Smokescreen: A Collection of Vignettes

Chapter 18

This was based on an idea I had back a month or two ago. It was what got me back into fanfiction after so long. It was written right before I got started with Moonlight and Ice. I hope you guys enjoy!

In a magic-induced sleep, Sakura dreamed of a happier reality. She dreamed of her friends, all alive and healthy. Armageddon never happened and there were no doubles or variants of friends and foes alike. It was just a peaceful existence. No one had been killed or enslaved by a maniacal sorcerer and his minions. Everyone got along. Everything was just as it should have been. No death or violence. No betrayals. No destruction.

The young woman also dreamed of a certain smoke-user. Her secret lover. His hands roamed all over her. His arms embraced her. He wouldn't allow her to become a sacrifice to Shang Tsung and Quan Chi's machinations. His lightly accented voice reassured her and soothed her. His lips were on hers and his tongue tasted her. His campfire scent engulfed her. Oh, how she wanted to stay in his arms forever like this.

The only problem about this whole situation was that Sakura knew it was a dream. It was a dream that she couldn't wake up from. Lucid dreaming, she recalled. Except this didn't seem like any ordinary lucid dream. It took her a solid minute before she recalled events. Armageddon had come to an end and, she shivered, Titan Shang Tsung came out victorious. He wanted to use her soul, a singular soul, to merge all timelines together. Before that had happened, however, a crystal formation had surrounded her and that had been her last memory before waking up in the dream world.

"Ugh."

Titan Shang Tsung and Quan Chi had demanded her surrender when her allies had finally fallen. She, of course, had wanted to fight to her last breath before her soul was stolen and had stood up against the dark doubles of allies that held her captive. Unfortunately, that had proven fruitless. That was when she was apparently sealed away, if memory served her correctly. Ugh. Trying to fill in the blanks was rather irksome.

Sakura supposed her moon crystal had come to her defense, so to speak, by encasing her. Was she actually in her crystal? It seemed likely. She looked around her and saw figures from the waking realm, such as Scorpion and Sub-Zero. People in dreams represented pieces of one's inner self. She sighed. It seemed cliche, but she would have to explore her surroundings and interact with her inner self. As much as she wanted to stay and linger in her happy place, she had to get to work.

"Now, where to start?"

=================

In the waking realm, a portal opened right next to the sleeping monarch's crystal coffin. A lone, hooded figure in gray and black armor emerged from it. The figure removed their hood and revealed short, gray hair. Piercing gray eyes gazed into the crystal and slowly admired the sleeping angel that lay within. A devious smirk formed upon the figure's face.

He had found her first.