Chapter 2:

Ryu sat atop a hill in his native homeland of Japan. It was the anniversary of his sensei's death and he wanted to pay his respects. He walked down to the gravestone, bowed, and reminisced about his youth. I'm sorry, Sensei. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you…but I swear, one day I will avenge your death against that devil Akuma. He closed his eyes and took in all the sounds and scents around him, an image came into his mind, a dream he had. In the dream, he was calling for help, he was badly wounded. Someone heard and tried to come to his aid but they could never make it. Ryu heard a noise behind him, his senses tingled, he turned around quickly to catch a fist. "Ken?"

"Good to see your senses are still heightened," Ken said with a smile.

"It's good to see you," Ryu replied.

"I knew I'd find you here today,"

"I never miss it. I'm surprised to see you here. Don't you have a company to run?"

"Something called me back here this year," Ken began to explain, "And it's been a while since I've seen you."

"I've been training for a new tournament. It will be in Thailand this year."

"So I've heard…Let me pay my respects to Sensei and how about you and I find someplace to eat. It's on me."

Ryu was never one to turn down food, especially when it was free, "You bet!" Ken stood by the grave and said a mantra, once he was done, he and Ryu left for the city. They went to a restaurant and were given a table overlooking the ocean. They ordered drinks and food.

"So, where have you been lately?" Ken asked.

"I've mostly stayed in the region the past year. I've found places overlooking the ocean is where I feel best." Ryu replied.

"Unusual for you. If I recall correctly, you could train and meditate almost anywhere."

"Near the ocean is where my mind feels the clearest. I don't know why but my mind gets cloudy from time to time. I feel like something is missing in my life," Ryu then knocked over his travel bag moving his leg, "Whoops!" A little black notebook fell out and Ken reached to pick it up.

"Hey, what's this? Keeping a log of all your travels?" he opened the notebook to the first page and read the line aloud, "The course of true love never did run smooth." Ken looked up at Ryu, "Got a secret lover I don't know about?"

Ryu chuckled, "funny story with this little book. I found it in the bottom of my bag one day about four years ago. I don't know why I've kept it, but I feel some kind of an attachment to that line."

"Don't you know where it came from? Or who wrote it?" Ken asked.

"Nope."

"That seems a bit off. It's a female's handwriting, for sure." Ken inspected the writing again, "it looks familiar. Give me a sec," he pulled out his phone and went through it. He pulled up a document from his dealings with Interpol. "Look here"

Ryu reached for Ken's phone. He inspected the document and saw the writing was the same of that in his notebook, "Whose writing is that? Someone you know?"

"Actually yes, we both know her. That's Chun Li's handwriting."

"Chun Li? Are you sure?" Ryu gave Ken his phone back and he reached for his notebook. As he touched the notebook, a memory came into his mind, he was standing with Chun Li at an airport and she handed him the notebook, Ken was in the background.

"Ryu! Are you alright? You look pale" Ken flagged the waiter to bring water for Ryu.

"Ken, do you remember Chun Li giving me this book?"

Ken look visibly confused, "You think Chun Li gave you this? You know, I always thought you and would make a nice couple," Ken continued to speak but Ryu cut him off.

"Stop. I can't explain what I'm feeling right now but I have a memory of Chun Li handing this book to me, it just popped into my mind. But the funny thing is, I don't remember her giving this to me."

"Are you ok? Has all your training made your mind turn to Jello?" Ken could see Ryu was very serious and that he seemed agitated. "Sorry for the joke. OK, so explain to me how you have a memory but don't remember it happening?"

"I know it doesn't make much sense but remember how I told you my mind gets foggy once in a while? The airport in my recollection was JKF. I haven't been to JKF in four years." Ryu tried to make sense of his memory.

"I remember dropping you off, it was after we helped Interpol take down Lab Corp, but Chun Li wasn't with us."

"Maybe I've been training too hard. I need to rest." Still, Ryu couldn't shake the feeling something was missing. The waiter came to the table to serve their food, Ryu gobbled it down as if he hadn't eaten in days.

"You always could eat," Ken smiled and enjoyed his meal with his best friend. He thought about Ryu's face looking pale when he touched the notebook, what was up with that, he thought. After dinner, the two fighters went back to Ken's hotel. As Ryu slept that night, he had his reoccurring dream. He calls out for help but no one can get to him except the one figure that gets close to him but he never sees the face. Still in his sleep, Ryu kept calling for help. Ken rushed in the room and turned on the light. He shook Ryu, "Hey Ryu, wake up! Wake up!" He opened his eyes and saw Ken looking over him. "Hey man, you must have been having one hell of a dream."

"It's the same dream, the reoccurring one. I don't know why but tonight it was so intense. I could feel the pain in my body more excruciating." Ryu wiped sweat from his forehead. "I'm alright now, thank you for waking me. I'll catch you in the morning."

"Goodnight," Ken left the room.

What's going on with me? I've felt so off the past few days. Maybe it was visiting Sensei's grave, something got to me, Ryu thought.

In Ken's room, he received a call. Who could be calling at this time? Ken wondered. He answered his cell phone, "Hello?"

"Hello? Ken?" a voice said over the phone. Ken immediately recognized the voice.

"Chun Li, how are you?" he asked.

"I'm sorry to call you at this time, I hope I'm not disturbing you. I know it's been a while since we spoke, but I have an important question to ask you."

"Sure, anything for a friend. Ask away" he said.

"Do you know who my best friend is or was in the past?"

Ken was puzzled by the question, he didn't understand what she was trying to get at, "Your best friend? What kind of question is that?"

"Just please answer," she urged.

"Well, when we were kids, you, Ryu, and me got on pretty well. We had great times in Hong Kong and in New York in recent years. Where's all this coming from?"

"Do you remember Cammy White?"

"Sure, wasn't she taken into custody? They finally caught that criminal."

"Do you remember her being my friend?"

"Not too much. I know you two had worked together a few times before she joined with Bison, but I thought it was because of work. Chun Li, these questions, where are they coming from," Ken wanted to make sense of her questions.

"Look, I know this is going to sound weird, but Cammy used to be my best friend. We have more history than I remember. They brought her here to my headquarters for questioning after she was apprehended by the authorities down in the capitol." Chun Li explained.

"Best friends? What in the world are you talking about?"

"After she showed up, she claimed to have been my best friend after I moved to New York. I didn't believe her, of course, and I thought she must have been trying to falsify her story of why she killed the prime minister but I began to remember things I didn't know I knew. Lost memories, if you will."

"Lost memories? Tell me more, I have something to tell you too." Ken's attention was caught when Chun Li said lost memories. Ryu said earlier tonight he felt he remembered something that he didn't recall happening.

"Cammy told me personal things, things that only I know. She also claimed that Ryu and I were in a relationship!"

"What did you say? A relationship? Ok, Chun Li, all this may not be as crazy as you think. You're not going to believe this, but I'm actually in Japan right now with Ryu. You were actually brought up tonight at dinner. Do you remember giving Ryu a black notebook with something written inside?"

Now it was Chun Li who was surprised. "No, I don't recall that. Why?"

"At dinner earlier, Ryu claimed he recalled a memory he didn't remember having. He said you gave him the notebook when he left JKF airport four years ago."

"Did you say four years ago? Ken, please tell me you are not joking with me. Earlier today, I recalled a memory, something that happened at the Lab Corp raid but I had forgotten about it."

"This is all too weird. How are you and Ryu remembering things? And on the same day…Something is going on."

"Something is weird. I feel like I have a fog over my mind, clouding my memories. And the crazier part is that I can tell Cammy isn't lying, something deep down inside me knows what she is saying is true," Chun Li said with emotion in her voice. "What is going on?"

"We have to get together as soon as possible. We all need to discuss this further." Ken suggested. "So you don't remember giving Ryu the little notebook at all? He swears by the memory."

"No, nothing," she answered.

"In this little notebook Ryu has, the first page reads: the course of true love never did run smooth."

Chun Li's heart dropped. She knew that quote all too well. "A Midsummer Night's Dream…my favorite Shakespearean play."

"I'm beginning to think Cammy might be on to something," Ken was puzzled. "But how would she remember these things that no one else does?"

I don't know, Ken. When Cammy was taken during the Lab Corp raid, she was put under Bison's psycho power." Chun Li explained.

"That might have something to do with it. Or maybe Bison is giving her those memories to gather intel at Interpol?"

Chun Li shook her head, "It can't be. How are both Ryu and I recalling memories if we weren't under his power?"

"I'm going to make arrangements to come to New York immediately. I'll wake up Ryu and brief him about our conversation. We should discuss this more in person."

"Yes, I agree. But I'll need your help getting Cammy out of the authority's hands."

"Don't worry. I'll see what I can do. I'll call you when we're in New York."

"Right." Chun Li replied. They both hung up their phones and thought about the crazy conversation they just had. Chun Li sat in her apartment, she felt scared. Me in a relationship with Ryu? Why would we all forget a something like that? And the notebook Ryu has? Why does it have my favorite quote? What would have the power to make us all forget? None of this makes sense!

Ken went into Ryu's room and woke him up. He explained everything to him, the conversation with Chun Li.

"None of this makes sense!" Ryu said.

"I think the best thing for us is to go to New York and figure out what's going on. Figure out why both you and Chun Li are recalling memories none of us remember." Ken said.

"You're right. Let's go." On the way to the airport, Ryu thought about what Ken had told him. How could I have been in a relationship with Chun Li? I've traveled all my adult life, I've never had time for a relationship, let alone even a date with a woman. But why do I remember her giving me the notebook all of a sudden? How did I not recollect it before?

Ken could see Ryu in mental distress. He wanted to help him. Don't worry, buddy, we'll get to the bottom of this.

To be continued…