Chapter Twelve: As They Should Be

And here's Chapter Twelve, the final chapter. The title of this scene is appropriate, because some things that I wrote in this saga were how they SHOULD have happened.

Thewriternextdoor: This has been an incredible journey indeed, and I can't believe it's already over! Yes, I did include the part where Kitty and Bobby helped Jimmy; it was right after Beast yelled for everyone to get out of there.

0001234: Thank you so much!

Hope10: I'm so glad I did well with the speech! But of course, humans don't understand mutants in this universe, lol.

Also, I have one last surprise for Scott and Rogue, which will perfectly send off their happy ending.

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men.

Kitty stood before Jean Grey's monument, which was placed beside Charles Xavier's. She already missed the former doctor. She had been so sweet to her when she first arrived, filling in the role her mother abandoned. She barely noticed Ororo standing beside her, mourning her fallen friend.

Eventually, she went inside the mansion, nearly walking into Bobby. The young couple said nothing as they held each other close.

Scott had begun moving some of his things into Charles Xavier's office. The war was over, and he was now officially the headmaster of the School for the Gifted. He carefully moved Charles' wheelchair off to the side, but made sure it was in full view of anyone who entered.

He heard footsteps and looked up to see Marie standing in the doorway. He saw that she was wearing a deep green long-sleeved shirt. Though she had control of her powers now, she was still used to wearing long-sleeved shirts, something she wanted to work on fixing.

"How does it feel?" she asked him, walking up to the desk that now belonged to him.

Knowing what she meant, he sighed. "Definitely overwhelming. I've got big shoes to fill, after all."

They both glanced at the wheelchair. Then Marie turned back to him.

"You're a natural born leader, Scott. You'll do great. All of the students already look up to you. And so do I."

Smiling, he walked from behind his desk to stand in front of her.

"Marie," he began, "when I first met you, I knew how scared you were of everything that was going on, and I immediately wanted to make sure you would stay safe. After your first encounter with Magneto, you set out to make everyone's days a lot brighter, especially mine. You helped me when I needed it, and you never gave up on me, angel. You've grown into a strong, wonderful woman that I want by my side for the rest of my life."

Then he got down on one knee, pulling out a small box. She gasped softly, tears forming in her eyes. She recognized the ring in that box as the one Jean wore before they called it off.

"Marie Anna D'Ancanto, will you marry me, and watch over this school with me?"

Tears spilling, she smiled the biggest smile he had ever seen on her. "Yes, Scott! Of course I will!"

His own eyes dampening, he stood up, carefully slipped the ring onto her finger, and pulled her into a deep kiss.

They would announce their engagement to the others, of course, especially since they were welcoming new students. But right now, they needed this moment alone. Besides, they already knew that everyone would be happy for them.

And they also knew that Jean and Charles were smiling down at them.

Ororo opened the front doors to welcome the large crowd of new students. Scott had asked her to welcome the new students, saying he had something important to take care of first.

"Looks like the weather's changing again," she said brightly to Bobby and Kitty, who were standing on either side of her.

"I think we're gonna some need more uniforms," Bobby added.

"Storm!" Jimmy ran from the crowd to hug Ororo.

"Hey!" she laughed, hugging him back. "Good to see you, buddy."

Then he turned to Kitty and hugged her as well. She then ushered him inside, Bobby patting his shoulder.

"Classroom size could be a problem," Kitty joked, but she was smiling, too.

They continued to welcome more and more students.

In the rec room, Logan watched the president's speech on the TV.

"And so it is with the thanks of a grateful nation that I introduce our new ambassador to the United Nations, and the representative of the world for all United States citizens, human and mutant alike – Dr. Hank McCoy."

"Way to go, furball," smiled Logan as he watched Hank shake the president's hand before giving his speech. He turned away to stand on the balcony, reflecting.

For years, he had wandered the world on his own, with no clue as to who he really was, or why he had these abilities. It was thanks to Charles Xavier that he not only found answers, but most importantly, found a home and a family. The woman he fell in love with was gone, but she would always been in his heart.

And with a world finally beginning to accept mutants, he knew his future, and the future of the X-Men, was bright.

At a park, children looked up at the sky in wonder, watching what appeared to be an angel fly over them. Among a crowd of people playing games of chess, Erik Lehnsherr sat alone at a chess table. His old friend's vision had come to pass: humans were beginning to accept mutants without fear or hatred.

But it wasn't without sacrifice.

After he reminisced of all the times he and Charles played chess, he went back to bitterly missing his powers. Unable to help himself, he raised his hand towards a black metal chess piece.

It quivered ever so slightly...

And with that, my X-Men AU trilogy comes to a close!

Some final notes:

The scene with Storm, Bobby, and Kitty is loosely based on the alternate scene where it was Storm, Bobby, and Beast welcoming the new students. But I still had Beast be announced as the new ambassador to the United Nations, so I wrote Kitty there instead. I thought about including the scene at the end of the credits, but I decided against it. Once again, you know that it happened. There's also the alternate ending where Logan returns to Canada, which could tie in with the beginning of The Wolverine, but I didn't feel like including it, either. He has a new family, after all.

Anyway, what did you guys think? Do you think I salvaged Rogue's role in these movies? I addressed her as Marie at the end, because I believe that she should've let go of the past by that point, and started going by Marie again. A book end, of sorts.

I'm gonna be honest, while I had the idea of Scott proposing to Rogue from the beginning, I was debating on whether or not she should also be pregnant (from when they spent the night together). In the end, I decided that the ending was fine without a surprise pregnancy. I think her being pregnant AND getting engaged to Scott would have been a bit too much, not to mention clichéd. Don't worry, though. I imagine that once they're married, they'll start having kids.

How do you feel about the changes I made? Do they make sense? Like I said before, I'm not gonna do Days of Future Past, but if any of you want to, then go ahead! If you use anything from my stories, please give me credit for starting it (if that's how it works). I will say this, though: Since Days of Future Past pretty much erased The Last Stand from continuity, I say that Rogue and Cyclops would still end up together. But what happens with Jean?

With all this said and done, thank you guys so much for your positive feedback and ideas, and I hope you enjoyed this trilogy! I don't know what I'll post next or when, but for now, this is it!

Excelsior!