Disclaimer: I own my plot, if you can even call it that.

Chapter 13

Toad's alive?

Kitty's mood changed tremendously as she recalled the things that had happened over the past few years. She was now sitting on her bed, clutching her pillow, and crying freely. And that was about the time that Rogue came in. She was at Kitty's side immediately and she started asking her what had happened. Kitty didn't answer, but handed her a picture of her and the rest of the Brotherhood that was taken about four months before everything started.

Rogue understood at once. The whole ordeal had been very hard on both Kitty and Lance. Kitty had grown close to all of them over the years, and Lance, of course, was always close to them; even if he wouldn't admit it.

Rogue knew that Kitty thought of what had happened often. She would sometimes hear her crying at night, and when she saw Kitty and Lance together she noticed that they were closer to one another, as if they were afraid they were going to lose each other as well. Things would probably never be the same for them.

"Shhh, Kit. Cheer up, tomorrow's prom and Ah'm pretty sure that they'd want ya to be happy; not mopin' around thinkin' 'bout what happened in the past." She said, standing up and setting the picture back on her nightstand.

"I miss them all. This would have been Toad's senior prom as well. It's like, not fair." She said, fresh tears falling.

"Kitty, lots of things in life aren't fair. Ya just got to except it. Ah know it's hard, but feelin' this way won't change the way things are." She said, heading toward the door. "Ah'll be downstairs if ya want to talk some more."

"Thanks, Rogue." Kitty said, and when she left the tears came back. "I miss you guys so much; why did you have to leave?" she whispered to no one in particular.

Just then she felt a gush of wind and she sat up. She looked over at the door leading to the balcony and saw that it was closed. That's odd. She thought. She then looked over at her nightstand and noticed that there was a piece of paper on it. She picked it up and unfolded it.

After reading it, she smiled to herself. She wiped her eyes and ran out of the room, straight for Lance's room. Without bothering to knock, she phased right through the door and ran and jumped on his bed.

Lance, who had been asleep, grabbed the 'intruder', pulling them down, and then flipped them so that he was on top of them. Kitty was trying her best not to giggle as Lance became aware of who it was that was below him. Once he did, he let go of her arms immediately and moved off of her.

"Kitty, I'm sorry. Are you okay?" he asked uncertainly, since she was laughing uncontrollably at this point.

Lance was kind of worried. Kitty hadn't been this happy, truly happy, in a very long time. He knew something must be up. Plus, he could see the tearstains on her cheeks. Why is she laughing if she has just recently been crying? Lance was starting to fear for her sanity.

"Kitty?" he tried again.

"Listen." She said, controlling her laughter. She took the paper out of her pocket and read it out loud.

Dear Kitty-cat,

I know it's been a long time and I'm really sorry that I haven't visited or written you guys. I've finally finished the business I held with my father and I am hoping that I can join the X-Men.

Kitty stopped there for a minute to comment.

"Did you ever think that you'd hear those words coming from Pietro?" she asked, giggling again. Lance just shook his head in disbelief.

I was also wondering if you had heard from Wanda. I haven't seen her since Toad's funeral. That was something else I meant to tell you. Toad is alive. That wasn't his body.

It was Lance's turn to interrupt now.

"Toad's alive?" he said, barely above a whisper.

"Yeah, I guess the mutant that was killed was just a mutant that looked somewhat like Toad. And because the body that was found was so mangled, it was hard to tell. I guess it was all, like, my fault. I just jumped to conclusions. I'm sorry." Kitty said, her face a little flushed from embarrassment.

Lance felt a little angry with Kitty; but he realized it was a mistake that could have easily been made by anybody. He was just glad that Todd was still alive. But Fred's death was another story. That had been real; he wouldn't be coming back.

Kitty didn't know whether to continue or not, Lance had been quiet for a long time. She was kind of afraid that he would yell at her for being an idiot and causing so much pain and grief.

"Lance?" she asked tentatively.

"Sorry," he said, shaking his head. "Continue."

She looked at him for a few more seconds before going back to the letter. His mood changed and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing. She skipped over the next part that just said exactly what she had just told him; about the body being someone else and not Toad.

I'm sorry that I didn't tell you this sooner, but we have been extremely busy. I know that isn't a very good excuse, and I hope you will forgive us. Anyway, we arrived late last night and spent the night at the Brotherhood house.

Kit, if you are reading this to Lance, then we are downstairs waiting to see you both.

-Pietro

"Are you ready to see them?" Kitty asked, folding up the paper and putting it back in her pocket.

"I guess." He said, standing up and heading over to his dresser. He pulled out a pair of pants and a shirt.

"You like, aren't still mad at Pietro are you?" Kitty asked, exasperated. "He's been gone for over two years, you can't tell me you haven't missed him."

Lance didn't say anything, but walked back over to the bed and started making it.

"Lance, you're like, impossible." She said, refusing to move, making it difficult for him to make his bed. "And what about Toad? It's been the same amount of time, only his departure was like, supposedly permanent."

"Kitty, will you please move so I can make my bed." Lance said, ignoring her questions.

"Lance Alvers you are being a complete jerk!" Kitty yelled, getting off the bed and walking over to the door.

She turned around once more before leaving. They locked eyes and she saw disbelief and resentment. He saw confusion and hurt, along with fresh tears. And before he could say anything, she left; slamming the door behind her.

Lance sat down on his bed and put his head in his hands.

"Alvers, you just blew it big time." He mumbled.

Kitty went downstairs and into the rec. room where she assumed they would be. She was right, and at the sight of Pietro she smiled, forgetting about her argument with Lance and ran into his arms as he stood up.

"Long time no see, Kitty-cat." He smirked.

"You jerk, you could have at least called once in a while." She said, letting go of him.

"Are those tears for me?" he asked, noticing her tearstained cheeks.

She bit her lower lip and looked down, not wanting to answer.

"Trouble in paradise?" he asked.

She let a few more tears fall before she looked over and noticed Todd. She smiled a small smile and walked over to him. She hugged him as well.

"Yo, Kitty." He said, once she let go.

"I'm so sorry that I like, had everyone thinking you were dead. I'm such an idiot." She said, embarrassed.

"No big, at least no lasting damage was done." He said.

Kitty felt her heart break again. She wasn't sure if Fred's death had anything to do with the fact that Toad was supposedly dead, but it definitely didn't make Kitty feel any better. She was now blaming herself for Fred's death. If I wouldn't have like, jumped to conclusions and said Toad was dead, Fred may not have killed himself. She felt the tears coming again.

"Excuse me. I'm sorry." She said, and she ran out of the room.

She ran straight to Kurt's room, hoping he was in there. She would have knocked, but Lance came out of his room at that moment and she didn't want him to see her. Once she was sure Lance had gone downstairs, she turned around and found that Kurt was staring at her.

"Uh, Kitty, are you okay?" he asked, noticing that she was crying.

"Pietro and Toad are back." She said, sitting down on his chair.

"Vait, vhat? I thought zhat Toad vas…how?" Kurt was confused.

Kitty handed him the letter from Pietro since she didn't feel like explaining it again. Kurt though, didn't see what could have possibly upset her. He figured that she would be happy.

Picking up on his thoughts, Kitty told him about her fight with Lance.

"I don't know Kitty, put yourself in Lance's position. How vould you feel if I left for two years and never called or anyzhing?" Kurt said.

"You're right. I feel horrible." She said, resting her face in her hands. "He's probably angry at me anyway, because of the whole Toad thing. I mean, if I hadn't like, told everyone it was his body, Fred may not have killed himself, and-"

"Kitty," Kurt said, moving in front of her and putting his hands on her arms and forcing her to look at him. "Don't you ever blame yourself for vhat happened. It vasn't your fault. Okay?" he said seriously, looking into her eyes.

She nodded.

"Let's go downstairs." He said, standing up and reaching his hand out to help her up.

They made their way downstairs together and went into the rec. room where everyone else was. Kitty looked around for Lance. She found him talking to Todd; that made her smile. She then looked around the room for Pietro. She couldn't find him, though.

Kurt was still standing beside her with his arm around her. She leaned her head on his shoulder, welcoming the friendly contact and the fact that he was there for her. She was about to say something when someone behind them spoke first.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Pietro said, and then he moved so that he was facing them. "You wouldn't happen to be cheating on Lance now would you?"

"Shut up Pietro." Kitty said, taking her head from Kurt's shoulder. "Have you talked to him yet?" she asked.

"No, he's been avoiding me." He said. "What did he say to you earlier. I know he said something, otherwise you wouldn't be so upset. I swear, if he said something that bad, I'll-"

"It was nothing. We had a fight, that's all." Kitty said. Kurt had decided to let them talk, so he went over to talk with Rogue.

"He's the reason you're crying though." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Just, forget about it. It's like, not even that big of a deal." She said, walking over to one of the couches.

Pietro followed her and sat down beside her. They continued their conversation for awhile before they were joined by a certain rock tumbler.

A/N: Okay, I would like to say that chapter 12 was pretty much a spur of the moment thing and me killing them off was…something I can't explain. But I just couldn't have them both dead…I felt bad. I couldn't bring Fred back, so I brought Toad back (obviously). I hope that makes you hate me a little less.

Also, I can't remember where I was going with this story, so it might be awhile before I update again…but not as long as before. And I hope I didn't let anyone down with these past few chapters. I have a feeling this story will probably end in the next few chapters; but then again, who knows?