We're back. Now, to recap: Guerrilla has just scored a sound victory over our heroes and Chun-Li was left at the bottom of a stair case, courtesy of the Neo-Shadaloo leader. Now... comes the aftermath of that encounter and the fate of Chun-Li. Also... it will be revealed why Ryu is on the list. Strap in, people, because here... we... go...

Chapter 7

Chun-Li woke up in a hospital room, dazed and confused. She felt bandages and gauze all over her body and, at first, couldn't move at all. Every muscle in her body was frighteningly tense, just turning her head put her in a lot of pain. She looked all around until she focused on the window next to her bed. It was night. They were still in Tokyo. She looked around and saw Ryu, fast asleep in a chair, leaning on his fist.

"Ryu?" Her voice was so small that she wasn't sure he heard her.

He did. Ryu took a sharp breath and woke up. He met her stare and jumped to his feet. "Hey." He walked over, "Hey, you're awake!"

"What…" She tried to sit up.

"Don't move." He put a gentle hand on her shoulder, keeping her from sitting up. "You took a really hard fall." He paused. "Actually… hitting those rails saved you from a broken back or…" He paused again. "Or worse…"

"How long… have-have I been…"

He sighed. "Two days."

"So… what… what's wrong…"

"The doctors said… severe trauma to your spine. And you had a really bad concussion. They said anyone else would've died. I told them that you're the strongest woman in the world. They agreed."

Despite his attempt, Chun-Li found no comfort in his compliment.

And he didn't except her to. "You should be fine in a few of days but… the doctors said that you shouldn't move much now. Actually, they said to avoid too much activity for a while."

Chun-Li remembered the impact after hitting the first rail but couldn't anything after that at all. "Guerilla… where's…"

"Got away. Cammy's using everything she has to try and track him down."

"But…"

"I couldn't go after him. I wasn't going to leave you lying to chase a bad guy. I couldn't do it. Sorry, Chun-Li."

That news hurt. Not that Ryu didn't go after him but that Guerrilla got away. She stared straight up at the ceiling. It had been a long journey. They came so close. So close to catching Guerrilla. And he got away. And the reason he got away was because he beat her. She fought as hard as she could to save Mei, to save Chow, and it wasn't enough. Her best wasn't enough. She couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't stand this constant failure, this losing at almost every turn. So, for the first time she could remember, her strength faltered.

Tears fell from Chun-Li's eyes.

Ryu, needless to say, was worried. "Chun-Li?"

She didn't want to talk but her mouth opened and words spilled out. "I can't stand this. I can't stand any of this, Ryu. I want Mei back. I want to know my brother is safe. I want this to be over. I don't care if we catch Guerrilla. I just want my family back."

He took hold of her hand. "It'll be okay."

She sniffed. "No, it won't." She slowly pulled her hand away from his. "It's all screwed up. It's all wrong. Everything." She wiped her eyes then looked at her friend. "My life's a mess. My daughter is gone, so is my brother. I've lost the only connection to getting them both back. He beat me… tossed me down a stairwell. Tossed me away like I was nothing. Now… I'm lying in a hospital bed, almost paralyzed. And to make it even worse… I'm crying." She wept. "I'm crying and I can't make it stop!" She pulled whatever strength she had to stop the tears but she had none. She wiped her eyes with her hand, a maneuver that was painful. She looked at the smeared tears on her hand, hating the sight of it. "I don't want to be this way! I don't want to be damaged and struggling! I don't want to… be this… this weak! I'm supposed to be strong! I'm supposed to always be strong!" She tried to stop crying again. But couldn't. "But… I can't… not this time… because… I just want them back… that's all I want."

Ryu had never seen her like this. Chun-Li had never cried before, at least not in front of him, and never, in his life before all of this started, would Ryu have imagined that Chun-Li was the kind of person who worried about appearing weak. "I already told you: weak is never a word I would use to describe you."

She scoffed. "Well… I would…"

"Then stop. Because you're not."

She looked at him, incredulously and upset. "How can you say that? Look at me! I'm a mess! Guerrilla was right to come after me first."

Her words threw him off. "Why?"

"Are you serious? Because… I am easy to target. Easy to single out. Easy to make weak."

"What makes you say… any of that?" He was starting to get angry.

"Because he was right. Because, at this point, I don't care about catching him anymore. I just want my family back. I'll let him do whatever he wants if I can have them back. I mean… at this point, what I could really do to stop him? I was so easy to get to after all. So easy to beat."

Ryu had heard enough. He became indignant. He was sick of this defeatist attitude, since it wasn't her at all. He had to break her out of this. "Why? Because you travelled all over the Eastern part of the world to search for your daughter? For a brother you didn't know you had? Because you're fighting against a terrorist organization almost single-handedly? Or is it because you've been going this intense with almost no sleep in comparison? Or is it because you've been fighting through armies of criminals? Or is it because you took a fall that would've killed most people that you'll be able to walk away from in a couple of days or so? Or is it because you're going through this because you care more for a little girl you adopted and a brother you had no idea about than you do for your own well-being? Yeah… yeah, you're weak. And Bison was really a good person, deep down. And Vega is just a nice guy who happens to love masks and claws."

Chun-Li was shocked. Ryu had never spoken like this before, especially to her. She was positive that that was the most words he'd ever said in a row.

He let out an exasperated sigh. "This isn't you, Chun-Li. This… tone… this is not you. I get you're upset, mad, and depressed. But the Chun-Li I know wouldn't just break down and give up. You can be mad or depressed and you can even feel like giving up. We all do. We all want to… but we don't, especially not you. That's not and has never been who are. Guerrilla set us up. Had us chase him around the world. He pushed us on purpose, made us exhausted and sluggish. He set this up so he would win. That's what men like him do. They can't do it on their own so they make things go in their favor. So, don't lie there and say you're weak when all that happened was is you fell into his trap." He stopped and looked around, figuring out what to say next before gazing back at Chun-Li. "You wanna give up? Fine. I'll go get Mei and Chow and bring them back to you. Because I'm not giving up. I'll just go alone. But if you find you can be the Chun-Li I know, the Chun-Li you've always been who never gives up, then you can join me. Because I can't just let him get away with this! I can't let him get away with kidnapping your family and damn near paralyzing you! I won't!"

He breathed heavy after saying all that, catching his breath. He wasn't even used to talking that much and he had no idea where those words even came from. He went and sat back down in the chair he was just sleeping in.

They sat in silence for a long time; Ryu staring the floor with his arms folded and Chun-Li staring at him. They were both not sure of what to say next. Ryu felt as though she needed to hear what he said but he wasn't sure if he should've said it like he did. He wanted to break her out of this depression but was worried he went about it the wrong way. Chun-Li, on the other hand, felt like he was nothing but justified in what he said and how he said it. She needed to hear it. She was just feeling sorry for herself and she needed him to be harsh on her to snap her out of it.

She needed him to be strong.

She needed him to be himself.

She needed him to be him.

She needed him.

Ryu looked up and saw her gazing at him and sighed, unfolding his arms. He felt bad for scolding her. "Look, Chun-Li…"

"I love you, Ryu…"

He stopped. His eyes grew wide. "What?"

"I love you. I have for a long time. Just could never say it before." The admission came out so easily, it would've scared her had it not been for everything else she had just gone through.

He blinked rapidly, still in shock. "What?"

"It's why Neo-Shadaloo targeted you. I do searches for you… every week… close to everyday… to see where you are, where you've been, rumors of where you're going or what direction you might be heading. Even asked old Interpol friends about you. They hacked into my computer and must've saw my searches. I think a few people in Interpol may be moles, reporting information to Neo-Shadaloo. Guerrilla must've put two and two together."

He was still in shell shock. He almost couldn't believe what he just heard. He couldn't believe what he just heard. "Chun-Li… why didn't you say anything before?"

"It wouldn't have mattered. I know how important travels are to you. How much training matters to you. And, quite frankly at first, I thought it was just me admiring you." She looked at the floor. "It wasn't until this past year that I knew it was something more." She looked back at him. "I lied to you. I'm sorry. More than anything… that was the real reason I called you." Tears were starting to flow again but her voice stayed strong. "I just needed you around. Just to be there. I didn't care if you didn't knew… I didn't care if you didn't feel the same… I just needed to know that you were there. And… when you arrived… and you showed how much this mattered to you… how hard you've been working to help me… it's been everything I could to not say this sooner."

"Chun-Li…"

She shook her head, the pain not being an issue. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I… just wanted to say it. Get it off my chest." She looked down. "I mean… I'm one spinal shock away from being paralyzed. I can't let another opportunity go by and let it all go."

Ryu didn't know what to say. He was a total loss for words.

"Ryu… the two of us are who we are. There's no changing that. But…" She sighed. "…But… I don't want you to think… everything you just said was wrong… or not what I needed to hear. Because it was… what I needed. You've been what I needed… through all of this." She gave the best shrug she could, "I just really want to thank you."

Ryu just sat, staring at her. He could see how she was just trying to get everything out. He saw how this situation was paining her so much that even that seemingly little bit of emotional baggage was too much extra to carry. He leaned over and clasped his hands together. "I'm sorry, Chun-Li. Sorry that you're going through all of this."

"Don't be." She smiled. "It's enough that even came in the first place. No matter what happens next… it was enough that you did that. And you've only helped ever since. I can't thank you enough for everything you've already done."

He appreciated her gratitude but he wasn't satisfied with all he'd done. The task was not complete. And she couldn't complete it. He made up his mind. "And I'm gonna do more."

"What do you mean?"

He stood up and took the cell phone that Cammy gave to them.

"Ryu?"

"Be right back." He walked outside, leaving Chun-Li very confused.

Once in the hallway, Ryu dialed Cammy's number.

It rang until Cammy answered. "Hey, Ryu? Is that you?"

"Yeah."

She went into a small panic. "Is everything alright? Did something happen? How's Chun-Li?"

"Awake. In a lot of pain and not really moving but awake."

She took a deep breath. "At least, she's conscious. That's a relief."

"Yeah." He stopped. "Hey, Cammy, I need you to do something for me."

"What's up?"

"Is there any way I can get a message to Guerrilla? I mean, not directly or anything but can you get one to him?"

She was quiet for a while. "Umm… I think so. I mean, we can spread it through the underworld. With as connected as he is, he should get it pretty fast. I'm guessing that's how he avoids detection. Might not take long at all, actually. What message am I sending?"

"Tell him that Ryu wants a one-on-one fight. For everything. For Chun-Li's daughter and her brother. For him to leave her alone. Wherever he wants… but we settle this. Just him and me. Once and for all."

So! How's that for a Chapter 7, huh? Everything you guys wanted? Well, I mean... not yet, I know. We still got to get to Ryu vs. Guerrilla, the rematch, and trust me... it'll be worth the wait. Next up: Ryu gets an answer but will it be the one he wants?

(Extra Note: from here on out, I'm not going to ask for reviews on this story. Because you guys... are SOOOO AMAZINGLY AWESOME! You guys have really been reviewing this and telling me what you think and I cannot thank you enough! That means more to me than you know! Thanks again!)