AN: Please see the author's note at the bottom.
O o o o o o o o o o o o O
Logan cradled Marie in his arms, stroking her hair lightly. "I thought I lost you, darlin'. It wasn't a good feeling."
"Me too." She happily relaxed herself in his arms for the moment, enjoying the feeling more because she had almost lost it.
His voice was pained as he spoke the next words, "And I'm sorry I let the Professor mess around in your head and put in blocks. I couldn't let you get lost."
She shook her head, "He didn't put in any blocks. We worked out a … compromise," she said delicately.
"Compromise?" An eyebrow shot up quizzically.
"Xavier is going to work on finding a way to put her back in her body." Logan just watched, waiting for her to get to the compromise part. "And she can control my mutation. She's going to teach me how." Marie gave a hopeful smile, this was the only reason she agreed to any of it. She reached out and caressed Logan's cheek with a wistful smile, "I'll be able to touch you again."
Logan's jaw hardened at her touch, his face still serious, "But compromise involves you giving up something. What are you giving up?"
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "One day a week." She cracked open her eyes to see Logan's reaction and also quickly amended, "My choice of day."
"Marie!" His voice was shocked and horrified. "You are going to give her your body once a week?"
"Yes, I am!" she shot back, somewhat angry that he wasn't being supportive. "It was either that or have a seriously pissed off personality in my head that would be potentially trying to hurt me. And I'll learn to touch, Logan." She reached out her hands again to rest them on his chest.
"Marie," he choked out, clearly pained by this turn of events. He put his hands over hers, feeling the warmth of them, despite the fabric. He could also feel the slight tremble that she was trying so hard to hide. "Darlin', I wish you didn't feel like you always have to give up so much." His voice was quiet and he gathered her into his arms. "Mutant or human, touch or not, that doesn't change how I feel."
She let him hold her, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs of relief.
O o o o o o o o o O
Later, Logan sat down with Marie and Xavier to hear the details. "So how will this work, exactly?" His expression was unhappy, lips pressed into a thin line.
"Well, she's going to stop fighting me most days, and one day a week, I will let her run the show. Part of that day, she'll work on showing me how she controls my skin," Marie began.
"And part of that day will be spent with me, working on trying to get her essence back into her body." Xavier finished.
Wolverine nodded uneasily. "I don't know how to deal with someone else living in Rogue's body and walking around as Marie."
"She's not allowed to be me when she's her." Rogue explained. Logan's face still seemed puzzled so she continued. "I mean, when Carol is Carol, even though she looks like me, she's not allowed to act like me." She gave Logan a meaningful look, "She counts as another woman that day." Wolverine gave a half-smirk at that comment.
"She'll wear something. Probably pink, because for some God-awful reason she likes the color. And we'll be explaining to people that if I'm wearing pink, it's not me, it's her." Rogue sighed, "It's going to be confusing, but it's the best we could come up with."
Logan grumbled. "I don't really like any of the options." He squeezed Marie's hand tightly. "But I'll deal with them," he said, his eyes thoughtful.
O o o o o o o o o O
"Hey Marie, got a second?" Logan walked into their room, where she was reading a book on the bed. Carol's first day out was coming and they were both unsettled about it.
"Sure, what do you need?" Marie got up and walked over to him subconsciously adjusting her clothes at the sleeve, neck and waist, where skin was most likely to poke out where she wasn't expecting.
He didn't speak at first, but led her out of their room, and then opened the door to the outside, motioning for her to go through it. Once in the cool air, he put his arm around her, also wearing a long-sleeved shirt and gloves, though Marie was quite positive that he would have been warm enough in a tank. "What's up, Logan?" She was not nearly as nervous as before if he stated he wanted to talk. She knew his mind now, she knew he wasn't going to drop her like a bad habit, but especially with all the changes, she couldn't help a slight twinge in her stomach.
"Been thinking about things, with all this Carol business. Got something for you," he said gruffly. He reached over, took her hand and then placed something in it, closing her fingers around the item, giving her a momentary sense of déjà-vu.
He closed her fingers around his dogtags. "I'll be back for these." She looked up at him, tears unshed in her eyes, but trusting that he meant those words.
Marie came back to the present with a smile, remembering how much that had meant to her back then. "What is it?" she asked curiously, still not opening her hand.
"You're supposed to look." Logan was not entirely comfortable at the moment. This sort of thing was not his strong point.
She slowly opened her hand to reveal two sets of dog tags, each holding two tags, one with her information, one with his. She took a deep breath as she picked up one set, slipping it over his head, then he did the same for her.
Before she could say a word, he spoke softly and quickly, still sounding almost upset, "I don't do rings. And dealing with the government is more hassle than it's worth. I know these meant something to you." He looked at her, challenging her to say this wasn't enough for her.
She nodded, still speechless. She kissed him quickly, concentrating with all her might to not drain him and allow the moment to last as long as possible, and finally settled into an embrace. "I love you."
"I love you too, Marie." They stayed out under the stars for most of the night in each others' arms. It may not have been the wedding ceremony that many girls dream of, but for Marie and Logan, it was perfect.
O o o o o o o o o o O
AN: I really struggled with this decision. I had this last part written for a while, and I just wasn't sure where exactly I wanted to end it. But, in the end, I decided to put it here. The story isn't bursting to come out of me anymore, and if I decide I want to add more, I always can, but if nothing else comes to me, it will not join my long list of unfinished fics :)
Maybe I have ideas for a sequel, but I'll wait, work on some of my other fics and let them percolate before I try and jump on that bus.
Thank you to all of the people who reviewed, alerted and favorited this story. I hope you are not disappointed with the ending. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Words cannot easily express my gratefulness to everyone who read/reviewed. It's nice to know that people are reading.
Good night and good luck!
SapphireMind