Totally Obsessed47, Marin M, Spunkypippy, Allimba & Amber Spirit: thank you all muchly for your reviews, you all made me feel very loved!
Ishandahalf: yeah, back to being update buddies! For the time being anyway mwaha. I thought you might like the half naked Remy ;-) that was a special present just for you. Hee hee, I think I will have to update quick like a bunny on crack, otherwise I wont be able to get the story all posted up and everything by the end of the summer, so y'all might just be in luck! Lovely to hear from you as ever.
Freak87: I suppose sometimes pointless is good, especially for the summer when you don't really want to have to think!
Aceofshamrocks: ooh a new reviewer, hello. You have a cool name! Thank you for the review...
RikaTabithaStarr: gasp! Another new reviewer, hello to you too. Well the thing about holiday romances is that's usually all they last for, although I do know a couple of people who have made theirs work after they've got home. So in conclusion, I'm not saying! :-p
Pyros-gal: nope, theres more, but that was the half way point....
DemonicGambit: ahh but wouldn't a half naked Remy be the best shock? ;-) those not for those of a nervous disposition...
Sweety8587: well two half naked Remy's would make a whole, but I suppose it would depend which halves you get!
Abaiisiia: I had a look through my authors notes and the only word I found that was close was portion, was that it? Quibble is a good word, come to think of it, I like any word with a 'Q' in it. Don't worry about not reading/reviewing, what matters is you're here now! And you live near Portland? That's so cool! I would love to visit Portland! I have heard a lot of great things about it, its meant to be a very cool place. I hope you had a good time camping too.
Anamaniax: oh you've made me feel all appreciated now! Thank you for adding this to your favourites list. I always feel so honoured when someone does that because really, I haven't written much and it really gives me the encouragement I need to continue, I don't have a lot of confidence in my writing...So really, thank you very much.
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Footprints in the Sand
Chapter Seven (Calm)
Remy had informed that he would be going away for a few days, but would be back eventually. Rogue said that she would still be here when he got back and Remy looked oddly relieved. He had been worrying that he would come back and find her gone from his life forever.
Rogue had decided that she would use her time alone to sort out her head a little. Recently, the psyches of all the people she had absorbed previously had begun to get restless, yelling at her and competing for space in her already over-crowded mind. Just for once, she wanted the only thing she heard up there to be her own thoughts.
She stretched out on the sand, completely relaxed. Concentrating hard, she went into her own subconscious. As she had guessed, it was a mess, looking more like the scene of some dreadful battle than a persons mind. No wonder people were always telling her she was screwed up.
Occasionally, she would see the dark shadow of one of the psyches run past her. They looked like ghosts; it was frightening to be alone with them. Rogue knew that this was just one of those things she would have to do though.
Not so long ago, during a meeting with the Professor, he had told her that the key to her control over her powers might be the psyches in her head. They were all angry with her for locking them in her head. Her inability to control and touch may well be a punishment thought up by them.
It scared her slightly to think that she might have to set up a peace conference inside her own head, but she wanted to touch so badly, she was prepared to give it a go. She was prepared to give pretty much anything a go.
It was too late to turn back now anyway, her demons had already sensed her presence and were gathering around her, murderous expressions on their shadowy faces. Even people who she never thought she would see that mad at her were there, people like Kitty and Kurt, people who were like family to her.
"Ah know ya must all be pretty angry with meh..." she began, trying her best to make sure she was heard. "Ah jus' want ya all ta know how sorry Ah am, Ah never meant foah this ta happen ta ya, well, most of ya...." She began to trail off; her reasoning wasn't exactly doing much good.
"How does that help us?" one of the psyches spoke up from the back. Rogue tried to recognise the voice as the psyche tried to push its way to the front, people parting like the red sea in front of him.
Rogue's heart skipped a beat when she saw who it was. Cody, her first boyfriend from back home. She had accidentally absorbed him once and put him in a coma, he had never recovered. That had been the very first time her powers had shown themselves and she had never, ever forgiven herself for it, she doubted that she ever would.
"Cody?" she questioned, just in case.
"That's rahte, remember me? Tha boy who's lahfe ya took away!"
"Ah'm so sorry Cody, Ah never meant ta...it was an accident"
"Lahke hell it was." Rogue was shocked. The Cody she had known was dead, now there was only this bitter, twisted ghost left.
"What do ya want me ta do about it?" she asked him, hoping there was some way to make amends.
"Theres nothin' ya can do, ya can't give me mah lahfe back! Ya can't do that for any o' us!" The other psyches began to group around, wanting some of the action. Cody had become the ringleader.
"Most o' ya aren't dead, or in coma's" she mumbled, eyes on the ground.
"Quiet! We're gonna take over this body, that way ya debt ta us will be repaid!" Rogue now just stared in disbelief. Where as before, she had felt deeply sorry for Cody, especially as it was all her fault, she now felt sorry for him in a completely different way. He was pathetic.
"No" she ordered sternly, causing a ripple of whisper to run through the crowd. "Ya ain't gettin' mah body Cody, none o' ya are!" she yelled, addressing the whole group this time. "Ah said that Ah was sorry foah what Ah did ta ya, but there ain't anythin' Ah can really do about it now."
"Don't listen ta her!" Cody screamed in retaliation. "We're gonna have a revolution!" His supporters of before were now really not so sure. Before they had thought that Rogue could be easily manipulated and taken advantage of, but that wasn't looking like the case anymore.
Rogue remembered what the Professor had told her about taking control of her own mind. She could do anything she liked here, after all, it was here imagination. Concentrating hard, she formed a big metal box in her head, and promptly shut Cody inside.
"Ah'm sorry Cody...again. It had ta be done."
With their leader toppled, the rest of the gang were looking very, very unsure now. It almost made Rogue laugh to see Sabertooth's psyche practically trembling.
"And tha rest of ya...." She began. Some of the psyches began to wince, thinking that what had just happened to Cody was about to happen to them. "If ya gonna have ta stay here, tha least Ah can do is make it a bit more pleasant for ya..."
She concentrated hard again, much harder than she had to with Cody and the inside of her mind began to change. Soon, an elegant, fairytale palace replaced the grey mists of before.
"At least y'all have someplace decent ta live now...."
Everyone was murmuring appreciatively. She had tried to make sure that she had included something for everyone here, just to make them happy. As Irene always used to say, you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar...
She didn't think that her and the psyches were exactly the best of friends now, but this was definitely a start. Maybe things would start to improve now they were a little happier.
Rogue awoke with a start. She was still on the beach in California but with one huge difference, she could actually hear herself think. She grinned, thinking how proud Logan and the Professor would be if they knew all the progress she had made. Despite never moving from this spot, it had really been a very productive day.
Yeah I know, no romy, I apologise, but I plan to make it up to you!
I felt I had to put a chapter like this in because I felt half the reason Rogue would have all this time to herself would be to sort out her ever-present psyche problem. We all know she'll be a lot happier when she does....
Anyway, yeah so that's the only real plot bit, what did you think? Please, please, please review!
