Sooraya and Rachel talk (backdated)

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While Rachel is on Muir, Sooraya travels there to talk to her.

"Hello Rachel."

Sooraya paused, a few feet away from the redheaded woman, her skirt and scarf flapping in the wind as she stood near the cliff Rachel was perched upon. "I hope I'm not disturbing you."

“Would you go away if I said you were?” Came the bland reply. The redhead neither opened her eyes nor moved from her meditation pose, but she did send out a weak telepathic sweep to identify the person standing behind her.

"It depends if you want me too. Though I did come out here, hoping to talk to you as well." Sooraya waited, not approaching the young telekinetic until she had given the word.

Rising fluidly to her feet, Rachel turned to face her. The redhead tilted her head at the older woman, expression calmer than it had been at the mansion and around New York.

“Hello, Sooraya. How are you?”

"Hello Rachel."

"Still trying to fit many puzzle pieces in place to be honest. But otherwise I am doing quite well." Sooraya hesitated before continuing: "Nathan told me an... interesting story on the phone. Is... is it really true?"

“That depends on the story he told you,” Rachel shrugged, moving down the cliff to stand near her. “But my father doesn’t really have a penchant for lying. So.”

"I think we know which story I am referring to. I think there is only one of those." Sooraya shook her head for a moment, still finding it hard to believe what Nathan had told her. Even with the things she'd seen and read about during her time in the mansion. "Are you doing okay? Well, as okay as is possible under these circumstances?"

“Well, I’m not here to fling myself off the cliff, so I’d say so,” she half-joked, arms crossed over her chest as she covertly studied the other mutant. “I’m dealing, don’t worry.”

"That is good to hear." Sooraya hesitated before sinking to the ground gracefully, crossing her legs. "May I ask you something?"

“Sure, ask another if you want.”

Sooraya stared at the choppy waves as they hit the cliffs, still not quite sure how to say what she wanted to say. "Do you... do you... have any idea what you want to do next?" She finally asked, hopefully that would lead her to a way for what she truly wanted to ask.

“Uhm, no? Not really.” Not at all, really. Rachel raised her brows at Sooraya, then gracelessly flopped to the sandy ground beside her like sitting on the ground there was the most natural thing to do. “Why?”

Another deep breath and she just decided to grasp the bull by the horns. "I know in your 'world' you didn't know me or that you don't remember much of the time before... that 'world'... But..." She paused again, searching for words. " Nathan and Angelo... they are my family and from what I have heard they are part of yours as well... "

She closed her eyes for a moment and took another deep breath. "I would like to get to know you, Rachel. As who you are now...Not the memory..." Her voice trailed off and she just looked at the teenager across from her.

A small, but genuine smile was Rachel’s immediate response as she brushed the sand off her palms. “There’s really nothing that I would like more than that,” she said. “And nothing more I can offer, actually.”

After all, Rachel herself was still trying to figure out who she was. And while everyone was coming to terms with her not-death, she was attempting to come to terms with her own existence. But one thing was certain: If she really had been the crazy six-year-old kid people were remembering, then that bouncy baby no longer existed. Not in this reality at least.

"It's all I would wish for." Sooraya returned Rachel's smile and a lot of the tension that had been there left her body. "I am curious... you don't seem very surprised to see me here?"

“You’re close to Dad. I’m more surprised it took you this long to hunt me down,” Rachel replied honestly. “And I might have overheard him on the phone with you. Maybe.”

Sooraya grinned at those words. "I am glad to see to that is something that has not changed. You still seem quite good at overhearing things... I hope you do not mind me telling you this, but when I told your father about why I had returned from Attilan shortly after my return, you were muttering rather ominously about 'bad men'."

“In which case I’m pretty sure your return had to do with bad men, one way or another,” she said. “Either way, in my world, you actually went back to the Middle East to help with the defense efforts there very early on in the war… And, just so you know, my telepathic abilities have pretty much dwindled to close to nothing so no worries on me picking up on stray thoughts anymore.”

"I was kidding, Rachel." Sooraya gently admonished her, the smile still on her face. "I have never been worried about your telepathic abilities overhearing things, nor have you ever given me cause to even worry seriously. Only when we wished to preserve your innocence when you were little, but that..." She indicated Rachel's greater height with her hand. "...is not relevant anymore."

“Well…” Rachel blinked, cocking her head to the side. “I’m not kidding. Not really.” Even if she had meant it as a semi unfunny joke. “I actually did pick up on stray thoughts when I was younger. My… teacher even made me wear suppressors at one point. So it’s totally a legit concern. I learned to control it eventually, but,” she shrugged again. “… is not relevant anymore.” 

Sooraya nodded at that. "If I may ask, what can you still do?"

“Basic stuff. No more cross-country mental conversations for me.” Actually, her spatial awareness had diminished quite a bit because of it. “I still have my TK.”

"Can you still share memories with people?" Sooraya asked, going slightly more specific.

Rachel sat up straight, startled. “No,” she said. Not unless it was another psion – her mind was still structured well enough that she could still single out and offer up specific memories. It just lacked the power to push it through to someone else’s. “And even if I could, I wouldn’t…”

"Rachel..." Sooraya reached out, covering the teen's hand with her own. "Rachel, that was not what I was talking about." When she was sure she had Rachel's attention, she continued, squeezing her hand. "I want to get to know you. If there are things you want to share with me about... your past life, I would be honored, yes. But I was talking about showing you my own memories."

She reached out with her other hand, taking Rachel's between her own. "I don't know how much you remember about... before... But if you are ever curious, or if you ever want to know about that time of your life, I would want to share my memories with you. They are good ones."

Whoa, whoa, okay. “Chill the fuck out, babe. I’m sorry for jumping to that conclusion, but. You know.” It was kinda hard for her to not make those kinds of logic leaps. The redhead arched her brows at the older woman and shrugged dismissively, reclaiming her hand and patting Sooraya’s knee before sticking both hands into the pocket of her hoodie. “Anyways. Thank you for the offer. But I do kinda remember stuff from back then. Vaguely. And in all honesty, the old bastard did kind of give me a pretty decent childhood as far as the pre-teens went. He even removed the Genosha bits, and I’ve heard those were pretty horrible. So. S’cool.”

"Sorry, I might have overreacted a little." Sooraya closed her eyes for a second, taking a deep breath, before opening and continuing: "If you do get curious one day and wish to know, the offer still stands."

“Thanks,” Rachel said, trying to sound as reassuring as she could. “But I’m fine now. Promise.”

Sooraya nodded with a smile. "I should leave the past where it is for now." She quickly pulled her sleeve back and eyed her wrist. "It's a bit past lunch already and I have not had anything yet. Would you like to join me for a bite to eat?"

“Sounds like a plan.” Rachel rose fluidly to her feet and offered a hand to Sooraya. “I’m not sure if anyone cooked, but you know there’s always grub around somewhere.”