AN: I'm not sure if this chapter comes off as being a bit rushed towards the end or not, but anyway. Also, don't be mislead by the title of this chapter; this is not the end of the story.

Chapter 10: Closure

Rogue watched as the landscape built up around her. At first it had been barren, but then as her psyches moved in around her she could see it change and grow. It was like a patchwork quilt made up of all the places her psyches considered home or were otherwise precious to them. Perhaps the strangest part about it was the way they all seamlessly blended into one another.

"Rogue!" Bobby shouted.

Rogue smiled and trotted over to where he was standing in front of the replication of the mansion.

"Hey," she said.

"Is this place cool or what?" he said excitedly.

"It's certainly interesting," Rogue smiled.

"Well, it's way better than the last place we were hanging around. It was all stark and... stark," Bobby laughed. "This is way better."

Rogue chuckled.

"Glad ya like it," she said. "Ya have Emma ta thank. She was the one who pulled that wall down."

"Yeah, I know. We spoke to her while she was here," Bobby nodded. "Well, mostly David spoke to her, but details."

"Hey Rogue," Kitty said, giving her a hug. "Y'know I never thought I'd be grateful to Emma of all people, but I really have to say, I love this place. Feels so right, like... like this is where we're supposed to be. Oh! I have to show you my home."

Kitty grabbed Rogue's hand and dragged her off to the Chicago apartment building that just happened to be right next door. Rogue laughed and followed her.

"See? This is my room."

"It's certainly very... pink."

Kitty giggled and Rogue went to the window to look out on the view. She saw fireworks light up the sky. Or what passed for a sky.

"Jubilee's having fun," Kitty grinned.

"It would appear so."

Rogue took her leave and continued to explore. She found Logan in a cabin in a forest. Ironically, Magneto and his mountainside lodge was his nearest neighbour. She went by all sorts of places where psyches she had absorbed by accident had taken up residences. A lot of the people from the mansion were hanging out at the mansion, although many had their own places too.

She caught up with David outside his home in Meridian and he greeted her enthusiastically.

"Hi Marie," he said. "Long time no see."

"Plenty of hear, though," Rogue grinned at him.

David shrugged.

"Sorry about that. Tried ta keep the volume down but... hey Ah'm thinking it should be easier now that the wall's down. Who would have thought paradise was on the other side, huh?"

"Paradise," Rogue repeated, looking around. "Yeah, Ah guess this would kinda be paradise for you guys."

He chuckled and clapped his arm around her.

"Hey," Rogue went on. "What's that Sarah's playin' with?"

"Hmm? Oh that. We call it Will o' the Wisp. Or Will-o for short," David grinned at her. "Just 'cause it looks like the will o' the wisps from Quest for Glory 4. The wall buckled the day it showed up. Normally when you absorbed people it got thicker. Emma thinks it's your baby."

Rogue stood stock still.

"Muh... muh baby?"

"Don't know what else it could be," he shrugged. "Don't worry, Sarah won't catch it. It just floats around wherever it wants, but it doesn't come near anyone."

In a daze Rogue walked towards Marrow and Will-o where they were running around in the darkened park. Absently, she held out her hand towards Will-o and much to her stunned delight it came to her hand.

"You caught it!" Marrow exclaimed.

"Guess it knows it's mama," David grinned.

Rogue cradled the blue ball of light in her hand in awe as it danced about her palm. She bit her lip and could feel tears pricking at her eyes.

"Hi sugah," she said softly.

"Can I hold it?" Marrow asked hopefully.

"Maybe later," David cut in. "Ah think we should leave the two of them alone for now. Why don't ya show me around. This park yours?"

"Uh huh."

"Why's it so dark?"

"We always had to come here at night," Marrow explained as they walked away. "People might have seen us if we went out in daylight."

Rogue sat down on a park bench, her eyes never leaving Will-o.

"Ah'm sorry sugah," she said quietly. "Ah never wanted ta... Ah tried ta save ya, sugah. Ah did. Ah'm sorry ya missed out on your chance ta live. Ah would have loved ta see ya grow up. Ah would have loved ta hold ya in muh arms and taught ya ta walk and talk. Maybe take ya ta a park just like this one and push ya on the swings. Helped ya with your homework and warned ya about boys..."

Rogue trailed off with a sniffle.

"Well, unless you were a boy," she added with a teary laugh. "Then Ah would have warned ya about girls. We're a complicated bunch, us girls."

Rogue hugged Will-o close - or as close as one could hug a tiny ball of light - and with a final sniff she held out her hand and let Will-o go.

Kitty looked down to a tugging on her shirt at breakfast that morning and her eyes met Marrow's.

"Kitty," she said. "Do you know where Remy is?"

Kitty glanced back up at the table to see a number of heads shaking.

"He's probably down at the med lab with Rogue still, sweetheart," Kitty replied. "Y'know something? Why don't I put a plate together and you can take it down for him? I'm sure he'd love to see you."

"Okay," Marrow said cheerfully.

Kitty got up from the table to put together an impromptu breakfast while Marrow watched with interest. Pete hid his grin.

"There you go," Kitty said at last, hanging a plate and a cup to Marrow. "Now, be careful not to drop anything."

"I will," she promised.

Kitty smiled after her as she left the dining hall and sat back down with the others.

"She's so cute," she said. "It's almost like she has a crush on him."

"I think she's a little young for Remy," Bobby smirked.

"Well, you can hardly blame her," Betsy mused. "Remy was the one to rescue her from the Morlock Massacre."

"He was?" Bobby asked in surprise.

"Uh huh. Sarah's mind practically screams 'hero' whenever she thinks of him," Betsy grinned. "It's adorable."

"What was Remy doing in the sewers during the massacre?" Pete asked.

"Obviously he was one of the Morlocks."

"Gambit was a Morlock?" Pulse repeated with a skeptical look on his face.

"Well, the alternative was that he was one of the Marauders."

"Ya have ta admit, he's right up there with the combat skills and everyone knows that Sinister only goes after the best," Sam said thoughtfully.

"You can't be serious," Alison said scornfully.

"Just speculatin'. Ah can't picture him as a Morlock."

"No neither," Jubilee agreed. "But I can picture him as a Marauder even less. I mean, c'mon, the guy helps Sarah with her homework. Besides, why would he rescue her if he was there to kill her?"

"Point taken."

"Although," Pulse commented, "Most of the adults got taken out at Alcatraz."

"Yeah, but not all of them. And some adults got left behind to baby sit," Betsy said. "Lets face it guys, Remy's like a cockroach. Not even a level five mutant in the middle of a nervous breakdown could take him out."

There was some chuckles at that.

"Well, he can't have been with the Morlocks that long, if he was," Sam said. "He is a master thief. Their standard of living would have been much better if he had."

"So, what? We're saying that Remy joined the Morlocks after the battle to help look after the kids?" Bobby asked.

"Sure why not?"

"So, why didn't he tell us?" asked Alison.

"Oh sure, like Remy would really admit ta taking sympathy on a bunch of kids who lived in the sewers," Jubilee snickered. "It might spoil his bad-boy image."

"Ha, yeah, not to mention admitting he rescued a little girl," Betsy giggled. "Or got himself badly injured in the process."

"He did?" Alison asked.

"Those scars across his stomach? That's where he got them."

"Ooooh! I wondered about those. He never did tell me."

"I always suspected Remy was an ol' softly," Bobby grinned.

"But shh," Kitty giggled. "We can't tell him that we know and ruin his reputation."

"Besides," Jubilee added more seriously. "Would you go around telling people you lived through a massacre? C'mon, Sarah rarely speaks about what happened and she got rescued. How much harder would it have been for Remy? He probably got injured fighting the Marauders, y'know."

"That's probably true," Warren agreed.

"Oh!" Pulse exclaimed suddenly and swore.

"What?" asked Sam.

"Didn't... didn't Rogue absorb Sarah once?" Pulse asked.

"Uh huh," Kitty nodded. "After she came here. We didn't know what happened and we had no telepaths so yeah..."

"Oh wow! So that means Rogue must have seen the memory of Remy rescuing Sarah too," Betsy said. "And of course, Emma would know too. There's no way she wouldn't have investigated why Sarah's mind screamed out 'hero' whenever she was with Remy."

"I think that's the point," said Bobby with a glance at Pulse. "Rogue's known all this time. Rogue's first memory of Remy is him rescuing Sarah."

Pulse started to laugh, almost hysterically.

"I can't believe it," he said. "I've been competing with that guy before I even laid eyes on him and I didn't even know it."

"That's ridiculous," Betsy dismissed. "Rogue would not fall in love with a guy in someone else's memory."

"Oh is it now?" Pulse asked. "I could give her touch. That was the one thing I could give Rogue that no one else could. But she wants a family and I don't. Of course she's going to be attracted to the guy she remembers saving a kid. I will concede she probably didn't see him in a romantic light until she actually met him, but c'mon. I should have just thrown in the towel the moment he showed up."

"Naw," Alison giggled. "If ya did that, me and the girls would have missed out on a lot of fun."

"Oh right because you girls having fun with that womaniser is so important to me. Way, way more important than watching Rogue slip away from me," he snapped at her.

"Ohhhhh," Betsy stared. "That's why you became such a jerk to her while you were dating. You were deliberately trying to drive her off."

Pulse pushed away his empty plate.

"See yas later," he said and walked away.

A soft sigh of breath came from her lips and Gambit looked up to see Rogue's eyes open.

"Roguey?"

Rogue blinked then turned her head slightly and smiled where her eyes landed on Gambit's face.

"Hi sugah," she said.

"Hey," he replied as a grin appeared. "Have a nice sleep?"

"Uh huh," she paused. "How long have Ah been out?"

"A day and a bit."

"That long?"

"Yeah."

"Have... have you been here all this time?"

"Oui."

"Ya wait for me a lot, dontcha?"

"You're worth it," he shrugged. "How are yo' feeling?"

"Ah don't know," she admitted ruefully. "Rested?"

Gambit chuckled.

"What about, y'know, your powers?"

Rogue was quiet for a moment.

"Muh voices are quiet now," she said slowly. "Like, Ah can still feel muh psyches, but Ah can't hear 'em talkin' any more. Ah guess it's because they're in their new home now."

"New home?"

"Yeah. It's beautiful, in a mismatched kind of way. Their homes, their favourite places all merged together. They're happier now. Plus we found out they can just change things and add things any way they want. Bobby created a room in the mansion that had wall to wall boxes of twinkies."

Gambit laughed.

"He wants me to absorb Hank so they can eat them together," Rogue giggled.

"So they're making requests now, hein?"

"Uh huh. Oh! Sarah's started carrying around a new stuffed toy like a safety blanket. It's so cute. It looks just like you."

"Moi?"

"Well, face it sugah, the Sarah in muh head is the one that not too recently got out of the Morlock Massacre so she's not as well-adjusted as the Sarah we know today. She was so excited when Ah told her Ah'd met ya in real life."

"Oookay," Gambit replied, giving her a weird look. "Your mind is a very strange place, cherie."

"You're telling me," Rogue giggled as she sat up slowly. "Y'know what the best part was though?"

"What?"

"Ah met muh baby."

"Yo'... did?"

"Uh huh. Will-o - short for Will o' the Wisp, is what the psyches call her, or him. Will-o's just this blue ball of light that flitters around the place," Rogue smiled. "It's so... Ah didn't expect that... Ah mean she only existed for two seconds, that's not really enough time for a mind or anything to develop, so Ah never expected ta find her amongst muh psyches. It's kinda nice, y'know? Ah mean, Ah know she's dead but in a way she's not gone. And that's good. Especially as if it weren't for Will-o, Emma never would have thought ta poke around in muh head and this wouldn't have happened."

Gambit smiled and touched her shoulder, caressing her gently with his fingers.

"Bon," he said.

There was quiet between them for a moment.

"Emma told everyone not t' touch yo'. Just in case a premature absorption put the wall back," Gambit told her.

Rogue nodded.

"Probably wise," she said slowly. "Y'know something, Swamp Rat? Ah think... Ah think Ah can feel it. Feel muh power running through me."

"Yeah?"

"It's kinda burny," Rogue decided. "But Ah think Ah can turn it off."

"Well, dat's good, River Rat," Gambit paused for a moment, then grinned at her. "Need a test subject?"

Rogue laughed and sent the burning sensation away. She smiled.

"Sure."

She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. There was no pull, no sign of her powers kicking in with that first tender, tentative kiss and so the inevitable happened: they kissed again. Gambit wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close while Rogue moved one hand around his waist and the other about his neck. Each pouring in all their love for the other into that passionate moment.

Some immeasurable amount of time later, they reluctantly pulled away. Well, their lips pulled away. Their hands stayed right where they were.

"Well," Gambit said, his voice low and husky. "I'd say that was a successful test."

"Ah'd agree," Rogue smiled. "Remy?"

"Oui, ma cherie?"

"Ya don't have ta wait for me any more."

"Dis is turning out t' be a great day fo' everyone."

He kissed her briefly.

"Rogue?"

"Yeah?"

"Will yo' go out wit' me?"

"Of course."

"Bon. Just wanted t' make it official."

Rogue chuckled softly.

"Y'know what Ah wanna do?"

"Get out o' the med lab?"

"Well, yes, but after Ah say 'hi' ta everyone -"

"Oh yeah, Emma wanted t' speak t' yo' when yo' woke up."

"Okay. Umm, yeah, Ah was hopin' you'd like ta come with me ta muh room."

"Would yo' now?" Gambit asked, his eyes lighting up with both delight and surprise.

"And help me," Rogue went on kissing his neck, "go through muh drawers."

He caught his breath.

"And collect all muh gloves so we can burn them."

Gambit gave a low chuckle.

"Sounds like a plan."

"Ah thought so."

"You're an awful tease, y'know."

"Ah have ta make up for lost time."

"Hi Emma," Rogue said. "Remy said ya wanted ta see me?"

Emma looked up from her book and smiled.

"I did," she replied. "How are you feeling?"

"Great. And Ah definitely have control now."

"Yes... I see that you have. Most curious."

"What?"

"I can read your mind now. It's not being cluttered up with the thoughts of your psyches."

Rogue chuckled.

"Where there's a mixed blessing," she joked. "But Ah have ta say, it's nice ta be able ta hear muhself think."

"I really don't know how you managed to stand all the noise for so long."

"No choice."

"Well, without going mad anyway."

"Yeah."

"You should probably be careful not to absorb anyone any time soon though," Emma advised. "And perhaps I should revisit your mind in a couple of weeks, just to check on things."

"Whatever ya think is necessary," Rogue paused briefly, then added. "Thanks Emma. Ah owe ya big time for this one."

Emma waved a hand at her.

"Think nothing of it, dear," she replied. "Just do me a favour and don't tell anyone I said that."

"Rogue! You're awake!" was Betsy's greeting when she entered the dining hall.

"No, really?" Rogue asked. "Imagine that."

"How you feeling? Hey! No gloves."

"No gloves," Rogue grinned at everyone. "And Ah'd like ta invite ya'll to muh glove-burning ceremony tonight."

"Woohoo!" Tabitha cheered.

"Aww, you're not gonna burn all your gloves are you?" asked Jubilee. "Because you have some nice ones that I would totally love to have and -"

Rogue cut her off with a laugh.

"No, keeping the good ones, the presents and the ones I need for practical stuff. All the others are going to burn. Burn, baby, burn!"

"Have you been channelling Pyro?" asked Bobby suspiciously.

"No, but Ah was speaking ta his psyche recently. It was his idea."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Gambit looked down at the cardboard box and shook his head.

"I had no idea yo' had so many gloves, ma chere."

Rogue shrugged.

"Some women collect shoes. Ah collect gloves."

He chuckled. In front of them the bonfire burned brightly. Everyone in the mansion were gathered and Rogue had been getting congratulations all afternoon. Now they left the box out and with much delight Rogue pulled out the first pair and threw them into the fire. Applause and cheering followed. Rogue laughed and pulled out another pair to throw.

Gambit felt a familiar tugging at his hand and looked down to see Marrow looking up at him.

"Remy, can I throw some too?" she asked.

"Hmm, I don't know, petite," he replied. "Why don't yo' ask Rogue?"

"Ask me what?" Rogue asked.

"Can, can I throw some too?" Marrow repeated her request.

Rogue chuckled softly.

"Sure thing, sugah."

"Yay!" Marrow cheered.

Gambit grinned as the little girl rummaged through the box and pulled out a pair of gloves. With much delighted giggling she threw them onto the bonfire.

"Have ta watch this one," Rogue grinned at Gambit. "She might turn out ta be a pyro."

"Yeah can't have that," Gambit agreed. "Exploding t'ings is much more fun and sometimes yo' get fire anyway."

Rogue laughed and wrapped her arms around him. Gambit cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.

"It's about time!" yelled Betsy.