5120/Aftermath - TBD

Aftermath - TBD
Date of Scene:	10 February 2021
Location:	Medical Lab
Synopsis:	Noriko takes Jubes back to Xavier's school after a violent accident with Jubilation's powers. They have a brief moment to themselves.
Cast of Characters:	Noriko Ashida, Jubilation Lee

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Noriko Ashida has posed:
Then, Noriko didn't stop until she knew they'd be safe from pinging any cell towers trailing back to the school.  They ended up in some field long enough for Nori to get ahold of Jean and tell her only the pertinent details, of Jubilee and of Paige.  After some words, the phone call ended and Noriko said with deep care to Jubilation, "We're going home."

It felt like a long trip for the speedster.  Noriko kept the pacing as comfortable as possible for Jubilee, but it wouldn't have mattered how fast they were, it would have still stretched into forever.  When they get there, Noriko blazes through to the secret elevator so no one can see them enter.

And now, they are here, in the medical lab.  Noriko looks unharmed.

"Hey.  I'm with you.  I'm not leaving."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    The blood on her yellow peacoat is not her own. Jubilee sits on the edge of one of the beds with both trembling hands resting on her knees. Her breathing is besieged by sobbing and desperate sounding attempts to get a word out. "I...I didn't mean to!" she insists, struggling against the terror that comes bubbling over. "I...." She's panting. "...It was an accident!" She had been repeating some variation of this since the incident.

    She turns to face Noriko, her eyes spilling over with tears. "You believe me, right, Nori?" she asks desperately. She tries to focus on the other mutant but her eyes can't help but dart to the door, expecting the hammer to drop at any moment. Expecting Jean or worse to come through that door.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko isn't any prettier.  The blood has dried oddly against her face from traveling, streaking back, her hair marred and matted, though the other visible viscera was taken away by the forces of their escape to safety.  Somehow, she doesn't seem a total wreck, though there are probably reasons.

Standing in front of Jubilation, Noriko wishes she could easily reach Jubilation, pull her into her arms.  "I know you didn't, I know you didn't," Noriko tries to comfort Jubes, but instead tries to take her trembling hands.

When Jubes looks up at her, Noriko goes breathless at the question, yet still says instantly, "Jubes.  You saved my life.  There's no way you could have known that was going to happen or could have stopped it.  There's nothing else it could be."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation looks down at her hands now encased in gauntlet. With tears still sliding down her cheeks, her gaze lifts to watch Noriko. "I only meant... I only wanted to disorient him. So he couldn't see you!" She begins shuddering as horror begins to take over. "...I didn't mean to..." She searches frantically for a word she could say that was comfortable.

    "...hurt him." Or worse.

    "What are they going to do to me, Nori?" she wonders, her eyebrows rising with frightened curiosity. "What are they going to do?"

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"I know.  I know."  What Jubes was going for, it was what Noriko would have done in her place.  "It was an accident."  She dips moves to kiss Jubilee's forehead and then dips into a squat.

"They're going to help you," Nori says earnestly.  "This is your home.  No one is going to take you."  She can't possibly know, but she whole-heartedly believes it as if it were fact already.  "Okay?"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Suddenly, Jubilee pulls her hands out from the grip of Nori's gauntlets and shoves them into her pockets. "Nori..." she whines. "Don't touch me. I...I don't want to hurt you!" A faint squeal comes from inside the girl as the event replays in her head. The fear. The desperation. The loss of control. She wanted nothing more than to be able to do something more than just pretty lights. But not like this. Not like this.

    "I don't want to hurt you..." she repeats before falling into the shuddery rhythm of prolonged sobbing. "I don't want to hurt anyone!"

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko doesn't pin Jubilee's hands in her gauntlets.  She just reaches to wrap around Jubilee's calves.   "You won't hurt me.  I'll get behind you.  I will."  She loosens her grip to look up.  "But I need you to pull your hands out of your pockets though.  Please."  The events, this horror of Jubilee breaking in front of her.  She fights the tears that threaten to surface.  "Then I'll get behind you.  I promise."

The speedster moves to try and hug Jubilee, to rest her forehead to her someone's.  "I love you.  I will always love you.  It wasn't your fault."  Words compelled by a surge of something deep in her heart.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    The plan to get behind her just pulls more tears from Jubilee's eyes. She has a danger zone, now. Her head falls towards her lap. She pulls her hands out of her pockets without much delay -- in truth, her hands really aren't a factor. The plasmoids could come from anywhere but her hands were always a nice way to do it. It has panache. Still, she stares at her fingertips, remembering what she did with them.

    When Noriko pulls her in for a hug, Jubilee closes her eyes. "I love you, too..." she says with a shudder. Instead of letting their foreheads to continue to touch, she buries her face into Nori's shoulder and awaits her fate.