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Language:
English
Series:
Part 4 of Path to Paradise
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Published:
2023-06-10
Completed:
2025-08-23
Words:
174,484
Chapters:
27/27
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191
Kudos:
102
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3,665

Legacies in Memory and Dust

Chapter 27: Epilogue

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Sonya still can't quite wrap her head around the past week. Some—maybe too much—of her is still in Edenia, wondering how Liu Kang and Kitana are getting on, how deep the Black Dragon have gotten, if they're in Outworld, who else has come back from the dead—or worse—and will come fuck her life up later.

She pushes back from the edge of the pool, looking at her left hand. A tiny part of her itches to take the ring off; it's heavy, a subtle distraction that always has her fiddling with it. Maybe she should take it off, so she doesn't lose it—

Her focus shifts to Johnny, sprawled on his back on a lounge chair, brightly-patterned shirt open, sunglasses sliding down his face. Asleep in the sun; he'll end up sunburned and whining about it, with her luck. And he'd be heartbroken to see her with bare hands again. They've already had to have one discussion about how she can't wear a ring like this to work for safety reasons, let alone the fact she might blind someone with it. The compromise is that she wears this rock when she's not on duty, but in the office, it goes on a chain around her neck.

This vacation—her escape from phone calls and media and everyone else's attention on her—was medically supported, given the bruised ribs and battered bodies they're both recovering from. Strict orders to rest and recuperate.

If Johnny keeps sleeping in the sun, he's definitely going to turn into a lobster. She can't have that. It'd ruin everything.

There's only one thing for it.

She edges into the shallower part of the pool where she can touch. One hand reaches behind her neck and the other behind her back, untying the strings of her bikini top. Wadding it up in one hand, she launches it toward him. It lands with a wet smack on his chest.

"What the hell—"

There's a moment of flailing as he jerks upright, reaching automatically to throw whatever hit him away. His fingers close on it, and his eyes widen, then narrow. He pushes his sunglasses up his nose with one hand, head swinging slightly between the dripping red bikini top in his hand and Sonya in the water. She stands a little taller, making sure her shoulders and neck are visible.

He leans forward. "You have my undivided attention."

"You're going to get sunburn if you stay like that," she says, cocking her head. "You insisted we come somewhere with a private villa, private pool, private everything. And you want to sleep? In the sun?" She shakes her head. "Get the hell in the water, Johnny. Or go to bed."

His mouth splits in a grin. He shrugs off the florid floral shirt, and for a moment—just one—she thinks he's about to head back into the villa and collapse on the bed.

He races for the pool with speed that always manages to surprise her, cannonballing into the pool.

One hand is pressed against his face when he surfaces, holding his sunglasses in place.

This is who she's marrying?

She snorts once and shakes her head as he swims toward her. "Guess you made your choice."

"Yup." He stops in front of her, one arm reaching for her. She wraps her legs around his waist, sculling the water with one hand. "And no complaining—you said get in the water or go to bed. I got in the water."

Rolling her eyes is more out of habit now than genuine irritation, and he knows it. He grins, leaning in to kiss her loosely, his right hand finally catching her left, fingers tracing over the engagement ring. The grin gets wider, smugger—as if such a thing were truly possible—and he kisses her again. Both her arms go around his neck, trusting him to hold them both up.

She lets herself fall into it—into him—just for a moment. His arms are warm and steady, his smile infuriatingly fond. The water rocks gently around them, sunlight catching on its surface like scattered coins, and for once in her goddamn life, Sonya Blade is not planning her next move. Not calculating risk, not waiting for the next fight to drop out of the sky and punch her in the teeth.

Well. Almost not.

Eventually, they'll have to go back. The world doesn’t stay quiet for long, especially not theirs. The Black Dragon won't disappear just because she's busy being someone's fiancée. Jax has robot heads in his office and their brains on their own little secured server farm. Kitana's realm-hungry clone-sister and her cronies are in Outworld, scheming who knows what.

But right now, Johnny's arms are around her, and he smells like salt and coconut and a little bit of trouble. And when he says her name, soft and half-laughing, it makes her forget—just a little—how many people have tried to kill them both.

She tucks her head under his chin and murmurs, “We’re gonna have to leave paradise sometime, you know.”

“Sure,” he says, nuzzling her temple. “But we’ll do it together. And we’ll make the next bastard regret pulling us out of vacation.”

She laughs—quiet, honest—and leans back to meet his eyes. “You always say that.”

“And I’m always right.” He gives her a quick, smug kiss, then pulls back with a gleam in his eye. “Besides, babe—now you’re stuck with me.”

Sonya sighs, loud and theatrical, but her grip around his neck tightens. She kisses him—slow and certain—and then murmurs against his lips, “Oh, we're not married yet. There's still time for me to see the error of my ways.”

From inside the villa, a phone rings. Sonya goes taut; it's a familiar ring tone, one she knows by heart. It's Jax calling, and calling on her vacation…

Johnny's hands tighten on her for just a moment before falling away. "You gonna get that?"

"No. I'll call him back."

Because right now, finally—there's something more important than work, and he's right in front of her. For once, everything else can wait.

Notes:

SO. It's been a hell of a ride, and thank you everyone who's been here, reading, commenting, and offering support in the wings. I appreciate it all.

I learned a lot through writing this fic, and I look forward to the eventual third(!) in the series; it's been a planned trilogy for a few years now. I have one other longfic I want to tackle before I come back here, and time to let some of the ideas germinate and have things come together.

I will, much like with BRS, do a pass for editing this more comprehensively, preparing it for typesetting, and then doing a small print run. If you'd like to be in the loop on if that happens, let me know (this is fanfic and not a commercial endeavor, there is no money changing hands). If you want this fic as it stands at this moment, download your own copy now; I'll be stealth-updating, though likely not til September or October 2025, so you have some time.

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