Smokescreen: A Collection of Vignettes

Chapter 4

He had no intention of harming his sister-in-law. Far from it. Despite how he treated her, he knew that she would hold no malice towards him. She would even forgive him for his transgressions against her, even though he never sought it. It was just the kind of person she was. In battle, she was fierce and compensated for the lack of elemental magic. Her demeanor had somewhat reminded him of his mother. She was supportive and took no nonsense from anyone, himself included. She even took him to task with how he treated Tomas and didn't care if he barked back. That was what impressed him the most. It was the reason why that he had allowed her on their mission to Ying Fortress.

Though he didn't approve of Tomas's marriage to Sakura at first, as she was not Lin Kuei, it somewhat grew on him. She balanced Smoke's serious nature with her own, gentle personality. There was one moment that Bi-Han had caught them in a private moment and though he moved quickly to leave them be, something in him twinged. He would forever lie to himself, but he was actually jealous of his youngest brother. For all the loss that Tomas had suffered in his life, he was considerably lucky to have someone like Sakura.

Sub-Zero knew that he was being a hypocrite as far as Sakura went. He did treat her far more favorably than his own brothers. Even Shang Tsung took note of that fact. At the end of the day, however, he felt what he felt. It did not matter if he was lying to himself or not.

"You have gone too far, brother!"

An ice spear formed in his hands as Smoke and Scorpion appeared. The time had come. He would remind them of their oaths and make them submit to their Grandmaster. He would not tolerate insubordination.

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Tomas had been outraged and if it hadn't been for Kuai Liang, he would have killed Bi-Han. No one, and absolutely no one, ever touched his wife. He wouldn't let what happened to his family happen to Sakura. Dutifully, he carried his unconscious wife, who was shivering in his arms. He wanted to get her to warm and safe place so that she could recover. It did cross his mind to let Kuai Liang do it, but he didn't want to let his wife out of his sight for even a second. Besides, someone needed to haul Bi-Han out of Ying Fortress. There was no way that they would leave him to aid Shang Tsung.

There was a matter of finding another place to leave Sub-Zero, but that was a problem for another time.