A/N: Ack! ***hides behind desk*** I know, I know. This came out so late! Since Spring Break is coming soon (hallelujah!) my teachers decided to cram me with last minute projects and essays and the like so this was hard to get written and edited! However, since Spring Break is coming up I should be able to get the next few chapters out faster! Yay!
Also, please note that all responses to the reviewers have been placed at the bottom A/N.
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Chapter Twenty Nine- Spells"I wish we could do something romantic. You know, a walk in a moonlit park. A boat ride across a dark river. But no, we get evil vampires and stakes. Not that we can't do kinky things with stakes… but is that really romantic? Of course not, it's just Xander being Xander." Xander rambled on, his hand twined with Tabitha's.
Laughing softly, Tabitha leaned into his arms and rested her thigh against his, "I think this is romantic. Walking down a darkened hallway… all alone."
"Boy, doesn't take much to charm you, does it?" Xander asked and brushed a kiss against her temple, "Or maybe you're just too exhausted from working out with Buffy to care. Did I mention how great you look working out? I love you're uniform. I love women in uniform. Did I tell you that?"
"Xander…"
"Of course, I was looking at just you. I couldn't take my eyes off you. The pretty short blonde blowing things up. How can you look away? Did I mention I love blondes? Especially ones that blow things up."
"Xander…"
"Hmmm? What?"
"Just kiss me." Tabitha whispered and placed her hands on his cheeks. Xander smiled slowly and lowered his head. Tabitha raised herself to her tiptoes and met his awaiting lips.
Xander wrapped his arms around the small of her back and brought her tight against him. He had never kissed anyone like this before. Nothing had ever been this great. Not even his kissed with his ex-fiancé, Anya, could compare. He had never felt this way for a girl this fast before. It was almost as if Tabitha had shoved love down his throat the night in the mall. And now as he pressed Tabitha' slim body against the wall, he couldn't seem to care too much.
Tabitha hands tangled in Xander's rich dark hair and she moaned against his mouth. She had had relationships with men before, quite a few actually, but Xander was making her feel things she had never felt before. It seemed to be happening to fast, but in her heart Tabitha knew it was happening just at the right moment.
Xander and Tabitha had spent over a week together. Xander and Tabitha, the oddities of their respected groups. Maybe that was why they fell for one another so quickly. Maybe they had finally found someone who wouldn't see them as just a member to a team, but as a person. A person they could love.
They broke, their lips parted with two duel sighs. Xander withdrew his hands from Tabitha's waist and used them to cage Tabitha to the wall. Tabitha, feeling exhausted and loving it, lowered her arms lazily to his shoulders.
"Wow." She murmured with a smile.
Xander, panting, pressed his lips against her forehead before answering, "I don't think 'wow' is the right word for this. Is there even a right word? How about 'ahhhh'? Ahhhh that felt good."
Giggling, Tabitha pushed herself from the wall and leaned into him, who wrapped an arm around her waist once more, "You're a weird one, Xander."
"You know it, Tabitha."
"I like it that way."
"So do I. Hey, do you think that's my mutant ability? I, no matter what happens, always managed to keep the upbeat attitude for the group. After all, I'm Mr. Sunshine!" Xander proclaimed, hitting his chest lighting. He looked over at Tabitha sheepishly and said, "Ow, that hurt."
As Xander rubbed his chest, Tabitha sighed contently, "This is very nice…"
"Yeah…"
"But where is it going? Is it going anywhere?"
"Yeah, it's going somewhere!" Xander said hotly, "I… just… don't know where. I never aced a geography test, okay? I'm the village idiot."
"No." Tabitha said, "I meant… you, me… what's going to happen to 'us'? Is there an 'us'? Do you wan there to be an 'us'?"
Xander sighed, "I knew what you meant. I was evading the question. Tabitha, I think this is gonna last, but right now I don't know. We're in the middle of a war and we don't have time to think about this… but, if we live through this… I was thinking… maybe you'd want to come to LA with me?"
Smiling broadly, Tabitha twirled one of Xander's dark locks on her finger tip, "I'd love that. Really, I'd love to see LA… and I'd love to be with you."
"Okay. All the more reason to live." Xander said and pulled Tabitha back into his arms. Laughing, she lifted her face up for his mouth.
Then Willow was crashing into them, sending all of them sprawling to the floor. Panting like a wolf in heat, Willow jumped to her feet. Tucked under her arms was a thick leather-bond book. The Wicca's face was flushed from her run and she seemed to be unaware of how muddled Xander and Tabitha were.
"Xander…" Willow gasped, pressing the book closer to her chest, "have you seen Rogue? I haven't… seen… her… at all… today."
"Sorry, Will, I haven't. Tabitha and I have been pretty occupied today. The whole monogamy thing as Faith says" Xander said as he helped Tabitha to her feet.
Willow frowned then and looked between the two of them. For a moment the age old sisterly protection rushed through her veins, but she shook it off. There would be the whole you-hurt-Xander-and-I-shall-turn-you-into-a-frog talk later. Right now Rogue was her first priority.
But she couldn't help but say something, "Do you think we really have time for this? You know, war and all." she pointed out to which Tabitha and Xander grinned.
"There's
always time for it, Will. Have I taught you nothing over the years?" Xander
asked with a roll of his eyes. He looked over at Tabitha, "Don't you agree?"
Tabitha laughed and hooked her
arms around Xander's waist, "Most definitely."
Willow rolled her eyes and walked past them both muttering, "I will always fail to get you Alexander Harris and now I have another one like him!"
Tabitha and Xander looked at one another solemnly and then burst out laughing.
"Wanna get a bit to eat? Maybe we can catch the latest fight between Lance and Scott." She pointed out and licked her lips.
Xander started to walk down the hallway, Tabitha at his side, "Watching Lance and Scott go at it with words is like watching a movie. We could sell tickets to it. Those guys are like politicians except worse and I'd never thought I'd say that."
Tabitha chuckled and leaned closer to him. It was almost perfect. But in the back of her mind, the thought of the upcoming war hovered.
Rogue sat in her room, munching on her lunch and reading a book. Across from her, Sidney played a game with the invisible Ann. Jack and Eve had disappeared. Jack because he and Sidney were still having a tiff. Eve because… well, she was just Eve and that was what she did. Disappear.
Rogue lifted her head and glanced at Sidney. Ever since Sidney had told her the tale of her and Jack, she had felt a new connection to the young girl. Sidney knew what it was like to yearn for something and knowing she could never have it.
The young mutant also knew that Sidney was hiding out in her room so she didn't have to face Jack. Sidney wasn't sure what she was supposed to do about her feelings for the ghost boy since it would never work out. Rogue had listened and listened to Sidney's story but even she couldn't think of a solution.
And now she had her own problems to deal with.
Gambit…
Sighing softly, she flipped herself on her soft bed to look at her ceiling. Sidney and Ann looked up at Rogue for a moment before turning back to their game. They both understood that Rogue needed her alone time.
What was going on between her and Gambit? It was a question that Rogue couldn't seem to answer. Though in the beginning she had tried, there was no point in denying that there was something between them. There had been since she had first met Gambit that day when Magneto sent his men after the X-Men. It wasn't Gambit's special powers; it was their attraction to one another. From the first minute they had looked into each other's eyes they had been drawn to one another. Rogue may have felt it stronger then Gambit had but that was because Gambit was used to these emotions and she wasn't.
But how would they ever make it work? Rogue couldn't touch and the thought of being with someone and not being able to make even the simplest intimate touch made her shudder. It wasn't right. The holding hands, the gentle caress, the brush of skin and the mating of lips… they were all things that were important to a relationship. How could a relationship where those things were not allowed work?
What would Gambit see in me anyway? Rogue thought, asking the question every young woman asks when she first finds the man she is meant to love. Rogue may not be able to touch humans, but that didn't mean she didn't feel like one. She felt every emotion a woman in love would feel. Joy, terror, worry, nervousness, giddiness to name a few. But these feelings were also burdened with dread.
Maybe Gambit would suddenly stop seeming so interested in her. Though it eased the ache in her heart none, it did help her a little. Rogue knew, or thought she knew, that she was not a pretty girl. She didn't think herself curvy like Ori or slender like Kitty, though she was a handsome combination of both. She thought herself as the gawky kid, the kid with the goop on her face. Maybe that would push Gambit away and she wouldn't have to worry about a relationship anymore.
But she doubted it. If there was one thing she knew about Gambit, it was that he was determined. When he set out to do something, he did and always got what he wanted. And right now, he seemed to want her.
Rogue shivered despite herself and sighed, causing both Sidney and Ann to look up. Sidney stood and looked at her friend wearily.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked and already knew what Rogue would answer.
"Not really…"
Sidney looked down at Ann and nodded, telling her to get ready to leave, "One day, you're going to have to tell someone what goes on it your mind. Everyone worries about you; you can't keep everything locked up inside forever. Eventually it'll destroy you." she said softly, lowering her eyes as if she guilty about the words she had said.
Rogue was moments from telling Sidney that people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, but the pale girl was already leaving the room. Sidney looked back at Rogue once and then shut the door. Growling softly, Rogue turned her head towards the door. Sidney was being silly, saying Rogue was keeping her feelings inside. Didn't Sidney herself do the same thing? Rogue was positive that Sidney had not spoken to anyone about her emotions towards Jack except her. What right did Sidney have to tell Rogue she kept everything inside when she herself did the same?
"Maybe I'm being silly…" Rogue muttered softly just as her bedroom door opened with a burst. Willow, flustered and panting, hurried in while she dropped the books and materials she carried in her hands.
Rogue jumped from the bed and moved forward to help Willow pick up her stuff. As she helped Willow gather a piece of paper, she saw the outlined words Binding Spell and wondered what the Wicca was planning on doing.
"I've been looking for you all day, Rogue." Willow said, smiling as the papers were placed back into her arms, "I wanted to talk to you about this spell I have." She fluttered the page Rogue had picked up.
"Why?" Rogue asked, raising her brow.
"This spell is called a Binding Spell." Willow explained, "It has the ability to bind powers. Help a person control their special abilities. Um, like if you were to use this spell then you'd have control over your powers. Meaning, you could touch someone."
Rogue's eyes widen in disbelief as Willow, blushing, went on to explain the exact properties of the spell. Then she spoke the words that would numb Rogue's eyes. Willow said she wanted to put the spell on Rogue so that she'd be able to control her power.
"You mean I could… I could really… really touch someone… anyone by doing this… this spell?" Rogue whispered and Willow nodded wearily. Almost giddily, Rogue said, "Let's do it!"
"Therein lays the problem." Willow said, "This spell is very… um, 'trying' on a person's physical form. If not done correctly, absolutely correctly, then you could end up in a coma again… or… your organs will shut down. This is a very hard spell to do. I'm literally going to be sending you to a sort of 'limbo' where you'll learn to control your powers by binding them to your mind and soul. If you are there for a minute over the time you're supposed to stay, you're lost to limbo forever. If you're taken out of limbo to early then you won't have control over your powers. Either way, there is a high risk that during your time in limbo your organs will shut down and you'll die as soon as you return. Do you want to take that risk?"
Rogue thought of Gambit and being able to kiss him… or anyone. She thought of being able to go to school without wearing gloves. To be normal. Slowly, a smile curved her lips as she thought of the possibilities.
"Ah'll do it."
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I know, what a silly way to help Rogue get control over her powers. Not very creative, no? But I felt bad for the poor girl! X-Men: Evo wouldn't cut her a break. I mean she liked Scott, but he was to busy ogling Jean. She liked Angel, but he was to busy being Mr. Winged-Hero-Man to notice her and then Gambit comes along, flirts outrageously with her, and she can't do anything about it. Since it's my fic I'm cutting her a break and letting her get a boyfriend. Okay? The power of the author. Be afraid! Alright next chapter: does the spell work? What will Gambit do when he finds out about Rogue's control?
To BD Kitten: Pleased to see that you've been reading this the way through! Keep reviewing.
To mika: Faith is one of my favourite characters. I mean, she's such a bitch! That's why we love her… it's so much fun to be a bitch.
To CharmedChosen5: Write whatever you want about my fic. Praise or criticism! I appreciate helpful criticism (not flames).
To wllw979: Hey, you review twice! Yay! I know I'm mean when it comes to Sid, but you know her situation is pretty helpless… and yes, yes Buffy wouldn't like something like that, but Colossus how can she say no?
To *B: ***thinks about Robin**** yum… Faith really does have good taste, doesn't she? I think I'm getting jealous!
"I wanna be a BLITZBALL when I grow up!" Kid in Final Fantasy 10
-Lizzy Rebel