Afterwards: The Fourth Tekken Novel

The Precipice of Fate

Heihachi made sure that Steve emptied his bedside table before going to sleep.
"You knocked your face cream off your nightstand last night," Heihachi said. "It was made of glass too, it could have broken."
"Yeah, yeah, but it didn't," Steve rolled his eyes as he slumped down on his bed. "Also, please don't bring that up again. It's embarrassing."
Heihachi frowned as he came over to sit beside him. "Embarrassing? Steve, there's nothing to be embarrassed about with having emotions. You're doing great for someone who went through a tough childhood like that."
Steve couldn't help but smile at that. "Yeah. I'm not even sure why I still get those night terrors. I don't even remember having them."
"But apparently your mind still goes over them," Heihachi sighed, clapping his back before getting up. "Anyway, don't think about it and get some sleep. It's been a long day."
Steve nodded, a slight frown on his face. "You okay? You looked pretty bummed."
Heihachi smirked, seating himself down on his bed. "I am bummed no longer. Kazuya may not fully accept me, but at least we made our peace."
"That hardly counts as making peace, guv," Steve sighed.
"It's still a start," Heihachi shrugged.
Steve chuckled as he readjusted himself to lie down, a slight smile on his face. "Goodnight."
"Yea, Goodnight to you too," Heihachi added.

A vast barren hilltop of rock, the place where it all started. Kazuya stared at the gloomy sky that overlooked the Precipice of Fate, a place that held a gloom much darker than the grey of the sky. It was a place that he loathed, the place that reminded him of how meek and vulnerable he once was, how he let himself be beaten by Heihachi, the place that turned him into the monster he once was.
The sight of the place made his blood boil, sending a surge of heat to his face as he flushed in anger.
"You remember this place, don't you?" Heihachi materialised among the fog that had gathered around the rocks.
Kazuya glared at him. "Why have you brought me here?"
Heihachi chuckled. "This is where it all started, where it all began."
"You Old Fart..." Kazuya spat, his eyes blazing.
"Sure, one of the many names you've had for me," Heihachi smirked. "But this is also where you became who you are today."
"You raised me to be a monster. You turned me into one and blamed me for it. You despised me, and you didn't even try to hide it. The scars I have obtained from your upbringing are a reminder of your tainted soul."
Heihachi stared at him for a moment, then shrugged. "I admit, I did raise you to become a monster. I didn't realise that it was me who turned you into what you had become. Had I raised you differently, lots of things would have been different. Instead, I used your hatred and turned it into strength."
Kazuya's muscles tensed at those words. "If anything, I'm strongest now. And that's not from the hatred you shoved down my throat, it was from the light I had embraced because of Jun's presence. She made me see who I truly was, and that wasn't what you had made me to believe. You only nurtured the darkness in me, shutting out whatever light I had left. You suppressed me, you snuffed me out and moulded me into something that I was not."
Heihachi closed his eyes. "I only saw the woman who betrayed me. That was the only thing I saw in you, the monster that turned against me."
"That doesn't justify your actions!" Kazuya spat, his fists clenched as he fought the urge to punch him. "And when I was finally happy, what did you do? You resurfaced in the form of that clone you created. You never gave up on tormenting me."
"That 'clone' is a human too, and he is the one that used to be your father," Heihachi said. "I didn't see that my physical age was the only thing that was reversed in him, his mental state did too. He is your father, not me."
Kazuya relaxed slightly at the thought of the much younger Heihachi that hadn't numbed his feelings yet. The Heihachi that used to be a good father and loved him with all his heart. The Heihachi that was Jinpachi's son. Not the Heihachi that became Jin Kazama's grandfather.
Not the Heihachi that stood before him.
"That man deserves a second chance, he never meant to torment you in the way that I did, that isn't him," Heihachi said, placing a hand on Kazuya's head, to which the younger man responded by shoving him away. Heihachi steadied himself and continued. "He still has the humanity that I once had, he still holds the kindness that I had lost."
"Was that your intention when you created him in the first place?" Kazuya frowned at him.
Heihachi shook his head. "No. He was created with the thought of destroying you and Kazama Jin to obtain the power of the Devil Gene. He went beyond his programming, it wasn't supposed to happen, but I'm glad that it did." He sighed. "It just shows how tainted I have become over the years, forgetting the purity I once held." The old man turned to his son, his face a mask of remorse and resentment. "The light in him hasn't been diminished. If anything, it was rekindled, shining brighter than ever."

Kazuya's eyes shot open as he was jolted out of sleep. It took him a moment to realise that he wasn't at home, but still on vacation in Chigasaki instead. He turned to his side and spotted Jun fast asleep with her back to him, her blanket down at her waist. Kazuya sighed, realising how cold she was and pulled the blanket up to cover her before putting an arm around her to pull her close, a frown on his face as he went through Heihachi's words once again. The images were still pretty clear, despite how it was a dream, and he could never forget the look on the old man's face as he spoke of his younger clone. The resentment he held towards himself for changing over the years was clear in his eyes.
It still stung, how Jun had actually went behind his back like that, how she had invited Heihachi over for their vacation when the sole purpose of it was to get away from him. He knew that she felt just as terrible doing that as well, seeing how she kept her distance a little, a slightly worried and fearful look in her eyes whenever she addressed him. He pulled her closer towards him, to which she sleepily responded to with a groan. Kazuya didn't know what to feel. His mind was a mess, but despite all of that, a sense of peace lingered about him.
He decided to close his eyes and go back to sleep, wondering what the morning would bring.