It was the morning of Chun Li’s birthday party. Ryu and Cammy were in the kitchen of the Hong Kong Palace. The party wasn’t for another four hours, but they had plenty to do.

“I told everyone where the party will be,” Cammy said, decorating the cake.

Ryu was making sushi. He had made four rolls of cucumber wrapped with rice and seaweed. Now, he was wrapping raw salmon.

“Don’t you normally place a large slice of salmon on top of the rice to make that kind of sushi?” Cammy asked.

“Well…I decided that wrapping the fish with rice and seaweed will make more servings. How many people are coming?”

“Hmm…counting you, myself, the birthday girl…that’s about twenty-five people…primarily male…you men eat a lot of food…so I hope we’ve fixed enough.” She frowned after putting some flowers on the cake. “ ‘Happy Birthday, Chun Li’. That’s simple enough.”

“Hello?” a voice called through the restaurant.

Ryu wiped his hands. He left the kitchen and entered the main dining hall. Gen was standing in the middle of it, his hands folded together. Many chairs were set around the room, the tables pushed aside except for a long one where the food would be placed.

“Come in,” Ryu said. Cammy came out of the kitchen as well.

“I realize that I am early,” Gen began, “But I thought that you may need assistance in the kitchen.”

“Oh, could you help him?” Cammy asked. “I was helping…but I have to decorate.”

“It would be my pleasure to help.”

“Oh, wonderful!”

Ryu and Gen entered the kitchen and started cooking. Gen began to make some stir-fry.

“You look well,” Gen stated.

“Yes. I feel fine.”

“I would like to know what happened to you during your fight with Gill,” Gen said.

Ryu sighed. “I don’t think that-“

“You used Satsui no hado, did you not?”

Ryu stiffened. “Well…”

“Sometimes…to defeat evil, evil must be used.”

Ryu looked up, surprised.

“What matters now is that Gill is gone…and you are alive.”

Ryu nodded.

Several hours later, people began to show up. The food was ready, neatly arranged on the table. Beside the food were many plates, forks, chopsticks, and napkins. Cammy had decorated the dining hall with streamers. Chun Li arrived, and she looked around in wonder.

Cammy came up to her and hugged her. “Happy birthday! I know it’s a little early…but…”

“No, it’s okay. So what if my birthday isn’t until two days? I’ve never been able to celebrate it twice.”

“You look wonderful.”

Chun Li was wearing a purple Chinese-style dress with a slit up one side. Her hair formed two buns, one on each side of her head, tied with white ribbons.

Ryu walked up, dressed in the gray polo shirt and khaki pants that Cammy bought. Chun Li smiled at him.

“You look great,” Chun Li said.

“Thank you. So do you,” he responded.

“Ryu…thanks for this…I really don’t know how to thank you…”

“Don’t worry. This is my way of thanking you for everything you’ve done for me,” he said.

“Hey, everyone!” came a voice.

Everyone looked up and saw Fei Long at the door. Ryu walked up to him.

“Thank you for coming,” he said.

Fei Long studied him. “And who are you?”

Ryu looked taken aback. He almost forgot his new look. He chuckled. “Fei Long, it’s me.”

Fei Long narrowed his eyes. “We’ve met before?”

Ryu sighed, and dug into his pocket, finding his white bandana. He tied it around his head. Fei Long’s eyes lit up.

“Oh! Ryu! Hey, how’s it going? You look great.”

Right behind him was Dan, Blanka, and Edmond Honda…people Ryu met from the tournaments. Behind Honda’s right side popped out a girl with a long thin ponytail. Ryu recognized her as Ibuki. From Honda’s other side popped out a girl wearing a dress and a white bandana. It was Sakura. Honda was holding a large flower arrangement. Ryu thought it was in the shape of a swan.

“Glad you came,” Ryu said to everyone.

“Ryu-san,” Honda spoke up. “Where is Chun Li? I should give this to her.”

Ryu turned and saw Cammy and Chun Li across the room, talking to each other.

“What kind of food is there?” Dan asked.

“Many dishes. You can eat whatever you like,” Ryu said.

“We can keep coming back for seconds, right?” Ibuki asked.

Ryu nodded. Sakura moved to stand beside him. She had been his fan. Long ago, she searched for him in the tournaments so he could teach her the art of Shotokan. When she had found him, he politely declined her request, but she kept setting out to prove that she was worthy enough to be his student. She had always admired him. She even had a schoolgirl crush on him. Now, she was twenty-eight…older, more mature, and no longer a schoolgirl.

Sakura looked at him and said, “This is great. Everyone from the tournaments is here. Did Ken do this, too?”

Upon hearing of the birthday party, Ken had sent out several helicopters to pick up the many guests that were coming from the different parts of the globe. He made arrangements for them to be dropped off in Hong Kong, and picked up later after the party. That was a big advantage of Ken’s wealth.

“No. I did.”

Sakura looked up surprised. “You did? The food and everything?”

Ryu nodded. “I had some help from Cammy and Gen.”

“But the party was your idea.”

He nodded again.

Sakura looked at the floor. “Wow…I never would have guessed it.”

At that moment, Guy arrived with Rena, his fiancee, and Maki, his friend. Cody and Jessica were at their heels. Ryu bowed.

“Welcome.”

Guy smiled and looked around. “Excellent work. I was told by Ken that this was your idea.”

Ryu nodded. “Help yourself to some food.”

“Where do we put the gifts?” Cody asked.

Everyone had at least one package in hand. Ryu pointed to the corner where most gifts had been stacked.

The five walked to the mountain of gifts to put theirs away. Sakura followed them, and then she came back to Ryu’s side. Chun Li walked up to them.

“I didn’t expect so many people. This is fantastic!” she exclaimed.

Ryu smiled at her. “I hope you’re enjoying yourself.”

She nodded. “I don’t think I can thank you enough.”

“You don’t have to,” Ryu assured.

“Hi, Sakura,” Chun Li greeted. “Glad you could come.”

“Um…” the younger woman began. “Yeah…It was pretty easy…Ken having a helicopter pick me up and all…”

Chun Li smiled, wondering if she was still vying for Ryu’s affection. She hadn’t seen Sakura in years.

They heard someone clearing their throat. The three looked up, seeing a tall mountain of a man ducking his head to get in through the door. He wore normal clothes, and an eyepatch over his left eye.

“Sagat,” Ryu greeted, bowing.

Sagat followed the gesture. “You are looking well, Ryu. I have no doubt that you are much stronger as well…”

“We all grow each year…” Ryu said.

Sagat handed a dozen flowers of carnations and roses to Chun Li. “For the lady…”

She flushed with pleasure. “Oh…thank you…I’ll put these in water. Help yourself to some food.”

Sagat left to mingle while she went to put the flowers in a vase. When she got back, Ryu was greeting Karin Kanzaki, Sakura’s old rival.

“Glad you could come,” Ryu said.

Karin shrugged. “I had to pay my respects.”

“You knew I was going to be here, didn’t you?” Sakura demanded.

Karin smiled slyly. Sakura went off to get food. Karin went to put the gifts away.

“Some things never change,” Chun Li said.

“There’s my two best friends!” came a voice.

The two turned and saw Ken. He hugged Chun Li and patted Ryu on the back.

“How are you two?” Ken asked.

“We’re fine. It’s good to see you,” Chun Li answered.

Eliza, Ken’s wife, walked up with a blond boy holding her hand. Beside her was a dark-skinned young man.

“You two remember Eliza, Mel, and Sean.”

Eliza hugged Chun Li. “Happy birthday.”

“Good to see you,” Chun Li responded.

“Honey, Mel’s hungry, let’s get some food.”

Ken followed his wife to the table. Ryu patted Sean’s back.

“Feel free to look around,” he said.

The young man wandered off.

“Well, well…”came a voice.

Chun Li looked up and spotted Rolento. She put her hands on her hips.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded.

“Relax…I’m not here to fight. I came here for your birthday,” Rolento assured.

Chun Li looked at him suspiciously. Rolento took her hand and dropped a diamond tennis bracelet in it. She stared at it, then looked at him again.

“See? I come in peace, bearing gifts,” he stated. “Come on, men!” he called out to his troops behind him.

They all trotted past her to the food table. Ryu looked at her.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked.

Chun Li shrugged. “I’m willing to keep an open mind.”

“You realize that Rolento is here only because Guy and Cody are,” Ryu said. “I think Rolento is taunting them into a fight.”

“What makes you say that?” she asked.

Ryu pointed. Guy and Rolento were across the room, giving each other dirty looks.

After everyone ate, it was time for the gift opening. Chun Li received a picture of her old elementary and high school from Fei Long, a plush bear with a red ninja outfit from Guy, a gray dress from Rena, a shirt and shorts from Maki, a necklace from Cody, a red dress from Jessica, a black purse from Sakura, a silk scarf from Ibuki, a jade necklace from Gen, and a designer coat and hat from Karin. She began opening Dan’s gift. She pulled out a statue of her and Dan. In the statue, Dan was holding a pitcher of some liquid. Chun Li was bent over , her dress unzipped down to the small of her back, and she was tied with rope.

“What is this?” she demanded.

Dan quickly snatched it and plugged the strange gift into a socket. Once he did, the Dan statue bent over and poured a drop of the liquid on Chun Li’s bare back. The Chun Li statue gave out a moan of pain.

“See?” Dan pointed for everyone. “It’s hot wax. I’m torturing her! Heheh!”

Everyone was silent. Suddenly, Fei Long grabbed him by his shirtfront.

“What kind of gift is that?” he demanded, and kicked him out the door-literally.

Everyone heard Dan scream, “Oyagi!”

Fei Long threw the torture statue after him.

Ken sighed, shaking his head. He handed Chun Li a small box. “Here. This is our gift to you.”

Chun Li opened the box and found a set of car keys. She looked up at Ken. “What is this?”

Ken smiled. “Look outside.”

Everyone rushed outside. They spotted a gold-silver car parked right in front of the restaurant.

“Is that the one?” she asked.

Ken nodded.

Everyone oohed and aahed.

“Heads up!” came a teenage voice.

Suddenly, two young men started barreling towards them. One on a skateboard, the other on roller blades. Everyone ducked as they leaped over the crowd. Gen shook his head in disapproval. Chun Li reached up and yanked the skateboard from underneath one man and grabbed the leg of the other. The two young men abruptly fell to the ground, flat on their faces.

“Yun! Yang! What do you think you’re doing, just barging over my property like that?!” Chun Li scolded.

Yang rubbed his head. “We wanted to celebrate with you.”

Yun shot an accusing glance at Ryu. “Ryu invited Grandpa right in front of me! He ignored me. What if we wanted to come?”

“The only reason he did not invite you is because he knew that you two would behave this way!” Gen scolded, smacking them on the back of their heads.

“Ow!” Yun exclaimed.

“Apologize to the guests,” Gen instructed.

“Sorry,” the teens mumbled.

Gen looked at Chun Li. “It is your choice if you wish for them to stay.”

Chun Li nodded. “You two can stay. But please behave.”

Hours later, everyone had left. Cammy had left for Chun Li’s house, extremely tired. Ryu and Chun Li were at the restaurant, cleaning up.

“The party was my idea, so I can clean it up,” Ryu said for the fifth time.

Chun Li shook her head. “It’s okay. Besides, I have work tomorrow. This place needs to be clean.”

“I hope you had fun.”

“I did. I didn’t know that many people cared.”

Ryu smiled. “I suppose that is what reunions are for…to meet up with old friends…”

Chun Li nodded. They spent three hours cleaning up. By the time they got back to her house, it was four a.m. Chun Li got into bed and immediately fell asleep. Ryu had forgotten the gift at the house, so he was unable to give it to her at the party. He walked into her room and stopped abruptly, hearing her rhythmic breathing. Ryu set his gift on the floor by her bed and watched her sleep. Gently, so he would not stir her, he lifted her and pulled back the covers. He set her back down on the bed, tucking her in.

The next morning, Chun Li found the gift on the floor. She unwrapped it and moved the tissue aside. Her breath caught. Inside was a beautiful light blue kimono. Chun Li picked up the card. Inside, Ryu scrawled in English: ‘This is for you to wear if you ever visit me in Japan during festival time. Perhaps we can go together. Happy birthday, my friend. Ryu.’