Disclaimer: Tekken is not mine
In The Arms Of An Angel
"Easy now. You don't want to hurt yourself," Jin told a startled Julia who was frantically trying to sit up after she had stared at him for nearly two minutes straight, without even blinking. Since she was clearly not going to lie back down, Jin stepped forward to help Julia sit up and lean against the stone wall.
"What…What are you?" Julia managed to choke out after Jin had pulled away.
"What am I?" Jin asked, confused. That was kind of a rude question for her to ask.
"Yeah. What are you?" Julia repeated as she saw his face twist in confusion, "You're not exactly human," she pointed at him, voice trembling, "so what are you?"
"Huh?" Jin said as he looked down at himself.
Oh shit. I forgot to turn back. I'm still in my demon form. Jin suddenly realized. He wasn't used to having company so he had not acquired the habit of keeping human when other humans were around.
"Um…" Jin said uneasily, "Well…um…" Damn. What was he supposed to say? 'Oh. I'm just your average half-breed demon.' Not likely.
Seeing his apparent uneasiness with the subject Julia stammered, "Never mind…that wasn't very nice of me to ask," she couldn't believe that she was apologizing to a demon. Hell-- She couldn't believe that she was talking to him like he was just another person, and not running for her life (despite the fact that she couldn't feel her leg) like they did in the movies.
"Why don't we start with introductions?" Julia clamored as she fidgeted nervously, while realizing that he wasn't going to hurt her, as unbelievable as that sounded.
"Um…Yeah…lets," Jin replied, relieved that she had not continued to insist on discovering what he was.
Extending her right hand, Julia officially introduced herself, "Julia Chang."
Following her lead, Jin also extended his hand and grasped hers, "Jin Kazama."
It is him. Guess the rumors that he comes from a family that is not entirely human are true. At least it doesn't seem like he wants to kill me.
The feeling of unrepressed fear that had been coursing through Julia's body, seemed to suddenly disappear, instead replaced by the (possibly stupid) feeling of relief at the fact that she was looking at a familiar face.
"I thought so. Just had to be sure though," Julia said with a slight smile as she let go of his hand.
"Yeah. You probably think I'm supposed to be dead or something," Jin said as he rose to his full height and crossed his arms.
"Actually I've been leaning towards the 'he's gone AWOL' explanation to your disappearance," Julia said in a humorous tone.
What an awkward situation. Here she was: sitting up on a queen-sized mattress, bruised and battered, having a conversation with Jin Kazama (who happened to have various extra limbs and did not look entirely human) like they were old friends and there was nothing amiss.
"That's actually pretty close to the real reason," Jin said with a laugh.
Julia looked up at him, mesmerized. He had a magnificent laugh and one heck of a smile, despite the fangs. In fact, despite the astonishing additions, he had one heck of a body.
Oh boy, what am I thinking? I'm starting to sound like Verity. Before her thoughts wandered off in a rather awkward direction, Julia spoke.
"So, um, how did I wind up here exactly?"
"I found you at the bottom of the ravine after I heard your friend's frantic calls for help. You were pretty beaten up. You broke your arm and your leg, the latter of which severed one of you major arteries. There was no way your friend could do anything to keep you from bleeding to death so I decided to bring you home with me so that I could heal your leg, at least. You hit your head on a rock too, so I was afraid you might have gotten a concussion also." Jin explained as Julia's jaw dropped once more upon hearing how badly injured she had been.
"I was that injured? But aside from a throbbing in my arm and my head, and countless muscle aches, (I can't imagine how many bruises I have) I feel fine," Julia said confused, and then a thought struck her, " How long have I been out?" she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.
"Just over two days," Jin replied as he saw her frown in anxiety.
"Two days? That's it?" Julia said, even more confused than before, "But how? I don't understand."
"Well, when I said that I brought you here to heal your leg, I meant that literally. I healed your broken bone and sealed your blood veins as well as your torn skin," Jin said warily as her eyes grew wide.
"You healed my leg?" Julia repeated incredulously.
"Yeah. That's the reason you probably can't feel it right now, am I wrong?" he said while gesturing at her leg.
Reaching down to feel her recently damaged limb, Julia nodded silently. He healed my leg…but that should be impossible. Then again it should be impossible that there are such things as demons in this world. This is crazy!
"Don't worry. You should get feeling back rather quickly now that you're awake," Jin assured her.
"Thank goodness. I was beginning to think that I'd lost my leg entirely," Julia said while running the back of her right hand across her forehead, "Oh. And…as for saving me. I…don't know how to thank you," gratitude evidently lacing her voice as she looked up at him.
"Don't worry about it. The fact that you're still alive is enough for me ," he replied sincerely, "I couldn't just watch you die knowing that I could have done something to help you."
"Wait. You said you healed my leg, but you didn't do me the favor of healing my arm as well?" Julia questioned good-naturedly after a few moments of grateful silence.
"There's a reason for that," Jin responded.
"Which is…what?"
"My ability to heal others is…limited."
"How so?"
"It is …ridiculously difficult to heal someone. Taking care of your leg left me exhausted straight up through entire day yesterday. I finally felt normal this morning." Jin elucidated.
"Really?" Julia shifted a bit while gazing at the enthralling being standing before her. If her belief in guardian angels had been somewhat fuzzy before, it was now as clear as day.
There are such things as angels. Julia thought And right now I'm sitting in front of one. (A rather contradicting-looking one, but an angel nonetheless.)
"Yes. And if you'd like, I could heal your arm right now. I know it sucks to have broken bones," Jin offered with a smile.
"But won't that make you feel terrible?" Julia questioned.
"No. Just a little tired at most. After getting a better look at it I realized that the break in your arm is actually quite clean and nowhere near as bad as the one in your leg was. So…would you like me to? "
"Well, yeah. That would be amazing," Julia grinned. "This sure beats having to wait for my arm to heal on its own. I hate casts."
"Don't we all," Jin laughed while sitting down next to her, "Alright. Give me your arm." Julia complied, gingerly lifting her arm and placing it in his hands while wincing.
"What now?" Julia asked.
"I let instinct take over," Jin looked at her with an apologetic expression, "It is going to hurt for a little bit though. I've been told it's like being set on fire, I'm afraid."
"Well, get on with it then. No need to kill me with the wait," she said with a hint of nervous humor.
Julia looked over at Jin and saw him close his eyes. Before she could contemplate on how attractive he was, a searing pain shot through her arm. Indeed, it was like being set on fire. Julia shrieked as she felt the heat going up her arm towards her shoulder. However, just as quickly as her arm had caught fire, it was put out. Pulling the splint off of her forearm, Julia was amazed to see not even a single scratch. But like her leg, she couldn't feel it. Great. Looking over at Jin, Julia noticed that he was holding his head between his hands.
"Are you okay Jin?" Julia said in a worried tone.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Just a little dizzy." He looked over at her and gave her yet another smile, "How's it feel?"
Laughing Julia responded, "Wonderful, considering I can't feel it at all!"
A few hours later, Julia had regained control of her previously broken limbs. Jin was right. Since she was conscious she'd been able to re-master her dormant muscles faster. She'd asked him if healing her head wound would tire him much. He'd said not at all, but that it was probably a better idea that she keep some sort of injury. She couldn't walk away from a hundred foot fall with little more than a few bruises. He did, however, say he could get rid of the aches of her body, only if she could pretend to be battered and in pain when she went back. Of course, she agreed and now the worst injury she had was the one on her head, near her left temple.
Both Jin and Julia found it amazing how easily they could just sit and talk each other. In just a few hours they'd learned as much as they could about the other and it almost seemed as if they'd been friends for years. They recounted their childhood stories, and remarked on how incredible it seemed that despite the fact that they had been in the same King Of Iron Fist Tournaments, they'd never really met.
"So you're really not at all disturbed by the fact that I'm not exactly human? That I'm sitting right next to you with wings, horns, fangs, and eyes that look like they belong to some wild animal?" Jin asked for the third time.
"No Jin. I'm not. So quit asking! You're just like everyone else, except for the fact that you have wings, horns, fangs and eyes that look like they belong to some wild animal," Julia giggled as she repeated his description of himself, "I have a question though."
"Which would be…?" Jin inquired.
"Are you always in that…um… form?"
"No. Of course not. Have you ever seen me with wings in the ring? No," Jin said comically, "It's just more convenient to be in this form around here. It beats having to walk all over the place."
"That's for sure," Julia said with a grin and then asked another random question, "Can you make individual 'appendages' go away?"
"Yeah. Here, watch," Jin turned his head toward her and she gasped when she saw that he was pulling his ivory horns back into his head. He smiled and she laughed. As he saw her laugh, Jin was suddenly overcome by a powerful emotion. The sound of her voice was enchanting, and her smile revealed her beauty in one of the most awe-inspiring ways. Slowly, he pulled himself closer to Julia. When she stopped laughing she turned to look at him, and was surprised at his sudden proximity. Looking into his golden eyes, Julia felt a strange sensation tugging at her heart. Jin's lips unexpectedly looked…delicious. Slowly the two of them drew closer to each other, and after a moment's hesitation, their lips met.
The gentle kiss sent an electrifying feeling through both of them and their kiss became deeper. The slow kisses steadily increased in fervor and passion bloomed. Their tongues met and Julia reached up to grab hold of his dark hair and pull him even closer. Jin's mouth moved from Julia's and ran down her neck. Julia moaned and felt Jin tugging at her jacket to take it off. She briefly let go of him and yanked off her obtrusive jacket. Slowly the two of them sank into Jin's bed, feeling an immense heat between them. Their hands began to explore one another and they let themselves be swept away by the sweet taste of ecstasy.
******
The following morning, Julia awoke and found Jin still asleep, his arm wrapped around her slender waist. Smiling, she snuggled in closer to him and felt his arm hold her tighter.
"Good morning Sweetheart," Jin whispered into her ear.
"Good morning," Julia said melodiously, "Did I wake you up?"
"No, I've actually been awake for a while."
"No you haven't. You were still sleeping when I woke up," Julia said while turning over to face him.
"No I wasn't. I just had my eyes closed," Jin gazed at her while smiling, "It doesn't really matter though, we're both up now." He pulled Julia close and gave her a slow kiss. Suddenly Jin stiffened and he sat up in bed quickly.
"Jin? What's wrong?" Julia asked as she sat up as well.
"Oh, nothing," Jin tried to be casual.
"Liar. You're trying to hide something. What?" Julia questioned.
"You're quite perceptive aren't you?"
"It has nothing to do with perception, although my mom always said that nothing could get by me. But that's not the point, what's wrong?"
"Please don't get me wrong, but you have to go back," Jin replied hesitantly, "Now."
"What? Why?" Julia demanded.
"Please trust me Julia. Get up and get dressed. I'll fly you back until I find a place where I'm sure you can find your way to the village," Jin implored quietly.
Julia didn't want to leave, but the look in Jin's eyes sent chills down her spine so she agreed. Jin flew her over to a small beach near the main river and told her to follow it south. After a few miles she'd reach the docks and from there she just had to follow the road back to the village. After promising that he would explain everything later, Jin gave a quick but passionate kiss.
"Wait! What am I supposed to tell everyone as to where I've been for the past three days?" Julia said suddenly as the thought popped into her head.
"I don't know…claim amnesia or something. You've got the head wound to back it up," Jin suggested quickly. Julia could tell that he had to leave so she left it at that.
"I'll think of something before I get to the docks. Don't worry. I'll see you around then?" Julia said apprehensively.
"Yeah. I'll make sure to run into you," Jin said with a eager smile.
"Bye then," Julia bit her lower lip.
"Later." Jin then spread his massive wings and disappeared into the jungle.
After peering into the trees after him, Julia turned around and started to walk down the riverbank.
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A/n: Wow. I am on a roll this week. I wrote this chapter right after I finished the last one. Meaning I stayed up till five in the morning sitting in front of my computer screen. Hee Hee…XD
Thanks to those who've reviewed so far!
To the rest of you : Review! Review!
