Author's Note: Okay, so... here it is, the sequel to 'Sway'. Thank you so much to thsoe who reviewed, faved, and/or alerted that story, but especially to ScarletWitch88, who did all three, and added me to faves and alerts. I hope you enjoy this, fellow Sareena/Sub-Zero fangirl!
Disclaimer: I don't own MK in any way, but um... I would like to. Very much. Because if I had MK, Sareena and Sub-Zero would JUST HOOK UP ALREADY, Frost would be ice-pick'd for irony, and there'd be no more zombie Liu Kang. He and Kitana would live happily ever after, as they should. Is anyone else sad that nearly all of the characters were smited in their own MK:A endings (aside from like, the reaaaally good ones, such as Ashrah, Sareena, Li Mei, Liu Kang, Kitana... poor Kenshi accidentally recieved a bag of smite from Blaze).
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Warmth
A Sareena/Sub-Zero oneshot by Strike To Incinerate.
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She awoke to a cold breeze, with the cold sandstone of the pyramid against her back. Her eyes fluttered open. It had not been a cold breeze. It had been, literally, the coldest man alive; Sub-Zero. She smiled to him, and sat up. His hand, at first unnoticed, slid off her chest. "Oh?" she asked, raising a brow.
He shook his head. "I was only trying to wake you," he said, only a bit defensive.
Sareena was unsure if it was a mortal custom or one belonging to the Lin Kuei to grope a woman in order to return her from slumber, but she doubted it. "I see," she said, starting to stand.
He assisted her with a hand to her arm, worried that she may be unsteady. "I wasn't..." he said, then his voice dropped to an icy whisper, "I was not groping you."
She could see his lips twitching beneath the mask. Was he... blushing? No! Had she actually made the Grand Master of the Lin Kuei flustered? 'You know that you liked it, Sub-Zero,' she thought, her smile curling into a grin.
He quickly changed the subject, and for a moment, the demoness was filled with pride. "Look at your hand," he instructed.
She did so, marveling as a distinct frosty mist radiated from it. "What...?" she began to ask.
"Do you remember anything before you fainted?" he asked.
She bit her tongue to prevent an automatic reply from slipping out. 'Why, were you worried about me?' she thought, trying to pretend that wouldn't delight her if he were. "A flash of light... an explosion. Nothing more," she replied.
She swore that he was smiling. "You defeated Blaze," he told her.
"I surmised as much," she agreed. "But he was a Fire Elemental. Why do I have the powers of a cryomancer...?" she asked.
"Perhaps... you desired more to belong," he said cryptically.
'Oh, I hate you. You would be kicking yourself all the way back to Earthrealm if you knew how true that was!' How many times had she pretended not to be jealous of that human broad, even though she knew damn well that Sonya Blade was infatuated with Johnny Cage? And the Edenian heir! She would really bring Liu Kang back from the dead if it meant keeping her away from Sub-Zero. Very, very far away. And Frost, that insufferable brat... if she hadn't trapped herself in a block of ice, Sareena would've...
Her grin suddenly became feral. She had a wonderful idea.
"What is the estimated countdown to Quan Chi's arrival?" she joked.
"T-minus..." he paused, seeing the sorcerer's form coming to the top. "Speak of the devil."
"Puns don't suit you," she said, feeling oddly jovial... perhaps it was the power coursing through her veins. Even the Netherrealm seemed a tolerable place... although never preferable to the frosty halls of the Lin Kuei temple.
"Sareena!" the pallid sorcerer called to his former assassin.
She ignored him. She wanted to toy with him... ooh, but part of her just wanted to snap his neck. He was no longer more powerful than her. He could not manipulate, force her to betray the only person she ever... she felt her heart jump.
"You defeated Blaze, didn't you?" he accused.
She nodded. "I did..." she admitted proudly, one hand on her hip. The one contrasting lock of white hair suddenly seemed the color of snow, rather than moonlight, and her onyx eyes were now glacial blue.
"Then that power will be mine!" he cried, charging at her, his hands glowing with green magic.
She waved her free hand, turning a puddle of Blaze's gore to ice. Quan Chi didn't have time to stop. He slid forward, his throat landing perfectly in Sareena's grasp. His windpipe began to freeze, the chilling disease spreading downward, into his chest, freezing his heart, lungs, stomach liver, intestines, legs arms... she held back on his head. She wanted the last words he heard to ring his in soul for all eternity.
"You will never own me."
She released him, his head frozen solid. He had become a statue.. a trophy. She had redemption. He would never escape.
"Concentrate, Sareena..." Sub-Zero whispered.
'It's hard to concentrate with you so close,' she thought. She took a deep breath, and then exhaled. The air around her felt arctically cold.
A perfect block of ice, glittering in the sun that beat down on the pyramid.
"Now, Sareena..." Sub-Zero had folded his arms over his chest, his biceps rippling. She felt anticipation bubbling up inside her. "How do we get your prize home?"
The bubble popped. 'It can stay up here, for all I care! Just sweep me off my feet already!' She was about ready to freeze him. She sunk to her knees. "The warriors can carry it," she replied.
"That's rather selfish," he replied, sinking to one knee beside her. "This warrior would much rather carry you."
She looked to him, confused, but he was already slipping one arm beneath her knees and the other around her back. The contrast between his chilly arms and her warm thighs sent a welcomed shiver up her spine. "Are you serious?" she asked.
He stood, holding her in a way that she had heard humans describe as 'bridal style'. "You must be exhausted, becoming the Champion of the Elder Gods and defeating necromancers and elementals," he said evenly. "And it's just until we reach the portal."
'Oh, as if! Why can't you just admit that you like me, at least a little? Bastard!' she thought, dejected, but consoled by the safe, protected feeling that came over her as she leaned against his chest. "You're incorrigable," she mumbled.
"And you're an oxymoron," he replied in good humor.
'No, I'm in...' "Wait, what do you mean?" she asked.
"You're a good demoness," he answered, keeping her close as he descended the steps. "An honorable assassin." He opened his mouth to say one more example, but he closed it. She didn't need anymore ego boosts that day.
"Come on, what is it?" she asked, taking part of his shirt in her hand.
"Not important, Sareena," he replied.
"So what?" she quipped. "Tell me anyway."
Although he might never tell her, she was the warmth inside his icy heart.
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Cue the Awwww! please.
And please leave a review, as they make me happy.