It had been a long day for the twenty-one year old Japanese fighter, whose daily routine usually consisted of walking, fighting, and resting anyway. Ryu Hoshi re-tightened his long white headband, closed his tired brown eyes, and rested his head against the side of a broken brick wall, letting his thoughts fly.

Lately, he'd been getting tired of fighting. All day and night, that was all he ever did. But why did he suddenly feel this way? Wasn't this life dedicated to the fight? Ryu smiled to himself and opened his eyes, glancing at his surroundings. Calm and elegant in its rustic sense, the Chinese countryside of wet rice paddies and native villagers going about doing their deeds made Ryu want to call it home. Since Sensei Gouken died, Ryu hadn't returned to Japan in what seemed like ages.

Ryu loved China. The country was steeped in rich cultural history and was beautiful because of that. Only two weeks ago, Ryu had walked across the long stone dragon known as the 'Great Wall' and had made friends with several Chinese children. He had yet to master their several dialects.

Cantonese. Mandarin. Shanghainese. The young warrior shook his head and smiled again. Right now, the only dialect he knew best was the common one -- Mandarin. And he knew who to thank for that...

A beautiful, willowy warrioress known by the name of Chun-li. Beautiful Spring. The name fit her appropriately. She was stunning the first time Ryu laid eyes on her before his record-breaking fight with the Thai warrior, Sagat. He still remembered the first time he saw her, standing only a few feet away from where he was...

"Hey, Ryu," Ken said, jabbing him playfully with his elbow. "Looks like you've got the old tiger Sagat to fight next, huh? Good luck, man...he's one tough one, I heard."

"He's an equal. We'll fight equal. As for a challenge, that's what I seek, isn't it, Ken?"

"Yeah yeah yeah," Ken replied, waving his hand as if to bat off Ryu's remark. "You've always been this way, too, if I'm not wrong."

Ignoring his best friend's comment, Ryu turned his attention to the other street fighters. At one corner of the Tokyo stadium stood a man dressed in an orange ninja-like outfit, with his family name written on it in white. Ryu smiled and waved over to him; the young man waved back. *Guy...I haven't seen him in ages.* Then, sitting in the last row of seats away from the ring were a couple of men and girls. A strange general in a flowing red cape with a military cap, a slender Spaniard with a gleaming steel three-claw similar to the one Fei-long often practiced with, a blond pig-tailed girl with a tight green bodysuit, and a young Japanese girl with a white bandanna similar to Ryu's own. Ryu rolled his eyes. *Sakura...must she follow me everywhere I go?* As Ryu continued scanning the stadium for new and older fighters, his eyes suddenly skipped -- and went back to a reclusive girl hidden near the shadows. He focused his eyes and was floored by what he saw.

She was beautiful -- a girl hidden within the whispery veils of a dream. A face, perfectly oval, with dark, doe-like amber eyes, a finely-tipped nose, and sweet red lips that were small and fine. Her hair, it appeared, was firmly bound into two braided buns. Yellow ribbons streamed down from them and floated near her face. As for her attire, she was clothed in a tight, body-fitting blue outfit, with yellow lines streaming down the side. Sneakers with similar matching blue-and-yellow motifs graced her feet, which Ryu noted were small.

As he observed her many small and perfect features, suddenly he realized that she was looking at him, too. Those beautiful dark eyes were fixed directly on him, while a smile graced that flawless face.

Ryu had never loved girls before in the tumultous nineteen years of his life, but this time, he felt what could only be called 'love at first sight.' He couldn't take his eyes off of her. Something about her...that beauty...that grace...those eyes...they made him forget about the fight ahead and focus completely on something else.

That is...until the announcer pronounced the next fight ahead. "RYU HOSHI OF JAPAN VERSUS SAGAT OF THAILAND! WILL BOTH OPPONENTS PLEASE STEP INTO THE RING?"

Startled out of his reverie, Ryu jerked involuntary and turned around to face Ken, who was grinning at him in a strange way. "Huh...found a lady love, Ryu? Man, you surprise me every time..."

Sucker-punching Ken, Ryu shoved through the tight pack of crowds and made his way towards the ring, where the most fateful fight of his life started his expansive street-fighting career...

After the fight, Ryu was busily towelling himself off in the locker room, getting rid of the blood and the sweat when suddenly, he felt another's presence nearby. Turning around, he nearly staggered back in surprise.

It was the girl he saw earlier. The one he considered beautiful beyond anything he had ever seen in his life.

"Um...uh..." he swallowed hard, then placed the towel down on the bench next to him. "Hi."

"Hello. So, you're Ryu Hoshi, huh?"

"You heard my name when the announcer called it, right?" he asked, puzzled about why the girl was in the *men's* locker room, and why she was talking to him.

"Yes. I saw you looking at me."

Blushing, Ryu placed his hand behind his head. "Um...sorry. It's just that...you caught me off guard, that's all."

"It's OK," she said, laying a delicate hand on his arm. "You don't have to be embarrassed about that. I was looking at you too, you know. You're quite handsome...handsomer than that American friend of yours. I think his name was Ken Masters, right?"

"Yeah...his name's Ken. What's yours?"

"Chun-li. Means 'Beautiful Spring' in Chinese. What does yours mean?"

"I think it can either mean 'Dragon' or 'Noble One.' I don't know -- I don't focus on those things half of the time. The fight is all that matters to me."

"It was a sound victory, but I pity that poor man. He'll bear that scar for the rest of his life."

Ryu bowed his head, slightly ashamed. "I know. I didn't want to use the 'Shoryuken', but I had no choice. If I didn't, he would've killed me and I didn't want to die yet." He sighed, then looked away. "He'll probably hate me for the rest of his life."

"Don't let that get you down, Ryu. You're not like most warriors I've seen and there's something that I like about you. How about coming over to my place for dinner? You must be hungry."

"Starving."

Chun-li smiled, her face glowing with joy. "OK...I'll see you at the pinball arcade on the Ginza shopping strip at eight. You know where that is, right?"

Ryu nodded.

"OK! See you later, Ryu!" Chun-li waved, then turned around gracefully, and left. Ryu could only stare after her, his mind still seeing the celestial form of her being in the air. It was the first time love hit, and it struck him in the heart hard. It was stronger than Sagat's punch.

A few months later, and they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Two years swiftly went past without either of them noticing.

Then, two months ago, after another round of fights that he'd been competing in in the city of Beijing, Ryu received a letter from Chun-li. After about an year of their steadily-improving relationship, Chun-li had gone back to her native village to tend to her sick mother, while he continued pressing forward for new opponents and better challenges. The letter was a breather for him.

"Dear Ryu," it read, "right now, my mother is getting better, but I'm getting lonely here in 'Luchuang' and some of the village youths are talking about marrying me, which both of us know won't happen. If you happen to have time, can you please go to Guangzhou and find me here in 'Luchuang.' I really want to see you and I miss you dearly. Love, your sweetheart, Chun-li." The letter was signed with her signature in Chinese.

Holding the letter close to him, Ryu closed his eyes and imagined her. Finally, after all this time -- he could see her again. That night, he packed his stuff and left Beijing, promising to himself and Chun-li that he'll make it there, safe and sound.

To be without her sometimes was heartbreaking.

The sound of a lowing water buffalo jerked Ryu out of his musing. He looked up into the wizened face of an old Chinese farmer, who in turn scrutinized him. "Ah, erzi, ni zai gan shenmo? [Hey, sonny, what are you doing?]"

"Mei you shenmo, lao shengshen. Wo hai hao...ni ne? [Nothing, old man *respectfully*. I'm fine...how about you?]

*Hmmm...that was pretty good Chinese I said just then. Being in China for some time does help after all.* Ryu couldn't help but smile at the next thought that popped into his head. *Then again, being near Chun-li helps too.*

The Chinese farmer looked at him oddly, then began laughing. "Riben ren hui shuo Zhongwen, ah? Hen negan de nanhai, ma! [A Japanese can speak Chinese? A very special boy, then!] Ryu understood that as well, but didn't see any significance in the old man's saying. Standing up, he looked over the farmer's water buffalo, who stared at him with its yellow eye. Laying a hand on its firm and watertight hide, Ryu stroked the animal's flea-bitten back. "Tell me, old man," he continued saying in Chinese, "do you know of a village in Guangzhou? My friend lives there and she invited me to come over."

"Ah yes! The one called 'Luchuang?'"

"Shi de! [Yes!]" Ryu said quickly, excited. "Ni ke bu keyi gaoshu wo zhenmo dao nali? [Can you tell me how to get there?]" "Hao ah! [OK!]" The old farmer pointed down the long dusty road that Ryu had been traveling on since morning, his finger crooked in the general direction. "Ni zhi zou...zou dao e ge huoche zhan. Ni zuo huoche, zuo dao Guangzhou. Ni keyi wen bie ren zhenmo zou dao ni de pongyoung de jia. Hao ma? [You go straight...until you arrive at a train station. You ride the train to Guangzhou. Then, you can ask around to see how to get to your friend's place. Is that good enough?]"

"Hao, lao shengshen! Xie xie! [Very good, old man! Thank you!]" Ryu replied back, grabbing the farmer's hand and shaking it up and down in gratitude. "Xie xie, xie xie! Ni bang wo hendou mang! [Thank you, thank you! You've helped me a lot!]"

"Ah...meiyou wenti, erzi. Ni shi e ge shaoshun de haizi, ni zhidao ma? [Ah...no problem, sonny. You are a very respectful and polite boy, you know that?]" The old man smiled, for it wasn't every day that one met such a clean-cut and soft-spoken youth with the manners of a gentleman. Especially a Japanese youth who seemed to have mastered Mandarin Chinese pretty well. Bowing in respect, Ryu picked up his old, weather-beaten white duffel bag, slung it over his shoulder, and went on his way. The dirt road powdered his bare feet beige as he continued on his long journey to get to his final destination.

*Chun-li...it's nice to be able to see you again.* he thought as he wiped his forehead clean of sweat and trudged on.