A/N: This is set between the first and second film
Logan slowly started to wake up as he heard his name being called softly. He didn't have to be fully awake to realise it was the middle of the night. He was grumpy at the best of times but now whoever was calling his name was also shaking him. Sleep was rare these days especially for him so whoever was trying to wake him up had better had a good reason.
"What?" he groaned as he finally opened his eyes.
They settled on Rogue. She was crouched by the side of his bed. She rocked back onto her heels as she spoke. "You need to get up."
"Why? What's wrong?"
She chuckled quietly as concern wrapped his voice and he sat up. "Nothing is the matter, I just need to show you something."
"It's late," he groaned as he fell back onto the bed.
"Please, it won't take long and you can come right back to bed," she tried to reason with him. "Plus, with everything that happened with Magneto I don't feel safe going outside by myself."
Again he sat up, a look of concern on his face. "I guess I can give ya five minutes."
"I can't believe that worked," she grinned as he got up off of the bed.
Logan glared at her. "That ain't funny."
"I know," Rogue agreed as Logan pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. "But if making light of it can help me move on then that's what I need to do."
Logan put the palm of his hand on her lower back as he pushed her forward gently, the thin material of her top just about keeping him safe from her powers. "Well go on then, show me this thing. Whatever it is."
Carefully Rogue led the way. It being so late they decided to stay on the quiet side so not to disturb anyone. As they made their way through the mansion Rogue didn't say a word about what she wanted to show him and Logan didn't ask. He could tell it meant a lot to her otherwise she wouldn't have woken him up.
As they finally got through the mansion outside one of the back doors their posture and pace became a lot more relaxed. They strolled along and it wasn't until they were quite far from the mansion and still in the grounds that Rogue finally spoke.
"I know you're trying to find out about your past," Rogue said softly. "And I know that you're going to be leaving again in a couple of days. Who knows how long you'll be gone this time. I'd ask you to stick around but I know how important it is for you to find answers."
"I'd stay if I could, kid."
"Kid," she laughed. "I'm not a kid anymore Logan but I guess it would be weird if you didn't call me that."
"Yeah well, what did you want to show me?"
They had stopped walking now and Rogue motioned to a tree. It was at the very edge of the grounds but not too close to the woods that settled there.
"Climb it."
Loagn look at her sceptically but did as she said and climbed the tree. As soon as he was up she climbed up behind him. The sat on a branch near the top. There were a few leaves blocking their view but not many.
"What are we doing up here, kid?" he asked with confusion.
"Look," she said softly motioning out in front of them.
As Logan looked he could see the mansion and the landscape that lay beyond it. There were some buildings dotted around and it was all illuminated by the rising sun. Logan stared out at it. He was completely captivated at the beauty.
"I know you need to go and I would never ask you not to," Rogue explained. "I just wanted to show you that this is your home and you can find true beauty here. I wanted to show you this so maybe you'll have a reason to come back."
As she stopped she turned to see Logan looking at her. Her smiled a little at her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She rested her head against his shoulder, being careful not to make any skin on skin contact. He kissed the top of her head, holding the contact for as long as he could.
"I already have my reason to come back."
He held her a little closer as they watched the sun rise high into the sky.
