Chapter 3:
Ryu and Ken finally arrived in New York. They travel all night to make it back. Ryu was extremely anxious to meet with Chun Li. The two fighters were at the Master's hotel waiting for her to show up. Chun Li had taken a personal day from work. She hailed a cab from her apartment to Ken's hotel. Her heart was pounding thinking about a forgotten past, was I in love with Ryu at some point in time? To Chun Li, the cab ride was agonizing, she felt like the traffic was extra heavy and every red light was caught. Finally arriving at the hotel, a staff member escorted Chun Li up the Ken's penthouse at the very top of the building. Ken was waiting for her at the door, "Hi Chun Li. Come in."
"It's good to see you again." Chun Li said. He heart raced as she walked in and saw Ryu. They stared at each other for a minute not knowing what to say.
"Um, hello, Chun Li," Ryu said. Ryu's heart skipped a beat. She looked beautiful in her lavender floral summer dress. Her hair was down with one side tucked behind her ears. Her long and thick legs looked extremely sexy in Ryu's eyes. He was enamored by her beauty. He had forgotten how attractive she was.
"Ryu, nice to see you again." She noticed the way Ryu's shirt accentuated his big and strong arms. Looking upon him was like looking at a walking mountain of muscle. For the times she had seen him before, he was seen as a mere friend, but something about meeting him this time was familiar.
"Come guys, let's head to my office where we won't be disturbed," Ken lead the way. He shut the doors behind them. Chun Li and Ryu took a seat on a lavish couch and Ken sat across from them. "So, let's get down to business and go over this again. Chun Li, what are these visions you are having?"
"Well, I have forgotten having a friendship with Cammy. Do either of you remember her and me being close?" Chun li asked.
"I only remember you two working on cases together briefly before she was taken by Bison. I have no recollection of you two ever really having a close friendship," Ken said. Ryu shook his head no.
"She told me things, personal things that she would have no way of knowing. I never told anyone this, but before my father died, he hid a letter for me to find. I never told anyone the location of where I found it, but she knew. Deep down in my heart, I knew she was telling the truth, then memories of our friendship started coming back."
Ryu pulled out his little black notebook, "Look at this, Chun Li. Do you recall giving this to me?" Chun Li reached for the book and her fingers touched Ryu's. A vision came into her head, she remembered writing the Shakespearean quote in the little book. She gasped.
"I just remembered. I gave this to you at the airport. But why?" Chun Li tried hard to remember anything else. She put her hands on her head.
"I remember it too. But why would you write this quote for me?" Ryu asked.
"It's my favorite quote," she paused and looked Ryu in the eyes, "Cammy said we were in a relationship, but I have no memory of it."
"I for sure would have remembered something like that. Are you sure she isn't trying to dupe you?"
"Perhaps, she counted on a meeting between us after the conversation she and I had. But why lie about a relationship? It doesn't make sense?" Chun Li said.
"Ryu, you said you feel like your mind gets hazy sometimes?" Ken asked.
"Yes, like things are at the tip of my tongue but they won't come out when I try and think about the past.
"I feel like that too, Ryu," Chun Li put her hand on Ryu's. "Don't you feel like something deep down inside is trying to come out? Something forgotten? These past four years since the raid at Lab Corp have felt different than the rest of my life. I don't know why, but I think something happened to all of us four years ago. That's when my dreams started."
"Dreams? I have the same recurring dream. In it, I'm badly wounded and I'm calling out for help but no one comes…except a figure. The figure never gets to me in time and I wake up sweating and breathing hard."
"Wait a minute," Chun Look looked shaken, "my reoccurring dream is I hear someone calling for help but when I get near, I never see a face. Only something evil, a presence of some sort, with an intent to kill."
Ken looked across at the two in awe. "It sounds like you both are having the same dream but from different perspectives." Chun Li put her hands over her mouth.
"How can this be? How can we possibly have the same recurring dream?" Chun Li asked.
"Chun Li…to answer your question from before. I have felt something missing in my life, a great loss and a sadness, but I never understood why. I always chalked it to our Sensei's murder, but maybe there was something between us. Why would I have a memory of you giving me a love quote. Kiss me."
Chun Li and Ken looked at Ryu shocked. "What?" she said.
Ryu looked very serious, he reached for her hands and put them on his chest. "Since you got here, I've felt an ease on my mind, like the sun shining through on a cloudy day. Kiss me, maybe it will jog more memories, something to rid of the clouds in my mind."
"I'll give you two some privacy," Ken got up and left the room.
"Ryu! I'm not the type to just kiss someone just because. I feel such a strong and emotional gravitational pull toward you. I'm scared. Just two days ago, we were practically strangers with a small past of seeing one another once in a blue moon." Chun Li's eyes began to well with tears. With a cry in her voice she said, "now we are faced with a whole life we don't remember having except tiny pieces we still can't string together." Chun Li got off the couch and walked to the window overlooking the city. Ryu watched her walk away. A vision of her standing at a window in her apartment came into his mind.
"Chun Li, I may have just remembered something else. You have a garden at your apartment, don't you?" Ryu walked toward her.
"How would you know that?" Tears fell from her eyes. Ryu put his strong arms around Chun Li, hugging her. She felt a familiar feeling of being safe, warm, and comforted. The smell of Chun Li's hair was reminiscent of something he used to know. Neither wanted to let go of the other. Ryu looked down at Chun Li and she looked up at him. Their faces slowly came closer, Chun Li closed her eyes and hesitated a moment. Ryu put his hands on her face and slowly kissed her soft lips. Feelings of a lost love flowed into their minds, a powerful and strong love. Chun Li kissed Ryu back, more intense. They were locked in a trance, passionately kissing one another. She pulled back.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what's come over me," Chun Li stepped away from Ryu.
"You felt it, didn't you?" Ryu sternly asked.
"Felt what?"
"That power, the emotion…" he grabbed her hand. "Chun Li, I think Cammy is right. I think we used to be in love."
"But how? I've done nothing but work and work, tirelessly trying to bring down Bison and his criminal organization. And you, you travel constantly, no one ever knows where you are. When did we ever have a chance to have a relationship?"
"There must have been some period when we made the time for each other. I can feel it in my bones, my soul. We have the same dream for crying out loud! All the signs are there."
"I want to get to the bottom of this. I want to know for damn sure we have a history together. Who would have the power to make us all forget? Bison? Dhalsim? Interpol? I hate this. This is too much for me. I need to leave." Chun Li began to walk out of the room.
"Chun Li, wait, we need to…" Ryu tried stopping her.
"Please, I need my space." She ran out of the room and left the penthouse.
Ken heard the commotion and quickly came to the foyer to see Chun Li leaving. "Hey, Chun…" he began.
"Let her go," Ryu said.
"What happened? Why did she storm out of here, what did you say?"
"I kissed her," Ryu began to explain.
"So, what's wrong with that?" Ken asked confused.
"I think…I'm in love with Chun Li. I think Cammy is right. The more I think of it, the more I am sure, something happened to alter our memories." Ryu searched his thoughts, trying to get something else to jog his memory.
"Who would have that power?" Ken wondered.
"My bag, where is it?" Ryu asked.
"The butler put it in your room, why?"
"Come with me, I want to see something," Ryu and Ken went to his room and he emptied the contents of his travel bag. He pulled out a picture of himself at Victoria Peak in Hong Kong. "Look at this photo, what do you see?"
"It's just you in Hong Kong. Probably one of our visits when we were younger." Ken said.
"I just remembered, I went here with Chun Li the day she disappeared. I blamed myself for her disappearance. We helped her father get her back." Ryu explained.
Ken's memory of going with Ryu to find Chun Li came back to him. "I remember. I remember we broke into that thug's apartment and he told us where to find her!"
The two fighters looked at the picture again, and to their surprise, the photo had changed. Chun Li and Ryu were both in the photo. Ken and Ryu both gasped.
"How did that picture change?" Ken was flabbergasted.
"I don't know, but I feel less and less clouded in my head the more I can remember. Who did this to us?" Ryu was angry. He wanted to know why he would have forgotten Chun Li, the love of his life. "I've got to see Chun Li again."
"We'll find her. She probably went back to her apartment across town." Ken suggested.
"I have to talk to her. Show her this photo." Ryu was more sure than ever he loved Chun Li.
Later that night, Chun Li was sitting in her apartment crying. Why am I such a mess? What if this is all a lie, some sick and cruel joke by Shadowlaw? I can't have my heart broken. She heard a knock on the door. Who could it be at this hour? She opened the door to see Ryu standing there looking so handsome and tall.
"Ryu? What are you doing here?"
"I had to see you again! I have to show you something." Ryu pulled out the photo of them at Victoria Peak and put it near her face, "Look at this!" She reached for the photo and stared at it.
"This picture. I have no memory taking this," she said.
"I do. We had spent the day together. You showed me around Hong Kong. Thank hard, Chun Li. Look at the photo again." Ryu implored her.
"I can't. I can't remember!" Her head hung low and she put her hand over her eyes and forehead.
"Damn it, Chun Li. What are you so afraid of?" Ryu snapped, he didn't understand why Chun Li wasn't trying hard to remember things like he was. "Kiss me again, you'll feel the love that I do."
"I can't! No, I just can't!" she began to cry. She fell to the ground. Ryu realized he was being too harsh with her.
"I'm…I'm sorry," he said and sat on the floor next to her.
"I'm so frightened. I'm frightened to love you again. What if the person who did this to us finds out and makes us forget again?"
"Never. I swear to you, I'll never forget again."
"How can you promise that when it has already happened?"
"Trust me," Ryu reached to Chun Li's chin and lifted her face. He leaned in and kissed her. "I may not remember everything or how we fell in love, but I know for sure I love you. I have never loved anything so much or so hard."
Chun Li realized she was helpless in the arms of Ryu. She felt the powerful love and didn't want to turn back. "I too remember our love." She hugged him. "Take me to the bedroom."
Ryu lifted Chun Li up and carried her to the bedroom. He laid her down and they began to kiss. They made love. A powerful and intense love remembered and felt again.
To be continued…