Mileena's P.O.V

The comforting feeling of water hitting my dirty battered skin sent waves of peace through my body as Kung Lao towered behind me, scrubbing Rain's blood and excess debris and dirt from my skin.

"Raise your arms Ai Ren," he whispered in my ear. I giggled and calmly raised my arms above my head, watching the tainted blood leave my skin, the gashes and cuts slowly fading. We stood waist deep in a medium sized river, the others planning a defense and attack system against Baraka.

Dropping my arms, I turned and faced him, tucking my wet hair behind my ears. My orange eyes burned into his brown ones and he sent me a loving smile.

"I'm still so sorry mi amor," I breathed. "You spent all that time teaching me how to prevent from killing or injuring someone, and now… these hands are tainted."

His hands cupped my chin and he pressed his lips softly against mine before they slid down my body and rested on my curves.

"You shouldn't say such nonsense Mileena. It was life or death. I would've done the same. Now I want you to let go of that tainted memory and keep looking forward. We're going to take down Baraka and soon you'll be safe in my arms forever."

A tear slid down my cheek and I gripped onto his body tightly. I could feel his chest rise and fall against my head, my fingers trembling against his back.

"You always know what to say…" I trailed off. He stepped back and grinned, wiping away my tear. I heard a rustling noise and noticed he was fumbling with something in his back pocket. He got down on one knee and hid his hands behind his back.

"You may be right. But today I want you to say something that will make me happy beyond words."

"Kung Lao, what are you-"

He raised his hand up, immediately silencing me.

"Mileena, when I first saw you, I knew I just had to do something to leave an impression on you. You were spontaneous, fearless, and incredible. But you were insecure. Now you've achieved new lengths that I knew you would surpass."
"You're too sweet Kung Lao. I love-"

"But you've also achieved stealing my heart. I beg that you keep it and never want to return it. These last two years have been crazy, but if being with you makes me crazy I hope I go insane. So, Mileena, my pink blossoming beauty, would you do this monk a favor and be my bride?"

His words shocked me. I stumbled a bit in the river and he outstretched his hands to keep me from tipping over. When I caught my balance, revealed a laced pink box with white trim. My curiosity eating at me, I opened it hastily. Inside was the most beautiful thing I have ever laid my eyes on besides Kung Lao and Edenia's waterfalls.

It was a stunning ring, a pure gold band with a row of diamonds embedded in the band, a large pink gemstone in the middle shaped into a heart, and my name engraved on it as well. My mouth fell agape as I looked at the captivating piece of jewelry.

I closed the box, handed it back to him, and wrapped my arms around his neck. Giggling at his confused glare, I pressed my lips softly against his and gently began to sway until he let go.

"Does this mean-"

"Yes Kung Lao. I will marry you."

He whistled and Skarlet, Scorpion, and Liu Kang ran over, their eyes wide and excited.

"Well?" asked Skarlet.

"She said yes." Kung Lao said ecstatically. Skarlet screeched with joy and when Kung Lao nodded to Liu Kang, my eyes widened in amazement. Billions of blue butterflies soared around us. They rose into the sky and formed a heart before flying away.

"How did you? When did you..?"

"I wanted this to be perfect. While we had free time, Liu Kang and I trained the butterflies to do that, hoping you said yes. If you would've refused, we also trained them to form into a broken heart."

I looked at Kung Lao and the others. My eyes felt watery and my voice came out shaky.

"How could I refuse you? You're the only one who gave this butter face a chance at true love." I whispered.

"Who dared to call you a butter face Mileena? I'll see to it that they won't ever be able to speak again."

I giggled and shook my head, trying not to die from his cuteness.

"It was Rain, Kung Lao."

"Well, he's already dead. Karma knew I was coming for him so it got him for me."

I just chuckled at the monk. It amazed me how far we've come, how I went from a deranged, psychotic, cannibalistic assassin to a semi peaceful, lovable, engaged clone with feelings.

Skarlet's P.O.V

I was so excited for Mileena! She deserved finally being with someone who loved her for her. I remember when we were under Shao Kahn's rule, how she would talk to me about how she would never find love because people were petrified of her face. She was going to resort to Baraka and ran away with him until she found the courage to kill Shang Tsung, Shao Kahn, Raiden, and Quan Chi.

She went mad with power, took everyone's soul, including mine. Luckily Smoke, Jax, Li Mei, Kitana, and jade straightened her out before it was too late.

But what about me…? Am I just a hemomancer who's doomed to play seductive games with a wraith for the rest of my life? I wanted better than that. I wanted a life like Mileena's… someone who will see something in me that no one else would and turn my life around… someone who will make me happy.

With a sigh I joined the others in walking along a steep ledge to kill the Tarkatan bastard.

...

In a hidden area not far from our warriors, Baraka was pacing around his kingdom with horrid copies of Tarkatans working on building a better defense mechanism on the hidden kingdom.

The scent of Lilac and sweat stung his nostrils, and even though the source of the scent was 4 miles away he knew who it was. He knew that unless he got his shit together he'd be just like that fool of an emperor, Shao Kahn.

"He was a weak idiotic ruler who didn't know what he was doing with the tiny percentage of power he managed to get on his calloused fingertips! My ruling shall be different, and what Shao Kahn was lacking, effective."

He needed the lilac smelling beauty by his side to birth as many Tarkata as possible to keep his army unstoppable, without any side effects. Right now he had about 7,000 soldiers, but he cloned them from a single drop of his saliva.

Apparently, that wasn't enough, considering the fact that most of them either exploded or their faces drooped off. He clenched his fist, waiting on his rightful prize to come. He had a mission to complete, and fire breathing champion or hat tossing monk was getting in the way of that.