A sisterly rematch.

Chapter 29: Sisters…till the end.

Kitana and the hooded figure emerged from a sparkling pink flash high above the streets of Kuatan. For a brief instant, neither of them seemed to know where they had landed.

The teleportation spell released them several stories above the burning city, upon the flat rooftop of one of Kuatan’s buildings. Below them, the battle continued to consume the Shokan capital as smoke and fire rose from collapsed structures and drifted between the cavernous walls. The sounds of the battle reached them even at this height, such as distant explosions, the clash of steel, and the occasional roar of the warriors swallowed by the chaos.

The figure was the first to move.  She tackled Kitana before the Edenian queen could regain her footing, sending both of them crashing onto the rooftop. Kitana recovered from the impact, but her opponent was already moving. The hooded woman drew one of her sais and raised it above her head. The blade came down, but Kitana immediately rolled away and pushed herself to her feet. The sai struck the stone where her throat had been only a heartbeat earlier, the impact sending a sharp crack through the rooftop.

Kitana barely had time to settle into her stance before the figure lunged once again. The first strike came for her ribs. Kitana turned her body and let the blade pass. The second was for her shoulder, but she raised her forearm and redirected it. A third attack followed from the opposite side, but Kitana ducked beneath it.

The ferocious assault did not stop. The figure moved with startling speed, alternating between low and high strikes with both sais, forcing Kitana backwards across the rooftop. Every attack carried intent to kill. There was no hesitation in them. No wasted movement, and certainly no attempt to test her opponent.

Kitana knew that fighting style. The aggression in it. She knew the slight twist of the shoulder before each change in direction. Still, she defended herself. Her movements remained graceful even under pressure, every block and dodge performed with the grace and discipline of an Edenian warrior trained for centuries under Barong's gaze.

The figure struck again, but Kitana caught the incoming wrist. For a brief moment, their eyes met beneath the hood. Kitana twisted the arm aside and followed with a swift kick to the figure's chest, throwing the hooded woman backwards. She hit the stone hard, rolled across the rooftop, and sprang back to her feet almost instantly.

Kitana narrowed her eyes. The figure did not even pause. One of the sais left her hand and flew toward Kitana. Kitana leaned aside gracefully. The weapon struck the rooftop and embedded itself into the stone. For anyone else, the moment might have been an opening. Kitana knew better than anyone what to expect.

The figure vanished; a burst of pink energy flashed beside the fallen sai. Kitana spun around as the hooded woman appeared directly behind her. The first sai cut toward her chest slightly. Then, Kitana stepped aside as another strike followed. This time, she ducked swiftly.

The attacks came exactly as Kitana remembered them. Fast and aggressive. Kitana recognised the pattern. Instead of opposing the flurry, she allowed herself to be pushed, turning each evasion into another step in a calculated parry. The figure followed exactly as she expected.

Until Kitana stopped. She caught her opponent's forearm. The hooded woman suddenly found herself without the momentum she had anticipated. Kitana twisted it and threw her across the rooftop. The figure crashed onto the stone and rolled several times before coming to a stop.

She rose immediately. This time, the battle settled for a moment. For several seconds, neither moved. Both women stood several yards apart. The firelight from below illuminated the rooftop around them, creating an arena where an emotional battle had begun.

Kitana's breathing was steady. Yet the figure's was not. She was breathing more heavily now, but her posture remained aggressive. Kitana's hand slowly moved toward the hilt of one of her fans as she stared at her. There was no longer any doubt in her mind.

She knew those movements, that stubbornness. There was only one person in all the realms who fought like that. Kitana's eyes narrowed. "Show yourself." The hooded woman tilted her head. Kitana took a slow step forward. "I know you are behind that darkness." The air seemed to become still after her statement. Then, Kitana's voice softened. "Mileena."

The woman before her stopped. For a long moment, she said nothing. Then she smiled. It was a familiar smile, a teasing one. A smile Kitana had seen countless times throughout their lives. Only this time, there was no warmth behind it.

The woman reached for the clasp holding the robe together and pulled it loose. The dark garment slid from her shoulders and fell onto the rooftop. For a moment, Kitana's composure faltered. There she was, after all this time. Mileena stood before her in the dark pink attire that had become synonymous with her identity. Her dark hair fell around her shoulders, framing the face Kitana had spent months wondering whether she would ever see again. 

Then Kitana noticed the sharp Tarkatan teeth along the sides of her lower cheeks. Mileena's eyes remained fixed upon her. There was no sorrow in them anymore, at least not visible at first glance. Only anger, envy and resentment. And beneath all of it, pain.

Kitana could barely breathe. They had finally found her...After everything that had happened. For nights, Kitana had wondered whether Mileena was alive, if she had been imprisoned somewhere, or if she had simply vanished into the realms. And here in Kuatan, if Shang Tsung had found her...The worst scenario possible of them all. And yet, it was the one that had come to pass. She was here. Alive. And somehow, she felt farther away than ever.

Kitana looked at the woman standing in front of her. For a horrible moment, she did not see her sister. She saw what Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung had wanted her to become. The creation designed to stand where Kitana once had. And now that creation was standing before her, in defiance, looking at her with hatred.

Mileena's smirk returned. “I was wondering when you would find out.”  She began circling Kitana slowly; Kitana copied the movement. “Took you long enough.”

Her eyes narrowed. "Sister." The word sounded almost affectionate. But the mockery underneath was impossible to miss. The two sisters slowly circled one another while the battle continued far below.

Kitana finally spoke. "How could you do this?" Mileena's brow lifted while Kitana's gaze hardened. "Side with... the sorcerer."  The disdain in her voice was unmistakable when she spoke Shang Tsung's name. "After everything he has done to us." She gestured toward the burning city below. "After what he is doing to our people."

For a moment, Mileena simply stared at her mockingly. Then she laughed quietly. "I'm not doing this for the sorcerer." Her voice became colder. "I couldn't care less about him." She pointed one finger toward herself, then back at her. "This is between you and me."

Kitana said nothing. Her eyes had fallen once again upon Mileena's exposed face. Upon the teeth. Mileena noticed it. Her smirk changed; something more vulnerable flickered beneath it. She had seen that look before, or at least, she believed she had.

The brief hesitation...That moment when someone looked at her appearance and remembered what she was. A monster. Her thoughts returned to that terrible night. To Kitana's face full of disdain. The realisation that came afterwards...that, perhaps, all the affection, the sisterly warmth and the years they had shared had been built on nothing more than a lie.  A façade.

Mileena tilted her head. "Like the view, sis?" The tone was teasing, but beneath it was a tremor of something else...of fear and insecurity. She tapped the tip of one sai against one of her exposed teeth. "Does it bother you?"

Kitana continued walking. She did not answer immediately.

Mileena's expression tightened. "Answer me." The ire in her voice was clear to see. But so was the fear beneath it.

Kitana could sense it. That was the worst of it all. She stopped on her tracks as another explosion illuminated Kuatan below them. Kitana looked directly into Mileena's eyes. "It does."

Mileena's expression hardened. The confidence in her step faltered for the smallest fraction of a second. The answer had wounded her exactly as Kitana knew it would. Still, Kitana continued. "I hate what they represent." Her gaze lowered briefly toward the sharp edges of her teeth. "Or at least...I used to."

Mileena stared at her as Kitana took another step forward. Her voice changed; the regal tone disappeared with it. What remained was the older sister who had once stood beside Mileena in their childhood room, through the gardens, and in training halls far removed from courts and war. "Then I look at you." Kitana's eyes softened. "Your eyes. The confidence with which you fight. The freedom in how you live your life..."

Mileena went silent; her expression became uncertain.  The words opened a door to memories Kitana had tried to keep buried. Mileena sat quietly with a book when she thought no one was watching. How she enjoyed small comforts without caring whether anyone else approved. Mileena's teasing, laughter, temper, even her stubbornness. All of those things had made her who she was. No longer the replacement or weapon, but Mileena.

Kitana had always known there was more beneath the sharp tongue and mocking smile. She had seen it when they were children and when the world wasn't watching. So had Fenrir. He had looked at her and seen something not broken beyond repair. She had seen what Kitana had always seen, the person who cared more deeply than she allowed most people to know. The first one to lend a shoulder and help someone in pain, for she knew better than anyone what being alone truly was.

Kitana's chest tightened. "You were always more than what they made you." Mileena's eyes flickered in shock. "You loved things nobody expected you to love." A small warm smile formed on Kitana's lips. "Whenever someone you cared about was in danger, you were always there. You were always there for me..." Then, Softer. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you."

Mileena looked away for the briefest moment. Yet, Kitana knew she was listening. "You could be the deadliest assassin in the realms if someone ordered you to be." Her voice became more solemn. "But that was never all you were."

Kitana took a slow breath. "That beauty...that was the part of you I always wanted the world to see." Mileena's eyes returned to her. Then, Kitana's expression became sorrowful. "I failed you."

The admission hung between them. Mileena's fingers tightened around her sais. Kitana knew there was no point hiding from the truth anymore. For too long, she had tried to protect Mileena from the world, believing she was protecting her because of her appearance...Afraid of what other people would think.

But fear had eventually transformed protection into rejection once the truth came to light regarding her origins. Kitana had become so afraid of what Mileena might become that she had pushed her toward the very darkness she feared. And ever since that fateful night, she had lived with the consequences of her actions.

"That night, when I cast you away... I gave your pain another reason to live." Mileena's expression faltered. "But I'm not going to let that be the rest of your story." Mileena remained silent. Then, Kitana's voice softened further. "I no longer see the monster they claim you are." Her eyes remained locked upon her sister with conviction. "I see you, my sister."

Kitana reached for the veil covering her own face. Slowly, deliberately, she removed it. She let it slip from her fingers. The fabric fell from the rooftop and vanished into the smoke below. Kitana stood exposed now, just like her sister was. No distance between them existed now. 

"I see Mileena." Her voice trembled. "The good. The bad. And the beauty in her."

Mileena stared. Her confidence disappeared. For a moment, the anger in her eyes weakened. The words were too genuine. She could see and hear it in them. The sincerity in Kitana's voice was not the carefully calculated warmth of the queen.

A tear escaped Mileena's left eye. Yet, she didn't wipe it away. For one fragile moment, the years between them seemed to disappear.  Then she remembered that night...The rejection and the pain that came with it. The shattering feeling of being discarded as though she had been nothing more than a mistake.

The tear continued down her cheek as her expression hardened again. No words could repair that...Not yet. Mileena had spent too long learning that kindness could be another form of manipulation. She had watched Kitana navigate royal courts for centuries. Mileena, better than anyone, knew how carefully and effortlessly she could make people hear what she wanted them to hear through a small shift in her tone.

Barong had taught Kitana how to survive among political vipers. Mileena knew how dangerous those same skills could be. For every lie Mileena hated in the sorcerer, Kitana knew there were lies of her own that had caused equal pain.

Kitana understood that. That was why she did not rush forward. It was exactly why she did not demand forgiveness. She had learned something throughout her self-reflection on her past mistakes. Some wounds could not be commanded to close. They had to be allowed to heal.

Kitana slowly raised her hand. "Mileena, I—"

"QUIET, HARP!" The words exploded from Mileena. Kitana recoiled slightly. Not from fear, no, that wasn't it...From the raw pain inside the voice.

Mileena's eyes filled with tears. "You don't get the privilege of saying those things." Her voice shook from the raw strength the words required of her. "Not after everything you have done." A soft tear escaped her iris as she recalled how she lost him, Fenrir under her spell. "...After everything you have taken from me."

The sais lowered slightly; Mileena's shoulders trembled. Then she forced herself back into her fighting stance. The anger had returned, and it wouldn't fade away easily this time. "I'm done being in your shadow." Her grin returned, but there was nothing joyful in it. "And I'm certainly tired of your lies."

Kitana reluctantly and slowly drew both of her fans. The blades caught the firelight. For a moment, the image before her felt painfully familiar. Sister against sister. Just as they had been that night.

But everything was different now. The reasons were different. And Kitana would certainly not make the same mistake. The outcome this time will be different...even if it would cost her life to do so. She wouldn't abandon her.

She took her stance. "I don't want to do this, Mileena."

Mileena's eyes narrowed. "I do." Her voice was cold. "And I will enjoy it oh so much."

Kitana tightened her grip on her fans. There was no anger in her expression, only sorrow. "I will bring you back, sister." The fans opened fully, its blades glimmered beneath the burning sky. "No matter what it takes."

Mileena answered Kitana’s words with a guttural battle cry and lunged forward. The distance between them disappeared in an instant as the two sisters collided once again. Kitana's bladed fans met Mileena's sais with enough force to send a sharp echo across the rooftop, briefly drowning out the sounds of war below.

The difference between them was immediately apparent for everyone to see.  While Kitana fought to contain, Mileena fought to destroy. Every strike Mileena delivered carried anger behind it. Her movements were fast, vicious, and unpredictable, driven by more than martial instinct. There was envy in the way she attacked, fury in the way she swung her sais, and an almost desperate need to make Kitana feel the pain she had carried for so long. 

But behind all of it, Kitana saw something else. Sorrow in Mileena's eyes. Whenever their gazes met between attacks, she would see the pain of someone who had convinced herself that revenge was the only path left toward freedom.

Mileena believed that if Kitana suffered enough, perhaps the hatred inside her would finally disappear. That the nightmares that haunted her would end. Perhaps, even, she would finally stop feeling like the discarded replacement she had always feared herself to be...At least, that was what she had made herself believe.

Mileena slashed toward Kitana's shoulder. Kitana turned, but not quickly enough this time. The sai cut across her flesh; she hissed as blood immediately spilt down her arm. The pain was sharp, but she pushed through. Kitana answered with a powerful kick to Mileena's chest. The half-blooded Tarkatan queen staggered backwards, her boots scraped across the stone as she fought to regain her footing. 

Kitana lowered her fans for a moment and looked at her sister. "Snap out of it!" Mileena glared at her. "I'm not your enemy! I never was!" The words came from Kitana with genuine desperation. Yet even as she said them, she knew how hollow they sounded. For all her intentions and all the love she had always carried for Mileena, her actions had helped bring them here.

Mileena's expression twisted. "SHUT UP!" Pink energy flashed beneath her feet as she stepped into one of her portals. A second one opened to Kitana's left. Then another appeared to her right. Kitana's eyes moved between them, following the flickering traces of her sister's magic.

Mileena appeared above her, her heel slamming into Kitana's chest. The force sent the Edenian queen stumbling backwards. Blood escaped her lips. Then, Kitana crashed onto the stone and rolled before forcing herself back onto her feet.

Mileena landed several paces away. Without hesitation, she threw both sais. Pink energy surrounded the weapons as they flew toward Kitana, empowering them.

Kitana raised both fans and crossed them before her. A powerful gust of wind erupted from the blades. The wind deflected the incoming sais, spinning them through the air before embedding themselves into the rooftop.

Kitana took a sharp breath. Her chest burned, her shoulder throbbed, and her blood stained the stone beneath her. She was running out of time. More importantly, she was running out of options. If she continued fighting normally, Mileena would eventually force her into a position where she had to choose between killing her or being killed herself.

And Kitana refused to let that happen. She tightened her grip around her fans. Mileena charged again. This time, Kitana met her. Their weapons clashed repeatedly as they moved across the rooftop. Mileena struck high, but Kitana blocked. Then, a low sweep followed. Kitana jumped above it. Another sai came toward her ribs, but Kitana twisted away and answered with a fan strike. Mileena swiftly ducked beneath it and countered.

Neither sister would give ground. For several moments, the fight became a blur of blades and movement. Mileena's style was ferocious, constantly threatening to break through Kitana's defences.

Kitana's was the opposite. Hers was disciplined and elegant. She relied on timing, preferring to read Mileena's movements before they happened and using her own momentum against her. Yet even Kitana could not avoid every blow. But neither could Mileena avoid hers. Indeed, despite how skilled both warriors were in their own right, both were on equal footing.

One of Kitana's fans cut across Mileena's forearm. Mileena reciprocated the strike with a slash of her own across Kitana's chest. Blood ran from both women, yet neither stopped.

Kitana finally caught one of Mileena's wrists and redirected her next strike. She followed with a sweeping kick that forced Mileena backwards. Mileena regained her balance and stared at her.

Kitana's breathing, at this point of the battle, had become heavier. Ragged. "Mileena, this is madness." Her voice was no longer commanding. It was begging her. "Listen to me."

Mileena slowly licked the blood from the corner of her mouth. "I'm done listening to you." Mileena lowered herself into another stance, preparing herself for another attack.

Kitana stared at her. And finally, she understood. She had tried reasoning and pleading with her. Even defending herself through combat. Yet none of it had worked. Mileena did not need another argument from her.  She needed to know whether Kitana truly meant what she had said. There was only one way left to prove it...And it could cost Kitana her life.

Her eyes remained fixed on Mileena. It was in that moment that she no longer saw the monster Shao Kahn's court had created, but instead a frightened girl beneath the anger. Kitana knew that girl. She had been with her for most of her life. And she would not abandon her ever again.

She took a slow breath. "Argos. Deliah." She hoped that, wherever the divine forces of Edenia were watching from, they would hear her silent plea. For she needed all the strength she could find. Then, she made her decision. Kitana shifted her stance, deliberately leaving an opening for Mileena to strike. It wasn't large enough to seem foolish, but enough to suggest carelessness.

Mileena noticed the opening. She had spent too many years studying and fighting against Kitana to ignore an opening like that. Her eyes narrowed. Then, she attacked. The next exchange was vicious. Mileena came forward with all the pent-up rage she had carried for months. Kitana parried the first strike. Then the second, redirected the third, a fourth one came toward her throat. Yet, she stopped it as another one followed.

Then, she deliberately allowed herself to lose her footing. Kitana stumbled, losing her balance. Mileena, cunningly, seized the opportunity, attacking once again. Yet, Kitana kept the façade, trying to make every movement look like a genuine mistake. Finally, she let herself fall.

Kitana hit the rooftop hard. Her fan slipped from her hand and skidded across the stone, coming to rest just beyond her reach. Mileena was on her before Kitana could move. The Tarkatan queen quickly teleported directly above her and landed with one knee against her stomach, pinning her to the rooftop.

Mileena raised one of her sais and brought the weapon down until its sharpened edge rested against Kitana's neck. A grin spread across Mileena's lips. She had done it; victory was finally hers. And yet...The grin slowly faded. Her hand trembled. The sai pressed against Kitana's skin, but Mileena couldn't bring herself to push harder. Doubt had stopped her.

Kitana saw it; more importantly, she saw once again the woman beneath the hatred. Kitana stared directly into her sister's eyes. There was no fear, coldness, nor hatred there. Only sorrow. "Well then..." Her voice was calm despite the sharp steel pressed against her throat. "You got what you were looking for." She held her gaze. "Do it."

Mileena froze. "Wha—"

"Do it!" It was in that moment that Kitana's voice finally broke. Tears began gathering in her eyes; one of them slipped down her cheek. Then another, yet she never looked away. "I deserved it."

Mileena stared at her. And just like Kitana, she saw the woman behind the mask. The queen was gone. There was no princess nor empress. There was only Kitana...Her sister. 

"I have failed you, Mileena." Her voice trembled. "I should have been there for you when you needed me..." She swallowed through the tears. "As you had so many times in the past when I needed someone."

Mileena's sai trembled. She didn't understand. This wasn't how the moment was supposed to go. Kitana was supposed to resist, to fight to the death. Hell, even manipulate her. 

Mileena searched Kitana's eyes desperately. Was this another lie? Another trick? Perhaps another attempt to regain control once and for all? Yet, she knew her sister too well to assume otherwise.

Mileena wasn't foolish, especially with regard to her sister. Kitana had deliberately allowed herself to be defeated. That alone should have been enough to make Mileena suspicious. Yet the tears were real. The pain in her voice certainly was. Kitana wasn't asking her to forgive, nor was she demanding another chance. Instead, she was giving Mileena control. For once, Mileena was allowed to decide what happened next with her life.

A faint movement behind them caught Kitana's attention. Skarlet had finally reached the rooftop. The crimson assassin had followed the scent of blood across Kuatan, tracing the sisters' injuries until she reached the building.

The scene immediately struck something deep within her. For a moment, she remembered another night. Where she had believed she had to act. Blood began gathering around her hand as a blood-scythe formed. Skarlet took a step forward, but Kitana looked at her. The glance was sharp enough to stop her immediately. No words were spoken, yet none were necessary.

Skarlet understood immediately. Kitana wasn't asking for help. She was asking for her trust once again. She was trying to bring Mileena back.

Skarlet's eyes shifted toward the sisters. Then her weapon dissolved. The blood forming it spilt onto the rooftop, gathering in a small crimson pool before slowly disappearing through the cracks in the stone. She had made her choice once before and had lived with the consequences of doing so. Now she would trust Kitana to make hers.

Mileena had sensed Skarlet's arrival. She always knew when someone entered her surroundings. But she did not look away from Kitana; nothing else mattered but them right now.

Her eyes filled with tears. "You..." Mileena's voice was barely more than a whisper. She stared down at the sister beneath her. "You're lying..." Her grip tightened around the blade's hilt. "You always are."

Kitana did not hesitate. "I did." Mileena's eyes widened in shock at the honesty coming from her sister's lips. Kitana's tears continued. Her voice was painfully honest. "I lied and feared you for far too long." She stared directly at Mileena. "I'm done with it." Kitana's voice strengthened with warmth. "And you should also be done fearing who you are."

Mileena's expression changed. The words struck deeper than any weapon could. She had spent her entire life being told that something about her was wrong...that she was too different. Kitana was telling her that none of those things she was told to be gave the world the right to define her.

Kitana raised her voice with conviction. "You are perfect just as you are, Mileena. Never let anyone tell you otherwise." Mileena's eyes widened. Tears spilt freely from them now. "I have always been proud of the woman you became."

For the first time, a genuine smile touched Kitana's face. "Sometimes, I even envied how carefree you were." Mileena stared at her in disbelief. Kitana let out a soft, almost embarrassed chuckle. "I wish I could have been more like you." Her smile faded into something warmer. "I adore you, Mileena." Mileena's lips parted. "I will always be proud to call you my sister."

Kitana slowly lifted one hand. Mileena tensed as Kitana placed her hand over the one holding the sai against her throat. Mileena gasped. The weapon remained between them, yet Kitana did not attempt to move it away. Instead, she gently held Mileena's hand. "And if my life means bringing her back..." Kitana's voice softened. "Then I would allow her to take it."

Mileena stared at her; she couldn't move. Her dark hair fell across her face as tears continued down her cheeks. The sai trembled once again while Mileena's breath became ragged. All the certainty carried by anger and hatred she had built around herself began to collapse.

Finally, almost inaudibly, she asked: "...Why now?"

Kitana felt the pressure against her throat beginning to lessen. Slowly, she pushed herself upward. Mileena didn't stop her. Their faces came within inches of one another. Kitana's eyes were filled with sorrow. But there was certainty there now, too. "Because I have finally seen the errors in my ways."

She reached up and placed a hand upon Mileena's shoulder. "I understand what I lost." A tear escaped. "What I took away from myself because I was afraid." Kitana's voice became softer. "And I will never allow myself to lose you again as I did."

Mileena stared at her. The years between them seemed to collapse in that instant. The revelation and rejection that came with it. The loneliness and hatred carefully manipulated by their father and sorcerer...But most importantly, the tender and safe moments when only two sisters remained in the darkest of days. Holding one another in their arms. All of it had led them here.

Mileena's grip finally loosened. The sai slipped from her hand. Then her face crumpled. "Kitana!" She threw her arms around her sister. Kitana caught her immediately. She held Mileena tightly, as though afraid that letting go might cause her to disappear again. Mileena buried her face against Kitana's shoulder. Her body shook as the emotions she had kept locked away finally broke free.

Kitana's arms tightened around her. For once, neither woman cared who was watching. There was no throne or rivalry between them. 

Mileena struggled to speak through her tears. "I'm so sorry...I—"

"No." Kitana held her closer. Tears of relief and happiness flowed freely down her own face. "You have nothing to apologise for."

Mileena wept against her. Kitana closed her eyes. For a few precious moments, the entire world seemed to disappear. The battle continued below them. Yet none of it mattered for this brief moment.

Skarlet remained a short distance away, watching in silence. The sight left her genuinely stunned. She had seen them bloodied, wounded, and consumed by the hatred that had been building inside both of them. But this was something different. Something Skarlet had never witnessed between them before. A tear escaped her crimson eye. Not from sorrow. From joy.

The two sisters remained locked in one another's arms. For years, fear had driven them apart. Now, for the first time in what felt like forever, love had become stronger than that fear. And in that moment, after so much pain caused by fear born from anger, hope seemed to blossom once again.