A/N: Six months is a very long time between chapters, isn't it? I'm really sorry for taking absolutely ages with this story, I really don't know how to thank you guys that are still following it and reviewing and putting up with my terrible updating habits. This chapter was really really difficult for me to write, even though I've known exactly how I wanted it to go from quite early on. Maybe it's because I kinda don't want to end this story, considering how long it's taken and how much I've enjoyed writing it. Whatever the reason, I'm sorry it took so long. Thanks for sticking with me. One more to go before we're done!

NEVER EVER

I've decided that these will be
My last words of love for you.

Chapter Twenty Eight: Answers and Questions

Jin's presence has faded completely, and I squeeze my eyes shut. The light's blinding enough to make my head ache, as though there's something trying to smash out from the inside, something that's been kept there for way too long. As I stand there, pressing the heels of my hands to my eyes, I can feel it fading, a soothing wind winding its way through my hair. It's conjuring up memories of being at the beach as a kid, enjoying the cool evening after a day in the sun.

I drop my hands.

The canal's stretching out in front of me, the last rays of sunlight gleaming on the water. There's a woman sitting on the wall, her dress ruffling around her calves in the slight breeze. Jun. So I'm back here again, then. Where this whole thing started.

"I've been waiting for you." She hops off the wall, coming towards me. "To thank you for being there for him."

I just look at her. So much time's passed since she first told me that. I can't help but wonder if she had any idea how things'd turn out back then. Maybe she knew all along.

"You feel like he left you behind, don't you?"

Same question as before. She's watching me carefully, and I take in a long breath, looking past her, over the calm waters, into the sun. Being back here is making me wish things could've turned out how I wanted them to. How I'd hoped they would at the start of all this. Selfish, I know. I guess I'm still learning not to be. I'm not quite there yet.

"For a long time, I didn't get it." I told her. "I thought you expected me to save him, and I didn't know how."

She doesn't answer.

"That's not what you were asking, is it?"

She moves closer, eyes full of concern.

"I never expected you to save him. That's not your responsibility."

"You just wanted me to be there for him."

She nods.

"I wanted you to give him the strength to keep fighting, to make things easier to bear for a while. And you did that."

For a while.

I hear Jin's voice again, unbearably sad. 'Not yet. But soon.'

"…Can he be saved?"

"I believe everyone can. Don't you think so, Xiaoyu?"

Am I really still so idealistic? Even after everything?

"Yeah." I answer. "I guess I do."

Yeah. I guess I am.

I'm in the forest again, and Jun's still there, ghostlike in the darkness. She's walking through the trees, mist curling around her. Up ahead there's a shrine, half hidden in dense fog, and her feet make no sound as she walks up the wooden stairs. It's not the same type of silence as before, in the snow after everyone'd gone. It's more like the complete stillness of dawn. When it's so quiet that it feels like no one else in the entire world could possibly be awake.

She turns slightly when she reaches the top of the stairs, just enough to show that she knows I'm there. And I know this is where I should stop. This is where I should let go of her, too, because I'm not headed this way. Jun is facing me, now. She's looking straight at me, a gentle, reassuring smile on her face. She doesn't say anything. She doesn't need to, though. Her smile is enough.

My whole body's numb with cold. And no wonder, considering I'm sprawled in the snow, still clutching Hwo's letters. It's dark, freezing, and I have pretty much zero idea where I am. Okay, I need to get back to the hotel. The soldiers are long gone, there's no one coming back for me. I breathe in, and there's a faint scent of smoke in the air. Not the distinctive smell of cigarettes, although I really wish it was, because that would mean Hwo was still here, that they'd not taken him away. More like a bonfire smell, maybe? I glance around and sure enough, in the distance, through the trees, I can see a telltale orange glow. Without really thinking, I pull myself to my feet, shove the letters in my pocket, and start towards the fire.

At first, my body refuses to move as it should, limbs stiff and painful, but I force myself on, stumbling over rocks and slipping on icy ground. Branches snap and twist under my feet, the frosty air stinging my face, until I finally burst through overgrown trees and into the light from the blaze up ahead. It's the shrine from my dream, and my stomach drops at the possibility of someone being trapped inside.

The heat from the flames intensifies the closer I get, and I know it's dangerous, but I'm not thinking straight. I'm not really thinking at all, hardly knowing what I'm trying to do but still wanting to help in some way, even though there might not be anyone who even needs my help. Come to think of it, I don't even know how long the fire's been going for. I'm not headed this way, I know that. I'm not meant to be here. I should just turn back, but it's like I'm still dreaming, not in control of myself or where I'm going.

I just manage to reach the top of the stairs before the shrine doors explode outwards, searing heat rushing to meet me, hurling me back down as pain arcs through my body and bright spots dance across my vision, and I swear I hear something crack, a wave of nausea running through me. For a second as I fall, it's like everything goes into slow motion, and I wonder who'll be the one to stumble upon me once I reach the bottom. Some hapless Zaibatsu soldier who's been sent to sift through the rubble and ends up finding the only person in the history of ever who figured it'd be a smart move to try and run into a burning building?

But I never get there. Something - someone, grabs hold of me before I make it all the way. There's an insistent thrum in my ears, pain spreading through my head, the sound of beating wings. I feel like I'm floating, weightless as the swirling smoke. The grass is crisp with frost, cool beneath me as I'm set down, someone carefully supporting my head while I cling to the last threads of consciousness, trying to force my eyes open to see who's saved me.

I'm somewhere else. Again. I've got a feeling I'm gonna wind up looking back on this as the weirdest day ever. This place reminds me a little bit of the training room at Heihachi Mishima's mansion. The place me and Jin had our first and only sparring session, and he… well… let's not go into how it almost ended up. That's all done with now.

I can't see very well, all I can make out is dark wood and firelight. There's two large torches up ahead, crackling merrily either side of a gold Buddha statue. It's almost luminous in the shadows, my eyes instantly drawn to it now I can see better, and then I notice there's someone's sprawled on the smooth wooden floor, unmoving. Someone with bright red fighting gloves, and a dark, jagged scar across his chest. I remember his voice from before.

Hate me. Curse me.

Kazuya.

Jin's here too. The tattoo's spreading out again, and there's black wings sprouting out of his back. He doesn't see me. He's gritting his teeth in fury, one hand clutching Heihachi's collar, the other drawn back, ready to strike. Suddenly, I see a foggy image of him without the Devil markings, like a memory that's close to fading completely. Then I see Heihachi approaching, walking past the unconscious Kazuya, shaking his head in disapproval before fixing a challenging gaze on Jin.

I will make your power mine…

But he's defenceless now, not enough strength left to struggle free. Did Jin fight both of them? This's what he said he wanted, what he told me he was gonna do a few days back when we were in the courtyard together. He said the Mishima bloodline couldn't go any further.

This's something that will change him, something irreversible.

I can't call out to him, move towards him, do anything. All I can do is watch. He has to do this alone; to either keep fighting or give in. Somewhere in my mind, I'm aware that I'm not even there physically, that it's another dream, and it's like I'm watching through static interference as he pulls back a hand to deliver the finishing blow.

I don't want to see this. I can't watch him become a different person, turn into someone unrecognisable.

Jin gasps, stops, and for a moment I think he can see me. He's not looking at me though. He's looking past me, through me, it's the statue that's caught his attention. I follow his gaze, and for a split second I see her. She doesn't move or speak, and as soon as I blink, she's gone. But just for a moment, she was there. She was definitely there.

And it was enough.

Just a ghost of a smile, then he throws Heihachi to the ground unharmed, and he's still the Jin I know. He's still fighting, like he told me he would.

Thank my mother. Jun Kazama.

After I couldn't see anything
I could see everything
The road ahead is too narrow
I have no choice but to walk it alone.

- Brilliante, Ayumi Hamasaki