DISCLAIMER: Jadalyne is owned by Dorelle Garcia. I have her permission to use the character. Any recognizable characters belong to Marvel and are being used without permission. I'm not making any money from this work of fiction. So you can't sue ... Muahahahahahahah.

The blond haired woman entered the dark, smoky bar, alone. As people saw her coming, the room became silent. They cleared a path for her to walk in, she went to her usual table, and sat down. A moment later the waiter came and took her order, a Scotch, straight, her usual drink. As the waiter walked away, the woman's attention was drawn to the stage where the band was getting ready for another set.

The once world-renowned singer, known as Jadalyn, standing on stage, saw the blond woman, and knew immediately what she wanted to hear. She cued the band, and the trumpet player put his instrument in its stand, and went in the back to get another. When he came out, he was carrying a set of bagpipes. He began to play, and a slow, eerie sound came forth from it. Jadalyn began to sing.

"They say mother earth is breathing,
With each wave that finds the shore.
Her soul rises in the evening,
For to open twilight's door.
Her eyes are the stars in Heaven,
Watching o'er us all the while.
And her heart it is in Ireland,
Deep within the emerald Isle."

As the music began to pick up, the blond haired woman was taken back to the day, she lost everything. World War III was raging hard. Mutants and humans found it no longer tolerable to live together. Hundreds of thousands had died already. So many more would die in the years to come.

Emma Frost ran a hospital, in Ireland. She had come here with her husband when the war had started. "Someone must protect the heart of the earth," Sean would keep telling her, until finally she relented. They had brought Generation X with them. They were grown up now. Lately Emma found herself wishing it were the old days, when the children were her students, in Massachusetts. She and Sean had long since adopted them officially, as one by one their parents were killed off for breeding mutants. The good days were long gone now. But, still, she longed for their return.

"We were forty against hundreds,
In someone else's bloody war.
We know not why we're fighting,
Or what we're dying for.
They will storm us in the morning,
When the sunlight turns the sky.
Death is waiting for its dance now,
Fate has sentenced us to die.

Ireland, I am coming home.
I can see your rolling fields of green
And fences made of stone.
I am reaching out.
Won't you take my hand?
I'm coming home, Ireland"

The Hospital was overrun with wounded, and the English army, as well as the IRA, were only a few miles away. They had camped for the night. But everyone, at the hospital, knew, that they would attack in the morning. Generation X was scared. Sean knew that. He was scared too. They had never been so outnumbered before. They had already lost once to the army that would soon be upon them, although the IRA had lost a lot of men, while the English held back, as it had always been. Luckily, Generation X was able to retreat, without too many casualties, to the hospital, where they had been patched up.

Sean had tried to get everyone packed up, to move the hospital, but there were too many patients that couldn't be moved. So the hospital had to stay, for now. They all knew what that meant.

"Oh the captain, he lay bleeding,
And I can hear him calling me.
These men are yours now for the leading.
Show them to their destiny.
And as I look up all around me,
I see the ragged tired and torn.
I tell them to make ready,
'Cause we're not waiting for the morn.

Ireland, I am coming home.
I can see your rolling fields of green,
And fences made of stone.
I am reaching out.
Won't you take my hand?
I'm coming home, Ireland."

Emma and Sean shared a telepathic link, which was always open. As a result, she remembers everything from her husband's point of view, as well as her own.

Sean entered the tent, where Emma was sitting by the injured Remy LeBeau. He was getting weaker every minute. He had taken some bad hits, but refused to leave anyone behind, so he risked his life to pull out any injured soldiers. Even though a few had died, Remy had said it was worth it when reprimanded, although gently, by Emma.

He had been calling for Sean. "Y'r in charge, Mon ami. Ya know what has to be done." A strangled breath, then, "De hospital can't be moved. Ya have ta stop the enemy before it gets here. I wish I could be dere to stand wit' you one more time, old friend."

"Dinnae be talkin' like that. Ye'll be up and around and ready to fight again in no time." Sean knew that was a lie. And by the cracking in Sean's voice, Remy knew he didn't believe it either.

"I know what's happening, Sean. It's okay. I been waiting for dis day. De day I can rejoin my Chere." Sean looked away, as tears threatened to overtake him. Rogue had been one of the first to die. Killed in a surprise attack by the United States Army, with the help of the revived Sentinels. "Ya take the soldiers out, and you make sure the Hospital has enough time, to move it's patients out of here, you got dat?"

"Yessir." Sean replied automatically to the command, given to him by his best friend. "Ye have my word, sir. We'll give ye time." The last words were wasted, as Remy's body went limp and his breathing had stopped. Sean reached down with trembling hands, and closed the eyes of the bravest man he had ever known. There, Sean cried for the first time since the war had started. Emma came around the bed, and held her husband, as he cried into her shoulder.

"I don't want you to go, my love." Emma whispered. "We've lost so much, already. I don't think I could stand losing you as well."

"Ye know what has tae be done, Emma. We're the last line of defense for the hospital."

"Then let me come with you." She pleaded, through her tears.

"Ye know I can't do that. Ye have to be here for the children, and not just our own. Someone has to be here to teach them. Ye're the best teacher in the world right now. Noone can do it as well as ye can. Ye know that."

"I know." She agreed finally. "I love you."

"And I, you. I have tae go now, I have tae get the group taegether."

Sean kissed his wife for the last time, and exited the tent. When he was in the middle of the camp, he called to the soldiers who were still on their feet. The original group of Generation X was there (except for Everett Thomas, who had died a year earlier), as well as many new faces. They were tired, and hurting, Sean knew. But they would do what they had to, or hundreds in the hospital would die in the morning.

Sean counted heads. There were 36 left. They were a poor match for the army that was only a few miles away. It would have to be enough. "Alright, listen up folks. The captain has died, and he's left me in charge." This announcement brought shouts of anger and looks of disbelief from the small group of men and women. Sean quieted them by screaming out. The piercing sound caused them to hold their ears and grimace, but they shut up. "I'm not done yet. The army is goin' tae be here in the mornin'. And they'll destroy this camp, and everyone in it, unless we c'n stop them. So, we're goin' after them taenight."

"You can't be serious. It's suicide." Someone hollered from the back.

"Aye, that it is. But if we don't, hundreds will die taemorrow. I'm not goin' tae force ye to fight with me. All I c'n do is ask."

"I'm with you, dad." Jubilation spoke up first. Moments later, the rest agreed, deciding that everyone would die sometime. The only questions were, how, and when. They wanted to be remembered as heroes, when they died.

In Sean's eyes, they already were.

"Now the fog is deep and heavy,
As we forge the dark and fear.
We can hear their horses breathing,
As in silence we draw near.
And there are no words to be spoken,
Just a look to say goodbye.
I draw a breath and the night is broken,
As I scream our battle cry.

Ireland, I am coming home.
I can see your rolling fields of green,
And fences made of stone.
I am reaching out.
Won't you take my hand?
I'm coming home, Ireland.
Yes, I am home, Ireland."

The small group entered their enemy's camp silently. Using the night to camouflage their movements, Generation X easily dispatched the guards set around the enemy's perimeter. They stopped when they were close enough to see the army encampment that was spread out before them. The size was terrifying, but none would be deterred from their objective this night. The group exchanged glances, one last time. Sean finally signaled, and on the count of three, the silence was broken, as the small group charged into battle, screaming with fury, and attacking the surprised camp.

The battle that ensued was that from which legends were made. Generation X poured their hearts on the field that day. And although the humans outnumbered them 30 to 1, they fought savagely. Giving their lives that others might live to fight again.

Emma saw, and heard it all, through the link she and her husband shared. She saw the blood that ran like a river. To this day, she could still hear the screams of the injured and dying. And when all was done, Generation X was no more, and what was once an army lay in ruins. Emma would never see her husband or her students alive again, but that was ok, she would teach the next generation of mutants. And she would never let them forget the men and women that had died that day so they could live.

She cried as she helped to pack up the hospital, preparing it to be moved to a more secure location. Her tears mingled with the blood that covered much of the campground.

"We were forty against hundreds."

As the music stopped, Emma's tears threatened to fall once again, but she fought them down. She swallowed down her drink, and stood up from her table. The room became silent. Emma nodded her appreciation, turned from the stage, and left the bar. The tension seemed to melt, as she walked away. The people began to applaud when she was no longer in sight. Jadalyn bowed, and when the clapping died off, began another song.