13 years have passed and multiple things have changed/happened to Y/N and his new family. His adopted father Jerrod was killed, Sindel became depressed and spent less time with her son and daughters, Li Mei was kicked out of the umgadi due to Jerrod's death, Tanya was now umgadi, and Y/N was much older and mature as he was depressed from seeing his mother sad. He was currently inside his room as it was really clean and neat despite the fact he had a giant sentinel head next to his bed. He was just throwing away some old drawings he made as a kid and some old pictures of him and his ex. As he finished cleaning everything up he sighs and gets up and leaves his room to check on his mother. He was walking in the halls as guards and umgadi guards were walking and chatting with each other, the next room he walks past is general shao's room as he was sharpening his battle axe. He continues walking until he reaches the kitchen and prepared some tea for his mother as he grabs the tray and heads to her office room, he arrives and opens the door slowly and softly and sees his mother at her desk working as usual.

Y/N: Hey mom.........

Sindel looks up as she was exhausted and had bags under her eyes.

Sindel: Hey son.....

He walks in and closes the door behind him as he walks towards her desk and sets the tray down next to her.

Y/N: I made tea for you. You should probably have some...

Sindel smiles a little.

Sindel: Thank you Y/N....

Y/N: No problem mother. He smiled a little as he then was about to walk out until he noticed something on her wall. It was an old drawing he made of a costume he thought of making one day.

NOTE: NOT MY DRAWING! REPEAT NOT MY DRAWING!!!

Y/N: Hey- I didn't know you still had my old drawing. He chuckled

Sindel looks up and noticed the old drawing she kept from him when he was just a little boy.

Sindel: Yeah... it's a very cute and creative drawing you made when you were a little boy. She smiled

Y/N: Well- I guess it's cute, to me it looks hideous.

Sindel: But still,it's a cute drawing. You were so much younger then. She chuckled as she looked back at the drawing.

Y/N: And I was a creative child with a wild imagination huh?

Sindel: Yes you were,I miss when you were that young. And when Jerrod was still here... she looked disappointed and sadness again.

Y/N: Me too... But I guess everything has changed nowadays,hasn't it?

Sindel: Yeah... a lot has changed.

Y/N: Mom... can I ask you a question?

Sindel: What is it son?

Y/N: Why do you seem so unhappy? Like... I noticed the sadness and disappointment in you,your constantly working all the time and you always look so... depressed and sad... I-I miss the happy you.

Sindel: I'm sorry son,it's just... things haven't been the same since Jerrod was taken from us. I-I just need time to cope with everything...

Y/N: And that's understandable mom... it's just... I can't stand seeing you like this. It kills me to see you so sad and unhappy and always having your head down. I hate seeing you always looking so tired and with those eye bags on you.

Sindel: I know son... I know. That's why I'm trying to stay strong for you and your sisters,even for myself.

Y/N: Is staying strong and trying to cope with the pain by yourself really helping you? Mom. You have me, Milenna and Kitana. We won't leave your side.

Sindel: I know, but it's hard. I just feel like I failed and lost everything...

Y/N: You didn't lose everything,you still have Milenna,Kitana and me. As long as we're all together,we'll always protect and care for each other.

Sindel: Yeah... just like a family. She said as she smiled and her eyes began to water.

Y/N immediately walks over to her and hugs her Sindel wraps her arms around him as her eyes begin to tear up.

Sindel: You've gotten so big Y/N... you're all grown. She said as she sniffed.

Y/N: Yeah... I've grown a lot, but I'll still be your little boy who loves and cares for you and my sisters.

With Sindel tearing up, Y/N continued hugging her as she put her head on his shoulder,both of them embracing each other.

Sindel continued hugging Y/N as her tears began falling on his clothes, but he didn't mind. He only held her tight and continued to comfort her.

Y/N: It's going to be ok mom. Everything's going to be ok.

Sindel: Thank you Y/N, thank you so much...

She said as she sniffed again and her tears still fell,her head still on his shoulder, the both of them continuing to be in each other's arms.

As Y/N leaves the office, he spots General Shao walking out of his room with his battle axe and some bandages and clothes in the other hand, noticing that he was a little injured.

Y/N: Uh,hey General Shao.

Shao notices Y/N and grunts before turning to him,still holding his weapon and clothes.

Shao: What are you doing out here?

Y/N: I was just visiting my mom in her office. I was checking on her.

He noticed that Shao looked injured.

Y/N: You alright? You're a little beaten up.

Shao grunts and looks at his injuries.

Shao: I'm fine, I got a bit carried away during training earlier today.

Y/N: You sure you're fine? I mean... you look like you got your ass kicked.

Shao grunts again and looks at Y/N.

Shao: I said I'm fine. Besides,it's nothing serious.

Y/N: Okay okay,I was just making sure. No need to bite my head off.

Shao just grunts in annoyance, clearly still aggravated and tired.

Shao: Just go back to your room or wherever you were going. I have no time for this.

Y/N: Alright,alright just relax bro.

As Y/N passes by Shao, he can feel the man glaring at him but doesn't care.

Y/N: Geez,guy's still a jerk. He muttered to himself.

Y/N continues walking through the halls, avoiding eye contact with some guards as they passed him. One of the guards looks at him and whispers to another guard.

Guard: Hey, is that Sindel's son? The kid who used to run around the palace a lot when he was small?

Other guard: Yeah that's him. Y/N I think it was. He grew up didn't he?

Guard: Yeah... he definitely grew up alright.

Other guard: I remember seeing that little kid running around and hiding in places when he was small, he was like a little rabbit back then. All fast and cute.

Y/N just chuckled and continued walking while greeting other royal guards and umgadi soldiers

Some of the guards and umgadi soldiers greet him back, some chuckling a little as they remember Y/N's child self being a little cute yet fast kid that ran around the palace and hid almost everywhere. As he walked, he soon heard 2 female voices up ahead. He saw Tanya and Mileena passing by, chatting with each other and holding each other's hands with Tanya leaning on her shoulder with a smile.

Y/N smiles and stops walking to just look at the two love birds.

Y/N: Well look at those two lovebirds. So cute together.

Y/N chuckled to himself as he watched the couple pass by, still chatting and holding each other

Y/N makes it his room door until suddenly he hears something in the throne room. He heard a faint sound coming from the throne room, he slowly began walking closer to the throne room door to see where the sound was coming from. He walked slowly as quietly as he could into the throne room, looking all around just in case he got ambushed or jumped at last minute by someone hiding in the shadows or something. The room was all quiet and still, the candles were lit, the torches were still burning, everything still seemed normal, but the strange noise he heard earlier still was coming from somewhere. Suddenly- Y/N sensed something as he smirked and suddenly deflected a fan that flew towards him. He sighed knowing who did that.

Y/N: Kitana....

A shadow leaps onto the throne and a female figure emerges from it, she had a smirk on her face as she landed on the throne.

Kitana: You always were pretty good at sensing sneak attacks.

Y/N chuckled and put his hands on his hips.

Y/N: And you've always been pretty good at stealthy attacks as well. I almost didn't see you hiding behind that pillar when I opened the door.

Kitana hops off of the throne and slowly walks over to Y/N with that smirk and cheeky look still on her face, her fans still in her hands.

Kitana: You have to admit it, you were just asking to be ambushed when opening the door that slowly.

Y/N rolls his eyes.

Y/N: Yeah yeah whatever, but that still doesn't explain why the hell you were hiding behind the pillar trying to jump me in the first place.

Kitana continued to smirk as she got closer, now only a few feet away from Y/N.

Kitana: I just wanted to see the look on your face when I ambushed you. Plus I was bored and didn't have much else to do.

Y/N: That's it? Seriously? You just wanted to see my reaction? You know I thought you had something else to say or something.

Kitana chuckled while twirling her fans.

Kitana: Is it a crime to want to see my brother's reaction when I randomly decide to sneak up on him?

Y/N: When your brother's sleeping- yes. When your brother's eating- yes. When your brother's training- yes! When- he stopped speaking by when he realized he was only walking to his room. Huh- never mind. You made a point.

Kitana chuckled again and smirked while continuing to twirl her fans, she was clearly amused.

Kitana: Ah, so my little brother finally ran out of comebacks? I'll mark this day on the calendar.

Y/N: Yeah yeah whatever you say. Be chuckled and rolled his eyes. Also- I just saw Milenna and Tanya holding hands.

Kitana: Really? Those two are still at it huh? Holding hands and always clinging to each other like love birds.

Y/N: Yeah....... He chuckled but then slowly frowned.

Kitana noticed the frown in his face, she slowly stopped twirling her fans and her smirk faded.

Kitana: Hey, what's with the frown? Don't tell me you just ate a lemon.

Y/N: No no it's just- if mother finds out about them.....

Kitana nodded, knowing what he meant.

Kitana: I'm just as concerned as you are when it comes to that. You know what mom will do if she finds out about them.

Y/N: She'll probably banish Tanya....

Kitana sighed and nodded.

Kitana: Yeah, and then who knows what she'd do to Mileena. I don't want mom to get rid of Tanya, she's my best friend. But I also don't want mom to punish Mileena or do something drastic to them.

Y/N: Honestly, I really don't want mom to hurt them at all. I mean, can't she understand that they're just expressing their feelings and love for each other?  Why can't she let them be happy with each other?

Kitana: I know, but you know how mom is sometimes. She's a bit...controlling. She's always been that way with Mileena since she was a child.

Y/N: True.... I mean- she's about to become empress soon..

Kitana nodded in agreement.

Kitana: That's also true, and she can make her own decisions and be her own person, that's what she always wanted. But mom's always been so...I don't know, paranoid about her sometimes. She's afraid of Mileena's Tarkatan mutation getting out of control.

Y/N frowned again and sighed as he recalled the night when they were children and Milenna snuck out the palace at night getting infected. Kitana saw the frown on Y/N's face, knowing that he was also recalling the same memory. 

Kitana: That night we both snuck out without mom knowing and had so much fun. But then....

Kitana slowly looked down and clenched her fans, the memories of that night still playing in her mind.

Y/N: Yeah...things were so fun until....that moment.

Y/N also looked down, the images of that night still fresh in his mind, the memories of the two of them having fun sneaking out of the palace and playing outside under the stars, just enjoying each other's company. But it was overshadowed by the memory of Mileena getting attacked and infected by those feral Tarkatans. Y/N took a deep breath with his eyes closed.

Y/N: And after father died- li mei got removed from the umgadi because mom think's it was her fault..... Li Mei was watching dad and she- she-

Kitana sighed and looked down, her expression still somber.

Kitana: I know. She always blamed Li Mei for not doing more to protect dad. And then she banished her from the umgadi. I still remember the argument between them. It got so ugly.

Y/N: To this day, Li Mei still can't forgive mom and still blames herself for what happened to dad. She still believes that she could've done more to prevent it. It just breaks my heart seeing her like that. She looks so guilty, like it's her fault, and it's not.

They both stood there for a few more seconds before Y/N spoke again.

Y/N: I'm gonna head to my room now. You take care of yourself ok?

Kitana nodded and gave him a small smile.

Kitana: Yeah, and you take care as well. I'll see you tomorrow.

Y/N: Alright, see you tomorrow Kitana.

Y/N waved as he began walking to leave the throne room.

To be continued...