Disclaimer: I do not own the charactes, all propriety are Namco's!
It was one of those nights in which silence was the rule: in those moments the tension in the air was so thoughtful that it was palpable, so much that even the act of breathing was considered noisy and disturbing. They had come back few days earlier from their trip to Egypt, where she escorted him to visit the old temple in the middle of the desert and assisted while he verbally collided with that woman, Zafina. She was shocked to know that the man was exactly aware of what was happening, that he knew that the ancient legend that her people had handed down for generations was exactly coming true as predicted. Nina wondered distractedly how trying to live constantly with evil voices inside the head aking you to do horrible things had to be. In the past she experienced that too, when the God of War Ogre took possession of her mind, urging her to kill the person who today had the task of protecting. Ironically it was him who saved her from the yoke of that monster. Never in her life had she felt so weak, even during the amnesia after cryogenic awakening: it had to be really terrible to live like that! Yet it was what he did day after day, and the more time went by, the more the situation got worse.
Jin stood there, sitting at his desk, his face resting on the palms of his hands and his eyes and lips were tightly closed. He was completely still and several times Nina was tempted to check if he was actually breathing, but she always remained sat on that huge armchair by the fire. She hated those situations with all of herself, they made her feel useless and powerless. As time went buy, in fact, she had developed a particular empathy towards his boss, so much that in those moments she felt almost a failure to not be able to protect him even from his inner demons. She and Jin, were so different in some things, yet so terribly similar in others: both had a difficult past, marked by the loss of the dearest person to them, both had to deal with a continuation of an anything but simple life, both had to suffer the betrayal of those they trusted. They came from two distant countries and even from two different decades, but their stories were similar: travied and without any happy ending at the horizon. They didn't live... They survived. It was a condition that they had both accepted for a long time. This is why the blonde felt so close to that guy, despite not trusting anyone and her professionalism and rigor at work were stainless.
Yet she still couldn't explain the conflicting feeling she felt along with empathy. Jin had revealed her his plan a short time before, telling her during their flight to Cairo why he had started that bloody war and the burden he was carrying since his birth. She couldn't help but fulfill his desire, understanding how unbearable it was to lead such a life and how eager his desire to put an end to it was. So why a part of herself seemed to disagree? Why did she hope that the vase full of hatred, death and despair never come to overflow, allowing the demon Azazel to take a material form and then be faced and destroyed together with the Devil's Gene that tore Jin's soul every day more and more ? How could she be so selfish? And why?
Tearing her apart from her thoughts as she watched the flames dance in the fireplace was a moan coming from his boss, which made her stood immediately on her feet. Like a thunderbolt, she rushed towards the desk, approaching the man who seemed now in the grip of a strong migraine.
"Jin? Jin? What's up?" she asked alarmed.
He didn't answer, his breath was accelerated, his eyes were tight as well as his jaw. As Nina started to approach him, a strong aura made her retreat a few steps. Incredulous she looked at him better and with horror she noticed that his teeth were becoming sharper, like vampire's and black marks were appearing on his forehead.
"N...Nina ... G...go away ..." he gasped, his voice had become lower, almost guttural.
Go away? And where? She couldn't leave him like that! Suddenly she remembered his words during that long flight: "It's inside my head, sometimes I can control it and keep it at bay, sometimes it's much harder, I feel it taking possession of me, and it's terrible. I've always been able to prevent him from taking over, but lately I feel him stronger and louder ... I don't know for how long I will be able to hold it, but I will put an end to all this! " Those words suddenly made sense, but the situation remained desperate. What if he lost control this time? Would he kill her? Would he destroy everything?
"RU...RUN AWAY, NINA!" he suddenly screamed, jumping on his feet and holding his head in his hands, shaking it desperately.
He was fighting with that demon he had inside and she didn't know what to do, but surely she couldn't stay there watching! Her task was to protect him, right? She didn't even realize that she went closer to him and now was hugging him thight. She mentally cursed herself for attempting such an approach, but at that moment she was definitely short of ideas and let her instinct guide her.
"Don't do it Jin! Don't give in! You are stronger than it, you are worth much more than it!" she screamed, resting her cheek against his back, squeezing him as hard as she could. "Don't let him take over. Please, don't!
It was all useless. Jin began to wriggle like a fury and scream, his breathing was more and more labored and as he grabbed the edges of the desk to look for stability, those were reduced in many small splinters that stuck in his hands. The situation was desperate, and soon the blonde realized that they wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. As she feared the trip to Egypt and the visit to the temple had increased the influence of Azazel in his mind, charging it with negative energy. She knew it, she had said it wasn't good idea to go there and at least she wouldn't have discovered all those horrible things that his boss was hiding. If only his mother had been there ...
Wait! A flash in Nina's thoughts appeared to her as an anchor, bringing her back to that plane trip, during that conversation.
"How did you live all these years without feeling such a force inside you, and how do you manage to tame that beast that lives inside you?" she asked curiously.
It was not in her nature to stick her nose in others' private affairs, but that story was unbelievable. Jin sighed and leaned his head against the small window, scanning the horizon covered with clouds.
"It was thanks to my mother, Jun. She grew me up on her own, and she was the only good thing I've ever had in my life." When I feel like going crazy, I cling to the memory of her embracing me ... It's the only real thing that made sense in all my life. "
Of course! Perhaps that tiny revelation could have solved that critical situation. Jin now seemed to have reached the limit, and with horror the killer realized that not only claws were popping up on his hands, but on his back something was trying to come out, exactly at the height of the shoulder blades. She had to hurry, or it would have been too late!
"JIN, LISTEN TO ME ... DO NOT SURREND... DO NOT LET THAT MONSTER WIN! YOUR MOTHER JUN WOULDN'T LIKE TO SEE YOU THIS WAY!" shouted the blonde, straight in his ear. "DO IT FOR YOUR MOTHER ... DO IT FOR YOU ... DO IT FOR ME, PLEASE!"
Hearing those words made something snap into the boy's head and suddenly saw his beloved mother tighten him in her arms whispering that it would be all right. Nina's words made the miracle and after another intense tremor she felt his body relax. His hands returned to normal, just as the teeth and the black marks on his face had disappeared. Jin panted loudly, as if he had run for miles and miles, his forehead was beaded with cold sweat, as if he had just awakened from the worst nightmare... Well, that it was. They both remained still, Nina's cheek was still resting on his back and could feel very well the heartbeat accelerated to madness. She made it... She managed to calm him down! They were safe, for the moment.
Slowly the man opened his eyes and immediately noticed the arms wrapped around him. That embrace... In his mind he had seen Jun hugging him, that memory had always been his anchor in those dark moments, but today it seemed more realistic than ever. He knew that behind him there was his faithful bodyguard, the cold, detached woman he paid to protect him, but who had recently been seen under a different light. He couldn't even explain why, but the mere presence of the blonde, having her consistently by his side had become necessary for him. Many people had tried to kill him in the most banal ways, but Nina had always crushed in the bud every pathetic attempt to harm his safety. However tonight was the first time she really saved his life. He turned slowly into that embrace and found himself facing his bodyguard: he saw clearly in those crystalline, usually impassive eyes, both relief and a shadow of fear. If she hadn't been there, what would have happened? He didn't even want to think about it!
"Nina ..."
"Jin ... are you okay?" she murmured, loosening her embrace, now visibly embarrassed.
She had always been reluctant to physical contact and when she realized she was still clutching her boss, she suddenly felt stupid. However, she didn't have time to add anything else, cause it was then the turn of the man to wrap his mighty arms around her waist. She felt the blush rising even more on her cheeks when Jin hid his face between the hollow of her neck and shoulder, holding her head with one hand; he did not even realize she had clung to those strong shoulders.
"Nina... Oh, Nina... I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry, please... Please, forgive me!" Jin whispered, tightening her even more to himself.
"Jin ..." she stammered, uncertain.
When he heard her tone of voice, the man immediately broke the contact and stepped back, feeling a deep sense of shame and hatred towards himself. He was amazed that she was still there and hadn't left him on the ground agonizing, after beating him savagely.
"I didn't want to... I'm sorry... If you want to go, I swear I don't..."
"Jin, I'm not going anywhere." she replied firmly, taking his hands and forcing him to look her in the eyes.
There was still a hint of fright in those clear irises, but the look was firm and determined, as usual.
"Are you feeling better?" she asked.
"Yes, I'm fine... Only thanks to you, my God, if I think I could..."
"Don't do it! I'm here, nothing happened, it's all over now!" she reassured him.
There was a touch of sweetness in that authoritative voice that amazed him deeply. Neither of them had realized how close they actually were: Jin had simply to bow his head to find his forehead resting on his faithful bodyguard's.
"You saved my life ..."whispered, reaching out to touch her cheek. "How can I ever thank you?"
"You don't have to! It's my job, I'm your bodyguard after all, right?" she answered quietly, letting that big hand cupping her face.
"No ...You're much, much more ..." Jin concluded, before resting his lips on hers.
That was the first kiss between the devil and the murderer.
Nina woke up in cold sweat. The room was dark and smelled of dust and at first she didn't even remember where she was. Looking around, she realized that she was in her old apartment, she had rented when she moved to Tokyo one year before, to complete a series of murders that she had been commissioned. Shortly thereafter she was hired by the Mishima Zaibatsu, and she moved there, no longer going back to that little house. She didn't even remember how she managed to get there a few hours before, she was still wearing his worn-out black leather suit, and the blood that had gushed from the many cuts got stuck. Sighing, she pulled herself up from the bed and decided to take a shower to try to clean herself up from that dirt. By turning, her ribs protested loudly, but she ignored the pain as she used to do.
Before heading to the bathroom, however, she threw his eyes to the window she had forced to enter and noticed that it was dawn: the horizon was becoming red and the first rays of sunlight cut through the darkness. She remained for a second staring at the view,when her attention was caught by a cloud of unusual shape, which reminded a large pair of black wings. She sighed heavily, and unconsciously brought her fingers to her lips. That dream about her not too far past had been deleterious for her heart, but again she tried to remind herself that that would have been the dawn of a new day. Yet she would have given anything to be awaken by those demonic lips as she was used to during the last months spent together...
Well hello, here I am again! I'm sorry but my days are pretty prettu busy due to my work schedule. So, what about this chapter? Yes, in this story there will be many flashbacks: it's a stylistic choice that I love and that I consider necessary for the narration (to be read as: otherwise I should start telling my version from Tekken 6 and I haven't all that fantasy :P) to better understand present events, decisions and consequences. Let's say that as a first memory we start immediately with an intense one, but this is a scene that I adored to figure out. Like Nina despite the desperate situation has kept calm, facing the risks of the unknown and at the same time has given free way to her most irrational part and how Jin collapses under the weight of his curse and surrenders to the fact that his bodyguard has become indispensable for him. Also I have always wondered how Jin managed for years not to notice the Devil's Gene and to live peacefully and Jun Kazama was the only sensible answer that I came up with. Obviously her loss by the hands of Ogre (who later will subdue Nina herself, thus making him further increase his sense of protection towards her) and following the betrayal by Heihachi were all factors that have awakened the beast that was sleeping inside him. In fact, unlike Kazuya who voluntarily sold himself to the devil to save himself after falling off the cliff, Jin was raised by a woman who had the purest heart and soul, so I think her influence was crucial. With all that said, I'll you to the next chapter! Bye!