Chapter 7

Ryu slowly got up from his lotus stance. “Getting pretty late. Need to keep my strength up if I want to keep up with Fei-Long tomorrow.” Suddenly, a light rapping came from the door. Ryu looked at it, curious about who’d be visiting him at this late hour. “Come in.”

The door creaked open and Chun Li stepped into the room. “Ryu, can I talk to you?”

Ryu nodded and waved her further into the room. “What is it?”

Chun Li sat down on Ryu’s bed and looked at him with nervous eyes. “You don’t know Fei-Long like I do. When things don’t go the way he plans to, he takes it very personal. Even as I speak, he his outside, training. He will do it till he nearly collapses and still press on.”

Ryu nodded, concern clearly seen in his eyes. “But what does this have to do with me?”

“Don’t you get it?! It’s because of you. You’re so content on sticking with tradition you’re hardly making any real progress and Fei-Long thinks something’s wrong with him and he will train all of tonight, thinking there is something wrong with him. But there isn’t. You’re just being too stubborn to change. I don’t want to see him suffer because of you.”

        Ryu stared at her, dumb folded. In truth, he never thought much of how Fei-Long would handle him. ‘He needs to not take everything so personal.’ “Chun Li, I’m sorry about Fei-Long and all. I’ll try to be more open-minded on what he has to say. But don’t think I’m not learning anything. It’s just… I’ve just gotten too attached to my teacher’s art I guess. I felt that when he died, it couldn’t be changed.”

        Chun Li shook her head. “Just because the person who made the art dies, doesn’t mean the art can’t change. Ryu, I’m sure Gouken wanted you to be the successor of his art, but he didn’t want you to just leave it as it was. It’s supposed to grow, like you are. And don’t think Fei-Long is the only teacher. Try to share your experiences with him. He still needs to grow too.”

        Ryu nodded and gave her a quick smile. “Okay. I’ll see you in the morning.”
        Ryu watched Chun Li as she left the room and closed the door behind her. He immediately heard her talking to Fei-Long, who he had sensed behind the door, but didn’t bother to warn Chun Li about. Thinking nothing of it, Ryu turned out the light.


        Chun Li shut the door to Ryu’s room and breathed a sigh of relief. “I hope that worked.”

        “I’m sure it did.”

        Chun Li hipped around and saw Fei-Long looking at her with a look of anger and betrayal in his eyes. “Siu… Siu Long.”

        “Don’t,” came his sharp reply. “I don’t know why you think I need your help, but I don’t. Ryu may be stubborn but I can over come that without you trying to play on his conscious. I came to ask you to spar but it looks like I have other problems.”

        “Fei-Long, I don’t want you to over exert yourself. You are good enough as-”

        “I AM NOT GOOD ENOUGH! IF I WAS, RYU WOULD BE LEARNING MORE THEN HE IS! ,” Fei-Long roared, storming down the hall into the living room, Chun Li following him.

        “Yes you are. What about all the tournaments you’ve won? All the street fights you partake in? Those fight scenes in your movies have been called the best, you choreographed them all.”

        “That doesn’t mean anything. It just shows I can fight and create fight scenes. If I can’t teach, share with the world my skill, I’m nothing. ‘Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for life.’”

        “Don’t expect so much from yourself. Ryu is your first student. Don’t expect so much from him. He just can’t understand yet.”

        “You don’t understand. I strive to be strong and if I have you for a crutch, I’ll become weak and teaching will become pointless.”

        Chun Li stood there, dumb folded. “You see me as a crutch. I’m your fiancée! But if you can only see me as a training partner and yell at me when I try to help, then may be I shouldn’t even be here,” Chun Li said, venom dripping on every word. This having been said, she left for the door.

        Fei-Long reached a hand to stop her, but he held it back and squeezed it into a fist. He stood there, silent even after she slammed the door behind her.


        Chun Li walked to her SUV and had opened the door when she heard a noise behind her. Turning around, she recognized it as Fei-Long’s voice, crying out in the same kiya that was unique to him alone. She saw the door to the house explode outward and in its place was the foot that kicked it. Fei-Long’s foot. He set the foot down and started to walk towards her slowly, in a threatening manner.

        Chun Li knew this was a challenge to a fight and she never was one to turn down a challenge. Shutting the door to the SUV, she made her way towards him. She knew this was to be a serious fight, one in which holding back was unadvisable and dangerous.

        They stopped a few feet apart. Ignoring formalities, they went straight into their stances and prepared to fight.

        Fei-Long made the first move. Sliding one his rear foot to where his lead was, he lifted his leg a swung it from left to right, striking with his sole. Chun Li peddled back ward and as it harmlessly swung by her head she moved in and fired a sidekick at Fei-Long’s leg. Since the foot was pointed backwards, she struck the back of it and the leg crumbled and Fei-Long went with it.

        Fei-Long immediately flipped back up and closed in on Chun Li. This time he fired a quick jab at her face. Being quicker then she was, the fist made contact. Fei-Long followed up with a cross in the same place. He then swung his other hand around in a tight hook that slammed into her check.

        Dazed but not down, Chun Li whipped her leg up in a crescent kick that cracked against Fei-Long’s temple. He lifted his head back up to only get with a crescent kick going in reverse.

        Becoming angry with the number of hits he had gained, Fei-Long fired a round house at his fiancée’s head, but Chun Li saw this and ducked under it and swept his feet out from under him with her legs. Flipping himself back up, Fei-Long launched a sidekick at Chun Li’s abdomen. She parried it downward and skipped up with her lead leg and hit him in the face with a front kick.

        Anger rising from the pit of his stomach, Fei-Long whipped the blood from his mouth as he got back to his feet. As he did, Chun Li fired a sidekick at his face. When it connected, she fired another one, this time to his thigh. And finally, she hit him in the stomach with another kick. Each one had her chi behind it and she channeled all her sorrow she ever felt over Fei-Long into them.

        Fei-Long fell to the ground with a thud, his mind unconscious. Chun Li breathed out a sigh and looked at her beloved with pity. She knew he wouldn’t take it easy. She was actually lucky he was fighting with his anger and not his skill, otherwise she may have lost.

        “Pretty good.”

        Chun Li turned around and saw Ryu standing in the doorway. She shook her head. “Don’t think I’m pleased. This is the last thing I wanted.” She looked back at Fei-Long “I can’t stay angry at him long, but I’m not coming back to him unless he looks at me with love in his eyes. I know we seem happy, but I always feel so empty. I feel he still sees me as a friend.” She turned back to the Japanese martial artist. “Take care of him. And try to see if you knocked some sense into his head. With your fists if you have to. Tell him I’m at Gen’s.”

        Ryu nodded. “I’ll try my best.” And then she was gone.


A/N: Nice cliffie, eh? This chap. is shorter then some of the others and I had some trouble with this one too. I like the way it turned out though; especially the fight between Fei-Long and Chun Li. Let me know what ya think. I’ll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible.

Let us all fall into the way of the Tao. Let us all celebrate February, the month I have deemed Bruce Lee Month!