When Logan came to, he was back in his room. His entire body ached. He raised his hand slowly and rubbed his forehead.

"You're awake."

He looked over to see Storm sitting by his bedside. "What the hell happened?" he asked.

"Rogue's powers came back," Storm replied.

"Right, and at the most opportune moment." Storm stifled a laugh. "How is she?"

"She's taking it pretty hard."

Logan sighed deeply. "I can't believe this is happening."

Storm placed a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be OK, Logan."

"How, Storm? Tell me how. I'll never be able to touch her again." Logan sat up. "You have no idea what it feels like to finally be close to her." Logan suddenly felt dizzy. He lay back in his bed and closed his eyes tightly. "Damn, I shouldn't have sat up that fast."

"Get some sleep. I'll stop by to check on you later." Storm got up and left the room.

X

She searched the mansion, but Storm couldn't find Rogue. She looked in all of the usual places that Rogue liked to hang out. She stopped to think for a moment.

"Where could she be?" Storm asked herself.

She then remembered the last time that Rogue had absorbed Logan's powers. For a few days afterwards, Rogue had a few of Logan's mannerisms. It was then that Storm knew where to find her.

She walked outside and into the courtyard. Sure enough, she found Rogue sitting on the ground in front of the X-Men memorials. Storm came and sat down next to her. She noticed that Rogue's hands were now covered with long black gloves.

"Logan's awake," Storm said.

Rogue looked over at Storm. "Is he OK?"

"A little achy and woozy, but he'll be all right."

Rogue sighed deeply. "I can't believe this is happening."

"Oh, sweetie. It'll be OK."

"How? Tell me how. I'll never be able to touch him again. You have no idea what it feels like to finally be close to him."

Storm smiled. "He just said the same thing about you."

"Really?"

Storm nodded. "Exact same way, too."

"Well, I did just absorb him. It's gonna wear off soon."

Storm sighed. "Rogue, tell me something. How much do you love Logan?"

"A lot. I really care about him, and he truly cares about me. All of his memories and thoughts are running around in my head right now. I know how he feels about me. He may have a rough exterior, but his emotions run deep."

"And how does he feel when he touches you? When he kisses you?" Storm leaned in closer and dropped her voice to a whisper. "When he makes love to you?"

Rogue thought for a moment. Then a smile came to her face. "He loves it. He thinks that there is nothing better. It's his state of grace."

"Think about that, Rogue."

Storm got up and started back to the mansion, leaving Rogue with her thoughts. After a few moments, Rogue got up and ran after Storm.

"Teach me to control my powers."

Storm stopped and turned around. "What did you say?"

"I want to learn to control my powers."

Storm smiled. "That's what I thought you said. But understand something. Learning to control your powers is going to take a lot of time and mental concentration."

"I can do it. I want to do it. I wanna start right now."

"Alright, then. You know what meditation is?"

"Yeah."

"That's what we're gonna do."

Storm took Rogue's gloved hand and led her into the mansion.

X

Rogue sat on the floor of her room. Storm sat opposite of her. Rogue steadied her breathing. She pushed every thought out of her head, allowing it to be blank. She relaxed all the muscles in her body, letting go of all the tension.

Rogue started to feel Storm's powers being transferred over to her. She immediately let go of her hand. Storm started hyperventilating.

"You alright?" Rogue asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Storm said, trying to catch her breath. "I'm fine."

"How long did we go for that time?"

Storm looked at the stopwatch around her neck. "A new record. Fifteen minutes."

"That's great. It's working."

Storm smiled. "Pretty soon you'll have full control over it."

"I hope so."

Then there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Rogue said.

Kitty phased through the door. "I'm not interrupting, am I?"

"No," Storm said. "We're finished." She got up from the floor. "Same time tomorrow."

"OK," Rogue said.

Then Storm left the room. Kitty sat down on Rogue's bed.

"So?" Kitty asked.

"Fifteen minutes," Rogue replied.

"That's awesome! But…" Kitty stopped.

"What?" Rogue asked.

"I was just wondering, are you going to be able to control it if you and Logan…ya know."

Rogue laughed and started to blush. "Well, we'll see."