Rebecca gathered her suitcase and backpack and did her best to locate the place she was supposed to be picked up by someone from the school. She had not even seen the city itself, but the hustle and bustle of the airport was already a major change from Scotland. Everything was so loud, and the pace of everything seemed quick. It was all intimidating and certainly lived up to conversations about New York girls used to have back home.

Not home… this is home now. The thought left Rebecca with a sense of loneliness. It was not just her first time living away from Scotland, it was her first trip of any kind away from her parents. She was given a cell phone and a card with international minutes by her parents so she could call whenever she needed to.

She finally found the pick-up area with people holding signs for their arrivals. A quick scan revealed that she had beaten her ride to the destination. She propped up her suitcase and sat down on it, pulling her phone from her sweater pocket. After some playing around with the features of her first cell phone, she called her parents.

She listened to the tone until her mother picked up, and Rebecca instantly smiled.

“Hello mother, mah plane landed… Yeah, it’s verra different… Naw, ah’m nae ower nervous… Thank ye… Ah will… Tell faither ah said hi… Ah love ye, too… Bye…”

She hung up the phone, brushing a tear from her cheek. It was unbecoming to introduce herself to New York by crying in the airport.

A few minutes passed of Rebecca curiously gazing around the airport, marveling at how different it was from the one she took off from. When she finally set her sight down at the crowd of signs again, she saw "GREY" written on a sign being held up by a short blonde. Eagerly, and nervous out of her mind, Rebecca pulled her suitcase in her direction. Timidly, she spoke, "Um, miss, Ah think yoo're herr fer me. Ah'm Rebecca Grey. It's guid ta meet ye."

The Mansion was getting another exchange student. That was really the best name Kealey could think of for the students who came from so far away to find a new home in New York. This one was young and Kealey couldn’t help but feel for the girl. This girl, Rebecca, was slightly better off than most who came to the Mansion, she had supportive parents who were trying to do the right thing. They’d found their daughter a place where she could fit in.

Still. Leaving everything you knew after finding out you were a mutant was tough. Really tough. The Mansion had needed someone to meet the girl, because she was young and New to New York, and Kealey had volunteered. The cab ride reminded the blond of the year before, when she and Shin had gone to Japan, the memory brought a smile to her face as she stood in the crowd of drivers with a sign that said “GREY”.

People felt...the way that people always felt when they were in an airport. Everything. There were happy people, sad people, frantic people, heartbroken people, and the occasional furious person too. It was another reminder of how much the year had changed her. Kealey wasn’t frantic, or angry, or heartbroken, just aware of the others around her. It was a relief, and she hoped her calm would help the girl she was about to meet.

A redhead approached, and Kealey smiled as soon as it was obvious that this was her charge. The girl spoke, a bit haltingly, and Kealey nodded. Rebecca was taller than her and absolutely lovely, they’d have to keep an eye on the Mansion’s boys. The girl was a mixture of emotions that one would expect from someone who'd just left their home for the same reasons as Rebecca and Kealey's heart instantly went out to the girl.

”That I am.” the blond said, lowering the sign, her own Irish lilt blending with Rebecca’s Scottish.

”It’s good to meet you as well, and I hope you had a good flight. I’m Kealey.” she added, holding out a hand.

”Can I take your bag? The cab is waiting outside”

The sound of Kealey's voice was the last thing Rebecca really expected upon arriving in America. She wondered if the school sent this woman on purpose. (Many people seemed to confuse Irish and Scottish.) Rebecca did not mind; it excited her. "Ah'm Irish, too!" She heard the sound of her own voice, leading to her elaboration. "Well, part-Irish. An' part-Scottish. An' part-Welsh. An' part-Brit." Each piece of her heritage was added hastily as an afterthought, as though she were trying to avoid offending part of her background. "Sorry, Ah'm ramblin. Ah'm jist nervous."

She looked at her luggage and considered the offer. It was not a very heavy load; the girl had few possessions besides her clothes. "That's alright ma'am, Ah can tak' them. Thank ye, thoucht!" She got a handle on the suitcase, ready to go. "Lead th' way," she requested with a polite smile.

It was amazing what something in common will do for the mood of a conversation.

Kealey spoke, the girl realized that they had a little bit of home in common, and the redhead’s excitement was gratifying. Rebecca apologized and Kealey waved a dismissive hand, she’d known the girl was nervous the second she’d gotten within range. Which was about an area the size of the Mansion these days.

”It’s not a problem.” the blond said, ”I was nervous when I arrived in New York too, and that was only a few years ago. You’re a brave kid to come here so young.”

Rebecca seemed intent on carrying her own bags, so Kealey simply nodded and turned to lead the way to their cab, which was still idling in the pick-up zone. The crowds were thick, and there wouldn’t be much chance for conversation until they were safely seated. ”Can I at least help you put them in the trunk?” Kealey said as the driver hit a button and the thing popped open.

Rebecca had assumed that she was moving to the school rather late in age for a student. In the states, she was roughly a high school senior, and she assumed Xavier's only ran up through high school. "Ah'm nae 'at yoong. Ah'm eighteen, an' ye cannae be marr than twenty-two." Despite her comment, something about Kealey's words, or Kealey herself calmed her down, leaving her more confident.

Her first realization Rebecca came to with her first step into New York was the scent; there was a blend of scents, some intriguing, but some awful. It was not terrible, but it was quite a change from the clean scent of Scotland. The temperature also caught her by surprise. The weather in Scotland was cool but mild, so she was glad she had the foresight to wear a sweater. Still, pants would have been a better idea than her skirt.

The street seemed even busier than the airport! Cars were everywhere, and most of them were taxis like the one Kealey was leading her to. There were people everywhere on the sidewalk, too, each dashing to their ride or running off to some appointment. Everything moved faster here.

The trunk popped open and Rebecca nodded, "Aye, at would be lovely, thank ye." With Kealey's help, she got her possessions into the trunk.

With the slam of the trunk, she asked, "Sae we going tae th' mansion noo, right?" Her "right" was obscured by the sound of her stomach moaning. The freckles on Rebecca's cheeks faded into the pink enveloping them. "Oh sorra. Ah guess Ah'm a wee hungry." She rested a hand on her whiny stomach.

That sweet, wonderful girl. Kealey grinned, ”A little older than that...but thank you. And, I didn’t mean that you were incredibly young. Just young to be leaving home. Especially for another country.”

The din of traffic outside made it hard to hear, but Rebecca agreed to let Kealey help her, and soon enough they’d loaded her bags into the trunk of the taxi. A gurgle sounded, and Kealey felt a new set of emotions that tended to indicate both hunger and embarrassment, and Kealey laughed.

”Come on. The Mansion has an amazing kitchen. We’ll get you something to eat before we get you your room and everything.”

She nodded at the idea. Her parents had given her money to get food at the airport, but she was worried about keeping Kealey waiting. She followed Kealey into the taxi as it departed.

Experiencing what was not just the airport, but New York proper, Rebecca was left breathless, looking out the window. It was so surreal, with lights and buildings everywhere, extending into the sky. "Everything's sae big here!"

She turned her attention to the blonde woman in the back with her. "Sae, are ye a teacher at the school?" It was not just a school, it was a mansion, so it was possible Kealey might be a teacher or possibly another type of employee there. More importantly.... "Also, are ye... a mutant, tae?" She spoke the last part very softly, to make sure the driver could not hear her.

Rebecca was impressed by the size of the buildings, and Kealey nodded her head.

”I was surprised too. You see pictures, movies, and things like that, but you never really understand just how big this place is until you’re standing in the middle of it.”

When the younger woman asked if she was a teacher, Kealey shook her head. ”I’m just a librarian, and I lived at the Mansion for a while.” she said. ”I also do a few other things.” Including being a member of the X-Men. That wasn’t something they usually hit new residents with right off the bat though. It tended to be a little much.

”And yes. I’m a mutant too.” Kealey responded, trying to decide if it would make the girl uncomfortable if she explained.

”Have you ever heard of empathy?”

Kealey certainly knew what she was talking about. Words failed to give the proper scope to a city like this.

>> ”I’m just a librarian, and I lived at the Mansion for a while. I also do a few other things.”

Despite the vague secondary comment, Rebecca's eyes lit up at Kealey's job title. "There's a library? Is it big? Hoo is th' poetry section?" She may not be a teacher, but Rebecca anticipated Kealey being someone she would be seeing often at school.

>> ”Have you ever heard of empathy?”

The word was familiar to Rebecca. She used to struggle with the differences between sympathy and empathy. "That's when someain understands th' feelings ay someain else, right?" Empathy was an important trait, and Rebecca was curious as to how it related to her mutation. Maybe heightened empathy?

”Pretty big.” Kealey answered the younger girl. ”Not as big as reference or fiction, but we don’t discriminate. If there are things missing, we can also work on adding the must-haves.” That was how it worked. The library couldn’t acquire something until someone pointed out that they needed it. Kealey would appreciate the help.

As to her powers...the girl was right on with the vocabulary.

”Exactly.” Kealey said with a smile. ”And that’s what I do.”

”I feel emotions. All of them, all the time.”

>> ”I feel emotions. All of them, all the time.”

This was amazing! Her first encounter with someone in New York and it was a woman who could feel people's emotions. What a clever little talent! "That's sae cool! Sae ye can feel whit aam feelin' right now? Whit am Ah feelin'?" She asked, but it probably did not take an empath to read a blatantly honest girl like Rebecca.

All the mutant excitement did not completely divert her mind from the library, however. "As fer the library, Ah'm sure Ah'll fin' any poets 'at might be missin." With a new laptop, she would probably end up cross-referencing the entire library with the internet to help make her contribution.

The taxi must have passed by a pizza place, because the scent of sauce and pepperoni passed through the open window. Rebecca unknowingly let out a soft, satisfied, "Mmm..."