Over the next few days, the others spent the majority of the time trying to help Ryu recover his memory. Ken had suggested that they all stay at the dojo, thinking that being in his old home would help Ryu remember faster. His English slowly began to improve, which made everyone optimistic that his memory issue would be short lived. Eliza had been particularly patient with him, and for some reason, Ryu seemed quite comfortable talking with her. Chun Li on the other hand was a wholly different story. To her dismay he avoided her at every opportunity. "Well, that's kind of consistent with the old him," Ken said, trying to be helpful. The unhappy look she gave him revealed that he had been less than successful in his attempt.

Sitting with his shirt off, Ryu allowed Guile to examine his wound. Removing the dressing, Guile nodded with approval at how well the incisions were healing. There was almost no seepage now from the wound and the edges were beginning to seal. Cleaning the area thoroughly, he applied fresh gauze and motioned wordlessly to Ryu that he was done. "He does not like me," Ryu said to Ken as they watched Guile walk away.

"Oh he doesn't like anyone," Ken said blandly. "Except Chun Li, that is." He was intrigued to see that this caught Ryu's attention. He decided to push his buttons a little more. "She's the only one who seems to be able to make that big lug smile and he's always looking out for her."

"Were they involved with each other?" he asked casually, pretending to be occupied with his dressing.

"Why," Ken probed. "Are you…jealous?"

"Shuddup! - of course not!" Ryu hastily denied.

"Well I guess there's no point in answering the question then," Ken said, baiting him further. To his glee, almost as if on cue, Chun Li appeared. "Oh look, there she is." As Ken knew he would, Ryu looked up.

The two of them watched as Chun Li came up to Guile and began to converse with him. They were unable to hear what was being said, but something that Guile said made her giggle uncontrollably and she hugged him with obvious affection. Ryu's face barely betrayed any emotion, but Ken knew his friend well enough and noticed an almost imperceptible twitch in his jaw muscle. "Well, you rest up, buddy," he told him, patting his shoulder. "I'll see you later." Walking to Chun Li, he grabbed her by the elbow and said breezily, "Hey, Guile, I need to steal this for a second. I'll return it to you in a minute."

"What's on your mind, Ken?" Chun Li asked quizzically.

Ken grinned. "Well, Ryu may not remember the details, but the feelings are definitely still there for you."

"How do you know?" Her voice was guarded.

"We-e-e-ell, he seemed pretty interested when you were talking to Guile." Ken brushed his hair out of his eyes. "He asked about the two of you. You know, if you guys were like involved and stuff."

Her brows went up at this. "Really? What did you tell him?"

He chuckled. "Well he denied being jealous so until he learns to say what he really means, I'm going to do the same." Putting his arm around her shoulder fraternally, he said, "Chun, can I tell you something? You know, you're a great gal and a total hottie, but I think you're going about this all wrong."

She narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?" Her voice had a slightly indignant edge to it.

"Hey, relax, sweetheart! It's nothing personal." He put both hands up in a pacifying gesture. "But lemme give you a piece of advice, you know, as a man," he said, indicating himself with a small flourish.

She crossed her arms. "Okay, what?"

"Don't put yourself out there so much," he said pragmatically. "If there's one thing that's true of all guys, it's that we don't like to be chased. Leave him alone and pretend not to be interested. I guarantee you that in no time he'll be looking for any dumb excuse to talk to you." He smiled expectantly and waited for her response.

"I'm not sure that's going to work," she said dubiously after a pause.

Ken answered with a cavalier shrug. "Well, maybe not, but it's something different. And your way of doing things doesn't really seem to be getting any results, if you know what I mean," he pointed out. She had to concede that he was right about that fact. "What have you got to lose? He's not saying a word to you anyways. What's that saying…the butterfly lands in the open hand, or some stupid shit like that."

She smiled and had to laugh at the goofy expression on his face. "Okay, I'll try it your way," she vowed.

"I promise you won't be disappointed," he said with a wink. Looking over her shoulder he saw that Ryu was watching them. Out of the corner of his mouth he told her, "Hey, just for that added special touch, hug me like I just told you that you won the lottery."

"Is he looking?" Her tone was hopeful.

"Oh yeah." His tone was smug.

Laughing again and feeling a tad foolish, she hugged him enthusiastically. "Is it working?" she whispered.

Ken chuckled as Ryu's jaw clenched again. "I would say that the answer is yes."

From that point on, Chun Li took Ken's advice and completely ignored Ryu, paying him no mind whatsoever. At meals, she never looked at him once. When he entered a room, she would leave. She even refrained from saying a single word to him, but talked as usual with Ken, Eliza and Guile. To her surprise and delight, Ken's advice had an obvious and profound affect on Ryu's behavior. She could feel his eyes on her even though she didn't return his gaze, and Ken had to suppress a laugh when he caught him sneaking glances at her to see if he could make eye contact but she staunchly pretended he wasn't there.

After a week of the silent treatment, Ryu found that all he could do was think of the next time he would see Chun Li and wonder if she would acknowledge him at all. It had been driving him crazy to be shut out by her, and what was even worse was to watch her interact with Ken and Guile - especially Guile. He envied them the radiant smile she gave them so easily and longed to see it directed at him. Seeing her easy affection for Guile was also beginning to grate on his nerves. He tried not to look when he sat with his arm around her, her petite frame nestled comfortably against his sturdy one, or the way she was completely relaxed around him. Though he couldn't remember whether or not they had been together in the past, it was obvious to him how Guile felt about her. His face softened whenever she was nearby and it was one of the only times his stony demeanor seemed warm. A peal of laughter snapped him back to attention and his stomach turned when he saw Guile with his head resting in her lap while she rubbed his head with both hands as he grimaced at her in protest.

"I feel almost sorry for the guy," Guile said, monitoring Ryu from out of the corner of his eye.

"Serves him right for being so wishy-washy," Chun Li said in a slightly vindictive tone, massaging his scalp.

Guile wasn't about to complain. He was enjoying rubbing it in the shrimp's face and rather liked having Chun Li all to himself, even if it was in the service of making Ryu jealous. "Hey, up and to the right." He smiled contentedly as she scratched his scalp.

So focused was he on trying to figure out what they were talking about that he didn't notice Ken standing next to him until he cleared his throat loudly. Ken snickered when Ryu jumped at the sound. "Am I interrupting?" he asked, this time in English.

Ryu did his best to appear nonchalant but avoided Ken's eyes. "No, you are not interrupting anything. When he finally stopped pretending to be examining his toes, he noticed that Ken was dressed all in red.

"Here," he said, handing him a white version of his ensemble.

"What is this for?" he asked.

"Just put it on and you'll see," Ken said with a smile. "Twenty bucks says you'll have no problem putting it on." A few minutes later, Ryu emerged wearing his white karate uniform and as Ken had predicted, he somehow knew exactly how to put it on. Ken grinned with approval and added, "There's just one more thing missing." He handed Ryu his red headband.

Taking it in his hand, Ryu suddenly felt a wave of nostalgia and images of himself and Ken as boys rushed into his thoughts.

Noticing the distant, preoccupied expression on his face, Ken became concerned. "What is it? You okay, Ryu?"

Ryu looked up at Ken and smiled and Ken was elated to find that the smile was one of recognition. "I remember that you gave this to me," he said with gladness and relief. "You were an aggravation when we first met but you proved yourself to be a good friend."

A wave of emotion passed over Ken and he felt like some of his old friend had returned, watching him tie the headband around his head. "Well, I thought this might help jog your memory." He motioned Ryu over to a more open space. "Just don't think too much and do what comes naturally." Taking a deep breath and centering himself, Ken began to execute the movements of the various katas. Doing his best to take his friend's advice, Ryu tried to allow himself to disconnect himself from his thoughts and move based only on his intuition and experience. To his surprise, he began to follow Ken's movements smoothly, somehow anticipating the next form before it had begun. They finished the series without saying a word. Pleased that he was able to follow along, Ken, clapped him on the back and said, "That was great!" He stepped away a few feet and grinned. "Let's see how much else you remember. TSEEYAAHHHH!" He ran towards Ryu and somersaulted behind his friend's back. Instinctively, Ryu knew to turn the instant Ken hit the ground and blocked the flying kick that he delivered upon standing. "Shoryuken!" Ken shouted, again attempting to land a punch.

Dodging his fist, Ryu catapulted himself into the air. Ken smirked and beckoned to him with his index finger. Ryu grinned back, feeling a rush of adrenaline at his taunt. "Tatsumatsu Sempukyaku!" The two men continued to spar until Guile's harsh voice broke their concentration.

"YOU LITTLE MAGGOT! IF YOU POP ANY OF MY STITCHES, I'LL FUCKING COME OVER THERE AND UNDO THE REST MYSELF!!" His loud baritone echoed off the mountain face.

"Oh shit," Ken said sheepishly, "I forgot about your stitches. I guess we'll call it a day." He waved apologetically at Guile, who was standing wearing a livid expression, his fists clenched at his sides.

Ryu looked as Chun Li soothingly stroked his arm and coaxed him to sit back down. "Yes, we should," was all he said. It was beginning to get dark out.