Story Notes:
Usual Disclaimer

This was suppose to be a songfic, but I realized it doesn't really meet the requirements to be called one. A big thank you to cschoolgirl for her great advice and wonderful work as beta.

Please note the ratings increase, chapter three is smutty
Author's Chapter Notes:
The song is Those Were The Days, by Mary Hopkins. The story evolved into something different, so I only used a few lines of lyrics, they are in bold.
Once upon a time there was a tavern.

She still remembers the day she meet him, by that snowy town, in that crazy bar. She was so young then, just recently left the only home she had ever known. To her he seemed larger than life, inside that steel cage, bare chested, glistening with sweat, a body sculpted out of marble. He radiated power, ferocity, sexuality, she couldn't help but be mesmerized. She was so innocent still, following him out of that bar and sneaking into his camper. But the flash of metal claws was all she needed. Her only thought at the time was He is like me.

She felt a connection, they felt a connection. Inside that run down camper she opened up to a stranger she barely spoke several words to, and yet it all felt so right. He is the only one that ever knew her name. Their connection, however faint it is now, is still there, she can still feel it, even after all this time. She had her friends, Kitty, Jubes, they stuck together even after their stint as members of the X-Men. She has the school, where she has taught for the past fifteen years. She is loved by her friends, adored by her students. Her child is now grown, her house is now empty, with each passing year she feels emptier, more alone than ever before.

Her life has been better than she expected, back when she was still a teenage runaway, but not what she wanted. She married Remy, they have a wonderful beautiful daughter together, a tumultuous, but exciting marriage. Despite Remy’s unfaithfulness, which comes as no surprise, it’s part of who he is after all, she remained friends with him even after their separation. It is during those hard times Kitty had asked a question, a question that now shook her to her core.

“Look, Marie” Kitty said, eyes piercing her. “You accept his cheating so casually, how much of what you feel for Remy is really love?”

“Of course I love Remy, I wouldn’t have married him, had a child with him, and stayed with him if I didn’t love him?” She brushed it off then, but now, when she thinks of it, when she sits alone in her bedroom, she can finally admit it, she settled.

Dreamed of all the great things, but live the life I chose.

When she was younger, before things got complicated, she knew exactly what she wanted, Logan. During those first chaotic years at the school, he was never far from her mind and always stayed in her heart. She dreamed frequently then, of the life she would have with him, a house in the suburbs, the white picket fences, a girl and a boy, a cat and a dog. She dreamt of the wedding they would have, the honeymoon they'd go on, even the arguments they would have, and the wonderful makeup sessions after.

She is not sure when those dreams started to fade, but little by little it was chipped away till it finally disappeared. As much of a connection they felt towards each other, the world made it damnedest effort to remind them that what they had was wrong, and somewhere along the way she believed it.

She tried to distance herself from him. Hangout more with people her age, even got herself a boyfriend or two. Jean practically lectured her on the inappropriateness of her relationship with him. Scott would simply frown in disapproval whenever he caught them together alone. The worst was from the Professor, who was like a father to her; he would shake his head and smile sadly, saying that he would support her choice, even if he disagreed. Through it all, Logan took it in strides, untouched by the controversy swirling about them. He stood by her, when she was pressured, hanged out with her when she was bored, comforted her when she was sad, never pushing the boundaries, he was just there.

His presence added to her confusion, many times she wished he just straight up take the decision out of her hands, for him to just come out and say it.

“Marie,” He would get down on one knee, she believed, and pour his heart out to her, “you're my girl, you belong to me, we belong to each other, and I love you!”

It never happened, it doesn't surprise her now, Logan was not that kind of a guy, not one for fancy words or dramatic declarations, the fact that he stayed was proof enough of his love. She was too young to understand then, and slowly the pressure reached a breaking point, and she let him slip away. It took years, but finally after she announced her engagement to Remy, he started coming to the school less and less, until one day, without her even realizing it he stopped coming back.

Years went rushing by, nothing seemed the way it was supposed to be.

Married life was exciting at first, but somewhere deep down, she always knew, she settled. It must have been the reason why she married Remy, the resident Casanova. She was sure he would never actually fall for her, after all this was Remy, he had beautiful women by the dozen, moving between one bed and another like a spring breeze. Yet somehow it happened, it took her a few years to realize it, but he fell in love with her.

Sometime after their daughter was born he admitted it her. She greeted the news as if nothing changed, she still acted the same way towards him, still allowed him his indiscretions. Looking back she knew she hurt him with her actions, but there was no helping it, even if she was consciously ignoring it, deep down in her heart she knew she would never feel the same way about him, the way he does for her, after all he wasn’t Logan.

After twenty years, they finally called it quits, after a particular angry argument, Remy implored her to reconsidered, but she finally discovered a part of herself, and decided she had hurt him long enough, she has been hurting long enough. They entered into a marriage expecting something simple, one of convenience, but something happened, he changed. He wanted more, more of her feelings, more of her heart. She could and had given him many things, but her feelings, her heart, she could not give.

Is that lonely woman really me?

She sits in another bar, Kitty and Jubes dragged her out for a ladies night out. They said she had been very glum lately and that a little girl time would be just what she needs to get out of her funk. She can’t tell them, to their bright and happy faces that the only thing that can get her out of her funk, is probably in the Canadian wilderness, all caught up with a wife and children by now.

They surprise her one day, Jubes convinces her husband Piotr to let them take the blackbird. In a few short hours the trio sit in the bar of her memories, in Laughlin City. The place looks the same, the bartender so much older; she is so much older, even if it does not show, another piece of Logan still tangled inside her.

Half a dozen drinks later, the three friends move to a booth, partly for a more comfortable seat and mostly to avoid the over friendly men that cycle through the bar. A familiar sensation fills the bar, it is tension, mixed with excitement, a buzzing in the background that she can not help but respond to. Then she hears it over the noise of the crowd.

“Tonight, from the great white north, still undefeated! Still champion! Still the King of the Cage! The Wolverine!”

She almost leaps out of her seat, mouth open, nearly spilling her drink in the process. She looks at her friends one question in her eyes. They both shrug their shoulders and smile at her. The crowd cheers and she thinks she sees a wide expanse of a familiar back, and wild dark hair. With her breath caught in her throat, she sees the man lifts his head, sniffing the air, then ever so slowly turns toward her.

In our hearts the dreams are still the same.

Their eyes meet, just briefly through the smoky haze, the steely hazel gaze send a shiver down her spine. Standing inside the cage he looks exactly the same, bare chest, glistening with sweat, a body sculpted out of marble. But she has changed so much now; she is no longer young, no longer innocent. She is a woman full grown, with a lifetime of experiences and struggles; she has the scars to prove it too. She couldn't help it, that connection, the one that she felt from the moment she met him, roared back in full force, and she thinks, she hopes that he still feels it too.

The bell rings in the cage and he tears his gaze away from her. She can't believe how wonderful he looks, teeming with power, ferocity, sexuality, just like the first time. He practically leaps at his opponent, all animal, all rage. Muscles rippling, fist flying, with a roar he knocks the other man off his feet, and pummels him as he falls. She stands there staring into the ring, marveling at his intensity. It stirs something within her, and she remembers, back then, in all the time they spend together, that intensity was there, whenever they were together he always made her feel she was the only one that mattered in the world.

She runs her hand down her side to smooth out her skirt; picking up a shot of whiskey, smiling at her grinning friends, with their drinks raised, yelling out encouragements to her. With hope bubbling inside her heart, she takes the first step towards the cage and the first step toward her future, a future she wishes to spend with him.
Chapter End Notes:
I have a idea for a companion/continuation from Logan's POV, but who know when that will germinate, so for now this is complete. Thanks for Reading.
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