Oh, I am SOOOO PROUD OF THIS ONE!

I don't say that often but, yeah, I am! This is a follow up/sequel to my earlier story "Hearts & Fists." You don't need to read that story to appreciate this one... but it would sure help. And I mean... help me. LOL! No, seriously, there are just some name references you might not get unless you've read the last one.

But, still, enjoy! GET TO READIN'! Like I said, I'm really proud of this!

Hearts & Fists – The First Date

Ken Masters was sitting in a restaurant at a booth by the window, exhausted and drained but thankful that the tournament he was just in was over. While he was recuperating, he was waiting for his friend to arrive. A few minutes later, the U.S. Air Force soldier and Ken's fellow Street Fighter, Captain Guile, walked in.

Ken turned to see him. He waved, "Hey!"

Guile smirked and walked over to sit down. As he sat down, the soldier sighed, "Hey. How are ya, Ken?"

"I'm doin' good. You?"

"Doing just fine." He let out an exasperated sigh, "Long day but… doing okay. How was the tournament?"

"Good. I won."

Guile laughed. "That's 'cause I wasn't there. Or Ryu."

Ken laughed.

The waitress came up and took their drink orders while leaving the menus with the fighters to choose their meals.

"Speaking of which, how is our favorite Japanese fighter?" Guile asked.

Ken smiled. "Doing great, actually. Still living, and very much in love, with the strongest woman in the world."

While looking at the menu, Guile shook his head, "I still can't believe that. Ryu actually living with Chun-Li."

"I know." The Hadou fighter started to make his food selection from his menu, "But that whole business with Guerrilla really made them both see what was important to them and what they were missing in their lives." He chuckled, "Hard to believe, right?"

Guile looked up. "Hard to believe, nothing. I owe you a car."

Ken looked up at him curious and chuckling, "What are you talking about?"

The Air Force captain set his menu down and stared at his friend, "When you told me about this, I said to myself that there's no way you were telling the truth." Ken laughed as he continued, "I said, out loud, 'if Ryu gave up travelling to live with Chun-Li because they are in love with each other, I'll buy Ken a car.'"

Ryu's best friend chuckled and shook his head. "Save your cash. This whole thing threw us all for a loop. I still have days where I don't believe it. And Eliza keeps making me prove it with pictures."

Guile sat back in disbelief. "How long has it been?"

Ken lowered his menu to remember how long it, indeed, had been. "Umm… about… three? Yeah, three months."

The captain looked back at the menu. "Wow."

The normally red gi garbed warrior smirked. He was about to ask a question that he had been waiting to ask Guile, if for no other reason than to see his reaction. "You wanna hear the story of their first date?"

Guile immediately looked up and, with much enthusiasm, said, "Yes. Yes, yes, yes, YES! Why would you even ask-Of course, I wanna hear that! Why haven't you started yet?"

Ken laughed. He had never heard such a tone from Guile before and it made this even better. "Alright, alright! Settle down, Captain."

Guile leaned forward, anxiously awaiting for this story. His reaction was priceless.

Ken let out a content sigh, gathering his thoughts together, "Now… here's what happened… it all started about a week into them living together…"

Three months ago.

Chun-Li's home in China.

Ryu stood in front of the mirror in his bedroom, breathing slowly, taking deep breaths. After calling Ken for advice and reassurance, his next course of action seemed more impossible than beating Akuma with both arms tied behind his back. Nevertheless, he was going to do it. He had to. The most impossible thing in the world but he had to get it right.

He had to ask Chun-Li out on a date.

He took a few more deep breaths, trying to get himself ready to go do what he had to. He stared into his eyes in the mirror. "You can do this. You can do this."

Once he got himself together, he nodded and walked for the door. He opened it to find Mei standing there, catching him off guard.

He yelped. He took a few breaths. "Mei… why are you standing there?"

"Lookin' for you," the young girl answered.

"Why?"

"Mommy wanted to know if you were hungry. She made lunch."

"Uhh… sure… tell her I'll be right down."

"Okay!" She started to run off. Then she ran back. "Are you okay, Mr. Ryu?"

"Oh, yeah, sure!" He cleared his throat. "Just… a little jumpy, I guess."

"Oh, okay."

The young girl went off while Ryu just sighed. He couldn't believe it; he was such a bundle of nerves… over a woman. But what a woman. Chun-Li was definitely worth being a bundle of nerves over. Still, he was so very grateful Ken wasn't there to see that. He'd never… EVER hear the end of it.

After gathering himself again, he followed the path the little girl took, heading downstairs to the kitchen. He walked in to see the woman he is in love with, the strongest… and, to him, most beautiful, woman in the world, handing a sandwich on plate to the little girl as Mei sat at the kitchen counter. Chun-Li looked up at Ryu and smiled. For a man whose life was devoted to fighting, it was amazing how her smile was able to take him completely out of his headspace.

"Hey," she greeted.

"Hey," he replied.

Mei sat in her chair, just kicking her feet as they both looked at each other. It made her happy to see her mommy smiling so much lately. And Mr. Ryu was a pretty cool guy. Saved her life, after all.

Chun-Li took notice that Ryu was standing a bit… uneasy today. She knew that adjusting to this living situation would take some getting used to… for everyone. But he seemed far different right now. "Ryu?" she asked. "You okay?"

"Uhh… yeah…" Ryu managed to say. "I, umm… have something to ask you."

"What is it?"

He took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes. "Would you… like to… go out… on date… with me?"

The second those words were spoken, Chun-Li could've been knocked over by a breeze. Her mouth nearly fell open in surprise. She had to do a quick mental checklist.

Did Ryu, in fact, ask her out on a date?

She realized he did.

Ryu asked her out.

He actually asked her out.

She smiled. How could she not? "I'd love to."

Expecting the worse, which for him would be her laughing at him, Ryu almost missed her response. Once he realized he thought he heard her answer with an affirmative, he opened one eye and looked at her. "Sorry… did you say yes?"

She nodded, "Mm-hmm."

He opened both eyes and stared blinking rapidly. "Oh…" He breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh…" He cleared his throat, "Um… alright then."

Chun-Li and Mei giggled. Ryu smiled as he nervously rubbed the back of his head.

"So, when are we going?" Chun-Li asked.

"Umm… tomorrow night… if that's okay," Ryu said, still unsure if she wanted to and if this was a good idea.

She simply held her smile. "Sounds good." She winked at him. "I can't wait."

Another gesture, so small, so miniscule… and legs became noodles while his feet turned to lead. He had to get used to that.

The following night, he was back in front of a mirror, wearing a long sleeved white dress shirt, black pants, and black vest. He wasn't wearing tie; he was nervous enough without adding that to the mix, add to that he had no idea how to tie one. He looked at himself in the mirror, unaccustomed to the look. All of the clothes were courtesy of Ken; in fact, the blonde haired fighter had provided his best friend with an entire closet worth of clothes. When Ryu asked him why he bought him so many clothes, Ken's reply was simply: "If you are actually going to do this with Chun-Li, dude, I'll buy WHATEVER you need!" He went on to tell him the clothes were just because he knew Ryu would need him.

Once he was sure everything was in the right place, he walked downstairs where Mei was sitting on the couch, smiling.

"Wow, Mr. Ryu," she was holding a camera. "You look nice."

"Thank you, Mei," Ryu bowed.

They heard something moving upstairs and figured it was Chun-Li coming. Ryu stood at complete attention. Coming down the stairs, the black haired fighter could only see the dark blue high heels first and immediately he couldn't speak. In his mind, she was moving in beautifully slow motion and he could see her beautiful attire. She was wearing a blue Chinese-style long dress with sakura flower patterns on it, carrying a dark blue purse in her hand. She had her hair done its usual style and Ryu even noticed put the red make-up she usually applied around her eyes.

He didn't know it… but his mouth was ajar. He had never seen anyone or anything so beautiful.

She took notice of his gaze and blushed. "You… you like it?"

He finally remembered how to speak. "Yeah… very much…"

She smiled. "Thank you. You look very handsome yourself."

He blushed a little and looked down. "Ken… sent these. Wasn't sure how I looked."

She walked up to him and stood directly in front of him, examining his look. It was incredible: she'd seen him shirtless but him nearly in a suit was enough to take her breath away. Even without a tie, the look just worked for him. "I think… you look… amazing."

She kissed him. That was one way to calm him down. But it was more that she couldn't help herself. He did look really good.

They broke the kiss to look at Mei smiling at them both.

"Picture time!" Mei shouted.

They stood by the door while Mei lined up the shot. Ryu stood behind Chun-Li and put his arms around her waist, locking his fingers together in front of her. She smiled and placed both hands on top of his. They looked like they were going to prom. Mei took the picture and looked at it on the digital camera. That was a photo no one would soon forget.

Ms. Yu, a woman in her late sixties and Mei's babysitter for the evening, emerged from the kitchen. She looked at the couple and said, "My goodness, Ms. Li. You're as beautiful as spring time, indeed."

Chun-Li giggled. "Thank you, Ms. Yu."

The elder woman looked at Ryu. "And, Mr. Ryu… you know? A whole outfit suits you."

Ryu swallowed hard at the comment. "Umm… thank you…"

Chun-Li giggled then looked at her daughter, "Now, mind Ms. Yu, Mei. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," the young girl answered. "I will."

Chun-Li looked at her boyfriend, "Shall we go?"

He motioned toward the door then opened it for her. Chun-Li was impressed. She wasn't aware Ryu had such manners… but it was definitely a plus. She walked past time, softly dragging her finger underneath his chin. He breathed out slowly. Wow, was this woman amazing.

Mei looked at the camera and smiled. She looked at her babysitter. "Ms Yu?"

"Yes, dear?"

"I need to e-mail this to Mr. Ken right away!"

They both dashed for the computer.

The couple went downtown to a restaurant called the Golden Lion. It had been well received by critics and just within Ryu's current price range. That was another issue that was weighing on his mind but he didn't worry about that now.

Not tonight.

All his thoughts were on the beauty that happened to be on his arm. Ryu never thought he'd be one of those men who'd say that he was the luckiest guy alive because of a woman… but tonight… heck, ever since this relationship started, he realized… he is the luckiest guy alive.

Chun-Li's mirrored that in thinking of him. She knew all this would be a challenge but wow, if it wasn't starting off well. The brown haired woman knew Ryu would try his best to make everything between them work because that was just his personality. But to ask her out? Get dressed up for it? And even pay? She felt like she hit the lottery.

They sat down at the restaurant, finding it to be a typical nice date spot. There were different fixtures of gold lions, the lighting was soft, and there was piano music playing quietly in the whole restaurant. With such ambience, Chun-Li just took a long, loving stare at Ryu. And where, once, he would find that uncomfortable… he had never known of a more welcome sight. Those brown eyes of this strong, powerful woman… and she was staring at him like this. He couldn't describe the feeling but he wanted it, the look in her eyes for him, and her… for the rest of his life.

The dinner went off without a hitch. They made small talk and ate and were a genuine couple. Everything was going well, something that Ryu was very grateful for. The last thing he wanted to do was screw up or doing something horribly embarrassing.

Of course… things can only go so right…

Deciding to go walking for a bit, Ryu and Chun-Li both started to get up from their table. Just as he pushed his chair out, Ryu's chair leg accidently crossed the path of a waiter… who just happened to be carrying a tray of wine glasses for another table. The chair entered the waiter's path at the right moment to catch his leg, knocking him over and sending his whole platter of drinks crashing to the ground.

After Ryu saw the damage he caused, he closed his eyes and rubbed his hand over his face. 'Why…' he thought. He opened his eyes to see everyone staring at him. He couldn't bear to look over at Chun-Li, who instantly knew how bad he must've felt.

He lowered his hand, "Umm…" He looked at all of the patrons in the restaurant. He hesitated for a second, "…sorry…"

Present day.

Guile sat with his mouth agape, holding his fork and knife in his hands. Setting his eating utensils down on his place, he blinked a couple of times to get his bearings back. This story was too great. "Tell me you're joking."

Ken chuckled, "If I'm lying, I'm dying."

"He actually…"

"Yep."

After pausing for a minute, Guile burst into laughter. Ken almost forgot how funny this story was until Guile started laughing, so he joined in. It was so loud that a lot of the patrons of the restaurant started staring at the fighters' table. Neither man cared. This was too funny not to have an all-out laugh at.

"Oh," Guile breathed out. "Poor Ryu! Dang! Guy can't catch a break!"

"But wait!" Ken smiled bigger. "It gets better!"

"Oh, I was HOPING it would!"

Three months ago.

Ryu and Chun-Li had just left the Golden Lion. Ryu had his hands in his pockets while Chun-Li was holding to his arm. Ryu was wearing forlorn look on his face and had his head bowed while Chun-Li was smiling.

"Cheer up, Ryu!" Chun-Li rubbed his arm. "I told you it's fine!"

"I'm just… really sorry!"

"Stop worrying. It was an accident! Those things happen. I didn't mind paying for that."

Ryu groaned. "That made it worse! I was just trying to treat you to something nice." He sighed, "Even screwed that up…"

She saw how much this was bothering him. And it didn't surprise her one bit. He really wanted to make a good impression. That much was clear. He was doing everything to make this a good night for her. And that, alone, meant a lot to her. She knew could and would bring him out of this. "Really? Exactly how many girls have you gone out on dates with?"

That answer was simple for him. "None."

"How many have you even attempted… thought about asking out?"

"Besides you?"

She nodded.

"Well… none." He was a little confused about her line of questions. "But…?"

"And how many times have been in a nice restaurant?"

"Only a couple… but others paid then…"

"See?" She was hoping he was starting to relax. "I'm not holding any of this against you, Ryu. You're trying… which more than I can say for plenty of men I've dated." She thought about it, "Actually it's more than most women can say about a lot of men they've dated. Huh. Oh, well."

He sighed. He appreciated her being so understanding. But still… "I just wanted to do something right."

She stopped walking, causing him to stop, and stared at him. "You showing up at my house so we can even attempt to work on this…" She smiled, "…on us… counts as doing something right. More than something right."

He smiled. "Thanks."

She nodded. Suddenly, she tugged on his arm. "Come on, come on!"

"What?"

"Just come on! I want to show you something."

He chuckled, "Okay, okay! I'm coming."

Chun-Li brought Ryu went to a nearby park, standing on a small bridge, staring at the small river running underneath. The park was spacious and comfortable. Lots of fireflies lit up in the darker shadows of the trees and bushes. There were very few people out and it seemed like they had the park all to themselves.

"It's nice here…" Ryu pointed out.

"I like to think so…" Chun-Li agreed. "It's why I wanted you to see it. I used to come here and unwind and get my mind off of everything."

"I can see why…"

They were quiet for a long time, enjoying each other's company.

"Do you know the closest we've ever come to doing anything like this was when were looking for that guy who knew about Guerrilla?" Chun-Li asked.

"In London. Markway." Ryu smiled. "Yeah, I remember."

"I had to resist not leaning on you that whole time in the park."

He looked at her. "No reason for that now."

She smiled… then rested her head on his arm. He went back to looking at the body of water running beneath them. Chun-Li started to let her mind drift off; God, was this an amazing moment. Ryu was thinking so, as well.

Slowly, however, for some reason, she started to think about all Ryu was doing for her. All of it… was just for her. And, honestly, it worried her. Maybe… maybe he was doing all this for her… and not for him. It bothered her. On a small lever, it scared her. She had to know.

"Ryu…" she asked.

"Hmm?" he replied.

"Do you…" she paused, "feel obligated… to stay here… because of… me admitting how I feel?"

He looked down at her. "Not at all. I'm here… because I want to be."

She smiled. That was enough right there.

He looked back at the small river. "I've traveled, fought, learned… but… even with all that… it always felt like there was something in my life… that was missing. Funny thing was… it always felt like it was close but I could never put my finger on it." He smirked, "But when you called me and the whole Neo-Shadaloo problem started… I thought I was missing the adventure and the fun and the challenge…" He looked back at her. "Until that night in Tokyo…"

She smiled. She remembered it well. It was one thing that, despite everything, she was very relieved… and grateful, happened.

"When you admitted to me… how you felt… it was like… it was like everything made sense… that's what I've been missing… you are what I've been missing…"

He stood up straight and looked her in the eyes.

"…I don't want to miss it anymore…"

"I feel… the same… way…"

They kissed. Chun-Li couldn't have come with a more perfect resolution to her dilemma if she had written out herself.

A scream echoed through the park, somewhere nearby the couple. They broke off the kiss to see a young girl, in her mid-twenties, running for her life. She approached them, collapsing at their feet on the bridge.

"Help me! Help me, please!" she frantically screamed.

Both fighters looked up to see group of seven men wearing leather jackets running after the girl. They stopped just short of the bridge.

One of the gang members stepped forward. "Look, you two…" He pointed at Ryu and Chun-Li, "…get lost. That girl is our property."

That statement made both of them perk up.

"Property, huh?" Chun-Li asked. She stepped away from her boyfriend and walked to the edge of the bridge, creating a barrier between the gang and the girl while Ryu walked right behind her, forming second barrier for the girl. "Last I checked… slavery was illegal."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" The gang member walked to put his hand on Chun-Li, "Just get out…" he put his hand on her shoulder.

Physical contact.

Any movement made now was self-defense.

That was all the invitation Chun-Li needed.

She grabbed his wrist, spun underneath his harm, and, with her palm, broke the man's forearm in one easy blow.

He screamed out loud as fell over, clutch his shattered ligament. The other thugs ran up to her but Ryu jumped directly over head and nailed three of them with a split kick before punching another then kicking the next in the chin. He landed and performed a sweep kick to the last thug, taking out his legs from underneath him. He got back to his feet and readied for the hooligans to get back up. Two of them did and immediately ran away. One of the guys Ryu split kicked drew a knife but Chun-Li grabbed his arm and kicked him so hard in the chest it took all of the wind out of him and made him feel paralyzed. He fell over and just clutched at his chest, crying… with actual tears.

The young girl was amazed at what she just witnessed.

Chun-Li walked over to the man's arm she broke and stepped on his chest, grinding her heel in his chest. "Now, listen here…"

The man wanted to scream… but he imagined it best not to talk right now… no matter how much it hurt.

"I was enjoying a perfectly beautiful moment with my boyfriend when you and your goons interrupted. Now, first, you're going to apologize to this girl, then to us, then you're going to turn yourself into the police." She pressed harder for an instant. "Apologize!"

He cried out, "I'm sorry! I'm SORRY! I AM SO SORRY!"

"Good boy." She removed her foot, "Now, run along and go to the police. And if you don't… I will know. And I will, I swear… find you."

As he got up and ran away, clutching his arm, Ryu and Chun-Li looked at the girl.

"Come on, sweetie," Chun-Li said to her. "Let's get you to the police station so you can tell them what they did."

The girl nodded, "Sure, Miss. Whatever… whatever you say…"

After escorting the girl to the police station, the couple headed home. After getting back, they found Mei asleep on the couch with Ms. Yu asleep in the easy chair, with her feet up. Ryu walked over and put blankets on both ladies. The couple went into the kitchen and Chun-Li grabbed Ryu and pulled him into a deep kiss. The kiss said a lot: gratitude, appreciation, love. And, neither of them could enough of these.

After the kiss, Ryu caressed his girlfriend's cheek, "Sorry tonight didn't go as planned."

She smiled. "I'm not. Life with you… just adds a little more excitement. Well, a lot more. After all… that was most fun first date I've had in forever." She thought about it. "That was the most fun date I've had, period."

He smiled. "Think you might want to go on a second one?"

"Just a second one? Oh, you don't get off that easy." She then said, lovingly, "You're taking me… on a lot of dates…"

"I can do that…" he whispered back.

They kissed again.

Present day.

"So, yeah, there ya have it!" Ken said, spreading then lowering his arms for effect.

Guile chucked. "Wow. Just… wow. Hey, what happened with those guys? The ones from the park."

"Oh, they all got locked up. Turns out they were part of a gang. Chun-Li helped the police track down the rest of them a couple of days later and she and Ryu paid them a quick visit. You would not believe the looks on their faces after they were arrested."

Guile set his fork down on his plate, having finished his meal. "Yeah." He chuckled. The whole story was too priceless for words. And it could only happen to them. "Ya know? I'd've been surprised if a date with those two didn't end with a fight of some kind."

"Same here."

The captain sat back and folded his arms. "You do know, of course, that this between those two changes everything."

The blonde fighter scoffed. "Duh! I heard a rumor that Sakura is trying to move to China so Ryu can train her."

The soldier chuckled again. "Oh, to be a fly on that wall." A thought occurred to him, "What's Ryu gonna do for income now? Still fight?"

"Oh, he's gonna fight…" Ken smiled, slyly, "…training the local police in the area."

Guile's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Oh. That is smart."

"Chun-Li's idea."

"I can bet." He shook head and started moving out of the booth. He stood up, "Thanks for keeping me up to date, Ken. For the update, lunch is on me." He left money on the table.

"Thanks."

He nodded. "Just let me know when the wedding is."

Ken laughed. "You're calling it, too?"

"What do you mean 'too'?"

"I called a few other people, with Cammy's help, and let them know about this. I just wanted to see the level of disbelief. Anyway, we… kinda set some stakes. Me, Cammy, Dee Jay, Honda, even Sagat have a running pool going."

"For how much?"

"500 big ones. We're all pitching in a hundred each."

"The bet?"

"How long it will take for them to get married. Sagat says never. If they go longer than three years without getting hitched, he wins."

Guile chuckled. "What's your bet?"

Ken smiled. "I got it pegged at a year."

The soldier thought that time frame over for a second, taking into consideration Ryu and Chun-Li. Guile smiled. "I'm good with that. Tell everyone I'm in for a hundred."

Ken gave him a thumbs up. "You got it."

Guile nodded, "See ya later, Ken."

"Adios, Cap," Ken waved.

Both men parted company and wondered if they would see other next in a social setting, in a fight of some kind… or Ryu and Chun-Li's wedding.

…with the last event having the potential, and high probability, to be both.

Well, well? What'd you guys think?! Come on, TELL ME! TELL ME! TELL ME!

...

Sorry. lol. Anyway, I'm not done with this universe. Not by a long shot. Be on the lookout for the rest next year!

It'll be worth the wait!

I promise. ;)

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