Twelve White Butterflies
Yugao
Author's Note: Here's the almost-there mark, story number ten… it's titled Cast It Away, and it focuses mostly on Julia's ending movie. Think you can review?
Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken, and unless I become a multi-billionaire I never will. I only own the unimportant Professor Carter.
"Cast your heart to the wind. Now is not the time for silly fantasies."
Ten… Cast It Away
"How is the experiment coming, Julia?"
The young woman hung her head in disappointment, not raising her eyes to meet the old man's gaze. "Not very well, Professor," she said, her voice not much more than a whisper, "We have monitored all the pods. No change has been observed."
He raised his eyebrows curiously. "I'm disappointed, to tell you frankly. Your mother is a good friend of mine and I know both of you are brilliant. What happened?"
"The Tournament distracted me, Sir…" she stammered, tugging lightly on her braids.
The man brushed it off as if she said nothing of importance. "The Iron Fist Tournament reached its conclusion three months ago. You retrieved your data and reanalyzed everything. Isn't three months enough for your plants to grow, Julia?"
"It is, Professor, but…"
Professor Carter's eyes softened, and he held up a hand to silence her. "It's about him, isn't it, child?"
She nodded meekly.
"Julia, I can't stay. I have to go – the Devil is too dangerous," he said with a quiet, but no less disturbing, finality. "I don't want to put you at a needless risk."
She closed her eyes and stopped the tears from falling. "But… you will be back, right? You'll come back."
He looked away, and didn't answer.
"Jin…" she whispered, "Will you be back? Tell me."
Their eyes met, and she knew.
"I might not be able to come back," he replied.
She averted her eyes, just so he wouldn't be able to see the tears welling up there. "You might not…" she said hoarsely, as if trying to let everything sink in.
"I'm sorry. I should leave," he said, turning to walk away.
"I'll wait for you," she said stubbornly.
He took one last glance at her. "You'll be waiting forever," he answered sadly.
"Three months is long enough for a plant to sprout, but not long enough for a scar to heal," Professor Carter told her, cupping her cheek as a father would do to a daughter. "Julia, I did not want to tell you this, but the reason why your research is falling apart is because you have your sights set on something else."
She looked up at him. "What are you saying?"
"Cast your heart into the wind, at least until your research is over," he said, "Now is not the time for silly fantasies."
She nodded.
"Now go back to your work. Stop waiting. Start moving on," he added.
She nodded again, and turned to leave. She opened the door to the experimentation room, gazed lovingly at the pods which contained her hopes for her land. She fingered each as she passed them, until finally she reached the last one in the row.
A small, green sprout had appeared in the tuft of soil.
The tears that refused to come three months ago fell now. But she had cast her heart into the wind – she would start moving on.
Author's Note: Short, I know. But I still have a project to write up, and I have a three-day journalism seminar starting tomorrow… please review and make me happy.