Two weeks later, Kitty and Rogue were back sitting on the hill by the quarry. The mail had arrived yesterday, and they had watched several films Stevie had sent them together. Kitty and Rogue had each received letters, and both contained a message from Ororo. They lunched together quietly, then at the same time they turned to each other and said "Kitty, Storm's asked me..." Rogue started. "Rogue, Ororo wants me..." Kitty said. The two looked at each other and laughed softly. Rogue made a 'lady's first' gesture, and Kitty said "Storm is forming a new X-team, to search for the Destiny diaries, and she wants me in it because of my research skills and our finding the first one together." Rogue smiled slightly, "Same here. Because she thinks Destiny might have wanted me to find them, and that my personal connection might give us some clues to their location." "Do you want to go?" Kitty asked Rogue simply. "Yes, I do" Rogue admitted, then she smiled "but not without you." Kitty looked at her in surprise, and Rogue firmly added "I don't want to be without you, Kitty. I meant it, when I said we were married." Kitty hugged Rogue fiercely, and said "We'll go there together, then. Retirement's been too boring for me, anyway." Rogue fought tears, knowing that Kitty was sacrificing her peaceful life for her, and softly said "I love you." "I love you, too," Kitty said tearfully. She grinned suddenly, "And if anybody has a problem with it, they get to deal with kung-fu Kitty!" Rogue laughed as they got up and hurried back to the cabin. They had packing to do, preparing for their new life together, and , she thought with a naughty little grin, probably a very sleepless night ahead... Kitty and Rogue got up out of their seats on the commercial airplane, both of them taking the opportunity to look out the window as their plane approached the airport at Sydney, Australia. The Sydney Opera House was a beautiful sight, along with the clear, blue water and the glorious sunlight, such a great change from cool New England. "Do we know who'll be meeting us?" Kitty asked Rogue quietly as she sat back down in her chair. She pulled her seatbelt over her middle, just in case. "I sent them the keys to a safehouse here that Irene willed to me," Rogue said to Kitty quietly. "I think they're just settling in, so Ororo wasn't sure who'd be here." "Are you nervous?" Kitty asked her, a little surprised. Kitty was still getting used to seeing Rogue with her almost constant guard down. The normal cocky, tough girl act she used to protect herself was gone when Kitty was around, revealing a more hesitant, but sweet young woman. She wondered, in her darker moments, if Gambit had ever seen this side of Rogue. She honestly doubted it, though. "A little," Rogue shyly admitted. "This is a very big job were taking on. And I'm a bit worried about how they'll react to... us." "We'll tackle the big jobs when they come, just like always," Kitty said firmly. "And as far as our relationship goes, I think they can handle it," Kitty said with a smile. She covered Rogue's hand with hers, their new, matching gold rings gleaming in the sunlight. One of their more pleasant experiences on this trip was when one of the stewardesses noticed their matching rings. Instead of the explosion Kitty was almost expecting, she smiled sweetly at both of them and said "Congratulations." Later on, she reappeared with two glasses of wine in real glasses for them both! They toasted each other, then the stewardess' kindness. Disembarking, they reclaimed their luggage from the carousel and quickly saw Ororo waiting there patiently for them over at the arrival gates. The tall woman certainly stood out in a crowd, african dark skin mixed with her pure white hair. She smiled over at them welcomingly, and as soon as they got near enough enveloped Kitty in a gentle but firm hug. "Kitten!" Ororo said happily, "It's so good to see you." She then looked over at Rogue and grinned at her, "And Rogue, you so look a great deal better than when I last saw you. May I ask how the vacation was?" Kitty squirmed free of the hug and grinned up at Ororo cheerfully as she answered "Kitty, not 'Kitten', please, Ororo. I've grown up a little bit, you know." "You'll always be my 'Kitten' to me," Ororo answered her quietly. Rogue looked at the two of them and realized how maternal Ororo was to Kitty, how much like another mother she was to her. Ororo looked over at Rogue and smiled, but she instantly noticed Rogue wasn't wearing her usual pair of protective gloves. Rogue flushed a bit under her gaze, slipping her gloves on quickly. But before she did, she took her ring off, and then put it back on over her gloved finger. 'I'm not just standing here in front of my teammate and leader,' Rogue thought to herself as she looked over at Ororo, 'I'm also here in front of my love's surrogate mother, so to speak.' Rogue nodded to her as she answered Ororo's earlier question, "The vacation was great. I've got a handle on the powers situation, and Kitty has helped teach me a lot." She said the last with a little wink at Kitty, making her blush. Ororo looked back and forth between them, an odd look on her face. "Rogue," she asked hesitantly, "why weren't you wearing your gloves?" "New trick," Kitty jumped in, and reached over to caress Rogue's bare cheek with her finger tips. "I guess we're both still a bit giddy." Ororo looked at the two of them blankly a moment, then a slow smile spread across her face. "Are any congratulations in order?" she asked the two of them, grinning. Kitty quickly looked around, and noticed they were standing in a quieter section of the large airport. She boldly stepped up to Rogue, wrapped her arms around the surprised girl's neck, and pulled Rogue down into a very vigorous looking kiss! Rogue's half-hearted attempts at struggling free made it look even funnier, and a fiercely blushing Ororo had to fight the urge to laugh. Kitty finally released her, and Rogue gasped for breath. "Uhm, sorry," Rogue said to the still faintly blushing Ororo, "but we're still sort of honeymooning." Ororo laughed with them softly. "I think it's perfectly understandable," she cheerfully assured the two of them They walked together quietly towards the jeep Ororo drove there in, until finally Kitty hesitantly asked her, "Ororo, are you OK with this?" Ororo smiled at them warmly, and said with clear sincerity "I'm happy for you both. I noticed the rings, did you two have a ceremony?" "Not yet," Rogue answered smiling, "we wanted to get all our friends together first." "That may be a while, with everything that's been happening, but we'll try. Have you told your parents?" Ororo asked Kitty quietly. "No," Kitty answered, then she paused a moment. With a faint blush she shyly admitted "I really wanted to tell you first." 'Just the right thing to say,' Rogue thought, as Ororo smiled over at Kitty with tears in her eyes. She was a bit startled when Ororo looked over at her thoughtfully. "And have you told Mystique yet?" Ororo asked her curiously. Rogue blinked at her, looking rather surprised. "As soon as I figure out how," Rogue said sheepishly. Having a criminal for a mother did create certain communication problems, and she didn't want to discuss something this personal in a letter. They talked about lighter matters until they reached the beach front mansion that Rogue had inherited from Irene Alder. They each grabbed a bag and headed up to the large front door, opening it to many cries of greeting. Bishop gave them each a respectful nod and small, friendly smile. The time lost african-american X-Man still had a little bit of hero worship in his eyes at working beside the heroes of his youth, but to be honest Rogue kind of liked that. The X-men may have had some problems with his gun- wielding methods in the past, but over the years he had become a steady, reliable teammate both of them had worked well with. Psylocke stepped forward, her long purple hair swinging around her as she politely shook hands with both of them. Elizabeth Braddock was a walking contradiction, a proper English Lady who was merged body and soul with a ninja warrior. Her eyes instantly took in the rings, how Kitty and Rogue stood together, and the former assassin just filed the information away, neither approving of them nor condemning. Sage nodded slightly to them both, while the pale, black hared woman still kept a safe degree of distance between them. Once she had fought the X-men as Tessa, alongside the infamous Hellfire Club of Manhattan, some of the X-men's deadliest foes. Now, however, Sage had joined their ranks and made the shocking revelation that she had always been an deep cover agent working on behalf of Prof. Xavier himself. She was a living computer with the unique ability to jump-start a mutant's powers to their next level, and her talents would very likely be invaluable in the search for the Destiny diaries, but still, Kitty and Rogue both didn't fully trust her just yet. Thunderbird smiled and waved cheerfully at them from the door of the nearby kitchen. The young Mediterranean recruit was very powerful, and was working hard on controlling his super heated plasma abilities, but still seemed like such a rookie. But Neal Sharra had already faced much alongside the X-men, and he was growing up very fast. "The upper floor rooms are still open," Sage said with a smile. "The rest of us have pretty much taken the ground floor rooms." Neal blushed a bit as Elizabeth cozied up to his side, "But I'm sure somebody could trade with you if you'd like." "So the master suite upstairs is still open?" Rogue asked them in confirmation. At Bishop's grave nod she grinned, "Good, then Kitty and I'll be sharing it." Kitty picked up her bags, Rogue grabbed hers and they both headed upstairs. Behind them, a confused sounding Neal asked the others softly "Why are they sharing when there's two rooms available?" Elizabeth's very amused voice answered him with another question instead "Why are we sharing a room, love?" "Because..." he started, then silence. Then a surprised sounding, "Oh!" Kitty closed the bedroom door, looked over at Rogue, and broke into a fit of giggles. Rogue tried to keep a straight face a few moments longer but finally gave in and laughed too. "I guess we won't be keeping our relationship a deep, dark secret," a smiling Kitty said, after finally getting the fits of laughter under control. "No, I guess staying in the closet isn't in the cards for us," Rogue agreed as she wiped the last tears of laughter from her eyes. They unpacked side by side, touching each other every so often as they worked. They quickly had their bags emptied and all the clothes packed away, then they took a moment to sit on the bed and relax after the long flight there. "You know what I think I'll miss most from the cabin?" Kitty asked Rogue, leaning her head on her shoulder. Rogue placed her arm over Kitty's shoulders, holding her gently. "Besides your massive anime collection?" a smiling Rogue asked her teasingly, taking a moment to ruffle her collar length brown hair. Kitty punched her shoulder, then smiled a naughty smile as she whispered softly in Rogue's ear "Ravaging you in front of the fireplace." Rogue blushed neon red. The two of them then got up to get changed. Getting of their sweaty travel clothes, they changed into their newly made X-men team uniforms. Rogue had chosen a skintight red and black bodysuit for her, and Kitty wore a similar design done up in blue and black. Shadowcat was back, the stealth fighter supreme! They walked down the stairs together, hand in hand to the welcoming smiles of their teammates. 'There may be some bumps ahead,' Kitty thought as she and Rogue sat down beside their long-time friends for their first real meeting, 'but I do think things are going to work out just fine.' She smiled over at Rogue, who smiled back, 'Just fine.' In another part of the island continent, a handsome young man emerges from a secluded bar in the bad part of town. "Lovely ladies," Gambit said, looking around at the crowd, "a mansion to case and adventures to be had." Gambit walked aimlessly for a bit until he passed a newspaper box and stopped, frozen at the prominent headline. In bold letters it read "The X- Men return to Oz!" "I wonder if she's there with them," Gambit said to himself softly. He smiled a bit, "I guess there's only one way to find out." A week later, prison gates opened and a young woman walked out into the sunlight dressed in a plain gray dress. Raven Darkholme took a deep breath of air, then looked around her with a happy smile on her face. She was glad being a shapeshifter meant you had plenty of oportunities to dig up dirt on people. She sighed a bit. She certainly had to call a lot of favors in to get out of jail this time, though! She was really wondering if it might be time to get out of the business, while she still could. She checked for anyone concealed nearby, then cautiously reached into a pocket and pulled out a plain sealed letter. She popped it open and a airplane ticket along with a small, folded sheet of paper fell right into her hands. She opened the letter with shaking hands, unfolding it completely before she would let herself look at the words and read them. Raven, A great opportunity awaits you, if you are willing to go where this ticket will send you. I wish you to be happy there, and hope you have the chance to know true love again. I love you, Irene Raven blinked, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. She didn't know how many of these letters Destiny had written before her death, but they always turned up when they were needed and were almost always right. She sniffled a bit, they always effected her the same way, too. She then turned over the ticket, and she saw it was a one way trip to the city of Sydney, Australia. 'I guess I could use some sun,' a smiling Raven thought, and climbed in to the complementary taxi the prison system had waiting for her. "To the airport, please," she said to the driver.
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