The rest of Gambit and Rogue's night was uneventful. They watched TV, then went to bed. Gambit did indeed snore, but Rogue didn't mind. When morning rolled around the two mutants had breakfast together. Gambit made omelets. After breakfast, Gambit reluctantly took Rogue back to the institute, but not without kissing her gloved hand and making her promise to call him. When Rogue finally stepped into the mansion, after a thirty minute goodbye with Gambit, she was met by a relieved Storm and an angry Wolverine.
"Rogue," said Storm as she ran up and hugged the girl, "we were worried."
"I smell Cajun," said Wolverine.
"Rogue, where have you been?" asked the two adults.
Rogue reluctantly told them what happened. Wolverine growled and Storm gasped.
"Rogue, you're old enough to know not to run off like that, especially with the Cajun," said Wolverine.
"Remy's a good guy, Logan. Just give him a chance, and I honestly didn't think I was gonna be in danger," answered Rogue.
"And yet you felt you needed an escort?" asked Storm.
"Well . . . I . . . He invited himself along," said Rogue. That was sort of how it happened, sort of.
"Well Rogue, right now we are just happy that you are safe. And it is regrettable that you did not allow us to celebrate your birthday with you," said Storm.
"Well . . . I, umm . . . you really know how to make a person feel guilty Ororo," said Rogue.
"Wait 'til the elf finds out. He's not gonna let you forget," said Wolverine, "He's been climbing the walls since you left. Insisted that we look for you. I was game, but no, someone thought we needed to trust you," said Wolverine.
"Well she is all right is she not?" answered Storm.
"Yeah, after she was almost kidnapped," said Wolverine.
"Am I in big trouble here?" asked Rogue.
"You should be," said Wolverine, "but we'll decide what to do with you later."
"Can I go find Kurt then? I think I need to apologize."
"That is a wise decision, Rogue," said Storm. With that being said, Rogue left the room to find her brother. Wolverine turned to Storm.
"Since when does she call that Cajun, Remy?" said Wolverine.
"They must have become close," answered Storm.
"I don't like it."
"Perhaps she sees something in him. Rogue is not a stupid girl, Logan."
"She may not be stupid, but she is a girl, and little girls in love, don't make the best decisions. Besides, Gambit is a thief-for-hire, is that someone we really want hanging around her."
"You make a good point, but Rogue does seem a lot happier now, then when she left. That has to count for something, and I might remind you that your past is not exactly spotless. Who knows, perhaps Rogue will be a good influence on him," said Storm. Wolverine growled.
In another part of the mansion, Nightcrawler was alone in his room reading a comic book he borrowed from Bobby. He hoped it would take his mind off of concern for Rogue, but it wasn't helping. What if she never comes back? What if she's in trouble? What if she doesn't want a brother and that's why she left? Kurt heard a knock on the door. He teleported over and there was Rogue on the other side of the doorway.
"Hi, Kurt," she said. Kurt threw his arms around Rogue.
"I thought you would never come back," said Kurt.
"I told you I would only be gone for the weekend," said Rogue as she entered Kurt's room.
"I know, but I was still afraid you wouldn't come back."
"Well, I'm sorry I scared you."
"Don't leave like that again. You really did scare me and you scared other people too. I thought Logan was gonna tear apart the mansion and Ms. Ororo kept wringing her hands and looking at the door anytime someone came in. Kitty thought you didn't want to live with her anymore, and . . ."
"I get it, Kurt, and I'm sorry. I already spoke with Ororo and Logan and everything's fine."
"When did you get here?"
"Just now."
"Where did you go?"
"Home, so to speak. Last week was my birthday and I got a letter and a present from Destiny. She asked me to come down for the weekend and she sent me a plane ticket . . ."
"Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?"
"Well, 'cause it's not really my birthday, it's the day Mystique and Destiny adopted me, and that's not really a day I wanna celebrate. Anyway, I got really upset and Remy found me . . ."
"Who is Remy?"
"Gambit, you know the guy with the cards."
"The one that kidnapped you?"
"Yes, the one that kidnapped me. Anyway, he found me and he helped me and he offered to go with me, so we went down there and . . ."
"You went away with him. Why?"
"Because . . . I like him, and would you let me finish my story? Anyway, we went down there and I totally freaked out on Destiny, which felt good, but also felt bad, long story short, Mystique tried to kidnap me, Gambit stopped her, and here I am," said Rogue as she forced a smile.
"That's terrible."
"Yeah, well, it worked out."
"You should have told me. You should have taken me with you." said Kurt.
"I didn't know Mystique was gonna be there. As a matter of fact, Destiny explicitly said she wouldn't be."
"It's not about her, it's about us. Why don't you want me as a brother?"
"I never said that I . . ."
"Then why don't you talk to me about anything. I try to reach out to you and you pull away. I try to give you space and you run away. I don't understand what I could have done to make you hate me."
"Kurt, just stop it. You know I don't hate you."
"But you don't want me as brother."
"That's not true. Why do you think I'm sitting here? I'm sorry if I hurt you, but . . . look, I've been going through some things, but they have nothing to do with you."
"Why don't they have anything to do with me? We're supposed to be family, but you don't want me and Mystique doesn't want me either," said a tearful Kurt.
"Kurt calm down. I'm sorry. I've been a bad sister, I know. But despite everything, despite another betrayal, I feel better about myself than when I left."
"Why?"
"Actually it was something Remy said and did. He told me that I was loved and that I should allow myself to be loved. It's not easy to accept love after family and friends break your heart. But Remy was so kind to me and he saved me. I realized when he was fighting Mystique, he was fighting for me, no questions asked and receiving nothing in return, and I felt bad. I felt bad because I knew that you or Wolverine or Storm or even Wanda, apparently, would do the same thing. And even though I would do the same for them, I don't think any of them knew that, and that's a shame. And I'm sorry for that. Also, Gambit was really great to me."
"Are you dating him?"
"Maybe," said Rogue impishly. An expression Kurt had never seen on Rogue's face.
"Well, just be careful with this guy. He worked for Magneto. How do you know he's not a spy?"
"I don't, but for the first time in a long time, I'm not worried about it. If he turns out to be a spy or something, well, that's too bad for him, because I'm great company."
"Logan won't like it."
"Don't rain on my parade Kurt."
"Sorry. Just be careful. Oh, and we're celebrating your birthday."
"What?"
"You're my sister, and I'm glad you were born, so we're gonna celebrate. We're gonna get ice cream and presents and cake, so be prepared."
"When is this gonna happen?"
"I'm not telling you. It's gonna be a surprise. When you least expect it, SURPRISE! Birthday celebration, and I'm gonna tell everyone too."
"Well if you don't tell me how do you know I'll be there."
"I don't know, maybe I'll ask your boyfriend to bring you."
"Shut up," said Rogue as she tossed a pillow at Kurt.
"Rogue and Gambit sitting in a tree. . ." sang Kurt
"That's it," said Rogue as she grabbed another pillow and proceeded to beat Kurt with it. Kurt attacked Rogue with a pillow of his own. After the pillow fight, Rogue got through the rest of the day dodging questions from the other X-men.
The next day at school Wanda was standing in front of Rogue's locker.
"You came back. I figured if I didn't see you today, I'd tell the X-men you'd been kidnapped."
"What if I was just late?"
"Then I'd call 'em back and say he let you go."
"You were worried, too? I've been hearing a lot more of that than I expected."
"I don't see why. All you X-men stick together, don't you."
"Doesn't mean we like each other. Friendship and team loyalty are two different things."
"Well, we're not on the same team. Does that mean we're friends?"
"Sure."
"Cool. What happened to your cool, new gloves?"
"Blew 'em up."
"Why?"
"Accident. I touched Gambit."
"Yeah," Wanda smiled wickedly, "Where exactly did you touch him?"
"It wasn't like that. Well, I guess it kinda was, but it wasn't dirty."
"Well I want to hear about this romantic weekend."
"It was your typical romantic getaway. Girl and boy go to girl's house. Boy buys girl jewelry. Girl yells at mom. Other mom tries to kidnap girl. Boy fights mom off. Boy and girl run back home."
"The sad part is, to me, that does sound typical, just replace mom with dad and replace other mom with evil minion of dad."
"Parents."
"Tell me about it."
"I'd rather tell you about how girl sleeps at boy's apartment."
"What!"
"Relax, we slept in different rooms, but it was still cool. He let me have his room and he slept on his couch."
"He must really like you."
"What makes you say that?"
"Boys aren't naturally that courteous, Rogue."
"Yeah, he was your regular knight in shining armor this weekend."
"Lucky girl."
"Yeah," said a smiling Rogue.
"So what else did your knight do?"
"Let's walk and talk. Oh and by the way, my brother is throwing me a surprise birthday party. I'll make sure you get invited, if you want to be."
"Sure. I won't have to wear a stupid hat will I?"
"God, I hope not," said Rogue, "and by the way, Wanda, I really like Gambit, but if I ever turn into one of those giggly girls who talk nonstop about their boyfriends, just punch me."
"You got it."
