Disclaimer: I am not creative enough to think up these characters so I borrowed them.
Deep South - Part I
She ran.
Her footfalls fell silently except for the occasional crunch of leaves. Tears streamed down her face, causing her to run blindly through the thick forest. "This can't be happening," she thought. "Everyone knew how things were supposed to be! How could it turn to this?" The tears soon turned to sobs and she wearily sunk to the ground, her lungs unable to keep up any longer. She pulled her knees tightly to her chest, trying to quiet the noise her crying was making. She didn't want to be found, a wish that went unnoticed, she found, as two arms enveloped her.
"Chere, please don't–"
"Don't what?" she asked quietly. "Don't be upset? Don't be heartbroken? Don't be devastated? I'm sorry, but I don't think I can quite manage that yet."
"Hey, you know I can't ask you to do something that I can't do. You know I just can't stand to see you cry."
They sat for a moment, trying to calm themselves. Finally, she spoke.
"I just can't believe that it came to this. I thought we would be different. I thought that we had made them see-"
"See that we're more than pawns in their big game? So did I. But I guess my poppa still has foolish dreams of running the South." He sighed then, and began running his fingers through her curly tendrils, silently wishing that this wasn't the last time he would finger her brown and white tresses.
"I know. What's so unfair about it is that I know that there is nothing that we can do about it. Family pride should never have to overshadow love!" They sat in silence once again, thinking back to the events that put them in the position they were in now.
Eric and Raven Lehnsherr were one of the three wealthy families who ruled the Deep South. One night, seventeen years ago a woman whom they only knew as Irene came to their door, on the run from a mob that wanted her dead for witchcraft up north. Upon opening the door, the pregnant woman collapsed in Eric's arms. He quickly discovered that she was in labor and ordered his servants to call on the family midwife. As he laid Irene in one of the spare rooms, the midwife entered. Ororo quickly surveyed the scene. Blood stained Irene's skirts and her breathing was quite labored. Ororo jumped into action, praying she could deliver the baby before the mother was lost. Unfortunately, her prayers went unanswered. Irene used her last breath to push her daughter out. Rogue was born only an hour after Raven gave birth to a stillborn son. Eric and Raven adopted Rogue as their own without hesitation. Ororo remained on as Rogue's primary caretaker, molding the little girl into what she hoped to be a stunning debutant. Rogue turned out to be a beautiful girl. She looked to be the perfect molding of her adoptive parents, right down to her brown and white streaked hair.
When Jean-Luc Lebeau and his wife were traveling back to America after visiting some relatives in his native France seventeen years ago, he didn't think the voyage would gain him a son. He was soon proved wrong. While out wandering the ships deck one night, he happened upon a group of the ships servants dragging a small boy towards the edge of the ship. The boy was screaming to be let go but was not obliged. Jean-Luc was horrified to see the men try and hoist the little boy over the edge and immediately intervened. The boy, as it turns out, had been an accused stowaway with strange demon eyes. The servants were terrified and wanted him off the boat immediately. Jean-Luc knew he could not let the boy die so he told the servants he would care for him and paid for their silence. The servants grudgingly agreed and let the boy to Jean-Luc. He brought the two year old back to his wife who immediately fell in love with him. They agreed to raise him as their own, since they had not been able to have any children on their own. Remy, as they named him, was put under the care of his Tante Mattie and was instructed to learn the ways of a proper southern gentleman, as he was now a part of one of the three wealthy families who ruled the Deep South.
The Lehnsherrs and the LeBeaus were longtime friends and vacationed with each other once a year. This is how Remy and Rogue came to know each other. By the time Rogue was sixteen and Remy was 18 they were deeply in love. However, the month before Rogue's eighteenth birthday, and subsequent betrothal to Remy, would prove to tear the families' friendship asunder. The third wealthy, and most powerful, family of the Deep South was the House of Xavier. The Lehnsherrs, Lebeaus, and the Xaviers each held one third of the land in the south. When Charles Xavier opened up his own college in Massachusetts, he decided that he should divide his land amongst the other two families. However, Jean-Luc did not agree. He had always wanted power of the South but did not want to cross Xavier. But now the opportunity to rule had presented itself. Xavier also had a daughter, the fiery haired Jean, just three years his son's junior. By betrothing his Remy to Xavier's Jean, he could convince Xavier that giving Jean-Luc his share of the land would act as a sort of dowry for Jean. Xavier was delighted by the idea and quickly summoned a meeting between the three ruling families. When Xavier announced his decision, both Rogue and Remy were devastated. Remy quickly argued that he was supposed to be promised to Rogue, only to learn that her parents had already promised her to another family friend, Scott Summers of New York. Unable to handle anymore, Rogue promptly excused herself and ran out of the house, Remy not far behind.
From that moment on, Rogue and Remy were forbidden to see each other. However, that did not stop them. They met in secret everyday, telling themselves that it would be the last, but never having the strength to stay away from their secret meeting place. Much too quickly for their liking, Rogue's wedding day soon came. As a show of good grace, Remy was forced to attend with Jean on his arm. They sat in the very back of the church so when Rogue appeared to walk the aisle, Remy was the first to see her.