All his life, at least for the part of his life he could recall, he had longed for salvation.

He had never believed he would find it.

He had believed he was beyond salvation. Beyond repair.

Then he saw her…an angle sitting in a godforsaken bar. Perfection in the flesh, she had looked at him with wide and trusting eyes that seemed to see past his bad ass exterior into the places inside him that even he was afraid to explore.

She had intrigued him.

She had terrified him.

So her left her there.

But she didn’t leave him.

The fool girl climbed unseen into the bed of his truck and once he allowed her into the cab, she began to climb inside his heart.

A heart he had not known he had.

Until it was stolen by a Rogue.

But to him she was never Rogue.

She was always Marie.

His Marie.

Even when he left for the first time, he knew he would be back and not for the tags he had placed in her small hand.

He came back for her.

Even when he kissed Jean, trying so hard to believe that his mild attraction to her was something more, he knew the truth; he knew that the mighty Wolverine had found the one force he could not defeat.

His love for a brown eyed angel.

So he waited. Twice, he saved her life. Had it been necessary, he would have died for her. He would have killed for her. She was all that mattered. She was light…she was perfection and beauty.

She was the only one who looked at him and saw a man.

In her eyes, he was never an animal, as Styker had said.

To Marie, he was simply Logan and he was perfect.

Never did she doubt him. She never questioned him.

She knew him better than anyone. He lived in her head. His memories were hers. She knew his weakness and his strengths.

But never once did she condemn him and never did she fear him. Even when she saw him kill, right before her, she never judged him…she never made him feel like an animal…she simply understood and accepted and in turn, she helped him accept himself as he never had, before she came into his world.

She was his peace.

Her arms were a harbor in the storm.

Time and time again, as the years passed, he turned to her for comfort and she came to him, when she needed someone to hold her as she cried…she came to him when she needed someone to laugh with and smile with.

He made her feel normal.

He made her skin seem so meaningless.

The bond between them was so intense, it almost seemed a tangible thing.

Their bond was something that nothing and no one could sever.

Some, of course, foolishly thought that could compete for her heart. The Ice Prick, and the Frenchy-Wanna-Be tried to woo and wow her, but it was a waste of time and he knew it. So did she. Even before his feelings came to light, she knew she was his, and he knew he was hers and no other could come close…her skin wasn’t the only thing that could not be touched, her heart was merely a thing Bobby and Remy and others could long for but never posses.

For years, he stood close as her protector and friend, waiting for the moment…he wanted it to be perfect…as insane as it sounded, The Wolverine wanted to shower his mate with romance.

But fate had other plans.

As always.

Her life was again placed in the balance.

Sabertooth surprised them in a battle.

He went for Marie.

His claws ripped into her stomach, through leather and flesh as the man that loved her bellowed in anguish.

Scott, late to the scene, blasted Sabertooth’s head from his shoulders.

And Logan raced to Marie.

He knelt beside her and with no regard to himself, he gripped her pale but still so beautiful face in his hands.

In an instant, the flood gate opened.

He poured into her.

His life.

His thoughts.

His love.

I love you, Marie.

It has always been you, Marie.

Don’t die, Marie.

I have nothing without you, Marie.

I am nothing without you, Marie.

He held to her as his thoughts consumed her mind…he held to her as her wounds healed and life returned to her body.

He held to her until his body held no life.

She cried and screamed as he fell beside her.

She begged him to live.

She told him she loved him.

Hank tried to save him…tried to restore his life.

But his efforts were in vain.

The Wolverine was pronounced dead.

Broken and unable to be consoled, Marie threw herself over his body.

She held to him.

She wept.

Her tears fell from her face to stain his as she whispered again and again that she loved him with all her heart and all her soul.

And then it happened.

She felt it.

She heard it.

She had his senses and she knew before the others that his heart had began to beat.

Air filled his lungs.

His eyes opened and founds hers as she knelt above him while the others stood around in shocked silence.

But they did not see the others.

They only saw one another.

“You saved me.” She whispered. “You died for me.”

But he shook his head.

“No, I came back for you.”

And he had. He had heard her words. Heard her declare that she loved him.

He had felt the tears she shed for him.

An angel had cried for him.

Begged him to live.

In the beginning, she had saved his soul from darkness.

In the end, she pulled his soul back from the cold hand’s of Death.

In love he had saved her.

It was her love that saved him.

No candlelight. No roses. No romance. Pure emotions and raw passion were all either needed, as he came to his feet and hand in hand, they walked away from the battle field, alive and in love.

That night, they discovered his powers were her powers…their combined powers allowed them to touch skin to skin.

She said it was miracle.

He said it was right.

After all, she had touched him first.

She had touched his soul.

No one had ever done that before.

That was the miracle.

That an angle had cried for him was the miracle.

That he could touch her skin was simply a gift from fate.

She smiled at his words and he kissed her soundly and then he told her that he loved her, but she smiled and said she already knew…all that was in his heart was in her head. The end.