A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews for the last chapter! I love you guys, you are all made of awesome. I'm glad you liked the slight J/X-ness in chapter three. There will be more, but not just yet. I have it all planned out. :rubs hands together:

Athena, you should definitely check out Ayu. Her voice isn't to everyone's tastes, but I think her music is beautiful. Dreaming Sapphire, they're not really communicating with each other through the dreams. Jun is communicating with Xiao in the dream in chapter two, but Jin isn't! Tink, the floods did kinda stop me from going to work (but only for a day though, dammit) but I live on a hill so I was fine. Thanks for asking about me! Oh, and this fic goes up to the end of the fourth tournament. Speaking of fourth, here's the fourth chapter all done and dusted for you guys. I really hope that it doesn't come off as though the story is moving too fast, but there's only so much I can milk the run-up to the tournament!

NEVER EVER

On days when you cry, on days when you smile
I'll be by your side

Chapter Four: Empty Spaces

I think I was kind of on autopilot when I talked to Heihachi Mishima yesterday. At the time, as soon as he asked if I was interested in entering the tournament again, I said I was, but now that I've had time to think about it, I wonder if I'm really ready to do the whole tournament thing again. My grandfather was right, it caused me a whole lot of hurt last time, and sometimes I wonder whether the good things that came out of the tournament - like realising how much Hwoarang cares about me, so much so that he was willing to forfeit his match just to make sure I was alright, and then the whole thing with me and Jin that last time I saw him – outweigh things like the pain of losing, and having nightmares about Toshin, and this unbearable position I'm stuck in of waiting around for Jin to come back and hoping his feelings for me are still the same.

But then again, can the fourth tournament possibly bring about anything worse than that? I really need to start looking on the bright side again; I used to be so good at it. Now it's like I immediately see the downside to everything. If Miharu wasn't around, I think I've have driven myself insane by now.

At the moment, I'm staring at a blank email page on my computer. I fired up my email intending to try and send another reply to that message I got about the Mishima Corporation's intentions. Jin's the one who sent it to me. I'm still as positive about that as I was when I first read it. I did send a reply when I first got it, but as of yet, I haven't had anything back. The only reason I'm trying again is because of what I just read on the Iron Fist Tournament's official website. I visited there to see if anything new had been posted about the fourth tournament, and the results of the last one were still up on the main page. Only difference is, last time I visited, it said Paul Phoenix was the winner. Now he's not. The official winner, according to the website, is Jin Kazama.

I haven't visited the site in a good long while, so I've no idea how long ago it was altered, and when I try to get back in touch with Heihachi to ask about it, I'm treated to a curt response from his secretary saying that the preparations for the Iron Fist Tournament will be keeping him occupied for a while, and to try another time, because she most certainly would not disturb him on my account. Jeez, someone obviously got up on the wrong side of the bed.

But, as I see it, if Jin is the winner, then he has to have defeated Toshin, and doesn't that mean, beyond a doubt, that he's still alive? The thing that worries me now is that there still has to be a reason he's stayed away so long. And that reason, if he really did send me the email, is something to do with Heihachi.

In the weeks since the fourth Iron Fist Tournament was announced, I've been training daily with my grandfather. When we began our training, it was the height of summer and horrendously warm, and I was horrendously out of practice. Which led to me getting my ass handed to me over and over again. Just like last time. I can't even begin to total up the amount of times I ended up sprawled on the floor, head ringing, muscles screaming, wondering why the hell I decided to put myself through this again. However, as the days cooled down a bit, I started to get used to sparring again, and by the time the summer gave way to autumn and the trees at my grandfather's shrine changed colour, their leaves falling around us as we trained, I was back on form and just about able to match him. It's the colder end of autumn now, and I think I've improved even more, and just about successfully worked off all the calorific comfort food I scoffed over the last few months whenever I felt depressed about not hearing from Jin or Hwoarang.

Right now I'm mid-spar with my grandfather, for the last time before I leave, and pretty damned pleased with how it's going so far. I haven't let my guard down once, and I don't think he's even got a hit in on me yet. He's pushing me to the absolute limit, and I have to admit I'm getting tired, but there's no way in hell I'm gonna back down. I dodge his fist and sweep his legs out from under him, hoping for the fifty-millionth time that he won't have the energy to get up this time. But, surprise surprise, he does. I'd like to know where he gets his energy. I'm still in my teens and I feel like I'm gonna collapse any second. I just want this finished, so I can prove I'm definitely tough enough. Grandfather tries to grab my arm, probably to throw me, but I shake him off and flip away from him, dried leaves crunching under my feet. My hair falls into my face, obscuring my vision for a split second, and in that time, Grandfather succeeds in actually connecting with one of his attacks. His foot hits me square in the stomach, sending me flying, and a huge cloud of dust rises around me when I hit the ground. Damn hair. I'll have to steal some grips off Miharu. She's got some cute red ones with strawberries on them.

Grandfather seems to think it's all over, coming forward and holding out his hand to help me up. For some reason, this simple gesture infuriates me. I don't know whether it's the fact he thinks his kick took so much out of me that I can't get up by myself, or just that he thinks he's won. I glower at him, knocking his hand away and springing back up, not giving him a chance to react before I'm on the attack again, driving him back with my fists and feet. I finally succeed in knocking him to the ground, and, feeling spiteful, I perform a mock-salute as he struggles to get up.

"Alright, Xiaoyu." He says with a smile. "I admit defeat. Although…" he stretches out his back, wincing, "...was that little taunt really necessary?"

It's the day before I'm due to leave for the tournament, and me and Miharu are packing my things. Well, I'm packing, at least. Miharu's taking dresses and skirts and tops out of my wardrobe and holding them up against herself in front of the mirror.

"Hey, do you ever wear this?" She asks hopefully.

"Yeah, I do."

"Well I've never seen you in it."

"Mi, I only bought it last week, remember? You said it looked nice on me."

"Did I?" She looks doubtful. "Well, I take that back. It's nasty. In fact, I think you should donate it to one of the charity shops on the high street. I'll take it there for you if you want."

I laugh, folding my pink dress up and putting it in my case.

"I'm sure you will. You wanna lend it while I'm gone?"

"Really?"

"Well," I straighten up and turn away from the packing for a minute to look at her. "I dunno. I mean, I might want to wear it for one of my matches."

"Yeah, sure. A sparkly minidress is so appropriate for wearing in a fistfight."

"Hey, you'd be surprised." I tell her with a grin. "Remember the sisters I told you about?"

"The ones who wore high heels to fight in?"

"Yeah. One of them wore a long silk dress and fishnets with those heels. Expensive looking, too."

"Well, you've gotta look your best even if you're gonna end up with gravel rash, I suppose."

"True. But you can borrow that minidress."

She seems pleased, holding it up in front of her and studying it.

"Hey, maybe you should take it." Miharu tells me. "Jin would die if he saw you in this."

Miharu's just as confident as I am that I'll see Jin at the tournament, it's all she's been talking about for days.

"What're you gonna do when you see him?" she asks teasingly.

"I dunno."

"Oh, come on, Xiao, you must have thought about it."

I shake my head. I have no idea what I'll say to him. No idea at all.

"I'll probably just stand there like an idiot."

"You do, and I'll kill you. No, I know what you'll do!" She holds her arms out wide. "Oh, Jin, I looooove you! Take me now!"

"As if I would." I laugh, throwing a balled up pair of socks at her. "And who the hell says 'take me now', anyway?"

"Hey, I saw it on TV once, it must happen in real life?"

"You saw it on TV? What were you watching? Really bad porn?"

"How rude." Miharu replies. "I only watch porn of the highest quality."

"You sound like Hwoarang!" I laugh, and for a minute we both dissolve into giggles, until I become aware of the empty feeling inside that's always so much worse when I think about him. Miharu seems pretty much the same, the smile slipping off her face, and I stare down at the carpet for a second, stuck for something to say. This always happens. We'll be joking with each other, and then one of us will say something that reminds us of him, or we'll just become aware that he's not there, that there's an empty space beside me where he'd usually be sitting and joining in with the teasing.

"…Hey, you'll see him tomorrow too." Miharu says brightly, but it's forced. "I wish I could come with you. I'd kick his ass so bad for disappearing on us. You'll do it for me, right?"

"Sure I will."

"I… I really…" Miharu hesitates, going over to my CD rack and looking through my collection. "I really miss him, Xiaoyu."

"Me too."

"He'll be there, won't he?"

This is the first time Miharu has looked to me for reassurance in a long while. It's usually me who's the one who needs a pep talk, or some sense smacked into her, one of the two. She's facing away from me, but I don't need to see her expression to know how she's feeling. I feel exactly the same as her. I can't even imagine the disappointment I'd feel if neither of them are there when I arrive at the tournament. So I don't try to imagine it. I plaster on a smile and try to sound cheerful.

"Of course he will. You think he'd miss the tournament if he can help it?"

"What if he can't help it?" Miharu's voice is barely above a whisper. "What if he –"

"Come on, Miharu!" I interrupt hurriedly, not letting her finish that train of thought. "I've gotta get this packing done. Can you believe I've gotta get up at five tomorrow to be at the port on time? How stupid is that?"

"Right!" she says, turning to me and picking up the socks I threw at her earlier. "Do you need these?" She tosses them in my case. "Five in the morning, huh? Man, you're gonna look a state."

"Thanks."

"Oh, and don't you dare forget your phone charger. I'm gonna be so bored on my own. I expect regular texts, Ling Xiaoyu."

From now on, don't forget
No matter what events are waiting for us
I'll always be by your side
Even though I can't do anything else.


--- Close To You, Ayumi Hamasaki