A/N Apologies dear readers, I exist and haven't given up, I promise! In addition, a few notes.

Author name change to Triangulum, really long story as to why, but be aware!

FanFiction is starting to delete some of the smuttier stories so I'll be updating on my tumblr as well, just in case, which is galaxyclutterDOTtumblrDOTcom .

IF YOU ARE IN THE GREATER SEATTLE AREA, HIRE ME? Kidding…kind of.

This is jumping a little backwards to after C is for Control, this is the trip to Figi Gambit promised her. This chapter rated T…maybe teetering on M…

F is for Fiji

Gambit was never really one for vacations. Usually when he traveled, it was all for business. He didn't sightsee, unless you counted scouting out job locations. He knew where all of the high stakes poker games were held throughout Western Europe, both Americas, and most of Africa, but that wasn't really vacation, more like a night off. It wasn't about relaxing, that was impossible when you have to be always on guard, thieving hands at the ready. While he'd always been a fan of the adrenaline rush, it wasn't a vacation.

Rogue took a few family vacations as a kid. An uncle had a river house when she was a kid and her family frequently visited over summers. Her summers were all sunscreen and aloe vera and splashing in the water. She had a cousin that visited too, but once he drowned after swimming too far out, Rogue's family stopped visiting. They'd gone camping once, to a theme park a few times, though the last trip they took had been to New Orleans for a jazz festival. She'd been pissed to find her wallet had been stolen. Her mutation manifested two weeks later and her parents kicked her out.

Like Gambit promised, when Rogue gained control of her skin, he whisked her away to Fiji. He'd expected to have to fight Storm for the time off but she'd merely said, "Try not to steal any national treasures."

"Oh Stormy, would I do that?"

"I'll call a monsoon," she warned.

"Rogue would kick your weather-witchy ass."

The X-Men offered to drop them off in the jet, but Rogue had brushed that aside, saying it was a waste of money and what would happen if they were needed? As soon as they got to the airport, she desperately wished she'd been more selfish. Intellectually, she knew she didn't have to worry about crowds now that her skin wasn't dangerous, but it was hard to erase years of anxiety. When Gambit tried to grab her hand, she'd gently pulled away, giving him an apologetic look. He just smiled in understanding and followed her in to the security line.

Flying with Rogue was an interesting experience. Rogue spent the first five minutes of the flight frowning and crushing the bones in Gambit's hand. Then, she abruptly released him and relaxed with a content sigh, staring out the window.

"Uh, chère?"

"Yeah?"

"You want to let me know what just happened?" he asked, eyebrow quirked.

"What? Oh! Logan doesn't like to fly," she said with a smirk. "It takes me a little bit to calm he's psyche down. He's a loud guy. It doesn't help that your psyche likes to poke at him with spoons."

"How do you do that?"

"I rub his back," Rogue said. Gambit snorted. The next time they were on a mission in the blackbird, Gambit rubbed circles on Logan's back and sang him a lullaby. Logan almost broke the smaller man's arm.

As Gambit had promised, his family's property was a huge, sprawling estate on a small, private island. When Rogue had asked why, he'd replied, "We're thieves, chère. We like our privacy."

Rogue had been worried that she and Gambit would be bored with nothing to do, especially since at the mansion neither one of them were ever standing still, but she quickly learned she was quite happy to lounge on the beach with a drink. Gambit put a few chairs in the water so they could sit in the sun with the water tickling their calves. Rogue felt strongly that they were living in a Corona commercial.

That is, when they actually left the estate. The bedroom was draped in golds and rich burgundy, though that wasn't the only appealing factor. Rogue was experiencing her first taste of inhibition-free touch and she was taking full advantage. Gambit, who'd always been able to express his touchy feely side and had overall taken it for granted, was exploring a whole new Rogue with a sense of unadulterated joy. He knew how to push her buttons, had since the first few times they'd been together, but watching her writhe under his hands, inhibitions and cares forgotten, was exhilarating.

Running his finger tips from her toes, up her toned calves, to her thighs, hips, torso, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake, he made his way up her body. A hand running through and grapsing in her hair earned a gasp. Her eyes rolled back when his hand brushed under the band of her panties, stroking the soft skin so close to where she wanted him most. Her breath was shallow, muscles spasming, legs thrashing as she lost control, completely and carelessly for the first time.

The changes weren't limited to the bedroom, though Gambit definitely enjoyed that. Rogue walked around in a bikini, sarong loosely hanging from her waist, and when Gambit walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, she only tensed for a half second before relaxing into him. As the days stretched into a week, he could walk by her while she was reading and run a finger across her bare shoulders with little reaction at all, until finally she didn't even look up.

Two days before they were set to fly out, and after a rather raucous sex in the sand session, the two of them fell asleep, Rogue's head resting on Gambit's stomach. They were awoken hours later by the crisp seawater lapping at their toes. Rogue jumped up and Gambit groaned, refusing to stand quite yet. It was dusk, just enough light to see their way back to the estate but the sun was definitely gone. She looked down to ask Gambit what their plans for the night were and exploded into laughter.

"What?" he asked, standing to shake the sand out from those awkward places where sand seems to cling.

"How's this feel?" she asked, giving his side a smack.

"Ow! What the-?" Gambit groaned looking down, a deep red sunburn covering his chest and arms…except for a circle on the stomach where Rogue's head had been. Rogue herself was laughing hysterically until Gambit poked her in the side of her quite sunburned face. "Oh, funny is it?"

"Oh god," Rogue muttered, touching both sides of her face. The left was distinctly redder than the right which was its previous color, lightly tan.

"I can hide mine," Gambit said with a grin. "Good luck with that Cruella DeVille style face."

Rogue kicked sand at him, but he just grabbed her ankle, yanking her in close to him by her leg. He winced only slightly as her hands hit his burned chest. They were nose to nose, the wind whipping her long hair around them. He leaned in, nose brushing hers…when she hooked her free ankle around his leg, tumbling them both to the ground. Rogue got the best of Gambit, landing on top, legs on either side of him, pinning him down.

"If you wanted to be on top all you had to do is ask," Gambit said with a smirk, grinding his pelvis into hers. Rogue rolled her eyes, which was when he grabbed her and tried to flip them over. Noses were elbowed, jaws were hit, backs were bent, only when Rogue slapped him in the sunburn did Gambit finally concede. They staggered back to the estate to shower and slather each other in aloe vera. The smell brought Rogue right back to the swimming summers with her family when they still loved her.

When they flew back, the ticket agent smirked at their sunburn but wisely said nothing, likely getting many tourists with similar situations. The receiving agents in New York weren't nearly as subtle, their loud coughs sounding suspiciously like laughs. Jubilee gasped when she and Kitty met the couple outside the airport. Kitty elbowed her in the ribs and Jubilee cleared her throat.

"Uhm, have a good time?" she asked mildly.

"Yes, we did," Gambit said pleasantly.

"I see we got some sun, did we?" she asked with a smirk. Kitty sighed and covered her face with her hand.

"We're actually big Cardinals fans," Gambit said seriously. "There's a game one tonight, we needed to show our support."

"You're sunburned…"

"We're committed."

"So other than that," Jubilee went on, completely unsatisfied with their lack of reaction, "how was that whole sex on a romantic island thing?"

"Jubes," Rogue said warningly.

"What? You're living out one of my fantasies! You're living the fantasy of every woman in America!"

"I know, I'm an impressive catch," Gambit said.

"I'm not saying anything about sex on the beach unless it's the drink," Rogue said. Jubilee groaned. "I did kick his ass on the beach, though."

"True Rogue-style," Kitty said sagely.

"Wait 'til everyone sees your faces!" Jubilee said gleefully.

"I'm going to punch you in the sternum."

Thanks to reviewers, Sessha Hatake, AnnaWalker.92, yezib23, flaming-mod, Fabulous Fever, fannut, alfredo joy (amazing name by the way), and anon.

Next will be longer, I swear. Getting back into the swing of things.