It was a Saturday morning like many others, the snow had made the landscape white and bright in the sunlight. Christmas was upon us, and the richly decorated tree towered majestically into their living room, along with the stack of gifts arranged neatly at its base. Anna was awakened by the scent of freshly baked butter cookies and rushed into the kitchen with a thirty-two-tooth smile printed on her face.

"Good morning. You're up already, sweetheart?" Heather asked, smiling lovingly as she sprinkled the powdered sugar candy.

The little girl nodded, shaking animosously the thick brown hair. She sat down to her spot at the dining table as usual, while her mother prepared her a cup of warm milk with honey and a portion of biscuits. She enjoyed the delicious taste of that dough, and when she was done, she helped the woman tidy up the kitchen.

"Where's dad?" asked after a few moments, noting the absence of the parent from the usual chair he occupied to read the newspaper.

"He went out at dawn with Nina, you know." she replied, putting the last of the clean dishes in the cupboard.

Right, with Nina... As always. It was the exact same story every weekend when her father Richard promised to take her ice-skating or horseback riding, and in the end he only went out with her older sister to teach her how to shoot. Anna snorted loudly as the disappointment made its way across her face.

"What's going on, honey?" Her mother asked, noticing her grumpy face.

"Daddy doesn't love me, that's it!" she grumbled, frowning.

"No, what are you saying?" she scolded her without malice, kneeling in front of her. "He does, this morning he even put under the tree another gift for you!" she pointed out, pointing to a bulky package wrapped with a crimson red card.

"Then why does he never want to be with me? Why is he always with Nina?" she whimpered, rubbing her eyes.

"You don't have to be jealous of your sister, Anna! She and dad spend a lot of time together because he teaches her how to shoot and go hiking in the woods. And it's not true that he never wants to be with you, and I'll tell you, he even re-sharpened the skate blades last night to take you ice-skating this afternoon."

"Are you serious?" she asked, sniffing.

"Sure, baby!" Heather answered, wiping her tears with a silk handkerchief. " You know what? Go upstairs and get ready, we are going now. Dad and Nina will join us later."

"All right!" she replied heartily. "Mom?"

"Yes?"

"You're the best, prettiest, best mom in the world!" she said, throwing herself into the blonde's arms. " When I grow up, I want to be a special mom like you!"

"Oh, my love..." sighed Heather, holding her tight and kissing her cheek. "You surely will be, Anna. I'm sure!"

Yet, after nearly 40 years, her wish had n't come true, indeed... The black and white image of her sister making that purchase kept haunting her. Why Nina did, when she didn't even know what feelings were, and she didn't? Why did she has to beat her and make her feel humiliated? She had Steve, but she hated him... She was chosen for that project because she was physically stronger and far more capable in battle. Even more fertile, even though she was older by birth. She was second in that too. God, how much she hated her... Yet something kept her from revealing what she had discovered to Kazuya. She had betrayed her sister before, turned her back on her without a second thought, why couldn't she do what she was told?

"Nina... You still ruin my life... Why didn't you just die for real...?"

She couldn't believe they made it to their destination alive. Tokyo was completely unrecognizable: the smoke and ash saturated the air, making it at the edge of the unbreathable and the sky had taken on a disturbing reddish hue as if it had stuck in a perennial dusk. The incoming airport was almost deserted, the conflict had come so terrible that the much feared controls had been superficial, if not non-existent. People just wanted to get away from that mayhem, no one cared who was rushing in. The incessant sound of the sirens combined with that of the horns in the distance accompanied them step by step, as they went into that hell, a harrowing serenade that tormented their souls.

"My God..." Steve whispered, horrified by that terrible vision.

Nina didn't say a word, she quickly tugged him by the arm to drag him into an alley.

"What is hap..."

"Shhhh!" she shut up and crouched behind a garbage can. She prayed with all her heart that Keiichi wouldn't wake up, cursing herself for dragging her little child into the midst of chaos. But she had no choice: leaving him in an orphanage in Ireland would have been the most sensible option, but not as safe, since the nation had been invaded and attacked by the G. Corporation. Brutally and selfishly she had decided that she would protect him from everything and everyone, as her father had done until his last breath, but no, she would not leave him alone. There wasn't much hope of survival, so might as well be together until the end. She observed the procession of tanks parading along the main street, in a slow and noisy procession. The boxer hadn't even noticed their arrival because of the noise and was amazed with immense sadness how his mother was able to move well in a context of war. But would it have been enough to save them?

"What now?" asked the blond, clutching his little brother.

I have no idea. That's what she wanted to answer him, but she couldn't afford to do it. All their action plans had served no purpose in front of a scenario like that. Improvisation was a risk, but they couldn't even afford the luxury of wasting precious hours of time hiding in order to work out strategies that wouldn't even serve them in the end, as they had no idea what they would expect. Jumping into the fray and praying, that's what she could and should do. And of course, protecting her family.

"First of all, we steal a car..."

"And then?" asked the boxer.

"Then I'll think of something else..." Nina lied shamelessly.

Because the blonde actually had a plan in mind. Of course, she didn't know how or where or even when to reveal himself to Jin, but she wouldn't put Steve and Keiichi at any risk. She would take them far, to a safe place and then meet her destiny. Once she realized that no one was around, she used one of the many rubble scattered on the asphalt to break through the glass of an old Mitshubishi jeep lying abandoned along the road. The body shop was half destroyed, but the tyres were still in an acceptable state and Nina prayed that it was also the engine. It took a few attempts before the vehicle came back to life, connecting the wires to start it was not such an immediate undertaking as in the movies, but at least they managed to start.

"Where are we going?"

"Ginza. I had an apartment, for the moment we can hide there. It's one of the richest areas of the city, I hope they saved it to raid it later."

Steve nodded and decided to focus his gaze on Keiichi, to avoid filling his eyes with scenes of death and destruction. Until a few days ago he lived happily in Ireland, in complete anonymity, in a village of few souls with his mother and brother and he was the happiest boy in the world. Of course, the cumbersome shadow of a never-ending war was always lurking, yet he had managed to pull his head from negative thoughts and live moment by moment, savoring the joy and bliss of having a real family around. But you know, life is made of moments and it only takes a second to change things irreparably. It only took a moment to fall from heaven to hell. And Steve was unfortunately convinced that from that hell they probably would never come back. Lost in his dark thoughts, he didn't even realize how infinite that journey was: Nina had to constantly change her way and avoid the main junctions to avoid being intercepted, but miraculously they managed to get to their destination. Probably it was only the calm before the storm, in war the breaks do not create relief, but only anxiety for the next attack. Nina's apartment was part of a giant apartment building, anonymous like so many others, but it was the banality that gave the killer a perfect hiding place. As expected, the area had been temporarily spared from the bombing, but the air was still unbreathable as it was saturated with smoke and dust. And although the building was still in good condition, it looked completely uninhabited: they had all gone. Who knows how many had lost their lives trying to get to safety... Evidence of this was the numerous objects lost along the stairs and corridors, which now lay forgotten: shoes, glasses, bags, sheets, plushies and toys of various shapes and colors. Once normal existences, perhaps even monotonous, but without that fear of disappearing at any moment. Nina continued along the many flights of stairs, the electricity had been turned off and the elevator was out of action, but it was no big deal. She was in no hurry to jump into the lion's mouth, and step by step she felt worse and worse with herself for what she was going to do. But when she arrived in front of the door of her old apartment she realized that it had been forced. The chances of finding someone inside weren't huge, but she couldn't risk it.

"Wait here!" she told Steve.

"But..."

"NO! No buts. Wait for me here." she repeated categorically.

The boxer couldn't help but obey, but keeping eyes and ears open to pick up every single noise, or movement. He held his breath when Nina ventured into the house alone, praying there were no traps around the corner. For her part, upon entering, the woman immediately realized that there was no longer a room that had not been completely ransacked. The drawers were open, the sofa cushions were ripped open, the furniture doors were torn. There was really nothing left in order. Desolate she continued to search into rooms, fortunately deserted, until she arrived at her old room. The light of the torch illuminated the room, highlighting a substantial layer of dust now deposited everywhere, until the beam of light didn't hit the bed, pointing out what was previously hidden by darkness. Nina was caught completely by surprise, so much so that the torch slid awkwardly from her hands, ending up on the floor with a deaf thud. The blonde cursed, immediately returning to the attack position, but soon realized that the silhouette was completely motionless. With caution, without taking his eyes off her and in measured steps he approached the bed after recovering the torch and examined it. She barely kept a gasp, when she saw the body of a woman totally identical to her lying on the mattress in a pool of clotted blood that had stained the sheet below. They were really alike, her exact reproduction. But something didn't fit. Nina had seen so many corpses in her life, she herself had taken the lives of an unknown number of people, yet there was a very strange detail in this. The room, apart from the mess, was intact and without structural damage and the same dust present on the furniture was also deposited on the victim's body, which meant that it had been there for a long time. So why wasn't there even the slightest trace of decomposition, especially with an internal temperature too high for a body to keep? Pointing the torch at her double, she observed the different wounds and burns on the body, both cuts and even shots that seemed to have been fired from a rather close distance. The gunshot residue was indeed present, but there was also more...Metal splinters. She instinctively lifted her eyelids. It was exactly what she thought. They could have fooled anyone, but not her.

"Nina? All right in there?" asked Steve, now worried.

She'd been in there for at least ten minutes, and she still hadn't said anything.

"Yes... Come..." she answered, continuing to examine her copy.

"Thank goodness I was starting to worry.. WHAAAA" he yelled, as he saw the body on the bed. " BUT WHAT..."

"Take it easy, Steve!" she answered without being too upset.

"B-b-but that woman... I-i-it's y-y-you.." he stuttered terrified.

"They did a fine job, I have to admit... But there's absolutely no need to worry."

"What do you mean?"

"Come closer and see..."

Steve grimaced, if it wasn't for his mother's unflappable calm he would have fled for help, but he made an effort to do what he was told. The vision was gruesome and his heart and stomach tightened in a painful vice at the thought that that was the exact copy of Nina. That image would haunt him for months. Noticing his reluctance, Nina lifted her body to show him better.

"I know the resemblance is striking, but it's just a dummy."

"H-h-how?"

"Look..." she said, pulling a knife out of her trouser pocket.

She planted it straight into the stomach, putting a fair amount of force in it, but the one after piercing the flesh did not sink except for a handful of centimeters. The tip of the blade had reached a thin metal layer.

"Take a good look at the eyes, they're very realistic, but they're made of glass. The leather is synthetic, you can tell from the gashes. And obviously this blood is fake, plus there's practically no spatter, which is totally incompatible with wounds like these."

"So you mean someone orchestrated all this staged art? Someone who wanted to cover for you?"

"Yeah... But who?"

Nina looked around carefully, looking for some detail that could unravel that puzzle. Of course it wasn't Jin's doing, he thought she was dead. Lars and Alisa had strong doubts, not to mention Lee. They had no qualms about involving her in a potentially fatal explosion. Who might have wanted to fake her death? She was so busy brooding that it took a while before she noticed a series of kanji carved into the wood of the headboard. And she finally understood. She smiled with a heart full of gratitude, recalling the words of those three faithful soldiers who had warned her about the fate that awaited her if she remained."

"...We will try to mislead the inspections and slow them down by a few days, but you must leave, Miss Williams...".

Just a couple of days later, Heihachi would fake his death and she would realize she was pregnant. How many things had happened, how many had changed, but especially how much she had changed. Of the old Nina Williams, murderer for hire and second in command of Jin Kazama to the Mishima Zaibatsu had almost nothing left, but all in all she didn't mind. In her heart she knew she had left behind a wrong past and her two children had helped her understand the value of life, love and family. The only other thing she would have wished was to have Jin by his side and spend the rest of her days with their baby and Steve. But was Jin willing to do it, or did his heart finally give in to the evil of the Devil's Gene? Was it already too late? These thoughts immediately brought her head back to her goal. She couldn't linger any longer, she had already lost too much time. She quietly pulled a syringe out of her jeans pocket. She watched with a sorrowful look his firstborn, still studying the plausibility of that puppet. She then laid his eyes on little Keiichi, who was still asleep in the pouch. She would fight for them to the bitter end, protect them even at the cost of her life. A tear rolled silently down her cheek as she sighed deeply and prepared to strike.

"It's really amazing how they can create such a sim..."

The blond man could not finish the sentence that he found himself hunted behind, his head immobilized.

"Nina, what are you..."

"Forgive me Steve..." she whispered before sticking the syringe in his neck and pressing the plunger all the way down.

The boy staggered and tried in every way to wriggle, but Nina's strong grip prevented him both from falling on the ground, and to free himself. Within a few moments his eyes became completely cloudy and his legs gave way under his own weight. The sleeping pill relentlessly began to work, and the killer took him to the ground to prevent him from falling and getting hurt. It was a powerful drug, but the dose was very small and would have been just enough to keep him asleep for about ten minutes. But that would have been enough, by then she would have been far enough away. She left a letter next to the body of the boxer, and with eyes full of tears she greeted him with a caress on the forehead. Then she kissed Keiichi a couple of times and squeezed him again in the chest gently to prevent him from waking up. There was no more time. She couldn't look back, or xhe wouldn't have the strength to leave.

"Forgive me... Farewell my sons..." she murmured in tears, running out of the house.

She ran at breakneck speed down the stairs and rushed into the jeep, left for Violet System, hoping with all her might that Jin was still in Lee's custody. She had no idea what she was going to tell him, or what she was going to do once they came face to face... She didn't even know if she could ever see him alive again. Se pressed his foot even deeper on the accelerator, while his mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and memories. Soon Steve would have awakened and noticed her absence. He would have hated her, but she couldn't have done otherwise, she would never have let him risk his life. She was aware that in the end common sense would prevail in him and he would agree to take care of his little brother, without exposing him to danger. Yet she couldn't stop crying. After about half an hour of travel that seemed endless, she saw on the horizon the imposing profile of Violet Systems.

"Almost there!" she thought.

But she didn't have time to conclude the sentence in her mind that a roar tore the air and the jeep suddenly swerved. Nina wasn't able to maintain control over the vehicle, which I will crash into a fire hydrant, interrupting its run. The impact was very hard, but fortunately it still seemed to be safe, with exceptions for bruises and cuts. What the hell had happened? A strong smell of gasoline ran over her nostrils, so she hurried out, feeling the worst. Her leg hurt and she limped, yet she managed to get away just in time before the car caught fire.

"I'm sorry... but your run stops here. You can't go any further." a voice echoed behind her, way too familiar to her.

A shiver ran down her back, when she realized she was caught in the middle of an ambush. And of course she had engineered it. Always her. As always.

"No wonder you decided to drag your children into the abyss by bringing them here, but they are no longer here to give you strength... And above all, there is nothing you can do..."

Nina swallowed empty, hearing those words. She should have imagined that sooner or later she would have left her mark, it was all too easy, from leaving the airport to hiding in her old house. She had simply waited for the right moment to attack her, certain that she was holding all the winning cards. The blonde had a terrible feeling, but she couldn't waver. She had to be strong, to give up now meant condemning the whole world to oblivion. She didn't care about dying in the end, but she would do anything to ensure a better future for her children and that voice was another damn obstacle to be eliminated so that it was possible. Slowly she forced herself to turn, ready to fight yet another battle, against her most bitter rival...

Author's note: don't mind the title, I was just listening to my beloved Kreator to find the right inspiration for war scenes. It worked.