This is a story about Rogue, after the happenings of X-Men 3 (the movie). It's going to be in three different parts, all including the return of her powers, the return of the Professor, her new powers and (gasp) Gambit. So keep reading! This whole story is only Part I, so look out for the other two when this one is over. Thanks so much! Read and review, all your input/comments/whatever help!

Rogue sat in the small room, her hands wringing in her lap as her stomach lurched. She knew she had made the right choice, she knew it. What she didn't know was how he would react. Would he be happy? Upset? Would he even want her anymore?

She moaned inwardly, pressing her palm against her churning belly. Why was she so nervous? What could be a better thing for her than this? But she couldn't stop that little voice in her head that kept repeating what a mistake she had made. What would life be like for her now? Would she even be allowed to stay at the mansion? Would--

"You're back."

Her head snapped to the doorway as her heart leapt into her throat. She could feel the lump in her throat. "B-bobby." She managed, smoothing her hands on the legs of her pants. She stood, awkwardly, as he walked toward her. She noted he hadn't hesitated, or turned away. He didn't look happy, though. Oh, God.

She stood in front of him, her heart racing, and her stomach feeling as if it would drop to her feet. "I'm sorry," She said, swallowing hard. "I had to." She knew he would understand this explanation.

He looked into her eyes for only a moment, a small flicker of regret passing through his eyes before he spoke, "This isn't what I wanted." He said, his voice quiet.

"I know," She said, her heart slowing slightly. "It's what I wanted." She gave a small, hopeful smile. He bent his head, and inched slowly forward. Rogue felt her heart leap as she noticed him reaching for her hand. She took a small breath as she felt his skin touch hers, and their fingers intertwined.

She let out the breath she had been holding in and glanced up into his face, feeling a lump begin in her throat, and wetness gather in her eyes. She smiled as she fought not to let the tears fall, and laughed as she threw her arms around his neck, letting out a laugh full of tears and sniffles. Bobby squeezed her tight as he smiled and pulled his head back to look at her face. He let out a laugh as they simply looked at each other for a moment and then he reached up and cupped her cheek, letting his hand linger on her skin.

Rogue inhaled as she felt her heart leap again, as it swelled to fill her entire chest. A few tears did escape her eyes now as she rested her cheek on his hand for a moment. He moved his thumb to rub against the path of the tear, drying it. She let out another laugh and he joined her, both feeling slightly loopy. After a moment, Bobby quieted, bringing his other hand up to cradle her face. Slowly, sweetly, he pressed his lips to hers, keeping the kiss simple and yet it was so powerful.

Rogue couldn't seem to stop smiling and giggled as she backed away, pressing her tingling lips together. She squeezed his hand and gave a little hop, pressing her lips to his again quickly and then throwing her arms around his shoulders again. His face was wide with a smile and he took both her hands in his. "Come on," he said, "let's go find everyone else."

She laughed, nodding and following him out of his room. There were so many possibilities now. So many new things for her to experience, she realized, a wide smile on her face as she walked through the mansion, ready to take on anything.

She couldn't wait.

Rogue woke from the dream, her eyes focusing on the alarm clock by her nightstand. The bright red letters flashed that it was 5:42AM. With a groan, she rolled away from the bright red light and let out a sigh.

She hated having that dream. Weren't dreams supposed to be about ridiculous circumstances where people you met once in your life were going through completely random events with you? Only a week ago she had a dream about going to a carnival with Johnny Depp and her third grade teacher. Why couldn't she have that as a recurring dream?

No, instead she had to have the recurring dream about the day she returned to the mansion after she had received the cure. That really had been a great day…

Rogue let out a frustrated sigh as she sat up. Stop, just stop. She told herself. Just stop thinking about it. She knew the only way to actually stop thinking about it , though, was to get up and get stated on the day. She threw back the covers, sliding out of her bed and throwing on some clothes. Like usual, she grinned to herself as she slipped on a regular t-shirt and she rubbed her hands over her bare arms and bare hands. It hadn't gotten old, yet, the invigorating feeling of not having to cover up.

She walked towards the kitchen, her feet bare and soundless on the wooden floor. She yawned as she entered the kitchen and halted, seeing a familiar group of people gathered around the island in the middle of the room. "Oh," She said, feeling awkward.

They turned at her voice and she could see the collective wince pass over every face but one. Rogue kept her face calm as she glanced toward Logan's face, which was as serene as hers. She knew his steady look by heart now, and made sure to keep her voice level. "I'll come back later."

"No, Rogue," She heard, and turned to see Warren's angelic, and sympathetic, face looking towards her. "It's alright, come stay."

Against her will Rogue felt her eyes snap quickly to Bobby's face, registered his blank expression and pulled her eyes away. She smiled tentatively and walked forward, "Ok", she said. If Bobby doesn't want to be in the same room as me, he can leave, she figured. "So, out late last night?" She asked, stepping forward to lean against the counter of the island.

"Just got back an hour ago," Pete said, his massive body towering over Kitty's small one next to him. Rogue nodded, looking straight into his face to avoid looking at Kitty next to him. And Bobby next to her.

"What was it?"

"There was another riot near New York City." Logan grumbled.

"Another one?" Rogue asked, surprised. "That's, what, three this month?"

"Yeah, those Friends of Humanity are really starting to cause a problem around that area." Bobby answered, visibly upset. Rogue forced herself to actually look at him, but she quickly glanced away once she saw Kitty place her hand on his arm, trying to calm him.

"Did you guys have any problems?" She glanced to Logan, searching in his eyes.

"We managed to break it up," Storm said, walking toward the fridge and taking out a bottle of water. "Those Friends of Humanity people knew that there were mutants there, though. And that only fueled them on."

"I can't believe they're causing such a problem," Rogue mused. "I thought mutant relations were supposed to be getting better." She noticed Logan watching her, but ignored him. There was a short awkward silence as no one answered her and Rogue finally couldn't take anymore.

"Well, I'm going for a run." She said, falsely cheerful. "And I've got to work later on," She lied, desperate to fill the silence. "Have a good morning." She said, walking out.

God, how ridiculously awkward. But, on the bright side she had managed to have an entire conversation with both Kitty and Bobby in the room. She had made it, and that was a massive step in the right direction. At least it wasn't as bad as it had been almost two months ago, just after she and Bobby had broken it off.

She let out a sigh as she began her run outside the mansion front door, after changing into her workout clothes. As she began her regular path through the grounds, she tried to put Bobby out of her mind, but it was no use. She knew she might as well let it play out in her mind, like it did every day no matter how much she tried to avoid it.

After she had gotten the cure, Rogue had returned to the mansion and returned to her life. Well, most aspects of her life. Since she was technically a regular human now, she was no longer an X-man and spent most of her nights as the designated babysitter for the children of the school and managed to find a job a short way away from the mansion.

Things had gone pretty well with Bobby for a while, almost three months. She admitted to herself that they might have moved too quickly after she came back, but Rogue knew she wouldn't change it now if she could. It was the first time in how many years that she was able to actually have contact with another human being, she didn't think it mattered if she was more than a little easy with her boyfriend of almost two years.

We don't have to do this," He had whispered, that first time, his arms wrapped tightly around her. She had laughed.

"I want to."

After only a few months, though, she began to feel detached from Bobby, and the rest of the group too. She wasn't allowed to go on missions since she was as a liability. It made sense since she didn't have any way to protect herself, nor could she let herself be a danger to the team, or to their mission. She wasn't a member of the team anymore. She wasn't even a mutant anymore.

There had been numerous problems just after the battle with Magneto, many big cities had erupted into riots against mutants and the X-Men were constantly heading out on missions to try to keep the peace. So, as Bobby was spending less and less time with her, Rogue began to get jealous. As a result, they started to grow apart. Rogue pumped her legs faster, trying to work up a sweat.

She began picking fights, about the stupidest things, and eventually about bigger issues. Her favorite topic near the end of their relationship was his interest in Kitty. Honestly, it was sad how Rogue had never been able to get over that small suspicion from months earlier, that small suspicion that helped her decision to get the cure. It renewed itself, though, as he was forced to spend more time with Kitty, instead of his girlfriend.

Rogue felt a cramp starting but pushed on harder, forcing herself to keep going, and to go faster. She was finding it harder to breathe, but pushed herself more.

She knew that her temper and the fights that she picked were the main problem that ended their relationship. She drove him away, she knew it. Faster, faster. And now she had to deal with consequence of seeing him in class and around the mansion. Go, go. With his new girlfriend. Keep going. Kitty.

Rogue tried to tell herself she wasn't surprised. She knew that there had been something there all those months ago. She stopped short now, bending over as she held onto her aching side. She coughed and gasped, still gripping her side. She kept her eyes closed against the sunlight that was shining onto her now, and fought the feeling that she was going to cry.

she heard inside her head. It's your fault. Rogue coughed and breathed in on one long sob. She stayed in her hunched over position for what felt like an hour, trying to stay still. Eventually, her breaths calmed and the ache in her side eased enough for her to straighten.

She hated days like these. Days when she just felt sorry for herself and couldn't stop thinking about everything that had happened. She especially hated having the dream about that oh-so-perfect day. It was usually the main factor in her bad days.

Rogue forced herself to start at a slow jog again, heading back towards the mansion. Mostly, she just hated feeling so weak and helpless about the entire situation. She didn't like the idea of bursting into tears at any moment. She was annoyed at herself for being so…female. She just felt like an outcast all the time, now…still. She was the only human in the mansion, and was now surrounded by awkwardness at all times because she couldn't avoid the Bobby issue anywhere inside the mansion.

Once back inside, Rogue paused in the foyer as she let her thoughts run through her mind, and was interrupted by a happy call that made her look toward the staircase. "Rogue!" She heard, seeing someone rush down the stairs. She smiled when she saw who it was.

"Hey Jimmy," Rogue said, greeting him with her regular warmth. "What are you doing up so early?"

"Eh, have a lot of homework to do," He said, shrugging. "I want to get it done before tonight."

"That's a good plan," She said, smiling at him. "I just went for a run, so I think I'm going to go shower. Don't forget to go eat something," She reminded him, patting his shoulder.

"'Kay." He chirped as Rogue turned away to run upstairs, and she didn't notice him remain the foyer and watch her run up the stairs.

As Rogue showered and dressed, she thought over her situation. She wasn't so sad that Bobby wasn't hers anymore, that wasn't the problem. It seemed as if she was more sad that she had not been able to make the relationship work. She had never been able to really trust Bobby, to fully let herself be his and be an equal part of their relationship. I never even told him my name, she recalled, brushing her hair.

She blinked. She had completely forgotten that. She had never told Bobby her real name. And he had hated that. He had actually started quite a few arguments because of it. He had respected her choice to still go by "Rogue", but he at least wanted to know what her name was. He couldn't understand her wish to still keep it to herself.

And then the arguments usually had moved onto her friendship with Logan. And how Logan knew her name, but she wouldn't tell Bobby. Rogue frowned, now. Why hadn't she remembered this before?

Because she had been too busy punishing herself for ending her relationship, she realized, for being alone. She had been so busy punishing herself that she had forgotten how frustrated she and Bobby had actually become.

"We just grew apart." She said out loud, testing this new theory. "It wasn't all your fault." She put her brush down, studying her face in the mirror.

She saw herself smile in her reflection as the weight in her chest felt lighter.

Maybe today would be a good day after all, she mused.