THE KNIGHT AND THE MAIDEN

CHAPTER 6


Piotr watched as the familiar contours of her face appeared under the movement of the charcoal. It had been years since he had picked up a sketchbook, and he was amazed at the deftness of his work, how even after all this time his hands could still remember with vivid clarity how to draw every line of her face, the curve of her chin, the shape of her eyes when she smiled.

On the deck chair next to him Kitty was curled up, wearing a pair of cotton pajama shorts and a tank as she read her worn copy of "Dune". The heavy wooden chair creaked and groaned from the movement of her lithe body as she fidgeted relentlessly, searching for a comfortable spot. With a frustrated sigh she gave up, throwing the book on the arm of the chair and leaning over to rest her chin on Peter's shoulder.

"It's beautiful," Kitty said softly as she looked down at the near-finished portrait of herself. She took the sketchpad from his hands, scrutinizing it carefully, a pensive, bittersweet smile on her face. "You always have a way of making me look better than I am."

"I draw you exactly as you are. If you think you look beautiful, it is only because it is the truth."

Kitty gave a half-hearted smile to his comment, feeling only mildly reassured. She wandered over to the railing of their private balcony and looked out over the mansions grounds. The moonlight reflected off the still waters of the slumbering fountain, and in the darkness she could make out the outlines of two figures walking slowly near the edge of the woods, one who looked like Rogue and another she couldn't quite place, who she assumed to be Scott. Kitty looked down at the portrait again, a wave of doubt washing over her as she remembered the conversation she had had with her friend earlier that afternoon.

"No, it's not the truth, Peter. It's just how you see me. This-" she held up the notebook limply for a moment before letting it fall back to her side - "this isn't real." Behind her she heard the creaking of wood from his own chair as he stood up and moved towards her, placing one hand around Kitty's waist while the other gently pulled the sketchbook away from her. She pursed her lips, trying to fight back a smile as he pretended to study the drawing critically before moving his gaze to Kitty's face, then back at the portrait again, then to her, and finally to the drawing one last time, his expression growing more comical with each movement of his head. With a satisfied nod he placed the drawing on the balcony railing and gave a deep, overdramatic sigh as he wrapped his newly free arm around her waist as well.

"You are right, of course," he agreed, his voice full of playfulness. "This is only a bit of charcoal smudged onto paper. It is far eclipsed by the real thing."

His comment was met with Kitty's usual reaction; a roll of the eyes accompanied by an unmistakable blush and a smile that she could never seem to muster enough will-power to fight back. She turned her face towards him, finding a twinkle in his eyes that matched her own. Upon seeing her reaction Peter's own grin widened into a goofy smile that Kitty always found utterly adorable, and the doubt that had plaguing her all night began to quickly fade away.

"You're silly," she told him, rolling her shoulder back to lightly nudge his. "Have I ever told you that?"

"Many times, Katya. But I don't mind. I'd rather be silly than geeky."

She turned her face back and gaped at him, her eyes narrowing in mock resentment. "I am not a geek, Mister!" she protested, picking up the drawing pad to hit him on the arm. He retreated backwards into the bedroom, laughing as she pounded him harder, her unrestrained smile only serving to encourage him further.

"Says the woman who dragged me to the bookstore for the entire day just so we could wait around until midnight for the newest 'Harry Potter' book to be released," he teased.

"It was book seven, Peter. Seven! And it was freakin' awesome. Besides, it's not like the wait was boring. The bookstore had lots of activities. We got to make a golden snitch out of Styrofoam."

He stared at her. "I can't believe I am actually going to marry you," he said, a touch of awe in his voice.

"You're not going to marry me, you get to marry me," Kitty corrected as she put the sketchbook down on the nightstand and pulled the covers off of their bed. "It's a privilege, you know."

"I know. I am a very lucky man. But we still have to plan where we're going after the wedding," he reminded her, sitting down on the bed so she could rest her head on his stomach. "I still think Paris. It is the city of love."

"Oui monsieur, but I know you. I'll never be able to drag you away from the Louve long enough to get any love."

He kicked her lightly with his foot for that comment and she kicked him back playfully, starting a kicking match that ended with them lying next to each other, Kitty running her foot up and down his calf while Peter reached up and turned off the light before moving his arm around her shoulder, lightly stroking her upper arm.

"How is it you can always make me happy?" she wondered aloud as she lay contentedly next to him, her body ready for sleep but her mind resisting in favor of a few more moments with Peter.

"Were you sad before?" he yawned, sounding as though he was fighting off sleep as well.

"No. I was just thinking," she mumbled, "about the talk I had with Rogue."

"You said everything was worked out," he said, his voice more alert, but still a little fuzzy.

"It was, but we still need to talk about it," she reminded him, her eyes still closed. Next to her, she felt his body relax again and she rolled over, reflexively cuddling up tighter to him.

"That can wait for another day. We don't-" he yawned "-need to worry about it now. Unless you think....

"No. No, we don't need to," she agreed, not wanting to think about it either. "Peter?" she asked after hearing no response. "Piotr," she whispered, nudging him awake gently.

"Katya... My Katya. I love you," he mumbled, more asleep than awake. "I am sorry for everything, sorry I don't know how to say it any better than that, but I am and I do. I always have. And you have no need to worry. I won't let anything bad happen. Just as I promised..." he finished groggily before drifting back into a deep sleep.

Kitty stared at his face, amazed how peaceful it was, how unaware of the pain he had just caused her. They had an unspoken agreement not to talk about the past, or the future, whatever she was supposed to call it. It was better that way. It made it easier to ignore all the bad things that had happened. The way he had spoken, he sounded as though his mind wasn't fully awake, and she doubted he would ever remember what he had said to her in the morning. Kitty rubbed her eyes. She was more tired than ever, but at this point sleep seemed impossible. Gently, she phased out of Peter's embrace and padded out to the balcony through the sliding glass doors they left open in hopes of catching a light summer night breeze. The couple near the woods had disappeared and the barren yard did nothing to hold her attention. She turned around, leaning her back against the railing and noticed her book still sitting on the arm of the deck chair. She sat down and grabbed it, opening to a random page and pressing the book close to her face, trying to make out the words with nothing but the pale moon for light.

Hard as she tried to enjoy her book, Kitty's mind kept going back to her conversation with Rogue, the memory of it accompanied by the same queasy, unsettled, sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that came every time she allowed herself to think too much about what was really going on around her. The talk she had with her teammate was brief, but she every word was still imprinted in her mind, and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't push the memory of it away.


"This is the past, isn't it?" Rogue asked softly. "Somehow, we got taken back into the past."

Kitty stared at her, absolutely terrified. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, clenching her fists tight. When her eyes opened she hoped she appeared much calmer.

"I'm so glad you're back, Rogue. I need to ask you about your bridesmaid dress."

"What is wrong with you! Didn't you just hear what said! Don't you understand we're not supposed to be here?" her friend yelled, obviously frustrated with Kitty's decision to ignore the situation at hand.

She looked down at the sidewalk, trying to search for an answer. Much as she didn't want to, she knew she'd have to face reality for this. Rogue was too much of a threat to leave to chance. Kitty set her mouth into a firm, thin line, trying to look as intimidating as possible. "I understand. I just don't care."

Rogue stared at her, hurt and a little shocked. Kitty immediately felt guilty, realizing she had been going about this the wrong way. She wasn't dealing with an enemy, she was dealing with one of her best friends. Her expression softened, and she allowed Rogue to see the sadness etched upon her face. "All I know," she told her quietly, "is that I had a really bad dream. And it seemed like it had gone on forever. Now it's over. And I have Peter back. And we have our family back. And I can't bring myself to care about anything else. It just doesn't seem important."

"But Kitty, this, this isn't real," she warned gently.

Kitty shook her head, refusing to meet Rogue's eyes. "It was once. It can be again."

"Does anyone else...do the X-Men even know what's goin' on?"

"No! Rogue, please don't tell them," she pleaded, unable to cover the trace of desperation in her voice.

"Have you looked around here, Kit? Ah mean really looked? Things are wrong. Jean's still dead and Rachel is still the same age she was in the future and-"

"I thought about that. Maybe whoever or whatever sent us here wasn't strong enough to bring back Phoenix. And if Ray inherited Jean's powers, then they couldn't change her either.

"You think she knows?"

"Rachel? She hasn't said anything, but I wouldn't put it past her. It's alright though. She knows how to keep a secret, if she has to. She'll keep this one."

"You know Ah have to tell 'em," Rogue told her, gently but firmly.

"I know. But I'm not asking you to keep silent forever. It's just...this is the past. And if we change the past, we change the future, right? We can save Illyana. All the pain, it doesn't have to happen. Not this time. Five days, Rogue, that's when it starts. Please, just play along till then. After we save her, I promise I'll tell them everything myself."

"But why don't you just-"

"Rogue, please. This morning, I had a nightmare that we weren't in the past after going into Braddock Manor. I dreamed that Illyana was still dead, and that Peter had died in the tunnels, and even though it was just a dream it felt so real and the memory of the pain, it still lingers. Now that were all here, and were all alive, I can't lose either of them again. I can't handle that. So please, help us save our little girl,"she begged.

"How do you know she can even be saved?"

"Because we're willing to do whatever it takes. Trust me, not even Apocalypse himself will be able to get through us. Don't ruin this. Please," she implored, tears glistening in her eyes.

"Alright," she relented, her expression showing she was clearly agreeing against her better judgment. Kitty flung her arms around her and squeezed her tightly.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she squealed, near tears, a huge, relieved grin on her face. In that moment of elation she truly believed everything was going to be okay.

"Kitty?" she asked, sounding troubled.

"Yeah?" she asked, still hugging her.

"What would you have done if Ah said Ah wouldn't help?"

Kitty pulled back from the hug and stared at her friend, her expression unreadable. "I don't know. And I don't want to think about it."

"Hey! We're not done! We still need to talk!" Rogue called after her as she turned to walk away to her family in the kitchen.

"We will," she shouted back over her shoulder as she made her way to the mansion. "Later!"


Kitty finally pushed the memory back and gave up on trying to read, dropping the book on the sea of the chair and wandering back into her room. Peter was still asleep, snoring peacefully. She walked past his side of the bed, punching him on the side of his left leg, right below the knee. She had discovered years ago that this act somehow seemed to quell his snores, at least for a few minutes. Kitty climbed lightly back into bed and settled against his, picking up his arm and placing it around her shoulder. He pulled her tighter to his chest, but otherwise gave no sign he might be awake. In his arms was the one place she always felt the safest. Because as long as she was in his arms, he would always protect her. Nothing bad could ever seem to touch her, not even her own memories or overactive imagination.

"Love you, Piotr," she whispered, before closing her eyes and letting sleep find her.


Author's note: Sorry this is late, I had computer problems. I broke the power outlet jack plug thingy, so I had to ship it to the manufacturer in New Jersey to be fixed. I just got it back last night and spent the whole night looking up stuff on "Astonishing X-Men" and getting my hopes up that Colossus may be coming back to the comics. Yay! Unless it's not him and it's that stupid other character they're bringing back. But I have faith in Whedon. I think all the obvious hints about the other character is just to throw us off. Yeah, it's probably wishful thinking, but I still have my hope. Anyway, hoped you liked this chapter, please leave a review, they make me happy. And many thanks to the people who left one last time, they are much appreciated!

B- Yep, Kitty's hanging on pretty good, at least for now. But she's still got a lot of emotional baggage to deal with. Happy to know you liked the chapter!

Lucas'sgirl- Yeah, this story is pretty weird, but then again, so am I, so it fits. Glad to know you like the story!

Dark-bat- I'm glad you're liking the story, but oh my God, if you make that movie I promise I will so pay to go see it. Especially the Brad Pitt scenes. And if the actors don't want to do it, just promise them an Oscar. I know a souvenir shop on Hollywood and Vine that sells really nice plastic ones.

ishandahalf- Miguel is leaving the show! Forever? That's so sad. Is he being replaced by another actor or is it one of those really long vacations like Grace is having so the actors can have time off? He can't leave, he's the cutest guy there! And oddly enough, the sanest of all his siblings. This news makes me sad. Anyways, very little Romy action in this one, although I will say the person Kitty saw walking with Rogue wasn't Scott. Some Romy in the next chapter, but most of it belongs to the boys, so Remy and Peter can finally get a little more development and I can deal with that little plot hole of Rogue already telling Remy on the plane about what happens in the future. And about Kitty and Peter wanting to stay in the past, it is weird, and definitely not healthy, and what happened in this chapter was only kind of the tip of the ice burg, so that could maybe cause some problems down the road. Only problem is that would get in the way of the fluff. And I like fluff :)

KittieKat8- Glad you liked it! Staying in the past would be nice, but I'm not always very nice to the characters, am I? ;) I love the idea of the ring bear being a bear that steals the ring! That is too cute!

DemonRogue13- Glad you like it. The Kitty waking up in another place was the dream she was having before Peter came and woke her up. Sorry that wasn't explained very well, hopefully it makes more sense now. Unless of course, I'm just lying to you and the whole past thing is the dream and thr Peter being dead thing is reality.;)

epona04- glad you liked it! Thanks for all the compliments. I love all the slang you use!

The Uncanny R-Man- Yeah, so the Peter being dead thing was a really poorly explained nightmare that Kitty had. Sorry about that, it was confusing. Unless, like I told DemonRogue, I could just be lying and the past is the dream and that was really reality. Or maybe I've just had way too much caffeine and now sound like a crazy person, which is usually the case.

Thanks for all the reviews!