Pairings: Rogue/Remy, and Jean/Scott

Archive: It's not archived except for here. If for some reason you want to, e-mail me. It will eventually be up at my site 'Beautiful Alone'- http://www.angelfire.com/scifi/rachelpage

E-mail: TARGETER14@AOL.com or ravenwings@sailormoon.com

Disclaimer: Do I have to do this every time? Just in case, they're not mine.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Argh! I am such and idiot! I'd like to thank Neurotic Temptress for pointing out a huge error. I said in the previous chapter 'Over the course of the next few years, Remy detached himself from human contact.' It did NOT take Rogue years to die, it took days. I have gone back and fixed that nasty little error. I haven't been this embarrassed since I accidentally typed 'pubic' instead of 'public' once, and my spell checker didn't get it. *blush* Thankyou very much Neurotic Temptress for alerting me to that.

~~~~~

"It's been a year, Roguie. And de emptiness inside, it's still there. I get de feeling that you would want me to move on with my life...but it just feels so wrong."

Xavier's mansion and base was enormous. To match the house, the grounds were also huge, and probably cost a fortune to maintain. There was even a small lake on the property. Overlooking this lake was a hill. On that hill was a single tree, with a lone grave underneath it. Even in death, Rogue kept away from people.

"I brought flowers for you, cherie. I hope you like 'em."

To match the lonely landscape, stood a solitary individual. He was dressed in a strange blue armor, his long red-brown hair held back by a blood red bandanna. Over the dark blue armor he wore a calf-length coat the colour of caramel.

"I can't make it go away. De emptiness dat is. I've tried, but it's so hard to let go of you. And until I do that, I think it will stay wid me. Like I said though- moving on, it just feels wrong."

He had been staring out at the lake, red irises focused on the distant sunset. Overheard, a handful of stars were blossoming in the twilight sky. This was the only time of day when stars were visible, before the lights of New York killed them. He turned demonic eyes to the grave, visually tracing the letters carved in stone. There was no body under there- she had been cremated, and her ashes scattered to the winds- but the grave at least gave him a fixed location to talk to her.

"I can't ever do that. But, in de year since both you died, and I was born, I've tried to make a decent person outta myself. Tried to make myself a little happier, because I know that's what you'd want for me. Joined the X-Men, helpin' mutants...do you know why, chere? It's not only for me."

The sun was sinking behind the city now. His empathy was picking up the feelings of New York at night. It was like sex, joy, greed and pain all rolled together, and crashing over him like a rolling breaker. The sense was almost tangible. No other place in the world was exactly the same, feelings-wise.

"For you, Rogue. 'Cause I couldn't help you. So, I help other mutants."

The man knelt beside the grave, sitting on the cool grass, and now physically tracing the letters of her name, and date of death. A faint, bittersweet smile graced his stubbled face, and the hard lines around his eyes faded away, just for a moment.

"Oi, Gambit!"

He turned to see Jubilation Lee running up the hill towards him. The twelve year old girl was the latest addition to the X-Men, and had taken it upon herself to bug him every chance she got- or as she called it, 'befriending' him. He didn't mind too much. She was the only one in the mansion who knew nothing about his past, or Rogue. Along with the Professor, she was the only one that didn't flood with pity everytime he walked out the door to talk with his dead love. Even now, she was just radiating curiosity.

The man raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Oui?"

Jubilee flicked a strand of cropped black hair out of her eyes. "Scott sent me to get you. He said to be at the X-Jet in twenty minutes or 'you've got kitchen duty for a month'." Dark eyes moved to the grave stone he sat beside as she toyed with a thread on the yellow jacket she had bought in imitation of his own. "Who was Rogue? No one ever says anything about her." She pouted. "No one ever tells me anything."

"She was..." He hesitated, trying to find the right words. "Everything."

The Asian girl blinked, trying to comprehend his statement. "Uh, ok. Is she the person you got your name from?"

"What?"

"Well, Rogue, Gambit, they've kinda got the same kinda sound to them. Kinda dashing, and mysterious."

He chuckled lightly. "Very perceptive, petite. You're right."

"I am?" Her expression lightened. "Cool!" She punctuated this with a loud crack of her bright pink bubblegum. "Now, what's your name?"

He stood up. "I'm Gambit."

"No, really!" Jubilee protested. "What's your real name, not your codename?"

"Who I was no longer exists." He brushed grass off the back of his jacket. "He died on the banks of the Mississippi, to pay for her death. I am Gambit now."

Jubilee shrugged, still looking slightly disgruntled. "Fine. Whatever works for you. You are one strange banana though. Come on, before Scott has kittens."

"Just be a second, petite." He crouched beside the grave again. "Love you, cherie." Gambit whispered. "Love you forever."

My green eyed girl.

~~~~~

Waaaah! Uber-crappy ending! And I even included the evil Jubilee! (whom, after over a year in the fandom, I STILL loathe.)

It's been more than a year since I started this- and I have to say, I'm almost glad to see it finished! This fic has been there through all my ups and downs with my light sensitivity, my various anime obsessions, my shifting muses, writer's block, teenage angsting, the end of Grade 10, the start of Grade 11, my good friend Jess moving away...*gasps for air* Lets just say its been around for a while. There are still times when I wish I had just taken a lighter to the draft of the first chapter.

I have various people to thank. *unfolds speech* I'd like to thank God, the Academy...

Oh come on, you all saw that coming.

Serious now. I would like to extend a very big thanks to my good friend Jess. Back when I began this, she was the only one I told about it. (Ok, she peeked over my shoulder in science class) Instead of laughing and saying 'Rae, you're a humorist! No way can you pull of a romance!' like certain other people, she squealed and said 'Rachel, you DO have a romantic side!' At the time it was disturbing, but it didn't stop me writing.

Secondly, another huge thanks to another friend, Sue. (Friezaess on FF.N) A few months ago, I mentioned that I just couldn't write on this fic. Even though she doesn't read X-Men fanfiction, she gave me some advice that I took to heart. It was because of her that I was able to finish this. If it wasn't for her advice, that three month long hiatus would still be going.

I have to give due credit to my latest muse Schu. He'll get bitchy if I don't explain it to you all that he also helped with the three month writer's block thing.

Finally, the biggest thanks goes to you, the readers. Yes, that's cheesy. No, I don't care. Your reviews have consistently tugged on the ol' heartstrings, and you people are truly wonderful. Thankyou for taking a slice out of your lives to give my trashy little experimental fic a go. I love you all.

Well, that's it for me. I'm using this time to announce my vacation from the X-Men fandom for a while. Don't worry, I have too many ideas jotted on register tape for me to leave completely. But I am going to touch onto new fandoms. I already have a Gundam Wing fic ready to go (as soon as I type the damned thing up) and I've nearly finished hand writing a Weiss Kreuz fic. If you're in to any of those fandoms, maybe I'll see some of you there. ^_^

'Green Eyed Girl' is now officially finished. I hope you enjoyed the ride.