"Come back you bastered! You won't get away with this! Give it up! Come back!" She yelled after the sinister man. But he only laughed as the angry tears ran from her eyes.
"You'll never win me. But I'll be back, just so long as you'll amuse me then as you have now. Just like your father."
The sound of her fathers' name rolling off of his tongue sent evil chills up her spine that made her physically ill. Feeling the need to vomit, she threw herself to the ground and swore at herself.
"Father," she gasped in between slow breaths, "I have failed you again. Forgive me." she murmured as she lay herself down to meet him again.
Terrified, the young Chinese girl rolled out of bed and onto the floor. She wiped the pool of sweat from her face as she looked around in horror. Slowly, she stood up to begin her research again, now more determined than ever.
"Hello?"
"Yes, Chun Li? This is your boss, Mr.Watanabe. Where have you been? I've been trying to contact you ever since 7 o'clock this morning. Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Don't worry." She replied sleepily as she scratched her head.
"Look, I'm claiming responsibility for you. Its the order your father asked me to carry out before he died."
"I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. "Chun Li pointed out, rolling her eyes.
"I saw that." The boss snapped. "Now, getting to buisness. Is there any new buisness?"
Chun Li paused. She had forgotten all about the updates. And her nightmares made it virtually impossible to keep up with Bison's swift movements. It was as though he had poisoned her mind with these thoughts of 'failure'. Mr.Watanabe sighed in dissaproval.
"I'll take that as a no. Listen, you sound tired. Why don't you take a brake for a while. I can get you a fill-in."
"Uhh, yeah...sure." Chun Li mumbled, not really paying attention. And then he hung up.
'Sleep.' She thought. 'Remind me what that is again?'
As litle as three hours have passed and Chun Li was already on the ground, pounding and yelling in her sleep. She was so entranced in her subconcious state, that she didn't even notice the arrival of an old man.
Softly, he opened the door, and walked in. Like a caring grandfather, the man gently awakened the shaking child.
Chun Li jumped at the touch. Her eyes widened as the tears and sweat overwhelmed her face. When her breathing was normal, she faced the old man, who only stared back at her.
"When did you get here?" Chun Li asked surprised. It has been a while since she had seen her sensei last. She was just too wrapped up in her 'other' life. There was just no time left.
"I just arrived." He said smiling wryly.
"Funny, I didn't hear you."
"You were too busy fighting your dreams." He said with a stoical tone. Chun Li was unsure of how to respond. She squirmed uneasily under his stern gaze. He was just about to say something when two roaring laughters were heard at the door. The two turned their heads to look.
To the old man's disliking, his two grandson's had just strolled in. They never knew any manners. Chun Li just watched as two long brainds on wheels whipped past her view.
"Hey Grandpa Gen!" One shouted. "I thought you were going to take us to Japan today?"
"Tommorrow morning, I said."
"I forgot. Old people need more rest than we do, right brother?"
"Hold your tongue boy!" Master Gen demanded. He looked to Chun Li and whispered, "Thank goodness you were never like that."
"Who are they?" She asked.
"You remember your cousins', right?"
"These are them? Wow, I hardly recognized them. They're so big now!"
"Thank you." The boys said in unison.
"Boys, why don't you go out for a while? Chun Li and I have some important things to talk about."
"Do we have to? We just got here!"
"Please?" Chun Li asked kindly once.
"Ok." And they left.
Gen shut his eyes a little and struggled to remember what he wanted to say to Chun Li. But by then she had already slipped into the kitchen to boil water for some tea. The old man inched toward the table, still searching his thoughts.
Chun Li swiftly plucked a few leaves from a bag of herbs and began to dice them into fine peices. The chopping sound hammered into Gen's head until he found himself burried into an even deeper loss of memory. Chun Li could visualize Gen pulling out a chair and silently seating himself beside her.
She knew the affect that the drillling had on the old man. And secretly, she already knew what he had come to tell her. But she was afraid to hear it. Was that why she was stalling?
Chun Li could curse herself for putting him through this agony because of her own personal needs. But for some chilling reason, she wouldn't.
"Chun Li," Gen started in a raspy voice. "We should talk. A long distance has passed since we've last known each other."
Chun Li turned her back toward him and feigned interest in the kettle. "Oh?"
Gen could sense that she was uncomfortable and quite offended by the remark. But he continued, "Yes." And now he felt uncomfortable in his incompleteness.
"Not much to know," she dryly stated, "same ol' same ol."
Gen gave a long sigh and admitted, "But things aren't the same. Things-"
"Things will never be the same again," she snapped and rudely shoved a cup of tea in front of him, "Here."
Gen disreguarded the distasteful act and tried to continue with as much respect he could muster for this young woman. "What I'm saying is, don't abandon the old ways. Stay true to yourself and the rest will fall through." Gen stood up and waited for her eyes to meet his, and then he left the room.
Anyone who once knew her could tell that a frost had coated over her voice, a ghostly paleness had taken her complexion, and her once sparkling eyes had dried into deep white deserts.
But that wasn't the heart-wrencher of her life. The true demons lied within a space in herself that no one else saw. The nightmares that only came to her revisited both night and day. And the murder scenes she constantly relived were torturous. And now, not even her own mind was hers.
Chun Li found herself once again at the doors of the gym. She blindly walked in her familiar sanctuary and found a place to set her gym bag. She tied her wrists with strips of stiff material and slipped the rough gloves that Ryu had given her over them. She stared at the red gloves and wiggled her fingers in them; subconciously she gave a small smile.
