The village was a lot more welcoming when a spear wasn't being shoved in her back. The frigid air was quite comfortable no matter how much Kenshi complained about it, and although the villagers didn't seem overjoyed to see her, she wasn't being treated like a side show act.

It was Kenshi who had approached her about attending the wedding, much to her surprise. Or at least she had been surprised until he revealed that his other option was to babysit one of the Outer world Investigation Agency's techs as they collected data about Outworld. Apparently the technician in question wasn't just blonde and perky, but had a rather obvious crush on the master swordsman.

It was with great relief that the two of them had parted ways with Cyrax and the the technician after coming through the same portal. Something about blondes just annoyed Frost to no end, especially those who thought they were prettier than her.

The trip to the village wasn't all that bad if you knew where you were going. The young Lin Kuei and the swordsman lapsed into a sort of comfortable silent, only making the few necessary comments for the journey. It was the kind of silence Frost preferred, without the chatter of Min or the stony silence of LiXue. There would be time enough for idle chitchat once they found the talkative scholar.

In a fairytale world, Min would have been gifted with an honorary title for his service to the village and the Universe, Meanwhile he would have been awarded a cushy job and the hand of some fair maiden for his troubles. Instead, their friend had been awarded more hard work for his efforts, but at least this as the kind of work that paid; and instead of heading towards the very edge of the village, they two comrades were heading towards Min's new abode in the main ring of houses.

Min was, of course, overjoyed to see them, acting more like a pulpy than a respectable historian. He looked healthier, less gaunt and with more color in his cheeks, but that could have been from his excited flush.

"I thought you would never get here," he said, ushering him into his modest home. "You're my first house guests," he added with a broad smile.

"It felt like we would never get here," Kenshi grumbled good naturedly, dusting the snow off his shoulders.

Frost carefully removed her traveling boots and laid them by the hearth to dry. "The trip wasn't that bad. We didn't run across a single Tarkatan," she said. "I just get sick of trail rations while on the road."

"Well, you''ll have plenty to eat tomorrow. It looks like they'll be enough food to feed the village twice over at the wedding," Min said. "I haven't seen anything like these preparations in the entire time I've lived here."

"The wedding of the century then," Kenshi said dryly.

"And then some. LiXue seems to be milking her father or all he's worth while she still considered his ward," Min added.

Frost smirked. "Good for her. The bastard deserves it." She looked around the main living space and her eyes fell on the pile of scrolls on Min's table. "So what have you been doing now that you're not saving the universe?"

"You mean aside from translating the tombs? I've been mostly working as a scribe. Wen has actually been sending out letters to other peoples." Min pointed to another stack of scrolls. "They're mostly form letters of a sort, but at least its something."

"Wen decided that the village couldn't stay hidden forever?" Kenshi asked.

Min nodded, "I think he's afraid that the battle for Outworld might eventually come to us."

"I don't think he'll have to worry about that for some time. From what the Agency found out , the Tarkata and Shao Kahn's men have basically been scattered. It looks like things might actually be peaceful for awhile. " Kenshi said.

"Don't jinx us," Frost chided him playfully.

"Yeah, how will I get my work done with Tarkatan wandering around?" Min asked.

Kenshi snorted. "I, for one, am looking forwards a few battles. All the Agency seems to be doing is research. You can't keep your skills sharp while 'guarding' some silly researcher. They tend to get nervous if you unsheathe your weapon."

"Oh I don't know, " Frost smirked, "I think the little blonde would have been quite happy to have your pull out your 'katana'."

"For Min's sake, I'll let that one go by," Kenshi said with a yawn. "That and I'm too tired to come up with an appropriate retort."

Frost glanced out the window at the darkening sky. "What are you, an old man? It's not that late."

"Maybe not, but wandering around in knee deep snow for fourteen days has tired me out. Some of us aren't actually cold-blooded like you." Kenshi smirked. "And I can tell you're giving me a dirty look, so stop it."

Ignoring Frost's pouting, Min began the preparations to turn his main living room into guest quarters.

Frost had never seen so much silver in her life. Every villager showed up in the village square in their finery, which consisted of so much jewelry that she was surprised some of them could remain upright. The other consistency in their dress were the colors blue and black, making the crowd of them look like some sort of dark ocean wave as the crowd milled about, sunlight glancing off of earrings and hair decorations.

She felt mildly under dressed in her traveling clothes, but frankly she doubted that anyone cared what she was wearing, so long as she was wearing something. It wasn't her wedding, after all.

LiXue, on the other hand, was a brilliant whirl of sparkling jewelry, so much that her clothing was completely covered except for her daintily embroidered slippers. Min had explained that most of it was her dowry, and the whole celebration was just a show of wealth, but Frost couldn't help but feel the diminutive warrior had gone a little overboard with her wedding out of revenge.

If there was one person in the village that Frost would have picked out as the one person LiXue wouldn't seem likely to marry, the groom would have been it. While he was a stately, old gentleman, Frost just couldn't see the two of them together. Maybe he was more lively in the training halls or elsewhere. The wedding wasn't exactly making her spritely either.

The two who seemed most animated were LiXue for obvious reasons, and Wen, who was smirking at Wu in a decidedly non-age-appropriate manner. All the elders seemed rather pleased with how matters had turned out, although Min had to translate their gratefulness to Frost, but Wen took a sadistic pleasure in congratulating the father of the bride on his new son-in-law. Maybe the old bitch wasn't so bad after all.

Min leaned over to Frost and whispered conspiratorially, "Is it me, or does it seem like the elders planned this mess all along?"

"I'm trying very hard not to think about it actually. The idea of being played by a bunch of old farts isn't overly appealing." Frost grimaced. "At least it seems to have turned out for the better. You're happy, LiXue is happy. Wen is a miserable son of a bitch, but we knew that already. The village is finally learning its own history. The universe is saved. Happy ending, hurray."

"Well, I didn't get a happy ending," Kenshi interrupted. "I'm still working for less pay than I should at the Agency."

"True, but you're not half-dead and stuck in Outworld being chased by blood thirsty Tarkata," Frost pointed out. "Beggars can't be choosers after all."

"Well what about you, you don't seem overjoyed at all this," Kenshi asked, with a nod from Min.

"I think I fall under the beggar category. I'm not dead, and I'm not stuck in Outworld, and I have to say thats a lot better than where I was when I started this little adventure." She sighed. "If this were a story, I'd definitely want a few words with the author on the 'happy ending'."

"I'd give you a pep talk about how we're supposed to be writing our own destiny, but I don't believe most of that crap," Kenshi replied.

"You believe in predestination?" Min asked, one eyebrow raised.

"No, but I believe that sometimes you have to do the best you have with what you've been given." Kenshi paused for a moment. "I guess what I mean is that you can't always change everything, and sometimes what's already happened prevents some things in the future."

"That's kind of morbid," Frost remarked.

"I'm just being realistic. For example, I'm blind because I did something stupid. No matter what I do now, I'm still going to be blind in the future," Kenshi touched his blindfold carefully. "God knows what I'd do to change that, but sometimes you just can't change some things in life. I'm just going to have to work with it and move on with my life."

"You're not very good at pep talks, are you?" Frost asked.

"What? 'Do the best you can with what you have.' I'd say that was fairly positive," replied Kenshi. "Or at least as positive as I get."

Frost just sighed. It was good advice, of course, but something about it just didn't sit right with her. Most of the lessons she had to teach was along the lines of "You can do anything if you put your mind to it." Which she admitted was silly when a five foot two fat kid decided he was going to play in the NBA, but believing she was boxed in by past mistakes sounded like a very boring way to live.

"You turning philosophical on us?" Min asked with a slight smirk.

"No. Just depressed."

"You're thinking about going back to the Lin Kuei, aren't you?" said Kenshi.

Frost scratched at the back of her head. "Yeah," she said quietly. "I don't think it's such a good idea though."

"Well, Sub-Zero was a little grumpy, but he wasn't exactly an ogre," Kenshi shrugged.

"That's just great coming from Mr. If-You-Fucked-Up-Your-Stuck," Frost said.

"Hey, you won't know if that path is blocked until you try it, right?" Min interrupted. "Could it really hurt to try."

"Yes," Frost said, deadpan. "I'll be walking into a temple full of assassins. Possibly angry assassins. And I'll be talking to the leader of the angry assassins who I tried to steal from. It could hurt a great deal."

"Will you be happy if you don't try?" Kenshi asked.

There was another long pause. "No," Frost said finally.

"Then maybe a little pain is worth it."