Xiaoyu watched the water lapping up against the sheer rock cliff, hypnotized by it. Every once in a while a wave would come large enough to get her wet, but she didn't mind. It felt nice in the ninety degree weather. She was lying on her stomach, her back and legs perfectly straight, stretched out. Her head was right up to the edge of the cliff, resting on top of her crossed arms as her dark eyes gazed lazily across the ocean water. Just watching the waves.
It was good to just get away from everything. Only, she wasn't really "getting away" from anything at all. She was just running away from it, and every day she waited in acute unrest for all of her problems to catch up with her. Needless to say, it did not leave her in a desirable mental state. Even on days when she was relaxing, part of her was always stiff, always on edge. She had taken to carrying a knife in a sheath strapped to her thigh at all times. Even now, relaxing in the warvm sunshine, she could feel its grip around her leg under her pink floral sundress.
A deafening British voice came ringing through the dry air and disrupted her sunbathing. She would have jumped, but this particular voice was now familiar to her, "Xiao!" it came calling, very loud the first time and, the second time, accomplishing an amazing feat, much louder still. "XIAO!"
"I heard you the first time!" she called back, bemoaning the disruption of her sunbathing under her breath. Slowly, regretfully, she rolled over pushed herself up. She stretched out, clasping her hands together and raising them high above her head, letting out a long, low sigh as she did. Her skin felt dehydrated and shriveled up from the heat, and she could have sworn she was two inches shorter than she had been two hours prior.
She retrieved her sandals from their resting place and slipped them on her feet; though they had been placed in the shade of a group of Tamarisk trees, they were still uncomfortably hot on the soles of her feet, causing her to stumble, even more than she typically did, up the primitive driftwood stairway to the humble bungalow. Xiao often wondered what kind of an imbecile had built this stairway, as they had chosen possibly the steepest, most awkwardly sloping side of the hill. The pathway led straight from the beach up to the veranda of the bungalow, a constant reminder to Xiao that the straightest path is not always the most desirable.
When she reached the top of the hill she was immediately met by Steve. "Read this," he said to her in a loud, slow voice. It was the same voice you use with children, the mentally ill, or people who don't speak your language, and it was the same tone Steve always addressed her in. Xiaoyu, however, was fluent in English and had been trying to break him of this annoying habit for weeks now, to no avail. She glared at Steve, but before she had a chance to admonish him, he shoved the newspaper into her hands.
There was a large headline on the front page, very attention-drawing. It read: Heihachi Mishima Still Alive. She only browsed the article, but picked up the key details of the story; Heihachi Mishima, who was not dead, had sponsored the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5, and the prize money had not yet been collected by the winner (whose name was left out of the article).
"Heihachi's…. Alive…ness is OLD news. And the newspaper doesn't even have all of its facts straight… Jinpachi sponsored the tournament. You called me away from my sunbathing for this?" She glared at him angrily but he just laughed at her.
"Well… that, and drinks," He suavely pulled two martini glasses seemingly from thin air, "How does a Mike's Hard on the rocks with a lemon wedge sound to you?"
"I don't drink," Xiao said, trying to keep a serious face. Steve started laughing, and Xiao soon joined in. Xiao said this every time she drank, and it was now a fond exchange between them. She took the glass from him, sipping it down greedily. Xiao didn't like drinking but, she did. Every time she got hammered, there was that little voice telling her that she couldn't run from her problems. But that was just the direction her life seemed to be going in right now. Running away.
They were having a good time together, drinking, talking about everything from squirrels to cell phones, until Steve said something unexpected, in a serious tone, "Why aren't you wearing your ring, Xiao?" Xiao laughed, snorting a little, but Steve glared at her and she suppressed it.
"It's in my jewelry box, on my dresser. Why does it matter?" Her speech was slurred ever so slightly; it was apparent that she had consumed far more alcohol than Steve.
"Well, because we're married now… Y'know, it's just what married people do," Steve replied, so level-headed Xiao wondered if he had been drinking at all.
"We're not really married, it was just to uh…. You know, escape the Zaibatsu…," Her speech was not only slurred but inflected with an extremely heavy Chinese accent, making it a wonder that Steve could decipher it at all.
"No, Xiao, we really are married. It may not have been a marriage for love, but we are married, and people will be suspicious if you don't wear your wedding ring."
"Whatever, we're on an empty beach in Kahooey," She mispronounced the island's name, Kaho'olawe, to a criminal degree, "Nobody's even here to be suspicious," She got up from her seat and headed inside.
"Where're you going?" Steve called after her, annoyed.
"I'm going to bed!" She replied angrily.
"It's only eight-thirty!" he called back.
"I don't care, you're a downer!" Xiao crawled in bed, not bothering to change her clothing, and fell asleep in seconds. Steve stayed outside on the terrace until the sun set over the water.
