Disclaimer: Marvel's, not mine.

Sorry it took so long to update! Thanks to my reviewers!

This is another chapter that ends with a bang.

………………………………………

Everything lies on a string. And no piece of thread is long enough to never end.

Rogue had pulled out a strand of her hair and was playing with the two ends while lying in Remy's arms.

He had just told her he loved her. And it felt good. She had smiled.

But it had felt good, even better, the first time he had told her. It had seemed real then.

Rogue looked up into the eyes of the man she knew shared her other half.

And yet she didn't believe in soulmates.

There would be no one to replace him. No matter what he had done.

………………………………………

The figure that stood before Rogue and Remy slowly molded into a gun-toting Mystique.

Not one of the fierce mutants that had locked them up.

Mystique smiled in annoyance as she moved to her daughter's cage.

"I suppose you will want me to release Remy as well?" Mystique asked.

Rogue looked at her mother. Her hands gripped the bars until her knuckles turned white.

"We've lost our powers mom."

It was all she said because she knew her eyes had answered her mother's question.

"Yes, Essex sedated you with something. They should be back soon, but I don't know when."

Remy flicked his cigarette out through the bars as Mystique walked over to his cage.

"I would think a master thief such as yourself could get out of something as simple as a jail cell." Mystique's eye's challenged him, but Remy didn't look at her.

"I've escaped these cells before."

His tone was confident and quiet.

"Why didn't you get us out then?" Rogue asked moving over beside her mother.

"I didn't think it would matter much. This place is crawlin' wit' his army."

It was a bullshit excuse. Mystique worked on his cell anyway, and Rogue watched him, unable to lift his eyes from the floor.

"Remy, what's going on with you?"

Rogue stood close now, as she heard the pop of his cell door unlock.

She could feel his heat from behind the bars.

"Maybe I should stay here chere. Face up to my fate."

Rogue leaned closer, their noses almost touching through the cell.

"You can't give up now."

He looked up then, eyes flickering, so close, his eyelashes breathed against her skin.

"I can if you ain't by my side chere."

"Well, I'm right here Remy."

He slid out of the cell with such ease and remembrance. Rogue knew it pained him to be here, in his past.

A past is a past. Something to be forgiven if willing to move forward.

Rogue looked uncertainly at the man next to her. She knew she loved him. He kissed her forehead, grazed her hand. But she did not trust him.

She did not trust him to stick around.

They followed Mystique and with Remy's guidance escaped the base through the ventilation system.

There was a car waiting a mile outside the base. Sleek and black.

It drove them to a place Rogue hadn't been in years. To a place of her past.

Xavier's Mansion.

………………………………..

"What are we doing here mom?"

Monotone. Unsure.

"This is a safe place for the two of you right now. Essex will look for Remy again."

They stepped out of the car. No one greeted them. Mystique walked inside, but Rogue stood frozen on the steps.

"The truth is Remy, I love this place."

Remy walked up beside her.

"Why?"

"It's beautiful."

Remy's long hair guarded his expression. But he understood. And Rogue caught that in the wind.

"There's a garden round back."

"You afraid t'go inside petit?"

He pulled out yet another cigarette, and let it hang unlit from his lips.

"Don't smoke that Remy."

Rogue leaned forward and slowly removed the white stick. She slipped it in her pocket.

"Let's go for a walk."

Remy's hand clasped hers in response.

And they walked, hand in hand, around the house, and through the well cut grass. Her normal life was over now. She could feel it.

She watched Remy, because he was like a walking ghost still.

His eyes never glanced in her direction, but she knew he knew she was watching.

He was different.

More beautiful than before.

But different.

The garden was still there. If you followed the well laid out path, it would eventually lead to a lake.

Somewhere, Remy let go of her hand.

"You know Rogue," Remy bent down to pick a flower. He stood up and stuck it behind her ear as he spoke. "People make decisions without really thinking."

"Is that your excuse?"

The flower could not lighten his words.

"No." His words were soft. His charm was still present. But something was fading. "I have no good excuse. I'm a fool Rogue."

Rogue looked to the side, to the distance. She could see the lake and the water calmed her.

She started to walk. And he followed.

"If I stay with you Remy, we'll always be on the run."

"Maybe not."

He was beside her again, and this time it was him watching her.

"What did you do Remy? Why are they after you?"

"Essex has my soul chere."

Rogue looked over. They were so close to the lake. She could see the sun setting. She could feel the pain of his words.

"I gave it to him to control my powers. I owe him my life."

Rogue slumped down into the grass.

And Remy sat down behind her. His legs extended out alongside her. And slowly she rested her head back into his chest.

"Does it have to be that way?" It was a whisper and a silent question.

Remy ran his fingers through her hair.

"When we began Rogue, everything was new and innocent. It was fresh and passionate."

"It was real," Rogue breathed.

"But I had a past then. A past I was running from."

"You really loved me Remy." It wasn't a question, but it should have been.

"Yes Rogue."

"Then why did you always run?"

"Because it's scary to love someone so much."

They didn't say anything else. She didn't ask anything else.

If a sunset can change colors so can love.

………………………………………………………

Rogue let go of the leaf.

She sat in the park alone. And Remy had just left her for the final time.

She had had a dream he was dead. A nightmare.

It was the end of Fall. The leaves were brown and scattered. The wind carried them away, and the water cemented them in place.

Rogue rested her face into her mitten covered hands.

When love runs away from you, you can ask yourself a million questions. They may not be the right ones.

To memorize someone's very bone structure. To understand their thoughts and movements. To visualize their walk, their eye color and their favorite everything.

Rogue knew it would take forever to forget and let go.

She pulled a pendant from her pocket.

It was emerald, and oddly shaped. Yet beautiful. Remy had given it to her.

Once he had told her to learn to let go of the past. To not hold onto things.

It was raining so hard, thick mud had built up in the ground beneath her feet.

She threw the pendent down. Every large raindrop slowly began to bury it. She watched it melt.

Her hair soaked through and she pulled up her hood. Her eyes still on the ground.

She couldn't believe she was here.

She couldn't believe it.

………………………………………..

The raindrops hit them softly. It wasn't supposed to rain that day.

Rogue sat up, and Remy with her.

"I don't want it to rain," Rogue said.

"We don't have to leave."

The raindrops were large. They would be soaked within minutes.

"Remy, it always rains with you."

Remy pulled his knees up, and Rogue moved to a kneeling position.

"It's the perfect description of our relationship chere."

Rogue paused. And smiling she turned around. Remy lay back, hands in the wet grass, smiling.

She leaned down and kissed him. Their lips were wet. It reminded her of one of their first kisses. In the rain.

Their touch would forever be perfect. It would be love itself.

Rogue stood up and reached out for his hand.

"Is this it Remy?'

Remy grabbed her hand, and stood up, inching as close as he could, his body warm despite the rain.

"Yes. This is it forever Rogue."

He kissed her again, hard.

"You can't leave."

"I never left you in the first place Remy."

A raindrop hit her nose and rolled slowly to the end. Remy reached one finger out and wiped it away.

"I love you."

"You could love someone else."

Remy grabbed her hair, pulled her tight, even closer.

"No chere. I couldn't."

A kiss again. It was a kiss meant to make her believe.

She always believed his kisses.

"What would you do if I left you?"

She had to know every angle.

"I would follow you Rogue. I would never let you go. Not again."

The thunder was low and in the hills, but it struck at a perfect time and chord.

She grabbed his hand and pursed her lips.

She nodded.

And kissed him again.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder as they began to walk through the grass, back towards the garden, back towards the mansion.

They wiped away the water from each other's faces as they walked, smiling. Laughing because they felt crazy and completely unsure.

And then the blast. The second gunshot they had to hear that week stiffened the air.

It stopped their laughter and their touching.

This time there was blood.

This time, time stopped as Rogue looked down.

They were holding each other so tight.

She did love Remy.

She always would.

Someone breathed in deeply.

She would feel this forever.