I want to apologise for the scrappy state of this first chapter. The original disappeared during an FF glitch and I'm waiting for the files on my old hard drive to be recovered so that I can repost this. I apologise again.

Name: A Midsummer Night's Daydream
Summary:Shakespeare may be dead, but his words live on. Now they have the chance to bring together two people. Trouble is, he's in the Brotherhood and she's an X-Man. ROMY with hints of JONDA and KIOTR
Content Warning(s): Innuendo, swearing (French and English)
Chapter Pairing(s):ROMY, tiny bit of JONDA

"text" thoughts

Why the damn Cajun had taken French of all the effing subject in this Hellhole was beyond her. Right now, they were doing a test (the bastard had finished in the first fifteen minutes) and she just had no idea whatsoever. In front of her, Kitty, her roommate and one of her best friends, was almost bent double over her paper, scribbling like there was no tomorrow. To her left, her other best friend, Wanda, had given up - much like herself - and was doodling ankhs, Crucifixes and what looked like Todd 'Toad' Tolanski being struck by lightening. The damned, demon-eyed, no good, two-bit, thieving, Cajun swamp rat was staring at her. Again. She took comfort in the fact that the insane pyromaniac, who, fittingly, was called Pyro, had taken advantage of Gambit's distraction and was copying the stupid Arcadian's work... Good for him. He winked at her and mouthed 'chere' to her. She flipped him off. She was lucky the teacher never spotted her. When the bell rang, she had never been happier to get to English... Sort of...

He had disappeared for a year, he hadn't bothered to show up to help fight Apocalypse... And now he shows up. Needless to say, it irritated her.

And speaking of irritating...

"That was, like, so totally easy. I hope I didn't write too much for question seven, I mean, it was, like, only three marks and I, like, think I wrote enough for six and..."

"Kitty, for the love of all that's good and Holy, and the little peace we have left, please shut up."

Kitty stopped talking immediately. She was just ever so slightly scared of what Wanda would do to her if she didn't and definitely wasn't morbidly curious enough to find out.

"Did ahther of yah guys see Gambit starin' at meh durin' thah test?"

"No, I was, like, too busy with the present subjunctives."

"Toad needed to be killed," was Wanda's reply.

"Well, anyway, I've, like, got to run! Computer studies class, woo!"

"I don't get how she hasn't had some sort of medical problem. Her blood pressure must be throught the damn roof!" Wanda commented as Kitty disappeared around the corner.

"Yah an' meh both."

Upon entering their English class, Rogue shook her head at the fact that there were no free double seats and one of the only ones left was, "Nah uh, no way am ah sittin' next tah that insane Aussie!"

"I can deal with him."

"Thanks, Wands."

Wanda sat down next to Pyro, or John as they had found out when he had turned up on the Brotherhood's doorstep, while Rogue made her way to the back of the class. It was only then that she realised that the only other available seat was next to...

"Hey, dere, chere! Y' enjoy de test?"

Gambit.

"It was fahne. 'Course, yah alreadeh knew that from thah amount of starin' at meh yah did."

"Well y're a bon t'ing t' stare at, mon chere."

"An' anothah thing: stahp callin' meh that. Ah'm naht yahr 'chere'."

"Yes y' are. Y' jus' don' know it yet, cherie."

"Okay, okay, settle down, class. Since I am on this year's drama committee and we've been studying Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, this year's school play will be A Misummer Night's Dream. I was going to spend this lesson deciding on our four leading roles according to your essays on character development so I have a modernised version of the play on DVD with me. This is not an excuse to mess about."

*****

"That was thah most borin' hour of mah lahfe."

"Settle down, please, class. I have here the names of the students playing Hermia, Lysander, Helena and Demetrius."

Rogeu groaned at the prospect. School plays were, as Kitty's psyche was putting it, soooo not her thing.

"I can make y' moan a lot louder dan dat, chere," came the husky voice in her ear.

A hand rested on her thigh and she suppressed a not unpleasant shiver. She kicked the Cajun in the shin, pleased with the painful wince he gave, and he removed his hand.

"Playing Helena, Wanda Maximoff."

Wanda didn't look happy but brightened slightly at the sour look one of the cheerleaders, and mutant-haters, was giving her.

"Demetrius will be played by John Allerdyce."

Wanda's bright look dulled again.

"I have cast Remy LeBeau as Lysander-"

"Please let Roguey get Hermia, please let Roguey get Hermia..."

Rogue snorted slightly at the Cajun's hopeful prayer. As if she'd ever get the role. Her essay was so full of angst thanks to Hermia's feelings at being 'betrayed' by Lysander being so similar to her feelings at learning the truth about Mystique... Oh crap...

"-And as Hermia, for her extremely accurate analysis of Hermia's feelings of betrayal and abandonment-"

"Crapcrapcrap..."

"-Is Rogue."

Rogue's head hit the desk. Romantic role opposite Gambit... Could her day get any worse?

"As there were no stage directions in Shakespeare's time, we do not know exactly how the actors would have performed, but as this is a romantic comedy, we have managed to fit in a kiss between Demetrius and Helena-"

Wanda looked horrified, John wasn't even listening anymore.

"-And between Hermia and Lysander."

Yep. Just got worse.

**Bayville High Cafeteria**

"So, let me get this straight: you hate him, he won't take no, you're playing Hermia, he's playing Lysander and you've got to kiss him," Amanda Sefton, Kurt Wagner (Rogue's brother's) girlfriend and the only human in their group of friends, summarised.

"Yes."

"But, you can't touch anyvun!"

"Ah know!"

Wow, I, like, love A Midsummer Night's Dream! It's so surreal and romantic and I love triangles!"

"It's not a triangle, Kitty, it's a bloody square! How you you Xavier guys put up with her?"

"Ve don't. If she gets on anybody's nerves Herr Logan locks her in ze Danger Room."

"Like, that's why I get so many sessions?! But Mister Logan, like, told me it was to, like, help me more with my control. I suggested that Rogue should get some to help her. He, like, said that Professor Xavier said that he was already doing that!"

The others laughed at the Chicagoan's naivety... Well, Rogue and Kurt did. Wanda and Amanda shared a smirk. Kitty had taken the heat off her but they both knew that Rogue, deep down, was excited at the prospect of playing a romantic role opposite Gambit. They all knew the Southerners had feelings for one another.

To be honest, this turned out better than the original so I think I'll just leave it like this.