Disclaimer: sadly I don't own any of the characters

"There is nothing in the world that beats Mardi Gras" the young girl thought to herself as she strolled through the streets of New Orleans filled to the brim with people. Everywhere she looked she could see people in spectacular costumes waving banners, blowing on horns or tossing beads to the waiting partygoers in the balconies above. From what she could see, some of the balcony occupants had probably spent half the evening earning beads. The revelers who remained on the street seemed to be leading the crowds to the wider areas of the French Quarter where the parade was probably in full swing by now.

There were those in the crowd, like herself, who were not quite brave enough to dress in full costume and she spotted many silly hats and a variety of masks as people tried to fit in with the party spirit. The girl was actually quite proud of the mask she had purchased on a whim in a small antique shop just that morning. The mask was a small covering just the upper part of her face. It was a deep forest green and looked as if it could have come from a Venetian ballroom. A fancy gold scrollwork design ran across the green fabric making it shimmer if you caught it in the right light. The colors set of her pale skin and made her emerald eyes sparkle. When she had seen it in the shop a weird impulse had come over her and she knew she just had to have it. Reaching up she gave the string tying it in place a final tug to make sure it was firmly in place and set off through the crowd in search of her friends.

"Like Rogue over here!"

She had not gone far when a familiar voice reached her ears over the noise of the crowd. Turning to her left she picked her way through the sea of people until a pretty little brunette came into view, along with a very large dark haired man and a man who looked like he was wearing a fuzzy blue monster costume but that Rogue knew was actually how he looked all the time.

"Kitty, A'm so glad ya saw me cause ah liked to never have found ya in this mess," Rogue smiled, her Mississippi accent very pronounced as she greeted her best friend.

She didn't have to ask how Kitty had recognized her, Rogue knew her auburn hair with the white streaks in front were a sure fire give away. Since the unique blend of color was natural, Rogue always was secretly proud of her hair. Today she had even let Kitty talk her into wearing her hair up and curled in the back with the white streaks falling in soft curls around her masked face. Rogue had to admit the effect was quite stunning.

"Like totally it's so crazy out here. I've barely been able to like keep up," Kitty answered.

It never failed to amaze Rogue just how many times Kitty could throw the word "like" into a sentence. Rogue remembered a time when she had first moved to into Professor Xavier's school for mutants and was assigned Kitty as a roommate how the habit had really gotten on her nerves. Rogue had always been a loner since her mutant abilities had developed and made it impossible for her to touch anyone without draining their energy, memories and powers out of them. It was because of this she constantly went around covered in clothes from head to toe and had to wear gloves even in the warmest weather. Usually her power and attitude kept people away but the perky little brunette, with the ability to phase through solid objects, had not given up trying to get to know her. After a while the two had grown close and Kitty made it easier for the other students to try to get know Rogue better, a fact that Rogue was grateful for.

"So what about you guys, havin' fun so far?" Rogue asked the two men standing beside her.

"It is so exciting," her half-brother Kurt was the first to answer in his thick German accent," It is so vonderful to be able to valk around vithout having to hide."

With his unusual appearance of being covered in soft blue fur, Kurt was always forced to wear a special watch the professor had manufactured that projected a holographic image that made him look normal. The group laughed together at all the "nice costume" compliments he was receiving, each one causing a huge smile to appear on Kurt's face. Rogue was happy for her brother, the two having grown quite close in the years they had been at Xavier's. They had a deep bond after being abandoned and treated badly by their mother Mystic, and each took comfort in the fact that no matter what they each had someone to call family. Kurt really deserved to have fun on this vacation.

A nod of the head and a simple "Da" was the only reply Rogue received from Kitty's boyfriend Piotr. For such a big guy the Russian was actually quite shy. Everyone at the mansion had been shocked when a few months after leaving the Acolytes and joining the X-men the tall quite Russian began dating the small talkative Kitty. Rogue had to admit even she was not really sure how the two hooked up but was happy that the couple seemed to make it work. Hey there had to be something to the whole opposites attract thing right?

"So where is the rest of the team?" rogue asked since she didn't see Scott or Jean anywhere around. Also missing seemed to be the other adult members of their party.

" Well Jean and Scott like already went down to the parade route a couple of hours ago, Scott said he wanted to like get a good place to view the floats. The professor said we could have a choice of things to do, since he can always keep track of us mentally or use Logan. He said we can go down to the parades or we could like wander around as long as we stay in groups and meet back up here at the hotel. Then he left with Logan and Ororo to meet up with the other two. I am totally going to check out the shops I saw the cutest outfits in some of the windows, and like Piotr and Kurt are going with me, you should come too." Kitty finished her speech by linking elbows with Piotr and clapping Kurt on the back.

The two boys did not seem to be thrilled and Kurt turned to her with pleading eyes, "please say zat you vant to go to ze parade and you need someone to take you zere," he begged. Piotr looked like he would have been thrilled to make the same request but knew he couldn't without hurting Kitty's feelings.

"Sorry ah wasn't really interested in the parade and ah really don't want to go sit around with Scott and Jean," Rogue said with a smile," since we all seem to be here ah'll join you guys."

"Now chere you go and hurt Remy's feelin's not even ask'n where moi was, and after Remy went through all dat trouble talkin' de professor into dis trip," came a smooth Cajun voice from behind her.

Rogue froze in place, small shivers running up and down her back. Turning around she came face to face with a very handsome young man. Remy Lebeau was tall and thin with long muscular legs that were being shown off quite nicely by the pair of jeans he wore. Beneath his well-fitted tee shirt she could almost see every inch of his well-toned chest. Despite the warm weather he had on a long tattered brown trench coat that he never seemed to be able to do without. He moved with the grace of a cat, his shaggy auburn hair, only a shade different from her own, falling down over the rugged features of his face. His lips were turned up in his trademark cocky grin that always appeared to make other girls melt on the spot. Yet it was neither his body nor his smile that always arrested her attention, it was his eyes. Those burning pools of crimson that seemed to be fixed in a starless night sky, they always held her captive and seemed to see right through her.

It took a moment to realize she had been staring to long at him and she mentally kicked herself for allowing him to affect her that way.

"Maybe ah didn't ask Swamp Rat because ah don't care where ya were at, did ya ever think of that?" she replied smoothly.

"Ahh, now dat really hurt, chere, and here Remy thought dat you were gonna be nice on dis trip," Remy replied raising his hand to his heart but

keeping his grin in place, "Plus Remy always care where you are."

"Well nobody ask'd ya to, and besides ah thought ah ask'd ya to leave meh alone," she tried but failed to keep a smile from creeping to her face.

The fact was she actually liked Remy Lebeau, also known as Gambit, since their misadventure in New Orleans a year ago on a mission to save his

father. The two seemed to reach an unspoken understanding with each other that turned to friendship when Remy joined the team with Piotr about

two months after. They actually had a lot in common and Remy seemed to be the only person who really understood her.

"Remy tries but he just can't resist such a belle femme such as yourself."

Truth be told Rogue had fascinated Remy from the first moment he had laid eyes on her. He had been fighting the X-men using his power

of charging playing cards, though he could use any non-organic item, with kinetic energy to turn it into an explosive when he found himself face

to face with the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen. Trying to distract her, he had handed her a King of Hearts card, but became so distracted

by looking into her deep emerald eyes that he didn't realize he'd charged it. The fact that he had slipped up surprised him and he beat a hasty retreat and thanked god she'd had the sense to throw the card away. From that moment he wanted her even when he found out she was untouchable. At first he thought it was the thrill of getting the ungettable get, as a former thief a challenge like that was almost too much to resist. Yet the more time he spent with her the more he began to realize that his feelings were much deeper. He had never felt anything like this before

and slowly the idea of being the ladies man that everyone thought he was no longer had the same appeal it once did. Rogue though never seemed

to want more then friendship, he tried to get closer but she always closed herself off. His only choice was to wait and continue to hope his efforts

to show how much he cared payed off.

"Hey, Swamp Rat!"

The sound of her voice and the gloved hand that was waving in front of his face brought him back to the present.

"Were ya even listening," Rogue asked, " Ah said we are all gonna walk along and look at the shops, are ya gonna come?"

"After you cherie, Remy will follow you anywhere," he smirked and with that the group set off down the street.

A/N: Well that was the first chapter. I know not much happened but I always feel I have to do the whole explanation thing. This is my first attempt at fanfic and I hope to make the next chapters a little better and get them up quickly. I really hope

To get some reviews and please be kind to this poor humble wannabe writer :)