Disclaimer: God, but do I love writing disclaimers. Tekken is still not mine. One day it will be, though.
What she had wanted most in her life was an amusement park. A place where she could just get lost in a sea of smiling, happy faces and boisterous laughter; where rainbows of lights dotted every entrance and exit, whispering helloes and sighing goodbyes. A cotton candy pink world where every horse on the carousel was painted with sunshine and shimmering stars and polka-dotted toffee was given free to every visitor. She wanted the scent of roasted nuts and bubblegum wafting through the air as fireworks and paper lanterns lit up the sky with a clashing kaleidoscope of colors.
But – and the red on her face spreads at the thought and warmth fills the entirety of her small body – Xiaoyu had met a boy. He was so cold and the look of scorn never left his face and she had tried so hard to reach him. Tapped his shoulder from behind and gave him her brightest smile and all he had given to her in return was a look that told her to leave him alone.
And when she had told him what she thought, what they both knew was true, he told her, voice low and stern, to go away.
"No." And she too was stern and her face wore a hardened look that was both foreign to her and exciting as well. She had never been this serious before and it scared her a little. Just a little, though.
"Xiao." More pleading now than commanding.
She sighed. This was getting her nowhere. Getting them nowhere at all. "Why are you so afraid, Jin?"
"I am not afraid." His voice sharp and robotic.
"You are. And if you continue on like this, continue living such a guarded existence, then it's like you've never lived at all." And she breathed in deeply, feeling her fingers tremble and her knees wobble with the cool autumn air and something else entirely. "You have to let go."
Before he could say anything, like how trite that last sentence sounded or how ridiculous she looked when she was trying to be serious, she was already on her heels and madly sprinting away towards the other end of school.
And it had infuriated her so much. Two weeks had passed and it still made her seethe inside.
She had almost failed her English exam a few hours earlier because all she could think of that day was how dumb it all seemed. She had poured out her heart to a boy and wanted to see him smile for once, had wanted desperately to help him. And it hurt for her to see that nothing had happened. To him, it was probably just another "crazy Xiaoyu" moment, something he must have been having a lot lately ever since she came here. Meaningless and, if anything, probably funny as hell too when seen from his perspective. God, was she that pathetic?
How could she have been so so stupid? How could she have been such an idio…
"Xiao." Her name left his mouth but she couldn't bear to see him and tried to ignore him by staring at the nonsensical Chinese words she wrote in her algebra book. He said her name again and she decided to grace him with the same 'go away' face he had perfected since he met her.
"What do you want?" It came out like an impatient hiss, which was so uncharacteristic of her. She can't believe how much this was affecting her so.
But she saw the slight uncertainty on his face, eyebrows knitted together in concentration, obviously trying to figure out what to say next.
"Noticed that you cut your hair." He said in a weak tone. Here was a young and handsome boy who could crush those who opposed him with his will and he didn't know what to say. It was hard not to laugh at the sharp contrast.
"And? That's it?" When he nodded his head and said nothing more, Xiaoyu couldn't hold it in any longer and began to laugh. Shrieked - he would say a week later. But she laughed so hard that she felt the muscles in her belly playing a game of tug-of-war and it felt so good.
And he was smiling too. A teeny tiny smile playing on his lips and she swore she felt her heart skip a beat.
"I'll try, Xiao." He said before leaving her for his next class. She didn't need to ask what he meant when he said that. She already knew.
What she had wanted most in her life was an amusement park.
Had wanted, and she knows she didn't really want it so much anymore.
Maybe it's because of that boy. Who makes her giddy and scared and frustrated and happy all at the same time. Who makes her dream of cherry-stained cupid's bow kisses in mirrored halls, wet and sticky sweet with a hint of summer strawberries and peppermint. Who makes her dream of calloused fingers threading through strands of her hair and grasping and wanting her more than she could ever want him (selfish of her, she admits, but ah, it is a dream). Who makes her dream of meaningful glances and lazy "put-your-head-on-my-shoulder" days when the sun couldn't help but shine just a little brighter than usual.
And maybe one day (soon, she hopes), he'll come around, holding his hand out for her to grab, and they'll race towards the tallest of roller coasters, and breathe in the cool air of eighty-two feet above the ground, letting go as they plunge deeper into something unseen and touching the star-flecked sky as they go higher and higher.
A/N: I wrote this in a particularly bad mood, which is really surprising since this is the fluffiest thing I've come up with these days. Anyway, Ling Xiaoyu. Love her or hate her but she's part of the game and I can't help but write her like this: optimistic and oh-so-annoyingly sweet. Oh yeah, this piece is sort of set during or before Tekken 3. And reviews are always welcome. Yes they are.