Light At the End

Water dripped from the crack of lightning in the sky. Ribs of water pushed over one another along the sides of the road, pushing until finding a new path to flood. Bits of litter and extinguished cigarettes were picked up in the current, brushing against Jin's shoes as he walked back to the front door of the Mishima Mansion.

Princeton. It wouldn't be long until he was off of this island and on the East Coast. What an idea. Just thinking about college was enough to make him want to run down to the bar and down more drinks, until he couldn't walk straight or remember what he was so upset about.

Little sprouts of water sprung from his shoe as he walked down the front sidewalk past the guards at the front gate. After lowering his hood and flashing an ID—apparently, his hair didn't respond well to the rain—he sought shelter from the torrent under the overhang of the house.

A chill passed through him as he pushed the door open, and a wash of darkness flooded past. It was 2:30 in the morning. Who would be awake now anyway? Especially since tomorrow was the big day, when he wore the cheap robe and the ugly hat, and walked in front of a crowd to take a glorified piece of paper. All part of the show and tell that they called a graduation ceremony.

Then what? Jin plopped dropped his coat on the floor by a couch, kicking off his shoes before slumping down. Then on to Princeton. The future. Never to see his high school enemies or virulent family again.

Everything was simultaneously ending and beginning.

The paradox was beginning to make his head hurt. Leaning forward, feeling the cold rain droplets travel down his now exposed dry shirt, he buried his face in his hands.

He wasn't sure how long he stayed like that. Moments? Minutes? Hours? So much had been flying through his head, he was certain he had stopped registering thought or time, and instead left it to his subconscious to file a memo to save for later. A time span without landmark or distinction: until he felt someone sit on the couch next to him.

"Good morning," Xiaoyu said brightly.

"… It's morning?" Jin sat up quickly, looking out the window. It was still dark, still rainy, and still utterly depressing.

"Well, yeah, technically, it's 2:45 in the morning!"

Jin stared at her for a moment. She was in her pajamas, which consisted of a long, mint green robe with pandas, and matching pajama pants. It didn't look like she was affected by fatigue at all, and on closer inspection Jin found himself feeling tired just looking at her bright and sunny exterior. "No, it's not…" he dropped his face back into his hands.

Xiaoyu heaved an exaggerated sigh. He could hear her get up, and he felt the odd sensation of being alone creeping over him again. If he had any guts, he would turn around, call her back. He didn't have to tell her everything; just that he could use a little company. Stress, that sort of thing. As it was, his guts must already be asleep alongside his spine, because his mouth stayed silent.

Sitting up and wiping the water that had transferred from his bangs to his forehead, he suddenly felt fabric cover his head. Crying out, he whirled around. Xiaoyu stared at him, wide-eyed, with a towel. "You're absolutely drenched," she explained quickly. "I was just drying your hair."

He stared. She stared back expectantly. His eyebrow twitched up. How do normal people respond to that? Of course, normal people only have to respond to normal requests. "How do you walk so damn quietly…" he muttered, slumping back into the chair.

Xiaoyu smiled brightly, dropping the towel back on his head. "Back in China, I used to sneak out all the time. I'd wake up before my parents and go out into the fields and just work."

"You got up early… to work?" Jin didn't bother hiding the incredulousness from his voice.

"Yup." She vigorously rubbed the towel through his hair. Any poor vagrant droplets of water that tried to take refuge in Jin's scalp found themselves ripped from their solace and caught in the soft fabric. "I would practice Hakka Sho, Hikka Ken… anything I could get my hands on really. Then, when they woke up, I would help them plow the fields." Tossing the towel back over her shoulder and admiring her accomplishment, she announced "There you are! No more dripping for Jin!"

Jin wasn't even going to touch that last remark. Xiaoyu left the room, and took with her whatever warmth she had brought in. Oh well. He was used to the cold. At least he wasn't half as wet anymore; that made the drafts in the Mishima mansion more survivable. Now, he could sit and revel in being alone….

Fifteen minutes later, Miss. Merry Sunshine was back. She brought with her the most glorious aroma he had ever smelled in his life, as she sat down next to him once again, with a plate of chocolate chip cookies on her lap and a cup of milk in hand. As much as he appreciated her presence, he wasn't much for words, and he didn't much feel like compensating for that. "I don't really want to talk right now."

Xiaoyu shrugged. "That's okay, I mean, my best friend's a panda bear, I can talk and talk and talk and you don't have to say anything. Just take a cookie." When Jin hesitated, she rolled her eyes and said "Chocolate cookie therapy, best cure for stress! I learned how to make them in America. They're absolutely incredible, believe me!"

Well, if a hard drink doesn't do it… Jin thought to himself, plucking a cookie off of the plate. Maybe chocolate chip cookies will… The idea was absolutely laughable, and he half smiled as he took a bite. Wait a second…"Mmmm..!"

"See, I told you they're good, you really should learn to believe me more often." She took a cookie off of the plate herself, popping it into her mouth. "So I've been up since about five this morning." Jin stared at her, his eyes wide. "I know, insane, right? Totally insane! I had a final project due today, thought I would just practice for a couple of hours until school, you know? Well, after school Miharu told me about this absolutely AMAZING Karaoke bar. Incredible, I tell you, they have songs from everywhere there! So we stayed there for like five hours after school. When we were driving home we got lost, and I told Miharu that she shouldn't have taken that left turn, but she's stupid and she doesn't know how to drive, so we ended up lost."

She paused for air, taking another cookie. Jin snuck another one, and she smiled, handing him the glass of milk. "Try dipping it, it's absolutely amazing. Perfect balance of warm and cold, with a gooey squishy wonderfulness melting in your mouth!" Jin complied, giving her a weird look. "Yeah, I know, I don't use proper grammar, FORGIVE ME, it's only like, three in the morning. I think I can be a little lazy, I mean, I do speak at least three languages fluently, that must mean something, right?" She waited for him to nod, before continuing on a totally different strain. "Why are you depressed, Jin?"

He met her eyes, but only briefly. He quickly looked down at his feet. How do you explain it to a sophomore? How do you tell them that the light at the end of the tunnel is really a train coming for them? The fear of going far away, but that even more overpowering desire to just leave, and go as far away as possible? The real world was so much closer on the night before graduation.

"I figure it's got to be graduation…." She smiled peripherally at him. "I mean, it is tomorrow, right? That's not very far at all. I think I would be scared too. Terrified." She stopped, laughing to herself at a memory. "You know, I was alone for about a year before I met Heihachi… I thought 'maybe if I go far away, maybe if I go to America, I won't have to deal with my problems.' Hah." She dropped her gaze to her knees quietly. "I remember the first night I left my parents' house. Just a note, saying 'I love you. Sorry, I had to' to tell them I had gone away. I must have lived in cheap hotels for like a week, trying to get enough money saved up to go somewhere else…" Pausing, and looking up at him again, she suddenly seemed shy. Xiaoyu, shy. The idea was even more laughable, but for a moment, he actually felt curious.

"But you know what? I found Heihachi, and he took me in and now I'm getting a first class education on top of training for one of the most prestigious fighting competitions there ever was! You know, I think I did pretty well for myself! And I'm positive you will too. You'll love Princeton, I was in America once, and there will be chocolate chip cookies and French fries as far as the eye can see. Once you tie up the loose ends, you'll be able to do whatever you want to!"

Whatever I want to. What an idea. Getting bussed from Jun to Heihachi, living under Japan's original watchdog, getting tortured through school with classes he didn't want to take and learn things he didn't need; he wasn't sure there was much that he wanted that he got. Some of the things he wanted the worst were right in front of him, and yet, so far from reach. It took him a moment to realize Xiaoyu was still talking.

"Just think about it! A high school diploma, college, a career—you'll have so much right where-" she stopped as his finger rested against her lip, and she blushed, looking down. His face seemed so close to hers. She could smell the chocolate chips on his breath.

"Just shut up." His smile was so slight and subtle. He only paused a moment to see her slightly surprised face before sliding his hand behind her neck and pulling her face closer for a kiss. The gentle feeling of her lips against his was like a balm on his nerves; it was absolutely wonderful.

When she leaned back, only for a moment, she whispered. "Wow Jin…" She smiled with a little laugh. "What was that about?"

"It was nothing I didn't want to do…" he replied, brushing his hair back from his face.

Xiaoyu looked at him warmly, tentatively reaching her hand into his hair, fixing it gently. "Me either…" She leaned forward, catching his mouth again. He laughed against her lips, taking the cookies and setting them on the table behind her, leaning forward and propping her back against the couch. With eager compliance, she kissed him affectionately.

Graduation. Perhaps the only celebration where everyone is expected to both wear black and be happy at the same time. Proud parents flooded the chairs of the atrium, dressed in their best and armed with cameras to capture every single moment. The graduates themselves waited with anticipation for their name to be called, so they could stand, stride, and take their diploma once and for all.

"Ling Xiaoyu."

Xiaoyu stood, taking a breath and walking up the steps. Don't trip, she coached herself, stepping gently to keep her hem over her feet. Walk straight, keep eye contact, take diploma with the LEFT, shake hand with the RIGHT.

This was it. The culmination of her high school career. Four years invested in this. Hard work and some fun times were behind her, and that diploma and something completely different was ahead of her.

This meant the end of Heihachi. This meant going to the University of Shanghai. She could go wherever she wanted to go, and all she had to do was leave a note behind for courtesy. One like the one she found in Jin's script, which said "I love you. Sorry, I had to." Once she sorted out all the loose ends, whether with some words she never had a chance to say or a stolen kiss, it was to the wind, and wherever it took her. And the secret desire to find someone who had disappeared two years ago, to some remote corner of the world. A corner that certainly wasn't Princeton.

Her light at the end of the tunnel… hope.