Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken or any other related characters.

Vermilion Scar

Chapter Three: The Sweet Far Memory

"Emily, this is Ann."

Emily looked up, squinting as the sun hit her steel-blue eyes. Once she had adjusted to the light, she saw a beautiful woman in a long, red form-fitting dress. Her face was covered in light makeup, and her straight brown hair framed her face. The woman was wearing a gorgeous Harry Winston diamond necklace that shone when the light hit it.

The woman only gave her a small smile as she entangled her arms with those of Emily's father. The little girl frowned, tilting her head as she clutched Pooka, her teddy bear. Even in the girl's eyes, the woman seemed different from the others her father had taken home.

She wasn't like those women who pretended to be in love with him. Even at her young age, Emily knew that those women were only after her father's money. Emily knew right then and there that Ann was only playing a part.

"My Emily here… is studying ballet. Isn't that right, little one?" her father asked as the two adults looked down at little Emily. Ann only stared, unmoved by her.

"It's Lili," Emily muttered. She tried to remember exactly how many times she had corrected her father, but she had lost track.

Mr. Rochefort laughed, "Okay, okay." He patted his daughter on the head and walked along with Ann. "Oh, and Emily? What did I told you about Poota? Didn't I tell you to get rid of him? He's old. I'm going to buy you a new one, okay?" The two adults walked past Emily, who frowned at their backs as she heard Ann's laughter in the gardens.

After a few weeks with Ann, the three of them had established an unofficial routine. On a beautiful day, they would usually eat breakfast outside on the patio, one of Emily's favorite places in the mansion because it overlooked a beautiful lake. On some days, they would eat inside in the great dining hall, which was big and cold and Emily's least favorite place. The faces in the expensive paintings watched her every move, as if making sure she wouldn't make mistakes in her table manners.

Then, Mr. Rochefort would head for work, and the two ladies would go on about their business. Ann would either stay in her room or go to God-knows-where with her stylish red sports car, courtesy of Mr. Rochefort, of course. Emily would go about her lessons – ballet, gymnastics, piano, foreign languages, et cetera. Her father wanted her to learn at least five foreign languages, she was to inherit the company, and knowing different languages was crucial for running the business.

And so, a whole day would pass where the women would barely spend any time in each other's company. They liked it that way.

"Hmm…. The French Ambassador has gotten himself into another scandal." Mr. Rochefort frowned, munching his toast. Emily looked up from her porridge. Her father's face was covered by a newspaper, and the front page had a picture of a skinny, bald man covering his face from the camera.

"Oh?" Ann said lightly as she sipped her drink.

"Yes. I guess we won't be having golf this weekend," he said, folding the newspaper and handing it over to Sebastian, the old butler. "This means we can go somewhere. Anywhere you want." Mr. Rochefort smiled at Ann as he stood up.

"Can we go to Disneyland?" Emily asked hopefully, clutching her teddy bear.

Mr. Rochefort only laughed. "Well, I was thinking more of like giving Ann a tour around Monaco."

Emily looked down, trying not to look disappointed in front of her father. She mumbled, "Okay," as her father kissed Ann and her.

"You two have fun while I'm at work. Emily, why don't you go take Ann for a walk around the gardens? Of course, she's seen it before, but it would be different if someone who spends her time in there a lot would give her the tour," Mr. Rochefort said and walked out of the dining room.

Emily looked up at Ann, who was obviously avoiding the little girl's gaze. "So, would you like to go to the gardens?" she asked the woman in her native Monégasque. "I have no classes today."

"Beg your pardon?" Ann said, finally looking at Emily.

"I have no lessons today…. Would you like to walk in the gardens?" she repeated in English.

Ann put down her goblet and sighed. She stood up and took Emily's hand in hers without another word.

The two walked quietly around the gardens, the little girl stopping every once in a while to pick a few flowers for her room. It was a beautiful day, and they had been walking for half an hour already, but to Ann, this little walk of theirs was far from fun. She just wanted this whole nightmare of an assignment to be over, so she could get back to her life.

"Do you love father?" The simple yet not so innocent question took Ann out of her reverie.

"Love is such a strong word…," was her only reply.

"Do you hate him?" Emily continued, not looking at the older woman. Instead, she focused on the flowers she had picked, at the pretense of arranging them.

"That's also such a strong word…," Ann murmured, walking ahead.

"How do you feel about him, then?"

"Let's just say that I neither love nor hate him," said Ann in a tone that indicated she was done discussing the subject. "Now, I am quite tired. Do you mind if I just go back to my room?" Ann said and, without waiting for Emily's reply, walked away. She ran back inside the house, pushing past the butler, who stood by the big main door. Ann took two steps at a time, ignoring the maids who curtsied to her in the hallways. She opened the door to her room, panting.

It had to be done. She didn't mind killing Rochefort…. No, of course she did not. That man had done so many evil things to get where he was. He was not as good as the media wrote him to be, but the little girl…. She was so innocent, yet so alert. Her instincts reminded Ann of her own. The assassin sighed. Well, it wasn't like she was going to be poor and destitute after she killed her father. She was going to be a billionaire, for God's sake!

With that, Ann concluded that she would kill Rochefort in the evening.

After a quiet dinner with her father and Ann, Emily decided to play before going to bed. The two adults went to the sitting room to chat. As the minutes passed on, Emily went everywhere in the house, lost in her little fantasy world, where she was a princess and Pooka, the bear, her guardian.

Sleep soon came over her. Yawning, she walked to her room, scratching her behind freely because no one was watching her. As Emily took small, languid steps towards the grand staircase, she passed by the sitting room and was surprised to see the door slightly ajar.

She had always been taught not to eavesdrop, but, in that particular moment, her instinct told her that it was necessary. She stood by the door, hearing snippets of the conversation.

"Ann! What is this?" she heard her father shout from the other side of the door.

"Sorry, Rochefort. Nothing personal," a familiar voice replied, calm yet cold. Emily sneaked a peek and gasped, her blue eyes widening. Mr. Rochefort sat in his favorite wing chair with rich black velvet upholstery, and before him stood Ann, her once long brown hair now short up to her neck.

"Who sent you?"

Emily heard the panic in her father's voice. She clutched her teddy bear tightly. Already she was trying to think how she could help her father.

Should she alert the bodyguards or should she charge in the room to stop Ann? Emily decided that interrupting the two would be faster, and it would be the best thing to do to save her father. After making up her mind, though, she found it impossible to move. She was too embarrassed to admit it, but, in truth, she was scared.

Before she could move, Emily heard a loud bang and involuntarily screamed. She ran inside the room and blindly grabbed a sharp object from the desk, stabbing the woman who had shot her father. The woman dodged to the side quickly, but Emily was still able to scratch her upper left thigh, ripping the soft fabric of her red dress.

Ann's brown eyes widened as she looked at the little girl and then at the small wound on herself. Ann blinked as the thick vermilion liquid stained her dress. She looked back at Emily, who was crying loudly as she uselessly nudged her father's dead body.

"You killed him!" she cried, wiping off her tears and looking up at Anna. Emily charged at her.

Without even thinking twice, Anna moved her body sideways, grabbing the young heiress' small wrist and squeezing it tightly, until Emily dropped the blade. "Do you really think you can kill me? You stupid little girl," Ann said coldly, twisting Emily's wrist until the little girl shouted in pain.

Cringing, Emily looked up at the woman she knew only as her father's new "pet." Since the beginning, she had known that she was different. She could feel the pain in her arm increasing, but she still had something left in her. Using her free arm, she tried reaching for the blade on the floor.

However, Ann saw through her little plan. She pointed the gun to Emily's left temple and kicked the small knife away from her. The knife fell to the floor, useless. "Nice try, Lili, but still not good enough."

"Are you going to kill me, like you killed my father?" Emily asked, looking at the fear showed in her eyes.

Ann paused for a long time, her grip on the girl's arm tightening. "If only you knew what your father has done… how evil he is…," Ann started. "You're still young. You don't deserve to die… yet. Come back to me when you're ready, and we'll finish this." She pulled the gun away from Emily's head. Using her high-heeled shoe, she stepped on the small arm, breaking it.

Emily screamed in pain. She heard footsteps and Sebastian's breathless voice asking, "Miss Lili, what happened here?"

"She killed him!" the little girl wailed, and that was the last thing Ann heard as she jumped out the window and disappeared into the night.

London, 4:43 a.m.…

Anna awoke with a start. Panting, she looked around her apartment. She wiped her brow and gulped a generous amount of air. Anna looked at her left thigh. It had stopped bleeding, but a small pool of dried blood had formed around it. The suppressed memory from the past had come back through a nightmare.

Lili Rochefort… the young heiress she had bereaved of her father ten years ago. The little bitch sure had grown up. Despite the trouble she was in, Anna smiled to herself.

Lili definitely was back to seek revenge. How very… interesting and exciting…, Anna said to herself. She looked again at her thigh, where the old and the new scar now formed a small X.

These people are the most awesome reviewers a writer could ever ask for:

whitewave16, Divinely Ethereal, FuckFace, Thunderxtw, mirrors of illusion and Salysha.

(10/23/08) – Beta'd by Salysha.