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Post by Cyclops on Sept 6, 2009 14:40:09 GMT -5
Decisions indeed were the reason he had called an impromptu meeting, Scott's own judgment having been called into question before a majority of the student body by one of Emma's Hellions, things were getting out of hand. Walking into Xavier's study, the personal office of the man who had begun this foray into educating mutant children, Cyclops felt a reverence wash over him. In this office he felt like he was safe and that his Mentor would be rolling in through the door any moment. It was not the original office that he stood in all those years ago, and oh those many times, but it held the same feelings for him. The things in the room, the pictures on the walls and the nicknacks on the shelves and all the personal belongings of the man whose dream he was trying to uphold, resonated with Charles Xavier's essence. It was as if he were still there in some way. Long he had been gone now, some believe dead and others clinging to the hope of his return. Scott's own position lay somewhere in the middle. At the moment he hoped if the man were alive that he would be long in coming home, the embarrassment he felt for what this school was becoming was increasingly great and the burden of leadership had never felt heavier. Picking up the old photograph that sat framed on Charles Xavier's desk, memories of simpler times flowed freely through his mind. "Look at us..." he said softly aloud to himself, and to his missing mentor. He wished so badly that he could go back but that was not a possibility and he set the frame down again turning it around so the rest of them would see it and remember those days as well. He didn't have much aside from common sense and morality on his side, nowadays those things hardly carried much weight, so he thought a touch of nostalgia might help if nothing else. As he turned around, leaning against the huge dark wood desk and folding his arms across his chest, the door to the study opened.
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Post by Iceman on Sept 6, 2009 15:26:47 GMT -5
The door of the office opened with Bobby popping his head in and looking around before he walked in. "Ha, all these years later and I still feel like I'm in trouble when I come in here," he said with a slight smile, looking around a room that although was not the original room in which Xavier first brought him in, it still was soaked in the same memories from all those years. He smiled slightly at Scott, his long time friend and the closest family he ever had. "I'm still getting the jitters I used to get when we all heard Professor X's voice in our heads to come see him in his office, and we all knew we were done for." Bobby laughed a little bit and leaned against the wall by the window.
His eyes fell on the picture and he had to smile. It was taken a month after Jean came to join them. He still remembered how him, Hank, and Warren would fight over who got to walk with her and sit with her, but she always chose Cyclops. Bobby missed her like crazy, she was like a big sister to him in the end, someone that knew just what to say to make him feel better. Things had changed so much since then, Professor X and Jean both were gone, Hank was blue and furry, and that little family that they once were expanded into this huge, feuding, and cantankerous family that never got a moment's peace. There were lots of times that Bobby missed that little family that he started out with when he was just a teenage kid. Even when they weren't together, Bobby kept in touch with all of them on his journeys. Warren still dropped by too once in awhile with Paige, but he was kept pretty busy running his father's corporate empire and working under the radar to help mutants all over the world. A lot had changed, and for the better in his opinion. A swelling of pride filled up in Bobby for a moment, thinking of the team in that picture and all they started and where they were now.
"Seems like only yesterday huh? Man I miss them," he said to Scott still looking at the picture, eyes going over the smiling kind face of Charles Xavier and Jean's pretty and sweet face. "Lotta things changed since then." His kind blue eyes went up to look at Scott. "It'll be cool man, don't worry." It was all Bobby could do was to reassure his long time friend. The guy always tried to take everything on and not let anyone see how it affected him, but Bobby knew better.
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Post by BEAST on Sept 6, 2009 16:47:41 GMT -5
"Ah yes, a great many things have changed," Hank said walking in just as Bobby finished that sentence, his eyes going right for that picture that he many times would pick up and study whenever he made Charles Xavier's office a visit. The look in his eyes turned wistful for a moment as he looked at himself before that disastrous accident with his experiment that gave him the blue fur and animal senses. Every chance he had, Hank worked on his research to reverse the experiment, periodically sending emails of his research and test results to Reed Richards and Tony Stark, but after years the closest he got to a cure was being able to keep his hands from turning into animal paws.
Hank let out a wistful sigh and sat in one of the plush chairs by the desk, making himself comfortable. "As Marcel Pagnol once said,'The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is, and the future less resolved than it will be.' Things may have been simple back then, but in many ways it was much harder as well," he noted wisely.
"We all wish that we knew then what we know now, but I can say with certainty that things have turned out much better than we could have ever hoped." It was Hank's own two cents to his two two dear and close friends. They had been through more trials and hardships together that most people don't experience in two lifetimes. All had changed since then, but Hank believed in his heart of hearts that it was all for the best, and the future was all the more brighter for all of them.
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Post by Karma on Sept 6, 2009 17:30:15 GMT -5
Slowly and quietly coming through the door, Shan smiled at the group. "Hey everyone!" she said in her soft and sweet voice. Bobby had stopped by the rec room to let her know about the meeting in a way that fit only him: making the shape of a visor around his eyes and pointing above him after making a 'X' with his fingers. It got a giggle out of Shan and set her right into motion to be sure her little ones were in good hands. She asked Stoney to keep an eye on them and make sure they cleaned up after themselves from breakfast. Also to not go very far, for after the meeting, Shan was going to take her little ones grocery shopping for the barbecue later.
Shan hopped up on the windowsill next to Bobby and sat demurely, using her hand to move a strand of her hair out of her face. "Thanks for waiting till I took my Alphas out of there Scott. I do hope you told it to her good though," she said with a slight stubborn look on her face. She was not fond of the Hellions, save for Stoney, and couldn't stand their lack of respect for authority. She was raised differently of course, but the way some of them carried on in front of her little Alphas disgusted her.
A soft sigh escaped her mouth, her eyes glancing at the picture turned on Professor Xavier's old desk. The look on her sweet face softened even more and shined as she looked at the smiling face of the man whom she called her hero for so long. "Oh wow, I miss Professor Xavier so much. It's been awhile since I've been in here, but it still feels the same." Shan studied the picture with her head cocked to the side slightly, looking at all the faces, a pang going through her heart every time she looked at Jean and Xavier. "Aw look at you Bobby, you were so cute back then. What happened?" she teased gently, perhaps make light of the heavy feeling in the air. She even reached out and pinched his cheek lightly, knowing it would annoy him and giggled softly, her legs swaying from her spot on the windowsill.
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Post by Shadowkat on Sept 6, 2009 18:05:42 GMT -5
Sounds from the hallway drifted into the room, the unmistakable voice of a very angry Kitty Pryde filled the room. "Don't tell me to calm down Pete, I don't have to be calm, this is bull!" she said with a scowl pushing the door of the office open and looking at the group, a fiery look in her eyes. Kitty Pryde was far from happy at the moment, down right pissed off was the only way to describe her. She couldn't believe that Emma was going to let something Rumble did slide once again. Ever since they got here, those cretins got away with murder and all Emma ever did was wave it off or say she would 'talk to them'. Kitty had enough of their crap and after what she heard this morning, she wouldn't back down for anything.
She leaned against one of the side tables and crossed her arms, practically glaring at the group, counting off in her head who was here. "Emma's not even here yet. Well there's a shock. Someone should tell her that being late is getting out of fashion," Kitty retorted with a roll of her eyes. The picture on the desk caught her eye and for a moment, her demeanor softened just the slightest. She missed Professor X and Jean so much, not a day going by where she didn't think of them.
Looking around the office again, an exact replica of the one that stood here over ten years ago when she first came there made something in her calm just slightly. She tore her eyes away from the picture and looked at the door. "Jean was always on time," Kitty pointed out, though slightly softer, though the scowl that had fallen momentarily was back on her face.
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Post by Rogue on Sept 6, 2009 18:32:32 GMT -5
"Ah personally don't blame ya Kitty," Rogue mumbled but loud enough for Shadowkat to hear. Rogue wasn't as peeved as Shadowkat was about the Hellions, but she did agree that Emma was way too soft on them. Rogue would have given them a suitable punishment where they learned about respect and etiquette. However since those were Emma's kids, her choosing their punishments was indeed only fair. But sometimes Rogue, and other members of the X-Men, wondered if it was going too far. Unfortunately it did go too far the previous night.
Being back in Xavier's office, brought back so many memories. Rogue missed Jean and the professor as well; their impact on the X-Men would remain within their hearts for many years to come. Sighing, she crossed her arms and stood her place by one of the chairs across from the desk. This meeting was going to be heated the second Emma walked into the room and Rogue knew that Emma knew this. It didn't take a telepath to understand that one of her students messed up big time on the rules. But then Rogue thought about Nightcrawler and Iceman and what they thought about Lorelai. Hearing how happy Bobby was when he finally had a student with the same power, made Rogue smile. She of course wished no one had to share the burden she possessed. However after being with her abilities for so long, she grew to accept it and embrace it. Only problem was it took many years for her to get to that point and she didn't want any children going through what she did.
Waiting for the Headmistress, Rogue wanted to comfort Kitty. But she knew that Kitty didn't want to be calmed down right now. She wanted to be left alone and be upset; a feeling Rogue knew and understood very well.
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Post by Nightcrawler on Sept 6, 2009 19:23:27 GMT -5
~ BaMF ~ Kurt arrived in his own fashion, the smell of brimstone filling the corner of the room as he dropped down from a slight height. "Zhe children have been sent on zhere tasks. I stayed a moment to make sure zhey cleaned up." Nightcrawler looked around the room at the faces of his colleagues there was little in the way of joy to be seen. "I vould ask how ve all are feeling, but as ve all seem to be vearing our hearts on our sleeves zhere is little need." He walked over to the couch to take a perch on the arm of it. A comfortable position for him and not in the least awkward. His friends were accustomed to his unusual quirks as he was to theirs. "I alvays liked zhat picture of you original X-Men. It is so very touching und a rare moment in time I zink, to see you all happy, und zhe Professor laughing. How fortunate for you who were here at zhe start," he looked at Henry, Bobby, and Scott "so very much has changed. Ja?" There was not much more he could say. Seeing Kitty seething as she was he knew to not push. He would have consoled her himself but Peter was right there and more than capable of doing that. Kurt felt as though he was in part responsible for the mess they were all in right now. He had known his team was running on the ragged edge and he now cursed himself for being so lax with them. They had plenty of marks against them and he knew he should have reigned them in before now, he would stand to and receive his reprimands and re-commit himself to his kids. Of all the teams they seemed to need the most supervision and busy work, as he knew young idle hands and clever little minds to be the Devil's playthings.
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Post by Colossus on Sept 6, 2009 20:00:47 GMT -5
Piotr sighed and placed a hand on Kitty's shoulder, using his thumb to rub her slim shoulder soothingly. "Kitty it will not do you well to come into this already angry," he soothed in a low voice, looking around at the others in the room. His Kitty was infamous for her hot headed personality, the one trait of Wolverine's that rubbed off on her in full force. Piotr knew that this meeting would be brutal, when Kitty got like this, there was little that could be done to calm her down.
He stood next to Kitty, exchanging a brief look with Kurt before looking over at the picture on the desk. Kitty had calmed slightly upon the sight of it. "I like the way the little family there grew though. It is an honor and a privilege to be apart of it," he said with a slight smile looking at the picture. Like the rest of them he missed the Professor and Jean very much, his heart aching at the knowledge that they were lost to them. Now as he looked around the office, he was filled with the ghosts of the past. The kind and firm figure of Professor Xavier sitting behind the desk, eyes filled with hope and love for his X-Men, the sweet and gentle face of Jean Grey welcoming him and helping him adjust to life in America; all those ghosts will forever haunt this room and his heart.
"I miss them very much," Piotr said quietly to himself more than anyone else as he looked at the picture. There was nothing he wouldn't give to get them all back, to just be in their lives again. All that Piotr could do was consider himself privileged to know them, and cherish their memories in his heart.
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Post by Emma Frost on Sept 6, 2009 20:31:26 GMT -5
Ten tedious minutes later....
The door opened inward with a swoosh. Standing in the doorway was Emma. She took a pause to square her shoulders and then began the catwalk prance into the room. Looking over her shoulder as she passed by Katherine Pryde, not breaking stride or blinking. Coming to a stop before Scott as he stood leaning on the edge of the desk with his arms folded.
"Again with the picture Scott?" she said not looking down at it but having caught the image out of the corner of her eye and knowing the familiar tactic of her love. "Can we do this one thing without the ghosts of the past presiding over us? I miss Charles too, in my own way I knew him better than any of you, and Jean? Please your ex-? Really! How utterly sophomoric. Can we all for once agree that this is the here and now? What happened in the past has led us to here, but in as much as your history was trailblazing OUR future must surge forward and blaze it's own trail."
She stepped up to the desk and lay the picture, calmly and with a pause for respectful reverence albeit put on for the most part, face down. With a crisp click of her nail on the back of the frame she spun on her heel and leaned back against the desk. Striking a similar pose to Scott's, but with her own sexually dominant flair. "Shall we begin then? I am all for an open discussion on what this meeting has been called for..." turning to Scott she said "...why did you call us here? I thought you got it all off your chest in front of God, the children and every last one of us." She shook her hair slightly, a spark of challenge flaring in her eyes.
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Post by Shadowkat on Sept 6, 2009 21:03:34 GMT -5
The fire in Kitty's eyes were raging and she was not looking to contain herself for anyone. "Oh you would just LOVE it if we forgot the past wouldn't you? Let's all forget how Professor Xavier and Jean made this team and this school what it is today, and oh let's also forget how the Former WHITE QUEEN tried to destroy it and take over it time and time again!" she seethed, facing Emma with no fear and ready to stick it to the pompous bitch. "Well you can wish it all you want Emma Frost, but your past bites us all in the ass everyday that we deal with your team." Her arms were unfolded and to her sides fists balled up, reminiscent to the manner that a certain gym teacher held himself when he was angered as well.
"You've been letting them run wild since you brought them here, sneering at that vow of changing them for the better and laughing at us as we tried to handle them all these years. And then Rumble, the worst of all of them, sleeps with a high school student, and you claim that nothing needs to be done? Are you kidding me?" Kitty accused, looking right at Emma Frost. "Oh let me guess, you want us to leave that in the past too right? How convenient for you," she spat out. "At least Jean had a enough of handle on the kids she taught that none of them would pull the crap that yours do. Good job Emma, you are just so admirable." The sarcasm dripped from her lips like rain from a drainpipe, the deliberate and poisonous tone bouncing off the wall of their old mentor's office.
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Post by Emma Frost on Sept 6, 2009 21:49:19 GMT -5
"Out of the mouths of babes... young lady are you done yet? Yes? Is she done? Good, then I shall retort." Emma spoke calmly and didn't look away from Scott for even a moment. "What your favorite megalomaniac taught was just that... children, and by your venom spitting mouthpiece's own words it was she you all liked far better than I. Yet she and I each in our own way was enemy to you all in another life, another form. As by Henry's own hands I was brought back to life, so too did your beloved arise from her 'little death' and show the darkness of her soul and desire for power to have been released through another."
"A splitting of hairs if you say she was any less to blame in her role of destruction, as it was her essence, if not her directly and in the flesh." At this she turned to look at all of her fellow X-Men. "I at least take responsibility for those past actions and have made reparations, changed my ways, seen the error of my selfish ways. I have fought alongside you all, bled with you, and until this very moment thought myself to be one of you. It seems though that old scars never do completely heal and for that I suppose a tear should be shed." She feigned being wounded for just the briefest moment. "I can't be bothered though. That issue I will leave for any who lay claim to it. I have born the cross for long enough and I have proved myself worthy of your trust and respect."
"Let's look at this without the passion, as I assure you there was no stitch of it present in the indiscretion we are now speaking of." Emma's voice cut cold and logic was her blade. "Both of those students are adults in the eyes of the State, and whereas the rule of 'unauthorized-contact' broken has always required the punishment of 'non-contact' for a specified period of time. There was nothing more done than that. Can we agree that that is in fact the case? Simply and without prejudice? And therefore those disciplinary action should be and will be enforced." She shrugged as if it was so matter of fact. "I foresee neither one wanting contact anyway, so the punishment becomes a moot point. I only take the time to remind you all, least we not lose sight of the issue at hand."
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Post by BEAST on Sept 6, 2009 22:35:54 GMT -5
"Ladies please, let's keep this civil and not raise old wounds to the surface," Hank said standing up and walking between the two women. "Kitty, I know that the scars of childhood run deep, but you know as well as I do that Emma is and has been a part of this team and this family for a long time. She was my enemy at one point in time as well, but now I, as well as you all should be, am proud to stand by her side as a comrade, a team member, and as family." He placed a heavy furry hand on Emma's shoulder and squeezed it gently. She needed reminding as well that she was no longer on her own fighting for acceptance.
His kind eyes turned to Kitty, whom he watched grow up and had a hand in raising her as well. "I loved Jean very much as well, she was like a sister to me and I hold her dear in my heart. I will not disrespect her memory by speaking ill of her and the dealings she had in her life. We all have blood on our hands, and we all have to live with that. To hold it against one another will not progress us any further." Hank's wisdom was from his life experience and the love he had for the people in his life. "If we fight among ourselves, it will be impossible to keep peace within the school. Now whether we like it or not, all of us." He looked at everyone in the room in turn to get his point across. "Are a family. We have no one else in the world to turn to when things get tough except for each other. We can have disputes all we want, but no one will slander the other. Can we all be clear on that then?" Hank looked around at the others to get his own point across. He was a neutral party here, and he would continue to be the link that many needed him to keep the connection with one another.
"Now, we all know that intimate relationships among the students are frowned upon, but I am sure we are all realistic enough to know that it will happen. We were all their age once, we remember how to think. As procedure, I have condoms available in my lab, as well as the authority to set up a prescription for birth control for the girls, which I have already done for several of them. We are taking every proper step necessary and required, so as Emma said, on any legal level we have nothing to worry about. But I daresay the issues at hand are something more than just that, am I correct?" Hank asked peeking at them over the frames of his glasses.
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Post by Cyclops on Sept 6, 2009 23:33:40 GMT -5
The words spoken of Jean, and of the Professor as well but much less so, had left Scott feeling half broken in his heart. Like a punch in his gut or a bad pastry sitting sideways inside him. "True enough." Scott found his voice and decided to focus, as Hank had offered, on the positive. "It just seems there are some issues developing that I for one feel are getting beyond our control. Now I know these are kids we are talking about, but they need rules. The rules need to have weight to them, and the only way to add that weight is to attach consequences to the breaking of the rules."
"Sure I know we have punishments in place, but what about those who don't care for- aw hell..." Diplomacy at that moment, Scott decided, was no longer needed. "What about Rumble, let's not dance around that issue." He looked at Emma through his ruby quartz glasses and wondered aloud "How can you say he belongs? You said it yourself, he is an adult in the eyes of the State... a grown man for lack of any other term... and yet he's still a student here. What do we do? What punishment is there that he can't turn and laugh at? He mocks us with his belligerence and this puts us in a no win situation. With every punishment ignored and every pain mocked he undermines us even more. What would you have me do? Why wont you do anything? Emma I just don't get it."
He took his thumb and forefinger and rubbed his eyes, pinched shut as they were, under his glasses. Lifting the glasses up slightly as he pinched the bridge of his nose. There was too much to get through, but he was determined to make a meal of these issues and not stop until they had all hashed a few things out. Reaching up he secured the frames back in place, a practiced maneuver he could perform in his sleep, before opening his eyes again and starting in on what else was bothering him.
"The other thing that is weighing on my conscience is the increasing disregard for the rules from the younger ones too. Sure Hank I remember being a kid and the thrill of bending some rules, even breaking one or two... But you know we did it for good reasons, not just for thrills, Bobby... Hank..." He looked to his old friends, his brothers for all intents and purposes. They were closer to him than his own blood. He had grown up with them and they were indeed his family. "The high schoolers need focus. Kurt nearly your whole team was out drinking last night ...aaand worse."
"Now, I don't want to sound so puritanical, but this is getting ridiculous... no, I'm sad to say it's beyond ridiculous. What do we do about it? Because soon enough a few of these kids are going to get in trouble, the old fashioned kind, and you know what happens to this school then. Don't you?" He looked at the three team leaders of the junior combat teams. "And Kurt's kids aren't the only ones... What do you all have to say on this?" he turned his gaze to the rest of the X-Men "And all of you as well. I want to hear where each of you stand... What does your own code of ethics tell you? Let's lay our cards on the table folks, we gotta be the grown ups now, so let get to it."
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Post by Nightcrawler on Sept 7, 2009 0:56:51 GMT -5
"I must confess zhat I vas not completely unavare, but as for zhe details- Ahhk!" Kurt hung his head. "I know my kids have issues. Zhey are some of zhe more troubled und troublesome in in zhe school. Und I gazher zhat my style of mentoring to zhem might seem unorzhodox, but I have had success in zhe past by letting my Paragons learn from zheir own mistakes."
He looked down at his palms as he sat perched there on the arm of the sofa. "Zhese children are not zhe type to listen to a varning. No...Zhey do best to learn from trying und failing. I am always zhere to help zhem back up to zheir proverbial feet, und I have turned many a young person around. You know my track record Scott. It speaks for itself. As for my personal code of ezhics, vell I do not feel it is my right to impose it on anozher, but since you ask... I am appalled by zhe behavior, no doubt.... But I refuse to judge anozher, no...zhat is simply not my vay."
He sat there for a moment more and then he looked up from his own hands. Truly the only thing he owned or had any say over in this world was himself, yet he did understand what Scott was saying, and the time to take more control of his kids it seemed was at hand. Not that he shirked his responsibility for his team, he did not, but he understood the pressure being asserted now by their Headmaster. "If it is required however, I vill do zhings differently. Zhe school is certainly important, but I must advocate for some freedoms. If ve are too strick I fear zhe vorst vill eventually occur. Some of zhese children, let us face zhe simple fact, are immensely powerful und to impose our vill on zhem could very vell backfire."
"I am not saying ve should fear zhem. No on zhe contrary, but zhey are only human after all. Zhey vill make mistakes, zhat is life." Kurt wasn't sure if he had made his point clear enough so he added. "Zhey are only kids. As students here zhey must be allowed to learn, about zhemselves as vell as vhat ve teach in classes und in practice. Zhe best vay I have seen is simple trial und error."
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Post by Colossus on Sept 7, 2009 1:39:41 GMT -5
Piotr put his hand back on Kitty's shoulder as his way of giving her nonverbal comfort and support, though his eyes were on Kurt as he defended his team. "I have to say in defense for Kurt that I do not think that his way of doing things is incorrect," he said in his heavy Russian accent. "The most difficult students that we ever came across were under his care and came out as students for us all to be proud to teach, the two most recent being Ironclad and Ember." Piotr looked over at Cyclops when he said that. He may not be the most social of the group but he could see plain as day how proud Cyclops was of the two students he mentioned.
"As for my Acolytes, well things have been... difficult. I feel I am responsible for the turn taken with Frostbite. After Limbo, I tried to get everyone to be a team again, but she resisted. I had thought that perhaps it was a girl with a wounded heart and I needed to give her the space to deal with it. I should have reached out to her more though, perhaps then I could have gotten her on the right track," he admitted with a sigh of disappointment in himself. "The Acolytes are a very close team other than that. Though I do very much adore Torri, it was perhaps for the best she be moved to the younger team. Diesel and Haven, well they are in a relationship but I am grateful to both of them that they never let it interfere with the team. In all I am very happy with them, but I must learn to do more for the team as individuals."
Another sigh left Piotr, his hand still resting on Kitty's shoulder. "Perhaps if I had done more for Frostbite, we would not have this situation. I do promise that I will try harder with them, and try to bring them together to get rid of any bad blood between them," he said solemnly, vowing then and there to never fail his children again, and feeling ashamed that he let it happen this time.
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