Daybreak

Bobby walked down the hallway to the mansion's front entrance. All around him people were celebrating, students and teachers alike. He moved against the wall to narrowly dodge Jubilee and Syrin as they ran laughing down the corridor.

It was only natural of course. Magneto and his army of mutants had been defeated, at a terrible cost, but it was all over now and everybody was breathing a huge collective sigh of relief. On top of that today was the day the new kids would be arriving – a new generation of people learning to use their unique abilities to help others. Bobby smiled to himself. Jimmy would be among those arriving, and Bobby was quite looking forward to seeing him again even if he couldn't impress him with his ice powers. It would be fun to see how Jimmy would fit in.

Bobby stopped when he reached a familiar door. To his great surprise it was open. He entered and found Rogue sitting on her bed, evidently waiting for him. Bobby couldn't help the grin that grew on his face.

"You're back."

Rogue stood up and even before she could say anything Bobby could see that something was different. There was something in her eyes that hadn't been there before. It suddenly hit him. The reason she had left in the first place.

She had been for the cure.

Rogue stood up and walked to him. She must have seen his face change.

"I'm sorry, I had to," she said.

Bobby shook his head. "This isn't what I wanted!"

"I know, but it's what I wanted."

She took his hand in hers and for the first time Bobby felt her fingers on his with no gloves in the way. They were soft but a bit cold. He squeezed her hand as she looked up at him.

"Bobby, I'm leaving. I don't belong here anymore."

Bobby's mouth opened in shock. "No... no you can't! This is your home! You're one of us..."

Rogue cut him off, shaking her head. "I'm not. Not anymore. I'm sorry Bobby, but I think this is what's best."

"But what about us?" Bobby protested.

"You'll be fine. I know you will. And I'll be fine as well. This is what I want."

She picked up her coat and moved to the door.

"Rogue..."

"Marie," she smiled at him, the first genuine smile he had ever seen from her, "My name's Marie."

…

Kitty walked along the corridor from the main entrance, her hands in her pockets, heading back to her room. She had been spending some time at the graves of Professor Xavier, Jean and Scott. She was thinking about them when she collided into someone coming the other way.

"Sorry I..." Kitty saw the person she had bumped into. "Rogue?"

"Hi Kitty." Rogue had her coat on and a suitcase in her hand. In response to Kitty's unspoken question she said, "I'm leaving. I'm going back home."

"It's not because of me is it?" Kitty asked hurriedly, "Because there's absolutely nothing between Bobby and me and..."

Rogue shook her head, smiling. "No it's not you. I took the cure."

"Oh," was all Kitty could say. She moved out of the way to allow Rogue to pass her.

As Rogue was leaving she called to Kitty. "Hey Kitty!"

Kitty turned back. "Yeah?"

"Look after him." With that, Rogue left the mansion for good.

Kitty went on to her room, her mind spinning.

…

Bobby had no idea what time it was. All he knew was that he had been lying on his bed for who knew how long, turning the day's events over and over in his mind. Was there something he could have done differently? Should he have gotten so close to Kitty? Should he have stopped Rogue... Marie?

Deep down he knew that Marie had been right, this was what was best for her. He had never seen her looking so happy, finally at peace with herself.

He was interrupted in his thoughts by a knock at his door. "It's open!" He called.

The door open and Kitty entered. He knew he should be pleased to see her but right now he couldn't find it in himself.

"You could have just walked through the door!" He said irritably.

Kitty shook her head. "You know, I was going to ask how you were, but now I won't bother." She came to his bed and grabbed his arm. "Come on."

"What? Kitty, do you know what time it is?" Bobby tried to pull his arm away but Kitty held it on.

"Yes I know exactly what time it is. Which is more than you do probably. Now come on!"

Still protesting, Bobby allowed Kitty to pull him up and lead him out of his room.

"Where are we going?" He asked.

"You'll see," she replied. She led him through the mansion and up the main staircase. Eventually they made their way into a storage room on the top floor. It was a dead end.

"Kitty, what are you doing?" Bobby asked., feeling unsure about what was going on.

Kitty smiled at him. "You did something for me after Xavier's funeral and now I'm doing something for you." She motioned at the ceiling of the room. "Give me a boost up."

Bobby created an ice block on the floor and helped her onto it. Kitty reached up and managed to pull herself through the ceiling. Knowing what was coming next Bobby stood on the block himself. Sure enough an arm came back through the ceiling. Bobby grabbed it and, with Kitty's help, pulled himself through.

He found himself on the roof of the mansion. The walls reminded him of pictures he had seen of an old English castle. Kitty was stood against one of the walls, looking out over the mansion grounds. Bobby moved next to her.

"OK, so we're here. Now what?"

"You'll see. Right... there." Kitty pointed to the distance and Bobby saw the first rays of sunlight pierce the sky. Both of them stood in silence as they watched the sunrise. As he stood there Bobby felt Kitty's fingers lightly intertwine with his and he squeezed them tightly. He turned to look at her and saw how the sun's rays lit up her face and her hair. She smiled at him.

"Thanks, Kitty," he said.

Kitty didn't reply. Instead, she stood on her toes and gently kissed him on his lips. He was taken aback at first and then he responded, leaning in to her and closing his eyes as he did so. He was expecting to feel something wrong inside him as he did so, some voice telling him he shouldn't be doing this, but there was nothing. Instead there was only contentment. Marie had been right. He would be fine.

They broke apart, neither saying a word, and turned back to watch the sun rising in the sky. Bobby put an arm around Kitty and drew her close, breathing in the scent of her hair and smiling to himself.

It was going to be a beautiful day.

A/N So I got X-Men: The Last Stand on Blu Ray a few days ago, after having last seen it a few years ago when it first came out. And I really enjoyed it like I did back then. Anyway there was something about these two characters that made me start rooting for them to get together instead of Bobby and Rogue (the ice skating scene helped a lot with that). So here's my attempt to get Bobby and Kitty together in as painless a way as possible while still trying to respect Rogue.

Oh yeah, and while I remember, does anyone else see a similarity between this movie and the Harry Potter series? Children born different from other people get sent to a special school where they can learn to use their gifts, and one or two of them head off to fight the bad guys? I was half expecting to see the Hogwarts Express in the last scene when the new students arrive at the school :D

Anyway, great movie. I definitely prefer it over the other two. But I'm probably in the minority. Oh well.