...how do you know one's not a female? Dwarves--can't tell!

She slides into place behind him on his bike like she's meant to be there. Her legs lean against his, matching his muscular curves perfectly, and her arms wrap around him without thought. It's only after they're flying down the road, the machine roaring between their legs, that she realizes what a mistake this was. She only wanted one more trip down the road on a magnificent motorcycle, but this isn't right.

This isn't the man with whom she's supposed to be, and Ororo realizes, as tears flood her eyes and the blue sky suddenly darkens to black, that the only reason why she really wanted to mount a bike again was because she missed the days when she used to ride with Wolverine. She misses those rides not because of the bike or the wildness within her to which it called or the greasy foods in the places Logan would stop or even the adventures they shared together on his bike. She misses the motorcycle, because she misses its rider. She craves motorcycles, because she needs the first man she knew who really loved the metal beasts.

Thunder rumbles as Nathan and Ororo continue their ride together. Her gentle hands delicately, and for the first time uncertainly, touch his chest. Her face presses close against his back, and as lightning streaks across a sky that had once, just scant minutes before, been perfect, he knows she's crying.

He knows she's crying, and he almost cries himself. He thinks for a moment that he should hunt down that Wolverine and beat some sense into the bastard until he comes back to the wonderful woman who loves him. The man's an idiot, Nathan knows, to have thrown away such a treasure as Ororo. It's hard to find love and even harder to find a woman so brave, bright, powerful, and true.

Suddenly, Ororo's not the only one with tears in her eyes. He tells himself it's the drops of rain that have began to fall from the darkened sky but knows it's not even as he hardens his eyes and stops his own tears from falling. The rain continues pelting in his heart, though, as he thinks of his own Domino. He guns the motor, and they speed even faster down the road of life.

The End