A/N: TIME FOR A WEDDING! Oh, yes... it's here!

First of all, to those who have been faithful and dedicated to this series, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. I pray this lives up to your expectations. I worked really, really hard on it and I hope you all love it as much as I do!

Also, on a very personal note, at the time I'm posting this, it will be a week since one of my best friends and her now-husband got married. This story is dedicated to them.

Tiffany & Keith, congratulations.

Enjoy, everyone!

Hearts & Fists – The Wedding

Flipped over tables.

Destroyed tables.

Dents in the walls.

Shattered chairs.

Broken glasses and split drinks.

And a huge burn mark on the dance floor.

Ken, Guile, and Cammy sat on, probably, the only three unbroken chairs at one of the few standing tables in the ballroom of the Four Seasons in Los Angeles, looking at the destruction.

"Wow," Guile chuckled.

"You can say that again," Ken leaned forward.

"Wow," Cammy said.

They all took drink from their own respective beers. They looked back at the devastation of the ballroom. They couldn't believe how quickly the reception unraveled into this.

"How did that spiral out of control so fast?" Ken asked.

"Those two morons showed up!" Guile said with anger in his voice.

Ken chuckled quietly, "Oh, yeah."

Cammy shrugged. "Day started off well enough… despite how it ended."

Guile nodded, "Beautiful ceremony."

"And Chun-Li looked stunning in her dress."

Ken snickered, "And, can my boy wear a suit or what?"

Guile chuckled, "They both clean up good."

Sakura walked in next, carrying her heels from her bridesmaid's dress. She absolutely hated wearing heels. Give her sneakers any day of the week.

"Hey, kid, how'd it go?" Guile asked.

The young Japanese girl grabbed another chair and brought it to the table, turning it around and sitting sideways on it, leaning her arm on the back of the chair. "Fine. The police took Vega and Balrog away."

"How the freak did they even get in anyway?" Ken asked.

"They must've got a hold of an invitation somehow," Guile said. "Plus they are sneaky creeps."

The Hadou fighter shrugged. "Oh, well, 'least it's over."

"Where's the happy couple?" Sakura asked.

Ken chuckled, devilishly. "Probably upstairs, makin'…" He was struck by a coaster Cammy threw at him, hitting him in the head and shutting him up. "Ow!" Ken rubbed his head.

The Delta Red officer looked at Sakura, "They've retired for the evening, love."

Sakura nodded, "Oh."

After, collectively, letting out an exhausted sigh, they all sat in fatigued silence.

It had been quite the day.

8 Hours Ago.

A pure white, wedding dress. It was something from a fairy tale… even in the bridal magazine it seemed unreal.

But… here it was. On her.

There was no veil; her groom kept telling her she didn't need it. That was all the convincing she needed not to wear one. It cut off just at the top of cleavage line and, while not extremely form fitting, it didn't hide her figure, either; white, sheer, long gloves were attached to the dress, connected right at the top, along the side of the dress.

It was simple, it was elegant… it was gorgeous.

Chun-Li couldn't get over it. She was standing in front of a mirror… in a pure white wedding dress… about to marry Ryu.

Her bridal party left her alone for a few minutes so she could examine herself.

She couldn't believe she was standing there. She couldn't believe this was about to happen. And she couldn't believe it… that she was even happier than she ever dreamed she would be on this day.

For a good portion of her life, she swore she would never get married. Ever. She saw it as a shackle that kept women enslaved and bound to a man; she completely rejected the notion. She never saw any man as truly worthy of her, anyway.

That entire thought process changed when Ryu showed up on her porch after the Neo-Shadaloo incident. She laughed. Changed, nothing. She did a complete 180 degree turn.

Of course, she didn't see being married to Ryu as being enslaved… she saw it as being happy with the man she loved. She saw it as making a commitment to the only man she's ever been in love and having him around for the rest of her life. And she wanted nothing more.

She looked at herself in the mirror and did her best to not cry. It was really hard for her not to. She was so happy. And that's what she really couldn't believe: how so very happy she is. She had been smiling for the last week straight, leading up to the wedding.

She looked over at the clock.

It was almost time.

She couldn't wait.

Her new life was just minutes away… and it was already amazing.

She couldn't wait for the rest.

She smiled when she thought about the man who was about to be her husband. She wondered how Ryu was doing right now.

Ryu was a nervous wreck.

Which was a serious understatement.

He was pacing nervously as the time for the ceremony quickly approached. His suit jacket was slung over a chair, his tie lying on the jacket, and top three buttons on his shirt weren't fastened. He couldn't even put on his cuff links, he was so nervous. He wasn't sure if he was making the right choice. He wasn't even sure if he knew what he was doing. He started to pace faster. He was sweating, he was short of breath, his palms were clammy, and he swore the room was moving on its own.

'What in the world am I doing?' he thought. He pressed his hand to his forehead, seeing if he was feverish. 'Getting married? What was I thinking? What do I know about being a husband? And a father! A FATHER! Oh, crap! I'm gonna screw up! She's gonna hate me! I'm gonna ruin her life! What have I done? What have I done? What have I done?'

Ken walked in but stopped when he saw his best friend look like anyone else would if they had to fight Akuma. He closed the door and chuckled. "Yep. I knew it."

Ryu stopped and looked at his best friend, distress still all over his face, "Knew what?"

"That you'd be freaking out."

"I'm not freaking out," he said, almost on top of Ken's words.

"Uh… yeah, you are."

Ryu noticed his hands were shaking. His hands were actually shaking. When did that start? He balled up his fists and groaned. "Alright I am! But come on! Can you blame me?! I mean I have NO idea what I'm doing!"

Ken stared at Ryu in wonder. Was this the same Ryu who he had known since he was a kid?

"I mean… GETTING MARRIED?! What the hell do I know about it?! Me? A husband? A step-father?! Have I completely lost my mind?!"

Ken continued to marvel at the spectacle he was witnessing. It was definitely unprecedented. It was unthinkable. Near unimaginable.

It was the greatest thing he'd ever seen.

The blonde haired fighter slowly smiled. And, out of nowhere, just started laughing.

Ryu became irate. He started shaking with anger, "I'm panicking… having a panic ATTACK… and… you're… LAUGHING?!"

Ken let a few more laughs out. "Yes! Because this is the most awesome thing ever!"

Ryu looked at him greatly confused. "What are you talking about?!"

"Dude! You've taken down Bison, beat that Guerrilla guy a year ago, and you've gone toe-to-toe with Akuma and lived! BUT THIS! THIS MAKES ME YOU NEARLY PASS OUT!" Ken laughed as hard as he could, doubling over and grabbing his gut.

The Japanese fighter roared in frustration. "YOU ARE NO HELP!"

Stopping his laughter, Ken got his breath back, stood up straight, and just smirked. "Sure, I am. You just won't let me help you, yet."

Ryu groaned. He calmed down, taking deep breaths. He did need help getting through this. And Ken had been his support all through this whole process. He sat down. "Am I doing the right thing, Ken?"

"Well, well, well. Ryu… you're actually a normal man underneath it all."

"What's that mean?"

"Wedding day jitters. Every guy has 'em."

"But this bad?"

"Most guys? Worse."

"Did you have any when you married Liza?"

Ken chuckled, "Oh-ho, yeah!"

Ryu stopped. He looked around and looked back at his best friend. "That… actually makes me feel little better."

Ken smiled.

"You sure I'm not making a mistake?"

"Positive. Answer me one question and you'll know, too."

Ryu was unsure but he was desperate to get rid of these nerves. "Okay…"

"Can imagine the rest of your life without Chun-Li?"

It didn't take Ryu a full second to answer. "Not for an instant."

Ken put his hands forward in a presenting motion, "There ya go."

In just that instant, all of his stress was gone. Just like that. The Japan native smiled. He scoffed, "Not bad, Ken."

"It's why I'm the best man. Now, let's finish getting you ready." He smiled wider. "We got a wedding to get to, brother."

Ryu smiled. "Yeah, we do."

A little while later.

Ryu and Ken were standing at the front of church with their friends all in the pews. The ceremony was picturesque, almost fairy tale picturesque. The church was beautiful chapel in Los Angeles. Since neither Chun-Li nor Ryu cared much about the ceremony or the decorations or even the location, Ken and Cammy insisted that they let them do everything for the wedding. The couple didn't care at all where they got married or the exact arrangements so their respective best friends teamed-up and went to work.

All of their friends and allies were there, to bear witness to this beautiful, almost unbelievable, union. Even Sagat was in attendance, though he was sitting in total disbelief that this was actually happening and that he lost the $100 in the bet.

Some traditional wedding music played as the wedding party entered: Fei Long escorted Sakura and Guile escorted Eliza. As the maid of honor, Cammy entered alone.

Then… "Here Comes the Bride" played. All the guests stood to their feet. The doors to back of the church opened and Mei entered as the flower girl, tossing the flower petals on the ground, the biggest smile on the little girl's face…

…and just behind her… Ryu bared witness to… an image so beautiful … that he had never even imagined something so lovely would ever be in his life.

Chun-Li walked down the aisle, tears were already forming in her eyes, holding a bouquet of roses.

Ryu was short of breath. He couldn't believe it. She was just radiant, as though she was made of light; like angel in human form. She certainly made that a hard argument to dispute sometimes.

He couldn't believe one other fact: he loved her more and more with every step she took.

Once she reached the front of the church, the couple stood staring at each other, fighting back every urge to throw tradition out of the window and kiss each other right then there. But they promised Ken and Cammy they would behave.

Why they agreed to that, they would never know.

The priest stood before the guests and said, "Now, I usually have a few words before a ceremony but I understand that the bride and groom have written their own vows." He looked at the brown haired woman, "Chun-Li."

Chun-Li bit her lip, staring into the eyes of her about-to-be husband. She handed her bouquet to Cammy and took a slip of paper from her. Chun-Li unfolded it and started to read. "Ryu…" she almost started crying immediately. She actually giggled at that. "Sorry…"

Ryu put a soft hand on her arm, "It's okay, Chun-Li."

She looked at him and gave him the brightest smile she could.

That one moment alone touched the hearts of everyone in the room. Even the cynical Sagat let himself smirk.

'Good grief… she actually loves that man…' Sagat thought to himself, shaking his head.

She took a deep breath and started again, "Ryu… you are the most amazing man… I have ever known. Circumstances as to how we even got together speak to that. You put yourself aside for me… went out of your way… just for me… and you've been doing that ever since. I know it hasn't been easy for you to adjust to a life like this… I know you had to change a lot of things. But… if I couldn't ever express to you… in words or deeds, how much it means to me for all you've done for me…" She paused to get some tears out of her eyes. She looked at him and smiled, setting the paper aside. "I love you, so much."

Ryu just smiled; surprisingly, he had to hold back a couple of tears himself.

The priest smiled. "My word…" He sighed. He looked at Hadou warrior, "Ryu."

Ryu regained his composure and nodded at the priest. He looked at Ken, who reached into his pocket… and felt nothing. Ken's eyes went wide.

"CRAP!" he let out in the quietest forced whisper ever.

"Tell me you didn't…" Ryu said through his teeth.

Ken winced. "Sorry, man…"

Ryu exhaled. And dropped his head. He was counting on Ken having the vows. He was so nervous at the time he wrote it, he couldn't remember a single word he wrote down.

Everyone figured out what happened; the fact that Ken was smiling in an obviously nervous fashion gave it all away, Eliza staring wifely destruction at him wasn't helping, either. Ken gulped; Akuma was scary, Eliza mad at him was worse.

Ryu lifted his head back up, looking up at the ceiling. He was nowhere near as distressed about this as he thought he would be. It dawned on him that there was a reason for that: he was ready for this. He could do this. Besides, as far as he'd come, he come improvise, at least, this. He smirked. He looked at his best friend, "Don't worry about it."

Ken was surprised at Ryu's tone. "You're not mad?"

"No…" He looked back at the love of his life. "I got this."

Chun-Li smiled. When those three words let his mouth, it came out with such confidence that her heart did a cartwheel… and she really… REALLY… wanted to kiss him now.

"Chun-Li… I've known you… for such a long time and I have no problem saying that you are the most beautiful, strongest… most incredible woman I have ever met. You know me… you've gotten to know me better than anyone on this Earth does… and you love me, anyway. You cared enough to love me… you trusted me with that… and I swear I'll never betray it." He paused. "I love you, Chun-Li. And I'll never stop."

Chun-Li could've melted at his words. All of the women at the ceremony were about to.

The priest… was overly impressed. He knew what his usual order of service was at this point… but he didn't see any point. And he didn't want to keep this overwhelmingly in love couple apart any longer than they had to be. "I'm not even gonna bother and rings can be done later. What more can I possibly say, anyway? I now pronounce you both husband and wife. You two… go for it."

With not a half second wasted, the newlyweds kissed with all the passion they had… which was a lot.

The entire church was filled with applause and cheers. Even Sagat cracked a smile.

After their kiss, Ryu and Chun-Li embraced, just standing holding each other. They were together forever now… and they couldn't wait for the future to get here…

Present.

"Like I said…" Cammy nodded. "Beautiful ceremony." She took a drink.

Sakura rested her chin on the back of the chair. "And then came the reception."

"And our present destruction," Guile looked around.

Ken shrugged. "I mean, the reception was nice… riiiiiight up until Vega and Balrog showed up."

"That would be a party killer," Sakura agreed.

Cammy and Guile nodded.

Two hours ago.

The music pumped through the reception, the lights were flashing, and the dance floor was packed with people. There was lots of activity and everyone was dancing and having a good time. Even Ryu had loosened up and let himself had fun. After all, the hard part was over. All that was left was to cut loose.

Unbeknownst to anyone, two party crashers had just entered into the hotel through the service areas and were making their way toward the ballroom. One gate crasher was Spanish man with long blonde hair tied in braid, concealing a claw weapon underneath his coat; the other was an African-American man who was taping his fists as they walked along.

To all their enemies and many wanted poster, they are known as, respectively, as Vega and Balrog.

"Remember…" Vega said. "We just need to get close enough to gut Ryu. And he's mine."

"I remember," Balrog replied.

The former Shadaloo terrorists walked into the kitchen and maneuvered around the workers, stopping at the door to see the dance floor alive with activity. They looked at each other and nodded. They moved swiftly into the crowd of people and worked their way through to get to Ryu, who was dancing with Chun-Li. They figured the festivities would make them harder to spot… and they were right.

Vega quickly put on his claws so he could stab his nemesis in the back.

He was close enough to accomplish his mission…

He was about to…

…until Sagat grabbed his wrist and punched him in the face.

Vega flew back and Sagat gave Balrog a solid knee in the gut. The villains gathered themselves as they looked at the man they branded a traitor. All of the activity in the ballroom stopped at action of Sagat's attack.

Ryu looked at his old rival then took notice of his nemesis. He growled, "Vega…"

"And Balrog…" Chun-Li said, menacingly.

"Seems this hotel has a rat problem," Sagat mused.

Vega growled and reached behind him. "I didn't know you'd be here, Sagat." He put his metal mask on and threw off his coat.

"Had to make sure it was actually happening," Sagat replied. "I must admit… I was rather impressed with the whole ceremony."

"Touching… I'm sure."

"It had its moments."

"Out the way, man," Balrog ordered. "We're gonna do this."

"Over our…" Ken stepped up…

…Until Sagat cut him off. "Go sit with your family, Ken."

"Say what?"

"I will deal with these buffoons." He took off his suit jacket.

"By yourself?"

Sagat smirked. He removed his tux shirt and tie, dropping them to the floor. He looked over at the happy couple. "I didn't have the money to get you any present, Ryu. So… if you don't mind…" He looked at his two adversaries, "Allow this to be my gift."

Ryu and Chun-Li looked at each other and smiled. They looked back at the mammoth Muay Thai warrior and nodded.

Vega growled. "We came here to kill Ryu! BUT YOU CAN DIE, TOO, TRAITOR!"

Vega charged in and Sagat charged as well. He dodged Vega's very predictable claw swipe and kneed him in the gut followed by a punch to the side of Spaniard's head. Sagat turned in time to see Balrog punch him in the temple by taking advantage of Sagat's crouched position from attacking Vega. The Muay Thai warrior stumbled to a wall; the boxer rushed to punch Balrog's head through the wall but Sagat ducked in time, causing Balrog to punch a hole in the wall. Sagat stepped back and gave Balrog a kick to the leg, sending him stumbling back. Sagat was going to follow up but he just dodged a wine bottle being thrown at his head, courtesy of Vega. The eye patch wearer growled and dashed for claw wielder, running past tables, chairs, and wedding guests. He jumped in the air and came down with a stomp that Vega just barely managed to dodge. He swung his massive fists at the Spaniard but Vega dodged as only Vega could. The mask wearer landed on a table and Sagat went for downward thrust kick but missed Vega, obliterating the table under his power, though. Balrog ran back in but Sagat saw him coming; he dodged Balrog's punch, lifted the boxer onto his shoulder, and dumped with a spin on to another table, causing it crumble under Balrog's weight. Vega jumped in the air, coming down with his claws at Sagat's neck.

But Sagat was nowhere near as blind as Vega imagined.

Sagat grabbed his enemy's arm, mid-air, and threw him across the room, crashing into and through three tables along the flight. Balrog dove down to tackle Sagat but he heard him coming; he stepped out of the way, letting Balrog hit the ground. As the boxer started to get up, Sagat hit him as hard as he could in the right temple with downward angle punch.

Instant KO.

Sagat looked at where Vega landed, only to see the claw user had recovered already and was on the move. Vega ran and jumped across tables to get to his true target.

Ryu.

Sagat saw him running and charged at him. Using a chair as a launching point, Sagat launched his giant frame into the air and shoulder tackled Vega back to the dance floor. The attack took almost all that was left out of the Spaniard. Still, Vega tried to stand…

'Stubborn 'til the end, eh?' Sagat had had enough, already. 'Fine! I will end this!' He let his ki surge… and his fists began to glow with an orange light…

"TIGER!"

He slammed his fists next to each other, launching the attack at Vega, causing it to detonate and completely lay out the mask wearer. Vega was still alive… but he was probably wishing he wasn't. He sure wasn't getting up anytime soon.

Out of breath yet victorious, Sagat looked around, making sure Balrog was still down. He looked at the couple. Then everyone else. He couldn't discern anyone's expression. He looked back at the couple. He may not have been Ryu and Chun-Li's biggest fan but he sure didn't want to ruin their big day. He had much more respect for them both than that. "Sorry about this…"

Ryu smiled. "For what?"

"Huh?"

Chun-Li smiled. "I just think that was probably the best display you've ever put on, Sagat!"

"Yeah, it was!" Ken shouted.

"I didn't know you had all those moves," Cammy said, impressed.

"I sure didn't realize you were that fast!"

If he were capable of doing so, Sagat would have blushed at all of the comments. But he just chuckled in appreciation.

Guile stepped forward. "Hey! Let's hear it for Sagat!"

The whole crowd cheered and Sagat, while surprised at first, eventually… he smiled. He raised his hands, quieting everyone down. "How about… instead…" He looked over at his former rival and his new bride and motioned at them, "We hear it for the happy couple… and I say to them what I should've already said…" He bowed in respect to them both. He rose up. "Congratulations."

The cheers in the room were thunderous. Ryu and Chun-Li looked at each other and kissed again. No one cared about the fight that just took place; in fact, that made it all the more fun.

In everyone's mind, even the non-fighters, this was the best wedding ever.

Present day.

"What a night…" Sakura sighed, resting her chin on the back of the chair.

"Yeah…" Guile said.

"Hey!" Sakura looked around. "Where is Sagat, anyway?"

"After all that, we all chipped in and got him a room for the night."

"He deserved it," Cammy declared. "The way those two morons tried to ruin the occasion…"

"Yeah." Guile took a deep breath, "Should've known some moron would've tried something."

"Maybe the invitations were a bad idea."

"I don't know about that…" Ken smiled. "I mean… maybe the reception didn't go as planned but… to see the smiles those two had… it was worth it."

"Heard that!" Sakura agreed.

"Yeah," Guile nodded.

"Here, here!" Cammy said.

Ken grabbed his beer and raised it up, "A toast!"

Guile and Cammy grabbed their beers; Sakura grabbed her soda. They all raised them in the air.

"To Ryu and Chun-Li! Power couple of the century! And two of the best ever! Happiness to them forever!"

"Yeah!" Sakura shouted.

They clinked their glasses together, toasting the happy couple on their future.

A/N: And there it is! Thank you, all! I love you all! I hope you all loved it.

Again, to 89niners-best-team-ever, alwaysdoubted, fataliT428, Ryan The Game Master, James Birdsong, and to newcomers, BasilusGalenus and Blue Harbinger, thank you for the constant, reliable support!

To everyone else, thank you all for all of the reviews, favorites, and follows. All of the love, all of the support, all of it... I will never take it for granted. Not ever.

Thank you all, again, from the core of my soul.

Yours Truly,

- T2 Angel

...

WAIT!

Did you think that was the end of this saga?

Hehehehehehehehe...

Not. Even. Close.

Hearts & Fists will continue in due time. And, trust me... it will be worth the wait.

See you all... oh, so very soon. ;)