Without as much as a simple goodbye to those that ran into me, I left.

Scott and Ororo didn't stop me from my journey. They thought it would be a good experience, leaving Westchester for once.

Jubilee and Kitty weren't as pleased. They wanted me to stay with them; after all they were my best friends. Eventually, they came around and wished me luck.

Thankfully, Logan wasn't home.

Knowing him, he was out at a bar drinking his life away.

I didn't need the sappy goodbye or a pissed off Wolverine to change my decision, anyways.

He knew what it was like to leave something you know you'd miss. He'd understand.

The clock chimed at 11 p.m. and I carried my luggage out front, everyone was on a pick-up mission, so I didn't have to face a crowd. Just on time, a small jet landed and a tall blonde man stepped out and greeted me.

"Hi, I'm Havok," he introduced, "or Alex Summers."

He was Scott's brother.

"Rogue," I smiled.

"Here, let me get that for you," he said, as he grabbed my luggage and hauled it onto the jet.

I followed him in, and sat on the passenger's seat.

"Hope you're comfortable," he said, igniting the engine.

I nodded and fastened my seatbelt.

As the jet took off, I glanced back at the mansion.

I almost thought I saw a lone figure in the gardens. Almost.

But I looked away.

The new branch was located in Maine.

It wasn't as big as the mansion the Professor had built in Westchester, but it was cozy and just as welcoming.

A small team of mutants greeted me as I walked in, even though it was in the wee hours of the morning.

A tall woman with green hair stepped up first. Her name was Polaris, or Lorna Dane, real sweet lady, who turned out to be Magneto's daughter. I would have never guessed, by her kind and caring demeanor.

Next, a younger woman with blonde hair shook my hand and introduced herself as Paige Guthrie, or Husk. When I asked about her mutant alias, she demonstrated her ability to shed her skin when turning it into various compositions.

Paige's older brother, Sam greeted me next. Surprisingly, he had a Southern accent, unlike his sister. We clicked right away when I told him I was from Mississippi, while Paige rolled her eyes…it was rather cute. I asked him about his power, he chuckled and told me he couldn't demonstrate it, at least not indoors, but his alias was "Cannonball".

Last, a mutant named Bishop introduced himself. He was definitely the muscle of the group. Although he appeared to be all tough and rugged, he was absolutely a gentleman about me joining the team.

After all the welcome hugs and briefing, I was escorted to my room in the teacher's wing.

I threw all my belongings around the room, and quickly settled in to bed.

For some strange reason, I had a good feeling about everything, and I never slept better in my life.

The days went by easily at the school.

I continued my position as the English and Literature teacher, as well as participating in mutant pick-ups.

The team was amazing. There was order; Alex was just like Scott, except blonde, but he made sure everything meshed and functioned. Us women got along just fine, no jealousy, and no cheating, just simple friendship. Even the men cooperated; none of that Logan-Scott bickering or heated glares, they all worked well together.

Most of all, they made me feel at home.

In a nutshell, life here was exactly the same as the life I lived in New York, with the exception of drama and emotional instability.

Of course, once every few months I had a reminder of my life in Westchester.

Since the school was quite small, along with the amount of staff, supplies and maintenance checks had to be done every once in a while.

The Professor was kind enough to send either Scott or Beast for those things.

On these days I would be caught up with life at the mansion. Scott filled me in on all the drama, plain and blunt, while Beast preferred not to discuss such things and focused on my current life.

It turned out, Jubilee and St. John finally got around to dating. I would definitely call her later on to harass her about that. You can't blame a girl for wanting pay-back, and this opportunity was gold.

Scott and Ororo were officially engaged. That news didn't come unexpected, of course. Scott had mentioned that Ororo had considered me as a bridesmaid, and that even though the wedding would be sometime next year, he already had all the details planned out. Ah, typical Scott. No surprise if he turns out to be a "Groomzilla".

When I cautiously asked about Logan and Jean, Scott simply replied with "less than perfect." I had to nudge the info out of Beast to find out that they stopped sharing a room and both began to be quite irritable. Beast even mentioned that Logan took my old room after I left. Before I could press for more information, he quickly said that he didn't know why.

I didn't know why either.

Hank and Jan also popped by the school every few months.

When Jan formally met me, she gave me a hug and thanked me for hours.

"Thank you so much, Rogue," she said, "I don't think I could ever repay you for your kindness!"

"No need, Jan," I smiled, "Hank has given me enough, and all I want is for you two to enjoy your lives together."

Jan started to cry, happy tears of course, and she hugged me some more.

We became great friends, and we even forgot about Hank sometimes. Oops.

My relationship with Hank remained pleasant. As expected, he was thankful for what I've done for him. We also began to work together to rehabilitate mutants, as well as help them with their powers.

So far, we've helped three students with control and we're not planning to stop anytime soon.

Seeing their faces when they finally mastered control gave me a reason to stick around and make use of my life, and even though I was probably doomed a crappy love life, at least I had a purpose. Thankfully, this purpose in particular gave me hope.

One day, Lorna and I were on a pick-up mission at a small orphanage, and the children there couldn't be no more than eight years old. Some one had attempted to bomb the place, and the very thought of it made me sick. How could anyone do such a thing to children, mutant or human?

We quickly brought them to the school on our jet to be treated for injuries, when one of the younger girls tugged on my pants.

"Miss Rogue?" she asked.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Why do you grown-ups do this?" she asked, "all of you have lives of your own, don't you?"

This caught Lorna's attention, and she smiled.

"This is our life, sweet heart," Lorna replied

She took the words right out of my mouth.

"All of you kids deserve to be happy."