Here's a little bonus chapter that won't answer last time's cliffhanger! Mwahahaha! *Gets a tomato in the face from an angry reader* Hope you enjoy!


Five Years Apart, Chapter Twenty and Half

Law's Charm

Four years before the current events…

"Drink, drink, drink, drink, drink!" yelled the crowd around the young man. Law took a deep breath before he brought the small shooter glass to his lips and gulped down its content in one shot. The crowd yelled even more. Law made a face and shook his head right to left while putting the glass on the bar's counter. It had such a terrible taste! He was sure it was made with horse's piss. Even so, the alcohol made its effect and his head started to buzz. How many did he have again? Just by looking, it was about his tenth. At least. Fortunately he didn't have any classes tomorrow, and he was certain he would make good acquaintance of his toilet the morning after.

Shachi and Penguin joined their friend and each gave him a pat (or more like a hit) on his back to congratulate him. Because of his state, Law almost fell on the floor. "Congratulations, mister I-have-100%-on-half-my-exams!" mockingly said Shachi. Law only smiled at that. The three friends came to celebrate the end of the semester's exams at the local bar. Some had done very well (Law), others were not so bad (Shachi), and there were those who almost didn't pass (Penguin). In fact, all of this was just an excuse to drink into oblivion. And Law didn't have any objections.

Slowly but surely, the crowd dispersed and returned to their activities, which consisted of drinking and dancing. The three friends drank, talked and laughed most of the night until Penguin noticed the most beautiful creature he ever laid his eyes upon. His glass was almost let go from his hands. "Guys!" he immediately exclaimed. The two men turned towards their friend, intrigued by his intervention. Without any civility, he openly pointed to the woman who just walked in. "Look at that goddess…" he said dreamily.

Two pairs of eyes followed along the path of Penguin's. She had long blond hair just up above her small ass, which should be nice to touch (said Penguin). Her bright purple eyes (surely contacts) were made to get lost in them. She had high cheeks, generous lips and a small mole on the corner of her mouth. She had a suave and well-proportioned body. Her tiny black skirt greatly showed her long legs and her blue tank top with a nice deep neckline which left little to the imagination. Penguin almost drooled. "You think I will be lucky enough to seduce her?" Law and Shachi didn't even had to look at one another to answer in a synchronized way. "No." Fake tears appeared on the corner of the man's eye. "You're cruel, guys!" He whined. Shachi shrugged. "Only realistic."

Penguin continued pouting, but soon enough, a stupid smile appeared on his face when his eyes sought out the young woman once again. "I'm going to talk to her!" He exclaimed, determined. Shachi made a terrified face when his friend walked towards his death (or at least, a great deception). Law, on the other hand, analyzed the situation with an amused eye. He couldn't wait for the end result.

Penguin reached the beautiful woman who was drinking at the bar not too far from their position. He talked for a few seconds, then took her chin between his fingers. Her expression changed in a matter of seconds. Now pissed off, she took a grand swing, her arm moving fast, and hit him right across the face. Because of the violence of the hit, his head was thrown to the side. On his facial expression, we could see surprise and misunderstanding. Shaken, he came back while massaging his ugly red cheek. Law smirked, while Shachi was half crying on the floor. He was laughing so hard no sound was coming from his mouth. "It's not funny!" Penguin cried out. Shachi got back up while whipping his face clean of tears.

"What in the hell did you say to that girl for her to hit you like that?" He finally managed to get out after getting his breath back. Penguin shrugged. "I only told her she had a pretty adam's apple…" Shachi's head fell down. "You know how to talk to woman I see…"

While the two man talked, they didn't notice Law leaving them behind and making his way to the goddess. Shachi was the first one to notice while his friend just continued to whine. He followed closely the exchange between the two people. Law started a conversation with the girl. After just a couple of seconds, she blushed a deep crimson and gave him a magnificent smile. Law bent down and murmured something in her ear. She blushed harder and laughed. Law offered her a seductive smile. She took the piece of paper under her glass, got out a pencil from her purse and wrote down. She then gave it to the man and kissed him for a long time on the cheek. Law smiled at her one last time before turning around and coming back to the two man who stared at him, their mouth wide open. He smirked at them and put the piece of paper on Penguin's chest. He let it fall and the man hurried to catch it before it touched the floor. He brought it in front of his eyes to see a telephone number and a name, all of it encircled with a heart. If they could, his eyes would pop out.

"How did you do that?" asked Penguin. Law shrugged. "A few charming words, a well-placed smile, and there you go." Penguin started to pout and decided to set his sights on alcohol, of course not forgetting the piece of paper, safety tucked on his pocket. He had the intention of using it well.

Law took back his glass half full and emptied it. Shachi went to his side and gazed at him with a septic eye. "Why do I have the impression you could seduce any straight woman in this bar, but you won't do it?" Law glared at his glass in front of him without reacting to his friend's question. Shachi sighed. "You've never been in love, haven't you?" This time, the dark-haired man looked at him from the corner of his eye. "And you did?" Shachi laughed while scratching his neck. "Touché, my friend." Law rolled his eyes and called out to the bartender so he could bring him another drink. "Not even once? Not even with that girl… What's her name again… Céline? Cécile?" "Cerys." "That's it, Cerys!" Against all odds, Law had a light genuine smile. "She's a bit like my little crybaby sister who I love teasing. I never saw her like that. And anyway, she's too young." It was Shachi's turn to smile. "Who knows? Maybe in a few years, she becomes a pretty woman who'll make your heart race?"

xXxXxXxXxXx

Cerys' panic

One year before the current events…

"So, this is Zoro uh? He's cute for sure!" "Leïla!" At my sister's comment, I became red as a lobster. She started to laugh. Embarrassed, I looked discretely behind to see the boy in question. He was sitting at the table drawing with my young nephew who seemed to appreciate my new boyfriend. Fortunately, he did hear a single thing. I sighed, relieved. It had only been a week since he confessed his feelings for me, and I did the same. Too embarrassed after we exchanged our awkward first kiss (my very first one, actually), during the following week, we had difficulty only looking in each other's eyes. And then came in my sister. All excited about the idea that I had a boyfriend, she invited us to her home to celebrate the event. Zoro had accepted, so we came to pay her a visit. After the usual "talk", with promises of murder which I could've go without ("if you make her cry, you'll have to deal with me!") and the traditional "no sex before marriage", she approved of our relationship and threw him (figure of speech) the small William so we could make dinner in peace. I was actually in charge of the sides (smashed potatoes, raw vegetables) while she took care of the main dish. I slowly cut down the vegetables while waiting for the water in the pot to boil.

I sensed my sister move behind me, her enormous container in her hands, go towards the oven. I then heard a deafening ruckus resonate in my back and my sister let out a painful moan. I vividly turned around to see the meat dropped on the floor and my sister holding her quite large belly, a pained expression on her face. I ran towards her. "Leïla? Are you ok?" We could hear panic in my voice. She didn't answer and continued to protectively surround her belly with her hands.

Something clicked in my mind. What if she was going into labor? But there was still a whole month left before she was due! And Marco wasn't even here yet! "The baby wants to come out, is that it?" I said, trembling, more and more mortified. She weakly smiled. "No, not at all. I just felt a bit dizzy, that's all…" I helped her sit down at the table. William and Zoro stopped all activities. The younger one was concerned for his mother, and Zoro didn't understand what happened. Leïla breathed out once seated. "I've been feeling weird since this morning." She tried to reassure me. "That must be it."

I gave her a soft nod and went to clean up her mess. I knew an idiot who would be devastated at the cruel destiny of this poor dish. Once I was done, I returned to my big sister's side and sat next to my nephew. He stared strangely at the floor. His gaze still down, he clumsily took my shirt's sleeve and pulled. "Pee." I turned my head his way and smiled at him. "You have to go to the bathroom, little man?" He shook his head and instead of answer, just pointed to the floor. I followed his finger and saw that the marble was wet with a clear liquid. Said liquid rolled under the table from.. my sister's pants. My eyes doubled. "Holy-, Leïla's water broke!"

My sister verified for herself and looked down. Zoro, on his part, had a nice WTF written all over his face. "You mean the pipes broke down?" Because of the panic and the adrenaline, I started to lose patience. "No, you cretin! Her water! You know, when a woman is pregnant!" He still didn't seem to get it. He never heard of the process of giving birth, or what? "It means the baby's coming veeery soon!" He finally understood the gravity of the situation. I quickly got up and started to walk back and forth. "How will we bring her to the hospital, when Marco's not even here… Unless we call an ambulance?" I mumbled, trying to find a solution. Zoro got up too and grounded himself in front of my sister. "I'll take her on my back." If I was in any other situation, I would've bursted out laughing. Instead, I got angry. "Why not put her in a wheelbarrow, while you're at it!" I said, my voice full of sarcasm. He started to lose his cool as well. "Find a solution, then, if you're so smart!" "We could call an ambulance!"

While Zoro and I had our first couple fight, Leïla tried to get up to tell them to stop, but a sharp pain cut her breath short and forced her to sit down. It stopped straight up their argument. She just had a contraction. I panicked even more. In fact, the only relatively calm person in her was the one giving others anxiety.

"I'm home!" Came a voice from the front door. Marco! As soon as I heard him, I ran in the hallway and happy tears appeared on the corner of my eyes. I threw myself in his arms. "Marco! Leïla'sgoingintolabourandwedon'tknowwhattodo!" I said so fast it was totally incomprehensible for the common mortals. Of course, the blond didn't get a single word I uttered. He raised a brow, confused. I talked once more, slowly this time. "Leïla's going into labor!" As soon as the words left my mouth, it was his turn to run, towards the kitchen, towards his wife. I followed him and saw that Marco was better than us thirty seconds ago. He ran in circles without knowing what to do, even if this wasn't his first rodeo. His panic made ME panic again.

In this monstrous cacophony, Leïla saw red. "That's enough, all of you shut up!" She yelled. Everyone stopped saying a word, even moving. My sister was gasping for air and I was certain it wasn't only due to the fact she just yelled. "Cerys, take care of William. Marco, get the car ready. Zoro, help me get up." Without a word, we did what she asked.

On that day, I realized two things. First, I was sure I wanted to have kids, if I had to go through all that process.

And second, I discovered my sister had nerves of steel.