Ah sighed heavily an' rubbed at th' back o' my neck. Kitty's fingers tapped a nervous dance on my forearm.

"It's gonna be okay," she breathed.

Ah knew it. Just th' way Ah knew that Remy soakin' wet with his hands in another girl's hair was all some kinda funny mistake. Some kinda funny for sure.

"It's not what y' t'ink, chere." He'd stopped 'bout five feet away. Teeterin' on th' edge o' his toes, but not actually movin' any closer. One wrist was splinted, but th' wet bandages were saggin' away from th' skin.

"What would ya know about th' way Ah think?" Ah asked sweetly.

Remy shoved his good hand in th' direction of his pocket, but his clothes were too soaked ta let him find it easily. Finally, he just clenched his fist into his shorts an' shook his head. "Seems like less and less every day."

In th' meantime, Nita had slipped back into her clothes ta join us. We were all standing with our legs braced apart, just like we'd start fightin' at any moment.

Nita raised her hands, palms up. "I think we should talk."

"What's all this, then? A man can't be sick without th' world going all pear shaped?"

Ah felt like everythin' sorta stopped right then, until Kitty let out a small squeak an' dashed forward, throwin' her arms around John's neck with more enthusiasm than Ah'd seen from her in days.

"Careful, love," John chuckled, staggering back under her weight.

"Oh! Sorry. Sorry," she gasped, disentangling herself. "You probably still feel like crap. Sorry."

John grimaced. "Might not've put it quite that way myself." Kitty laughed quietly. "Seems like everyone's got their own drama t' get sorted." He pointed back in the direction of th' house. "Why don't we sit and talk like civilized people, eh?" His voice was strong enough when he said it, but Ah could see how he was still pretty unsteady on his feet.

Remy stepped forward an' slipped his good arm around John's waist. John stiffened for a second an' Ah could almost see th' dirty, offhand comment he was achin' ta make. Instead, he just clapped his hand on Remy's shoulder an' sagged against him gratefully.

"Y' shouldn't be out of bed."

"Couldn't very well stay in it any longer. I would've gone barking mad."

"Who does this to the water?" Kitty asked Nita as we started back ta th' house. Softly, so that Remy an' John wouldn't hear. "I don't know exactly what your deal is, but you seem to know a lot about it."

"Are you accusing me..."

"No." Kitty bit her lip. "I don't like feeling like no one knows what's going on."

Ah opened my mouth ta say that mebbe that's why she wanted ta go back ta the Professor, but Ah couldn't get it out. It was just one more thing. Ya never really know how much ya can pile on top o' one person before they start ta crack just a little. We were carryin' over our share, an' some of it was th' nature of what we were, but some of it was the nature of who we were.

Nita sighed. "Sorry. I...I'm just like this sometimes. Namor says that too much air oversaturates our systems."

"Who's Namor? Wait, your systems?"

"Let's just wait 'till everyone can hear?" Ah suggested. "No sense in sayin' things twice."

Soon enough, we were all installed comfortably enough in th' big house. Remy insisted on John lyin' down an' he fussed a little, but in th' end Ah think he was grateful ta get off his feet. Th' rest of us sat in chairs on both sides. Ah propped my feet against th' coffee table.

"There's not much of a beginning to start from," Nita warned.

"Let's start wit' de basics, den."

Nita gave Remy a piercing look. Somethin' Ah wouldn't have wanted ta be on the receiving end for. "Name, rank and serial number, is that about right?"

"We'll start wit' de name."

"Namorita."

"Why aren't you using your real name?" Kitty asked suspiciously.

Nita sighed, sinking back into th' soft cushions of her chair. "Nita is my real name. It's a nickname. If your name was Namorita, would you want to use it?"

"Girl's gotta point, sweetheart," John said. Kitty bit her lip. Ah think she was torn between givin' him a good-natured swat an' not wantin' ta hurt him by accident.

"What are you doing here?"

"Exactly what I said I was. I'm doing a comparison study on the effects of pollutants on the cellular health of aquatic animals and plants." She nodded her head in John's direction. "Some of you should be pretty familiar with the concept by now."

John leered gently at her. "Who exactly you callin' a fish now, love?"

"Y' mind telling us why de air makes y' crazy, chere?"

Nita (she was right, Ah couldn't think o' her as Namorita) shook her head. "We don't know exactly. No one ever spent as much time on the surface as my cousin, Namor. He used to get into...trouble."

"Cop trouble? Dat what you're sayin'?"

"Army trouble," Nita said flatly. "I guess it was pretty much hushed up. Humans don't like much that's different, do they?"

"Non."

"Hold on a second," Kitty said. She looked puzzled an' she shook her head like she was clearin' it. "So this whole other species under the sea, you're from..."

"Atlantis."

Kitty pinched herself. "Now I know I'm dreaming. I fell asleep and dreamed this whole crazy vacation. Because it seems wrong to me that all you'd be here for is our accredited colleges and universities."

"Think of it as a study abroad program," Nita said dryly. She looked from one person to another. John burst out laughing, bracing one hand against the edge of the couch so he wouldn't roll off onto the floor.

"I think Kitty had it right the first time," he chuckled. "We're all asleep back in Washington."

Not wit' a bang, but a whimper, as de poet says. I know I'm too fond of dat line. Somet'ing 'bout de terrible anticlimax is appealing. Somet'ing 'bout de tragedy untapped, but present just under dat line. Reminded me of seeing my family, or de x-men. De people who wear masks and hardened shells t' keep demselves from getting hurt. But de perspective is doubled when y' can see de exterior and know de person underneath it.

Jacques was admitted t' de hospital wit' chest pains a week ago. Turns out dat he'd had symptoms for weeks wit'out bothering t' tell anyone 'bout it. A t'ief is stubborn t' de end. A Lebeau is.

I wonder how much sadness can surround someone before dey shrink under it or it sucks dem dry like a raisin.

What I always loved 'bout Jacques was dat he never seemed t' let himself get hard. Dat dere was a secret welling of generosity inside him. Or calm like an enormous, sheltered lagoon. De ocean inside was refuge for him. For me. I never realized.

Used t' t'ink it was a curse t' die in your sleep. Why not in de midst of action? Why not come t' meet de inevitable?

But opinions can change. T'ings you thought were set in stone turn out t' be not too true anymore. It's a brave t'ing t' come t' de understanding dat your beliefs can alter. Even braver if y' can admit dat out loud.

Jacques slipped away in de midst of sleeping when de little crease between his eyebrows relaxed into a faint line. Somet'ing t' be said about an end dat's just an end, even if it tears me up inside t' t'ink about it. But dere's not'ing like a quiet tragedy t' help y' realize t'ings.

I was standing in de doorway, watching dem bundle de sheets from de bed. Couldn't decide whether I was coming or going.

Rogue hooked her index finger over my thumb and tugged gently.

"Comin' in or goin' out?"

"I was just t'inking 'bout dat."

"Ah know." She kissed my shoulder through my t-shirt. "Ah know Ah probably shouldn't ask ya what you're doin' next."

We squeezed t' one side t' let de nurse by wit' de bed linens. "Y' can't help but ask."

"Yeah."

Raked one hand back t'rough my hair. Dat was my bad wrist. It gave a twinge even t'rough de cast. Felt strange when it rubbed against my scalp. "I don't know," I admitted.

Rogue was silent for a long time. "Ah don't think that's a bad thing," she finally said.

"Kitty's going back t' de Institute?"

"She'd decided ta do that before all this happened."

"I was just asking, chere."

She sighed. "Ah know. Sorry. Ah guess Ah'm not sure if she's makin' th' right decision."

"Might stay here wit' Rochelle," I blurted out suddenly. Not dat my grandmother had asked me. Fact was she'd kept insisting dat she'd be fine. Couldn't quite bring myself t' believe her. Family first.

Rogue closed her eyes and kept dem closed. "And?"

Kissed her cheekbone. "I was t'inking 'bout dat too. Wit'out Jacques, it'll be hard for her t' run de hotel."

"And ya make it easier." Dere was a sharp note I didn't like.

"Mebbe. All I can do is try."

"Sure."

"Chere?" I asked uncertainly.

"Nothin'. Nevermind."

Pressed my lips together. "Not not'ing." Couldn't bring myself t' meet her eyes. Instead, I concentrated on de way her hair curled back over her ear.

She looked at me; forced me t' look back by dropping her fingers from mine and pinching my chin firmly. "Ya see this place, Remy? Where you're standin' right now?"

"De hospital?" I ventured, not sure what de girl was driving at.

"Th' doorway." She blinked hard, like she was holdin' back some big emotion. "It's like you're always about ta leave."

"Dat's de nature of t'ings."

She shook her head, hard enough dat some hair slipped from behind her ear. She jammed it back messily. "No. No, Ah thought it was for a long time. Ah thought it was 'cause when we were livin' back in DC seemed like it was only temporary. Ah felt like a guest in my own house sometimes."

"And dat's my fault?"

"It's not about fault." She touched me lightly wit' her other hand. "Ah don't want ta make this into somethin' it's not."

"What is it, den?"

"A partin' of ways, maybe. Ah said before that Ah'd follow you as long as Ah could."

Dere was a feeling like de bottom just dropped out of my stomach. Was afraid dat if I looked down I'd see it flopping dere like a landed fish. "You're going back wit' Kitty." She let me go, knit her fingers together and stared down at dem. "Thought you said dat y' weren't sure if she was doin' de right t'ing." My throat felt thick.

"Ah'm not. Not sure if Ah'm doin' th' right thing either." When she finally looked up at me, her face was calm. Those pretty gray eyes threatened t' swallow me up whole. "Ah cain't be afraid ta do somethin' just 'cause it might not be right. For me, right now, it's just what Ah need ta go."

Impulsively, I grabbed her hands. "Stay wit' me here den."

"In th' doorway?" She shook her head.

"Isn't one mebbe-wrong decision de same as another?"

"You can come with me," she suggested calmly. Easy as dat. Pretty goddamn easy. Felt like laughing, but I couldn't be sure dat I wouldn't choke on it.

"I tried. Before."

"For how long? It's not a try if you're fightin' it all th' way."

Thought of my grandmother, who suddenly seemed so old and small after everyt'ing was over and done. "Rochelle needs..."

"For how long? How long will that go on before ya can get on with livin' your life?"

"Mebbe dis is my life."

"Maybe you're afraid ta make a choice." Her voice faltered. She nibbled at her lip. It was adorable. It made me angry. "Ah want ta go ta college," she said finally. "Ah want ta live in a dorm an' sneak food into th' library an' drink bad beer at someone's house party."

Couldn't t'ink of anyt'ing t' say t' dat. "Ma petit..." She was slipping from my hands, but I could see dat all I had t' do was take a step forward t' follow her. I was teetering.

But hadn't I done dis before? Followed her only t' be met by suspicion on all sides? Wasn't dat de way it'd happened?

Or was it dat Kurt and I took turns teaching each other swears in foreign languages and I surprised de hell out of everyone in AP English? Dat de New England winter wasn't so bad as long as you were ready for it?

Somewhere in de middle of de two. Right in de doorway between extremes.

"John wants ta come too," Rogue added so quiet I almost missed it. De room felt tighter. I was alone. "Kitty convinced him. He won't go if ya ask him to stay."

"I'm not going t' ask him," I gritted.. "Wish dat y' could've told me 'bout all dis sooner, chere." Couldn't let myself t'ink 'bout anyt'ing but being annoyed. De emotion would carry me forward.

"An' when would ya suggest Ah should've? When Jacques was sick? At th' funeral?" She crossed her arms tightly across her chest. "Don't make this my fault, Remy."

"Don't make dis my fault either."

"Ah wasn't tryin' to!" She took a shaky breath. I took one too. "God. You're so damn difficult."

"Rogue, please..." Don't even know what I was asking.

"Please what?"

"I...I don't know." Felt like dere was a crack between us. Infinite space opening up.

"Cain't you please just let somethin' work? Give it a year. Don't think about it."

"But..."

Her hands covered my mouth. "Don't. Just one way or the other." She moved back away from me. Out into de hallway. Dat was empty for de moment. If it were just de two of us, what would I pick? De weight of what I felt like I was obligated t' do settled around my shoulders. If it were...

Nervous, I stepped out after her.

Star-of-Chaos: Quick Edit is not an improvement. Ew. And Rogue is a reasonable person. I think she trusts Remy even if he frustrates her.

Kitsu Lebeau: And we've mostly reached the end. I'm sad about Remy's grandfather. Didn't really see that one coming.

ishandahalf: Relationships sure are complicated things. On the whole I think it's good that they're going back to Massachusetts.

Aro: I am shamed by my slow updates recently. I have no idea how I got so busy. Y'know, if this series has done one thing for me it's to give me a new appreciation for Kitty. Because on the show she kind of annoyed the crap out of me.

epona04: Now it can be told -- Nita is Namorita, Namor the Sub-Mariner's cousin. There's a lot of really convoluted cloning stuff in there too. But I chose to ignore it.

just me: No outright Kyro, but I'm fascinated by how Kitty could've "convinced" John to come back with them...

Letanica: Y'know, I think Rogue trusts him. He's never given her a reason not to. It's just that Remy is rather secretive by nature. I think she's reached the point where she knows that there's a perfectly logical explanation, but she needs him to be open enough to tell her.

Possessor of the X Gene: Aw shucks! This story is fairly wrapped up. I wanted to write something that seemed mysterious at first but then became a kind of everyday tragedy that anyone could experience. Stay tuned for the epilogue though.