Author's notes: This story is mostly based on Tekken 4 and the currently (2004) released information on Tekken 5 and its characters. Though some infos were taken from Tekken Official, some situations, events and characters are all fanmade. This is also the sequel to my previous fanfics, Tekken 5: The Kazama-Mishima Connections & The Kazama-Mishima Connections 2. Rated G
Disclaimer: Kazuya Mishima, Jun Kazama, Jin Kazama, Asuka Kazama, Wang Jinrei, Ling Xiaoyu, Hwoarang, Steve Fox and all Tekken characters referred in this fanfic are the property of NAMCO. This is only a fan fiction from the imagination of an obsessed fan. No copyright infringement intended.
Chapter 29: Trace
Jin's astonishment blinded him to the way Asuka crumpled to her knees. For a while, all they did was stare numbly at the canyon-like crater before them, the dry wind blowing dust through their taut and shocked bodies.
As if it sensed their mood, the clouds came to block out the sun, darken the skies and bring a frigid breeze upon the siblings. At this, Asuka's sobs and whimpers began.
"They're gone..." she wailed. "Mom and Dad...they're actually gone..."
"Asuka..."
"We're orphans," she declared with a strange laugh. "We're both orphans! Our parents...are really gone now..."
"Don't say that!" Jin grabbed his sister's shoulders and shook her vigorously but she continued to laugh until she reverted to crying hysterically again. "Get a hold of yourself, Asuka! We have to get through this together! Do you think Mom and Dad wanted to see you...me, like this!"
"If they didn't, why'd they go and kill themselves!" Asuka retorted, hot tears running furiously down her cheeks. "I looked up to Mom all my life but I never got to spend time with her the way you had! And just as I was getting attached to my real father, he leaves us to die with her! He's selfish! They're both selfish!"
"Listen to yourself, Asuka! You're the one who's being selfish!" Jin roared. "Don't you think they'd want to change things if I could! Don't you think they weren't hurting when they did what they had to do! I want to be selfish! I don't want them to die, but as much as I hate to do it, I have to let them go. Mother gave her life to save this world: to save us. And Dad...by the way he asked me to look after you...I think he was meant to do the same..."
"This world..." Asuka sniffled, a dark look on her face. "I'm starting to see things through Dad's perspective."
"To Dad, the world was the enemy," Jin said with a sigh. "I can see why...but nonetheless, we shouldn't cloud our thoughts with the same anger as he. I don't want to speak ill of him, but Dad thought this world stole everything from him and so, he sought vengeance. Our parents may have been taken away from us, but they did it on their own accord. No one is to blame for these events. No one..."
There was a brief moment of silence before Asuka's tense shoulders started to relax.
"You're right," Asuka managed a small smile. "You're more like Mom than you think..."
"And you're more like Dad than you think," Jin replied with the same smile, which caused his sister to chuckle.
"I guess we got something from both of them...inside and out," Asuka stood up, as did her brother.
"Come on," Jin whispered, spread out his white and black wings and gestured towards the crater. "They might still be down there."
Asuka nodded and spread out her own wings. The Kazamas gently glided towards the bottom of the depression. After a few minutes, they landed with pinpoint precision and turned themselves back to normal again. It was quite dark, the frequent flashes of lightning serving as their only illumination.
"There's nothing here," Asuka spun around. "There's no large rocks, no debris, no trace of Ogre's temple...nothing."
"Keep looking," Jin ordered in a firm voice. He got on his knees and started sifting through the soft, dry earth. "Just...just keep searching. We're bound to find...something..."
Asuka bit her lip when she saw what her brother was doing. It was obvious that they were no longer looking for their parents. They were looking for corpses. Nonetheless, she got on her knees and began to dig with her fingers.
"Ah, the children...I was wondering where you two had gone off to..."
Jin froze at the sound of that all too familiar voice. Shaking with fury, he slowly turned to the direction and found his sister in the same frozen state he had been in.
Standing...or rather, floating in front of them, was the very man that had caused all their misery since before their births.
"HEIHACHI!"
Chapter 30