Chapter 6: Return to light

Some time later

Jun was sleeping in Kazuya's bed. She was still sweating profusely and her breath was a little ragged. Nearby a worried Kazuya and an old man sat, his white hair and crooked glasses shining in the light—Doctor Boskovich. He ran some other tests on her and then put a thermometer in her mouth. Some time passed by and Boskovich turned to Kazuya.

"Who is she?"

"That is none of your concern!"

"Yes, yes. It isn't. But I am just curious as to why you show so much anxiety over her. I always thought you were an …how do I put it…indifferent, self-important man."

Kazuya ignored the comment. Dr B just shrugged.

"I guess a kidnapped man can't hope to have any communication with the kidnapper."

"What is wrong with her?" Kazuya asked, switching the topic.

Dr. B took out the thermometer and stared at it.

"She is alright. She just needs some fresh air…I don't think this mansion is a good place for her."

"What should I do?"

"My, my, you really do care for…"

"Answer the damn question!" Kazuya roared.

It was then that Jun opened her eyes. Kazuya was by her side in a flash.

"Kaz…uya…"

"Jun!" he held her hand, "You'll be alright. You just need some fresh air."

He said a few more things to her before he put on his coat.

"I have to go…I'll be back in a few hours. Boskovich! Stay here and take care of her! Don't let her out of your sight!"

With that he ran out of the room. Dr. B couldn't help but notice the change in Kazuya the moment Jun had woken up. He turned to look at Jun, who was staring at him weakly.

"Love…" he smiled.

Sometime later—fighters' rooms

"WHAT!"

"Yes, sir. I tell you the truth."

Heihachi couldn't believe his ears.

"He is worried because of a sick woman! Bah! He is a coward like that grandfather of his!"

"That is not all sir, he is also leaving for the city…"

"City? Why?"

"I don't know, sir, but he told me to be at the mansion in a few minutes."

Heihachi walked to the window that overlooked the Zaibatsu—his Zaibatsu. He shook his head as he stared at it.

"I didn't do all that work just for this maggot to ruin it all!"

"Sir…this woman, this Jun Kazama, is the real problem. She is the one who is doing this to the young master."

"I know…why don't you send one of your good fighters and kill her?"

"She is very strong, sir. She is the one who eliminated the world class assassin Nina Williams from the tournament."

"So? Shoot her."

"I'm afraid that is impossible, sir. The young master doesn't let her out of his sight."

"…So he is attached to her…coward…useless coward…" Heihachi barked as he clenched his fist. Electricity started glowing around it as he stood their ruminating. Suddenly an evil smile crept across his face. "Take me to the compound, immediately! I want to see this woman for myself! A scared dog is more useful than a dead one!"

A few minutes later—Zaibatsu compound

Dr. B and Jun were having tea. Boskovich was a really polite and gentle fellow and Jun was wondering what he was doing in the Zaibatsu.

"What are you doing here, Doctor? I mean, why did a man like you come here?"

"I didn't. I was kidnapped."

"What! By who!"

"I think you know the answer," he said smiling bitterly.

Jun took on a pained expression, fidgeting with her fingers. She did. After a brief pause Boskovich looked up towards the ceiling almost philosophically.

"But I guess it was for the best. His massive Zaibatsu has given me enough finance to not only find a cure for myself but for my daughter too."

"He wanted to help you?"

"No. Not really. It was for his own agenda but it proved to be a mixed blessing. As long as I was doing what he wants he allows me to experiment further to cure my daughter and I."

"What agenda?" Jun was curious as to what Kazuya was up to.

"He wants me to work on some cyrosleep experiment. A freezing technique that will save a person from growing old as long as he is in the capsule. The prototype is done. Now we need a few more tests and a subject. So far we're having problems though as no one wants to volunteer. I wonder what's stopping him from kidnapping again?"

He looked at Jun. He figured out.

Jun though was oblivious to it all as she wondered about Kazuya.

"But why would he bother with such things?" she wondered, "And more than anything, where is he going right now?"

She pealed the sheets off her and ran outside of the room to find Kazuya.

"Ms. Kazama?" Dr. B yelled behind her but she paid no heed. "You shouldn't push yourself like this! Ms. Kazama!"

She ran past the guards and the servants in the hall, all of them turning around wondering where was their lady off to. She finally came to the large door to the mansion, catching a glimpse of Kazuya sitting in his large car.

"Kazuya!"

She called out and tried running faster, but her body was still fatigued. Kazuya didn't hear her though, but the captain of the guard, Cole, did. He hurriedly ordered for the gates to be opened and at his signal the car sped off.

"Kazuya!"

Jun ran faster but lost her footing, weakened. She fell down on the ground. She looked at the car speeding away through the think forest that surrounded the Zaibatsu compound. Slowly she looked up, and saw Kazuya's go further into the distance. She was dusting herself when she felt a shadow fall on her.

"Are you alright, Miss Kazama? Or should start calling you Mrs. Mishima already?"

Jun looked up at the hand in front of her. She looked up at and saw a grim faced old man staring at her with a mix of resentment and arrogance.

"Heihachi…Mishima…"

Jun cringed at the sight of him, moving away.

"Don't be afraid, Ms. Kazama, I am not here looking for any trouble," Heihachi said simply.

"H-Heihachi…Kazuya's…"

"Father…" Heihachi finished for her, "Yes, I am that idiot's father."

A few minutes later

The sun was beaming intensely at the Zaibatsu as it stood proudly amidst the forest. Jun stood awkwardly. She kept fidgeting with her her fingers, anxiously looking at Heihachi's back. Worry, nervousness, anxiety and even a little fear stirred inside her at the sight of the massive man. Heihachi remained silent, his back to her, his arms folded, staring away at the distance. Jun couldn't help but think of Kazuya. He really had a lot of his father.

"Wrong…" Heihachi said rather suddenly.

Jun was startled a bit by his deep, throaty voice. He actually was able to read her thoughts.

"He has a lot from his mother. In fact he is just like her," Heihachi said staring ahead of him, reminiscing, "same eyes, same nose…and even the same personality. That is why just like her he is such a wretch!"

Jun recoiled. She felt a lot of resentment towards the old man. How could he say that about a dead person? That too his wife.

"In this world, all that matter is power. Absolute power. Enough power to crush anyone who dares to stand in your way. That is all that matters. By being gentle you get nothing. It never wins anything. No one will ever obey you!"

"You're wrong, Mishima-sama."

Heihachi looked irate at her interrupting him. He still had his back to her.

"Don't give that rubbish! I came here to tell you only this: you cannot purge his darkness. So might as well give it up. Don't bother planning some great wedding or something either because he is living on borrowed time."

Jun had had enough.

"What do you mean!"

Heihachi turned sharply towards her. He grinned.

"You wouldn't want to be a widow at your age! You look smart, so you should know what's good for you!"

Jun clenched her fists when Heihachi said that.

"God damn you…" she said, choking with fury. How dare he?

"Tooth-fairy!"

Heihachi merely cupped his hand in front of him, stopping her powerful attack without flinching. Jun stared fiercely into Heihachi's eyes as they both remained standing there. Heihachi was slightly taken aback by the intensity of her eyes but smirked quickly. Pushing her back without effort, the old Mishima walked away, leaving her behind with her fury.

"Remember what I told you..."

Evening

Jun was lying on Kazuya's bed. The next round of the tournaments was a week later and she wasn't even scheduled to fight. She let her hands roll on the bed where she and Kazuya had made love so many times now. She now had two weeks off. Two weeks off with her and Kazuya together. However Heihachi's words started tormenting her and had been on and off since the time he spoke to her. Jun gritted her teeth in resentment but somehow realized that even Heihachi wasn't altogether such an evil man. He too had an untapped good side in him and she noticed it despite his power, rage, and arrogance.

"What a twisted family…" she said, holding her head.

She looked outside and realized that night was falling. A storm was brewing as well, making it all pitch black. Kazuya had been gone for a few hours now. She wondered where he went back then. And that guard…why didn't he stop Kazuya even though he had heard Jun call out? Something was definitely up.

A deafening crash of lightening lighted up the world and startled Jun. Rain started pouring almost instantly and Jun hurried to close the windows. She finally closed the window with much ado and watched the storm seemingly tearing the world apart. She stood there for a long time. Suddenly she heard footsteps behind her. She looked up and saw Kazuya standing near the door.

"Kazuya?"

He was soaking wet, his usually spiked hair draped down his neck and pasted on his forehead and neck. As usual, he didn't say anything and walked over to her and held her by the wrist.

"Come with me."

He had a small duffle bag slung on his shoulder and tugged Jun along. She hurriedly wore her sandals, bewildered at what was going on. He hurried towards the exit, a firm grip around Jun's wrist, who was having trouble keeping pace with him, stumbling along. She was confused but followed him, wondering why he was wearing jeans and a white jacket rather than the usual formal wear. Kazuya opened the huge mansion door and the wind and the cold greeted Jun like an avalanche. As soon as he had opened the large door of the mansion, a car was arranged for him.

"Kazuya what's going…?"

She never got to finish that question as Kazuya kissed her deeply and passionately, as if giving her all the reassurance she could have asked for with it. They rain had already drenched them the moment they stepped outside but Kazuya didn't seem like he was in a hurry, and slowly after the brief startle, she too stopped caring. She stared at him wide eyed startled once he broke the kiss. She tried to say something but her mind couldn't think of the right words. Before she knew it he sat down in the car hurriedly and Jun with him, still holding her hand tightly.

"We're leaving this place," he finally said with a reassuring smile. "Rest up, it's a long drive there."

With that he lapsed back into silence, his arms folded, staring outside of the car window.

Dawn, the next day.

Kazuya didn't even realize that he had fallen asleep. When he woke up, it was already dawn. The sun was rising in the sky like a crimson ball of fire, its rays casting the spell of light on the whole world. It was then that he heard light breathing and saw Jun sleeping; her head tilted awkwardly, the light dancing off her cheeks. The car jolted a bit—Kazuya's glare at the driver was enough for him to know that he better be careful next time.

Kazuya looked at Jun again who was still asleep in that awkward position and carefully let her rest her head on his shoulder, circling her in his arm. He looked outside of the window. The pure sky, the lush green forest, the glowing light, and the solitary thin road that turned and twisted through the forest—all looked as if it could heal any sick soul…and he had the sickest.

Jun finally woke up once the car stopped, finding herself encircled in Kazuya's arm. He was staring outside the window just like the day before; and like always Jun could only wonder what he was thinking.

"Good morning," Jun said smiling.

"We are here," Kazuya said in his perpetual no-nonsense tone. He let go of her and stepped out of the car. Jun rubbed her eyes slightly as she stepped outside after him, looking around bewildered. It was still pretty dark and her sleepy eyes didn't help. But the nostalgic smell was brewing up an old memory in her. She tried placing it but it wasn't helping. Her head was too sleepy.

The driver hurriedly took out the duffle bag from the trunk and placed it near Kazuya. He bowed low to both of them and Kazuya took out a roll of banknotes and handed it to him. The driver looked up in surprise and bowed graciously over and over again between his words.

"M-master…K-Kazuya! Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Kazuya didn't say anything and turned his back to him, staring at the tranquil world that stretched before him.

"Get out of here before I change my mind!"

The driver hurriedly bowed one last time and walked back to the car, bowing deeply to Jun.

"T-thank you for changing him, Lady Kazama! Thank you!"

Jun saw the car speed off into the distance and then turned to Kazuya.

"Kazuya, where are we?"

He kept silent, his smile gleaming in the light of the rising sun. He took a deep breath, smiling as he did so, and picked up the bag. Jun was surprised to see him smiling so much and trailed after him as he walked up a narrow path.

"Kazuya?"

"Come on, you'll see," he smiled.