Chapter Three: A Night To Remember (Calleigh'S POV)

It had been silent for a few seconds. I'll be completely honest, Jin had surprised me by coming to my window that night…but he had shown up, and now we were walking through the woods together. I had almost completely forgotten what had happened earlier, and even if I remembered, I wasn't about to ruin the perfect moment I had going on with trite trivialities.

I smiled as we came to the river, and the trees thinned out. I loved the river in the middle of spring. This was the most beautiful time of year. Everything was in perfect color, and all the flowers seemed to mix beautifully with the whole scene. I looked back to see Jin following me closely, and paying attention to every step I took. His hood still covered his face, but I didn't care. He was here, I was here…that was really all that mattered, or at least to me it was. I don't think I had been this happy in a long time. It seemed as though Jin had looked past the fact that my dad was a really scary judo fighter. I probably would have understood better, why he wasn't scared, if I'd seen him fight.

You could see about a billion stars in the sky, and the moon was right over our heads, as we turned a corner along a brick wall. I could feel the tension in the air, as we moved along. Neither one of us wanted to talk, in fear of saying something stupid, so we continued walking in silence. I led him across a log, that had fallen over the river and then to a large rock, which seemed to be leaning against a tree. Deciding to break the silence, I said, "I usually need a little help getting up here, but it seems as though my footstool has disappeared." I looked to the ground, where there used to be another fallen log, just large enough to boost me to the rock, but now there was nothing.

Jin nonchalantly jumped up and grabbed the top of the rock, pulled himself up, then reached down to pull me up. "Need a hand?" he asked, showing me a distinct smile.

I grabbed his hand, and he pulled me up onto the rock. "Thanks…" I told him as he sat down. "Um, Jin…we're not there yet…" I explained to him, as I jumped up and grabbed a high branch on the tree. "We have climbing to do…" I pulled myself onto the branch, then looked down at Jin, who was giving me a blank look. I laughed, then started to talk like a cave-woman. "Calleigh and Jin climb tree, find special place…"

Jin laughed at me. "Ok, cave-Calleigh, thank you for the play-by-play…" he stood up, and grabbed the branch, climbing up the tree behind me. "How often do you come out here?"

I reached up for another branch, then pulled myself onto it, then looked back down at Jin. "I used to come out every day, but now not as often. I really should, though…when we get to where we're going, you'll see why," I explained, coming to a stop on a four-foot-long, one and a half foot thick branch, just large enough to hold two people, with maybe a foot and a half to spare. "Here we are…" The view from that spot was, as usual, absolutely incredible. Straight ahead of us was a clearing, just big enough for a large cluster of stars to be seen, and the moon was slowly rising into the clearing. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world to be sitting there with someone like Jin. I looked to my right to Jin, who was staring at the clearing, shaking his head in disbelief of the sheer beauty ahead of us. "It's amazing, isn't it?" I asked him, sitting down on the branch.

He sat down about a foot away from me, his eyes not leaving the scene ahead of us. "Yeah, it is…" he actually seemed far more interested than the last person I'd brought there had seemed. It was great to see that someone actually shared my interest in the world around me. "I feel like I'm in a movie or something…it's really amazing, Calleigh…"

I grinned contently, then stared out to the sky myself. "I'm glad someone will appreciate it with me…everyone else I've brought out here seems to think I'm insane and a starry-eyed, stargazing moron." I wished I could see Jin's eyes, but his hood was still covering them. I was willing to bet I'd see more stars in those eyes than I could in any patch of sky. I was doing it again; leaping before I looked. What if he has no interest in me whatsoever? What if I am playing myself even thinking that someone like him could have the slightest bit of interest in someone like me? I asked myself, with a deep sigh.

My train of thought was quickly interrupted by Jin, who said, "No, I think it's important to be able to stare at the stars, and not see something scientific. If everyone thought that way, imagine how boring the world would be?" he asked, as he turned toward me for the first time since we'd sat down on the branch.

I grinned, remembering saying nearly the exact same thing to my father two nights prior to this, while we were sitting on the back porch. His response? "Stargazing is for teenyboppers. You're nineteen, Calleigh, grow up, and get a hobby…your mother was just like you. She was always stargazing and going on and on about the beauty of the world around us…" Then, he went into some huge deal about my mother, and how she'd been before she got pregnant with me.

"I know what you mean…" I flashed Jin huge smile. "I wouldn't like to live in a world like that, really. If I ever change to some freakish scientist person, who can't see the world for the dream it is, do me a favor and give me a huge uppercut to the jaw?" I laughed, and put my hands on either side of me.

Jin shook his head, but let out a small laugh. "I'll call you on it, yes, but not hit you…" he sighed, and looked like he were in deep thought. He paused for a second, then as calmly as he could, took his hood down.

I looked at him, and almost did a double take, but decided not to. I didn't want to look too suspicious. A smile crept across my lips. Did this mean he trusted me? Or, just that he was uncomfortable in his hood? I didn't care, really…those eyes were enough to send someone into delusion. How could HE, of ALL people be a Mishima descendant? I'd seen pictures of Heihachi Mishima and Kazuya Mishima, and frankly, they weren't all that easy on the eyes.

"So," Jin looked at me again, and I almost melted. "Your father didn't even let you ASK him about any tournaments?" he asked. "I mean, has he ever seen you fight before? I bet if he'd seen you practice, his outlook would change."

I shook my head. "I'll have to sneak off, and just leave a note or something…unless he goes to the tournament, too…then I'll have to hide. Because I am coming with you, no matter what…" I told him, smiling. I'd always wondered what it would be like to risk my freedom for something. Here was my chance. "So, do we need to train together, or something?"

He nodded. "Is that cool with you?" he asked, holding out his hand for me to shake.

I shook his hand and nodded. Bada-bing, there it was…a consolidated partnership. "That's definitely cool with me…" I was going to be seeing a lot of Jin Kazama, not that it bothered me in the least…

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Next Chapter: Blown It Again (JIN'S POV)
(Blown It Again is the title of a Daniel Bedingfield song…)