Thanks to the readers and reviewers!

Title of Chapter: Secrets Revealed
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for Lucipher and Hadoken!
Warning: Cussing on Sub-Zero and Luci's part.

Enjoy!

That Evening

"I'm exhausted," Li Mei said, a little out of the blue. It startled most of us, including myself. She collapsed on the snowy ground and closed her eyes, as if she was about to fall asleep in the snow. A part of me agreed with her, while another part of me urged us on, mainly because I was afraid that Sub-Zero may not make it. In all actuality, his brother had beaten him badly, even Kenshi could see that. But Kano sat down in the snow, up against a tree, and so the rest of us did the same.

Kenshi sat down next to Li Mei and looked at her, a slight smile on his face. Jade was tending to Kung Lao's wounds, while Kira checked on Kobra. Kano had already fallen asleep, which surprised me. He didn't seem like the type that would do that, but I guess you learn new things every day. Jarek didn't want anyone near him, regardless of the seriousness of his injury. To me, he was the stubborn, bull-headed type. I could fix that – if I had wanted to. As I was thinking about this, I gave Sub-Zero a glance; he was sitting in the same fashion as Kano, except with his left knee pulled up to his chest and his arm draped across said knee.

I quirked an eyebrow as I turned my gaze back to Jarek, who was watching Luna and Scorpion with an almost disgusted look. Speaking of the spectre and his…wife…they were sitting cross legged, opposite each other, talking in low voices. I shook my head and grinned, turning back to the injured men before me. I had the urge to tend to their injuries, but I kept it to myself and I didn't act on it. The sky was streaked with orange, purple, and pink, and I admired it for a little while, just to take my mind off of things.

"Who were you fighting?" a voice asked. I arched an eyebrow and looked at Jarek, who nodded towards Subs. I looked over at the blue clad ninja as his brilliant blue eyes fell upon me.

"Daegon," I replied quietly, feeling the need to keep my voice low for his sake. "He got away, though." I kept myself from asking the question that was floating through my mind at that particular moment, just to spare Sub-Zero. I was holding my tongue, just this once, which was a novelty, believe you me. It was hard; I almost slipped up as a few silent moments followed. This was a scenario I didn't think I'd really ever find myself in, but oh well. Jarek stretched, which caught my eye, mainly because I was keeping an eye on him.

"Ask your question," Sub-Zero instructed, shifting, but I could tell that it hurt him to do so.

"What exactly happened to Mavado? Last I saw, he had a nasty gash across his face," I blurted out before I could stop myself. Jarek was fooling around with his hair when I said this, but he stopped and looked over at Sub-Zero, as if he wanted an answer. Subs looked thoughtful for a moment before he gave his answer.

"Mavado was fighting Kenshi, but he turned and went after Li Mei, who was left vulnerable at the time. Kenshi, feeling the need to protect her, attacked him and so he earned that scar because of his own foolish mistake," Sub-Zero explained. So Kenshi was protecting Li Mei, eh? I chuckled to myself as Jarek gained another look of disgust. "If you have a question, feel free to ask." I nodded and hesitated for a moment, before standing up and walking over to him. I sat down, cross legged next to Sub-Zero to keep him company.

Luna raised her voice at Scorpion, before the spectre calmed her back down. I enjoyed people-watching, especially at a time like this. It was interesting, the way we had all set aside our differences to take out Mavado. Even Kano had kept his foul temper in check, except in battle, of course. I hoped that no one would be around to attack us, because we were weakened enough as it was. We did have number on our side, because we were traveling in a group of ten, believe it or not.

Hadoken, my loyal wolf dog, trotted up to us and collapsed at my feet, exhausted from the past few days. I stroked his fur absently, glad to have such a warm being close by. It's rather cold next to Sub-Zero, if you know what I mean. And that's when I realized just how tired I actually was. I pulled Hadoken into my lap and rested my chin on top of his head. He snuffed but got comfortable and that's how I fell asleep that night.

Next Day

In the morning, I was one of the first awake, behind Kira and Li Mei. "Hey," Li Mei whisper-called, nudging me with her foot. Hadoken was sitting next to Jarek, surprisingly enough. I opened my eyes just a little and stuck my hand out absently, trying to smack her away. I made contact with her face, but it was a weak little slap and she just giggled. Kira even looked slightly amused, but she hid it well. "Hey, you should take a look around, girly." I opened my eyes and looked up at her incredulously.

Kira pointed and I realized I was leaning against something…or someone… Actually, Sub-Zero's arm was around my shoulders and I was tucked safely next to him, something that my grandparents would do when I was upset or sick. I had my knees pulled up to my chest and my shoulder in Sub-Zero's side. I felt so small in comparison, but it was so comfortable… Until I actually realized what position I was in. "Holy crap!" I yelled, jumping up. Kira and Li Mei broke down laughing, falling to their knees. I glared at them, but my expression was one of shock. That was a little too close of a call for me.

The women's laughter and my "holy crap" woke Jarek up, who promptly fell over and glared at us. Kano opened his good eye and then rolled it, standing up and stretching. Luna threw a ball of fire at us, half-asleep, curled up next to Scorpion, who hadn't slept a wink all night, of that I was almost positive. "You two are idiots!" I yelled at Kira and Li Mei, my face flushing red. Sub-Zero was awake at this point, and he seemed confused. "I can't believe… You… Ugh!" I threw my hands up in the air and turned my back on the Kira and Li Mei.

"You're the one who fell asleep curled up next to Sub-Zero," Li Mei snorted, getting to her feet.

"More like curled up in Sub-Zero's arms!" Kira corrected, doing the same as Li Mei. They giggled like little school girls as I glanced frantically at Sub-Zero. I wanted to scream, but I didn't. This was probably the single most embarrassing thing that had happened to me so far…and to have Subs here it only made it ten times worse. I face palmed and didn't dare look over at my former master, but I could feel his brilliant blue eyes shift to me. I was mortified, so I could only imagine how he felt.

I rubbed my temples and glared at them. Kira clapped me on the shoulder and said, "Don't think twice about it, you know you loved it!" I wanted to hurt Kira. Kenshi and Jarek had to grab hold of me and keep me back so that I wouldn't strangle her, or use my weapons on her. She just smirked and walked away, followed by Li Mei. Kenshi left me to Jarek, who picked me up from behind so that I wouldn't kill Kira. Sub-Zero was on his feet; he looked better than he had the night before, but I was still a little worried.

Sub-Zero nodded towards Jarek, who let me go, but he still walked just a few paces behind us. We started through the forest, with Kano, Kung Lao, and Jade up in the front. Kira and Kobra walked a few yards behind them, Li Mei and Kenshi were a few feet behind them, and Luna and Scorpion were a few feet behind those two. Jarek of course was behind Sub-Zero and me, and we were behind Luna and Scorpion. "I apologize, Sub-Zero," I said, rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly.

"It's fine," Subs replied, shrugging. "I didn't even notice." I nodded once and glared at the ground, still a little furious, with Kira, of course. However, I noted that I was actually going faster than Sub-Zero, so I slowed my pace to keep up with him. I had to give it to him, he was doing better than I ever could if I was brutally attacked by Saibot. Not that I'd ever say it out loud. Hadoken trotted at my feet, nipping at my heels every few minutes. I realized what he wanted so I sent him off to hunt.

Something rustled in the nearby bushes, and so I looked over. They stopped moving and out of curiosity I approached, but nothing was there. Shrugging it off, I walked back to the group.

Later That Afternoon

We finally reached the house on the other side of the forest, and Liu Kang greeted us at the door. I heard the same rustling sound, but I ignored it this time. He led us into the house where Li Mei collapsed on the couch, letting the fire warm her up. Liu told us to get comfortable, so I sat down on the stool near the window. Unfortunately, the four Black Dragon guys had to hide out because Sindel of all people would never let us get away with allying with them. I couldn't remember who Sindel was exactly, which worried me slightly.

As I mulled these things over, Raiden appeared in the middle of the room. He gestured to Sub-Zero, who stood up and followed him to the next room over. The door closed and I jumped out of my seat, tip-toeing over to the door. I titled my head to the side so that I could listen in. "Does she know?" Raiden asked, his voice hushed.

"No," Sub-Zero responded. "Why would she?"

"Then let's keep it that way. And I'd watch your step, Sub-Zero, because you're on thin ice as it is, only due to the fact that you're getting a little too close to her," Raiden replied. I found this very, very interesting, so I kept listening in. "I know it was different back then, when you were training her, and I know it was different all those years ago when she was just another ninja and you barely gave her a glance, but it's obviously changing." What the hell did Raiden mean by "just another ninja" and "all those years ago"?

"I understand that Raiden," Sub-Zero cut in, "but when I was training her you didn't designate what I could and couldn't do. I'm trying to keep my distance but it's getting a little difficult with Scorpion and Luna around! Are we done here?" I didn't know if Raiden would let Subs take that tone with him, but obviously Raiden blew it off, because he gave a calm answer.

"Sub-Zero, believe me, we're done here," Raiden replied, coolly. I heard footsteps so I ran back to my seat and sat down, looking out the window. Sub-Zero walked out and we heard a sharp clap of thunder as Raiden teleported away. I didn't understand what they had been talking about, but I figured it was about me. Part of me wanted to confront Sub-Zero, but another part of me wanted to confront Raiden. Since the latter didn't sound like such a good idea, I decided I needed to ask Sub-Zero.

When everyone else filed towards the dining room for dinner, I caught sight of Sub-Zero going upstairs. I was starving, but my curiosity got the best of me. You know what they say, curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought him back. I took the stairs two at a time until we reached the landing, where I stepped in front of him. "I figured you were the one trailing me," Sub-Zero said, folding his arms across his chest. I nodded and tried to think of how to start this. I could be blunt…or I could dance around my point and see if he caught on. "You wanted something?" He quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, yeah," I replied hastily. "I was walkin' past earlier today, when I heard you talkin' to Raiden." Sub-Zero paused before nodding for me to continue. "I heard something about…well…" And I blurted out everything that I had heard, which was the whole conversation. He kind of just stared at me curiously. "Uh, so yeah, I'm a little…confused…" I waited impatiently for an answer. It appeared as if Sub-Zero was contemplating something, but to my surprise he moved closer and held the same curious look.

Taking my wrist gently, he took me to what appeared to be his room. He let me go and I sat down on the edge of the bed, watching as he bolted the door behind him. Sub-Zero gestured for me to make myself comfortable, so I moved closer to the headboard and I sat cross legged. Subs sat cross legged in front of me, about a foot away, but it was a big bed, so that was relatively close. "Raiden will fry me for explaining things, but you'll learn sooner or later, and it's best that you hear it from me," he began.

"The world that you think you come from…your Earth," Sub-Zero began, waiting for me to nod. I nodded. "Is basically a parallel world to ours. We have our Earthrealm while you have…just Earth. So the two are pretty much parallel worlds, connected by portals. The ones Raiden can create." I was following right now, but I figured I was about to get confused out of my mind. "Well, you're not a native of that…world." I gave him a what-the-fuck look. "What I mean, is the two worlds are connected by portals, we've established that, correct?"

"Just Earth and Earthrealm, connected by portals, got it," I replied with a decisive nod.

"Well, you believe you're from…" Sub-Zero gestured for me to finish his sentence. It took me a minute, but I got it.

"Just Earth," I finished.

"Right. When in all actuality of things, you're from my world."

"Well yeah, I knew that," I replied. "I'm part of the Lin Kuei…right?"

"Yes, but you're getting ahead of me," Sub-Zero responded. "You think you were kidnapped at birth…right? And sent to live in… "Just Earth" right?" I nodded. "Well that's not true. Here's what Raiden doesn't want you to know. When you were twenty years old, the Black Dragon clan lured you into a trap, and so to use you against the Lin Kuei, they tried to brainwash you. Well…long story short, it went wrong and Raiden had to bail you out of it. To prevent it from happening again, he further brainwashed you into believing you were from the parallel world, "Just Earth" and went as far as making you believe you had grown up there, all your life. Does any of this shit make sense?" Sub-Zero asked me.

"Vaguely. But continue."

"So your powers became dormant and that's where you were sent. And a few months later, Raiden calls on me to go and mentor you to bring you back into our world. I didn't know you very well beforehand, you were just your every day average Lin Kuei ninja. You got into trouble, but never anything serious, and not enough that you were ever disciplined before me. You were…well, the essence of normal. If the Lin Kuei can be considered normal. And it took you all of those twenty years to master your skills, and I still think you could learn a few things," Sub-Zero explained.

"So… The memories I have now…are LIES?" I practically shouted.

"Yes, now keep your voice down!" Sub-Zero responded. "The thing is, when you asked me why you couldn't recognize Sonya or Tasia and I said I didn't know anything about it…well that was a lie. I do know why that is. And the reason why, is because your true memories are trying to resurface. You have at least three months worth of real memories from "Just Earth"…the three months where you were completely separated from the Lin Kuei and everything else you knew. And for some reason, you picked up on that…weird…game…and you learned enough about us to scare Raiden into bringing you back."

"Raiden's been watching me?" I whisper-yelled.

"He stopped five years ago," Sub-Zero reassured me. "I know it's confusing, but as time goes on, you'll begin to remember your life in the Lin Kuei, the place where you actually grew up. Can we keep this secret between us, though?" I nodded and we fell silent for a moment.

"So what about the other part…about you getting a little too close…" I asked, my voice husky.

"That…was because of this," Sub-Zero replied. He pulled off his mask and leaned forward, kissing me.

That was definitely something I had not been expecting!

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