Disclaimer: I do not own the charactes, all propriety are Namco's!

The night before her mission was strangely tormented: Nina was restless and couldn't explain why: it wasn't the first time that she was assigned to that type of tasks, it would have been an easy one, she would have accomplished it and the Yakuza would have guaranteed her a sufficient amount of money to live nicely for a year away without doing anything in the meantime. Not that she really needed it... After all, working for Mishima Zaibatsu made her earn a sum of money to live like a queen for the rest of her days. So why couldn't she sleep? She kept tossing herself in the bed like a tormented soul, without being able to find a comfortable position; she continued to cover herself because she was cold and to throw the sheets away soon after because she was hot, the pillow went from being too soft to too hard within minutes.

"Bloody hell, Nina, sleep! What's wrong with you?" hissed in the dark to herself.

Might the task be the easiest ever, she couldn't afford to go unprepared: she had studied the plan in great detail, but it wasn't a good reason not to concentrate and take everything lightly: the contingencies were always around the corner. Also she had to impersonate a bride, so she certainly couldn't show up at the altar with dark circles! She stopped for a moment and looked at the alarm clock next to her: it was 2:52 am. She then imposed herself to sleep, at the cost of drinking liters of chamomile. She covered herself and stood still, hoping that Morpheus had mercy on her. But just as she was about to fall asleep a sudden gag of vomit turned her stomach, forcing her to jump up and run to the bathroom. Vain were her efforts to hold supper, and she poured everything into the toilet several times; coughing and swearing she tried to recover and reach the sink to rinse her face with cold water and brush her teeth. Since when did the salmon disgusted her like that? Was she really so nervous at the point of feeling nauseous? She studied her reflection in the mirror and noticed that she was even paler than usual: she absolutely needed to rest. Wearily she dragged herself back to her room, throwing herself ungraciously on the bed and sinking her face into the pillow; if anything the nausea had tried her enough to make her finally fall asleep ...

A few blocks away, a tall, muscular blond boy was emptying his second mug of beer with the company of his two friends. He was sitting between what looked like the classic American biker, dressed in a leather jacket, pants and boots, and what seemed a character straight outta a kung fu themed movie. The trio had decided to go to a bar to watch a boxing match broadcast almost illegally on television. Now every program was interrupted at least twice every half a hour to transmit the latest bloody news on the ongoing conflict. The blond seemed to be the most interested of all in the match, the light blue eyes followed every single movement of the two boxers, imagining himself in their place. Since that damned war had begun the young man had found himself virtually unemployed, with a risen career struck. It seemed like there was no more space for boxing in the world, and he deeply envied those boxers who were giving their best. He could foresee every move of theirs and already had in mind the relative counterattack. He would have given anything to find himself to start fighting again.

"Oh, that Maxwell is really strong! It's the third hook that springs in his face!" Paul Phoenix noted, between a peanut and a handful of potato chips.

"He has a great rind, I think he's going to win!" Marshall Law agreed, nodding vigorously.

"He will never win!" the third retorted dryly, crossing his arms.

"The hell are you saying, don't you see he's on advantage?" the American replied with full mouth.

"I'm saying that he pulls hooks like there's no tomorrow, but his technique is completely wrong, so the damage is minimal, his strong point is the speed with which he dodges the blows, but as soon as Gordon hits him he will surely go KO... And these would be professionals? "

"Come on Steve, they're no fools!" Law answered, pointing at the screen with his finger. "Here, look what a blow that pulled him!"

"Lame, Gordon will win!" concluded the blond, remaining motionless.

His hands were wary, that sport was too important for him. Damn Mishima Zaibatsu ...

"No way! If Maxwell wins, you'll offer me another beer!"challenged Paul.

"Yes, me too!" Law added.

Steve shook his head. He knew he was right and in fact within ten minutes the situation had reversed, ending with the overwhelming victory of Gordon.

"Nooo, damn! He could have made it!"

"Yeah, he got screwed... Well, do you offer me a beer anyway, Steve?"

"I think you've already drunk enough for tonight, Paul, it's very late, it's time for me to go!" the blond replied, getting up and putting his jacket on.

"It's just three o'clock, how come you go to bed so early, the night is still young!" Law said, waving to the waiter to bring him more sake.

"You know, I've already told you a hundred times, Tomorrow I have to attend the wedding of that Russian, Morozov. If he really keeps his promise, I'll soon be able to take part in the Russian boxing championship." Steve explained, obviously. "If I'm lucky in a week I'll be on the ring again! He said he was very impressed by my skills, I hope I will not disappoint him!"

"Oh yeah... True, Moroskof's wedding... Sure! Well, oh, take a picture of the bride if she's hot, ok?"

Steve rolled his eyes at that nasty request. Paul waill always be Paul.

"Sure, sure... Goodnight guys!"

"Night, boy! Maybe even take a look to the guests, you never know that there are some kind ladies for your friends as well!" laughed Phoenix, before turning over and order another mug.

Steve hurried out of that place and finally could breathe some fresh air: the bar was nothing short of suffocating. He walked with his hands in his pockets to the small motel where he spent the nights, proceeding head down, but keeping his ears wide open. It would have looked like a almost 1.90 m wardrobe full of muscles, but it was always safe to be alert in that city, with the times that ran. He hoped with all of himself that Morozov's offer turned out to be valid and that he could finally resume doing what he loved most.

He had stumbled across the Russian almost by accident and was deeply surprised to be recognized by a man of such importance. He prayed to be good enough and not to disappoint him. Suddenly he was brutally torn from his thoughts by a deafening whistling and hid quickly in the adjacent alley. He rolled his eyes and saw the Mishima Zaibatsu's fighters darting through the darkness, destroying the silence. Steve couldn't help but grind his teeth at the sight of those military planes... Who knows where they were headed? Who knows how much destruction would they sow?

The morning came way too soon. After the troubled night she had spent, she hoped she could sleep a little longer, but that damned alarm clock and the sun's rays filtering through the curtains had allied to make her wake up in a bad mood. She slowly got out of bed and turned off the damn thing with a slap. The clock marked 8 am: until a month and a half ago she would have been operative for half an hour for that hour, and yet that morning she couldn't wake up. She stretched lazily, suffocating a yawn and tilted her head sideways a couple of times to awaken the muscles of her neck. Slowly she pulled herself up, but she was soon seized by a dizziness that forced her to sit back, followed by another pang in the stomach with immediate consequences.

"Oh no, no, no, not aga..." She didn't even have the time to finish the sentence that she had to run back to the bathroom, with a hand on her mouth to hold back the gassed.

She no longer had touched food and puking the gastric juices was a horrible and disgusting way to start the day. Had she got a gastrointestinal virus? Maybe the salmon was rotten? In any case, today she just couldn't afford the luxury of being sick, she had a task to complete.

She dragged herself into the room and put on an old gray suit. The feeling of nausea gave her no relief, so she decided to get distracted by training a little before breakfast. Free body workout couldn't do much, so she did a series of exercises to improve flexibility and endurance. How much she was missing training in that dojo where she could have everything, from weights and tools, to katanas and weapons of any kind. She grunted, continuing her one hand push-ups, but the strength was literally vanishing. There was definitely something wrong. She decided to give up with her physical activity and have a cup of hot tea, with some biscuits , hoping that they would fix her stomach. After she would have had a nice shower and then she would start preparing for her mission. However, that sense of restlessness and illness still did not abandon her and that wasn't a good omen...

At 13:00 sharp Nina entered the door of the tailor's shop, being greeted by a group of seamstresses who immediately bowed their heads in sign of respect and by none other than Mr. Tanaka himself, dressed in cobalt blue for the occasion.

"Miss Williams, my dear... Come, come... The big day is finally here!" he exclaimed, smiling.

If Nina herself hadn't been involved in that project, maybe she would have believed that farce. She hoped that all this would end quickly.

"If you want to follow me in the dressing room, I'll help you dress her up, after which there will be makeup artists and hairdressers waiting for you, even if I have to say that the raw material is already stunning.

Tanaka invited her to follow him into the next room, closing the door behind her. Nina didn't exactly agree to undress in the presence of the man, but unfortunately for work she had found herself doing worse. She began to undress, remaining in underwear, while the man hastened to remove the dress from the bag in which it was placed.

"I hope you will forgive me if I tell you that you have a body that seems to have been sculpted by angels, but there are a couple of last things you should know before you start.

"I'm listening." Nina replied, raising her arms upward to allow Tanaka to fasten the zipper of the dress, placed on her right side.

"Morozov is known to marry women without even knowing them, however he specifically asked a Caucasian female in her twenties, so I would say that you're more than suitable to meet this request. He has no idea of your appearance, he only knows your name, which is Ludmilla Padlova, do not forget it! "

"I won't! Anything else?" she asked as the lacing of a pair of sumptuous silver-heeled shoes was secured to her ankle.

"Yes. You will have to do it soon after the oath, when the priest will declare you husband and would then blow the organ of the church up and it will be there when you will have to reach the goal. You choose the way you prefer. That's it."

Nina mentally reviewed what she had been told and nodded. It was all pretty simple.

"And now, my dear, if you want to follow me, it's time for makeup and hair ..."

An hour later she found herself on board of a luxurious Rolls Royce, heading for the Orthodox cathedral. She had no idea that such a place existed in Japan, she hadn't had the chance to be a tourist yet. She watched her reflection on the darkened glass of the car, studying every little detail of her image. The make-up was very light, just a veil of eyeliner, a lot of mascara to accentuate her already long eyelashes, giving her a fawn look, a veil of powder on her cheeks and a light layer of lip gloss. Tanaka was right: she didn't need any makeup, she was already beautiful without. Her hair was gathered in a low, side tail, which fell in soft waves on her right shoulder. Two golden locks had been left free from the hairstyle and now they gently framed her face, giving her an almost angelic appearance. But it was the dress that made her more effect: she had never dreamed of getting married, even as a child. Wearing that white fabric made her feel strange, especially because she found herself thinking that maybe she would have liked to get married to the one she had discovered she was able to love. She sadly shook her head: it wasn't time to indulge on certain thoughts. In fact, shortly after the car stopped in front of the church: time had come. She made sure for the last time that the weapons that she hid under the skirt were well concealed by the fabric on her side and she adjusted the split of the skirt better. She was ready for action.

All the guests were already inside the cathedral and waited impatiently for the bride's arrival. Steve had decided to stay at the side back of the church; after all, he didn't know anyone. Liev Morozov had greeted him warmly, but then he went lost in small talk with all the guests and soon the boy realized how coward and rude he was. He swallowed the toad and in any case pretending not to care: he had a career to redeem and if he could bear a man who was glancing to other women even on his wedding day was the price to pay, well, he would do it a hundred times. To distract him was the sound of the organ that reproduced the famous wedding march: the bride had finally arrived. Everyone stood up leaning toward the entrance to better see the mysterious future wife of the tycoon. A tall, slim, wrapped in that simple white dress that made her shine with her own light woman entered. She walked slowly toward the nave, with the veil covering part of her face. Strangely, she looked quite familiar. Steve got goosebumps and didn't even know why, but that woman had something strange. The enigmatic bride finally reached his husband to be who hadn't taken his eyes off her for a moment. As he lifted the veil from her face, his eyes lit up, as if she were contemplating a priceless jewel.

"Ludmilla... Enchanting." he croaked, devouring her with his eyes.

Nina just smiled and accepted the hand that the man was offering her, before sitting down on the sofa in front of the altar. Sitting down, she turned her face to adjust the folds of her skirt and it was there when Steve could finally look at her face. Blood froze in his veins. It couldn't be, maybe he had hallucinations... He rubbed his eyelids and tried again to look at her. He stared in disbelief as his legs began to shake and his heart beat wildly. He would have recognized that face among millions of others. There was no doubt, it was her ...

Ludmilla, the bride... It was none other than Nina Williams... the woman who he had been looking for for months.

Hey there everyone, what's up? I know, it's been months since the last update, but they have been troublesome and busy for me. Honestly talking I've lost will and inspiration to write and that's a pity cause I still have everything planned in my mind, pages of notes and chapters schemes, they just need to be connected and written down. Well, who knows when will happen? Also, actually half of the story is already written, but in this case it also needs to be translated and it takes me A LOT of time and concentrations. Apart from that, I still hope that whoever reads this story likes it for the idea and how's written, even if they don't appreciate the pairing (bloody XiaoXJin, almost everyone still goes for it XD). That's pretty much it, if you have any questions just write them down in a review and I'll try to answer them asap. Thanks for the ones you've already left me, I truly appreciated 3 Bye!