It felt good for Sarah to finally take down J6 once and for all. Of course she wasn't alone in doing this; she teamed up with her bodyguard, Vanessa whom she rescued after infiltrating the main headquarters, and her brother Jacky who came as soon as he got her message on her location. Together, they managed to take down the organization who made everyone's lives a living hell, not just theirs. With this, they can finally have the peace that they deserve.
Now they head to the coliseum at night as the tournament is still ongoing, and the final match is about to begin.
The final match is Sarah Bryant versus Jacky Bryant.
"It's time I settle the score with you, Jacky," she said, cracking her knuckles in anticipation for the fight.
"That, I would like to see you try, sis," he said in return, grinning to see if she really has surpassed him.
After they made their banter, the fight begins. They charge toward each other and attempted to punch each other, but they were able to dodge their first attacks. Impressed with each other, they do a kick next, but they were able to block each other's attack.
Sarah attempted to do a knee strike towards Jacky, who is able to block that with his own knee. This goes to show that they learned Jeet Kune Do, but Sarah herself made improvements by doing Mixed Martial Arts. She hoped this is enough to beat her brother, so that she can finally put her past to rest. Jacky does his next move with a punch, but Sarah blocked it. That doesn't mean he can do a flip kick to her.
"I see you have improved yourself, Sarah," he grinned.
"Oh, you ain't seen how much I've improved, bro," she grinned in return.
That is another great banter between them, and the audience is impressed by it including the particular people who are watching the fight such as Vanessa, Akira Yuki, and Pai Chan.
"This is getting intense," Pai commented.
"I know," Akira acknowledged as he turned to Vanessa next. "They sure are getting strong. Who do you think will win?"
"That, I'm not sure," was the latter's reply.
Jacky does a round of kicks next, and Sarah tries her best to dodge them. However, he is able to land a punch toward her face which stunned her a second before being able to block his oncoming attack which is a punch. She throws him down the ground afterwards and attempts to land a strong kick to the air, but he dodged it in time.
They exchanged blow after blow in a few seconds later before she found an opening. She landed a strong punch to his chest and does a barrage of punches before landing an uppercut to knock him down to the ground.
It's settled, then. The winner is Sarah Bryant.
"Wow, she beat her own brother," Pai is amazed by this.
"Yeah, that's finally gonna break his winning streak against her," Vanessa acknowledged the outcome.
While the audience cheered, Sarah looked happy. By beating Jacky, she can finally put her past behind her. This also means that her rivalry with him has officially come to an end. Speaking of her brother, she approached him.
"Are you okay?" she asked with concern, offering a hand to him.
"Yes, I'm okay. Thank you for asking," he accepted her hand to help himself stand up. "I guess you really did improved yourself. I'm proud of you."
"Thanks... brother," she blushed at being complimented of her skill. She is even touched by how Jacky said that he is proud of her.
And so, the tournament has been concluded. Sarah and Jacky are seen at a snack bar nearby the coliseum to have a celebration of their very own. They're having noodles.
"It felt good," she started a conversation while having her meal.
"Huh?" he asked, looking confused before he could take another bite from his meal.
"By defeating you in combat, I finally felt at peace. This means I just realized something."
"And what's that?"
"I didn't really want to kill you, Jacky."
"Oh... Oh, I get it. Now I see what you mean," Jacky realized what Sarah meant. "You have some bad memories restored not just the good ones, so you wanted to fight me and win just to help alleviate your worries. Is that right?"
"That's right," she admitted her reason of fighting him. "There's one more thing I must know, and I want to hear it from your perspective."
"Huh?"
"Did I really want to kill you because I was so jealous of you over the years?"
When he heard her question, Jacky is filled with dread. He wondered how will she face the truth.
"Whatever your answer is, I'll believe it," Sarah reassured him, determined to face the truth even if it sounded awful.
"How much do you remember about that?" he began with the question, wondering what memory is she talking about.
"I remember the time we fought at the garden. I lost control of myself, ready to kill you with a rake. I also remember the time we fought at the park, and I looked determined to kill you by having the bees sting you," she replied on what memory, or rather memories, is she talking about. "Did those things happened while I was brainwashed by J6 or before I was brainwashed?"
With a deep breath, Jacky has chosen to give her an honest answer.
"Those moments happened before you got brainwashing," was his reply, putting emphasis on the word 'before'. As he expected, she didn't took the truth well; so much for being determined to face the truth. It ripped her apart with guilt. How could he be so blunt at the time?
"Jacky, I'm so sorry!" Sarah suddenly bawled to his shoulder, letting her tears fall from her eyes. "I'm sorry for taking my jealousy of you too far, and I'm sorry for trying to kill you!" she cried more, letting out all of her pain in the past. "I must be the worst sister in the world."
"What are you talking about, Sarah? You're the best sister in the world," Jacky hugged her tightly to give her the comfort she needed, just like what older brothers would do for their younger sisters. "Envious, sure. Competitive, sure. Murderer, that's not you. In those moments, you felt guilty of what you did and apologized to me. You fought me and won on that night, so that you can be free of your past. I mean, I'm still here, aren't I? You won the fight without killing me, and that's all that matters."
"You don't mind if I'm dirty, trying to kill you before the brainwashing and while I was brainwashed by J6?"
"Sarah, you're my sister, and I love you. I know you didn't mean to do those things. If anything, I should be proud that you finally broke my winning streak against you. I felt tired of this fighting, and that I wanted to stop it by taking down J6 and having you beat me in our fight. I'm proud of you for winning against me for once."
Touched by his heartwarming speech, Sarah wrapped her arms around Jacky, giving him the biggest hug that he deserved just like what younger sisters would do for their older brothers when they found comfort.
"Thank you, Jacky. Thank you for helping me find peace," she said gratefully.
"You're welcome, Sarah. I'm just glad we can finally put this thing behind us," he said proudly.
They hold on to each other as much as they want, knowing fully well that their relationship as siblings is going to improve from here on out.
After a few seconds, they let go of the hug.
"Are you okay?" Jacky asked, offering a tissue to his sister.
"I am now, thanks to you," Sarah accepted the tissue to wipe off her tears.
"Let's have a toast," he raised his glass.
"To what?" she raised her glass next.
"To remember..."
"To remember... I like that."
They make their toast and they continue on to finished their meal, all the while Akira, Pai, and Vanessa watched them secretly from another table being happy that their rivalry has been put to rest.
"I love happy endings," Pai commented while tearing up.
"Me, too. Me, too," Vanessa agreed.
"It's about time those two patched things up. Guess the love of siblings is much more powerful, indeed," Akira commented last.
"Let's go home together," Jacky proposed, offering a hand to his sister.
"Yes... I would love that," Sarah accepted his proposal and his hand.
The Bryant siblings walked out of the stadium, holding each other's hand as a sign that they're going to be closer than ever.
Author's Note: Not bad for my first Virtua Fighter fanfiction, am I right? The reason I named this story as Remember is because despite being the first 3D fighting game series ever made, Virtua Fighter has been recently become underrated, not to mention forgotten. And that's not the only game series to suffer like that, tell that to Bloody Roar.
Anyway, the relationship between Sarah and Jacky Bryant is quite interesting. Rivalry aside, their relationship as siblings is a positive one, unlike their "successors" and I'm talking about Nina and Anna Williams from Tekken. At least their rivalry, mostly from Sarah wanting to beat Jacky so that she can put her mind at ease for subconsciously wanting to kill him, isn't quite as serious as what those two sisters have. It's a shame there isn't a closure between brother and sister because their home series doesn't have a story mode, so I decided to provide that closure myself with this fanfic.
What do you think?