Hi guys! It was good to know that you liked my last chapter! I'm here with a new update! It's been really hard to write this! I keep getting writer's block! I hope you like this chapter! I already have almost everything plotted out in my head, but I still have to write it all down. The only thing I don't know is who I'm going to have kill Heihachi. Julia's not an option because she is doing something else at the same time...I'll probably make it Jin, but I really don't know. Any suggestions on that would be great. I want to thank all my reviewers, you'll get personal thank yous next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken.

Bonds of Love

Hwoarang was running. He didn't dare look behind him in fear that what was chasing him would catch up. But what was chasing him? At first Hwoarang convinced himself that he was running from the Tekkenshu, but that was absurd. He could easily fight all of them off. However, he was still running from something. Something that he would probably always be running from. His pursuer was guilt.

Despite the fact that he turned away when he told Ling the news of Jin's death, he could still feel her denial, her suffering, and her agony. He couldn't go back there and tell her that he was the one who shot the man she loved. That would be worse than tearing out her heart. He felt like a monster. He was something that didn't deserve t live, yet here he was, running from the consequences of his actions.

He stopped. Shaky breaths helped him to regain his composure, and he leaned against an alley wall to keep him from falling over. He had to find Julia. She had the necklace, and she was his responsibility. He had to make sure that she wasn't hurt. He pushed himself of the wall on shaky, unsteady feet. Suddenly, someone grabbed his shoulder. On reflex, he grabbed their arm and flipped him over his shoulder.

"Nice way to treat your fiancée," Julia muttered as she got off the ground. Hwoarang shrugged and reached out an arm to pull her to her feet. Once she was there, she pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket. Hwoarang looked at it, and he wondered why Julia would have such a worthless old thing in her possession.

"This," Julia whispered excitedly, "is the map that Heihachi needs to find the hidden treasure." She held it up proudly, and Hwoarang closely examined it.

"Julia, how does this help us? It's not even written in any recognizable language, as far as I can tell." Hwoarang glanced at Julia in doubt, but Julia just smiled with a weird glint in her eyes.

"Hwoarang, that's where you're wrong. I can read that language fluently. All we need is the other key, and we can be rich beyond comparison. The only problem is that we'll need at least two other strong fighters to come with us." Julia smiled at the map, and Hwoarang was taken aback. Since when was Julia so obsessed with money.

"Julia, I don't think this is a good"- he was cut off by Julia putting a hand to his mouth.

"It doesn't matter," Julia replied, "I have to do this. It's in my blood. It's my destiny. The map says so." Her eyes were serious, but there was a hint of longing, and sadness hidden within them. He couldn't stand it.

"Julia, since when did you let an old piece of paper control your fate?" Julia glared up at him.

"Let me read it to you, then you can decide if what I'm doing is right." Julia lifted the paper and began to read what was inscribed upon it. Hwoarang's eyes widen as he realized that she was right. Her destiny was tied into this, and mot only hers, but al four of theirs, Ling's, Jin's, and his owns. With each word she read of, Hwoarang believed in her cause more and more. He temporarily forgot his guilt over Jin, all that mattered was that they get the third key and follow the map. They had to find this treasure.

Ling suddenly felt a cold wind hit her. That's weird, she thought, it is such a warm day too. She looked around, but no one seemed bothered by the sudden gut of cold air. It was like they didn't even feel it. Jin looked down at her and asked, "are you cold?"

They were walking down the street, hand in hand, enjoying their togetherness. Ling looked up at him confused. "Of course I am. Didn't you feel that cold breeze?" She looked up at Jin, but he was just staring at her with a bemused expression.

"Cold breeze? Ling, it's eighty some degrees out here, I don't seriously think that there would be a cold breeze."

Then Ling felt it. This time it wasn't cold though. It was an ominous breeze, laced with something,,, foreboding, or at least that would be the best word to describe it. She glanced over at Jin, and his confused look met hers. He had felt it too. They took off at a run, towards the strongest place the weird feeling seemed to come from. Ling didn't really want to go there, but it felt as if the feeling was beckoning to her.

They turned a corer and fond themselves in a dead end alley. Julia and Hwoarang were already there. Suprisingly, the feeling was coming from them. Neither Julia nor Hwoarang acknowledged their presence. It was like they weren't even there.For some reason, Jin growled at them, and his hand tightened around Ling's, so much that it hurt. Ling looked up at him and said, "Jin, let go! You're hurting me."

Then she gasped. Jin's eyes were glowing, flashing red. His grip on her hand tightened, and Ling screamed. For some reason, Julia and Hwoarang didn't try to help her. Jin was brought to his knees, and he dragged Ling down with him. A purple cloud surrounded him as he screamed in pain. Blue beams of electricity crackled around him as the horribly familiar marking appeared on his body. One of the sparks of electrical energy flowing around Jin burned her crushed hand, and another scream was torn from her throat.

"Jin! Stop! You're hurting me! Please! Stop! Julia! Hwoarang! Help me!" Jin made no response as he held on to her trapped hand, but Julia and Hwoarang snapped out of their trance-like state. Julia gasped in shock before she and Hwoarang ran over to try and pry Jin off of her. Jin didn't even seemed bothered by their attempts. Hwoarang and Julia were both shocked by Jin's electric currents, and they fell off of him to the ground. Julia stared at her burnt hands before she grabbed Jin again. In the scuttle, Julia dropped the map. For some strange reason, as soon as the map hit the ground, Jin calmed down.

Ling quickly pulled her arm from his grasp as Jin came back to normal. He was gasping for air as he looked around. His eyes caught sight of Hwoarang, and Ling watched as Jin lunged at him. Hwoarang, still catching his breath after his struggle to help Ling, was caught by complete surprise and easily pinned to the ground. Jin proceeded to smack him around. However, Hwoarang did nothing in his defense. He just sat there and let Jin beat him.

Julia was the first to take action. She threw herself on Jin and tried to pry him off of Hwoarang, and she was soon helped by a horrified Ling. Jin ignored them, that is he tried to ignore them. While Ling was only trying to pry Jin off of Hwoarang, Julia had taken to beating him with her fists, and when that didn't work, kicking him furiously. Finally, they managed to drag a raging Jin off of Hwoarang. Together they held him back so that he wouldn't be able to harm the poor Korean any more.

"Jin! Why did you attack Hwoarang unprovoked?" Ling asked. "You should be thanking him! Earlier today, he saved me from getting killed by Combots! Instead, you're beating the crap out of a friend!" She jerked Jin around so that he was facing her, but she quickly hid her bruised hand from him. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

"Friend!" Jin raged, "that thing is no friend!" He pointed down at the bloody heap that lay at his feet. He started to continue, but Hwoarang interrupted him.

"He's right. I'm not a friend. I'm a cruel, backstabbing monster. I deserve the beating he gave me and more." Hwoarang looked at the ground. It was obvious that he was in pain about something, but Ling couldn't tell what. She glanced over at Julia, but she looked utterly confused too.

"What are you talking about?" Ling asked. "What could you have possibly done? You saved my life today, and you're a good friend. What did you do that would make you believe that you were worthless? " Hwoarang looked up at them, but instead of the cocky, sarcastic martial artist they were used to seeing, Hwoarang looked desolate. A single tear traced a path down his bloodstained cheek. Now Ling was scared. What would cause Hwoarang to cry?

"Today, I shot someone. I thought they died at my hands." Hwoarang paused for a second, and Ling's heart stopped. What is he talking about? She thought. "The man I shot was Jin Kazama."

Everything seemed to pause for a second as Ling absorbed the information. Hwoarang... Shot... Jin?!? But then it all made sense. He was the first one to know. He was the person that told her! Immediately, she felt anger. It buried itself, red hot, into her very being. Then she remembered something.

Hwoarang glanced back up, away from her and shook his head. His voice cracked as he answered her question. A lone tear traced its' way down his face.

She was still angry, nothing could stop that. But now, Ling was confused. If he had truly killed Jin, just to kill Jin, then why would he have cried over his death. It just didn't make sense. Ling slowly walked up to Hwoarang, and when she could clearly see his eyes she asked, "why?"

She watched as Hwoarang's eyes were filled with pain as he answered the question. The eight words that slipped out of his mouth would change everything. Hwoarang answered, "I shot Jin because I was ordered too."

Silence reigned once again in the abandoned alley. Then Julia whispered, "you couldn't of been ordered to. Mom would never tell anybody to kill another person." Her eyes were filling with unshed tears as she balanced two shocking facts. One, that her fiancée had almost killed one of her friends, and two, her adopted mother had been the one to order it.

Hwoarang slowly shook his head. "Your mother wasn't the woman either of us thought she was, Julia. Accept it. She wants to find this treasure as much as Heihachi does."

Julia looked at all of them before she shook her head no. "CC must of meant something else!" she screamed at them. "CC would never do that! She wouldn't! She's not that selfish! None of us are except for you! Here, take it! Take it all!" With that said, she threw the map and the necklace at Hwoarang before running off. Tears littered the air behind her as they all watched her go.

"Hwoarang turned to them, looking scared shitless of what they might do to him, but to Ling's surprise, he held out a hand to Hwoarang and helped him up.

"This doesn't mean I forgive you," Jin told him, "but sometimes, when they threaten something you care for, you have no choice. I would've done the same thing."

Ling was confused, but Hwoarang stared at Jin. "How did you know that they threatened Julia?" He asked.

Jin shook his head, "why else?"

Having temporarily put their problems behind them, the three of them chased after Julia. Ling was still shocked that Julia's mother could be so cruel. How could any mother do that to her daughter? Adopted or not, it doesn't matter. Ling could also see why Julia was in such denial. The way she described her to Ling, Ling thought she was the sweetest woman in the world. This just proved that looks could be deceiving. Breaking away from her thoughts, Ling chased after Julia. They needed to calm her down and explain everything. After all, she had a right to know.

Julia collapsed against the wall of a store. She hadn't meant what she had said about him being greedy, but her mother would never do anything like that. After all, her real mother, Michelle had trusted her. They were best friends! She remembered all the good things CC had taught her so cleary, starting when they first met.

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.

If CC wanted the treasure so badly that it would lead her to order someone's execution, why would she cry for Michelle? More memories flooded her mind.

"Julia, how are you doing honey?" Julia looked up at her new 'mother' and sighed. She was twelve years old, and in school they had been studying World War 2. That was something Julia just didn't get, she hated war! "CC, why do people kill one another? Why is their war?" She watched CC sigh, and for once, her happy nature was dimmed. She sat down beside Julia and explained. "Jules, war is an evil thing. To take the life of any person is a horrible act that can almost never be forgiven. I don't know why people kill each other, perhaps it is because they are greedy or weak-willed. Or maybe, they're fighting for someone or something. War results from the same ineptitude. Someone once said, 'to err is to be human.' Maybe this is why we do these horrible things. Maybe it is to cover up our imperfections?" Julia listened intently, soaking up her mentor's every word.

She replied, "I think your right mommy. If we weren't humans, we wouldn't kill, but if we weren't humans would we be able to experience the good things in life? I guess humanity is a double-edged sword."

CC smiled at her ward's response. She sighed. "Mom, what are you smiling about?" CC leaned over to kiss her daughter on the forehead.

"That's the first time you've ever called me mom." Julia smiled also.

"I love you mom," she said.

CC smiled back. "I love you too."

Julia sighed. If her mother felt like that about killing, then why would she order Hwoarang to kill Jin? It didn't make sense. Either Hwoarang made one serious mistake, or her life had been one bid lie. Who was she supposed to trust? Her adopted mother, who treated her like she was an angel, or Hwoarang, the only man to understand her, the person she loved? She leaned her head back against the building. In a world where everything was being torn apart, did the truth have to be so difficult to find?

Jin tore around a corner, and the three of them left the maze of alleyways that they had previously been encompassed in. Julia was straight ahead, leaning against a building. Tears ran down her face, and she was clearly deep in thought. In a way, Jin understood her. She was facing disbelief. Jin had stared that straight in the eye when he had learned about Heihachi and his mother. He sighed. His mother. He wanted to get back to her so badly that it hurt, but first he had to tend to hie friends, Heihachi, and Ling. Then he could be happy. He vaguely thought back to some of the time he spent with her.

A seven-year-old Jin pranced around the small house he and his mother and father shared. Dad wasn't home much, and right now it was just the two of them. "Mommy can't catch me!" he exclaimed happily.

Jun Kazama chased after her young son as he ran around the house. "Jin Kazama, come back here this instant! It's time for your martial arts training."

Jin looked back at her and said, "I don't wanna!" Suddenly he ran into something hard. He was swept off the floor into strong arms.

A deep voice startled him. "Jin, I never thought I'd hear my son say he didn't want to learn martial arts. Are you sure that you're mine?"

Jin struggled against his father's strong hold. "Let me go meanie! Put me down! Mommy, daddy's hurting me!"

Kazuya chuckled as he set Jin down. "You know, if you studied Martial Arts more, you wouldn't have to scream for your mommy!"

Jin stuck a tongue out at his father before he ran back to his mom. "Mommy's going to teach me martial arts, and then I'm going to kick your butt!"

Jun laughed at her son's sudden enthusiasm. She pecked her husband on the cheek before kneeling down in front of her son. "Come on Jin! If you want to be strong, we have to star training right now!" Jin nodded and followed hid mother out into the forested garden where they usually trained. The rest of the day was spent with his mother training him in the sacred ways of the Kazama style while Kazuya looked over them, their Guardian Angel.

Jin stopped running. Those days were the happy days, before Kazuya abandoned them to go and kill Heihachi. Then he had disappeared, and Jun had been captured. The rest was history. Jin had always hated his dad for abandoning them before, but when he saw them together today, everything came together perfectly, like pieces in a puzzle. He was starting to understand why his dad left them to fight Heihachi, and maybe he could find it within himself to forgive his father. Then they could be a family again.

Jin was lost in thought about what he wanted to happen, so he didn't see the gunman until it was too late. He heard a gunshot, and he vaguely heard Ling shout his name before she was slammed against him. He tried to lift them up, and he felt the blood on his hands. Jin was very confused. He didn't feel pain anywhere. Suddenly, a horrible thought came to mind, and he rolled Ling over. Her white dress was stained with scarlet. Her eyes were closed almost peacefully, but her face was frozen in a frown and flecked with blood. No, he thought, please no! Despite his denial, he couldn't erase what had happened. Ling had been shot. Her sweet life was leaving her quickly, and if Jin didn't do something about it quickly, she was going to die. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Julia and Hwoarang running towards him. A tear ran down his face, landing on his dying love. He knew he had to do something, but all e could do was stare down in shock at her.

Hwoarang lifted her out of his frozen arms and he heard him yelling something to Julia. Julia grabbed on of the passerby's cell phone and dialed a number. Hwoarang had ripped off a piece of his shirt and pressed it to Ling's wound to apply pressure and to try and stop the bleeding. Within a few minutes, a vehicle drove up. However, it wasn't an ambulance. Hwoarang yelled at Julia about something, and she angrily answered back. Jin didn't know what they were saying. For some reason he had gone deaf. Defeated, Hwoarang ran Ling over to the ambulance like vehicle while Julia grabbed him by the arm and dragged him in too. All trough this, all Jin could think about was the fact that the bullet was supposed to hit him, but because she pushed him out of the way, she was now the one dying. He prayed to all the gods that he could trade places with her, and he vowed never to let it happen ever again. He wouldn't let anyone hurt her, no matter what.