It's the Hardest Thing I'll Ever Have to Do (Part 2)
by Ring-chan

---It痴 the hardest thing I値l ever have to do... to look you in the eye and tell you I don稚 love you.---
The song lyrics combined with the deep, doleful expression of Ryu痴 eyes finally drove the thought home. The realization hit her
like a ton of bricks, crushing her heart in the painful fraction of a second.
"You..." she stood utter dumbstruck. "You池e saying..."
That痴 why he痴 been acting weird all night. He was getting ready to dump her?
"Ryu, is this really what you mean?"
His mouth went dry again, opening only to let out a silent statement that she would never hear.
Chun Li choked back a sob, as she stumbled back away from his embrace. After staring at him with an utter horrified
expression, she turned and ran away through the crowded dance floor.
"No! Chun Li wait!"
She didn稚. She ran.
Doing his best to tread through the dense crowd of dancers around him, Ryu wove through the throng to follow her.
"Chun Li, please..."
He saw her form disappear through a set of double iron doors that was the exit. He quickly followed and stepped outside.
A cool gust of the autumn wind greeted him from the outside. The night had settled in and the warmth of the sun long since
disappeared.
There, he saw, under the luminescent glow of a flickering street lamp, Chun Li huddled against the pole with her back to him.
She was shaking, her whole body, most prominently her shoulders, rising and falling at sporadic and erratic intervals as the wind
whipped around her with an icy fervor.
Ryu slowly approached. He took off his jacket and prepared to wrap it around her shoulders. Only when he reached a
imminent distance could he tell that she wasn稚 shaking because she was cold.
She was crying.
Not knowing what else to do, he placed his jacket around her carefully.
She didn稚 respond, but just continued sobbing with her back to him, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge his presence.
Ryu saw all that was his world crumbling and felt his heart break. He wanted to take it all back, to say he痴 sorry, and kiss her
all better.
But he couldn稚.
From inside the dance club, the soft words of the song came drifting out to meet his ears.
---It痴 the hardest thing I値l ever have to lie. To show no emotion when you start to cry.---
"Chun Li, please don稚..." Ryu started but couldn稚 find it in him to continue.
---It痴 the hardest thing I値l ever have to do... pretend that I don稚 love you...---
Why was this so hard?
"I知 sorry Chun Li..."
"Is that all you have to say to me?" The sound of her voice surprised Ryu. The gentleness that he so cherished was absent in
Chun Li痴 tone and in its place was the hostile edge which he had only heard from her during her time in the tournament.
Perhaps this was a battle to her. Perhaps it was an emotional trial more difficult than any physical altercation could ever hope to
surmount to.
"I really didn稚 mean for it to..."
"No, no, don稚 say anything. I should have seen it coming with the way you were acting." Chun Li wiped away her tears and
turned around to face him. "It痴 my fault for being foolish enough to care about you Ryu Hoshi."
Nothing short of a knife stab in the heart could have equated with what Ryu felt when he heard that.
"I知 sorry." That was the best he could manage.
"Just tell me when you realized that you didn稚 want me anymore. What exactly was it that went wrong?"
"I..." Ryu felt a total blank in his head... He couldn稚 answer because deep down he knew that nothing went wrong. It was just
his duty as a warrior that has so intrusively wedged itself between them. Everything was so right...
"Was it me, Ryu? Something I did? Something I said?"
He couldn稚 answer. Ryu just stood there staring into Chun Li痴 red, teary eyes while she clutched at the jacket over her
shoulders. He desperately resisted the urge to embrace her and kiss those tears away, one by one.
---Can稚 let you see what you mean to me. When my hands are tied and my heart痴 not free.---
But he had to leave. It was not a decision he had so casually decided on by his own will. It was out of his duty as a warrior, a
pupil, and a son.
---We池e not meant to be...---
"Chun Li, I知 leaving tonight on the Shen Jiang ferry."
"What??" Chun Li痴 eyes widened again. "And you池e just now telling me this?"
"I didn稚 want to give you the time to get all upset..." It was the truth, plus he didn稚 want to give himself the time or the chance
to change his mind.
It was better this way.
Chun Li glared at him for a moment with steely, ice cold eyes. "Well, thank you for your consideration, Ryu."
"Chun Li..."
She turned her back to him again, not wanting to further reveal how hurt she was, and not wishing to expose her vulnerable
state.
"Just go, Ryu. You have a boat to catch."
"Chun..."
"JUST GO!" She yelled suddenly. The cry echoed through the dark alleys and reverberated back to Ryu痴 ears with each
stinging repetition.
For what seemed like an eternity, Ryu stood in the shadows and took in the image of her for the final time.
Oh God, it hurt to let her go.
He wanted to say goodbye found no voice inside him.
Finally he turned on his heels and walked off into the dimly lit streets of the night.
He fought and resisted the desire to turn around for one last glimpse at her. If Ryu had turned around, he would have seen
Chun Li sobbing, heartbroken, into the fabric of his jacket, which was still draped around her shoulders.

As Ryu walked away, the music still echoed inside hollow void that was his heart now.
---We will meet again. Fate has a place and time.---
"I値l be back Chun Li. When I avenge Master痴 death I値l be back," he promised aloud to the empty air before him.
---So you can get on with your life. I致e got to be cruel to be kind.---
Suddenly, the reality of he had just done hit him with such staggering force that his head grew dizzy and he slowed himself to
steady his steps.
"What did... oh no..."
---舛ause there can be no happy ending...---
"Chun Li... If I don稚 succeed... go on with life. Don稚 wait for me..."
---舛ause she痴 been good to me and she deserves better than that.---
Ryu walked along the nearly deserted street, then flagged down a passing taxi cab.
"The East Towers apartments on Manchuria Boulevard," he quickly told the driver after getting in.
This was it. He just needed to grab his packed bags from his apartment, and then he値l be putting this life behind him...
Ryu leaned back in the rear seat of the cab.
"Goodbye Chun Li. I love you," Ryu whispered.
Yet Chun Li was neither intended nor destined to hear those words.
---It痴 the hardest thing I値l ever have to do. To turn around and walk away, pretend that I don稚 love you...---