"You should take the day off," Nina pouted up at her father. "I've got the day off from school and you promised that next time I got a holiday, you'd take me camping!"
"We all must contribute," her father said, but behind his back, she could see her mother gesturing for her to continue with a smile on her face.
"Please, Abba?" She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him with wide eyes and her most prominent pout, the one she usually only broke out for special occasions. "Please? I want to show you how much better I've gotten at talking to the animals! Even the deer come eat from my hand now!"
The mention of her mutant powers worked, as she knew it would. With so many admonitions of how she had to keep her powers secret, Nina was well-aware that her father would rather have her practice privately with him supervising than just talking to animals and birds willy-nilly.
"Fine, fine, you little naughty mouse. Your mother and I will take you camping tonight," he said with a fond smile that made the corners of his eyes crinkle.
----------
In the forest, under the trees, they rolled out their sleeping sacks and lay down. The bats that fluttered overhead, swooping from tree to tree, came to Nina when she called them. So did the owls, so did the foxes. The myriad predators of the night grouped together and approached her, fearless in the presence of other predators; as long as her peace held, they would not fight each other.
"You've grown so strong, my little Nina," her father murmured, fondness cradling every syllable. He smiled at his wife above Nina's' head as Nina happily basked in the attention.
Talking to animals was a harmless power. It was not an innately dangerous one, it would not drive her half-mad like untutored empathy and telepathy could. She had been lucky in the genetic draw and the thought of her raising chickens or sheep on some little farm always made Erik smile. His daughter would be safe. His daughter would be happy.
"I'm going to be a veterinarian when I grow up," Nina announced proudly, coaxing a little fox cub into her lap. She petted it like she would a dog as the vixen stood by her feet and watched. "I'll talk to the animals and ask them what's wrong. Then I'll always give them the right treatment to make them better because I'll know just where it's hurting them!"
"It's a good idea," her father said, leaning over to kiss her forehead. "But remember, you can't ever let anyone know your secret."
"I know, I know. Not unless I fall in love with someone I trust completely, like Eema, right?" She beamed at him cheekily, wriggling a little in place. Her father's laughter rang out as he leaned a little more so he could kiss her mother.
"Yes. Only then can you tell them."
----------
The next day at school, Stefania came to school all in black. The rumor mill quickly informed Nina that it was because her father had died in a terrible accident.
Nina had never been close to Stefania so she didn't think much of it except to be glad it hadn't been her father.
That day, she waited for her father to come home by the door. When he arrived, she gave him an extra-tight hug.
"Teach me the song now, Abba?" She asked before he could question why he was being squeezed so. "Teach me everything you know."
"...Of course," he said after a puzzled second, swinging her up onto his hip. He wrapped an arm around her and she nuzzled his shoulder, his beard scraping against her forehead. She knew her mother was in the kitchen doorway, knew her parents must be having one of those silent conversations that married couples seemed to have almost telepathically.
It didn't matter. Her father was here with her, alive, and that was all that mattered. He’d promised he wouldn’t leave her and she would see to it that he kept that promise!
(She talked to animals. She knew how dangerous a mother protecting her young could be.
She wasn't a mother but if her family was threatened, Nina would fight with everything she had.)
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"The world needs you."
Nina stared at the blond woman on the doorstep. She'd only just opened the door when the woman had said that!
"...Do you have the wrong address?" She asked, the teenager ready to shut the door again if the woman gave any further signs of being crazy.
"No, Nina. The world needs you - and your father. Where's Erik?"
"There is no Erik here," Nina said, her heart beat increasing. She reached out with her powers, calling for the strays that loitered around the village to come quickly. Crows might not be enough if this woman knew who her father was! "My father is called Henrik."
"Your father is Magneto," the woman corrected, crossing her arms over her chest. "And he's a mutant like me - and you. Tell him Mystique is here."
"...He's at work." Mystique. She knew who Mystique was. Her father had told her the truth of what had happened that day. With wide eyes, Nina stared at the woman but didn't let her in. "Prove you're really Mystique."
The woman looked around, saw no humans, then very deliberately smiled at Nina. Her teeth grew longer, changing color from white to pink to red to white again.
"Satisfied?" She asked.
Nina didn't answer with words. She stepped back instead and opened the door wide to let Mystique in.
"Would you like some tea while you wait?" She asked. She was her mother's child as well as her father's and her mother would never be so rude as to not offer a guest a drink.
...Mystique had come here looking for her father. Was she ready to deal with Nina's mother too?
