Write-up and picture/graphic submitted by Ariadne.

While their love isn't forbidden, they are physically separated by Rogue's powers - when her skin touches the skin of another, she absorbs his psyche, his powers (in the case of mutants), his soul... the very thing that keeps him alive. She has no control over her powers, and touching someone has resulted in a permanent coma in one instance. So, while Rogue longs for something as simple as the touch of her true love, her fear of hurting him often results in her pushing him away.

Like Padmé, Rogue is fiercely loyal to friends, and dedicated to certain ideas and ideals. If any of them are threatened, she is quick to defend them, with force if necessary. And though her efforts are noble, she tends to walk the thin line between courage and stupidity, sometimes taking unnecessary risks that place her in grave danger. A combination of quick thinking, faithful friends, and luck usually help her defeat the odds.

And then there's Gambit, who will learn (in the future, according to the X-Men: The End series) that Sinister, an evil geneticist, is his father in a moment that echoes Vader revealing his identity to Luke. Sinister goes on to explain that he created Gambit in a lab using a DNA cocktail that consisted of mostly his own genetic information mixed with several other mutants'. This is reminiscent of the tragedy of Darth Plagueis, which Supreme Chancellor Palpatine tells Anakin. In it, he claims that Plagueis had gained such insight into the force that he could actually manipulate midichlorians to produce life... a talent he taught to his apprentice, who later killed him. Since Anakin was conceived without a father (Qui-Gon Jinn surmised that midichlorians came together to impregnate Shmi), one could take this story as Palpatine's admission to playing a role in Anakin's creation, a father of sorts. Additionally, both Gambit and Anakin "work for" their "fathers" for a period of time without knowing the truth about their origins.

As far as their actual relationship goes, while Rogue has stated that she's loved Gambit since the first time she saw him, it was Gambit who pursued her in the beginning... despite her later assertions, it was quite a task to convince her just to go out on a date with him. And so, a couple was born... but from the beginning, it was plagued with problems, namely their proclivity to push each other away, sometimes to the point that it's annoying, not unlike the way Padmé and Anakin shut each other out (Padmé in the beginning of the relationship, Anakin in the end).

In the ongoing X-Men series, Gambit recently decided to join Apocalypse, another villain, and became his horseman Death (for a yet undisclosed reason). His decision broke Rogue's heart, though she knows that there's still good in him, and believes that he will return to the X-Men. Meanwhile, Death has stated to Apocalypse himself that he's still Gambit, and still loves Rogue. Doesn't take a genius to see the parallel here...