Tekken Fan Fiction ❯ Dreaming Alone ❯ Ready For Compromise ( Chapter 10 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

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Dreaming Alone 
-Chapter 10- 
Ready For CompromiseThe fire was flickering into her honey
coloured eyes. She had a wistful gaze about her, and Michelle was unnerved
by the deep gaze that Julia held. She had changed. And she knew that
she had changed.
"Mum, do you remember that poem in my diary... the man whose face I used
to see in the palm of my hands?" Julia began nervously.
This was a light topic, and Julia was unsure whether she should say
anything or remain quiet... maybe it was a passing phase? She doubted it,
because every time closed her eyes, his eyes would be there.
"He's came mum... he's came!"
Michelle looked slightly perturbed, her brows knotted. "Julia... what are
you saying?" 
 
Michelle had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach, those horribly
glazed eyes of Julia gave enough of an explanation. 
By now Julia had a rather psychotic smile upon her face, her eyes unseeing
upon the worried face of Michelle.
"I don't know how, but he came like a hurricane, and me- I was like a
broken leaf, following his lead." Julia had lost it now. "I don't know how
this month went by, I didn't know even that a month went by! I don't even
know whether he loves me or not... all I know is I love him..." 
 
Michelle looked shocked, her fears were confirmed.
"Mum, I really love-" Julia followed her mothers horror struck gaze, only
to meet the eyes of her father. Yuushi.
"I told you, I told you not to betray my trust- and you..." The worst
part was, Yuushi sounded more... disappointed... than angry.
"Father, I can't live without him!" Julia swallowed, her words were
wavering and her eyes were shining. "I-"
"Today you've proven that you're not my blood..." Yuushi murmured
quietly.
Those words hurt... they stung. Very much. Tears traced down the familiar
channels of Julia's face, she'd never thought that she'd hear such words. 
Michelle moved forward, but Yuushi grabbed her arm, his face was stony.
"No, let her cry Michelle," Yuushi commanded. "She wrote these tears in
her destiny and it's up to her to stop them." 
His eyes were fixed upon her. "Pack your bags, we're leaving for Korea... 
forever." 
 
Julia did not sleep that night.

 

A mournful melody soared throughout the evening and well into the night.
It was same in tune to the happy one, but just the change in pace made it
sound depressing. 
Mahogany eyes were fixed upon the sky, Jin's fingers were automatically
playing the banjo without him realising it. Yet somebody did.
"So, who's the girl?" Kazuya smirked, his arms folded.
"Jul- err... what girl..." Jin snapped out of his trance and immediately
stopped playing- his dad didn't like banjo's all that much.
"The girl whose face you're trying to see in the moon," Kazuya snickered.
He unfolded his arms and placed himself beside Jin.
The garden was usually rather pristine and modern, but the moonlight's
eerie glow made it seem almost ethereal, every rose petal was lit by silver,
everything was highlighted, including father and son.
Jin laughed very fakely, slapping his knee.
"Dad, me?!" his eyebrows were so high that they were in danger of
disappearing behind his hair.
"Yes Jin, you."
"You know how I am dad!" Jin broke into explanation, "Someone's eyes are
beautiful, others hair-"
"Yes and another's arms and someone's lips, yes yes, I know all that!"
Kazuya mock agreed.
"Exactly dad!" Jin said, almost forcing himself to believe it.
"Exactly," Kazuya nodded. He looked at Jin's pouting face and felt the
urge to slap him, but decided against it as he felt sorry for him. 
"So, where does she live?"
"I don't know, father," Jin mumbled very quietly. He looked up, glad that
the cool night air betrayed his feelings.
"So, does she like you?"
"I think so..."  Then Jin gulped. "I hope so..."
"Then what's the problem?" Kazuya snapped almost, but kept calm for his
son's sake.
"She belongs to someone else..." Jin sighed, not meeting his fathers
gaze. 
 
"Hey!" Kazuya frowned. "I didn't bear- look at me - you to play that banjo
like a sad twonk all your life- in our bloodline lies victory son, what we
want- we get!"
"It's too late now..." Jin swallowed, he could feel the taste of bile on
his tounge. "She's going to be married..."
"She's going to be married, she isn't married yet- Jin, the lover
always gets the bride!" Kazuya smiled, in hope that his son was a bit
more confident.
Jin's shoulders drooped, that was the worst possible saying he'd ever
heard of. He could name a few people who never got their bride- such as,
Romeo, Demetrius, and he was pretty sure that Macbeth also never got his
love. 
 
"Look Jin, perhaps it's your grandfathers blood that made you accept defeat-
but...but you don't know the things I did for your mother..." Kazuya's words
got quieter and quieter.
Jin looked up, it was the first time he'd mentioned his own wife after
her death several years ago. Jin thought only he cared about his mother, but
he felt even more sad knowing that his father hadn't gotten over the death
of his love. 
He saw the silhouetted form of Kazuya, hunched upon the dining table- he'd
left Jin on his own.
Jin dusted himself off and picked up his banjo. He sauntered into the
kitchen and placed a hand on his fathers shoulder.
"I'll be going away for a while," Jin began. "And you'll only see me
after my bride is with me father."
Kazuya launched himself upon Jin, a big smile upon his face.
"Now this is the way my son speaks!"
Jin's and Kazuya's smile's were identical.

 

Jin was sweating in the heat of the Arizonian sun, he mopped his brow and
looked at his watch.
"Oh man... how big is Arizona?" Jin grumbled angrily. He kicked at the
pavement but immediately regretted it.
He'd been in Arizona for three days and hadn't managed to find Julia
Chang. He'd searched in the directory and even put in an advert in the local
newspapers.
"Where are you Julia, where?" Jin thought allowed.
He prostrated almost to cool his head in the grass, they spoke very fast
English here and he couldn't catch what people were saying but he didn't
care- all he cared was to find Julia. He rested his head under the cool
shade of the tree and from his bag took out a picture of his memorable
holiday, it was a perfect shot even though there was a big branch crossing
his face. He frowned slightly- he'd never taken this shot! 
He turned the picture over, what he saw at the back made him almost want to
cry! It was the address of Julia Chang!
"And I call myself intelligent..." he gulped.
He followed the address immediately and arrived at a modest looking
place, although it didn't look like a house that suited Julia. A smile
curled upon his lips... his house was suitable! He snickered
slightly, then licked his fingers to smooth his eyebrows. He pulled at his
jacket and smoothed his trousers. 
 
"Oh boy, Julia is going to get the shock of her life!" Jin smiled
inwardly and rang the doorbell.
There was no answer, but Jin thought nothing of it and rang it again.
"Sorry honey, if you're looking for Michelle or Yuushi Chang then they're
in China or something, cause it's their daughters wedding y'know." 
 
Jin turned at the speaker, all he caught was the word 'Chang' and 'Wedding'.
She was a plump woman with reddish skin and big cherry red lips.
"Do you know where they are?" Jin asked.
"I told you already, somewhere in China or another!" The woman's face was
an irritated puce.
Jin blinked slightly, his face annoyingly innocent and paled with
naïvete- China? Realisation dawned upon, Julia Chang was to be married in
Korea! He took a sharp inhalation of breath, his eyes darting everywhere in
desperation- what if he was too late?
"I'm so stupid! I wasted so much time here!" Jin gasped. "Baka! Baka!"
The woman's eyes bulged out of her sockets, but she was far too polite to
say anything. Instead, she wrinkled her nose and marched into her house.
Jin sniffed slightly, cursing himself- all this way for nothing?
The wind blew, and the summer roses swayed as if saying 'yes'.
"Shut up!" Jin snapped.
The roses swayed again as if saying 'yeah right'. Jin groaned, he was
having a conversation with a bunch of roses! His hands rushed to his head
and he was almost about to clamp his ears shut when he heard a familiar
ringing. A bell's ringing- the French cowbell's ringing! His eyes
smiled at the thought of the rain, the crying and the train. He admired the
way Julia had hung it at the side of her door, it's thick leather strap
shining magnificently. It was then that Jin noticed a scroll of paper, so
discreet that he was sure he would have missed it if he hadn't been ogling
the leather so hard. 
His fingers prodded the cowbell's strap until the little scroll was free. It
didn't say anything except a single address.
"I'm coming Julia, I'm coming for you," Jin smiled, tucking the cowbell
in his rucksack and the piece of paper in his pocket.
He immediately booked a flight to Korea.

 
The doors swung open and Julia's eyes widened. Yuushi had a huge
family. His parents, his brothers, sisters- she didn't know how many cousins
or aunts and uncles she had. Moreover, she saw that there was another family
different in facial features and immediately knew that these were her
in-laws. Julia gulped inwardly, nearly everyone wore a traditional Kimono,
she felt an outcast enough with her own Caucasian features. She grabbed
Michelle's hand, slightly afraid but calmed down when Michelle squeezed it.
An elderly woman came forth, she had a small build and had snow white
hair. Her eyes were twinkling with tears and her face spoke of yearning, her
frail arms wrapped around Julia's father. It was amazing that however tall
the child had grown, the mother could still embrace her child.
"Mother, don't cry..." Yuushi smiled, his embrace tight around his mum.
"I've held them in for eighteen years, they're not going to stop now,
son," she sniffed and gave him a watery smile. She kissed his forehead and
turned to Michelle and Julia whilst Yuushi went to meet his other
enthusiastic friends.
Julia smiled politely, the truth was, she didn't know any of these people
and had only spoke to them via phone or just hearsay. Only Michelle and
Yuushi seemed to recognise them. Julia felt totally alone.
"My dear dear granddaughter, how I've yearned to see your face- and it
was truly worth the wait," her grandmother said. "You're truly radiant."
"Thank you... I only hope what you said was true!" Julia smiled slightly,
she didn't know why her eyes were wet and neither did her grandmother.
"So where is Hwoarang?" Yuushi declared loudly. "I'm sure there are more
than one pair of eyes restless to see him!"
"Hwoarang should be coming from the army today," a tall man replied with
a proud smile.
"Our Hwoarang? Serving the country?" Yuushi's smile just got broader.
"Now that is a man!" 
 
Julia's heart sank, she imagined a man with untamed hair and a big sword at
his side and a man who never smiled. He'd love his country more than her.
He'd probably die before their first child and she'd be forced to raise him
alone! Julia bit her lip and tried some breathing exercises to clear her
mind- she was over-reacting. 
 
She faked having a headache and was relieved that she didn't have to stay
like a stranger downstairs. She ran upstairs and collapsed upon the bed, it
was a nice place full of nice people- but Julia felt she didn't belong here.
She bit the inside of her cheek, and she was surrounded by Korean
countryside, it was nice but if she tried to runaway she'd probably get
lost. She wondered what Jin would be doing... she wondered how he was and if
he was thinking about her. 
A sweet melody reached her ears, it was mournful but happy at the same time
and was played upon delicate strings of a banjo. Julia's eyes widened, she
wondered if she were going mad then placed her hands over her ears. The
music stopped.
Julia heard a knock at her door and straightened up, her shoulders
relaxed as she saw Michelle. She also looked like a stranger now, with that
kimono enrobing her.
"Julia... I'm sorry..." Michelle sighed quietly, placing herself next to
Julia. "I'm sorry I failed you..."
Julia blinked, she wasn't hearing anything Michelle had said and remained
quiet. Michelle took her silence as hatred and her eyes welled up with
tears.
"I was wrong Julia... I-I... I didn't even tell you... that you don't
even have the right to love..." Michelle sniffed.
Julia looked at Michelle, then shook her head.
"No mum, don't cry... I'm so naive, I don't even know that he loves me or
not... go tell dad I'm ready..." Julia swallowed, her mind was hurting a
lot. "I'm ready to wed Hwoarang..."</div>