"Where IS that girl?" Logan scratched his head and growled to himself. He had been searching the grounds of the school for nearly an hour, trying to find Rogue, and he was beginning to get frustrated. If it had been anyone else, he would have been furious by now, but he had an unusual tolerance when it came to her.

He continued down the hall, glancing into rooms as he passed by. He finally came to Rogue's bedroom. "Maybe she's in here," he thought as he knocked on the door. "Rogue?" he asked. "You in there?" He heard no reply, so he softly opened the door and peered inside. The room was dark, except for a sliver of light that peeked through the bottom of the closed curtains. "Could she be sleeping?" he asked himself. He looked over at Rogue's bed, which was empty. Logan closed the door and growled again. "Where IS she?"

He had started to give up his search when he caught a glimpse of Jean Grey at the end of the hall. "Jean! Wait a second!" He hurried down the hallway to her. "Jean," he began. "Have you seen Rogue at all today?"

She nodded. "Yes, I have...but not recently. I saw her getting her coat on and I asked her where she was headed to. She told me that she was going out for a while...to think. But that was over an hour ago."

The edges of Logan's mouth turned up slightly. "Thanks, Jean," he said as he ran for the door.

---

Logan tightened his jacket around his body as he walked into the cold winter air. When Jean mentioned that Rogue had gone out "to think," Logan knew exactly where she would be. He rubbed his bare hands together and began to walk toward the woods behind the school.

He reached the woods quickly and paused at the edge of an old trail that led into the darkness. After hardly being used for years, the woods had started to grow in around the once wide dirt path. All that was left was a narrow strip of ground. Rogue once told Logan that one of the few memories she could recall from her childhood was of her exploring the woods near her home. It was a memory Rogue held on to tightly...and she still loved going into the woods. She was one of the only people in the school that used this trail and Logan knew it. He sniffed the air. "Yes..." he thought to himself. "She's around here somewhere." He knew Rogue's scent well. It was a mixture of warmth, gentleness, and mystery that belonged only to her. He smiled slightly. "I know she's here."

---

Logan started down the dark, narrow path, listening carefully for Rogue. Soon the path began to brighten and he started to hear moving water. After only a few more minutes of walking, he saw a stream and a young woman sitting on a dilapidated bench that was placed near the banks decades ago. Wisps of auburn hair peeked out from underneath the hood of her dark green coat. "There she is," Logan sighed with relief. All of a sudden, she began sobbing to herself. He walked up behind her and quietly asked, "Rogue? You alright?"

Rogue wiped her eyes quickly and turned around. "L-L-Logan!" she said with slight, gasping breaths. "Wh-Wh-What are ya doin' here?" Her red eyes and flushed cheeks told Logan she had been crying for quite a while.

"Well, now that I've found you, I'm here to take you back to the school." Logan replied. "It's cold out, kid. I don't want you to get sick or anything."

Rogue's eyes began to fill with tears as she shook her head. "No...Ah'm not goin' back."

Logan, obviously confused, walked over and sat beside her. "Why not?"

The tears welling up in Rogue's eyes began to fall down her cheeks. "Ah'm not goin' back!" she cried. "The other kids...they...they don't say it...but Ah can tell. Ah know ya told me it wasn't true...but...they don't want me there. They're all afraid of me. They're all afraid because...because...because of what Ah did to you, Logan!" She placed her gloved hands over her face and started sobbing again.

Logan put his hand on her shoulder. "Rogue..." he began.

Rogue looked up at him, her eyes filled with heart wrenching anguish and sorrow. "Oh, Logan!" she cried hysterically. "Ah'm so sorry for what Ah did...Ah'm so sorry! But...but Ah had to do it! Ah had to...do you understand that? Do ya?"

Logan nodded. "Rogue...come on! That's all over with! You did what you had to do...and probably what anyone else with your gift would have done in that situation."

The two sat in silence for a while as Rogue began to regain her composure. She wiped her eyes and sighed. "Logan, why do they call a mutation a 'gift'?" She looked at the peaceful water in front of her. "Mine's no gift...it's a curse. All the kids are scared to be near me 'cause of it."

"I don't know, Rogue...but I do know that the other kids aren't afraid of you. They've just never seen power like yours before."

Rogue sighed and nodded. "Ah wouldn't blame them if they were, though. Ah'm afraid of mahself, sometimes. Ah don't like takin' people's energy..." She paused and wrapped her arms around herself. "And Ah really don't like takin' people's memories. That's the worst part. Ah've got all these strange memories floatin' in my mind. They're all things Ah've never experienced before...but Ah remember 'em...and Ah feel 'em. There's so many that they're blocking out mah own memories. Ah can grasp a few of mine through the confusion...but not many. Ah have that one memory of the woods, which is why Ah always come here. It's especially why Ah came here today. Ah needed something familiar to comfort me." She shifted her gaze from the stream to the acres of trees surrounding her and Logan. "This is it."

Logan nodded and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I know what that's like, Rogue...to not have your own memories. I know how hard that is."

Rogue nodded and carefully laid her head on Logan's shoulder. "Ah knew you would understand, Logan...and that's something else Ah needed. Thank you."

Logan looked down at her. "It's nothing, kid," he said, trying to conceal the overwhelming sensitivity in his voice. "Anything to make you feel better." His voice softened. "You're a strong girl, Rogue. I know you'll be able to handle anything that comes your way...including your mutation."

Rogue was quiet for a minute. Without warning, a question she had been meaning to ask popped into her mind. "Logan?" she began.

"Yea?"

"Um...Ah know Ah might be a little forward in askin' but..." She paused, considering what she was about to say. "Do you have ANY memories of your childhood?"

The look on Logan's face went from calm to somber. "No," he answered quietly.

Rogue glanced over at him and saw a mixture of anger and sadness in his eyes. At that moment, she deeply regretted bringing up the topic. Suddenly, a knowing smile crossed her face. "Logan?" she asked again.

"Yea, Rogue?"

"Do you have any memories like mine? Ah mean...do you have any memories that are comforting for you?"

The expression on Logan's face softened. "I might have one or two...somewhere in the back of my head," he answered. He was still reflecting on the question when a recent memory of his materialized in his mind. "Well, now that I think about it..." he began. "About a week before we met, I was on the road, driving to Laughlin City. I was flipping through the few radio stations I could get...and ended up settling on the one that came in the clearest. The second I put my hand back on the wheel, this song came on. There was just something about it..." Logan trailed off for a moment. By the expression on his face, he seemed to be trying to figure something out. "I don't remember ever hearing that song before...but something about it stirred up all these feelings in me, as stupid as that may sound." Logan hesitated for a moment, trying to decide if he really wanted to admit something that completely contradicted his "tough guy" persona. He sighed, defeated by his desire to tell Rogue everything, and continued. "That song made me feel really calm and safe and happy, for some reason...and the memory of it makes me feel like that, too."

Rogue looked up at him and nodded. "Ah know, Logan...Ah know what your talkin' about. Of all the memories of yours that Ah absorbed, that's my favorite. It gives me all the same feelin's that it gives you...which is why Ah've been thinking of it a lot, lately. It's been like a gift to me...an' it's one of the few memories that Ah'm...Ah'm actually glad Ah absorbed." Rogue paused and chuckled to herself. "Ah might just hold on to that one for a while." She smiled as she looked into his eyes. "Logan? Will you sing it to me?"

He laughed, surprised at her request. "You really want me to sing it to you? With this voice of mine?"

Rogue chuckled. "Of course Ah do! Why would Ah have asked you if Ah didn't want you to?" She nudged him with her elbow. "And yes," she continued. "I want you to sing it with that lovely voice of yours." She laid her head back on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

A smile crossed his face. "Alright, Rogue...I'll try. But, remember...you asked for it!" Logan hugged her close and began singing:

"Once there was a way to get back homeward."
"Once there was a way to get back home."
"Sleep pretty darling, do not cry,"
"And I will sing a lullabye."

"Golden slumbers fill your eyes."
"Smiles awake you when you rise."
"Sleep pretty darling, do not cry,"
"And I will sing a lullabye."

"Once there was a way to get back homeward."
"Once there was a way to get back home."

Logan paused and looked down at Rogue, who was sleeping soundly. He smiled warmly at her. Although she looked so delicate and even a little vulnerable dozing on his shoulder, Logan realized just how strong she was. He couldn't believe that this girl in his arms, a girl he had met just a short while ago, had made her way into his life and managed to slip through a crack in the wall he had been building around his heart. She awakened emotions in him that he hadn't felt in years and each day he tried to determine just what those emotions were. Although Logan was utterly confused by these sudden feelings, he was sure of one thing: He had found something extremely special when he found Rogue...and he knew one day he might just have to let her go. He sighed as he leaned over and kissed her on her hooded head.

"Sleep pretty darling, do not cry."
"And I will sing a lullabye."