Aron y on the rooftop, hands behind his head, staring up at the stars. The night was still, save for the occasional rustling of leaves in the wind. Peaceful. Almost too peaceful.

  Tomorrow, everything will ge.

  Genosha awaited.

  He exhaled slowly, trying to focus on the quiet instead of the battle ahead. Blood will be shed tomorrow. But no matter how much he tried to let himself enjoy this moment, the weight of what was ing pressed down on him.

  Then, a door creaked open.

  He turned his head slightly, spotting Jubilee stepping onto the rooftop. A bag of chips was tucked under her arm, and she was wearing an oversized hoodie. It robably Logan's, judging by how big it looked on her.

  She looked at him, then at the sky, then back again. "Couldn't sleep either?"

  Aron smirked. "Nope. Figured I'd spend the night with the stars before we head off to war."

  Jubilee plopped down beside him, popping a chip into her mouth. "Pfft. 'War.' Sounds so dramatic when you say it like that."

  He chuckled. "It is dramatic. Mutants are ehere, Jubes. Tomorrow, we ge that."

  She chewed thoughtfully, then asked, "Are you scared?"

  Aron turned his head toward her, one brow raised. "Scared? Me?" He grinned. "What could possibly defeat me and Jean? Besides, I trained you guys myself. If anything, it's the Genoshans who should be worried."

  Jubilee gave him a look. "Cocky much?"

  He smirked. "fident."

  She rolled her eyes but smiled. "Yeah, yeah. But still… what if things don't go acc to pn?"

  Aron reached over and took a chip from her bag. "Then you just he isnd."

  Jubilee snorted. "You make it sound so simple."

  "It is simple," he said between ches. "We've got the Phoenix Force, the best fighters, and a dog that outruro. We've got this."

  She smiled but didn't respond, her gaze drifting up to the stars again. Aron watched her for a moment... the way the wind pyed with her hair, the way her lips parted slightly in thought. She looked beautiful uhe night sky.

  She was worried. Even if she didn't say it ht, he could feel it.

  Without thinking, he reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Hey."

  She bliurning to him in surprise.

  "We've got this," he said, softer this time.

  Jubilee held his gaze. For a sed, she looked like she wao say something. Instead, she just smiled. "Yeah. We do."

  Aron smirked. "Now, ."

  Before she could ask what he meant, he teleported them away in a fsh of purple light.

  The moment, they were standing outside, far from the school, beh a sky untouched by city lights. A cool breeze swept through the trees, rustling the leaves. The air smelled fresh, crisp.

  Jubilee blinked. "Okay, where the hell did you just take us?"

  Aron smirked. "Just a little spot I found. Thought we could take a walk. You know, before the whole war thing."

  She narrowed her eyes pyfully. "Are y to be romantic, Aron?"

  He grinned. "Depends. Is it w?"

  Jubilee huffed but didn't pull her hand away. "Maybe."

  They started walking, their hands still lihe night air ing around them like a quiet lulby. After a while, Jubilee leaned her head against his shoulder.

  She exhaled. "You know, I used to love nights like these when I was a kid. Back before everything ged."

  Aron g her. "Before Xavier's?"

  She nodded. "Before Xavier's. Before aliens, before I even knew I was a mutant. Back when my biggest worry was sneaking into the movies without a ticket." She smiled faintly.

  "I used to think life was simple. Then I got my powers, lost my parents, and found out the world wasn't so simple anymore. I had o go. The best pce I could find was a shopping mall... I lived there for years. Those guards tried to catch me all the time. Then one day Storm, Logan, and Hank saved me from a mutant attack. I kinda... snuto their car and came here."

  She ughed, shaking her head. "Hid in the school for two whole years. you believe that? Then Mago attacked, and I had to do something. Well, the rest... Ah! Look at me babbling. You read minds, so you already know everything."

  Aron gave her hand a small squeeze, trag soft circles against her skin with his thumb. "Yeah, I know," he said. "But I like hearing it from you."

  Jubilee huffed a small ugh. "You're such a dork."

  "A, you're still holding my hand," Aron teased.

  She rolled her eyes but didn't let go. Instead, she looked up at the stars again. "Sometimes, I wonder what my life would've been like if none of this mutant stuff ever happened. If my parents were still around. If I was just a normal girl living a normal life. No powers, no wars, no crazy world-ending threats every other week."

  Aron tilted his head. "And? Do you think you'd be happier?"

  Jubilee was quiet for a long moment. Then she smiled, small but genuine. "Nah," she admitted. "I mean, don't get me wrong. It would've been o have a normal life. But I wouldn't have met you guys. I wouldn't have met you."

  Aro warmth spread through his chest at her words, but he pyed it off with a smirk. "Oh, so I'm one of the highlights of your chaotic mutant life, huh?"

  Jubilee nudged him with her shoulder. "Don't get cocky."

  He chuckled but didn't press the topic. They walked in silence for a few more mihe night air cool and crisp around them. The distant sounds of crickets and rustling leaves filled the quiet, and for a moment, it felt like they were the only two people in the world.

  ...

  The walk led them to an abandoned park, its once-proud pyground now rustih the weight of time. A fotten swi creaked faintly in the distance, moved only by the wind. Beyond it, the nd sloped downward into a small, secluded beach. The sand, cool beh their feet, stretched toward the darkened water, where soft waves pped against the shore.

  Jubilee plopped dowh a gnarled old tree he edge of the sand, the braretg above them like skeletal fingers against the night sky. Aron joined her, leaning back against the trunk, one knee bent, arms resting zily across it.

  For a while, her of them spoke. The only sounds were the rhythmic crash of the waves and the occasional chirp of crickets.

  Then Jubilee sighed. "You know… I kinda like it here."

  Aron turned his head slightly. "Yeah?"

  She nodded, hugging her knees. "It's quiet. Feels like the rest of the world does."

  Aron smirked. "And here I thought you thrived on chaos."

  She snorted. "I do. But sometimes it's o pretend I don't."

  A fortable siletled between them again, the kind where words weren't really necessary. Jubilee absentmindedly traced patterns in the sand with her fingers, her expression unreadable. Aron watched her, the way the moonlight caught in her dark eyes, refleg the restless thoughts she wasn't voig.

  "You ever think about running away?" she asked suddenly.

  Aron raised an eyebrow. "From what?"

  She gestured vaguely. "All of it. School, the war, the whole mutant struggle. Just… disappearing. Finding some quiet little er of the world where no one knows your name."

  He wanted a peaceful life, but trouble came knog at his door. After everything that happened so far, he ged his goal because in the Marvel Universe, there isn't any pead he was a mutant with Phoenix Ford even Lady Death is after him. So, he stopped running. He accepted the reality and just moved forward while enjoying little peaceful moments like the present.

  Aron was quiet for a moment before answering. "No."

  Jubilee blinked, surprised. "No?"

  He shook his head. "You don't fix anything by running. You just dey it."

  Jubilee sighed, tilting her head back against the tree. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Doesn't stop me from w, though."

  Aron studied her for a moment. Then, with a smirk, he nudged her shoulder. "Where would you go?"

  She hummed, pretending to think. "Somewhere warm. Maybe a little isnd where I spend my days sipping fruity drinks out of ut shells... Like our isnd base, but with a little closer to civilization."

  Aron chuckled. "And then what? You'd get bored in a week."

  "Hey, I could keep myself eained."

  "Jubilee, you get restless if you sit still for more than five minutes. You'd start a revolution on your ut isnd just for something to do."

  She ughed, shoving him lightly. "Okay, fair point. But still, you 't tell me you've never wanted a normal life. No mutant drama, no wars, just… peace."

  Aron exhaled slowly, tilting his head back against the tree trunk, eyes drifting over the waves. "Peace, huh?"

  Jubilee nodded, still staring at the water. "Yeah. Just for a little while. Just to know what it feels like."

  He thought about that. Really thought about it. If he had been given the ce, would he have chosen a quiet life? A normal life? One where he wasn't always looking over his shoulder, waiting for the battle to begin?

  He g her, the moonlight painting silver highlights in her dark hair.

  "You know what I think?" he murmured.

  She turo him, raising an eyebrow. "What?"

  "I think… peace isn't about where you are. It's about who you're with."

  Jubilee blinked, her lips parting slightly. "That's… incredibly cheesy."

  He smirked. "A, you're blushing."

  She huffed, but the ers of her mouth curled up. She didn't let go. Instead, she turned her body slightly toward him, her fiightening just a little around his. "You really believe that?"

  "Yeah." He gave a small shrug. "I mean, look at us. War's ing, we've got the weight of the world on our shoulders, a… right nht here, it's quiet. Feels kinda peaceful, don't you think?"

  She sidered that for a moment, the out a soft chuckle. "You're a smooth talker, Aron. I bet you said the same things to Jean and Kitty."

  "Who knows?"

  Jubilee narrowed her eyes pyfully. "Oh, I know you did."

  Aron smirked. "Jealous?"

  Jubilee scoffed, but the warmth in her cheeks betrayed her. "Jealous? Pfft. Please." She crossed her arms, but her fingers still tingled where his hand had been. "I just like keeping track of how mas you break."

  Aron chuckled, tilting his head. "Oh yeah? And how's my record looking?"

  Jubilee swallowed, f herself to look at him. Big mistake. The moonlight caught the sharp angles of his face just right, highlighting his smirk, the zy fiden his eyes. She hated how good he looked without even trying.

  She hated how much she liked it.

  'Damn it. Why did he have to be so effortlessly cool?'

  Her mirayed her, fshing back to that day in training. The day his clothes had burned away after using that 100% explosion power, leaving nothing but a very, very naked Aron standing there, pletely unfazed. Meanwhile, she had practically short-circuited on the spot, turning so red she might as well have exploded.

  And now here they were, alohe tensioweehiough to cut with a knife.

  She shifted slightly, rubbing her arms. 'Okay, focus. Not the time to think about his body. Not the time to think about his abs. Definitely not the time to think about—'

  "You're blushing again," Aron teased.

  Jubilee scowled. "Shut up."

  Aron grinned but didn't press her. Instead, he leaned back, watg the waves. The sileretched between them, fortable yet charged. The cool night air did nothing to cool the heat rising in her chest.

  'I could kiss him right now.'

  The thought came unbidden, and she nearly choked on it.

  'Would he kiss me back?'

  Her fingers curled into the sand. The weight of everything... the war ahead, the uainty of tomorrow... pressed down on her, and suddenly, she wao stop thinking. She wao lose herself, just for a moment.

  And Aron… he was right here. Warm. Solid. Familiar.

  "Hey," she murmured before she could stop herself.

  Aron turo her, his expression softening. "Yeah?"

  She hesitated. Then, before she could overthink it, she reached for him, fingers curling around the colr of his shirt, pulling him closer. His breath hitched slightly, his smirk finally faltering.

  "Jubes...!"

  She silenced him by closing the distance, her lips pressing against his.

  For a split sed, he didn't move. Then, almost hesitantly, his hands found her waist, pulling her in. The kiss deepened, slow at first, then hungry.

  Jubilee melted into him, her heart hammering. His body was warm against hers, his st and something distinctly him—filling her senses. His fingers skimmed her back, igniting something hot ari her veins.

  She wanted more.

  She wao lose herself pletely.

  Her hands moved on their own, sliding over his shoulders, pressing closer until there was no space left between them. He responded in kind, one hand tangling in her hair, the ripping her waist like he never wao let go.

  A small moan slipped from her lips, and Aron groaned, pulling her flush against him.

  'Damn, this is getting dangerous.'

  She broke away first, gasping for air. Her forehead rested against his, their breaths mingling, both of them flushed and breathless.

  Aron chuckled, voice rough. "So… was that part of the training too?"

  Jubilee smacked his chest, but she was smiling. "Shut up, dork."

  He grinned, his thumb trag slow, zy circles against her hip.

  **[POWERSTONES & Reviews]***

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  [14 advance chapters] [No double billing] [Genosha arpleted on pat reon]---

  ch: 117 [A promise to Jubilee]

  Ch: 118 [Atta Genosha]

  Ch: 119 [Walking disaster]