It was Sunday afternoon.
Katheryne Pryde and Rahne Sinclair had just returned home from church.
Pete Wisdom was smoking a cigar which he threw on the ground and stomped
out when he saw Kitty. "Where have ya been, Pryde?"
"Well, good afternoon to
you, too," smirked Kitty.
"I said where have ya been,
Pryde?" insisted Pete.
"Church. Why? What's your
problem?" inquired Kitty.
"My problem is I saw ya
and the Russkie goin' off together this morning," snapped Pete.
"So what's that of your
concern for?" growled Kitty, her brown eyes glaring angrily at Pete.
"'Cause ya might be cheating
on me," answered Pete.
"PETE WISDOM, I WOULD NOT
CHEAT ON YOU! I MIGHT DUMP YOU, BUT I WOULD NEVER CHEAT ON YOU!" yelled
Kitty.
"Yeah, right," smirked Pete.
"How do I know that for a fact?!?"
"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT
MY WORD ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU?!?"
"But-"
"DON'T YOU DARE BUT ME,
PETE WISDOM! I MAY BE YOUR GIRLFRIEND, BUT I SURE AIN'T YOUR SLAVE! YOU
CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO NOR WHAT NOT TO DO! AND YOU CAN'T STOP ME FROM
DOING WHAT I WANT TO DO!" With those words, Kitty turned, marched away
from Pete and into the house, and slammed the door behind her.
"Kitty, I-"
Rahne exclaimed, "PETE WISDOM,
YE SHOULD BE ASHAMED O' YOURSELF! YE ARE A JERK TAE BE TREATIN' HER LIKE
SHE'S YOUR SLAVE!" Rahne glared at Pete one last time and then went into
the house after her friend.
Before Pete could say or
do anything else, Piotr Rasputin came up to Pete and grabbed him by his
shirt collar. Looking in Pete's eyes, Piotr announced, "This is your warning,
your one and only warning: Treat Katya right or I will personally rip your
head off your shoulders and use it for a soccerball. Understand, little
man?"
"Yes," Pete managed to meekly
reply.
"Good." Piotr dropped Pete
and let him fall on the ground face first before going into the house.
Pete pushed himself up on
his elbows. He spit out dirt in disgust. He stood up and dusted himself
off. Thunder roared, and it started to rain. It was going to be a loooooong
day!
~*~*~*~
Pete attempted to talk to Kitty several times that day but to no avail. She would always ignore him or walk off on him. Once, he had been almost positive that he had her to where she had no choice but to listen to him. He had her pinned to the wall and had just started talking to her. Kitty's brown eyes had bore into him, as if looking right through him, as she phased into the wall, leaving him in mid-sentence!
~*~*~*~
It was night, and Kitty was in church again. The choir was in the middle of "Amazing Grace" when the church doors swung open and Pete walked in. Kitty was surprised to see Pete but didn't stop singing. She glanced over to Rahne, who was standing at her right, and raised one eyebrow. Rahne returned the glance and shrugged. Pete looked around the church before spotting Piotr. Pete walked briskly over to the big Russian and sat down next to him.
~*~*~*~
After church, Kitty asked
Pete, "What made you decide to come?"
"I figured that since it
was so important to ya it had to be worth checking out," answered Pete.
"Why? Aren't ya glad I came?"
"Of course I'm glad you
came, Pete!" exclaimed Kitty. "But, more importantly, are you?"
"Am I glad I came?" repeated
Pete. "Yes, I am. Thank you, Pryde."
"For what?"
"For making me come."
"I didn't tie your hands
and drag you here! I didn't even know you were coming until I saw you standing
in the doorway to the church!"
"But I wouldn't have come
if it hadn't been for you!"
"Really?"
"Yes, really."
"Well, then, you're welcome.
Did you learn anything from tonight's sermon?"
"Yes."
"What?"
"I learned that my life
was missing something."
"What was it you were missing?"
"The Lord."
"Have you invited Him?"
"Have I invited Him where?"
"Have you invited Him to
come into your heart and forgive you your sins?"
"Yes."
"Do you feel better now?"
"Yeah."
"Would you like to come
with me to church Wednesday night if we're not off on a mission?"
"I'd love to."
"Great!"
"I'm sorry, Kitty."
"For what, Pete?"
"For trying to tell you
what to do and where to go earlier. It was wrong of me. I shouldn't have.
You're your own person not my slave. I'm sorry. Please forgive me."
"I forgive you, Pete."
Silence. Pete looked at
Kitty. Kitty smiled at Pete. Pete hugged Kitty. "I love you, Pryde!"
"I love you, too, Wisdom!"
Kitty kissed Pete.
~*~*~*~
Pete Wisdom bolted upright
in the bed, his hands shaking, a thick layer of glistening sweat covering
his body, and his legs caught in an entanglement of sheets. His heart pounded
in his chest as his eyes darted wildly around his bedroom. {It was just
a dream,} he told himself. {Just a dream. That's all, Wisdom. Get over
it.}
His eyes fell upon the sleeping
form of his beautiful Pryde as he continued to talk to himself, trying
desperately to calm his rampaging fear. {She's not trying to change you.
She loves you just the way you are. She doesn't want you to change, whether
it's becoming a Christian or donning a purple lama hat. About the only
things she would change about you are your cigs and your alcohol. That's
it.}
{She doesn't want you going
to the bloody church. She understands where you stand on that, and it doesn't
matter to her. She's not even a Christain; she's a Jew. Who knows what
the Russkie is? Rahne's a Christian, but who cares?}
Shaking his head, Pete leaned
over far enough that his hands could reach his feet and quietly unwrapped
his lower half from the covers. He stifled a sigh as he looked at Kitty,
who still remained sleeping peacefully. No amount of words in the world
would come him after a dream like the one he'd just had. As he slipped
silently from the bed, he knew he'd be up for the rest of the night.
The End