Aliana
lost a lot of weight and still felt weak, but other than that
she was in good health. When she was released from medbay, she
immediately headed for the lake. She
wanted to see the water and feel the sun on her flesh.
“Petite,
what are you doing out here?” a warm voice asked her from behind.
“Just
enjoying the sun,” she smiled up at him from her perch on the dock.
“Mind
if dis Cajun sit wit you?”
“Please,”
she patted the free spot beside her and he took it gracefully, “So what have I
been missing while I’ve been gone?”
“Well,
petite,” he put his arm around her, holding her close, “I couldn’
tell you. I was in de medbay wit you.”
“Oh,”
she murmured resting her head against his shoulder, “It probably wasn’t much
anyway.”
“Non, probably not,” he agreed and asked, “What was it like dere?”
“It was
beautiful and peaceful. I didn’t have any real worries. I just tended the garden and watched the
squirrels fight for food. At night I
would take walks beneath the dark cerulean sky with bright stars, and during
the day I would take naps beneath the birch tree,” she smiled, “I wish you
could have seen it, Remy. You would have
liked it.”
“It
sounds beautiful, petite, just like you,” he smiled, “So, when do you get to
eat normal foods again, petite?”
“I
don’t know,” she shrugged partially, “I have to work
my way up apparently.”
“I can
make you some soup if you be hungry,” he offered playing with her hair.
“Hmm,”
she thought about it, “ok, can I help?”
“You
can watch, petite,” he grinned and stood up, helping her, “we got to get you
strong again.”
“Yeah,”
she sighed grinning slightly, “I so look forward to training again.”
They
walked to the kitchen, each lost in their own thoughts. When they arrived, they found it alive with
activity. Remy smiled at her ruefully
and she just smiled.
“Ali!”
Jubilee exclaimed hugging the Asian girl, “You’re awake! I’ve missed you!”
“Jubes!” Aliana giggled squeezing the girl.
“Ali,”
“
“Aliana,”
Jean smiled but did not move to hug her.
“Aliana,”
Scott Summers appeared out of nowhere and embraced her, “it’s good to have you
back. We’ve missed you.”
“Thanks,
Scott,” Aliana gave Remy a questioning look and he just shrugged.
“Ali,”
Rogue appeared and hugged the girl, “it’s good to have you back, shugar.”
“Thanks,
Rogue,” Aliana was definitely surprised by her
reactions.
“Do you
realize how crazy that was?!” Scott asked, “You nearly
gave me a heart attack with that stunt!”
“I
would have done it again,” Aliana stated with a shrug,
“I never hesitate saving people whenever possible, especially if there was
something I could do about it.”
“Really?” Jubilee
looked at her friend.
“Yeah,
what good is life without people you care about?” Aliana replied with a smile
and then her stomach rumbled.
“Petite,
I’m working on your soup,” Remy laughed and kissed her forehead.
“I
never realized you were so strong,” Jean commented, “have you been holding back
on us all this time?”
“I
guess so, but when I saw Jubilee there injured it just really pissed me off, no
one messes with my friends and gets away with it,” the Asian mutant said,
playing with her shirt, “And on top of that, I was getting really tired of the
asinine fight and decided to end it, once and for all.”
“How
are you feeling, darlin’?”
“I feel
weak,” she murmured, “but I’ll be fine.
I just have to eat…a lot and hang out in the sun…a lot. Oh, and I’ll have to
sleep…a lot. You’re seeing a pattern
here, right?”
Aliana giggled and shook her head, “I can’t wait until I
can eat some solids.”
“Why’s that?” Rogue asked curiously.
“I can heal faster, it takes a lot of my energy to use
that much power,” she replied, “If I expend more than I have, I have to regain
it by eating and/or sunning myself. If I
don’t do that, I’ll have to rely on time, and time is something I don’t always
have a lot of.”
“Oh, so that’s why you’re always eating when I see you,”
Jubilee nodded.
“Yeah, I eat more if I know I’m going to fight soon or
after,” Aliana shrugged, “I found that out a long time ago. Hank said I have a fast metabolism which
accounts for why I’m not huge.”
“Here you are, petite,” Remy set a bowl of soup in front
of her, “bon appetite.”
“Thank you, Remy,” she smiled up at him and he returned
it, forgetting that the others were there.
“No problem, petite,” he took a seat next to her, smiling.
*********
Remy smiled at the prone body sleeping beneath the willow
tree. He carefully sat next to her and
she stirred. He couldn’t
help it, he really cared about her. He
had been having dreams about her since their first encounter. He’s been ignoring
them until now but what really changed his views about her was when he thought
she was dead.
He sighed, he remembered how
scared he felt. He realized that he was
in love with the woman. He didn’t even think about that until that day.
“Remy, stop that tickles,” Aliana mumbled in her sleep and
that caught Remy’s attention.
“What tickles, chere?” he asked
her softly leaning towards her.
“You know that I’m ticklish,” she said quietly, “so stop
before I burn you.”
“Would you really burn me, petite?” he was getting to like
this.
“No, probably not,” she pouted, “I love you too much to do
that, but I’d distract you.”
“Oh, really?” A bit surprised by the admissions.
“Yeah,” she grinned, “I’d probably kiss you stupid.”
“You can do that?”
“Oh yes, I can,” she fell into a deeper sleep and Remy sat
there, thinking about what she just said.
His heart warmed up considerably and his stomach felt a lot better. He was nervous about telling her how he felt,
but now he didn’t have to worry about it anymore.
He sat there until the sunset and that was around the time
Aliana woke up. She stretched, one of
her arms touching his chest in the process, and she sat up.
“Hey, how long have you been here?” she asked looking at
him in the fading light.
“Since around two,” he shrugged.
“Oh,” she paused and it dawned on her, “Wow, I slept for
three hours and you were out here for the bulk of it…why?”
“Well, I wanted to see how you were doing,” he murmured
pulling a twig out of her hair, “but I found you asleep so I didn’t want to
bother you.”
“So you just sat here for two and a half hours doing
nothing?” she asked incredulously.
“Basically,” he grinned at her, “it’s crazy, non?”
“Yeah, I suppose it is,” she giggled.
“So, petite, did you have good dreams?” he asked with a
sly smile.
“Maybe,” she muttered and changed the topic, “do you want
to eat dinner with me tonight? I’m making
curry, you liked that right?”
“Sure, mon chere,”
he smiled as he stood easily, helping her in the process.
***********
“So, tell me about dis dream you
had, chere?” he asked as they ate.
“Oh, it wasn’t anything interesting,” she replied blushing a bit, hoping he would think it was from the steam
of the food.
“I never knew you were ticklish,” he replied suddenly and
she blanched.
“How did you know?”
“You talked in your sleep,” he stated with a shrug and she
blushed covering her face.
“Oh god, how much exactly did I say?” she asked without
looking at him.
“I love you, petite,” he replied and she looked up at him
in surprise.
“I’m sorry, I think I might have gone crazy for a second,
what?”
“I love you, petite,” he took her hand and kissed it.
“I love you too,” she whispered with complete shock
written on her face.
Remy chuckled, pulled her close to him, and placed a soft
kiss on her full lips. He slowly slipped
his tongue into her mouth and she moaned in pleasure and began to respond. He ran his fingers through her hair and
pulled away.
“Petite, you scared me so much,” he murmured against her
lips, his eyes looking deeply into hers, “I thought I lost you…I didn’t even
know that I loved you until then. I
thought it was too late.”
“I’m here,” she soothed with a soft smile.
“I was so blind,” he smoothed her hair behind her ear,
“forgive me, petite?”
“Of course,” she kissed him this time, showing how well
she was good at distracting.
“Ahem,” he pulled away, “we need to finish our meal.”
“Okay,” she grinned, “you know in my dreams you didn’t
believe my kissing powers either.”
He chuckled and shook his head, “In my dream, petite, you
didn’t believe mine either.”
~Fin