There it is, for real this time, chapter 9… I hope it didn't take too long :-P It came to my head that I don't write a disclaimer very often… Oh, well… *grin* BTW, do you know I'm totally hooked on reviews when I'm on vacation? I check every half an hour of so, maybe quarter and hour when I'm on my computer, to see if they're any review alert in my email… Oh, and the sadness, when they aren't any! Make me smile!

Yumiko : Well, yeah, she left… but that doesn't mean it's going to end bad… ishandahalf's gonna track me down and shoot me if I make thins thing end badly…

xXrogue_demonXx : *blinks at her computer screen* I'm still trying to figure out if this is a flame or not… Oh well, my pride is gonna take over, and say it's not… Just tell your 5 years old child inside that it's rated PG13 *grin*  And that it's not finished yet! I swear!

Ladychopsticks : Oh, I'm on alert? *blush* Woohoo! Yeah, I got problems while uploading chapter 8, like I explained, but here's chapter 9 for real. As for the cliffhanger… I'm a cliffhanger fan. You know why? Because a cliffhanger brings out a new side of the story, and you often need some time to figure out what's gonna happen next, and how you're gonna write it… It's a great way of buying some time… Now you go and read chapter 9, and tell me what you think about that cliffhanger!

MzJenna : Lol, hot? Nooooo, not at all! Separate them? And get hunt down by ishandahalf? Nooooo wayyy!!

Nessie : I'm voluntarily forgetting the 6 here, since I'm guessing you don't like it a lot. I changed the rating, but the story dissapeared from the list (it being an automaticaly G-PG13 list) so I brought it down to PG13, thinking a warning in the summary is enough. There. I'm glad you like it though, it was making me a little nervous writing it. But I had too!

KatLeBeau : Well thank you. She can't leave? Are you sure? *lifts an eyebrow in inquiry* Really, really sure?

x-kitty-x : Oh, you like hanging? There you go! I have plenty of cliffhangers in my head, they just need to go out…

DarkMystery : *splashes water in her face on fire* Thanks! That's so sweet! *girlish giggle* Woohoo!!

Acadian Angel : You got me wrong… I know I haven't been really clear about it, but the explosion scene was a little flashback of the explosion that had Jean-Luc and Henri killed… or not. I did write "the night before" at the top, but I understand the time line may be a little complicated, I'm having trouble following it myself… day one, Jade and Raven in a bar, and chat at a café, day two, Jade gets robbed by Henri and meets Remy while the explosion takes place at the meeting, day three, Jade and Raven are attacked by Assassins and are taken under the Thieves' wing, day four, the funeral. Since day four hadn't occurred yet à the beginning of chapter 8, by "the night before" I meant day two… I hope it's clearer now. It's clearer to me! lol

The Name Changer : Yeah, it was mean, I know. But I a very very mean and cruel person, when it comes to my characters…

I'm sincerely sorry if you reviewed and I didn't answer you, but there seems to be a problem with the review alert thing, and I don't receive an alert for every review. I have to check up in the reviews list each time, sorry again.

Enjoy!

Chapitre neuf

It was a beautiful day, a hot sun heating the already hot and humid air in New Orleans. But it had been raining everyday for two weeks for Remy LeBeau, and his increasingly bad temper and independent attitude was getting on everybody's nerves in the Guild. Nobody really knew why, though, so they just explained Remy's change of attitude with Henri and Jean-Luc's deaths, and the fact that the corpses had never been found. A few others who had been aware of the presence of feminine strangers a few weeks ago had another opinion on what had erased the smile on the face of the youngest LeBeau. But no matter what the reason for it was, life around Remy LeBeau was a living hell, and everyone tried to stay away from the grumpy young man, until he would come to his senses and finish this childish tantrum. Hard to do so when he's your boss, though. The only one who could get through the wall he had built was little Marguerite, who followed her uncle everywhere in the house without getting the killing red glare he would have given anyone else, even Mattie, Mercy and Émile.

Things had calmed down between the Guilds, and Remy was the reason for such a thing. He had refused taking vengeance on the Assassins, loosing some trust from some Thieves who had wanted war, and the war was put aside by both parties. But he didn't care. He knew who to trust in the Guild, and who not to. And those he trusted, trusted him in return. Besides, he wasn't very interested in being the head of Thieves. For weeks he had been pondering, and although he knew he couldn't leave, he wished things could return to normal. To when his father was leader, and Henri the heir to leadership. To when himself only was in the Concil, and still could have fun as a Thief, without any responsibilities stopping him from making mistakes, without the glare of the high heads of the Guild watching his every step.

To when he never knew the existence of the green-eyed gal. She haunted him. By night, with the memory of the night they had had together. By day, with the image of her slim figure, her waist, her breasts, her incredible clear green eyes framed with long dark lashes, and soft bright auburn hair falling down to her waist, with lighter, almost platinum bangs falling in her face sometimes. The way she put them aside by reflex. And the smile she would give him when their eyes would meet over diner, when she was not pushing him away again like she had did so many times.

He sighed deeply, and shifted in the iron patio chair he was sitting in. He prefered days when he would lead the Thieves, running everywhere and giving orders, reuniting the Concil and taking decisions, than days like this one when everyone was on break. Days off gave him time to think. And thinking hurt him.

It wasn't only that she had left, neither because she had left without saying goodbye. He was fairly sure she hadn't played with him. The fear he had seen in her eyes was as genuine as the pleasure she had when they made love, and he knew she probably ran away from him in fear of being hurt again. What hurt him most was to not understand the power she had on him. He had met lots of women in his life, and had dated with some of them a lot longer than he had with Jade. How long has he known her, four, five days? And still, two weeks later, he was sitting on the terrasse under the sun, closing his eyes while remembering his night with her.

Could it be love? He opened his eyes at the though, and shook his head to shoo the idea out of his head. He never loved. Well sure, he loved his family. He had loved his father and Henri, and he deeply cared for Mattie and Mercy, as he did for his best friends in the Guild. And he loved Marguerite, as the child he probably would never have, the way his life was heading. But a woman? Could you love someone after only five days of knowing her? 'Damn if I know' he though angrily, letting his head fall on the headrest of the chair, and closed his eyes again.

Something tugged at his short-sleeve and he opened his eyes, annoyed and ready to put on his day-long glare, but his face softened when he met chocolate brown eyes in a small round face, framed with dark brown curls escaping from the pig tails at the back of her head. "What is is, Marguerite?" She lifted her eyes full of undying curiosity to his face and pointed at the inside of the house through the patio door.

"You told me Papa's gone, non? But Papa's at de door." Remy frowned. Marguerite hadn't taken very well the dissapearance of her father, but this was the first time she invented his return.

"Marguerite, y'Papa can' be at de door, chil'. He ain't comin' back…" She stomped her small bare feet on the hard concrete floor without any other resulting sound than a small 'pif', and her face flushed. Remy swallowed back a chuckle.

"Papa's dere! I saw him in de window!" A woman appeared in the patio door, her hands clapsed and twisting over her stomach.

"Monsieur LeBeau?"

"Oui, Ginette?" He lifted his eyes from Marguerite's watery ones, switching to the gruff voice he used with everyone except the little girl. The woman looked even more nervous at the sound of it, and looked like she wanted nothing more than dissapear from his view.

"Dere… Dere is a man sittin' on the stairs… on the porch… He didn't ring, but I thought…" Remy eyes narrowed at the middle-aged woman, and travelled slowly to Marguerite, standing next to him with her minuscule arms crossed angrily on her little chest. She was a funny sight, but something else gripped at Remy's stomach.

"I told you!" she yelled as Remy ran for the front door. He violently pushed the front door open, and felt a wave of frustration wash over him as he saw the empty porch in front of him. He sigh and moved to close the door, but a movement caught his eye.

Near the gate stood a bench Jean-Luc had installed for the sentinels of the front gate of the mansion. Sitting on it was one of them, of course, but he was in a deep conversation with another man. He was bent forward, his elbows on his knees, and Remy couldn't see his face. Next to him was a pair of crutches, and his blonde hair shone in the sun light. Remy closed the door and walked down the stairs, slowly walking towards the gate. The sentinel lifted his head and smiled at him, and the other man lifted his as well. Remy froze in his tracks, and the man straightened up.

"Henri?"

Nah nah nah nah nahhhh nahhhhhhh!! To be continued!!!!

Sorry it's so short, but I still have to figure out the following… I'm a 100% percent on it, though! Hell, I haven't even ate since my bowl of cereals this morning, and it's 5 in the afternoon *stomach growl*. I'll eat, and I'm back to writing just after, okay? Yay for vacations!