You stared into the eyes of the stranger that had taken the place of the man you once loved.  Once loved.  What a joke.  Still loved was more like it.  You thought of him every day since he’d been gone.  You envied that hadn’t been able to drop everything and pursue him like Guile.  Someone had to stay behind.  Someone had to keep track of Bison and Shadaloo in hopes of finishing what he started.  So instead, you opted to wait, and pray, trusting that one day Guile would be successful in bringing him back.

And he was- or so you thought.  Guile tried to warn you that you probably wouldn’t like what you saw but you insisted on seeing him again.  Unfortunately, you weren’t sure that the man standing in front of you was the man you still loved.

“Charlie?” you whispered, voice wavering.  He nodded affirmatively.  You threw your arms around him, holding him tight.  He stiffened in your embrace.

  There was something different about him, besides the obvious patchwork on various parts of his body, which could be overlooked.  But he wasn’t looking at you the way he used to.  His posture was different.  You felt a strange aura about him.  Still, you hoped that maybe, just maybe, deep down he would still be the same old Charlie you’d fallen for.

“I’m… sorry.  I didn’t mean to startle you,” you said, releasing him and taking a step back. “It’s just so great to see you again.  I thought you died, I was so worried-”

“I did,” he stated, cutting you off.  You looked at him in confusion. You were so overwhelmed, you didn’t know what to say.  Looking at him, you could tell he had been through hell and back, but how did he die?  More importantly, how was he here now?

“What?  H-How?” you managed to stammer out.

“Look, I don’t know,” Nash snapped, obviously frustrated.  You flinched at the callousness of his tone, a tone you’d never heard from him before.  Honestly, you were frightened and cursing yourself for not listening to Guile.  Tears welled in your eyes as you looked away from the man.  This wasn’t Charlie.  Sure, he looked like him, to an extent, but there was no smile, no sense of justice, no warmth- only hate.

Hate.  That’s what you began to feel- your fear quickly turned to hate.  Hatred for all the years you wasted longing for this moment, only for it to hurt worse than losing him.  Hatred for how much you still loved him, and how little he seemed to reciprocate it now.  Hatred that the love you once shared probably died the moment he did, but it wasn’t fortunate enough to be resurrected.  Hatred to the point you couldn’t stop yourself from blurting out the first hateful thing that came to mind.

“Maybe you were better off dead,” you snarled.  “I would’ve preferred to remember you as you were, not the monster you’ve become.”  You turned on your heel and began to stomp off, not giving him time to hurt you anymore.  You told yourself to wait until you got home to cry, but you could feel the tears began to fall.

Faintly, you heard your name called.  You stopped in your tracks, but didn’t turn around.  For a moment, there was silence.  You almost believed you were imagining things, until he spoke again. 

“I’m sorry.”

Those words were heavy and lingered in the air.  In that moment, he sounded like himself again.  He sounded so sincere, however you didn’t want to cave in so easily.  As much as it hurt you, you weren’t going to let him make a fool of you again. 

“Yeah, well, me too,” you said, crossing your arms not looking back at him, yet also not leaving just yet.  You could hear him sigh audibly.

“I really am.  I’m hurt, confused,” he started.  You uncrossed your arms and turned to listen to him.  “I lost everything.  My world, my friends, my life.  I don’t know how it happened, or why I’m back.  I don’t know what’s happened to me.  Frankly, I’m not sure I want to know.  But I do know I have a second chance to stop Bison.  He needs to pay for what he’s done.  To me.  To us.  He needs to die.”

“I agree, but at what cost, Charlie?  You don’t have to do this on your own.  I know you were betrayed, but you’re not alone!  You don’t have to face him by yourself.  We all want him gone, we’re working on it.  He’s too powerful and who knows what he’s capable of!  I’ve already lost you once, I don’t want to lose you again.  What if the next time you don’t come back?” you told him, choking on tears.  Once more, you turned away from him.

Of all the hatred you were feeling right now, most of all you hated how you wore your heart on your sleeve when it came to him.  Your line of work always required you to be collected and reserved.  You had been keeping so much bottled in for so long, but now you could no longer hold back your tears.

You wept.  Tears stinging your face as the harsh night wind blew upon them.  The world was a blur until you finally closed your eyes and covered your face.  You cried helplessly where you stood, no longer caring about how big of a fool you appeared to be.  You felt a hand, heavy and cold, land on your shoulder, before you felt yourself pulled into the warmness of his chest.  He held you close as you sobbed, his good hand running through your hair like he used to years ago.  As the tears began to stop, you laid your head against his chest, taking comfort in the steady beat of Charlie’s heart.  Under all that hate and bitterness, your love was still alive.  This man was the Charlie you still loved.

“If I don’t come back,” he whispered, wiping the remaining tears from your cheeks with his thumb. “Then I want you to remember us as we were.”

At this, he leaned in and kissed you.  It was soft and sweet, like so many you shared before.  You knew you couldn’t change Charlie’s mind, you never could, so you kissed him back knowing it could very well be the last chance you had.