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Confidante

"What really happened Julia?" Verity questioned as the shadows of the night announced the end of the eventful day and the two of them prepared to go to sleep.

Julia had made it safely back to the village, a fact that had everyone reeling. Brock and the other archaeologists had gone into a frenzied search for Julia after Verity had returned and told them what had happened. They couldn't believe how stupid they had been at believing that they could navigate the treacherous forest on their own. When she had shown up, alive, they were all stunned. To the foreigners, it was a miracle; to the natives, it was extremely suspicious. They could tell right away, with uncanny certainty, that something wasn't right.

"I already told you. I can't remember. All that I know is that one moment I was falling and the next I was waking up on the muddy riverbank," Julia repeated for the millionth time. She was suddenly regretting sticking to the story that she had amnesia. Although the other archeologists were too relieved with knowing that Julia was safe and sound to bother her with the details of her return, the tribes people didn't seem to accept her story as true. And neither did Verity.

"I don't believe you Julia. You've always sucked at lying to me. I know you too well," Verity stated with a disapproving frown.

She's got me cornered. Julia thought grimly as she pulled back the sheets to her bed and gingerly set herself down.

"I'll get it out of you somehow, whether now or later. You might as well spill the beans Jules," Verity threatened as she sat down at the foot of her bed and crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing.

After Julia did not respond, Verity continued to insist. "Julia! For goodness' sake. Tell me. I promise I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to, but I have to know what happened to you. If something bad happened to you while you were out there it need to know. I feel as if it's my fault. I left you out there by yourself. I didn't look for you long enough. I shouldn't even have gone looking for an easier way down--I should have jumped down after you!"

"Verity please! Don't blame yourself. Actually if you hadn't taken off, I probably would be dead right now!" Julia exclaimed frantically as her best friend suddenly looked like she wanted to grab something heavy and start beating herself over the head with it.

"What?" Verity turned to Julia with astonishment, "What is that supposed to mean?"

I'm gonna have to tell her. Julia thought nervously while her heart began to beat faster.

"I'll tell you. But you have to promise to keep your mouth shut, no matter what."

"Of course," Verity sighed, "What happened after you fell Jules?"

"Someone found me," Julia stated simply.

"Someone found you? Who?"

"The last person I would have expected to see here."

"Julia! Stop talking in riddles. You know I hate that. Just get to the point," Verity walked over to the foot of Julia's bed as Julia sat up, readjusting her pillow so she could lean comfortably on the wall at the head of her bed.

After a moment's deliberation, she answered, "A demon."

"A demon. Right. And I'm the queen of England," Verity said bitterly as she stood back up. The girl has lost her mind if she thinks a lame story like that is going to convince me. "If you weren't going to tell me anything, why did you get my hopes up?" she spat.

"Verity. I'm being serious," Julia said fiercely, "I know it sounds ridiculous…"

"Ridiculous?? It's a hell of a lot more than that. I think you hit your head harder than we thought."

"Verity!"

"Julia!"

Seeing that slowly easing her into the subject wasn't going to work, Julia decided to give her a fast monotonous recap. If she believed it or not…well…it would be Verity's problem.

"Fine. I hope you've got your ears ready. Here goes: After I fell, a demon found me lying at the bottom of the ravine. He was attracted to the sound of your shouts for help and was curious. He took me back to his place after seeing that if he left me alone I would bleed to death long before you got to me. Apparently the fall had broken my left forearm and my right leg. My shin was split into slivers and those slivers cut straight through my major arteries. At a great expense to himself, he healed my broken leg and sealed my veins, as he put it. I was out cold for two days, and when I woke up I finally saw him. At first I was terrified, in shock. Even more shocking was the fact that I recognized him.

"I was staring at Jin Kazama. Like I said: the last person I had expected to ever see here.

"I'm sure you've heard the rumors that claim that the Mishimas aren't exactly human. Well…they're true. After he saw that I had gotten over my initial shock, he healed my arm and told me that it would be numb for a few hours. After spending the day regaining control of my limbs and talking to him I realized that he wasn't such a bad guy. Troubled no doubt, but a really nice man. There was something about him that I just couldn't deny, and I slept with him. This morning he brought me back to the riverbank and told me to follow it to the docks. I walked the road back to the village and well…you know the rest…as you can see I couldn't exactly tell the real version of the story without being shipped back home to be taken to some brain surgeon or even worse…a shrink," Julia concluded quickly as she sat playing with the ring of her left hand's forefinger.

Verity simply stared at her with incredulous blue eyes. Her mouth was wide open and if it had gone any further down it would have somehow scraped the floor.

"Well you said to get straight to the point didn't you?" Julia said with a frown.

A few minutes later, after sitting in complete silence, Verity responded simply and without emotion, "Prove it."

"Prove it?"

"Yeah. Prove it! Or I'll go tell everyone that you need to go back home because I think you really do have some serious brain damage."

"Are you handing me an ultimatum?"

"Yes. Doesn't that seem a little obvious? Surely someone as smart as you can recognize that." Verity glared.

Julia gaped at her friend, and answered, "How am I supposed to do that exactly…huh…prove it?""I don't know…you're the genius here. Think."

"I guess that the saying 'seeing is believing' rings true for you, huh?" Julia said while putting her face in her hands.

"Always has," Verity retorted.

Running her hand through her hair, Julia closed her eyes and thought. Seeing is believing, seeing is believing.---- Ugh! This is ridiculous. Why can't she just believe me!?

"Will you accept my story as reality if I take you to go meet Jin?" Julia finally said, no knowing what else to say to convince her.

"Of course. Take me to go see your demon lover," Verity threw her hands up in ridicule, "Lover? God Julia, I don't believe it. Lover? That'll be one hell of a story to look back on won't it? You gave yourself up to a demon," she shook her head.

Blushing, Julia looked away. She had hoped that she'd said that part of the story quick enough for Verity not to catch it. Looks like I'm not the only one who's overly perceptive. Julia thought.

"So. Where are we supposed to 'meet' your beloved?" Verity scoffed.

"Um…I…don't know…" Julia said blankly as the problem was presented. Jin had said he would run into her, but there had been no talk over how she was supposed to get a hold of him.

"Really?" Verity raised a dubious eyebrow.

After a moment an idea sprang into her brain, and Julia spoke, "The pond!"

"The pond?" Verity repeated confused.

"That's where I first saw him…remember the yellow eyes in the tree? That was him! Maybe if we go there he'll show up," Julia elaborated as the realization dawned upon her.

Shaking her head again Verity sighed, "Fine. Lead the way." Maybe when she sees that nothing is there she'll get it through her head that she was just delirious. There are no such things as demons.

The young women put out their lights, and silently got dressed. When the coast was clear, they snuck out of their room and made their way to the trail that lead to the spring-fed pond. Upon arriving, Verity looked at Julia and asked, "What are we supposed to do now?"

"Wait I guess," Julia sat down near the edge of the crystalline water and Verity followed suit.

Silently they sat there for at least two hours. Verity was becoming increasingly impatient. She didn't want to wait here all night for the make-believe creature of Julia's imagination, she wanted to sleep. Just as she was about to object to their stakeout, Verity heard a noise that sounded like the flapping of wings. Julia stood up and turned to look in the direction of the rustle.

"Jin? Is that you?" Julia said quietly as she scanned the tree branches above their heads. Verity looked at Julia and frowned. It's just a bird…why would she think it's her new 'boyfriend'? Wait…Julia thinks this 'Jin' is a demon, and according to the legends of the tribe, almost all demons have wings. Great. She's getting her ideas for this guy from myths and modeling them to fit the face of a missing billionaire. Just. Great.

"Jin? Please come down. I know it's kind of strange for me to have Verity here with me but I had to tell her the truth about what happened. She's my best friend. I can't lie to her, but the only way she'll believe me is if she meets you," Julia spoke to the shadows, but the shadows said nothing.

"Jules. There's nothing here. Let's just go back. I won't tattle on you but stop making things up," Verity told her friend with a small whine.

"So she doesn't believe you?" suddenly spoke a deep disembodied voice. Verity froze; her eyes widened as she continued to stare at Julia.

"Jin!" Julia said happily, "Where are you? Come down!"

"I'm not sure your friend can handle that," replied the layered voice, with a hint of disappointment.

Snapping out of her motionless state, Verity turned to look up at the darkness, "Are you calling me a chicken?" she said between clenched teeth; he had stuck a soft spot with his comment. Nobody called her chicken…

"Of course not. It's just that not everyone stays… conscious… when they see me," replied the voice.

"Julia manage to keep her eyes open. If she went as far as sleeping with you, I'm positive you're not that scary," Verity retorted. Let's see this idiot for who he really is…a fraud…

"So you told her everything, eh?" said the voice in an amused tone.

"A quick summary of everything…um…yes," Julia replied with obvious embarrassment, "I accidentally let it slip and was hoping that little detail would escape her attention but it looks like she's rather…"

"Perceptive," the voice finished for Julia, "Just like you. Only you're a little more keen."

"Enough with the criticism! Show yourself!" Verity shouted with exasperation at the tree.

"Alright, alright. Brace yourself, here I come," the figure jumped down from the tree and landed in the halo of light that was cast down by the full moon. Turning toward Verity, Jin crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side, waiting for Verity's reaction.

"Oh. My. God." Verity managed to choke out, "He…really is…a…demon!" She took several steps backward and ran into a tree.

"Verity?" Julia extended her arm out to her friend, "Don't be scared. He's…"

"Don't be scared?!" Verity exclaimed, "Look at him Jules! Have you gotten a good look at him?!"

"Verity…" Julia said concerned.

"She's gotten a really good look at me, remember Verity?" Jin insinuated.

"Jin!" Julia expressed with mortification. If there had been any proper light, she was sure she'd look as red as a beet.

"Sorry. I couldn't help myself," he said with a teasing smile. Turning to Verity, he eyed her evident discomfort, "Maybe I should go. I think I may be too much for her."

"No, please don't go. You still have to explain to me about this morning," Julia pleaded as she grabbed one of Jin's arms.

"You are not too much for me. I can handle this as easily as Julia does. Don't think for even a second that I'm a coward," Verity firmly declared as she straightened up and stuck her chin in the air in defiance.

"I'm not," Jin replied plainly, "Maybe we should properly introduce ourselves, before we go throwing insults, compliments, or neither," extending his hand with an amused smile on his, "Jin Kazama."

"Verity Hartley," she said with her head still held high, and shook his hand.

Jin turned to Julia and, with the smile still on his face, said, "I like your friend Jules. She's a strong willed person."

"She always has been," she laughed, still holding onto his arm.

Hoping that it was not an embarrassing a subject, Verity asked, "So…you were supposed to give Jules some sort of explanation for something about this morning?"

"Yes. You are. Why did I have to leave in such a rush this morning? What happened?" Julia inquired.

"I…had to confront another demon."

"Another demon?"

"Wait, there are more of you?" Verity said flabbergasted.

"Not many, but yes."

"What did he want?" Julia said worriedly.

"She wanted to warn me that the demons who are hunting me are getting desperate. They are apparently thinking about getting a hold of a tracking demon who could find me and bring me in."

"You're being hunted!?" Julia gasped.

"Unfortunately. It's one of the reasons I disappeared in the middle of the last tournament. You know the first legend you two heard when you got here?" the girls nodded, "Well, it's no legend. It's true. There really is a gateway, and apparently I'm the key to opening it. Hence, the reason why I've become number one on various hit lists. For the last few months I've escaped them numerous times, solely due to the fact that I'd been warned beforehand. The demoness that dropped by today has been my early-warning/detection system. The hunting demons move too quickly for me to sense them with enough time to make a clean getaway," he summed up.

"How does she know when they're going to strike?" Verity asked.

"Well, she works with them," Julia and Verity gasped, "Her mistress is on the inside of the whole 'undertaking' and sends her out to make sure I know when they're coming. I still don't know why, but I'm grateful. Otherwise right now, we'd probably be on the verge of a cataclysmic apocalypse," he said solemnly.

"Oh my God," Verity and Julia said at the same time.

"The two of you look tired, and I know this is a lot to take in, so I think it would be a good idea if you went back to the village to get some rest," Jin noted.

"That sounds like a really good idea," Verity yawned, "Let's go Jules. I'm never going to doubt you again, I swear."

"I don't know…I'm kind of jittery. I don't feel like sleeping right now," Julia sighed.

"Well if you don't feel like sleeping, I'm sure we can come up with something to do that will leave you sleeping until noon tomorrow," Jin suggested mischievously as he slid his arms around Julia's waist from behind and pulled her to him.

"Whoa there! I do not want to know what nighttime activity the two of you will be embarking upon, so please wait until I'm out of hearing range," Verity said quickly and began to walk away.

"Cover for her, would you?" Jin called after her.

"Sure, Sure. Whatever," Verity said in a disbelieving voice.

"Jin. What was that for? Are you trying to kill me of embarrassment?" Julia whispered appallingly.

He chuckled, "No. Of course not. But I was trying to get her to leave as quickly as possible."

"What for?" Julia questioned, although she had a pretty good idea.

"What do you think?" he whispered in her ear, then placed a kiss on her neck.

"I think I can guess," she said with a giggle, as she felt him slide his hand under her t-shirt. She shivered.

"Good," Jin grinned, then abruptly reached to pick her up by wrapping one arm around her legs and the other around her shoulders.

"Jin! What are you doing?" Julia gasped.

"I'm going to show you a place where we can go have some fun. We can't do it here," he said teasingly.

"Do what exactly?" Julia asked curiously with an impish smile.

"Whatever you want," he replied and gave her a fervent kiss, "Hold on," Jin warned as he spread his wings and took off into the luminous night sky.