"Logan! You're back!" Rogue ran toward the man that was still unpacking his things onto his new bed and hugged him as tightly as she could.

"Whoa! Hey kid. Miss me, huh?"

She grinned and answered rather offhandedly, "Yeah." Then her face turned up to his and she asked softly, "Did you miss me?"

Logan looked away, a move he thought most strategically sound at the moment, and reached for something heavily wrapped in paper. "I got something for you." Whatever Rogue's reaction was to Logan's evasiveness, it was gone when Logan turned to give her the heavy package. If she was going to dwell on all the things that sucked in her life, she's going to get wrinkles. Now she concentrated at the subject at hand and wondered what he got her. Her hands tore excitedly across the paper and she felt cool glass under her fingers.

"It's. . . a bowl." Indeed it was. A glass bowl. A plain round glass bowl.

Logan watched with amusement as Rogue tried to keep her puzzlement and, yes, disappointment from manifesting on her face. Try as she might, her smile turned stiff and she kept her eyes away from his as she tried to think of an appropriate response. Not TOO happy. . . after all it is just. . . a bowl. But of course HAPPY. . .

Logan decided it was time to give her a break and said as he held up a small plastic water filled bag, "It's for these little fellas."

Rogue gasped in delight as Logan dropped the bag in her upheld hands. Two little goldfishes swam happily in the center of her palms.

Logan was suddenly embarrassed. To think he's been carrying around goldfishes for the past week. That's 7 days, 168 hours, 10,080 minutes, 604,800 seconds. Long enough to have commas in the numbers. Commas! Goldfishes! He stuffed his fists into his jean pockets and pretended to be really interested in the windowpanes when Rogue looked up to say thank you. "Uhh, glad you like them, ahh, I mean, I could have gotten you a cat or dog or something, but they're always sniffing around with their noses and they might accidentally touch you--"

Rogue's smile faded and her bottom lip started to tremble.

Logan's head jerked around in time to stop the first inkling of tears in her eyes. Oh shit. He had to bring that up. The lethal skin. How she can't touch anything that isn't already covered by something dead. Don't say anything more, Logan told himself. Just shut the fuck up. Don't try to make it better, cause you won't. You'll just make it worse. Just SHUT UP!

How unfortunate that despite all his superior senses, he still had trouble controlling his mouth.

"--I mean they have noses and feet and ears that aren't furry, and you might--they might--" Jesus Christ, shut up, Logan, shut up right now.

Her shoulders began to shake.

Shit! "You're not going to cry are you?!" He leaned over her, cursing himself over and over for being so insensitive. That was when he heard the giggle. A thin raspy giggle, and before he knew it, Rogue leaped and hugged him. Not as tight as the first hug, but it made him breathless nonetheless.

"They're perfect," she said, her raw teary voice coming from somewhere behind his ear. She turned, careful that her scarf was between them and replied directly into his ear, "Thank you so much."

She let him go and gave him a smile so wide that her eyes squinted. Best not to see him in this embarrassingly emotional state anyway, she thought. So she did the next best thing. She turned and ran.

---

The three occupants of the girl's dorm room stared at the new additions to their family. The fish swam cheerfully in their new home, oblivious to the three pairs of inquisitive eyes.

"They are so symbolic. He's a sly one, that Logan," Kitty concluded.

Jubilee frowned, confused, and asked quite eloquently, "Huh?"

With an exasperated sigh, Kitty explained, "It's like the fish and you are in a world of untouchiness, but there's two fish in there!" Kitty paused, looking for an inkling of understanding from her roommates.

Blank faces looked back.

"He's saying 'This one is you, the other one is me, because I'm always going to be there for you no matter what.' You're two peas in a pod, fishes in a bowl!"

Jubilee and Rogue stared at their roommate. Finally Rogue replied, "I just thought they were cute."

Kitty's face fell. "Oh fine. And I thought only guys were dense." She stuck out her tongue and ran off elsewhere to lick her wounds.

Rogue turned away to place the bowl right on her bedside table. She felt in inexplicable grin growing on her face as she recalled Kitty's words. Must. Hide. From. Jubes. Or she will never hear the end of it. Ever.

"Dude, I can see you smiling in the mirror, ya know."

Damn it!

Jubilee cackled, "You're not going to name one Rogue and the other one Logan, are ya? Cause that's a little too obvious--OW!" Ugh, so it begins. Jubes was lucky that the only thing she could find to hit her with was her pillow.

"No, this one is Peeka, and this one is Boo." Rogue made a face at her. So there!

"Oh, is that what you're calling yourselves these days, quite fitting actually--OW!"

---

The fishbowl sat beside her bed. Rogue was diligently taking care of them. She especially liked it when she tapped in the fish food and the two fishes bobbed up to the surface to eat. Sounds bizarre but she thought that was the cutest thing she ever saw. She didn't know if fish could be happy, but she would like to think that they were. Especially since Logan gave them to her. Symbolic or otherwise.

Every night Rogue fell asleep watching them swim, amazed at how carefree they are in their own world and how happiness can be the simplest of things.

---

Rogue watched as Logan came downstairs with his duffel bag. Apparently, during his sessions with the Professor, they found another clue into Logan's past. He was going after it. Again.

Logan stopped in front of her.

"Take care of those fish, huh?" Logan felt his tongue trip. He wasn't use to word games. He was used to saying whatever the hell he wanted. Only it didn't feel right to be so goddamn obvious that he cared about her. Of course this means he actually cared about them damn fish instead of her. Shit, his head hurt.

But that's okay.

If fish okay, then Rogue okay.

Rogue's going to have to stay okay if she wants to take care of the fish. Of course. It all makes perfect sense now.

"I will."

Rogue smiled so brilliantly Logan thought it was brighter in here than it was outside. He found himself dazed and not liking it one bit.

"Gotta go, see you later." Then he ran.

Rogue waved and said to no one in particular, "Later."

Yet she wondered every time he left, if there was going to be a later.

---

He should have never given her the fish.

The moment he stepped into the mansion after his trip up north, the fire hydrant girl cornered him. Good thing his sight isn't as sensitive as his smell, or he'd sure be blinded by all that yellow.

"Dude, it's great that you want to be symbolic and all. I mean, I personally prefer to go straight for the make out session in times like these, but that's just me. I think other girls dig the symbolism stuff. But could you have at least picked a cooperative fish?"

The girl rattled on but he stopped listening at the word 'symbolic'.

'Just keep walking, Logan, maybe she won't notice you're gone,' he thought to himself. Wishful thinking, the girls kept up with him like a bad cold.

"Dude, good luck." Jubilee disappeared so suddenly Logan had to pinch himself to make sure it was real. What was she running like a bat out of hell for?

"Logan?"

"Hey kid!" He found it hard to keep the enthusiasm out of his voice. She was the one he wanted to see first in coming back. Every time he returned, he found something else about her that left him wanting to stay.

But this time, he first noticed that her eyes were slightly red and her pink mouth was down turned.

"What's wrong?"

"Boo, one of the fish you gave me, died."

"Damn vendor told me they'd live a couple of years--"

"Kitty said it was kind of like fish suicide the way he jumped out of his bowl. . . "

Logan blinked. "What?"

Tears started to congregate in her eyes as she stumbled through her sentences.

Oh shit.

"And--and--and--Jubes said Boo probably decided it was better to jump out rather than stare at my face the whole time while he's trying to sleep. . . "

Snikt! This little piggy's gonna rip that stinkin' mallrat a new nostril.

"And--and--and--then she freaked out when I started to cry, and--and--and she said she was kidding--but--but--but maybe he was unhappy with the way I was taking care of him so he jumped out of his bowl." Rogue twisted her hands together and stared despairingly at her feet.

Damn it! Damn it to fishy hell! Damn it and its fishy ways!

"Hey, kid, don't kick yourself over that ungrateful son of a--is this the way you welcome me back? Com'on show me some of that southern hospitality and smile for me," he said as he quickly chucked at her chin.

Rogue smiled a begrudging smile.

It was a start. Now all he has to do is to make her forget all about that damn fish. Give her something to really smile about. Nice job if you can get it.

---

A week after seeing a genuine Rogue smile, Logan sprang for the lone fish, Peeka's, future significant other.

"Rogue."

Rogue turned around and found herself face to face with a fish tank. A fish stared back from the large and heavy looking apparatus.

If a fish could be badass, this one was it. It swam like a shark. Zipping up and down just for the hell of it.

"Look, it's got a cover keeping the fish inside," Logan demonstrated, fingers pointing and eyes searching for awe in her face. Rogue smirked and wondered if Logan had ever done infomercials.

"This one ain't going anywhere," he growled.

Rogue grinned and asked softly, "Do you really think so?"

Logan returned the grin and gently replied, "I don't think he can ever find a better place to call home."

Rogue wondered what Kitty would think of that.

"Com'on, I'll carry this to your room."

---

The three of them propped their face up on the bookshelf to stare at the new fish swimming circles around the old one in the new fish tank.

"I think they like each other," Kitty said, and then winked at Rogue.

Rogue looked at her and commented, "Kitty, your eye is twitching."

Kitty sighed. Why did she even bother?

"Wolvie sure went out of his way to get this fine looking sucker. Whatcha gonna call it?" Jubilee asked.

Rogue beamed at Jubilee. The hell with it, this symbolism stuff makes all their heads hurt. "I'm going to call this one Wolvie."

"Peeka-Wolvie, huh, peeping Wolverine" Jubilee snickered and leered, "God Rogue, I didn't know you were such a pervert--OW!"

End