FYI:

~Personal thoughts~

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

{Musical Lyrics}

From This Moment On--Shania Twain

ROGUE

Gambit an' Ah were sittin' in the professor's office with Logan glarin' down at us while we waited for the professor to come in an' sort things out. Ah was still wearin' Gambit's coat an' had stopped sobbin'. Ah reached into one of the many pockets an' pulled out the only thing Ah found there, a piece of paper. Ah looked down at it an' saw it was a playin' card--the Queen of Hearts. Instead of putting it back in his coat pocket, Ah put it into mah jeans pocket as the professor came in.

"I believe I understand what has just happened."

"Well, it's about time somebody started talking."

"Logan, I think it would be best if you left. I think we can handle it from here."

Logan gave Gambit one last menacing glare as he left the room, slammin' the door shut. The other students musta returned 'cause Ah could hear them shoutin' an' runnin' through the upstairs hall ways. Kitty musta been back in our room 'cause her radio was playin' country music through the ceiling.

{From This Moment Life Has Begun, From This Moment You Are The One}

"Gambit, your powers to charge objects with kinetic energy comes from the field of electricity that surrounds your body. It protects you from the detection of psychics, which explains why I could not locate the two of you earlier."

{Right Beside You Is Where I Belong, From This Moment On}

"Why couldn't ya sense me though?"

{From This Moment I Have Been Blessed, I Live Only For Your Happiness}

"Whenever Gambit touches someone, that field extends itself around the other person, thus protecting the both of you." Gambit looked like he was in complete shock to hear just how powerful he really was. "It seems that this same field of energy also protects you from Rogue's absorption powers."

{And For Your Love I'd Give My Last Breath, From This Moment On}

~What did he just say? Ah can touch Gambit without hurtin' him. This is too good to be true!~ Gambit reached over an' grabbed mah hand which Ah'd been wringin' in mah lap all the while the profssor had been talkin'.

{I Give My Hand To You With All My Heart}

"So Cheri can't hurt me?"

"No."

{Can't Wait To Live My Life With You, Can't Wait To Start}

"But Ah don't understand. Ah've absorbed Gambit before. What happened?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong Gambit, but since Apocalypse's release, your powers have evolved, giving you more control over the energy field surrounding your body."

"Oui, but I didn't t'ink my powers evolved t'at much, Messiur. I didn't even know I was protected from psychics, let alone Cheri."

{You And I Will Never Be Apart}

~This is amazing! Ah thought Ah'd never be able to have contact with anybody.~ Ah didn't dare say anything aloud for fear it would all go away like dreams do in the morning. Ah was all smiles an' couldn't help but think about what it would be like to touch some without mah gloves. Ah coulda kissed Gambit right then an' there but Ah didn't because of the professor bein' there. He was still squeezin' mah hand an' Ah prayed he'd never let go.

"Rogue, if you could give Gambit and I a moment to discuss some things."

{My Dreams Came True Because Of You}

With those words mah bubble of hope burst. ~He's gonna tell Gambit to go away an' never come back here no more. Not now, now that Ah know Ah can actually have a relationship with somebody.~

No, Rogue. I'm going to ask Gambit to stay here, with the X-Men.

~Thank God for telepaths!~ Oh, okay.

Ah gave Gambit's hand one last squeeze before Ah got up an' left the room. Once outside the door Ah ran straight smack into Colossus. "What are ya doin' here?"

"Your professor wished to see me. I do not know why though." He entered the office an' shut the door Ah had left open in mah excitement. Ah sat down along the wall an' decided to wait for Gambit to come out.

Ah hadn't been sittin' out there very long before Logan came along.

"Isn't it past curfew, Kid? 'Bout time you got to bed."

"Ah'm not tired, besides Ah want to know what's goin' on in there."

"There'll be plenty of time for that tomorrow. Now get going."

Ah got up an' walked back to mah room in silence. Kitty was already asleep an' snorin' softly as Ah crawled into mah own bed an' gave mah teddy a hug. ~Tonight's the last night Ah'll be needin' ya Teddy. From now on, Ah'll be able to hug an' kiss a real boy.~ With that thought, Ah fell fast asleep.

GAMBIT

~Wonder why Marie's so happy? Isn't it obvious t'at the professor is about to give me the boot.~ What did you want with me, Messiur?" The professor was smiling at me, making me nervous, however t'at feeling went away as soon as Piotr walked in. ~Well, he wouldn't have Piotr here if he was going to kick me out.~

{From This Moment As Long As I Live, I Will Love You, I Promise You This}

"You wished to see me?"

"I wanted to make an offer, to the both of you. If you would like, you're both welcome to stay here as X-Men." ~So t'at is all he wanted!~

{There Is Nothing I Wouldn't Give, From This Moment On}

"I'll do anyt'ing to be near Cheri!" I meant it too. Piotr nodded silently in response.

"Well then, enough for tonight." Logan entered the office then still scowling at me.

{You're The Reason I Believe In Love, And You're The Answers To My Prayers From Up Above}

"You wanted to see me, Chuck?"

"Yes, would you show these boys to their room."

{All We Need Is Just The Two Of Us, My Dreams, Came True, Because Of You}

"You're making a big mistake bringing those two clowns here. They're going to be more trouble than they're worth." He was looking right at me while he said all this. I stood up and got right into Logan's face.

{From This Moment As Long As I Live, I Will Love You, I Promise You This}

"I don't know what you're implying, Messiur…"

"Once a thief, always a thief, and there ain't any honor among thieves."

{There Is Nothing I Wouldn't Give}

"I'm a changed man, Messiur, t'anks to Cheri. She's made me see there's more to life than…" ~I don't feel like finishing t'at sentence at the moment. The last t'ing I want to do is prove him right.~

{From This Moment, I Will Love You As Long As I Live, From This Moment On}

"Than what bub?" I suddenly realized I didn't have my coat, which meant I didn't have any playing cards. ~Shit, now what. I'm all talk and no action.~

"Logan, this isn't the time or the place."

"Fine. You two better keep up." He turned and stormed out of the office. Piotr exchanged glances as we hurried to catch up. He led us up a flight of stairs to the dorm rooms and we stopped outside of an end room.

"Here you go. But listen up Cajun, you hurt her and you're a dead man."

"Is that a threat, Messiur?"

"No, it's a promise."

"Well, I'm going to love t'at girl for as long as I live."

ROGUE

"Hey sleepyhead! Like are you going to sleep all day?"

"Go away." ~Would Miss Sunshine someday realize that not everybody liks mornin's like she does.~ "What time is it?" Ah rolled over to look at mah alarm clock to see it was 10:00 a.m.

"Time for you to get up before you like miss all the fun."

"What fun?" She was starting to get irritating. Ah rolled outta bed an' started fumblin' through mah dresser for clothes. Ah pulled out a tank, blouse, an' jeans.

"Like Gambit and Colossus moving in!" ~Then last night hadn't been a dream; Gambit really was movin' in. Then it was also real that we could touch…~ "Come on!" Ah had barely changed mah clothes before Kitty grabbed ahold of mah hand an' phased us through the floor into the library where she then led me into the main hall where everybody was gathered at the front door. They were all peerin' out at somethin' goin' on in the drive. Kitty phased us through all of the younger students so that we had the best view. There was Gambit an' Colossus standin' by their bikes talkin' to the professor, Scott, an' Logan, who was still lookin' angry. "Like, don't you think Colossus is kinda cute, how he's so quiet all the time. He's really just a big softy."

"Yeah, whatever." Gambit looked up towards the doors an' saw me an' waved. All of the other students seemed embarrassed to be caught starin' so they all moved back from the doors a bit. Ah pushed open the door an' walked down to where they were all standin'. "Hey…"

"Bonjour, Cheri." He bowed as he took mah hand an' kissed the back of it before standin' back up an' kissing mah cheek. Ah was completely mortified an' Ah knew mah face was burnin' red. ~Why'd he go an' do that while everybody's watchin'? 'Cause everybody's watchin' an' can see that he's touchin' mah skin.~

"I'm glad the two of you decided to join us. I'm sure there is much we can learn from each other."

"It wasn't a hard decision to make, Messiur." Ah knew mah face had just gotten about ten shades redder if it was at all possible. Ah realized for the first time that not only was Logan upset, but so was Scott.

"Hey like, can we give these guys the tour, or what?" Kitty had followed me down to the drive an' nearly scared me to death when she finally spoke.

"That's not a bad idea, Kitty. We'll see you then for lunch." The professor wheeled away followed by Logan but Scott hung back.

"Just because you guys live here doesn't mean you're X-Men nor that we trust either of you." Getting that off his chest, Scott stormed up the front steps an' through the front doors, causin' the other students to scatter.

"Like what a jerk! Just ignore him. Come on, Softy, I'll give you the grand tour." Kitty dragged Colossus off leavin' Gambit an' Ah alone for the first time since last night.

"Ah'm sorry about everythin' that happened last night. Ah kinda freaked out a little. Can ya forgive me?" Everyone was watchin' again. Could ya blame them…he had just kissed me an' was still standin'.

"Of course." He smiled as he put his arm around mah waist an' we started walkin' across the grounds together.

We'd been walkin' in silence an' once we reached the tennis courts Ah decided to ask him about somethin'. I pulled the Queen of Hearts out of mah jeans pocket an' placed it in his hand. "I found this in your pocket. Somthin' special about it?"

"Non, just that it reminds me of you, Marie." Ah'd been pickin' at mah gloves again without even realizing Ah'd been doin' it. It was hot today, an' they were makin' mah hands itch. "Why don't you just take them off Cheri?"

Ah took them off an' did somethin' Ah'd never dreamt of doin' in a thousand years. Ah reached up an' touched his face with mah bare hand an' felt the roughness of his chin an' the warmth all by itself was purely amazin'. He smiled down at me as he played with mah hair an' continued to hold me around the waist. Pullin' me closer to him, he leaned down an' kissed me on the lips. Caught off guard, Ah tried to prepare mah self for the flood of memories an' thoughts that would come, but they never did. When Ah opened mah eyes, Ah could see he was laughin' at me.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, Cheri, just that you are so frightened of a simple kiss."

"Ah'm not scared!" He was still smilin' as he bent down an' kissed me again. This time Ah kissed him back, knowin' that everythin' was gonna be ok. It was a long passionate one, the kind Ah'd been dreamin' of ever since Ah found out Ah wasn't allowed contact anymore. The only difference was, it was better than those Ah'd dreamt of.

GAMBIT

~She's a damn good kisser for being her first.~ We had kissed for what seemed to have been an eternity. Despite how some of the others had reacted to my joining the X-Men, those few moments with Cheri more than made up for all of it. "What have they been teaching you in French class, Cheri?"

She smiled at me as we continued walking. "You'll just have to come to school an' find out, Sugah."

"I guess so." ~How did she do it? How could she talk me into doing all of these crazy things in the name of love.~ I'd dropped out of high school my senior year, simply because I didn't t'ink I'd need it being a t'ief. Now she'd talked me into going back simply by making me want to be near her all the time.

As we walked she rested her head on my shoulder. She was so beautiful t'at I couldn't keep my eyes off of her. "What are ya starin' at?"

"Not'ing. Just the grass." ~It's almost like a game now. She catches me staring, tells me about it, and forces me into lying.~

"Yeah, the professor spends a lotta money on the landscaping." She almost seemed disappointed t'at I didn't just tell her the truth as she led me back to a gazebo. She pulled away for a short while, just long enough to call some type of elevator up. She then took my hand and led me into the elevator, which took us to the lower levels of the mansion. That's when the tour really began, but I don't t'ink it did much good, because I was completely lost down there. The place was amazing, it had every type of training tool you could dream of--classrooms, weight rooms, you name it, they had it. The last t'ing she showed me was a large open room with not'ing in it.

"This is the danger room, we do just about all our trainin' down here."

"Strange name, Cheri. There isn't anyt'ing dangerous about t'is place."

"You'll see, later on. Come on, if we don't get to lunch now, Kurt won't leave anything for us to eat." She led me down a few more corridors to another elevator. "Kitty, wait!" Kitty and Piotr were already inside and they waited for us to get in before going back to the main level.

"So, like what do you think?"

~I'm not even going to bother trying to crack jokes about a place like this.~ "Impressive."

"Yes, that is what I thought too."

"Like, I told you, you can't help but love this place, you big softy." ~Damn, is Piotr blushing? I think that would be a first.~

Well Cheri was right, by the time we reached the dining room, Kurt was already on his third helping.

"Hey I just had a great idea!"

"Uh-oh. Kitty don't strain your brain too much."

"Shut-up Kurt. Like I was saying, like why don't we take you guys shopping? You're going to need clothes and all kinds of new stuff to start school in two weeks."

"That's not really necessary, I have enough clothes to get me by." Piotr nodded in agreement wit' me, but the girls were ready to put up an argument.

"Those silk shirts of yours ain't gonna cut it in the winter, Sugah. Ah don't know what ya expected, but it does snow here--a lot."

"Besides, it's like against the law to wear old clothes to school for at least a week!"

"I do not have any money for this type of shopping."

"Relax, like the professor covers all that kind of stuff, especially for the kids who like don't have any family…" Rogue and Kurt pushed their plates back and looked down into their laps as Kitty dragged off. ~Kids like Cheri.~ I took her hand in mine and gave it a squeeze.

"In a place like t'is, aren't you all family?" Rogue gave me a smile as Kitty answered.

"Of course!" She seemed mortified by what she had just said and was grateful for the save. "So it's settled, tomorrow, we're taking you boys to shop 'til you drop."