Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, I'm just borrowing them to ease my imagination.

Gomenasia

Part I:

Chapter One

The night was pitch black and it was riddled with millions of white, shinning stars and a full moon. Oak and pine trees that covered the property, cast there shadows upon the lawn, the thick branches swayed in the breeze tapping the window panes every now and again. For some occupants in the house, the mood was soothing, a nice quiet night for them to catch up on some relaxation, but for others, it was an eerie reminder of how rough life could be.

He lit another cigar and savored the feeling it aroused in him. It was one of the few pleasures he found in life, and he enjoyed every puff. He reached for the rag in his back pocket and crouched down by his prized possession, his Harley motorcycle. Gently cleaning away the few particles of dust he ever let get on his spikes. Standing back up he placed his helmet on the seat where it belonged, glancing around the garage to the rest of his teammates automobiles, and shook his head.

There was Scott's motorcycle, it was…all right, he supposed. Then there was Jean's ruby red Mustang Convertible and Ororo's white classic BMW. Those two new absolutely nothing about cars, and it showed in there possessions upkeep. There was mud on their tires and dozens of shopping bags were strewn in the back seats. Besides those two cars, there were the professors two black, technologically upgraded, SUV's that were open for anyone's use, which pretty much met some of the younger students, particularly Jubilee. To his right, their was Gambit's motorcycle. He had helped 'Gumbo' fix it up a bit, by adding wider handles and a faster engine, but the thing Gambit really enjoyed was the low angle of his seat, something he said was the best gift he could experience with his 'Chere' for he loved the way Rogue would snuggle against him, when she was in a good mood that is, while they cruised around Manhattan. Next to that was Rogue's hunter green jeep. He huffed at that one, poor thing never had a chance of ever experiencing a car wash of any sorts, when she brought it home three years ago. It had a few dents a scratches, and the floor was littered with Styrofoam star bucks cups and tons of candy wrappers. That girl had a sweet tooth, that never seemed satisfied. Something he figured never phased her since she wouldn't have to worry about working it off later in a few extra danger room sessions, with her fast metabolism.

The breeze picked up outside and shook the garage door. Logan turned around and sniffed the air, the aroma of pine trees and burning fire wood greeted his nose, along with a scent from everyone on the property, while most were pleasant others needed to be alerted that they could use a shower. He puffed on his cigar, and shut his eyes, letting the cool air relax him. After the last mission, his mind seemed to be on over drive, the animal within him had been harder to calm down. Not wanting to experience another nightmare like he had a few nights ago, he found himself in the garage again, cleaning nonexistent dirt off his ride to take his mind off things, that he would never know the answer to.

Ace of Spades, Three of Diamonds, King of Clubs, Seven of Clubs, and his favorite the Queen of Hearts, shuffled back and forth between his calloused hands. The sweet aroma of liquor lingered in the air along with a soothing scent of pine, that drafted in from the open window. The crackling wood on the fire and the clinking of ice cubes in his glass, as he took a swig of his most desired beverage, calmed his nerves. The grandfather clock chimed at one o'clock, alerting the Cajun that it was well past curfew, though he had no worries of getting caught. He could easily slip his way out of anything, a skill he had picked up from years of being a thief, one he has not always been proud of being.

His red on black eyes could see easily, if not better, in the dim light. Shuffling his deck of cards once more, he finally placed them down on the hard wood table, for another round of solitaire. Sighing as he looked at his cards, this was going to be a harder round. Leaning back in his chair as he rested his feet on the corner of the desk, something that was usually disapproved of, but something he would always be caught doing nonetheless. His brown trench coat was hanging behind him on the chair, a reminder that he had yet to change out of his uniform from that mornings danger room session. He had all the intentions of changing his clothes to something more comfortable, but he got caught up with Rogue, when he had tried to sneak back into her room for a nice little cat nap, though that didn't work out. Thinking back to this morning, Gambit should of seen the warning signs.

Remy had woken up a half hour late, thanks to his inability to set his alarm clock the night before. When he had finally rolled over and saw the cracks of sun light bursting through his window, chaos ensued. Jumping up, sheets flying everywhere, yanking clothes out of his closest, stubbing his toe on the bed post, tripping over his sneakers and landing flat on his face, was only the beginning. He had dashed down the hallway to the showers, only when he was ready to get out did he realize he had forgotten his towel. "Remy, why yah get ur' self in these sit'ations homme?" he shook his head exasperated and used his clothes to cover himself. Peeking out the door he made sure the coast was clear, using his empathy to sense any ones presence, smiling he dashed back down the hallway at full speed only to hit a solid object and bounce back into the wall, tumbling over Ororo's plotted plant. "Shit!" was one of the many exclamations that he spewed off as, he tried to quickly cover himself back up and regain his composure, only to be stopped in his tracks by laughter, but not just any laughter, her laughter. That sweet soulful laughter she let out when she was truly happy. He smiled and looked up at her. Rogue's face was completely red and her emerald eyes were sparkling with laughter, the smile on her face was enough for him to forget his situation.

"Ya'll allright Swamp Rat?" she asked, holding her sides for balance.

"Now that yo here. Remy be great, Chere." he said as he fixed the toppled over plant, sweeping the dirt to the side with his foot. So much for a shower.

Rogue stared at him. All of him, and smiled. That Cheshire smile of the cat who caught the canary. The smile that won over his heart. Subconsciously she licked her lips and bit her cheek. Swiping a strand of stark white bangs away from her face, she turned around and winked at him. "See yah later sugar."

Remy smiled, and stared at her as she walked away, swaying hips and all. "Nice chaps Gumbo." Remy swirled around, and to his horror stood Logan, walking down the hallway, chewing on another damn toothpick. "Jealous, Wolvy?" Remy retorted. Wolverine shook his and popped his middle claw as he headed downstairs. Remy chuckled and glanced around once more, as he ran back to his room to get ready.

Ten minutes later he was in the kitchen making himself some breakfast, well if you could consider burnt toast and a bowl of cereal with no milk, since a gal by the name of Jubilee drank it all with some cookies, breakfast. Darting down the hallway, and through some intricately hidden elevators, he finally made it to the basement, which wouldn't be considered a basement at all, the way the Professor had it set up. White sterile walls encased almost every room and hallway, marble tiles made up the floor and air sealed doors, made up the basement. He stepped in front of the door, which opened up to his teammates. Logan and Bobby, standing in a corning shaking their heads at him, Jean and Ororo with raised eyebrows of curiosity. To his other side of the room stood Hank who was fiddling with the danger room operations, and the Professor and Scott just stared at him, the professor with a slight smile and Scott with a disapproving gaze. The only one giving him a hundred watt smile was his Rogue, which was good enough for him.

"Now that were all here and..decent, we can get started." though the professor, the leader of the X:Men, a powerful man who used his abilities for solving problems that all humans and mutants faced couldn't let that one slide. Remy smiled at him and shrugged it off nonchalantly. "I think this Cajun, would learn a lot bettah, if we all trained indecent." The team rolled their eyes, but the few chuckles, had the desired affect. The danger room session was another simulation of battling Sentinels and retrieving objects from severely secured facilities. Things they usually faced in combat situations, on almost every mission. The session had a few bumps along the way, which is what lead him to seek Rogue when it was over. Her mood from earlier was quickly evaporating, and he wanted to comfort her.

"Leave me alone, Remy." she had looked at him, her body language letting him know she was getting agitated. Her brisk walk down the hallway back up to her room, had him almost jogging to keep up with her. "Come on, Chere. Talk to me, whats bother'n yah?" She stopped walking and looked at him "Noth'ns bother'n me. Just…I…never mind." she continued to her room, with him hot on her tail. "Rogue. Come on, lets go get some lunch or something. I know yah gotta be hungry." he smiled at her, using his best puppy dog face, which didn't work. She swung open her door and before he could say anything else, she slammed it in his face. Gambit stared at the wooden barrier and knocked. "Rogue. On come on Chere. Let Remy in, and we can talk it ovah, maybe take a lil nap aftawards." He heard something slam against the door "Go away Swamp Rat!" Gambit turned around and sighed. One day. One day they will go awhile without one of these little arguments. He loved her with everything he had, but it could be straining sometimes, when all your ever doing is going back to square one.

He took another sip, the warm liquid warmed up his throat. He picked up the cards and shuffled again. Another game unfinished, because he could never find all the aces and stack all the cards right to win. The clock chimed again, and he stood up, putting his coat back on and closing the window. Glancing outside he could see Logan cleaning his bike for the hundredth time that week alone. Closing the curtains and leaving the room, it was going to be a long night.

Running. Pain. Sadness. Fear. Running. Hope. Destruction. Pain. Running. Happiness. Sadness. Fear. Running. She was always running. Running from her emotions, running from Gambit, always running away from something. She was staring out her window, the moon being the only light she had. Some branches swayed back and forth in front of her, barely missing her window. Her thoughts were so jumbled, and they were only getting worse. These last few missions she had absorbed some mutants, some of which were driving her crazy and they were not hesitant at letting her know their true feelings. She had been fine this morning, especially after that little incident with Remy. Blushing at the thought. The leaves on the lawn blew into the air, cascading down in a ripple effect across the ground. She leaned her head against the window, the cool pane soothing her headache. She had been fine, but when the danger room session started, she couldn't focus. Hank had included some mutants that they had recently battled, and when their psychic links saw them, they were not pleased. Their thoughts floated around her mind like acid, burning any of her thoughts away and consuming her actions with theirs. No control, she was losing control.

She placed her hands on the window pane beside her head and closed her eyes. The voices had finally stopped, allowing her to seek a few moments of silence. Remy popped in her mind. Those eyes of his and that darn trench coat he wore everywhere, made her smile. She had acted so rude to him today. Everything was going fine between him these last few days, but for some reason she had felt hatred towards him, and when she realized it was coming from one of her psyches, she had to get away from him, before she really did something she regretted…but she had seen his face, that spare second before the door slammed, that face of heartbreak he always has when she pulls away. Runs away from everything. She was great at flying even better at running.

The branches smacked against her window, causing her to jump back. She caught her breath and relaxed. "Damn trees." she tugged on her curtains to hide the thing that had broken her reverie. "Your so pathetic." came a seductive yet authorities voice,she stopped and looked around, biting her lip when she didn't see anyone. "No one is going to love yah, I mean look at yahself." Rogue looked up into the window her reflection showed baggy eyes from sleep deprivation and dry, cracked lips, her eyes pale and confused. Before Rogue could respond to that voice another one intervened. A smaller voice, a whimpering voice of a young child. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry. Please…I didn't mean to…I'm so scared…I'm sorry." The branches slammed into the window cracking the pane glass. Screams erupted through her mind. High pitched screams of joy and wailing screams of pain. She fell back and covered her ears, grasping for air to stay focused. The room started to spin and the screaming got louder. Then it stopped. Rogue pulled her legs up to her chest and rocked back an forth, trying to soothe her pounding headache. "I'm Sorry." came the faint voice again. No matter how great she was at running, she couldn't run away from this.