"Aren't you going to invite us in Jubilation?"

"Of course," Jubilee waved a hand, "make yourself at home."

The X-Men began to file past her into the apartment.

"We have visitors Remy." She called out.

"Who is it¡¦oh, merde."

Jubilee smiled tightly and walked into the living room. Wolverine already had Gambit up against a wall while Jean was trying to restrain him. Sighing Jubilee made her way over to her former mentor.

"Let him go Wolverine."

"Why should I?"

"Because I want you to." She looked him in the eyes, "Now let him go."

They stared at each other for what seemed like an endless moment before he eventually backed down and sheathed his claws. Jubilee stepped over to Remy, he gave her a smile and they turned to face the team. A very unhappy team.

The Professor gave them a stern look, "Would you mind explaining to us why you are living with Gambit?"

"I'm living with him because he said I could."

"Have you been here since you left us?"

"No."

Logan snarled, "Cut the bull, darlin'. Why'd you run away?"

Jubilee turned to him, her expression cold, "I left because I no longer wanted to be in contact with the X-Men."

They stared at her in surprise and confusion evident on their faces. Jubilee could feel the White Queen trying to probe her mind and immediately strengthened her shields.

"Stay out of my mind Emma."

"I am merely trying to ascertain the truth, Jubilee. Your explanation is far from satisfactory."

"You want to know the truth? Alright. I left you because I don't belong to the X-Men, I left because I feel like none of you really care about me, I left because I was tired of being treated like some sort of commodity that could be passed from person to person. There. How's that for a satisfactory explanation?"

Wolverine and Emma looked angry. Scott, Hank, Jean and the Professor looked hurt and confused. They honestly had no idea what she was talking about. Jubilee felt Remy's hand on her shoulder and leaned back towards him. At least she had him, even if things were a little¡¦mixed up at the moment.

"Jubes, darlin' we're your family. We love you."

"If you loved me you wouldn't send me away all the time, or leave me behind. When you care about someone you at least check now and then to see if they're alive."

Understanding and guilt were no beginning to set in.

"That still does not explain why you are living with Remy and why guardianship of you has been transferred to him."

"I met Remy in Heathrow airport at the beginning of July. I told him why I ran away, he asked me what I wanted to do, I moved in with him, end of story."

"Why, Gambit, did you decide that we should not know about Jubilee's whereabouts?"

"She didn't want you t'know."

Jubilee had had enough. "Look. Come back in the morning. We'll talk to you then."

"I'm not waiting 'til the morning for some answers." Logan said.

Jubilee looked at him, "I don't want to deal with you now Wolverine. Come back tomorrow."

Emma spoke up, "How can we be certain that you will not run again?"

"This is my home. I have a good life here. I'm not going to just give it up because of you." She looked at them, "We'll see you tomorrow."

Logan looked ready to argue but Xavier nodded his assent.

"Tomorrow then Jubilee."

She held the door open as the left, and Wolverine was the last to leave.

"I can smell him on you."

She tried not to blush, "Of course you can, we live together."

He popped a single claw, "If I find out that he's touched you¡¦"

"If he has it's none of your business Logan," she replied coldly, "Goodnight." With that she closed the door in his face.

Remy came up behind her and rested a hand on her shoulder. She jumped slightly.

"Jubilee we need to¡¦"

She shook her head and pointed to the door "He's still there" she mouthed. He nodded and brought her into the living room and turned on the television.

Jubilee looked over at the door, "It's ok, he's gone." She reached over and switched off the TV.

"We need to talk." His gaze on her was steady, but she could sense that he was¡¦nervous?

Sighing she sat down, "I know."

Sitting down next to her, he ran his hands through his hair. God¡¦ he really was nervous. "What now?"

She looked at him, wary, "What do you mean?"

"With de team. Are you gonna go back to America? Or will you stay here?"

Jubilee smiled, "I'm going to stay here¡¦if that's ok with you."

"Course, chere."

An awkward silence fell. Jubilee began to play with her hair while Remy stared out into space.

"So¡¦"

"So¡¦"

"About de¡¦kiss."

"Wha-what about it?"

"Umm¡¦well¡¦"

Jubilee felt like crying. It was taking all her self-control to not break down into tears right there and then. She told herself it was the strain of meeting the team again¡¦she knew in her heart that she was lying. "It was an accident, y'know¡¦a mistake." Yeah. Right. Accidents are tripping and falling, not falling and putting your tongue down someone's throat. Shit.

"A mistake." Remy repeated.

Jubilee studied her nails, "Right. It can't be anything else, Remy, you know that. We¡¦we were just goofing around¡¦ just got a little¡¦carried away. Right?" He could say no, say it meant more. She wouldn't¡¦mind or anything. Not daring to look him in the eye she continued to regard her nails with rapt interest.

A mistake. That's what she thought it was. Goofing around. Didn't mean anything. They're best friends¡¦big brother, little sister. A mistake¡¦

"Of course p'tite."

"We can't tell the others¡¦of course."

"Yeah¡¦Wolverine would prob'ly kill me."

"Yeah¡¦haha¡¦ha"

Awkward silence again.

Jubilee stood up suddenly, "Well, better go to bed¡¦big day tomorrow."

Remy stood up as well. "Right. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

They looked at each other for a moment before going their separate ways, deliberately not making eye contact.

Remy closed his bedroom door carefully behind him and then walked slowly to his bed. Undressing he lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He was a fool. Of course he'd known it before, but now there wasn't a shadow of a doubt. For one moment he had thought that maybe she had more than platonic feelings for him, when she'd kissed him back and¡¦no. It was a mistake, she was right. It wasn't like he had been thinking about it¡¦

He had.

Constantly.

Ever since she was attacked and he'd realised just how much she meant to him. Goddamn stupid thing to do. Fall in love with a seventeen-year-old girl who thinks of you as her big brother.

Idiot.

His hand went to the pendant around his neck. Best friends. He could do that. If all she wanted was a best friend¡¦well, a best friend was what she was going to get. He closed his eyes. Wouldn't be that bad¡¦just being friends. He could handle it.

And pigs will fly.

Jubilee closed her bedroom door with a quiet click. She wanted to blow something up. Beat somebody up.

She settled with pummelling a pillow.

So this was what being sexually frustrated felt like. It sucked. Big time. Josh never created these sorts of emotions within her.

Josh¡¦

God, she was such a two-faced, lying cow! Josh was her boyfriend. He was so nice and sweet, he didn't deserve to be treated this way. He deserved someone better¡¦aargh! She punched the pillow again.

Why had Remy had to kiss her?

Why hadn't she pulled away?

Jubilee collapsed on her bed. She had to break it off with Josh. Not because of Remy¡¦well, not just because of Remy. Their relationship was nice, fun, and safe but¡¦she wanted more. Josh was a good person, a 'nice enough boy' as Remy phrased it but that was just it. He was a boy. She gave a muffled laugh into her pillow. Yes, that's right. A boy was no longer good enough for Jubilation Lee...she wanted a man. Not just any man though.

She wanted Remy.

She hadn't even fully realised it until he had kissed her. That kiss¡¦her hand went instinctively to her lips. That had been¡¦wow. No one had ever kissed her like that before. It was just so¡¦and he¡¦wow. She wanted to do it again. But, of course, it would probably screw up their friendship. She couldn't lose Remy because of some¡¦some crush. Was it a crush? Or did her feelings for him run deeper than that? No. They couldn't. Remy was her best friend, it had been a mistake and she'd just have to forget it ever happened. Pretend like nothing had changed. They were going to have their hands full, dealing with the X-Men as it was. Didn't need this sort of complication.

Things had changed.

Permanently.

Well shit.

Now she really wanted to blow something up.

**********************************************************************************************

Logan raised his hand to knock on the door and paused. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea. No. He needed to know. He raised his hand to knock again when a voice came from inside the room.

"Come in Logan."

Goddamn telepaths.

He opened the door and found Emma Frost lying on her bed, scantily dressed as always, and a magazine in front of her.

"How can I help you?"

"Don't you know?"

She smiled, "Ah but I wouldn't want to invade your privacy now, would I?"

He grunted and sat down gingerly on an antique chair. He didn't particularly like the White Queen but only she might have some answers.

"Like you care Frost."

"How true," she smiled more to herself than to him, "You wish to know what I saw in little Jubilation's mind."

"She's not so little anymore."

Tilting her head she considered it for a moment, "I suppose you're right. Jubilee has grown up, hasn't she? And to think we missed it¡¦"

He growled, "Are you going to tell me what you saw or what?"

"Really Logan, you are a very tense man." She sighed, "Very well. It seems that Jubilee is harbouring a lot of anger towards us¡¦"

"Ya don't say¡¦"

Emma gave him an icy look, "As I was saying. Jubilee is very angry, unfortunately her mental shields are quite impressive and I wasn't able to glean any information from her mind."

He stood up, "Well you've been a great help Frost. Thanks for wasting my time." He turned to leave.

"You're probably right you know." Her cool voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Right about what?"

"Gambit and Jubilee." Now she had his full attention.

"You think they're," he stumbled over the word, "involved?"

She shrugged one shoulder elegantly, "Perhaps. But," she looked up at him, "it is safe to say that he feels strongly about her."

Wolverine unsheathed his claws unconsciously, "Whaddaya mean?"

"Did you not notice how protective he is of her? Of course¡¦it could be purely platonic¡¦"

"Platonic my a -" He shot her a look and stalked out of the room.

She laughed quietly to herself for a moment before closing the door after him. Then her laughter quickly faded. Wolverine thought that just because he thought of himself as Jubilation's surrogate father only he could be worried about the girl. Foolish little man. She had seen the way Gambit looked at Jubilee, how the girl unconsciously leaned towards him. She'd never been fond of the thief and if she found out that he'd been sleeping with one of her students¡¦one of her former students, who wasn't even eighteen¡¦ A smile curled her lips, well Wolverine would look like a pussycat in comparison to what she would do to the Cajun.

Logan slammed his bedroom door shut. Talking to Frost hadn't done him any good at all. It was taking all his self-control not to go and gut the slimy thief right there and then. He'd been worried sick about Jubilee for the last year and bit, wondering if she was alive, if she was sick, if she was safe¡¦and when the thief had found her, he didn't even have the decency to contact the others.

He began to pace the room. What the White Queen had said frustrated him. Especially the realisation the Jubilee had grown up, and he hadn't been there to see it happen. He stopped pacing. Everything about her had changed. When she had opened the door, for one moment he had been certain they had the wrong person. The Jubilee he remembered was small and slender with a cheeky smile, a girl who practically skipped instead of walked and smelled like candy. The woman they had found¡¦well, she was a woman. Not a girl. She was taller, about 5'6", she had more curves, her walk was slower and her smile¡¦she actually hadn't smiled properly at them. Jubilee used to always smile, especially at him. This Jubilee had spoken coldly and practically ordered him out of the apartment. Nearly more disturbing than that had been her scent. She still smelled like candy but now there was citrus fruit shampoo, other cosmetics, vanilla, her own unique body scent and Remy. Logan growled, Remy's scent had been all over her. Most definitely, the Cajun was not going to get away with this.

**********************************************************************************************

Morning came too quickly for both Jubilee and Gambit. Both of them were determined to act as normally as possible, to conceal the turmoil their minds and hearts were in.

As usual Jubilee was up first and had breakfast prepared for Remy by the time he appeared. Before he joined her, however, she had an important phone call to make. Although she felt like a jerk doing it over the phone, Jubilee knew she had to do it before her nerve failed her.

When Remy came into the kitchen she had an air of cheery unconcern about her, which normally would have made him suspicious but he was too wrapped up in projecting a relaxed attitude to even notice.

"Mornin' Gumbo."

"Morning p'tite."

"Ready for the inquisition?"

He laughed, "I guess I'll have to be."

"Yeah¡¦" the laughter trailed off awkwardly.

"So, when do you think they'll arrive?" Jubilee asked through a mouthful of toast.

"Any minute now, I'd say. They're prob'ly afraid we're gonna do a runner."

Her eyes narrowed, "Yeah, well. That shows how much they trust us¡¦"

"Chere¡¦"

Ding-dong.

"Speak of the devil¡¦" Jubilee stood up, "You can get it this time, Rem, I'll just tidy up here."

"Gee, t'anks p'tite." Came the sarcastic reply.

"Anytime." She smiled brilliantly at him. For a moment, things seemed normal again. She sighed and began to clean up the remains of breakfast. She could hear Remy opening the door, Wolverine's growl and the sound of many feet in the hallway as they passed into the living room. She finished tidying up and joined them.

Remy had the look of a hunted deer in his eyes, probably the result of the snarls Wolverine made every time he looked at him. Jubilee was hard put not to burst out laughing and stood next to the anxious Cajun. She crossed her arms across her chest and looked defiantly at her former team-mates.

"So what do you want?"

"What we want, Jubilee, is for you to come home." The Professor said gently.

"This is my home."

"Your home is with us."

"Not anymore." Jubilee sighed and gestured with her hands, "Look, legally you have no claim on me. Remy is my guardian and I'm a citizen of the United Kingdom so there really is nothing you can do."

"Look darlin', I don't know how the Cajun convinced you to stay here and how he got all those papers but you should come home with us."

Remy had to hide a smile. Saying that had been a huge mistake on Wolverine's part. Jubilee was livid. She stalked over to the hairy Canadian and poked him in the chest.

"Listen up, canucklehead, I asked Remy if I could live with him. I got all those papers. Do you really think so little of me that you think that I am incapable of making my own decisions? Huh? Well? Do you?"

Wolverine was clearly shocked, as were the others.

"Darlin'¡¦"

"Don't you 'darlin'' me mister, I'm not your darlin'" She poked him again in the chest, "I'm going to say this once and only once, so listen up Logan¡¦BACK OFF!"

She was angry, really angry. She was even beginning to glow a little. Remy put a hand on her shoulder.

"P'tite¡¦"

She relaxed almost immediately and stepped back next to him.

"Sorry, Rem. Just trying to get a point across."

Bravely Remy put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a little squeeze, despite the basilisk-like stares he was getting from the others. It was worth it for the grateful smile Jubilee gave him.

*SNIKT*

Wolverine stepped forward threateningly, "You better take your hands off her right now, bub, if you want to keep them."

Remy kept his arm where it was, but it was Jubilee who spoke next. Her voice like ice.

"You hurt him Wolverine and understand this¡¦I. Will. Kill. You." Her hands began to glow softly.

"Jubilee!" Jean said in shocked accents.

"What? Remy has been here for me for the last six months, he asked me what I wanted, he cared about what I wanted. He's my best friend, my only real friend, and I love him and if you think I'm going to let you hurt him just because you have illusions about having to protect me or that you have some claim on me¡¦ well, you can just take a running jump."

Everyone stared at her, including Gambit. The X-Men were in a state of shock. That Jubilee would threaten to harm the man whom she had loved like a father was¡¦incomprehensible to them. Remy could feel Jubilee trembling slightly and tightened his hold on her.

"Just go away," her voice was beginning to crack a little, "you found me, you tracked me down. Happy now? You are all-knowing¡¦can't you just leave us alone?"

"Jubilee¡¦" Jean took a step forward her arms out.

"Don't touch me, just please¡¦don't touch me." Her voice was weak as she tried to hold back the tears, she turned her head slightly so that it was resting against Remy's chest. He looked angrily at the X-Men who were still processing what they had just seen and heard.

"You heard the p'tite, she wants y'to leave 'er alone. Close de door behind you."

They had been dismissed. Wolverine made a half-hearted attempt to touch Jubilee but stopped when she backed away and clung more to Remy. In silence they left the apartment. The minute the door closed Jubilee slid to the floor and let it all out. He sat down on the floor and pulled her into his arms, rocking her gently and murmuring into her hair. She held on to him tightly, almost desperately. After a few minutes she had stopped crying and was only sniffling occasionally but he continued to hold onto her. She pulled away gently and looked up at him. He smiled reassuringly back.

"I think you told them who's boss, chere," he wiped the tear stains on her cheeks. She laughed weakly.

"I didn't mean to get so emotional, I still love them and all it¡¦it just hurts too much to be around them right now. I might go back later but¡¦"

"I know chere." He stroked her cheek comfortingly. She took his hand in hers and looked up at him with an expression in her eyes that made his breath catch in his throat.

"I love you Remy."

"I know¡¦I love you too p'tite."

She kissed the palm of his hand. "Do you?"

He wondered whether she could hear his heart beating wildly and erratically in his chest, "Yes, I do."

"Good." Now was the time. Couldn't put it off any longer. Couldn't ignore what was so obviously there. And Jubilee was scared. In fact she was terrified. The kind of terrified that makes your mouth go dry, sucks all the air out of your lungs, encourages your heart to beat at a rate that shouldn't be humanly possible and reminds you to thank God for anti-perspirant deodorants.

Lee, this is the moment of truth. Time to show him what you're made of. Literally and metaphorically.

"Kiss me, then."

"What?" Did he have to sound so surprised?

"Kiss me?" Yeah, that didn't sound pathetic and needy. Not.

"You don' have to tell me twice, p'tite¡¦"

"I did -," her words were cut off by his mouth on hers and a few moments later they separated. She looked up at him and put a hand to his cheek.

"I love you." There now, it really wasn't that hard.

"Love y'too."

Jubilee wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. Remy soon became aware that his shoulder was becoming slightly damp. Surprised he pulled away and held her out at arm's length, his hands gripping her shoulders.

"Jubilee! Why're you cryin'?"

She shook her head vigorously, "I'm n-not crying."

Remy smiled warmly at her, "P'tite, there are tears in y'r eyes an' on your cheeks. In my book, dat's cryin."

She looked stumped for a moment but soon recovered, "Well, well if I am it's¡¦ it's your fault."

He stared at her, bewildered, and mentally ran over his actions during the last twenty-four hours. Right, woke up. Was very nice to Jubilee. Supported Jubilee against the team. Hugged Jubilee when the X-Men left. Kissed her when she told him to. Told Jubilee he loved her. Finally he made the only rational answer, "My fault?"

"Yeah, you."

"What'd I do?"

"You made me¡¦me happy," she wiped her eyes, "so stop it right now!"

Holding back a grin, Remy replied solemnly, "Un'erstood. Note t'self - do not make Jubilee happy."

She laughed, the tears still tumbling down her cheeks, "See? You're still doing it."

He looked at her, a pained expression on his face, "I tried p'tite."

Jubilee leaned back, took his face between her hands and kissed him soundly on the lips.

"What was dat for?"

"Just for being you." She began to play with the buttons on his shirt, a slight blush tinging her cheeks as she looked down

"Well, I'm still me so d'you think¡¦?"

At this she looked up and laughed, "Down boy." Sighing happily, Jubilee wrapped her arms around Remy and gave him a brief hug, "Come on, let's sit on the sofa. I'm not sitting on the floor all day." She stood up, pulling Remy up with her before walking over to the sofa and collapsing on it. They just sat together for awhile, kissing, talking, and kissing¡¦

"Jubilee?" Remy's head jerked up suddenly as a thought came to him.

"Hmm?"

"Josh."

"Who?" Snuggling closer to Remy, Jubilee was only vaguely aware of the question.

"Josh¡¦y'r boyfriend. Remember?"

"Oh yeah¡¦broke up with him."

"When?"

"This morning."

"And you didn't tell me dis b'cause¡¦"

"I didn't know if you'd be interested, Remy." Her eyes were wide and innocent.

"Guess I'm not really, p'tite¡¦OW!" Jubilee's elbow dug into his side sharply.

"Serves ya right¡¦jerk." Her words were slightly softened by the fact that the fingers of one hand were intertwined with his.

"Was he upset?"

"Yeah, a little," she sighed, "seriously scuzzy thing to do to him. Breaking up over the telephone. Just thought I should do it then when I had my nerve up¡¦ but still¡¦break up over phone, very scuzzy."

"What de hell is scuzzy? Never mind. D'you think you can be friends?"

"Hope so. He's a really great guy, which is annoying 'cause it would be a whole lot easier if he was actually some evil sod who was just using me for his dastardly plan or something, but he's not. He's an all-round nice guy," Remy's eyes narrowed, "so I'm hoping things will go back to the way they were before."

Jubilee smiled as she felt Remy tense slightly, "Remy?"

"Yes, p'tite?"

"Green eyed monster, much?"

"Moi? Jealous? I 'ave nothing to be jealous of."

"That's right," she whispered, "you don't."

He smiled, somewhat smugly, and tightened his arm around her, "I don't?"

"My goodness!" Jubilee feigned astonishment, he grinned at hearing her say the words 'my goodness'. "Could it be that Remy LeBeau, self proclaimed womaniser extraordinaire, is not supremely confident? This must definitely be one of the signs of the Apocalypse, dontcha think?"

"Signs of de Apocalypse, chere? Been dere, done dat."

Jubilee frowned, "Oh yeah. Sorta takes away from it, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, a bi'." He pulled her closer and rested his cheek on top of her head. He was surprised when she pulled away, a slightly solemn expression on her face.

"Remy," she clasped one of his hands in both of hers, "you'll never ever have to be jealous of anyone when it comes to me."

He looked back at her, somewhat sadly, "You sure about dat?"

"Course I'm sure," she kissed his hand, "I belong to you." She made it sound like the most obvious fact in the world.

"Belong to me¡¦" a self-satisfied smile crossed his face momentarily.

Smiling she relaxed against him once more, sitting across his lap now, "Oh and Gumbo?"

"Yes, p'tite?"

Her face was very close to his as she whispered, "It ain't a one-way street." She kissed him fiercely before continuing, "You're mine."

A smile curved his lips as he kissed her back, "Yours, huh?"

"Yep, all mine." She curled her arms around his neck, and all conversation ceased.

**********************************************************************************************

The Blackbird was unusually silent as it flew over the Atlantic. There was no monologue from Hank, no growls from Wolverine or even caustic comments from the White Queen. No one spoke.

Emma looked around at her team-mates. They were still in shock that their dearest little Jubilee could be so angry towards them. However, she admitted, she herself had been surprised at the intensity of the young woman's feelings at first. However, upon reflection, it was easier to understand. She looked at the others again, they'd probably just mope all the way back to the mansion. They had to face up to the fact that they had made a lot of mistakes when it came to Jubilee, and Emma was more than happy to facilitate the process. She opened her mouth to speak but was unexpectedly beaten to it.

"I messed up." Logan was looking at the ground, desolation written all over his face.

"Logan¡¦" Jean put out a hand to comfort him.

"Yes." Emma broke in, "you did." No point beating around the bush. Realising that she was on the receiving end of some ironical gazes, she sighed, "We all 'messed up'."

"That's more like it."

"So what do you intend to do now?" Emma looked at him appraisingly.

Wolverine shrugged, "Nothing. She doesn't want me around anymore."

"Oh for God's sake, man. You are utterly pathetic." She replied impatiently, "Are you just going to allow Jubilee to think that we honestly do not care about her?"

"No!" He said angrily.

"So what are you going to do?"

"I¡¦uh¡¦I dunno." Logan muttered.

"I thought so." Emma smiled smugly.

"So, what are you suggesting we do Emma? Drag her back to America?" Jean looked coldly over at the White Queen.

"Jean, dear, I'm not suggesting anything of the sort. We merely need to show Jubilee that despite what she thinks, we really do care about her, that we respect her decisions and that we'll be there for her if she needs us." There was more than a hint of condescension in her voice.

"Oh."

Logan looked at Emma with hope in his eyes, "Do you think she could forgive me¡¦us?"

"Yes, well¡¦hopefully." For a moment she looked uncertain but quickly regained her composure, "She must. We merely need to start the process of reconciliation."

There was silence for a moment while they all digested this.

"We could ring her when we get home." Jean suggested softly.

"Just to say hello¡¦" Hank added.

"And to apologise¡¦"

"Exactly." Emma looked like a proud teacher whose pupils had just figured out a very difficult mathematical problem.

Silence descended once more as they contemplated what was essentially their New Year's resolution.

***

Next chapter: Coming to grips with their new relationship, the process of reconciliation begins and an unexpected visitor in London is a source of concern for Jubilee.