Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men: Evolution or any of its characters.

Title: The Differences Between Us

Summary: Kitty doesn't understand Rogue, and Rogue doesn't understand Kitty. But when they are suddenly thrown into the other's body, they'll have to learn to cope quickly.

Author's Note: So this chapter has a lot of feels. Please be prepared. I don't know why my stories always revert to sappiness, as I don't think I am an overly sappy person. I need to come up with something that will mostly be void of this. We shall see what the future holds…Anyway, thank you for tuning in. I appreciate all of the reviews and interest shown. Thank you so much, everyone!

Chapter 18 – The Last Piece

Kitty had found a nice patch of shade on the otherwise sunny day in the back gardens of the mansion grounds. She had brought her laptop and school books with her in order to try to get the necessary homework done for the following school day. So far, it didn't seem to be working.

She had also thought that the change of scenery would help to clear her head, but she found herself still bombarded by the same thoughts. Needless to say, that also wasn't a benefit for her homework progress.

It had been just a week since she had been returned to her own body, and it really could not have mattered. Naturally, she had met up with her few friends, though they had seemed to treat her a bit more cautiously. She didn't find herself craving their attention. It was easy enough for her to catch up with her schoolwork, but, then again, she had always been a very good student.

Above all else, it was Lance that she had missed the most. And, he was the only thing still missing.

She had attempted to speak with him her first day back, but he hadn't given her the time of day. He readily removed himself from wherever she had tracked him down. As the days passed, she noticed him purposely avoiding her. By the end of the week, she had simply made it easier for him by trying to forget about him altogether.

The only issue was that it was harder than she had thought it would be.

Memories of Lance invaded her every waking moment. At night, the ghost of Lance appeared in her dreams. The more she tried to not think about him, the more she did. It was torture.

To make matters worse, Kurt, who was one of her best friends, was hardly speaking to her now, either. She knew that he felt embarrassed and awkward, but because she hadn't been present for his failed kiss, she couldn't understand and was just frustrated at his constant strained presence. Rogue had been available to fill the void for the most part. She was actually much more empathetic than she had ever been before.

She had her notebook open and her textbook just alongside her. She re-read the same problem for about the fifth time before her frustration got the better of her. With a noise of disgust, she slammed her notebook down.

"This is, like, impossible," she growled to herself. "I can't concentrate."

She sighed, leaning her head back against the tree she sat under. She tried taking deep breaths to calm herself, and it seemed to be working. But, just a couple of seconds later, Lance's face appeared from the darkness.

Immediately, her eyes snapped open, but this time she was less angry and more exhausted. She drew her knees up against her chest and cradled them, resting her chin atop her kneecaps. She sat there with a frown on her face, merely staring ahead at nothing in particular, for a good couple of minutes. Then her eyes shifted and went wide at what she saw.

Clearly, it was Lance crossing the lawn toward her. His hands were shoved in his pockets, and he walked with his normal hunched, casual gait. It only took her by surprise for a second then her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"And now I'm hallucinating," she muttered to herself. "Good job, Kitty. You've officially gone crazy. And, why? All because of some boy." She shook her head, feeling defeated. "Well, maybe not just some boy. He's more than that. I mean, he was the first person who really understood you when your powers first emerged. He's…" She trailed off. She growled loudly in frustration. "This is your problem, Kitty. You need to get over it."

"Are you talking to yourself?"

The voice startled her. She nearly jumped. She had thought Lance had just been a figment of her imagination, but it turned out that he was actually physically standing in front of her. He stared down at her with an eyebrow raised. Apparently, he had heard some of what she had been saying aloud to herself.

A blush crept across her cheeks. She tried to play it off, though, anger and hurt overcoming all other feelings. "No," she insisted at first. When the silence seemed to last too long and become too awkward, she got to her feet to face him. "I mean, what do you care?" She crossed her arms over her chest. "And, like, what are you even doing here, Lance?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I wanted to talk."

"It hasn't seemed that way the past week. You know you can't just show up here and expect me to talk to you just because you are ready."

"I know, and I'm sorry."

She thought she had misheard him. "What?"

"I said I am sorry."

She paused a moment, thrown off guard a little. "Well, I'm sorry, too, Lance. Because, that's not enough. You really hurt me, you know."

"I was really hurt, too, Kitty," he insisted.

"But, none of that was my fault!" She was ready to argue her point, whether or not he would listen.

"You don't think you should have told me as soon as you two had switched bodies? You don't think I deserved to know what was going on?"

"We didn't tell anyone, Lance. We both thought it would have been safer to just figure things out for ourselves."

"And how'd that work out for you two?"

"Terrible, obviously." She discovered that she was nearly shouting and had to check herself. She sighed, trying to calm herself. "I never meant for anything like this to happen. I especially never meant to hurt you, Lance."

After a pause, he said, "I know, I know. Rogue already explained everything."

Kitty blinked. "S-She did?" It was rather surprising that Rogue would try to help her out like that.

"Yeah," he said with a small smile, "and she was really convincing, too."

She was quite touched that her roommate would go out of her way to help her like this, particularly knowing that Rogue disliked Lance, and that he disliked her, too. For a brief moment, there appeared to be a glimmer of light at the end of the dark tunnel. All she had ever wanted was for those two to get along—to make things easier and much less strained.

"Kitty," Lance said, breaking the silence when she didn't respond, "can you forgive me? I shouldn't have reacted the way I did, but I was so confused. I had actually thought that you two had planned the whole thing in order to embarrass me or get back at me or something."

"Like I would ever do that," she muttered.

He shrugged, pacing. "I guess I am just used to being disappointed. And, with you, since it hasn't happened yet, I keep anticipating it coming."

She pointed an accusatory finger at him. "Well, stop trying to find excuses to break us up then. I'm not going anywhere, Lance. So, get over yourself."

He paused, as if trying to find some response. Then he chuckled.

Kitty crossed her arms over her chest. Her pain had turned into anger and frustration, but she had managed to be nothing but serious through the whole thing. She didn't know what he could be finding so funny about all of this. "Why are you laughing?" she demanded.

"Because only you could really put me in my place," he answered.

"Lance, I-" she began, but was suddenly cut off when he pulled her into an embrace.

A blush crept across her cheeks, but he continued to hold her close. Her lips curled upward into a smile and she buried her face into his chest, breathing him in and relaxing into his arms.

"This is how it should be, Kitty," he whispered. "We get each other. And, even if it takes forever, I swear I'll make it up to you."

Kitty giggled, happy that everything seemed to turn out fine despite the crazy confusion. "Well, you better get started."