Disclaimer: I don't own the X-men, I never did. I'm just borrowing them for my own entertainment.
CHAPTER TWO
I've made mistakes in my life. Some not as bad as others.
Some were lethal.
I got involved with a certain scientist who tricked me, leading me into a trap, and no matter how hard I tried to hide it from my friends eventually they found out what I had done.
I knew that I could not hide forever. But I did not want to hurt her.
When I was finally judged, but then saved by Rogue, who then left me stranded in Antarctica, I thought that my world had come to an end, but when I finally returned and saw the guilt, the pain, and the pure joy in her eyes I knew that it had all been worth it.
I had suffered, but if my love was there, then it was enough.
But it wasn't enough. Not after the other X-men turned on me, not after the accusations…and the injuries.
Several members attempted to kill me. Some of my closest friends planned my death.
But they were not judged for it. I was.
Eventually the remaining people who still believed in me, or at least had decided that I had suffered enough in Antarctica, that I had paid my price, saw that I had to leave.
I knew, too, that my life with the X-men was over. I had to go home.
They got me a seat on a ship the long way over to New Orleans.
The Guild had pardoned me enough to let me stay there.
I was almost happy. I asked Rogue to come with me. I asked her to marry me.
When she said no my heart broke. I didn't want to show her that, because as it was, she was already crying. She was already heartbroken, knowing that she'd hurt me. She loved me, but she needed to stay home.
The X-men was where she belonged.
As the ship prepared to take off into a brilliant sunset which made the sky dance with reds, gold and fuchsias she held onto my hand.
When we were separated by a swift movement of the ship as its engines came to life I grabbed the scarf that she was wearing, and held it next to my face.
It smelled so much like her, I wanted to remember everything about her, forever.
I also did not want her to see that I was crying.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
It has been five years, and I have not forgotten her.
I carry that scarf with me wherever I go. It is the only part of her that I have. I know that it is time to move on…But all I want to do is move back.
I wonder what she'd say if I showed up on her doorstep one day, just myself, acting as though time had not passed, as though I had never had any other life than the one I had with her.
It is not so.
I met Beth. She is a strange girl. I saved her from a snow-storm.
I had being heading home on my bike one day when I had seen a flash of red in a snow bank. I had discovered a girl wearing nothing but a red tank-top and jean shorts.
She did not remember anything of what had happened to her, nor who she was, other then the name embroidered on her jeans pocket, or where she came from.
She wasn't Cajun and didn't know why she was in New Orleans. It was only several weeks later that I discovered two things about her; she was an excellent ballerina and she was two months pregnant.
From there I became more attached to her. I taught her self-defense, and how to use a bo-stick, and how to play cards. She was the only person to ever beat me in a card game. Not even Logan had done that.
The baby was born still-born, and had snake-shaped eyes with weird pupils. The father had been a mutant.
Although I made many attempts to find her relatives I did not manage to locate them, but by then I didn't really care because she was a great companion.
I told her about the X-men, and she immediately persuaded me to go back. Of course, I never thought she'd ever manage to make me return, but inside I wanted to.
It had been five years. I needed to see Rogue.