Disclaimer: Nope, the X-Men still aren't mine. Check back again tomorrow…
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews for last chapter! Wow, lot's of Pietro hatred, what fun. Don't you worry – you'll hate him even more by the end of this fic, it'll be great! But never fear, my friends. melancholic put it quite nicely - as the Queen of Romy, I would never commit such a grave sin against my kingdom. ;-) There'll be oodles of Romy for everybody!
enchantedlight, Deadhead89, BasiaM, TheRealMai, Anamaniax, epona04, darkstorm5000, The Rogue Cajun, RuBy ReD EyEs- Gambit LeBeau – You like me, you really like me! (wipes away a tear) Thanks all!
ThatsJustPeachy – How right you are with that hole in her heart. Sounds like a serious medical condition – she'll need 20ccs of Remy, stat!
Renaissance Wench – You are officially my hero, because I love the word 'wench'! Gold stars for you.
Misa1124 – Oh, she's got blinders on all right! Rather self-imposed ones, at that… hah hah, teaser.
Krys Xanthina and heartsyhawk – You know, you two were the few not hating Pietro. I'd jump on the bandwagon if I were you, I think the other reviews might start a pitchfork-and-torch-carrying mob at any moment. Head for the hills!
Calliann – If Remy is irresistible and chocolate is too, then Remy coated in chocolate should be twice as irresistible! Not to mention sexy… Yum!
PomegranateQueen – I'm sure your first review was just great. (ish pats you patronizingly on the head) ;-) But wait, using the process of elimination? I'm sorry, that sounds an awful lot like logic, you'll have to leave now.
flowerperson – I liked your poem / So I decided to write / A haiku review.
PsychoRomyChica and Zen Master White Dragon – Well, kudos to you two for trying to get to the source of all those nasty rumours – I'm proud! That's what we need in this world today, informed people trying to get all sides of the story… Sadly, the rumours came from the writers themselves - go check out the link on my author profile, it'll tell you all you need.
melancholic and Krac – Now why oh why would you ruin a perfectly good surprise and read the reviews before the chapter? Surprises are the best part. Tsk tsk, let me shake my head in disappointment – I expected better from you two, I really did. ;-)
Aro – Oh, you're so close to being right, yet kinda wrong too. And please, don't hold in your hatred for Pietro on my account! We can all embrace our hatred together – it'll be a bonding experience. Aww!
Star-of-Chaos – Oh believe me, ego squashing will ensue. And how!
demiducky25 – I know what you mean, I've got this fic all planned out, but I keep thinking of fun things to add that just make it longer and longer.. you don't mind, right? And take your bathroom break now, I don't want anybody to pee their pants with the cliffy at the end of this chapter.
XxFleurdelySxX – Do you have ANY idea how much you SCARED me? I mean, HONESTLY! My jaw dropped, I stared wide-eyed at the computer screen… I thought maybe you fried your brain on your honeymoon (congratulations, by the way!). All I can say is that you are EVIL for teasing me, and I hope those capital letters will placate you enough so you'll NEVER try it again. And hey… where that update you promised? ;-)
Ugh, I graduated yesterday – that's not what I'm ughing about, it was all good, I'm ughing about my sleep deprivation from partying all night. I hope I'm coherent enough to edit and post this, eh? Well, if you'll all direct your attention below, the newest chapter is ready for your reading pleasure! Enjoy.
Loved and Lost, or Never At All?
Chapter 2 – Slipping Through
"Do not trust your memory; it is a net full of holes; the most beautiful prizes slip through it." – Georges Duhamel
When Rogue walked into her bedroom later that day, Kitty sat on the floor painting her toenails a blinding shade of pink. When her friend entered, she looked up, replaced the brush in the bottle, and asked, "Hey Rogue, have fun?" while wiggling the toes on her right foot.
"Yeah," she nodded, flinging herself onto her own bed.
"What did you two do?" Kitty continued, starting the painting anew on her left foot.
"Nothin' much, we met at the café, walked around th' park fo' a while…" Rogue explained, staring up at her ceiling.
"Sounds nice," mumbled Kitty, focusing on her task.
"Gee, yah couldn't possibly sound more enthusiastic, could yah?" muttered Rogue sarcastically.
The younger girl looked up curiously. "What?"
Rolling over onto her stomach, Rogue's green eyes pinned her roommate's blue ones. "Yah don't like Pietro, do yah?" she demanded with her characteristic bluntness. She had suspected as much for a while now, and she wanted to know the truth – now was as good a time as any, especially since she had started out her day analyzing her life.
Rogue knew the answer before one was even spoken, by the widening of Kitty's eyes and the worried glimmer within them. The girl couldn't lie very well - when she did, she could barely look at you. If she somehow forced herself to, that guilty appearance was always present. "Oh, no, Pietro is, like, all right…"
"Truthfully, Kit."
"Um, like, really, he's fine. I just don't know him too well, so- "
"Ugh!" Rogue exclaimed, sitting up and throwing her arms in the air. "Is this whole mansion against meh? Did everybody magically forget that yah dated Lance? He's the 'enemy' too! Ah would've thought at least yah of all people would've supported meh in this!"
"No, Rogue, I do, I totally do!" declared Kitty, getting up off the floor and sitting beside Rogue, putting herself at eye level to her friend. "I'm, like, sorry if it doesn't seem that way… I honestly can't say Pietro is my favourite person, but I won't, like, be against you if you want to see him, okay? I want you to be happy."
"If Ah want to see him? Ah am seein' him," stated the Goth, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing, Rogue! Semantics, that's all, jeez."
Rogue stared at Kitty for a few more seconds, and accepted that. "Fine. So yah're okay with it?"
'No, of course not!' thought Kitty, but outwardly said, "Sure. Like I said, I just want you to be happy, okay?"
Rogue nodded. "Good. Glad Ah've got somebody on mah side… Call meh paranoid, but it's like everyone in th' mansion's against meh an' Pietro, like they're all whisperin' 'bout us or somethin'. It's annoyin'."
That was an understatement. It unnerved her to no end – every time she mentioned Pietro's name, the others would exchange veiled glances, or wouldn't be able to look Rogue in the eye… She had lost track of the number of times that she had entered a room only to have the conversation stop, or abruptly change subjects… It wasn't as if her relationship with Pietro was very juicy or scandalous, so it made her wonder what everybody's problem was.
Kitty made a mental note to tell everybody to cool their chitchat. "That does, like, sound a bit paranoid. I'm sure it's nothing."
"Ah guess," Rogue sighed, letting herself fall back on her bed again.
A short silence spread over the two girls before Shadowcat spoke again, this time with a quiet, unsure tone. "Rogue?"
"Yeah, Kit?"
"Are you happy?"
The question surprised Rogue. It wasn't like Kitty to be so direct, she knew that Rogue liked her privacy. She pondered her response for a bit – should that have worried her, that she needed time to think about her reply?
"Ah… Ah guess so. Ah mean, as happy as Ah can be, Ah suppose. Things have been good lately, yah know? Ah don't have control yet, but Pietro's workin' on it with meh, he's so convinced that Ah can get it… Even more than Ah am, really. It's funny, Ah never thought Ah'd have a boyfriend with mah powers, but now Ah do and he's tryin' to help meh control 'em – Ah always thought that the order would be reversed or somethin'."
Kitty gave her a small smile and continued. "So he makes you happy?"
Rogue sat up. "...He's a good guy. Real sweet. He says all th' right things, does all th' right things," she said, tugging on the rose pendant he had given her. It was always around her neck, a pleasant weight that comforted her in some way.
Noticing that she didn't really answer the question, Kitty decided to pry further. "Do you love him?"
With that, Rogue tensed up, her hand clenching around the necklace. Glaring at her friend, she spat out, "What's with th' interrogation? Ah thought yah were on mah side with this. Now yah're questioning th' one guy who's actually made meh happy?"
'Oh, if you only knew, Rogue,' she thought dismally. "I didn't mean it that way, I just wanted to know. I'm glad you care about him so much. Let's, like, talk about something else, okay?"
"Let's," mumbled Rogue, relieved for the change of topic.
"Oh, you can paint your toenails with me!" squealed the teen, reverting to her perky persona in an attempt to forget about the tense exchange.
"Ah guess," came the less enthusiastic response, complete with a roll of eyes. Usually consenting to some asinine girly bonding activity would get Kitty out of Rogue's hair for the rest of the day – and even though she actually enjoyed the girl's company, today she felt like she needed some alone time.
Rogue untied her boots and settled on the floor as Kitty rummaged through her drawer for another bottle of nail polish. "What do you want, Rogue? How about 'Bubblegum Bright'?"
"No pink!" came the strict condition.
"Oh, fine… There's a nice green here… Maybe purple? Oh wait, here's a great shade of red."
"That's all right."
Kitty grabbed the rich colour and headed back over to their spot on the floor, handing the bottle over to her friend.
Rogue looked at it, read the name on the label, and smirked. "'Mardi Gras Gleam'? Cute."
When she heard that, Kitty's head jerked up in alarm. "What?"
"What?" Rogue echoed, a confused look on her face. "That's th' name of th' colour, 'Mardi Gras Gleam'. There a problem with that?"
"Oh, no," she tried to cover up. "I just thought I, like… lost that colour a long time ago or something. It just surprised me." It was unbelievable that she would pick that colour, out of all the bottles…
"So, what did yah do while Ah was gone? Anythin' interestin'?" Rogue queried, starting to brush on the nail polish, accepting the explanation for Kitty's odd behaviour.
"No, not much," she replied, her heart slowing its rapid beating from that little moment of shock. "Just the usual, like, Xavier Institute breakfast fiasco. Oh, I did get to sit next to Piotr though!"
Rogue had to smile at how thrilled the young girl was. Everybody knew she had a crush on one of the X-Men's newest teammates, the giant Russian – except for the Russian himself, of course. "And? What happened?"
"Not much. You know him, he's like, so quiet. But he did ask me to pass the juice, that's a lot more than he says to anybody!" she squealed, brandishing the nail polish brush in the air. "Maybe it's a sign!"
"Course it is, Kit. One day he asks yah for th' juice, th' next day it's a marriage proposal – Ah mean, it's th' next logical step," came the cynical response.
"Oh, shut up," Kitty pouted. "What about you? Anything interesting?"
"Not really," Rogue remarked, staring at the red colour on her toes. It reminded her of those eyes… "Actually, there was somethin' strange though. At the café, there was this guy starin' at meh."
"Ooh!" shrieked Kitty, pouncing all over the tidbit of gossip. "Tell me! What'd he look like? Maybe he likes you! Details, Rogue, details!"
"Kit-Kat, yah're getting' way too excited 'bout this."
"But I wanna know! Describe him to me. Was he cute?" she grilled Rogue, practically bouncing as she got up to put her nail polish bottle away.
"Well, yeah," Rogue admitted, thinking back to that handsome stranger. "He was tall, brown hair, kinda scruffy looking, but he could pull it off. He was wearin' a trench coat, but his eyes really caught mah attention – they were red on black, isn't that weird? D'ya think he's a mutant?"
At those words, Kitty dropped the bottle and it shattered on the floor.
"Kitty! What's up with yah today?" shouted Rogue, staring at her friend in wonder. She was acting more bizarre than usual.
"N-nothing!" she squeaked, grabbing some tissues to wipe up the mess. "It just, like, slipped."
"Here, let meh help yah clean it," the Goth offered, moving to get up, but Kitty stopped her.
"No, I got it, it's my fault," she mumbled and started mopping up the pink puddle.
"Umm, okay then," Rogue allowed, and went back to her toenails. Quickly finishing up, she placed the bottle back on Kitty's dresser and turned to her. "Are yah all set there? Cause Ah'm gonna go to th' library an' read for a while."
"Yeah, yeah, go ahead," Kitty told her, not really paying attention, her mind elsewhere.
"Okaaay." Rogue left, shaking her head. This was definitely one of her wackier days…
- X -
Kitty threw out the glass shards and walked over to her dresser. She picked up the 'Mardi Gras Gleam' and sighed… Now what was going to happen? This couldn't be good. As she put it away in her drawer, she noticed a movement in the mirror – the curtain was fluttering in the wind. She hadn't left the window open though…
Turning around, she gasped as she ran into somebody's broad chest. Looking up, her jaw dropped open in surprise. "Remy!"
"Bonjour, chaton (hello, kitten)" he greeted, tipping his head slightly.
"What are you doing in here?" she demanded fiercely, beginning to panic. "You, like, can't be here, Rogue can't see you!"
"Dat's why 'm here," Remy told her, stepping back and beginning to pace in front of her. "I already saw her dis mornin'."
"Yeah, I know, but- "
"What de hell's goin' on!" he growled, eyes flashing in rage – but also hurt. "I came back, just like I promised, an' what does Remy find? His chère (dear) wit' de Speed Demon!"
"Remy, you- "
"I was only gone f'r a few months!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms up in frustration. "An' she's already found anot'er homme (man) t' replace m'? How could she do dat? I know dat I hurt her when I left, but I t'ought I made it clear dat I didn' wan' t' an' dat I'd be back, I t'ought t'ings would be fine b'tween us, an' now dis! She looked at m' like she didn' even know m'!"
"Remy, stop, you don't understand- "
"Y' damn right I don' understand!" he shouted, swiftly striding back and forth, trench coat flapping about his legs and swirling with every turn he made. "Y' know, I expected some anger when I came back, I know I deserved dat, but not like dis! Not mon amour (my love) wit' someone else!"
Kitty had had enough. Stepping out into his path, she thrust her hands into his chest and forced him to stop. "Remy! Just shut up and, like, listen to me for a second! You really don't understand the situation."
"What, y' gonna explain it t' m'? Tell m' how I hurt her, and dat I brought dis on m'self? T'ought y' supported m' datin' Rogue," he responded acerbically.
"I do support you dating Rogue! But you did hurt her," she began. "That's how this all started-"
"I know! I know I hurt her, an' dat hurt m' too, but is dis how she deals wit' it? Findin' someone new? Merde (shit), how long did she wait after I left? We were t'oget'er f'r more den a year an' she's o'er m' already, like our time t'get'er meant not'in'?"
"Dammit, Remy, just let me explain!" Kitty burst out. "As much as you might want to, you can't really blame her for being with Pietro!"
"Why de hell not?" he scoffed. "What, did she jus' fo'get 'bout Remy?"
When Kitty flinched at his words, he froze. Taking a deep breath, Remy slowly asked, "Kitty?"
Her dejected expression made him afraid to ask, but he had to. "…Kitty, dat's not what happened, is it? Does ma chère remember me?"
The pitying look on her face told him all he needed to know. "Merde," he whispered in disbelief. He started to feel weak and knees gave out, landing him on Rogue's bed.
Kitty sat next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder in a vain attempt to comfort him, but he roughly shook it off – she couldn't make it okay. Burying his face into his hands, Gambit braced himself and asked her, "What happened? How could dis happen?"
Her heart almost broke at the sound of his voice, normally so playful and warm, now the quivering tone of a man trying to hold in his tears. She desperately didn't want to be the one to break the news to him, he was distraught enough already… But she just couldn't let him be in the dark about this anymore – he needed to know the truth, he ought to have that much, at least. "Well, Rogue was devastated when you left," Kitty began. "And then… Well…"
"What? Was dere an accident? Is it amnesia or somet'in'? Is it reversible? Tell me, petite (little one), please," Remy pleaded frantically.
She saw the hope flare up in his eyes, and it killed her that she would have to extinguish it. "Remy… God, I'm so sorry, but Rogue forgot you willingly. She had you erased from her memory."
Ouch! Poor Remy, that's gotta suck…
Next chapter – we find out more about Rogue's voluntary memory loss.
So, what say ye? Methinks I can hear the shocked and appalled reviews already… Bring 'em on! Review! That'll get me nice and motivated for the next chapter. ;-)
Toodles,
- ish -