"So, where do you think she is?"
"Beats me," said Owen, setting down the fork he'd used to finish his late dinner. "Probably just lost track of time again. You know how she is."
Li-Fen was bringing a glass of water up to drink as he spoke, pausing for just a moment to smile to herself. "Yeah," she said, taking a quick sip before continuing. "That's why you never come shopping with us anymore."
"I can keep up with one of you. The two of you together? I know I'm not going to see the outdoors for the rest of the day."
"Aww, but you're such a good dress up model," Li-Fen teased him.
"I know I am," Owen replied, taking it in stride. "I just think Chun-Li has a tendency to get…carried away sometimes."
"Are you going to tell her that?"
Owen knew this wasn't a serious question, but he couldn't help but ponder it regardless, smiling to himself all the while. "No," was his answer. Even though he wasn't the biggest shopper in the world, he couldn't say doing it with Chun-Li was boring. She had a particular eye for fashion and most of his current wardrobe now consisted of outfits she'd personally picked out for him, after many, many hours of him going in and out of dressing rooms.
Usually, he'd loathe that sort of thing, but Chun-Li didn't and he had to admit the joy she took in dressing him up was infectious. But then again, her joy was always infectious.
Being with her always made him happy.
"So, what's been going on with you guys?"
This question took him a bit by surprise. "What do you mean?" Owen asked her.
"I don't know," Li-Fen said, awkwardly tapping on her glass. "I feel like you've both been acting a bit…different since your last date night. Is something going on?"
As calm as she was, he knew she wouldn't be asking this question if she wasn't a little worried. "Nothing major," he replied to alleviate her fears somewhat. "We've just been…talking."
"About what?"
"Well, um…" Owen stopped himself from saying anything more. The truth was, he and Chun-Li hadn't really revisited the topic since their last date night, mutually deciding they both needed some time to think about it. So, he got to thinking and now, weeks later, he was still undecided. He could only assume she was as well, given how chaste they've been as of late.
"It's just an idea she pitched," he finally said. "You'll know whether or not we go through with it."
As much as he wanted to let his thoughts on the matter out, that was something he knew he should save for Chun-Li when she came back. This was a decision for them to make, and them alone.
"That doesn't really narrow anything down," said Li-Fen. However, barely a second later, her expression went from one of confusion to one of sudden realization. "Oooohhhh. Never mind."
"What?" Owen prompted, more than a little curious about what she was thinking.
"Nothing," Li-Fen insisted, albeit unconvincingly. The silly smile on her face said it all.
"It's not what you think, Li-Fen." "You know what I'm thinking?"
"Maybe," he said.
"Really? Then what is it?"
To this, Owen couldn't help but laugh. "Nice try," he told her. "For now, it's better that it stays between me and Chun-Li."
"Ooooo!" Li-Fen childishly exclaimed, as if he was a lovestruck teenager gossiping to her about his crush. If it was anybody else, it would probably get on his nerves, but he knew her prodding came from a place of genuine investment, and beyond that, unconditional support. Really, if it wasn't for Li-Fen, Owen doubted him and Chun-Li would have ever ended up dating, let alone getting married. She'd been rooting for them basically from the start.
"Alright, alright, enough of that," said Owen.
"Fine," Li-Fen pouted. "Maybe I'll just ask Chun-Li when she gets home."
"Go right ahead. She'll tell you the exact same thing."
"Are you sure about that?" "Very."
He wasn't quite sure if she thought her asking Chun-Li would somehow scare him into spilling the beans, but on the off chance that was her plan, he played it cool. He wasn't bluffing either - Chun-Li wasn't going to say anything either, and he knew that for certain.
Eventually, Li-Fen seemed to give up, putting up her hands as if surrendering. "Guess I'll take your word for it," she said. "Besides, I'm like 95% sure I'm right."
"Ah, but you can't stand letting that 5% hang," he pointed out. "You and her have that in common."
"Oh, yeah. The uncertainty is killing me." She didn't even try to hide her sarcasm, sinking back into her chair and glaring at him when she noticed the shit-eating grin that found its way onto his face. "Aren't you going to put me at ease?"
"I will, yeah."
At this point, Li-Fen knew exactly what he meant when he said this. "You're impossible," she whined.
"Not usually," he quickly retorted. "But listen, if and when we come to a consensus, I promise you'll find out one way or another."
Her glare quickly gave way to a soft smile as the gears turned in her head. "You know, I think Chun-Li's looking to settle down. Like, really settle down this time." This came a bit out of left field, but after taking a moment to digest what she'd said, he believed he understood why she brought this up. She'd been selling herself short with that 95%.
"She's floated the possibility," he admitted. "It's her choice at the end of the day."
"I guess," Li-Fen acknowledged. "But if she does, that gives her a chance to try all kinds of things. All that free time…"
He caught on to the suggestion fairly easily; that said, he decided not to acknowledge it. "Like I said, it's her choice. But after Nayshall, I'd definitely prefer that she take it easy for a while."
"Aww," Li-Fen cooed. "You were worried about her."
"Course I was," he acknowledged full heartedly. "You have no idea how relieved I was hearing her voice each day. I'd be more than happy if she decides she doesn't want to throw herself into danger like that anymore… but I guess that's taking away a part of what makes her special, isn't it?"
Li-Fen lowered her gaze and softly smiled to herself. "It's how I met her…"
Owen couldn't help but be impressed by how casually she mentioned this. That was part of a painful memory - a crippling memory, or at least, it would have been when he first met her. But not anymore. The pain might never fully go away, but Li-Fen had forged a new life for herself, not letting her trauma keep her from greatness.
All because someone gave her that second chance.
Just as he was about to try and fill the silence, the door to their apartment was unlocked and subsequently opened, rather hastily at that. "Ah, there she is," he said. "We were just tal…"
Both him and Li-Fen were shocked when they saw Chun-Li. She was out of breath, her qipao was dirty and torn, and her face was covered in scars and bruises.
"Jiejie!" Li-Fen was the first one up, rushing over to Chun-Li with Owen following just behind her.
"Li-Fen…" The relief in her voice was evident, which only heightened his worry. "You're safe!"
"Of course I'm safe! Worry about yourself for a change!" Reaching her 'big sister', Li-Fen took her by the hand and helped her steady herself before Owen could reach her.
"We need to…" Chun-Li suddenly winced, cutting herself off before she could finish her sentence. Finally reaching his wife, Owen moved to the opposite side as Li-Fen, taking his wife's other hand and gently putting her arm over his shoulder, with Li-Fen mirroring his action.
"Easy…" he softly said to her as they started moving towards the couch. "Evening, love. What's the story?"
"Ran into an old friend," Chun-Li replied just as casually as he'd asked her.
"I've met your friends. You're going to have to be a bit more specific."
"Thankfully, you haven't met this one."
This comment seemed to catch Li-Fen's attention. "Who was it?"
"Juri Han."
Upon the mention of that name, the concern on Li-Fen's face grew more pronounced, just as Owen's did. He'd heard the name before and if there was anything he could recall about this "Juri", it was that she was a force to be reckoned with. According to Chun-Li, she'd very nearly died in their first encounter, so the fact she'd made it back to them in one piece was relieving to say the least.
But there was one other detail he couldn't help but remember; her association with S.I.N, a former division of Shadaloo.
"What did she want?", was Li-Fen's next question.
"Later, Li-Fen," Owen chimed in before Chun-Li could answer. That same question was very much on his mind, but so was that conversation the two of them had mere hours ago. Whatever the reason for Juri's sudden appearance, it could only be bad news.
Working together, Own and Li-Fen carefully set the battered Chun-Li down on the sofa. "Right then, where does it hurt?"
"I'm fine," Chun-Li insisted.
"Clearly," Li-Fen sarcastically commented before plopping down next to her on the couch. "What can we get you? A pillow? Some ice?"
For a moment, the elder sister seemed ready to repeat her unconvincing insistence, but after looking between Li-Fen and Owen a few times, she relented. "Pillow, please. For my back."
"And an ice pack to go with said pillow?" Li-Fen asked, which Chun-Li replied to with a weak nod. "Bandages?", was the next item on her list, which was received with another nod. "Would you like the little panda bandages?"
"Just do your thing, Li-Fen."
"Panda bandages, it is!" With that Li-Fen shot back up to her feet. "You, go get the lady some ice," she instructed Owen, pointing an authoritative finger at him for good measure.
"Yes, ma'am," he jokingly replied as she ran off to the kitchen cupboard to retrieve her portion of the materials. But instead of doing what he was told, he locked eyes with Chun-Li, allowing his playful expression to slip just a little. "Sure you don't want me to take you to the hospital?"
"No, I don't think it's that serious," she assured him.
"You don't think?" "Yeah," Chun-Li casually affirmed, wincing as she slightly adjusted herself on the couch. "I'll be fine. I've slept off far worse, anyway."
Despite his own worries, Owen couldn't help but smile. "I'm sure you have," he commented, holding her gaze while she smiled back at him with all her little scars and bruises.
The last time he'd seen her so beat up was after she'd run off to save Li-Fen all those years ago, but that was far from the last time she'd come home with visible injuries. She saw a good deal of fights in her line of work, yet she walked away from each one ready for the next. This really was just another day for her, and as much as her tenacity baffled him sometimes, he found that aspect of her unbelievably attractive.
His wife really was a badass.
"Nurse!" Li-Fen's voice came from behind him, just before she rushed past him with her first-aid kit in hand. "Ice! Now!"
"Alright, alright."
This time, Owen went off to retrieve what Li-Fen had asked for, leaving her to begin her "treatment" in the meantime. She loved doing this whenever Chun-Li came home with a minor injury, be it from work or from her classes, never letting her big sister go on with her day until she was finished. He pitched in when he was asked to, but only then, being more than happy to let her have her fun.
Returning to the couch with a pillow and ice pack in hand, he found Li-Fen applying disinfectant to a rather nasty gash on her left arm. "She did a number on you, huh?"
"She could've done worse," Chun-Li replied. "I was lucky she wasn't taking things too seriously."
"She was lucky you didn't go all out," said Li-Fen, putting a bandage with little pandas on it over her wound. "Then again, you'd just be giving her what she wanted at that point."
"And now, you understand what makes her so frustrating to deal with."
Owen didn't insert himself into the conversation, choosing instead to listen. As he did, he noted the slightest hint of pity in Chun-Li's voice. She hadn't talked about this Juri in too much detail and he personally never felt the need to ask about her, but maybe there was more to this supposed rivalry than he initially thought.
In any case, the conservation seemed to be over by the time they reached the couch. "Lean forward a bit," he instructed Chun-Li, who did what he asked with some slight difficulty. Putting the pillow behind her, he placed the wrapped ice pack between it and Chun-Li. "And back," he said, holding the ice pack in place as she leaned back against the pillow, slightly grimacing as she made contact with the cold object.
"Thanks," she said to him.
"Yes. Thank you, nurse," Li-Fen teased him some more, which Owen took with a simple roll of his eyes.
"There anything else I can do for this patient?"
"Get her some tea. Nice and hot," Li-Fen instructed. "And a tart for the doctor."
"I wasn't asking about the doctor."
"The patient would like some tea," Chun-Li chimed in. "And for the doctor to get her well-deserved tart."
Owen stood there for a moment, slightly glaring at the two of them while they simply smirked back, especially Li-Fen. "You heard the lady," she smugly proclaimed.
"I did," he acknowledged, resigning himself to his role. "Coming right up."
The "nurse" ended up going the extra mile in his duties, bringing back a whole pot of lavendar tea and a plate of custard tarts for them all to share. By the time he was all done, Chun-Li had at least half a dozen little bandages on her face, neck and arms; Li-Fen seemed quite proud with her handiwork.
Once they were all settled on the couch with their tea and desserts, Owen decided to finally revisit that question Li-Fen had asked earlier. "So, what did this old friend of yours want?"
"A fight, if you couldn't tell just by looking" was her simple reply. "I didn't want one, so she tried goading me."
"How?" Owen inquired.
"First, she stole my ring." A sense of panic briefly set in until he saw that it was still on her left index finger. "I got it back, though," she reassured him, though she clearly found his reaction amusing.
"Good. That's good," he said in relief. "That cost a pretty penny."
Chun-Li paused her story to smile at him. Needless to say, the ring had a lot more sentimental value to them than monetary value, as wedding bands usually do. It was intended to be worn by her and only her, it being stolen by some crazed lowlife would've been absolutely devastating for him.
"And then?" Li-Fen chimed in. "Did she try anything after that?"
This time, Chun-Li hesitated in answering, looking between the two of them as if making sure it was absolutely safe for her to speak. "She threatened you," she revealed. "When I tried to de-escalate things, Juri got more and more desperate. The last I saw her, I thought she was coming here to…"
She stopped for a moment, looking over at Li-Fen with a somewhat troubled expression. "...well, I wasn't going to wait and see what."
And there it was. Owen had wondered what could've possibly scared her so much or caused her to come rushing back here despite being so banged up, and there was only answer that seemed plausible to him. She would never run away from a fight because her safety always came second in her mind, but Li-Fen's safety? That was more important to her than anything else.
"So, you tried to beat her here on foot?!" Owen exclaimed a bit more harshly than he meant to. "Why didn't you just call and warn us?"
"She broke my phone."
"She broke your…?!" As shocked and frustrated as he was, Owen had enough sense to reign himself in before he said something he knew he'd regret. "Do you have any idea where she is now?"
"None," she answered honestly. "But the important thing is that she isn't here. Maybe she was bluffing or maybe she's just biding her time; whatever the case is, it's a good thing we won't be staying here much longer."
"She's just trying to get under your skin," Li-Fen rather confidently said. "If she wanted to hurt us, then you'd have come home to a completely different scene. I doubt I'll ever even end up seeing her."
"Maybe, but…" Chun-Li seemed like she wanted to add something, maybe even rebuke her completely, but she was clearly struggling to do so. And it was easy to see why; Li-Fen's logic was sound. "Yeah, you're probably right," she eventually acknowledged.
"Course I am," said Li-Fen. "But I didn't need to tell you all that, did I? So what's really got you so rattled?"
Owen found himself just as surprised by this question as Chun-Li seemed to be. "I mean, what else could it be?" he wondered aloud after his wife remained silent. Suspiciously silent.
"I don't know," said Li-Fen. "That's assuming there even was anything else. Was there, jiejie?"
"No," she finally answered. "Taunts and threats are the only way she knows how to communicate. Once those ran dry, she ran off."
"Right, so, she didn't say anything about what she was doing in Hong Kong? I know she's not exactly right in the head, but would she really come all the way out here just to fight you?"
"She might've had other business here, sure," Chun-Li acknowledged. "She was never going to tell me what that is."
"Maybe not. But aren't you the least bit curious about what that might be?"
"That's none of her business."
Both Chun-Li and Li-Fen were taken off guard by Owen's interjection. He didn't like speaking for her like this, but in this case, he felt it was necessary. He could see where this conversation was headed.
"Why not?" Li-Fen questioned. "She attacked her."
"And unless she comes crawling back for round two, that's where her involvement ends," Owen rightfully pointed out.
"But…" "No, he's right." It was Chun-Li who cut in this time, stopping Li-Fen before she could respond. "If there's more to her being here, and I'm almost certain there is, I'll tip off a friend at work and leave it in their hands. I'm not on active duty anymore, after all."
Li-Fen looked between the two of them, no doubt trying to think of something to say that would keep them on this topic. For a moment, she met his eyes specifically and he took the chance to shake his head while Chun-Li wasn't looking, giving her a simple message. "Drop it."
Naturally, that discussion they had mere hours ago was still fresh in his mind, as were the suspicions she'd shared with him. And even putting that aside, the question she'd asked was perfectly valid. What was Juri Han, someone whose story was intrinsically tied with Shadaloo, doing here? And that led to other questions that Li-Fen no doubt wanted answers to. What did Juri know, and what did she tell Chun-Li?
He could tell she wasn't fully convinced by Chun-Li's account - hell, he wasn't fully convinced by it either - but if there really was something more to this story, it was clear she wasn't going to share it right now.
"You know what, that's fair," Li-Fen eventually conceded. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm still kinda stuck in 'detective mode' or whatever."
"Believe me, I get it," Chun-Li said with a laugh. "But if there's anything I've learned in the last few years, it's that you have to turn it off every now and then."
She continued to look at Li-Fen, as if waiting for her to say or do something without indicating what that was. Finally, Li-Fen brought her fingers up to the side of her head and imitated flipping a switch, complete with a little clicking sound; however, given how Chun-Li giggled, that was exactly what she'd been looking for.
"Thatta girl," she said while playfully ruffling Li-Fen's hair. However, when she pulled her arm back, Owen noticed her slightly gritting her teeth. Somehow, he'd almost forgotten about her injuries.
"You should really rest, Chun," he softly said to her. "We've badgered you enough."
"Is that what they call 'showing concern' now?" she teased him.
"Oh, I'm plenty concerned. Alleviate some of that concern for me, would you?"
He was playing along with her, using a similar playful tone and even wiping a bit of soot from her check. But when they locked eyes and shared smiles, Chun-Li passed a silent message to him - one that told him she meant to do exactly that, just in another way.
"Carry me," she requested while holding her arms out to him.
"You're not that hurt."
"Who cares?"
"I sure as hell don't," he said, slightly standing up in order to grant her request. After letting her wrap her arms securely around his neck, he scooped her up as carefully as he could, watching for any signs of pain or discomfort as he did.
Once Chun-Li was off the couch and off her feet, the two of them looked back at Li-Fen, who had been awkwardly watching all this unfold. "Say 'thank you, doctor,'" he prompted.
"Thank you, doctor," she repeated, sounding quite genuine to boot.
"You're very welcome," said Li-Fen, who herself rose to her feet and approached them. "But you have to promise to never come back to me in a state like this again."
Chun-Li laughed off the finger her sister pointed at her face. "You know I can't," she said.
"Fine. But at least try to stay out of trouble."
"I certainly shall," Chun-Li promised.
"Alright, come on now," Owen said as he turned around and carefully carried her to their shared bedroom. Along the way, Chun-Li closed her eyes and nestled her head against his chest.
"You're so strong…" Chun-Li uttered this so quietly he wasn't even sure if she'd meant to say it out loud.
"Don't tell me you've gone delirious," he teased her.
"No. Just tired," she replied just as quietly.
"Well, so long as you're 'just tired.'" While he was obviously still messing with her, there was no way to downplay the relief he felt. Things could've gone so, so much worse.
Upon entering their room, Owen gently and carefully set Chun-Li down on her usual side of the bed, helping her lean back on some pillows to put some ease on her back. "Thanks," she said after she settled in.
"Don't mention it." Seating himself just beside her, he looked over her battered body and smiled at Li-Fen's haphazard attempts at first-aid, primarily consisting of the panda bandages she'd been so excited to use. "Marks of a true warrior, eh?" he teased her while gently poking at one such bandage on her right arm.
"Shut up."
"Hey, I think she did a bang-up job. You look good as new."
"I will be after I get the chance to put some makeup on," she said while adjusting herself, unsurprisingly showing signs of discomfort. "And maybe after a nice massage." Chun-Li shot him a cheeky little look to go along with this little add-on, smirking and raising a brow to tell him exactly what she expected from him.
Sighing to himself, Owen stood back up. "You good to get ready by yourself?"
"Hmm, I don't know. It's really starting to set in now." Chun-Li didn't even pretend to be serious, bursting into laughter when she saw how he rolled his eyes. "Just kidding, hon. I'll be ready for you, don't you worry."
This was accompanied with a cheeky little wink, which melted away what little resistance he might've had. "Good," he said, unable to keep himself from smiling. "Gimme a moment, please."
Before he did anything else, Owen went over to close their bedroom door. As he did, he looked out and saw Li-Fen passing by on her way to put back her first-aid kit, only to stop when she noticed him. There was a period of awkward eye contact, where neither of them seemed sure of what to say to the other, or whether they should say anything at all. Being the first to break it, he looked behind her and saw the dishes he'd left behind near the sofa, but just before he could go and retrieve him, Li-Fen finally broke the silence.
"It's okay, I can do it," she insisted.
"You sure?" "Yeah. Go take care of her."
There wasn't any snark or dismissal in her voice; just genuine warmth. Owen found that strangely reassuring, even though he knew there was no real reason for him to expect anything less. She was a good kid.
"Thanks, Li-Fen," he eventually said.
"Don't mention it. Good night, jie fu."
Despite her turning to go and run her errands, Owen remained by the door. "Hey," he called out before she could get too far, causing her to stop and turn back around. "I'm grateful for you."
Li-Fen's reaction was somewhat subdued, limited to a simple smile and acknowledging nod before she was on her way again. Similarly, Owen finally closed his bedroom door and set about retrieving the necessary materials for Chun-Li's massage. As he did so, he noticed his wife watching him out of the corner of her eye as she got ready, softly smiling to herself.
When they were both ready, Chun-Li was lying on her front on a mat she'd laid out on the floor, her head resting on a towel while Owen knelt down beside her, applying some massage oil to his hands. She'd removed the top part of her qipao to give him better access to her back, which also revealed a couple more scrapes and bruises from her fight with Juri. It was far from a pleasing sight, but they were far from his biggest concern going into this.
"Let me know if it hurts, okay?"
"I think you'll know if it does," she playfully replied.
He wasn't really sure how to respond to this, so he decided to get to work, gently rubbing her back in order to spread the oil around. As he did, he kept a close eye on how she reacted to his actions: the subtle twitches in her muscles, the pattern of her breathing; all of which told him she was perfectly comfortable. This motivated him to start the massage proper, kneading and rubbing up from her shoulders and down along her spine, taking care to avoid her wounds.
It was far from professional treatment, but by this point, Owen had done this more than enough times to know her preferences. What started as a spur-of-the-moment offer during a particularly stressful week at work became a somewhat regular occurrence, sometimes for the sake of stress relief, but mostly because Chun-Li seemed to enjoy it when he pampered her like this. That was fine by him; he enjoyed pampering her just the same.
"Talk to me," she prompted out of nowhere. Until then, the only sound in their room had come from the quiet violin music he'd put on to set the mood, and he had to admit, he welcomed the quiet.
"What about?" Owen asked.
"Whatever's on your mind. You're a bit rougher than usual."
That second comment made him pause his massage. "Am I really? Sorry, I'll tone it down."
"No, no, it feels quite nice," she insisted. "I'd just like to know what brought it about."
For the next little bit, Owen resumed working on her in silence, finding it a little difficult to respond to her. He was sure she already guessed what the problem was, but at the end of the day, they couldn't read each-other's thoughts.
"Be honest with me, love. Did Juri really not say anything else to you?"
It was Chun-Li's turn to turn quiet now, but this silence more or less confirmed that his suspicion - and by extension, Li-Fen's suspicion - was warranted.
"Yes and no," she replied. "There was one thing she said that made me think she might know about something brewing behind the scenes, but she refused to give any concrete details, not unless I beat them out of her first."
"And did you?"
"She ran off before I could. So, I guess that leaves me with nothing but speculation."
This was about what he'd figured, which was exactly why he decided to nip Li-Fen's inquiry in the bud. Regardless of how much or how little Chun-Li knew, nothing good would come from fuelling her paranoia, or worse yet, potentially lending credence to it.
"And what do you think she's hiding?" Owen asked Chun-Li, being careful to keep his voice down as he kneaded the skin on her. What followed was another period of silence, one that went on long enough that he started to get worried.
"Chun?"
Still nothing. Up until this point, she'd been lying facing away from him, preventing him from really gauging anything about what she might be thinking. But when she slightly adjusted herself and turned her head so she could look at him, her rather grim expression said it all.
"Let's just say I've always had my doubts that Shadaloo was really gone."
Owen found it rather hard to continue with his massage, taking some time to really think about what she'd said. It's not that he was shocked, or even worried, necessarily. It was all speculation as she'd said, but it was eerily similar speculation to what he'd heard from Li-Fen mere hours ago.
"Is that also why you decided to take that Nayshall job?" Owen asked the most burning question on his mind, one that he hadn't really considered before now.
"It was a factor, yes," she answered honestly. "I was going off a hunch, but I felt like there was more to the guy at the center of it all. But whatever evidence I found was…inconclusive."
"The evidence you and Li-Fen found, you mean."
More silence followed, except this time, a good bit of tension filled the air as he waited for Chun-Li to say something. Anything.
"I never told her what I'm telling you now. I swear."
"So you knew what she'd do if you did?" Owen was doing all he could to keep his frustration from boiling over, but that task was becoming harder by the minute. "If you have these suspicions, do you really think she doesn't have them, too? That she wouldn't be as committed as you to find out the truth?"
"None of that was lost on me," she insisted. "That's why I kept her involvement to a minimum."
"She shouldn't have been involved at all."
As much as he didn't want to re-open this debate again, he felt that it was necessary. Before, he'd conceded to let Li-Fen help her in her investigations when it was absolutely necessary, so she would be far, far out of harm's way. But as he could see now, any level of involvement in this case put her at risk, because no amount of limitation would stop her from wanting to dig deeper. She took a lot after Chun-Li in that regard.
As for Chun-Li herself, she'd had her own reservations about the whole arrangement, but nonetheless ended up vouching for Li-Fen in the end. But looking at her now, and seeing how she wasn't trying to argue back, maybe those reservations were finally coming to the forefront.
Seeing as he was no longer massaging her, she sat up so they could properly speak face to face. "If my theory's right, I don't want her poking that hornet's nest any more than you do," she finally said. "What Shadaloo did to her isn't something you just forgive and forget."
"Same goes for you, too."
Immediately, he wished he'd phrased that differently. It seemed so curt, so dismissive. But just as he was about to try and apologize, Chun-Li spoke again.
"No. No, I'm done with that."
This time, Owen found himself well and truly shocked. "What?"
"Like I said, if there's really more to all this, I'm going to let someone else take the reins on it this time. There's no use going down that same old road again."
"And say it turns out those Shadaloo bastards really are still slithering about, you think you'd still be able to say that?"
This time, he made sure to take a more sympathetic tone, mirroring his wife's surprisingly calm demeanor. He didn't want this to be a point of contention; he only wanted to understand her present headspace, because nothing would come from her telling him what he wanted to hear and nothing more.
"What do you want me to say?" Chun-Li asked when no answer came to her.
"The truth," Owen replied, only to be met with more silence. When she lowered her eyes and lost herself in thought, he calmly sighed and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder to draw her attention back to him.
"Listen, I'm not going to sit here and pretend like I understand what you went through. How that…changes someone. But if this is really tearing you up, I don't want you to keep letting it cause you think it'll give me some peace of mind. It won't. So, please, tell me the truth."
He moved his hand up to her cheek as he spoke, gently caressing it as he smiled at her. After a little while, Chun-Li's expression softened and she took his hand in one of hers, keeping it close to her cheek as the two of them put their foreheads together, pausing their exchange to savor the quiet intimacy. Owen felt a lump form in his throat as the embrace went on and on, momentarily forgetting that she still hadn't given him a proper answer.
But this was her answer, or at least part of it. He mattered so much more to her. The life and family they'd built meant so much more to her.
"I want to say yes," she finally whispered. "Back then, the mission was all I had. Back then, I didn't have anything to lose."
"You're not going to lose anything, one way or another," he assured her. "We'll be here. Li-Fen and I will be here."
"I want to be here." Owen opened his eyes to find her staring back at him, her gaze intense and resolute. "But if worse comes to worst, I'm not just going to sit on the sidelines. If I have to fight, then I'll fight."
"I'd expect nothing less," he said without hesitation. While he didn't want her to go rushing headlong into danger, he knew that she would always be ready to. And he accepted that he couldn't change that - he would never want to change that. He knew exactly who he married.
But it wasn't just her he had to consider in all this.
"Just promise me one thing, okay?" Owen eventually said. "Whatever you end up doing, keep Li-Fen out of it."
That uncertain look found its way back onto Chun-Li's face. She had a lot of confidence in their ward, and for very good reason, but for Owen, the memory of her abduction from all those years ago was impossible to shake. And despite her recent choices, he knew those same memories hadn't faded from his wife's mind, as well as the promise they'd made that something like it would never happen again.
"I promise."
...
Author's Note: I know it's been a hot minute since I've updated this story, and I'm going to come out and admit that's because I started this portion of it without a super concrete plan for where it would go. The plan was to wait at least until a good chunk of the DLC came out so plot points didn't become outdated, but then Capcom went ahead and brought Bison back, so I opted to wait to see what was going on with that as well. Thankfully, now I have a much better idea of what I want to do, so hopefully future progress will come much faster.
Also, for those who aren't aware, I have also started writing a story about Cammy. I'm only two chapters in ATM, but I want to focus more on it in the immediate future. Feel free to check it out if you're interested!