in the vehicle with Scott and drove off from the school.

....

A little while later in the upper part of Salem, where the higher class lived.

Once the trio pulled up outside, Ian got out of the car with Noriko, while Scott remained inside to give the two privacy.

" You ready?" Noriko asked the boy.

" Not at all, but no point in turning back now, am I right?" Ian laughed nervously. His hands were sweating and shaking slightly.

" It'll be okay. You'll be okay. And even if things don't work out, guess what? Fuck it. I'll still be right here waiting for you to get back." Noriko stated.

Ian nodded and started his walk towards the building.

IT wasn't a long walk, but it felt like an eternity to Ian. Eventually however, Ian came to stop in front of his mother's room. And as he stood there, he felt the weight of everything hit him once again. His knees were weak, his hands sweaty, his stomach felt like it would come up any second, and his hear beat so fast it felt like it would explode.

However, as he stood there, the words Noriko spoke to him came flooding back. Calming the anxious feeling in his blood.

Ian took a deep breath and exhaled. He then knocked on the door and waited.

" Who is it?" The voice called out on the other side of the door. Ian recognized it clearly as his mothers.

" It's me, mum. Ian." The boy replied.

There was a quick sound of the locks being undone and the door swung open. Mrs. Sinclair exploded out of the room and hugged the boy.

" Och, Ian. Ye came, ye really came!" Mrs. Sinclair shouted happily. " Come. Come in, come in." The woman said. She ushered the boy inside, practically dragging him all the way to the couch, where she sat him down. " Can I get ye something tae drink?" She asked.

" No, I'm fine, mum." Ian told the woman. " Ye can let go of me now." Ian spoke.

" Och, I'm sorry. I'm jus so happy tae see ye. I was hoping ye'd come, but I did nae know if ye would after everything. I know showing up today out of the blue, might nae have been the best thing tae do. But I jus wanted tae see ye as soon as possible." Mrs. Sinclair explained.

" It's fine. We were getting ready to head home at that time anyway." Ian explained.

" That's right. Ye had a little girl with ye. Is that the girl ye wrote to us about? What was her name? Rahne?" Mrs. Sinclair asked .

" No, it wasn't...." Ian replied sadly. ".... Wait. You read my letters?" Ian asked the woman.

" I did. But then ye suddenly stopped." She stated.

" Yeah, because ye never responded. Not you, not dad. Ye just forgot about me. YOU abandoned me! I needed you and you just ditched me! And now ye show up, and act like everything's alright, and it's NOT!" Ian shouted. The poor boy was practically fighting back the tears. " I tried to be the best son I could, despite what was wrong with me."

Sarah Sinclair felt her chest ache, she grabbed Ian and hugged him when the boy started crying. Placing his head into her chest.

" I just wanted you to love me, Mum!"

" My dear, sweet, boy. I do love ye. And I'm so sorry. I allowed ma own fears tae get the better of me. Me and yuir dad. I know I can't make up for what we did. But I hope ye can give me the chance tae show that I do want tae be in yuir life. I love ye, Ian."

" I love, ye Mum!"