Authors Note: I'm pretty glad with the feedback I've gotten so far for this. No one seems to mind that this doesn't really have a plot or anything. You people are too good to me, but that's why I love you, and to show my appreciation, shout outs!

Ishandahalf: I'm not saying never to a sequel, you might see one sometime in the future, but I wrote a chapter and a bit and then got really stuck, so its on hold. But hey, you have this instead...right?

DemonicGambit: ahh read on and you will see! Thanks very much for the review!

Star-of-Chaos: I hope plotless fluff will be alright, trashy summer reading is what I'm aiming for with this one!

Abaiisiia: yes, tubular is a great word; it has a lovely ring to it. Thanks for the review.

MorriganFearn: ooh hello. I'm glad your summer days are being nice, its not being very summery over here at all, think black clouds, rain, the whole nine yards. As always, I'm glad you like my characterization, its very encouraging. I do like your new signature, very cute! I'll just get on with catching that tiger while you read my story shall I? ;-)

RouGeY: don't fret, Remy is coming, I wouldn't promise romy and not follow through, that would just be cruel.

Allycat588: ahh yes please read on! I'm glad you like it so far, thanks very much for the review!

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Footprints in the Sand

Chapter Two (Leaving)

She hadn't waited long. Now, with her suitcase packed, she stood in the hallway waiting for Kitty to come and say goodbye. One of the Institute cars had already been set-aside for her and she planned to start driving as soon as possible. Under one arm she had all the details about the house, along with the keys and a roadmap.

Kitty bounced down the staircase with her own suitcase in tow; it wasn't long before her parents were picking her up.

"Bye Kitty," said Rogue, turning towards the door only to be stopped by Kitty throwing her arms around her neck. Rogue was slightly taken aback and didn't dare move in case it led to Kitty accidentally touching any exposed skin. Sensing her discomfort, Kitty didn't hug her for long.

"Ok, Ah should get goin', Ah've got a really long drahve ahead o' meh..."

"Goodbye child, have a good holiday," Storm waved her off and everybody watched and waved from the door way as Rogue slung her back into the boot of the car and in turn, got in herself. Starting the engine, she drove away down the gravel driveway catching a last glance of her friends in the rear-view mirror.

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Rogue wasn't sure exactly how long she had been driving now. New York to Northern California was a long way. Rogue was beginning to think that perhaps she should have planned this better, rather than deciding in a fairly spur-of-the-moment kind of way. Now it was starting to get gradually darker as nigh time fell. Rogue, stupid as it seemed, was not a fan of driving in the dark and thought that maybe she should find a motel and turn in for the night.

Finding a motel was considerably harder than she'd expected. It was a good few miles before she even found evidence there was one near by and by the time she saw a sign for the "Cosy Motel" she was growing a little desperate. Getting tireder by the minute, she took the turning and soon found herself at the end of a windy little road and outside the small, run-down motel.

Pushing open the rusty screen door that lead into the small office, Rogue found a middle aged man, slumped behind a desk, eyes glued to the TV in front of him.

"Scuse meh" Rogue asked to try and get the man's attention. He barely lifted his eyes.

"What?" was the gruff reply.

"Ya got any rooms free?"

"Only one an' seven, you can pick" Rogue took seven and gave the man her credit card and drivers license. Once that was settled, she went back to her car and got her bags before making her way to the room.

Rogue took one look around the room and decided that this place made the Bates Motel look like the Ritz. The curtains hung off the windows, swaying a little in the draught that was coming through cracks in the frame and there were suspicious stains on nearly every surface. The room smelt of damp and on taking a look at the bed, Rogue guessed that the sheets had probably never been changed since they were first put on there. Yes it was horrible, but she had no choice. Resolving to get up very, very early tomorrow so as to minimise her time here, she got into bed and quickly went to sleep.

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The next day, Rogue got up brighter and earlier than she ever had, or probably ever would, get up in her entire life. She was desperate to get out of the Cosy Motel, which definitely did not live up to its very dubious name.

After handing her key back into the owner, who didn't look like he had moved from his seat in front of TV since the other night, and then went back to her car and the endless road ahead of her.

It wasn't that Rogue didn't like driving, ever since she had got her license she had been keen to get out on the road as much as possible, but why did they have to be so damn boring?

The highway she was on was seemingly endless and it was all the same. There wasn't any nice scenery to look at or anything, just miles and miles of plain grey road and the occasional signpost to give directions. Without taking her eyes off the road, she reached over and pressed a button that re-started her CD.

The vast majority of her journey was already complete, she had wanted to get as much done as possible in the first day. Now, she was in California and driving down to the coast where she would eventually find her house.

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Sighing in desperation, Rogue doubled back and went down the road once again. She never would have guessed the stupid house would be this hard to find, surely California couldn't have that much coastline! She should have known though that if the house belonged to the Professor, it wasn't exactly going to be out in the open and obvious to everyone.

After consulting her map, she decided to take a smaller road that seemed to lead almost to the sea. Driving all the way down, she eventually came to a row of rather large looking wooden houses that lined the coast. This had to be it.

She stopped her car in order to get a better look. As soon as she opened the door, a wave of fresh, salty air hit her in the face-it smelt of the sea! Grabbing her things, she went to take a closer look at the houses.

It was a very quiet area. Rogue supposed that all of these were summerhouses owned by rich out-of-towners who rarely used them, just like the Professor. Even so, they were impressive places, it was sort of sad to see them go to waste.

She turned her key in the lock, feeling it click and letting herself in. Inside it was nicely decorated, even if it did have a slight seaside-y feel to it, and very large. The best part was though, that it was right on the beach.

Going through to the kitchen at the back of the house, Rogue peered out of the window to the quiet strip of private beach and the glittering blue sea beyond. A smile spread across her face.

Racing to the backdoor, she unlocked it but not before taking off her shoes and socks and rolling up her trousers to the knees. Damn her mutation! She wanted to feel the sand between toes for once.

She walked down the beach, arms wrapped around her middle, shielding herself from the light sea breeze. There was no one around, not as far as she could see down the coast. It was wonderful. She continued to walk, staring out to sea and lost in her own thoughts, blissfully unaware that from a distance she was being watched by a mysterious pair of red and black eyes...


Heh heh, now I wonder who that could be! Well, shall we strike a deal? If many people review, you can have another chapter before the week is out, how does that sound?