Chapter One: The Premonition
-Sora, Japan--four years after the Millenium Tournament...-
"Ah...finally."
The owner of a respectable-looking restaurant sat down at an empty table, having closed or the night. She was Chinese, very attractive with long crimson-streaked brown hair twisted into two braids and rolled into buns on wither side of her head and secured with ribbons. She was wearing a blue Mandarin-style dress with a rose imprint on the skirt.
Chun Li Xiang looked around her restaurant and sighed. It has been four years since the fiasco at the Millenium Contest in Osaka had taken place. The demonic Shotokan fighter Gouki Akuma was finally dead and Ryu had inherited the title of 'Supreme Master of Fists' from him. The 'Emperor of Muay Thai,' Victor Sagat, challenged Ryu to a final match and Ryu won, thus ending the rivalry between him and Sagat. The insane Shadowlaw warlord General Michael Bison was finally killed and the Southtown crimelord Geese Howard was crippled for life.
As for her and Ryu, they both returned to Sora, where Chun Li continued to run her restraurant and Ryu continued to train his children. For the first time, Chun Li felt at peace. Ever since coming to Japan over ten years ago, Chun Li round her little niche in life. She had a husband, a family and a successful business.
Her appearance, however, had hardly changed. Although she was thirty-three, she looked very much younger, mainly because she kept in trim fighting shape and her Dark Hadou slowed her aging somewhat, but you can see the wisdom and experience in her dark eyes.
She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the lone figure sitting at a table at the far end of the restaurant, their face hidden in shadow. Chun Li only noticed when she stood up and looked in their direction.
Fronwing to herself, the Chinese martial artist walked over to the table. "Hey, we're closed. Come back tomorrow."
The person then leaned forward so that their face could be seen. It was another woman. She had pale skin, lavender eyes and wild hair that Chun Li immediately recognized.
"Rose."
The fortuneteller smiled. "You rembered my name. It has been a long time, Chun Li."
Rose has hardly changed at all. The only thing that did change was her style of clothes. She was wearing a simple summer dress. Her trademark yellow scarf was draped across her shoulders.
"It has." The last time Chun Li had seen Rose was when she was under the influence of the Dark Hadou. That was when she had attacked Ryu. Chun Li took a seat across from Rose.
"Nice place you got here," Rose replied.
"Thanks. I decided that a change in occupation was in order, so I left Interpol and opened this restaurant up. So what brings you here?"
Rose leaned forward. "It's about your husband."
Chun Li blinked. "Ryu? What about him?"
The fortuneteller's eyes flashed. "Well, I'm talking about a secret, of course. One that Ryu himself doesn't know about will come to light in the following days. He will need your support more than ever."
"So what is it?"
Rose smiled. "I'll let you figure that out. You were quite the detective one time." She stood up. "I must be going."
***
-Shotokan School of Karate, Hoshi Family residence-
It was almost midnight when Chun Li had returned home. Ryu's home wasa modest-looking three-story cottage located at the outskirts of Sora. In front and to the side of the house was the huge dojo where Ryu trained. Looming over the grounds was the moutain fortress, Suzaku Castle.
Chun Li turned to the dojo. There was no one inside, so she walked across the courtyard and into the cottage. In the living room, were her and Ryu's two children. Hanzou and Mei were fast asleep. On the couch was Sakura Kasugano, Ryu's first student, now in her mid-twenties. She too, was asleep. On the television, one of Fei Long's movies was playing.
Chun Li smirked to herself. 'Funny how Fei gets better parts when he gets older,' she thought. Then while looking at her sleeping kids, a thought came to her head. 'Wait a minute...'
She stepped over sleeping children and walked up the stairs. Making her way down the hall, she saw a crack of light come in from the partially-closed door of the study.
'Looks like Ryu is working late...again,' Chun Li thought as she opened the door and stuck her head inside.
Seated at a Western-style desk (obviously a gift from Ken) was Ryu Hoshi. At the moment, he was brooding over some documents on Shotokan Karate. At thirty-five years of age, Ryu was the youngest grandmaster in the martial arts world.
Thirty-five was an age he his very well, seeing as how he looked the same as he did ten years ago before the Second Street Fighter Tournament, tanned, muscular and to most women, charming...to a degree. He was dressed down in a sinple black tanktop and his white gi pants. His dark brown hair was neatly combed back, giving Chun Li the impression that he has finished taking a shower.
Chun Li entered the room. "Hey there, tough guy."
Ryu looked up and smiled. "Hi. You just getting in?"
Chun Li nodded. "Today was busy as hell, but we made some good money. Might give all the workers a bonus on Friday. You?"
Ryu pointed to the side of his head. A bandage was on his temple. "I was triple-teamed in the dojo today."
"I see. So what happened?"
"I got blindsighted by Sakura's Hadouken. Oh well. You can learn from defeat--"
"--instead of gaining an empty victory, I know" Chun Li finished. She heard Ryu tell their children that during one of their training sessions. Her expression turned serious as she sat down in a chair in front of the desk. "Ryu...can I ask you a question?"
Ryu nodded. "Go ahead."
Chun Li bit her lip before asking her question. "Ryu...were you ever...intimate with another woman besides me?"
Ryu looked up. He wasn'e expecting THAT from Chun Li. After a long moment, he gave her his answer. "Yes."
Chun Li folded her arms across her chest. "Okay. Humor me."
Ryu clasped his hands together. "It was several months before the Second Street Fighter Tournament," he explained. "You and I were seperated at the time."
Chun Li cringed. She had forgotten the four years that they had been apart. She had broken up with him in order to focus all of her attention into tracking down Bison and to avenge her father's death. A bad move, in her opinion.
"You were working through the ranks of Interpol and I was at the tail end of my travels," Ryu explained. "I was in Hong Kong competing at a underground martial arts tournament when I was challenged to a rematch by Juli."
"Juli?" Chun Li repeated. "I've heard that name before. Wasn't she on Shadowlaw's side?"
Ryu nodded. "She was the commander of the Shadowlaw dolls, each one named after a month in the calendar in their native language. I first met her when I was travelling. Bison had originally ordered her to retrieve an assassin that went renegade, but was then ordered to bring me in.
"I defeated her and as a result, she was thrown out of Shadowlaw. I met up with her again at the Hong Kong tournament, where she challenged me to a rematch. We were evenly matched, but the Hong Kong police came busting in and I narrowly escaped."
"So what happened then?"
"All of the hotels in the city were booked because of a typhoon that has struck the island, so Fei allowed me to stay over at his flat while he was out of town. Juli found me there. One thing led to another and we ended up in bed together. I think we stayed that way for about two days until she left then following day." He looked at her. "Why you wanted to know about that?"
Chun Li searched for the words. "It's nothing. I had this strange feeling you were hiding something from me."
"Are you mad that I slept with another woman?" Ryu asked.
Chun Li grinned. "Only a little. But seeing as we were seperated at the time, I guess you're pretty much in the clear." She stood up, moved over to Ryu, and kissed him on the cheek. "Good night."
"'Night." Ryu watched as she left the study. 'What was that all about?' he wondered.
***
In the bedroom, Chun Li undid her hair and started to brush it out. 'That was it?' she thought. 'And I thought it was something serious. So Ryu had a one-night stand with Juli. Big deal. Oh, who am I kidding? I fucked up when I didn't tell him about my father's death.'
As she continued to undo her hair, she remembered something that she wanted to forget. She remembered when she had heard of her father's death while staying in Japan and without telling Ryu, she packed her things and headed for the airport. Ryu had found her and she had unintentionally broken up with him because she didn't tell him the truth...
-Flashback, fifteen years ago...-
[Note: In most fanfics, you read Ryu ditching Chun Li to pursue his training. I thought that I should reverse the roles.]
Tokyo Intenational Airport. In one of the airport terminals, Chun Li (age 18) sat in a chair, her belongings at her feet, packed in several suitcases.
"Attention," the attendant behind the register said though the intercom. "Delta Airlines flight 0625, nonstop from Tokyo to Hong Kong will be boarding momentarily."
Sighing to herself, She stood up and began to gather her things.
"Chun Li!"
Chun Li looked up. Ryu (age 20) was heading in her direction, followed by a short distance by his friend, Ken Masters.
Chun Li steeled herself to face Ryu. This was something she wanted to avoid. "Ryu, I--"
Ryu cut her off. "What? I come back to the dojo and Gouken told me you had packed you things and left. What happened?"
Chun Li searched for the words, but they were the wrong ones. "I have to return to Hong Kong. I'm sorry, Ryu. I'm leaving."
Ryu blinked. He was really angry. "You're sorry? You decide to ditch me and all you can say is that you're sorry? What about me? What about us? What about all the things we have been through, huh? What about that?"
Chun Li lowered her head. "I really am sorry," she whispered softly. "All I can say is that I'll miss you."
"This can't be happening," Ryu muttered in Japanese as he paced. Then he heard the attendant from the intercom.
"Attention. Flight 0625 fomn Tokyo to Hong Kong is now boarding."
Ryu looked at the attendant, then at Chun Li. He then turned and started to walk away.
Chun Li grabbed his shoulder. "Ryu--"
He pulled away as is her touch burned him. "You have a plane to catch," he stated cooly, the anger still present in his voice. With an angry stare, he said, "Have a nice flight, Miss Xiang." Again he turned and walked off.
"Ryu!" Chun Li yelled. "Ryu, wait!"
But it was too late. He was gone. She turned and picked up her luggage, the tears rolling down her face. When she boarded the plane and stored her bags away, she burst into tears, crying softly to herself.
"I'm sorry, Ryu...I'm so sorry..."
-End Flashback-
Even after fifteen years, the memory still made her feel uneasy around Ryu, mainly because she had ditched him to join up with Interpol after Dourai's murder. Even after all this time, Ryu had forgiven her for what she did after finding it out from Master Gen while travelling, but it still hurts. Ryu held no ill will to her, but she hadn't apologized for what she did.
'Maybe later on this week,' she thought. 'I'll pull him to the side and apologize to him. He deserves that much.'
-Sora, Japan--four years after the Millenium Tournament...-
"Ah...finally."
The owner of a respectable-looking restaurant sat down at an empty table, having closed or the night. She was Chinese, very attractive with long crimson-streaked brown hair twisted into two braids and rolled into buns on wither side of her head and secured with ribbons. She was wearing a blue Mandarin-style dress with a rose imprint on the skirt.
Chun Li Xiang looked around her restaurant and sighed. It has been four years since the fiasco at the Millenium Contest in Osaka had taken place. The demonic Shotokan fighter Gouki Akuma was finally dead and Ryu had inherited the title of 'Supreme Master of Fists' from him. The 'Emperor of Muay Thai,' Victor Sagat, challenged Ryu to a final match and Ryu won, thus ending the rivalry between him and Sagat. The insane Shadowlaw warlord General Michael Bison was finally killed and the Southtown crimelord Geese Howard was crippled for life.
As for her and Ryu, they both returned to Sora, where Chun Li continued to run her restraurant and Ryu continued to train his children. For the first time, Chun Li felt at peace. Ever since coming to Japan over ten years ago, Chun Li round her little niche in life. She had a husband, a family and a successful business.
Her appearance, however, had hardly changed. Although she was thirty-three, she looked very much younger, mainly because she kept in trim fighting shape and her Dark Hadou slowed her aging somewhat, but you can see the wisdom and experience in her dark eyes.
She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the lone figure sitting at a table at the far end of the restaurant, their face hidden in shadow. Chun Li only noticed when she stood up and looked in their direction.
Fronwing to herself, the Chinese martial artist walked over to the table. "Hey, we're closed. Come back tomorrow."
The person then leaned forward so that their face could be seen. It was another woman. She had pale skin, lavender eyes and wild hair that Chun Li immediately recognized.
"Rose."
The fortuneteller smiled. "You rembered my name. It has been a long time, Chun Li."
Rose has hardly changed at all. The only thing that did change was her style of clothes. She was wearing a simple summer dress. Her trademark yellow scarf was draped across her shoulders.
"It has." The last time Chun Li had seen Rose was when she was under the influence of the Dark Hadou. That was when she had attacked Ryu. Chun Li took a seat across from Rose.
"Nice place you got here," Rose replied.
"Thanks. I decided that a change in occupation was in order, so I left Interpol and opened this restaurant up. So what brings you here?"
Rose leaned forward. "It's about your husband."
Chun Li blinked. "Ryu? What about him?"
The fortuneteller's eyes flashed. "Well, I'm talking about a secret, of course. One that Ryu himself doesn't know about will come to light in the following days. He will need your support more than ever."
"So what is it?"
Rose smiled. "I'll let you figure that out. You were quite the detective one time." She stood up. "I must be going."
***
-Shotokan School of Karate, Hoshi Family residence-
It was almost midnight when Chun Li had returned home. Ryu's home wasa modest-looking three-story cottage located at the outskirts of Sora. In front and to the side of the house was the huge dojo where Ryu trained. Looming over the grounds was the moutain fortress, Suzaku Castle.
Chun Li turned to the dojo. There was no one inside, so she walked across the courtyard and into the cottage. In the living room, were her and Ryu's two children. Hanzou and Mei were fast asleep. On the couch was Sakura Kasugano, Ryu's first student, now in her mid-twenties. She too, was asleep. On the television, one of Fei Long's movies was playing.
Chun Li smirked to herself. 'Funny how Fei gets better parts when he gets older,' she thought. Then while looking at her sleeping kids, a thought came to her head. 'Wait a minute...'
She stepped over sleeping children and walked up the stairs. Making her way down the hall, she saw a crack of light come in from the partially-closed door of the study.
'Looks like Ryu is working late...again,' Chun Li thought as she opened the door and stuck her head inside.
Seated at a Western-style desk (obviously a gift from Ken) was Ryu Hoshi. At the moment, he was brooding over some documents on Shotokan Karate. At thirty-five years of age, Ryu was the youngest grandmaster in the martial arts world.
Thirty-five was an age he his very well, seeing as how he looked the same as he did ten years ago before the Second Street Fighter Tournament, tanned, muscular and to most women, charming...to a degree. He was dressed down in a sinple black tanktop and his white gi pants. His dark brown hair was neatly combed back, giving Chun Li the impression that he has finished taking a shower.
Chun Li entered the room. "Hey there, tough guy."
Ryu looked up and smiled. "Hi. You just getting in?"
Chun Li nodded. "Today was busy as hell, but we made some good money. Might give all the workers a bonus on Friday. You?"
Ryu pointed to the side of his head. A bandage was on his temple. "I was triple-teamed in the dojo today."
"I see. So what happened?"
"I got blindsighted by Sakura's Hadouken. Oh well. You can learn from defeat--"
"--instead of gaining an empty victory, I know" Chun Li finished. She heard Ryu tell their children that during one of their training sessions. Her expression turned serious as she sat down in a chair in front of the desk. "Ryu...can I ask you a question?"
Ryu nodded. "Go ahead."
Chun Li bit her lip before asking her question. "Ryu...were you ever...intimate with another woman besides me?"
Ryu looked up. He wasn'e expecting THAT from Chun Li. After a long moment, he gave her his answer. "Yes."
Chun Li folded her arms across her chest. "Okay. Humor me."
Ryu clasped his hands together. "It was several months before the Second Street Fighter Tournament," he explained. "You and I were seperated at the time."
Chun Li cringed. She had forgotten the four years that they had been apart. She had broken up with him in order to focus all of her attention into tracking down Bison and to avenge her father's death. A bad move, in her opinion.
"You were working through the ranks of Interpol and I was at the tail end of my travels," Ryu explained. "I was in Hong Kong competing at a underground martial arts tournament when I was challenged to a rematch by Juli."
"Juli?" Chun Li repeated. "I've heard that name before. Wasn't she on Shadowlaw's side?"
Ryu nodded. "She was the commander of the Shadowlaw dolls, each one named after a month in the calendar in their native language. I first met her when I was travelling. Bison had originally ordered her to retrieve an assassin that went renegade, but was then ordered to bring me in.
"I defeated her and as a result, she was thrown out of Shadowlaw. I met up with her again at the Hong Kong tournament, where she challenged me to a rematch. We were evenly matched, but the Hong Kong police came busting in and I narrowly escaped."
"So what happened then?"
"All of the hotels in the city were booked because of a typhoon that has struck the island, so Fei allowed me to stay over at his flat while he was out of town. Juli found me there. One thing led to another and we ended up in bed together. I think we stayed that way for about two days until she left then following day." He looked at her. "Why you wanted to know about that?"
Chun Li searched for the words. "It's nothing. I had this strange feeling you were hiding something from me."
"Are you mad that I slept with another woman?" Ryu asked.
Chun Li grinned. "Only a little. But seeing as we were seperated at the time, I guess you're pretty much in the clear." She stood up, moved over to Ryu, and kissed him on the cheek. "Good night."
"'Night." Ryu watched as she left the study. 'What was that all about?' he wondered.
***
In the bedroom, Chun Li undid her hair and started to brush it out. 'That was it?' she thought. 'And I thought it was something serious. So Ryu had a one-night stand with Juli. Big deal. Oh, who am I kidding? I fucked up when I didn't tell him about my father's death.'
As she continued to undo her hair, she remembered something that she wanted to forget. She remembered when she had heard of her father's death while staying in Japan and without telling Ryu, she packed her things and headed for the airport. Ryu had found her and she had unintentionally broken up with him because she didn't tell him the truth...
-Flashback, fifteen years ago...-
[Note: In most fanfics, you read Ryu ditching Chun Li to pursue his training. I thought that I should reverse the roles.]
Tokyo Intenational Airport. In one of the airport terminals, Chun Li (age 18) sat in a chair, her belongings at her feet, packed in several suitcases.
"Attention," the attendant behind the register said though the intercom. "Delta Airlines flight 0625, nonstop from Tokyo to Hong Kong will be boarding momentarily."
Sighing to herself, She stood up and began to gather her things.
"Chun Li!"
Chun Li looked up. Ryu (age 20) was heading in her direction, followed by a short distance by his friend, Ken Masters.
Chun Li steeled herself to face Ryu. This was something she wanted to avoid. "Ryu, I--"
Ryu cut her off. "What? I come back to the dojo and Gouken told me you had packed you things and left. What happened?"
Chun Li searched for the words, but they were the wrong ones. "I have to return to Hong Kong. I'm sorry, Ryu. I'm leaving."
Ryu blinked. He was really angry. "You're sorry? You decide to ditch me and all you can say is that you're sorry? What about me? What about us? What about all the things we have been through, huh? What about that?"
Chun Li lowered her head. "I really am sorry," she whispered softly. "All I can say is that I'll miss you."
"This can't be happening," Ryu muttered in Japanese as he paced. Then he heard the attendant from the intercom.
"Attention. Flight 0625 fomn Tokyo to Hong Kong is now boarding."
Ryu looked at the attendant, then at Chun Li. He then turned and started to walk away.
Chun Li grabbed his shoulder. "Ryu--"
He pulled away as is her touch burned him. "You have a plane to catch," he stated cooly, the anger still present in his voice. With an angry stare, he said, "Have a nice flight, Miss Xiang." Again he turned and walked off.
"Ryu!" Chun Li yelled. "Ryu, wait!"
But it was too late. He was gone. She turned and picked up her luggage, the tears rolling down her face. When she boarded the plane and stored her bags away, she burst into tears, crying softly to herself.
"I'm sorry, Ryu...I'm so sorry..."
-End Flashback-
Even after fifteen years, the memory still made her feel uneasy around Ryu, mainly because she had ditched him to join up with Interpol after Dourai's murder. Even after all this time, Ryu had forgiven her for what she did after finding it out from Master Gen while travelling, but it still hurts. Ryu held no ill will to her, but she hadn't apologized for what she did.
'Maybe later on this week,' she thought. 'I'll pull him to the side and apologize to him. He deserves that much.'