| Title: When I saw Her with the Cajun By: Silverblade Disclaimer: Everyone belongs to Marvel. None of these characters are mine. I'm just borrowing them for fun and of course I'm not making a single cent for it! Once I was in love with a beautiful goddess. Her name was Ororo Munroe. I didn't know love until I met her and knowing she loved me was a dream come true. Which was why I didn't hesitate to ask for her hand in marriage, I thought nothing was stronger than the love we shared. That all changed when I saw her with the Cajun. With him the guarded look she often wore fell away as if it had never been, revealing a part of her I never knew existed until I saw her with him. The genuine smile that filled her face and touched her eyes, that lovely smile I cherished because I rarely saw it when she was with me, never seemed to leave her face when Gambit was at her side. Did she know how naturally she slid into his embrace but how stiff, almost unsure she was when she slipped into mine? I did and my heart squeezed painfully every time I noticed it. It tore at my heart to see how easily Gambit could make the laughter flow from her lips, to see the playful mischief in her eyes when she teased him. Whenever Ororo touched him I felt insanely jealous despite the knowledge that it was entirely innocent. Mostly I felt that way because of the tenderness in her eyes mixed within her amusement towards him, tenderness she had never looked at me with. I had always known Ororo was a passionate woman beneath her cool demeanor but when I saw her with the Cajun I saw just how passionate she could be and seeing that pricked painfully at my heart. I knew Ororo loved me, however, I also knew she loved the Cajun, loved him deeply and passionately, loved him in a way that she had never, would never, love me. The problem was she didn't know it otherwise what came next might have been less painful if she had. But Ororo was almost laughingly unaware of the obvious differences in her love for Gambit and me. She believed she would be happy with me, that all her dreams of love and having her own family would come true once she married me but after seeing her with Gambit I knew better. When I saw her with him it was as if I'd seen a glimpse of how truly happy she could be, something she wouldn't be if she married me. What's a man to do when the woman he loves is convinced she's in love with you when in truth she was really in love with someone else? How to tell her and still keep your pride, the only thing you had left now? The answer was easy: break her heart before she eventually broke mine. So I did. I hit her fast and hard with all my old fears concerning our relationship, with all the doubts that used to plague me at night. I used every insecurity I'd ever felt about our relationship and hit her with them, blaming her for it, never giving her a chance to speak lest she say something to dissuade me from the choice I'd made no matter how much it was killing me to go through with it. And when I was finished I left her standing in the rain with a broken heart turning quickly away from the pain I saw in her eyes. Pain I had caused. When I heard her whispered, "I was going to say 'yes'." carried clearly to my ears despite the rain I almost said to hell with being noble; I'd rather be selfish. I'd rather rush back to her side, grab her into my arms and beg her to marry me, to forgive the hurtful words I'd said only moments before. Then a picture had floated through my head, a recent memory still vividly clear. It had been nighttime when I'd slipped up to Ororo's attic hoping to surprise her with a goodnight kiss and maybe a little more. The light in her room had been on despite how late it was, the door was cracked some and curious I'd peeked through the opening, surprised to find she wasn't alone. There she was, her and Gambit, lying back against the headboard of her bed, both fully clothed as Ororo rested her head against his shoulder while Gambit had slipped one arm around her waist letting his hand play with the loose ends of her hair. They'd been talking and I can still remember the conversation, word for word. "Stormy?" "Yes, Remy? And do not think I didn't hear you call me by that ridiculous name, but as I am too exhausted I will let you get away with it this once," Ororo had answered drowsily. "You know I love you right?" "Of course Remy. As I love you," She'd replied yawning. "I just want you to know I'll be here for you if you ever need me, even if you decide to marry Forge. Especially if you decide to marry Forge," He'd added teasingly. She'd smiled sleepily at him, snuggling closer as she replied, "I know Remy, I know." They'd been quiet after that and it wasn't long before Ororo had fallen asleep. I watched as Remy gently slid her beneath the covers, and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead whispered, "I love you, Stormy." She'd murmured some intelligible nonsense that'd made him chuckle then he'd stiffened suddenly and looked up, his unblinking red eyes meeting my own. A light came on inside my head and it hit me. Gambit was in love with Ororo. It was so glaringly obvious I wondered why no one else had seen it, why I hadn't seen it sooner. At least it explained why the two of us had never gotten along. We'd both been in love with the same woman. It must have shown in my eyes, this new awareness I had, for he'd gave an exaggerated bow, arms stretched toward Ororo, a self-mocking smile on his face as he backed away from her. As if he were giving her to me. Giving her up. Without another word he'd turned and slipped soundlessly from the room leaving me alone with the painful realization of what I had to do next. That had been two days ago but still the memory of it gave me the strength I needed to walk away from the woman I loved�and keep walking. Even now I can still feel her anguish-filled eyes searing the back of my head as I walked away. It was petty of me, I know, to leave with Mystique the very next day, but my battered heart need to and my pride wouldn't let me do anything else. I never looked back that day and even now when a part of me still can't help but love Ororo I don't regret what I did. I guess I knew she'd be okay, that her heart would heal and she would go on especially with that Cajun at her side the way he'd always been, always had been, and most of all always would be. Back to G Stories Index Back Fanfics Back Main Hall |