They're children. Even now... They don't know everything about the world. Kurt saw a scrap of it in the cage fight, but the others... They think that some of the looks Jean got in the school for being a telepath was bad? That being called a freak by your peers hurt? There's worse than that, Charles, and we can't let them be blind to it any more. That's what I believe. You're right - they're naive and they're idealistic and they rush in before they think, but... They can learn. And that's what I want to give them.

[ She shakes her head, closing her eyes. It's a little like an argument, but at the same time she thinks they're getting a little tangled, both wanting the same things but unable to say it clearly, age-old words and bitterness rising to the surface. They still have a long way to go before they're back into the easy nature of the relationship they once shared, and she has to steel herself for the hurt that might come before they're back there. ]

I don't want them to come to me because they think I'm a hero. I need them to understand, Charles, that I can teach them because I've been out there, I've been fighting and I know how to show them to defend themselves. We weren't X-Men for very long, but when we were at Cuba... It worked. That's what I want for them. To be with their friends, to want to fight for the right reasons, not because they've got a misguided sense of what they're doing, what their purpose is.

[ Pursing her lips, she gives herself a few moments to think before she speaks again. ]

They saw Cairo, but I need to talk to them. We have to make sure they know what they're signing up for this time. It's not going to be just one big fight, not for mutants, not anymore. There's not going to be another Trask or another Apocalypse. It's going to be the entire world and they need to be ready for it.

[ And then, quietly - ]

I'm talking in circles.