As he knew he would, Ken found his friend hunched over Gouken's grave, brooding in the dark. Coming up behind him, he placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, man-"
Ryu didn't bother to look up. "Leave me alone."
"No way, Ryu. I'm not going to just sit back and watch you self destruct." Ryu remained silent. "She really cares about you, you know."
"Kang kenai des!"
Anger boiled up inside Ken. "Urusai! Kang kenai janeizo, baga! Of course it matters!" Hearing Ken shout so vociferously caused Ryu to finally look up. "All these years, you've been wandering all over the world, and all you think about is fighting and training and I've never understood why but I always kept my mouth shut. But now you-"
"YOU WORTHLESS FUCKING COWARD!"
Both men whirled around but not fast enough before Guile was already on top of Ryu. He got in a few punches, but once Ryu recovered from his shock, he threw Guile off and leapt to his feet. Ken jumped to his side and assumed a defensive posture. Glaring at Guile, he said warningly, "I do not wish to fight you."
Cracking his neck loudly, Guile responded, "Good, that makes it that much easier for me to beat the living shit out of you."
"Guile! Hold your horses, man!" Ken tried to intervene.
"Why do you wish to fight me?" Ryu asked him, puzzled.
Fists clenched at his side, Guile shook with rage. "Do you have any idea how much you've hurt her? Do you have any fucking idea at all? How could you be so cruel?!"
A pang of guilt cut through Ryu. "It cannot be helped. It is in the interest of her safety that I cannot be with her."
"That's a load of horseshit and you know it!" Guile accused. "You can't do it because you're a fucking coward! It has nothing to do with her safety. That's just an excuse you can hide behind to avoid what you're really afraid of!" Ken looked at his friend, to see his teeth clenched.
"I am not afraid of her!"
"No, you're just afraid of how she makes you feel. You don't have the courage to face the prospect of losing her so you toss her aside!" Ryu's fists slowly lowered to his sides. Guile's fury was mounting with every word he spoke. "She's never loved anyone like she loves you. Do you have any idea what that means? I'd give anything to have her look at me the way she looks at you, but I'm not the one capable of making her happy. Only you can do that, and I told you once before, if you hurt her, I'd kill you, and you did. So if you have no intention of doing the honorable thing, then I'll fucking kill you right here!"
The enormity of Guile's love for Chun Li touched Ryu. "You really do love her…"
For the first time, the anger drained from Guile's voice. "Yes, I do." His voice was tinged with sadness. "But she doesn't love me, not in the way that I want her to, and she never will, because that gift belongs to you and it pisses me off that you're ready to throw away something I've spent so many years longing for. But it doesn't matter whether she loves me or not. I want her to be happy, and if that means being with you then so be it. If you don't love her back, that can't be helped and I wouldn't blame you for what you did, but I know that you do care about her."
Ryu looked at the ground, feeling ashamed. Unable to meet Guile's gaze, he asked in a soft voice, "How can you tolerate it?"
"Tolerate what?"
He felt his breath catch in his chest. "With the fear that comes when you realize you can lose her forever? The pain that is caused when she is hurt?"
A rueful smile crept into Guile's lips. "Sometimes I think it is the most difficult thing anyone can do, to tolerate that pain in order to feel the joy that seeing the other person happy brings."
"I am a fighter by nature, and my greatest enemy now is this evil Hadou. My primary focus now must be to defeat it. I cannot change who I am for her," Ryu explained.
Guile walked to Ryu and put his hand on his shoulder. "Why do you fight? To prove to yourself that you're strong? You don't fear physical pain or even death, so becoming the strongest fighter in the world doesn't necessarily make you a strong person. Your greatest opponent isn't this Dark Hadou – it's your own fear of experiencing the pain you have now. Wandering the world looking for a fight may keep you safe from that, but if that's all that you are, then I'm very sorry for you, my friend. Overcoming weakness doesn't always necessarily involve your fists." Walking away, he added, "Don't throw this away, Ryu. Have the courage to tolerate a different kind of pain."
Tears welled up in Ryu's eyes. Sinking to his knees, he felt like he would choke on his own breath. "Kso!" he swore, slamming his fist into the ground.
"He's right, you know." Ken squatted down by his friend. "You've always been the better fighter…" Ryu looked up in shock at his admission. "…but that's because if being better than you came at the cost of not being able to be with Eliza, it didn't matter enough to me for me to give her up."
Groaning, Ryu put his head in his hands. "Guile is right. I am a coward. All these years thinking that I was doing what I could to overcome my weaknesses and all I actually did was avoid what made me afraid. I feel so ashamed."
Ken helped him to his feet. "Maybe that's the root of the satsui no hadou. Maybe that's the weakness that allows it to control you. But now that you know what the real problem is, maybe things will be different." Ryu nodded mutely. "So what will you do now?"
Setting his jaw, he replied, "I must be stronger than my fears. I cannot run any longer."
Clapping him on the back, Ken grinned, "Attaboy! Come on, I know a certain someone who's going to be real happy to see your ugly face." Even Ryu had to smile at that.
Upon reaching the dojo, both men were horrified to find that it had been razed to the ground. A badly battered Guile lay on the ground amongst the still smoldering rubble. Dropping to his side, Ryu shouted, "What happened?"
"That thing…" Guile said weakly. "He took…Chun Li…tried to stop him… he's too strong-" Unable to complete the sentence, he lost consciousness.
"Ken! Get him to safety, I must find her before Gouki does something terrible to her." He ran into the forest, praying he wasn't too late.
kang kenai des: it doesn't matter
urusai: shut up
kang kenai janeizo: it does matter
baga: stupid, idiot
kso: shit
