Chapter 8:

Kazaa

'Come on, Jyn, just a little more….' Kazaa waited for the sound. Finally, a faint click. 'Yes!' Kazaa rushed down the hall, looking for any activity. The cameras were still working, but the guards were knocked out… all sixteen of them. Kazaa began to hope all of them wouldn't wake up at the same time. Jyn dropped silently from the ventilation shaft and with a shake of the hand signaled Kazaa. They traded jobs and Kazaa got the door open, using the card key.

Once inside, Jyn locked the door and fiddled with the stolen Beretta he'd confiscated from a nearby guard. Kazaa raced across the room, clicking on the central computer.

"We haven't got time. They'll be on to us in a moment."

"Surprised they already aren't." Jyn replied. The quiet tapping and the running machine was all that was heard.

"Just a little more…" Kazaa whispered. After a few moments, he felt like his heart had stopped. "No.. This.. This can't be right…"

"What is it?" Jyn took a few steps and the lights flashed. Sirens screamed and guards were pounding on the door. Jyn readied the gun and Kazaa stood up. "You didn't have an escape plan did you?" Kazaa looked at him and frowned. He knew he had forgotten something. At that moment, the door burst open into pieces and guard filled the room. The click of guns was every where and Jyn could hear Kazaa's deep breathing. They knew what was coming next.

……………………………………………………………………………………….

"I searched for them everywhere." Denise sighed. It was going to be a long day, and yet somehow she felt that time was running out. But for what? What was it that made her feel so uneasy? A flash of blue and gold glided from the corner of her eye catching her attention. Jin. He looked so… young. All these years had passed and looking at him made every woman's emotions flare up with envy. Denise stopped. That was it. She'd tell Jin about the kids. He'd know! Getting a sudden burst of courage, she jumped up and dusting her pants off, cried out, "Hey! Jin!" No response. Typical of the quiet Japanese. "Kazama, Jin!" She ran to him. The tall man turned and looked down at the woman. "It's me. Don't you recognize me?" A pause.

"Denise?"

"Yeah! Hey long time no see…" Her voiced trailed off. His eyes were different… He was still mourning Kazi. "Oh, hey look, I've got something really important to tell you… You see, I saw these kids earlier, and-"

"……"

"Jin, they look a lot like you…."

"Perhaps they are Kazuya's whore's children." Venom. Ouch. He turned walking faster away, making the woman practically run to keep up.

"No, Jin they were looking for someone-"

"Aren't we all?"

"Jin, they were looking for you!" He stopped. "Oh, thank the Lord." Denise tried to catch her breath. There was a cold feeling that crept into her stomach. She was losing her courage, and fast. Jin was silent. Denise searched for the words; her mind went blank.

"K…Kaziya?" It was so softly spoken, Denise thought she had imagined it. But when he turned to look at her, she knew right away. Nodding, she had broken his heart all over again, but she had to do it. Someone had to say it.

"They're looking for you, and something's happened to Kazi. Hwoarang knew-"

"What?" Denise had forgotten how sharply Jin's words could cut.

"He thought that you-"

"Why didn't she tell me?"
"-had left her when you-"

"How could I have been-"

"-found out that she was-"
"-so stupid? Kaziya, what in the world-"

"-pregnant. He thought-"

"were you thinking? I can't believe-"

"-that you were turning into Kazuya!" Jin stopped. It seemed everything had. It was all a lie. They all lied. Everyone lied. Hwoarang knew. He didn't say anything to Jin earlier that day. If Hwoarang knew, then Lei knew, and if he knew, then there were bound to be others who had seen the two mysterious children Denise had spoken of. The symbol that looked vaguely familiar, that he had seen on the sidewalk bench near the police station; the girl at the front desk at work commenting on his 'fan club' that had come in to see him; the whispers he had heard down in the lobby of the hotel, they all had something to do with the children. …They had found him, but he was so oblivious, he had failed to notice. Everyone knew. If everyone knew, then so did Kazuya.

"… Kazuya."

"Yeah, Hwoarang thought- Oh, no, you mean?"
"Kazuya .. has the children. He must have." Jin broke out into a run, Denise, hot behind him.

"Jin, stop and think a minute! You're actin' foolish! Jin, you've got to slow down, Kazuya wants you to go after the children so he can have your… other side!"

"What if they have the curse too? He'll destroy them, take their souls and then everything will be exactly the way it was before."

"I know but you have to think this out, if you don't, Jyn and Kazaa could be killed!" Jin stopped again.

"That's… their names?"

"They're twins. ..Very close twins. Jin, no matter what you think, this was meant to happen. They were meant to happen. And.. though I think Kaziya only did…. Well, I don't think she meant to split the evil up and stretch it out so much that it couldn't reassemble, though if she'd been smarter, maybe, but uh, no. Kazi wasn't all that smart if you catch me." Denise was looking at the man pretty hard, because he sighed.

Sometimes she wondered what went on in his head. She had thought that people like him had to be strong, and they were. So much was riding on them. So much had been riding on Kazi. What did she know that they hadn't? That was the problem. Denise couldn't figure out if what Kazi did was an act of cowardice, sly conspiracy, or selfish act of lust. Those kids meant one thing to her generation: the future.