15 February

Opinion. –n. 1. a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty 2. a personal view, attitude, or appraisal 3. the formal expression of a professional judgment: to ask for a second medical opinion 4. Law. the formal statement by a judge or court of the reasoning and the principles of law used in reaching a decision of a case 5. a judgment or estimate of a person or thing with respect to character, merit, etc.: to forfeit someone's good opinion 6. Archaic. a favorable estimate, esteem: I haven't much of an opinion of him

"Hey Kurt?" Rogue asked. "May Ah ask you somethin'?"

Kurt lowered the book in his hand, folding it closed lightly over one of his thick fingers. "Was ist los, Liebchen?"

"Ah assume ya heard about the Brotherhood attack, yah?" she asked with her eyes glued firmly onto the floor. She missed his shoulders gently jerking back into a straighter posture, the catch of his breath in his throat. She missed his tail swinging gently in contentment before freezing stiff. The dust motes caught in the sunbeam, rare and wild for the month of February, held her attention, sparkling and glittering as the floated aloft the stagnant mansion air.

He swallowed audibly. "Ja, I have."

"Ah – Ah've been in yer head, Sugah, an' Ah still don't understand. How … how come you don't wanna hurt humans like them, huh? Ah know you hide more'n any of us, an' still you're one of the kindest people in this entire school. Aren't you afraid – angry?"

He remained silent except for the small susurration of fabric against fabric. Before Rogue knew it, her hands were in his. His blue fuzz gently held her, assumedly soft against her gloves. Startled, she lifted her eyes to meet his. "I am not afraid, and I am not angry," he told her. "People fear what they do not understand, and these people do not understand mutants. They don't know me." His thumbs stroked her hand, enrapturing her attention. "They cannot hurt me."

"Ah'm pretty sure they can, Sugah," Rogue deadpanned.

"Doch." His head tilted to the side. "I won't let them. As we won't let mutants harm humans. That's our purpose, or?"

"It's incredibly overwhelming," Rogue breathed.

"Ja," Kurt agreed. "It can be. But I do believe in the power of our mission. This Brotherhood of Evil Mutants will fail, either at the hands of the X-Men or their own, and life will continue. This isn't the first time Mystique has tried something …" He trailed off, his brows pulling together tightly. "Rogue?"

"Mystique?" Rogue squeaked.

"Ja, she runs the Brotherhood." While he did not phrase it so, his tone made the words almost sound like a question. His concern did not wane, but confusion wavered over his expression.

Rogue stared off, almost unaware of Kurt's presence. Mystique was a terrorist? Irene told Rogue that Mystique couldn't come to the phone that day because she was too busy planning an attack? On civilians? That couldn't be right. Irene and Mystique treated Rogue like she was their child, but Rogue proved to be too much of a problem for them. Mystique couldn't handle Rogue. Rogue was too damaged for her to fix. That was why she sent her off to Xavier's school.

"Hey, hello." Kurt squeezed her hands in his own. "Where are you right now?"

"Huh?"

"What is Mystique to you?"

Rogue didn't know how to answer that. Rogue thought that Mystique was her surrogate mother. But mothers didn't dump their children in boarding school in order to assert dominance over an entire species because they felt like it. However complicated Rogue thought her relationship with Mystique was before, learning that she headed a terrorist organization certainly put a twist on the situation. "Ah'm not really sure, Sugah." She blinked, looking him back in the eyes.

"Okay." Kurt chewed on the word. "Feel free to get back to Ororo or me when you figure that out. Uh, until then – you do know that what Ororo and I, what we're teaching you is to keep you safe, ja?"

"That's why you hound me in the Danger Room?"

"Ja, exactly why. You are stronger than you think you are, Rogue. You are not some small and helpless girl. And you're good at making friends!"

Rogue screwed her lips and nose to the side.

"That's important: friends." He took his hands off hers, straightening up again. "It's a matter of fact." He stared at her nonresponsive expression a moment longer, running his tongue over one of his fangs. "Friends are community, Liebchen, and community is strength. That is why I do not fear nor despair."

"But what do you do when the humans make a community 'cuz they're afraid of mutants like Mystique. An' then mutants make a community like the Brotherhood 'cuz they're angry at bein' treated like dirt. An' then they make a war of it? Huh?"

Kurt shrugged and looked aside. "I have faith."

"In what?" Rogue asked flatly.

He shrugged again, his lips pressed together thinly. "Sometimes you need faith. Faith that humanity surpasses the difference between mutants and humans, and that friendship and community will overcome the bad. I think there is a lot more good in the world than people care to accept." He lifted his hand, as if to reach out at her again, but held himself back with conscious effort. "I think you'll come to figure that out with time."

Kurt sucked in another breath, and then settled down on the arm of the chair beside her. He was warm and soft, easy to cuddle into. "I have seen exactly what kind of monsters humans can turn in to when they feel threatened," he told her softly, his voice low. "Before Xavier found me and brought me to the X-Men, I was attacked by an angry mob. They thought that I had killed someone, and that I was demon spawn. They chased me and threatened me with shovels and pitchforks, calling me demon and monster." He leaned his head down on hers. When he spoke, the vibration of his voice tickled her through her hair. "I found myself cornered, surrounded by the flames they set upon their own buildings to kill me, with fight left as my only option."

"Kurt, Ah'm so sorry."

"They were scared, Liebchen. Fear in a crowd has people lose their minds. That's why we exist here. How were they to know that I was mutant, and not demon that killed their people? We can teach people that most of us only want to exist, like them, and that we mean no harm."

"Ah feel like you're stretchin'."

"No," Kurt said firmly.

"They tried to kill you and you still make excuses for them?" Rogue asked. She pulled away from him to watch his expression.

"Not excuses. It can be so easy to pity yourself, but to understand those that hurt you? To put yourself in their place? That is difficult, but very necessary if we want to make change. Someone was dead, Rogue. They didn't attack just because I was convenient." He stood again, staring down at her. "I'm kind because it's the better path, even if more difficult. We need to be the change we want to see in the world." He smiled softly despite his heavy words. "I hope that you can understand this one day."