Work Text:
Kitana had never expected to be in this position before, especially with an Earthrealmer! She felt like a teenager—it was exhilarating!
She had snuck Raiden into Outworld! In all of her 10,000 years of living she had never dared break such a sacred tournament rule. Unless it was clearly stated, someone of a foreign realm could not enter another; all of her logic was thrown out the window when her feelings for Raiden began to grow.
Really, if Kitana had just nicely Mileena and Liu Kang nicely, Raiden visiting would’ve been no problem, as it had not been before for their smaller date. It was simply the idea of being rebellious that drew her in. She had always been a loyal and studious princess, not a hardened military general. Raiden, from her knowledge, had always been a hardworking and grounded farmer—neither of them had any time to act out or be spontaneous.
So, when she was walking past the portal gate, and an idea entered her brain… she decided to follow it.
Due to where the portal gate was situated, they had to carefully sneak out of the hanging gardens and the royal building. Kitana should’ve known that it was going to be difficult to get to the streets, but she had forgotten how many Umgadi and royal guards there were floating around. Ever since that prison break they had been on extra high alert, which was probably a good enough reason why she should not have been sneaking Raiden around… but they were already too far gone.
Eventually they were able to reach the streets of Sun Do. The beautiful streets always reminded her of the gorgeous life there was outside of the royal building—it would tempt her into wondering what her life would’ve been like if her family had never had the throne.
When she tried to move forward she was stopped by Raiden. He was standing still, gawking at everything within his sight.
She could only admire how adorable he looked. There were practically real stars in his eyes as they surveyed the crowds in front of them.
“Raiden,” she barely caught his attention, “we cannot stay here all day. I would like to show you more .”
He looked at her after a moment. He smiled at her bright and darling, something that made her heart pitter-patter.
They were like a pair of children who had run away from their parents; skipping and weaving through crowds, Kitana had not been this free in some time.
They made their first actual stop at a small food vendor. She had noticed the sign and recalled a dish that she wanted Raiden to try. Throughout their small dates across Earthrealm and Outworld, she had brought food and other knick knacks to show to the champion, but this was going to truly rock his world.
Kitana grabbed a cup full of the food and handed a piece to Raiden. She watched with awe as he hesitantly took a bite, and his eyes widened with amazement.
He began to cough from the extreme taste and texture. She laughed playfully as she patted his back supportingly and brought him aside.
Some Outworld food was definitely not safe for human consumption, but he trusted her with everything, it seemed.
“It’s good, yes?” She asked him. “You’ve tried this before, but something about Earthrealm makes it so dull.”
“I was missing out!” he laughed. “I really have to try more foods here!”
She smiled brightly, as that was her exact thought process. “That would be perfect! Y’know, I’ve never shown you one of my favorite restaurants… usually we don’t have enough time.” She pulled him in close. “But now we have all the time in the world.” Her voice was low so only he could hear her, as if it were only them on these public streets.
Raiden stammered, his mouth gaping like a fish out of water. “Is—Is it far?”
She swayed her head side to side, letting him go. “Yes, since we’re just walking, but also because I want to take you on a lot of detours.”
Raiden chuckled. “I’d love to do anything with you.”
Her eyes widened.
“I mean—that would be great! Love is a strong—Let’s just go, shall we?”
Kitana laughed happily; his embarrassment always made her heart flutter. She grabbed his hand tightly and dragged him through the streets, taking one more bite of their snack.
One detour landed them in a small handmade crafts shop. Kitana had been intrigued with the more couple-centric stuff, she wondered if she could get anything for Raiden to take home. It would be the most adorable present, and she wanted something that commemorated this date. This was the first time they had done anything like this, and perhaps an object of remembrance would inspire them to do more adventurous stuff like this—Kitana would adore that more than anything. She would adore anything with Raiden.
After a few more trips around the crowded streets, and a couple more stops, they ended up at the restaurant, just as the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon. Beside their table laid small bags which contained a plethora of figurines—they had gotten a little too distracted and honestly ended up with a lot more stuff then they needed, but Kitana wouldn’t have traded it for the world.
“So…” Raiden looked cautiously at his outworld food. “Any plans for after dinner?”
Kitana thought while she ate. While she would’ve loved to parade Raiden around their lovely streets even more, there was an idea she had begun to grow interested in.
“Perhaps we could sneak back into the castle?” She suggested. “Hang out at my place for a bit—maybe even have a sleepover!”
Raiden gasped with excitement. “That would be so fun! It’s been so long since I’ve had a sleepover.” He laughed.
Kitana’s stomach flipped. The more she thought about it the more her heart raced. Would Raiden even want to? If not, that was completely alright with her, but the embarrassment would probably make her want to never go out in public ever again.
“We are really behind in the food market.” Raiden broke through her thoughts. “I need to bring some of this back for Kung Lao or he’ll hate me forever.”
Kitana couldn’t contain her laughter.
When people’s eyes started to naturally float towards their table, Kitana knew that their time at the restaurant was done. While she wasn’t in any royal garb, it wasn’t like she could keep her identity hidden forever—eventually people would notice Outworld’s princess.
They left a generous tip as they left in hurry back to the castle.
Outworld’s bright moon had begun to light up the dark sky, which illuminated Raiden in a light that made Kitana wonder how she went so long without him. His smile shone even brighter with the help of their gorgeous moon and pure kindness radiated off of him.
Kitana couldn’t help but stare, which got her in trouble when Raiden looked over at her.
Their faces both went stark red, turning away from each other with an embarrassment which would’ve killed ten thousand men.
Sneaking back into the palace was much easier than sneaking out, especially considering that it was now night and they could easily blend into the shadows if they so pleased. They hurried through hallways and hugged walls until Kitana finally opened the door to her room.
She hurried in quickly, with Raiden right on her tail. Her back was to him but she could hear that he was closing the door.
“My heart is so fast—”
She cut him off by pushing him against the closed door.
“Kitana!” He gasped. “Wh—What are you doing?”
She held his head with her hands, feeling his panicked breathing against her face. Her stomach was tied into all kinds of knots as she tried to find the right words. She really should’ve planned this better.
“I wanna do more with you, Raiden.” She said carefully. “I’d like us to be more.”
Raiden’s eyes went wide as he processed what she was telling him. She could feel the heat rising in his face and faint rapidly beating pulse underneath his skin.
“I– I’ve never done… done anything before like this.”
Despite being a little taken back, that wasn’t any problem for Kitana. “That’s alright,” she said sweetly, running a hand through his hair. “If anything, that makes this much sweeter.” Kitana was surprised, of course it made sense for her to have more experience—but never ? That was a little shocking.
Raiden swallowed big. “You’re gorgeous”
Kitana smiled big and sharp before pulling him in.
Li Mei walked through the palace with a heavy step. She had been trying to look for Kitana almost all evening and had yet to find the princess. Usually she would never do this, to avoid getting the sisters in a tizzy, but she had to call reinforcements.
She found the empress and her personal guard in their library, relaxing in the silence of the night.
They were alerted by the sound of footsteps, turning around to greet Li Mei. The constable stopped right in front, taking a respectful bow.
“Li Mei,” Mileena greeted with sweetness in her voice. “What do we to owe the visit?”
“I was wondering if you knew the whereabouts of your sister,” she told them. “She was supposed to send me some of our military calculations, but has yet to. I was going to speak to her, but I haven’t seen her all evening.”
Mileena and Tanya shared confused glances.
“We can help you look for her, I doubt she went far,” Tanya said.
Li Mei smiled softly. “That would be greatly appreciated.” She took another bow, and the trio set off to search for Kitana.
The couple now sat on Kitana’s couch, having shred most of their clothes other than their undergarments — which granted Kitana a wonderful look of Raiden that she had not seen before.
She sat straddling one of his thighs with their hands in each other’s hair as their lips only disconnected for gasps of air.
“You’re very handsome, Raiden,” she said with her forehead pressing against his, her eyes traveling up and down his exposed body.
“You—you’re very gorgeous too, princess.” Since they had started kissing his face had yet to return to its normal color and temperature. As they continued on, Kitana noticed the rest of his body began to rise in heat, which made her all too amused.
Her hands traveled down his body and he made a small whine. With a fire in her heart, she repositioned themselves so Raiden was now lying down on her couch, (she was grateful it was so big,) and she had situated herself on his thighs.
The noises which escaped out of him made all of this worth it as her lips traveled down his body in soft kisses. She looked up at him right as her lips touched the start of his boxers.
His wide eyes and gaping mouth were all she needed to see to know that they needed to keep going, or else Kitana didn’t know what was going to do with herself.
“Kitana?”
Kitana jerked up at the sound of Li Mei. Both their heads had snapped towards her door as the sound of heeled footsteps grew louder and louder. Her heart raced with a panic that was unexplainable—getting caught having sex was one thing, but getting caught with a snuck-in Earthrealmer was an entirely different sort of embarrassment.
Kitana threw herself off of Raiden, grabbing the man and pushing him towards her wooden wardrobe as she made a bee-line for her bed.
The last thing she saw before her door opened was Raiden gently closing her wardrobe door so he could fit himself in.
“Kitana?” Li Mei, along with her sister and her sister’s girlfriend entered her room. “Are you asleep?” Her voice turned hushed in embarrassment.
Kitana faked waking up. “Well, I was,” she said, annoyed
The constable bowed in forgiveness. “I’m sorry, your highness, but I had been looking for you all evening. Have you been in your room all day?”
Kitana rubbed her eyes as if she had not been awake this whole time. “No, Li Mei,” she said, sitting up with her bed covers covering her legs. “I’ve been around Sun Do.”
“With no protection?” She asked with a shocked tone. “Princess, you do understand how dangerous that is, right?”
“I am a grown woman, Li Mei, I would’ve been fine.”
She noticed while arguing with the constable that Tanya had become very focused on her wardrobe. She slightly nudged Mileena and gestured towards the closet. The two shared a glance which excited a plethora of panic in Kitana’s stomach.
“What do you need anyway?” She asked, wanting to get to the point before Mileena had any ideas.
“In the morning can you send off your military calculations?” She asked. “I needed them today and that’s why I’ve been searching for you.”
Kitana facepalmed. She had completely forgotten about her military duties—which, how she could was beyond her. “Of course, I’m sorry… I completely forgot about that… My mind seemed to be somewhere else.”
“Hmm,” hummed her sister who was now at the wardrobe.
Kitana eyed her sister wearily.
“Did you take one of my shirts?” The empress asked, running a long nail down the grain of the wood.
“No?”
“Are you sure? I swear that—” her hand touched the handle.
“I didn’t take anything!” The princess exploded which granted her very confused and offended looks from the ladies who surrounded her. “Y’know, I’m a grown woman, once again… I do not deserve this—get out of my room.”
Mileena feigned innocence with her hands up in defense. “I see, my apologies.” She nodded graciously at her sister. “Ladies, let's leave my sister be, yes?”
Her smile was cruel as she ushered Li Mei and Tanya out of the room. An equally as cruel thought slithered around Kitana’s mind, making her wonder if her sister knew—it would’ve been impossible, but her sister was strange like that. Perhaps she shared Kitana’s senses for sniffing out relationships.
Once her door clicked shut Kitana let out a well-deserved sigh, a breath that she had been holding since she had heard Li Mei’s voice.
After a few moments of letting her breathing relax, she noticed how empty her bedroom was.
“Raiden?” She asked out in the open air.
After a moment of silence his quiet voice came out from her wardrobe. “Yes?”
She laughed, exhausted, with her head falling in her hands. “You can come out now.”
After another moment, she heard the soft creaking of her wardrobe door. From the corner of her eye she could see Raiden slowly exiting out of the wardrobe with two hands clasped low in front of him.
“Are you alright?” He asked sweetly, standing still next to her bed.
She sighed and looked up at him. “Yes, I’m fine.”
Her eyes surveyed him, and with a slow realization of what his hands were hiding from her, a smile crept onto her lips.
“You humans are resilient.” She said before grabbing him and pulling him into the bed.
The morning after was everything Kitana had dreamed of. Waking up next to Raiden with the soft sun streaming into her room was something out of a fairytale, and having to leave him was a waking nightmare.
As the morning came, the realization that Raiden couldn’t stay with her forever began to set in. Her morning was also ruined by the fact she was being called on by her sister for breakfast. With a kiss goodbye, she told the man how to get to the portal gate without being detected.
She found her sister, alongside her girlfriend, sitting at their dining table.
Mileena smiled kindly at her, but Kitana knew better.
“How was your night?” She asked. “I’m sorry we had to interrupt you.”
Kitana slowly sat down at the table. “You weren’t interrupting anything?”
“Your sleep.”
Kitana stared at her sister. “Yes, I suppose you did interrupt that.”
“Were you thinking of anything else?”
Kitana began angrily digging into her breakfast… Mileena was doing this on purpose . “No,” she said with her fork stabbing into something on her plate.
The couple shared a look of mischievous nature.
A squeak of panic came from behind them, coming from the only man that would’ve been scared to walk into their dining hall.
Kitana let her utensils clatter as her head fell in her hands.
She made a regrettable choice and glanced over at her sister, whose smile of cruelty burned a hole straight into Kitana’s soul.
“Raiden?” The empress called the man into the room.
Kitana dared not look as the earthrealm champion entered the hall—she could already see how embarrassed he looked.
“Was there something you needed?”
Mileena was an evil woman.
Raiden swallowed loudly and stuttered his way through his sentence. “I— just… I got lost…”
Kitana sighed even deeper and stood up from her chair. She pointed accusingly at her sister. “You’re an awful woman. Do not ever bring this up.”
Mileena simply flashed her a large smile.
She rolled her eyes before turning over to her boyfriend, who was shaking like a wet kitten. She turned him around with a hand on the small of his back.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
“Are you mad?”
“Never, darling.”
The two walked away towards the portal gate.