So I thought I'd add a few bonus chapters to give you a bit of an insight into Luc's life before Anna, since there's so much backstory. They're designed to be short snapshots rather than stories, so don't expect them to be more than 1000ish words.

Five years ago...

N.B Luc is around 13 here, Damien is 14 and Maddie 15, so they will sound more childlike than you're used to. Also, any French words are in italics, I won't put translations because they're mostly self-explanatory and only the odd word here and there. Also, Luc's grandmother's name is Yvette.

"She's asking for you." Oncle Pascale spoke grimly as he slowly descended the stairs. Wordlessly, Luc got up from the sofa and made his way up the stairs, passing the grave faces of his family.

"Grandmère."

"Ah Lucas. You're here." The tiny lady gestured for Luc to come closer and sit on the chair by her bedside. "You look so much like him when he was younger," she smiled fondly. "Except your eyes... you have your mother's eyes." She paused for a few moments, recollecting her breath. Luc waited, unsure of what to say. How could you comfort someone who was dying? And yet, she was dying almost as peacefully as it was possible, or so she said. What no-one could understand was why grandpère couldn't heal her.

"But that wasn't why I wanted to see you. You know the imprints have stopped, yes?" Luc nodded in response. "And why do you think they did?"

"Because people were being bad," he replied dutifully, repeating what he'd been told.

"No, Lucas. People are being bad. Remember when you had 'flu last year?" Luc nodded, remembering the week he spent in bed. "Well, your 'flu had to get worse before it got better. It's the same with this- things will get worse before they get better. You have to be strong, oui?"

"But how?" Luc asked, confused. What could he do; what difference could he make?

"Ah, Lucas. You are young, yes, but that is just the point. You see, the old generation are stubborn, set in their ways. But the next generation? The next generation will bring the new. Do you understand, Lucas?"

"I... I think so," he replied hesitantly.

"You will understand... in time," she smiled, the wrinkles on her face apparent in the dim light filtering through the curtains. "You know what, Lucas? I think you deserve to be the first... once things get better."
"The first to what?" he asked, even more confused. It seemed the longer grandmère talked, the less sense she made.

"You have the most kind, loving, and, most importantly, the strongest heart," she said softly, gently patting the hand she held. "You will... understand," she whispered, her voice fading. Soon, her shallow breaths were the only thing that filled the silence. Luc looked around. Where was grandpère? Surely he should be here, at his Significant's side?

"Come, Luc. She needs to sleep." Luc's mother gently guided him out of the chair and back downstairs. He sat back down next to Damien and Maddie, who were sitting, picking at the tasselled edges of the rug by the fireplace. All of the grandchildren were here except the eldest-Laure, Anne and Albert, but the quietness was eerie, considering that the eldest was 15 and the youngest 4. All the other adults were upstairs; only Tante Nathalie remained to supervise them, knitting some baby boots for her first child. Her face was pinched in with worry and she glanced towards the ceiling every few seconds.

"I thought Tante Nathalie could heal people. Why isn't she healing grandmère?" Maddie whispered. No-one had spoken above a whisper in a long time.

"I don't know. Maybe she has an illness that has to heal itself?" Damien suggested.

"It has to get worse before it gets better. That's what she told me," Luc whispered matter-of-factly back to them.

"But it already has got worse and it isn't getting better," Maddie frowned, sitting up on her knees. "Are you sure that was what she told you?" They all glanced to the door when the doctor came in, making his way straight upstairs to where grandmère was, but quickly turned back to the discussion.

"Yes, I'm sure," Luc replied crossly, folding his arms. Maddie was two years older, but Luc thought she acted like she was much older sometimes.

"So she's going to get better now, because she's already worse?" Damien asked, trying to make sense of Luc's words.

"Must be," Luc shrugged.

Maddie merely shrugged, not saying anything, just frowning. Luc was sure she knew something more than them, and was about to ask when he saw his father walking slowly down the stairs with a grave face. His mother followed, tears streaking down her face. Luc stood up, feeling vaguely nauseous, as if his body already knew what was coming.

"Enfants, we have something to tell you," Luc's father began. "Grandmère isn't going to get better, I'm afraid. She's gone somewhere else, somewhere better than here, and you can't go there for a long time. She died, enfants."

There was a silence, thicker than before, that was broken by Maddie running into Tante Marcella's arms and beginning to sob. Damien stayed where he was, trying to work out why grandmère had died when she was supposed to get better.

Luc could only stand there, blinking back tears. He couldn't cry- grandmère had told him to be strong, hadn't she? Was being strong crying or not crying? Was that what her last words had meant?

But everyone else was crying; wait, no, not everyone. Grandpère sat on the stairs, his head in his hands, staring at the floor. His face was expressionless and his eyes were dry. But Luc saw that even though he looked like he didn't care, grandpère was the most hurting of them all.

Please tell me what you think of this bonus chapter- I know there's more than one reader out there, it's so encouraging to hear from you, even if it's literally three words! Hopefully a proper update on its way soon... I'd love to hear your theories about what you think will happen so I can see if I hold any suspense at all!

Until next time :)