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halfamoonTitle: Congratulatory Howls
Fandom: X-Men
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: Shadowcat
Rating: PG/K+
Summary: She never thought she'd get here.
Word Count: 1,277
Written For: Half A Moon Day 2: Politics
Warnings: AU, Future Fic
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
She never thought she would get here. She thought she would be dead long before this. She'd even given the dream up multiple times, even sometimes in happy times, like when she'd first taken the reigns of the school. She thought she would die as the headmistress there, yet she's left the entire school and the teams all in great hands. Emma and Ororo are actually doing great as co-headmistresses, both ruling with iron fists yet being gentle when the need arises.
But she still didn't think she would make it here, and not just on this podium, not just with this win. Heat flushes her cheeks. It feels like the entire world is applauding her, even though Kitty knows that is far from the actual truth. There will be more death threats. It's good thing she's got an elite security team assembled and approved by Congress, her team. They'll be headed by Wolvy, and she knows her father figure won't let a damn person touch her, especially not now. Everything is resting on her.
And she's made it. She's really made it! Kitty turns from the cameras, shielding her face, hiding the tears she's crying from the world. She can hear the voices of all her family and friends, at least all those who still live, cheering and congratulating her. It is a truly joyous day, a historical moment, but one she'd long ago given up hope would ever happen. Even when her elders, mutants who have always fought for what is better for their world since the Professor who started this entire dream found them and to whom she has always looked up since they first found her at the tender age of fourteen, had persuaded her to run, she still had not thought that this dream was possible.
Yet here she stands. And they're not in hiding. Not even the aliens are in hiding, she thinks, as Lockheed flies circles around her head, cooing loudly for all to hear. "THAT'S MY GIRL!" he roars suddenly. Kitty blinks through her tears and raises a questioning gaze, eyebrows lifted, to the dragon. He doesn't even realize that he's revealed himself to her, and for a moment, she wonders where Wisdom is, if he's watching her, if he's proud of her. She's touched so many lives, tried to save so many millions more. Are those who can watching her now? Do they see her, standing here as not just the first female President of the United States of America but as the first openly mutant President and the first openly bisexual President? They have made so many strides today.
Yet she knows she must still be careful. She must still be careful, because even more now than while she was campaigning, her every move, her every word, almost even her every thought is going to be judged. The whole world is watching. The whole world will judge. And they may yet condemn her peoples. It's not too late for condemnation; it's never too late, she's learned, for condemnation.
Congratulations, Pryde, she hears Emma's silky-soft, satin-smooth voice in her mind. She knows that means it's time to move. She wipes the tears from her eyes, hardens her gaze, lifts her head, squares her shoulders, turns around, and faces the world... not to fight but to rule, to rule and to guide into a new era. And it will be a new era, she vows. It will be a new era for them all, for every single living being who is different.
The Clintons were reknowned for having the best Environmental track record of any President in office. Kitty knows that Hillary ran the Presidency under her husband's name. She'd voted for her once, thinking she would be the first female President, but no, that title, after all these decades of hard work, grueling fights in and off the field, deaths and dying over and over again, has come to her. Hillary was one of few humans for whom she'd once had a great deal of respect, respect she'd later lost... She herself has gained tremendous respect from her peers. She will not lose that respect.
She will not lose that respect, but more than that, far, far more important than that, she will not lose these next several years' of battles. The fights in which she will soon be engaging will be her most important ones yet, and she will not let her peoples down, none of them! Not the mutants, not the LGBTQ communities, not the women's rights movements, not the animal lovers, not the Jew community... The weight of everything she has taken on is almost crushing, but she will not bow.
She will win, for them all, for all those standing before her, for all those watching her from afar, and, she thinks, lifting her misty, brown eyes to the skies, for all those who should be here watching, and whom she likes to think are watching over her. "We did it, Professor," she whispers, thinking back to his gentle words and gentle hands. Even more than Wolverine, he was the most important, most loving, and best guiding father she has ever known. She can almost feel his hand on her shoulder now. She bites back a sob as she imagines him, as a phantom, standing beside her with his hand on her shoulder. "We did it," she says again.
And then louder, she chants, her fists pumping the air, "WE DID IT!" They did do it, all together. They have reigned in a new, seemingly impossible era, and she won't let any of them regret their decision to vote her into one of the most influential offices in the world. She won't let her peoples down. She will keep fighting; she will always keep fighting for all who are different. "WE DID IT!" she says and hears Rahne and Logan howl.
Most people would have been upset by the congratulatory but beastial cries. Several of her own X-Men shoot them angry looks, but Logan doesn't care and Rahne is too overjoyed to notice. Hank grins and throws his head back, joining in the howl. Several other voices chorus, and Kitty's smile just grows. It's certainly unlike any other congratulatory speech any other President has ever received, but her entire Preisdency is unlike any other President's and her term will be as well.
They are like a pack, she thinks as the howling continues, for there is no more loyal pack of friends or family and no more pack more dedicated to their way of living, which is fighting for all those who are different and downtrodden by the rest of the homo sapien species. Don't you -- she hears Emma start to warn her, but at the same time, standing next to her husband, starts to howl. Kitty grins and throws back her own head in a howl she knows will be heard not only across the nation but across the globe. What better way, she thinks, to show the stuffy snobs that her Presidency is going to be unlike all those who came before and that she is going to uphold her promises and welcome all those who are different than by continuing to show her difference right here on the steps of the capitol?
Steps she never thought she would stand on, but steps on which is standing, and standing proudly, and will stand for a long time to come. Her term may only be four years, but it will be four years she will use to change not just the country but the world. She howls.
The End
Fandom: X-Men
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: Shadowcat
Rating: PG/K+
Summary: She never thought she'd get here.
Word Count: 1,277
Written For: Half A Moon Day 2: Politics
Warnings: AU, Future Fic
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
She never thought she would get here. She thought she would be dead long before this. She'd even given the dream up multiple times, even sometimes in happy times, like when she'd first taken the reigns of the school. She thought she would die as the headmistress there, yet she's left the entire school and the teams all in great hands. Emma and Ororo are actually doing great as co-headmistresses, both ruling with iron fists yet being gentle when the need arises.
But she still didn't think she would make it here, and not just on this podium, not just with this win. Heat flushes her cheeks. It feels like the entire world is applauding her, even though Kitty knows that is far from the actual truth. There will be more death threats. It's good thing she's got an elite security team assembled and approved by Congress, her team. They'll be headed by Wolvy, and she knows her father figure won't let a damn person touch her, especially not now. Everything is resting on her.
And she's made it. She's really made it! Kitty turns from the cameras, shielding her face, hiding the tears she's crying from the world. She can hear the voices of all her family and friends, at least all those who still live, cheering and congratulating her. It is a truly joyous day, a historical moment, but one she'd long ago given up hope would ever happen. Even when her elders, mutants who have always fought for what is better for their world since the Professor who started this entire dream found them and to whom she has always looked up since they first found her at the tender age of fourteen, had persuaded her to run, she still had not thought that this dream was possible.
Yet here she stands. And they're not in hiding. Not even the aliens are in hiding, she thinks, as Lockheed flies circles around her head, cooing loudly for all to hear. "THAT'S MY GIRL!" he roars suddenly. Kitty blinks through her tears and raises a questioning gaze, eyebrows lifted, to the dragon. He doesn't even realize that he's revealed himself to her, and for a moment, she wonders where Wisdom is, if he's watching her, if he's proud of her. She's touched so many lives, tried to save so many millions more. Are those who can watching her now? Do they see her, standing here as not just the first female President of the United States of America but as the first openly mutant President and the first openly bisexual President? They have made so many strides today.
Yet she knows she must still be careful. She must still be careful, because even more now than while she was campaigning, her every move, her every word, almost even her every thought is going to be judged. The whole world is watching. The whole world will judge. And they may yet condemn her peoples. It's not too late for condemnation; it's never too late, she's learned, for condemnation.
Congratulations, Pryde, she hears Emma's silky-soft, satin-smooth voice in her mind. She knows that means it's time to move. She wipes the tears from her eyes, hardens her gaze, lifts her head, squares her shoulders, turns around, and faces the world... not to fight but to rule, to rule and to guide into a new era. And it will be a new era, she vows. It will be a new era for them all, for every single living being who is different.
The Clintons were reknowned for having the best Environmental track record of any President in office. Kitty knows that Hillary ran the Presidency under her husband's name. She'd voted for her once, thinking she would be the first female President, but no, that title, after all these decades of hard work, grueling fights in and off the field, deaths and dying over and over again, has come to her. Hillary was one of few humans for whom she'd once had a great deal of respect, respect she'd later lost... She herself has gained tremendous respect from her peers. She will not lose that respect.
She will not lose that respect, but more than that, far, far more important than that, she will not lose these next several years' of battles. The fights in which she will soon be engaging will be her most important ones yet, and she will not let her peoples down, none of them! Not the mutants, not the LGBTQ communities, not the women's rights movements, not the animal lovers, not the Jew community... The weight of everything she has taken on is almost crushing, but she will not bow.
She will win, for them all, for all those standing before her, for all those watching her from afar, and, she thinks, lifting her misty, brown eyes to the skies, for all those who should be here watching, and whom she likes to think are watching over her. "We did it, Professor," she whispers, thinking back to his gentle words and gentle hands. Even more than Wolverine, he was the most important, most loving, and best guiding father she has ever known. She can almost feel his hand on her shoulder now. She bites back a sob as she imagines him, as a phantom, standing beside her with his hand on her shoulder. "We did it," she says again.
And then louder, she chants, her fists pumping the air, "WE DID IT!" They did do it, all together. They have reigned in a new, seemingly impossible era, and she won't let any of them regret their decision to vote her into one of the most influential offices in the world. She won't let her peoples down. She will keep fighting; she will always keep fighting for all who are different. "WE DID IT!" she says and hears Rahne and Logan howl.
Most people would have been upset by the congratulatory but beastial cries. Several of her own X-Men shoot them angry looks, but Logan doesn't care and Rahne is too overjoyed to notice. Hank grins and throws his head back, joining in the howl. Several other voices chorus, and Kitty's smile just grows. It's certainly unlike any other congratulatory speech any other President has ever received, but her entire Preisdency is unlike any other President's and her term will be as well.
They are like a pack, she thinks as the howling continues, for there is no more loyal pack of friends or family and no more pack more dedicated to their way of living, which is fighting for all those who are different and downtrodden by the rest of the homo sapien species. Don't you -- she hears Emma start to warn her, but at the same time, standing next to her husband, starts to howl. Kitty grins and throws back her own head in a howl she knows will be heard not only across the nation but across the globe. What better way, she thinks, to show the stuffy snobs that her Presidency is going to be unlike all those who came before and that she is going to uphold her promises and welcome all those who are different than by continuing to show her difference right here on the steps of the capitol?
Steps she never thought she would stand on, but steps on which is standing, and standing proudly, and will stand for a long time to come. Her term may only be four years, but it will be four years she will use to change not just the country but the world. She howls.
The End
