While having some downtime, Rogue was accosted by a young, Skrull shapeshifter who forced her to absorb her moments before she died. Possibly because of the nature of the Skrull�s powers, possibly because of the incompatability between Rogue�s Mutant\Kree DNA and the Skrull�s own, this had a devestating effect on Rogue. In her own words, with a slight paraphrase,

ROGUE: My DNA has mutated. That�s a fact. Before, Ah touch someone, Ah absorb their powers and their memories for a time, then they go away, leavin� just a little residue of their powers behind. Now, Ah�m able t�manifest th� powers of (everyone whom Ah�ve ever absorbed) -- only Ah got no control over the process.

As a result of this, she was terrified that she would hurt Gambit if she remained close to him. When Storm was assembling her team to look for Destiny�s diaries, therefore, and asked Gambit if he would be prepared to join them, Rogue answered for him:

ROGUE: NO! Leave Remy OUTTA this!

GAMBIT: You got no right t�speak for me, girl.

ROGUE: Then I�ll ask. If Ah have to, Ah�ll beg. Don�t do this, Remy.

GAMBIT: We b�long t�gether.

ROGUE: Ah know. But not now. Not for this.

(...)

GAMBIT: You�ll place friends at risk, but not me? Chere, dat�s crazy.

ROGUE: Right now. So am I. Fact is, they get hurt, it�ll break mah heart. But if it�s you, Ah�ll die. Ah can�t work through this, Remy, if I�m worried all the time about you.

GAMBIT: An� how�m I s�posed t�live wit� you gone from my life?

Despite Rogue�s self-defeating and nonsensical vow to live without Gambit because she couldn�t live without him, Remy seemed prepared to commit to a long distance relationship. So, as a pledge of his undying and eternal love for her, he gave her a "beautiful", if unspecified, gift:

ROGUE: Remy, after what Ah said, to give me something so beautiful -!

GAMBIT: That�s so, no matter how far we wander... I�ll always be wit� you.

However, whether absence made the heart grow fonder or go yonder would only be seen when Gambit returned to the cast in X-Treme X-Men #5.