Family Ties: Epilogue A/N: *sigh* All good things must come to an end, that's how the saying goes. But fear not! A sequel (and a fic in between that) looms on the horizon! I want to thank everybody who R&R-ed. You made me feel so very good about my writing and myself. I'll make this chapter the best!!

*****

It was two nights later when Logan finally approached Rose. He sensibly knew that her fear of men would have increased ten-fold now, so he had given her time and space to heal.

He rapped his knuckles on the door, making a faint ringing sound shiver up his entire arm. "Rose?"

"Yes?"

He smiled; at least he'd gotten an answer. "Mind if I join ya?"

"No, no! Come in, please."

He did as she said and found her taking down every single circus poster on her walls. Logan found this odd; she had a great pride in her old life, except for certain aspects. Seeing the confused look on his face, Rose told him, "The circus is my past. I have only the future, here, to look forvard to."

"Oh, so now you're a fortune-teller, too, eh?" he chuckled.

"Not really," she replied with a smile spreading on her face. Her dark skin made it close to impossible to see her blush, and for that, she was eternally grateful to her mother. "But I can try. Can you foresee our future?"

He couldn't help but grin. Our future.he liked the sound of that. "Who wants to see the future? Makes it less exciting."

"I guess so," Rose said, a sly look on her face. "Vhat is life vithout a little fun?"

He noticed a letter on her desk. "Who's that from?"

"Vhat? That? Oh, it is a letter," she said, dulling her tone down. She added, "from Frederick."

"And?"

"He.he vants me to rejoin the circus, and travel vith him."

"And?" he repeated.

Rose smiled. "Are you vorried that I vould leave? Jealous, even?"

"Who, me?" Logan put on his most innocent face. "Nah!"

"Vell, you put up a very good act. And I'm not leaving."

"Great! I mean.why not?"

She sauntered up to him, a shrewd smile framing her face. Putting her arms around his neck, she whispered, "You."

Without her large wings, it was easier to hold her, Logan found. All the better, he thought as he wrapped his arms tight about her body, clinging so tightly he could hear her backbone pop.

Feeling a challenge, Rose held him to her just as tightly, deliberately lowering herself so that they were eye-to-eye.

Her skin was so soft, so plush, that the desire to touch it was becoming unbearable for Logan. He swept aside the curls in her face and kissed her forehead. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he let out a cheer; he had won! Frederick and Wolfgang had lost! And now the time had come to claim his prize.

He bent his head, his mouth tender on hers. Had she ever been lovingly kissed, he wondered. He hadn't expected the flare of passion that surged between them in a kiss that he had expected to be delicate, to assure her that she had nothing to fear from him. Feeling her tremble, with both fear and longing, he tightened his embrace.

"Choose me," he whispered, but her body had gone tense in his grasp. He rocked her as gently as he knew how, kissing her lips, her neck, her cheeks, her forehead. He began to feel something that he had never been aware of: desperate.

"Choose me, Rose," he begged as he felt the rigidity that was the beserker in his soul, not the human.

And she did.

*****

Logan was human again, and Rose was his. He felt triumphant and drained, both at the same time, and something else.he felt.completed. He hadn't felt that since his awakening in the forests of Canada.

They were both panting and sweating, the aftereffects of marvelously extended pleasure. She lay beneath him, eyes closed, soaked indigo curls hiding her face from sight. Logan didn't have the strength, nor the will, to release her, but, to be considerate of her, he shifted. He'd been with lots of ladies, but this encounter was really different somehow.

"Rose.you chose me," he sighed, propping up on his elbows to look down on her.

She turned her head to look at him, gray eyes wide and filled with awe, her scarlet pupils burning with passion and yet dulled by exhaustion. Her full lips had swollen to twice their size from the kisses Logan had been unable to contain, and the edges of her eyelids brimmed with tears.

"Didn't you?" Logan desperately needed to be reassured that she had done this of her own free will. He'd kill himself if rape had been involved.

"I-I didn't know it was like that!" she confessed, turning her head to the right in embarrassment.

"Rose," he whispered, laying his poky chin on her soft forehead, feeling a tad superior since he was no stranger to "that", "it should have happened to you before." He clenched a fist and drove it into the feather mattress, struggling not to pop his claws. "I still can't believe that Wolfgang did that to ya. I -"

"Sssh," she said, laying a finger on his lips. Her face, although tired, was beaming with happiness, and a smile crawled across her kiss- roughened lips. Logan wished he could see her more, but there was so little light in the bedroom. "I'm glad I chose you, and I'm very grateful to you, my love."

"Gratitude in a horse's ass," he snorted. He wrapped his arms around her, very much wanting an encore. He loosened his hold on her when he felt a hint of panic and resistance from her, and forced his body to relax. Looking down at her, he wanted to see what she was thinking and feeling right then.

Rose looked up at him silently for a long time, making him slightly uncomfortable, and curled one hand around his bare shoulder.

"You are angry vith me," she said simply, her body stiff beneath his own.

"Angry?" He didn't understand. "No, I'm -" He paused on "not" and took refuge from the moment by gazing at his lover. He saw that she was smiling a little, that her body was finally relaxed. Both of her hands lay loosely on his back. Taking a deep breath, he tried to make his muscles relax as well. "I'm not angry at ya, darlin'. I'm angry.for you."

She chuckled.

"I'll have to learn to tell the difference," she said.

"Will you?" Logan blurted out.

"Vill I vhat?"

"Want to learn the difference? To learn not to be afraid of me?" He massaged her face, rubbing his thumbs from her temples to her chin, bathing in delight at the softness of her velvety skin. He kissed her lightly and felt her cheeks warm in his hands. Then, gently, carefully, he moved to one side of her sleek form and pulled her to him that her head lay on his chest.

"Tired," she remarked simply, hugging him close with a deep sigh. "A nap vould be nice."

"Yeah." Logan liked that idea, especially the idea of sleeping with her in his arms. He liked that idea very much.