(Continued from oblivion. Oo-ee-ooo~)

It was just supposed to be a quick trip-- a little time to clear her head (because, hey, there'd never been an overabundance of crap cluttered in there, anyway) and figure some stuff out. Hank-stuff, mostly, though she wasn't quite sure she wanted to admit that to... anyone, even herself. Definitely not him. Not yet. Ororo figured that was why the Prof gave her the go-ahead. A few nights mental vacation with nothing to do but sort herself out and everything would be peachy keen again.

Except... except that once she'd lost herself, it was easy to just... stay lost. So much easier than actually dealing with her problems, which would've been the point of her little trip in the first place but she was pointedly ignoring that little fact. And it was far, far too easy to fall back into the shadows. She'd lived there for far longer than she'd ever lived as an X-Man. In a mansion. As a celebrity. A life she didn't belong in. A life 'Ro knew, in her heart of hearts, she hadn't done anything to deserve. (It was eerie how much she suddenly understood about Logan.)

So, she ran. Or, to be more precise, she flew. Wasn't the most glamorous way to travel but it got the job done. And when she was tired of that, 'Ro liberated a Kawasaki (who was promptly named Second-Best Thing to Run On Batteries Ever or STROBE for short) to ride for the remainder of her journey. The way it was collecting dust, she was doing it a favor. Honestly, how people could buy something so beautiful and just let it go to rot... it was shameful. And, judging by the company it was keeping (a Ferrari, Jaguar and Beemer to name a few), they could afford another.

Ororo didn't have anywhere to go, but she didn't honestly care. She rode west 'til she got tired of going west. She rode south 'til she got tired of going south. She rode where the spirit called her. Free. She remembered what it was like to be free. And out there, with not nothing but the wind in her hair, the sun on her back and a smile on her face, she could almost feel it again. In that moment, she was sure it was all she needed. All she'd ever needed.

A few days turned into a week. And, before she knew it, a few weeks were turning into a month. Her restless spirit was giving way to a more restless mind. For all her efforts to outrun her problems, she was losing ground. Every day, she spent more time wondering. Wondering about how Piotr was faring without her to push him out of his comfort zone. Wondering about who Jean was confiding in about Scott and if Kitty was holding her own against Ali. But, mostly, she wondered about Hank. Wondered if he was all right. If he missed her... like she missed him.

In the end, the decision wasn't even one. There was no question in Ororo's mind. It was time to go home. Back to her friends. Back to her family. Because this insecure thing-- this running away bull shit-- this was not her. She was not this person. It'd been fun for a while but all the heavy stuff, all the running... she was done with that. So, maybe things weren't perfect. So what? When were they ever? It was time to deal with her life already. Nobody was going to do it for her. Hmmph. They never did, the lazy bums.

Just like that, everything clicked into place. She headed for the skies without pause or hesitation. A hybrid smile/smirk graced her lips when she noticed the surprised patrons left behind. "Sorry!" she called down with a friendly wave and laugh, not waiting for reactions before propelling herself forward. Seemed a shame to leave STROBE behind but bringing a stolen motorcycle back with her would probably be in bad taste, sexy as he was.

And that was that. The end of a journey. One not filled with heavy (or even moderate) thinking. One not filled with any great adventures or any accomplishments whatsoever, really. One not filled with self-discovery or movement forward or… much of anything at all. No, this was a journey filled with little thinking, a good deal of shallowness and much movement to the side-- a journey in true 'Ro-style. And she wouldn't have had it any other way.

(Continued somewhere at Xavier's on the 5th at some point)