Chapter Sixty-Eight:


Downstairs, the front door swung open, and a familiar voice called out, "Kitty?"

Reaching into one of her shopping bags, Kitty Pryde pulled out a light pink t-shirt and shoved it into her duffel bag. "Up here," she called back loud enough for her fiance to hear her. As she continued to unload her purchases into her suitcase, she heard heavy footsteps trudging up the stairs.

A few moments later, Lance stepped into the bedroom they shared, and immediately groaned at the sight of the shopping bags covering the bed.

"Don't worry," Kitty rolled her eyes. "Most of it is Tabby and Amara's. I just bought a few t-shirts, and a sweater in case it's cold in New York."

"How much did you spend?" Lance asked warily, pushing a few of the bags off the bed so he could sit down.

"Me personally, or all of us together?" Kitty inquired innocently.

Lance raised an eyebrow silently.

"I spent about a hundred dollars," Kitty replied with a sigh.

"On a few shirts and a sweater?" Lance frowned disapprovingly. "When did clothes get so expensive?"

Kitty shrugged as she finished packing her bag. "Just be glad we don't live in France. If that new law passes there, mutants will have to pay an extra tax on everything they buy."

"Another reason to be glad we live in America," Lance said dryly. "Where instead of charging us fees for being what we are, they send mutant-hunting robots after us."

"Not all humans are like that, and you know it," Kitty replied lightly. "Besides, the President hasn't made his decision yet about whether or not to endorse the military's programs. Maybe when he reads the report on Trask and Stryker's operations, he'll realize what psychos they are and shut them down."

"One can only hope," Lance muttered, playing with the edge of the bedspread absently.

Sensing that something was bothering him, Kitty zipped up her bag and deposited it on the floor, sitting down beside him. "Talk to me," she ordered gently.

Lance looked up at her, and for a moment she found herself drowning in those dark eyes before she shook herself out of it, placing a hand on his knee. He covered her hand with his, lacing their fingers together, and sighed. "Do you know what I wished for on my birthday a few months ago? When you and Wanda baked me a cake with all those candles on it?"

"How could I?" Kitty teased with a smile. "If you told anyone what you wished for, it wouldn't come true."

Lance smiled faintly. "Good thing I didn't tell anyone, then, huh?" he murmured. "I wished for the one thing that could make you happiest in the entire world."

"A billion dollars and world peace?" Kitty suggested with a grin.

Despite himself, Lance chuckled. "No," he shook his head. "I wished for a miracle- that Rogue could have been there to be your maid of honor on our wedding day."

"Nice wish," Kitty said softly, lifting his hand and kissing it. "You got me just what I wanted. She's back."

"Yeah," Lance nodded. "I just hope it's what she wanted."

"What do you mean?" Kitty frowned.

"I just... she has a life of her own, Kitty," Lance explained. "A family and a home down in New Orleans. I don't want her to feel obligated to stay if she doesn't want to."

"Of course she'll want to," Kitty snorted, then paused, seeing the uncertain look on his face. "Right?"

"I don't know, Pretty Kitty," Lance murmured. "She's got people she loves down there, don't forget. It's not going to be an easy decision for her to make."

"Yeah," Kitty sighed. "I guess you're right."

As much as she wanted her former roommate back to stay permanently, she wanted Rogue to be happy more. And if New Orleans was what Rogue wanted... then they'd just have to accept that.

"Having her in our lives but not in the same city is better than not having her in our lives at all," Kitty decided after a moment of silence. "If that's what she wants, then she won't get any argument from me."

Lance smiled over at her. "I'm sure she'll appreciate that."

"Besides," Kitty grinned. "I hear the shopping in New Orleans is killer."

She laughed as her fiancé fell back onto the bed with a groan. "Is that all you ever think about?" he asked. "How to spend all of my money?"

"Hey, just be glad the Professor gives us a monthly allowance to help with expenses," Kitty pointed out with a wink.

"I think while we're up there I'll have to talk him into giving you girls a shopping allowance, too," Lance muttered.

"Speaking of the Professor, what did he have to say when you told him about Rogue?" she asked eagerly.

"He didn't say anything," Lance chuckled. "He was stunned for a long moment, and then he never got the chance because Jean and Scott were in the room with him and he had the phone on speakerphone."

"Oh boy," Kitty's grin widened in delight. "Did they totally freak out?"

"Just a bit," Lance smirked. "Red started to bawl in relief, and then ran out of the room calling for Sam, Jamie and the others."

"And Scott?"

"Summers threatened to kick my ass if this was some kind of sick joke."

Kitty rolled her eyes. "I don't know when the two of you will grow up and quit hassling each other."

"Try never," Lance replied dryly, and when she shot him a glare he shrugged. "Hey, don't look at me. At least we aren't having fist-fights anymore. Now we keep our fighting to verbal matches."

"Thank God for that," Kitty groaned, but was unable to keep from smiling. "Otherwise, you two would have sucked the Professor's bank accounts dry with all the damage you did to the property."

"Hey, blame Summers, not me," Lance protested. "He was the one always starting stuff."

"Right," Kitty snickered. "And you were just an innocent bystander caught up in Scott's web of quarreling."

Lance raised an eyebrow at that, and her cheeks flushed slightly. "Been helping the kids with their English homework again?" he asked dryly.

"Ha ha," Kitty muttered. "Is the Professor going to call Logan and Mystique today?"

"Yeah," Lance replied. "Right after he calls Storm in Boston. By tomorrow, the Westchester Academy is going to be crawling with X-men."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Kitty drawled.

"Who says it's not?" Lance shot back.

"You forget, sweetheart," Kitty snickered. "You're an X-man, too."

"Don't remind me," Lance said with an exaggerated shudder.

Rolling her eyes, Kitty got off the bed and disappeared into their bathroom to grab her toiletries bag. "How do you think Mystique and Logan will react when they hear she's alive?" she called back to him.

"I expect similar death threats from Logan until he sees her with his own eyes," Lance grunted. "Who knows how Mystique will react, she's always been hard to figure out. I don't think I ever saw her cry once when Xavier pronounced Rogue dead."

"Kurt did," Kitty whispered as she came back into the bedroom. "Just once. He found her out in the gardens, he said she was just a mess."

"I bet," Lance nodded. "I can't wait to see how the reunion between her and Rogue plays out. There's a lot of issues left to resolve between them."

"I know," Kitty murmured, draping her toiletries bag over her shoulder. "But Rogue seemed okay with things when we mentioned Mystique's name earlier."

"Wonder if she'll feel the same after she hears the whole story?" Lance muttered, getting to his feet and reaching for her duffel bag. He grunted as he lifted it, giving her an incredulous glance over his shoulder. "What's in this thing? Anvils?"

"Funny," Kitty made a face at him as she grabbed his bag, which was significantly smaller than her own. "That's a week's worth of clothes in there, mister. Wait until you pick up my suitcase."

"Do I even want to know?" he asked warily as he started towards the door.

"You don't expect me to wear the same pair of shoes every day for a week, do you?" Kitty retorted with a grin. "I need a variety of different shoes, in case need arises for them."

"Couldn't you just borrow some from Jean?" Lance muttered as he slipped out into the hallway.

"Her shoes are two sizes too big for me," Kitty couldn't resist calling after him, and she heard him groan. Chuckling, she shook her head in amusement. It was hard to believe that it had been six years since her powers had first manifested, since Lance had tried to get her to use her powers to help him break into the principal's office at their old school.

It's amazing that Mom and Dad aren't completely opposed to our engagement, Kitty mused as she gave their bedroom one last look, just to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. Then again, Lance has totally grown up a lot over these past few years, and we've been together for nearly five years anyway.

"You coming, Kitty?"

"Yeah," she called back, switching off the light before stepping out into the hallway after her fiancé.

When they got downstairs, they found Rogue and Remy waiting, but there was no sign of the others. As they descended the stairs, Rogue looked up at them and smiled, and Remy gave them a small nod of greeting, his fingers still running along the back of Rogue's neck.

Her bare neck.

Even though she had known for years about Magneto's gift to her friend, Evan and Hank hadn't left out a single detail about how happy Rogue had been to be able to touch at last, it was still a little strange to see Rogue not only accepting, but initiating, skin-to-skin contact. Strange, but in a very good way.

"Where are the others?" Lance asked, looking around with a frown.

"Tessa an' Lucas took our things out t' the SUV," Rogue replied. "Ah think Wanda an' Todd are out there helpin' t' pack the trunk. Tabby an' Amara are in the kitchen, sayin' goodbye t' Matt an' Heather."

"Speaking of which," Lance murmured. "I need to speak to Heather and Davis before we leave, since they're going to be running the safehouse until we get back."

"Go on," Remy said, reaching out to take the luggage from him. "Let me take care o' dis fo' y', homme."

"Thanks," Lance said before heading off towards the kitchen.

Remy smiled in Kitty's direction. "Wan' me t' take dat bag fo' y', p'tite?" he asked, gesturing at the toiletries bag she had on her shoulder.

"Sure," Kitty relinquished it over to him eagerly. "Thanks, Remy."

"No problem," Remy said, and tossed Rogue a wink before slipping out the front door. Kitty didn't miss the way Rogue's gaze followed him until he vanished from sight, and she giggled, earning her a look from her friend. "What?" Rogue demanded.

"Nothing," Kitty assured her with a grin. "I just hope Lance and I are still that in love after we've been married for a few years."

Rogue laughed, shaking her long hair out of her eyes. "Ah'm sure ya will be, sugah."

Feeling the sudden urge to hug her, Kitty did just that, and Rogue stiffened in surprise for a moment before hugging her back. "Sorry," Kitty apologized once she'd released her hold on her friend. "I just... I can't believe you're really here."

"No need t' explain," Rogue said with a small smile. "Ah've missed ya, too, Kit. More than Ah can ever tell ya. There's been so many times that Ah wished ya were there, so many times that Ah would have given anythin' jus' to see yo' face again..."

She trailed off, looking a bit rueful, and Kitty blinked back tears. "You know, I think that's the closest you've ever come to expressing you true feelings for me, Rogue."

"We ain't gonna hug again are we?" Rogue asked dryly, but she reached over and squeezed Kitty's hand in her own. "It's good t' have ya 'round again, Kitty," she said seriously.

"It's good to have you back, too," Kitty said with a watery smile.

Just then Lance came back into the hall from the kitchen, with Wanda and Amara at his heels. "Ready to go?" he asked them as he approached.

"Yep," Rogue nodded.

Kitty linked arms with Rogue, grinning at her fiancé. "I'm all set."

"Good," Lance said, holding open the front door for them. "Let's get going then."

"Road trip!" Todd cheered excitedly.

Wanda rolled her eyes. "How can it be a road trip when we're going by plane?"

Todd shrugged. "Plane trip just didn't have the same affect, you know?"

Wanda groaned, shoving him into the car. "Sometimes I don't know why we put up with you, Todd."

"Frankly," Lance muttered. "I don't know why I put up with any of you."


A/N: Sorry this chapter is short, you guys, with finals coming up in a few weeks, my professors are trying to cause us all to have a breakdown, he he. I will have some time to update again next weekend, though, with the Thanksgiving Holiday coming up, so look back for another chapter then :)