FALLING INTO LOVE

By: T-Drift


Chapter 8

"You're pregnant." Doctor Ryuzaki said to Sarah and smiled at her. Jin was still standing next to the bed, his blazer hanging on his forearm and as shocked as he'd ever been when he heard the news.

A barely audible what escaped Sarah's lips and her eyes immediately widened; she looked like she'd seen a ghost and her skin seemed to turn pale in an instant. Her smile disappeared and she stared at the woman infront of her, the sudden silence pardoning only the sound of the rain outside.

"There is a baby growing in there," the woman said smiling and gently put her hand on Sarah's belly, which made the latter lower her gaze to it.

I'm carrying his baby…

Ryuzaki pulled her hand back and turned to Jin, still smiling.

"Who's the father?" The doctor asked and gazed back and forth between Jin and Sarah.

Our baby… oh Lars, we have a baby…

"I…!" Jin didn't finish his sentence as he quickly walked up to Sarah and embraced her; the Swedish brunette burst out in tears at the doctor's question. Facing Ryuzaki, Jin shot her a serious look in spite of him still being shocked at the news.

"Oh, dear heart don't cry! The baby's perfectly healthy and is showing remarkable activity!" Ryuzaki merrily said to Sarah, clueless.

With Sarah in his embrace, Jin gently and slowly rocked her back and forth, stroking her back. Nodding toward Sarah as he faced the doctor, he asked for a minute alone with his friend. Ryuzaki nodded in agreement as she got to her feet and stepped outside.

He let a minute or two pass before he carefully pulled back and held Sarah by her shoulders. Her gaze was lowered and she looked completely drained and sobbed occasionally.

"Sarah, what's going on?" He asked in a low and calm tone of voice as he held her chin up with his index finger.

She merely stared at Jin, her eyes red from exhaustion and crying.

"Lars is the father, isn't he?" Jin asked as gently as he could and patiently waited for her answer.

"I… I never thought—I'm not ready for this—we were…" She started babbling again, her words incoherent as she tried to explain. Suddenly she blushed and stopped talking, which made Jin embrace her once again, gently clearing his throat before he spoke.

"… you were careful?" He said completing her sentence, whereas she nodded to confirm. She was glad he was embracing her as she felt so embarrassed she was sure the shade of red on her cheeks would outwin that of a red rose.

"Well, obviously you two weren't careful enough." He said and earned a punch on his chest as he chuckled.

"Oh, Jin!" Sarah said and sobbed; he tried so hard to cheer her up, even amidst his own shock at the news. She loved him dearly for it.

"Itai!" [1] Jin playfully exclaimed and chuckled again as he pulled back and looked at her. Reaching for her belly he gently touched it and smiled.

"You'll be okay. Both of you will. Don't worry, Sarah." She put her hand on his and looked up to meet his eyes; he was genuinely smiling as he gazed at her belly.

What about my baby being fatherless…

"Must be a few weeks old, it's starting to show, you know." Jin said and met her gaze with his; his smile slowly faded when he saw tears streaming down her face yet again.

Lars… what do I do...?

"I'm scared…" She finally said and stroked her belly.

"Sarah, you're not alone. We're here for you, especially me and Xiao. I'm certain even Julia and Asuka would be glad to help out." He stroked her cheek and dried her tears, understanding the uneasiness and dread she must be feeling.

You're still here with me… still a part of you inside me, Lars…

But I'm so frightened. I feel so alone.

"You're going to be a wonderful mother. And Lars' mother will be thrilled to hear she has a grandchild, don't you think?" Jin said as they heard the familiar knocking on the door again; it was doctor Ryuzaki.

"Sorry for interrupting again." Ryuzaki closed the door behind her and walked up to the duo.

"Are we feeling a bit better now?" She had the gentlest tone of voice as she pulled the nearby chair next to the bed and sat on it.

"Somewhat." Jin answered and smiled as he looked at Sarah. She faintly smiled at Ryuzaki and Jin, sighing as she placed a few bangs behind her ears.

"There is something important I need to talk to you about, Sarah. It concerns the baby." The woman instantly put on a serious face and looked at Sarah.

"What is it? Is there something wrong?" Sarah replied with a worried voice and held onto Jin's hand with both of hers.

"Well, no. There's nothing wrong; however there are certain facts you should be aware of." Ryuzaki now gazed at Jin who eagerly listened to what the doctor had to say.

"Kazama-san, I wanted to talk to you about this in private at first, but since it ultimately concerns Sarah as well I'll just let you both know right away. Maybe you can fill her in on some background history after I deliver the details." Looking down as she searched for a specific sheet amongst all the papers in her hand, Ryuzaki finally found what she was looking for.

"Background history?" Sarah asked and looked at Jin, confused. Ryuzaki spoke before Jin could reply.

"Sarah, first and foremost I need you to tell me the name of the baby's father, please." Ryuzaki said and looked up from the papers in her hand, her gaze meeting Sarah's.

"I… his name is—was Lars Alexandersson… I'm very sure he's the father," Sarah replied and lowered her gaze yet again at the mention of his name.

"Oh! Yes, I know who Mr Alexandersson is! Outstanding officer and a rather handsome fellow I might add. Very well-mannered." The doctor seemed unaware of Lars' death in the war and spoke highly of him.

"I haven't met him since the war; he was supposed to come see me as soon as he could." The woman said as she looked to the window and then back to Jin.

"He… unfortunately got killed during the fallback of the G-corp. forces when the war was coming to an end…" Jin said and sighed, lightly squeezing Sarah's hands as a means of comforting her.

"Oh dear, I am so sorry to hear that… so very sorry…" Ryuzaki said and lowered her gaze by means of showing respect to Lars' passing away.

"My deepest condolences, Sarah, Jin… I had no knowledge of this…" She said as she put her hand on Sarah's shoulder and looked at Jin. Sarah turned her head and looked away whilst Jin faced Ryuzaki.

"Doctor Ryuzaki, I'm well aware of the patient confidentiality agreement, but was there, roughly speaking, a reason for Lars to come see you as often as he did?" Jin asked, which caught Sarah's attention.

"Oh, you know about his visits to my office?" The woman perked an eyebrow and vaguely smiled at Jin.

Jin nodded agreement and kept staring at her, his gaze solid, seeking answers to his curious yet concerning questions.

"Well, what I'm about to tell the both of you has to do with his visits as well," the doctor continued.

"But what about the confidentiality agreement?" Sarah interrupted, even though she really wanted to know why Lars had been paying several visits to Jin's personal physician.

"I understand, but this is something Mr Alexandersson wanted you to know in case something happened to him." She replied and immediately her facial expression turned serious.

Sarah seemed frightened and nervous, which Jin saw as he reached to gently stroke her shoulder.

"Sarah, your baby and Lars', rest his soul, have a very rare and specific gene in common. The reason I know this is, first and foremost, because of Alexandersson's blood test results and extensive research on my part. He came to me wanting this, knowing exactly I was the person to talk to in finding this specific gene." She said and turned to look at Jin as she continued.

"Second, I noticed very rare and abnormal activity from the baby which immediately had me further my research." Jin interrupted her before she could continue, addressing Sarah.

"Sarah, doctor Ryuzaki and my family go way back; she was my father's and grandfather's personal physician and one of the top private researchers since back then. My mother was the one who raised me, but I saw Ryuzaki on many occasions when she came to see my mother." Jin explained and recalled his many visits to the Mishima empire as a little boy.

Ryuzaki smiled but abruptly widened her eyes in shock as her smile dropped.

"What's this…?" Ryuzaki said in a shocked expression and reached to touch the now glowing Kazama necklace around Sarah's neck.

"And so it all gets confirmed..." the doctor said, mostly to herself as she spaced out and let go of the piece.

"It's glowing…" Jin said absently as he stared at the fluorescent-like, glowing piece hanging down the necklace. Sarah's shocked gaze followed his, confused and puzzled.

For about all that he knew, the necklace had only glowed when his late mother Jun had worn it when she was pregnant with Jin, as to confirm if Jin inherited a certain gene from his father Kazuya. The necklace was made specifically for Jun Kazama by doctor Ryuzaki, by request from Jun at the time of Jun's pregnancy.

"Kazama-san, that's your late mother's personal necklace, isn't it? It has to be, there's only one in the world, and I made it." Ryuzaki asked and turned her mesmerised gaze at Jin.

"Yeah, I… I don't get it, why is it glowing all of a sudden? It shouldn't be glowing Ryuzaki-san, I mean it can't. If Sarah's carrying Alexandersson's baby, then…," he said and trailed off, his mind on hiatus.

What the hell is going on?

"The gene in common between the baby and Alexandersson is the Mishima 0X49 gene. I have run the tests over and over again and—" Jin interrupted her with haste.

"Are you saying that Alexandersson carried the Mishima 0X49 gene?" He asked, but not in anger.

"Yes, by request of Alexandersson I matched that gene through advanced PCR methods; he knew he was carrying the gene. In his case it was a matter of confirming it, especially to me by means of recording it for a future emergency case, such as his tragic and surprising death." The woman calmly said to Jin.

"You do realise what you're implying?" Jin said and frowned. Ryuzaki said nothing and waited for him to continue.

"You're saying that Lars Alexandersson is related to me, by blood. And that's impossible. It's insane." Jin seemed unusually stressed all of a sudden, but spoke calmly.

"I'm not implying anything, it's the truth Kazama-san. And yes, that is what I was getting to; Lars Alexandersson is related to you, by blood, and his' and Sarah's baby has inherited that gene much like you did from your father Kazuya when your mother was pregnant with you. The necklace's glow as well as extensive research confirms this already." Ryuzaki looked at her stack of papers again and turned a sheet from the many she was holding in a bunch.

"You must've missed something; how is it possible he's related to me? The pieces just don't fit together." Jin said and kept staring at the woman. Sarah put a hand to her belly and took a deep and shaky breath.

Oh my God, they're related...

"Why is it impossible? Did you ever find out who Alexandersson's father was? Did he ever tell you anything about his family except for who his Swedish mother is?" Ryuzaki pulled one question after the other which left Jin silent and baffled. She continued.

"It's not only research and activity from the baby that fit into this fact. I'll have you know that Lars himself came forth with the fact that he's related to you. Only he and his mother knew about this, and he wanted to keep it that way. For reasons unknown to me." Doctor Ryuzaki looked sympathetic, her kind eyes truthful.

"He told you he was related to me? All that time, he'd been… how is he related to me? If he carried the Mishima gene, then he must be from my father's side of the family." Jin looked so shocked and deceived by the news his face turned pale.

"Believe it or not, he's your uncle; he's Heihachi's son and Kazuya's half-brother. That's how he's related to you. Please know that this was something Alexandersson wanted you to know only if anything ever happened to him. And the information was originally only addressed to you Kazama-san, but since Sarah is carrying his baby, this concerns her greatly. It is to be kept a secret from anyone else, by request from Alexandersson. He spoke to me in confidence." She tipped her head to the side and looked at Jin.

"Jin…" Sarah leaned forward and embraced him tightly. She herself was quite shocked at the news and felt like it was all just a dream. Retreating, she looked into Jin's eyes and saw that they were shining from new, unshed tears; a hurtful expression was almost clear on his handsome face.

Sarah cupped his face and kissed him on his cheek as she stroked his bangs; Jin's gaze shot past Sarah, his presence seemingly absent all of a sudden, his eyes staring into the rain-struck window.

"I can't believe it… my uncle, and he never told me…" A tone of hurt and surprise in his gentle, fading voice.

"Jin-chai, it's okay… he obviously had his reasons, don't you think…?" She said and let her hands drop to hold on to his as she was trying to comfort him.

In a sudden movement, Jin's head turned to his left and he looked straight at Ryuzaki as he met her gaze.

"I've known him for years. All these years and we eventually became very close friends; all this time and he knew all along… I don't understand the secrecy." Jin said almost forcefully and sighed.

"It may have been by strategic means. As I mentioned, I eventually learnt from Alexandersson that only he and his mother knew of this fact; his mother kept Lars away from his father, Heihachi, and raised him alone, much like your mother did with you to keep you away from your father Kazuya. She raised Lars on her own in Sweden until he was around 18 years old. After that she moved to Japan and Lars continued his studies there. Although she had briefly visited Japan while Lars was still a baby." Pausing, she sipped some water from the glass she'd brought in with her after she'd stepped out.

"Prior to his joining you and later becoming the highly ranked Tekken Force officer that he was, he had just graduated from a top university here in Japan." Ryuzaki held on to the armchair and backed away against the backrest of the chair, crossing her left leg over the right even as she picked up the pile of papers again.

Gently clearing her throat she said, "Heihachi never knew Lars' mother was pregnant nor did she have any contact whatsoever with Heihachi since she learned of her pregnancy. Heihachi still doesn't know, and Lars probably kept this information from you and everyone else by means of protecting his mother and you, I'm sure." She waited for Jin to speak his mind.

He seemed deep in thought from the doctor's words and decided to say nothing.

"That is also why Lars never sought out his father immediately. His mother, Frida Sara, told Lars who his father was and everything about him, but Lars, by his own choice, kept away from Heihachi because of his mother's warnings, even as Lars' age passed that of 23 years. I can only imagine how a child desperately would want to reunite with the father he never had the chance to know or have seeing him grow up as a child." She sighed.

"What with missing out on Lars' first steps, birthday parties and graduation…" She seemed to be relating to Lars' life and kept sighing in a sad manner.

Sarah felt a lump in her throat as she listened to the doctor talk about Lars' life before coming to Japan.

"Poor soul must've carried such a burden keeping it a secret from everyone, even though he knew of the evil that was his father. I know he loved his mother dearly, so he made the choice of protecting her over the want of getting to know his father. His mother raised him well, even though she chose not to keep from her son who his biological father was." Ryuzaki continued and sighed inwardly, feeling sad for everything that had to be Lars' life from beginning to end. He possessed the most protective, kind soul she'd ever encountered, much like Jin's, and it pained her to know it didn't get what it deserved. Specifically since Lars' life had met the sudden and abrupt tragic end that it recently had.

Sarah looked sad and broken as she digested all the new facts. Jin scooted next to her and embraced her, understanding her feelings that he shared much of.

"Here you go honey, it's alright; it's not like Lars never had happy moments growing up. And I'm certain he had happy moments with you more than anyone. And knowing he still learned to love and live in the moment tells you a lot about his positive view on life." Jin let go of Sarah as Ryuzaki offered her napkins and tried her best to comfort the girl's fragile feelings.

"His view on life was wonderful… I still get goosebumps when I think of him," Sarah said and rubbed her arms from the teasing, shivering feeling that crept up on her whenever she spoke of Lars Alexandersson.

"It was." Ryuzaki replied in agreement and lowered her gaze; the room went silent and the rain kept pouring outside, like never before.

"This is for you." The doctor said as she broke the silence and handed Sarah an envelope, much to Sarah's surprise.

"What's this?" Sarah frowned and wiped some tears from her cheeks. She read her name which was neatly written on the front of the envelope.

"From Lars. It's been sealed since he gave it to me to keep for you." The woman replied and, with a smile, urged Sarah to open it and read the letter.

"Oh…" Sarah said and sighed as she covered her forehead with one hand and lowered her head. Feeling a tight lump forming in her throat she took deep breaths in silence for a few seconds to get rid of the nauseating feeling in her gut.

"It's okay, I'm sure there are comforting words in there," Jin whispered and stroked her hair. He noticed her shivering body as she looked up to meet his eyes before turning her gaze at the envelope.

"Take your time," Jin said as he kissed her forehead and got to his feet as he followed Ryuzaki out the door, giving Sarah some peace and quiet to read the letter.

Hearing the click of the door as it closed shut, Sarah gently stroked her index finger on her written name, thinking of Lars and what story the letter told.

I miss you so much… it's so hard to breathe without you being here…

… so lonely, so cold…

Wiping her tears with her sleeve, she carefully ripped the back of the envelope from the stearine lump etched on the paper as she opened the envelope and took out the letter. Looking at it before unfolding it, she took a deep breath.

Unfolding it, she slowly read the three and only lines in the middle of the paper.

"Live not for yesterday or hopes of tomorrow.

Live today as if it's your last, and thank God for what you still have.

Din för alltid / Lars" [2]

Her breath caught in her throat, and Sarah felt an intense surge of goosebumps on her entire body as she closed her eyes and let a single tear roll down her now rosy cheek.

—~—~—~—~—~—~—~—~—~—~—~—~—~

I'll always remember, it was late afternoon.
It lasted forever, and ended so soon.
You were all by yourself, staring up at a dark grey sky;

I was changed. [3]


A/n: As always; thank you so much for all the reviews! Always makes my day and motivates me for more writing! And know that many questions you may have will be answered as chapters go; so stay tuned! :)

Translations

1 – Itai! – Ouch!

2 – Din för alltid / Lars – Yours forever/Lars

3 – "Cry" by Mandy Moore