Disclaimer: All characters here belong to Namco. Uh, the song doesn't... It belongs to Lenny Kravitz.




The circumstances were so unreal, Kilik almost laughed. There he was, standing in the presence of the one girl that had slipped away from him as easily as silk through his fingers. She had escaped from him twice. And he'd be damned if he'd let it happen a third time.

I've been searching for you
I heard a cry within my soul
I never had a yearning quite like this before
Now here you are, walking right through my door


An intoxicated Maxi grinned widely at Kilik and Xianghua, utterly oblivious to the silent tumult brewing before his very eyes. "Hey! It's the cherry and the nag!"

Xianghua gave the Dandy a forced smile. And Kilik said nothing. He was engaged with watching the beautiful Seung Mi Na like a hawk, preparing himself to react in the event she chose to run away from him. From the looks of it, she was considering the notion. He noticed her wide-eyed look the instant he turned that corner after Xianghua. He then noticed those precious chocolate eyes wander about their environs, perhaps looking for an escape route.

Kilik's premonitions proved to be correct. Not even an exchange of proper greetings was made and already Mi Na had made a mad dash in the opposite direction, leaving a wavering Maxi to nearly collapse headfirst into a trough.

It was the first time either Maxi or Xianghua had ever heard the "innocent" Kilik curse.

Quickly reacting to the Korean girl's sudden escape, Kilik's hands lashed out and caught his older friend. "Look after each other," he said to the pair as he turned to see that the darkness of the evening sky was on his side for Mi Na, with her vision impaired, was not too far out of his sight.

"Don't tell me you're going after her," a disbelieving Xianghua demanded rather than asked. She gently set a groaning Maxi to a seat upon the ground and looked to Kilik with a hint of a frown.

"I'll be right back…"

"Why!? Why are you going after her!?" Xianghua shouted out after he had began to give Mi Na chase.

"I have to do this!" he yelled back. And before Xianghua could call out to him any further, Kilik had disappeared into the suppressing obscurity of the village's outer reaches.

All of my life
Where have you been?
I wonder if I'll ever see you again
And if that day comes
I know we could win
I wonder if I'll ever see you again


When chased, one runs, and the other cannot help but pursue. That is the way of human emotion.

Kilik heard those words straight from the mouths of the philosophical elders of the Ling Sheng Su temple. He first heard them at a point in his life where he knew next to nothing about the outside world, or even the limits human beings would go to for answers until he had stepped foot outside the temple walls. And now he knew. He knew only too well.

He rushed after Seung Mi Na through the woods with a speed he never knew he possessed. His lungs ached from his lack of practical breathing patterns as he ran; and every now and then, he'd decelerate to control them. Then he'd look to see Mi Na running ahead of him as fast as she could, and then he'd pick up the pace with a renewed vigor garnered from his yearning to catch her.

The gods were definitely in his favor that night, contrary to his earlier beliefs. Mi Na had ceased her running to catch her breath; and Kilik, blessed with more stamina than the Korean girl, took that to his advantage. He quietly disappeared into a nearby dark thicket so as not to be seen by her. And when she had looked and saw that he was no longer several feet from her, her guard went down. And so did she, by way of a tackle from Kilik.

"Hey!" Mi Na shouted out in protest, her arms and legs thrashing about madly, like a fish out of water. She also proved to be quite strong as she wrestled and rolled over with him several times upon the cool, dew-kissed grass. Yet, somehow, Kilik managed to hold onto her. With a bit of a struggle from the flailing, wild girl, he straddled her and pinned her arms down to thwart her lashing hands from striking him. His evenly distributed weight on her lower torso prevented her from kicking him or squirming away. All things considered, Mi Na had no chance of escape.

"Let. Me. Go!" she commanded through gnashed teeth. Despite her situation, she tried her damnedest to squirm free.

"No. I won't."

"If you don't, I'll---"

And Kilik's lips crushed against her own.

Perhaps it was Mi Na's tantalizing smell, like that of fresh orchids marring his wits, or maybe it was the jarring and overall stirring reminder of what it felt like to have her tongue probe boldly around in his mouth again that made Kilik do that. He had never been so…assertive. Ever. And he in all honesty, loved it.

What fascinated him even more was the fact that she responded to him, slightly, once maybe even twice. He felt her body tense against his, and it was all he could do to keep himself from…touching her before the ardent moment finally ended.

Her breathing was loud and labored, and it tickled his ears as he caressed her bare shoulder with his forehead, on the verge of tears. "Please don't leave me, Mi Na…"

A sacred gift of heaven
For better, worse, wherever
And I would never let somebody break you down
Or take your crown
Never.


"Kilik… I… I can't stay here," her words were soft, "please just let me go…"

Kilik lifted his head from its nestling place against her neck and looked to Mi Na as if she had slapped him. "Why? Why can't you stay, Mi Na?" his voice was shaky, though still very stern and low. It was very much unlike him.

"Because," the Korean girl shook her head with her reply. "I just can't..."

The weight on top of Mi Na's compact figure lessened when Kilik rolled off of her. She didn't bother escaping from him for she was both too tired and too interested in what Kilik was doing at the moment. He slid a hand into the pockets of his outlandish scarlet pants and withdrew several sheets of paper folded together into a tiny rectangle. Time grew on the papers and it was evident in their manila shade and numerous wrinkles.

"Mi Na. How can you say such a thing?" Kilik handed her the papers.

Mi Na unfolded the papers and skimmed through the words. They were written by none other than herself, she surmised. And her heart sank at the realization that what she held in her hands was the letter she wrote to Kilik before she had left him in Venice, Italy. Maybe we will cross paths again. Who knows? she had wrote. She never knew fate had this in store for her...

I've searched through time
I've always known
That you were there
Upon your throne
A lonely queen without her king
I've longed for you, my love, forever


"When you left, I almost broke," Kilik continued, though he had turned his back to her, ashamed to let her see his face. "But that letter... That letter was what kept me going because I believed in it. I believed in you," his hand curled into a tight fist, "something in the back of my mind told me, 'Yes. We are going to cross paths again, Mi Na.' And now, you're here, telling me you don't want to be around me..."

"It's not that at all, Kilik," he heard her soft voice say. Her voice had trailed off, which only served to frustrate him.

He suddenly spun about to countenance her. "Then what is it Mi Na!?" he bellowed, his voice echoing through the depths of the blackened forest. "Obviously, it's something you're hiding from me because I can't seem to understand!" Kilik noticed the tone of his voice was making her uncomfortable from the looks of her wincing and fidgeting. He didn't blame her for being scared. Hell, he was scared himself. He had never yelled at anyone like that in his entire life.

An audible sigh escaped him, causing his lips to vibrate. He hung his head and slouched a tad forward, resting his hands on his knees. After a moment or so of trying to recollect himself, Kilik looked to Mi Na. "...Is it because of Xianghua?" His voice could barely be heard over the sound of chirping crickets.

Mi Na shook her head, remaining silent.

"Then what...?"

"It's because of Hwang..."

****

A/N: First and foremost, the song featured in this chapter is "Again" by Lenny Kravitz---the song is what inspired me to write this fic because it kinda sorta went with it. Also, I'd like to take the time to apologize to anyone who has been following this fic for taking so long in putting up this chapter. I was bedridden for a few days and feeling miserable for a lot more because of a throat infection; when I got over the worst part of it, I was struck with a bad case of Writer's Block. However, I got -some- inspiration (after listening to Lenny's Greatest Hits CD on end for like 50 times ^_^) and I even have something planned for the next chapter. I'm gonna try something new; it'll probably be short so bear with me. And for those of you wondering, yes, Hwang is going to be in this story. =) Please read and review, or send me an email at: kaldea@tekken.cc