Sleeping Angel

By Jeaniegirl

Disclaimer: None of the characters mentioned in this story belong to me. I'm not using them for profit… I'm only using them for my own pleasure. Mwa ha ha ha… ahem…

Rating: PG-13… for now.

Summary: Gambit looks back on the days leading up to the terrible incident… only to discover his love for Rogue goes deeper than anything he could have imagined. ROMY

XOXOX

Prologue

XOXOX

The orange sun slowly disappeared behind the tall snow covered trees, allowing the darkness to creep over the world for its nightly shift. The room was quiet where he stood as he stared out the frosty edged window. He'd been standing there for what seemed an eternity… Yet it had only been earlier that day when he had brought her here… to the infirmary. The man's devil eyes shut tight as his handsome features were marred with pain and regret. Perhaps, laying somewhere beneath his walled-up surface… there was a twinge of guilt.

With a broken sigh, he slowly turned to her bed. His heart broke for the millionth time that day as he laid his eyes on her… his sleeping angel. With moistened eyes, he lifted her cold and seemingly lifeless hand to his lips. A gentle kiss was placed against her knuckles, but even in that gentle kiss, there was a tumult of love being poured into the very skin of the one he watched.

"Please Anna," he choked out. "Come back to your Remy, chère… Don' leave him here alone…"

Those desperate words were accompanied by a tear that trickled down the Cajun's cheek, landing softly on Anna-Marie's exposed arm. No longer holding onto his pride, Remy allowed the tears to continue freely down his face. He was frantic, heartbroken, and scared all at the same time. His heart was torn into pieces and he couldn't remember ever feeling this way before.

With a soft and caring touch, he lowered his fingers to the white strands of hair that had fallen across her forehead. He slowly slid them back into their place, and he couldn't stop the memories that swam over him all at once. It wasn't too long ago when he had done that same seemingly tedious action… Only then, when he had swept the hair from her face, her loving green eyes were staring up into his. The only response he received now was the soft bleeping of the hospital equipment.

Gambit bent over and placed a kiss on her pale cheek. And in a soft whisper, he said: "Remy'll be here, chère… Don' you worry. Remy won't ever leave your side again."

He sighed and turned from the bed momentarily, pulling up a chair next to her bed. He plopped down in the uncomfortable piece of furniture and stared up at her, half expecting her eyes to open, half expecting to hear the sounds of her heart failing. With a glimmer of hope in his red on black eyes, the Cajun took her hand in his, whispering words of hope and comfort to her until he himself was fast asleep.

XOXOX

A/N: Okay, before ya'll freak out on me, NO this shouldn't be an angsty depressing story that will leave you feeling like crap. I couldn't survive writing a story like that. This was just the prologue. The first chapter will be longer. Promise. Now please… Do I really have to ask?