Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Alright, peeps. I guess you could call this an AU. There are no X-Men, no mutant powers, no guilds, no Brotherhood, no Acolytes, nothing. All I use are their names and likenesses. It's not the future story I promised but an idea that's been floating around for a while. Hopefully you all will enjoy this anyway.

Chapter 1

The warm June sun shone brightly on the bustling streets of New Orleans. Unfortunately, the beauty of the day was lost on the two children currently occupying the playground nestled deep within the city's illustrious Garden District.

"So, this is it, huh?" Rogue asked, sitting high atop the jungle gym.

Next to her, Remy nodded in agreement. "Yup. Our flight leaves in de mornin'."

Looking down at her dangling feet, the nine-year-old girl tried to hide the tears glittering in her sparkling green eyes behind a veil of auburn hair. "This sucks, ya know. Ah just moved here a year ago and ya have to up and move away."

Remy may have been ten years young but he couldn't miss the crack in her voice as she spoke. He looked over at his friend. "Please don' cry, Rogue. I'll be back. Poppa didn' even sell our house."

"Ah'm not cryin'. Ah'm just sad. You're like mah best friend. Ah can't really come visit when you're movin' all the way ta Paris."

"I know." All of the sad feelings he had kept so carefully blocked out were slowing starting to seep through. Ignoring it, he tried to cheer her up instead. "Hey, at least ya got Belle."

"Yeah." She looked over at Remy and smiled a comforting smile. "You're gonna miss her a lot, huh?"

It was his turn to look down at his feet. "Sometin' like dat."

In may ways it was hard to believe that Rogue had moved to New Orleans only fourteen months ago. Her mother had uprooted them from their small Caldecott County hometown to the lively city after Rogue's father had passed on. With her hefty inheritance she had purchased the house that sat directly across from Remy's and adjacent to Belle's. In two short weeks, Rogue Adler had found two great friends in Remy Lebeau and Belladonna Boudreaux. Being an only child, Rogue was delighted at the constant companionship. The three were constantly together and the park was their all-time favorite hangout. At first, Rogue had been intimidated by the other two's friendship, since they had been best friends since they were babies, but her fears were soon put to rest. Belle was the same age as Rogue and was ecstatic at having another girl around. Ever since her mom died she had been missing out on having a female friend so close to home, especially since she didn't have a sister. She now had someone to play Barbies, have sleepovers and practice dress up with. Remy was also quite happy with a new playmate and was now probably closer to Rogue than he was with Belle. Not many kids lived in their wealthy neighborhood. The only other ones were Belle's older brother, Julien and his own older brother, Henri. Often times the older boys left him behind because he was five years their junior and Belle disliked a lot of outdoor activities. Rogue, on the other hand, had just as much fun doing 'boy stuff' as she did 'girl stuff'. As a result, Belle was relieved of going fishing while Remy didn't have to sit through any more girly tea parties.

Despite the lack of interest in Belle's ideas of fun, Rogue noticed that Remy did have a blatant interest in Belle. When they were all together he would tease her mercilessly, much to Belle's frustration. The poor girl simply didn't see what his motive behind it all was. Rogue, on the other hand, knew exactly what he was doing and called him on it. The comfort of having someone to talk about it with made it too hard for him to deny, that and fact that he turned the brightest shade of red she had ever seen on a person. She didn't mind when Remy went on for hours about how pretty Belle's violet eyes were or how happy he was when she let him hold her hand to school. In fact, Rogue had made it her secret mission to get them together but her plans had been thwarted when Remy announced his imminent move. His father had been appointed to head up the overseas office of the trading company he worked for and had no doubts about taking his family with him.

"Where is Belle anyway?" Remy asked.

"She should be back soon. Her dad just took her ta buy new clothes for summer and they left real early this mornin'."

Remy looked puzzled. "She didn' invite y' along?"

"She did, but Ah told her that Ah wanted ta hang out with ya since you're gonna be leaving."

He smiled a genuine smile. "T'anks, Rogue." Pausing for a moment he continued, "I'm gonna miss y' a lot, too, ya know."

Rogue didn't really know how to respond so she stayed quiet. Both sat in a less than peaceful silence until it was broken by the sound of heels on pavement.

"Hi guys!" Belle greeted in her trademark cheery tone. She was quite dressed up for a day in the park. New, shiny black mary janes adorned her feet over ruffled white ankle socks. A sleeveless, baby blue sundress reached to her knees and exposed her nicely tanned arms. "Like m'new dress?"

Rogue nodded in affirmation. "It's real pretty. Ya look like a princess." And she did compared to her own simple shorts and T-shirt.

"Yeah, real pretty," Remy echoed.

Belle daintily stepped into the sand pit that housed the towering jungle gym. Looking up at her friends she asked, "What do y' wan' do now?"

"I was t'inkin we could jus' play in de park t'day, just like always." Remy replied, slowly climbing down to her level.

Belle frowned. "I don' wan' get my new dress dirty."

"We could play on the swings," Rogue suggested. "An' Remy can push ya real high like always. Then we can play hopscotch or somethin' or watch a movie at mah house. Mah mom's makin' a goodbye dinner for Remy anyway."

Remy's ears perked up at the mention of dinner. "What she makin'?"

"Ah'll give ya three guesses but ya only need one."

"Cajun spiced fried chicken wit' cornbread and hot apple pie wit' ice cream?" he asked, hopeful.

Rogue laughed as she climbed down. "Only 'cause it's your favorite." She jumped the short distance to the ground. "Come on. First one ta the swings gets the biggest slice of pie!" With that the three raced off, the heartache of Remy's departure momentarily forgotten.

After the delicious dinner, Remy offered to walk Belle home. They had all decided to go to bed early since Remy would be leaving for the airport at five in the morning and they all wanted to be awake for the final good bye. The two held hands as soon as they were out the door and instead of going directly to Belle's front door, they took a detour into her backyard and climbed into the large tree house that her father had built for her and her brother.

"So, are y' excited 'bout movin'?" Belle asked as she gingerly took a seat on the ground.

Remy followed her example. "Dunno. Gonna miss it here a lot."

"Yeah. It's gonna be diff'rent wit'out y' here. I'm glad Rogue came or else I'd be all alone."

"Yeah, me, too. I'm really gonna miss y' bot'."

"I'm really gonna miss y', too." Her eyes lit up with a sudden thought. "Hey! Maybe we can email each ot'er!"

"Yeah! I can get m'dad to show me how. I can get my own email address!"

"Yeah! An' I can get Rogue to show me! She's real smart wit' all dat computer stuff! I t'ink she has her own email address already. I can use hers 'til I get my own email!"

Remy smiled. "Dis is gonna be so cool. It'll almost be like talkin' t' each ot'er."

"Yeah," Belle said softly. Then, without warning, she hugged him. He held on to her in return. Soon he could feel her tears soaking into his shoulder.

"Aw, Belle. Don' cry."

She pulled back, wiping away her tears. "M'sorry. I jus' hate good byes."

"I know. But hey, I'll be back. Dat's still our house across de street. We'll still be neighbors."

"I know." She smiled at him. "T'anks for always bein' a good friend." She hugged him again briefly.

"Y', too. Come on. We need to get to bed."

They climbed down the tree house and Remy waited until Belle was inside before trotting home. He went straight to his room and closed the door. Flopping onto his bed, he reached out and grabbed the phone. Dialing quickly, he waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello?" It was Rogue's mom.

"Hi, Miss Adler. Dis is Remy. Is Rogue free?"

"Hello, Remy. Yes, Rogue is right here. Hold on a sec."

Remy waited for Rogue to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Rogue."

"Hey. What's up?"

"I was jus' wonderin' if it would be okay for me to write to Belle on y'r email address 'til she can get one?"

"Don' be silly! O'course she can! That's what friends are for!"

Remy sighed in relief. "Great. T'anks, Rogue. I'll see y' in de mornin'?"

"Bright an' early!"

"Okay den. Have a good night."

"Good night!"

"Bye." He hung up the phone and lay on the bed. Content that he would be able to talk to Belle he closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep. After a moment his eyes flew open and he reached for the phone again.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Miss Adler. Dis is Remy again. Is Rogue still dere?"

"Hello again, Remy. Yes, Rogue is still here. One moment."

Sitting up he waited for Rogue's voice.

"Hello?"

"Hi, it's me again. I was wonderin' if I could email y', too?"

"O' course! Don' worry about it. Just get some sleep."

"Okay. T'anks again, Rogue."

"You're welcome. Have a good night."

"Good night. Bye."

Hanging up once more he laid back down. Now fully satisfied with being able to keep in touch he drifted off to a nice deep sleep.

The next morning, the three friends stood off to one side saying their last good byes while their parents idly chatted with one another. Henri was waiting in the car, fast asleep, while Julien didn't even bother getting up. Rogue's mom was getting the new address from Remy's mom while Belle's father was laughing at an old memory that Remy's father had mentioned. After the initial pleasantries were made, the seriousness of the situation finally took hold. The two fathers shared a manly hug, complete with the customary pat on the back.

"Y' take care o' dat little girl. She be like a daughter to me," Jean-Luc Lebeau told Belle's father.

"I will. Y' do de same for dose boys o' yr's. Dere bot' gonna be heartbreakers one day," Marius replied.

Jean-Luc nodded and moved on to Rogue's mom when she was finished with her good byes to his wife. Gracing her cheeks with two kisses he told her, "It's been a pleasure bein' y'r friends. Dat little Rogue y' got dere is a pure sweetheart. Y' take care o' each ot'er now."

Miss Adler laughed. "Don't ya go worryin' about us. We'll be fine. Y'all take care of yourselves over in Paris."

"We will, chére." Looking over at the children he called out to his son. "Remy! It's time to go, mon fils."

"Coming, Poppa!" Turning back to the girls, he hugged each one in a tight embrace. "Bye. Don' forget to write," he reminded Belle.

"I won'," she promised. He turned and started to walk away. After a few steps he turned back around and ran back up to Belle, planting a small kiss on her cheek before scurrying back to the car. Belle held her cheek in surprise while Rogue chuckled at the impromptu turn of events. Remy's parents also made they way to the car and slowly drove off with everyone else calling out their final farewells behind them.

About two months after Remy's departure, Rogue finally received an email from him. Actually, the email was for Belle, as the subject indicated. Respecting her friends' privacy, she ran over to Belle's and to tell her the good news. Belle opened the front door and Rogue grabbed her hand to try and pull her out.

"Come on, Belle! Remy wrote ya his first message! Ya gotta read it!" Rogue urged.

Belle pulled her hand out of her friend's. "I can' right now. Today is m'first day at dance school, 'member?"

Realization cross Rogue's face. "Oh yeah. Ah totally forgot."

"It's okay." Belle smiled. "Why don' y' read it for me an' tell me 'bout it later? I'll come over an' see you."

Rogue immediately brightened. "Okay! Have fun at dance!"

"T'anks! Bye!"

Rogue ran back over to her house and straight to the computer. She clicked on the email from Remy and started reading in earnest.

Dear Belle,

How are you doing? I am doing okay. It took poppa a long time to get my address but I got one. Paris is very nice but we don't have a nice park near our house like we did over there. Sometimes Henri takes me to a park but it's not the same. I miss you. Our new house is very nice and there is a cool boy living next door. His name is Scott Summers and he is really smart. His dad works with my dad. They just moved here last month. Me and him are going to go to the same school. He said it is an American school so that we don't have to talk in French. How is Rogue? How is Julien? How is your dad? Write me back and tell me how things are over there. This is my email address.

Say hi to Rogue for me. Write soon.

Remy

Rogue was very happy to learn that Remy was doing well. Playtime wasn't the same with him gone. While she still hung out with Belle, the other girl had become busier and Rogue found herself missing Remy's company more and more often. She quickly put his new email address in her address book and logged off the computer. Looking at the clock, she figured that Belle wouldn't be home for another two hours so she decided to read a book to pass the time.

After the two hours had passed, Rogue logged back onto her computer and re-opened Remy's email. She read it again and decided to write him an email, too.

Dear Remy,

I am glad that you got to Paris safe. Your new friend Scott sounds real nice. Things are still the same here. I'm sorry you don't have a park by your house. It is very nice of Henri to take you to one. It is very warm here so sometimes we go swimming. We miss having you there with us. It's good that you don't have to go to a French school. That would be real hard. Well, that's all for now. Write back soon.

Rogue

Just as she finished typing her name, there was a knock at the door. She yelled to her mom that she was going to get it and ran over to open it.

"Hi Belle! Come in!"

Belle had a huge smile on her face as she walked on the door. "Hi Rogue! I had so much fun at dance today! We learned all kinds of steps!"

"That's great! Did you want to read the email now?"

"Um, why don' y' tell me what it said while I show y' what I learned?"

"Okay!"

They went up to Rogue's room. Belle turned on the radio and started dancing while Rogue told her everything that Remy had wrote. Rogue finished talking before Belle ended was finished and was content to watch her friend complete her steps.

"Wow. I really like dancing. I'm gonna go home an' practice some more!"

"But, Belle, don't ya want to email Remy back? He really misses ya." Rogue asked, confused.

Belle nodded. "I do but I want t'practice right now. Can y' write him back for me? I can' type real good anyway."

"Ah suppose . . ."

"T'anks, Rogue! Talk to y' later!" Belle gave Rogue a quick hug before hurrying out of the house.

Rogue sighed. She walked back over to the computer and looked at the unsent email that was still on the screen. Sitting down she continued to stare at the screen and thought about what to write from Belle. After a moment she came to a decision. Quickly she deleted her name at the bottom of the unsent message and typed in Belle's name instead. She clicked send and shut down the computer after the 'message sent' alert appeared.

Ah'll just write him when he writes me. He wrote the email to Belle anyway and Ah know it would really make him happy if she wrote back right away, she rationalized. Content with her actions she went to go finish reading the book she had started earlier.

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