Chapter Eighty-Two:

"Ya didn'... did ya?"

"I'm afraid so," Pietro confirmed with a lopsided smirk.

"Oh mah God," Rogue laughed, a light and airy sound that wafted through the gardens around them. "Oh, Ah'd have killed t' see his face when ya tol' him that! What did he say?"

"That I was a disappointment, that I was useless, that he could find someone better, yadda yadda," Pietro retorted with a shrug. "The usual."

Some of the levity left Rogue's expression and she peered over at him with concern.

"Don't worry about it," he assured her. "I'm fine with it, and he did tell me that I'd always have a place at his side right before I left. My Dad's way of saying 'I love you, son'. Twisted, I know, but what can you do?"

"Ah know what ya mean," Rogue murmured, and he knew that she did. "Half those crazy things Mystique did back then... Ah know she did them outta love, but she was pretty misguided."

"What do you think made her shape up?" Pietro inquired, moving in place at lightning speed to warm himself up in the cold winter air.

"Who knows?" Rogue shrugged, kicking lightly at the snow on the ground with her boots. "Maybe it was thinkin' Ah was dead, maybe it was realizin' that Kurt needed her... or maybe it was jus' Logan threatenin' t' skewer her if she didn'."

Pietro chuckled as they made their way along the path. "Somehow I don't think that would work on my father."

"No," Rogue agreed with a grin. "Ah s'pose not."

They walked along in companionable silence for a bit, and Pietro glanced over at her to find her face lifted up towards the morning sky, snowflakes dusting over her dark hair, blending in with the white streaks that framed her lovely face.

Once upon a time, the snowflakes would have blended in with her skin, too.

But the milky, alabaster skin was a thing of the past, nothing more than a memory, and it had been for some time. Even back on the island, she'd been sporting a bronze tan, and she'd managed to maintain that healthy, vibrant complexion during her time in New Orleans.

It wasn't just the hair, which now cascaded over her shoulders instead of cropping off just past her chin, or the skin tone, though, that marked the changes in the woman next to him and it had little to do with the new wardrobe or the bright, carefree smile etched across her scarlet lips.

It was, simply put, that she was now a woman.

When they'd been in Bayville, she'd been a child, really, they all had. Children forced to grow up too fast, yes, but children nonetheless. On the island, Rogue had been older, not physically, of course, but in her eyes, in her soul. Her experiences at the hands of Trask had stolen what little was left of her childhood, and she had been trying to find her footing in a world that was suddenly much, much colder than previously thought.

But in the years since they'd been separated, after that fateful Sentinel attack, it seemed that Rogue had come into her own, in ways that Pietro had never dreamed of. It was hard to put into words, really, to pinpoint one specific thing that stood out the most, that really struck him and left him speechless.

One thing hadn't changed, though.

She was just as a beautiful as he'd remembered in his dreams.

"What are ya thinkin'?" she asked.

"That you're beautiful," Pietro answered truthfully. "But then again, I've always thought that."

"An' Ah've always thought that ya were a charmer," Rogue retorted, flashing him a bright smile. "Nice t' see some t'ings never change."

"Especially when so many others do?" Pietro concluded knowingly, all too aware of what it must be like in her shoes, to be on the outside looking in among people she once called family, trying to catch up and understand all the changes that had taken place without her.

He himself had been floored by the news Xavier gave him after his departure from the Acolytes, but it was the fact that Lance, who had always been such a hood, was now running a safehouse for mutants and taking in mutant runaways, that really left him speechless. He'd always assumed that the only reason Lance had joined up with the X-men was because of Kitty, but now he was beginning to wonder if there hadn't been a hint of an X-man in Lance Alvers all along.

"It's kinda like steppin' into the Twilight Zone, ya know?" Rogue mused aloud. "Scott an' Jean are parents, the new school is so much bigger an' there's so many kids runnin' around under foot an' all... makes a gal feel a bit left out, Ah guess."

"Not a very pleasant thing, is it?" Pietro replied sullenly. "Realizing that the world keeps going without you, and people keep living their lives while you become just a memory?"

"No," Rogue agreed softly, a shadow passing over her eyes. "It's not."

"Tell me about it," Pietro muttered, and she looked up at him with a faint, conspiratorial smile, acknowledging that she knew that he, of all people, truly did understand where she was coming from.

"What made ya decide t' join the Avengers anyway?" she asked curiously.

Pietro shrugged, not entirely sure of that himself, even after all this time. "I guess the timing was just right, or something," he replied. "I'd finally gotten out from under my father's thumb, I knew I didn't want to end up like him, but I didn't have any real plans for what to do with my life any farther than getting as far away from Magneto as possible."

"An' then Fury showed up an' offered ya a job," Rogue concluded. "Why'd ya take it?"

"Dental plan," Pietro answered without hesitation, as deadpan as possible. "Definitely the dental plan."

Rogue rolled her eyes in exasperation, but the corners of her mouth lifted in amusement anyway. "Ah s'pose ol' Magneto never figured out how t' work the health care system, now did he?"

"His tragic mistake," Pietro remarked wryly. "It'll be his downfall one day."

"That or his Acolytes will get tired o' the spandex," Rogue quipped. "Maybe he ought t' think about changin' t' leather, what do ya think?"

"I'd rather not picture my father in leather, thanks," Pietro said with a shudder.

Rogue laughed, shaking her hair out of her eyes. "Ah don' think he'd go fo' it, anyway," she assured him lightly, before taking on a more serious expression. "Ya still haven't answered mah question, sugah. What made ya join the Avengers?"

He'd been hoping that she would overlook that fact, but he wasn't surprised that she hadn't. Rogue was nothing if not persistent, and her stubborn determination was one of the things he'd always loved about her, so he couldn't begrudge her curiosity, especially not about something like this, it was that simple.

As for the answer to her question... well, that was slightly more complicated.

Sighing, he dropped down onto one of the stone benches that dotted the pathways leading through the mansion's gardens, brushing off snow from the cold surface so that Rogue could sit down beside him. She did so wordlessly, giving him a chance to just sit and think for a moment, gathering his thoughts as he stared out at the forest across the way, as if hoping it would give him the answers he was looking for.

"I guess I felt like I had something to prove," he said at last, keeping his gaze fixed pointedly on the trees in the distance. "Like I needed to do some good with my life, to make up for all the mistakes I've made. And believe me, I've made quite a few."

"Nobody's perfect, Pietro," Rogue told him softly. "Ah've made plenty o' mistakes mahself."

"Not like I have," Pietro argued, shaking his head.

"Ya fo'get, Ah was once battin' fo' that team, too," Rogue reprimanded. "An' Ah did some things Ah ain't too proud o' in mah day, but all we can do is learn from our mistakes an' move on."

"Just like that?" Pietro asked sarcastically. "No quest for redemption? No penance? Are you sure you're really an X-man?"

"Ah dunno what Ah am anymore," Rogue responded honestly, shrugging her slender shoulders. "Ah was wit' the Brotherhood once, then Ah was an X-man, then Ah was a thief... but now? None o' those titles really seem t' fit."

"You're a wife," Pietro supplied, absently wondering if she knew how much it took to acknowledge that. His gaze flickered down to her stomach, which didn't yet show signs of the life growing within her, but it wouldn't be long. "And soon enough, you're going to be a mother."

It was strange, to think about it like that, to know that in about seven months, she would be pushing a stroller around with a little baby in it, most likely sporting her striped hair and Gambit's eerily fierce eyes. Due to the nature of her powers, he'd never really considered her in the role of a mother, but he knew it would suit her, she'd always had strong maternal instincts, even if she'd been prone to keeping them buried underneath a thick layer of teenage hostility.

It was stranger, still, to realize that he wasn't nearly as jealous as he'd expected to be.

When he'd first heard the news, it had been like a nasty punch to the stomach. Rogue hadn't just fallen in love with the wily Cajun, she'd married him and was now carrying his child. Those words had almost overshadowed his exhilaration at the news that she was alive and safe, back with the X-men after all these years.

Almost.

Nothing could have completely eclipsed that joy, really, because in his heart of hearts, Pietro had never truly given up hope. Rogue was a fighter, she was strong and stubborn and feisty, if anyone could handle an army of Sentinels, it was her. And Gambit... well, Remy LeBeau was a survivor, always had been and always would be, so it made sense that he'd be able to find a way to keep Rogue out of harm's way.

"All the mornin' sickness this kid is puttin' me through, Ah'm thinkin' o' groundin' him until he's twenty," Rogue grumbled. "Ya'd think that bein' invulnerable would make me immune to some o' the less pleasant aspects o' pregnancy."

"There's still labor to consider," Pietro reminded her wryly. "Maybe you'll get lucky and your powers will make it a breeze."

"God, Ah hope so," Rogue groaned, clearly not looking forward to the hours of childbirth on the horizon.

Despite himself, Pietro smiled, unable to begrudge her this happiness, even to himself. In all the years he'd known her, he had never seen her quite like this, even when she was irritable, there was still this glow about her that made it hard not to share in her excitement about the baby.

After all, she'd once resigned herself to the fact that she would never be able to have a family, and now here she was, the beaming mother-to-be.

A pair of chirping red birds flew by in front of them, soaring up into the clouds, and Rogue watched them with a wistful expression, as if she wanted nothing more than to follow them, despite the chilly winter air.

"Are you happy?" Pietro asked suddenly, and when she looked at him in surprise, he met her gaze searchingly, though he wasn't quite sure what it was he was trying to find.

He didn't know why he'd just asked that, it wasn't like he was going to whisk her away from everything if her answer was no. Maybe once, in a different life, that might have been the path to take, but the time for them had long since passed, if it had ever existed at all. There was no denying the spark between them, it was still there even after all these years and all the changes they'd both gone through, but the timing had never been right, and he rather thought that maybe that had happened for a reason.

They just weren't meant to be.

Rogue was silent for a moment, as if trying to find the right words. "The past four years o' mah life have been incredible," she replied at last. "Ah've made a life o' mah own, one filled wit' family an' friends, an' more love than a gal could dream o' in a lifetime. Fo' the first time, Ah was free, free t' jus' be me, wit' no strings attached, no worries an' no allegiances, ya know?"

Pietro did know, and so he nodded, wordlessly encouraging her to continue.

"All those years that Ah was denied the simple act o' touch, Ah felt like Ah had t' shut mahself off from the world, not jus' t' protect mahself, but t' protect everyone around me," Rogue said quietly. "Yo' father, whatever else he may be, was mah salvation. He didn't give me mah life back, Ah like t' think Ah did that on mah own, but he gave me a chance, so Ah ran wit' it."

"And are you happy with the end result?" Pietro inquired. "Was all the bad really worth all the good?"

"Isn't it always worth it in the end?" she retorted with a wry little smile, seeming to know that he was speaking as much about his own life as he was hers. "Are you happy, Pietro?"

That was the question, now wasn't it?

"I don't know," he admitted slowly. "But I'm working on it."

Rogue was silent for a long moment, eyeing him with the appraising look that never failed to make him squirm. "The Prof tells me that ya ain't been in contact with anyone in years, not even Wanda," she told him quietly. "Care t' tell me why ya left yo' own sister out t' dry?"

"She's better off without me," Pietro muttered, mentally cursing Xavier for sticking his nose in other people's business all the time.

"Sure she is," Rogue drawled. "No mother, no father that she can turn to, an' a twin brother, her ot'er half, who just slipped off into the world an' vanished wit'out so much as a goodbye? Yeah, Ah'm sure she's real better off, Pietro."

Feeling a stab of annoyance, Pietro shot her a sharp glare, ready to ask what made her such an expert, but he thought better of it when he caught sight of the sad glimmer in her eyes, suddenly remembering that she, too, had spent the past four years separated from her sibling.

"A gal needs her brother, Speedy," she informed him softly. "Even if it's jus' so she can smack him around whenever he does somethin' stupid."

"Are you implying that I partake in acts of stupidity on a regular basis?" Pietro demanded, arching an eyebrow.

"Ya look like yo' father when ya do that, ya know," Rogue commented evenly, and he immediately made a point of rearranging his expression. "An' as fo' the other part, Ah ain't implyin' anythin', Pietro. Ah know ya, ya do stupid things, that's jus' the way it is. Ah'm the same way, why do ya think we always got along so well?"

"You mean it's not because of my incredible good looks?" Pietro asked in mock disbelief.

Rogue snorted, rolling her eyes even as she smiled. "Ah won't deny that ya ain't hard on the eyes, Speedy, but don' go tryin' t' change the subject, 'cause it won' work."

Sighing, Pietro admitted defeat. "I don't think Wanda wants anything to do with me," he said bluntly. "I really screwed up, Rogue. And this isn't the first time, I've never been anything but a disappointment to her. All I ever do is let her down, so why bother?"

"Do ya remember what ya tol' me back on the island?" Rogue asked softly. "About the day that Wanda was locked away?"

"Yeah... what about it?" Pietro frowned in confusion, not understanding what she was trying to say.

"Do ya remember how ya said that Wanda hated ya fo' lettin' yo' father send her away? Fo' not doin' anythin' t' stop it?"

"Vaguely."

"Don' ya think that maybe Wanda really jus' hated ya fo' leavin' her all alone?" Rogue observed softly.

Pietro started, never having considered that. "I guess so," he murmured.

"So why do ya think that it's a good idea t' leave her all alone all over again?"

"I never thought about it like that," Pietro replied after a long, guilty pause. "I guess Lance was right, I really am stupid."

"No," Rogue shook her head, smirking faintly. "Not stupid, jus' male."

"Hey!"

"The point is, Pietro, that if ya really want t' do what's best fo' Wanda, then ya need t' give her the chance t' have her brother back. If she isn't ready t' fo'give ya, so be it, but at least it'll be her choice," Rogue told him sagely. "As fo' the notion that ya have t' make up fo' yo' past mistakes befo' ya can face her... she's yo' sister, Pietro. An' she already knows that yo' wit' the Avengers, even if she doesn't know how t' contact ya."

That was something of a surprise, because Xavier had never bothered to tell him that. Then again, he'd made it pretty clear to the Professor that he didn't want anyone knowing where he was, but he'd never explicitly asked the telepath not to reveal what he was doing.

Sly, Xavier, he snorted to himself, shaking his head. Very sly.

"Maybe ya ought t' let her decide whether or not ya still have anythin' t' make up fo'," Rogue suggested evenly. "Because Ah'd reckon that she let go o' all that anger a long time ago."

"What makes you think that?" Pietro asked.

Rogue shrugged. "Ah did it, didn' Ah?"

Pietro had to admit, she had a point there. He had betrayed her, too, by siding with his father, as she had so eloquently reminded him upon her arrival at Magneto's island base. AlI that she suffered at the hands of Trask was partly because of him, and to this day he could vividly recall the scars she had borne until Melody's healing powers had erased them.

And yet she had forgiven him. She'd beaten him to a bloody pulp first, of course, but she'd still forgiven him.

She'd forgiven Mystique, too, apparently, and the shapeshifter had caused her more pain than Pietro could have in a lifetime. After all the lies, all the deciet, Rogue had found it inside of herself to let go of the past, so maybe, in time, Wanda would, too.

A guy could hope, anyway.

Maybe he'd get around to writing her a letter or something one of these days, after all.

"So, what else have ya been up t' besides savin' the world, hmm?" Rogue asked playfully, brushing a lock of white hair out of her eyes. "Have ya been livin' up t' that playboy reputation ya built up back in Bayville?"

Pietro smiled faintly, remembering the time he had shown up to a school dance with four date, and wondering if she was remembering the same thing. "Not exactly," he answered vaguely, feeling his stomach tighten with anxiety. This was the very subject he had been dreading, because there was no way it wouldn't be awkward, and probably a little painful, too, if he was being honest about it.

"Not exactly?" Rogue echoed, grinning. "What does that mean?"

"It means," Pietro answered slowly, clasping his hands in front of him as he rested his elbows on his knees. "That I met someone."

"Oh," Rogue said after a long, startled moment, during which it was quite clear that she didn't really know how to react to that.

"Her name's Crystal," Pietro offered, swallowing past the lump in his throat.

"Is she a mutant?" Rogue inquired, carefully keeping her eyes away from his now, which was probably for the best, it made things easier if he didn't have to look into the startling emerald eyes that had haunted his dreams often enough over the years.

"Sort of," Pietro answered with a chuckle, imagining Crystal's indignation at being called a mutant instead of an Inhuman. "It's complicated, but she's got powers, yeah."

"An' does she love ya?"

"Who doesn't?" Pietro smirked, unable to resist the temptation.

"Do you love her?" Rogue asked softly, looking up at him with questioning eyes, the emotion there hard to define, much less determine what it meant.

Pietro had to think about that one for a minute, because he wasn't entirely sure of the answer himself. He'd been dating Crystal for nearly a year now, and he certainly cared about her, but he hadn't really let himself consider the possibility of loving her. Things had been complicated enough in his life without adding that weight to his shoulders, and in his heart he hadn't ever really let Rogue go.

Until now.

Somehow, being here, sitting next to the first girl he'd ever loved, he'd found closure to what had always been a nagging 'what-if' in the back of his mind.

As for Crystal, she was beautiful, kind, smart and gentle, with a mischievous sense of adventure, and when she smiled at him, it still made his stomach tingle, which was a feat in itself. She was the kind of woman that he could see himself married to one day, the kind of woman who might bear his children, and he was certain that Rogue would like her, should the two of them ever get the chance to meet.

"Yeah, I think I do," he said at last, with a touch of wonder.

"Ah'm glad," Rogue said, and he knew her words were sincere, even if her smile did come off as a bit forced. "Ya deserve t' be happy, Pietro, an' ya deserve t' be wit' someone who can love ya wit' all their heart."

It went unsaid that she had once wished she could have been that someone, but they both knew that her heart had always belonged to Gambit, from the moment she first laid eyes on him, maybe even longer.

Still, it was nice to know that she had once felt the same way, and that some part of her always would, just the way that some part of him would always love her. There was a special place in his heart that was reserved solely for Rogue, no matter what changes came their way in life, no matter who the rest of his heart belonged to.

"I still love you, by the way," he told her, with quiet seriousness. "More than you'll ever know."

"Ah, but Ah do know," Rogue reminded him with a small smile, tapping a finger to the side of her head gently. "It's all up here, remember?"

"Right."

"An' Ah love ya, too, sugah," Rogue replied, leaning over to kiss his cheek, her lips hovering just over his skin for a moment before she drew back, fixed him with a very pointed look, and informed him grimly. "But if ya don' bring this Crystal by t' meet me an' Wanda soon, Ah'm gonna hafta break yo' legs."

Chuckling, Pietro nodded his agreement. "I'll do my best."

"An' yo' gonna talk t' Wanda, right?" she pressed sternly.

"Yes," Pietro replied, knowing he shouldn't even bother to argue, and not sure he wanted to anyway.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Soon?"

"As soon as possible."

"Good," Rogue said, a sly grin crossing her lips. "Then ya don' have any problem wit' stayin' fo' dinner, right? Because yo' sister jus' so happens t' be here."

His mouth going dry, Pietro gaped at her. "Wanda's here?" he asked, his voice going hoarse. "At the mansion?"

"Yep," Rogue confirmed, still grinning triumphantly. "So should Ah tell Jeannie t' set an extra place at dinner or what?"

"I can't," Pietro insisted, shaking his head, utterly relieved that he had a genuine excuse. "I told the Avengers I'd be back in an hour."

"So call 'em back an' say yo' gonna be late," Rogue ordered stubbornly. "It's not like ya can' jus' run yo'self home in a matter o' minutes, ya know."

Unable to deny that, Pietro racked his brain for any excuse not to stay, but found that everything he could come up with, Rogue could probably find a way to turn it around on him. And one glance at her determined expression told him that she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Alright," he conceded with a heavy sigh. "I'll stay for dinner."

He had to face Wanda sooner or later, anyway, he might as well get it over with.

Rogue's face lit up with one of those dazzling smiles of hers and she jumped up from the bench, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him to his feet. "Great," she replied. "Because Ah'm freezing mah ass off out here."

And with that she tugged him towards the mansion by the hand.