When Rogue opened the door to her bedroom, the first thing she noticed was the petite brunette sitting on the edge of her bed. Kitty Pryde was nervously twisting the green sheets of the bed around in circles as she glanced up into Rogue's questioning face.

"What are ya doing in mah room, Kit?"

"I just, like, wanted to talk. I mean, we haven't really, like, had a chance to since you got back, ya know?"

Rogue hesitated, not sure how much information she should share with Kitty. Though the girl was definitely understanding, she practically ran the gossip mill at Xavier's Institute for Gifted Students. Or at least she had three years ago. As if she had been reading Rogue's mind, Kitty spoke up from her position on Rogue's bed.

"People change Rogue. I've changed. I've matured. You know you can, like, trust me."

"Ah know Kit, its just…" Rogue sighed.

Ya know ya owe it ta her. After three years… she deserves some sort of an explanation. Besides, she was tha closest thang ya had ta a best friend here at tha Institute.

Slowly, Rogue moved over to the inviting, queen sized bed and sat next to Kitty. She didn't know where to start. But there were some things that she just couldn't, wouldn't, tell Kitty. Some things she wasn't ready to admit to herself yet. Yet, at the same time, she didn't want to lie…

"Ah can't tell ya everythang Kit. There's just some stuff Ah'm not ready ta share. But Ah'll give ya tha gist of it, ok?"

Kitty nodded, too intrigued to speak a word. She excitedly tucked a piece of her brown bob behind her ear and leaned forward, ready to listen intently to every word that Rogue had to say.

"Well, Ah traveled down South. Ah just needed ta clear mah head, ya know? Ah had ta figure out who Ah was. When Ah left, mah mind was such a mess."

"Did you figure everything out?"

"No, not everythang. But my trip helped mah realize who Ah am and what Ah really believe, especially regarding mutant-human relations. Ah never really thought there was much hope for us, ya know? At least not in tha way the Prof saw it. But now…" Rogue smiled as her thoughts briefly took her back to New Orleans.

---

One year and five months previous, Head Quarters of the New Orleans Thieves Guild

"I can't do it Devon," Jacob stated despairingly.

"Can't ain't in de vocabulary o' a t'ief, boy. We strive fo' perfection an' we don' stop 'till we find it. Comprenez?" the forty-year-old thief stated with a brusque severity.

In a fit of anger, Jacob kicked the trash can standing in front of him clear across the workout room and into a rack of free weights, sending both the rack and the weights tumbling to the ground. Devon glared angrily at the young boy in front of him.

"Do dat again and yo' will regret it. I'll tell Jean-Luc t' move yo' down a level o' two in yo' trainin', which'll make it at least two mo' years befo' yo' first mission. An' dat's a supervised mission."

Jacob paled considerably. "Please don't do that, Devon. I've worked too hard for this."

"Den don' give me anymo' lip, yo' understand?"

He nodded. "I'm sorry, its just…" Jacob sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to keep his composure. "Its just so damn hard sometimes. You can't understand what its like, not having control over your own body." The young boy sunk to the ground in a defeated hopelessness.

The harsh look on Devon's face softened considerably and he silently walked across the room and brought the trashcan back to where Jacob was sitting. He sat it directly in front of the thirteen-year-old boy.

"Yo' right, I don' understand. An' it sucks, but its somethin' yo' can overcome. D'yo' t'ink dat Jean-Luc would have recruited yo' all de way from DC jus' t' give up on yo' now dat yo've developed a mutation? Non! But yo' have t' keep workin'. Merde, when Remy first developed his mutation, I t'ought he'd blow up de entire house! But he kept on practicing' an' now look at 'im. He's de Prince o' T'ieves."

"Do you think that I'll ever be that good Devon?"

Devon shrugged. "Who knows? But if yo' want t' be as good as de Prince, yo' can' keep makin' t'ings disappear at random. So let's try dis again."

Devon offered Jacob an encouraging smile and the boy stood. Placing his right hand on the lid of the trash can, Jacob concentrated as hard as he could and slowly but surely, the lid turned invisible.

Rogue quietly slipped out of the training room. She turned and continued her trip to the kitchen, where she, Tante Matte, and Merci were planning on cooking dinner for the Guild that night. As she turned the last corner, she collided into something hard and tall and would have crashed to the ground if it weren't for the cat-like reflexes she had picked up thanks to her training with Jean-Luc.

"Desole, Rogue. I didn' hear yo' coming. I'm impressed, yo've become quite de sneaky one."

Rogue smiled at the tall, brunette man in front of her. "Ah owe that ta ya father. Jean-Luc's an excellent trainer."

"Don' I know it. Mon pere trained bot' me and Remy, swore we'd be de last ones, t'. Yo' one lucky girl Rogue, never t'ought I'd see de day…"

"Speaking of trainers, why didn't y'all tell mah Devon had a soft side? Ah saw him training tha Junior, Jacob, and he almost seemed… nice."

Henri chuckled. "Jacob's had a rough time wit' his mutation. De poor kid keeps makin' t'ings disappear. He's been a hard one t' train, dat's fo' sure. But Devon hasn' complained once."

"Ah'm surprised that he even agreed ta train tha boy."

"Agreed? Devon requested t' have Jacob as his Junior."

Rogue's eyes widened in surprise. "He what?"

"O' course. Devon knew dat wit' his mutation, Jacob would require mo' practice, mo' control den most t'ieves. An' Devon's great at bringin' out de best in people. He has an understandin' side, believe it o' not, especially when it comes t' mutants. He's actually pro-mutant rights. Devon may be a mean old bastard , but he's fair. I'll give him dat much."

Henri glanced down at his watch and let loose a string of curses. "I got t' be goin' Rogue. Jocelyn's gon' t' kill me if I'm late."

With that, Henri walked off while Rogue stood rooted to the floor. Devon was extremely confrontational and traditional, not at all someone she would have pinned to be pro-mutant rights. Slowly, a small smile crept its way on her face as she continued her walk to the kitchen.

Maybe there's hope for human-mutant peace after all, she thought.

Rogue's head was so busy thinking about the possibility that maybe Xavier's dream wasn't so impossible after all that she forgot to ponder just who the hell was this Jocelyn.

---

"Now Ah have hope."

Kitty smiled at her friend and the two continued talking until the sun began to set and they finally decided it would be good to get out and have a girl's night on the town. Kitty ran to inform Jean, as Rogue had agreed to let the older girl accompany them on their little adventure, and when she returned, she and Rogue began getting for dinner and some fun at a club just outside of Bayville.

"So," Kitty began casually, "you told me all about your time in, like, Mississippi and Alabama, but you didn't say much about Louisiana. How was it down there? Did you, like, run into any handsome Cajun's?" Kitty asked with a suggestive wink. "You know that Gambit, like, lives here now right?"

Rogue nodded and she continued searching through her clothes for the outfit she wanted to wear that night. "Yeah, Ah know. Ah ran inta him outside in tha gardens. As a matter of fact, Ah did see him in N'awlins."

Kitty smiled knowingly. "And? Like, what happened? Don't try to tell me that, like, sparks didn't fly. I know all about your little crush on him."

Rogue looked up from what she was doing and quirked an eyebrow at Kitty. "Ah would hardly call what Ah felt fah Remy a crush."

Kitty's eyes lit up in excitement. "So you do admit that you, like, liked him! I knew it! But you still didn't say whether or not…" Kitty paused mid-sentence and eyed Rogue, who had gone back to searching through her bags, incredulously. "Wait a second, did you just, like, call him Remy?"

Rogue rolled her eyes and repressed a sigh. "Yes Ah did. And if ya must know, Remy and Ah did chat a bit, as Ah did stay in Louisiana for a portion of my trip." A very long portion, Rogue thought to herself.

"And?"

"And he helped mah a lot. He got mah ta open up more than Ah thought Ah could. Remy's a great guy."

Kitty squealed with enthusiasm as she rushed over to Rogue's side. "This is so, like, perfect! I, like, totally have to set you two up! You two would be so cute together. But how to do it, that's, like, the question. I suppose I could…"

Rogue laughed slightly as Kitty launched into all the "perfect ways" that she could get Rogue and Remy together. Then she began gushing on how "absolutely wonderful" they would be together. But before she could get to planning their wedding (Kitty was sure that Remy would propose once the two fell "desperately in love with each other"), which Rogue knew she would if she was allowed to, Rogue interrupted her.

"Sorry Kitty, but ya services ain't really required."

Kitty paused mid-rant and turned to her highly amused friend. "What do you mean?"

"Well, if ya promise not ta flip out and scream tha news through tha Institute," Rogue said with a glare, "Ah'll tell ya."

"Cross my heart and hope to die. Now spill!"

"Remy and Ah already have plans fah tomorrow naight. We're gonna go on a date."

Kitty let loose a high-pitched squeal again and nearly tackled Rogue. "Are you, like, serious? This is so, like, totally amazing Rogue! Why are you not more excited? Omigod! We totally have to plan your outfit and make sure everything is absolutely perfect!"

"Kit! Calm. Down. Ah do NOT want ya ta interfere in any way, shape, or form. Ya understand? Ah want ta keep this quiet, if ya don't mind. Ah don't want tha whole Institute in Remy's and my business and Ah want ta let thangs happen naturally. So this is not tha tahme for ya ta play matchmaker, got it?"

Kitty giggled and pretended to salute Rogue. "Yes ma'am."

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Now, let's focus on tonaight, ok? What do ya think about this outfit?"

Rogue held up a pair of low-rise blue jeans and a purple tube top. Kitty's eyes widened in surprise. "I like it, but are you, like, sure?"

Rogue scrunched up her nose and checked over the outfit. It wasn't overly scandalous or appalling so she had no idea why Kitty was hesitant. "Yeah, why? What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing, but will you be comfortable? I mean, you, like, never used to wear stuff like that. Not that it's a bad thing, but… wow, things really have changed, haven't they?"

Rogue smiled. "Not that much Kit, besides, Ah'll wear a jean jacket over it and a pair of black gloves so that mah skin's not ta exposed."

"As long as you're comfortable Rogue."

The two exchanged smiles and Kitty headed to her room to change into the outfit she had picked out for the night. An hour later, when all three girls were finally ready, they met in the grand foyer. Jean had on cute black skirt that accentuated her long legs and an emerald tank top that dipped moderately low in the front. She flashed a smile at Kitty, who was dressed in a pair of low-rise black slacks and a cute, red halter top that showed off her slim waistline.

The two X-women glanced up and saw Rogue descending the large staircase. Both of their eyes widened in surprise. Sure, Kitty had known what Rogue's outfit would look like, but the way she carried herself was what threw both her and Jean off. True, Rogue had never been one to look down to anyone, but the old Rogue never would have carried herself so… self-assuredly in a tube top and low-rise jeans. The old Rogue would have self-consciously covered her bare stomach with folded arms and glanced about nervously for fear of accidentally touching someone else. This Rogue strolled down the steps with her arms hanging loosely by her side and an air of coolness about her.

When she reached the bottom of the steps, Rogue smirked knowingly at her teammates and friends. "Y'all can stop looking so shocked now. Ah swear its still mah."

Jean smile brightly at Rogue. "You look wonderful." And so happy… maybe it was best that she left. She seems much more at ease with herself.

"Well, what are we waiting for? The clubs won't, like, be open all night. Let's vamos!"

Jean and Rogue shared a glance at the exuberance exuding off of Kitty, but grabbed their jackets nonetheless. "I'm, like, driving!" Kitty shouted and ran out to the garage before either girl could protest.

Rogue looked at Jean nervously. "Is she serious?"

Jean smiled and laughed. "Don't worry, she's much better at driving. Besides, her car is the best one for clubbing. It's a Mustang convertible that her parents got for her back when she turned eighteen."

Praying that Jean was right and Kitty's driving had indeed improved, Rogue headed out and saw that Kitty had already pulled her baby blue convertible out of the garage and was waiting in the driver's seat, Shania Twain's "Man, I Feel Like a Woman" blasting from her stereo.

"C'mon guys!" she shouted.

As Jean and Rogue hopped into the car, Rogue couldn't help but feel giddy as the three began laughing and reminiscing about old times at the Institute. The troubled future she was worried about melted away and for one night, she was completely at ease catching up with her old friends.

A/N: Sorry its so short but I figured I might as well update a shorter chapter sooner then a longer chapter later… but the next chapter won't take so long I promise!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, please continue doing so! And everyone else… hint hint…