And now for the chapter you've all been waiting for! Please oh please Review!

Reunification

Todd stared at the mansion through the gate. It was now or never. If he didn't do this he would never be able to live with himself. He couldn't ignore it and he couldn't runaway from it anymore. With a solid feeling of determination Todd hopped over the fence with ease. He made his way through the huge lawn to the mansion. Luckily he managed not to trip any alarms. He climbed up the wall peeking into each bedroom. Lucky for him he could see perfectly clearly in the dark.

He looked into a bedroom and saw a brown haired girl asleep in her bed. He wasn't sure if it was her or not since her face was turned away from him. There was only one way to find out. Todd hopped onto the balcony and pushed open the glass door stepping into the bedroom. He crept quietly over to her bed. He froze when she stirred. She turned over he saw that the girl in the bed wasn't Serena. It was Rogue. Todd might have been able to get out of there without her ever knowing, if he hadn't gasped. He clapped his hand over his mouth in horror as he watched Rogue slowly open her eyes. When she saw him standing there her eyes went wide and she nearly jumped out of her bed in surprise. If the shock Todd had received upon knowing this was Rogue's room hadn't killed him, she surely would.

"Whoa, take it easy Rogue. It's me." Todd said in a hushed voice.

"What are you doing here Swamp Breath?" Rogue growled.

"Sorry yo. I didn't know this was your room."

"You have some nerve coming here after the trouble you caused at school today." She said hotly.

"Look I'm sorry yo." Todd said in a strained voice hoping nobody else would wake up.

"Sorry doesn't cut it." Rogue snapped. "You and your Ringling brothers are always causing trouble."

"Look Rogue, could you lower your voice a bit?" Todd said through gritted teeth.

"Why should I?" She hissed. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't wake everyone up and let them throw your sorry butt outta here."

"I…" Todd sighed heavily. "I can't tell you."

"Well then say hi to the Loserhood for me." She said as she got ready to wake everyone up.

"No, please don't!" Todd pleaded.

She folded her arms. "I'm waiting."

He gave an impatient sigh. "Look yo, there's something really important I gotta do, and since it doesn't have anything to do with you I would rather you not know."

"Then what were you doing in my room?" She asked incredulously.

"Like I said before, I was in here by accident." He explained. "I thought you were someone else."

"Well who…? Wait…" Realization slowly dawned on her. "This doesn't have anything to do with Serena, does it?" Todd looked down at the floor not answering. "I thought you two were… you know…"

"Wait how would you know about that?"

"Lance told Kitty and she told me." Rogue said simply. "So what's going on?"

"I was keeping my distance, trying to forget about it… but I kept worrying about her, wondering how she's doing. So I came here."

"So it's coming back to you?"

Todd shook his head. "Not really. I try, but the headaches stop me cold."

"So then exactly what are you doing here?" Rogue asked. "She came home today all miserable and upset. What happened?"

"Well, we accidentally met at the park earlier." Todd told her. "We talked for a bit, and she asked me if we could start over. I thought it would be better if we didn't."

"Wait, you mean you rejected her?"

"Well, I'm not sure if rejected is quite the word for it." He said fidgeting.

"You really are selfish you know that?" Rogue snapped hotly.

"Oh not this again." Todd groaned.

"You know that there hasn't been a single day that's passed by that she hasn't thought of you?"

Todd looked at her in disbelief. "Really?"

"Yeah, in fact she can't go to school anymore because of it. But what would you know about it? You're too busy trashing school and stealing money from everybody to even notice or care."

"Actually I did notice she was gone." Todd snapped.

"But you didn't do anything." Rogue shot back. "Even when you found out about it you didn't come see her. And then you abandoned her. Why?"

Todd was getting sick of hearing that question. It was always why why why. Did he really have to have a reason? And how was it any of their business? "Why do you care?" He asked annoyed.

Rogue was slightly taken aback. "Well, because she's my teammate and I worry about her." She regained her cool. "Now answer my question."

"I was scared, okay?" Todd admitted. "I didn't know what to do. But I'm here now."

"Took you long enough." Rogue grumbled.

He shrugged. "Hey, better late than never right?"

She shook her head. "You know I really don't get what she sees in you."

"Me neither yo." Rogue looked at him with a surprised look. "I keep thinking to myself, why would a beautiful girl like that go for a guy like me? She could do so much better. And not to mention what I did to her… I don't understand it."

"You know that really wasn't your fault." Rogue said sympathetically.

Todd shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Sure Pietro might have caused it, but I still forgot about her. That should have never happened no matter what. I can't forgive myself for it. For any of it."

"There's one thing you didn't forget, you still care about her. That's why you're here, right?" Todd looked at her in disbelief. "She's out back on the beach."

"Are you sure?" He asked her.

She nodded. "Been there ever since she got back."

"Thanks Rogue." He said before hopping out the window. Despite herself, Rogue smiled slightly at the troublesome little bug that had always annoyed her

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.

There she was, leaning against a rock on the beach, staring out into the ocean, her hair fluttering in the wind. He climbed down the wall and hopped as fast as he could towards her. His heart was beating so hard he thought it would give out at any second, but he didn't stop until he was a few feet away from her.

She turned to see him and a look of confusion and bewilderment came over her face. Her skin looked almost as white as the sand. Her dark cascade of hair draped over part of her face making it look even paler in contrast.

He gave a slight smile. "You know you guys are lucky to have a beach in your backyard."

She looked at him incredulously. "What are you doing here?"

"I've done some thinking and…" He swallowed. "I want to start over."

"I thought you said that it would be a bad idea." Her voice was a little shaky

"I know." He said guiltily. "But while we were apart I realized… I can't pretend that I can be alone anymore."

"You said it was best if we remained the way we are now… apart and alone."

"I'm sorry." He said in a strangled voice. "I was scared. I didn't know what to do. But now I know that I can't ignore this feeling anymore."

"Like you said, the last time we both ended up getting hurt. Our teammates don't want us together."

"Who cares what they want!" Todd burst out. "I want you."

She hesitated. "Do you… remember me at all?"

"Not everything." He grabbed her hand. She looked at him. "But when I see you, something inside of me just swell's up. I know that this is where I want to be."

She lowered her head. "But what about your memories?"

"Look, so what if I can never remember? Let's just leave that part behind. I don't care what's in the past anymore." He squeezed her hand softly. "I want to focus on what I have here and now."

What Todd saw next startled him. Tears were streaming down her face, making her eyes glimmer in the pale moonlight. And yet through all the tears she emitted a choking sort of laugh. She was crying and laughing at the same time. Todd wondered how it was possible that anyone could smile with all those tears in their eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked her.

"I was just thinking about the last time we were here." She said through her crying.

"Were we happy?" He asked drawing closer to her.

"I know I was." She said putting a gentle hand on his cheek. "Because you were there with me."

She looked at the features she knew so well. His lean figure. His soft gentle face. His long untamed hair. His lantern eyes that shone through the dark with the light of the moon, much like the moon did with the light of the sun. She stared into his eyes and he stared into hers, and the gaze between their eyes became a link that seemed to cast everything else into non-existence.

She heard her own voice, as if from a very great distance away, heard herself say, "How could you just let me go?"

The moonlight hit her just right and she looked even more beautiful than ever. He looked at her and thought: this isn't real, but it seemed a distant and unimportant sort of thought, not as immediate as the feel of her skin, not as real as the sound of her voice.

"I can't," he said, and kissed her.

He caught her by the shoulders bringing his mouth down on hers, gently at first, but when she didn't pull away the trembling tension in his body altered swiftly and he pulled her towards him. A profound and solemn quietness came over her as if she had walked into some great and open space full of light. It felt as if the whole world had just… stopped. There was nothing wrong with this. There couldn't be anything wrong with something that felt so perfectly right, that felt like coming up into air after drowning for so long.

They were still kissing, if it could even be called that. She felt more as if they were trying to bridge the gap that had sprung up between them over the past weeks and months, and fuse themselves into one person.

She felt as if she were falling and there was no end to her descent. She remembered the first time she had ever kissed him and it had been like a strange miracle. All that known familiar country she had seen before now being learned by touch: the feel of his mouth, the slight roughness of his skin, the taste of him. But it had been nothing like this, with this kind of… desperation.

They stumbled backwards, locked together; Serena felt behind herself for the rock to lean against but missed, and they crumpled together, half-falling, landing on the sand with enough force to knock the air out of Serena's lungs.

But she didn't care. She felt the weight of him all along her body, pressing her into the ground. Felt herself being crushed, and it hurt, and the rocks digging into her back hurt, and his grip on her shoulders was so tight that it hurt, but she hardly felt the pain. The pain was nothing to her. She only felt the galvanic shocks that tore through her nerves as he touched her, fueled by the burning desire she had wanted for so long and the relief of no longer fighting what couldn't be fought. It was almost the same dizzying high that she had felt when Kurt had kissed her, only that had been a cold sort of joy and this... burned. The pain and the intensity built like a storm in her head. She heard a roaring in her ears, the rush of the blood in her body, felt herself burned, crushed, annihilated, and she wanted it, wanted to disappear entirely into this sensation and forget everything else in the world except for Todd.

As Todd felt the warmth of her skin, the taste of her lips, and the melodious sound of her voice, he could almost swear he felt her heart pounding in his head. He was so close to her, he could smell her and he took in her scent that tingled his nostrils. The warmth of her body felt good against the slightly chilled night. Lights were flashing before his eyes. He could hear the ocean roaring in his ears. Or maybe it was inside his head. Her emotion matched his, all his desire, hope, ardor and confusion mirrored in her own; it was her arm that hooked around his neck, drawing him down to kiss her, her bare feet that locked themselves around the backs of his knees. She slid her hands inside his shirt and he felt her small, cold, delicate fingers against his hot skin sending shivers down his spine. His heart was trying to bang its way out of his ribcage and he couldn't get enough air, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was her, her whispers against his mouth, his hands tangled in her hair; she was saying his name over and over, a feverish and desperate whisper and she wanted him, and more than that. She loved him. He could feel it in the way she had looked at him, and even more in the shuddering tension of her grip on his arms. She loved him.

He could feel her intense devotion for him, the unbearable suffering of needing to be with him, and so much more. The pain of not getting enough, the joy of hearing his voice, the excitement of his touch, and the fear that it would all stop, swelled up in her heart making her want to die. All these thoughts, feelings, and emotions were radiating off of her like a pulsing heat wave and he felt his own infatuation towards her grow to an infinite proportion. He felt his soul was on fire and he never wanted it to end. The feeling was so all-consuming he wasn't sure if he was dead or alive anymore. Neither. He was beyond life or death. As long as she was kissing him, he didn't need to breathe. As long as she was there he didn't need to think.

He tightened his arms around Serena. He kissed her mouth, kissed her eyes, kissed her throat and the fluttering pulse there. He could actually hear her heart beating. He had never really been close enough to her before to hear it like that. Had never been close enough to anyone to hear it like that.

He wasn't sure how, but it felt as if the kiss was fusing his spirit to hers. He couldn't really explain it, but he somehow felt connected to her in a way. Every breath she took he could feel and vise versa. They could both feel it. Kisses raining, breath mingling, limbs entwining, hearts hammering, throats tightening, whispers escaping their throats, the piercing warmth, and the sweet pain diffusing. They both felt it as they slipped away…