Hi, sorry or the wait! School is hectic, though I'm sure you all understand that. My parents are being evil, and they want me to 'focus on my schoolwork'. Now that the elections are over (and my friends have stopped arguing, therefor not making me counsel them on the phone) I should be able to update a little faster, but my chapters will probably be shorter because of the evils of schoolwork! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter, and please R&R! I want to know what you think! This is to my reviewers:

Ignes Fatui: Glad to hear that you're so excited over my story. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Karisan-karisan: thanx for the review! I'm hurrying to update, but I am slowing down and I need to fix that!

Xinfernal: I know, Ling is so sweet. I think Julia and Xiaoyu are both very sweet, and I think Julia would try to help Ling out too! Julia's feeling guilty about locking her friend up, and the guilt is really staring to eat away at her...

Snowbunni3z: Thanx for the review. It means a lot to me, and U know that sounds corny, but I love when I get good reviews... I'm way too over-emotional...

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Tekken! Anything I use in my story besides my own ideas belong to someone else.

Bonds of Love

Ling tackled Lee to the ground and hit him hard across the face several times. The metal of the cuffs that were still attached to her wrists added to her strength, and they brutally bruised her opponent. She grabbed the familiar necklace that she and Jin had stolen from Hwoarang from around his neck. He then somehow managed to flip her off of him, and she landed on the hard floor. The blood from her chaffed wrists was running down her hands, and Ling felt lucky that she hadn't burst a large artery. Lee glared back at her and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. Wearily, she got into an offensive pose. However, before she could attack him again, he disappeared into the crowd of Combots that littered the area. Ling grabbed a Combot arm that lay on the ground, and she used it as a club, bashing in the 'head' of any Combot that dare attack her. She viciously swung it through the air, and the sickening sound of ripping metal became a regular sound to her. Finally, one of the Combots managed to separate her from her weapon, and Ling started to fight.

A roundhouse kick here, a Bayonet there, nothing made any difference. All of the Combots fought in different styles, some reminiscent of her own. To make matters worse, for every Combot she struck down five more were ready to fight. It was like having one person fight against an army of ferociously fearless foes. The Combots were free of human error, and they never made a mistake. Things such as endurance did not affect them, and the tireless army was too huge for Ling to take on alone. She jumped backwards from one opponent only to be caught in the grasp of another Combot. She used mistrust, and before the Combot hit the ground a palm thrust was sent its' way; however, nothing seemed to faze the pure numbers. Ling felt as if she hadn't even made a dent in the metallic army.

Suddenly, the swinging arm of a Combot forced her to duck, and Ling tripped over something on the ground. Thinking that it may be another spare part of a Combot that she could use as a weapon, Ling looked down and gasped. What met her eyes was not the metallic gleam of a robot, but the pale flesh of an arm. A very bloody arm. Ling followed the arm up to the main part of the body and let out another surprised gasp. There, lying beside her was an unconscious Julia.

Blood streamed down the older girl's face, and Ling watched in horror as the fresh wave of Combots neared them. She was so weak, and so tired, there was no way she could protect both herself and Julia. Stumbling to her feet, she tried to lift Julia, and she managed to half drag, half carry her to a storage closet. Ling dumped her inside, and something told her to leave the necklace with Julia. She grabbed it from her front pocket and placed it in the unconscious girl's hand. She stepped out of the closet and closed the door behind her. Hundreds of the Combots turned her way, and Ling gulped. The hotel was a mess. Small fires had somehow ignited in the corners of the building, and besides her, there wasn't an alive person in sight. She glanced nervously at the closet door, and then she stepped away from it. The Combots followed her movement with their glowing eyes, and Ling led them away from Julia's closet. She then lunged at the vicious army, thinking, Hwoarang, Jin, hurry back! We really need you!

It was a bright sunny day. A young girl, about 9 years old was running in happy circles around a pretty Native American woman. The attractive woman swept down and caught the girl, lifting her into an embrace. Tears stained her eyes as the woman lifted something off her neck. She handed it to the little girl and told her, "keep this close, keep this safe. When the time comes, you'll know what you have to do." The little girl stared wide-eyed at the necklace her mother had given her. It was an ancient family heirloom, and her mom had always kept it with her.

"Why mom?" she asked, looking up at her mother. She was met with a vision of tortured beauty. Her mother's lovely face was stained with tears, and they gleamed from the bright sun. A sad smile graced her delicate features as she stared down at her young daughter. She was a piece of tragedy, and somehow joy.

"Julia," the woman began, "I have to leave, but I promise you that I'll always be right here for you." She placed her hand on the girl's heart and leaned down so that they were eye-to-eye.

"Mom, you won't have to be there, 'cause you'll always be here with me, right?" The young girl's innocent eyes gazed into her mother's older, more realistic, depressed eyes.

"Julia, you must promise me something," the mother started, ignoring her daughter's question. "Promise me that you'll look after this, and Promise me that you'll be happy, and find all you ever wanted." Julia nodded, and she looked at her mom confused.

"Why?" she asked again, "You'll always be here, won't you?"

The river of tears that had flowed down the older woman's face before were nothing compared to what they were now. They were like waterfalls of sadness, cascading down her face.

"No," the woman told her daughter, "I have to... I have to go away for a little bit, Julia."

"No mommy, stay here with me!" Julia demanded. Tears sprung to her eyed, and she cried. Her other leaned over and kissed her on he cheek.

"I have to go," she replied. "The woman that you'll be staying with is very nice. She's a good friend of mine. You must treat her kindly, OK?"

Julia nodded and asked, "when will you be back?" Her mother shook her head.

"I don't know when Julia, but I'll always watch over you. Goodbye."

Julia watched her mother walk towards the sun. "No, mom, it's not goodbye," she began. "We'll see each other again, so it's not goodbye."

Her mother smiled, a gorgeous sight, and replied, "you're correct, my little angel. I'll see you soon."

"See you soon, mom," Julia replied. She watched her mom walk into the horizon until she disappeared. A woman about the same age as her mother gently touched her shoulder. She was crying too. "Come on Julia, we have to leave." Julia turned and left with the woman, her mother's closest friend, but before she completely left, she looked towards the sun. Her mother wasn't there.

That had been the last time she had seen her mother, Michelle.

Julia awoke with a start. Tears from a tragedy long ago dripped down her face, but she brushed them away. She realized where she was, and was startled to see the necklace in her hands. She opened the closet and walked out of the hotel, totally deaf to Ling's screams for her. She walked down the street and stopped at a phone booth. She went inside and pushed some change into the coin slot. She dialed a familiar number, and CC answered on he first ring.

"Mom," Julia said, "I have the necklace, I'm coming home." Her mother asked something over the phone, and about a minute later a black Limousine pulled up in front of the phone booth. It had the letters CC on it. Julia climbed in, and the driver steered her to the nearest airport. Julia was glad she could finally be home, safe again. Those were her last thoughts, until she saw the gun pointed at her. There was a gunshot, and Julia dropped onto the leather seat of the backseat. Heihachi turned around and smiled. He had finally caught the traitor. It had been non other than CC's adopted daughter. Things were starting to turn in his favor. His grandson and Hwoarang were stealing back the map at this moment, and Ling had successfully guarded the necklace, unknowingly of course.

His vicious grin spread evilly across his wrinkled face. Things were going well indeed.