Disclaimer: Don't own the X-Men. Do own both Blaze and Raven.

06

Rogue woke with a start, confused. Her hair was in her eyes as she lay warm and safe in bed. She brushed the locks away stubbornly, eyes unfocused as she opened them. What about the mission? Had there even been one?

Slowly she rolled over; only to wallop her head on something sharp that should not have been there. The corner of a bedside table judging by the blurred shape of it as the room swam a little. Hissing her pain she put her fingers to the point of impact, feeling the warm flow of blood. Damn it! There shouldn't have even been anything there to hit her head on! She blinked and her eyes focused.

It wasn't her room, which would on the one hand explain what the mysterious bedside table was doing there. But on the other hand it raised so many urgent questions that Rogue didn't have time to process the one explanation. More then that she knew whose room it was, back home in the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. A very long time ago, before even Rogue had arrived here it had been Jean's. Then later it had become Blaze's refuge, which would now make it Blaze and Gambit's room…

Struggling to comprehend anything she sat up slowly, putting bare feet to the soft carpet and again forcing her wild hair back out of her eyes. That was wrong, her hair wasn't normally so untameable surely? What was she doing here? Absently, still half asleep her warm fingers pulled a strand of hair down in front of her eyes.

It was red. Curly, shimmering autumn gold hair so much longer than it should have been. Gasping Rogue glanced at the back of her hands. At the two gold bands one with a diamond and one plain on her left ring finger… How could this be? Tugging on a dressing gown, Rogue peered cautiously at the full-length mirror in the panel of the big double wardrobe. A stunning petite redhead stared right back at her rather judgementally. Rose lips pouted, big chestnut eyes asked too many questions to which Rogue didn't have the answers. She raised a hand, gasping in surprise as the reflection did the same. She was Blaze…

There was a stirring behind her, making Rogue pirouette unevenly in the strange body. Gambit muttered something that wasn't quite French, obviously not wanting to acknowledge that, like it or not, he was waking up. Stubbornly he dragged the thick red-brown covers over his head, hiding from the daylight that Rogue had just begun to notice creeping in through the thick curtains. The window was open, the breeze cool, and it all seemed real enough…

"Chere? Rogue froze, glancing back at the reflection in the mirror as Gambit detached himself from the covers, put his feet to the floor and stretched laboriously. Girlishly all she could suddenly think was 'Please let him have some clothes on!' Fortunately his dignity and her innocence were preserved as he stood up in a baggy pair of pyjama pants. Unsure Rogue stayed rooted to the spot as Remy stretched again, coming to her side. "You okay Chere? You up very early, non?"

"I…" Rogue started, voice sounding very odd to her ears. Of course Blaze's body, Blaze's English voice… Blaze's husband… Gambit didn't know she wasn't whom she looked like. Neither did he give her chance to try and explain, even if she'd understood it herself.

"You bleedin'." He pointed out concerned, "You bang your head on somethin'?"

"On the table…" Rogue grimaced, Blaze's nose wrinkling in mild despair. Automatically Rogue flinched away sharply as Gambit reached to touch the growing bruise, an instinctive reaction but not the one Gambit thought it was.

"I ain't gonna hurt you Petite…" He muttered, frowning slightly. And he touched her, brushing her hair away from the wound tenderly. Rogue's every instinct was to pull away as she clenched Blaze's jaw and almost stopped breathing with the tension. But nothing bad happened. Gambit didn't gasp with shock and pain as his life force was dragged out of him, his memories, his mutant powers. It was real! She was really touching him!

Sighing warmly Rogue relaxed into Gambit's touch. Effortlessly, intensely he caressed her face, watching her closely as her eyes rolled back with pleasure. Fingering Blaze's slender jaw he raised her chin, his other hand running over her brow to sweep back her hair. He began to kiss her, teasing, pulling away and making her gasp. Rogue couldn't help it, couldn't even think to blame it on the Cajun's infamous charm as she wrapped her arms tightly around Gambit's broad shoulders, pressing Blaze's body against him. Evocatively she began stroking his neck and bare back with her fingers, not knowing how skin could ever feel so soft, lips ever taste so sweet as his. It was too easy to forget it wasn't her body as she gave it passionately to a kiss that dreams were made of…

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Eventually Gambit detached himself, smiling easily. His voice was husky, his breath deep as he whispered, "Now for a cold shower…" As he left, it took all Rogue's effort to stay standing.

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Looking and feeling impossibly smug, Rogue waltzed through the mansion with a spring in her step. She could touch! No need to bundle herself all up in gloves, scarves, long-sleeved shirts! Not that Blaze owned anything that could be persuaded to cover her skin. Rogue, after a fair while routing through Blaze's wardrobe, had resorted to a brown leather, ruffled knee-length skirt, and a cream silken vest. Rogue wasn't sure she'd ever shown as much skin as this, but reasoned that she still wasn't, not really. Mostly she was trying not to think about being in Blaze's body, having Blaze's life. It could be a dream, a wild illusion Genie had gifted her with. It could be anything at all but as she walked around a corner and stood face to face with herself, it all became a little hard to ignore.

Rogue, the other Rogue in her usual cursed body, looked terrible. Haggard, the few fine lines that ran around her eyes were sunken and her skin grey. Her brown hair looked greasy and obviously needing washing. She was all bundled up in multiple layers despite the warm weather, as if she was feeling cold. Meeting her own body's eyes, Rogue understood with crippling certainty what the other woman obviously could not. This had been a straight swap. Everything Rogue had ever wanted was hers. But the cost was Blaze being condemned unaware to Rogue's life… Guilt may have been a sensation this ex-thief's body was used to feeling, but its new occupant didn't like it one bit.

"Comin' through!" A redheaded lightning bolt shrieked, almost running Blaze-as-Rogue down, to throw herself at Rogue-as-Blaze. Rogue couldn't help but laugh as Blaze and Gambit's daughter Raven swung unafraid on her arm, red-on-black eyes sparkling at the woman she thought was her mother.

"You promised! You know you did, you can't back out now or I'll never forgive you!" Jessie demanded whilst at her heels her dog Scruffy bounced. "Mom!"

"Are you talking to me?" Rogue asked, English accent bizarre on her tongue. She had to hear it, just to be sure… Could this be real?

"Der!" Raven exclaimed, "'Course I'm talkin' to you!"

"What did I promise?" Rogue asked eyebrow raised, trying to cover her nerves when suddenly she realised Blaze's memories hadn't come with the body.

"Oh please! You're not tellin' me you don't remember? I didn't think you could forget stuff with that photographic memory thing Mom?"

"Just humour me Sugar." Rogue winced internally a second to late as she saw some vague recognition flit behind the downcast eyes of her body. But it didn't last, Blaze-as-Rogue folding her arms defensively. Blaze didn't know anything, this wasn't doing any harm and it couldn't last forever, could it? Rogue didn't know and resigned to stop thinking…

"You promised," Jessica answered laboriously, still hanging onto Rogue-as-Blaze's hand. "That you were takin' me shopping before term started. Just the two of us. It was the deal with Gam… I mean with Dad…that we didn't buy up Milan."

"I'll see what I can do, alright?" Rogue answered.

"Is that a yes?" Raven challenged, the LA baby's excitement only matched by Rogue's own, as the Southern belle nodded the English head. "Yes, we'll go."

"Now?"

"Now." Rogue hooked her arm through the child's possessively, warm skin on warm skin. Don't think about it Rogue, she commanded herself, just enjoy it.

"Beast!" Jessica exclaimed positively, dragging Rogue towards the door. "Lets go!"

"Jessica?" A small voice suddenly asked and Rogue's heart stopped for a moment as Blaze spoke. Did the English mutant know what was going on? Would she take all this away from Rogue? But there was still no sign of comprehension in the other woman's face. "Jessie?"

"Hi Rogue!" Raven didn't see that anything was wrong, too excited at the prospect of shopping. "Bye Rogue!" With that the real Rogue was hijacked, leaving Blaze in this cold shell, dizzy and nauseous, leaning an arm against the mansion's wall.

"You okay kid?" Wolverine put a resting hand on Blaze's shoulder as she shook Rogue's brunette head softly, feeling woozy. "Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really." She didn't have anything to talk about, couldn't put her finger on what was wrong.

"Rogue, you…" Logan started, but Blaze was pulling away, not even recognising that the name he called her by wasn't hers. "Jus' leave me be Logan."

"Alright." Wolverine sighed, "I tried."

A/N: Blaze-as-Rogue is short for Blaze in Rogue's body; Rogue-as-Blaze is Rogue in Blaze's body. The idea is taken from Robin Hobb's 'Farseer Trilogy', and I've used it in the past to account for the shape used by the animorph Ilehana Xavier (Vixen-as-Wolf etc.) Apologies if it's confusing, but please stick with it! Oh and please review? Thank you so much.