Chapter Twenty - The Reunion
When Sonya finally made it to the fallen palace, Kenshi was still talking to her. 'Thank goodness, he made it this far,' she thought with relief.
Everyone was waiting for her including Raiden. Jax ran over to Sonya. "Is he-"
"I'm alive," Kenshi replied hearing Jax.
"But barely," Sonya added. "We have to get him out of here quickly."
It was then that she noticed Sub-Zero carrying Frost in his arms. She was slumped over a bit and not responding.
"What happened to her?" Sonya asked as she put Kenshi down on the ground with Jax's help.
Sub-Zero's grim face did not look at her. "It's a long story. I'll tell you when we settle on the Nethership."
Sonya only replied with a nod.
"We must get back to the rendezvous point," said Raiden. "It is there where I can transport all of you back home. There, my powers will be restored and I'll be able to heal Kenshi."
And so they did. Bo' Rai Cho and Li Mei left the group to go back to their Outworld homes, Kitana returned to her home Edenia, and everyone else returned to Earthrealm. Once on the Nethership, Raiden healed Kenshi's wounds and he was able to breathe again with no pain.
"He'll need to rest during the ride," Raiden suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement. After more than a month in Outworld, Kenshi was going to need it.
On the main dock, Sonya and Jax walked around a bit and gazed out at the sea. "We're home again," Jax said.
"Yeah," Sonya replied. "And I kept my promise to Alex."
Then, they both noticed Sub-Zero standing by the edge. He was looking out twards the sea and in his hands, he held what looked like a medallion. The two of them walked over to him. Sub-Zero felt their presence and turned to them.
"What happened with Frost?" Sonya asked with curiosity.
Sub-Zero sighed. "It's funny. You think that you can trust someone because you had worked closely with them, but that's not always true." He looked down at his medallion again. "This medallion is very powerful and only the grandmaster of the Lin Kuei can stand its immense power. Frost tried to take it. I guess she wanted all that power and become Grandmaster herself, but she lacked the ability to control it. It almost killed her, but luckily I managed to take it back before things got worse."
Jax frowned a bit. "What are you going to do with her?"
Sub-Zero shook his head. "I don't know. I'll have to take the time to think about that." Sonya and Jax nodded. They realized that Sub-Zero needed to be alone with his thoughts right now. From there, they continued walking along.
A couple of minutes later, they found Kung Lao meditating. They were going to leave him be, but then he spoke. "It's over. The souls are finally free."
Sonya nodded. "Yes, they are. Kung Lao, you're not mad about Kenshi getting to Shang Tsung first, are you?"
Kung Lao looked up at her with a small smile on his face. "I didn't get to accomplish my own vengeance, but with Shang Tsung now dead, it's easier to move on from it. As long as Liu Kang's soul is now in peace, I am at peace."
"Glad to hear that," said Jax with a smile. Kung Lao nodded. He closed his eyes once again and continued with his meditation.
Once again, Sonya and Jax continued their walk in silence. A few feet away, Johnny Cage was practicing his karate moves.
Jax stopped in his tracks. "Eh, you can take of this one. I'll go to Raiden."
Sonya laughed. "Okay." They went their separate ways, with Sonya walking towards Johnny and Jax towards Raiden. Jax reached Raiden and when he saw his face, he looked worrisome.
"Raiden?" Jax asked. "Is something wrong?"
"I am not sure," Raiden replied. "For now, there is no more threat of peril to Earthrealm. However, things could happen in a couple of years. Perhaps the Dragon King himself will awaken."
"The Dragon King?"
"Yes. The mummified army you fought once served the Dragon King. As we speak, there is an egg in Outworld waiting to be hatched. Once it is hatched, the Dragon King will awaken. With his immense power, who knows what he is capable of…"
"Whatever it is," Jax said. "You know who to turn to."
Raiden nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, Johnny noticed Sonya walking over to him. He smiled at her. "Hey Sonya."
Sonya smiled back. "Hey Johnny. We kicked butt out there once again."
"Yeah, and I'm almost ready for more," Johnny replied.
For a moment, the two were silent. Starting to feel uncomfortable with it, Sonya spoke again. "What will you do when you get home?"
"I was thinking about quitting the movie I'm in the middle of doing," Johnny answered. "Then I could direct my own movie based around my recent adventure. What about you?"
Sonya shrugged. "I'll probably just go back to Special Forces base and go on other missions."
"Well," Johnny said. "How about we go have dinner together before I go back to Hollywood?"
Sonya smiled at that. She could feel herself turning a bit red in the process. "Sure… it's a date."
On the other side of the boat, Kenshi rested on top of the cot that was there. He listened to the sounds of the waves crashing against the ship. He smirked to himself. He was back on Earthrealm and it wouldn't be long before Alex would be in his presence again.
It was then that a green image appeared in his vision of darkness. "What the..." Kenshi muttered. He knew he wasn't dreaming because he was still able to hear the waves crashing clearly along with the voices on the other side of the ship.
The green shape formed into a female human. The woman smiled at him. "Hello Kenshi," she said.
A confused look appeared on Kenshi's face. Before he could speak, the woman spoke again. "I was one of the souls who formed the one called Ermac. You have also eliminated Shang Tsung and freed us. I speak for those who have been freed and we thank you for it."
"It's not a problem," Kenshi replied.
"Now, I have a gift for you," the woman continued. "I am one who grants wishes to those who help me when I am in need. I'm granting you the opportunity to make one wish. The thing is, the wish will only last forty-eight hours Earthrealm time."
Kenshi nodded, accepting the offer and its limits. He gave himself time to think about a wish, but there was one that lingered his mind and it was obvious that it was the one he wanted.
Special Forces Base
Alex and Cyrax had just come out from a meeting concerning a previous mission both of them encountered with just a couple of days ago.
"What a meeting," said Cyrax sounding almost bored. "Too bad they didn't serve any beer or else it would've been more interesting
Alex laughed a little bit. "I don't think the Sergeants would've wanted anyone to get drunk."
"Rrriiigghhhttt," Cyrax replied. "So, what do you want to do now? We could go play some pool, or some video games, or some chess..."
It was then that General White came over to the two of them from the podium. "Good afternoon."
Alex smiled a little. "Good afternoon, sir."
"Listen," White continued. "I need to meet with the two you in my office right now."
"Are we in trouble?" Cyrax asked with some concern, even though he was pretty sure nothing happened recently.
"Cyrax, no one's in trouble."
"Oh… good."
"Then what is it about?" Alex asked.
"I need you both in my office," White said. He turned around and began walking. Alex and Cyrax followed him.
Alex began to have a bad feeling about this. 'What is it all about?' she asked herself. She hoped that it was something about another mission and not about the mission in Outworld because if it was, she believed that the news wasn't going to be good.
They reached White's office and opened the door. When the door was wide enough, Alex stopped in her tracks.
"Holy smokes!" Cyrax cried out.
Alex saw three familiar figures standing in the office. She saw Sonya in full General's uniform. 'She must've got promoted! And that would be a big promotion, too!' she thought. Then, she turned to Jax who stood in his uniform. She noticed one of his metallic arms was missing. Then, she looked at the third person. He stood there, the red blindfold over his eyes and the katana strapped in its scabbard behind him. A smirk appeared on his face, probably because he was able to feel her presence.
"Kenshi!" she cried out as she went over to him. Kenshi turned his head towards her voice and lifted his arms, welcoming her into them. Alex quickly threw her arms around him and buried her face into his shoulders, the tears streaming down her face. Kenshi held her close as though he never wanted to let her go. Everyone else in the room watched with happinesover the couple who had finally reunited.
"It's a Kodak moment," said Cyrax. "If I was not a cyborg, I would cry tears of joy."
"Well," said White. "I think we should leave them be."
"Good idea," replied Sonya. "I have to get ready for my date with Johnny tonight."
"Oh jeez," said Jax rolling his eyes. The four left the room and White closed the door behind him.
Alex heard everyone leave the room and shut the door behind them. She felt Kenshi massage her back with one hand and stroked her long dark hair with the other. After a while of this, Kenshi finally spoke. "I love you."
Alex moved her head to face him, not expecting him to say something like that. A warm smile appeared on his face and more tears streaked down her cheeks. "I love you too."
She was about to kiss him when he placed a hand over her lips. "I have a surprise for you. I think it's something you'll really like."
"What is it?" Alex asked with curiosity.
"I, um, I first want you to take off my blindfold."
A confused look appeared on Alex's face. "Why?"
Kenshi grinned. "Just do it."
Alex nodded, although she still felt a little confused. "All right."
She slowly reached toward the edges of his blindfold and grabbed hold of the edges. Then, carefully, she pulled them up over his head.
"So why did-" Alex began to say... but then saw why he wanted her to take his blindfold off.
Kenshi's eyes were no longer just white. There was a pool of blue around his pupils. Alex looked into his pupils, thinking that they would be blue in them indicating his blindness, but that wasn't the case. They were completely black.
"Kenshi..."Alex managed to say. "You can see... but how?!"
He brought his hand up to touch her face. In the meantime, he wiped the tears from her face. "Someone I helped in Outworld granted me a wish and this was what I asked for. The thing is, it'll only last for forty-eight hours. Six hours have already past so I only have forty-two hours left to see."
Kenshi looked at Alex's face and took in every detail as he could. He stroked her long, straight dark brown hair. Her heart-shaped face contained her blue eyes, her thin nose, her full pink lips, and a nice pale complexion.
He looked into her eyes once again. "Alex, you're beautiful."
She smiled, showing off her straight, white teeth. They learned towards each other and shared a deep, passionate kiss. They let themselves go in a slow, rhythmic pace and their tongues danced with one another. As they kissed, Kenshi kept his eyes opened. He wanted to take in as much detail of the world around him while he had his vision.
After the long kiss, their lips parted each other and they looked into each other's eyes, never wanting the moment to end. Then, Alex could feel Kenshi's hand on her stomach. She looked down at his hand, then back up at him. "How did you-"
"Sonya told me," Kenshi replied with a smile. Alex smiled back in return. Then, at the same time, their smiles faded. Kenshi realized that they were thinking the same thing. He had the opportunity to see Alex, but never will he ever have the opportunity to see his child.
"Maybe one day," Alex said. "You will have another chance to see again and this time, you can see our child."
Kenshi nodded. "I don't have high hopes for that, but you never know what could happen." He then looked into her eyes again. "I may be living in darkness, but I know that my friends, you, and our child will always bring light to me."
Alex nodded with a small smile. They kissed one more time before making their way out of the office to enjoy the outside world before the darkness took over Kenshi's vision once again.