This story is about how Mystique finally tells Nightcrawler that she is his mother. One shot. The story takes place before the events of X3. I was not sure about how to make these two characters meet, or even what could possibly drive Mystique to reveal Nightcrawler the truth about how they were related. But I really wanted to give it a try. I am not fully satisfied with the outcome, but I hope the result is at least worth reading. Anyways, please do R&R. Thank you.

Mystique had been thinking about her last encounter with Nighcrawler. She could not understand why he did not take pride in his true mutant nature. He had inherited the abilities of his father, and the blue color of his mother and he was beautiful just the way he was. If only he could feel proud of his mutant nature. Mystique needed advice so she talked about it to the only mutant she knew would truly understand how she was feeling right now. He was the sole person who knew that Nightcrawler was her child. She had never spoken about it to anyone else.

"You helped me embrace my true mutant nature, so maybe I should do the same with him?" Mystique questioned Erik.

Mystique glanced around her. Even though she was in a public coffee shop, she was not wearing any disguise. She loved going to public places undisguised because those stupid homo-sapiens would keep staring at her. She loved the attention because it reminded her of her own superiority.

"We are the better men, so why should we have to hide?" she asked.

"Mystique, my dear, that boy does not even know that he has a mother. I bet he thinks his mother rejected him BECAUSE of his mutation." Erik replied.

"Erik, you seem to forget that my mutation was the reason my family tried to kill me!" Mystique retorted back, "It does not prevent me from being proud of whom I am!"

"I don't forget" replied back Erik, as he used his magnetic abilities to get the sugar bowl closer to him and adding sugar to his black coffee.

He too, liked to use his abilities publicly, to show that he was the homo-superior.

Both Mystique and Erik knew that the owner of the place wanted to kick them out, but he was too scared of them to do so. And they both took pride in it. However, the mere presence of two mutants made everyone uneasy and most of them left as soon as Mystique and Magneto came in.

Erik pointed out discreetly at a young couple who were leaving, clearly because of the two mutant's presence.

"See?" he asked.

"Yes" replied Mystique, understanding what Erik meant.

"That's the reason why your son cannot be proud of who he is."

Then Mystique saw Erik's expression suddenly change. It was an expression she had seen only once in her life.

"When I lost my mother, it was the pain and anger that triggered my ability. But thanks to my former friend, Charles, I understood that my true power lied somewhere between rage and serenity. And that feeling came from my memories. My memories with my mother were the strongest thing I had, and they helped me to use my potential to its fullest. This is what made me the mutant I am today." The mutant explained.

"But he does not even know who is mother is."

Mystique had contacted Nightcrawler, and had asked him to come to meet her. He seemed skeptical at first, but then she told him that she was going to tell him all about his parents. Though he sounded half convinced, he had agreed to meet her. When he had asked about the meeting point, she had told him to come at the place "where they had last spoke."

She was already there, and she had been waiting for almost a whole hour. She was standing alone, in the forest, wondering if she had done the right thing by asking him to come.

She heard a whoosh behind her.

Nightcrawler had teleported himself and was standing behind her.

She turned around and looked at him, and she was the one who spoke first.

"I had practically given up on you, Kurt." She said.

"Well" replied Nightcrawler. "I was not sure if I that was what I wanted, but since you wanted to talk to me about my parents. Here I am, Mystique."

"Remember the last time we spoke to each other in this place, and you asked me why I did not stay in disguise all the time?"

"Yeah" answered back Nightcrawler, not sure on why Mystique was suddenly bringing that up.

"And you told me that was because we shouldn't have too. Yeah. I do remember."

"But you don't seem proud of your mutant nature." she asked.

"That's because if I had been born normal, I would have probably been raised as everybody else. Maybe I would not have been abandoned like an unwanted freakish baby! I don't even know basic stuffs about myself! Things everybody else knows about themselves. I don't know my mother's name, or when even my own birth date! Maybe it I wasn't a mutant, my own mother wouldn't have left me!" he exclaimed.

"No" Mystique replied, and to her great surprise, she found herself feeling very nervous.

"You were not abandoned because your parents were afraid of your mutation. This is something I know because…" she hesitated for a split second before finally adding-

"I am your mother."

Now, the cat was out of the bag and there was no way Mystique could take it back.

Maybe that was for the best. He had to know the truth.

Nightcrawler was too surprised to say anything. Was she serious?

He looked at her. Her facial expression was stoic, and serious. She was looking coldly at him. Nightcrawler understood that she was telling him the truth.

And with all the things he had heard about that shapelifter, he could not believe she was telling him that she was his biological mother.

"So, that was the reason you wanted to meet me." whispered Nighcrawler, almost to himself.

"I had to leave you behind, because I did not have any choice…" started Mystique.

"And who is my father then?" he interrupted her.

Mystique took a deep breath.

"Azazel" she told him.

Azazel, that mutant Nightcrawler had heard so much about.

Now, it all made sense to Nightcrawler. His teleportation abilities were the legacy of his father, the demon-like mutant Azazel, and his blue color was the legacy of his mother who happened to be Mystique.

Nightcrawler could not believe what he had just heard. Before Storm and Jean had found him, he used to live in an abandoned church because that was the only place where he felt safe and knew someone was watching over him. He was a true believer, and his religious faith was the strongest thing he had. His faith had always helped him to cope during harsh times. And now, he was learning that his father was that red, a demonic-looking mutant from biblical times claiming to be the inspiration for Satan. How ironical was that?

"And… why now? Why have you chosen to reveal all of this to me now?" he asked.

"Because the last time we met, I realized that you would rather hide yourself that be proud of what you are. But we are the superior kind. Mutant and proud, Kurt."

"Oh I get it." replied Kurt. "You were embarrassed because your own son rejected the thing you took so much pride in! That's the only reason why you revealed me that you are my mother!" he snapped back.

"All this time, you never bothered about me!" he added, cynically.

"No" tried to explain Mystique, "I just wanted to accept yourself just the way you are."

But Nightcrawler was not ready to listen.

"I have to go now!" he said, before teleporting himself away.

Months had passed and Kurt was still not getting over Mystique's revelation.

One day, he received a postcard without the sender's name.

He opened it.

It was not a postcard, but a plain white card, with something scribbled on it.

"Happy Birthday"

That was all that was written on it.

But Kurt understood.

It was Mystique's way of telling him when his birthday was.

Today was the day he was born.

He closed his eyes briefly, thinking about his last encounter with Mystique.

He hoped that one day, they would finally meet again and this time, they both would be ready to be part of each other's life.