First time poster, not a first time writer. Hope all goes well.

Title: Three Times Wrong, Only Once Right
Author: Moebius
Fandom: X-Men (movieverse)
Pairing: Aw, I don't want to give it away. Do I have to? Jean/F, eventually.
Rating: PG
Summary: Sometimes the most obvious thing is the hardest to do.


The first time that Jean knew it wouldn't work was an early morning. The sun was creeping in through the drapes, bathing the room in a pale light. It was late summer, and the blankets had managed to become wrapped around Scott's body, leaving her with a top-sheet; all she ever needed.

He was sleeping soundly, his "night-glasses" on. They'd learned the lesson of letting him sleep without glasses when they'd first moved here, to the school, as frightened children with inexplicable abilities. He woke up in the middle of the night, eyes wide from a nightmare, and took off half of the wall before he shut his eyes. It was better for everyone if he wore the thin lenses that were firmly attached to his head.

Scott would always see the world in a ruby tint, and it made her heart break everytime she thought about it.

But for Jean, that was no longer enough.

Scott shifted in his sleep and wrapped an arm around her waist and murmured against the skin of her arm.

Jean would tell him tomorrow, after the mission.

---

The second time that Jean knew it wouldn't work, she was standing behind the professor as he spoke with Logan. The mission had been a success, and she knew that. Tonight, she would tell Scott.

Their mission had been a failure.

She practiced the words, as they spoke around her. As Scott and Logan squared off. It was already too late, she knew, there would be no way to convince Scott that her decision had nothing to do with Logan. Now Scott's mind was centered on Logan as a threat.

Tonight, she would tell him tonight.

---

The third time that Jean knew it wouldn't work, she was limping out of the jet towards an onrushing wall of water. She knew that Scott would never understand why she had done it. She knew that he would never understand her and, for them both, she should have said something months ago.

But she didn't, and the nightmares of what was happening to her shook the room at night.

She had the memory of three pairs of lips on hers, three who would ask her to stop, if they knew what she was about to do. One who shed tears, one who stared silently into the wall, and one who did what needed to be done. Jean knew this, even as the flame engulfed her and she became something... more.

---
Jean only need once to know it was right, even behind Scott's back. She needed only one kiss, and only one night of shared blankets. In the morning, pale light streaming in through the drapes, she knew that no matter what happened, she would have the memories of this night, and of this woman.

Everything was right in this bed, in this company, and Jean's heart beat fast with the thought of it. There was Scott to think of, and maybe Logan, but that could wait for a future that was uncertain. Lying awake, looking at the dust dance in the light, Jean knew what needed to be said.

Ororo shifted in her sleep and wrapped an arm across Jean's waist and murmured against the skin of her arm.

Jean would tell her tomorrow, after the mission

END