Disclaimer: I don't own it, nope not me!

Author's Note: I'M ALIVE! Sorry it's been so long, read review and most of all, ENJOY!

Chapter Nine:

Come On In

Morning came quickly as Cammy prepared for her battle that afternoon. She scurried about in a hurry and then rushed off to the arena to practice with Ken.

Chun-Li sighed heavily as she forced herself out of her bed. "I don't want to go to the match. I don't even want to be here." She mumbled as she took a pair of shorts and a t-shirt out of her closet.

She took a quick shower then cleaned up the room a little bit. Her mind was reeling with thought about her friends, her job, and Bison.

A sudden knock on the door brought her back to reality. "Coming!" She called then answered.

"Hey," Guile's sweet voice filled the air and rang in her ears like a song.

"Hey." She replied as he kissed her on the cheek. "What are you doing here?"

"I was wondering if you would like to accompany me to the matches today."

Hesitantly, Chun-Li kicked at a rock with her tennis shoe. "Sorry, but I'm not going to the matches."

"Well, I can hang out here if you want." He replied with one of his award winning smiles.

"That's ok, I feel like being alone." She half lied.

Guile looked at her quizzically. "Well, alright then. But I will come by later to talk to you."

Chun-Li sighed as she watched Guile leave. She was about to return to her room when she felt a pair of eyes watching her thought there was no one to be found.

A shiver was sent down her spine and she got this sudden longing to be held by Ryu. "Calm down Chun, you're used to this stuff." She ordered herself.

Laughter was heard from a distance away and Chun-Li felt strangely alone. "I am not afraid."

"Afraid of what?" Ryu questioned as he walked up behind her.

Twirling around, Chun-Li's chestnut brown hair fell freely around the curves of her face. "I felt like there was someone or something watching me…it was starting to freak me out."

Ryu cocked an eyebrow and studied her casual look. "Aren't you going to the matches today?"

"No, Cammy'll do fine as long as Ken is there to watch her."

Giving a soft chuckle, Ryu studied Chun-Li's emotionless eyes. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine, don't worry."

"Can I help you in any way?"

Before Chun-Li could reply, a roar of cheers sounded from the arena and they both knew that the matches were underway.

"Chun, I would love to say that I know how you work, what goes on in your mind and I can't because you won't let me know. When are you going to let me inside of you? To see what makes your world go 'round?"

"I don't know Ryu, maybe no one is meant to understand me."

Ryu calmly took one of her hands and gently caressed it. "Then how do you expect to have friends? How do you expect to have love?"

Tears stung Chun-Li's eyes but she refused to let them fall as she turned away from him and said the hardest words she ever spoke. "I didn't come here for friends…I didn't want love. I don't want anything from anybody."

Looking a little awkward, Ryu turned Chun-Li back to him and lifted her face up with his fingers then rubbed her shoulder with his free hand. "If you really mean what you say, then tell me that you do no love me."

Now the tears escaped Chun-Li's eyes as she averted them from him and began to tremble. She couldn't find the words to say or the voice to speak.

Realizing that she wasn't going to say anything, Ryu pulled her into his arms and held her tight, nuzzling his head in her hair and neck. "I love you." He mumbled in her ear.

The love and comfort of Ryu's arms made Chun-Le never want to pull away. But she did and she leveled her eyes steadily on his. "Stop Ryu, please just stop."

"What's the matter?"

"You're messing everything up. Everything was fine until I met you."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't see you anymore Ryu…I don't want to see you anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't love you." She said at last and backed away from him, tears still flowing down her cheeks. "Please just go away and leave me alone."

Ryu blinked and when he reopened his eyes, she was gone. His heart knew that she had just lied to him but the hurt from the words still cut rather deeply. "You'll be back." He said then calmly walked away.

"I can't believe I won!" Cammy was exclaiming to Ken as they walked back towards the dorms.

"What do you say we celebrate with Chun and Ryu? I'm sure they'll love to go out somewhere with us."

Cammy smiled and took a sip of her water. "Always thinking about everybody else aren't you?"

"What else do you have in mind?"

"This for starters," she began as she kissed him very sweetly and lovingly, "and there's a whole lot more."

Ken cocked an eyebrow and grinned slyly. "Let me tell Ryu that I'll be late getting back home."

"Alright."

The strolled to the room hand in hand and were surprised to find that the door was slightly ajar.

"Ryu?" Ken called as he opened the door and stepped inside with Cammy behind him.

To their surprise, a person jumped out of the shadows, slammed the door shut, and attacked them.

Taking Cammy first, the masked person tackled her, sending her sprawling to the ground. He then hit her once and was tackled by Ken.

The fight was on but Ken soon grew tired and weak and the masked man pinned him to the floor. "Tell that friend of yours that he had better stay away from Chun-Li or he's not going to be seeing the light of day ever again." He said then punched him, leaving them both out cold.

Chun-Li perched herself on a tree limb and closed her eyes. What she had said to Ryu was just now beginning to sink in. She told him that she wanted neither friends nor love and that, of course, was a complete and total lie. The truth of the matter was that she needed their friendship as well as his love. What she didn't want was to be sidetracked while she searched for Bison.

A crunching of a twig brought Chun-Li back to her dreaded reality but was surprised to see Guile's spiked blonde hair and camouflage pants beneath her. "Guile."

Looking up, Guile smiled. "There you are, I've been looking EVERYWHERE for you."

Jumping from the tree, Chun-Li landed in Guiles arms and her hair fell over his arm. "I've been right there in that tree. How'd the matches go?"

"They went well, Cammy won hers over someone that I had never see before." He replied then twirled her around.

Setting her feet back on solid ground, Chun-Li searched his eyes. "Guile, why do you love me?"

Guile looked at her oddly. "What, is this a trick question?"
"No, I'm being serious…can't you answer me?"

"It's not that I can't answer you, I've just never really thought about it. You know when your eyes first fall upon someone and your heart can't slow down, when your world begins to evolve around that one person? A person that you would five up your own life for…that's how I feel about you."

Chun-Li looked down. He felt the same way about her that she felt about Ryu. "Really?"

"I would never lie to you."

"Can you hug me?"

"Of course." Guile eased his arms around her waist.

The first thing that Chun-Li noticed was that his embrace didn't make her feel the same way that Ryu's did. She also noticed that Ryu was easier to cuddle than Guile.

Without warning, Guile lowered his head to Chun-Li's and grazed her lips with his own.

Warning bells began to off in the back of Chun-Li's mind but she pushed them to the side. A relationship with Guile may be the very thing that she needed to get refocused on her job and forget about Ryu.

Breaking apart, Guile smiled. "Is that proof enough?"

"Yes." She replied trying to sound happy.

"Come on let's go back to my room, it's getting cold out here."

Chun-Li nodded and fell into step with him. "There are some things that I want to know about you."

"And I you…I want to get inside your heart and mind."

Giving a small laugh, she looked up at him. "Come on in."

End Chapter Nine

Author's Note: I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYY for the LOOOONNNNNGGGGG wait but A LOT has happened to me that is way too boring to go into details about. But anyways, here is another chapter and I PROMISE that I will update rather quickly now that I am back on my feet. Now, you've read so go review! Thanks bunches everybody! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter that I made you wait for. Tehe!

Manda