Then

In the game of chess you had to be at least three steps ahead of your opponent or, her in case, opponents. San-Li had taken the time to study each of them before proceeding with the job. When she was done with her observation she had a plan of action.

Joe would be the most difficult. She had to keep him on his guard just enough so that he would be driven to learn Warp Wizard magic, but he couldn't learn too much or else she wouldn't be able to go up against him. And there was still the matter of him removing the ban.

And that was where his two friends would come in. Fred was already ogling her every chance he got, and she had to admit, it was kind of fun to flirt with him. But he already had a girlfriend and it would be too messy to try and be the other woman or break them up.

But Joe had one more friend. The kind of spastic, nervous looking, nerdy one. Sam. It was funny though, she had barely noticed him before, but has fate would have it she would need him to implement her plan.

It was supposed to be simple- she would give him little smiles to make him blush and glimpses of her "normal" side to put him somewhat at ease. She was going to appear as a good girl whose life made her hard. Like a broken doll who just needed a gentle touch to put her back together. And Sam, being just like every other sweet, kind hearted guy, would fall for it and take it upon himself to try and fix her. After that, all it would take was one sob story and he would willingly get The Book for her. Six or seven months is all it would take.

And it would have been simple if it wasn't for one unforeseen complication. She fell for him. San-Li, the cold hearted, manipulative time thief accidentally fell for her target.

"And if you look here, you can see Scorpio." Sam said excitedly looking through a telescope. "Did you know that in 1922 Henry Norris Russell was the one who aided the International Astronomical Union in dividing the celestial sphere into eighty eight official constellations?"

"Fascinating." San-Li forced herself to smile and pretend to be interested.

They were on the rooftop of his apartment complex looking at the stars through his telescope for their so called date night. Forget going out or having any real fun, Sam was thoroughly enjoying himself playing stupid connect the dots in the sky while San-Li was cold and bored stiff.

San-Li had made the unfortunate mistake of telling him that she liked to hear him talk about smart things because in the five months she'd been dating him, Sam hadn't stopped talking. She had to admit though, it was kinda cute the way his eyes would sparkle when he shared his vast knowledge with her.

"Hey," He turned to her with a bright smile. "Do you want to have a look?"

"Sure." San-Li muttered.

He moved aside for her and she bent over to look through the telescope. She could feel his eyes on her backside and she inwardly rolled her eyes. No matter how sweet and innocent Sam acted, deep down he was still like any other man. When she straightened up though, she was surprised to see that he was staring at her face not her ass. And his expression was so soft that she felt her heart speed up.

"What?" She asked quietly.

"Nothing." Sam shrugged. "I just... think that you're really pretty. Is that okay? You don't mind do you?"

San-Li smiled and saw the perfect opportunity to play him for the fool he was. "Really? No one has ever called me pretty before."

"Really?" Sam's smile fell and he gave her a weird look. "That's hard to believe."

San-Li worked a blush onto her face and turned away with a small smile but Sam kept going.

"I mean, you definitely don't carry yourself like no one's told you that you're pretty before." He mumbled, eying her skeptically.

San-Li's smile faltered and she inwardly cursed. Sam was a lot more perceptive than she thought and had the most annoying ability to see through her lies and bull crap. It would have made Sam a lot more intriguing if it wasn't so annoying.

"So what am I looking for again?" San-Li said quickly changing the subject.

Sam came over to her and pointed out the cluster of stars that formed the constellation Scorpius. At least she thought that what it was supposed to be. She was a little distracted by how close Sam was to her. It smelt like he was wearing some really nice cologne or body wash and it it smelled crazy good.

"Even though I don't really believe in the astrological zodiac, I do find it pretty interesting." Sam said quietly. "For example, they say that people born under this sign are passionate, resourceful, and dynamic. Kind of like you."

Before she could stop it, San-Li's lips turned up in a small smile. She straightened up and tried to ignore the light feeling welling up inside of her.

San-Li tried to keep her voice level. "It's really cool that your showing me all this. Astrology has always been fascinating to me."

"No problem." Sam smiled with a small blush. "I've, um, never had anyone to really share my interests with like this before. It' feels... nice."

They stared at each other silently and San-Li found that she couldn't look away from his gentle smile or his kind eyes. He stated to lean forward and she closed her eyes. His lips met hers in a gentle kiss and she felt something warm burst within her. Sure she had kissed him earlier and kissed several guys before that, but this felt entirely different. Sparks danced underneath her skin and her stomach fluttered.

Sam broke the kiss and smiled at her shyly. San-Li stared at him wide eyed and felt her entire world shift. Oh, no.

Now

San-Li sat up with a sharp gasp and put a hand to her stomach. She didn't know what it was, but she felt... something. A wave of panic washed over her and she forced herself to remain calm. After they left Mad Jack's lair, they followed the map until it got dark and they set up camp for the night.

San-Li felt her chest get tight and she looked around for Fina. She was nestled in Fred's arms a little ways from her while Joe kept watch.

"Fina." She whispered loudly, trying to remain as still as possible. "Fina, wake up!"

Fina yawned and sat up. "San-Li, you okay?"

"Um," San-Li bit her lip. "I- I don't know. I felt something and it woke me up."

Fina came over to her and eyed her carefully. San-Li felt her heart quake in fear as she laid her hand over her slightly swollen abdomen, pressing softly.

"Are you bleeding in any way? Even just a little bit?" Fina asked softly.

"I don't think so, but to be honest, I've been too afraid to move to check."

"Tell me exactly what you felt."

San-Li heaved a shuddering sigh. "I dunno. I almost felt something... move inside of me and it woke me up." San-Li's voice started to break and tears filled her eyes. "Is there something wrong? Did I do something to it?"

"Hmm," Fina pressed her lips together and shook her head. "It's too early for it to quicken but I'm not surprised that it would move around a bit considering the stress that you've been under lately. I know you're sick of hearing this, but you keep trying to stay calm until we get back home."

"I'm trying I really am." San-Li whimpered and tried to work the kink out of her lower back. "I'm just so anxious to find the one piece of family I have left and I'm terrified of telling Sam that I'm pregnant."

Fina gave her a reassuring smile and squeezed her hand."Don't worry. We're all going to do all we can to save him. And you know Sam loves you no matter what."

"I hope so." San-Li mumbled with another groan. "Or I'll be a single mom."

San-Li tried laying back down again, but winced as she felt a rock dig into her hip. If there was one thing she hated it was sleeping outside on the hard ground. It was even worse now that every muscle, bone, and joint seemed to ache every five minutes. Fina watched her and pursed her lips in thought.

"Hm, I don't know how I feel about you sleeping on the ground." She mumbled.

"Trust me, I'd rather be in my own bed too, but that's out of the question right now isn't it?" San-Li mumbled.

"Still... I think I have an idea..."

Before San-Li could ask what she meant, Fina transformed into a large, furry bear. She wrapped her arms around San-Li and rolled onto her back, holding San-Li against her chest.

"Fina, dang it," San-Li grumbled, struggling to get out of her grip. "This is completely unnecessary."

Fina merely grunted and patted her on the head. San-Li sighed in annoyance but settled into Fina's warm fur and felt herself drifting off to sleep. Fred woke up with a snort and looked around for his girlfriend. He gave them both a sleepy smile and came over to nestle against Fina's side. And for the first time in a while San-Li was able to sleep with a smile on her face.