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It was warm and humid in New Orleans, the lightning bugs flickering on and off in the heavy evening air. Despite it being springtime, it felt almost unnaturally quiet and still outside. Rogue was thankful. She needed a moment to herself, to be alone with her thoughts.
She walked along an old stone walkway just outside the city, her feet following the gently worn path with some trepidation. The trail meandered through the ancient gnarled live oaks with their branches hanging low, eerily draped by Spanish moss. She finally found herself at the front of the old parish church, greeted by two weathered and heavy wooden doors. Oh, the things these doors had seen in their time. Beginnings. Ends. Whole lives moving along from birth to burial.
She had been here once before; Remy had shown it to her years ago, when they were back “home” briefly on a mission. His Tante Mattie used to bring him here, he’d said, on special occasions. He wasn’t too good at sitting still but he would try his best for her, and she would reward him with some homemade treats afterwards – if he behaved himself. Rogue giggled, remembering him telling the story, explaining how sometimes Mattie had to hold onto him to keep him from slipping away looking for something shiny to swipe from the other parishioners.
Rogue could see him in her mind like it was yesterday, his sly smile as he reveled in the retelling of his hijinks. It had meant a lot to him, being here, showing her this place. Lots of good memories from when he was a little one, before the complications of guilds and loyalty, love and exile. Rogue got to know him more than anyone else, and she always felt blessed when he felt comfortable enough to share his secrets – and his world – with her. She kept them to herself and would never tell a soul. The memories were only his and then they were only theirs, no one else’s. It made her feel so close to him, even now.
At the present moment, Rogue found herself solemnly glancing over the churchyard, her eyes tracing the moss-covered tombs and grave markers. She contemplated how peaceful this scene would be as a final resting place, just the noises of the crickets and frogs chirping occasionally among the oaks. No chaos, no fights, no villains, no destruction… No genocide. Just stillness. Calm. Peace.
It was a surreal feeling and she held onto it for a moment as she peered around. She saw generations worth of names, some she recognized from Remy’s stories, carved into the stones. So much history. So much of his history here. It makes perfect sense for him to be here now. Where else would he be? This place is important. This place is his home. It always was, and it always will be.
Her mind focused back to why she was really here at this little old church right now. She swallowed hard as she reached for the door, her heart racing and her breath catching in her chest. She paused for a moment and just stared at the doors, hand extended, unsure if she was ready to go through them. Once they opened, she would have to face a future so very different from what she had been expecting. Never in a million years could she have seen this coming – not her Remy. She was still in shock of the suddenness of it all; she had no warning or time to prepare herself, it just happened. Just like that, in the blink of an eye everything changed and her life would never be the same.
She stood for a bit, trying to gather the thoughts and flashbacks of their past racing within her. Glimpses of his smirk, his teasing, his black and red eyes and reading his emotions through them -- His pain, his fear… his love. Their most precious moments replayed in her head, not because she had stolen them from his memory with her powers, but because she genuinely cataloged them. Every glance, every stolen moment since they first met, lived within her.
It was then that she realized that she couldn’t imagine what her life would be like without him by her side, it was unfathomable. They had their rocky moments, sure, but most of their crazy ride was beautiful and happy. So many firsts with him… and as life happens, some lasts too.
She caught tears starting to come, but she fought them back. Not now girl, she told herself – now is not the time for tears, those can fall later. Compose yourself, everyone’s here already, you don’t need to be a mess today. Let’s push through. Open that door and bring on the next chapter, come what may.
Out of nowhere, a puff of smoke and the smell of sulfur split the air.
“Are you ready, Anna Marie?” Kurt asked, gently holding onto her arm. He felt how shaky she was and he switched position to grasp her nervous hands in his.
He always knew how to soothe her, even in the most stressful of situations. He looked into her eyes and said softly “There’s no rush, sister. They will wait for you. We can take a moment if you need- I know this is a lot, especially so soon after...”
He paused.
She knew what he was going to say, but neither of them allowed him to continue the thought.
“Ah’m fine Kurt...” she responded. “I just can’t believe that it’s time, that this is actually happening…”
He nodded. She swallowed.
She knew now she would never truly be ready for this moment, not even with all the preparation in the world. She held so much love in her heart for Remy, she always had, and she always would. Even if she never thought she’d be here like this, she was now. There’s no undoing the past, only marching into the future.
She took a breath, and she began to walk once more. As the doors crept open, she noticed that the small church was packed full, which was surprising – especially given the circumstances and the timing. There was so much going on in the world, so many mutants grieving losses, but they were all here, for him. For them.
She smiled a bit. It was nice to feel such love even after such an unbelievable tragedy.
She scanned the room and saw so many unfamiliar faces mixed into the crowd – she hadn’t realized Remy knew this many people that she didn’t – but then she spied her friends from various teams she’d been on, and up in the very front waiting for her was her X-Men family.
She felt better, knowing they were here with her. Wolverine, Morph, Jubilee, Beast, Scott, Jean, even Bishop… She locked eyes with Storm, who gave her a reassuring nod as the tears welled up in both of their eyes.
Everyone was already sniffling. Not a dry eye in the place.
She heard some murmuring in the back of the room, people in disbelief whispering “I can’t believe it,” and “not Remy, no way.” She was right there with them in their disbelief. This was never supposed to happen. Not him, not now, not ever. It seemed impossible that Remy LeBeau could be…
Kurt heard the whispers and gave her a gentle squeeze, snapping her out of her mind. Focus, Rogue, she reminded herself. Don’t get caught up in your thoughts. Now is not the time. Be strong.
She stepped further inside the nave of the church, and the room fell silent; everyone turned and stared right at her as she walked in, holding tightly on Kurt’s arm. She held her brother close, still shaking as she took a step. She felt the tears finally let slip. If there was music playing, she couldn’t hear it. All she could think about was Remy.
She could hear his voice in her head saying “Maybe it’s worth it, no?” and holding her hand in his. Cooking beignets and slow dancing in the kitchen of the mansion to a sappy love song, talking on the rooftop away from pryin’ eyes. Her realizing that she loved him at the worst possible time in history, and trying so desperately to find him to tell him so, as the world fell apart around them.
She remembered looking for him in the chaos of that night, in the dark and through the screams. Seeing what happened to all those people on Genosha. To Maddie. To Erik. To all the people they lost that night, who never saw their loved ones again. She remembered finding Remy wounded on the ground after he used his own body to stop the threat. Crying over him. Clinging to him through what was left of the fabric of his clothes.
Praying he would just open his eyes once more and say “hey chère.” Pouring her whole heart out to his lifeless form and telling him how she was wrong, and that if she could, she would undo all of the hurt she had caused them. Begging him to stay for her. For them.
“Touch be damned, come back to me Remy,” she sobbed. “I can’t live this life without you, I need you… Please just OPEN YOUR EYES REMY… I… I LOVE YOU. ONLY YOU….” Her voice had fallen to a whisper. “I’m so sorry… Please… Please stay with me…”
She begged. She pleaded. Her mind raced replaying these scenes, almost like it happened to someone else and not her. It couldn’t be real. It was a nightmare, right?
She took a deep breath. Her vision tunneled in towards the front of the church, and another flood of emotion hit her. She could see him now, there in his white suit. So still. So unlike him, the man who was full of fire and sass, to be so silent and so very, very still.
Her stomach fell. Is this really happening? Just breathe, Anna Marie. You can do this, she tells herself. She drew closer to him, should she touch him? Should she not? She took a deep breath once more. Here we go.
The pastor moves to speak.
“Who presents this woman to this man?” he asks.
“I do,” Kurt says smiling. He lifts her veil and gives her a quick kiss on the forehead before bamfing away to his seat.
Rogue takes a step forward and all the doubt and the concern she was holding within her dissolves. She takes Remy’s gloved hand and looks deep into his red and black eyes, and he smirks.
There he is, she thinks. What was I worried for? She smiles, so big. For the first time since she arrived at the church.
“Hey chère” he says, with a wink. “Thought I’d change my mind?”
“Never,” she lied.
Her mind flashed back once again to Genosha. To him grabbing onto her dress weakly with his bloodied hand as she cried over him saying “…I know. I know… I’ll stay. I love you too, I promise ain’t going nowhere, chère…”
She remembered rescue crews picking him up and rushing him to the hospital while she flew alongside the ambulance. Being by his side for weeks back at the mansion while he went through rehabilitation and slowly recovered from his injuries. Telling him again how sorry she was. Saying how she thought she had lost him. What could have happened. What thankfully didn’t.
She remembered her guilt eating away at her. He wouldn’t have even been there if not for her. He should have stayed behind, but then again why would he? He loved her and she was too scared to allow it. It wasn’t until she thought he was gone that she finally laid everything down on the line and told him how she felt in return. She regretted that, waiting until it was almost too late. It weighed on her, even now.
She remembered both of them deciding to take some time away from the team and making appointments to speak with a counselor, together. Them trying to work through both their trauma from Genosha and their difficulties with their relationship. She remembered them finally making headway and actually working through their issues, and how good that felt.
She remembered them putting a label on their relationship, finally and proudly. Being a real couple. Occasionally using a modified inhibitor collar thanks to Hank, but otherwise both being perfectly ok when they couldn’t touch one another. Feeling so damn happy just to be together and alive.
Rogue then smiles as she thinks of the whirlwind of events of the last week.
Traveling down to Louisiana with Storm on a roadtrip to visit Jean Luc and Tante Matte, at their request – after they finally caught up on what had happened over the last few months.
Apparently, one of those nights after Rogue fell asleep, Storm and Remy had a heart to heart in the living room about his near-death experience on Genosha, and his bravado and stupidity when he thought that he had nothing left to lose.
It was after that conversation Remy realized he’d rather not go on living than spend another day apart from his Anna Marie.
His spontaneous and unexpected proposal yesterday was the result of that discussion. She was caught so off guard, but inside she was screaming YES before he even got the question out. She kept her composure though, she wanted to make him sweat a little at least.
He looked so nervous, there on one knee. She’d never seen him like that before. His usual bravado was cracking under pressure as his whole family looked on in shock, except Storm who just stood there grinning.
“Never thought I’d see the day that boy actually settled down,” Jean Luc laughed. Tante Mattie smacked him, and he winced.
“This… is crazy,” Rogue stammered, hand on her chest.
“Have you met me?” Remy responded, looking so deep into her eyes it practically pierced her soul.
She smiled as she answered his question while he squirmed, “I say yes.”
Now she is standing here in a borrowed dress that isn’t even white, about to exchange vows and say “I do” in front of as many people as they can cram into that little church just outside of town on such short notice.
Nobody in the room saw this moment coming. Hell, neither of them saw it coming either. The events of Genosha aside, neither Rogue nor Remy thought they’d ever make it here. Yet here they are, surrounded by family and friends and making it official. It was crazy.
They’ve had so many complications over the years, it’s not hard to see why there were some doubts. Rogue’s inexperience in love, her fears, her not being able to touch him no matter how badly she wanted to. Gambit’s reputation for being a scoundrel with a stubborn streak a mile wide and, to use his own words, not being the settlin’ down type.
Until just moments ago, Rogue was nervous. Her mind wrestling with the uncertainty that he really meant forever and believing that her dreams were finally coming true. She kept waiting for the other shoe to drop or for something to try and take him away from her once more.
The nervousness was also apparent in Gambit, his naturally charming and easy going attitude replaced by a touch of worry. His body tense and still as he held his breath waiting up at the altar – scared that at any moment she’d change her mind and bolt for the door. She is a runner, that girl.
Those thoughts lingered within them both until now in this moment when they were finally hand in hand in front of the pastor. Suddenly, the anxieties lifted, and all of their doubts disappeared. The rest of the room and all of the people in it faded away from view. It was just them, together, holding onto one another for dear life. Happy to be living this moment they never thought they would have.
They exchanged a pair of rings of dubious origins that they had received as a gift from the thieves guild this morning, as they said their vows.
Remy smiled at her, and began to speak. “I love you with every piece of me, Anna Marie. I always have. My promises have never been worth much, but when I promised you I wasn’t going anywhere, I meant every single word. I’ll be by your side forever if you will have me.” Soft tears welled in his eyes. Rogue knew that he meant it.
She smiled back and sniffled a bit, wiping a happy tear from her face. “Remy, we’ve been through so much, you and I. We’ve faced so many challenges that other couples never have to face. I never want to lose you or your love again, even for a moment. You are my home, and even when I'm scared or things try to tear us apart, I will always find my way back to you.”
“Beautiful words.” The pastor said, with a grin, and looked up to address the crowd.
“It is now my pleasure to pronounce Anna Marie and Remy LeBeau as husband and wife! You may now kiss the bride!”
Thanks to some modified inhibitor technology, the two shared a passionate kiss to seal the deal, met by whoops of joy from the crowd. Praise to Hank, had it not been for that collar, Rogue surely would have been flying out of pure happiness, dragging her new husband up by the shirt collar as she went.
The cheering and celebration from their friends and family within the walls of the church interrupted the peace outside, practically drowning out the crickets and the frogs that had been chirping away all evening.
As Remy and Anna Marie walked back down the aisle together, the sun set on the church doors that had seen so many whole lives, beginnings and ends.
Now they may add one more new beginning to their list; starting right here, right now. A new beginning that nearly never was.