7. Secrets

"It must be like hell for her."

"What?"

The car turned at a corner and began to drive up the driveway to the school.

"It must be extremely hard for Rogue. Having to deal with Gambit's dead."

He nodded as she laidher hand on his thigh.

"I sure don't know, how I would be able to live, if I lost you."

She leaned toward him and kissed him on the cheek.

"I won't be going anywhere."

They had reached the school, so he stopped the car and took her into his arms.

"I sure hope so."

He was just about to kiss her, when something flew out off an opened window. It landed just some feet away from the car and exposed instantly.

"NOT AGAIN!"

Scott and Jean looked at each other, as they had both recognized the voice, but it couldn't be true. They stepped out of the car and went up to the front door just as it opened and Gambit came out. He had obviously just been shaving, since he had remains of shaving foam and cuts all over his face. He was just about to walk pass them, when he saw them.

"I sure don't know, how men is able to live like this."

When they didn't answered he shrug his shoulders in despair and walked away.

"Did you also see that?"

Jean nodded even through the disbelief was writing all over her face.

"But how…"

She stopped in the middle of the sentence as Rogue walked through the open front door.

"Have you seen Rogue…. me…. No, just forget it. I find her myself!"

She walked away and back on the staircase stood Jean and Scott, who were completely confused.

"What is going on?"

"Do you want the long explanation or the short one?"

They turned around and saw, that Jubilee was standing behind them in the doorway.

"The short one!"

Answered Jean and Scott in chorus.

o-

"Rogue?"

She looked up and saw her own body, which only made her sadder. Rogue(Gambit) came over and sat down on the bench next to her.

"M'sweet, don't cry! It doesn't suit me."

He looked investigating over at his own body.

"By the way, it seems like, that I sure could use a haircut."

This made her smile.

"Think, Remy, that you can jokes in a time like this!"

"Not happy to have me back?"

"Always, but this wasn't the way I had expected."

"I know. All the times I have talked about getting close to you, then it wasn't this I was thinking about."

She blushed and looked down on her hands. Rogue(Gambit) gently pulled her head up with his gloved hand.

"Not that I complainant. You really have a great body, but I don't find mine so attractive that I would like to stay like this. Beside I can't figure out this flying thing. I woke up in the middle of the night, because I smashed my head into the ceiling."

Gambit(Rogue) laughed, but quickly she became depressed again.

"But serious, Remy, do you really think, that we will be able to switch back?"

He stood up and offered her his hand.

"Don't worry, chere, The Professor will find a way."

She smiled and took his hand, but, as she hadn't yet go used to Gambit's body, she felt in over him and her hand touched his face for a second. Immediately began Rouge(Gambit) to feel a stream of memories rush through his head.

o-

Jean walked over to Neria and took her hand.

"Are you really sure, that she only is fifteen years old?"

Xavier nodded.

"But she looks to be a least forty!"

He drove over to the window.

"It must be the price for using her powers. It's a great thing to bring people back from the dead – so great, that there need to be a cost, but still I can't figure out where Remy fits into all of this."

She walked over to him.

"What do you mean?"

Xavier shook his head.

"I don't know yet, but I think, that I need to talk to Remy."

He turned his wheelchair around and drove out of the room. Out in the hallway he met Rogue(Gambit), who had an unconscious Gambit(Rogue) in his arms.

"What happen?"

"A accident, Professor, she touched my face."

Beast, who just in the same moment came walking out of his office, helped Rogue(Gambit) into a room, where he very carefully laid Gambit(Rogue) down on the bed. Beast quickly examined her, but ended it with a sigh of relief.

"He… oh, she is only unconscious, so she should wake up in a couple of hours."

Xavier saw the relief in Rogue(Gambit)'s eyes, but still he wasn't satisfied.

"Remy, can I talk to you for a second?"

Rogue(Gambit) nodded and followed Xavier into his office.

"It was a accident, Professor, she felt…"

A gesture from Xavier made him stop.

"It wasn't that I wanted to talk with you about…"

He took a folder from his desk and opened it to take a picture from it, which he then showed Rogue(Gambit). It was a picture of Neria.

"… do you know this girl?"

Rogue(Gambit) shook his head.

"She is a little bit too young for my taste. Why so interested?"

Xavier looked down on the picture of the beautiful teenage girl.

"Because she sat beside you in the plane! And because she save you from the dead…"

He looked straight into Rogue(Gambit) eyes.

"… And because you paid for her air ticket!"

Rogue(Gambit) shrugged his shoulders.

"Sorry, but I can't help. Can't remember anything from that trip."

"Then tell me, why you went over to Paris?"

"Sorry, can't. That is a secret, which is not mine to reveal."

"Then maybe there is more, which you don't tell us."

"Maybe, but everyone sometimes needs to keep secrets… even from friends."

"Friendship is built on trust."

"Right! Like you trust me right now. I have told you, what I can, but still you push me. Where is the trust in that?"

"In a bed. Fighting for her life, because she saved yours!"

Rogue(Gambit) was just about to say something, when he turned around and left the office as he smashed the door behind him.