Chapter 1: A Crust Eaten in Peace is Better than a Banquet Partaken in Anxiety
Chapter Text
From Scratch
Chapter 1: A Crust Eaten in Peace is Better than a Banquet Partaken in Anxiety
Chen had thought he was done with traveling cross-country, dealing with aches and pains and bandits who honestly didn't know their heads from their asses. Of course, he had been wrong. The old jerboa had known from the moment he'd met Oogway that the senile turtle would never give him a moment's peace. He had been right about that much- throughout years of kung fu training the Grand Master of all kung fu had pushed him harder than anyone had- and pushed his buttons, too. The fool could make him angrier than anyone or anything else in the world, which was saying a lot considering how angry he was all the time, anyway. And then, after he'd left kung fu to pursue painting, he'd never truly been able to leave the practice behind entirely- thanks to Oogway. He'd always had something to call on Chen for, something that apparently no one else could handle. And Chen fell for it every time, because he was a fool, and because despite the years of torture, metaphor, senility, and aggravation, Oogway had become one of his closest and dearest friends. Now, even in death, Oogway was still making him traverse the countryside against his will.
"Memorial service indeed," he huffed to himself; he'd never believed in such things, and he doubted Oogway had, either. After all, once one passed to the next plane of existence, one generally didn't care what the living did. At least, that was what he had experienced himself back when he'd died. But what did he know? He was only a hundred and fifty-six years old, it wasn't like he had actually learned anything.
He just hoped he didn't have to spend too much time interacting with people- except for Quan, if she'd even made it back to the Valley of Peace yet. The woman had always been a bit daft, so he wouldn't be surprised if she'd gotten distracted along the way. She would make it there eventually, of course, though he didn't see why she would want to. She'd never been the soft type who'd wanted to live someplace "safe" where others would protect her- not that he thought it was bad to have such a place. It didn't seem fair, either, and he was sure Quan thought the same of it. But then, she wasn't exactly going back for the protection. Though part of him thought that would have been preferable.
What on Earth she saw in that fat badger Shifu, he had no idea. She could do worse, of course, but... Really? The man was a walking hemorrhoid with giant ears, and he always had been. Even back when Chen had first met him- he'd only been a teenager, and he'd still acted like he had a fistful of sand shoved up his vagina. He'd always come off as rather simple, too- not stupid, but simplistic in his thinking and ideals. He thought protecting people was all about keeping them alive and uninjured, when in reality there was so much more to it than that. A proper master of kung fu fought for the freedoms and liberties of the people he protected as well, just as Oogway had. And Shifu- he just didn't get it.
It had occurred to Chen that he simply held standards which were far too high for most others to reach, but Quan was one of those few, and the least she could do was hold out for someone else who did. Of course she was a grown woman and it wasn't his place to decide who she should love- though if it was, he would have picked someone much more suiting for her. Then again, Oogway had always seen something in the little closet pervert that nobody else had, and that counted for something. Oogway had a knack for seeing straight to the core of people; he had known Chen better than anyone else had known him his entire life, after all. And if Oogway had thought Shifu was fit to inherit the title of Grand Master of kung fu, then maybe there was a miniscule chance that he was fit to be with Quan, as well.
Chen realized he was only getting himself worked up about something over which he had absolutely no control, anyway. He tended to do that when he was under stress- focus on something completely unrelated to the source of his stress in an attempt to control the world around him. He realized he was only lashing out due to grief over the loss of a great friend and mentor. Still, it made him feel better.
"See how much I've grown, you old fool?" he muttered into the wind as he stopped at the giant wooden gateway that marked the beginning of the Thread of Hope, the giant series of treacherous wooden bridges that served as the only way into the Valley of Peace. "I don't need you anymore, anyway," he sighed.
"Uuuuugh," came the reply, barely audible over the creaking of the bridge's ropes.
Chen paused, furrowing his already formidable brow at the groan; that had definitely not been an otherworldly groan. "What the hell was that?"
"Eurgh," the voice grumbled again.
It had definitely come from his left side, from the rocky promontory directly beneath the gate, though his view was blocked by the bridge itself. "It figures," Chen huffed to himself as he leaped down to the promontory with ease, landing nimbly on his feet, and took a good, long look at the beaten and bloodied pile of fur and flesh that lay there. "Great. I take the time and trouble to come all the way out here, and now I gotta turn around and go right back home."
Shifu groaned to himself as he cracked his eyes open, blinking in the soft pre-dawn light that filtered into his room through his bedroom window. While he normally wouldn't have a problem getting up so early, despite his age, he had recently been given one very good reason to be exhausted, in the form of the Jade Palace's newest resident. As he pushed himself to his feet with a low groan, he paused to wonder what new horrors awaited him once she rose from her slumber.
Thirty-three years had passed, yet he could still remember every aggravating moment he'd spent with Lin in agonizing detail as if it had been only yesterday. Of course, he had good reason to remember so well- he had never loved another woman like he had loved the unruly canine. He had imagined spending the rest of his life with her, raising Tai Lung with her, growing old with her. He hadn't thought he'd have been able to stray from her side even if he had tried. Until she'd fled China for fear of execution, never to be seen or heard from again. At first he had been devastated, as any lover would have been. However, over time the pain had dulled, life had gone on, and she had become nothing more to him than a fond memory that drifted up from the recesses of his mind at a sip of warm tea or the sight of a painting. He had still missed her now and then, but he had long since accepted that she was, and would always remain, a part of his past which he could never reclaim.
And then she had shown up at the Jade Palace out of the blue, cursing like a sailor and smoking like a chimney. The vulgarity had been nothing new, and she had retained the forwardness and penchant for chaos she'd had in her youth, yet so much was different. She had aged of course, though not particularly well- bits and pieces of her were literally missing: the molars in the right side of her mouth, a chunk of her left ear, and her fur had thinned considerably in certain spots, giving the overall impression that someone had simply pulled it out, the way a child plucked the petals from a flower. Yet there was something else that seemed to be missing, something the girl of his memories had that this new woman did not. There had once been a time when she had seemed to glow in his eyes, when her smile had lit up a room and her laugh had set his fur on end. Now, the light was gone; her smile was simply a leering grin, and her laugh a cackle that still set his fur on end- though not in a good way. Of course he was not as shallow as to dismiss her because she had aged; there was something more missing. Perhaps whatever she had been through in her clearly difficult life had worn her spirit down, or perhaps he had simply realized that, as she had pointed out herself, she was no longer the same woman he had once loved.
That didn't mean she didn't carry on like a lunatic as she had always used to do- that spark, at least, she had kept. After five days of Lin completely rearranging the kitchen to her own liking, making lewd jokes to his students, filling the entire barracks with the smell of her tobacco, drinking like a fish, making fun of his limp, scaring off servants who tried to help her with anything at all, stealing all the extra pillows they possessed out of the laundry, cooking curry and forcing him to eat it, rewriting all of the banners in the training hall with a "more inspirational" style of calligraphy, and inciting at least three separate bar brawls down in the village- somehow he had managed to not drop dead from heart failure. What truly exhausted him, though, was not her boorish temperament or her complete lack of concern for social norms, but the fact that at the end of the day, when all was said and done, he looked into her eyes... And all he saw there was a stranger. Well, that and cataracts.
Perhaps he was being too harsh, though. After all, it had only been a few days. Besides, all she was asking for was his friendship, and he had already found it easy enough to give her that much. Well, she was also asking for a place to live... And that was not quite so easy to give. She wasn't exactly the easiest person to live with- and he was not the only cohabitant in question. He had yet to break the news about the permanence of Lin's stay to any of his students, though he had a feeling that when he did, the Furious Five would more than live up to their descriptive moniker. Especially Tigress.
With a heavy sigh, he dressed himself for the day and headed out into the hallway- and thus, his torture began. "What are you doing?"
"Scoping out rooms," Lin replied from three doors down, where she stood at the threshold of an empty room, peering inside. "At first I was fine with moving back into my old room, but then I thought, 'Wait a minute- if I'm gonna make a fresh start, I really need to make a fresh start.' Y'know, new room and everything. Besides, I want a window. It's depressing, having a room without a window. Especially since this'll double as my studio." She walked into the room to inspect it further, but kept talking to him. "I know a lotta artists like to have studios in separate rooms, even separate buildings, but that just ain't my style. I gotta have a bed in the same room as where I work, so at least when I pass out I don't wake up with a crick in my neck." She paused to cough, since her smoker's rasp was a little bit worse in the morning- probably because of the humidity. "But anyway, I'll be spending a lotta time working in my studio space, and it's just depressing to spend most of your day in a room without a window. And I want a room further away from where your students sleep, too- I don't wanna get woken up by that 'Good morning, Master' bullshit ever again. That scared the crap outta me, y'know."
"It is too early for this," he grumbled, mostly to himself, as he reached up to massage his temples. "It is far, far too early."
"I thought about being your neighbor for a while," she added as she sauntered out of the room, "but I figured that'd be a little too close quarters. Yeesh, you look awful."
"You have only yourself to blame." He turned and headed toward the hall in which his students slept in order to greet them when the morning gong rang.
She followed him, of course. "Whaddaya think about that room near the back door with the high-set windows? It's pretty separated from the rest of the barracks, so I won't be disturbed, and I'll be able to slip out the back without waking anyone up. And it faces west so I get good sunlight in the evening, which I prefer to morning sunlight, but I keep thinking maybe it's too cut off. I mean, I wanna be able to get to know your students and your daughter, and I don't wanna look like I think I'm better 'an anyone else, although deep down inside I probably do a little bit."
"Why are you still speaking to me?" he groaned as he ground to a halt at the end of the hallway and folded his arms behind his back.
"We are getting to know each other," she replied as if she were being perfectly reasonable.
"You will not undermine my authority in front of my students first thing in the morning," he ordered her.
"We are starting over," she continued. "It is a brand new day, time to go at it in a brand new way. New beginnings! And I'm excited for it, I am excited to start over."
"You are annoying, is what you are. You are annoying me on purpose, and don't deny it because I can tell."
"Maybe just a little," she admitted. "But today's a big day for me! I deserve to be congratulated."
"Why?" He doubted she would tell him anything of any relevance whatsoever, but for some reason he still asked.
"'Cause today I work. Today is my first employed day in the Valley of Peace. It's a new beginning!" She slapped him on the back for good measure, just as the morning gong rang and his students stepped out of their bedrooms, standing alert in the hallway- except for Po; Po stumbled, more than anything else, and fiddled with the door before he finally managed to stand at attention. Still, it was an improvement.
"Good morning, students," he greeted as he did every morning.
"Good morning, Master," they replied in unison, like a well-oiled machine.
"G'morning, everyone!" Lin greeted enthusiastically as she waved at them. "Welcome to a brand new day!" She reached out and gave Shifu what appeared to be, for lack of a better word, a noogie. Then, she ran off to do... Whatever it was she planned on doing.
"And that just happened," he muttered to himself as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Students, I would like you to get a head start on your training today before we eat breakfast. I want you all to start off with-"
"Stretching!" Lin called from down the hallway, since she couldn't mind her own business.
He paused and counted to ten to keep himself calm, then continued. "I want you to start off with stretching, for half an hour. Then an hour of-"
"Tai chi?" Lin returned to his side with a cup of tea in each hand, and shoved one of them at him.
He reluctantly took the cup and tried not to look too annoyed in front of his students. "Tai chi," he grunted, then downed the tea all in one gulp. "Then we will convene for breakfast."
"Can I steal the panda before they get started?" She took the empty cup from him and peered into it, as if she couldn't believe he had finished his tea so quickly.
"Why?" he snapped, his eye twitching; it was far too early in the morning to deal with her... Everything.
"Top secret," she informed him. "Very important."
Shifu resisted the urge to tell her precisely why she made his head feel as if it were about to explode and instead looked to his students. The Furious Five remained stoic, staring straight ahead with their arms at their sides, the perfect picture of discipline. Po, meanwhile, kept trying to catch his eye and emphatically shake his head, clearly terrified of what Lin had in mind. With a heavy sigh, he turned to face away from his students, gesturing to Lin to do the same. "What is going on?" he whispered.
"Nothing," she muttered back, feigning innocence. "Nothing's going on."
"You are acting cheerful," he pointed out. "You are never this cheerful. This is not like you, and I think there is a reason. And why is it so important for you to talk to the panda this early in the morning?"
"You don't know whether this's like me or not," she shot back. "I wasn't this cheerful three decades ago, how d'you know this isn't how I am now?"
He simply glared at her.
"Okay, it's not my default setting. But I deserve to be cheerful every once in a while. I have work to do, for the first time in months, and I've had five pots of tea in the last two hours."
"Five?"
"I'm allowed to be cheerful," she snapped. "'Cause chances are, when I get back here at the end of the day, I ain't gonna be cheerful. So enjoy it while it lasts."
"...Alright, then," he conceded. "And Po?"
"Nunya business."
"If you want me to let you steal him from his training, then it is my business."
"I wanna ask him some stuff, is all. About, y'know..." She raised her eyebrows at him and he realized she meant the battle with Tai Lung.
"Oh!" He supposed it was important, then. After all, she had only recently found out about everything that had happened, and she had cared for Tai Lung... Very much. So it was probably her way of getting through the grieving process. "Do not keep him too long."
"Thanks."
He then turned around, cleared his throat, and faced his new life. "Sorry, Po."
Oogway had always had a saying- well, the old turtle had a lot of sayings, which was only natural for someone who'd lived to see his thousandth year. But one of those sayings had been: the mind is greater than the body. He had never meant that the body was unimportant- far from it- or that it should be neglected. He'd meant that any working of the body, especially pain, could be overcome by sheer will of mind. Easy to say for the creator of kung fu, who had unraveled the secrets of harmony and focus.
For those beings who were somewhat more grounded in reality, pain was not quite so easily dismissed.
"Auuugh," a large, muscular snow leopard grumbled as he cracked his eyes open and experienced his first lucid moments in weeks. "Kill me." Tai Lung reached up and gripped his pounding head from where he was, as far as he could tell, lying on a hardwood floor.
"Suffering builds character," the gravelly voice of an old man sounded, seemingly out of nowhere.
He blinked at the unexpected response and attempted to sit up, as much to attempt to observe the room in which he was being held as to identify his mysterious captor. Unfortunately, an intense sense of vertigo coupled with the most painful soreness he had ever known kept him prostrate. He tried to at least get a sense of his surroundings, but it was dark and his eyes were having trouble focusing. All he knew was that he was indoors and had a thin blanket over him, as well as a small pillow beneath his head.
"...Who is there?" he finally called out, though he felt ridiculous for doing so; if his captor wanted to be known he would have made himself visible by then.
"I am, you oaf," the old man snapped from the shadows. Judging by his voice, he was probably a fairly large animal, and definitely a strong one.
"Who are you?" Tai Lung reiterated, squinting in an effort to see better. "Where is the panda?" A growl entered his voice at the memory of his humiliating defeat, after so many years of lying in wait, plotting, planning. Everything he'd worked for had been merely swiped away by that big, fat, clumsy paw as if it were no more important than dirt.
"There ain't no panda around here," the old man answered, snapping him out of his stewing. "Now get up."
He felt a sharp sting on his side, though he had no clue how the man had managed to attack him without being seen. "What did you just do to me?"
"I hit you," the voice replied, this time dangerously close to his head. "Gods know you need some sense knocked into you. Now get up."
"I can't," he pointed out. "I am injured and disoriented."
"Last I checked you didn't have any broken bones, and as far as this 'disoriented' shit goes- stop acting like an idiot."
Tai Lung felt another sharp pain, this time on the side of his head. "Get away from me!"
"Make me."
"I will!" With a low growl, Tai Lung managed to push himself into a sitting position and blindly swiped at the side the old man had hit him from; he didn't hit anything, of course, but he felt just a little better.
"I thought you couldn't get up," the voice sounded from behind him.
"I don't like games, old man," Tai Lung grumbled, and turned around to try to catch a glimpse of his captor; his eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness and he could see the room around him, which had wooden walls to match the floor and was sparsely furnished with a writing desk, a couple of chairs, and a trunk. A free-standing screen stood against the wall to his right, and he assumed it was meant to cover a window. However, the man still eluded his gaze. "You are hiding from me, coward?" he accused.
"I ain't hiding." The voice was once again behind him, this time sounding closer than ever- yet that was impossible. "I'm giving you a quick check-up. Everything looks okay, but don't hold me to that."
"Where are you?" Tai Lung demanded, confused; could the man be right behind him, yet invisible?
"Look down, dumbass," came the reply, this time from his right side.
He did look down, and standing there on the floor next to him was some sort of tiny wrinkled rodent, with an equally tiny walking stick. "Augh!" He cringed away from the creature, shocked and disgusted.
"You're even more of an idiot 'an I thought," the rodent accused, furrowing his formidable brow more than it already had been. "Don't remember me? I'm not surprised."
"No, I don't recall ever associating myself with a mouse," he growled, eyeing the hunched over old man with suspicion.
"Jerboa," he corrected. "And the name's Chen."
"Chen?" He knew that name. "The Chen?"
"Didn't know I was a 'The,'" Chen huffed, apparently displeased with the distinction.
Tai Lung didn't understand what his problem was; the man was a legendary warrior, his reputation up there with the likes of Master Flying Rhino, Master Frog, and even Master Dog. He had fought time and again alongside Oogway against armies, demons, assassins- and had always won. Any student of kung fu in his right mind would have given up a kidney to accomplish half as much as Chen had. Yet the old coot had the audacity to act unhappy about his notoriety. "You're a little more... Little than I remember."
"That's enough small talk," the old master snapped. "D'you know why you're here?"
"Because you kidnapped me," he pointed out.
"Wrong!" Chen poked him hard in the ribs with the walking stick. "You're here 'cause I foundya, and I decided to keepya around."
"Where?"
"Eh?"
"Where did you find me?" he reiterated, rolling his eyes.
"That ain't important right now." Chen gave him another hard poke in the ribs. "What's important is I'm the only thing standing between you and another trip to the slammer."
"'The slammer?' Really?"
"Don't start with me," he warned. "I ain't figured out exactly what to do withya yet, and right now I ain't in the best of moods."
"Is that a threat?" Tai Lung narrowed his eyes at the little raisin.
Chen surprised him by not denying the accusation. "Yes. Yes it is."
"So then why are you keeping me around at all?" he insisted.
"It's a favor for a friend."
"Alright, this has officially gotten too creepy for comfort." Tai Lung attempted to get on his feet, but a combination of the intense pain he found himself in and Chen grabbing onto him with unexpected strength held him down. "Let go of me you old bag! I am getting out of here- wherever here happens to be! Don't think that I am above beating an old man, because I am not and I will reduce you to a smear on the floor!"
"What is going on up here?" a feminine voice interrupted his ranting, and then the door to his left swung open, flooding the dim room with light. "And why is the window blocked? It's pitch dark in here!" In walked a woman- some sort of Siamese cat- who looked to be around fifty. She was a plump woman, with thick cream colored fur and a brown face, paws, ears and tail. Her eyes, meanwhile, were a pale lavender that somehow managed to still convey a cheerful warmth. Despite her age, her voice sounded very young, though not too high-pitched, and gentle. Either she was beautiful, or he'd been in prison for far too long. He couldn't really tell.
He rounded on Chen and pointed accusingly at the woman. "How many people know about me? What am I, on display here?" The last thing he wanted was to go back to prison; he'd have rather been killed than return to such a hellhole.
"This is Yan-Yan," Chen growled back. "She helped me out with you while you were dead weight."
"And you're not on display," Yan-Yan added. "If you were, you'd still be naked."
Tai Lung bristled at the implication. "When was I naked?"
"Wouldn't you like to know," she hummed, smoothing out her blue qipao as she feigned a complete lack of concern. "By the way, I brought over some of that jam I made from Yiliang's blackberry bushes," she directed toward Chen. "I left it in the kitchen, not that you ever go in there."
"Who is Yiliang?" Tai Lung interrupted, narrowing his eyes suspiciously as he glanced back and forth between them. How many other people knew of his presence in Chen's house?
"She's my daughter, but she's not single I'm afraid. Married with two sets of twins, in fact."
"That isn't why I asked," he ground out, annoyed.
"Alright, enough chit-chat." Chen hit him with that little twig again, as if he were the one making jam and chattering on about his daughter. "We got a lot to do, and not much time in which to do it."
"What are we doing?" The woman had the audacity to kneel down next to their so-called patient and poke him hard in the ribs, exactly where Chen had poked him. "Because he seems to have healed up well enough."
"First we gotta judge whether he's even capable of rehabilitation."
"Hello! I am sitting right here!" he interrupted them. "Don't I get a say in this?"
"No," Chen shot back.
"Sorry," Yan-Yan added with complete insincerity. "You basically gave up your right to have an opinion the moment you went bat-shit."
"Since when do women like you curse?" he grumbled as she began to examine his back much as Chen had, though compared to her ministrations the ancient kung fu master had seemed gentle.
"Since I first met Chen," she answered, and he'd certainly believe it. "You know, you heal up really fast."
"Do either of you have any real experience in medicine?" he asked dubiously.
"Yan-Yan's as close to an actual doctor as you're gonna get," Chen answered, and if the man didn't seem so disgruntled all the time, he might have actually sounded proud for a moment. "Learned from her husband."
"That's right," the housewife agreed, confirming that she was more than what she seemed. "He was a fine doctor, though not as fine as I could have been, had I been born a man. And while I do enjoy medicine on an academic level, the gore involved also curbs my relentless thirst for blood."
He couldn't quite tell whether or not that last bit had been a joke. "So what happened to your husband, precisely?"
"He traveled a lot, for house calls and such," she replied casually as she finally finished feeling him up. "Turns out, he had a second wife I'd never known about. When I logically pointed out that after so many seemingly happy years together he had done the lowest thing he could have possibly thought to do to me, he decided a divorce was in order. Seeing as my children, according to tradition, owe loyalty to their father over me, I moved in with Chen. Which turned out to be quite the boon, considering the view I've been treated to."
"I didn't want your life story," he groused, resisting the urge to attempt to cover himself with his blanket at her mention of "the view" she apparently enjoyed so much.
"Nobody did," Chen agreed, earning him a glare from the woman. "We are supposed to be discussing what to do with this lump." He once again hit Tai Lung with his walking stick, easily evading the younger warrior at an attempt to steal the stick away.
"I don't see why you want my opinion," Yan-Yan huffed, obviously still jilted by his insult. "I don't know too much about kung fu."
"Indulge me."
She let out a long-suffering sigh, her shoulders slumping. Then, hesitantly, she made her suggestion. "...Maybe we should write to Quan."
"I already toldya I don't want any correspondence about this going anywhere near the Valley of Peace!" Chen argued immediately; apparently they had argued this point before.
"Wait- who are you two talking about?" He had heard the name Quan before, though he couldn't quite remember where he'd heard it.
His two captors shared a dubious look before Yan-Yan cleared her throat. "Uhm..."
Outside, the citizens of Shanghai who were going about their business in the streets, were frightened and startled by a sudden, animalistic roar. "GRRRAAAAHHHH!"
"So, uh... What're we talking about?" Po rocked back nervously on his heels as he faced Lin in the hallway of the barracks, after everyone else had begun their training. Oh, how he wished he were with them.
"Walk with me, panda," she replied, then turned and headed toward the front door.
"M'kay." It wasn't like he hated Lin- on the contrary, he actually sort of liked her, and he got along with her pretty well. Better than Master Shifu seemed to get along with her, anyway. However, Lin could be... Eccentric. He still shuddered when he remembered how she had propositioned him less than an hour after they'd first met, not to mention all the uncomfortable conversations she had lured him into since then. He now knew more about his master's sexual preferences, Lin's menopausal symptoms, and a juvenile Tai Lung's massive collection of erotic fiction than he ever needed to know. So when Lin specifically sought him out for a conversation, it was guaranteed to be anything but good. But he seemed to have somehow gotten on her good side, so that was the price he had to pay. He had a feeling it was still a thousand times better than being on her bad side.
"Y'know what I like about you, panda?"
"My name's Po, actually," he corrected. Sometimes he wondered if she even knew his name, or if every time he told her- at least six or seven times every day- it just went in one ear and out the other.
"You're honest," she answered for him, ignoring the correction as usual. "Even when you know it'll getya in trouble, you're still honest. And you know what that says about you?"
"Uhm-"
"You got integrity." She gave him a slap on the back along with that, as if she were congratulating him for apparently having integrity. "And I like integrity, got a little bit of it myself." As they walked out onto the grounds she paused and took a look around, then turned and headed for the peach tree. "So I'm hoping you'll be up to telling me what I wanna know."
"Where... Where're we going?" he asked, though he doubted she would tell him.
"And if you do tell me what I wanna know," she continued, ignoring every word out of his mouth, "it'll really help me out a lot. Y'see, today's my first day living and working here in the Valley of Peace, and ifya tell me what I wanna hear, that'll just be my cherry on top."
"Wait- whaddaya mean 'living?'" He'd been under the impression- Master Shifu had given him and the Furious Five the impression- that Lin was only a visitor.
"Now I've done a little research on my own already, asked around a little. I don't wanna make waves up here at the Jade Palace, what with Shifu... Being the way he is."
"You're living here? As in here here?"
"Lemme be blunt," she said, and he wondered if she hadn't already considered herself blunt, how much worse what she was about to say would be. "I heard after you defeated Tai Lung, there was no body to speak of. Is that right?"
"Wait... Body?"
"As in a dead body," she clarified.
"...A dead body," he repeated, completely stunned by the question. "Why... Why would we need a dead body?"
"Listen, panda, where I come from no body means no crime."
"No crime?" he asked nervously.
"I meant death," she corrected, seemingly unconcerned by the mix-up. "Anyway, even if you do got a body, people're resilient. Life'll find a way. That's why you gotta double tap."
"Double what?" While Po generally had faith in the goodness of people, the conversation was starting to give him doubts about Lin.
"You gotta make sure," she explained with a matronly pat on the arm. "Well, I guess kung fu warriors don't do that kinda stuff. Honor and all."
"When did you-"
"Anyway, the point is you can't assume Tai Lung's dead if you got no body," she interrupted sternly. "Y'know how many people've died making the same mistake you did?"
"No, how many?" he asked, though he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.
"Whadda I look like, some kinda death abacus?" she snapped. "Anyway, that's all I really wanted to talk to you about... Wait. One more thing."
He hesitated to ask, because quite frankly he didn't want to know. Yet she was a guest at the Jade Palace and he didn't want to be rude... Though he doubted she would care if he were. "...Okay," he finally accepted, readying himself to cover his ears should he need to.
"Just between you and me," she began, which was a bad sign, "whaddaya think my chances are? Y'know, with the old man."
Through some miracle, he managed to keep his gag reflex under control. "Why're you asking me?"
"'Cause you're the one who helped him be at peace and crap. I thought you'd know."
Po could only stare at the old woman. He could barely even believe she'd asked him such a... Personal question. "I, uhm... I dunno. I dunno what Shifu... I just dunno. I mean, if anyone knows him, uhm, in that way, it's you."
"You mean there's no one else who knows him 'in that way'?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at the information.
"Not that I ever heard of." He really hoped the conversation ended soon. "...Can I go now?"
"Begone," she dismissed with a wave of her hand, adopting a pensive expression as she continued to walk, oblivious to his presence the moment she'd spoken the word.
Po would have wondered what that had all been about, if even a small part of him had wanted to know. However, he'd only known Lin for a few days and already he'd learned that whenever it came to her, it was best not to ask. And to be perfectly honest, when it came to her love life (and his master's) he really did not want to ask. At all. Ever. Well, he could see how some guys could be into the whole "tough broad" thing, but he was more a fan of... Normal people. And he couldn't believe he'd even thought that.
What he actually needed to think about was Lin's cryptic warning- that no body meant no death. He'd assumed, since they had heard neither hide nor hair from Tai Lung in the months ensuing their battle, that the snow leopard had simply... Disintegrated. He'd assumed that he had killed Tai Lung, however uncomfortable he remained with the idea of outright killing someone. After all, he hadn't meant to kill the temperamental feline, even if it would have been for the greater good. But as much as he hoped Tai Lung was alive for the sake of his own conscience, he sincerely doubted it was possible. If no one had been able to find even a trace of Tai Lung, then the Wuxi finger hold would've had to have blasted him miles away. And not even someone as tough as the Master of a Thousand Scrolls could survive something like that. Besides, Tai Lung had some serious anger management issues- surely if he'd survived their battle he would've shown up for revenge by now. If nothing else, that simple fact alone stood as evidence that the Valley was safe.
Viper couldn't help but yawn as she slithered from the training hall- Shifu had definitely stepped up their training (especially Po's), yet it had been months since they'd received word of anything even bordering on a crisis. As happy as she was that such slow business meant people were safe, she was still bored as hell- as were her fellow masters. Tigress in particular seemed to have a lot of pent-up aggression that needed release, and the Jade Palace could only afford so many repairs. Luckily, she had convinced the feline to leave the training hall before sunset so they could catch up with the others for dinner. "Today was brutal," she commented, mainly just to get Tigress talking.
"Nothing we can't handle," she grunted back.
Viper suppressed a frustrated sigh and tried another conversation-starter. "I heard Master Shifu received a letter from a suitor for you. Whatever happened with that?"
"I burned it," she replied shortly.
As much as Viper cared for her fellow master, sometimes she just wanted to strangle her. The woman had barely said a word to her all week, and spent nearly every waking moment training. "That must have been a nice fire."
"Yes, very warm." Tigress glanced down at her, clearly confused. "...Is there something to want to tell me?"
"I was about to say the same to you," she shot back. "You've been so quiet lately, I can barely squeeze a word out of you! Is something wrong?"
"Nothing," Tigress replied, which inevitably meant the opposite.
"Are you frustrated that we haven't had any calls to duty lately?" Viper pressed, intent on getting the problem out in the open.
"No more than anyone else," she answered evenly. "It'll be fine. We always get through the lulls."
"How are things with Master Shifu?" She knew it was a sensitive topic for the tiger, but she'd been concerned and she was certain she could offer help.
Tigress, rather than answer the question, merely pursed her lips.
"Things will get better," she reassured, sensing she'd hit the bullseye. "You know how Master Shifu is. He's trying, he just needs more time to get used to the idea of opening up and being close to you."
"Close to me," Tigress suddenly growled.
"That's what I said."
"That's it, isn't it?" she went on, clenching her hands into fists. "It's me. The panda's here for barely three months and Master Shifu's already treating him like his best friend- like a son, even. And that friend of his, that annoying old woman- you saw them this morning. They practically finished each other's sentences. So it must be me, right? He just can't get used to being close to me."
Viper, of course, knew Tigress's fight to be closer to their master had begun the moment Shifu had adopted her. Anyone who knew the woman could see it. What Viper didn't know was how personally her friend had been taking Shifu's growing bonds with other people around her. "You could just tell all this to Master Shifu," she suggested, knowing full well the perfectly sound advice would get shot down.
"Absolutely not," Tigress predictably answered. "I am not going to crawl on my hands and knees begging for him to pay attention to me, Viper. I have some dignity left."
"It's not really the same thing, but okay," she sighed. She knew how stubborn and contrary Tigress could be, and experience told her that the more she pushed the idea the more her friend would resist it. "Just... Smile. Smile at Master Shifu, at least. Trust me, it'll do a world of good."
"I'll think about it." Tigress suddenly picked up her pace and turned around, heading instead toward the Hall of Heroes.
"Where are you going?" Viper called after her.
"I just realized that I haven't studied the scrolls in far too long," she tossed out over her shoulder. "I'll eat on my own time."
Viper watched her go, shaking her head in disappointment. Tigress was a powerful woman- both in body and in spirit- yet when she was bothered by an emotional problem, all she could do was run away and hide from it. And advice from a trusted confidant could only go so far, unfortunately. While the serpentine master hated to see her friend in such turmoil, she couldn't do much more than what she'd already done. She would just have to wait and hope that Tigress and Master Shifu were able to resolve their issues on their own.
Though she had to admit, she had expected Master Shifu to be more at peace once the Dragon Warrior had been chosen and... Well, brought peace to him. All she could really tell was that Master Shifu was under a lot of stress- stress to train Po and get more experience under the young panda's belt, stress to live up to Master Oogway's legacy, stress to keep the Furious Five from losing confidence and motivation due to the deadly combination of a loss of interest in them (who needed five regular warriors when the Dragon Warrior was one ultimate warrior?) and lack of actual conflict to resolve, and finally stress heaped on him from his visitor.
Speaking of whom, the old dog appeared to be sitting out on the front porch of the barracks, smoking a pipe with a long, straight stem and a wide, shallow bowl. Viper remembered her father owning a similar one, though he'd never smoked nearly as much as this woman did. "Hello, Lin," she greeted courteously as she approached, bowing her head in deference to an elder.
"Yeah, hey," Lin grumbled, removing the pipe from her mouth to breathe out a giant puff of smoke.
"I didn't see you around much today." Viper could only guess what had caused their guest's foul mood (probably another fight with Shifu).
"I hate children," she replied inexplicably. "I mean, I can stand one or two at a time. But when they get into big groups like that I really hate 'em. Makes me wanna reach up my cooch and tear out my own uterus."
"Um..." Viper honestly didn't know where to take the conversation from there. "That's too bad," she settled on.
"Thanks, I guess," Lin sighed, then offered up the pipe. "Wanna give'er a try?"
"I'm good," she declined, then headed into the barracks for dinner.
"Wait a minute," Lin stopped her, "I got a favor to ask."
Viper supposed it was only polite to grant a favor to a guest of Master Shifu's, even if he did not get along with said guest at all. "Of course."
"Tell ol' Pudge in there that if he doesn't get around to telling the lot of you that I actually live here now, I will. And it won't be pretty." She then leaned back against the side of the barracks and stuck her pipe back in her mouth.
"...Can do," Viper answered, blinking in shock as she slithered into the building. What Lin had just said to her had been about the last thing she would have expected. What she had expected was a request for more towels in the bathhouse, or maybe a request for Master Shifu to join her out on the porch. She could barely believe what she'd actually heard instead- that their master had invited someone to live in the Jade Palace not only without discussing it with any of his students first, but without even telling them- and after said person had moved in, no less! Of course, Lin could be quite the joker, so she supposed it was possible the old woman was just pulling her tail. She couldn't be certain until she delivered the message to Master Shifu and saw his reaction. There was one thing she could be certain of, though.
Master Shifu was in a lot of trouble.
Chapter 2: What Is Food To One May Be Fierce Poison To Others
Chapter Text
Chapter 2: What Is Food To One May Be Fierce Poison To Others
The Indian sun had never been known for its gentleness or mildness. The sun in India was hot, unrelenting, and devastating. It could cause draughts and fires, could even kill a person if he was careless enough. The sun was a burning hot ball of flame, and it was neither gentle nor mild. Anyone who entered the subcontinent thinking anything else was either completely ignorant or completely stupid.
But just because Rahim had been born in India and understood that undeniable fact, didn't mean he didn't resent it every moment of every day. Or at the very least wish he could receive an assignment to a slightly cooler climate. After all, in the cold one could always add more layers, but in the heat one could only strip off so much. Not to mention the oppressive humidity that came part and parcel with a port city such as Bombay not only clung to his fur and made him feel as though he could barely breath, but also warped the dark wood of his cramped little desk and the bookshelves that lined all his available wall space, and wrinkled the very pages of the books held within. The massive Bengal tiger had already rid himself of the more formal outer layers of his clothing, but unfortunately full nudity remained out of the question while he attended to mountain upon mountain of paperwork in his small office.
He supposed he could try to employ his experience in meditation to rise above worldly discomfort, but he had too much work to do and frankly he didn't care to put so much spiritual effort into beating the heat. One of many reasons, he supposed, that he had never become a yogi. At the very least, though, his office resided in a relatively shady part of the government building, which was filled to the brim with offices for branches that no average person ever paid any attention to (such as the Census Bureau or the Department of Agriculture).
The building, a two-story, nondescript rectangle with precisely one window assigned to each office, held none of the pomp or style of many of the newly-built mansions in the area, mostly occupied by Englishmen who'd sought to expand their fortunes with the aid of such an active port of trade; the city was, after all, known as "the gateway to India," and it had come a long way from the swampy group of islands it had once been. And while the East India Trading Company claimed ownership of the bay area (or rather, rented it from the British Empire), a "native" such as himself was still ideal for a position in diplomatic relations; he knew the culture of Indians and Englishmen alike, as well as the languages- in addition to many others- and... Well, very few people existed who were not impressed by a Bengal tiger. Despite his size and bright orange fur he was pretty good at keeping his head down when he needed to. Some people got into politics to climb ladders and gain power, but only a select few did so. The rest of the government's employees worked tirelessly behind the scenes with no credit and no spotlight. He was one of those workers, and he had absolutely no problem with it. Besides, he'd just reached the middle of his fifties; he didn't need the added stress at his age.
"I swear to God, Rahim, if somebody doesn't do something about those British soon, I'll take care of them myself." A two-foot-tall dog burst through the door across the room from his desk, its curly black fur frizzing comically in the humidity, then dropped a letter on his desk along with a package that he suspected was probably lunch.
"You know, Cristovao, you're awfully uppity for a Portuguese water dog," he pointed out reasonably and opened up the bundle of cloth to find some samosas and green chili chutney inside. "Which, I feel I should also remind you, makes it physically impossible for you to be my mother."
"Us Portuguese were here way before those damn Brits were," his uppity coworker huffed, dropping down into a seat on the other side of his desk with an identical bundle of samosas. "And we at least make an effort to fit in. I mean, have you seen me speak Portuguese or eat Portuguese food or... Or do Portuguese things since we've met?"
"Unless complaining is a Portuguese thing, no." In fact, he sometimes doubted that the canine- born and raised in Bombay- even knew Portuguese.
"But half the British around here don't even speak standard Hindi, let alone Marathi. How are we supposed to do our jobs if we can't even talk to the people who are trying to take over the whole of India from right under our noses?" He finally paused in his rant to shove a samosa into his mouth, shaking his head in frustration as he chewed.
"They're not trying," Rahim corrected. "They've succeeded."
"Not yet, they haven't," Cristovao grumbled. "I didn't become a diplomat for nothing."
"You're not a diplomat," he sighed back, then finally gave in to the samosas. "You're my assistant."
"And therefor a diplomat by proxy," the misguided canine reasoned. "Look, I was born here. I may be Portuguese by blood, but my soul is Indian. Just take a whiff of me!"
"No."
"I even smell Indian!"
"Look," Rahim cut him off before he wasted the whole day going on and on about his apparently Indian soul, "no one cares how Indian your soul is, least of all the British. And they have won control of a good portion of the country, including Maharashtra. I know, because I was there for the negotiations between the Brits and the Marathas. And if you would get the fur out of your eyes for five seconds, you would notice the British East India Company flags all over the city, which might I add has been under British control ever since the Portuguese handed it over to Charles II." He paused to open the letter that Cristovao had brought with the samosas and scanned it.
"Hey!" Cristovao protested, spraying him with crumbs in the process. "You're supposed to be taking a break, remember?"
"There is no such thing as a break in this business," he shot back as he read the letter over again, just to make sure he'd gotten all the details.
"Where're you off to now?" the canine asked, undoubtedly now used to the idea of Rahim traveling anywhere and everywhere the government asked on a moment's notice.
"Bengal." The trip had been a long time coming. He had suspected since the British had first established trading rights with India that he'd soon be negotiating a treaty in the state of his origin. After all, how could the East India Trading Company call itself thus without control of East India? Besides, he'd had plenty of correspondence with his brother in the British trading post of Calcutta, keeping him updated on the political goings on there.
"You don't look surprised," Cristovao pointed out. "More talks with the English, I'm guessing?" His serious tone was somewhat dampened by the sight of him devouring samosas.
"I'm only surprised it didn't come sooner," Rahim sighed, frowning down at the summons. The British East India Company had been present in Bengal for over a century, and it had only been a few months ago that they'd wrestled Chandernagore out of the hands of the French. Now, they had assassinated the Bengal Nawab and installed their own, a move he had anticipated for years. "I'll be out of your fur in two days."
"I know the drill. You go off on a grand adventure while I stay here and handle your mail."
"Glad I can count on you." He knew his trip would be as dangerous as it was frustrating, with the British, French, and Mughals all struggling to gain control of the eastern territory. He also knew he could handle it; after all, he had lived most of his life in a city full of foreign interference and war. "If I don't return, I'm probably dead and you're not allowed to have any of my stuff."
"Your stuff is boring, anyway," Cristovao dismissed as he picked crumbs out of his fur. "Besides, I'm sure everything'll go smoothly. I got a good feeling about this trip."
"That makes one of us," he sighed, resigning himself to cleaning out his desk; his travel papers and official identification were buried somewhere deep within, and he had only two days to find them. "Let's just hope I can make it to retirement."
"Po, how many times must I tell you before it sinks in to that thick skull of yours?" Shifu paused and attempted to control his frustration, though it didn't do much good. "You are simply stomping on the ground like some sort of angry rhinoceros. You are supposed to be cultivating your chi!" He didn't know why, but he'd assumed that teaching Po in the courtyard of the training hall on such a calm, sunny day would help keep his temper at bay.
"Aw, c'mon, Master," the panda replied, treating his training with the same flippant attitude he'd had since day one. "I'm the Dragon Warrior! I'm sure I'll get the hang of Dragon style, I just need more practice."
"Then stop talking at me and practice," Shifu snapped, frowning at the way his student grinned at him, as if not taking his words seriously. "Wipe that stupid grin off your face," he ground out. "You may smile once you have so completely mastered the basics of kung fu that you are able to perform them in your sleep."
Po began practicing the zig-zagging footwork of Dragon style, which was not bad considering he'd only begun learning the style that morning. The panda seemed to understand the footwork and sixteen basic movements, yet when it came to cultivating his chi through a combination of breath control and physical movement, all he could manage to do was... Well, as Shifu had pointed out, stomp on the ground.
Shifu wondered, and not for the first time, if Po's defeat of Tai Lung had been a fluke; he sincerely hoped not. Yet to see Po struggle with something that Tai Lung, at half his age, had been able to master in mere days was disheartening. He stopped himself right there and reminded himself not to compare the present to the past, and certainly to not make the monumental mistake of comparing any of his students to Tai Lung ever again. "Try to remember to shift your weight, Po," he sighed, though it didn't help much.
"Y'know, I think I'm gettin' the hang of this," Po commented obliviously and it was all Shifu could do to keep from snapping at him.
Perhaps, he thought, it would be best for him to spend some time in meditation, and return to his teaching with a refreshed mind. "Stop," he ordered, and was pleased at least that Po had learned enough to stand at attention and listen to him. "Now, squat and hold your position."
The panda did as he was told, albeit with a surreptitious grab at the back of his pants in an attempt to pull them up.
"Lower."
With a grunt of effort, Po managed to widen his stance and squat a little lower.
"Remember your breathing," Shifu instructed. "Keep your inward breath silent, calm. Your exhalation, however, should be deliberate, tense, and controlled." He turned to head toward the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom in the hopes that the sacred place would help him clear his head.
"How long should I hold this?" Po called out after him, voice already strained from effort.
"Until I get back." He didn't bother glancing back at his student's expression of horror. He felt too distracted for it to cheer him up.
Of course he had been distracted all morning; after all, he'd been avoiding an important issue. And the longer he waited to address it, the more worried he became that it would blow up in his face. He had begun to (once again) grow used to Lin's presence at the Jade Palace, though he couldn't necessarily say the same for his students- mainly because he had yet to tell them of her residence there. Perhaps they would surprise him and take the news better than he thought. He rolled his eyes just thinking it; and maybe he'd live twice as long as his late master had, compiling in the process a comparable amount of wisdom, too.
He wondered if Lin would even be around to back him up (or at least take some of the blame) when he did break the news. He'd hardly seen her at all since her arrival, save for the few times she went out of her way to irritate him. According to her, she had been working most of the time, though she hadn't told him the specific nature of said work- as if that surprised him. He knew it must have something to do with art, but honestly, how many different ways could she possibly apply her talent to earning a living? There was portraiture, which she seemed to hate quite intensely. And then there was scroll painting, though he had no idea how she felt about that particular practice. And in two guesses he had exhausted every possibility he could think of. He was confused, to say the least, and to be honest he couldn't even be sure if he could trust Lin; not that he thought she posed any threat, but despite her claims to the contrary he wasn't laboring under the assumption that she'd spend the rest of her life in the Valley of Peace. She certainly hadn't retired, as she'd told him she had. Unfortunately, he found that he couldn't ruminate further in his favorite spot under the peach tree, for it was already occupied.
Shifu blinked as he observed something both shocking and amazing: Lin was sitting under the peach tree, meditating. Upon closer inspection he found that she sat in full lotus position, her forearms resting on her knees and her hands open, palms turned up. She looked like she actually knew what she was doing, which was what shocked him most of all about the discovery.
Then, without looking at him or opening her eyes, she said, "Yo."
He pinched the bridge of his nose at the greeting; he should have known she was just trying to make fun of him. "Get up," he sighed.
"No can do," she replied, remaining in position. "You're already interrupting me enough as it is- I wanted a good three hours up here before dinner, y'know."
"Wait- you are actually meditating?"
"Yeah, what's it look like?"
"That is not the point. You don't have a spiritual bone in your body!" He found it hard to believe in her sincerity, yet she didn't seem to be joking.
"Shows how well you know me," she pointed out. "I happen to be a yogini, and a practitioner of Tantra."
"Don't tell me what that means-"
"Y'know, like tantric sex," she interrupted. "Among other things."
"I told you not to tell me!" he snapped back as his eye began to twitch.
"I musta not heardya," she tossed flippantly over her shoulder.
"Of course not." While he was aware that she had hardly lived a chaste life in the past thirty-three years, he also did not want to hear all the intimate details. He had not mellowed that much since Po's arrival. "Do you think that just once you could attempt to respect my wishes?"
"Nah." She finally opened her eyes and turned around to grin at him.
"You forgot to put your teeth in," he pointed out at the sight of the obvious gap on the right side of her mouth; she had yet to tell him how she'd lost every tooth to the right of her canines, although he doubted he'd enjoy such a story.
"I meditate better without 'em," she shot back, though she turned away a little too quickly to suit her nonchalance. "So what'd you want?"
"I simply wanted to ask you what you plan to do here for... Well, for the rest of your life."
"The usual." She followed up her vague response with a shrug. "Why?"
"I was just wondering." He paused, waiting for her to say something a bit more descriptive. "...Are you going to tell me what 'the usual' entails?"
"You'll see for yourself in time," she sighed as she slowly uncrossed her legs, then stood up. "It's all part of getting to know me."
"I can't say I expected any insight from you," he admitted.
"But why should we just come out and tell each other all this stuff at once?" she reasoned. "It's so much more fun to learn it all gradually." She stepped forward in a deep lunge, her hands in a prayer position. "Now, wanna open up your hips with me? It helps with the joints."
"No thank you." He realized that his tone was a little flat, but he was annoyed by her lack of information and, as it had always been, by her attitude.
She raised her hands high over her head and leaned back, essentially looking at him upside down- how her tail didn't get in the way, he had no idea. "Suit yourself. If you change your mind, y'know where I'll be all day."
"At least it will be easy to avoid you," he huffed as he turned to go.
"Wish I could say the same to you," she shot back. "Unfortunately, you always manage to find me."
"As always, you charm me." With that he walked away, lest she cajole him any more. He could not for the life of him understand why she insisted on constantly teasing him. Their conversations as of late usually didn't last much longer than that most recent stint, and it had been extremely tame compared to most of their interactions. He realized that he tended to get annoyed by her much more quickly than he should, but he couldn't help but feel as though she did not take a single moment they spent together seriously. He shouldn't have expected any different, of course; when had she ever taken anything involving him seriously? Her attitude still irritated him to no end, though, no matter how in character it was. He found even being in her presence at all stressful, before any words were exchanged between them. Perhaps it was unfair of him to be so on edge, but he'd concluded the cause was the usual concern of her recent move-in. Not to mention he wasn't entirely sure if he could trust her not to bolt from the valley at any moment; she had set a precedent, after all. Nevertheless, he made a promise to himself to make more of an attempt at civility when they next spoke. After all, he had agreed to get to know her again and he hadn't been lying when he'd said he wanted to do just that. He just wished there was some way it could all be... Easier.
And of course, when one aspect of his life became frustrating, it was only natural for all else to follow. On top of Po's struggle with Dragon style, his two female students had been acting strangely. Viper kept giving him strange looks- suspicious looks- and had mentioned once or twice telling him something important, though he'd admittedly been too distracted by everything else already on his plate to listen to her concerns. He had yet to confront her about it, but he had a feeling she suspected Lin was more than just a guest. And for some strange reason Tigress kept grimacing at him. He couldn't for the life of him figure out why; he'd checked his appearance, checked for body odor, even searched his surroundings, but he could never find what it was that Tigress kept grimacing at. Perhaps she had been training too hard, and was in pain.
He longed for the simpler times of his youth, when the biggest thing he had to worry about was whether or not he'd survive his next battle. At this rate, he didn't even know if he'd be able to survive his next meal. He hoped he'd manage to get through the week, but if Lin tried to feed him curry at any point... He'd be a dead man. Not for the first time in the past couple of weeks, he wished fervently that he had died young, in a blaze of glory. Instead, he faced death by curry or burst aneurysm in old age. He sincerely hoped that he would at least have the dignity of passing on from cranial bleeding. The curry option was just too disgusting to think about.
Chen tapped his fingers on the top of his studio's work table, large enough to accommodate someone the size of a bear, mainly to account for the large format of his usual painting. He sat cross-legged on the tabletop, glaring out at the giant room, original work by himself and other artists covering every possible part of the walls, while a few shelves in the far corner contained scrolls of whatever artwork would not fit on the walls. One ink painting in particular held his attention: a paper that had been covered in black ink; the artist had then dripped clean water onto the still-wet ink at a spot toward the bottom of the paper, repelling the blackness and revealing the creamy white of the page. Quan had created the work, during the first lesson Chen had ever given her, when he had shown her a lantern in the middle of the night and told her to paint it as quickly as possible. He had realized the moment she'd created the painting that his instincts about her had been right. His instincts had been spot-on back then; now, he was not so sure.
"Brooding again, I see." Of course, Yan-Yan chose that exact moment to interrupt his solitary contemplation. "Just like the dark yet ultimately altruistic hero you truly are." She was clearly making fun of him as she walked into the room and dropped into the chair beside his desk with an exhausted sigh.
"Whaddaya want?" He'd known when he'd offered the Balinese cat a place to live that she would spend the majority of her time interrupting his solitude and invading his privacy, but that didn't make it any less annoying.
"Besides my life back?" she replied, feigning nonchalance.
"You got a life," he pointed out, resisting the urge to call her spineless and whiny- to be honest, she'd earned the right to whine a little bit. "You got what's important."
"A grumpy old man, a convicted felon, and two out of three children on speaking terms with me?" She leaned back against the desk as she eyed the same painting he'd just been studying. "It sure as hell isn't much, but I guess it's better than pretending I don't care at all while I sit alone in the dark, wishing I could travel back in time to change the way I treated the people I care about."
Chen frowned at the astute observation, but didn't deny it; he'd been called out, and he was mature enough to accept it. "I was gonna hafta write that letter sooner or later, might as well tell her about the big lug, too."
"He clearly remembers her well," Yan-Yan pointed out, reminding him of Tai Lung's averse reaction to Quan's involvement in any way, shape, or form to his rehabilitation. "Tell me again about how she's got arthritis and lost half her teeth so I can relish the vengeance," she added.
"It ain't healthy to hold a grudge," Chen reminded her, though he felt like a huge hypocrite for doing so- he couldn't even count the number of grudges he himself held.
"It's not so much a grudge as a healthy sense of justice," she replied, her voice deceptively lacking malice. "One does tend to feel that way after being lied to and left in the dust. Then again, that simply seems to be the story of my life."
"No it ain't," he sighed, irritated that he had to once again remind her of the fact; he understood that she'd only recently been betrayed and turned out by her own husband, and that it would take a while for her to get over it, but the least she could do was get over it without talking to him about it all the time. "I ain't ever lied to you, and I ain't ever left you in the dust."
"You sort of lied to me about Quan secretly being a woman," she pointed out. "You helped perpetuate the lie that she was a man, which is the same thing as straight-up lying."
"Besides that one lie," he corrected. "And it doesn't really count, anyway. You were a teenager at the time and teenagers ain't real people."
"Your affection for children is inspiring, it truly is." She smiled as she tore her gaze away from the wall to look down at him. "But you are right. You're the only person I could ever really count on."
The warmth of her smile coupled with the nostalgia of their conversation briefly reminded him of a time four decades ago, when he'd felt for the first time in his life like a parent. When that painting of the lantern in the dark had first been completed, and brown eyes had stared down at him, begging for approval. When a simple nod of his head had received a reaction just like that warm smile, and he'd known for sure that the person sitting before him was so much more than a student.
"There's still a problem we haven't discussed." Yan-Yan's voice snapped him out of his memories, and he tried not to look too much like he'd drifted off. "What are we going to write?"
"Good point." He narrowed his eyes as he contemplated precisely what to put into the letter. "I guess a good place to start is 'Dear Quan.'"
"But doesn't she call herself Lin now?"
"Why d'you always gotta be difficult?" he snapped as he pushed himself to his feet and began pacing to help him think. "I think I'll send a letter to Wei-Shan, too."
"You think he'd really come all the way back to Shanghai for something like this?" she asked critically, and she had a good point; Wei-Shan generally didn't like to get involved in anyone's matters besides his own unless he absolutely had no choice.
But Chen knew that if he asked Wei-Shan would still come. "He'll get his ass over here, just like Quan will. I just gotta figure out a way to hide the crucial details. We don't want anyone who doesn't need to know learning about our guest."
"And then what?" As usual, Yan-Yan couldn't help but bust his chops. "You'll all just sit around and talk about what to do with the big lug?"
"Basically." He paused to look at the feline, surprised to see genuine concern in her expression. "What, you actually care what happens to the idiot?"
"He is my patient," she pointed out. "Though I'd like him a lot better if he'd needed surgery."
"Easy to please as ever, I see."
"If you're so indifferent, I don't see why you picked him up off the side of the road to begin with." She looked at him as if she expected an actual answer from him, but then kept talking. "In any case, whatever we do, we'd better do it fast. Once our friend upstairs recovers more fully, I get the sneaking suspicion he'll reject our hospitality."
"Well, keep being nice to him," Chen grumbled as he wondered for about the thousandth time why he even bothered getting involved in the first place. "Maybe he'll feel compelled to stick around." He hopped to the edge of his desk and picked up a brush. "Now help me out with this damn letter."
"I'm kinda freaking out," Lin sighed, though she kept her eyes closed. "Not that I expect an answer." She didn't know why she bothered speaking to begin with; she knew that Oogway couldn't hear her. Oogway was dead, after all. Not that she didn't believe that people had spirits which lived on after their bodies. Oogway had ascended, after all; he'd become one with the universe in the most literal sense possible. That didn't mean he could answer her or understand her, or even hear her- or maybe he could somehow; she had never confessed to understand what lay beyond death. She only had what any other living person had: belief, based entirely on guesses and speculation. From what she could tell, though, Oogway had imprinted strongly on the peach tree while alive- he'd loved the place, and that spiritual connection had survived, and probably always would. And while she still had her doubts about his consciousness, she could still feel him; and it wasn't like Oogway had ever done much more than listen anyway. "I'm trying too hard, aren't I?"
A gentle breeze kicked up and rustled through the tree's leaves.
"I know, I am. I just... Is it pathetic that I'm afraid he won't like me anymore?"
The wind picked up a little more, and if she didn't know any better she'd say the rustling of the leaves sounded a lot like laughter.
She shook her head and laughed as she answered for Oogway. "Probably." She possessed enough of a critical eye to see how ridiculous her insecurities were. After all, who in her right mind worried that a man who had accepted her into his home disliked her? Although, there was Shifu's altruistic side to consider; he could have let her live there out of some sense of duty. She found herself second guessing herself and his actions almost daily, sometimes even becoming nervous around him. And she hadn't been nervous around a man (one who wasn't trying to kill her, anyway) since... Well, since she'd first met Shifu to begin with. She felt pretty damn pathetic for it, too. It was downright miraculous that she had managed to make it through fifty-five years of life- hers in particular- and still possess even a droplet of insecurity. "Guess that's mortality and the human condition forya," she sighed to herself, then uncrossed her legs and leaned forward to stretch out her back.
She had more pressing matters which required her attention, anyway. For one, Tai Lung was alive; she felt sure that he'd survived the Wuxi finger hold. After all, she'd spoken to several people down in the village about the incident, and they'd all had the same thing to say: a ring of golden dust had burst forth from the site of the battle, rushing over the Valley. And aside from the property damage the two warriors had inflicted on the village, there had been no visible signs of carnage. That first clue alone was enough to tip her off; she'd seen people get blown to bits, and it sure as hell didn't look anything like that. If a person were to be disintegrated, the resulting mist would at the very least be some sort of pink hue. Nobody's blood and guts were golden. Well, maybe certain species of insect, but that wasn't the point. The point was, this indicated that Tai Lung had remained (at least relatively) whole.
Meaning someone would've had to have found the body eventually. Except that it had been months since his defeat, yet no one had run across a body- not so much as a dismembered limb. And it wasn't like Tai Lung's was a body one could easily miss; he was twice the size of most of the Valley's residents, covered in spots, and wore purple trousers. However, if he'd survived, he could have hidden while he recovered from his injuries and planned out his next move. Then there was the last piece of evidence, though she had to admit that even she felt a little skeptical about it. Still, crazier things existed in the world.
Tai Lung had grown up in the Jade Palace. He had eaten his meals in the very kitchen where she used to cook, he had trained in the training hall, he had studied in the Hall of Heroes, and most importantly he had felt the love of a family, as well as the bitterness of disappointment and the anguish of betrayal. And as she had learned over the years, places tended to tell stories, to practically vibrate with the emotions people had left behind. In short, Tai Lung had imprinted on the place, just as Oogway had. Unlike Oogway, however, she couldn't feel him.
As she sat up, she snorted at how ridiculous it sounded, even in her own mind. Yet, when she had meditated that day, when her mind and spirit had drifted free from her body, she'd been filled with an overwhelming sense of joy. And once she had gotten used to that, there had been other feelings- there had been a calmness, one that came from knowing that the machinations of the universe were too complex and too chaotic to be controlled or disputed. There had been pride, not just in the kung fu warriors residing in the Jade Palace, but in all the people of the Valley. And of course there had been love. And they had all been Oogway, she could tell- not that Oogway, being a thousand years old and a spiritual master, would be a difficult presence to sense. But she could tell because, while those with more experience or more inclination to the spiritual workings of the world could feel out the living, she could not. The body simply got in the way too much- a person's sense of individuality, of separateness from the expanse of everything got in the way. It was easier to feel the dead, because what she was feeling was essentially the universe itself.
She'd heard stories, of course, of spiritual masters who had reached enlightenment, capable of becoming one with everyone and everything in the universe- seeing as it all was one to begin with, anyway. But to reach enlightenment meant to feel the sentiment "all is one and one is all" within every fiber of a person's being. She had no doubt that this belief had been the source of the legend of the Dragon Warrior being able to "feel the universe in motion around him." She couldn't do all that herself- she wasn't exactly the spiritually enlightened type. She had occasionally felt as one with the universe, though it had taken a lot of effort to forget all the universe's bullshit before she'd even gotten close- and most of that effort had involved the karma sutra. Sometimes, if she meditated with enough focus, she could even feel close to the spirit of a dead person, as creepy as that was. She still had difficulty even with that, though, which was why she'd sought out help from significant places and things like the sacred peach tree.
Yet she didn't feel anything from Tai Lung, not anywhere on the entire grounds. She should have by now, if he were truly dead. He could have simply not imprinted on any place in the Jade Palace, but she refused to believe that. So she knew that he had to be alive, but there remained the problem of what to do with that knowledge. The obvious answer would be to tell Shifu, except for the problem of Shifu himself; she doubted he'd believe that Tai Lung was alive just because she had a feeling (or rather, lack thereof). She had no physical proof of her theory, and if she couldn't tell Shifu then she definitely couldn't tell anyone else.
With a sigh, she turned her gaze up into the gently swaying leaves of the peach tree. "Y'know, Oogway, you'd be real useful to have around right about now. Well, to have around in the flesh, anyway." She then fished her pipe out of her belt- the mahogany calabash she had inherited- and began stuffing tobacco into it. "Even you'd be better 'an nothing right about now," she directed at the thing before lighting it and puffing on it. "Still good at helping me think, anyway," she grumbled as she folded her legs into lotus position once more and closed her eyes.
Unfortunately, despite the copious spiritual energy of the sacred peach tree there to help her, she found herself unable to forget her worldly concerns this time around. There was just too much on her mind, too much to worry about, and her worries held her firmly in the here and now like weights tethered to her body- not to mention her ass kept itching like a bitch. Eventually, she burned through all the tobacco in her pipe and took it as a sign to step away from her meditation for the time being. What she needed, she thought to herself as she cleaned out and put away her pipe, was a distraction. And no sooner than she had thought it, a very welcome distraction appeared.
"So how was your meditation?" Shifu stood at the top of the steps behind her, one eyebrow raised in clear skepticism.
Lin resisted the urge to grin like a maniac at the fact that Shifu had come looking for her again. "It was pretty good," she hummed contentedly. "You should try it some time."
"Very funny," he grumbled back, crossing his arms. "You have apparently come a long way from not even knowing how to meditate in the first place."
"I sure as hell don't need scented candles to do it," she jabbed, amused by his irritated frown. "But then again, when I meditate it's 'cause I got a reason for it, not 'cause my anxiety disorder is slowly driving me insane."
He didn't seem to amused by her remark, but surprisingly enough he let it go and moved on with the conversation. "I simply came to inform you that Po has made some noodle soup for dinner, if you would like to join us."
"I don't think your students'll wanna eat with me," she pointed out as she stood up and wiped the grass off her behind. "Normally I don't care about that kinda thing, but I get the feeling that in this instance I should attempt to be diplomatic."
"If that is how you feel, I cannot change your mind," he conceded, unexpectedly enough. "Though I would like to eat with you."
As innocuous as the statement seemed, Lin still caught herself blushing like a young girl with her first crush. "Yeesh, you don't gotta beg. That's just pathetic."
"So you will eat with us, I gather?"
"One condition," she amended.
"What is that?"
"Follow me." She set off down the steps, and she didn't even need to look back to know that he'd followed her.
"Does this mean you are going to tell me something important about yourself or your mysterious past?" he asked hopefully, which she couldn't help but laugh at. "I suppose that is a 'no.'"
"Hm," she teased as she turned at the fork in the path back to the barracks, and instead headed toward the Hall of Heroes. "Perhaps, perhaps not."
"If you are attempting to be enigmatic, it is not working," he huffed, though she could tell from the way he sped up as he followed her that he was indeed intrigued by her vague answers.
"I'm just having a little fun," she responded, and fell back a little to walk side by side with him as she assessed him critically. He'd seemed stressed out lately, not that it wasn't completely in character for him. He seemed more frazzled than usual, though, and it worried her- not that he didn't have plenty to feel stress over. He had only months ago fought against his own estranged son and then lost him, not to mention had lost the man who was, for all intents and purposes, his father- and then had been faced with the overwhelming task of taking his place. "So, just outta curiosity, you ever gonna accept your title?"
"What title?" He raised his large eyebrows at her, apparently suspicious of the question.
"Y'know, Grand Master of Kung Fu." She figured she may as well ask him about the subject; maybe he needed someone to talk to about it.
"How do you know I have not done so yet?" he shot back.
"Y'don't got Oogway's staff," she pointed out.
"It is broken," he answered shortly.
"You can't fix it?"
He didn't reply to the question, and instead fell into a sullen silence.
"Never mind," she sighed, sensing that she'd hit a sore spot with him- maybe it wasn't the best subject to broach after all. "Just making conversation."
He remained silent for another beat, then said, "I know you don't want any comparisons or references to the past, but... You are still a know-it-all."
She snorted at the jab, relieved he hadn't been too offended by her questions. "Hey, it ain't my fault I know everything. The world is my teacher, so blame it." She let out a short cackle at the joke, but Shifu didn't seem quite as amused.
"What is it you wanted to show me, anyway?"
"B'sides my vaj?" she asked, causing him to turn bright red and start to sputter.
"Wha- you- no. How can you be so vulgar?"
"That wasn't even that bad," she dismissed as they approached the Hall of Heroes, still as opulent and magnificent as the first time she'd seen it. "You need to learn to loosen up."
"No, I do not," he argued. "You are the one who needs to learn some decorum."
"Ah, you're right," she agreed with a grin. "It'd be no fun for me if you loosened up- it wouldn't be so easy to teaseya." She stopped just inside the doorway of the hall to take in the high ceilings, the carved pillars, the many kung fu artifacts, and of course the Moon Pool.
"You realize that I have been to the Hall of Heroes many times already," Shifu bitched, and she couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, I know." Lin briefly wondered if it was even worth speaking to him, but then as slow on the uptake as he was, he did usually get the point... Eventually. "C'mon, I'm gonna showya something."
"I assure you I have already seen it," he groused, but still followed her to the end of the hall, where she paused to take a look at the moon pool; as always, peach petals floated on the surface, undoubtedly Shifu's work. "The moon pool?" he asked.
"Nope," she replied simply, then turned to her right and walked out onto the large balcony that hung over the valley, the view stretching out into the mist.
"I have seen the valley already," he informed her, still with an uppity tone.
"Thanks for the newsflash," she shot back. "I couldn'ta deduced that myself or anything."
"Then why was it so important to show me this?"
"You've seen the valley, clearly," she answered, "but you ever just stop and look anymore?"
"Is there a point to this attempt at generic wisdom?"
"Just shut up and look," she sighed, tired of his attitude; she hadn't realized when she returned that he'd gotten even bitchier over the years rather than mellowing with age like most people, but those were the breaks, she supposed.
It took him about five seconds to ask a stupid question. "What am I looking for, now?"
"Oh, for the love of- d'you wanna stop busting my balls for a minute and just enjoy the view? Is that so much to ask, or should I let you crawl back under the rock where you been living?"
"Very well, you don't need to bite my head off," he grumbled, then crossed his arms and glared out at the village, fields, and forests all clearly visible before them.
"And don't sulk, you're ruining the atmosphere," she scolded, annoyed at his inability to appreciate the moment.
"I am not sulking, I simply do not get the point of standing here and staring at something I see every day!"
"Just 'cause you see it every day doesn't mean it ain't worth looking at!" she snapped. "I see the sky every night, but that doesn't stop me from looking at the stars! I see colors every day, that doesn't mean I stop looking at something that's blue or yellow or- or pink, 'cause I like it!"
"You like pink?" he scoffed.
"That ain't the point!"
"You are overreacting."
"Maybe so, but it's still light out and the moon's already visible, and that doesn't happen all the time. Okay, it happens a lot, but still- the point is that I am attempting to share with you something I find wonder and joy in, but you're acting like you could care less." She ended her admonishment in a grumble, mostly out of embarrassment that she cared so much about his opinion. With a tired sigh, she leaned on the banister that separated them from the sheer drop-off the balcony hung over. "Never mind."
He didn't try to continue the argument- in fact, he didn't say anything at all. Instead he just stood next to her and awkwardly clasped his hands behind his back. After a few agonizing moments of this, he rocked back on his heels and cleared his throat. "I, ahm, am sorry."
"I said never mind," she muttered, still embarrassed. She rubbed at her cheek in an attempt to quell the blush that had begun to rise.
"No, no," he insisted. "I am sorry. The moon is lovely when it is out in the daylight. I had never noticed before." He seemed sincere enough- at least, as sincere as he was going to get.
"And it is pretty big tonight," she agreed with a grin. "Almost as big as your head."
"Say what you want about the size of my head," he groused. "At least I do not like the color pink."
"You love it and you know it," she shot back. "B'sides, ain't nothing wrong with pink."
"Everyone knows that it is the sissy of the color wheel." He even acted serious about his teasing, not so much as cracking a smile.
"Hm. And the pink peach petals you scatter on the moon pool every day?"
"Those don't count."
"Sure." She debated with herself on whether to show some physical sign of affection- after all, their relationship was purely platonic and she had no evidence whatsoever that Shifu felt otherwise. She settled on a friendly elbow to the ribs, resisting the urge to laugh when he grunted and rubbed at the spot she'd jabbed. "Y'know what?"
"You just broke two of my ribs?" he guessed.
"Naw." She pushed him a little, earning herself a glare that was about as malignant as her elbowing had been. "I think the stupidly long facial hair suits you."
He furrowed his brow, then settled into a slightly more angry glare. "You are implying that I look stupid?"
"Believe it or not, that was my attempt at a compliment."
"Don't quit your day job."
"That reminds me, I need to do some pretty heavy-duty shopping- pigments, ink, oil, brushes, wood, limestone-"
"You do not need to dictate your entire list to me," he interrupted.
She resisted the urge to throw an insult back at him for his rudeness and settled instead on an exasperated roll of her eyes. "The point is, you wanna join me tomorrow?"
"You need money, don't you?" he asked flatly.
"I only asked you for the pleasure of your company," she sniffed indignantly. "It's not like I need you around in order to spend your money."
"As much as I would enjoy such an excursion," he grumbled with a healthy amount of sarcasm, "I must ask why you think I would even begin to consider emptying my coffers for you."
"You don't got a resident artist at the moment," she pointed out. "Thus, I call dibs."
"You cannot just 'call dibs' on a job here!" Shifu snapped, apparently agitated by her perfectly reasonable demand. "I am the Master of the Jade Palace, and I am the one who decides who does and does not work for me."
"So you're saying you don't think I'm good enough for the position?" She knew it was sort of mean to use such a blatant guilt technique on him, but no matter how the argument had gone, she still would have won- after all, she was the most qualified person for the job. She just wanted to avoid the long argument; besides, she doubted he'd know what she was talking about if she did take the time to point out her qualifications to him.
Shifu's eye twitched uncontrollably as he stared at her, his mouth open and his hands raised as if he were about to reach out and strangle her. Then, he snapped his mouth shut, gulped, and said, "...We had better get you some supplies, then."
"That's the spirit!" She gave him a hearty pat on the back and laughed at the disgruntled expression on his face. "Aw, c'mon. It ain't like you're not getting anything outta this. I'll do posters forya and illustrate scrolls... Maybe I'll even throw in a portrait or two."
"I suppose you will want payment for all of that."
"In the long run it'll probably be cheaper for you to gimme a weekly salary," she pointed out. "A single commission from me'd costya a hefty chunk of gold, even after I giveya a discount."
"And you will most likely ask for a raise every chance you get," he sighed.
"Probably," she agreed, though she didn't see how he could expect anything else when he asked his employees to work for beans. "And don't act so put off. I think you like the idea of being my boss."
"Why would I ever want to be your boss?" he asked, massaging his temple. "Masochistic impulses?"
"The power dynamic getsya off." She watched him turn red and sputter for a bit, simply appreciating the view. She had missed moments like this.
"You- you are very much mistaken," he managed to work out, despite his obvious embarrassment. "And I would appreciate it if you would at least attempt to refrain from jokes and speculation about the more intimate details of my life."
"Yeah, yeah," she agreed dismissively. "Y'know, I'm starting to get hungry."
"Ready to change the subject, I see." He crossed his arms and looked at her sternly, but she wasn't exactly intimidated by him in any way shape or form.
"Just trying to be nice," she pointed out. "If you wanna keep talking about sex, I could go on all night. Well, more like half the night- there's only so much talking I can do before I resort to action." She waggled her eyebrows to drive the point home, but he didn't seem too thrilled by the lecherous come on. She hoped he warmed up to the teasing, for his own sake, since she planned on doing a lot more of it.
"You have absolutely no sense of propriety whatsoever," he informed her uselessly. "The fact that you are allowed out in public, quite frankly, terrifies me."
"That an invitation?" she continued, shooting him the sleaziest grin she could muster.
"Augh," he replied, wrinkling his nose in apparent distaste.
"You want it," she accused, then let out a short bark of laughter at his discomfort. "Aw, c'mon. It was a joke!"
"Hmph." He crossed his arms behind his back, a sure sign that he was about to get serious on her- more serious, anyway. "I still don't see why you felt the need to impart on me a life lesson about appreciating my surroundings."
"Why does everyone and everything always gotta have an ulterior motive with you?" she complained, though he was actually right in this one instance. If he hadn't asked her about it, though, she probably wouldn't have brought it up. "Fine, you got me. This is where Oogway convinced me to tellya I was leaving."
He showed no reaction to the statement, though she could tell he was mulling it over. "May I ask you a question?"
"You can ask me all the questions you want," she replied easily, "so long as you don't expect me to answer each and every one of 'em."
"If you had known that nobody was coming for you, would you have still left?"
She didn't see how it was even a question for him in the first place- she had told him at the time, several times, that she had wanted to leave the Valley of Peace. "Of course I woulda."
"I see." He didn't seem too pleased by the admission, though she didn't know what else he'd expected. "Then why did you come back?"
"It's not like I left 'cause I didn't wanna be here at all," she pointed out. "I needed to leave, to live my own life. You and I couldn'ta stayed together all these years, even if I hadn't left. The things we wanted outta life were too different." That was what she'd always believed, anyway. "And I came back 'cause I'm ready to live here. I spent most of my life doing exactly what I wanted to do, and it was great. I got no regrets. And it just so happens that what I wanna do now is live in the Valley of Peace." She did conveniently leave out the part about wanting to be with him- it was a little too early for that, and to be honest she felt like a stalker just thinking it.
He started massaging his temple, most likely frustrated that her answer was so straightforward; he always seemed to have trouble believing that she lacked an ulterior motive (although he tended to be right). "But must you live at the Jade Palace?"
"Yeah," she answered with a shrug, watching as his consternation only deepened.
"Why?"
"'Cause I ain't climbing up a thousand freaking steps every time I wanna seeya, that's why." It was one reason, at least, and a very good one at that.
He stared at her for a couple of seconds, and she had to hand it to him that he managed to keep his eye from twitching. "...That is it?" he finally asked. "You don't want to climb stairs?"
"Well it's more like climbing a mountain," she pointed out. "Plus there's the whole problem of not having enough money to pay rent, and you just hired me. Not to mention you invited me-"
"Thirty-three years ago!" he burst out, gripping his head as if it were about to explode. "Then you showed up here barely a week ago without warning and just moved in without any regard for my opinion on the matter!"
"So you're retracting that whole 'you will always have a home here' statement, then?" She knew it was a mean and guilt-inducing thing to say, but she had thought when he'd told her she'd always have a home at the Jade Palace he'd meant it.
"No, that is not what I am doing," he grumbled, clearly incensed by the reminder of his past promises. "I am just saying that it would have been nice to have a little warning before you showed up here. And it would have been nice if you had asked me before you decided to move in."
"I toldya if you didn't want me here to just say so!"
"That is not the same as asking!" he snapped. "If I had said I didn't want you here I would have looked like the bad guy, and then you would have stayed anyway. Besides, you had just returned after a thirty-three year absence, I was still shocked! What do you want me to do, just lay down and allow you to walk all over me?"
She supposed it was a valid argument. "So..." And, in her opinion, it was never too late to make amends. "Can I live here?"
He blinked back at her, a disbelieving frown plastered firmly on his face. "What?"
"I'm asking you if I can live here." She gave him a hopeful smile, banking on her natural charm to win him over.
"...It is not my decision alone," he sighed, though he at least stopped frowning. "But my answer is yes."
"Like there was any doubt," she snorted, then grinned innocently when he glared at her. "...So what're we eating for dinner, again?"
"Noodles, remember?" He turned and walked away, apparently heading for the kitchen.
"Not so much as I remember you refusing to tell your students I actually live here," she replied, following after him. "Did Viper tellya?"
He actually had the nerve to get angry at her. "You told Viper?"
She supposed Viper hadn't delivered her message after all. "Yeah. And Po. My plan was to tell each of your students individually, under the guise that they were the only person in the know. Then I would sit back and watch disaster strike. I could still go that route, if you're not ready to tell 'em yet."
"What?" he snapped indignantly. "What is wrong with you? I would have told them in my own time!"
"Guess my own time moves a little faster 'an yours," she replied, unconcerned. It wasn't in her nature to settle for anything less than precisely what she wanted, and she wanted his students to know the truth.
"You- You-" He paused, his lips thinned as he glared at her. "I had thought you had matured in the past few decades, but I suppose I was wrong."
"Oh, I've matured," she assured him. "If I'd faced this problem years ago, I'da never thoughta such a stunningly intelligent and subversive plan."
"Has it ever occurred to you that there is something wrong with how much you enjoy my pain?" He huffed as they walked out of the Hall of Heroes and headed back toward the barracks.
"Seems perfectly natural to me." She grinned at how annoyed he looked. "Besides, I been plenty nice to you so far. I don't see what your problem is."
"Perhaps your presumption," he sniffed, and she suppressed the urge to laugh at him. "You seem to think you have the right to boss around whomever you see fit."
"Naw, just you." She reached out and poked him in the side, snorting in amusement when he rubbed at the spot she'd touched. "And you gotta admit, you make it pretty easy for me."
"I do not," he protested. "And by the way, you are backing me up in there when I tell my students about this, and I will heed their opinions on the matter. And that is not a request."
"Y'know, it's kinda a turn-on when you boss me around like that," she commented, only half-joking.
"Augh," he grumbled, burying his face momentarily in his hand before setting off across the grounds.
She decided to be the bigger person and not get angry about his clear rejection; after all, she had plenty of time to change his mind. "You want it!" she accused, then laughed at the way his ears twitched in his irritation. At least, he'd want it eventually- all she needed was a little persistence.
"That's not a smile." Viper cocked her head slightly to the side, squinting her eyes as she peered up at her fellow kung fu master. "It looks more like someone's got you in an arm lock. Or maybe a choker hold." She paused, assessing her friend. "Yep, definitely a choker hold."
"This is pointless," Tigress huffed as she finally allowed her face to relax. "And your advice is ridiculous." She sat down on the barracks porch, where Viper had somehow harangued her into attempting to "practice her smile." She simply didn't smile if she didn't mean it- and there were very few times when she meant it.
"Try again," Viper encouraged, ignorant of how close she was to being viciously clawed to death.
"I can't force a smile, Viper," she snapped. "I can't smile unless I feel like smiling, and right now the last thing I feel like doing is smiling. And since when is a smile some sort of magical bandage capable of mending my relationship with Master Shifu? Is there some disclaimer I have yet to hear of?"
"I never said anything like that!" her friend shot back. "I said it was a start. There's a difference."
"I seem to remember you telling me something different."
"You always twist my words around! And we wouldn't be having this discussion if you would just attempt to be friendly-"
"That's it," she cut in, then got back to her feet. "I'm done." She turned to head inside and eat some dinner; she would deal with her problems in her own way, on her own. She should have known better than to talk to Viper in the first place; the woman thought every problem in life could be solved with simple optimism and rainbows and flowers and-and- other equally naive, frivolous things. Although, with Master Oogway gone, she didn't know who else she could possibly talk to about her worries. Monkey and Mantis would just turn everything into a joke, Crane was so non-cronfrontational he'd squirm just listening to her, and Po... She didn't plan on telling the panda anything about her personal life. Ever. Not that Master Oogway had ever given any advice that she could actually understand, but he'd been a good listener. More than that, really.
"Tigress!" Viper caught up to her outside of the kitchen, looking worried as always. "I didn't mean to snap, you know. It's just frustrating when you don't take my advice seriously."
"I know." Tigress hoped she wasn't expected to apologize; she hadn't done anything to warrant an apology, as far as she could see- not that Viper would stay angry if she had. Sometimes Tigress wondered if she had ever stayed angry at anyone for more than maybe a day in her entire life; but maybe that was because it usually didn't take much longer than that to beat the living daylights out of them. "I think I should just handle this on my own."
"Okay," she agreed reluctantly, "if that's what you want."
With a nod of her head, Tigress walked into the kitchen- and tried her best not to let her mouth water at the heavenly aroma of Po's noodles. While she'd been able to resist most of the rich foods Po cooked and adhere to the strict diet of a disciplined kung fu master, she had long since given in to the noodles. She didn't know a person alive capable of resisting them.
"So then he says, 'And here I thought all this time that was just a banana in his pants!'" Of course Mantis had been regaling their fellow masters with a filthy story, the likes of which usually only amused himself- and sometimes Monkey.
"That was... Interesting," Crane commented awkwardly.
"Hey, Tigress-"
"I would rather not know," she interrupted as she and Viper took their seats.
"I think I can live in ignorance, too," Viper added when Mantis turned to her.
"Okay, but you don't know what you're missing," he chuckled. "It was a real good one. You see there was this guy-"
"Please don't tell it again," Po begged as he spooned soup into bowls and served it up. "I mean, it was an interesting story an' all, I just dunno if I'd wanna hear it again... Ever." He sat down at the end of the table and immediately dug into his portion.
"You can do better, anyway," Monkey reassured the insect. "I'd give it maybe a seven out of ten."
Tigress shook her head; how any of her friends managed to keep their appetites after Mantis's jokes and stories, she didn't know.
Viper let out a sigh, though her frustration was probably feigned. "Mantis, if you'd refocused all the time your mind spends in the gutter on kung fu, you would have been named the Dragon Warrior."
"Hey now, I gotta keep my priorities straight," he joked back, then followed up with one of his rumbling laughs. "Besides, everyone's been so depressing lately, I figured we could use a little mood boost."
"We are not depressing," she argued immediately.
"Just bored," Monkey finished for her.
Tigress couldn't disagree with the sentiment; some days she found herself wishing that rebels would attack some nearby village or bandits would attempt to invade the Valley of Peace- anything to keep her sane. "If you're so bored, Monkey, why don't you try learning from a new scroll of kung fu?"
"Ooh, that reminds me! I'm learning Dragon style!" Po interjected excitedly, bouncing in his seat like a child.
"Looked to me like you were just squatting outside the training hall," Monkey shot back.
"Maybe it's just a new training technique that Master Shifu's trying out," the panda reasoned, though after a few moments of skeptical silence from his friends, he caved. "Okay, probably not. But I am learning Dragon style! Slowly."
"Maybe Master Shifu'd have more time to train you if he wasn't so busy practicing doggy style," Mantis pointed out with a lecherous chuckle.
The table erupted into a chorus of "Ewwww"s and "Augh"s, and one "That's just nasty!" from Crane.
"Mantis, do you want me to kick your ass?" Tigress asked once the loud averse reactions had subsided. "Because I would have no problem with that."
"Hey, everyone else was thinking it," he shot back. "I'm just the only one with the balls to say it out loud."
"No, you're the only one gross enough to talk about Master Shifu like that," Viper hissed, then gave him a smack upside the head with the end of her tail.
"Hey, old people need lovin' too."
"I will crush you," Tigress growled at him, thanking every deity in existence that she had managed to keep a mental image from forming.
Mantis insisted on continuing to push her buttons, though. "All I'm saying is, this's the longest booty call I've ever seen." He dodged the swipe she aimed at him from across the table just in time, landing back in front of his soup as if he'd never moved. "Yeesh, calm down," he griped. "I'm sure your new step-mommy'll be leaving soon."
Before she could tear him a new one for the continued teasing, Po let out a suspiciously guilty sounding cough.
"I dunno if that's..." He trailed off, apparently losing his confidence under the sudden attention he'd garnered as the Furious Five all turned their curious gazes on him. "Well the thing is..." he tried again, but couldn't seem to bring himself to finish the thought.
Tigress had become used to his awkward tendencies, so such a hesitation didn't surprise her in the least. It still provoked her impatient streak, though. "Are you going to tell us or not, Po?"
"I kinda sorta think Lin might live here. Now." He winced, as if he expected to receive a punch in the face for delivering such news.
"That's impossible," she snapped immediately. "Master Shifu would never allow such a thing behind our backs." However, one glance at the looks on her friends' faces revealed that they were not so sure.
"I think Po's right," Viper spoke up. "I spoke to Lin, and she pretty much told me straight-up that she's living here and Master Shifu knows it."
Silence met the announcement as they all contemplated this new development; personally, Tigress wanted to do less contemplating, and more confronting.
"At least she cleans up after herself," Po pointed out weakly, then under the stares of his fellow kung fu masters fell silent again and began to slurp his soup.
Crane, always the voice of reason, was the next to add his opinion. "I'm sure this is all just a miscommunication. Master Shifu values our opinions... I mean, sort of. She's not a kung fu student, so he'd ask us first, right?"
"You would think so." Tigress crossed her arms, glowering at this revelation. She didn't like being left out of the loop, she didn't like not having a say on who she would be living with, and she didn't like Lin.
"Well, maybe Master Shifu was planning on telling us about it... Um..." Crane paused as Master Shifu himself, accompanied by Lin, entered the kitchen with eyebrows raised at the subject of their conversation. "...Right now," he finished lamely.
Master Shifu cleared his throat as his eyes swept across the table, taking in all six of his students. "Indeed," he agreed stiffly.
"Ouch, awkward," Lin added needlessly as she spooned some noodles into bowls for the two of them and then, inappropriately enough, sat in Master Shifu's regular seat at the head of the table.
He simply glared at her, then grabbed an extra chair from the corner of the room and sat next to her. "I suppose you all know by now that Lin has requested residency here."
"You make it sound like you haven't said 'yes' yet," the old dog said to him. "Twice." She slurped up some noodles, as if the subject they were discussing was as trivial as the weather. "Hey, these're really good."
"My opinion is not the only one that matters," he snapped, thankfully.
"Yes it is," she argued back, "you're the one in charge, and last I checked this wasn't a democracy." She continued to eat her soup as the rest of the group of kung fu masters stared at her with varying degrees of horror. "Unless you wanna vote."
"Master," Tigress spoke up before it was too late, "I believe I speak for all of us when I say that putting this issue to a majority vote is the fair thing to do."
Lin finally stopped stuffing her face and actually began to show an interest in the conversation. Then, surprisingly enough, she agreed. "That's true, voting is the fairest way to go about this."
Master Shifu looked conflicted, his eyes darting back and forth between the two women. He cleared his throat, but said nothing and instead tapped his fingers nervously on the tabletop while he apparently considered his options. Then, after what seemed like a lifetime of agonizing indecision, he nodded his head. "Alright, let us vote by a show of hands."
"Can I vote?" Lin asked.
"No." He then turned and surveyed his students, a nervous frown on his face. "All in favor of Lin staying?" He raised his hand and, slowly, so did Po.
Surprisingly enough, Viper hesitantly raised her tail into the air, as well. At the inquisitive looks she received, she hissed, "What? I feel bad."
After waiting far too long for someone else to vote in Lin's favor, Master Shifu finally let out a defeated sigh and dropped his hand back to his side. "I see."
Tigress couldn't help but feel relief wash over her; at a four-to-three vote, there was no way their master could justify keeping the irritating canine around. Besides, if the old woman could fend for herself while traveling the globe, she could fend for herself in the Valley of Peace. There were plenty of rooms for rent in the village down below, so it wasn't as if she would end up on the streets.
Master Shifu once more cleared his throat, breaking through the awkward silence that had settled upon the room. "So it is decided," he announced, then paused to glance at Lin, who had shown no sign of distress whatsoever up to that point.
Suddenly, as if it were the easiest thing in the world to do, her eyes became watery and her ears drooped as a down-trodden sigh escaped her throat, all in the moment Master Shifu looked at her.
He turned his gaze back to his students and grimaced, obviously uncomfortable. "It is decided..." He paused, glancing at the old dog again. "As the Grand Master, my vote counts as three," he rushed out, then before anyone could protest he hopped out of his seat and left the room.
"WHAT," Tigress roared, as Crane shook his head and Mantis and Monkey started muttering to each other. "He can't do that!" she voiced to the rest of the room, practically seeing red in her anger and frustration.
Lin loudly slurped up the rest of her noodles, a smug grin tugging at her lips. "That's democracy forya," she commented blithely. Then, with a positively evil cackle, she stood up and sauntered away. Who the hell actually sauntered, ever?
"You all saw what she did, didn't you?" Tigress pointed accusingly after the little ball of fuzz, glaring around at her fellow masters. "You saw those crocodile tears she whipped up for Master Shifu! She cheated!"
"Well technically I didn't see any tears," Crane pointed out, which only made her angrier.
"This is ridiculous!" she concluded, throwing her hands up.
"You've got to learn to roll with the punches, Tigress," Monkey advised with a shrug. "We don't like it any more than you do, but Lin had a point."
"What point?" she demanded.
"Shifu's the Grand Master, now," Mantis answered, as apparently unconcerned by their master's disregard for their opinions as Monkey. "And there's no democracy in kung fu."
"Why did he even let us vote, then?" she snapped, and while she knew that lashing out at her friends would not accomplish anything, she simply couldn't stop herself. She felt, and not for the first time, ignored- and the more everyone else tried to play devil's advocate, the hotter her temper became.
"I'm sure you'll warm up to the idea," Viper attempted to comfort her, but she only glared back.
"I don't think so." Tigress turned to look at Po, the only one of her companions who had stayed conspicuously silent. "Well?" she demanded, waiting for him to tell her that she was overreacting, and for all she knew the old woman could be "awesome."
"Um..." He blinked back at her, apparently caught off-guard that she would even ask. "Well, uh, I did vote for her to stay." He paused, awkwardly fiddling with his soup bowl. "But you're right, that wasn't fair."
She stared at the panda for a moment, unable to believe he'd taken her side. Then, she got to her feet and turned to go. "I need more practice with the gauntlet of wooden warriors," she tossed over her shoulder as she stalked out of the room. And while that was indeed true (after all, she would always be honing her craft, as any good kung fu master knew there was no such thing as perfection), she had the ulterior motive of releasing some aggression. She needed to punch something, and soon, so it may as well be something she was supposed to punch. And while she was punching the dummies, it couldn't hurt to imagine she was punching, say, a smug old hag with way too much fur right in her little paunchy belly.
Wei-Shan stopped at the base of the mountain to check his map again; it had been years since the old raccoon dog had dared to venture out of the Tavan Bogd mountain range, but Chen's latest letter had been unmistakable in its urgency. And that in itself was an oddity, since Chen never acted urgently. Wei-Shan, from the moment he'd met the man, had always been under the impression that the jerboa simply considered himself too old to feel particularly urgent about anything. Yet his latest correspondence had simply read, "Get your ass over here, you lazy old idiot."
He glanced up from the map, a small smile tugging on his lips at the sight of the harsh stone and ice of the mountain giving way to vast fields of walnut and apple trees. He'd almost forgotten what it was like outside the harsh climate of the mountain, having to hike miles to the nearest cluster of spruce trees just to dig up something to eat; not that his thick white fur couldn't handle the extreme climate. And the season for apples had just begun, shiny red and yellow orbs of sweet flesh and juice already visible in some nearby trees. Walnut fruit, on the other hand, being smaller and a shade of green that tended to blend in with the surrounding leaves, required a closer look to spot. Either way, he'd have plenty to eat until he found his way onto the main road.
He glanced at the map again, but he could use a snack to help with his concentration- something an apple tree to his immediate right could cure quite easily. He reached out to grab a ripe-looking piece of fruit from the bottom branch of the tree when he was rudely interrupted.
"Hello!"
"Ah!" He jumped a little, readjusting his thick glasses as he leaned to the side to see what- or who- had called out to him from the other side of the tree.
"Pleased to meet you, sir," greeted a rather petite grey wolf. The girl couldn't possibly have come from the mountains, since she wore only a simple black hanfu with a white overskirt, and carried nothing but a canteen and a small bag he could only assume stored food.
"Wh-where did you come from?" He stepped around the trunk of the tree, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"West," she answered vaguely, then offered him an apple. There was something strange about her that he couldn't quite put his finger on.
"Thank you." He accepted the fruit, though he hesitated to bite into it. "Are you traveling with anyone?"
"Oh, no," she dismissed easily, as if the very suggestion were absurd. "I travel alone. I am a little turned around, you see, and you appear to have a map." She had some sort of accent which he couldn't for the life of him identify.
"Indeed I do." He supposed the least he could do was help out a fellow traveler. "Where are you headed?"
"Valley of Peace."
"Well, you're a long way from it." He unfolded his map once more and scanned it for the nearest trade road. "This big road here-" he paused to point at one that cut south through Sichuan- "should take you where you need to go."
"Too slow," she rejected immediately, then went so far as to tap another road on the map, one that intersected with the trade road to Shanghai. "This looks better."
"It's not as safe," he told her, but she didn't seem to even hear him. "But what do you need to go to the Valley of Peace for, anyway?"
"I am looking for a powerful warrior," she informed him.
"If you tell me what the problem is, perhaps I can help." He hadn't actually fought anyone in decades, but he still practiced kung fu as much as one could do so in solitude. "I may be old, but I am a Master of kung fu."
She shook her head at the offer, not even bothering to think about it. "You misunderstand. I am looking for one specific man. Perhaps you might have heard of him."
"If he is a kung fu warrior who lives in the Valley of Peace, I'm sure I have," he assured her.
"Then you can tell me if I am correct!" she exclaimed, a wide smile spreading across her face. "It took me so long to learn this Chinese, and people always get angry when I say the name." She leaned in and lowered her voice, as if she thought there might be someone else around to eavesdrop. "I think most people I meet are criminals, between the both of us."
"Judging by the roads you choose to travel on, I'm not surprised." He shuffled back a little as she leaned in even closer.
"The man I am searching for," she whispered conspiratorially, "is called Shifu."
Wei-Shan blinked back at her, confused by the behavior. "Shifu?" He'd never before in his life met a person who had trouble finding someone as well-known as Oogway's successor, but this girl didn't exactly seem all there.
"From what I have been told," she went on, "he has a head the size and shape of a large, ripe melon."
"Yes, I know who you're talking about." He winced at the cry of delight she emitted, but continued speaking. "He does live in the Valley of Peace, at the Jade Palace. You're heading the right way. Well, now you will be."
"Thank you very much!" She gave him an awkward bow, then grabbed another apple from the tree as she turned to disappear back into the orchard.
"Good luck!" he called after her, thoroughly confused. Then again, he'd always had trouble understanding other people.
Chapter 3: A Good Meal Ought to Begin With Hunger
Chapter Text
Chapter 3: A Good Meal Ought to Begin With Hunger
Shifu crossed his arms and glared at the door in front of him; what would have been an ordinary bedroom door to anyone else, what should have been an ordinary bedroom door to him, was not. Instead it served as a gateway into a territory of unfathomable pain and frustration. He didn't know if he was ready yet to step through that gateway.
Then, the back door to the barracks, which stood innocuously at the end of the hall, let out an ominous rattle. "Sonuva bitch," Lin cursed as she forced the door open, which was understandable seeing as it had a tendency to stick. "What're you doing?" she directed towards Shifu before she'd even looked at him, then tried three times to close the back door properly before she actually succeeded.
He blinked back at her, startled by her sudden appearance, then pointed at her bedroom door. "I thought you were in there."
"Nope," she answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world to be wandering about the grounds before dawn. "Actually, I just got back from an overnight, figured it'd be easier 'an dealing with all those damn kids, y'know? Running around, screaming, knocking over my damn scaffolding." She certainly looked like she'd been up all night, with the heavy bags under her eyes and her disheveled fur and clothes.
"I have no idea what you are talking about," he pointed out. "An overnight doing what? And how are children involved, exactly?"
"It's commission work." Of course she didn't bother to actually explain what that commission work happened to be. "B'sides, I thought it'd be good for the ol' karma to do something for that orphanage, y'know? Kids without parents, that just screams good karma." She pushed past him into her room, then shut the door in his face before he could follow.
"The Bao Gu Orphanage?" he asked incredulously; the thought of Lin in such close proximity to a large group of impressionable children sent chills down his spine.
"Yup, that's the one," she called back through her closed door as she rummaged around in her room, probably changing clothes for the day. "I dunno how people do it. I dunno how they can spend so much time around kids, especially a large group like that."
"You used to spend most of your time with Tai Lung," he pointed out, though he regretted it immediately; they hadn't spoken of Tai Lung at all since the first day of her return, and the memories still stung.
"That was different," she shot back, apparently not quite as disturbed by the subject as he was. "He was different. Really weird, actually, but I think he got that mostly from you." She threw her door open and leaned on the frame, dressed in a fresh set of clothes (men's clothing, of course) in an unusually flashy dark red. At least, flashy for her, seeing as her color of choice tended to range from dirt brown to mud brown. "Not that the weirdness is a bad thing," she added.
Rather than continue the discussion, Shifu quietly watched her pull out her long-stemmed pipe and begin to stuff tobacco into it. While he would always be well aware of her feminine side, he could see in that moment how she had been able to so easily pose as a man in the past. She clearly knew how to play the part of the rakish outlaw very well, right down to the way she stood.
"So, we going shopping or what?" she asked, thankfully holding off on lighting her pipe.
"Yes," he sighed. "I just... You do not normally wear such colorful outfits."
"Well, you're paying for all my supplies, I figured the least I could do was giveya a little eye candy." She topped off the statement with a wink, then walked toward the back door of the barracks and, with some effort and only one muttered curse, managed to get it back open. "Shall we?"
"You have a very high opinion of yourself, don't you?" he observed as he followed her out to the stairs.
"Depends on my mood." She smirked at him over her shoulder, then turned back around to light her pipe. In mere moments she had a plume of smoke rising from the thing as she puffed happily away on it.
"That is a nasty habit," he informed her, though he doubted she would take such an opinion into consideration.
"I've encountered nastier."
"I would not doubt it." He paused a moment to observe the narrow path before them, mostly overgrown with grass and the roots of the nearby trees which stood to one side, while the other side of the path simply ended in a sheer drop-off which provided a magnificent view of the valley below. If there had existed at the Jade Palace any place which could be considered his and Lin's "spot" in a romantic sense (besides the kitchen), this would have been it. He had, admittedly, not walked down the path in a very long time. From the looks of it, no one had.
"Is something wrong?" she asked, furrowing her brow in confusion at his reaction. "If you gotta make, do it now, 'cause I ain't taking time out to find a bathroom down in the village." If she had been trying to remind him of their former relationship at all, then her idea of romance certainly hadn't changed in the past three decades.
"I am fine," he huffed, then continued to follow her. "I was... Remembering. That is all."
"Can't blameya," she admitted, then poked him in the belly with her pipe. "Old people tend to get nostalgic like that. It's just an early sign of senility."
"If that is not the pot calling the kettle black, I don't know what is."
She laughed at the jab, nodding her head in agreement. "I may be no spring chicken, but there's a lot to be said for the virtues of experience." A lecherous smirk removed any doubt as to what type of experience she meant.
"Is this sort of behavior really necessary?" he huffed; it would be nice if she could go ten minutes without rubbing her sex life in his face.
"Hey, I'm just advertising my skills."
He couldn't say he'd expected her to express any sort of remorse or even awareness of how inappropriate her behavior was. "All I am saying is that it would be nice if you could tone it down a little bit, at least for the time being." He surprised even himself with how diplomatic he sounded. "I did go out on a limb for you. And half of my students now probably despise me. Especially Tigress."
"Yeah, I never got a chance to thankya for that." She paused, then elbowed him in the side. "Thanks."
"Hmph," he replied, which was as close to a "you're welcome" as she was going to get.
"Y'know, I should probably tellya that whole teary-eyed thing was a fake-out," she added lightly, apparently unconcerned with the dubious morality of such an action to begin with.
"I had suspected as much." He'd seen right through her, of course- he at least knew her that well. "Still... I have given you my word that you would always have a home here. And even with a majority vote from my students, I cannot take it back."
Her response to his reasoning caught him off-guard in its sincerity. "That's 'cause you're a good man."
"I- um- thank you. I suppose."
"You suppose? Now that's howya gracefully accept a compliment," she mocked. "No wonder everyone likesya so much."
"People do not dislike me," he argued. "Not terribly, anyway," he amended, because even he had to admit that he could be a little... Rough around the edges. "Po likes me."
Lin only laughed at him and gave him a hearty pat on the back.
"You are not exactly miss popularity," he pointed out.
"I guess it's just one of the many reasons we tend to gravitate towards each other, huh?" She actually had a good point with that assertion. "By the way," she added as they rounded a bend in the small side path and headed out to the main crossroads of the grounds, "plenty of people like me."
"I am certain," he scoffed, prompting a playful punch in the arm from her. "People like you about as much as you like children. Perhaps slightly less." He watched her interrupt a puff on her pipe to laugh again, smoke billowing out of her mouth. He had to admit that, however vulgar and pompous she could be, she was in equal possession of her own unique brand of charm. At least until the wind blew the smoke into his face and he was left to futilely attempt to wave away the pungent stuff. Still, perhaps the trip down to the village with her wouldn't be too bad.
Tai Lung studied the room around him, taking in every detail he could. He would need to know it inside and out if he planned on getting away from that demented gerbil and his feline "doctor." Fortunately, there was not much to know; the room only had one window and one door, and was sparsely furnished with his bedroll, along with two low-set chairs and a locked trunk. Unfortunately, this also meant the room held very few items which could be of use to him in an escape attempt. There was a loose floorboard near the door which he could probably rip up and use as a crude weapon, but that didn't exactly comfort him. It could help him to have someone on his side, of course, but so far only two people even knew he was alive.
"Well you're up early." That pudgy little cat- Yan-Yan, he believed her name was- walked into the room with a smile on her face and a tray in her hands. "Couldn't sleep?"
"That is none of your concern," he answered flatly, eyeing the tray; clearly the woman was trying to feed him, though whether or not what she served would be safe to eat he had no idea.
"I'm afraid breakfast is a little plain." She set the tray down on the floor and sat next to him, then picked up a cup of some sludge-like substance and began stirring it. "I'm not the best cook around. Then again, I'm sure whatever I manage to throw together is better than prison food. And if it's not, do me a favor and don't tell me, because the last thing I need right now is more complaining."
He eyed the bowl of plain rice porridge, cruller, and fresh slices of apple on the tray with skepticism; poison could have been easily hidden in any of the items. "...More complaining?"
"Come on, I live with Chen," she pointed out.
He had to admit, the woman made a good point. "Hmph."
"Are you planning to eat, or what?" she picked at him, gesturing to the food. "It's not like it's poisoned or something. And don't you dare turn your nose up at it just because I told you I'm not a good cook. I mean, it's rice porridge, I don't see how anyone can mess that up. Besides, you can't take your medicine on an empty stomach and-"
"Medicine?" he repeated, recoiling slightly from the woman. "What do you mean by 'medicine'?"
"It's just a tincture to keep your strength up and prevent infection," she sighed, then had the nerve to roll her eyes at him. "You're more paranoid than Chen is, you know that? If I was going to poison you, don't you think I would have done it while you were still lying prone, at my mercy? I mean, you were really out of it- I could have sawed you open and you'd have barely noticed. Anyway, eat up, because you're taking this medicine whether you like it or not, and I don't want you throwing up all over the place. Mainly because I'm the one who'll have to clean it up."
He honestly didn't know what to think of her; she acted as if he posed no threat to her, when clearly that was anything but true. And she spoke to him as if he actually wanted to listen to her- again, a sentiment that was far removed from reality. "Aren't you afraid of me?"
"I'm too tired to be afraid of you," she replied shortly, then grabbed a spoon and forced it into his hand. "Now please, eat something. You're going to turn to skin and bones if you don't."
Apparently no one feared him anymore- not Lin, not Shifu or his five little pets, not that fat panda, and now not even some divorcee who had proclaimed herself his doctor. Had his reputation really faded so much in twenty years? Did people truly think he was so easily beaten and tamed? Well, his defeat by the panda had certainly done him no favors. And this woman had seen to his care while he'd been delirious, injured and vulnerable, so she probably still viewed him as such to a degree. "You do recall who I am, do you not?"
"Yes, I remember the introductions," she answered with far too much casual ease.
"That is not precisely what I meant," he growled and shot a dark glare her way.
"Save the murderer act, I remember the stories." She reached into her wide belt and pulled out a pouch, sprinkling some sort of herb out of it into the sludge. "Though you wouldn't have killed half as many people if I had been there."
"Oh? You think you could have stopped me?"
"Do I look suicidal to you?" She stirred up the sludge with great gusto and gave it a sniff. "I'm the best doctor for miles around, regardless of my gender or 'certification.' Now eat up so you can drink this without puking on me." She gestured toward the cup of muck in her hand.
"That is my medicine?" He could only stare at the stuff, horror-stricken.
"If you want to take it orally, then yes. This is your medicine."
He recoiled slightly at the suggestion of there being another method for administering the stuff. "You're bluffing."
"How else do you think I've been medicating you since Chen brought you here? You couldn't swallow in your condition, that's for sure. Now that you can, I suggest you do, unless you enjoy suppositories." She gestured to his breakfast, still waiting for him on its tray.
He did need to feed himself, and in the long run it would work to his own advantage to drink the medicine. "You are lucky I am feeling merciful," he informed her darkly before grabbing the cruller and dipping it into the rice porridge. It was not quite as bad as he'd expected, but still pretty bland, and the cruller was a little too greasy for his liking. She had been right, though- it was still better than prison food.
She watched him eat with more interest than he would have expected. "Merciful and hungry, a potent combination. How is it?"
"Could be worse," he answered honestly.
"That's probably the highest compliment my cooking has ever received." She thrust the cup of muck at him, her expression expectant.
He wrinkled his nose at the sight of the stuff, still unsure of whether or not it could kill him. "This does not even look edible."
"Well it is," she argued, forcing the cup into his hands. "Partially."
"Partially?" he repeated incredulously, but before he could throw the supposed "medicine" out, the woman grabbed hold of his hands and forced them toward his mouth.
"Just drink it!" she ordered harshly, the expression on her face serving as a warning against any further argument.
He knew he could take her out with a flick of his wrist, but he also knew that if he tried anything, Chen would inevitably react with violence. And while he normally wouldn't even think twice about provoking a dried up old raisin like Chen, he was not exactly in peak health. So, with a grimace to communicate precisely what he thought of the putrid concoction, he downed his medicine in a single gulp.
"Excellent," Yan-Yan announced, clapping her hands together. "Now I know you'll eat anything I hand you, as long as I tell you it's medicine."
"What?" he coughed out, the horrific mixture's taste still clinging to his tongue.
"Kidding," she amended, though not without a mischievous grin which instilled him with quite a bit of doubt.
He made a mental note never to accept anything she gave him again, despite any claims that eating it would be in his best interest. "This may come to you as a surprise," he growled, "but I am not much of a kidder."
"No wonder you're still single," she huffed, then grabbed one of his uneaten apple slices and popped it into her mouth, apparently unconcerned with the bad manners associated with eating off another person's plate.
"I am sure the twenty-year imprisonment in a mountain had nothing to do with it," he shot back, crossing his arms and straightening his posture to loom over her.
She looked unimpressed. "Finish your breakfast," she ordered in a scolding tone, as if he were a child. "Then we'll see about getting you a shirt. Not that I'm complaining." She pushed herself to her feet and smoothed out her dress, eyeing him in a way that made him extremely uncomfortable.
He was reminded of a phrase Shifu had taught him in his youth: "stranger danger."
"Anyway, let me know if anything goes awry. Any aches, pains, massive blood loss... Things of that nature." She looked excited for a moment, as though she actually wanted him to experience massive blood loss. "I'll be back in a couple of hours to check on you."
As he watched her go, Tai Lung couldn't help but wonder what that checkup entailed. Certainly some painful poking and prodding would be part and parcel of the visit, as she had yet to subject him to any such ministrations that day. Hopefully, he would not suffer the indignity of having to disrobe. Knowing his caretaker, though, such an act of grace did not seem likely.
Shifu found himself regretting his naivety, to ever think that a morning out with Lin could ever result in anything but pure agony on his part. They had been in the marketplace for approximately fifteen minutes, and she had already dragged him to a stand selling what appeared to be mere rocks- pricey ones, at that- and picked out practically all of them. Not to mention she had designated it his job to carry everything. "I am fifteen years older than you," he reminded her against his better judgment. "How do you justify forcing me to carry a bag full of rocks?"
"It's killer on my joints," she replied, as if it hadn't even occurred to her that he possessed joints, let alone that they could ever possibly be in any pain as well. "Besides, you're stronger 'an me. I mean, you put that hole in the roof of the Hall of Heroes, right?"
"I... Yes," he admitted reluctantly.
"And you blew apart a giant chunk of the front steps that got torn up and thrown at you?"
"...Yes."
"And you picked up the panda and threw him-"
"How do you know all this?" he interrupted, annoyed by the fact that she'd actually thought up a decent reason for her treatment of him.
"I asked around," she answered simply.
"That's creepy."
"No, it's smart." She emphasized her point by giving his nose a flick. "And I got more tact 'an to try to askya about... Recent events. I wouldn't want anyone asking me if I were you, anyway."
He blinked back at her, surprised by her sensitivity.
Of course, that sensitivity did not last long. "I mean, if you went and asked me about my conjoined twin babies I sold for drugs, it'd make me pretty uncomfortable."
He glared at her, his tone of voice flat when he spoke. "Nice try."
"And here I thought for sure you'd fall for that one." She picked up a piece of ore and examined it closely, then made a face and put it back down, ignoring the irritated look the goose who ran the stand gave her; Shifu wanted to tell him to get used to it, but the man would probably make a similar conclusion upon witnessing their conversation.
"Well, we are supposed to be getting to know each other again," he reasoned. "So tell me something true about yourself I do not know."
"Okay," she replied easily as she went through what seemed like every single chunk of sediment at the stand. "When I was a young girl I used to fantasize about men pinning me down and spanking me. Well, okay, sometimes women, too. But I didn't fully realize my attraction to 'em until-"
"That is enough!" He felt heat rush to his face as everyone within hearing distance shot them disturbed glances and edged away. "That is not what I meant and you know it!" he snapped.
"Well you didn't specify," she pointed out, as calm as ever, then tossed a rock at him.
He caught it out of reflex, then put it in the shopping bag. "I get the feeling this is going to be expensive."
"Don't worry, once you start giving me a salary I'll pay for my own supplies."
"No you won't, I will," he shot back. He would, after all, be the one paying her salary.
"It's a salary," she argued. "Once it enters my possession, it becomes my money." She threw another rock his way, though this one was a lot larger and heavier than the first.
"What are you even buying, anyway?" He sincerely hoped she didn't find some way to turn her answer into a joke about sex.
"Pigment." She picked up a chunk of vaguely blue looking stone and closely examined it, then set it back down. "No pigment, no paint. No paint, no product. D'you see the connection there?"
"Yes." He rolled his eyes at her, though she wasn't paying attention. "So tell me something about yourself that is not sexual."
"Gimme a minute to think," she replied, still picking through various ores; he was starting to think they'd be at the same stand all day long.
After a few long moments passed by, he voiced his impatience. "It really takes this long to think of something about yourself that isn't sexual?"
"Naw, but it does take this long to thinka something that ain't a secret." She sounded amused, no doubt because she knew how much her assertion would irritate him.
"Why is it that you get to keep secrets and I don't?"
"'Cause you're bad at keeping secrets." She tossed yet another piece of ore to him. "I never bothered looking for my sister. I remembered she'd moved to Florence, and I was in the area, but I didn't look for her. I was sick at the time, anyway, so..." She trailed off, then gave an unconcerned shrug. "Maybe I shoulda. But it wasn't a sure thing, and I didn't wanna get my hopes up."
"Oh," he commented, caught off guard. "You didn't have to tell me something that personal."
"Well, back in the day you told me I should look for her," she replied, then picked out two more rocks. "I thought you might want some closure. I'm sure the suspense was tearing you up inside."
He stared at her incredulously, but she didn't seem to notice his reaction. "Sometimes you leave me wondering if you even have any emotions."
"Of course I have emotions," she huffed. "Whaddaya want from me? Want me to burst into tears in the middle of a crowded market?"
"That is not what I meant," he grumbled back, then blinked at her when she held her hand out to him. He wasn't sure what she meant by the gesture, but after a moment's hesitation he placed his hand in hers; her palm felt as rough and calloused as he remembered, and her grip just as gentle.
She gave him a weird look, then yanked her hand away. "What're you doing?"
"I don't know," he answered defensively. "You held your hand out so I took it!"
"I held out my hand for the money bag." She narrowed her eyes at him, a confused frown on her face. "...Didya wanna hold hands?"
"Of course not!" he snapped, then shoved his money into her hands to get the whole thing over with.
"Whatever," she muttered and turned to pay the proprietor of the stand, who had been pretending not to notice their admittedly unorthodox interaction. When she handed back his purse, it felt considerably lighter. "Y'know, ifya did wanna hold hands, I wouldn't judge."
"Why, do you want to hold my hand?" His eyebrows shot up at the idea; Lin and public displays of affection were not exactly synonymous in his eyes.
"Not especially," she admitted with an unconcerned shrug. "I'd rather make out, if that's okay with you."
"It is not," he ground out, ignoring the strange looks they were once again attracting as he turned and headed toward the next stand, regardless of what wares it sold. As long as he got away from the woman who put him through such humiliation for at least a single second, he didn't care.
"I don't see what your problem is," Lin went on as she followed him. "I assure you, I'm a good kisser. Though if you'd loosen up for a coupla minutes, you'd find that out firsthand."
"Has it ever occurred to you that this is sexual harassment?" he huffed.
"If it really bothers you that much, I'll quit it," she offered, though her sincerity was debatable.
"It really bothers me that much," he informed her.
"Well, geez, you don't gotta get so uppity." She then completely ignored his request and grabbed him by the belt, of all places, dragging him across the crowded marketplace for everyone to see. "Hopeya don't mind," she shot over her shoulder, "but I figured since we're down here we could see about some herbs for the joints."
He simply turned his eyes to the sky. "If there are any gods in existence to witness this, please strike me down now."
"People're gonna think you're a weirdo if you keep talking to yourself like that," Lin warned.
Tigress stared down at the scroll in her hands, attempting to read it but unable to retain the information no matter how many times her eyes passed over it. She'd been admittedly distracted lately, but she still scolded herself for allowing her worries to affect her training in any way. Still, she must have read it over a thousand times already since Po had become the Dragon Warrior, yet she had yet to even come close to perfecting the techniques held within.
"Wow, you're studyin' nerve attacks?"
She looked up from the scroll, blinking as she once again became fully aware of the Hall of Heroes, the massive collection of scrolls in front of her, the moon pool behind her. She felt as if she had just woken from a dream. "What?" she asked Po; he must have learned a great deal in his time training at the Jade Palace if he had been able to sneak up on her.
"Nerve attacks." He gestured to the scroll in her hands. "You're learnin' 'em?"
"I'm just reading," she lied. Truth be told, she had asked Shifu to teach her the technique, but he'd refused; "Perhaps you should take a closer look at your reasons for wanting to learn this," he had told her in a concerned tone of voice- as if she couldn't handle nerve attacks! As if she were a child.
"Y'know, you been kinda quiet lately," Po interrupted her thoughts.
"I'm always quiet," she pointed out, then rolled up the scroll and returned it to the archive.
"Well, I meant usually you're kinda like- uhm-" he paused to glower at her, apparently mimicking her usual expression. "But lately you been more like-" his face changed from angry to lethargic.
"I see." She couldn't say she'd expected anything less than ridiculous from him, but she hadn't expected his antics to reveal him to be so observant. Then again, he'd always been deeper than he initially seemed. "Lately I just feel... Useless." She had meant to make reference to their current lack of activity, but she feared she may have revealed more than that with her statement.
If he'd noticed anything out of the ordinary, Po didn't let on. "I know what ya mean," he assured, rocking back on his heels. "Not a whole lotta butt to kick, am I right?"
"You are," she agreed, relieved that he'd taken her comment at face value.
"Hey, we'll get to beat up some bad guys soon," he added casually, as if he truly believed that any moment Zeng would run up to them, shedding feathers in his distress, and announce that they were finally needed down in the valley. "In the meantime, slow is good. It means people're safe."
"That is a good way to look at it," she admitted.
"B'sides, you're not useless. You're Master Tigress, fiercest of the Furious Five!" He spread his arms out toward her, and for a moment she thought he might expect a hug, but he quickly dropped them back to his sides.
"Surely you don't think I'm doing any good when we're aren't even fighting anyone."
"But you're doin' good just by existin'!" he argued, a passion entering his voice that he saved just for kung fu. "People feel safe and protected, just 'cause you're up here. That's gotta count for somethin', right?"
She had to admit, the panda had a knack for cheering people up. "Perhaps it does." But she knew the truth: no matter how hard she worked, she would never come close to the Dragon Warrior, or even Tai Lung. She had never been the best, and never would be- she had been nothing but a disappointment her entire life. And now that Po had received the Dragon Scroll, she no longer had anything to even aim for. She was useless. "Have you mastered Dragon Style yet?"
"Nope." For some reason, he sounded upbeat about it. "But I made some progress. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon."
"Po, you should know by now that when it comes to kung fu, you need to do a little more than just 'get the hang of it,'" she sighed, her annoyance somewhat eased by how sheepish he looked at the admonishment.
"Sorry, I didn't mean 'get the hang of it,' I meant, 'Master it,'" he corrected with a blush. "'Cause I will. Soon. I think."
She shook her head at the panda; how could he possibly be so unconcerned about learning Dragon style when he was the Dragon Warrior? "You aren't anonymous anymore," she reminded him. "There may not be much to fight against right now, but now that you're the Dragon Warrior and you've defeated Tai Lung, your name has spread all over China. Not every 'bad guy' is an untrained bandit, and you need to be prepared for that."
"I know, I know," he accepted. "You're right. I just... It doesn't even feel real, y'know?"
She supposed she understood; when she had first been named a master, she had felt the same way. "...Maybe you should read the scroll for Dragon style again," she suggested.
"Yeah, good idea," he accepted and began searching the archive for the scroll in question.
She grabbed the scroll out from where it sat right under his nose and handed it to him, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes.
"Oh, yeah, there it is," he mumbled, clearly embarrassed. "I was- uh- just about to grab it."
"Concentrate on the scroll, Po." She turned to leave, intent on getting some practice in on the swinging clubs of instant oblivion before it got too late. Nothing took her mind off her troubles quite like triumphing over one of the many deadly obstacles in the training hall. And the sound the wood made as it splintered didn't hurt, either.
"...And I'll need a yearly raise of six percent, coverage for eighty percent of all my medical bills, terms in my contract requiring a minimum of two weeks' notice before termination..."
Shifu began to tune Lin out as she listed all of her ridiculous demands for her post as the Jade Palace's resident artist; climbing the thousand steps to the palace with bag upon bag full of heavy supplies was unenjoyable enough, he wasn't about to listen to her plans to take him to the cleaners. Part of him suspected she was only trying to rile him up, anyway. She seemed to want to do a lot of that to him lately. He cringed as he thought back their trip into the local apothecary; he'd assumed Lin had been telling the truth when she'd said she'd wanted medicine for her joints, but of course the moment he'd allowed himself to relax she had turned to the old goat running the shop and asked for... Items of a sexual nature. He had attempted to escape unscathed, but the proprietor had turned to him with raised eyebrows and commented, "Well, well! Didn't know ya had it in ya." After that... He had simply given up and waited for her to finish picking at his carcass.
"...And at least five sexual favors per week," Lin finished, her fingers held out to help her count off all of her different demands. "You got all that?"
He stared at her a moment, wondering if that last part had even been a joke. "You don't really think I am going to agree to any of those terms, do you?"
By the dirty look she shot him, he'd say she had expected him to concede to her. "Maybe it's not the best time to discuss it." She puffed moodily on her pipe, which she didn't seem to be able to go five minutes without smoking.
He had to admit, he was impressed by her tact, but he fully expected her to bombard him with more demands later. "You should start thinking about making better use of your newfound sense of diplomacy. It is going to take a lot more than a few words from me to win over my students."
"Which is why I'm cooking dinner tonight," she announced, catching him completely off-guard.
"I thought you didn't cook anymore."
"Just 'cause I ain't a paid cook anymore doesn't mean I don't cook."
The sudden sense of excitement that arose in him surprised him. Food was not something he generally paid much attention to, but he remembered Lin's cooking as if it had been only yesterday that he'd tasted it. "What are you making?" Unfortunately, he also remembered what certain dishes had done to his digestive system.
"It's a surprise," she answered, predictably enough.
"If it is curry, I swear I will kick you out of the valley," he warned.
"I dunno what you're acting so uppity about," she huffed. "Curry's my strongest area."
"That is what you're planning to make, isn't it?"
"It'll be mild," she assured him. "With chickpeas, and of course I'll hafta make some naan, even though you don't got a tandoori oven. That's okay, though."
He desperately wanted to follow through with his threat and simply kick her out of the Jade Palace in that moment. "I am starting to regret my overturn of that vote against you."
"Whatever," she dismissed. "You'll be singing a different tune once you taste what I've learned since last I cooked forya."
"I am sure I will appreciate it greatly up until the moment it actually hits my stomach," he grumbled as they reached the top of the steps and she immediately headed for the barracks, undoubtedly to begin her sinister work in the kitchen.
"You can help," she informed him, which did nothing to comfort him. "Just don't get in my way too much."
"I think I will have to pass on the offer, but thank you." He went as far as carrying her bags back to the barracks for her, but once she entered the kitchen, dug around in the closet for a musty old apron (it may have even been the same one she'd once worn) and began cooking, he ran for it. He had spent enough time as her kitchen assistant back in their youth to know better.
Instead, he spent the rest of his day allowing Po to aggravate the living daylights out of him with his incompetence. Every time the panda made a misstep or couldn't get his breathing right, Shifu fantasized about the time he'd thrown his then unwelcome student down the steps outside the training hall.
After being scolded for about the fifteenth time, Po stopped and whined, "Sorry, Master, it's just I'm gettin' kinda hungry-"
"So what?" he interrupted, his eye twitching at the excuse. "I once was stranded in the mountains for weeks with nothing to keep me going but snow, but I still fought. You are not always going to have a hot meal waiting for you! Would you let innocent people die because of that?"
"N-no, Master," the panda sputtered out, blinking down at him in shock at the outburst. The shock didn't last long. "Speakin' of hot meals, I better get started on dinner soon-"
"No, what you had better do soon is master at least the sixteen movements of Dragon style as well as Passing Bridge Three Times and Fierce Tiger Leaping Over Wall."
"But I-"
"Lin is taking care of dinner tonight." He couldn't help but cringe a little at the words; he doubted his students would react positively to the idea.
"Oh, okay," Po accepted, though he did look confused. "What's she makin'?"
Shifu took a moment to pinch the bridge of his nose in his frustration. "It does not matter! Now get back to your training!"
He tried to involve himself so much in Po's training that he didn't dread what was to come, but he couldn't help the pit in his stomach when the sun began to set and the Furious Five filed out of the training hall.
Monkey was the first to greet them in the courtyard. "Master Shifu." He bowed, and the others followed suit. "Hey, Po. What's for dinner?"
"Dunno," Po answered, and he actually sounded excited. "Lin's cookin'."
Mantis started laughing, but quickly quieted down when the others remained conspicuously silent. "Wait, you're serious?"
Shifu, against his better judgement, found himself once again defending the woman who insisted upon making herself the bane of his existence. "Lin is an excellent cook."
After another short silence, Tigress spoke. "So she's eating with us," she concluded flatly.
"Yes." He fervently wished for some way to make the evening go smoothly, but that was not going to happen. "Now all of you go... Prepare yourselves. For dinner, that is."
They followed his orders, and he had no doubt that they would start complaining the moment they were out of earshot.
However, Po hung back a moment to ask, "You sure ya dunno what she's makin'?"
"Panda," he ground out, "go bathe."
Po glanced around the dinner table, feeling admittedly awkward as he played with his empty plate; Lin was busy piling a large family-style serving dish with what he could tell from the mouth-watering scent was curry, while the rest of the Jade Palace's residents sat waiting at the table with some sort of spiced tea to hold them over. Mantis kept trying to make dirty jokes, each one falling flatter than the next, while Monkey shook his head at each and every punch line. Viper traced out invisible patterns on top of the table with the tip of her tail, Crane hid his expression underneath the brim of his hat, and Shifu was grimacing like he had some really bad gas. Tigress, meanwhile, sat stiff as a board in her chair, frowning down at her empty plate. At least the food would probably taste good, though.
When Lin placed the giant bowl of chickpeas and a steaming piles of flat bread and rice on the table, Po found that he and Monkey were the only two who readily served themselves.
"Uhm, aren't you guys hungry?" he addressed the rest of the room, and one by one they began to pile food onto their plates- except for Shifu and Lin herself. "You're not havin' any?" he asked them.
"It'd be rude of me to serve myself before everyone else got some," Lin answered. "But here, Master Shifu, lemme getya some of my world famous chana masala on your plate." She grabbed his dish and began to pile it high, ignoring the look of horror on his face.
"It's world famous?" Po asked, excited to taste the curry.
"Well... It's famous in certain parts of the world," she admitted. "Small parts. But it's still the best I've ever had, and I've had a lotta chana masala."
"And I am sure you are completely unbiased," Shifu grumbled flatly as he eyed his dinner for a moment, then took a large bite of the bread.
"How'd I do?" she asked, ignoring the old master's sarcasm; judging by the way she looked at him, his opinion was probably the only one she cared about, although there were muffled noises of appreciation around the table from those who'd already dug in.
He took a bite of the curry and rice, his expression still completely flat. "It is better than I remember," he reluctantly admitted.
Lin grinned as if he'd just given her the highest praise possible, then served herself with great gusto.
Po couldn't wait to try the exotic fare, and ripped off a piece of the bread, glistening with melted butter, and scooped up a big pile of chickpeas and rice with it, then stuffed the whole lot into his mouth. At the taste of the perfectly blended spices, the tender chickpeas, the floral hint of the rice, and the chewy, buttery bread he felt his eyelids droop as he let out an "Mmf!" of ecstasy. In that moment he didn't care what anyone said or thought about Lin, because he loved her. He might have even said so out loud- he wasn't exactly all there until he swallowed his food. "What's this called, again?" he asked hazily as he sipped at the spiced tea, the perfect accompaniment to the meal.
"Chana masala," she repeated proudly. "With basmati rice, naan, and chai tea. I learned it from the wife of a spice trader back when I was fourteen, but I didn't really start to perfect it 'til the first summer I spent in Bombay, when I learned a new recipe from a surprisingly dexterous elephant who'd grown up in the north. Coincidentally, that was also the summer I lost my virginity."
Shifu, who'd been drinking his tea as he listened to the story, spat his drink halfway across the table and burst into a fit of coughing.
"What?" she asked defensively. "It wasn't with the elephant, even I can't handle that." Then, after Shifu had calmed down she added, "He was a thirteen-foot long python."
"I am trying to eat," he ground out, glaring at her.
Po had to admit, he could have also lived without that information, and he'd say most of the table agreed with him.
Except Mantis, of course. "My first was a black widow," he offered up enthusiastically. "Looking back, I probably shoulda known better."
Monkey laughed at the comment, elbowing the insect. "How'd you get out of that one?"
"By being really fast," he chuckled back, then paused, apparently realizing what he'd just said. "That came out wrong."
All of them save Tigress and Shifu joined in the laughter at that proclamation, and Viper even teased him with a well-placed, "Sounds like there's something you want to confess!"
Mantis took it all in good humor, as usual. "Aw, c'mon, guys! Why don't we go around the table, huh?" At the uproar of protests which followed the suggestion, his shook his head in disappointment. "I guess not everyone can be so brave."
Grinning at how the entire exchange had sparked conversation and laughter at the table, Po glanced at Tigress, only to see that she hadn't relaxed a single bit since the start of the meal. She had barely even touched her food, though that might just have been because she wasn't used to the spice.
"Po, how's your training in Dragon style going?" Crane suddenly asked, and he sensed that the focus of the table had shifted toward him.
"Slow but steady," he answered, sensing the perfect opening to bring Tigress into the conversation and lighten her mood a little. "I think I made a little progress today, but it's only 'cause of Tigress's advice."
She looked a little startled at the mention of her name, but said nothing.
"What did she tell you to do?" Shifu asked, eyeing his two students with interest.
Po answered when Tigress still didn't say anything. "She suggested I read through the scroll again, and it really helped. But I'm sure she's got a lotta more interestin' stuff to talk about- she's been readin' up on nerve attacks and-"
"That's enough, Po," Tigress snapped, looking if anything even more unhappy.
He didn't understand why until he caught sight of the glare Shifu was sending her way, and he realized too late that he shouldn't have opened his big mouth. "What- what I really meant was, uhm..." he attempted to amend, "That she, uhm-"
"Save the excuse, panda." Surprisingly enough, Lin had been the one to interrupt him. And then she reached up, grabbed Shifu's ear hair, and gave it a tug.
"Ouch!" he yelped, then batted her hand away.
"I'm pretty sure I know why you're mad," she informed him. "And it's a stupid reason. So do us all a favor and don't start. Just relax and eat your dinner."
"You do not understand-"
"Really? You really wanna start in at the dinner table?"
Shifu glowered at her, then begrudgingly shoved some food into his mouth. "Happy?"
"I'd be happier ifya didn't talk with your mouth full," she shot back, then addressed the rest of the table. "So lemme tellya all about the short stint I spent living in a village of red pandas in the Himalayas."
Po glanced at Tigress again while Lin launched into her story (which Shifu kept angrily interrupting) to see that she looked even more tense than before. He felt awful that he'd only worsened her mood and he wished there was something he could do to make amends, but she often just wanted to be alone when she felt down. Not only had it proven more difficult to gain her friendship than the friendship of the other masters at the Jade Palace, but it also was more difficult to keep that friendship.
Tigress, maybe because she had never had many close friends, maybe because she had become used to focusing most of her time and effort solely on kung fu, was just plain distant. He'd tried so many times already to break through her thick shell, only to be repelled again and again. He liked to think, though, that every time he bumped up against that shell he at least left a small crack behind.
Lin sat underneath the peach tree, ruminating on recent events as she stared out at the lights of people's homes down in the valley. There were so many of them, the valley below almost matched the starry sky above. The view had always been one of her favorite parts of the small outcropping- that and the peaches. She wondered if she would be around to see the sapling grow enough to start producing peaches, though it was a little morbid of her to do so. Still, she found it hard not to think of death lately, especially in a place so clearly marked by Oogway's spirit.
She reminded herself that the main subject of her concentration remained alive, and that she needed to find out what had happened to him. She had made no progress since her last meditation, not that she'd expected any different. Tai Lung may have been a hulking, six-foot-tall snow leopard with a bad attitude and a worse reputation, but that unfortunately didn't make him any easier to find. He was smart- smart enough to lay low, anyway- and faster, stronger, and more agile than almost anyone else in the entire country. It wouldn't be a problem for him to hide, and with everyone except her convinced of his death, she had absolutely nowhere to start. Even on the off-chance that someone did find some minor clue as to Tai Lung's whereabouts, they'd be too complacent to recognize it for what it was. Not to mention she didn't even know how to start looking; she couldn't very well walk around telling people she suspected the most infamous criminal in the recent history of the valley was alive, then ask if they knew anything. Besides, the most likely sources of information were people who had been close with him, and he'd severed all those ties before his disappearance.
In essence, Tai Lung had pulled a vanishing act. She didn't like it, but there wasn't much she could do about it. She couldn't talk it out with anyone at the Jade Palace, either; the only one of Shifu's students who'd even believe her was Po. And he was such a sensitive kid, she didn't want to throw him into a tizzy- plus, she got the feeling that he was a little bit of a blabber-mouth. As for Shifu himself... She didn't see any upside to essentially telling him, "By the way, your estranged son whose death you won't acknowledge but are secretly upset about is actually alive. How do I know? 'Cause I can feel it in the universe." She could only imagine what his reaction to that would be like. And, to be honest, even if she had proof she doubted she'd tell any of the kung fu masters. She didn't want anyone charging in and trying to finish Tai Lung off. True, he had done horrible things and had threatened her life, but she couldn't give up hope that he hadn't become a complete lunatic. But if he were a lunatic, at least he'd be easier to find.
She sighed, her shoulders slumping as she resigned herself to the proverbial wall she had run into. The only thing she could think to do until she could find at least one clue as to where Tai Lung might be was to meditate more. So she closed her eyes and let herself go. However, she let herself go a little too far, and soon found herself nodding off, no matter how hard she fought it.
And then, in the fuzzy in-between of sleep and full consciousness, as she fought to stay alert, she heard it: a voice. Of course, she often heard voices calling out to her when she was on the cusp of sleep, startling her awake; that was simply what happened when she began to dream before she'd fully fallen asleep. This time, however, the voice was clearer than anything she'd heard before. And it was familiar. "I knew you would come back."
Her eyes flew open and she jumped so badly that she actually fell over backwards. She'd known that the peach tree provided a strong connection to both Oogway and the "spiritual plane" or whatever people wanted to call it, but she hadn't expected to hear the old turtle speak. She stared up into the branches of the peach tree, her heart still racing, as a leaf gently fluttered down and landed smack dab in between her eyes. "This isn't happening to me," she reassured herself, brushing the leaf off her face with a shaking hand as she lay there, waiting for another sign to present itself. After a half a minute that felt more like half a day, she called out. "Hello? Oogway?" Of course, she received no answer. "You there, old man?" She still heard nothing.
She finally pushed herself back up into a sitting position, rubbing at her face as she contemplated what had just happened to her. There was no way Oogway could be speaking to her from beyond the grave- he may have lived to be a thousand years old, and he may have had more spiritual chops than anyone else on the planet, but that didn't mean he could retain enough consciousness after death to actually contact her. Unless...
She turned and eyed the tree behind her, its leaves swaying innocuously in the gentle breeze. Oogway had imprinted strongly on that tree- and people often experienced strange phenomena around such places. "That couldn'ta been you," she directed at the tree, though what really scared her was the fact that she couldn't think of any good reason why the voice couldn't have come from the peach tree. Aside from the fact that she found the whole idea absurd. "I'm losing my mind," she concluded aloud.
"Well, that kinda sucks."
"What're you doing up here?" She had come to expect that Shifu would come find her at the peach tree- and only Shifu- so this new guest's appearance was a surprise.
"I dunno," Po answered much in the way a guilty child would as he finished climbing the last of the stairs, then held out the lantern in his hand. "Need some light?"
Lin stared at the lantern a moment before answering. "Not the kind you can wrap up in paper and hand to a person."
"...So that's a no?" he asked, clearly confused.
"Siddown, panda," she sighed, indicating the spot next to her.
"The name's Po, actually," he corrected, as if he actually thought she didn't know his name by then.
She made no comment, and instead leaned back on her hands, stretched her legs out in front of her, and turned her gaze to the view past the edge of the cliff. A large full moon hung heavy in the night sky, which was so clear that she could see a couple of planets shining along with the stars.
"So... You spend a lotta time up here?" Po plopped down beside her with a dull thud, then reached behind him and attempted to pull his drooping pants back up.
"You the superstitious type, panda?" she shot back, ignoring his small talk. She could tolerate small talk sometimes, but she could tell just by looking at the panda that he was the type to drag it out to painful lengths of time out of sheer awkwardness.
"Um... I dunno." He shrugged as he attempted repeatedly to cross his legs into lotus position. "I mean, I believe in all the kung fu legends and- and magic and stuff. And I guess I believe in spirits and demons, too. But there's nothin' wrong with that, lotsa people believe in that stuff." He eventually gave up the fight and copied her position.
"Hm," she hummed as she continued to waffle back and forth about whether the voice had just been her imagination or a genuine phenomenon.
"What, you don't believe in any o' that?" He sounded a little surprised.
"Not entirely," she replied vaguely. "Magic's just a word for something people don't understand yet. But just 'cause it's unexplained, doesn't mean it's unexplainable. As for spirits and the lot... There're a lotta complicated grey areas. Sometimes I think I won't ever understand, even after I'm dead."
"Deep," he complimented.
"Thanks." She took a moment to contemplate the panda; Oogway had claimed he would not only bring peace to the valley, but to Shifu as well. And as much as she cared for Shifu, she'd be the first to admit that he lacked a certain... Wisdom. He was smart, certainly. But not wise. So clearly Oogway had seen wisdom in the bear that no one else had- or at least a capacity for it. He was young and had a lot to learn, but anyone with the tiniest bit of brain power could conclude that eventually, Po would be the next Grand Master of kung fu. She just wondered how Oogway had ever planned on him reaching his full potential in the wisdom department with a neurotic mess like Shifu as a teacher; a lot of it was innate, she could tell from the few interactions they'd had, and life experience played a big part... But it didn't hurt to have someone calm and wise around, too. "Panda, you're just about the only person around here who bothers talking to me besides Shifu," she pointed out, mainly to see how he would answer. "Why is that?"
He blinked down at her, as if he didn't understand the question. "Well why shouldn't I talk to ya? I mean, you're kinda a crazy old lady, no offense or anything. Like the kind who scares little kids and shares too much personal... Stuff. And hits on people... Inappropriately. And while I'm bein' honest already, I think you've probably killed a few people at some point. Definitely. But I don't think you'd hurt any of us, and you seem nice enough. Actually, nice isn't the word, 'cause you're not that nice. Um... You seem... Okay? Anyway, I likeya and any friend of Master Shifu's is a friend of mine. Plus you make good curry."
Lin stared back at him as she took in his assessment of her. Most of it had been dead-on (though she only wished she could scare children away). "One correction: I make great curry."
"Yeah," he agreed enthusiastically, a dreamy smile spreading over his face. "And that naan, with the fresh butter melted on top..."
"Hey, Shifu can afford it," she pointed out, grinning at the memory of how furious he'd been about the expense of the meal. Clearly, he'd never seen the way other rich people ate. "Y'know, as a favor from one cook to another, I'd really appreciate it if you'd put in a good word for me with your friends. Consider it thanks for the curry."
"Aw, I'm sure they'll start to likeya... Soon... Eventually." He cringed at the flat glare she gave him. "Yeah, okay. I'll put in a good word."
"Thanks."
"Call me crazy, but I thought at least Master Shifu'd get along withya," he pointed out, and all she could muster in reply was a derisive snort. "C'mon, you gotta let me in on the big secret- everyone's been wonderin'. How'd you two even get to be friends in the first place?"
"I doubt your friends have so little to do." She assumed if they did have any questions, they'd at least come forward and ask. "But I'll tellya if you promise to keep it to yourself. Got it, panda?"
He nodded vigorously, then leaned in a bit closer, his excitement resembling that of a young child listening to a bedtime story.
"Well, I was the cook around here, once upon a time. Back when I was young and stupid... And all on my own." It was the perfect time, in her opinion, for a smoke.
"Yeah, but I mean, just 'cause you cooked here doesn't mean Shifu'd automatically likeya. Unless you were... Um..." He awkwardly cleared his throat, but she'd already deduced his meaning.
"I was worse back then," she clarified. "Had much more of a temper, spent a lotta time looking for fights. I drank like a fish when I thought I could get away with it. And worst of all, Tai Lung took a shine to me right off the bat."
"Why was that bad?"
"Shifu hated me at first sight. He thought I was a bad influence on the kid- which I was, but that's neither here nor there." As she lit her pipe, she took note of the fact that he didn't so much as lean back to escape the smoke; clearly he was interested in the story. "To be honest, the more I acted like an asshole, the more Shifu started hanging around me. He pretended to think I was up to something, but looking back I think he just had a little crush that he didn't wanna acknowledge."
"So I guess that's where the, uhm... The 'grab-assing' came in." He grimaced as he spoke, as if the mere mention of such a thing made him queasy.
She couldn't help but laugh at him; she was liking the panda more and more as time went on. "We were together... I think the grand total was a little more'n a week."
"A week?" he repeated incredulously. "That's it?"
"Well we'd already been alternating between enemies and friends for about three months by then," she pointed out. "It wasn't like we only knew each other for a week."
"And you wanna get back together with him? I mean, even three months isn't that long. No offense."
"I know," she sighed, unable to deny the ridiculousness of her actions in the face of logic. "You got no idea how many times I said that to myself. I wasn't even sure if coming back here was the right thing to do. But I think he's warming up to me. Right?"
"Well, he did overturn the vote about you staying." He began to nervously twiddle his thumbs and she realized that she'd probably divulged a little too much information.
"Sorry," she grumbled. "Every conversation with me seems to eventually turn to the melon head. I'm obsessed."
"I wouldn't say obsessed," he reassured her. "Maybe more... Fixated."
"Love is complicated, panda."
Of course, he had something optimistic to say about it. "It's better 'an nothin', right?"
Sometimes, she really did wonder. But he was still young and hopeful, and probably had a few romances of his own ahead of him, perhaps devoid of the hollow, lonely ache of one-sided love. Even if not, it would be better for him to learn on his own. So she resisted the urge to grab him by the shoulders and shake him, and tell him that nothing was the easiest, most comfortable thing in the world and he should hang onto it for dear life, because the moment he left it behind there would be no returning. Instead, she said, "You're right. It is." Then she stuck the calabash pipe back in her mouth and tried not to think about where it had come from.
Po watched her for a bit, clearly conflicted about what to do or say next. Finally, he asked, "You got a lotta baggage, dontchya?"
She laughed at the question, smoke escaping from her mouth in small spurts. "You got no idea."
Chapter Text
Chapter 4: Never Trust a Skinny Cook
After about two hours of surprisingly deep sleep, Lin cracked her eyes open in the morning light and wiped the drool off of her face. She felt like she had been hit by a boulder rolling down a particularly steep mountain, but she didn't see how she could expect anything else with the number of hours she had been clocking at that damn orphanage lately. It was worth it, though. After all, if it hadn't been worth it, she wouldn't have started to begin with. Still, she couldn't finish up her work only at night (there was only so much lantern oil she could use), so she'd been spending a few days there as well- and being around that many children at once only further cemented her belief that she had done the right thing in never becoming a mother. Honestly, she didn't know what had come over her in the first place- aside from the draw of the circular shape of the building. Still, she had known that it was an orphanage and she had known she'd have very little time to complete her work before the colder autumn months set in. And while she did work quickly to begin with, she'd still had to step up her pace in the past week as the temperature began to drop, the morning mist lingered for longer, and the days became more windy.
She finally crawled out of bed and changed into some fresh clothes, even though she probably needed a bath, what with multiple colors of paint stuck in her fur and smeared on her hands. But before anything else, she wanted to spend some time up at the peach tree, meditating as usual. The calming energy the tree exuded helped her focus, and if she needed anything at all lately it was focus. She figured it wouldn't hurt to take a nice, leisurely walk there along the path behind the barracks, either.
Lin stretched her arms and let out a silent yawn as she walked along the overgrown path, daydreaming about how wonderful it would be to crawl back into bed and pull her blanket over her head. However, that daydream was abruptly interrupted by reality when she rounded a bend and nearly walked straight into Tigress, who had been headed toward the barracks. Her first instinct was to simply turn around and walk away, but she resisted the urge; it was time to stop keeping her distance. She couldn't spend the rest of her life running away from someone she technically lived with. "Uh," she blurted out, since she figured she should say something. "G'morning."
The glare the other woman shot her was admittedly intense, but she had been in enough mortal danger to recognize the impotence in the tiger's rage. "Master Lin," she greeted stiffly.
Lin had to admit, she liked the sound of the honorific, but she couldn't ask someone who so obviously hated her to use it. "You don't gotta call me Master," she sighed. "I generally don't recognize honorifics."
"Are you a master?" Tigress asked abruptly.
"Well, yeah," Lin admitted sheepishly.
"Then it is respectful to call you Master," she shot back. "Not that I have any respect for you as a person."
While the comment hadn't exactly stung- Lin had grown used to people reacting to her as such- it still caught her off-guard. She hadn't expected such a shamelessly confrontational attitude after the younger woman had pretty much ignored her for most of the time she'd spent at the Jade Palace. "Maybe we should talk," she suggested. While she generally amused herself by provoking people, she possessed enough wisdom to know when to stop acting like a jackass.
"I honestly don't see anything to talk about."
"Aw, don't put yourself down. I'm sure you can thinka something to talk about." She realized at the way Tigress's glare intensified that she had probably misinterpreted the comment.
"If you want to talk so much, then why don't you tell me what you are doing here?"
She had to literally bite down on her tongue to keep herself from blurting out, "Trying to screw your dad." She had a feeling if something like that did escape her mouth, it would be the last thing she ever said. She also doubted that the pathetic truth of, "I'm in love with your dad and I'm trying to make him love me back," would go over well, either. "Uhm," was all she really managed to get out.
"This is a waste of my time," Tigress concluded, then started to walk away.
Because she was an idiot, Lin stopped her. "Wait a minute."
She actually stopped to listen, too, although she looked even more disgruntled than before.
"Look, I got a lotta reasons for coming back here," she tried to level with the admittedly intimidating tiger. "It's kinda a complicated issue for me. Believe it or not, there was once a time when this was my home, too. And... I'm just trying to come home, okay?"
"Perhaps," came Tigress's biting response, "you should start looking for a new home." While her behavior was reminiscent of Shifu's, her remarks held none of the sarcastic wit and humor behind Shifu's usual insults. Instead, the woman's words were so humorless and direct that they were practically soul-crushing. This kind of harshness formed the backbone of the kung fu master's reputation throughout the country, though it was far worse being her target than merely hearing of her ire.
Lin couldn't help but remember one particular rumor of Tigress making Po cry when he first became the Dragon Warrior, and for the first time she could see a grain of truth in it. "I don't think I'm gonna do that," she answered levelly; she realized she was treading dangerous waters, but she had learned in her fifty-five years to never back down from a confrontation, verbal or otherwise. Although, if the confrontation did escalate beyond verbal she doubted she'd fare well.
"You do realize that you're not welcome here." Tigress flexed her fingers as she spoke, the threat of physical violence clear in her actions.
"I'd appreciate it if you lightened up on the intimidation tactics." She considered herself an experienced enough gambler to be able to spot a bluff, even in the most deadpan of opponents. "You think I'm gonna suddenly forget you're a kung fu warrior? We both know it'd be dishonorable for you to attack me unless in defense of yourself or someone else. And while I don't know you too well, you don't seem like the dishonorable type to me." She resisted the urge to flinch as Tigress clenched her hands into fists; she didn't fancy the idea of losing any more teeth. "Look, I know you don't like me. I get it. But I don't get why you apparently hate me so much that you're fantasizing about beating me to death right now. Most people don't get to that point until I've publicly defamed 'em, and as far as I can remember, I ain't really done anything to you."
"You have done absolutely nothing but disrespect the Jade Palace, its residents, and its traditions from the first moment you arrived here." She sounded pretty familiar with that line. "You are prideful, you are arrogant, and you show little regard for those around you."
"I'm gonna letya in on one of life's many intriguing secrets," she returned, keeping her tone friendly. "Every family has that one relative no one likes, yet they live with 'em 'cause somehow, they're obligated. Consider me that relative."
"I have no obligation to you. As far as I'm concerned, the Jade Palace is not your home, nor will it ever be."
"So I'm guessing that if I offer to treatya to breakfast or something in an effort for us to get to know each other better, it won't go over too well," Lin concluded, resisting the urge to wince as the feline's glare intensified. "Areya sure? 'Cause I could really go for dim sum..." She trailed off as she realized that it was not going to happen. "Ifya ever change your mind, I'm almost always in the mood for dim sum. In fact, the only time I'm not in the mood for dim sum is when I'm in the mood for curry."
"Do not expect to be able to ingratiate yourself to me with food," Tigress snapped. "I am not so easily bribed. If you want acceptance here, you won't get it with dim sum or curry."
"Whaddaya prefer, then? Tofu? I can make it steamed with pandan leaves, then serve it with peanuts and day lily buds over rice, I'll bet you'd like that."
"What I would like is for you to show a bit more respect to those around you," came the scathing reply.
"I guess that's a 'no' on the tofu," she concluded forlornly; after talking the dish up, she sort of wanted to try some herself. "So gimme an example of what I can do for this whole 'respect' thing." Of course, she wasn't so completely out of touch that she had no concept of respect, but for her offering to cook a meal for someone was in itself a sign of respect and good will, so clearly the two of them had different standards regarding the term. She probably should have communicated that to Tigress in some way, though, since the younger woman was practically gritting her teeth after hearing the request.
"You may find yourself charming," she ground out, "but you're the only one. If you won't stop leeching off of the Jade Palace and those of us who belong here, then at least have the decency not to rub it in my face- if you even possess any decency at all." She stormed off after the short lecture, and Lin couldn't stop a sigh of relief from escaping.
"Talk about tightly wound," she muttered to herself as she watched the kung fu master walk away, rubbing at her shoulders to release the tension that had built up there. She felt as if she might explode just from interacting with the woman- then again, she probably shouldn't have expected anything else from someone who'd been raised by a walking hemorrhoid. Still, Tigress and Shifu didn't seem to be very close, and while she was no stranger to people having distant relationships with their parents, she got the feeling it wasn't exactly a desired situation. And of course the moment she thought of it a little niggling voice in the back of her head reminded her, "Don't get involved."
And she would absolutely not get involved; she had enough on her plate as it was. She needed to somehow figure out what had happened to Tai Lung, she needed to finish up her work at Bao Gu, and she still needed to find some way to get Shifu's students to start liking her. If Tigress's reaction to her was anything to judge by, that was going to be an uphill battle. Well, Po seemed to like her alright, so that was a start.
Her ears perked up as she approached the peach tree, the sound of flute music drifting down from the outcropping. It had been a long time since she'd heard that music; she remembered the last time she'd listened to Shifu play the flute. He'd been convinced she'd make fun of him, but she'd thought the music was beautiful, and she was glad to hear it again. When she climbed the stairs to the peach tree and saw him sitting under it, playing his flute, she couldn't help but smile.
His ears twitched back toward her, and he immediately stopped playing. "Not one word," he warned.
She laughed at his reaction, then plopped down on the grass beside him. "Is that the same flute you've always had?"
"Yes."
"Yeesh, that thing's older 'an I am." She reached out and stuck her finger in the end of the flute, grinning when he yanked the instrument out of her reach.
"So where have you been for the past week?" he asked with a disgruntled frown. "You found someone else to torment?"
"Just trying to finish up at Bao Gu," she dismissed with a wave of her hand, then sidled closer to him. "So, why dontchya play a song for me?"
"Not even if you paid me," he grumbled. "And are you ever going to tell me what you have been doing at Bao Gu orphanage? Furthermore, why would anyone in their right mind let you within the same province as a group of vulnerable orphans?"
"Don't worry about it," she replied. "It's nothing."
"Hmph," he huffed, eyeing her suspiciously. "You still refuse to tell me anything. You talk about getting to know each other, yet you spend hours out and about and you refuse to tell me what you are doing."
"Maybe 'cause it's nunya business," she pointed out, though she had to admit she really had no good reason to keep him in the dark. "I'll tellya what I'm working on when I'm done working on it."
"Why not now?" he pressed, because that was simply the kind of person he was.
She knew the answer to that question, but she also knew that she could never tell him the truth: that she wanted to impress him. "An artist never reveals her work before it's finished."
"I am sure you had an entire list of excuses ready for me." He could be such a sourpuss, sometimes. Well, most of the time. "And what am I even paying you for if you are constantly gone, working elsewhere?"
"Gimme an assignment, then," she shot back. "Anything at all, just name it. You want a painting, a print, something like that? Copper plates, wood blocks, limestone- or maybe you want some screen-printed posters? I could do a limited run of monochromatic..." She trailed off at the blank look on his face. "You got no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"
"I normally don't get involved with those kinds of details," he admitted.
"Then why d'you wanna know what I'm doing at Bao Gu?" She wondered if she'd be faced with the same blank stare if she did try to tell him.
"I only want to know what you have been up to. You leave here before lunch and you stay out all night- what kind of project requires so much attention?"
"The kind that I like the best," she answered. "Why? D'you miss me?"
"Hardly," he scoffed. "But after a while the peace and quiet starts to feel ominous."
"You miss me," she concluded, ignoring the derisive snort he let out. "C'mon, if you didn't care, you wouldn'ta stood up for me to keep me around."
"Speaking of which, have you put any effort at all into being nice to my students?"
"You mean sucking up?" she shot back. "I been busy. But Po likes me-"
"Po likes everyone," he interrupted flatly.
"The others seem pretty neutral, I'll bet I could win 'em over," she reasoned. "Except for Tigress."
"That comes as no surprise to me," he accepted, as if it hadn't even occurred to him that she'd ever had any chance of getting on his daughter's good side.
"A little warning woulda been nice," she grumbled, though he actually seemed amused. "Maybe you should talk to her," she suggested.
"Why?"
"'Cause you're her father, she hates me, and I'm pretty sure she wants me dead."
"I am sure she does not want you dead," Shifu dismissed, though he didn't sound too sure of himself. "You are simply... Difficult to get used to. And Tigress is not the most welcoming person in the world."
"Hm, I wonder where she gets that from," she mused aloud.
He glared at her a moment, though he didn't protest the sarcastic comment. "You could put some slight effort into getting along with her."
"What, you think I ain't been trying?" She really had to wonder what he thought of her, if he sincerely believed that she would intentionally antagonize his daughter. "I've done as much as I know how to do."
"That is what scares me."
"Wouldya talk to her for me, please?" She leaned over to give him a nudge with her shoulder and attempted to look as sad and pathetic as possible. "Please?" She let out a quiet sniffle, just to be sure.
"You are so manipulative that it is mind-boggling," he grumbled, though she could see a faint blush rising in his cheeks. "You may put away your crocodile tears, they won't work on me."
"They always work on you," she argued back. "Why d'you think I use 'em to begin with?" She leaned in closer to whisper into his ear, mostly because she knew how uncomfortable it would make him, and partly because she thought it was cute when his ears twitched. "I'll makeya a deal: you talk to Tigress for me, and I'll letya hold my hand."
He recoiled from her and shot her a scandalized look, as if she had suggested some kind of kinky sexual act- not that she was above such a suggestion. "What does that mean?"
"It's a secret code for anal sex," she replied in hushed tones. "You can help me with the enema ifya want."
"You are making fun of me, aren't you?"
"I am, but I could be serious ifya want me to be." The sad part of the statement was that she meant it. "Just tell me where I need to be and I'm all yours."
"Well you are clearly- wait, what?"
"Nevermind," she rushed out. "What were we, uhm, talking about?"
He frowned at her, crossing his arms. "Must you constantly make such obscene jokes?"
It took considerable effort for her to regain her composure in the face of her starved sex drive vying for a bite to eat, but somehow she managed to do it. "It's part of my job description."
"Then you're fired."
"You'll never find anyone better 'an me to fill the position," she warned, then gave his beard a playful tug. "And admit it, you don't want anyone else filling that position."
He retaliated with a hard poke in her side. "I am seventy years old, I don't have the energy for any of your positions anyway."
She had to admit, he'd gotten in a better shot than she'd expected. "Don't go saying something like that, you might drive me into the arms of a younger man."
"Imagine his surprise when he eventually realizes that you are not in need of resuscitation."
"I may not be in need of resuscitation, but my sex life sure is. Aren't you in charge of handling emergencies around here?"
"Oh come now," he mocked, rolling his eyes. "How long has it been? An hour?"
"Try a month," she sighed wistfully. "Y'know how when people lose limbs they get that ghost-limb sensation?"
"I do not want to hear the rest of that!" he snapped, grimacing at her. "And what do you mean a month? You have only been here for two weeks!"
"I know, I was expecting you to put out a lot sooner."
"I am done with this conversation," he suddenly declared, shooting to his feet as if his ass had caught fire. "Clearly, you do not take anything at all seriously, least of all me." He was actually angry, as if his moods weren't difficult enough to deal with already.
"What's your problem all of a sudden?" She couldn't help but take on a defensive tone at his unexpected mood swing.
"I know that by now it must be second nature for you to make all these sexual comments, but if it is not too much trouble for you I would like to be shown a little consideration. I think I deserve that much."
She couldn't believe what she was hearing at first. She could have been mistaken, but it seemed like he was angry not because she hit on him so freely, but that she had done so to other men. "...Are you jeal-"
"No, I am not jealous," he interrupted, bristling at the question. "I am-"
"Feeling devalued 'cause I've slept with other men and you think that makes you less special?" While she was insulted by the fact he thought he was at all justified in getting angry at her for her sex life which was her own business, she couldn't help but feel a little twinge of hope that he cared at all.
"This is ridiculous," he huffed, "and I have better things to do than stand here and talk to you about your business."
For once, she decided not to fight. "Aw, c'mon," she coaxed, patting the spot where he'd been sitting. "Ifya wanna change the subject, all you gotta do is say something. I got no problem talking about other stuff." After all, she hadn't been able to spend very much time with him lately, and the last thing she wanted was for him to storm off in a tizzy because she'd hit some kind of sore spot of his.
"Hm, I'm sure," he replied sarcastically, but he didn't run off.
"Siddown, already," she ordered, though she kept her tone gentle. "I feel like you're trying to run away from me."
"That is because I am," he grumbled, but he sat down next to her anyway. "Yet somehow you always manage to ensnare me."
"Maybe 'cause you wanna be ensnared," she suggested, then took a chance and gently nudged his hand with her fingers.
"...Very well, I will talk to Tigress," he agreed reluctantly. He hesitated a moment, then grabbed hold of her hand, a disgruntled frown planted firmly on his face.
"Thanks." She grinned at him, giving his hand a squeeze. "Y'know, I already toldya if you wanna hold my hand I wouldn't judge."
"Don't make me regret this," he warned.
"I'll give it a shot." She wanted to kiss him, but it was way too soon. She was thankful, though, that she at least had the sense to know it- not that she hadn't developed such common sense through painful experience. "So what's this moment of tenderness all about, anyway?"
"Let us say that it is the sign of a truce," he replied stiffly. "In the spirit of friendship."
She couldn't help but make fun of him. "Y'know, sometimes I really gotta wonder how you managed to stay single all these years."
"Make fun of me all you want," he huffed. "If you didn't enjoy holding my hand then you wouldn't have offered." Apparently he knew her better than he'd let on.
"Well at least the hair on your palms catches the sweat."
"Lovely, glad to hear it."
"I only said it in the spirit of friendship," she shot back, as an incredibly mean idea came to her. "Y'know what else is real friendly?"
"What would that be?" he asked dubiously, though he was clearly intrigued.
Without another word she slid into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, waggling her eyebrows at him as she did so.
"Get off of me!" he snapped, immediately flushing bright red.
Of course she knew he'd get angry and embarrassed by the action, which was entirely the point. "You can squeeze a little more'n my hand, sweet thing." She didn't know why she enjoyed torturing him so much, but his amusing reactions probably had something to do with it.
"I am only going to tell you one more time," he warned.
"Oh, man, sorry!" a voice suddenly rang out behind them. "Didn't mean to interrupt!"
Shifu jumped to his feet like he'd just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, his fur frizzing in surprise.
Lin, meanwhile, landed squarely on her backside. "Well, that's one way to get rid of me," she grumbled as she looked back and forth between him and Po. "What's the good word, panda?"
"Uhm, nothin', I was just leavin'," he replied nervously as he backed away. "You guys... Keep on... Doin' what you're doin'."
"We were not doing anything!" Shifu snapped, his tail still frizzier than a Himalayan with hemorrhoids. "There is nothing to interrupt!"
"Just our lovemaking," Lin added casually as she pushed herself to her feet and brushed the grass off her behind.
"Okay, then, have fun," the panda rushed out, quickening his pace.
"She is a liar!" Shifu shouted at him, pointing accusingly to Lin. "Po, don't you dare listen to her!"
"One minute he wants to hold hands," she went on, ignoring him, "and the next he's-"
"Bwah!" Po interrupted her. "I don't need to hear anythin' else!"
"Panda!" Shifu scolded. "I am your Master, do not walk away from me!" However, he was too late.
Po had already stuck his fingers in his ears and started chanting to himself, "La la la la la la la!"
"Po!" he called as his student turned tail and ran. "Get back here!" He watched Po's retreating back in bewilderment.
Lin, meanwhile, could only laugh. She hadn't expected anyone to arrive at the peach tree and see their less than intimate moment, but she couldn't have asked for a better witness.
"Why do I even bother speaking to you in the first place?" he growled at her.
"'Cause you secretly wanna get it on with me, but you're too much of a prude to act on it. That's my theory, anyway." She eyed him for a moment, trying to gauge precisely how incensed he was, but he didn't seem any angrier than usual.
"You," he growled at her, pointing accusingly in her face, "are a querulous, profligate harpy."
"I see you've been hitting the old thesaurus," she commented, untouched by his insults; she'd become used to his temper, which she had been surprised to find had somehow surpassed her own. Then again, she did know precisely how to instigate him.
"Do not speak to me," he snapped, his eye twitching. "Do not touch me, ever again." With that, he whirled around and stormed off, apparently upset. He'd get over it.
She shook her head at his series of overreactions, then looked out over the mist-shrouded valley, not that the fog left anything to actually see. She'd had a busy morning, having already royally pissed off two of the most powerful kung fu masters in all of China. Though to be fair, both of them were generally pissed off most of the time anyway. Still, she doubted Shifu would attempt to put in a good word for her with Tigress after she'd embarrassed him so much in front of the Dragon Warrior. She didn't understand why he would even be embarrassed at all in front of Po, seeing as the kid was such a down-to-earth sweetheart, not at all what a person might think of upon hearing the title. But Shifu would be embarrassed in front of a clod of dirt, so she supposed Po's temperament didn't matter all that much to him.
She also had to wonder why he'd taken her up on her joking offer to let him hold her hand; she certainly hadn't expected him to accept. If he had romantic feelings for her, he sure had a funny way of showing it. She actually suspected that he had no idea what he wanted at the moment; certainly he would have trouble quelling memories of their former relationship, and that coupled with her familiarity and their newfound friendship probably confused the hell out of him. Not to mention all the personal crap he'd been going through lately. She couldn't blame him for being a little hot and cold. Still, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't annoyed by him and his bad attitude- which was one of the reasons she'd been intentionally torturing him. She just hoped it wouldn't be too long until he either made up his mind or loosened up a little. Though she doubted either would happen quickly enough to satisfy her. Until then, she'd just have to suck it up. As always.
Shifu fumed to himself as he headed across the grounds to the training hall in search of Tigress; he didn't know why he'd agreed to talk to her for Lin in the first place. It wasn't as if he'd been tempted by Lin's offer to hold his hand. It wasn't like she could bat her eyes at him and win him over anymore; for one thing, she had cataracts in one of them, which sometimes made her gaze a bit unnerving. Then again, just knowing what kind of mind lay behind that gaze made it unnerving.
In any case, he'd only grabbed hold of her hand out of some severely misplaced sense of nostalgia. Perhaps he'd been curious, too, as to whether she still had any feelings for him or whether she'd simply been playing a joke on him; he'd gotten his answer, unfortunately. Not that he had any romantic inklings toward her- the very idea was absurd. They had only two weeks ago been reunited after a thirty-three year separation, and she'd spent much of that time away from the Jade Palace, apparently working. He hadn't had enough time to develop feelings for her, not that he ever expected to. Lin only seemed interested in one thing in a man, and while he admittedly enjoyed that one thing, he certainly couldn't see himself falling for a woman who did not want a serious commitment, even if that woman had once been the love of his life. Although, he'd fallen for her three decades ago and she hadn't wanted a serious commitment back then, either. But she'd taught him his lesson when she left him without looking back.
He wondered, and not for the first time, what had compelled her to return. He knew practically nothing of her life in the time they'd spent apart (save for her sex life). She claimed to have no family, so what had she left behind? Had she had a home, at least? Friends? Or had she had nothing, and no one? Perhaps she had returned because she'd indeed had nothing left- although, that would imply she'd had something to lose in the first place. He didn't believe she'd never had anything to lose, though. He'd experienced enough loss himself to see the signs in a person: the way they spoke of their past, they way they moved, and their eyes. He could see in her eyes that she had lost a lot- quite possibly everything.
It was one of the reasons he kept defending her to his students. Despite how downright enraging she could be, he wanted to show her that she still had him, even if only as a friend. And perhaps one day, when their friendship had grown strong enough, she would tell him about all the missing pieces to the puzzle.
In the meantime, he had a slightly more pressing matter to attend to. He walked into the training hall, nodding in approval when he saw his students hard at work- all except one. "Where is Tigress?"
All five of the kung fu warriors before him paused in their training and adopted guilty expressions.
He shook his head; clearly, they were hiding something. Luckily, he had learned over the years that a chain was only as strong as its weakest link. "Po, come here."
The panda abandoned the Jade Tortoise, where he'd been practicing his balance by sparring with Crane. "I'm sorry, Master," he blurted out as he executed a clumsy bow, still winded from the match that Crane had clearly been winning. "I didn't mean to interrupt you and Lin-"
"Forget that," Shifu grumbled; he didn't have the energy to try and explain the truth, so he simply moved on. "Where is Tigress?" He knew how awful of a liar Po was, if he even attempted to lie at all; the panda just didn't have the heart for it (which was a good thing, of course, especially when there was information to be gleaned).
"Uhmmmm," Po mumbled, twiddling his thumb as his eyes widened in fear. "I, uh, I dunno. Nowhere special."
"If you do not know where she is, how do you know that it is nowhere special?" Shifu shot back, watching the panda turn red under his scrutiny.
"Just a guess," he worked out in a high-pitched squeak, then cleared his throat. "But I could, uh, take a message. If ya want."
"She is studying the scroll for nerve attacks again, isn't she?" Shifu asked flatly, and he could tell from the way Po paled at the question that his guess had been correct. "I will be back." He left the training hall, ignoring the panda's protests that he was mistaken.
Once he arrived in the Hall of Warriors it was easy to spot Tigress standing at the archive of scrolls, reading; as he approached her he noted that she was indeed reading the scroll detailing nerve attacks. "Tigress." He couldn't keep his voice from taking on a harsh note at the sight of her deliberately disobeying his orders.
To her credit, she handled the discovery calmly, rolling up the scroll she had been reading and carefully returning it to its proper place before she bowed to him. "Master," she greeted levelly.
He doubted she'd hold her temper in check for much longer, but he had learned well over the years how to handle her fiery demeanor. "I see you are studying nerve attacks." He raised one eyebrow pointedly, waiting for a response.
"...Yes, Master. I was." Tigress had never been one to make excuses for herself; when she was called out on something, she owned up to it. As admirable a quality as it was, though, he couldn't very well praise her when she had been ignoring his authority.
"I thought I had specifically forbidden you from learning nerve strikes," he ground out. "My mind must be failing me in my old age."
The sarcastic comment set her off, as his digs often did. "I see no reason not to at least study the scroll!" she snapped. "Master, I am perfectly capable of learning this technique!"
"That is not the issue," he shot back, "and you know it. I have no doubts regarding your capabilities-"
"Then let me learn nerve attacks!" she interrupted harshly.
He took a deep breath, trying not to lose his temper with her. Losing his temper with someone like Lin was one thing; she'd only fight with him then either win the fight or storm off, eat a jar of cookies, and get over it. Tigress, however, would take such a fight to heart, and eventually blame herself. He certainly had been dense about many things in his lifetime, but he had raised the woman and he knew how much stock she put into his opinion. He also knew that, in her mind, everything was always her fault- if she was scolded, if something went wrong in battle, if anything in her life went wrong, she assumed it must have been because of some failing of hers. "You cannot chase after the accomplishments of others," he said in a level but strict tone. "You cannot try to live up to a reputation or an ideal." It was one of the many difficult lessons he had learned from his mistakes with Tai Lung. "And I will not allow you to try to do so."
"You think I'm not as strong as Tai Lung was?" she accused; it had been a long time since she'd so much as mentioned the snow leopard, though she clearly still felt overshadowed by him. "You think I cannot accomplish what he did?"
"What concerns me is that you are trying!" He couldn't believe that after all her years at the Jade Palace, after witnessing what he had done to Tai Lung, experiencing what he had done to her, she still wanted to continue such a path. "You cannot use Tai Lung as some sort of measuring stick for your own abilities! What do you even hope to accomplish by doing so?"
She didn't answer him; instead, she thinned her lips and turned to glower at the archive of scrolls. Her silence was not entirely unexpected; Tigress never talked about the things that were bothering her, and that hadn't changed any more than their relationship had.
"Tigress, I have no doubts about your abilities. I understand that you want to improve yourself as a warrior, but you are not going to do that by trying to be like Tai Lung." While he had chosen his words carefully, they had not been enough to prompt her to tell him how she was feeling.
Instead she let out a tense breath through her nose and said, "I understand, Master."
"Is there anything else you would like to discuss?"
"No." She hesitated for a moment before asking, "Is there anything else you wanted to discuss, Master?"
He supposed he might as well bring it up, since she was asking. "Ahm, yes," he agreed, awkwardly clearing his throat as he imagined the negative reaction he was about to receive. "It's Lin."
A note of irritation immediately entered her voice. "What about her?"
"She is, um..." He trailed off, unsure of what to even say. "Well, she is a good friend and..." What did Lin expect him to say, anyway? "...Just try not to let her get to you."
"She is not getting to me," Tigress argued, her face falling into its usual glower. "But I don't see why she needs to be here in the first place. You don't even seem to like her-"
"Well I do," he interrupted sternly. "Our relationship is somewhat complicated, that is all. As my student, you should understand that it is important to me that she be accepted here, and as the leader of the Furious Five I expect you to show a little hospitality."
"Master, I am not the only one who is hesitant to accept her," she argued, and while Shifu suspected that was true, he wasn't blind, either. Tigress may not have been the only one hesitant to accept Lin, but she was the only one who gave off the impression of outright hating the canine.
"That may be true," he agreed. "But you must realize that as a leader, you set a course for the others to follow in all respects. Besides... Lin thinks you want her dead."
Her glower darkened considerably at that bit of information. "So she put you up to this? Talking to me as if I am a child?"
"No, if you were a child I would punish you!" Shifu snapped, then paused to take a breath and attempt to reign his temper in. "Seeing as you are an adult," he went on, his voice quieter but still tense, "I am speaking with you as one."
"I don't even know why we're talking about this to begin with," Tigress spat out. "I have better things to do with my time, and telling me to like her isn't going to change anything."
"So you admit that you do not like her."
"Of course I don't like her!" Tigress burst out. "She's a conniving, manipulative, smug little hairball!"
"You think I don't know that?" he argued back. "Of course I know that! She is also rude, vulgar, completely full of herself, and- and-" He cut himself off and took another deep breath to calm himself. "And I put up with her."
"But why, Master?"
"If I knew, I would certainly tell you." He reached up to massage his temple; it wasn't the first time he'd had a headache because of Lin, and he doubted it would be the last. "The truth is, I never understood why I put up with her antics. Nevertheless, she is my friend, and I ask that you attempt to hide the fact that you want to physically pick her up and throw her as much as I do. Understood?"
She frowned at him, clearly unhappy with the direction the conversation had taken. Then, after some hesitation, she finally answered, "Yes, Master. I understand."
"Good." He nodded once to her, then turned to leave the hall. His day had been aggravating enough as it was; he just wanted to end their conversation and go meditate. Hopefully, said meditation would provide him with a little perspective. Or at least lower his blood pressure.
Guotin shook his head to himself as he watched a pretty young wolf unfold a large map and stare at it, perplexed. To stop in the middle of a road frequented mainly by thieves and bandits- such as himself- and advertise that she was lost was akin to climbing into a burning house and lying down for a nap. Not to mention a woman traveling alone was already a prime target. He'd been in the game for many, many years, and the stupidity people displayed still astounded him. He almost felt bad sicking his men, who awaited his signal in the trees and bushes lining the road, on such a clueless young woman.
In fact, for many other bandit leaders it would be strange to even accompany his men on such a small patrol, anyway. But Guotin had been born with an excess of energy, and even after decades of living as an outlaw he still hadn't expended all of it. The old wolf liked to get as involved in his men's day-to-day work as possible, and if that meant sitting in some bushes in the woods in order to ambush a hapless young lady, he had done much more boring things in his life. Though to be honest, he'd never had much of a taste for attacking women- wooing them, on the other hand, was quite another story. Still, pickings had been slim lately and she looked well-fed enough to make it to the next town without her money and supplies.
"You there," she suddenly called out in his direction, yet no matter how hard he looked he couldn't see anyone else. "Excuse me," she repeated, waving directly at him despite the fact that he was well-concealed in the bushes. "You there, the large wolf! Yes, you!"
He couldn't believe what he was witnessing; the girl could actually see him. He certainly wasn't small by any means- not for a wolf, anyway- but he still excelled at concealing himself and had never expected to be spotted with such ease. "Yeah?" he asked as he walked out into the road, brushing stray leaves off of himself. He may have been found, but the rest of his men still held the element of surprise.
"A few of your friends are leering at me," she huffed in a foreign accent he couldn't quite place, though it did sound familiar.
He glanced around to see if anyone had slipped and allowed themselves to be seen, but his men were all still well-hidden. "...What?"
"In the trees," she specified. "The man with the knife and the archer. They are leering at me, and such behavior is disgraceful."
So maybe their element of surprise had been completely blown, after all. "Why didn't ya just tell 'em to stop? Why ask me?" He had a feeling that he was going to like this girl.
"Are you the leader?" she asked.
He couldn't believe his ears. "...Yeah."
"Then that is why." She was good.
"How?" he had to ask. "How'd ya do that?"
"If you all did not breathe so heavily from your mouths, you might have been able to sneak up on a deafened senior citizen." Then, to add insult to injury, she held out her map to him. "Now, will you help me, please? My sense of direction is not so good."
"Girlie, I'm afraid I dunno what to make of ya," he sighed, then raised his hand and made a short chopping motion, the signal for his men to back off; she'd earned it. Besides, having his band of outlaws rob her would probably put a damper on the flirting.
She glared up at him with big brown eyes, and he was given a brief sense of déjà vu, though he couldn't remember for the life of him who she reminded him of. "What is the meaning of that word?" she asked. "Did you insult me?"
He supposed he shouldn't have expected her to understand slang. "It's a compliment," he assured her.
"Good," she replied, her demeanor brightening considerably. "You are not nearly as rude as I had expected you to be." She smiled at him, and he could tell that her attention had been caught by the admittedly conspicuous scar over his missing left eye.
"Most ladies get kinda spooked by the eye," he informed her with a grin that probably looked more fitting on a man half his age. Then again, he hadn't survived so long by acting like an old man.
"I am not afraid of scars," she replied. "Everybody has at least one."
"Well said," he accepted, then leaned in closer to get a good look at her map, as well as get a closer look at her. She was, after all, quite the little cutie, even if her ears were kind of big. "Y'know, if you're not in too much of a hurry it'd be my honor to treatya to a drink."
"I have a long way to travel still," she rejected cheerfully. "I must keep going."
He couldn't say he hadn't at least tried. "Well, if we ever cross paths again, consider it an open invitation."
"I do not think we will cross paths again," she said so innocently that he doubted she had meant it to be insulting. "Now, I am wondering... Which road am I on?"
"You weren't kiddin' about that bad sense of direction." He took a moment to peer at her map, then pointed to the northwest corner of the Qinghai province; the actual road they were on was so small it hadn't even been marked off on her map. "You're right here. If ya keep goin' the way you been travelin', you'll meet up with this larger road here." He pointed to the road in question, which started in northeast Qinghai and wound through the northern provinces all the way to Beijing.
"That won't do at all," she sighed forlornly, shaking her head. "I need to go to Hunan province."
"And why's that?" He realized it was a bit of a nosy question, but it was a chance to extend their conversation, and he never passed up an opportunity to talk to a pretty young woman- even one who had already rejected him.
"I am looking for someone," she replied. "Someone very important."
"You're looking for someone important in Hunan province?" He was no idiot; the only home to anyone even remotely well-regarded in Hunan was the Valley of Peace. Clearly, the woman was looking for a kung fu master. "Look, Girlie, I'm a pretty laid-back guy, but my contemporaries ain't so relaxed, if ya catch my drift. With the roads you're travelin' on, you gotta keep your head down, and sayin' you wanna find someone important in Hunan ain't exactly keepin' your head down."
"Oh my." She looked taken aback a moment, then nodded her head in compliance. "Thank you very much for telling me about that, sir. I should have known that a man such as you, who has lived for so long, would have such knowledge to share."
The suggestion that he was old hurt just a bit- though he did realize he was starting to look his age, his once sleek black fur now coarse and speckled with grey and wrinkles apparent in his face. He liked to think of himself as less of an old man, though, and more of a handsome older gentleman. "You're only as old as you feel," he pointed out playfully. "And I definitely feel young enough to show a pretty young lady such as yourself a good time."
"That is nice," she brushed off, as if she hadn't even listened to him. "So what would you say is the best way to get to Hunan, then?"
"Dragon's Tongue Pass," he sighed, defeated. "You'll hafta get on that road I pointed out, the one that starts out east, until you're at the border of Shanxi and Hebei. Then you'll see this big rock that looks kinda like a dragon if ya tilt your head and squint at it, and if ya look under it you'll find a cave. That's the entrance to Dragon's Tongue Pass, and if ya keep on it, it'll bring ya down toward Shanghai, and you'll eventually find your way to the trade routes. From there, it should be smooth sailin'."
She stared at him as if the directions had gone in one ear and out the other, then started refolding her map. "Very well," she proclaimed, "I will take this Dragon is Hung Pass." The fact that she had no idea what she'd just said only added to the hilarity of her error, and he resisted the urge to laugh.
"Dragon's Tongue Pass," he corrected, enunciating the words as clearly as possible.
"Dragon's Tongue," she repeated. "Yes, I will take that to the border of Shanxi and Hebei."
"No, you won't," he corrected, amazed that she hadn't gotten herself killed yet with her complete absent-mindedness in regards to where she was headed. "You are taking that other road I showed you- The Path of Falling Tears- to the border between Shanxi and Hebei. Then that is where Dragon's Tongue Pass starts."
"All these roads sound so ominous," she commented obliviously, and in that moment he simply gave up.
"Yes," he accepted wearily. "Yes they do."
"But as you said, it is smooth sailing," she went on, and he didn't bother to correct her.
Somehow he doubted it would even matter to her. "Good luck finding your important person."
"Thank you," she said with complete sincerity, then placed one hand over her heart. "He truly is important to me. I hope that when I do finally reach him, he will accept me with open arms."
"I'm sure he will," Guotin assured her, then resisted the urge to add, "as long as he doesn't try to give you directions."
"Your kindness is much appreciated," she called out as she turned and ran off in the exact opposite direction of where he'd told her to go.
"Other way!" he shouted out to her, and with a blush of embarrassment she turned around.
"Thank you again!" She bowed slightly as she passed him. "I am off to this Dragon Song Pass!"
He wondered if the girl would ever make it to the Valley of Peace; if he had to guess, he'd say probably not. Then again, it was really none of his concern whether or not a woman he'd been about to rob reached her destination. It was just too bad that she'd turned down his invitation to have a drink; it had been a few weeks since he'd been with a woman.
It suddenly hit him: that was why she'd seemed familiar. She reminded him of someone he'd slept with- except younger and sweeter. Not that he didn't appreciate women of all ages and temperaments, which was why he liked to introduce a little variety into his life. And while he knew that he was way past due for settling down and producing an heir, he couldn't help but flirt with nearly every woman who crossed his path; after all, he was nothing if not a rolling stone. Besides, there would be other women, just as pretty as the girl who'd just turned him down, and twice as willing. And he sure as hell had no complaints about that.
Po waded through the early afternoon crowd on the village's main street as he headed to his dad's restaurant; Master Shifu had agreed to give him the afternoon off to go help out, since his dad had yet to find any new hires to take his place. Not that he minded- he loved cooking, and he loved helping his dad. He wouldn't give up what little time he could spend at the restaurant for the world, but the fact of the matter was that he couldn't always be around for the aging goose, and running the popular establishment was too much of a challenge for one person to handle. Still, Po knew that his dad had high standards when it came to noodles, and he wouldn't hire just anyone. It would take culinary skill bordering on miraculous- or a recommendation from Po- for Mr. Ping to hire on a new chef. Unfortunately, the valley was slightly lacking in miraculously skilled chefs and Po didn't know anyone looking for a job in noodles, so they were at an impasse.
He stopped at a small cart selling sweet potatoes, which had been boiled, then dried off and seared to develop a crispy skin. The season for sweet potatoes must have just started- he'd noticed the cooler air, but hadn't given it much thought, since he'd been so busy with kung fu. His mouth watered at the smell of the sweet potatoes, the sound of the skin crackling as the rabbit who ran the stand fried them, the inviting heat wafting toward him from the vendor's flame...
"Sweet potatoes're in season already?"
"Bwah!" He jumped at the familiar voice suddenly at his side, and he looked down to see Lin also eyeing the street cart with interest as she puffed on her long-stemmed pipe. "Lin! What're you doin' here?"
"I'm taking some time off from my work at Bao Gu," she answered distractedly. "Needed to clear my head. You wanna go halfsies on one?"
"I'd better not, I'm on my way to my dad's restaurant and it hurts his feelings if I eat beforehand, y'know?" He supposed there was plenty of time left for sweet potatoes once the weather got a little colder.
"Hm, I see." She sounded like she was thinking, and he sincerely hoped that the subject of her thoughts wasn't the intimate scene between her and Shifu that he'd walked in on earlier in the day. "Panda, I got a question forya."
"I saw nothin'," he replied quickly, nervously scanning the crowded street to make sure no one he knew was around to overhear her.
"Naw, I wasn't really doing anything with Shifu," she dismissed, apparently reading his mind. "B'sides intentionally humiliating him for the sheer thrill of it, that is. But that wasn't my question."
"What is it?" he asked cautiously, waiting for her to make a comment about her private parts.
"Canya get me a discount on your dad's noodles?"
He couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief at the simple request. "Sure, I can get ya a bowl."
"Say, here's a crazy idea," she said with a laugh as she led the way to the restaurant. "Why don't we eat lunch together?"
"You don't mean like... A date or nothin', do ya?" He felt kind of bad for asking so hesitantly, but he couldn't help but feel concerned at the invitation.
Luckily, she laughed at him. "What're you, kidding? Like I got the patience to ask anyone on a freaking date!" She gave him a playful slap on the stomach, and he smiled in return. Lin was so skilled at keeping people on their toes it was easy to forget how good she was, conversely, at putting them at ease. "B'sides, no offense or anything, but you're not exactly the person I got in mind."
He was well aware of that much. He'd gotten to know Lin much better than the others had since she'd moved into the Jade Palace; it wasn't that the rest of the Furious Five hated her the way Tigress seemed to, they just avoided her out of a mixture of annoyance, fear of what she might say or do to them, and reluctance to start any drama involving Tigress or Master Shifu. Po hadn't had the benefit of minding his own business, though. He'd been the first person Lin had met upon her arrival at the palace and from that moment on she'd taken an inexplicable shine to him. She confided in him in a way he doubted she did to many others, but even without her flat-out telling him about her feelings it was easy to see that she loved Master Shifu. Well, he suspected he was the only one who knew her well enough by then to notice. It was in the way she laughed a little louder when the old master was around, the way she smiled a little wider, the way her ears perked up and color rose to her cheeks. Not to mention the way she cooked for Shifu- she hadn't been around much lately, but after the curry she had spent some of the few hours she'd had at the Jade Palace frying up balls of cinnamon-sugar coated dough, baking cookies, and coating poached fruit in a mouth-watering array of syrups. Lin had a sweet tooth as big as a house, and she wasn't afraid to hide it- or share her concoctions, to his delight. The best thing she'd made, though, were dumplings with a sweet filling of fruit, nuts, and spices which she'd told Po in confidence she had originally created specifically for Shifu.
While he had to admit that when he'd first met her, and found out about her healthy appetite for physical affection, he'd had trouble imagining her as a seductress. However, after tasting the sorts of things she could create with seemingly no effort at all, he didn't think anyone caught in her sights could possibly resist her. Somehow, though, Shifu seemed to prove his belief wrong with every single sweet treat she bestowed upon him by reciprocating with caustic remarks about the health hazards of the desserts, completely stone-faced tastings, and compliments so meager he might as well have not even bothered. Even in tasting the dumplings, a dish which had been created solely for him, he'd told her not to make such decadent foods for his students and said, after she'd requested his opinion on their taste multiple times, "They are not quite how I remembered them." Yet Lin seemed over the moon if he even bothered taking a single bite of anything she made, like she expected him to throw it in the garbage and anything more than that was an acclamation. Of course, Po knew from experience as the red panda's student that such treatment was pretty standard coming from Shifu, but Lin didn't seem like the kind of woman who would stand for it. He had to wonder, then, why she did, especially when she normally gave everyone, including Shifu himself, such attitude. He supposed it had to do with being love-struck, though he'd never felt that way, so he wasn't the best judge of how love-struck people generally acted. That being said... Lin had it bad.
It wasn't long before they arrived at the restaurant, and the grin on Lin's face was so wide that she could barely keep her pipe in her mouth.
"Ya like noodles?" Po asked when he caught sight of her expression.
"Yeah, and these're the best noodles I ever had in my life," she replied, plowing through the lunchtime crowd to reach the counter. "And I've been all over the world, so that means these're practically the best noodles in the whole world."
"I see you are a woman with good taste!" Mr. Ping greeted from behind the counter, smiling warmly at the two of them.
"Hi, Dad." Po leaned down a little to peer into the kitchen; his dad seemed to have everything under control, though the lunch rush wouldn't really start for another half-hour or so. "This's Lin, she's an old friend of Master Shifu's, and she used to be the Jade Palace's official cook."
"And a noodle lover, too," Ping observed happily. "Though, she's kind of old for you, don't you think?"
"No!" he yelped.
"The panda's not superficial like that," Lin added, to his horror. "You've raised a good son, Mr. Ping."
"So he's already told you about me?" the goose went on, oblivious to the joke. "Things must be getting serious. Why haven't I heard about you sooner?"
"Actually, I figured you'd be Mr. Ping, since the restaurant's called 'Mr. Ping's,'" she corrected. "But the panda does go on about how much he loves his dad and how he looks forward to the time he gets to spend here."
"He is a good boy," he agreed.
Po would have been touched by the whole exchange if it wasn't for that fact that his dad thought he was dating Lin. "Dad, there's nothin' goin' on with me and Lin," he finally managed to cut in. "I mean, we're gettin' to be friends and all, but nothin' more'n that, 'cause I mean, that'd just be crazy." He noticed the way Lin raised an eyebrow at the last part of his statement and blushed as he realized how it had sounded. "Not that there's anythin' wrong with you," he rushed out. "It's just that you got your thing with Shifu, and I'd never get in the way of that, and besides we barely know each other, plus you're a lot older- not that there's anything wrong with that, either-"
"Okay, okay," she interrupted, holding up a hand to stop him. "I'm starting to feel bad, so you can stop now."
"Thanks," he sighed.
His dad, however, didn't seem to get the point of the whole rant. "Po, if you like older women I have plenty of friends I could set you up with-"
"No thanks, Dad!" He figured his best bet would be to change the subject. "So, you mind if I eat lunch with Lin real quick before the rush starts?"
"Oh, go ahead," the goose dismissed with a wave of his wing. "I've got everything under control here. I'll just set you two friends up with some noodle soup, and on your way to your table you can bring tables five and seven their orders, too."
"Great, I'll take my soup with beets."
"No," Ping suddenly snapped. "No beets."
"But I like beets," he whined as his dad served up two bowls of secret ingredient soup for them and then another six bowls set on a tray for the aforementioned tables.
"Go have fun with your friend and don't take longer than fifteen minutes."
"Okay, thanks Dad."
"Y'know, panda," Lin said as he served the customers at tables five and seven, "I could make beets forya. The weather's getting kinda chilly... How d'you feel about borscht?"
"What's that?" He sat down across from her at a table near the entrance of the restaurant and tried to ignore the sound of his dad loudly informing anyone who would listen that he liked older women.
"It's a hearty beet soup popular in eastern Europe." She loudly slurped her noodles, then wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "Often served with sour cream, which is exactly what it sounds like but much tastier 'an you'd expect."
"I hope so." He watched her hungrily devour her soup, rivaling Shifu in the speed with which she ate. "So you're really stickin' around? I mean... For good?" Of course his master had told him as much already, but it hadn't really hit him until Lin had offered to cook for him.
"It's looking that way," she replied with a small belch. "I know you probably don't want me around any more'n anyone else, panda, so... Thanks for being... What's the word?"
"Nice?" he guessed, prompting her to snap her fingers at the revelation.
"Yeah, that's the one! Nice." She finished up her soup with one last slurp, then dropped the bowl onto the table with a satisfied sigh.
"You don't gotta thank me for bein' nice." Although he did feel flattered that she appreciated him. "It's just, y'know, the right thing to do. B'sides, I like ya."
"Sorry, panda, but you're two weeks too late." Then, in a move that made his appetite completely disappear, she pulled out her wooden teeth and began to wipe bits of noodles off them with her napkin.
"Um, I didn't mean it like that." He set his noodles aside as she stuck her teeth back in, opening and closing her mouth a couple of times to presumably test them. "I meant as friends."
"Aw, that's sweet," she observed, then grabbed her pipe from where she'd set it on the table and resumed smoking it. "Believe it or not, you're the first new friend I've made in years."
"Really? Nawww."
"Quit the act, panda, I ain't gullible."
He cleared his throat uncomfortably; he thought he'd sounded convincing. "Okay, so you can be... Kinda a lot, at least to start with. But I got used to you, and the way you call people names and throw stuff at 'em-"
"That's mostly just Shifu," she reminded him.
"-And the way you get violently drunk and attack people with broken bottles-"
"That was one time, and that bar owner forgot all about it after the bribe."
"-And the way you take out your fake teeth and use 'em to chase any kids who get too close to you on the street-"
"Wrap it up, panda."
"-But the point is, you're just the kinda person people gotta get to know. I mean, most people wouldn't expect the two of us to get along, but I got to know ya and now we're friends." He shot her a hopeful smile, and she shrugged back at him.
"I admit, I got a pretty powerful personality," she accepted. "I used to have this friend who told me he didn't think I had actually come from real parents, that I was born from an unnatural pit of chaos and molten lava. Then I'd get mad at him and we'd smack each other around for a little bit, which turned into the best rough sex-"
"Okaaayyy," Po interrupted, pushing his neglected bowl of noodles even further away from himself. "I don't really need to hear any more of that story."
"Anyway, I get what you're saying, panda. It's my life, after all." She stood up, putting out her pipe with her bare thumb. "I think your fifteen minutes are up."
"Huh- bwah?" He turned around to see his father waving furiously at him. "Oh! Right!"
"Good luck with your restaurant and crap, I'm gonna go make some porn."
He tried really hard not to think about that at all, but it didn't work. "Oof," he muttered to himself, wrinkling his nose as he joined his father in the kitchen. He liked Lin, but he hoped that gaining her friendship didn't kill him by way of starvation. Because if she kept telling him such personal details, he didn't think he'd ever get his appetite back.
Shifu paused as he walked across the Jade Palace's theatre at the sight of a messenger at the front gates who was most certainly not Zeng. "Hello?" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he approached the duck. He'd been having a difficult few days; he hadn't talked to Tigress since their discussion at the archives, Po had been getting on his last nerve, and Lin had been herself. The last thing he needed was bad news. "May I help you?"
"Yeah," the man replied shortly with a noticeable Shanghai accent. "You got a Quan around?"
He blinked back at the messenger, confused. "A what?"
"Y'know, like a guy," the duck elaborated. "A guy called Quan. You got one of those?"
"I..." He supposed the message was for Lin; he remembered that she had gone by the name Quan back when she had lived in Shanghai. "I can deliver that to her- to him- to her- oh, whatever."
"Sorry, buddy, I don't get paid to do third parties."
"Buddy?" he repeated incredulously. "I am the Grand Master of kung fu!"
"You also the Grand Master of message delivery?" the messenger asked.
He didn't see what that had to do with anything. "No, of course not."
"Then you can't have it."
He supposed he should have seen that coming. Still, he wanted to ask Lin about the scroll firsthand- and he certainly possessed faster reflexes than some duck from Shanghai. "Yes I can," he replied, then snatched the scroll. "Someone will be with you shortly to give you some rations for your trip back to Shanghai." He headed for the barracks, ignoring the duck's disgruntled grumbling.
He knew Lin was currently on one of her short breaks from Bao Gu, and around midday she would most likely be in her room, working on something else. Either that, or napping under the peach tree, but he decided to check the barracks first.
When he arrived at Lin's door he wasted no time in getting her attention. "Lin! Lin!"
"Hm- huh- wha?" Sounds of fumbling came from inside her room as she clearly woke from a deep sleep and stumbled toward the door. "Huhwa?" she repeated as she threw the door open and leaned on the frame in a show of exhaustion. She looked even more bedraggled than usual and ink covered one side of her face in the form of a messy hand print. "Wha' happened?" she asked, slightly more articulately.
"You, uhm... Have a letter." He held up the scroll for her to see, just to make sure his meaning was clear.
"Shit," she cursed, then snatched the letter from his hand and shut the door in his face.
Shifu stood there a moment, blinking at the paper and wood in front of him. "You are welcome!" he called out.
"Thanks, I'm good!" she shouted back.
"This is ridiculous!" he burst out, his temper stoked by her complete lack of anything even resembling gratitude. "I do not exist to serve as your messenger! I did not have to bring you that letter, but I did out of politeness and a concern for others that is apparently foreign to you!" He waited for an answer, but his short rant was only met with silence. "...Lin?" His anger mounted as she continued to ignore him, and he resorted to something he'd never done to her before: he burst into her room. "What is your problem?"
She looked up from the scroll, furrowing her brow at him. "Maybe it's the lack of privacy."
"Very funny." He crossed his arms and took a look around the room; he hadn't seen it yet, and while he was loathe to admit it he had been curious. It was much larger than her old bedroom, close to twice the size, and the wall opposite the door was lined with large, high-set windows. She had wasted no time in covering the walls with papers, though they mostly seemed to be lists and reminders rather than artwork. She'd also somehow procured a trunk (she had probably stolen it from somewhere on the grounds) in which he supposed she'd put her meagre belongings. And, of course, she still favored a giant, colorful pile of mushy pillows for a bed, in the corner of the room where she'd always liked to sleep. Also on the floor were brushes, ink, and papers on which he assumed she'd been drawing, though he couldn't quite see them from where he stood. "So who is that letter from?"
"Chen." She rolled it back up and stuck it in her belt, clearly hiding something. "Just a friendly correspondence to update me on the goings-on of his life. Yan-Yan moved in with him, apparently. And Wei-Shan's planning a visit. Oh, and he says to tellya you're a shitty Grand Master."
"Thank you for that." He could see that the letter contained something else, something she wasn't telling him. He had always been able to tell when there was something she wasn't telling him- probably because it happened to be her default state most of the time. "Anything else?"
"He wants me to visit, too." She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows at him, daring him to keep asking questions. "I think I should. I ain't seen Yan-Yan yet, she's probably pissed."
"That sounds like a good idea." He watched her, waiting for any sort of clue as to what she wanted to hide from him. "I should pay Master Chen a visit, myself. Perhaps we could travel together."
"Nope," she answered immediately. "I'd already be enduring enough torture from Chen, I don't need you around making it worse." Her response couldn't have been any clearer: there was something in Shanghai she didn't want him to know about.
He couldn't very well steal the letter from her to prove his suspicion, so he pulled out the only card he had. "I thought we were trying to get to know each other."
"Fine," she huffed. "I'll tellya something about myself."
"That is not exactly what I-"
"I got the herps, but I don't break out more'n every coupla years, if that."
Shifu paused, his eye twitching as he absorbed the information. "That is not what I meant," he ground out between clenched teeth.
"I practice a full disclosure policy when it comes to my coochie cooties," she continued, as if he hadn't spoken at all. "You ever had anything of note? Syphilis, chlamydia, genital warts?"
"No!" he snapped, wishing desperately for some way to erase his memory of the past couple of minutes. "Of course not! Why would you- why would I- eugh!"
"Yeesh, sorry," she shot back, wrinkling her nose at him. "You don't gotta act all offended and judgy about it. Diseases are a standard hazard of sex, it's not the end of the world."
"It is certainly the end of the conversation," he huffed. He would have left right then and there, if she hadn't followed up with something so... Unexpected.
"Maybe the time apart'll be good for us," she sighed, and he blinked back at her, trying to take her seriously despite the handprint on her face. "I mean, all we ever really do is fight. Then again, if thirty-three years apart can't fix that, I doubt a coupla weeks'd do a better job."
He knew a good opportunity when he saw one. "Then perhaps I should go with you. Just the two of us."
She looked for a moment as though she were seriously considering the suggestion, then shook her head. "Sorry, but that'd be a disaster. I'd rather go it alone."
He had no way of knowing for sure what was going on in Shanghai, but he suspected it was something important. Then again, perhaps he was acting paranoid, and it was really none of his business. That had never stopped him before, though. "I think you have some ulterior motive for not wanting me with you."
"You always think I got an ulterior motive," she dismissed easily. "I'm used to it by now."
"Is there something going on between you and Master Chen?" he pressed, his curiosity getting the better of him. "Is there something happening in Shanghai?"
"Nah, it's just a good place to get laid."
"Oh for the love of- must you do that?" He supposed he should have seen it coming.
"How come you get so uppity when I make a joke about sex?" she asked. "Are you really just that uptight?"
"Forgive me, Lin, I haven't had sex in forty years and it's starting to get on my nerves," he replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes at her.
"Well, well!" She elbowed him playfully, an amused grin on her face. "Finally getting into the spirit. So is that true?"
"That is not the point!" he snapped. "The point is that not only am I not going to sleep with you, but I also think you brought up sex to distract me from whatever it is you're planning to do in Shanghai."
"You mean whoever it is I'm planning to do in Shanghai," she corrected with a waggle of her eyebrows.
"Oh, stop it. You are not going to do anything of the sort in Shanghai and you know it." He eyed her suspiciously, trying to think of some way to get the information out of her. "Just out of curiosity, would you tell me if I did sleep with you?"
"I dunno, why dontchya sleep with me and find out?"
"I will take that as a no," he sighed; it was not as if he would go through with anything of the sort, anyway. "When were you planning to leave? The trip to Shanghai will most likely take you about two weeks, after all."
"Give or take a few days," she added, for once looking thoughtful as she contemplated her trip. "I'll need to prepare for a journey like that, pack some rations and get my knife sharpened-"
"You carry a knife?" he interrupted, raising his eyebrows at the information.
"Yeah, I thought you knew that," she said casually, as if she thought most people simply walked around with concealed weapons on their person. "Anyway, I'll probably leave in another coupla days- on top of packing, I still need to wrap up over at Bao Gu. I'm almost done, and I don't know when I'll be back."
"You don't know when you will be back?" He felt his chest inexplicably tighten at that bit of news. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing, it's just that I might spend a coupla weeks in Shanghai. I'll be back, I just don't know exactly when." She rolled her eyes at the flat stare he gave her. "Look, ifya want, I can bring a message along with me so you can tell Chen what a big fan you are and how you have posters of him all over your bedroom-"
"I do not," he grumbled.
"-But you're not coming with me, and no amount of sucking up or exhaustive questioning is gonna change that." She accentuated her point by giving his nose her trademark flick. "By the way, has it really been forty years sinceya last knocked boots?"
"I am not going to dignify that with an answer," he huffed.
"'Cause I could giveya a few pointers," she offered. "As long as you agree to practice 'em on me."
He pinched the bridge of his nose, resisting the urge to simply walk away without another word. "No thank you, that will not be necessary."
"Your loss," she dismissed, then picked up a brush from the floor, dipped it in ink, and perused the many lists on her wall before choosing one and writing on it in completely unrecognizable characters.
"What is that?" He peered at the paper over her shoulder, unable to make heads or tails of the strange writing.
"They're called roman characters," she replied, then wrote something else at the bottom of her list. "I think better in my native language."
"You just don't want me to know what you are writing," he accused, convinced that she had made a note about Shanghai and the letter from Chen.
"Believe it or not, my life doesn't revolve entirely around you," she shot back, then poked him in the middle of the forehead with her brush, leaving behind a black dot. "Mostly, but not entirely."
"I think you are intentionally hiding something from me," he huffed, rubbing at the ink with his palm. "And I intend to find out what that is."
"You realize you just smudged ink all over your face, right?"
He glared at her. "Mark my words," he warned, "I will find out what you are hiding from me."
"You could always seduce it outta me," she suggested, though rather than waggle her eyebrows as usual she kept her expression deadpan.
"No, I absolutely will not." He headed for the door; he wasn't about to get any information out of her, but he at least had a couple of days still to soften her up. "But perhaps it is best that we don't spend two weeks on the road together."
"Agreed, now get outta my room."
"Weren't you just trying to seduce me?"
"Meh." She motioned distractedly to the door as she returned to the papers scattered on the floor and began reorganizing them. "I'm busy, I'll seduceya later. Bye-bye."
"But-"
"Seeya."
"Very well. We shall talk later." He left the bedroom, contemplating what to do next as he went. Moreover, he had to wonder why Lin would want to hide correspondence from Chen from him. Perhaps there was something to do with kung fu in the letter, something that would normally be part of his domain. Even then, Chen would have no reason to write to Lin and not him- he was the Grand Master, after all. And what could Lin and Chen both possibly have to hide from the Grand Master of kung fu?
Notes:
A/N: You know, I tried to tone down the sexual humor this chapter... And you can all see how well that worked out. So a couple of notes on references: of course the disagreement between Po and Mr. Ping about beets was a reference to the dream sequence in the KFP Holiday Special. And some of you may have recognized Shifu's "I haven't had sex in forty years" line as being Sophia's (except hers was 15 years) from the Golden Girls. Because of course it is impossible for me to make it through an entire fic without a Golden Girls reference.
Chapter 5: Our Lives Are Not in the Laps of the Gods, But in the Laps of Our Cooks
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 5: Our Lives Are Not in the Laps of the Gods, But in the Laps of Our Cooks
Yan-Yan slammed the door shut as she returned home from the market, her fur bristling in her anger. She'd had the extremely unfortunate luck of running into her son, Huan, in the market- along with her ex-husband's wife. And he'd called the woman "Mother," right in front of her. He'd never once in his adult life accompanied her to the market, and if anyone was Huan's mother, it was her. Not to mention on top of everything, the second wife her husband had kept for years behind her back, the woman to whom her life had been handed, didn't even have the decency to be a complete shithead. In fact, the young woman- her name was something like Weici or Mei Qi- was downright sweet. She'd even reprimanded Huan for acting like an ass and apologized profusely to Yan-Yan for pretty much everything, effectively robbing the older woman of one of the few things that had kept her sane lately: the ability to hate the woman who had replaced her.
In all the rage and frustration the encounter had caused her, Yan-Yan had completely forgotten about half of her grocery list and simply rushed home to Chen's, resolving to do what she could with the items she'd already purchased. She wished there was some way to show her ex-husband she was better off without him, some way to make him as angry and jealous as he'd made her, but all she had was a room in an old friend's house and a single unwilling patient. If only she were cutting into injured men and women instead of produce and sewing up wounds instead of her worn out old clothes. At the very least she'd have the one thing she loved to do more than anything else in the world. She was only kidding herself, though; nobody wanted a female doctor, least of all a female surgeon. Nobody trusted a woman. She was lucky even to have Tai Lung to nurse back to health.
Speaking of whom, she needed to check up on him- mainly to make sure he hadn't run off. She had done her best to treat him kindly, as Chen had suggested, in order to give him at least some reason not to escape and lay waste to the city. He wasn't exactly the happiest or the most polite person in the world, though she had trouble imagining him going on two psychotic rampages. As bad-tempered and full of himself as he was, he was also well-spoken and intelligent, with an admittedly amusing sarcastic wit. It didn't hurt that he was an attractive, muscular man fourteen years her junior, either. Briefly, she smiled at the thought that her ex-husband would fly into an indignant rage if he knew she had been flirting with such a man- and treating a kung fu master. She knew it was a terrible, vindictive thing to think of, but she didn't easily forgive or forget such betrayal. She'd probably calm down in another couple of months, though, when she'd had more time to heal and cobble her life back together. In the meantime, she'd just have to take it one day at a time.
She headed to the kitchen to put the groceries away, then stopped short at the sight of Tai Lung rummaging frantically through the cabinets like some sort of savage beast- which she supposed was fitting, considering his reputation.
"What are you doing?" she snapped, dropping her bag on the island in the middle of the large room and glaring at him.
"I'm hungry," he replied simply, continuing his search for something that suited his taste.
"Are you out of your mind?" she reprimanded, then approached him and gave his tail a tug in an effort to pull him off the countertop where he kneeled; he didn't budge. "Chen may not have servants on staff anymore, but there are windows all over this house! The last thing we need is someone catching sight of you and asking questions."
"If you think I will stay locked up in that room upstairs, you have another thing coming." He finally emerged from the cabinets and hopped down to the floor, though she suspected it was only because he hadn't found anything interesting to eat.
"You may be nearing the end of your physical recovery, but you've still got a long way to go in other areas," she reminded him. "We're trying to help you, remember? And where is Chen, anyway?"
"The old hamster left you in charge," he shot back. "Didn't you hear him?"
"I must've tuned him out," she sighed; she really was losing her marbles if she'd completely forgotten something so important. "I've been having a rough couple of months."
"You've had it rough?" he scoffed. "Do you have any idea what it is like to have your entire life snatched away from you in an instant? To be betrayed by the people you trusted most, and it is so easy for them to do so that you have a hard time believing they even cared for you in the first place?"
"Hm, let's see," she replied calmly. "When I was eighteen, my best friend in the entire world- with whom I also happened to be in love- fled Shanghai, presumably never to return, without saying a word to me. Then, I found out that he was actually a she and had been lying to me about who she really was the entire time I'd known her. And when she actually did come back decades later, for some reason it didn't seem to occur to her to see me or speak to me in any way, shape, or form. Not only that, but I have wanted to be a doctor my entire life, yet no one was willing to apprentice me or even allow me to treat them because I am a woman. My husband allowed me to practice by his side, but people don't trust me without a male doctor in the room. Said husband, whom I was quite fond of, only recently revealed that he has had another wife for the past fifteen years, and had two children with her- because I did not bear him sons, and besides that, I'm old now. My son- his from a previous marriage, actually, but I raised him from toddlerhood as my own- now refuses to acknowledge that I exist, and calls this other woman 'mother.' My daughters still speak to me, but would not allow me to live with them, since I am somehow at fault for this entire disaster. Never mind that he had another wife and children behind my back, I should have stayed because I am a woman, and unworthy of a life of my own." She paused, having kept her tone level and reasonable through the entire story, and simply raised her eyebrows at him. "Yes, I think I have some small idea of how you might feel."
"Well I did not need your entire life story," he grumbled, apparently sour about her actually having something to bring to the table in terms of betrayal. "Besides, I still beat you."
"It's not a contest," she snapped. "And if it were, I could argue that at least you have male privilege on your side- and at least you never had kids! My lady parts will never be the same."
"That was... Much more than I needed to know."
"Well they won't," she insisted as she contemplated, and not for the first time, never being able to find someone else willing to be with her. "It's like an abandoned battlefield down there."
"Must you subject me to this?" he growled, looming menacingly over her as if he planned to beat her if she continued talking about her womanhood. "It is bad enough already being trapped in here with you and that rodent, without having to hear this on top of it!"
"Alright," she agreed. "What would you be doing right now, then, if it were up to you?" At the blank stare he gave her, she could see that he had never stopped to give that particular question any sort of thought.
"...I suppose I would be exacting revenge on that flabby panda," he finally answered, though he didn't sound entirely confident in the assertion; probably because he had already been beaten once, which didn't do any favors for his odds.
"You'd probably lose." She realized that by voicing his insecurity out loud she risked instigating him to the point of violence, but she had learned early on in life how to play the odds and she doubted she'd walk away from the conversation with an injury.
"What?" Tai Lung predictably roared, slamming his fist down onto the island's countertop beside her hard enough to crack the wood; Chen wouldn't be too happy about that. "How dare you show me such disrespect!"
"What's there to respect?" she asked calmly, then nudged his fist away from her as if it were nothing more than some sort of pest; bluffing was one of her strong suits, after all. "Let's be honest, here. You've fallen as far as you could possibly fall, all the while insisting that what's obvious to everyone around you isn't true. What do you think people are going to believe: your words, or your actions?"
"I may not be a hero, but I am still the strongest warrior in this entire damn country!" he seethed. "And you are nothing more than a disgraced, middle-aged nag, unwanted by your husband and your son! I may have fallen far, but I am certainly not beneath the likes of you!"
Red-hot anger flared throughout every inch of her body at the assertion that she was somehow worthless due to status as a divorced woman, but she didn't let it show. Instead, she crossed her arms and stared him straight in the eye. "If you would like to have a proper debate, feel free. But I won't accept any assertions without proper citation, nor will I heed any opinions without a solid basis of fact to show that said opinions are properly informed."
He stared back at her, momentarily bewildered. "You cannot be serious."
"According to the Royal Guard's annual publication of China's most dangerous criminals, you were formally charged with and convicted of the murders of sixteen residents of the Valley of Peace- to be specific, that's eleven guards of the Jade Palace and five residents of the village. You were also found guilty of massive property damage, assault and serious injury of at least a dozen other individuals, and a number of other crimes I will not get into at the moment. Now, killing alone has been regarded as a high crime dating back to the Shangshu, in which it is listed as one of the Five Penalties. According to the modern legal code, causing the death of another even indirectly calls for the death of the killer in requital, and seeing as death is considered the most severe of the Five Punishments, the crime of killing another is considered equally severe. The fact that you were given a life of imprisonment instead is clearly a reflection of your connections to powerful people, and not necessarily any indication that your crime is somehow less severe. Not to mention your lack of filial piety is listed by traditional law as one of the Ten Abominations and considered a capital offense."
"...What?"
"I haven't technically broken any written law, and to be honest Confucian codes are generally sexist in that they strongly favor men over women, which is a baseless bias with no root in either logic or proven fact. So from all this we can gather that while, yes, I have been rejected by both my husband and son, a choice made by two individuals does not reflect upon my moral standing. Meanwhile, your multiple crimes do. So as we can see from this obvious proof, you are actually the one who should show me more respect." She paused, waiting for him to argue. When he remained silent, she added, "Eat that."
Rather than react with anger as she had expected, he simply gave her a flat look. "You are, without a doubt, the biggest nerd I have ever met."
"You should have seen me in my awkward teenaged phase," she hummed, leaning back against the island. "It was pretty hot."
"Tell me something, cat-"
"The name's Yan-Yan," she interrupted. "I don't like nicknames."
"Back that opinion up with some cited facts and perhaps I will honor it," he shot back, clearly making fun of her. "As I was saying... Do you truly believe I deserve to be killed for my crimes?"
She blinked back at him, caught off-guard by the question. "I'm a doctor, not a judge," she answered.
"If you were a judge, what would you think?" he pressed.
She supposed if he wanted an answer that badly, it couldn't hurt to oblige him. "If I thought you deserved to die, I wouldn't be here in the first place," she sighed. "I'm in the business of saving lives, after all. I don't think anyone truly deserves to die, not by the hands of other men and women. And while I don't think twenty years in prison is quite enough punishment for what you did, the whole point of punishment in the first place is rehabilitation- which you sure as hell won't get in solitary confinement. Besides, even though you killed a bunch of people and have probably entertained the thought of killing me by now, I sort of like you."
"You like me?" he asked incredulously, narrowing his eyes at her.
"I know, right?" she agreed. "I blame the abs. And the pecs. And the biceps."
"I'm starting to think I should lock my door at night."
"Oh, relax, I'm just teasing," she dismissed as she grabbed an apple from her grocery bag and polished it off with her sleeve. "Although, I have always had a soft spot for bad boys." Which was, admittedly, very true.
"This conversation is beginning to disturb me." He crossed his arms and eyed her apple. "Are you going to make lunch soon?" He certainly wasn't the first man she'd ever met who thought with his stomach.
"I guess so," she sighed, tossing the apple to him; he wasted no time in biting into the fruit. She always felt strange, cooking in Chen's kitchen; even after she'd done so for months (because gods forbid Chen ever bothered to take care of himself) she still felt out of place. The kitchen had always seemed to be someone else's territory; it had always felt to her like it belonged to Quan, ever since the first time she'd met the boisterous kitchen assistant turned artist.
It didn't help that most of the equipment in the kitchen was the same now as it had been then, including the wok, the side of which still sported the characters Quan had carved: "Suck it, old man." Of course, the rebellious teenager hadn't done that until after becoming Chen's student. Yan-Yan would never forget those carefree days, for the girl she'd thought was a boy had been her first love, and her first true friend. She remembered how he (for she still thought of Quan as a "he" in her memories) used to break into Chen's liquor cabinet and share the most expensive bottle the old jerboa owned with her, how he used to bring her down to the docks to bet on illegal street fighting (and how she'd gotten so good at predicting outcomes they'd begun to swindle other gamblers), how he'd bring her home with him and they'd lay awake in his bed all night, quietly talking and laughing. On nights like those, she'd always hoped he'd make a move on her, but he never had- of course, she'd found out later why that was.
She shook her head in an attempt to bring herself back to the present; she'd have enough time for a stroll down memory lane when Quan showed up. "So," she said loudly as she began to chop up vegetable for a stir-fry, "how is my star patient feeling, anyway?"
"It took you long enough to ask," Tai Lung groused from where he'd pulled a stool up to the island to sit. "I am still sore, but after stretching-"
"I told you no kung fu," she interrupted harshly, waggling her knife at him. "Do you want to get better, or do you want to end up permanently injuring yourself? Because if you keep disobeying doctor's orders, the latter is going to happen, and I won't be held responsible."
He glared at her, then took a lazy bite out of his apple. "It's at times like these," he drawled as he swallowed, "that it is easy to see you as a grandmother."
She knew he'd meant to insult her, but being reminded of her status as a grandmother only brought to mind the precious, adorable little kittens that were her grandchildren. "Thank you," she hummed as she made a mental note to visit her daughters and their children again. Despite her sons-in-law not wanting her around and her daughters themselves giving off rather strong cue that they'd prefer her visits to be infrequent, her grandchildren were still too young to know that she was supposed to be shunned, not to mention they were all sweet-as-pie little girls, just like their mothers had been at that young age. It pained her to know that her daughters would be shunned as she had been by their husbands if they didn't eventually produce sons, and even more to know that her granddaughters would most likely end up with bound feet and arranged marriages. She could only thank the gods that her own father had not been wealthy enough to bind her feet when the time had come, and that she had managed to keep her daughters from meeting such a fate. And while other mothers would have been ecstatic to see their daughters marry well, Yan-Yan had only seen reason to dread the fate of her granddaughters.
"You're drifting off again," Tai Lung reminded her.
"Sorry, I'm just worrying about my granddaughters," she sighed as she dropped the vegetables into the wok.
"Again? You're gonna make your hemorrhoids flare up, you incessant nag."
Yan-Yan jumped at the sound of Chen's voice and Tai Lung let out a curse in his surprise; she turned around just in time to see the tiny head of the household jump up onto the island counter, his usual scowl in place. "Sneak up on me again, and I'll eviscerate you," she warned.
Chen let out a skeptical snort, eyeing the two of them. "This looks cozy."
"I know, I know," Yan-Yan sighed. "It's my fault he's out of bed, I forgot you were gone and I left him alone, and I'm sorry."
"Well, the overgrown bag of hot air didn't do anything, so I'll yell atya later." Unfortunately, he hadn't been kidding with that last part. "And you," he added as he turned to Tai Lung and gestured menacingly at the snow leopard with his little walking stick. "How fast d'you think you'll get outed to the whole world ifya keep strolling around likeya own the damn place, huh? You want a public execution, is that it?"
Tai Lung looked more annoyed than intimidated. "You two are big on rhetorical questions today."
"Y'know, your attitude gets old real fast," the rodent threatened, and Tai Lung brought his head down to eye level with the small master, his face twisted into a menacing snarl.
"Bring it on, you irrelevant raisin," he growled.
Yan-Yan, having raised three children, knew enough to see when a legitimate fight was brewing; luckily, she also knew how to break one up. Without any preamble, she brought her knife down in between Chen and Tai Lung, lodging the utensil into the wooden countertop; both men recoiled instantly and shot her dirty looks. "Well, what do you know?" she observed conversationally. "I managed to cut through the tension with a knife."
"You're paying for that," Chen groused, pulling the knife out of the counter and handing it to her. "And ifya pull another stunt like that, I ain't gonna keepya around. Got it?"
"Sure," she accepted blithely; Chen was all talk, after all.
"I sincerely hope you don't think you are actually capable of intimidating anyone," Tai Lung added, crossing his arms as he glowered at her. "Because you are not."
She rolled her eyes at the assertion; like he didn't cower in the corner every time she showed up with some new medicinal concoction for him to try. "So," she started cheerfully as she resumed preparing lunch, despite her lack of skill in the kitchen (again, it wasn't as if anyone else would do it), "I haven't told you about the most adorable thing my youngest granddaughter does yet, Tai Lung. Would you like to hear all about it?"
"No," he answered flatly.
"Oh, it's just the most darling thing!" she continued, undeterred by the two men's identical groans; someone needed to keep the peace, and if telling irritating stories about her family did the trick, then she wasn't about to stop. "But, you see, it all goes back to when she was just a little baby..."
Lin couldn't believe her luck. After questioning, investigating, and meditating, the answer to her burning question had been handed over to her, as simply as that. She had started to think that she would never find out the truth, not unless something monumental happened and word of it spread throughout the country. Yet a single letter had solved her problem. She knew where Tai Lung was.
Not that said knowledge didn't bring up a host of other issues, but she thought it best for her morale to focus first on the positives. She knew precisely where Tai Lung had ended up, and even better, he wasn't likely to go anywhere any time soon.
She plopped down onto her bed, wriggling around in the soft pillows to settle herself in, then took another look at Chen's letter. Of course, he hadn't outright said that he had Tai Lung with him, but Chen had always been a little paranoid about his correspondences, and so one of the first things he'd ever taught her had been a certain code he liked to use in his letters. "Get your ass over here" was pretty direct, it helped to have at least one phrase that was blatantly obvious so as to throw people off into thinking there wasn't much to the code. "I don't got time for your bullshit" meant that he needed a response as soon as possible, again another easy one to decipher. But the more important the message, the more difficult the translation would become. For example, she'd known he had Tai Lung with him because he had written at one point, "I been constipated for days, and Yan-Yan's damn medicine's only making it worse. Not that you'd care at all about any of my business, you selfish idiot. If you did, you'd drop by for a visit once in a while. Some of us would actually like to see your ugly mug around here."
The mention of constipation, while probably true seeing as Chen was older than dirt, also served as a message for her to keep her mouth shut- and his mention earlier in the letter of Shifu being a shitty Grand Master meant she should keep the news from him, in particular. Yan-Yan, of course, was in on whatever was going on and a willing accomplice. And while the assertion that Lin was a selfish idiot was characteristic for Chen, anyone who knew him would think he'd gone out of his mind to actually admit to someone that he missed them and wanted to see them, even in such a callous way. What he truly meant was that there was someone else there, someone she specifically knew and would want to see. There were very few people who fit that description, and even fewer living in China, but what really helped her identify the person was the watermark Chen had left. Whenever there was someone in particular he needed to mention, he always drew a small symbol in the bottom corner of the paper with water. She could see the shape because the water caused the paper to wrinkle and the texture of the surface to change ever so slightly- which became more obvious when she held it up to light.
He'd drawn a triangle, meaning "mountain." And considering the urgency of his message, she was certain it could only refer to Tai Lung- the symbol a reference not only to the tendency of snow leopards to live in mountainous regions, but a reference to the Tavan Bogd range where Chor Ghom had been built.
She wondered why he would want to keep the information from Shifu, in particular, though. She knew better than anyone how neurotic the red panda could be, but he was still the Grand Master of kung fu and, more importantly, Tai Lung's father. Then again, Chen didn't seem to like him too much. Not to mention the little old raisin had been a friend of Oogway's, and probably had some sort of issue with Shifu replacing the tortoise. Although, seeing as Chen generally hated everyone and everything to cross his path, she was probably reading too much into the behavior.
There was one more question to consider in the larger equation: was it right to keep information about Shifu's son from him? Of course, the obvious answer was a resounding "no," but when she took a step back and looked at all the factors involved, she couldn't be sure. Clearly Chen had taken Tai Lung in as an attempt to give the snow leopard a chance at redemption, at starting his life over. Yet in order to do that, it was crucial to keep Tai Lung's rage to a minimum, in these tentative early steps- meaning that anything that might trigger him should probably stay out of sight, and hopefully out of mind. And the only things she could think of that could be more triggering than Shifu, who had trained Tai Lung and promised him the Dragon Scroll, were the scroll itself and Po, the person who had received it instead. In order to keep Shifu away from Shanghai, it was then necessary to keep him in the dark, since if he found out about his son's presence there he would definitely want to set out immediately for the city. And what if Shifu decided to go on the offensive, and told Po and the Furious Five about this new development? Tai Lung would never find peace and reconciliation fighting his old enemies, especially if he were imprisoned again or executed. The fact still remained, though, that Shifu was Tai Lung's father. What if he still loved the snow leopard? What if he still had lingering regrets? What if he did want to see Tai Lung redeemed, despite everything that had happened between them? Didn't he deserve to know about this venture, or at least that his son was alive? While she trusted Chen's judgment on the matter, it still didn't feel right to lie to the man she loved about his own family.
There was only one logical conclusion she could possibly come to at a time like this: she needed a drink. And a strong one, at that. So, she crawled out of bed in the middle of the night in the hopes that a little wine would put her at ease. However, she didn't quite make it to the kitchen.
As she walked down the hall, she suddenly heard a moan coming from one of the nearby bedrooms. She paused in front of the room- Shifu's room- as the groans grew louder. Either he was having a really bad dream or a really good time with himself. "Hey," she called out. "You okay?"
When he didn't answer, she figured her first assumption had probably been correct.
She knew she was intruding, but she let herself into his room anyway; it was just as bare as she remembered, Shifu's simple hard-as-rock bed placed right under the window, which let in enough silvery moonlight for her to see he was tossing and turning. "This's ridiculous," she observed to herself as she got closer; while her first instinct had been to nudge him awake, she didn't know whether or not he'd respond with some sort of painful kung fu reflex. Instead, she stood just out of arm's reach and yelled at him, "Yo! Melon-head! Shifu, wake up!"
Eventually, he blinked his eyes open, then shot up into a sitting position once he caught sight of her- then, hilariously, pulled his sheets up to cover himself like an exposed woman might do. "Wh-what are you doing in here?"
She gave a nonchalant shrug. "Well I heard moaning and screaming coming from your room, and I figured, y'know... I should be a part of it."
"Get out!" he snapped, rubbing tiredly at his eyes. "It is bad enough you have been hitting on me in the middle of the day, now you need to wake me up at night to do it?"
"Well sorry," she grumbled, then ignored his look of horror as she nudged him over and joined him on the bed. "You sounded like you were having a pretty bad nightmare, and I figured it'd be better to wakeya up and get it over with 'an letya suffer."
"I appreciate your consideration, but I assure you that you do not need to get into my bed with me," he ground out.
"Is your room always this cold?" she asked as a chill ran through her, then snatched the sheets from him. "It wouldn't killya to learn to share."
He pressed himself against the wall, presumably to keep some distance between them. "Have you gone completely insane?"
She ignored the question, which she felt was more on the rhetorical side, anyway. "So what was your nightmare about? Anything good?"
"It was nothing," he huffed.
"Didn't sound like nothing."
"It was, now get out of my bed."
She grabbed his pillow and hit him upside the head with it, enjoying his chagrin way too much. "Look, I know you got, like, a million different complexes, but I'm trying to be helpful. So areya sure you're okay?"
He seemed hesitant to shrug her off after that last line. "...It was just a dream." He paused, and she thought he wasn't going to say anything else when he suddenly blurted out, "Master Oogway was in it."
"Huh." She wondered if he'd had one of those kung fu master visions she'd heard about. "What'd he say?"
"Nothing," he sighed, and his ears drooped a little bit. "He just looked... Disappointed."
She resisted the urge to let out a simpering, "D'awwwww," and embrace him; instead she gave him a light punch in the arm. "He'd never be disappointed inya. I may have only known Oogway for a few months, but even I could see how proud he was of you."
"You did not witness all of the things I did after your departure," he argued. "All of the mistakes I made... Tai Lung's rampage is on my shoulders, it was my fault. And now, with Tigress... Never mind. I don't even know why I am telling you any of this."
"I dunno why, either," she admitted, then elaborated when he looked annoyed at the answer. "Not to say I didn't wanna hear it, it's just that you generally don't open up to me. But I'm gladya did, even if it was just a little bit. And I may not be the wellspring of wisdom Oogway was, but... Shifu, parents make mistakes. It's in the job description. Hell, it is the job description. I've met a lotta people in my life, and I can't think of a single one of 'em whose parents hadn't royally screwed 'em up."
"Comforting," he observed flatly.
"The point is," she continued with a roll of her eyes, "just 'cause you made mistakes like everyone else in the known universe does, doesn't mean you're solely responsible for Tai Lung's rampage. He was an adult when he did that, and adults make their own decisions. I've known people with parents much worse 'an you are, and they didn't ransack any villages."
"Name one," he scoffed.
"Well... Me, for instance." She waited for a response, but he seemed pretty caught off-guard by the example. "I don't think I turned out too bad- I mean, I'm a mess with my own issues, but no more 'an your average fully-functioning member of society. And my parents were way below you on the spectrum of good parenting. At the very least, you love Tai Lung."
"Loved," he corrected.
"Really?"
He seemed extremely uncomfortable, not that she had any problem with causing such a response. "...Alright," he conceded quietly. "Love."
"And you love Tigress, too," she pointed out, though she had no idea what he'd done- or rather, what he thought he'd done- to his daughter. To be honest, she wasn't entirely sure how he'd apparently failed Tai Lung, either, aside from promising the kid the Dragon Scroll when it wasn't his to give. She assumed she'd eventually learn all the details, but it was information she knew needed to be volunteered, rather than chased after. "And Tigress is still here, y'know. She's right down the hall."
"It is more difficult than you think," he huffed. "I do not expect you to understand."
"You'd be surprised at what I can understand," she shot back, albeit gently. "Were you two always so distant?"
"...Yes."
She could see the problem in that; it wasn't like he could suddenly turn around and become father of the year. And acknowledging and apologizing for a lifetime of distance was a difficult task for anyone, let alone someone as emotionally constipated as Shifu (not that she was any better). "Well, she must really look up to you."
He blinked back at her in surprise. "You think so?"
"She's so much like you," Lin pointed out, "she must've taken a lotta cues from you. And, hey, she hasn't rampaged yet, so there's a plus."
He glared at her, and she had the good sense to offer up a sheepish look at the misplaced humor. "I should not even be talking to you about any of this," he grumbled. "What on earth possessed me, I have no idea."
"Maybe you finally saw me for what I really am," she suggested, then at his inquisitive expression she elaborated. "Someone who cares about you." She could have been wrong, but she thought she saw him blush. Maybe he was blushing out of embarrassment for her because, personally, she couldn't believe she'd said something so sappy. "Ugh, that was awful," she amended. "I'd make a sex joke to compensate, but I'm too disgusted with myself."
"I did not realize you were capable of being disgusted with yourself," he shot back. "Or anything, for that matter."
"Yeah, well, nothing churns my stomach quite like emotional intimacy." She realized that their highly unusual moment of- well, of emotional intimacy- had passed, but she still wasn't tired. "Y'know, ifya ever wanna do this randomly opening up to me thing again, I promise I'll listen and not make fun ofya."
"Perhaps next time you force your way into my bed," he replied sardonically, and she laughed at the fact that he recognized there would probably be a next time.
"Hey, you hungry?"
"No," he initially denied, but after a long stare from her admitted the truth. "...A little."
"C'mon, I'll makeya something," she offered, hopping out of his bed, and not a moment too soon; her ass was starting to hurt from the damn thing.
"Nothing spicy and no sweets," he ordered, smoothing out his pajamas as he followed her lead.
"So basically nothing that tastes good."
"You are the one who woke me up, if you'll remember."
She waved off the accusation. "Yeah, yeah. I'll whip something up for your irritable bowel." And maybe, eventually, she'd figure out how to tell him about Tai Lung. Because no matter what his reaction might be, she knew after talking to him that it was information he needed to hear.
"My bowel is not irritable- not when you aren't around."
It would probably be wise to wait until he was in a better mood, though.
"Rahim!"
The massive bengal tiger started a little at his name sounding out over the din of the crowded streets of Calcutta, shielding his eyes in the bright mid-day sun. While the temperature of the air was unseasonably cool (as in, room temperature), the sun still shone intensely, and he'd taken shelter under the awning of a vendor selling rolls with a variety of stuffings- he'd been eyeing one with a paneer filling before he'd been distracted.
"Brother!" The figure who called out to him stuck out in the crowd of monkeys, canines, gaur, deer, leopards, rabbits, hogs, cranes, ducks, and countless others; this man was matched in size only by the few bovine members of the crowd. A bengal tiger much like himself, but with entirely white fur, brown stripes, and striking blue-green eyes embraced him so tightly he thought his ribs might crack.
"Hello, little brother," he managed to wheeze out. "Manan, I can't breathe."
"Sorry!" Manan released his hold with an affectionate pat on the arm. "You look well," he complimented cheerfully.
"You, too," he observed as he took in the fine, crisp white clothes his brother was wearing, accented with a deep blue sash. "I take it you've been working hard?"
"I have been blessed with some recent good fortune, if that's what you mean," he accepted with a chuckle, then gave his older brother a playful pat on the stomach. "I see your love of samosas hasn't waned."
"As far as I know, I'm the same weight I was the last time we saw each other, so quit it," he shot back, knocking Manan's hand away. "You're starting to sound like mother."
"I'm not surprised," the white tiger groaned, his light-hearted expression briefly faltering. "After all, her oldest son who should be looking after her is off globe-trotting and playing the eternal bachelor. Meanwhile, you should see her and Anisha- it's like being caught in a war zone."
"I sympathize with your wife, but I don't think mother would take kindly to living away from the rest of her family in Bombay, with my assistant." He had lost count of how many times he'd had this discussion with his brother, but then, he didn't know anyone whose family escaped the inevitable fighting over who "received the honor" of living with an overbearing mother. "How's your son?"
"I sent him far, far away," Manan replied with no hint whatsoever of remorse. At the dismayed look on Rahim's face, he just rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't give me that look. It's for his own good, especially with his mother and grandmother acting like they are. He'll become a gatka master, and hopefully end up with a decent ranking in the army."
"You sent him off to learn gatka?" Rahim's eyebrows shot up at the notion; he'd never known his brother to have a single violent bone in his body, and the idea of him willingly allowing his son to practice a martial art at all- and encourage the boy to join the army- was startling, to say the least. Manan was a literary scholar, after all, and taught at the university. "Why?"
"I hate to say this about my only son," he sighed, "but it's all the boy is suited to. He may have inherited his mother's good looks, but he missed out on her good sense- so it was either this, or let him run amuck and impregnate every young tigress from here to the Hooghly river."
"So you caught him with someone," Rahim concluded.
"His English tutor," Manan confirmed.
"English, you say?" He once again eyed the paneer stuffed roll before motioning to the vendor to give him two. "So you're aware of what's in store." He offered Manan the second one, and despite his brother's earlier teasing about weight gain, he accepted it.
"Come on, Rahim. I know you think you're smarter than I am, but I still have eyes and ears."
"I don't think I'm smarter," he protested, unable to keep a slight whine out of his voice.
The younger tiger just stared flatly back at him.
"Okay, a little," he conceded. "But only in a common sense way, if that makes you feel any better."
Manan raised an eyebrow at him, surveying him critically as he finished off the last of his roll. "Walk with me," he invited, adopting a much more serious attitude.
As they walked, Rahim took the opportunity to eye the vendors and shops lining the main street; while there were the usual sellers of produce and cheap street foods, brightly colored fabric by the bolt, and cheap trinkets ranging from water jars to jewelry, Calcutta was not a cultural center for nothing. There were just as many sellers of books and scrolls, with manuscripts from all over the world- one store front even boasted having scrolls salvaged from the famed ancient library of Alexandria on display. Not to mention the artists and printmakers with wares for sale, multiple vendors shouting out advertisements for rare antiques, and even the odd dancing cobra or two. While the marketplace was indeed crowded with people from every corner of the continent, the chaos made for a perfect place to discuss sensitive information. No one would hear them over the din- and certainly no one who wanted any sort of information would dare get close enough to two hulking bengal tigers to glean anything of real import, anyway. "I am sure you can guess by now that I'm here on business," Rahim finally spoke, catching his brother's eye.
For one of only a handful of times in his life, he looked worried. "Well, when the englishmen started to build a fortress, I knew it was only a matter of time before you would show up."
He suddenly understood why his brother, a life-long pacifist, had sent his son away to learn martial arts. It wasn't the gatka that appealed to Manan- it was the distance. The tiger wanted his only child as far away from Bengal as the boy could get. And if the boy learned to defend himself in the process, all the better. "You're making me nervous," Rahim admitted quietly, though he tried to keep his expression neutral.
"What's there to be nervous about?" Manan muttered back. "It has become apparent that we are no longer citizens of India, but of the British empire. Truly, the sun never sets upon the kingdom of our great rulers."
"I received word of the new Nawab, though what I am expected to negotiate I'm not exactly sure." He was a foreign diplomat, after all, and he doubted that an Empire that had taken Bengal by force would be up for negotiations. "What is the good word?" And, of course, he didn't trust a single one of them- or any of his countrymen who represented the government, for that matter- half as far as he could throw them.
"There is word, but whether it's good is up for interpretation." The white tiger shook his head in disapproval. While most wouldn't expect a simple university professor to have an ear pressed so closely to the rumor mill, Rahim knew better- he himself had inherited their father's profession, while Manan had inherited their father's contacts. And after over forty years as a diplomat, the man had amassed quite an address book. "As we speak, the British East India Trading Company is consolidating its trade business right here in Bengal."
"Among other things," Rahim huffed.
"Well, of course having control over the territory helps on that front," he agreed. "For instance, they won't exactly be taxing themselves. Which will be quite handy with the opium trade."
"Opium?" Rahim could hardly dispute the drug's popularity, but surely it couldn't have been making that much money with the restrictions the Chinese government had put on its sale: the new Emperor had outlawed the import and sale of the drug, except for medical purposes.
"They're sneaking it over the border," Manan elaborated, and Rahim mused that he really should have seen that coming. "They've practically got a monopoly established on all the opium in the country. And of course, the Brits have been buying goods from the Chinese for centuries- but you know how expensive that is, when the Chinese want barely anything from any European country-"
"Of course," he accepted; everyone who knew anything about trade knew that the Chinese would accept only silver as payment, and as the British used the gold standard, they first needed to purchase silver from other countries.
"So to get some of their silver back-"
"They're illegally trading opium," Rahim finished, rubbing at his temple; there was no way such a practice could possibly end well. "And sneaking it over our border."
"Their border, now," Manan reminded him. "But no country wants to trade illegally. Not forever, anyway."
"You think they want to negotiate a new treatise?"
He gave Rahim a flat look. "Just like they negotiated a treatise here in Bengal?"
Alarmed by his brother's conjecture, he glanced around the crowded street to make sure absolutely no one had overheard, then lowered his voice even further. "You don't mean to imply an invasion force?"
"I don't think they'll go for a full-on invasion, not right away," Manan whispered. "But if they're going to start something, they're going to focus their energies on three places: the border here, the Forbidden City to take care of the Emperor, and, of course-"
"The Valley of Peace," Rahim once again interrupted, his eyes wide at the revelation.
"Will you stop that?" Manan snapped. "If you know so much about it, why don't you tell the story?"
"Sorry." He still couldn't believe what he was hearing; if Manan's prediction proved correct, he'd been called to Calcutta to help orchestrate an attack on a major world power which would most certainly result in a war into which the Indian people would also be dragged. "You really think they would march on the Valley of Peace?"
"That is where all of China's greatest warriors live," Manan reasoned. "And the Grand Master of kung fu is considered second only to the Emperor himself- there's hardly anyone in the world who doesn't know that. It makes sense, doesn't it? To get rid of the strongest opposition first?"
"It makes sense," he accepted. "But Manan, what would they need me for?"
"The easiest way to get into a country," his brother reasoned, "is to declare peaceful intent. And for that, they would need a diplomat. Particularly one fluent in the language."
Rahim wouldn't be surprised if he passed out right in the middle of the street. "I know people there, you know."
"Oh, right, that insane woman you were involved with," Manan accepted, sounding a little annoyed. "The one who attempted to seduce my wife."
"Succeeded," Rahim corrected, ignoring his brother's expression of horror. "But you're missing the point. The point is... The point is- this is bad. Really, really bad."
"You didn't hear it from me."
"Oh, yeah, like I'm really going to run around shouting this from the rooftops and letting everyone know I heard it from you."
"You're not going to be like this for your whole visit, are you?" Manan asked dubiously.
In response, Rahim simply smacked him upside the head, ignoring his whining about the pain. If what his brother had told him were true, he would need to tread lightly. Whatever the British had planned with China, they wouldn't implement anything for another few months at least. First, they would need his help to compose message after message to send to the Emperor and the Grand Master of kung fu respectively, requesting safe passage into the country to meet and negotiate a new trade agreement. It would take months of correspondence just to convince the foreign officials to agree to negotiations, let alone agree upon the when, where, and why. Not to mention all the customs which needed to be regarded, such as the traditional tributes to the Emperor and the Grand Master.
In the meantime, he would have to come up with some sort of plan. And he knew precisely who to contact for help.
Po had always had a pretty strong sense of smell, which he credited to growing up in a restaurant. A well-developed sense of smell was almost as essential in the kitchen as a finely honed sense of taste. So, naturally, when someone happened to be cooking something delectable, Po could smell it from the other side of the mountain.
Despite the fact that he was supposed to be meditating and resisting temptations and distractions of the physical world, he couldn't help but sniff at the air as the smell of beets wafted up toward the peach tree of heavenly wisdom. He opened his eyes to glance longingly over his shoulder in the direction of the barracks kitchen. He knew that Lin's cooking was probably the source of the delicious scent and his mouth started watering at the mere thought of the beet soup she'd promised him.
Besides, it had started to get pretty chilly out, the peach tree's rapid loss of leaves evidence of the encroaching change of seasons. A warm, hearty soup was just what the doctor ordered. And there would always be time later to meditate. So, following his nose, he headed toward the kitchen.
"Oh, wow," he sighed as he entered the kitchen and caught sight of Lin peeling and chopping potatoes. "What're ya makin'? 'Cause it smells awesome."
"Just that borscht I promisedya," she replied, smiling warmly at him.
How no one else saw that warmth, he still had trouble understanding. Just the other day he'd tried to convince the Five that the canine was good company, which had been met with disbelieving laughter. "Ya didn't hafta do that."
"I like to keep my promises." She then offered him up a jar from the counter. "Green tea cookie?"
"Yeah!" He grabbed a handful of cookies, popping them into his mouth one by one. He would never say it out loud to Lin herself (she'd probably beat the snot out of him), but having her around felt sort of like having a grandmother. While she could hardly be considered a sweet little old lady, she still gave him advice, cooked for him, and generally treated him like family. Besides, he'd never known his own grandmother, and he'd always wondered what it might have been like to grow up with her around. "Y'know," he observed around a mouthful of cookie, "everyone acts like whatever you're doin' at Bao Gu's probably scarrin' the kids for life, but now that I got to know ya, I think you'd be really good with 'em."
She shot him an intense glare that made him seriously consider shrinking back into the corner of the room.
"Or not," he squeaked out.
"What are you doing to my student?" Master Shifu suddenly interrupted as he entered the kitchen, his eyes darting suspiciously back and forth between the two. "You are not talking about your sex life again, are you?"
"You wish," Lin tossed over her shoulder, then dumped her chopped potatoes into the pot of pungent beet stew.
"What are you making?"
"Your favorite: beets."
"I do not like beets," Master Shifu huffed, and Po could sense with large amounts of discomfort that a fight was brewing between the two seniors.
"Too bad," Lin replied without even looking up from her pot, "'cause I'm making beets."
"It smells awful in here," he went on, and while Po didn't want to get involved in the fight, it took effort to keep from telling the master that he must be crazy, because it smelled heavenly in the kitchen. "Why must you constantly torture me? Why are you even making beets? Nobody likes beets."
"Like who?" she shot back, undeterred by his discouragement.
"Me, for instance. I hate beets."
"What part of 'too bad' dontchya understand?" Lin was starting to sound agitated, and Po took a step back from the altercation just in case.
"The part where you are making beets in the first place!" Shifu snapped, causing Lin to throw her knife down onto the counter and glare at him. "I despise beets!"
"Well the panda likes 'em!" she suddenly growled, grabbing hold of a wooden spoon and waving it menacingly at him. "And if you don't wanna eat beets, then you can just eat my dick instead, how about that?"
Po nearly jumped out of his skin when Shifu shot him a suspicious look, then held his hands up in surrender to the old master. "No comment," he rushed out, hoping it would be enough to keep him from offending anyone. Unfortunately, luck was not on his side.
"We need to talk, panda," Shifu informed him, and Po knew he had to be agitated, since Master Shifu never called him by name when he was ticked off. "Now." He stomped out of the kitchen and Po followed, attempting to ignore the bottom dropping out of his stomach.
"Um, is there somethin' wrong?" he asked quietly as Shifu ushered him to the end of the hallway, out of Lin's hearing range.
"Why is Lin making beets for you?" Shifu interrogated.
"I dunno," he answered, flummoxed by the question, as well as the harsh tone his master had taken. "I mean, she heard me tell my dad I like beets, and then she said she'd make 'em for me, but I never asked. I didn't know ya hated 'em that much."
Shifu pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. "That is not what this is about. And when did she meet your father?"
"When we had lunch at the restaurant," he answered casually, then jumped a little bit at the horrified look on Shifu's face. "Agh- again? No! No, it wasn't a date."
"Good, I was about to seriously question your judgment."
Po almost asked why he would say something like that about his own girlfriend, but then decided against it; referring to Lin as Master Shifu's "girlfriend" wouldn't exactly go over well.
Shifu wasn't done with his questioning, anyway. "When did you have lunch with her?
"A few days ago, almost a week." He furrowed his brow, trying to think of anything significant that might have happened around that time, but he drew a complete blank. "I still don't get why this's so important."
"It is important because Lin likes you," Shifu pointed out.
"Well, yeah, I could kinda tell." He shut his mouth with an audible snap when his master glared at him again.
"What I mean is, Lin likes you a lot," the red panda elaborated. "As in, she has an unusual amount of fondness for you."
Po rocked back awkwardly on his heels, uncomfortable with the whole conversation in general. "This isn't leading anywhere weird, is it?"
Shifu's eye twitched, but he blinked hard a few times to stop it. "Don't be an idiot, panda."
"Sorry."
"As I was saying, perhaps Lin's fondness for you will lead her to confide in you, as she would not confide in others."
"Yeah, tell me about it," Po sighed as he thought back on all the deeply personal information the aging dog had already shared with him.
"Hah!" Shifu shouted triumphantly, smacking his fist down in his open palm. "I knew it!"
He wanted to take a step back, but, unfortunately, Shifu was his master, so all he could do was twiddle his thumbs. "I get the feelin' this actually is gonna go somewhere weird."
"Lin received a letter recently, and I need you to find out what was in it."
"And we're there."
"It is not weird!" Shifu snapped. "That scroll is from Master Chen, and I get the feeling that there is something important in it that Lin is refusing to tell me."
Po paused, wondering if he'd heard correctly. "Wait- the Master Chen?"
"Yes, the Master Chen."
"As in, the Master Chen who mastered five-hundred scrolls of kung fu in five-hundred days? The Master Chen who fought alongside Master Flying Rhino, Master Dog, and Lady Wind Song? The Master Chen who once stopped a volcano from erupting just by looking at it?"
"Yes, that Master Chen," Shifu grumbled, looking inexplicably disgruntled. "And that last one is not true."
"How d'you know?"
"Because it is impossible! And do not tell me that nothing is impossible because some things are impossible!" He paused and gripped his head for a moment, then let out a tense breath through his nose. "But, once again, that is not the point. The point is, I need to know what is written in that letter."
There was just one part of the whole story that Po still didn't get. "How does Lin know the Master Chen, anyway?"
"She was his student-"
"Whoahohoho!" The panda interrupted, though he couldn't help his exclamation; as far as he'd heard, Master Chen had never trained any warriors. Not to mention the man was a living legend, and it was said that so much as laying eyes on him could imbue someone with the power of one-hundred oxen. Although, that was probably an exaggeration- which didn't make it any less cool. "Wow, oh wow! I knew there was somethin' about her I liked! Oh man, is 'Lin' a cover name to, like, keep her fans from findin' her? Who is she, really? I mean, if Master Chen taught her, I'm sure I heard of her! Y'think she'd gimme her autograph?"
"Calm down, panda," Shifu huffed, becoming even more agitated at his student's excitement. "Lin is not a master of kung fu. In fact, Lin does not know any kung fu. At all."
"...Say what?"
"Most warriors do not know this, but after mastering kung fu, Master Chen went on to become one of the most well-regarded artists in all of China."
Po gaped at his master after hearing that. "...Say what?"
"You have probably never heard of this," Shifu went on, sounding annoyed at his reaction, "but Master Chen was once quoted as saying, 'Kung fu is my hobby, and art is my life.' The only person who could even convince him to get involved in a battle was Master Oogway himself."
"Right, 'cause Oogway trained him... But why'd he wanna give up kung fu to begin with?" That was the part he really couldn't understand; why would anyone give up kung fu, especially after learning it from Master Oogway himself?
"Do not ask me to understand," Shifu huffed as he ushered Po back toward the kitchen. "He became an artist, and Lin was his student, and now you are going to get her to tell you what is in that scroll."
"But-"
"Enjoy your beets." With that, he shoved Po back into the kitchen, slamming the door shut behind him.
He wouldn't be surprised if his master decided to lock him in, either.
"What was that all about?" Lin asked, oblivious to the conspiring that had gone on behind her back. "I tell him to eat my dick once and he flips out."
"Go figure," Po replied with a nervous laugh. He had absolutely no experience with trying to coax information out of someone, especially in the sneaky way that Master Shifu wanted to do it; he didn't even know how he'd gotten dragged into this, to be honest. "...So. Master Shifu... Doesn't like beets?"
"Oh, he's full of shit," Lin dismissed immediately as she began chopping up cabbage. "He hasn't touched a beet in decades. I'll bet he doesn't remember what they taste like anymore 'an he remembers what a woman tastes like."
Po barely managed to keep himself from gagging. "Eurgh, mental image," he groaned, wincing.
"Try to enjoy it," she advised. "I know I do."
"So!" he replied loudly, hoping to change the subject. "Who did you, uhm... Learn art stuff from, anyway?"
"Shifu wantsya to try to get me to tellya what was in my letter from Chen so you can relay it to him, doesn't he?" she concluded flatly, and so quickly that he was left stunned.
"...How'd ya figure that out so fast?"
"I didn't, Shifu's voice carries," she dismissed with a wave of her knife. "But don't tell him that, overhearing his conversations really comes in handy."
"Okay," he agreed awkwardly, unsure of how to continue the conversation from there. "So," he added, rocking back on his heels. "...So."
"You got a big lady-boner for Chen, like Shifu does?" Lin suddenly asked, then even stepped aside and beckoned him to join her at the counter.
He walked up to the counter and leaned over to get an up-close and personal whiff of the beet soup. "Uhm, I'm not sure what that means."
"It means I'm pretty sure Shifu spent his formative years writing his name and Chen's together inside hearts all over his kung fu scrolls," she replied, humor clear in her voice. "And the funniest part of it is that Chen thinks Shifu's an annoying old pervert."
Po couldn't help but feel a little jealous at the way Lin spoke of one of his many kung fu heroes, as if they were old friends. She never showed even a hint of the deference one usually used in reference to an elder, a teacher, or a master- not to anyone. At least in her own eyes, she was Chen's equal, his comrade. And while Po admitted that he had become uncommonly close to Shifu, he'd get his butt kicked if he let the respect a student usually showed to a master drop. Not that Lin didn't respect people in her own way, but he didn't think anyone else on the planet could get away with the things she did and said on a daily basis, and few had the nerve to try. "How d'ya do that?" he asked. "How d'ya act like like that? Like ya wouldn't even bow to the Emperor himself?"
"Maybe 'cause I'd never actually bow to the Emperor," she shot back, and he gasped a little bit in shock. "Oh, please. Y'think if I gave a shit who heard me badmouth the empire I'da needed to leave China in the first place? The Emperor ain't a god, he ain't appointed by gods, he's just a guy who won the birth lottery. And I don't approve of imperial forms of government, anyway. Besides, I don't see why I should bow down to anyone. Some of us may be apples, and some of us may be oranges, but in the end we're all fruit. And I don't expect or ask anyone to treat me any differently."
"That was kinda poetic, in a weird way," he complimented as he realized that she had a point; wasn't that why he had shared the Dragon Scroll's secret with the villagers? Wasn't that the philosophy Oogway himself had taught, in saying that anyone could learn kung fu and a great warrior could come from anywhere? Lin had a less elegant way of saying it, but he wasn't exactly a master of prose himself. "Y'know, you're pretty wise and... Stuff." Case in point.
"Ain't no substitute for experience, panda," she informed him, then leaned over to drop the chopped cabbage into her pot, which already contained beets, carrots and the potatoes she'd worked on earlier. "Ain't no substitute for some hot borscht, either."
"So, um... Can I taste it?" He reached out toward the pot as he asked, his will-power dissolving at the sight of its magenta contents.
"Not yet," she scolded, then in one swift motion scooped up her wooden spoon and swatted his hand with it.
"Ow," he whined, sucking on his bruised knuckles as she pushed past him to stir the pot.
She sniffed at the pot, then sprinkled some salt into it and stirred again. "It just needs to simmer for a little while, until the vegetables are cooked."
"Great," he sighed, his mouth already watering in anticipation. "So, you're not gonna tell me anything about that letter while we wait... Are ya?"
"Nope," she replied conversationally, then grabbed a bowl filled with a mound of straining cloth. "Wanna taste the sour cream?"
"Oooh!" So he wasn't the best interrogator in the world. Lin had a few years on him, anyway, and he didn't think Master Shifu would fault him for that (alright, he really would). But that wasn't on the forefront of his mind, anyway- the bowl of sour cream made sure of that.
Lin let out a heavy sigh as she cleaned up the dishes she'd left to soak after dinner. Nobody had really liked her borscht except for her and Po. She'd had to practically shove the stuff down Shifu's throat, and he'd made faces the whole time like a huge baby. Still, she doubted he'd hated the beet dish as much as he'd acted like he did- he just wanted to be contrary, and didn't want to admit that he'd been wrong when he'd insisted that beets were gross.
Speaking of Shifu, she still needed to tell him the truth about Chen's letter. How she'd do so without causing his giant head to explode, she had no idea, but she couldn't bring herself to leave before she'd told him the truth. She contemplated not telling him at all; it wouldn't be the first time she'd kept something from him. But this was entirely different from the time she'd repeatedly stabbed her lover or the time she'd gotten engaged to a gambling addict- this actually involved Shifu. It was about his family, even. And if she kept something from him as monumental as his son being alive- the son he'd been secretly mourning- she'd never forgive herself.
"I see you," she sighed as she caught sight of Shifu himself lingering out in the hallway, probably trying to come up with some "clever" way of interrogating her about Shanghai. "Ifya want a little late night snack, I won't stopya." Food was probably the last thing on his mind.
He'd been attempting to grill her about Chen's letter from the moment it had arrived, which she of course found supremely annoying- hence why she'd held back the information for so long. "I think this is the first time I have ever seen you do the dishes on your own," he replied as he joined her in the kitchen, taking a seat at the table, "and you're not even getting paid for it. I am shocked."
"Is that why you were lurking out there like an imperial spy?" she shot back.
"There are very few imperial spies in existence and they are all in the Forbidden City," he sighed.
"Shows how much you know."
He glared at her a moment, then surprisingly enough managed to calm himself down. "So, dinner was... Interesting."
"The only interesting thing about it was that you thought it'd somehow be appropriate to act like a finicky toddler in fronta your students." She knew he'd get annoyed if she called him out for being inappropriate, but that was half the fun.
"You will not get to me so easily tonight," he informed her, though he did sound pretty tense.
"Okay, good," she accepted as she finished off the last of the dishes and set them aside to dry, then joined him at the table. "It's more fun to have a challenge."
"Say what you want, but I know that not-so-deep down you are nothing more than a big softy." Apparently he'd planned on giving as good as he got. "You worry about me," he pointed out smugly.
"How can I not?" she shot back. "Every timeya walk through a doorway I think your big head's gonna get stuck."
"What a coincidence, I think the same thing about your backside," he returned, but it was hardly enough to trump her.
"Oh, is that why you're always staring at it?" she asked with faux innocence.
"I do not stare at your butt," he protested, though even as he said the words his gaze momentarily strayed below her belt.
She rolled her eyes, though in reality she didn't mind- that would make her a hypocrite. "Whatever you say." She was getting fed-up with them tip-toeing around the real issue at hand, though.
"Just because you used to have a phenomenal behind- wait, no, I didn't mean that how it sounded-" he stuttered out, slowly turning red as he dug his own grave deeper and deeper- "that is to say, there was once a time when I did appreciate your assets- and they are quite fit for a woman in our age range- but I do not stare."
She almost felt bad for him, so she decided to end his pain; besides, if she didn't bring up the letter sooner or later, he'd end up inadvertently going on about her butt for another ten minutes then running off like an embarrassed teenager. "It's time to cut the bullshit, Shifu," she replied flatly, fixing him with her most penetrating stare.
"What is that supposed to mean?" he huffed, crossing his arms.
She was slightly impressed that he was willing to cling onto his act to the bitter end, but that wouldn't stop her from calling him out. "C'mon," she sighed, rolling her eyes at him. "Ever since I got that letter from Chen you've been up my ass- which I wouldn't mind if it were literal- and you've even flirted with me."
"I have never flirted with you," he denied grumpily, though she didn't believe him for a second.
"Not to mention that stunt you tried to pull, asking the panda to do your dirty work forya," she added, and when he winced at that last assertion she knew she'd gotten him. "You're not subtle, you old dummy. Your attempts to interrogate me didn't work three decades ago, and now- now they're just awkward and kinda pathetic."
He glared at her for that last comment. "What else am I supposed to do when you refuse to give me even the tiniest scrap of information?" he snapped.
"You could try acting like a normal person and trust me," she shot back. "The way I trusted you enough to put my livelihood in your hands."
He blinked back at her, his narrowed eyes widening in justified embarrassment. After a brief awkward silence, he cleared his throat and spoke in a much more level, reasonable tone. "It has always seemed to me that you are actively hiding things from me. And while I realize that you like your privacy, there comes a point when I must wonder if you will ever confide anything in me."
She had to hand it to him: he'd gotten good at using guilt. Unfortunately for him, it didn't work on her- especially when she knew precisely how he would react to some of the things she wasn't telling him. "You really wanna know why I'm going to visit Chen?"
"Absolutely," he agreed so quickly that it sort of cheapened his heartfelt plea for her to confide in him.
This was her last chance to back out; she knew what Chen wanted her to do, and she knew what would be easier, what would be safer to do. But she also knew what the right thing to do would be. Maybe she was being stupid, maybe she was letting her feelings get in the way of logic, but if she couldn't trust her heart at her age then there was something wrong with her. "Listen, Shifu," she sighed, steeling herself for the inevitable backlash. "If I tellya what's going on in Shanghai, you gotta promise you'll try to trust me. Okay?"
"Okay," he agreed, raising his eyebrows when she reached out to take hold of his hand.
She knew how hard it would be for him to hear the news, though, and she wanted to show some kind of support. "I'm not sure how to break this gently, so I'll just say it. Tai Lung's alive."
He stared blankly back at her for a moment, then frowned at her and yanked his hand out of hers. "That is not funny!" he snapped. "Do you have any clue what you are even saying-"
"It's true!" she interrupted, shocked that he would even think she'd do such a thing. "You think I'd joke about something like that? What the hell's wrong with you?"
"What is wrong with you?" he shot back. "Why would you ever think that Tai Lung is alive?"
"'Cause he's with Chen. That's why I'm going to Shanghai."
"What?" Shifu roared, and Lin leaned back a bit, wincing at the volume of his exclamation. "Explain yourself! Immediately!"
"It's Chen's letter," she elaborated. "He told me Tai Lung's in Shanghai and they need to figure out what to do with him-"
"They?"
"He and Yan-Yan need to figure it out." She paused, unsure of whether to reveal the next tidbit of information, but she didn't want him to think it was her idea to keep Tai Lung's status among the living from him. "And Chen said not to tellya."
"Why would he not want to tell me?" Shifu burst out as his eye began to twitch. "I am the Grand Master of kung fu! I am the one who trained Tai Lung to begin with! In what universe would it be alright to keep this from me?"
"I dunno!" she snapped. "It wasn't my idea!"
He shot to his feet and fixed her with an accusatory glare. "Like you have any problem with keeping secrets from me!"
Lin tried to keep her temper under control, but she didn't appreciate how he'd resorted to taking his anger out on her. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"As if you don't know!" he scoffed. "You think I cannot tell when you are hiding something from me? You have hardly mentioned a word about yourself since you have returned!"
"Oh, so I must be keeping secrets from you!" she shot back sarcastically, standing to face him and show him she wouldn't stand for being pushed around and accused. She accidentally knocked her chair over in the process, but covered it up by pretending she'd meant to do it. "I mean, why else would I not immediately tell you every tiny detail about my personal life?"
He seemed determined not to back down, either, and he took a step forward. "You are certainly too secretive for your own good!" He was so close to her that she could feel his breath on her face- and, unfortunately, smell it.
She wrinkled her nose a bit, though she had to admit that there were some perks to being so close to him that outweighed the borscht breath- not that she'd ever seriously admit that to him. "Didya brush your teeth after dinner?"
If looks could kill... "Unbelievable! You always do this! You cannot have a serious discussion about anything! You always resort to crude, petty jokes!"
"Oh, so now you know me!" She closed what little gap there was between them, though she knew he wouldn't be intimidated. "You don't know me at all until it comes time to point out my faults, then conveniently you turn into an expert!"
"You know what?" he breathed.
"What?" she spat, ready to tear his clothes off right then and there.
"Not everything is about you!" He took a step back, crossed his arms and looked at her so coldly that her libido came to a grinding halt. "I am not going to allow this to turn into a discussion about you. This is about Tai Lung, and how I am going to Shanghai whether Chen likes it or not!"
"Oh, right." Personally, she'd thought the quickly escalating fight about her had actually been more about the thinly-veiled sexual tension Shifu felt around her. But she could have been mistaken. "Shifu, ifya show up in Shanghai without Chen's knowledge or permission, he'll tearya a new asshole."
"Then I will go with you," he insisted, with no trace of hesitation- which came as a surprise, to say the least. "If you vouch for me, he won't have any room to protest."
She couldn't say she didn't want to let him come along, but she had reason to pause. Exactly how would he- and Tai Lung, for that matter- react once they met again? The last time they'd seen each other, Tai Lung had nearly killed the old master.
Of course, Shifu went and made it worse. "I will have to alert Po and the Furious Five, and of course Po will accompany us. Should Tai Lung resist-"
"Resist?" she repeated incredulously. "What're you talking about?"
"What do you think I am talking about? This is Tai Lung we are discussing! If he is alive, we need to subdue him and return him to prison immediately. In fact, I wouldn't even be bringing you with me if it were not for Chen."
"You wouldn't be bringing me?" She raised her eyebrows at him, in disbelief. "Chen sent that letter to me! I'd be bringing you! And only if you keep your mouth shut about this- I don't want any of your students anywhere near Shanghai!"
"What- how dare you-"
"No, how dare you!" she interrupted. "I toldya about this 'cause you deserve to know, and you deserve to have a say- but now you're planning to bust all up in there, guns blazing? It's been months since the panda beat Tai Lung, and he's apparently still with Chen of his own will. I'm not gonna deny that he's done a ton wrong, but if there's even a tiny possibility he might change, it's worth it to give him a second chance." She had to admit, it felt a little awkward defending Shifu's own son to him, but she had experience defending people on the wrong side of the law. "I mean, don't you wanna give him a second chance, as his father?"
"When I fought Tai Lung I gave him the chance to back down, and he refused to take it," he argued, his voice cracking a bit as he spoke; he quickly recovered, though. "All he wanted was the Dragon Scroll!"
"And he got it," she pointed out; she had already been well-acquainted with the story of how the Dragon Warrior had defeated the scourge of the valley. "He got the scroll, and he saw for himself that it wasn't what he'd expected at all. I mean, try to imagine what he'd been thinking at that moment."
"There is no need for me to imagine anything. Tai Lung had already made up his mind, and I have made up mine." He turned around to storm off, but Lin refused to let him.
She managed to grab hold of his tail, much like she remembered him doing to her on multiple occasions, and held tight. "It was nothing!" she rushed out, hoping to stop him; she certainly wasn't strong enough to physically stop him, anyway.
It seemed to do the trick; Shifu paused, his ears twitching irritably, then yanked his tail out of her hands and turned back to face her. "It was a reflection," he corrected.
"Right," she agreed with a nod. "Meaning the secret to being the Dragon Warrior was inside the panda all along, some sorta inspirational message about believing in yourself, that kinda crap, blah blah blah."
"Your point?" he ground out.
"So you saw the damn scroll! It meant whoever was the Dragon Warrior had it in him all along, and whoever wasn't... Didn't." She paused as she herself felt a twinge of sympathy for Tai Lung at the words. "It's one thing to think you got a chance, to have hope that ifya just try hard enough to reach what you want, you'll eventually be able to get it. It's another to find out that all that time, you never stood a chance to begin with. That everything, all that hope, was... Fake. I can relate to that. Can't you?"
From the pained look on his face, it seemed like he did indeed relate. "If you do not want me to tell Po or the Five, then what did you have in mind? I mean... What are we supposed to do, bring Tai Lung a gift basket and a card that says, 'Sorry you're not the Dragon Warrior'?"
She snorted a bit at the suggestion, then awkwardly cleared her throat at his glare. "We can talk about it when we get to Shanghai. From the letter Chen sent, it sounds like everything's fine so far. For all we know, Tai Lung could already be on the road to redemption. Either that or he's still injured and cranky and Chen's got him trapped."
They shared a knowing look, both aware of which option was most likely.
"Anyway... You can come with me," she conceded, because Shifu was Tai Lung's father and because she had a soft spot for the old melon-head. "As long as no one knows what's really up."
"And what if something happens?" he pressed. "I know you probably do not realize this, but... I cannot take Tai Lung on alone." If she didn't know any better, she'd say he'd been embarrassed to admit that to her. Mostly, though, she could tell he was miserable just having to discuss it.
"It'll be okay," she assured him, then reached out and gave his beard a gentle tug. "Chen'll be there, too, and Tai Lung's probably not in the best shape. And if worse comes to worst, I hear Yan-Yan's a doctor now."
"Thank you for that vote of confidence," he grumbled sarcastically. "As if I did not have enough to worry about already, now I need to deal with this- with you along for the ride."
"What's wrong with me?" She couldn't believe he would suggest he dreaded being around her, after she'd put so much effort into being nice to him.
"Nothing, it is just that you should not be involved in any of this to begin with." He apparently didn't know what dangerous waters he'd decided to tread. "The only reason we are going to Shanghai together is that Chen would most likely kick me out of the city if I do not have you to convince him otherwise."
"There're a lotta clever things I could reply with," she informed him, somehow managing to sound much calmer than she actually felt. "But instead, I'll be blunt: you are a jackass."
His eye twitched, ever so slightly. "In what way am I a jackass?"
"I can't believe you even need clarification."
"Of course I need clarification!" His eye twitched again, and if she weren't so angry she would have found it hilarious; okay, she still found it pretty funny. "I was only telling you the truth! What reason could you possibly have for going to Shanghai to help Chen decide what to do with my former student? And what if he did rampage again? You'd be killed!"
"I don't think you should count me out so easily," she advised. "If Chen trusts my judgment more'n he trusts yours, then there's a good reason for it." She knew pointing out Chen's preference was a bit of a low blow, but she honestly didn't care. "Now if you'll excuse me, I got packing to do." She pushed past him to get out of the kitchen and headed for her room in the hopes that he wouldn't follow her; she knew exactly where that conversation had been headed, and she didn't think she could stand listening to him go on about how much of a useless burden he apparently thought she was.
There was a reason she'd gotten involved with Tai Lung's reappearance, and there was a reason that Chen had chosen to write to her about it and not Shifu- she just needed to figure out what that reason was. Preferably before anyone besides Shifu called her out on it.
Notes:
References: when Lin woke Shifu up, of course that is a reference to a scene between Mr. Sheffield and Miss Fine in The Nanny. And Lin's apples and oranges quote is from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. And it bears mentioning that gatka is an Indian martial art with an emphasis on the use of melee weapons.
Chapter 6: The Way You Cut Your Meat Reflects the Way You Live
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 6: The Way You Cut Your Meat Reflects the Way You Live
Viper glanced sideways at her fellow kung fu masters as they all gathered together in the courtyard outside of the training hall, as per their master's instructions. That morning, after the ring of the gong, he had instructed them to eat a quick breakfast, then wait for him in the courtyard. Of course, she knew just as well as the others that this meant Master Shifu wanted to speak to them or make an announcement. And she hoped, like she was sure her comrades did, that this meant they finally had something, anything at all, to do.
"I'm hoping for a bandit attack," Mantis suddenly spoke up from where he'd perched on Monkey's shoulder.
"That's awful," Crane scolded the insect. "Why would you hope for something like that?"
"Hey, everyone was thinking it," he pointed out. "I mean, Master Shifu's probably got a job for us to defend poor defenseless people- so if something bad's happening anyway, I hope it's a bandit attack. Boar bandits, hopefully- they bounce better."
"I would like thieves," Monkey argued back. "Professional thieves. They'll climb almost anything."
Viper supposed there were more damaging ways to pass the time than to speculate on the type of foe they'd rather face. "Assassins," she added. "We haven't faced assassins in forever. And if we can't get assassins, I'd at least like some handsome crocodiles to flirt with."
"Just flirt with Po," Mantis dismissed, ignoring the bright red blush that instantly appeared on the bear's face.
"What do you think?" she asked Tigress, ignoring her teammate's flippant comment.
Tigress rolled her eyes, looking vaguely disgusted. "Like I care whether you practice your flirting on Po."
Viper narrowed her eyes at her friend. "I meant about the assignment Master Shifu's giving us," she clarified, wondering if she should read anything into the tiger's little slip-up.
"Oh," she accepted flatly, showing no sign of embarrassment over the comment. "Kung fu is kung fu. It doesn't matter how we use our skills, it only matters that we use our skills."
"Shifu alert," Crane replied.
"Yeah, she does sound just like him," Po agreed.
"No, I mean Shifu is coming."
At the avian master's warning they all fell into line, backs straight and eyes trained forward, toward their master. They bowed as Shifu approached, and he nodded to them as a sign that they could relax (well, as much as anyone could relax in his presence).
"Students," he greeted, then awkwardly cleared his throat. "I have, uhm... Something to tell you."
After a moment's silence, Po suddenly burst out, "What is it? Are we gonna beat up some bandits or catch thieves in the act or- or go up against the deadliest assassins in all of China or-"
"Panda!" Shifu snapped. "Calm down! There are no bandits, thieves, or assassins."
"Sorry," the bear muttered sheepishly.
"I simply came to tell you all that I will be gone for the next month or so." At his students' surprised stares, he continued. "I have decided to go to Shanghai, to visit Master Chen. He is, after all, the oldest living master of kung fu and a former student of Master Oogway."
Viper had heard the many stories of the legendary Master Chen and his heroics, and she was also well aware of the fact that he had been a good friend of Master Oogway's and they had kept up a regular correspondence until the tortoise had passed into the next life. She also knew, through her conversations with Zeng and some of the other palace servants, that the end of Master Oogway's life in the physical realm had also meant the end of Master Chen's letters. It made sense that Master Shifu would want to pay a visit to the man in an attempt to get on his good side, but she had once met Master Chen, and could confidently say that the phrase "good side" in reference to him was a gross exaggeration. "I mean no offense, Master," she spoke up, treading as lightly as possible, "but are you sure that's a good idea?"
"I am not sure at all, no," he surprisingly admitted. "And if I am gone longer than six weeks you may assume that Chen has killed me. But I am still going."
"Can we come?" Po asked excitedly.
"No," he shot back without hesitation.
"Can I come?"
"No."
"Aww."
Shifu folded his arms in front of him, placing his hands in his sleeves as he surveyed them with a stern expression. "I know it is not often that I leave you for such long stretches of time," he went on, as if Po had never interrupted. "And that this is my first trip without you since... Since Po has joined us."
The knowledge of Master Oogway's recent death, though unspoken, still hung heavy in the air as Shifu paused and they all stood in an oppressive silence.
Tigress was the first to break through the quiet. "We will not let you down, Master."
"I do not expect you to," he accepted, then addressed all of them. "Especially since Tigress will be in charge."
Viper couldn't be sure, but she thought she heard Mantis mutter "Aw, man," under his breath. Judging by the glare Master Shifu sent his way, he probably had. Not that she could blame him- on the rare occasions when Master Shifu had traveled abroad and left Tigress in charge, she had taken on the responsibility with, if it were possible, even more harshness than Shifu himself.
"Well, that is all," their master dismissed, turning to leave.
"Wait," Po called out, and the red panda's shoulders tensed before he slowly turned back around with a scowl firmly in place. "Uhm," he faltered a bit at the old master's expression. "Uh... I was just wonderin', Master, why you wanted to visit Chen."
"He sent a letter," Shifu ground out, raising his eyebrows at the panda. "And besides, I feel I should make a good faith visit, seeing as he never made it to Master Oogway's memorial."
"Oh, that makes sense," Po accepted. "But, uh... Wasn't that letter for Lin?"
Viper's mouth fell open at the question- mostly at the concept that the Master Chen had written to Lin, who knew absolutely nothing about kung fu. She could tell from the expressions on her comrades' faces, which ranged from shock to horror, that the sentiment was mutual.
"Yes," Master Shifu admitted reluctantly, clearly annoyed that Po had pointed that out.
"Isn't Lin goin' with ya?" he pressed.
Shifu looked like he wanted to strangle him. "Yes."
"Oh!" Po exclaimed, looking only mildly surprised. "...So you two're goin' on a month-long trip together?"
"Drop it, panda," he snapped. "And as for the rest of you: not one word." With that, he brusquely walked away.
After a long silence during which they all processed the information they'd just been given and waited until they could safely talk outside of their master's hearing range, all eyes turned to Po.
"What?" the panda asked innocently.
Viper voiced what everyone had been thinking. "How did you know about that letter, and more importantly, why was it for Lin?"
"Master Shifu told me about the letter," he answered with a shrug, as if this were nothing out of the ordinary. "And Lin used to be Master Chen's student."
"What?" Tigress burst out, staring at him as if he'd gone insane.
"But she's no kung fu master," Monkey chimed in.
"Maybe it's a different Chen," Crane suggested.
"Or a different universe," Mantis countered with a chuckle.
"No, really," Po answered. "After Master Chen mastered kung fu, he, uh... Decided to go into art. And apparently he's really great at that, too. So he taught Lin."
Viper had known about Master Chen's notoriety as a painter, but she had never suspected that he of all people had been Lin's master. She could hardly even believe that Lin had been qualified for her new position as the Jade Palace's official artist all along. To be honest, she'd thought Shifu had only given the woman the job to get into her pants (as much as it pained her to think of her own master like that).
"And here I thought Shifu only made her the Jade Palace's resident artist 'cause he wanted some canine companionship," Mantis mused aloud; apparently she hadn't been alone in her assumption.
"Every time you say something like that about Master Shifu, the gods extinguish a star," Crane groaned, rubbing at his forehead with a wing.
"And if you keep it up, I will extinguish you," Tigress threatened. "Master Shifu may, for some unfathomable reason, be friends with that crone, but that is all. So I suggest you stop talking about him like he is some lecherous old tail-chaser."
Viper eyed her friend, unconvinced by the argument. Of course, Master Shifu did seem to have a friendship with Lin, and he didn't often pay romantic attention to anyone, but it was pretty obvious that something had been going on between the two of them. In fact, only a few nights ago she had witnessed an event that supported her theory, though she hadn't planned on telling anyone.
While some would think her serpentine body served as a disadvantage, this simply was not true, especially for a kung fu master who'd spent years honing her speed and agility; among other perks, her slithering lent itself well to stealth (and she'd been practicing her "subtlety," as Master Shifu had once suggested)- as a result, most people couldn't detect her approach. In fact, the only person who ever seemed to hear her was Master Shifu himself, and even then his incredible hearing only detected her about half the time. But even if she'd come clambering noisily down the barracks hall to the kitchen that night, shouting folk songs at the top of her lungs, she doubted her master would have noticed.
Her quest for a midnight snack had instead provided her with food for thought, as she stumbled upon an incredibly unexpected scene- although it certainly explained a lot. And while she knew it was rude not to announce her presence, she hadn't been able to stop herself from spying. And what she saw... She would never be able to erase it from her mind.
Master Shifu was putting the moves on Lin.
In his own way, of course. Viper had experienced the misfortune of seeing her master try to flirt before, when he'd taken a liking to her seamstress- and as a result, she'd had to find a new seamstress. She watched with shock, though, as Shifu's usual strategy of flat-out insulting a woman actually seemed to be working on the old dog. At an insult about her gravelly voice, Lin had just grinned and made fun of Shifu's large ears. Then, she'd turned her attention to the stove, where she had something sweet-smelling cooking in a pot, and Viper had barely suppressed a scandalized gasp as her master's gaze promptly fell well below eye-level. When Lin had caught the old flirt staring at her backside, though, she'd seemed far from offended; in fact, she'd reacted with smug laughter. When Shifu attempted to shrug off the action with a comment about observing the side effects of the woman's rich cooking, Viper had turned away with a roll of her eyes, unable to bear any more. She'd even resisted the urge to mutter, "Get a room, already," under her breath; she doubted her master would have reacted well if he'd overheard such a comment.
She wondered if she should say anything, but if Tigress was going to find out the truth, she might as well hear it from a friend. "I'm not sure how to put this, Tigress, but... Mantis is sort of... Right on the money."
"What do you mean?" the tiger asked menacingly.
"What I mean is, I saw Master Shifu, uhm... Well, let's just say that if Lin's butt were a bowl full of dumplings and Master Shifu were Po, he would have mastered all one thousand scrolls of kung fu in one night, and then some."
"I'm not sure if I should be offended by that," Po spoke up, furrowing his brow at her.
"I am offended by that," Tigress growled, crossing her arms as she glowered at the serpent.
Viper looked to her fellow masters for support, and while to their credit they all looked ready to spring forward and prevent any physical altercation, they unfortunately had the good sense to keep their mouths shut. "Tigress," she attempted to reason, "I know it must be hard for you to face the realization that Master Shifu is a sexual being-"
"Arrrgh!" she roared, her hands flying up to cover her ears. "Enough!"
She raised her voice and continued, since she knew she was one of the few people who could get away with it. "I remember the first time I realized my father's status as a sexual being!"
"No!" Tigress argued, looking like she might be sick. "No you don't and you are not talking about it!"
"It's nothing to get upset about! Everyone is a sexual being, and I know you don't like Lin, but it is beautiful that after so many years of solitude that now, in the waning years of his life, Master Shifu is able to embrace his sexuality and enjoy the emotional and physical intimacy he has denied himself for so long!"
"Oh, ew," Mantis muttered, "and you guys thought I was gross."
"That's it!" Tigress growled. "I am going inside to train, and if I ever hear one word about this again, whoever that word comes from will end up in a body cast!" With that, she stormed into the training hall, slamming the door behind her.
"This is going to be a fun month," Crane sighed.
"You guys could have backed me up," she hissed, annoyed by their unhelpful attitudes.
"Sorry," Monkey apologized with a shrug, "but Master Shifu's intimacy is none of my business."
She rolled her eyes, then turned to the only person who was remotely capable of being reasoned with. "Po, you're close to Master Shifu."
"Oh, gods," the panda groaned.
"Master Shifu invited Lin to live here, and now he's taking her to Shanghai to visit her former master. Don't you think there's something going on between them?"
"Oh, yeah, sure," he agreed. "Just please don't mention any more sexual embracing, okay?"
"Fine," she sighed; she knew when she'd been defeated. "We won't talk about it anymore. We won't accept that our master is a person first, and an authority figure second."
"Thanks," the four men chorused.
"Well, since we're not discussing anything, we should probably head in to train." When she slithered toward the door and no one made a move to follow her, she rolled her eyes. "Or you guys could start training out here while I go talk to Tigress and try to calm her down."
"Thanks," they once again gratefully accepted.
"You know that you're all a big bunch of wimpy babies and I'll never let any of you live this down, right?" she shot back at them as she entered the training hall, and they had the courtesy to look embarrassed. She probably shouldn't get too angry at their hesitance, though; Tigress was not someone people wanted to be around once she got into a bad mood.
She winced as she watched Tigress pulverize one of the seven swinging clubs of instant oblivion with what looked like no effort at all. The tiger master would seem focused on her task to an outside observer, but it was obvious to Viper that she was seething. The tenseness in her shoulders, the sharp edge to her "kya"s, the ferocity with which she dispatched the training hall's equipment, all spoke volumes.
"Hi," Viper greeted, though she didn't have very high hopes of getting a response.
Tigress just kept right on balancing on the spinning snakes and smashing every club that came her way, as if she hadn't heard a thing.
"Are you okay?" she pressed, even though it was a dumb question; clearly her friend was not okay. "Is there anything I can do?"
"I'm fine," Tigress snapped over her shoulder. "I'm just trying to concentrate."
"You're not fine," Viper argued, annoyed that she would blatantly deny her feelings when they were so obvious.
"Well this isn't exactly the time to talk about it, is it?" she shot back.
"When it comes to you, there's never a time to talk about it!" Viper pointed out.
Tigress must have gotten distracted in her agitation, because she only barely managed to dodge one of the swinging clubs. "Fine! You figured out my terrible secret. I'll never talk about it, because it's not something worth talking about! Happy?"
"Of course not! How can I be happy when my best friend so clearly isn't?"
Tigress nearly got hit by another club, then finally exited the obstacle course to avoid the accident that was clearly waiting to happen. "What do I need to tell you to get you to leave me alone?"
Viper knew Tigress well enough to know that she hadn't meant the question to be insulting, even though it sounded defensive; Tigress was just that clueless when it came to emotional release. "Tell me how you feel," she sighed; she was beginning to see that this confrontation would go nowhere productive.
"I feel fine," the leader of the Furious Five growled. "Why shouldn't I feel fine?"
"You seem upset," Viper observed.
"I'm not upset," she protested. "You think I care about Master Shifu and his little honeymoon? Let him go, I hope he has a good time. I wanted some time to polish my leadership skills, anyway." She couldn't have been more transparent if she'd tried.
Viper knew when to call it quits- at least for the time being. Those who retreat today live to fight tomorrow, after all. And she did like the idea of being able to live to fight tomorrow. "Okay," she accepted wearily. "Just... Don't let the things we said get to you. And I promise that if Mantis starts making more lecherous jokes I'll put him in his place."
"Thank you."
"Anyway, we're training outside if you want to join us. When you're ready, of course." She turned to head back out toward the courtyard. Tigress didn't follow her, but she hadn't expected her friend to join them; the temperamental woman just needed some time alone to blow off steam.
Viper could see, though, that destroying training equipment was not all the release that Tigress needed. All her stress, all those worries that she refused to talk about with anyone were building up inside, and eventually the pressure would reach its peak. Eventually, Tigress was going to explode- and while the term was figurative, Viper would much rather be around for a literal explosion. So, like always, she hoped against hope that when the time came, she was at least a safe distance away.
"So then he's all 'what reason could you possibly have for going to Shanghai?' I know! But since when's he ever listen to me? Anyway, I just couldn't be around him anymore, not after he basically called me useless. I haven't talked to him since. You think I should? Well it's only been, like, one day. Yeah, yeah, I know: never test the depth of the water with both feet. But I gotta talk to him eventually. I probably won't mess it up. Maybe."
Lin let out a heavy sigh as she ended her rant and fell back to lay in the grass under the peach tree, staring up into its thinning foliage. Then, she closed her eyes and pressed her palms against them in utter frustration. "I'm going insane," she grumbled to herself. "I'm talking to a tree." Not that she expected it to answer. Still, it was better than talking to no one. Actually, it was talking to no one.
She opened her eyes to look up into the tree again. "This's worse 'an being a teenager," she informed it. "Okay, nothing's worse 'an that. But this's up there. I got no idea what to do, I don't even know what the right thing to do is, and I always used to know that." She wondered, briefly, if there was any part of Oogway left to hear her; probably not. But it was so easy to forget that when the peach tree, which had likely been imbued with Oogway's energy the moment he planted it, radiated the same peaceful aura the old turtle had. "A sign'd be nice," she sighed as she momentarily closed her eyes in an attempt to pretend the world around her didn't exist; it didn't work. She supposed she was only hurting herself, anyway, by over-thinking everything. So, she stood up to head down to her room. However, something near the peach tree sapling caught her eye. There amongst the fallen leaves, fresh and smooth as if it had only just come off a tree, was a peach petal. "Hello, sign."
She crouched down to take a closer look at the sapling, which she had never paid much attention to before. She'd always assumed that the little tree had grown from a peach that had fallen from its predecessor and somehow gone unnoticed while it rotted away and left behind a pit, but upon closer inspection there was something off about the plant. For one thing, it didn't have the same calm energy as the centuries-old peach tree; instead it had an air of distress about it, if it were even possible for a plant to be distressed. For another, despite the fact that it was a direct descendent of the peach tree, the sapling looked different; it seemed kind of squat, even for a sapling, and its leaves looked too big for its branches.
"What the hell?" she mused as she tried to figure out the conundrum, and why the universe would drop a peach petal right in front of the odd little plant. What did it mean?
"What is wrong, you have never seen a sapling before?" a familiar sarcastic voice spoke up behind her.
"Well, I've definitely seen more saplings 'an you've seen vaginas," she shot back, frowning at Shifu and his big ears over her shoulder. Then she glanced back at the sapling- and back to Shifu. "Where'd this thing come from, anyway?"
He glared at her, probably offended by her comment about his lack of a sex life. "I planted it. Why?"
She should have known. "That explains a lot."
"What is that supposed to mean?" he huffed.
"Nothing," she grunted as she grabbed the peach petal and straightened up to hand it over to him. "Here, this's for you."
"A peach petal?" he asked skeptically, examining the thing as if it might explode. "Where did this even come from?"
"That's a good question." She just wished she had an answer. "So what'd you want?"
"And what makes you think I want something from you?" he huffed.
"Well, we meet like this so often, I can't help but think you come up here looking for me." She could only hope that he had decided to apologize for his attitude, but somehow she got the feeling that she shouldn't hold her breath.
"I was simply wondering why we have not left for Shanghai yet." Of course he wasn't about to apologize- why would he?
"'Cause you're a gigantic, wrinkly ball sack," she informed him politely, then headed down the steps toward the barracks.
"And you are an irritating little ball of fuzz," he shot back, following her.
"You can probably do better 'an that," she sighed, feigning disappointment in his insult. "You sure did the other night."
"Why must you always be so difficult?" he growled. "I do not even know how I insulted you! And, predictably, you will not tell me!"
"Just another example of my uselessness," she retorted sarcastically.
Shifu, as per usual, completely missed her point. "You have certainly got that right!"
"Y'know what?" she snapped, fed up. "You think I can't do a damn thing? Whatever. I'm done fighting. Forget it. I'm finishing up at Bao Gu this afternoon, we'll leave tomorrow at dawn. Think you can handle that without throwing a tantrum?"
"Do not even start with me," he growled.
"Okay, seeya tomorrow." She turned and veered off the path before he could go off about her lack of kung fu skill or her attitude or her sex life. She was done listening to him berate her for every little difference between them. She knew he'd been under a lot of pressure, of course, but that was no reason to take out all his stress on her. Why couldn't he act like a normal person and scream into a pillow, pick up a crippling addiction, learn how to meditate properly, or at the very least learn how to operate a gun and shoot inanimate objects? She'd been as understanding as possible of his emotional limitations thus far, but if he kept up with his condescending attitude she didn't think she'd be able to make it to Shanghai without strangling him (and not in the erotic sense).
At least she could assume he hadn't told his students about the nature of the visit, since all hell hadn't broken loose. And while she was certain spending over a month of quality time with Shifu would be a waking nightmare, at least she wouldn't have to deal with the Furious Five- particularly Tigress. She'd met very few women in her lifetime who didn't have some daddy issues, but the kung fu warrior took it to a whole different level. She couldn't say she blamed the woman- after all, growing up in a culture of filial piety with a father doubling as a teacher would screw with anyone's head. But, as with Shifu himself, she didn't understand why she was a target of such ire. Well, there was the whole thing with her being obnoxious, but Tigress's reaction still seemed too out of proportion for it to be just that. Then again, she supposed if people she'd slept with could want to kill her, then it didn't seem like much of a stretch for the daughter of someone she wanted to sleep with to want to kick her ass.
Lin paused to wonder if maybe the reason for Tigress's hostility had something to do with Shifu. The young woman could feel threatened by competition for her father's attention or, more likely, she could have picked up Shifu's protective streak and, sensing Lin's intentions (for they were, admittedly, painfully obvious), had assumed that Lin would only end up hurting Shifu. If the latter turned out to be the case, then unfortunately Lin couldn't exactly prove that she would never hurt Shifu- especially considering that she already had, what with leaving him and all. But people hurt each other all the time, no matter how much they cared for each other or how good their intentions were- that was just a part of relationships in general. So she couldn't even argue that she wouldn't ever hurt Shifu, because the only way she wouldn't would be if she croaked before she got the chance. And even then, assuming they were in a relationship at that point, her death would hurt him, thereby cementing the fact that in pursuing a relationship with her (if he ever got off his paranoid butt and did anything) he would inevitably get hurt.
So in the simplest terms possible: she was screwed.
She supposed it couldn't hurt to try to talk to Tigress again. Well, actually, it could hurt if the kung fu master's temper flared up a little too much. But she knew that wasn't likely. Even if it was, it wouldn't be her first time getting her ass kicked, so she may as well take a chance.
She glanced nervously up at the training hall as she waffled back and forth, stuck in her indecision. No one confused her and put her on edge quite like Tigress, though she supposed that much was to be expected. It was bound to be awkward, trying to navigate interactions with Shifu's daughter. Lin only wished that she could have some kind of instructions for how to deal with irritable kung fu masters; unfortunately, she would have to deal with those interactions on her own.
She forced herself to walk up to the training hall before she had a chance to second guess herself and chicken out. She also reminded herself that confidence was half the battle, though that didn't guarantee she wouldn't be flayed alive. "It's a good day to die," she grumbled to herself as she approached the doors to the training hall, then paused to take a deep breath before letting herself in- and promptly ducking just in time to avoid Po as he was thrown directly at her.
He flew over her head and through the doorway to land with a single bounce in the courtyard, then groaned out a weak, "I'm okay," with his face still embedded in the stone.
"Shake it off, panda," she called out over her shoulder, then turned around to see what had propelled him to begin with.
Of course, Tigress stood right there, her arms crossed and her stern gaze fixed on the doorway. "Po, grounding yourself and cultivating your chi is about more than just stomping your feet on the floor. Didn't Master Shifu have this discussion with you?"
"Guess he didn't get through to me," the bear replied as he slowly managed to extract himself from the ground.
"Hmph," was all Tigress had to say in return.
Lin eyed the clearly busy master, then the other members of the Furious Five, all practicing on the various parts of the obstacle course (she found Viper's mastery of that fire-spitting floor particularly impressive). "Maybe this's a bad time," she observed.
"Naw, it's fine," Po dismissed as he rejoined them in the training hall, contorting his face into different expressions in order to presumably reduce the soreness.
Tigress didn't exactly look like she agreed.
"Okay," Lin accepted, since she had never been one to ignore a window of opportunity. "In that case, I gotta talk to Tigress." She tried to ignored the horrified looks that crossed everyone's faces as they simultaneously stopped in their training to unabashedly stare at her. "Privately," she added for good measure.
"Can it wait?" Tigress asked, an annoyed frown tugging at her lips.
"Probably," Lin admitted. "But I'll be leaving for Shanghai tomorrow and I'd rather do this now."
The kung fu master still didn't look receptive to the request.
"Please," Lin added in the hope that it would make a difference.
She glared for another split second, then surprisingly enough, gave a curt nod. "Alright," she agreed, heading for the doors. "But I don't have much time."
"I'll take it." She followed Tigress out past the courtyard and down the stairs to the path that wound around the grounds, mainly for the sake of having a little privacy.
"Well, go on then," Tigress prompted, a little harshly. "What is it? Something about Master Shifu? About me? Or did you just want to make lewd jokes about your trip to Shanghai with Shifu? Because Mantis has already made sure that I've heard it all."
Lin held back her opinion that Mantis was her new favorite of all of Shifu's students, mainly for her own safety. "Actually, I wanted to talk about... Us." She winced, waiting for a punch to the face; luckily, it didn't come.
For a moment, Tigress just stared at her, mouth slightly open. Then she snapped her mouth shut and cleared her throat, her eyebrows knotting together in her confusion. "...You want to talk about us?"
"Yeah, I get it," she sighed. "I agree that it's not exactly characteristic of me. But believe it or not, I actually care how you feel about me."
"Assuming I do believe you... What exactly did you want to tell me?"
Lin had to admit, she hadn't expected the younger woman to give her a chance, but she was grateful for the opportunity. "Y'see, it's gonna be a while until we see each other again, and... I just wanna apologize for offending you and getting off on the wrong foot... And stuff."
Tigress stared down at her as if she'd grown a second head.
"Yeah, I know," she agreed. "Sure, you might hate me forever and ever, which is kinda scary to be honest. But you might not- and I'll never know that if I don't play nice. And if I gotta, I will bombard you with olive branches for the rest of my life. I know that sounded violent, but I swear it's not."
"But why?" Tigress finally asked, clearly perplexed.
"Well, I mean..." She paused to clear her throat. "This's gonna sound weird, especially if Shifu ain't toldya about it yet, but he and I used to... We used to have a thing. And I can't help but think that... That if I'd stuck around I mighta seenya grow up and all." She took a step back as Tigress's expression darkened and she realized she had said probably the worst thing possible.
"In my lifetime, I have faced thieves, bandits, marauders, assassins, traitors, rebels, and murderers," she spat out, "and yet you are by far the most manipulative person I have ever had the misfortune of crossing paths with."
"Really?" Lin couldn't help but think the accusation was going a little overboard. "But I wasn't trying to be manipulative or anything. I just- it matters to me, to have a good relationship with you. Or at the very least a civil one. I know I'm not the nicest person around, or the most congenial, but I'm doing my best."
"Why?" Tigress suddenly asked.
"Huh?"
"Why do you care about your relationship with me?" she pressed. "What does it matter?"
"You're Shifu's daughter, that's why it matters." Lin was starting to think Tigress was as dense as her father, if she didn't see what was going on.
"I suppose you haven't noticed yet," she grumbled, "but that doesn't exactly count for much."
Lin knew the comment had something to do with whatever Shifu had done to screw up his relationship with Tigress, and she was starting to get a good idea of what that was- mainly, she suspected, he'd been an ass to her just like he was an ass to everyone else. He clearly treated her like her opinion didn't matter (what a shocker) and to be honest Lin hadn't seen him pay any kind of personal attention to her at all. Whenever he had anything to say to the woman, it always had something to do with kung fu. "Look, I know how Shifu can be, but he does care. It's just... Well, don't take offense to this, but he's a gigantic dumb-shit, as I'm sure you've noticed by now."
Tigress glared at her, but didn't argue against her point; maybe she'd gotten through to the stubborn kung fu master. "Assuming Shifu does care about my relationship with you," she huffed, "why do you care?" Talk about tricky questions.
"You're his daughter," Lin pointed out, hoping that would suffice.
"So?" Apparently it didn't.
"So..." Lin glanced around to make sure no one else was in sight. "So he's my friend."
"Just your friend?" she pressed.
"I dunno," Lin blurted out. "I mean, yeah, I guess," she amended, though she knew she'd already dug herself into a hole so deep it hit the earth's core.
"You guess?" Tigress didn't sound too happy about her wording, either.
"I didn't mean that how it sounded," she argued, though she could see by the anger in Tigress's face that she was going to have to explain to avoid getting the snot beat out of her by an overprotective daughter. "Look, I love the jackass, okay?"
The anger in the tiger's face was instantly replaced by wide-eyed shock. "What?"
"You're probably the last person in the world who wanted to hear it, but it's true," she sighed. "I've loved him since the first time we ever met, and he had a sourpuss on 'cause he thought I smelled awful. And before you say anything, I'm aware of how messed up that is."
"Don't tell me that's the entire reason you're here." Tigress sounded extremely disbelieving, though Lin didn't blame her.
"Sorry."
"You must be joking!" she scoffed. "You- you- and Shifu- and you-"
"I just blew your mind, didn't I?" Lin observed, though she wasn't offended. After all, most people would have trouble believing such a thing was possible. In the eyes of most people, she was nothing more than a homeless old hag, and Shifu was the Grand Master of kung fu, eclipsed in power and prestige only by the Emperor himself. "Back when I was a young girl, I came here looking for a job. And Oogway, in his infinite wisdom, let me become the cook here. And somehow, that resulted in some sappy crap that involved me and Shifu falling in love. Except, he got over me, and I didn't exactly get over him. So now... I dunno. I guess I'm trying to win him back. Really, I just wanna be near him again, y'know?"
Tigress stared at her as if she had sprouted wings and flown directly into the sun.
"I guess you don't know."
"If this really is a joke," she finally said, "I will not be amused."
"Don't worry, it's not."
"And why are you telling me all this?" Tigress pressed, a concern frown tugging at the corners of her mouth. "What do you want?"
"That's a good call, thinking I want something," Lin complimented; the woman was more observant than she'd given her credit for. "This's entirely up to you and all, but I was hoping that after Shifu and I get back from Shanghai... That you and me could maybe start over. If you're okay with it."
"So let me get this straight," Tigress started slowly, the irritation in her tone of voice growing with every word. "You think that you can just ask me to pretend that you aren't a disrespectful harpy of a woman, and I'll do it because you apparently are in love with Master Shifu?"
"Please?" Lin added hopefully.
"Get out of my sight," she snapped, a dangerous glint in her fiery eyes. "Right now, before I do something I might regret."
"I'll giveya some time to think about it," Lin rushed out, then took Tigress's helpful suggestion and ran for it. As much as she'd have liked to convince the woman it was worthwhile to give her another chance, she couldn't exactly do that if she got eviscerated.
Once she got to the barracks, she made her way to the kitchen and sat down at the table, even though she wasn't hungry. It was just a nice place to sit and think, in her opinion. And while thinking was something she tended to do too much of, if at all, she figured it was as good a time as any. After all, Shifu was being a huge ass to her- more of an ass than she'd been expecting, which was an accomplishment- and his daughter would probably like her a lot better as a smear on the ground. His other students weren't exactly her friends, either, though they didn't seem bothered by her the way Tigress was. In fact, the only person in the valley who'd shown her any friendship at all was Po, a panda she barely knew.
That wasn't true. Shifu had given her a place to live, and stood up for her to his students. He'd even given her a job (despite the fact that he had yet to give her any assignments). And they'd had their moments, when they'd talked and he hadn't said anything horribly dick-like. Yet she couldn't help but feel as if something were missing... Like he would rather she wasn't around. Like no matter what he said to the contrary, he would be happier if she left.
"Give it 'til Shanghai, old girl," she muttered to herself, even though it was probably hugely neurotic to do so, then got up to make herself a pot of tea; she needed it.
The Hall of Warriors stood silent as always, a place of quiet dignity to house the artifacts of great kung fu masters. For many of the masters, the paintings of their heroic deeds and the weapons they had once used on the battlefield were all that remained. They were gone, and the only evidence that they had ever existed sat in a silent, lonely museum.
And for the first time, Shifu thought that they deserved better. "I am sorry, Master," he muttered, staring up at the painting of Oogway performing his morning tai chi underneath the peach tree. "I wish I could give you more than a painting on a wall." He wondered if his master could hear him, wherever the tortoise was. Probably not.
He wished he could still talk to Oogway and hear an answer back, no matter how frustratingly vague. Advice would have been wonderful right about then, but even so, he didn't care what his master had to say. He only wanted to hear that calm, wise voice again. Just one more time.
"What am I going to do?" he asked quietly, even though he knew no one could hear it. The question had been on his mind since he'd woken up that morning, long before sunrise, to prepare for the long journey to Shanghai. He'd been unable to shake the unmistakable feeling of dread since the night before, and somehow it had culminated in that one horrible question. He did not know what he was going to do about Tai Lung, about Lin, about Chen, about Po and Tigress and the Five... He was, for lack of a better word, lost. And, for the first time in his entire life, he had no one to look to for direction, or even for comfort. He was the one everybody was looking to now, and he was choking under the pressure. It reminded him of his first tournament, when he had frozen up with the cheering crowd watching him, expectant. Now the ones watching him, waiting for his next move, were the people he cared about. And that did nothing to help his nerves.
With a defeated sigh, he punched his fist into his palm and bowed to the small shrine. "If you are still here in any way, Master, please watch over my students while I am gone. Especially Po." He didn't exactly believe Oogway would have the power to do anything, but it was worth a shot.
His business done with and the sky beginning to lighten, Shifu left the hall and headed out to the front doors of the Jade Palace, where he was to meet Lin and begin their trip to Shanghai. He could already see from across the theater that she was ready to go with all of their supplies, tapping one foot impatiently as she waited for him. She had a grumpy expression on her face, and was undoubtedly still angry at him. He could already tell as he approached her that the next few weeks would be anything but pleasant.
Lin glared at him the moment he got near her, though he honestly had no idea what had prompted her ire. "It's barely been five seconds and you're already holding me up," she accused.
"What?" he asked incredulously; he'd bid his students farewell the night before so he would have time to show up to meet her at the gate early, and he'd even packed extra rations and a blanket for the colder weather.
"Lookit your clothes," she pointed out flatly.
He didn't see what was wrong with his clothing. "This is what I always wear!"
"Exactly," she groaned. "You're not even gonna try to disguise yourself? Not that I don't think you can handle a few bandits along the way, but just 'cause you can defend yourself doesn't mean you should walk around with a target painted on your back."
"My clothing is not that recognizable," he huffed. "It is made of burlap, for heavens' sake-"
"And what's this?" she accused, her hand darting out to grab hold of the cuff of his sleeve, then wave it at him. "It's embroidered with silver and gold," she answered herself. "Anyone with so much as a week's experience on the road'll spot that from the next province over. Go change, or I'm sending a message ahead to tell Chen to kick your ass."
"You do not need to be so abrasive about it," he pointed out, disgruntled at her attitude. "You are treating me like dead weight when if anyone should be staying behind, it is you!"
"I'm the one Chen contacted!" she shot back. "He didn't even wantya knowing about this!"
"And I am Tai Lung's father!" he snapped, and that did the job of quieting her arguments.
Her mouth became a tightly set straight line, an expression that was rare for her. "Please," she ground out quietly, as if the word caused her physical pain, "go put on something more... Peasant-like."
Despite his desire to stand up to her, the last thing he wanted was for her to be proven right during their travels; he would never hear the end of it. "Since you asked nicely," he shot back, because he knew it would annoy her. "I will only be a moment."
"Try to pull the stick outta your ass while you're at it," she shot at his retreating back, and somehow he managed to grit his teeth and ignore her.
He did, however, fume the entire time he was changing his clothes about Lin's unreasonable attitude. She acted as though he had no idea what he was doing, when he had traveled across China and back his fair share of times. He'd fought at the northern border and the western border, he'd faced bandits and assassins of every possible skill level, he'd wielded the Sword of Heroes, for crying out loud! He may be no spring chicken, but he could certainly handle a trip to Shanghai!
At the height of his fuming, he paused outside of the kitchen, the scent of rice porridge and fresh vegetables catching his attention. For a split second, he thought that Lin had returned to the barracks and started cooking, before he remembered that Po usually took on that particular responsibility. He peered into the room, surprised to see his student up before the gong; then again, Tigress was officially in charge as of that morning, and she had a knack for keeping the panda on his toes. "Good morning, Po."
"Bwah!" Po shouted, dropping the handful of chopped carrots he'd been about to put into the rice porridge in his surprise. "Master Shifu! I thought you were gone already."
"Oh?" he asked, taking on an accusing tone.
"Not that I want ya gone!" the panda amended, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "It's just that I didn't expect to hear your voice, so it, uh... Scared me. Not that ya scare me! I mean, you're my master, why would ya scare me? Not when you're in a good mood, anyway. Please say somethin', I'm startin' to feel kinda stupid."
"Relax, Po," Shifu sighed, shaking his head at the ridiculous rant. "I simply needed a change of clothing."
"Ah, okay," he accepted, visibly relaxing at the information. "It, uh, looks nice."
"No, it does not," Shifu argued as he glanced down at the simple brown burlap outfit he had put on to appease Lin; while it was very reminiscent of his normal clothing, this particular set was one that he'd had leftover from back before he'd even been named Master of the Jade Palace. He was a little proud of himself for being able to fit into the clothing at all, but it was still uncomfortably tight, and the sleeves felt a little too short. "But, that is the point."
"I'm sure Lin'll like it," Po commented, then immediately looked as though he regretted it.
He narrowed his eyes at his student, well aware of how much time the panda had been spending with Lin, lately. "What do you mean by that?"
"N-nothin'," Po stuttered, then began to chop scallions in a noticeable bid to avoid eye contact. "Just that, y'know how you guys are."
"No, I do not," Shifu replied, feigning calmness. "Please, enlighten me as to how 'us guys' are."
"Buh- uh-" The panda continued to fumble his words, clearly nervous about saying the wrong thing. "Well, you're like- uhm- and the two of ya- ah- well y'know."
"I know what?" he insisted.
"Just... Y'know," Po again reiterated, raising his eyebrows for emphasis.
After a moment of confused silence, Shifu finally caught on to what his student meant. "No!" he protested the moment it dawned on him. "No, you do not know! And neither do I! No one knows, do you understand?"
"Right, ya don't want anyone to know."
"No! That is not what I meant!" The last thing he needed was his students gossiping about him and Lin while he was gone. "There is nothing going on between myself and Lin," he clarified. "We are just two old friends, and nothing more."
"I understand," Po accepted skeptically, then glanced around before lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "But just between you an' me, this trip... Does it mean you guys're gettin' serious?"
"When you are done with breakfast," he snapped, "you had better get started with your fifty laps up and down the thousand steps."
"But I don't-" the panda paused when he caught sight of the glare Shifu shot at him. "Aw, man."
"Have fun. And don't do anything stupid while I am gone." With that, Shifu turned to leave, relieved to be done with the conversation.
Honestly, his student had some nerve, making assumptions about his relationship with Lin. Just because he had allowed her to move into the Jade Palace, she constantly hit on him, and they were taking a long trip together... Alright, so it looked bad. But there was no need to come up with wild ideas about him and Lin... Doing things together. He didn't even need to think about it to blush in embarrassment. He could only imagine the kinds of conclusions his students might have come to after hearing some of the vulgar things Lin had said to him in the past month. Clearly a talk was in order once he returned from Shanghai.
"May we go now?" he huffed as he returned to the front gate and an impatiently waiting Lin.
"I don't see why you need to ask me," she replied coldly. "It's not like I'm of any use."
He rolled his eyes at her; she'd been giving him attitude ever since she'd first told him of Tai Lung's presence in Shanghai. He supposed he'd offended her in suggesting that there was really no reason for her to go or for Chen to have contacted her of all people. He didn't see what was so offensive about pointing out the truth, though. "You are really starting to get on my nerves."
"Just another item on the long list of my obvious flaws," she replied sarcastically.
"That is it!" He was not about to deal with her bad attitude for their entire trip. "You are unbelievable! All I did was point out that you have absolutely nothing to do with Tai Lung anymore, and you have never had anything to do with kung fu, so it makes absolutely no sense for you to be in Shanghai!"
"Oh, is that all?" She started heading down the thousand steps toward the village, her squared shoulders a clear indication of her agitation.
"What do you want me to say?" he insisted as he followed after her. "Do you want me to say that I could not possibly do any of this without you? Because we both know that is not true. You haven't seen Tai Lung in over three decades!"
"Try months," she corrected over her shoulder. "Give or take a coupla weeks."
He stopped in his tracks at that assertion. "What?" He assumed she was just lying, or making some sort of insensitive joke.
"Oh, I didn't tellya about that?" she went on, taking on a false cheerfulness. "I made him some potatoes, we chatted for a bit. No big deal."
"You made him potatoes?" He was starting to think she might actually be telling the truth. "When?"
"When he first broke outta Chor Ghom, I guess."
He finally started to walk again, and caught up to her fairly quickly. "You're lying."
"Glad to hear thatya trust me." She paused to shoot him a cold look. "At least you didn't try to choke me like Tai Lung did."
"Oh, gods, you're not lying." It took him considerable effort not to trip and fall down the stairs as the truth sunk in- and the anger. "Why would you not tell me this?"
"Whaddaya mean?" she shot back. "I just toldya, didn't I?"
"What did you say to him?" Shifu pressed. "What did he say to you?"
"He didn't seem too happy to see me," she admitted. "But I managed to talk him outta killing me or beating me senseless, so that helped out a lot."
"I cannot believe you!" He grabbed her by the arm to get her to stop walking and look him in the face. "You were with Tai Lung before he came here to the Valley, and what did you do? You fed him! And then you just let him come here and-"
"I let him?" she interrupted. "So when you don't want me around I'm useless, but when you're mad at me for stepping aside, suddenly I'm capable of stopping one of the most powerful kung fu warriors in the damn world?"
"You have guns, don't you?"
"That woulda killed him!" she argued.
"He would have killed me, if it were not for Po!" he shot back.
"Well I didn't think he'd actually try to killya!"
"That is because you left," he pointed out. "You were gone, for over three decades! Tai Lung is not a child anymore, he is a grown and dangerous man!"
"Is that what this's about?" she suddenly asked.
"What?"
"You being angry at me, all of the time, for next to no reason. Okay, sometimes you got a reason, but most of the time I'm just left wondering what the hell's wrong withya. So is that what it's about? You still resent me for leaving?"
"Why would I still be angry about that?" he snapped. "It was years ago!"
"Yet you still brought it up in the middle of a fight!"
He wasn't sure what stung more about her accusation: the fact that she was right or the fact that she had called him out on it. "Well not everyone has as easy a time forgetting the past as you do."
"Sorry I didn't stick around to feedya and raise your kids!" she spat out sarcastically. "What'd you think, that you were gonna somehow 'tame' me and I'd realize the error of my independent ways and settle down forya?"
"You said you loved me!" he shot back. "I expected you to act like it and not leave me! I expected you to show some commitment!"
"I did!" she shouted directly in his face. "I showed commitment to my craft, to my ideals! I love art like you love kung fu, so don't you dare pretend you wouldn'ta chosen kung fu over me if you'd had to!"
He glared at her for her argument. "I would have never had to choose, and neither did you," he pointed out. "You did not leave because you needed to, you left because you wanted to. So don't you dare pretend otherwise."
"I shoulda known," she dismissed. "You don't get it, so why should I bother arguing?"
He was not about to let her get away with ending their fight like that; if this was yet another thing she didn't want to tell him, then too bad. "If I do not get it, then what is so difficult about explaining it to me?"
"'Cause no matter how hard I try, you refuse to put in the same effort!" she burst out. "It never even seems to occur to you that I'm trying in the first place! And this ain't just with talking to you, it's with everything! Sometimes I wonder if you even care!"
"I do care!"
"Then why can't you understand a single damn thing that comes outta my mouth?"
"Try me!" he insisted. "Try to explain to me!"
"Alright, I will," she accepted, though she still sounded skeptical. "You think if I'd stayed here, I coulda spoken out against the caste system in India, or the Spanish Inquisition, or the hypocrisy of the Catholic church in Rome? You think I'd even have any idea what was going on in the rest of the world?"
"What does that have to do with anything?" he argued. "You could have done plenty right here in China!"
"For how long?" she shot back. "Yeah, I wasn't a big concern when I left, that much is true. But it's treason to speak out against the Emperor or the empire in general, and punishable by death. How long d'you think it woulda been before I became enough of a nuisance to warrant Imperial soldiers traveling to the Valley? And then what? Even if you and Oogway kept me safe, I'd be trapped."
"So that is why you left?" he asked incredulously. "Because you felt like I trapped you?"
"See, this's what I'm talking about!" she growled. "I never said that! Look, I needed to be able to travel, alright? And don't you dare say I didn't, 'cause you clearly don't know me well enough to make that assertion! I toldya back then that I couldn'ta been happy spending my whole life here, and that was true. I was still just a kid, and I needed to experience life. And I knew I wouldn't be able to do that from your kitchen. I mean, look at it from your vantage point: what if you coulda been with me, but in order to do it you could never leave the valley again? You could never go out to help anyone beyond that stupid bridge, you probably wouldn't even be able to write a letter! Don't you think, if you'd ended up choosing me, you woulda died a little bit inside every day, knowing what you'd had to give up? So yeah, I am saying I felt trapped, but I never blamed you for that. I know you woulda wanted me to be happy, but that's just not the way things were."
He glared at her a moment, angry that she'd guilted him. "How did this fight even get started?" he grumbled.
"You were a dick to me," she replied without hesitation.
"I think you are just a little bit biased." He rubbed at his temple; throbbing headaches seemed to be a given whenever Lin was involved. "And perhaps I would be more inclined to not 'be a dick' if you were even slightly agreeable."
"This's as nice as I get," she snapped. "So quit trying to change the subject."
"I do not know what else to tell you! Clearly neither of us are about to budge. I am not going to change the way I feel simply because you told me you were unhappy. And you cannot show up out of nowhere after three decades and not expect a few complications."
She turned away from him again, and if he didn't know any better he'd say he saw some actual emotion in her expression. "I know," she grumbled. "I knew this'd be complicated. I knew it'd be confusing. And... I knew you wouldn't-" She stopped short there, then continued to walk down the steps.
"I wouldn't what?" He expected some sort of awful insult, and part of him wanted to hear it just so he could give back as good as he got.
"Ah, shit," she cursed. "Forget it."
He followed after her, of course; he wasn't about to let her get away with holding back after everything they'd just shouted at each other. "What is it?"
"I said forget it," she ground out.
"And I asked you to tell me," he returned, stepping in front of her to block her path. "You know I am faster than you. I can keep you here all day if need be."
She still tried to step around him, but he easily blocked her, even when she tugged painfully on his beard.
"What wouldn't I do?" he asked again.
"You're a dicktip, y'know that?"
He refused to budge, and she gave in much more easily than he would have expected.
"I knew you wouldn't care," she admitted quietly. "I knew it wouldn'ta mattered to you, whether or not you ever saw me again."
He stared at her, struck speechless. Not only was he stunned that she cared at all how he felt, but that in suggesting seeing her again wouldn't have matter to him, she was essentially saying that seeing him again did matter to her. Not only that, but she had a point; thanks to Po, he had begun to finally let go of all his anger and disappointment and attempt to live life again. And as slow as the process was, and as terrifying as stepping in as the Grand Master of kung fu was, and as much as he still missed his master and his son both, he'd felt for the first time in many years that he had started down a path to true happiness. And not once had he ever pictured Lin with him, not once had he wished she were there. "A-are you saying," he managed to stutter out once he worked up enough saliva to speak again, "that you came back here just to see me?"
"What the hell else is here for me?" she spat, though whether she was angry at having to admit it or angry at him for not feeling the same way, he couldn't tell.
Although, his main concern was trying to keep the slack-jawed expression of utter shock off his face; unfortunately, he failed at it.
She reached out, and for a split second he thought it might be in a gesture of tenderness. When she gave his shoulder a push, he realized he probably should have known better. "Get outta my way, already!"
He stayed right where he was. "Why?"
"'Cause I wanna walk!"
"No, I mean why me? Why did you come back to see me?"
"Lotsa reasons," she answered vaguely. "Now ain't the time to get into 'em."
"Why not?"
"'Cause if I tellya, it'll make the next coupla weeks really freakin' awkward."
He paused, wondering for the first time if he really wanted to know, especially with their journey still ahead of them. However, he couldn't keep his curiosity in check; what were these mysterious reasons that would make their journey so awkward? Did she need something from him that she hadn't mentioned yet? Did she need his help? "You're sure that telling me now would make our trip to Shanghai that much more unbearable?"
"Oh yeah," she confirmed. "Horrific."
In spite of himself, he believed her. "Alright," he grudgingly accepted. "But once we reach Shanghai, you are telling me."
"Maybe." It was as close to a deal as she was going to give him, so he didn't argue. "But for once, I got a stupid question for you."
"And you really think that you can ask me whatever you wish, when you refuse to tell me even the most basic information?"
"Yeah," she answered with a shrug.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, mainly because he knew he would let her have her way. "Go on, then."
"Did you miss me?" Her question caught him significantly off-guard, though.
"Yes!" He didn't see how she could believe otherwise, when she herself had pointed out his lingering resentment toward her for leaving China. "Why would I not miss you?"
"I guess what I meant was... Did it wear off, eventually?"
"Well... Yes. I suppose so." He couldn't help but feel guilty, having to admit it, even though he knew he shouldn't. "I, uhm... I thought I would never see you again. So I tried not to dwell on it. I mean, there were still times when I thought fondly of you."
"Relax, you're not on trial here," she sighed. "I just wanted to know. And anyway, you're still a huge dicktip."
"Of course," he grumbled. "I am always the one at fault."
"Not to mention you're always the one who refuses to apologize," she added.
He was starting to think that this fight would never end. "And what, precisely, do I even need to apologize for?"
She looked at him as if he had grown another head. "For treating me like I don't matter!" she answered, sounding scandalized.
"Lin," he growled, trying to keep his tone level, "you cannot get so offended every single time I point out that you know nothing about kung fu."
"Just 'cause I don't know kung fu, doesn't make me some useless old lump!" she snapped. "And even ifya don't think I belong there, the least you can do is try to act likeya want me around in general!" She shoved her hand into her bag and rummaged around for a bit before yanking out her calabash pipe.
"Must you smoke that stinky old thing?"
"At least this stinky old thing has a use for me," she shot back as she stuffed the thing full of tobacco. "And b'sides, it's the only thing keeping me from wringing your stinky old neck." She managed to light the pipe with only a single strike of her knife and flint, a skill apparently born out of practice.
"...You will be very good at starting fires," he admitted, mainly because he was sick and tired of fighting with her.
"Oh, stop," she replied sarcastically, "your flattery's embarrassing me." Then, like the rude old hag that she was, she blew smoke in his face.
He coughed, trying to wave the stuff away from his nose; it was much stronger than her usual tobacco, and rather than the fragrant, spicy scent her smoke usually carried this blend was heavy with the scent of rich earth and dark wood. "I am not going to apologize when I did nothing wrong!" he managed to wheeze out. "I meant it when I said that Chen should have contacted me about Tai Lung! He is my son and I thought he was dead! And no matter what is to be done with him, I have a right to be involved! And you- you gave up any such right when you left him behind, and left me to pick up the pieces!"
She glared at him, but didn't protest the points that he'd made. Then, shockingly, she conceded. "You're right."
"Of course I- wait- I am?" he sputtered, caught off-guard.
"Yeah, but don't get used to it," she muttered. "Anyway... Even though what you said is true, it's not my fault Chen wrote to me. And seeing as I worked up the nerve to tellya about it, you got no right to hold that against me." Unfortunately, she had a point.
"...Alright," he accepted.
"And I can still help, if you'll just calm yourself and gimme a chance. I wanna help."
"Alright." He paused, waiting for her to explode again, but nothing happened. "Does this mean the fight is over?" he asked hesitantly.
"I guess so," she confirmed. "For now, anyway." As terrible as it was, she was right. Then, after another awkward pause, she offered her pipe to him in an apparent show of good will. "Want some?"
"I will pass," he turned down, wrinkling his nose at the mere thought.
She laughed at his expression, though he didn't see what was so amusing about it.
"I ran into Po on my way to change clothes, by the way," he informed her in an attempt to use the story of the panda's ludicrous suggestion as his own peace offering. "You will not believe what he said to me,"
"That reminds me, turn around for me," she replied, motioning for him to spin around like a little girl showing off a new outfit.
With a long-suffering sigh, he gave in and did as she asked for the sake of expedience. "He actually had the nerve to suggest to me, his master, that there is something... Untoward going on between you and me."
She suddenly gave his rear-end a resounding slap, and he jumped in his surprise, his fur frizzing. "Mama likes what she sees." Apparently her mood had improved, not that it was any better for him.
"Mama will keep her hands to herself," he snapped, "or she will find herself divorced of them. Understood?"
"Y'know, sometimes it's pathetic, how obviously you want me," she commented off-hand before ignoring his angry expression and finally continuing down the steps; they really should have at least made it to the village by then, but he couldn't say he'd expected any different.
"That is funny, I could have sworn I just told you the exact opposite of that." If she was going to behave so childishly through their whole trip to Shanghai, he might arrive in the city bald from tearing his own fur out.
"Then why'd you put on that tight little number to show off your apple-bottom for me?" she shot back.
"This was all I had!"
"Sure it was."
"That is it," he grumbled. "I'm going back to change again."
"Aw, c'mon!" she argued, then grabbed his sleeve to stop him from stomping back up the steps and to the barracks. "We finally stop fighting for two seconds and now you're getting all uppity! When're you gonna lighten up? B'sides, aren'tya even a little flattered? I mean, after all these years, you still got it."
He paused at that assertion; as much as he knew that Lin rarely ever meant a single word that came out of her mouth, he actually did feel a little flattered. Perhaps he'd become naive in his old age. "...I suppose I could deal with these clothes, for now."
She smiled at him, then held out her hand, wiggling her fingers in invitation.
Begrudgingly, he took hold of her hand, even as he wondered what on earth was wrong with him. "Make one joke and I will destroy you," he threatened.
"Deal," she accepted.
He had to admit, it wasn't so bad walking along with her, hand in hand. He'd certainly thought of doing just that back when they'd had their little tryst, though Lin's aversion to physical contact had mostly ruined that particular dream. She certainly hadn't held onto that aversion, though. Thankfully.
"...Y'know, the hairy palms always make me wonder where your hands've been."
And, just like that, the moment was ruined.
"Do not talk to me!" he growled, yanking his hand away from hers.
"Why not?'
"Because I'd prefer for both of us to get to Shanghai in one piece. And if you talk to me, that will not happen." He didn't know if he'd be able to handle another two weeks on the road with her. He'd faced untold horrors in his lifetime, and none of them had even been half as bad as Lin. All he could do was hope that he didn't die of an aneurysm.
"But if I don't talk to you, how'm I supposed hit onya?"
He had a feeling his hope was in vain.
Notes:
Reference: the chapter title is a quote from Confucius, which is why it references eating meat despite the fact that the characters don't.
Chapter 7: Cooking Is Like Love: It Should Be Entered Into with Abandon or Not At All
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 7: Cooking Is Like Love: It Should Be Entered Into with Abandon or Not At All
Tai Lung had never been a huge fan of cities. Maybe it had something to do with his upbringing in a palace on top of a mountain, or maybe it had something to do with the fact that the less room people had in which to live, the more temperamental they became. And Tai Lung wasn't exactly a fan of people when they were well-tempered, so the idea of urban living often filled him with feelings of disgust and anger. Despite all this, he would have given anything to step foot outside of Chen's house, even for a moment.
He felt like a prisoner all over again, albeit in a much cushier prison than Chor Ghom had been. And at least he had someone to talk to, which went a long way toward keeping his sanity (though his sanity didn't last long once Yan-Yan started talking about her grandchildren). Most importantly, while he spent most of his time stuck up in the bedroom where he'd first awoken, he had plenty of time to plan. And while one would think the twenty years he'd spent in Chor Ghom would have given him ample time to plan, so many of those years had been wasted stewing in his own intense rage that he had become short-sighted. As humiliating as it had been, having the sense knocked out of him by that big, fat panda had helped him clear his head. Of course, that didn't mean that his anger had faded; what it did mean was that he had finally begun to learn to not allow his rage to cloud his mind. The first step had been admitting to himself that his temper affected his thinking to begin with, and while it had not been easy, that fact had been made painfully clear to him by the panda.
Now that he'd been defeated, now that Chen had picked him up and decided to give him a "second chance," he had all the time he needed to plot his vengeance. Shifu and the panda would both pay for taking his entire life's purpose away from him. All he had to do was go along with whatever the little raisin wanted him to do, and hopefully he'd be able to make it back into the Valley of Peace without raising any suspicion. He'd lay low, learn their greatest weaknesses... And then strike. So what if the panda was the Dragon Warrior? It wasn't as if Oogway had actually written anything in that damn scroll, the old coot. "Dragon Warrior" was just a title, and he'd show them all that he was better than that, that he was above a meaningless label. His loss to the panda had been a fluke- one that would not happen twice.
"G'morning, kitty," a gravelly voice greeted as the door swung open and Chen hopped into the room. "Having another one of your brooding sessions?" he mocked.
"I wouldn't expect a dried up turd like you to understand what it is like to lose everything." Tai Lung stopped the pacing he'd been doing around the small bedroom and crossed his arms. "What it is like to have to start your life all over again."
"See, ya think I give a shit. Wrong. In fact, while ya talk, I'm thinking, 'How can I give less of a shit?' That's why I look interested."
Tai Lung glared at the old raisin, his hackles rising. "Mark my words, old man-"
"No thanks," Chen interrupted.
He wanted desperately to crush the rodent, but he managed, barely, to hold himself back; if he could just bide his time until Lin arrived and the two annoying coots inevitably decided to send him back to the Valley of Peace, he'd have a clear shot at the panda and at Shifu. And this time around, no one would stand in his way. The thought calmed him, and he settled on just glaring daggers at Chen. "How much longer are you going to keep me locked up in here like an unwanted twin?"
"Just until a bunch of old windbags get together and decide your fate forya." At least he was honest. "Speaking of which, I got someone forya to meet."
"Absolutely not."
"Get your ass in here," Chen snapped over his shoulder, and just like that yet another person knew about Tai Lung's presence in Shanghai.
A raccoon dog with thick white fur and blue eyes magnified by gigantic glasses peered at him from the doorway, a confused expression on its face. It looked like a rather old man, though Tai Lung doubted he could be any older than Chen.
"What the devil is this, now?" he grumbled; the last thing he needed was someone else harassing him.
"This's Wei-Shan," Chen informed him, a disgruntled frown in place. "And a little respect'd be nice."
He'd heard of Wei-Shan; the man hadn't done as much of note in kung fu history as Chen had, though he had accompanied the little raisin on many of the rodent's famous missions and had retrieved the Invisible Trident of Destiny from the demons of the Yellow Sea, thanks to his then incredible eyesight. Apparently that particular attribute hadn't lasted.
"You're fluffier than I'd imagined," Wei-Shan commented by way of greeting.
"Get him away from me," Tai Lung growled, glowering first at Chen, then at the soon-to-be-disembowled Wei-Shan.
"Oh, I'm sure we'll be fast friends," Wei-Shan dismissed, as if he hadn't even heard the snow leopard. "Chen reacted the same way when we first met, and now look at us."
"I'd rather not." And he meant that quite literally; the last people he wanted to lay eyes on were a couple of wrinkly old men.
"Aren't you going to say hello to me?" Now that was more like it; Yan-Yan appeared in the doorway, an exasperated frown stuck on her face.
"Yan-Yan!" Wei-Shan blinked back at the woman, even going so far as to adjust his glasses. "You look different than I'd expected."
"Well it's been a few years," she huffed, then self-consciously smoothed out her lilac hanfu, despite the fact that it was completely unnecessary. "Gravity tends to take its toll."
"What, exactly, is the point of this little gathering?" Tai Lung cut in, before the topic of conversation could be completely derailed. He had better things to do with his morning than listen to an attractive woman whine about being unattractive.
"You're meeting Wei-Shan 'cause he's gonna help us decide your fate," Chen informed him.
"And I'm forcing you to eat this," Yan-Yan added, then pulled out something wrapped in a banana leaf from her sleeve. "Not the leaf, of course, but what's inside." She shoved the thing into Tai Lung's hands, and he opened the leaf to peer down at some sort of dark green, glutinous log.
"Do I even want to know what this is?" he grumbled.
"Looks like some sort of grass jelly," Wei-Shan commented, apparently unaware of how unhelpful he was.
"Actually, the green comes from algae," Yan-Yan corrected.
Tai Lung could only glare at her, scandalized that she would even think about trying to feed him such slop.
"Oh, don't be a baby," she scolded. "Algae is very good for you, and it doesn't taste that bad. It's like Wei-Shan said, it tastes like grass."
"Lovely," he grumbled, but downed the chewy concoction anyway; it did indeed taste like grass, but also a little bit like vomit. "Eurgh," he coughed out after swallowing the thing. Still, Yan-Yan had yet to let him down with her disgusting variety of medicines. Each and every one, while barely edible, had invigorated him and noticeably improved his health. Sometimes, though, he had to wonder if the awful taste was intentional- especially when she made his medicine immediately after he'd said something to annoy her.
She rolled her eyes at him. "Why is it that the men who think they're the toughest always act like the biggest babies?"
"You are treading dangerous territory," he warned her.
"You two are pretty funny," Wei-Shan suddenly cut in, observing them as if their behavior was somehow foreign to him.
"Funny 'haha' or funny 'weird?'" Yan-Yan asked, skepticism clear in her voice.
"A little of both."
"This is ridiculous!" Tai Lung snapped, fed up with being trotted out and shown around like a trophy wife. "I do not want to speak to any of you. And if you have nothing important to say to me, then get out!"
"It's my house, I'll do what I want," Chen argued, as obstinate as ever.
"Your accent is pretty unusual," Wei-Shan observed, as if the current conversation meant absolutely nothing to him. "Then again, you have been in prison for a long time. I don't think it's a snow leopard thing in general, though, because I was acquainted with Lady Wu-"
"Hey," Yan-Yan suddenly interrupted. "There's some more of my daughter's seasonal jam in the kitchen. You two like oranges, don't you?"
"Ooh, oranges." Wei-Shan walked out of the room, completely distracted by the jam in question.
Chen glared at her a moment, then Tai Lung, then back to her. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do," he ordered harshly, then hopped off after Wei-Shan.
Tai Lung couldn't believe that Yan-Yan had actually taken his side, not that he owed her any thanks. "Tell me, is Wei-Shan... Senile?"
"No," Yan-Yan sighed. "He's just... Him. He grows on you after a while."
"How long is 'a while'?"
She snorted at the question, though it hadn't been a joke. "So how are you feeling today?"
"Like I no longer have any reason to stay in this old man's house," he growled, then sat down cross-legged on his bedroll; of course, that was a complete bluff. He still had a vague plan in place, after all.
"Hm," she replied, putting her hand on her chin and tilting her head a bit as she assessed him.
He resisted the urge to shift uncomfortably under her gaze; it wouldn't do to show any weakness.
Then, she threw her hands in the air and let them drop back down to her sides with a loud slap. "You don't," she announced.
He blinked back at her, unsure if he'd heard correctly. "...What?"
"If you want to leave, there's really nothing stopping you," she elaborated. "Aside from the whole being an outlaw thing, but I'm sure you could figure that part out if you wanted to."
Tai Lung had no idea how to reply to that particular bit of information; even if he was completely healed and had no reason to stay with Chen, he would have never expected Yan-Yan to tell him. She was, ultimately, on the little raisin's side, after all. "Is this reverse psychology?"
"It's the truth," she shot back. "I'm a doctor, Tai Lung. Doctors don't lie to their patients."
"I think you like me," he pointed out with a raised eyebrow.
"How astute," she observed sarcastically. "What tipped you off, that time that I told you I like you?"
"I meant romantically," he huffed, scowling at her attitude.
"Oh my," she sighed, shaking her head at him. "Are you trying to seduce me over to the dark side?"
He couldn't hold back the slightest bit of a blush at her suggestion of him doing that with her. He still couldn't believe that a middle-class woman like Yan-Yan could be so forthright. "There is no need for such brutish tactics."
"I didn't really think so." She actually sounded disappointed. "I am quite a bit older than you. And in my experience, most men aren't too fond of the age difference when the roles are reversed."
"Stop it right there!" he snapped before she could go on and on forever with her insipid whining. "I do not want to hear any of your complaining today. It is maddening and I think it very well may send me into another rampage."
She laughed at the comment, as if she thought he was making another joke, then sat down beside him. "So are you saying you find me attractive?"
"A eunuch would find you attractive," he blurted out; what he'd been thinking when the words passed his lips, he had no idea.
"Too bad all the good eunuchs are taken already," she hummed, apparently unfazed by his comment. "Then again, it was marrying a man generally considered to be 'good' that got me into my current predicament." She turned to him and gave him a warm, incredibly sweet smile. "Food for thought, hm?"
"Yes," he agreed, trying to edge away from her with as much subtlety as possible.
She caught him at it, anyway. "Why so nervous? Surely a big, strong kung fu warrior such as yourself has nothing to fear from little old me."
"Of course not," he agreed. "I am simply a little overheated."
"I know something that could help with that." Yan-Yan leaned in closer to him, her smile growing. "Trust me. I'm a doctor."
He knew it would be far too risky to "fraternize with the enemy," as it were. After all, as attractive as Yan-Yan was, her loyalties remained with Chen, while his decidedly did not. It would be idiotic, ignorant, and weak of him to give in to the woman, despite his... Curiosity. Certainly he hadn't missed anything, in abstaining for the entirety of his adult life; just a whole lot of drama for a few fleeting moments of pleasure. It was a ridiculous way to live, and he was above all of that. And no curvaceous temptress was going to bring him down by simply batting her eyes at him. So, he opened his mouth to tell her exactly where she could go. "...Alright, then."
"Aloe juice it is!" she suddenly exclaimed, jumping to her feet with an excited clap. "It's about time someone around here helped me drink it. I'll go make a batch right now."
He watched her bustle out of the room, utterly stumped. "Women," he huffed in his frustration.
Shifu wondered, and not for the first time, why the universe seemed to enjoy torturing him so much. He'd thought he'd paid his dues when his own son tried to kill him, but apparently he'd thought wrong. Now, on top of having to travel to Shanghai to decide what to do with said son, he had to deal with Lin through the entire trip. It had been five days, and already she was wearing on his last nerve. First, she'd made a huge scene about taking the trade route- apparently she didn't want to be seen by authorities. When he had attempted to assure her that no one remembered her, she'd simply replied, "I mighta kinda sorta stirred up a little trouble on my way down here." He'd given up after that, and followed her lead to a much smaller, much more unkempt back road frequented mostly by criminals. After that, she had annoyed him with insipid traveling games like "I spy" and had pouted like a child when he'd refused to play. And whenever he attempted to start any conversation at all with her, she somehow managed to turn it into some sort of come-on or filthy joke. Not to mention that every single time he stopped for a bathroom break, without fail, she felt the need to loudly remind him that, "More'n two shakes is playing with yourself!"
He was slowly but surely going insane.
He glanced behind him as they made their way up a tiny dirt road, overgrown with weeds and grass, rice paddies visible in the distance; Lin was very clearly staring at his backside. "Hey!"
"Hm?" she asked, apparently unconcerned that she'd been caught.
"Keep your eyes above the belt, please," he huffed, embarrassed by her behavior.
"Oh, like you don't stare at mine every chance you get," she shot back, but thankfully raised her gaze to eye level. "How much longer until we make camp?"
"Not long," he replied grudgingly; the sun had sunk quite close to the horizon, and if they didn't stop soon they wouldn't have enough daylight to be able to build a fire. Not that that was any problem; he'd been right when he'd admitted that Lin would be good at getting a fire started. She usually had the task done before he'd even finished gathering firewood. The problem was actually sleeping near Lin- mainly because the weather had begun to cool, and the nights were often accompanied by a bitter chill. He suspected it wouldn't be long until they needed to huddle together for warmth, and he couldn't help but dread it.
"Why don't we just stop now?" she suggested, gesturing to some bushes looming out of the underbrush off the side of the road. "Look, shelter and privacy."
He doubted they'd find a much better spot, so he conceded. "If you insist."
She practically ran to the bushes and he followed her to a relatively secluded space behind one. "Guess what these are!" she suddenly exclaimed, poking at the oval leaves with a grin.
"Plants," he replied flatly, dropping his bag on the ground and pulling out some of the rations he'd packed: dumplings, courtesy of Po.
"They're honeysuckle," she told him.
"Fascinating." He picked a spot for their fire and cleared some of the grass from it while Lin watched him, her expression growing disgruntled as the silence between them stretched on.
"Oh, get bent," she suddenly snapped, carelessly dropping her own bag.
"What?"
"You heard me. Get bent." With that, she marched off, presumably to find something to use as kindling.
He decided to ignore her outburst, whatever it had been about. He had better things to do with his time, anyway. It didn't take long to get enough wood together for a fire; he admittedly took most of it from the surrounding bushes, not that they couldn't spare a few branches. After Lin returned, arms full of firewood and dried grass, she took to building the fire while he... Watched. There wasn't much else to do; they had opted against a tent, Lin insisting that it added unnecessary bulk, especially since it wasn't the rainy season; he'd been inclined to agree, for once. And the dumplings merely needed to be heated over a flame, so he didn't need to prepare them. So, he watched her bring a crackling fire to life in awkward silence, uncomfortable at the sour expression that lingered on her face.
She grabbed the dumplings from him and skewered them onto a couple of the honeysuckle branches, then threw one at him rather carelessly before holding her own over the flames.
"I give in," he grumbled, glaring at her. "What did I do now?"
"Like you don't know," she scoffed, hunching her shoulders as she very clearly sulked.
"Is this some sort of hormonal thing?"
She grabbed a clod of dirt and threw it at him for the question, but it had been worth it. "Go to hell."
"Not until I know why you want me there," he replied. "How do you expect me to know what you are angry about when you won't tell me?"
"That just pisses me off even more!" She pulled one of her dumplings off of the stick, popping it into her mouth and chewing sullenly.
"Well excuse me for not being a mind-reader!" He reached over and snatched her dumplings away from her, partly out of spite, but mostly so she wouldn't have an excuse to ignore him.
"Hey!" She grabbed for the stick several times, but he was too fast for her, and each grab she made was easily dodged. "Stop it! I'm hungry, dammit!" She tried to grab hold of his arm to stop it from moving, but again, he dodged. "You're a dick!" And then she tackled him.
He hadn't exactly been expecting that, and she'd moved faster than he'd thought she could; as a result, he found Lin sitting in his lap, pinning him down by the shoulders. "Don't be a child," he huffed, and managed to sit up with relative ease. "Now get off of me."
"I want my dinner back," she ground out, grabbing at his arm again.
"Then tell me why you are angry!"
"Hello!" she spat out. "Honeysuckles? Ring a bell?"
"Not particularly."
She let out a disgusted grunt and actually voluntarily climbed out of his lap to sit at the opposite side of the fire, her back turned to him. "Forget it, I'm not hungry anymore."
"What about honeysuckles?"
"I said, forget it."
He wondered what on earth she could possibly be so angry about- something to do with honeysuckles- "Ohhhh- oh!" It suddenly hit him; he had given her honeysuckles, once. She'd squealed in delight and sucked on the sweet nectar, adorable in her simple enjoyment of the flowers. "I remember now."
"Too late," she answered, maddeningly enough.
"Well I apologize for not instantly remembering every single moment of our former relationship!" he shot back sarcastically.
"I thought I toldya to forget it!" she snapped. "Leave it, drop it, whatever."
"Aren't you the one who is all for forgetting the past, anyway?"
"Yup, that's why we're dropping the subject."
He honestly couldn't understand why she had gotten so annoyed over such a simple thing, but he wasn't about to let her skip dinner and then keep him up all night complaining about her hunger. So, he got up and joined her at the other side of the fire, practically forcing her dinner back on her. "...What else do you remember?"
"Everything," she answered shortly, biting into a dumpling.
"There is no way that you remember everything," he pointed out. "I am sure there is something I remember that you do not."
"Remember that time I toldya to get bent?"
"Fine, refuse to admit you are wrong. It is not as if that is anything new." He watched her chew sullenly on her food, waiting for an answer, but got none. "You know you are wrong," he suddenly realized. "That is why you're so angry at me for pointing it out."
She held up her hand, pinching her index finger and her thumb together. "I am this close to punching you in the dick."
"Now that I remember," he replied with a wince as he thought back on all the times, intentionally or not, she had hit him in the crotch. Especially when she had kneed him there for kissing her. "Is that some sort of price of admission for you?"
She punched him, but in the arm instead- which meant she thought what he'd said was funny.
As annoyed as he'd been by her temper, he couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic. "Do you know what else I remember?" And it couldn't hurt to get her into a better mood, either- for his own sake, if for no other reason.
"How much of an ass groper you were?" she sniffed, though there was a note of amusement in her voice.
"Besides that." He couldn't exactly deny that accusation. "I remember how ticklish you were." He caught a glimpse of the horrified look dawning on her face before his hands darted out and found her sides.
The shriek she let out was nothing short of inhuman, not to mention ear-piercing. She managed to wriggle away from him due to his distraction, caused by a combination of her screaming and the fact that he couldn't help but laugh at the way she still behaved like a toddler at the slightest tickle. The annoyed frown on her face, accompanied by an angry blush, only made him laugh even harder. Then, she reached out and yanked on his beard.
"Ouch!" He batted her hand away, and while that had put a stop to his laughter he was still rather amused.
She seemed soothed by the small act of revenge, and relaxed a little. "Y'know, I don't think I've heardya laugh in over thirty years."
"Oh, come now. I laugh just as much as anyone else."
"Not around me." She eyed him critically, and he tried desperately to resist her guilt techniques.
"You could bear to be a little nicer to me," he grumbled.
"Ditto," she shot back. "You've been acting like a jackass a lot lately, and I mean more'n usual. Y'know, some of the stuff you've said..."
"What?" he pressed, raising his eyebrows at her; it was rare that she was the one who wanted to have a serious discussion while he was trying to lighten the mood. He wasn't sure if he liked the role reversal.
"That thing you said, when we were fighting about Tai Lung. And you implied I shoulda shot him. Didya really mean that?"
"I don't know," he huffed. "When Tai Lung first returned to the valley, it was a kill or be killed situation. You cannot expect me to simply do nothing."
"But do you want Tai Lung dead?" she asked.
"No, of course not," he denied immediately. "But a lot of unwanted things happen in life. It cannot be helped."
"You could always try my patented technique," she offered, and when he gave her an inquisitive look she elaborated. "You could just not do anything you don't wanna do."
He rolled his eyes at her. "I cannot. I have lives in my hands, at any given time, and my decisions affect those lives dramatically. Not all of us have the luxury of doing whatever we want. Some of us must do things we do not want to do, for the sake of others."
Rather than insult him or argue with him as he'd expected, Lin actually smiled at him. "I always liked that about you, that you wanna protect people. I been all over, so trust me when I say it's a rarity."
"Oh?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her. "So you do not think I am full of it this time?"
"I never said that," she shot back. "I mean, of course you're always gonna be full of it. That's just the way you are. But at least this time you got noble intentions."
He resented the implication that it was simply in his nature to be "full of it," but he knew nothing he could say would change Lin's mind. "I am only speaking the truth. It is my duty as a master of kung fu to work for the greater good, regardless of my own wishes. Sometimes in spite of them." He paused as a memory floated up from his mind, unbidden: the day Tai Lung was taken to Chor Ghom, when it had been his duty to inspect Oogway's debilitating contraption and to see the rhino guards to the gates of the palace; he had avoided his son's gaze at all costs, already knowing the hatred and betrayal that would be there. That had been the last time he'd seen the snow leopard for twenty long years. "Kung fu is not about doing what I want, it is about doing the right thing."
She apparently sensed the memories attached to his words, and took on a much gentler tone. "Those can be the same thing, a lotta the time. I think it's the same thing now, with what we're doing."
"What if it is not?" he asked. "I... I have always had Master Oogway to tell me the right path, however vaguely or metaphorically. Now, I do not know if I will make the right choices."
"Welcome to everyone else's damn life." She elbowed him in the side, which he supposed was meant to be a comforting gesture. "You really think that after you were raised and taught by someone like Oogway, that after seventy years of experience, you can't make your own decisions?"
"When you put it that way I just sound pathetic and dependent," he grumbled.
"It's called perspective. Get some." With that, she finished off the last of her dumplings.
He glared at her, even though he knew that she was right. "Your sensitivity and nurturing instinct are enough to sooth the most frazzled of nerves," he observed sarcastically. "I can only imagine how the children of Bao Gu must have loved you."
She surprised him by actually talking about her experience. "Well, the bad kids liked me."
"Why?"
"'Cause I yelled at 'em. They were real young though- in a coupla years, they'd hate that kinda treatment." She got up and pulled her blanket out of her bag, spreading it on the ground beside the fire. "Kids're weird, and kinda annoying. That's why I never liked 'em much."
"Then perhaps it was for the best that you left," he mused. "I shudder to think how you might have reacted to Tigress."
"Assuming you woulda just showed up with her one day- which I know is exactly whatya did- I woulda killed you. And that's not an exaggeration."
He could only imagine. "Perhaps this is not the best subject of conversation for us."
"It's getting late, anyway," she accepted. "Put out the fire, willya?"
He nodded, then took a moment to lay out his own blanket before smothering the campfire with dirt, so they could preserve their drinking water. "This sort of reminds me of how you always used to coerce me into doing the dishes."
"It's basically the same principle." She crawled under her blanket and curled up, clearly uncomfortable without her little mountain of pillows. "...Y'know, I always liked your laugh."
"Oh?" He probably shouldn't have been so interested in the proclamation, but he couldn't help himself.
"I probably shouldn't tellya this, but it used to make me weak in the knees."
"Not anymore?" He realized after the words left his mouth that he had begun to flirt with her, and he scolded himself; the last thing he needed to deal with on their trip was to give Lin any reason at all to continue harassing him.
"Like I said, tonight was the first time I heard it," she hummed, sounding rather pleased with his flirtatious question. "But it still did the job pretty well, I think."
He blushed and turned away from her to settle down for the night, himself. He was surprised to find how incredibly cold the ground felt, and while the blanket offered some warmth he had a feeling that once his embarrassment wore off he would be shivering.
"What, you're embarrassed, now?" Of course, she couldn't just leave well enough alone.
"Why don't we drop it, hm?"
"Fine, I'll just snuggle up in my nice warm blanket and drift comfortably off to sleep." She was absolutely evil; she clearly knew he was cold, and was only taunting him.
"You cannot tell me you are not cold."
"I have thick fur." She had something of a point, there.
While he was loathe to admit it, his fur had grown thin as he'd aged and as such, he found himself not quite as well insulated against the cold as he'd once been. He took a moment to thank the gods that Lin had yet to return to the valley when he had once mistaken sneezing powder for a hair growth potion. "So you are not concerned at all? It will only get colder as the night goes on."
"...It's a little chilly," Lin admitted, though that was something of an understatement. "But you're right, the temperature's only gonna drop more as it gets later. It'd probably be best to huddle up for warmth." To her credit, she did not make a sexual joke.
"Well..." He wished there was some way to avoid it, but sharing a bed with Lin seemed inevitable. "Bring your blanket over here."
"Get up," she ordered as she approached, and while the order annoyed him he still sat up, well aware of what she was planning. She grabbed his blanket from him and tied two corners to her own, then laid the two on the ground.
"I see you have done this before," he remarked as he lay down and awkwardly shuffled close to her while she tied the other two corners of the blankets together around them, effectively cocooning them.
"'Course I have, I spent more'n half my life on the road." She turned to look at him, despite how uncomfortable their proximity made such an action. Then, she reached up and placed a hand on top of his head. "Hey, you're balding."
"Wha- no I am not!" he argued immediately, his hands flying up to feel the spot she'd just touched. "You must be mistaken. I may have lost a little fur, but I am most certainly not balding!"
"Relax," she replied with a chuckle. "It's kinda cute."
The comment stung more than a joke at his expense would have. "We will see how cute I am when I kick your behind all the way to Shanghai."
"Ifya mean that in a kinky way, then you got a deal." It had only been a matter of time before she'd started in on the sexual comments.
"I would prefer it if you did not say things like that while we are pressed up together," he grumbled. "It makes me worried about where your hands might travel."
"You wouldn't be so worried ifya knew what they could do," she shot back, grinning. "But I guess it's your loss. I'll keep the come-ons to myself for now."
He found himself surprised that she had accepted his request so easily, but he was too tired and too relieved to not have to worry about sexual harassment while he tried to sleep to question it. "Thank you." He allowed himself to settle in, laying on his back arm-to-arm with Lin, and began to drift off.
"Hey, Shifu?"
He should have known she'd never let him fall asleep. "What is it?" he muttered, keeping his eyes closed in the hopes that she would stop talking and allow him to rest.
"...Can we spoon?"
At that question, though, his eyes flew open. "What?" He stared aghast at Lin as she frowned at his reaction.
"I'm still kinda cold," she huffed, though a blush was forming in her cheeks. "I toldya I wasn't gonna make fun of your prudishness anymore, and I meant it. And like you said, it's only gonna get colder."
He supposed he should count himself grateful she hadn't suggested they undress; besides, she had a point. "If you so much as giggle I will go to Shanghai on my own," he warned.
"Fair enough." She turned on her side and he stared at her for a moment, wondering how to maneuver around her large, fluffy tail. "Oh, for the love of..." she muttered, then reached back, grabbed her tail, and moved it out of the way.
"How did you know that was why I hesitated?" he asked as he joined her, still a little shocked that she hadn't insisted on being the big spoon.
"Experience," she answered simply, and he was grateful she didn't bother to elaborate.
"Ah, I see." He held his left arm up for a moment, unsure of what to do with it; he couldn't really relax his arm without somehow embracing Lin, and the situation had already become extremely embarrassing.
She once again seemed to read his mind. "We're already spooning," she pointed out. "You might as well just put it wherever."
He settled on draping his arm over her side and allowing his hand to rest lightly on her stomach. He resisted the urge to ask her if she was alright with it; she had just told him to put his arm wherever. And, though he would never admit it out loud, he enjoyed the feeling of her sagging little bulge of a stomach against his hand, the rhythm of her body as she breathed, and her scent of freshly dug earth, that smell that hadn't changed in over three decades. He jumped a little when she placed her hand over his, but he didn't pull away; her calloused palm against the back of his hand was more comforting than he could ever tell her.
"Shifu, I..." There was a gentleness to her voice that hadn't been there before, and it reminded him of how fragile the moment was. "...I meant it, when I said the balding thing was cute."
He got the feeling she had wanted to say something different, but he was smart enough to know he shouldn't ask. "Thank you."
She moved back a bit, cuddling up against him, then let out a happy sigh and, as far as he could tell, fell asleep.
He had a feeling that he would not be so lucky.
"Po, widen your stance. Crane, loosen up a little, your form is looking stiff. Mantis, don't you dare laugh. Monkey, quit playing with your staff and get on the obstacle course. Mantis, I told you not to laugh! Viper-"
"Here," Viper interrupted, handing Tigress a cup of chamomile tea. "Calm down for a minute, okay? You always get so stressed out when you're in charge."
Tigress eyed the cup, then hesitantly grabbed it and took a sip. She had to admit, when it came to chamomile Viper always had the best stuff. "Thank you," she sighed, grateful for the small gesture. "I'd like you to work with Po at some point today. He could use the practice with speed and agility, and I know he responds well to your criticism."
"That's because I'm constructive," she replied, giving her friend a pointed stare.
"I'm constructive!" Tigress argued, then caught sight of Crane faltering ever so slightly on the Jade Tortoise. "Crane!" she barked, causing the avian master to jump a little. "Didn't I just tell you to loosen up? What is the matter? It's not like your mother's watching you!"
He nodded in acceptance, but she could have sworn he muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like, "No, but you are."
"That was not constructive," Viper pointed out. "You're worse than Master Shifu after he eats something that upsets his stomach!"
Despite all of her efforts not to, Tigress thought of Lin and her horribly spicy curry. "Viper, just... Don't." She reached up to massage her temple as she watched her fellow kung fu masters practice with little to no enthusiasm whatsoever. "Alright, that's enough!" she called out, fed up with their performance. "Meditation until lunchtime!" she ordered. "Then perhaps some of you will actually be able to focus."
The others stopped what they were doing and left together, giving each other looks that clearly said they thought she was on a power trip. She didn't care.
"Tigress," Viper whispered as she watched the guys leave, "what's this really about?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," she denied, crossing her arms. "I am doing my best to ensure that things run smoothly while Master Shifu is... Away." She'd been unable to control her voice at that last part, and it came out of her mouth with unexpected venom.
Viper, being the most observant of her friends, caught on immediately. "It's okay if you're jealous," she replied gently. "My sisters and I fought with each other all the time over our father's attention. I mean, I always won, but we still fought."
"As enlightening as that was," Tigress grumbled, "I am not jealous. I don't have anything to be jealous over!"
"Come on, Tigress," she argued. "I know you better than that! Master Shifu is your father, and there's nothing wrong with wanting his affection and approval. And there's nothing wrong with being jealous when someone else you barely know gets it."
"Viper-"
"I understand, also, that you don't like Lin, but you should try to keep in mind that she's not the one you're really angry at."
"Well, she's an asshole!" Tigress snapped, then shut her mouth, her eyes widening at the exclamation that had burst from her mouth before she'd been able to stop herself.
Viper seemed pretty taken aback, too. "Oh. Um..."
"Sorry," Tigress grumbled. "That was... Building up for a while."
"No, I get it." Viper patted her arm with the end of her tail, and she felt like a child.
"She told me that... She said that she and Shifu were once involved. Seriously."
"Seriously?" Viper repeated. "How seriously?"
"Forever seriously, it sounds like." She grimaced just thinking about it.
"Whoa. That's news. So what happened?"
"She left." Tigress gritted her teeth at the nerve of the woman, returning as if it were nothing after she had clearly hurt Master Shifu. "And now she thinks she can just come back and pretend she belongs here, and Master Shifu-" She cut herself off, shaking her head. What was the point in talking about it, anyway? It wasn't like anyone else could understand. "She's an old con-artist, and I don't trust her. And that's that."
"What did she say to you, exactly?" Viper asked, a look of concern crossing her face.
"Nothing," Tigress sighed. "It was nothing. No, that's not true... I think she was trying to tell me she wants to be my mother."
"Whoa," the serpentine master exclaimed. "Talk about crossing a line! I mean, whoa. Are you... Are you okay?"
Tigress didn't answer. She wasn't okay, of course; she was mad as hell. But she wasn't sure if she wanted to talk to her friend in depth about it; Viper was the kind of person who liked to ask questions, as if that were somehow helpful. And it wasn't.
Viper cleared her throat after the silence had stretched to an awkward length. "Well... Wow. I guess she's really planning to stick around. And is... Really involved with Master Shifu. Weird. I mean, she's not his type at all-"
"Oh, ew, Viper," she interrupted. "You know what Master Shifu's type is? Wait, don't answer that."
"Like you don't remember that incident with my seamstress," she shot back. "Or remember Winter Feast four years ago? When Master Leopard almost beat him to a pulp? Not to mention the Wu Sisters-"
"Don't remind me of the Wu Sisters," Tigress pleaded. Wu Bai in particular was a notorious flirt, and tended to use that to her advantage in battle. Even Crane had been distracted by the assassin, and it took a lot to distract Crane.
"Anyway, just... Calm down," Viper advised. "You have about a month until you see either of them again. Use this time to focus on you."
"...On me?" she asked warily.
"Yes! Just do what makes you happy and forget everything else! Let loose for once! It's incredibly therapeutic."
Tigress blinked down at her friend as a particular scroll of kung fu came to mind, one which Shifu had not allowed her to study. Could she really disobey her master so blatantly, though? Then again, how would he ever know? He was too busy, as Mantis had said, "practicing doggy style." It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if she learned nerve strikes. After all, they'd all learned from experience that Shifu wasn't always right. "You know," she answered slowly, "that is excellent advice."
"I know," Viper accepted with a wink. "Now what do you say to performing our daily meditation in a hot bath?"
She knew she shouldn't, but she had already resolved to break Shifu's rules once. "Just for today."
Viper let out a squeal of delight, leading the way out of the training hall. "Oh, good! We haven't had a girls' day in forever."
"Lin, no."
"Oh, lighten up."
"Absolutely not."
"But-"
"No!"
Lin crossed her arms and glared at Shifu with a childish frown on her face, then turned to the inn in front of them. "I don't see what's wrong with this inn," she argued.
Shifu eyed the establishment, inclined to disagree. The two-story building, which stood on a lake, elevated above the water by stilts, was a hot-bed for criminal activity. The restaurant on the first floor was so full of rowdy bandits, thieves, mercenaries, and assassins that the din was audible even from the shore of the lake, where he'd stopped to argue with Lin over the wisdom of spending the night at such a place. "It is crawling with criminals," he pointed out flatly.
"Well, duh. That's half the draw!"
"I am not spending the night in an establishment full of bandits and highway men!"
"Oh, you'll be fine if you're with me," she dismissed. "After all, these're my people."
He couldn't argue with that. "Yet another reason for me to rethink our friendship."
She stared at him for the comment, though he honestly didn't understand why. "You admitted it!" she suddenly shouted, sounding more excited than anyone about to walk into an inn full of criminals should. "You admitted that we're friends!"
"Oh, gods." He should have ditched her days ago and just gone ahead to Shanghai himself. "Fine, we will stay the night here. But only because the next town is a day and a half away and I do not want to spend another night spooning you on the cold ground." He had huddled with her for warmth for the past four nights, and had unfortunately had to deal with Lin's tendency to moan suggestively in her sleep on top of it. He wasn't sure if his poor heart could take another night.
"Great!" She set off down the long, narrow dock leading toward the inn, a happy grin on her face. "I can't wait to finally get some booze in me."
"As always, your priorities are in perfect order." He followed her into the inn, and found himself actually grateful that she had forced him to change into more low-key clothing for the trip. She had probably planned to frequent such an establishment from the start.
They entered into a noisy room filled to the brim with wolves, crocodiles, boars, foxes, oxen, and gorillas- all of whom were clearly thieves, bandits, mercenaries and highway men. They all crowded around the room's tiny tables, dimly lit by hanging lanterns, laughing and making crude jokes while a harried-looking rabbit ran back and forth, waiting on them. Smoke hung in the air near the ceiling from the members of the crowd who happened to be enjoying pipes, and pretty much all of them had drinks in their hands. "This's gonna be fun," Lin observed.
"For you, perhaps," he huffed as another rabbit, presumably the waitress's husband, scurried up to them.
"W-welcome," he greeted shakily, and Shifu honestly couldn't blame him for his high-strung temperament. "A-are you here for- for-"
"For the night, yes," Shifu interrupted impatiently.
Lin slapped him on the arm, then addressed the rabbit in an uncharacteristically sweet voice. "You're gonna hafta excuse his rudeness, handsome."
"Handsome?" Shifu balked at the flirtatious nickname.
"Now don't be jealous, you'll have me all to yourself later," Lin laughed, pushing him a little, then turned back to their host. "We'll just take one room, ifya please."
"One room, right," the rabbit accepted, his voice slightly less shaky. "That'll be ten yuan."
Lin pouted like a disappointed child. "Oh my. I don't know if we even have ten yuan." They definitely had more than enough to pay for the room.
"I'm sorry." The proprietor didn't seem in the mood to haggle, though.
Lin regarded him carefully for a moment, then nudged Shifu toward an empty table near the corner of the room. "Go siddown, honey, I'll be right there."
He contemplated refusing, but she looked like she had a trick up her sleeve, so he nodded and walked away, keeping one ear trained in her direction just in case she needed him to step in. As he sat down, he also took the liberty of watching from the corner of his eye.
"Sir, surely you have a room for less than ten yuan," Lin insisted, still in her falsely sweet voice, then sidled a little closer to the rabbit.
"M-my wife and I need to make a living," the man argued.
"Your wife?" Blinking, Lin turned to look at the waitress. "Is that her?"
"Yes."
"What a lucky woman," she sighed as she blushed a bit. "And so beautiful." There was definitely a suggestive tone to her voice that Shifu did not like the sound of.
Apparently the proprietor of the inn did like it, though. "...I could spare a few jiao, perhaps."
"Liquor me up and I could spare something of my own," she replied, her voice returning to its normal forceful tone. "Strongest stuff y'got, please, and don't skimp."
"My wife will be with you shortly."
With a smug smile, Lin strutted over to the table and sat down next to Shifu. "And that is how you haggle."
"That was the sleaziest thing I have ever seen in my life," he huffed. "What are you going to do if he and his wife actually want to take you up on that shady offer of yours?"
"Then I guess you'll have the room to yourself," she answered casually.
"Ugh," he grunted. "I need a bath just hearing that."
"Don't knock it 'til you try it," she shot back as she pulled her long pipe out of her bag and began to stuff it.
He opened his mouth to reply when another female voice, overtly flirtatious with a hint of an accent from the southern provinces, sounded from behind him.
"My, my, my," the familiar voice observed. "I do believe my poor little eyes must be failing me."
He turned in his seat to see three female snow leopards garbed completely in black, their forms mostly hidden under cloaks, regarding him with a mixture of curiosity and smug enjoyment. "I am sorry, miss, you must have me mistaken for someone else."
Wu Bai, the most forward of the Wu Sisters, clucked her tongue. "Oh please," she dismissed, derision clear in her piercing blue eyes. "You're not fooling any of us with those robes and that stupid act-" she paused and lowered her voice to a purr- "Master Shifu. Why, you're as recognizable to us as a crocus to a honey bee."
He furrowed his brow at the analogy; while he had fought against the Wu Sisters alongside his students on multiple occasions, and thus been on the receiving end of Bai's flirtatious banter, he sometimes had trouble comprehending how over the top she could be. "I, uhm... Okay."
"Back off, Bai," the green-eyed sister admonished; she was the oldest of the three, Zhin. From her tall, slender form to the confident straightness of her back and shoulders, to her deep, silky voice she practically radiated authority. "We are trying to travel discreetly, remember?"
"But I am discreet, just look at me," Bai pouted.
"Attempting to hang a trapeze in your room is not discreet," she grumbled; she was the strategist of the group of assassins, and the most serious threat of the three, in Shifu's opinion- mainly because of the skill with which she wielded her deadly wind and fire wheels. She had once cut him so deep that she'd hit bone; that had been painful.
"You know what they say," the blue-eyed snow leopardess said with a jaunty swing of her hips. "Luck favors the prepared!"
Zhin crossed her arms, arching one brow. "Prepared for what, Bai? Raining men?"
Before Bai had time to angrily retort, their violet-eyed sister finally chimed in. "That reminds me of an ancient legend back in my hometown of Huhuhubei, about the day it rained hens."
"I'm going to stop you there, Qiang," Zhin cut in. "Part of the point of being an assassin is to be able to kill your target quickly."
"Wait a minute," Lin finally managed to get a word in edgewise. "Did she just say her hometown was called 'Huhuhubei?'" She furrowed her brow as she puffed on her pipe, which she had lit in the midst of the banter.
"That's right," Qiang, the improbably sweet and naive member of the group of assassins, answered happily. "Our town founders were the Hu brothers- triplets, to be exact. You see, they had traveled north from Shanghai to found the town, but they couldn't decide which brother to name the town after. They tried to settle their dispute with a traditional game of tofu hurling, but it ended up in a three-way tie."
Lin, thankfully, did not comment on the tofu hurling. "Wait- wouldn't it make sense, then, for them to use their given names in the town name?"
"They would have," she answered reasonably, "but then the town would have been called Huhuhuhuhuhubei, and everyone thought that that was just ridiculous."
"Shall I?" Bai asked, and Zhin gave a nod of consent. Then, without another word, she tore a wanted poster off the wall, rolled it up, and swatted Qiang over the head with it.
Zhin then cleared her throat. "Master Shifu," she nodded to him judiciously, then turned to Lin, "whoever you are; in the interest of keeping the peace and remaining discreet, why don't you join us for drinks?"
Shifu could only imagine the kind of bedlam that would erupt if Lin were given the chance to drink. "No, we couldn't possibly-"
"We insist," Bai cut in, then went so far as to take a seat next to him, pulling her chair uncomfortably close.
"I could go for a nice, stiff drink," Lin added, and before he knew it the five of them were seated together at the table and the waitress had bustled over to bring the drink Lin had ordered from the inn's owner.
Bai leaned forward, eyeing her comrades. "You know what I could really go for? Some of that coconut douhua we saw on the menu."
"No, we couldn't," Qiang protested, sounding scandalized at the very idea. "A rich dessert like that, at this time of night? We'll never get to bed."
"Speak for yourself." She winked at Shifu and he moved his chair a bit further away from her.
"To hell with it," Zhin concluded. "You only live once. Waitress, add three-"
"Make it five," Lin chimed in.
"-Five orders of coconut douhua."
He had to admit, it was difficult to imagine the three women before him now as the trio of deadly assassins he and the Five had faced off against. When they spoke amongst themselves, they seemed almost like regular sisters. Yet he knew for a fact that the three women, despite the name of their group, were not actually related by blood. They were simply a trio their master, Lady Wu, had rounded up and trained with the intention of passing on her deadly craft before her own demise. Shifu had been quite well-acquainted with Lady Wu and, unfortunately, the Wu Sisters knew far too much about him for his own comfort because of that acquaintanceship. He only hoped none of that information was not relayed to Lin at some point in the night.
"We are not looking for any trouble," Shifu informed the assassins levelly, hoping for the life of him that Lin didn't know who the snow leopards were.
Of course, she did. "The Wu Sisters?" she asked him once the waitress had left, sounding rather incredulous. "I gotta say, Shifu, I am pleasantly surprised."
"We are by no means on friendly terms," he argued.
"Really? 'Cause that's not what it looks like, especially with Bai-"
"Lin, we need to talk." He yanked the giant mug of alcohol she'd been about to chug from her hand, grabbed her by the arm, and dragged her out of hearing distance. "You need to promise me you will not make trouble with these women," he hissed.
She looked indignant, though he suspected that was mainly because he had taken her drink away from her. "Why would I make trouble with a bunch of notorious assassins?"
He gave her a flat look which spoke volumes.
"...Okay, in some circumstances I might, for fun."
He made no comment on her definition of "fun."
"Anyway, you really think I'd blow our cover like that? In a place like this? I'm not an idiot, Shifu." She actually sounded insulted. "Although, say I did do something stupid- you could take 'em, right?"
He rolled his eyes. "I do not know if I could handle all three of them on my own." There was once a time when it would have been, if not easy, at least possible. Unfortunately, he was not as spry as he used to be.
"Relax, I'll be good," she assured him, though he didn't feel particularly reassured.
"You had better," huffed as he followed her back to the table, and they joined the Wu Sisters in the midst of some sort of argument that had begun between them.
"You are full of yourself," Zhin accused Bai. "I refuse to believe you have been with so many men."
"That sounds a bit like someone I know," Shifu grumbled, earning himself an elbow in the side from Lin.
"You have no clue how many men have fallen to my doe-eyed beauty," Bai sniffed indignantly.
"Doe-eyed?" Qiang suddenly interrupted in her usual innocent, cheerful tone. "And all this time I've been telling people you were dough-thighed!"
"That, too," Zhin replied.
"Oh, look who's talking, Attila," Bai snapped.
Lin slowly turned to Shifu and leveled him with a long, deadpan stare. "These three," she informed him, "are the deadly assassins that you were worried you could not handle."
"Shut up," he hissed back, then turned to the Wu Sisters and cleared his throat. "Ladies, if you could reign it in, please?"
"Of course," Zhin accepted judiciously, though she still shot a glare toward Bai. "For you, Master Shifu, anything."
He found that particular assertion rather ironic, considering their past.
"Why?" Bai sniffed. "It's not like he's got any cake on him."
"I will punch your heart out," Zhin growled.
Shifu cleared his throat to once again interrupt the fight. "I cannot help but feel ominous about this particular meeting," he informed them; after all, he still had no idea why they were being so... Diplomatic. With him, at least, if not with each other.
"You worry too much," Lin dismissed before she somehow managed to chug her drink with her pipe still in her mouth, prompting him to wrinkle his nose at the sight. Despite the fact that it was the size of her head, she finished the entire mug with a smack of her lips, then gestured to the waitress for a refill. "Clearly, they're trying to keep their heads down. They can't do that if they pick a fight with you, now can they?"
"That's right!" Qiang confirmed happily. "How did you know? Say, were you listening in when Bai and Zhin were fighting over who got to flirt with Shifu?"
Bai and Zhin both looked like they were ready to kill Qiang, before the green-eyed sister leaned forward and calmly informed them, "Qiang was dropped on her head as a child... And just yesterday, as well. Please disregard everything she says."
"But-"
"Everything," she repeated.
After a short, uncomfortable silence, Lin leaned over and muttered into Shifu's ear, "What is it with you and snow leopards?"
He kicked her under the table, then cleared his throat. "I don't believe I have introduced you to Lin yet, how rude of me," he rushed out.
"We were wondering when you were going to introduce your lady friend," Bai replied. "We were unaware that you were... Attached."
"Especially since you were dressed like a man," Qiang directed at Lin with complete naivety.
"We are not 'attached,'" Shifu argued, worried that Lin might play along a little too well if he let the assassins think otherwise.
"Yet," Lin added as the waitress returned with a tray full of douhua and another giant mug of alcohol for her. Of course, she took a huge gulp of the stuff the moment it hit the table, while the Wu Sisters all dug into their pudding.
He still felt the whole scene was somewhat surreal. "So I assume from your desire to keep a low profile that you are in the midst of a job?" He poked at his own dessert, wondering if he could trust it.
Lin didn't seem to have the same problem, as she took a gigantic bite and, embarrassingly enough, moaned in pleasure as she chewed.
"Not at all," Zhin replied, not that he believed her.
"That's right, work's been so slow lately," Qiang sighed. "Maybe it's because people are finally learning to get along. It reminds me of the story of Li Cheng, the town grump-"
Zhin interrupted the woman by outright slapping a hand over her mouth. "One more word, Qiang," she warned, "and you will be my next assignment."
"Well, at the very least we'll be getting a lot more business in soon, won't we girls?" Bai sighed, ignoring the other women's bickering as she leaned her head on her hand and scanned the room, her gaze landing once again on Shifu with a smile that made him extremely uncomfortable.
"Oh I can't wait to get back to work," Qiang added, bouncing in her seat in her excitement. "I hate feeling useless and inactive... Almost as much as I hate bee stings, or people who don't say thank you when you hold the door open for them."
Zhin eyed her as if it were unbelievable that she even existed. "The world in which you live must be a truly horrific place," she commented, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Surely you are not speaking to me about some plan of yours," Shifu cut in to the conversation, confused by what Bai had mentioned. This "business" she had spoken of must be related to some sort of plot or event he'd yet to hear of.
"Plan?" Zhin asked, this time turning her incredulous gaze on him. "Surely you've heard by now of what's happened in Bengal?"
"Of course," Shifu lied through his teeth, because he doubted admitting his ignorance could end well. He glanced sideways at Lin, who'd remained suspiciously quiet on the subject, and managed to catch her eye before she looked down into her drink. She clearly knew something. "How could I have missed the connection?"
"Most people aren't concerning themselves with all that business," Bai assured him with a dismissive wave of her hand. "But we know what it all means." She bit her lip as she began to trace the edge of her glass with one finger, a somewhat dreamy look crossing her face. "It'll only be a matter of time before those strapping young British soldiers come marching across that border."
"And then we can kill them for money," Zhin added evenly.
"And learn some new recipes!" Qiang chimed in, earning herself exasperated looks.
Shifu, meanwhile, was trying to process what he'd just heard. "You have information regarding an invasion?" he pressed, glancing once more toward Lin; she already knew precisely what the sisters were talking about, he was sure of it.
"We don't have anything new to add," Bai dismissed with a wave of her hand. "We'll all just have to wait and see what those crazy westerners decide to do."
Lin snorted, and Shifu assumed it was because she herself was a "crazy westerner."
"I see," he cut in before she could say anything troublesome. "You have no more information for us?"
"Unfortunately, no," Zhin replied firmly. "So tell us, what brings an esteemed master like you out to our neck of the woods?"
"We're going to Shanghai," Lin answered, before Shifu had a chance to be evasive. He glared at her, but she didn't seem to notice.
"And the rest of that information is private," he informed the women, before Lin drunkenly spilled every detail of their trip.
"Interesting," Bai commented, raising her eyebrows as her gaze shifted back and forth between the two of them. "And very unexpected."
"What's unexpected?" Qiang asked vacantly.
"We'll tell you when you're older," Zhin dismissed, throwing a few jiao onto the table. "I think it's about time we left you two to your own devices."
"Yeah, we should get to bed, anyway," Lin agreed, ignoring the dirty subtext that could be read into the statement.
"We don't plan to get in your way this time," she informed Shifu as the three snow leopards stood and pulled their flowing black cloaks tighter around their bodies to prepare for the cold. "And out of respect for our dear departed master, we'll try to stay clear of the Valley of Peace until your return."
"You will?" he asked suspiciously; of course, he didn't trust anything a single one of them said.
"That's right, lover-boy," Bai confirmed cheerfully, giving him a flirtatious pinch on the cheek. "You always were the old lady's favorite. Heaven only knows why, but maybe you'll show me your secret some day."
Qiang even bowed to him, though she had never quite been all there. "Next time you're in our area, let us know! I'll make you some of my award-winning honey nut syrup cakes."
"Now, Qiang," Zhin scolded as she herded her two sisters in arms toward the door, "it's rude to part ways with a threat."
Shifu caught a brief glance of the scandalized look on Qiang's face before the three women walked out the door and presumably disappeared into the night.
"That was an unusual goodbye, lover-boy," Lin commented as she took a gulp from her mug and eyed him curiously. "What was it all about?"
He debated on the wisdom of divulging that particular part of his past to her; it was a little scandalous, after all, though she had probably already deduced as much from the comments the Wu Sisters had made. "You have your secrets, and I have mine." If he was going to tell her, he might as well bargain for a trade.
"I guess it's an ex-girlfriend, huh? Sorry to hear about the 'departed' part." She gave him a pat on the arm as consolation, then returned her attention to her drink, as if she had completely lost interest.
"Wait- you don't want to know about it?" he asked, a little offended that she'd been so easily bored by him.
"Part of me wants to know," she admitted. "But the rest of me knows better 'an to dig up old girlfriends."
"Why is that?"
"'Cause it's nothing but trouble."
He found it rather ironic that Lin, of all people, wanted to avoid trouble. "...You really do not want to know anything about my past? At all?"
"I didn't say that." She finished off her drink, then finally gave him her full attention. "It's just that I don't need to hear about your past relationships. Lord knows I wouldn't wanna tellya about all of mine. And like I said, it's nothing but trouble."
"Admit it, you just assume that I have never had any interesting relationships," he grumbled, well aware of how stodgy and boring she thought he was.
She shrugged. "No, I just assume other people's relationships in general are boring."
He pinched the bridge of his nose, though he doubted it would do any good; after all, he had been on the road with Lin for over a week, and if his headache hadn't subsided already it never would. "Perhaps we should call it a night," he suggested.
"Sure, it's not like I got anymore alcohol in front of me."
"You truly are poetic," he grumbled as he dropped some coins on the table and stood up. "So... We are sharing a room."
"Too late to get two of 'em now," she replied nonchalantly, then accosted the inn's proprietor to lead them up the stairs to their room.
"Of course it is," he muttered, though once they reached the room in question he was glad to see that it was at least a large one. "You may have the bed," he dismissed. "I prefer to sleep on hard surfaces."
She leapt onto the bed before he had even finished the sentence and kicked her shoes off. "Yeah, I prefer to be awake when I'm on hard surfaces."
He wasn't in the mood to trade barbs with her, so he settled on a simple, "Ew." As he pulled his blanket out of his bag and began arranging it on the floor, he could feel her watching him.
"You can use my blanket ifya want," she offered.
"I do, thank you."
She yanked the tightly folded and rolled cloth out of her bag, but hesitated in handing it over to him. "You okay?" she suddenly asked, eyeing him critically.
He hadn't been aware that he'd been acting at all out of the ordinary, though Lin could be shrewdly observant when she wanted to be. "My hip is hurting a little," he told her, though it wasn't any more sore than usual after a long day of travel; in reality, he was actually wondering how much Lin knew about the international activities the Wu Sisters had mentioned. Still, he knew that it would not be wise to bring it up until the morning, after she'd been well-rested and fed.
"I know a trick for that," she offered, though he couldn't shake his skepticism.
He stopped fussing with his blanket and sat back on his heels, raising an eyebrow at her. "It isn't the kind of trick that involves you breaking my finger, is it?"
"Naw, I don't do that to people anymore," she dismissed, though he suspected she was probably joking.
He hoped she was joking, anyway. "Alright, I give in. What is your trick?"
"First, siddown," she ordered, and against his better judgment he did as he was told. "Okay, now close your eyes and breathe deeply through your nose."
He followed her instructions, waiting for her to tell him the next step, but she remained silent. Just as he was about to ask her what he should do next, he felt her lips press against his. He really should have seen it coming- he was an idiot for not suspecting anything- but at the same time she was a really good kisser.
Her lips were rough and chapped, and she still tasted like coconut and alcohol from their meal. And for a brief moment, he was thirty-something again, with a hopeful future and a woman who loved him. It felt so soft and warm and right that he could have kissed her for an eternity, he could have his lips glued to hers and he would be perfectly content. And when she slid her tongue into his mouth and started doing things with it he'd only ever dreamed of, he couldn't remember why he'd been annoyed in the first place.
All too soon, she pulled away. "How's your hip feeling now?" she breathed.
"What hip?" he asked dazedly.
"See? All better." With that, she crawled back to the bed and flopped down onto her stomach. "G'night."
He stared at her for a moment, stunned, before he made his anger known. "You are unbelievable!"
"I know," she yawned, apparently unconcerned.
"Why I even agreed to take this trip with you, I have no idea!"
"That makes two of us."
"Don't you start that with me!" He had a feeling that he was going to drop dead of an aneurysm before they even reached Shanghai. "Why did you kiss me?"
"This's just like you," she sighed. "Always asking 'why.' What's it matter? Will knowing why change anything? Will it makeya happier?"
"Yes!" He watched as she burrowed into her blankets in an attempt to avoid the conversation, then stormed over and yanked the blankets off of her. "This is not over," he insisted. "Not even remotely!"
"Fine, you can share the bed," she huffed, sliding over to make room for him.
"Are you even listening to me?" He sat on the bed anyway, since it seemed like it was the only way he would be able to get her attention. "I tolerate a lot of your comments and come-ons, but you cannot kiss me and then act as though nothing happened."
"Don't kissya, got it," she replied, giving him a thumbs up in lieu of actually facing him.
"That is not what I meant!" He grabbed her and rolled her over to actually look her in the face, but the way she blinked up at him and blushed made him realize exactly the kind of impression he was giving off, sitting in bed with her and holding her by the shoulders, insisting that they talk about a kiss. "Nevermind," he rushed out as his face slowly turned a bright shade of red and he scrambled to get off the bed. "I- you- goodnight."
"You're such a weirdo," she grumbled, then grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back onto the bed. "Now get some sleep." She pushed him down onto his back and kissed him again, then threw half her blankets over him. "G'night."
He wanted to grab hold of her and pull her close, to kiss her again, to explore every last inch of her body. Instead, he awkwardly rearranged the blankets and settled into bed. "...Goodnight."
She rolled over and, with a loud yawn, draped an arm over his stomach.
He didn't think he'd ever get to sleep, yet somehow he managed to eventually drift off- only to have a series of dreams all of which prominently featured Lin's admittedly attractive behind.
The floorboards of the barracks hallway squeaked treacherously underneath the weight of the kung fu warrior on top of them, and he paused, waiting for someone to wake up and catch him. When nothing happened, Po let out a quiet sigh of relief. It wasn't often that he woke up with a late-night craving, not since he'd begun practicing kung fu, but he still didn't want anyone to know. Everyone had their little secrets, at least his was innocent enough. Still, Shifu would probably get mad if he knew about the habit- and probably go off on a rant about discipline and self-control. Even Po had to admit he didn't have much in the way of self-control.
He stopped in front of the kitchen door, staring. There was still time to walk away. All he had to do was turn around and go back to bed. He'd probably end up sitting up all night, daydreaming about dumplings.
He turned away from the kitchen doors and headed outside. A little fresh air couldn't hurt, and if he was still hungry after his walk, he'd grab a bite to eat. That seemed like good compromise. It would at least give him a chance to try to distract himself from his cravings. And if there was one thing in the world that could take his mind off of food, it was kung fu, so he headed to the Hall of Warriors. He'd been counting on some solitary contemplation (and geeking out), but was surprised to find he wasn't the only one in the mood to visit the hall so late at night.
Tigress stood at the library of scrolls, completely engrossed in one. She'd lit some of the candles surrounding the moon pool and was reading by their light, which reflected off her fur and gave it a soft golden glow. Tigress was a beautiful woman, of course- no one in their right mind would deny it- but sometimes it just hit Po, like a bag of bricks.
"Um- uh- hi," he called out, watching as she jumped a little bit in surprise, fumbling with the scroll. He'd never caught her by surprise before, and he honestly hadn't expected her reaction to be so... Regular. It was kind of nice.
"Po!" She quickly rolled the scroll closed, then held it behind her back. "Your training is starting to pay off. A month ago I would have heard you a mile away."
"Yeah," he agreed nervously as he approached. "I mean, I guess it comes with bein' the Dragon Warrior an' all. Y'know, havin'... Kung fu skills..."
"Yes, Po," she replied, looking at him weirdly. "I do know what it's like to have kung fu skills."
"I didn't mean it like that!" he corrected quickly. "I mean, of course you know what it's like to have kung fu skills, you're the Master Tigress, I have action figures of you!" He immediately realized how creepy that sounded. "I mean, not just you, I got everyone from the Five, but you were always my favorite. Oh, gods, no- I mean as a fan, I thought you were the coolest, but it's not like I ever had a crush on ya or somethin'... Not that there's anything wrong with ya, it's just... I'm just respectful like that. Very respectful."
Tigress watched him through his whole awkward speech, blinking in confusion. After a moment of silence, she cleared her throat. "I see."
"We could just forget I ever said anything," he suggested hopefully.
"Yes," she quickly agreed. "That would be good."
"Right. Awesome." He glanced down at the scroll still in her hands, desperate for a change of subject. "So..." He gestured to the scroll. "More nerve attacks?"
"Hm?" She looked down at the scroll, then back up to him, her eyes widening a little bit. "No- I- it's, uhm- how did you know?"
"What else would ya be sneakin' around for?"
"Don't tell anyone," she suddenly ordered, shooting him a forceful glare with her fiery eyes.
"M'kay," he agreed, blinking in surprise at the order. "Ya don't want Shifu findin' out?"
"What I do while Shifu is gone is nobody's business," she replied stiffly. "I am spending some time focusing on me."
He wasn't used to Tigress blatantly disobeying their master's orders (unless it involved barreling headlong into danger), but he supposed it was only a matter of time. He was familiar with the story of how she had come to be Shifu's student and his daughter, and the distance between the two was obvious to anyone who so much as glanced at them. "Y'know, I think it's cool that you're finally doin' somethin' for yourself."
She blinked back at him as if that had been the last response she had expected. "You do?"
"Yeah!" he confirmed. "I mean, I know how it is, always tryin' to please other people. My dad always wanted me to love noodles, but I love kung fu, y'know?"
"Not everyone is you, Po," she replied harshly, then turned around and shoved the scroll back onto its shelf.
Po couldn't help but feel a little hurt at the outburst, but he tried his best not to take it too personally; it took Tigress a long time to see that people were on her side, if she ever did at all. "Sorry," he muttered, letting out an awkward cough. "I just... I wanted to let ya know I understand. That's all."
"Hmph," she grumbled, staring at the library of scrolls. "..I probably shouldn't have snapped at you."
"Hey, it is what it is." He gave a casual shrug, smiling at her.
She didn't smile back, not that that was anything new.
"So, nerve attacks. Ya get anywhere with 'em yet?"
"The problem with nerve attacks is that I need someone to practice with."
"You mean someone to practice on," he corrected. "I'd offer, but..." He patted his stomach. "It's kinda hard to find my nerve points under all this fur." He grimaced as he said it; he knew of course, that pandas were supposed to be built like him, but still... A round face and a big belly didn't exactly scream "kung fu warrior."
"Don't make that face," Tigress scolded, catching him by surprise. "You can't change it any more than I can change my stripes- though your health won't hold out for long if you keep eating so much oil and salt."
He blushed in embarrassment; he hadn't thought Tigress had noticed his eating habits.
"Anyway, your 'fur' may not look cool like you think the Dragon Warrior should, but it is an advantage in battle, and that's all you should care about."
"Um... Thanks." He had to admit, the last person he'd expected to give him a pep talk was Tigress. "You're uhm... You're really... Well, thanks. Aheh."
"Don't thank me," she ordered. "That wasn't a compliment, it was an observation."
"Oh, sorry." Sometimes he wondered if Tigress ever relaxed, even a little bit. If she did, he doubted she'd let him see it. "Y'know, ya don't seem very happy most of the time. Just an observation."
"Don't push it, panda."
"Yes'm." He twiddled his thumbs sheepishly at the glare she shot him. He'd probably been a little too forward with her, but he wasn't the most socially skilled person in the world.
"Just because I don't joke around and act like a giant goofball doesn't mean I'm unhappy. I'm as happy as the next person."
"Okay, good," he accepted. "So, uhm, back to nerve attacks." He didn't want the conversation to get too awkward.
"I don't think you're ready yet, Po." She'd practically read his mind with that one. "Maybe in another few months."
"Months?" he choked out, shocked that she thought he'd ever be ready at all, let alone in less than a year.
"What, that's too long for you?" She raised an eyebrow at him, much in the way Shifu would.
"N-no," he stuttered out, still flattered by her overestimation of his skills. "It seems soon, doesn't it?"
"Well that all depends on what Shifu thinks. You are a fast learner, though." She eyed him critically for a moment. "Maybe a little too fast."
"Huh?" He wondered how it could possibly be a bad thing for someone to learn quickly. "What's that mean?"
"Sometimes I wonder-" She paused, pressing her lips together the way she always did when she was annoyed or unsure.
"Go on," he prompted. "I don't mind. I mean, how'm I supposed to improve if I dunno what my faults are?"
She hesitated, then nodded in agreement. "Sometimes I wonder if you appreciate how gifted you are." She took him by surprise with that one. "In weeks you were able to defeat Tai Lung, something I failed to do after a lifetime of training. And now, you'll be ready to learn nerve strikes in a few months, and Master Shifu doesn't think I'm ready yet."
"Maybe he just doesn't wanna teach it to anyone," Po reasoned. "Maybe he's afraid it'll be like Tai Lung all over again."
"I am nothing like Tai Lung!" she snarled, her fur bristling.
"Whoa, hey, that's not what I meant!" he protested, shrinking back a little bit; Tigress could really scare the crap out of him, sometimes. "I just meant, y'know, Shifu's not gonna change overnight. He's still gonna be a little, uh... Y'know. Him."
"Sure," she scoffed.
"There's no reason to be so negative."
"You don't need to lecture me," she shot back. "I've had enough of that for a lifetime."
"Sorry." He wished he could think of something less awkward to say, but he wasn't exactly the best conversationalist around. "So..."
"Do you think I'm out of line?" she suddenly asked.
"Uh." He wasn't exactly in a position to tell Tigress how to behave. But, he understood that kung fu was her life, and that learning nerve strikes was important to her. "I think you're gonna do something if your heart's set on it, and that no one can stop ya. If it's outta line, or it's not the right thing to do, you'll learn it on your own. But you'll never find that out if ya walk away."
She stared at him a moment, and he could have sworn she looked almost grateful. The look faded quickly, though, and she was back to normal soon enough. "Alright, then."
"Okay," he accepted, and they stood in uncomfortable silence while he swung his arms back and forth, trying to come up with something to say.
"So I'm getting tired," Tigress blurted out. "So... Goodnight."
"Oh, okay," Po agreed, taking a step back. "Okay. Goodnight." He headed for the door, but it was kind of a long walk and he couldn't help but turn around. "Sleep tight," he added. "Later, I mean. When ya... Get to bed. Not that I would ever thinka that kinda thing, but uh- don't let the bed bugs bite. But I don't actually think ya'd have bed bugs, you're a very clean individual. In a good way, o' course. I mean, there's no bad way to be clean, unless you're obsessed with it, and you're not... So... You're all good."
"Goodnight, Po," she repeated, an exasperated note in her voice.
"Right," he mumbled as he reached the door, blushing in his embarrassment. "G'night." He managed to get out of the hall without saying anything else weird or stupid, thankfully.
As he headed back to the barracks, though, he couldn't help but marvel at how well the conversation had gone. Tigress had opened up to him more than she ever had before, and it had felt good to have enough of her regard to be able to talk to her like... Well, almost like a friend. Maybe he'd somehow finally gotten on her good side. Or maybe she was coming down with a cold something. In any case, he'd enjoyed their conversation.
As he settled back into bed, he realized that he hadn't eaten a thing. He marveled at that fact for a moment, then got up again. A little fruit never hurt anyone.
Notes:
There are a lot of references in this chapter- let's see if I can remember them all. The chapter title is another Lin Yutang quote. Chen's "see, ya think I give a shit" line is from the famed twitter account, Shit My Dad Says. Meanwhile, Lin's line, "I am this close to punching you in the dick" is from the Showtime series Shameless. Shifu's reference to mistaking sneezing powder for hair-restorer is a reference to the KFP MMORPG (because I am such a winner with so much of a life). The inn I'm sure you'll recognize from the dream sequence in the beginning of the movie. And, finally, you might have noticed that I took inspiration from the Golden Girls for the Wu Sisters. Why? I thought it was funny.
Chapter 8: He Who Eats Alone Suffocates
Chapter Text
Chapter 8: He Who Eats Alone Suffocates
Shifu awoke slowly from a very strange dream involving Madame Wu and a sack of oranges to find Lin on the floor of their room, bent over backwards. She glanced up at him from between her feet and grinned. "Enjoying the preview?"
"It is too early for this," he grumbled to himself as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and sat up. His dreams were strange enough as it was without reality competing with them. "Please stop contorting yourself. It is not what I want to see first thing in the morning."
"Your morning wood coulda fooled me," she replied casually.
"Stop. Just... Stop." He knew full well that she was only teasing him, and he was not in the mood.
"If you insist." She straightened herself up and stretched her hands toward the ceiling a moment, then sat down and began to lift her legs over her head.
"Dear gods," he grumbled, unable to look away; it was like watching a natural disaster unfold.
"Ifya don't wanna see me contort myself, why're you paying such close attention?"
He blushed and finally managed to tear his gaze away. "No reason. I am simply... Having trouble focusing. I'm tired."
"Huh." To her credit, she did not push the issue. "So what were you dreaming about last night?"
"Nothing." He had no interest in recounting the horror of last night's dream. "Are you done yet?"
"Yeah, you can finally look at me again, you big prude."
He ignored the insult and turned back around, relieved to see that she was standing up like a normal person. "Good," he breathed, though his relief did not last long. His ears twitched as he picked up the sound of voices downstairs. While he normally ignored the conversations he tended to overhear, he couldn't say he trusted anyone else in the shady inn enough not to eavesdrop on them.
Lin raised her eyebrows at him. "What?"
"Someone is downstairs." He took a few steps closer to the door.
"So what? This's an inn."
"Sh."
"Don't shush me!"
"Lin!" he snapped, his patience quickly wearing thin. "I am trying to listen!"
"Ohhh, you're eavesdropping," she concluded, then fell silent as he'd asked. Apparently she'd required an activity as important as spying on a stranger's conversation to motivate her to listen to him.
He suppressed his annoyance for the time being and turned his attention back to the hushed voices floating up from the inn's first floor. He could make out the voice of the nervous innkeeper telling someone that he didn't snoop into his clients' business.
"Sounds like a raid," he whispered to Lin over his shoulder.
She instantly set to work packing their things up, moving at a speed he would not expect from her. "Sssssshhhhhit," she worked out between clenched teeth.
"What did you do?" he snapped, knowing immediately she intended to run.
"Not much," she answered before throwing a bag of their haphazardly packed things at him and making a beeline for the window. "You a good swimmer?"
"You cannot jump out of the window into the lake!" He ran for her and managed to hold her back by her tail before she'd reached the window.
"Why not? It's direct."
"Whoever is down there will surely hear and see you!"
"So? The point's to get away, not hide."
"This is ridiculous!" he growled, giving her one final yank backwards. "You are with me, the Grand Master of kung fu, remember? People regard my authority rather highly in these parts."
"Y'know... You're right," she surprisingly admitted, only to backtrack. "You can be my distraction!"
He couldn't help but drop his face into his hand with a frustrated grunt. "No. I am not going to be your distraction."
"What're you gonna do, then? Narc on me?"
"I don't even know what that means!" he shot back. "We are going to walk out there like normal guests- which we are- and if anyone recognizes you, I will vouch for you."
"Or pretend to arrest me yourself," Lin added.
Shifu suppressed another frustrated sigh. "Fine."
"Okay, let's do this!"
"Don't forget your teeth."
"Oh, right." Lin grabbed her wooden teeth from beside the bed and popped them into her mouth. "Lesh go- waid!" She held up one finger to indicate she only needed a moment while she used her other hand to adjust her bridge. "Okay, let's go."
"Why do I get the feeling that this is not going to end well?" he grumbled, prompting her to punch him in the arm.
"Try some optimism please," she admonished.
"Right." He stood at the door a moment, preparing himself for the inevitable lies he would have to tell, then stepped out, Lin by his side.
Once out in the hallway he could hear the conversation of their suspected raiders much more easily. "If you are lying to me, you will have to answer to the Emperor for your crimes," a voice drifted up from downstairs, undoubtedly threatening the innkeeper.
Lin suddenly froze in her tracks. "Imperial soldiers," she whispered. "Imperial. Soldiers."
"Relax," Shifu admonished, though he himself was getting more uncomfortable by the minute. "They won't recognize you, I promise." He held out his hand to her in an attempt to reassure her, and she took hold of it, trailing behind him uncertainly.
After only a few feet they reached the exposed landing at the stop of the stairs, and Shifu finally got a good view of their visitors. Although it was still so early in the morning that candles were lit to brighten the room, he could clearly see about a dozen Imperial soldiers, all canines. That made sense; canines tended to resort to a pack mentality much more readily than other species, so an all-canine faction would work together with little friction. Eleven of the men stood at attention while one, a stocky white chow-chow who probably held rank as a Captain, stood coolly regarding the innkeeper.
Then, as if his gaze had been drawn by some invisible force, the chow-chow looked straight up at them, instant recognition in his eyes. Shifu squared his shoulders, certain he'd been recognized, until the chow-chow's already fluffy fur frizzed out even more. "You!"He shouted accusingly, pointing directly at Lin. "Men, get her!" he barked out.
Shifu supposed he should have seen that coming. He glanced toward Lin as the soldiers drew spears and swords and ran at them.
"Uhp," she said, as if this situation were a daily inconvenience for her, then simply jumped over the railing. She landed on top of the bar below, tumbling down to the floor behind it, whether on purpose or from the force of her fall it was not clear.
"Dammit, Lin!" he cursed before dodging the swing of a soldier's sword. "I am not a criminal!" he attempted to reason with the man. "I am Master Shifu!" That had absolutely no effect, of course, aside from directing every soldier's attention to him instead of Lin. It seemed as though he had become the distraction after all. "Oh, forget it!" He followed Lin's lead and jumped off the landing, just barely avoiding another slash from the sword.
He landed atop another soldier's head, causing him to fall backwards into a comrade. "I do not wish to fight you!" he shouted to the room in general as he leaped to the ground, running toward the bar to grab Lin and escape. "I am on your side!" No one appeared to be listening to his pleas, though. He managed to duck three different spears coming at him from all different sides and leap over the swing of a blunt club in order to reach the bar. "Lin!"
Before he could get behind the counter to reach her, she suddenly appeared atop the bar, swiping one of the candles from it with one hand while clutching a bottle of liquor with the other. When he noticed her mouth was full he wanted to tell her that it was no time to be drinking, but never got the chance. Mainly because, as he watched with utter bewilderment, she held the candle up to her mouth and... Breathed fire. Well, she actually spat liquor into the flame, causing it to grow into a startlingly large plume, but it did create the illusion that she had just breathed fire.
The amazing thing was, her trick actually worked. The soldiers backed off, some of them so startled that they tripped over chairs and bumped into tables in their efforts to scramble away from the flame. And Lin, of course, seemed to be completely in her element. "Hahaaah!" she laughed maniacally, then jumped off the bar, taking another swig of liquor mid-air, then releasing another bout of flames as she landed. "Let's get the hell outta here!" she tossed over her shoulder, then breathed fire for a third time as she made her way to the door.
Shifu followed her closely, deflecting the few spears that came at them from behind. However, the shock value of Lin's parlor trick had yet to wear off, and many of the soldiers were still running to escape the flame's reach. Once they had burst through the door, Lin stopping to send one last plume behind them, Shifu simply scooped her up into his arms and ran as fast as his legs could carry them. Luckily, his incredible speed left their pursuers in the dust, though he kept running just to be safe. Eventually, they reached a heavily wooded area, and he sprinted off the path and through the trees until he felt they had put enough distance between them and the road. He stopped to rest and put Lin back on her feet.
They did not speak for a few minutes, him catching his breath and her drinking some of the alcohol she'd kept a firm grip on through their harrowing escape. Then, when he finally felt up to speaking, Shifu said what he'd been thinking since he first witnessed Lin's antics. "You were amazing."
She blinked at him in surprise. "Yeah? Y'think so?"
"Yes," he replied, raising his voice. "Amazingly reckless!"
"There it is," she calmly observed.
"What in the hell is wrong with you?" he continued, undeterred by her sarcasm. "What did you do? And why? Do you have any idea what could have happened to us? To you? Are you completely and utterly out of your mind!?"
"Look, I didn't even do anything that bad!" she protested. "All I did was rob that Captain blind! And maybe sorta burned down his house."
"'Maybe sorta'?" Shifu repeated, his eye twitching. "You 'maybe sorta' burned down the house of a Captain of the Imperial guard!? Am I even hearing this correctly!?"
"Hey! I needed money, and the house burning part was an accident. Besides, it's not like anyone was in the house at the time. And, I mean, he had it coming."
"Why?" he sighed, rubbing at his temples.
"He arrested me for anti-Imperial graffiti!"
"Where was this anti-Imperial graffiti?"
"All over the Forbidden City."
He nearly went blind, that last part had been so enraging. "You what!?"
"Oh, don't be such a drama queen," she dismissed. "After all, it looked good. I am a Master of the arts, y'know."
"Because that makes it so much better!" He threw his hands up, unable to comprehend what to even do with Lin at that point. "I thought, for a moment there, that you were actually capable of not being a complete lunatic, but apparently I was wrong!"
"Apparently," she agreed, crossing her arms as she glared at him.
"Oh, what?"
"I don't deserve these insults," she huffed. "In fact, you should be thanking me for saving our asses."
"That was your fault in the first place! You covered the Forbidden City in gods-know-what, then burned down someone's house!"
"You did realize before taking this trip with me that there was a reason I'd had to flee nearly every country I'd lived in up until now, right?"
"Yes, but I thought you said you were finished with- with all of that!" He at least now knew why she had been so insistent on traveling along popular outlaw routes. "All this time I have been traveling with a criminal. All this time! I have kissed a criminal!"
"Please, like that's new forya," she pointed out, and even though she was right the observation still annoyed him.
"You know what?" he huffed. "Let us just... Move on." He began walking through the woods, trying his best to ignore her from that point on. He could not believe she had caused such trouble in the short time she had been in China, and before she'd even reached the Valley of Peace, no less. And then she had kept it from him!
"Y'know what's funny," she suddenly piped up from behind him. "What're the chances we'd even run into that Captain? Huh?"
"I hate you," he ground out.
"Suit yourself," she shrugged off. "But ifya ask me, it's kinda hard to hate someone whose amazing wit and wide range of skills savedya."
"Not for me."
She poked him in the back, but he ignored the gesture. That is, until she did it again. And a third time. "Don't touch me!" he snapped.
"I was just gonna offerya some of my drink." She walked up beside him and held out her liquor bottle.
Seething, he snatched it from her and threw it, satisfied to see the thing disappear into the trees.
"Hey!" She sounded more disappointed than angry.
"You may be fifty-five years old," he snapped, "but you are still a child! Your antics could have gotten us arrested, or worse, and all you can do is write the whole situation off and drink like a pickled buffoon! Now we are in the middle of the woods, with no guarantee that we will even find the road again, and for all we know still being pursued!"
"I guess I'm just used to being in this kinda situation," she replied, as if that were any excuse for her behavior. "What, nothing like this's ever happened to you before?"
"Unfortunately, yes," he informed her. "But not for many years! And this, by the way, is about the last thing I need! How on earth could you possibly be so selfish and thoughtless? Wait- don't answer that! I am not sure I want to hear what you have to say on the subject."
After a minute or so of silence, Lin finally spoke up. "Areya done now?"
"Yes," he huffed. "Yes, I believe so." He still couldn't believe how irresponsible Lin had been, but he at least had blown off the majority of his steam.
"I'm sorry I got us into trouble." She sounded like she meant it.
"I suppose I will have to forgive you," he grumbled, by way of accepting the apology. After all, Lin's unsavory exploits had not exactly come as a surprise to him.
"You didn't hafta throw away my liquor," she added.
"Perhaps not, but it made me feel better." He glanced sideways at her to see that she was actually sporting a good-humored grin.
"I was almost done with it anyway," she admitted. "So I guess no harm there."
"Indeed." In spite of himself, he found that once his anger had been vented he was in a surprisingly good mood. He even smiled back when Lin grinned at him and gave him a little shove. It was as if they had bonded through their encounter with the Imperial soldiers. "So... How did you come up with that fire-breathing trick?"
"Learned it when I spent some time living in a Russian circus," she replied with a shrug, as if this were a normal stage of life that everyone went through.
"Ridiculous," he informed her. "You are absolutely ridiculous."
"I can't believe that all this time the only thing I really needed to do to impress you was breathe fire," she observed, still sounding thrown off. "If I'da known, I woulda done it a lot sooner."
"I am not impressed that you breathed fire," he clarified. "I am impressed that, not only did you keep your cool in such a situation, you actually managed to stand your ground against Imperial soldiers." He was also extremely grateful that he had not needed to exchange blows with the soldiers, since such a situation could have instigated an attack against the Valley of Peace. In fact, he was lucky that no one had listened to him or believed him when he'd revealed his identity.
"Uh, thanks," Lin accepted hesitantly. "This kinda attitude sure is rare, coming from you. Especially afterya went off into a rampage about me getting us in hot water with Imperial guards in the first place."
"Which reminds me, promise me that you will tell me as soon as possible next time you go on a crime spree. Or, better yet, don't go on a crime spree to begin with."
"I promise nothing," she predictably replied.
"Hmph." He felt something of a warm tingling overtake him and at first he worried that Lin actually had given him an aneurysm with her antics, as he had always warned. It didn't take long for him to realize that he was, in fact, feeling genuine affection toward her. He wondered if it would be appropriate to kiss her, and then wondered why he even felt compelled to kiss her in the first place. "I think you are growing on me," he reluctantly admitted.
"Ditto." She took care of the kissing concern by planting one on his cheek. "I think this is a growing moment for us in general."
"Let us not get ahead of ourselves."
"Agreed."
With that, they continued on.
Po stood on the edge of the Jade Tortoise, attempting to perfect Crane's stance, arms in the air and one knee lifted high. "I think I gotya beat," he huffed while trying to suck his stomach in as far as possible.
"I am a crane, Po," Crane replied from the other side of the Jade Tortoise. "No offense, but I think I have the advantage here."
"Let's just agree that you're both losers," Mantis called from wherever he was inside the sea of wooden crocodiles.
"Um, we're awesome kung fu masters, so it's impossible for us to be losers," Po replied, sticking his nose in the air in an insincere show of haughtiness.
"Says the loser," Monkey said, chuckling from his perch on one of the Seven-Talon Rings.
"You guys are just so witty," Viper added as she browsed through one of the many weapons racks in the training hall. "Sometimes I almost swoon at your intelligent repartee."
Po was in the midst of trying to come up with something really funny to say back when their conversation was interrupted.
Tigress threw open the heavy doors, scanning the room. After a moment she let out a short sigh. "Good. You're all here."
"What do you mean by that?" Monkey asked, dropping down from the ceiling to stand in front of her. The rest of them approached as well, gathering around Tigress as they normally did their master.
"I hope none of you have gotten rusty." Tigress folded her arms behind her back, standing straight and tall. In that moment, she looked like she was in her element. "Zeng has informed me that bandits have attacked a settlement just outside the bamboo forest. Let's go." She turned and ran out the door at full speed, no need to warm up.
Po followed her, along with the others, leaping down the side of the mountain in a freefall he had found harrowing the first time he'd done it. Now, he'd gotten used to the leap, even enjoyed it. It didn't hurt that Crane and Viper tended to catch him if he faltered. While he had caught on to kung fu at an unnaturally quick pace, he still lacked experience. He doubted he would have come even half as far as he had already if it hadn't been for the Furious Five helping him out along the way.
They landed deftly and ran toward the bamboo forest, uninterrupted, though Po needed to roll a few times upon his own landing to keep up. Although there had been paths carved through the dense bamboo, the paths wound about the forest to avoid particularly dense parts or deeply rooted bamboo. So, the quickest path for a kung fu master was still leaping from tall shoot to shoot, staying near the canopy. Po prided himself on having learned this particular skill fairly early on in his role as Dragon Warrior, and though he still occasionally lost his footing he was able to correct himself easily enough to catch up to the group.
It wasn't long before they reached the settlement on the other side of the bamboo forest. Not even large enough to be considered a true village, the small grouping of squat single-room homes housed those who were brave enough to venture into the caves and the cracks in the base of the mountain and mine the land for ore, much of which the Jade Palace used in the production of its weapons. Many such settlements existed all around the mountain, and while they were more exposed than the village proper it was rare that bandits struck them. The miners never brought any materials back to the settlements; those were instead transported directly into the village by ducks and geese. Po figured if bandits were raiding a settlement, it was probably for information on where the richest veins of ore could be reached.
"Hey!" he shouted as he led the Five into the center of the settlement, where a group of sinister boars were harrassing citizens. "Last I checked, we don't accept applications from nose miners."
"Ugh," Tigress grunted at the joke, and the boars nodded in agreement.
"Wha- really? I thought that was a pretty good one. No?"
"Nah," the largest boar of the group said with a shrug. "I've heard better."
"Aw, man. I'm still gonna kick your butts, though." He ran straight toward the bandits, grinning when the others followed suit.
Crane flew overhead and dove for the large boar who'd heard better jokes. While he was busy blocking Crane's kick, Viper wrapped her tail around his leg and tripped him, causing him to bowl over two other bandits.
"He's all yours, Po!" Viper shouted as she leapt onto the shoulders of another bandit who'd tried to sneak up on her and wrapped herself around an arm, causing him to punch himself.
"No problem!" Po faced the large boar, waiting for him to stand for a fair fight. Monkey was currently taking care of the two others who'd been knocked over by grabbing their heads and slamming them together. "So, you come here often?"
"You ain't funny," the boar replied, then lunged forward and wrapped his massive arms around Po in a headlock.
Po widened his stance and planted himself, much like he had learned in his study of Dragon style, then grabbed the boar around the middle. Grappling wasn't exactly what he was used to, and the bandit was squeezing tightly enough to inhibit his movement. He figured he could probably lift his opponent, but the guy was too solid. "So," he wheezed. "I see you too are familiar with- hhhhhhh!" The boar had managed to start choking him, so he tried shifting his weight and pushing into the bandit's side. It didn't really do anything. He tried to remember what Shifu had told him- about cultivating his chi. He concentrated as much as he could on gathering his energy, widened his stance, and pushed again.
This time he got the boar's grip to loosen enough to be able to grab his arm, slip out of the headlock, and sweep one foot under his leg to break his stance. Po used the leverage he had on the bandit to slam him face-first into the ground. "Hoo!" He breathed in relief, staggering forward. If he'd spent much longer in that head lock he might have passed out.
"Po, look out!"
Po turned around just in time to see that the boar had managed to get back up and come at him, but Tigress intercepted the attack just in time. She reached out and jabbed the bandit in his side, a faint glow of energy radiating from her attack, and the boar fell over and began to vomit.
Tigress looked alarmed for a moment, then grabbed the bandit by the back of his collar and launched him through the air and into a pile of his knocked out comrades. "You should be more careful," was all she said to Po before joining the others in tying up the bandits.
"Huh." Po knew exactly what he had just seen, but apparently nobody else had noticed. Tigress had attempted to use a nerve attack against the bandit, but had failed. Instead, the misdirected chi had caused a fit of vomiting that the boar was still suffering from. He wondered if Tigress had planned to test the technique out on this mission, or if she had reacted in the moment, thinking she had the move mastered already.
"Po, get over here and help!"
"Oh- yeah, right." He wasn't about to say anything to the other masters, especially not in front of Tigress. He wasn't about to let the incident go, either.
Shifu shuffled tiredly into the small clearing he and Lin had managed to locate in the midst of the woods, the sun already set and twilight quickly dwindling. "Another day, another setback," he grumbled, dropping his supplies on the ground. They had spent all day traveling northeast in the hopes of stumbling upon the road once more, but they had not been so lucky. His only solace was that he at least knew they were still headed in the general direction of Shanghai.
"You say that likeya think it's my fault," Lin grumbled as she began to gather sticks to start up a fire.
"It is!" he snapped.
"Hmph." She didn't bother trying to argue with him or say anything sarcastic, surprisingly enough, and he was grateful for it.
Shifu decided to just keep his mouth shut in the hopes of maintaining the relatively peaceful silence between them and went about his work unpacking their blankets and food. Soon, they had their camp set up and their fire blazing, and once again he found himself sitting beside her and heating old dumplings on sticks.
"I hope we get there soon," Lin sighed, feeling at one of her dumplings. "These're starting to taste kinda funky."
He had to agree with the sentiment, but said nothing. They would have had time to buy more rations from the innkeepers if it hadn't been for her constantly breaking the law. He was tired, though, and trying not to think about their current situation or what kind of terrible reception they would receive in Shanghai. "Let's just eat and get to sleep." He made quick work of his dinner, but hesitated before settling down for the night. He felt Lin's eyes on his hip, and not for the first time. Ever since they had first been reunited, her attention had always been caught by the limp. He couldn't begin to imagine what might be running through her mind at the sight of his injury, but if there was ever a time to get to the bottom of it, this was it. "Stop staring."
"Sorry," she replied immediately and turned her gaze in the opposite direction.
He watched her for a moment, wondering if she was going to ask about it; of course she knew that his bad hip had come from his battle with Tai Lung, but she was probably curious about the details. He was surprised that she didn't ask, though she had been rather sensitive and considerate in regards to the subject of Tai Lung so far. "Whatever is on your mind, you can say it to me. I assure you I can take it."
"It was nothing," she dismissed. "I was just... Wondering how your hip's doing."
"It is a little stiff, but nothing I cannot handle."
"Okay, good." When she showed no indication that she wanted to continue the conversation, he sighed.
"What are you really thinking?" He tried to sound gentle, hoping he could encourage her to tell him the truth.
"I dunno," she answered quietly. "Just... Thinking about Tai Lung, I guess."
He had deduced as much himself. "It must seem strange to you that he is capable of such violence." After all, she hadn't seen the feared warrior since he was nothing more than an innocent, adorable cub. "But you must keep in mind that he is not the same person as that seven-year-old boy you knew was."
"Yeah, I get it," she sighed, her shoulders slumping ever so slightly. "Look, I'm not in the mood to talk about this kinda thing."
Shifu couldn't say he was any better off. If there was one thing that he truly could not bear the thought of, it was once more facing the son who had denounced him and tried to kill him in pursuit of power. "Lin." He had never really spoken of his relationship to Tai Lung with anyone but Oogway. He'd always felt that Oogway was the one person he could trust to never judge him for what he had done, for what he had turned Tai Lung into. With the death of his master, he hadn't felt comfortable speaking of his son to anyone- but Lin had never once judged him, blamed him, questioned him. She had known the boy that Tai Lung had once been, yet she never once said anything accusing.
"What?" She had a knowing look in her eyes, as if she could read his mind.
He paused, prompted by instinct to hold back his fears and keep them to himself. Yet he and Lin had history together, and since her return they had grown rather close. He wasn't sure anymore what exactly the nature of their relationship was, or even what he wanted it to be, but he found himself wanting at least to confide in her.
"We're gonna be in Shanghai in a day or so," she pointed out. "So you better say it now, before it's too late."
"...I don't know if I will be able to do this," Shifu finally admitted quietly, unable to suppress the shame that washed over him. He waited for her to poke fun at him or laugh, or maybe even give him an encouraging punch in the arm if she were in a particularly good mood, but none of those came.
Lin simply sat next to him and looked at him. Not with her usual calculating smirk, though- she looked at him sadly, though he'd never thought it possible. And she looked at him with understanding, though how she could possibly understand his feelings on the situation he did not know. Most disturbingly of all, she looked at him as if she wanted to tell him something comforting, but had no idea what to say. The times that Lin had nothing at all to say were few and far between, and usually not a good sign.
He averted his gaze to the campfire, unable to stand the sight of her any longer. He felt pitiful and exposed, knowing how emotional a reaction she'd had to his confession. It was a reaction he'd expect from someone else, anyone else but her; he'd wanted that punch on the arm, not this. "I should not have said anything." If there was anything worse than feeling like he could not face his estranged son, it was worrying about what she might think of him for feeling that way in the first place.
"Sorry," she suddenly rushed out, as if she expected him to walk away if she didn't apologize soon enough. "I'm sorry. I shoulda- I dunno much about what to say to comfort people. I'm not too articulate when it comes to... Emotion crap."
He turned to her again, surprised to see worry etched in her features. And while he could be dense sometimes- most of the time, actually- there was no mistaking the fact that she was worried about him. "It is alright," he assured her. "I am not planning to back out. I know this is something I must do. If anyone must face Tai Lung now, it is me."
She surprised him by actually arguing the point. "It's not your duty," she insisted, with uncharacteristic gentleness. "This isn't something you should do 'cause you feel like it's your duty. It's... I mean, it's complicated." She sounded so utterly helpless at that last sentence, but how could she not? Anyone would feel intrusive and presumptuous trying to give advice on such a subject; he knew he would.
"I know," he answered simply. "I am not only doing this out of a sense of obligation, or honor, or pride." The truth was much more difficult to deal with than any of that. "I... He is still my son. The last time I saw him, he tried to kill me. I told him the Jade Palace was no longer his home, and I told him I was no longer his master... But he is my son, and I can never erase that."
"I'll bet it's a weird feeling," she murmured, which struck him as a strange thing to say, though none of her reactions had been quite what he'd expected. Then again, everything he'd expected of her had come from his experience with her when she had been a young woman and her attitude had far outweighed her experience.
He'd had a difficult time accepting that Lin was no longer as he remembered, but now it struck him harder than ever; she had not completely changed, not by a long shot, which was why he'd had so much trouble accepting what had changed. He had thought she'd become unpredictable, but the truth was that the only reason everything she did seemed out of place to him was that he had not measured it against the person in front of him, but a memory instead. And in the moment he realized that, he caught a fleeting glimpse of her as she truly was: wise and strong, but still so unsure; trying so hard to find her place, yet unable to fit anywhere; and capable of steadfast, unwavering love which she would never acknowledge aloud to anyone, even under threat of torture. Love which drove her blindly across the world just to be near people she had once considered family in spite of a decades-long separation; love which drove her now, to help a man widely regarded as a bloodthirsty killer, even though she clearly had no idea how to even begin to do so. And he finally realized that the reason she acted so maddeningly nonchalant about every little thing was to cover all of that up, though why she insisted on hiding the best part of herself he had no idea. "Lin, I... I am not sure what to do." That was an understatement of mammoth proportions.
"Sorry," she replied gently. "I can't give you any answers. As hard as it is, you gotta figure out what to do next on your own."
"I always thought that by this age I would already have all the answers, that I would finally know how to move forward... Yet it is just as difficult as it ever was. Perhaps even more so."
"You sure hit the nail on the head there," she agreed, and she somehow seemed more open than he'd seen her so far. She had always been vulnerable, deep down beneath all the cursing and acting tough, but that was usually so easy to forget. Sometimes, though, she showed it- in her eyes, in the slope of her shoulders, in the way she leaned toward him as if she wanted to embrace him even though they both knew she never would.
He wrapped his arms around her before he had time to second-guess himself and held her tightly, just for the sake of being near her.
Unexpectedly, Lin didn't protest against the hug at all, and instead actually reciprocated, going so far as to rest her head on his shoulder.
He wanted to say something to her, but he couldn't quite figure out what to say. Words of affection, of gratitude for her sympathy, of comfort for them both- nothing seemed to fit. Instead, without even thinking about it, he somehow blurted out, "Don't leave again, alright?"
"I already toldya I'm not planning on it." One of her hands found his belly and squeezed, and while normally he would be annoyed by the gesture the affection in it comforted him.
He extracted one of his hands from the small of her back and reached up to turn her head to face him, barely registering her confused expression before he pressed his lips to hers.
She broke the kiss almost immediately and practically tore herself from his arms, brushing the grass off her knees as she stood. "Don't do that, okay?" she grumbled, staunchly avoiding his gaze. "If you're gonna kiss me, do it 'cause you actually wanna kiss me. If you think you can just use me to cheer yourself up, take it somewhere else."
"I- I'm sorry," he stuttered out, caught off-guard by her sudden change in attitude.
"Whatever, I'm gonna go take a piss." She stomped off into the trees, and he didn't bother following.
Shifu knew she wouldn't go far, and he also knew that trying to speak to her would only result in a huge fight. Instead, he hunkered down and waited for her to return to camp.
Shifu awoke in the morning to the sounds of someone stomping through the camp and rummaging through his things; without so much as a thought he leapt to his feet, ready to fight whatever bandits were looting the camp, only to see Lin crouching down near him, apparently packing everything away for him while he'd slept. He slowly dropped his stance, eyes fixed on her, waiting for some kind of cue- a look, a word, anything- to tell him that things between them weren't as bad as he thought. None came, of course. "Where did you spend the night?" he finally asked.
"Around," she answered shortly, not so much as pausing in her task to look at him.
"And you're... Alright?"
She didn't answer him.
He watched her work a little longer before attempting to help her, but the moment he got within five feet of her she stood up and walked to the other side of the camp. "Oh, come on!" he protested, but she acted as though she hadn't heard him. "Fine," he snapped. "If you want to act like a child, then be my guest. If you wish to continue with this behavior, do not expect me to treat you with any respect."
"Y'know what? Shut up."
"Excuse me?" he huffed, bristling at the rude reply.
"You never treated me with any respect to begin with, so why should I bother trying to be the mature one, huh?" Lin threw an old biscuit at him, which was apparently supposed to be his breakfast.
"Like you're one to talk!" He would have gone off on her, but she stopped him there.
"Enough!" Lin shoved his bag into his arms. "I'm so sick of fighting all the freakin' time. Ain't you?"
He narrowed his eyes at her, suspicious of her motives. "...Yes."
"Then let's just... Forget this ever happened. Can we do that? Can we pretend last night was a bad dream and that we're still getting along? For once?"
"Alright." Shifu still wasn't sure whether Lin was sincere or not, but if she was, he actually agreed with her. "I am sick of fighting as well."
"Good. Let's go." She led the way, and while they had agreed to end their fighting tension still hung thickly in the air.
He thought of trying to strike up a conversation, but after what had transpired between them the night before he still felt extremely awkward. He had trouble understanding, too, what Lin truly wanted from him. She hit on him relentlessly, yet somehow always managed to avoid giving him any hint about whether or not she had any real intention of being with him. Then, of course, he had chosen the precise wrong moment to attempt to return her affection, and had been rebuffed. Sometimes he felt the confusing dance going on between them was simply his destiny. Someday he would be on his deathbed, and Lin would kiss him only to laugh it off as a joke in his last moments of life.
"Hey," Lin interrupted his thoughts. "Look up ahead-"
"Thank the gods!" Shifu ran ahead of Lin and then nearly fell to his knees in gratitude; they had finally found their way back to the road after spending an entire day wandering tirelessly through the woods.
"Yeah, it's a road alright," Lin observed casually.
Shifu felt his eye twitch. "It's what we've been looking for all day! Thanks to you."
"Whatever." Lin yanked out her map from her bag and peered at it for a moment. "Looks like we lucked out and accidentally took a shortcut." She didn't seem too happy about the turn of events. "Hurray."
"No point in delaying the inevitable." Shifu took the lead, heading off up the road. "I'm sure things won't be nearly as bad as we expect," he lied.
"Yeah right." It seemed like Lin was going to lapse into silence for a bit, so he just let the conversation die. "I'm sorry," she suddenly grumbled.
"What?"
"I said I'm sorry," she repeated, catching up to him to walk at his side. "I was kinda sorta... Mean. I know you didn't mean anything with that kiss, it's just... When I say all this stuff to you, about wanting to be together... I'm not blowing smoke. And I guess it took me this long to realize that you weren't taking me seriously at all."
He could have sworn his heart had stopped beating. "Bwuh- uh- awhuh?" he spluttered.
"Dear God you're thick," she sighed. "I guess it's not the worst thing in the world if I gotta spell it out forya." She leaned in and bumped her shoulder against his. "Just between you and me," she murmured in his ear, "I got a little bit of a crush onya."
"Oh, wow," he managed to choke out as his throat completely dried up and he nearly tripped over his own feet.
"I'll take that as a compliment," she laughed, brushing her fingers gently over his hand in a way that made his spine tingle. Then, suddenly, she pulled away. "Anyway," she went on in her normal tone of voice, "Wanna play a travel game?"
He stared incredulously at her, wondering what on earth had just happened. "I can no longer tell whether or not you are playing games with me," he weakly informed her. "So please, before I completely snap, tell me if that was sincere."
"Of course it was sincere," she replied, looking at him as if she couldn't understand his confusion. "Why the hell wouldn't it be?"
He couldn't help but get annoyed with her attitude. "Well it does leave me wondering when one moment you are practically hanging off of me and the next you are asking to play a travel game like nothing happened!"
She surprised him with what she said next. "Never thought I'd be saying this to you, but you're acting like such a freakin' limp noodle."
"A what?"
"A wimp," she clarified.
"In what way?" he snapped, bristling at the insult.
"You keep asking me, over and over again, how I feel aboutya," she answered. "Yet you never once even hinted at how you feel about me. I can see what's going on: you're waiting to find out exactly what I want before you make up your mind. That way, there's no risk involved on your part."
"That's absurd!"
"I'll say," she agreed. "I always thought you were the type to make the first move."
He paused to glare at her, then continued on at a faster pace. "So that is it? You are just going to make jokes?"
"Gimme your hand," she ordered, and despite his desire to simply walk away from her he did as she said.
"Why do I even put up with your nonsense?" he asked, though part of him believed what she'd told him about her feelings for him. He wanted to believe her. When she didn't answer, he tried appealing to her sense of decency. "Do me a favor and don't play games with me. Not in this."
"Hey, I'm not that much of an asshole," she muttered back, examining his palm without so much as slowing her pace. Apparently she was used to walking around without looking where she was going, not that it was out of character for her.
"What are you doing to my hand?" He feared she might spit in it, the way little boys sometimes did when making a pact.
"I'm reading your palm," she replied casually, as if this were nothing out of the ordinary.
"Sure you are," he accepted with a roll of his eyes.
"No, really," she insisted. "I learned it from this Romani woman in Paris. You want me to tellya what I see?"
He had a feeling he would regret it, but he let her change the subject for the time being. "Alright."
"M'kay." She squinted at his palm a moment, as if she were literally reading. "Hm. Says here... You touch yourself a lot."
"Stop it," he huffed, yanking his hand away as she started to laugh. "I should have known better."
"Aw, no, c'mon," she protested, making a grab for his hand. "C'mon, c'mon. I was just joking. Promise I'll be better this time."
Against his better judgment, he let her take his hand again. "Consider this a warning."
"I got it." She let out an amused snort, then stared at his palm again. This time, though, she ran her fingers over it so lightly that the touch tickled a little bit. "Okay, so I'm getting something... Says here you got a lotta courage and discipline."
"How did you ever deduce that?" he scoffed.
She rolled her eyes at him, but continued. "Hm... Looks likeya got a long lifeline, too. That's good news, it means you won't keel over on me."
"If you could call it good news," he shot back.
She glared at him, but he could tell she wasn't serious about the silent admonishment. "Anyway," she sniffed, "it also says you got a big heart."
"What, like enlarged?"
"No," she snorted. "Like, y'know... A large capacity for love and compassion and shit like that. Dunno how that showed up."
"You must not have had a very good teacher," he teased.
"Yeah, well, she was named after a rock."
He couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter at that.
"And I think she was involved with a hunchback."
He laughed even more at that addition. "No," he denied.
"Yeah," she argued, laughing along with him. "Hey, hunchbacks can be pretty cute-"
"Are you suggesting that I have a hunchback?" Somehow he simply knew she'd been getting ready to tease him.
"Just a little one."
Shifu glared at her, and she stared back for a beat before bursting into laughter again. Then for reasons unbeknownst even to him, he laughed too. It took them both a good few minutes to calm down, and he couldn't help but smile once the laughter had subsided; it had been a long time since he had simply laughed, and he'd forgotten how relieving it could feel. "So... What else does my palm say?"
Lin raised her eyebrows at him, then examined his hand again, humming to herself. "It says you're stubborn and high-strung, and that causes a lotta your personal hardship." She had no idea how right she was. "And it also says that there's an amazing woman in your life who likesya the way you are, so you should appreciate her before she gets fed up with your indecisive ass," she added.
He should have known she would pull something like that on him. Still, she had done worse. "I... I will try," he assured her, and she smiled at him and laid a tender kiss on his palm.
"Good," she accepted. "I'm glad." She leaned closer to him and kissed him again, this time on the cheek.
"You have no idea how to read palms, do you?"
She laughed again. "Not at all."
He watched her laugh for a little bit, then in spite of logic telling him not to, he stopped walking and kissed her. It was just a short peck on the lips, but when he pulled away she blushed and smiled like a shy young girl with a crush. "Do not read too much into that," he ordered.
"Okay," she replied, then kissed him back. She looked genuinely happy for once, so much so that he actually did believe in her sincerity- for the time being.
"And perhaps, after we have sorted out things in Shanghai... We could revisit the topic?"
"I'd like that."
Shifu continued walking and in spite of his desire to appear serious after what had just happened between them, he couldn't stop himself from grinning like an idiot. He supposed there was no harm; he certainly wouldn't be smiling anymore once they reached their destination.
Tigress tried for the third time in a row to clear her mind and meditate in the privacy of her room, and for the third time in a row failed. Not that she hadn't gotten used to failure at this point- she'd already failed to live up to Shifu's expectations of her, failed to live up to her own dream of becoming the Dragon Warrior, and in her most recent show of utter disappointment she had failed to correctly use the nerve strike technique she'd studied so hard. Failure had become a way of life for her, it seemed.
"Uh... Hey? Tigress? I think you're in there but I'm not like, one hundred percent sure."
She had been expecting Po to come calling at some point or another. After he'd witnessed her unsuccessful attempt at using a nerve strike, she knew he would try to talk to her about it the moment he had a chance. "Come in," she called wearily, because she knew that if she tried to put off the discussion he would only follow her around and badger her relentlessly.
"Hi," Po greeted nervously as he stepped into her room. "Wow, it's really, um, clean in here. And stuff." He shuffled his feet, looking around her room in a clear attempt to avoid eye contact. "Hey, cool sheets! Not that I'm, uh, thinkin' about your bed or nothin'- I didn't mean- I'm just gonna stop now."
Tigress realized part of Po's awkwardness stemmed from the fact that he'd never been inside her room before. "Po, calm down. It's just my room."
"Right. Just... Just a room. With windows. Wait- you got windows?"
She crossed her arms and glared at him.
"Sorry. I actually wanted to talk to ya about... Yesterday."
"Have a seat," Tigress offered. She was almost starting to feel bad for Po, he was so nervous to speak to her.
With a groan he plopped down on the floor, then spent a moment straining to cross his legs. "So, nerve strikes," he said, then fell silent.
"I am aware of them, yes." She wasn't about to make the conversation any easier for him, even if she pitied him a little.
"And you, uh... Tried one out yesterday. One that didn't actually... What's the word..." He trailed off, tapping his fingers on his knees.
"Work?" she offered.
"Yeah, that."
She waited for him to get to his point, then lost her patience. "What is it? You think I can't master nerve strikes? That I'm not cut out for it?"
"No, that's not what I meant!" He opened his mouth, paused, then coughed nervously. "I just was gonna ask, like... Are you okay?"
Tigress blinked back at him, floored at the question. It was the last thing she had expected to hear, and oddly enough she felt somewhat grateful to be asked. "I am fine, Po. It's nothing I can handle."
"Okay." He sounded skeptical, but didn't argue. "So, I'm thinkin'... If you're gonna practice nerve strikes, probably don't do it in battles."
"I've concluded as much."
"Maybe instead practice 'em on me."
"I never- wait, what?" If she thought she'd been caught off guard before, this was on a whole new level. She never could have guessed that Po had come to her to make such an offer. Training one-on-one with the panda had never crossed her mind, yet at the same time it was difficult to turn down a willing partner. "But Tai Lung's nerve strikes-"
"You're not Tai Lung," he replied, more firmly than she'd have expected from him. "B'sides, that'll gimme a little protection in case of an accident like... Yesterday's."
She supposed it couldn't hurt to try. "If I say yes to this, you must promise me that it will stay between us."
"'Course it will. Anything you want."
"Then perhaps it would be best to meet before the morning gong." If they constantly disappeared together in front of the others, suspicions would be raised. She didn't want anyone finding out about her insistence on breaking Shifu's rules, especially with the risk of that information getting back to their master.
"Y'mean, like... Before dawn?" Po looked horrified at the thought.
"Either help me or don't, Po," she snapped. "But if you are going to help me, don't whine about doing it my way."
He looked sheepish at the admonition, and gave her a small nod. "Yeah, you're right. I, uh, can get used to an early morning."
"Good. We start tomorrow, then."
"Sounds good."
She waited for him to get up and leave, but he just continued to sit, smiling at her. Sometimes she truly could not even begin to fathom what went on in his head. "You can go now," she clarified.
"Oh! Right! Better leave ya to your... Meditation... An' junk." He pushed himself to his feet and, to her surprise, gave her a respectful bow. "Seeya tomorrow, Master."
"Hm," she replied with a nod, then watched him shuffle out of her room, walk a few steps until he thought she couldn't see his shadow anymore, and break into a trot. She was certain she also heard a "Woohoo!" from down the hall. At least Po was an enthusiastic training partner, if nothing else. She could only hope that nothing went wrong in their sessions, as it had with that bandit. If she ever seriously hurt Po, she didn't know how she'd deal with the guilt.
She wasn't about to call the whole thing off, though. She'd had enough of failure. It was time to finally get something right, to prove that she could be strong enough, smart enough, skilled enough. It was time to prove she was worthy of her title.
Shanghai was a city so dense and active that most people became overwhelmed by it the moment they entered. Most of the buildings were either attached or built so close together it looked as though one would have to turn sideways to get in between them. The main streets were as crowded as the morning market in the Valley of Peace, or moreso, and the storefronts and restaurants often were packed with churning crowds of insistent customers. Shifu and Lin were currently walking down a street alongside the Huangpu River, densely packed multi-story buildings and houses looming over them. Most were plain and drab, while some had been painted in bright, cheerful colors by their owners. Some looked as though they'd been completely abandoned, rotting and crumbling as vines creeped along their walls. Shifu tought he even saw a tree growing out of the window of an abandoned building.
They turned onto a wide main street, lined with what appeared to be mainly shops and restaurants with residences built on their second or third floors. Clotheslines were strung across the street, but not for actual clothing; instead, business purveyors hung long banners advertising services and sales in bold calligraphy. The signs ranged from crude (frayed burlap with barely legible writing) to impressive (red silk with elegant yet strong symbols carefully drawn on it). People bustled up and down the street as if they were late for something, barely looking at each other, some wading easily through the crowd as if it were second nature. Despite the fact that nobody seemed to be acknowledging their fellow shoppers, the street was unbearably loud- probably due to the fact that not only were vendors shouting out advertisements in addition to their banners, but also haggling rather heatedly with customers.
"Home sweet home," Lin sighed, as if she had actually missed such a crowded, dirty, noisy place.
"You must be kidding me," he grumbled as someone pushed past him so hard that he nearly fell over. "You missed it here? Such a charming place full of pleasant people?" He winced as an old woman intentionally hit him with a box of oranges; apparently he'd been in her way.
Lin spun around and gestured rudely at the old woman, shouting something in Shanghai dialect that was mostly likely a string of curse words. "So you ever been back here sinceya tried to arrest me?" she asked him calmly, as if she'd never had such an outburst.
"Once or twice. Back when Tai Lung was... When he was still in training, he accompanied me on a mission to these parts."
"Ain't it great here? Greatest city in China." She grabbed his hand and dragged him along as she wove through the crowd. It seemed to be second nature to her.
"Sure, whatever you say." He knew she had a certain attachment to the city, but he couldn't help but let his disagreement come through in his sarcasm.
"Ha!" Apparently she didn't mind.
After a few minutes they turned down an alleyway and wound through several side streets, the shops and houses along the way becoming more shabby and drab as they went on. By the time they emerged onto another main street, they'd entered an area where trash was visibly littered all over the streets and more buildings had been abandoned than remained occupied. A nearby liquor shop had attracted a crowd of local residents who stood outside of it, openly drinking the goods they'd just purchased from it and conversing loudly in Shanghai dialect. The words Lin had used earlier were definitely audible.
"Gods," Shifu grumbled. "I'd forgotten what a terrible neighborhood Chen lives in."
"What's so bad about it?" Lin snapped, raising her eyebrows.
Shifu stared at her in disbelief. "You really need me to outline it for you?" he asked as they walked past a dissheveled alley cat who happened to be shouting insults at passersby.
"Y'know, judgmental attitudes like yours are what's wrong with the world these days," she shot back, clearly bothered by his commentary. "This's my old neighborhood, too, y'know. This is where I made the transition from boy to man."
"Not to mention the transition from man to beast," he shot back, unable to hold back an amused smile when she elbowed him in the side and glared at him.
Still, there was an air of playfulness about her glare, and when she elbowed him she brushed her hand against his in a way that was clearly deliberate and made him feel as though his brain had flown straight out of his head.
Soon they approached an impressively wide, stately house on a corner lot, occupying the space of about three of the other houses in the neighborhood. Although its design seemed high class with its many windows, two tall stories, and multi-inclined roof, the house was built from plain wood with none of the bright colors or visual details such a home would have in a wealthier neighborhood.
"Here we are," Lin pointed out, her voice taking on a grim tone. She paused outside the door, but didn't knock. "Y'know... We could still turn back."
"No, we can't." He'd somtimes felt the same impulse during their trip, but it had never been something he'd seriously meant and he suspected the same went for Lin. He took a deep breath. "I... I am ready if you are."
"If we waited til I was ready we'd die out on this porch." With that, she knocked.
A plump little Balinese cat opened the door, blinking her big violet eyes at them. "Hello," she greeted politely, her silky voice measured and cool. "I see you've made it." She stepped aside for them and Shifu glanced sideways at Lin to see a grimace of distinct discomfort on her face. They entered into a large, though sparsely furnished sitting room, a staircase directly ahead of them, a doorway to the left of it, and an entryway to the right of the room that led into the kitchen if he remembered correctly.
"Good evening," he greeted the cat, ignoring the awkwardness in the room. "I know I was not invited, but I am afraid I insisted on coming here with Lin."
"No need to apologize, Master Shifu." She even bowed to him, something he wouldn't have expected from anyone even remotely connected to Lin. "I'm Yan-Yan, I've been your son's doctor for these past couple of months. And, to be perfectly honest, I'll probably be the one keeping Chen in check for this entire... Process. Speaking of whom, I'd better let him know you've arrived." She walked through a door at the back of the room with the practiced, elegant gait of a woman who'd been groomed for a much more high-class life than the one she currently led- and, quite noticeably, without acknowledging Lin in any way, shape, or form.
"Ouch," Lin grumbled once Yan-Yan had left the room. "I guess she's still mad at me."
"You think?" Shifu muttered, more than a little concerned about the reception Chen was going to give them. He eyed the staircase ahead of them; Tai Lung was most likely on the second floor, holed up in a bedroom. "Do you think Chen will be angry to see me?"
"That's kinda a dumb question," she answered.
He rolled his eyes at her, prepared for a comeback, when Chen suddenly burst through the door at the other end of the room, Yan-Yan hot on his heels.
"Your blood pressure," the cat reminded him calmly. "Remember your blood pressure."
The tiny master stopped in front of them, his murderous glare nothing short of terrifying. "What part of 'keep this a secret,'" he ground out toward Lin, "didn'tya understand?"
"The part where Shifu is Tai Lung's father," she shot back defensively, without so much as a hello to her former teacher. Neither of them seemed to need one, though.
"You got some nerve!"
"Me? I got nerve? You're the one who's got nerve!"
"In the kitchen!"
"Gladly!"
Chen paused to jab his little walking stick in Shifu's direction. "I'll get to you later," he threatened before continuing his argument with Lin all the way to a large doorway on their right.
Shifu glanced nervously at Yan-Yan as he listened to Lin call Chen a "fossilized monkey shart," trying to strike up a conversation in hopes of drowning out the profanity coming from the kitchen. "So..."
"We weren't expecting you," Yan-Yan pointed out needlessly as she began to fuss with her green qipao. "I believe Chen specifically instructed Quan- or Lin, now, I suppose- to keep you in the dark about this."
"So I have heard." He shifted uncomfortably as he overheard Chen referring to him as a "constipated fat badger." "Apparently I am the hot topic of conversation."
"Don't take it personally," she dismissed, as if it were a normal occurrence for Chen to audibly insult his guests in the next room over. Knowing the old rodent, it probably was fairly commonplace. "He's overprotective, that's all. Everyone and their mom knows that Lin's got her eye on you, and Chen's none too happy about it."
"I do not understand why," he admitted. "Lin is a grown woman, after all. And I am certainly not the worst choice she could make."
"She could be ninety years old and you could be the Emperor himself, Chen would still want to kick your ass from here to Timbuktu."
He supposed there was something to say for being equal opportunity. "Surely he will warm up to me."
They both jumped at the sound of a thud from the kitchen, followed by Lin raising her voice even more to shout obscenities at Chen.
"Let's see, shall we?" Yan-Yan said in a falsely cheerful tone, then headed for the kitchen and beckoned toward him to follow.
He would have liked to stay behind, but he would need to face Chen sooner or later, so he accompanied her into the kitchen. He blinked at the sight before him; mainly, the sight of Chen standing on the countertop of the island in the large room, while Lin leaned down to trade insults back and forth with their diminutive host.
"I didn't listen to you when I was a kid and I ain't listening to you now, you shrunken sphincter!"
"You always were an idiotic kid- I shoulda known you'd grow up into an idiotic adult!"
Meanwhile, an old raccoon dog with thick white fur and even thicker glasses watched on with only passing interest. Mainly, he was focused on the fruit bowl and a steaming cup of tea.
"I'm having flashbacks," Yan-Yan grumbled as she leaned against the island to observe the fight.
"The more things change, the more they stay the same," the raccoon dog agreed before grabbing an orange and biting into it, rind and all.
"You are not planning on trying to put a stop to this?" Shifu asked them, horrified by their flippant attitudes. "If this escalates any more, it will become violent-" He shut his mouth tightly as Lin screamed something in Shanghai dialect in Chen's face, then snatched the cup of tea from the raccoon dog and smashed it on the floor.
"Enough!" Chen roared, bringing his walking stick down on the countertop with a surprisingly loud thwack. Then, he jumped up with lightning fast speed and whacked Lin right between the eyes with the thing. "If that's how it's gonna be, fine! The badger stays- so long as you check the attitude."
"Red panda," Lin corrected, to his utter shock. "And... Okay. Fine, whatever." She poked gently at the spot the jerboa had hit, wincing. "So long as you can hold back from physically abusing me."
"That shouldn't be a problem, so long as you don't deserve it."
"Oh, you did not-" She was suddenly cut off as the raccoon dog shoved an orange into her mouth.
Yan-Yan reacted quickly, as well, grabbing Chen's tail and dragging him away from Lin, then giving him a poke in the stomach that seemed to be some sort of warning.
The man who had managed to shut Lin up- in other words, Shifu's new hero- turned to him and gave a shallow bow. "A pleasure to meet you at last, Grand Master Shifu."
"That's Wei-Shan," Yan-Yan supplied.
Lin spat her orange out onto the countertop, glaring first at Chen, then at Wei-Shan. "I'd appreciate not being treated like a teenager, you pair of stale farts."
"Suddenly I'm a stale fart," Wei-Shan observed casually. "Such forgetfulness."
Once again, Lin fell silent.
Shifu blinked at her, then turned to Wei-Shan in amazement. "Do you accept students?"
"I'm afraid not, but you'll live. Ooh, pears!" He reached for the fruit bowl again, his interest once again focused more on food than the people around him.
"I am beginning to understand so much," Shifu muttered as Lin peeled her orange and ate it.
Yan-Yan stole half the orange, but Lin suffered the theft in silence, probably because of her chilly reception. "If you all don't mind, I think we should get started with... Well, whatever we're supposed to be discussing. What is that again?"
"Tai Lung," Chen answered.
"Hey, what are we doing with him, anyway?" Wei-Shan asked, as if he were only just joining the conversation.
"Gods, give me strength."
"Well, shouldn't Shifu and I talk to him first?" Lin suggested. "We should see what he's like, first, before we start talking about how to get him back onto the right track. Right?"
"I cannot believe this, but I agree with you," Shifu accepted.
"I don't think he should see you both at the same time," Yan-Yan added. "He was mad enough that we invited Lin here, when he sees Shifu that's going to be quite the tantrum."
"Good point," Chen accepted, then jabbed at Lin with his walking stick.
"Hey!"
"You deserved it. Now, c'mon. And you-" He paused to glare at Shifu. "Don't think I forgot aboutya." With that, he dragged Lin out of the kitchen.
"Huh," Wei-Shan observed flippantly. "Well, you're dead."
"That's what I was telling him earlier," Yan-Yan sighed, rifling through the fruit bowl. "Oh, you ate all the good stuff! Now there are only apples left. You like apples, Shifu?"
"Yes, I-"
"Take them all, I'm sick and tired of them."
Shifu had to admit, he was starting to see some similarities between Yan-Yan and Lin, though he decided not to say anything on the subject, considering the cat's reaction to her former friend. He certainly hadn't expected the two of them to have anything in common- at first glance the two women seemed like polar opposites. Yan-Yan was just so... Beautiful, poised, and well-spoken. And she remained genteel under duress, despite her coldness toward Lin. She was the sort of woman he would have been drooling over, if it weren't for Lin. He resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands and weep at that thought; what in hell was wrong with him?
"So, Shifu." Yan-Yan eyed him critically, interrupting his thoughts. "What is the deal there?"
"They're probably having sex by now," Wei-Shan answered conversationally, to Shifu's utter horror.
"Of course not!" he replied, scandalized that a man with such a respectable reputation would say such a thing. "I am certainly not that type of man!"
"Didn't think I was, either." He picked at his orange, popping pieces of the bitter pith into his mouth while Shifu was left to contemplate the implication in his words. "Genitals are stange-looking, don't you think?"
"Anyway," Yan-Yan sighed, ignoring Wei-Shan's vulgar question, "what was it like to travel with her?"
"Like getting stuck repeatedly in the eyes with red-hot pokers," Shifu answered with complete honesty.
"Okay," she accepted. "So it could have been worse. That's good."
Wei-Shan snorted at the comment. "He should be used to it by now, if he's been living with her." He then looked Shifu in the eyes and gave a nod of respect, as two warriors who'd been in the same battle might do.
Without even thinking about it, Shifu returned the nod.
"Oh, please," Yan-Yan sighed, shaking her head. "Stop it with the dramatics. Nobody cares, okay? Besides, there are worse people to live with."
"You don't need to tell me," Wei-Shan replied.
"I thought you two liked Lin and Chen," Shifu interrupted hesitantly. He also couldn't help but wonder what would be said about him once he was no longer in earshot.
"We do."
"I like Chen, anyway," Yan-Yan added. "Master Shifu, I know you are the Grand Daddy of kung fu or whatnot-"
"Grand Master," he interrupted, apalled at the error.
"Right," she dismissed. "The basic premise remains intact, I think. But Chen does not precisely see you that way, as you may have inferred."
"Yan-Yan, I'm always so impressed with how well you sugar-coat these things," Wei-Shan interrupted unhelpfully.
"Thank you," she accepted casually. "I would like to give you a word or two of advice." She paused as if waiting for his consent, but the moment he opened his mouth she continued speaking. "I suggest you tread lightly around Chen, and above all else show him deference. He may say he's given up on the world of kung fu, but when it comes down to it, he still sees himself as, well... The leader. We may be able to get away with murder, but that's only because Chen's known us so long. He'll need to get used to you before you have any say on anything in his presence. Now if you'll pardon me, a lady needs her rest." Yan-Yan excused herself rather abruptly, curiously enough, and left the two masters alone.
Wei-Shan leaned closer to Shifu, as if imparting on him some great secret. "'Rest' is her term for running off to butt in on other people's business."
"Ah." Shifu didn't want to witness what kind of fight might ensue due to Yan-Yan's interference upstairs, if one hadn't broken out already. Yet he was also faced with the equally unsavory option of sitting with Wei-Shan and further enduring his oddness. "So, you and Lin..."
"Worked together for some time, yes," he answered, as if there were no other possible way to answer the question.
Shifu wasn't sure if the man was avoiding a straight answer or just daft. "Yes. Work." He would be lying if he were to say he wasn't, on some level, intimidated by Wei-Shan and Lin's past feelings for him. He knew it was irrational, of course, but "rational" had never been a term that applied to his and Lin's relationship. "What kind of work, exactly, did you do together?"
"Artwork," Wei-Shan replied shortly, as if simply to irritate him.
Shifu felt his eye twitch, ever so slightly. He understood so much about Lin's behavior now that it was frightening. "How intriguing."
"Yes, I like to think so." He popped another piece of orange peel into his mouth and chewed slowly, as if eating a delicacy that was meant to be savored.
Shifu resisted the urge to scream. "So what type of artwork did the two of you do?"
"Don't ask a question you don't want to know the answer to."
He stared at Wei-Shan, half unsure of how to respond and half dying to start a fight. "...Pardon?"
"Ah, forgive an old man's rudeness." It seemed as though he was genuinely apologetic for his comment, until he held out some orange peel. "Would you like some?"
"No!" Shifu snapped, then took a deep breath to calm himself. It would not do at all to argue with someone he was supposed to be working alongside. "What I mean to say is, I think I should go check on things upstairs."
"Have fun."
He wasn't sure if the statement had been meant sarcastically or not, but he wasn't going to stick around to find out. He paused at the landing of the staircase to listen for any raised voices, but the second floor of the house sounded surprisingly calm. He continued up the stairs and into the long hallway above that housed the many unoccupied bedrooms. Yan-Yan stood outside the door at the very end of the hallway, arguing quietly with Chen. Shifu could hear snippets of their conversation, but tried not to pay attention.
"Stop being such a little piece of- Ah, Master Shifu." Yan-Yan bowed to him and Chen rolled his eyes. "Maybe it would be best to wait until Lin is done."
"Maybe." Shifu eyed the door, trying to imagine what it would be like to face Tai Lung once more, after thinking he'd never see his son again, after thinking his son would surely kill him. "But I am going in anyway." His heart racing, he stepped through the door.
Chapter 9: Those Who Forget the Pasta Are Condemned to Reheat It
Chapter Text
Chapter 9: Those Who Forget the Pasta Are Condemned to Reheat It
Lin stopped outside the door to Tai Lung's room and turned to Chen. "You sure he'll be okay seeing me?"
"How'm I supposed to know?" Chen grumbled. "If not, I'm right here."
She didn't want to think about the implication of his reassurance. "Right. Seeya." With a deep breath, she stepped through the door.
The bedroom was dark, a screen covering the one window. The furniture remained sparse, a trunk and two low chairs. Against the wall, Tai Lung sat on a bed roll that had been set up on the floor. He appeared to be meditating, and showed no sign he'd noticed her presence.
"Hey," she said, for lack of any better ideas.
Tai Lung let out a groan and his posture slumped. He opened his golden eyes to glare at her. "I cannot believe they really did this."
"Good to see you, too." She lingered near the door, unsure of what to do with herself. She pulled out her pipe, because smoking would at least give her something to do with her hands. "I'm really happy you're not dead."
"Oh, goody. The last thing I would want to do would be to make you unhappy." He wrinkled his nose at her. "You tobacco stained polyp."
"If you're jealous, you can try it," she offered, somewhat amused at his disgusted expression. She still saw a lot of the young cub he'd once been in him, even if no one else did. And even if he wasn't exactly thrilled to see her, she was geniunely happy to see him. "Nice room they gaveya here." She walked over to the trunk and started going through the meager contents so he wouldn't see how watery her eyes had gotten.
"Must you always be such a busybody?" he snapped.
"Uhp, sorry." She straightened up and gave a shrug, blowing smoke in his general direction.
He waved his hand around his face, even though the smoke hadn't even gotten close to him. "You have no business being here," he wheezed. "I have no need of you, nor do I have any need for that puckered up little anus or his torture-happy assistant. You wasted your time in coming here."
"Maybe," Lin replied, undeterred by his blustering; he had an angle, though what it was she couldn't be sure. "Tai Lung, tell me the truth. Do you really hate me now?"
He looked startled at the question, and hesitated with his answer. "Come now, do you even care?"
"Of course I care, kid. I love you." She figured she might as well come out and say the truth; she'd never kept her feelings from Tai Lung before, and she wasn't about to do it now.
His face was inscrutable. He stared back at her as if he were examining every inch of her, trying to find some evidence of a lie. "I truly do despise you," he grumbled, looking away.
It hurt her to hear him say that, even if he'd been acting like it since they first reunited up in the mountains. She'd expected his answer, of course, but it still broke her heart just a little bit when he actually said it out loud. "I hope you're happy that you've broken an old woman's heart," she chided jokingly, even though what she actually wanted to do was scream it at the top of her lungs and trash the room.
"Enough of this pointless chatter," Tai Lung dismissed. "Leave me be."
"There's something I should tellya." She puffed on her pipe, contemplating how to break the news. "I didn't come alone."
"Excuse me?" he snapped, finally standing up.
As if on cue, Shifu chose that exact moment to step into the room.
"Huh," Wu Zhin mused as she and her sisters sat around their campfire, in cover of a small wooded area just north of Shanghai, near the banks of the Yangtze. "I wasn't expecting Shifu to actually be telling the truth about Shanghai."
"One must wonder why he is meeting with Master Chen," Bai replied, consternation written all over her face. "Surely it isn't for a friendly reunion."
"I agree," Qiang chimed in. "If Shifu and Chen are friends, then I'm a horse's behind."
"I don't think that's the correct way to use the term, but we get your meaning." Zhin grabbed a nearby stick and stoked the fire with it; the chill in the air had become so pervasive that even her thick fur wasn't quite enough to keep her warm. She may have been imagining things, but this fall felt unusually cold compared to previous years. "Maybe we're being paranoid, and it's nothing important."
"Well, sticking our noses into the business of kung fu masters won't dredge up any jobs for us." Bai leaned her chin in her hand, pouting her lips at the fire. "It won't even dredge up a single man.
"Since when does a man need to be single for you to be interested?" Zhin raised her eyebrows in exasperation at her sister.
"Well it certainly streamlines things."
"Girls, hold on," Qiang interrupted. "I think I hear someone coming."
They all fell silent, their hands darting to their wind-and-fire wheels. Zhin's ear pricked up as she listened closely to the footsteps approaching. Suddenly, those footsteps stopped altogether, and no matter how she strained she could hear nothing. All three of them rose into a crouch and creeped toward the source of the last of the noise.
"Hello!" a voice suddenly burst out behind them, and they all simultaneously leapt in the air and spun around to face the owner of said voice. "Oh, thank goodness I have found a group of ladies. I thought for sure I would meet more scoundrels." A young, rather stunted gray wolf with fluffy fur and wide, innocent eyes stood before them. "If you would be so kind as to share your campfire with me this evening, I would be terribly grateful."
Zhin glanced at the others, who seemed just as floored as she was. "How did you sneak up on us?"
"Sneak up...?" the girl repeated, cocking her head in a show of pure confusion. "I am afraid I do not understand." It was believable; she did speak with some sort of foreign accent.
"That happens to me all the time, you shouldn't worry too much about it." Qiang was the first to let her guard down. "Come on, join us. The more the merrier!"
Zhin remained skeptical, but while Qiang tended to be naive she would have at least known if they were in any immediate danger. "I suppose it couldn't hurt." She didn't bother introducing herself or the others; thanks to their less than stellar reputation, it was better that way.
"Fine by me, I didn't want to muss my fur anyway," Bai agreed, taking her place back at the fire. "What are you doing wandering around these parts?"
The wolf joined them with a big smile on her face. "I am on my way to the Valley of Peace. I feel I am getting very close."
"You are," Zhin informed her. "It's about a two weeks' journey southwest of here."
"Wonderful!" She clapped her hands like a young child, and Qiang joined in. "I cannot wait. I am hoping my journey will be a worthwhile one." She seemed like the type of person who would want to go to the Valley of Peace; most people who traveled there were naive and soft like this girl.
"Well I, for one, would like to make a toast." Bai pulled a canteen out of her belt, one in which she always kept some rice wine handy. "To women making our own way- to us!" She took a swig and passed the canteen around the group.
"A nightcap is just what I needed," Qiang sighed. "It gives me the warm fuzzies."
The wolf took the canteen and smelled the contents first, then took a drink. "Ah! A fine wine you have here, ladies," she complimented, her cheeks immediately flushing.
Zhin took a drink last, grateful to have something tasty and soothing before it was time to settle down. "To us indeed. And to you, traveller. May you find what you are looking for in the Valley of Peace."
Shifu steeled himself for a fight as he stood before Tai Lung, facing down his son's angry glare and trying his best to ignore the growling. They regarded each other for a split second, then both entered fighting stances. As quickly as they had prepared, Lin stepped in between them. She didn't say a word, but the grim expression on her face spoke volumes.
Amazingly, Tai Lung relaxed his stance, however grudgingly.
Shifu followed suit in a show of good faith. "Son," he greeted, trying his best to hide his frazzled nerves.
"Hah!" Tai Lung crossed his arms, a bitter smirk firmly in place. "Isn't that a laugh? After everything, you have the nerve to come here and call me 'son.' Hilarious."
He frowned at the reaction; he hadn't expected anything less, really, but it was difficult to respond calmly to such baiting. "Lin, please leave us."
Lin suprised him by actually honoring his request. "I'll be right outside if anyone needs me," she informed them before taking her leave.
"I should have known the old bat would drag you here, too," Tai Lung grumbled, shaking his head. "If you are here to take me back to that stinking hellhole-"
"No," Shifu interrupted. "No, I am not." He folded his arms behind his back, standing as tall as he could manage. "I wanted to see... To see if you were willing to repent."
"Do you remember just a moment ago, when I said 'Hah'?" The snow leopard turned his back, bowing his head low. "You think I will return to the Valley with you, to prove... What, exactly? That you are able to reform me? That the great Master Shifu is finally able to fix his mistakes? That place is as much a hell to me now as Chor Ghom ever was."
Shifu closed his eyes briefly as he thought out a few lines of a calming chant. He had already shed so many tears for his fallen son, yet he feared more had yet to come. "I am your father, Tai Lung. You may wish to undo that, but you cannot. As long as I live, as long as I still love you, you will always be my son."
"I am getting so tired of this line," he snapped. "You love me, Lin loves me, everyone loves me. I get it. You love me just enough to get me to agree to your little schemes."
Hearing that Lin had also told Tai Lung she loved him was a bit of a shock, but Shifu did not comment; he didn't want to get off-track. "I do not want to return you to prison. That would do no good to anyone. If you are willing to try to rehabilitate yourself, then I, as the Grand Master of kung fu, would be willing to forgive your crimes. Think of it as a sentence of community service, as compared to a sentence of imprisonment for life."
"Whoopee," Tai Lung replied flatly.
"I will give you some time to think it over, then. It was... Good to see you again, my son."
"Just go." Tai Lung sounded unexpectedly exhausted in that moment, and unexpectedly hurt.
Shifu hesitated, but decided it was best that he simply leave his son be. The last thing he wanted or needed was another fight between them. When the time was right, they would air the strong feelings they both harbored. In the meantime, he would try his best to tread lightly. He entered the hallway to find that Chen, Yan-Yan and Lin all stood immediately outside the door, and studiously avoided his gaze. Clearly, they had been eavesdropping. "Thank you for the privacy," he huffed, annoyed at their immaturity. At least Master Wei-Shan had not joined in.
"Get over yourself," Chen replied. "No one cares about your business." With that, he hopped away, presumably to join Wei-Shan in... Whatever it was the man did.
"Well," Yan-Yan smoothed out her fur, looking suitably embarrassed. "It is getting rather dark outside. Shall I show you to your rooms?"
"I think that would be best." Shifu glanced at Lin as they followed Yan-Yan back down to the other end of the hall; she remained suspiciously quiet. It wasn't like her at all.
"Here we are."
Shifu couldn't help but feel amazed at the sheer number of rooms in the house- the place was like an inn.
"This's my old room," Lin observed, glaring at the door in front of them.
"You can stay in there," Yan-Yan replied, pointing.
"No. Not under any circumstances." Her firm refusal was a little surprising, but Yan-Yan didn't seem phased by it.
"Master Shifu-"
"No," Lin once again refused. "No one stays in that room." With that, she turned and walked further down the hall. "There're plenty of other rooms, y'know."
"I know," Yan-Yan sighed, shaking her head at the other woman's behavior.
"Why is that?" Shifu asked, hoping to change the subject to a topic which caused a little less tension.
"Chen had this house built when he was first married. All these rooms were supposed to be for his children."
"Oh." Apparently there was no such thing. "That is, uhm..."
"Depressing," Yan-Yan finished for him, then stopped and motioned to a door. "Here, Master Shifu, why don't you take this room? And Lin can take the one to the left of it. Alright?"
"That would be fine, thank you," he accepted, before Lin had a chance to argue. Then, he bid goodnight and walked into the room, relieved to hear Lin do the same. It was a lot larger than he'd expected, to be honest, but nothing out of the ordinary. Like the rest of the house, the walls were made of wood, and there were a couple of tasteful ink paintings of mountains in the mist hanging for the benefit of whatever guest stayed in the room. It was sparsely furnished with a writing desk, a wooden chair, and a chest for storing clothes and personal items. A simple bed roll awaited him in the far corner, and he took a moment to thank the gods that it wasn't a straw bed or anything cushy like Lin enjoyed using. He lit the lantern that had been set by the door and carried it over to the window set in the middle of the far wall. He dropped his bag, set the lantern down, and took a moment to enjoy the view. He needed something to focus on besides the events of the evening, and the view was indeed lovely. Luckily, very few other houses on the block had two stories, so he was given a view of the skyline of the city, and even a sliver of sky was visible. And then, Lin.
"Bwah!" He jumped back as she climbed into his window and sat on the sill. "Why would you not use the door?"
"I don't wanna face anyone," she answered with surprising honesty. "Now come with me to the roof, okay?"
He regarded her for a moment, and she didn't seem to be joking, so he nodded and followed her out the window. The climb was simple, as much of the woodwork provided footholds, and it was clear that Lin had done it hundreds of times. He wondered if anything of what he'd seen so far was true to her childhood, if he was in the process of witnessing her past with his own eyes, and perhaps that was what had her so agitated.
She scrambled onto the roof and lay back to look at the stars, waiting for him to join her before she spoke. "Remember how on the way here you were flipping your shit and I had to talkya down?"
"...Yes," he admitted reluctantly.
"Well now I'm flipping my shit," she informed him tensely. "And ifya don't talk me down I'm gonna jump right off this damn roof."
"What has got you so wound up?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her.
"Everything!" she snapped. "Especially Chen, that little butthole. And Yan-Yan thinks I'm a damn clod of dirt, and I guess I am, not to mention Wei-Shan is- and I- never mind. But God, Tai Lung. Shit." She covered her face with her hands for a moment, then dragged them down to her neck. "Ssshhhiiit!" she suddenly cursed. "Shit, shit, bloody balls it's such a goddamn clusterfuck!"
Despite the foul language he understood what she meant, which was admittedly rare. "Take a few deep breaths," he ordered, and she did as he'd told her. "We will only be here a short time."
"It already feels like an eternity," she groaned. "I just wanna grab Tai Lung and get the hell outta here."
"That makes two of us," he sighed as he thought back on Tai Lung's angry reception.
"Do me a favor." She grabbed hold of his hand and placed it on her stomach. "Rub my tummy before I throw up all over the place."
"What an elegant request," he huffed, though he obliged her for fear of the throw up in question being aimed at him. "There is no need to 'freak out.' I know this is not easy, but... But at least we have each other." His heart jumped into his throat as he instantly regretted what he'd said, because she might ask him how he felt about her and he honestly did not know.
However, she simply reached over and returned the stomach-rubbing favor. "Thanks."
"You are welcome," he sighed, relieved.
Then, she squeezed his stomach and let out a nasal, "Honk honk!"
He batted her hand away and frowned at her, even though he actually found himself enjoying the moment. He stared up at the stars, wondering what to say next. Lin was so close to him that they were almost touching, and he was surprised by how much he enjoyed the feeling of her body heat on his side. "...Did you really lose your virginity to a python?"
She burst out into laughter, which instantly made him regret asking such a ridiculous question. "R-really?" she wheezed out, clutching her stomach.
"Never mind," he grumbled. "That was a terrible question."
"N-no," she laughed. "No, it's not." She finally managed to calm down, then reached out and poked him in the stomach. "You're freakin' hilarious, y'know that?"
He frowned back at her. "I do now."
"I really did, by the way," she added conversationally. "Lose it to a python, I mean."
He grimaced a bit as he tried not to imagine what it must have been like. "What is it with you and gigantic animals?"
She just shrugged. "It's not so much the size of the guy," she explained. "Mainly I'm attracted to men who look like they could beat the shit outta me. Or, in your case, men who I know can beat the shit outta me. And, okay, the size helps too."
He stared at her, waiting for her to tell him that she was joking; apparently, she wasn't. "That is horrifying."
"Everybody's at least a little messed up," she replied. "It gets a lot worse 'an my sex life- and I ain't even talking about anyone besides me. I know you're not exactly the most sane person on the planet, either."
"You don't know anything," he shot back.
"I know you prefer to drink rain water."
He didn't reply to that, mainly because he knew that if he tried to give an excuse she would only reply with a snappy comeback.
"I'm really good at predicting weather," she added, gently nudging his side. "Almost always know when it's gonna rain."
"Sure," he muttered.
"Hey." Lin reached up and did something she hadn't done in a very long time: she tugged on his mustache.
Shifu, for some reason, felt overcome by a wave of conflicting emotions at the gesture. Something like nostalgia, regret, loneliness, and anxiety gripped him tightly in his chest and he turned away from her. "Lin, please. This... This is not a good time for me."
"D'you need some time alone?" Lin asked in an unusual moment of insight.
"Yes, I believe that would be for the best." He tried not to let his voice waver, but failed.
"Okay. Don't fall asleep up here, though- I made that mistake once. Ouch." She was about to climb down from the roof when he stopped her.
"I just thought of something."
"Oh?"
"All those years ago, when Tai Lung used to hide out on the barracks roof- is this how you knew where to look for him?"
She shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe. Anyway, don't stay out too long. Get some rest tonight. Okay?"
"Okay."
"I'll seeya in the morning, melon-head." She gave him one last reassuring smile, and then she was gone. Her old nickname for him, though an insult, had been comforting to hear.
He leaned back and looked up at the stars, his mind wandering to a time when Tai Lung did such things, sometimes even with him. Back before Oogway had passed on and left him alone, before his son hated him enough to want him dead. When life was good and simple, and he had been happy. He couldn't help but wish for those days once more. Really, what he truly wanted was that uncomplicated life of happiness and love. If there were any way to have that in his current situation, he didn't see how it was possible.
Po rubbed his butt, wincing at the soreness from having been knocked halfway across the training hall by Tigress in their afternoon training. He looked forward to practicing nerve strikes with her, since nerve strikes were incredibly cool, but the inevitable pain would be something he'd prefer to live without. He hobbled up the steps to the barracks, intending to get a snack in him before he meditated- which for him usually resulted in more of a nap-like situation. Instead, he found an unfamiliar crow with a large swath of light gray feathers across the back of her neck and strange robes draped around her shoulders.
"Are you a resident of the Jade Palace?" the woman asked harshly, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Uh, yeah." He caught sight of the letter in her wing and figured she was a messenger. "My name's Po, I'm the Dragon Warrior."
"You are not who I'm looking for," she replied. "The woman I am delivering for is called Lin. Is she present?"
"Sorry, she's away." He should have figured the letter would be for Lin; she seemed to be a lot more popular than she initially let on. "I dunno when she'll be back, but it won't be until a coupla weeks at least."
"It figures," she huffed, then held the letter out to him. "Well, you are the Dragon Warrior. I suppose I can trust you with this."
"Sure, I'll just put it away for her."
He accepted the letter and offered her some provisions and rest, then set about the rest of his day without much thought. He forgot all about the thing in his "meditation" and then when he got around to cooking dinner for the others. In fact, he was settling down in his room after dinner when he finally remembered the letter, and pulled it out to bring it over to Lin's room. He looked at it to check the name, but it wasn't one he recognized. "Huh. I wonder who Rahim is?"
Shifu awoke disoriented, unsure of where he was or what was going on. He had rolled out of his bed and kicked his sheets off before remembering that he had spent the night at Master Chen's house in Shanghai and would soon be discussing his estranged son's fate. He performed his morning tai chi, as usual, then dressed himself properly for breakfast. He paused outside his door, hesitating to go downstairs on his own. While normally he didn't shy from interacting with others, he didn't know if he could handle breakfast with Chen, Wei-Shan and Yan-Yan without Lin accompanying him. The three of them were so completely overwhelming that despite the difference in species, if he'd been told they were related to Lin by blood he would believe it in a second. Luckily, when Lin was around she diverted some of the attention away from him. It actually sounded horrible when he put some thought into it, but he wouldn't be surprised if she'd thought of the exact same thing.
He turned to Lin's door and knocked several times, with no answer. "Lin?"
He opened the door slowly, awaiting some exclamation or reprimand, but none came. He peered into the room, almost identical to his own except for the pile of blankets visible in the corner, which shifted and groaned.
"Lin, get up," he sighed, approaching the pile.
"Nnnngghhh hrrmmfff," the pile grumbled.
He nudged it with his foot. When there was no response, he nudged again. And then again. And he continued to nudge until he was bouncing Lin back and forth under the blankets.
"Stop it!" she finally snapped, pushing back at him. "I'm up, I'm up."
He took a step back and watched as the blankets stirred. "You are not officially up until you actually get out of bed," he pointed out.
"First I got something to tellya," she informed him, though she remained under the blankets. "Come closer."
He took a step forward.
"Closer'n that," she ordered, sounding exasperated. "These walls're thin, I don't want anyone overhearing."
He was intrigued by her concern, and as he knelt down beside her he wondered what sort of secret she wanted to impart to him.
A hand slid out from under the blankets and beckoned to him. "Join me in my fortress."
He rolled his eyes at her behavior, then lifted the heavy blankets and crawled into the darkness underneath. "What is this all about?" he grumbled, blinking his eyes in an attempt to adjust them to the lack of light.
Something warm, soft, and fluffy nuzzled up against him. "It's all about you and me, baby," she replied huskily as she wrapped her arms around him.
"Oh, for the love of-" He realized when he tried to push her away that she was completely in the nude. "Ah!"
"Am I coming on too strong?"
He somehow managed to extract himself from her arms and scrambled out from under the blankets. "Just a little!"
She emerged from her little den and rolled onto her stomach, regarding him critically. "Sometimes I wonder about you."
He turned away, frowning at her lack of concern over her state of undress. "Believe me, the feeling is mutual." His frown deepened when he felt her batting at his tail. "Is this a joke to you?"
"No," she huffed. "I like to sleep in the buff, I'll haveya know. And when you woke me up I thought you might be feeling frisky."
"You thought I woke you up just for sex?"
"That was the best case scenario, anyway. I mean, you did just barge in here." She crawled up next to him, and despite his embarrassment he glanced sideways at her.
Then he stared.
"Like whatya see?" she asked, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.
"You... That is... When did you get that?" He stared at her chest, entirely adorned by the deep red outline of a gigantic lotus flower, barely visible beneath her fur, which she kept shorter apparently to show off the tattoo.
"During my first stint in India," she answered as casually as if she were fully clothed and talking about a souvenir she'd picked up.
"Did it hurt?" he found himself asking, though he didn't know why; of course a tattoo would hurt.
"Not as much as I thought it would, but still kinda a lot."
"Ah." He looked away again, blushing brightly at how rude and inappropriate he'd been. "You, uhm, should probably get dressed. You understand, Chen and all."
"You're so cute when you're embarrassed." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, to his surprise, then crawled away to presumably get dressed.
"I should leave-"
"Don't bother," she dismissed. "You already stared at me like I was a bowl of mouth-watering, plump dumplings."
He sheepishly hunched his shoulders, unable to argue with her.
"Relax, it's no big deal." She rejoined him, finally fully dressed. "But ifya ask me, you seem awfully pent up."
"Don't start," he grunted.
"I'm just saying, I like sex and I like you. So, sounds like a good combination to me."
He was certain his blush had grown so intense that he alone was heating the room.
"So cute," she sighed fondly, then kissed him again, this time on the lips. And though her kiss was sweet and innocent, she whispered in his ear, "You can do anything you want to me."
"Okay, so, Chen," he sputtered out, leaping to his feet and pointing frantically toward the door. "I, ahm- he- you, um, aheh- we should go." He winced at how much he sounded like an awkward child with his first crush. "We should go discuss Tai Lung, I mean. And such."
"Fine," she accepted, standing up with a groan. "But you should know before we go that I got a tongue that could lick the paint clean off a house."
"And we're going," he concluded, walking out of the room. He really could not deal with her come-ons when he had so much else to worry about, Tai Lung at the top of that list. And he especially could not deal with her come-ons when he found himself actually tempted by them.
His attraction to her had been slowly growing for some time, and had crept up on him so quietly that he couldn't pinpoint exactly when it had begun. Yet somehow he had gone from closing his eyes and praying for her to tone down her behavior at least a little bit to closing his eyes and imagining letting her do to him all the dirty things she'd promised. He supposed she'd been right, when she'd intimated that he would eventually warm up to her.
"Not so fast, old man." Lin grabbed him by his collar and yanked him back into her doorway, and he let her since he assumed she would try to fix his clothing despite them being perfectly neat already. Instead, she kissed him again, long and deep. "You're a better kisser 'an I remember," she commented casually, then smacked his behind and walked off.
"You cannot just go around grabbing me and kissing me," he huffed, even though he'd enjoyed it.
"You kissed me back," she pointed out.
"Hmph." He followed her downstairs and into the kitchen, which seemed to be the hub of the house's activity; he was starting to understand why she'd always spent so much time in their own kitchen, even when she hadn't been cooking.
"G'morning, losers," she greeted; every member of the household except Tai Lung was already present, seated at the island.
"Quan, cook something," Chen ordered in lieu of any sort of greeting.
"I already made breakfast," Yan-Yan argued.
"Exactly."
"Hey!"
"Does anyone else ever wonder what their own meat would taste like?" Wei-Shan contemplated, only to be ignored. That much was probably for the best.
Shifu took a seat next to Yan-Yan, since she seemed to be the least unstable of the group. "I hope you did not wait too long for us."
"No, we were just about to sit down to the breakfast I made," Yan-Yan sniffed, shooting a sideways glare in Chen's direction.
"What'd you make?" Lin asked from where she hovered over the stove, peering into a pot that supposedly held the morning's food.
"Rice porridge." She didn't seem too happy about Lin's curiosity.
"Spoon," Lin ordered, and Chen handed her one, which she promptly used to taste the porridge. "Needs salt."
"Well I-"
"And mushrooms, leeks, maybe a little oil-"
"Make your own, then!" Yan-Yan snapped, then seemed to catch herself and started straightening out her whiskers. "I have made breakfast," she went on in a calm and even tone. "If you do not like it, don't eat it."
"Why're you making her cook, anyways?" Lin reared on Chen, taking a swipe at him; he dodged easily and casually, as if it were routine. "You're old enough to start rotting, you should know how to use a stove by now! Pig!" With that, she grabbed two bowls and spooned out portions for herself and Shifu without any further complaint.
"So..." Shifu tried to think of a way to turn the conversation in a more productive direction while Lin took a seat next to him. "About Tai Lung." It was better than nothing, at least.
"I don't imagine his meat would taste any good, no." Wei-Shan took a bite of his own rice porridge, chewing contemplatively.
"It's a good thing we're not cannibals, then," Lin replied.
"Agreed. Although you, my dear-"
"Would taste gamey and dry, I know," she interrupted quickly. "Let's stop contemplating cannibalism, now."
Shifu glanced at Lin and raised an eyebrow. "'My dear?'" he whispered.
She just elbowed him in response. "Tai Lung doesn't seem like he wants to get rehabilitated, guys. Maybe we should talk about that for a little while. Seeing as that was the whole point of us walking for two weeks straight just to be here."
"Oh, please," Yan-Yan dismissed easily. "At this point, he's all bark and no bite. If I told him to strip naked and dance through the streets, he'd grumble about it for ten minutes and then do as I said." She paused to let out a wistful sigh. "It's been way too long since I have seen that man naked."
Shifu started choking on his porridge, horrified at the statement. "You are speaking about my son," he managed to wheeze out.
As unhelpful as ever, Lin began to slap him hard on the back.
"What is wrong with you?" He batted Lin's hand away. "I mean all of you!"
All four of them stared at him as if he were the one behaving inappropriately, and he was met with a chorus of nasal "Eh?"s eerily similar to Lin's.
"I am going to die here," he went on helplessly. "I am going to choke to death, or my heart will stop. You all are going to kill me together. This hellhole is my grave."
"Anyway," Yan-Yan continued as they all disregarded his rant, "Tai Lung has recovered well from his injuries. His mental state may still be a bit unstable, but I honestly believe we have nothing to worry about as far as physical violence goes. The question is: where should we go from here?"
Shifu supposed he had gotten a little off-topic, himself. He decided to push past the oddness and complete disregard for socially acceptable behavior of... Lin's family. He hadn't thought of them as such before, but seeing them all together in one room left no other interpretation. "Tai Lung should return to the Valley of Peace. My mistakes are to blame for his current state, and they are mine to fix."
"Nah," Lin argued without missing a beat.
"What do you mean, 'Nah'?"
"Well, Chen's the one who's had him around up til now. Why don't we ask what he thinks?" She gestured to the old man, and everyone's attention turned to him.
"I don't like to get involved," Chen grumbled sourly. "You all know that. The only reason I even took in the dummy up there in the first place is 'cause Oogway asked me to."
Shifu blinked back at the tiny master. "Master Oogway had a premonition about this as well? And he did not tell me?"
"No," Chen snapped. "'Course he didn't have a premonition. He told me to do this when I was on my way to the memorial ceremony in his honor, that's why I never made it."
Everyone at the table stared at him as if he were crazy- except Lin. She seemed suspiciously calm and accepting about the proclamation.
"Master Oogway was already dead by then," Yan-Yan pointed out. "What did you do, set up a seance?"
"Don't be a dumbass," Chen shot back. "Oogway left the physical world to become one with the universe. He ain't gone- if anything, he's around even more. He's all around us, in every gust of wind and every drop of rain."
"So he's only around during a storm?" Lin asked, clearly making fun of her former teacher.
In response, the old rodent swatted her with his tiny cane, and she frowned at him, rubbing the spot on her arm where he'd hit her. "One more wise-ass crack like that and I'm throwing you out."
"That threat didn't work on me forty years ago and it won't work now." Lin flung some of her breakfast in Chen's direction, but missed.
"That still does not answer the question of what we should do with Tai Lung," Shifu pointed out, trying desperately to keep the conversation on track. "And why it is apparently not a good idea to bring him back to the Valley of Peace." He gave Lin a dirty look at that last statement.
"I still don't think it is," she said. "There're a lotta painful memories for him there. Not to mention he'd be recognized and noticed in a hot second. Ifya bring him home, who knows what could trigger him into an episode of rage? I'm not saying he shouldn't go back at all, just that it's not time yet. Maybe give him a coupla months to calm down and settle into the idea of rehabilitation first."
"I would have to agree," Yan-Yan added. "As his doctor, I can't recommend taking him very far just yet. Not to mention putting him into a high-stress environment like the place where he rampaged to begin with..."
"Sounds like a dumb idea," Chen confirmed.
"He should just stay here longer," Wei-Shan suggested, finally breaking his long silence. It was surprising that he'd even been listening to the conversation. "He needs someone to guide him. Someone like Quan."
"Nope!" Lin actually managed to beat Shifu to the punch on that one. "Nope, nope, nope. Absolutely not. If I hafta spend even another week in this house I will snap."
"I second that nope," Shifu added.
"Do what you want," Chen suddenly grunted, then just as unexpectedly left the room.
Lin's eyes lingered noticeably longer on the doorway after him than the others, and if Shifu didn't know any better he'd say that for just a moment she looked upset. "Maybe we should take a break," she suggested.
"I have things to do, anyway," Yan-Yan said. "I need to check up on Tai Lung, then I've got to head to the market for a bit. The day is wasting, as they say." She cleaned up her own breakfast and Chen's, then grabbed a new bowl of porridge that was presumably for Tai Lung and left.
Shifu realized, with no small amount of discomfort, that he'd been left alone with Lin and Wei-Shan, the man she'd once held a flame for. "So." He tried to think of a reason to excuse himself, but hesitated because some small insane part of him feared that something untoward would happen between the two if he left them alone.
"Quan." Wei-Shan beckoned to Lin and she leaned in closer to him without question or hesitation. "You look like you could use a walk."
She raised her eyebrows, then glanced back and forth between him and Shifu. "You wanna talk about me behind my back," she concluded.
"Only a little."
"Listen up, old man," she growled, poking Wei-Shan hard in the shoulder. "You say anything I don't like the sound of and it'll be trouble." Then, amazingly, she did as requested and left the two men alone.
"How do you do that?" Shifu marveled, jealous of the raccoon dog's ability to order Lin around with little to no argument.
Wei-Shan ignored the question and leveled a surprisingly lucid stare at him. "You appear to have a romantic attachment to my former student, Master Shifu. Is this correct?"
He supposed it was only a matter of time before he received a speech about how if he hurt Lin her family would hunt him down and murder him. "...Perhaps."
"And you wish to know if I also have a romantic attachment to my former student."
Shifu blinked back at the man, unsure of whether or not he should answer turthfully. Then again, something about that stare told him that a lie would be detected immediately. "Perhaps."
"The answer to your question is no," Wei-Shan replied, even though Shifu hadn't asked a question. It was still nice to hear. "However." That one, not so much.
"However?" Shifu repeated, surprised at the jealousy in his voice.
"I suspect you also want to know if I have slept with Quan. And that would be a yes."
"What?" Shifu caught himself just before he gave into his urge to leap forward and attack Wei-Shan. He still found himself balling his hands into tight fists.
"I should also inform you that I know you are not very nice to Quan. Should that not change, I will not be very nice to you." He leaned forward and placed one hand on Shifu's shoulder, those pale eyes taking on a dangerous glint that seemed out of place. "Red panda meat," he went on, his tone still casual, "is very delicious." He pushed his dirty dishes toward Shifu, then left the room.
Shifu found himself actually nervous about the threat. He didn't know Wei-Shan very well, but somehow he knew that it had not been in jest. He sat for a while, playing with his leftover breakfast; he was starting to feel like Chen's household was simply a gaping maw that had sucked him in and trapped him, and he hadn't even been there a full day yet.
"So what'd he say about me?" Lin practically ran back into the kitchen and leaped into the chair next to him in her anticipation. Apparently she'd been waiting around for the conversation to end so she could immediately interrogate him about what he and Wei-Shan had discussed.
"You slept with Wei-Shan." He didn't phrase it as a question, because he knew the raccoon dog had been telling the truth.
"He told you?" she gasped, so agitated by the discovery that her fur seemed to frizz out more than usual. "I'll kill him!"
"No you won't," Shifu sighed, rubbing at his temple. "You wouldn't lay a hand on the man and you know it. He's got you trained better than you have trained me."
"Hey!" she protested, though she couldn't muster any further argument.
"When did you sleep with him?"
"When I stayed with him in the mountains for a coupla months before I came to the Valley. I mean... There wasn't exactly anything else around to do. I figured we'd have our fun and forget about it, but apparently that nasty old coot wants to torture me."
"I knew it!" Shifu exclaimed, his anger flaring at hearing how recent the incident had been. "I knew you'd slept with Wei-Shan!"
"Whaddaya want me to say?" Lin replied angrily. "What can I possibly tellya at this point? Yeah, I slept with him! I slept with him a lot. I let him tie me up and spank me-"
"That is quite enough!" he interrupted.
"But it's in the past!" she went on. "Wei-Shan means a lot to me. And yeah, I had a huge crush on him when I was a kid. But that's not how it is now. I don't want anything even remotely romantic with the guy. I mean, you've met him! He's out of it probably ninety percent of the time! There's literally no reason for you to feel threatened by our relationship at all."
"You slept with him recently," Shifu pointed out. "In the last few months!"
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that still counts as being in the past."
He glared at her for that argument. "You told me recently that you are serious about pursuing me. If that is the case, then why did you sleep with your old teacher immediately before returning to the Valley?"
"Honestly? I didn't think you'd want me back."
Shifu fell silent at that bit of information, unsure of what to say. Lin, in turn, simply blushed and studied the countertop. He watched her for a bit, waiting for her to break out into her usual grin and tell him she'd only been joking, but that didn't happen. "I, ahm... Hm." He had never exactly been vocal about his feelings for her, assuming he even felt the same way about her from one moment to the next. This instance was no exception, and in lieu of knowing even remotely what to say, he simply grabbed her hand.
"I hate coming back here," Lin told him needlessly. "I love the city, but this place, this house... No one letsya have any peace, y'know?"
"I know."
She finally looked back up at him, and her expression was surprisingly serious. "How come you won't tell me howya feel about me?"
He let go of her hand. "Lin, this is not the time."
"Hm." She sounded dissatisfied with his answer.
"I thought we agreed not to bring this up until after we'd dealt with Tai Lung."
"It's just-" She paused, looking unsure of herself for once. "It's just, I can't help wondering if you're leading me on." She looked away from him again, showing him the vulnerability she normally kept buried underneath layers of sarcasm and sex jokes. "I could use someone right now, y'know... I guess I'm wishing we could be closer'n we actually are."
He took her by the shoulders and turned her toward him, wanting to reassure her but completely lost himself. "I promise you, I would never purposely lead you on." Unfortunately, it was all he could promise for the time being. "As for being closer... Opening up to me like this is a good start."
She surprised him by lunging forward and grabbing him in a tight hug. "Someday," she sighed in his ear, "We'll find a way to stop being morons and actually be happy together."
He hoped she was right. "We should speak to Tai Lung again."
"Yeah." Lin pulled away from him and handed him the dirty dishes. "Hereya go."
He didn't argue, because it was something familiar and normal to him, having her try to boss him around and force him to do dishes for her. After he'd cleaned up he headed for the doorway, but stopped when he realized she wasn't following. "What?"
She placed her hands awkwardly on her knees and frowned at him. "I really- I just-" She stopped, pursing her lips.
"Let me guess," he replied. "It's nothing."
"Yeah," she confirmed. "It's nothing." She hopped off her chair and they headed upstairs together.
Shifu hadn't expected Shanghai to be such a surreal place, where he and Lin actually spoke about their feelings to each other and Tai Lung spent his days holed up in a bedroom awaiting a verdict about him from a group of people he despised. He suspected the oddness of their visit was only just beginning.
"Augh," Tai Lung grumbled, crossing his arms and wrinkling his nose at more of Yan-Yan's sludge-like medicine. "Woman, you make these concoctions simply to disgust me."
"Don't be ridiculous," she replied. "That is only a small part of my research."
He tried not to take her seriously, but some small part of him still believed it was true. Sitting on his bedroll with her, staring down into what looked like muck scraped up from the bottom of a swamp, it seemed pretty likely.
She eyed him critically, then nudged the cup of slime closer to his mouth. "How did things go with your father?"
Tai Lung let out a low, guttural growl at the mention of Shifu; after everything the selfish old bastard had put him through, he still had the nerve to show up in Shanghai as if everything were just peachy. And then to suggest that Tai Lung "repent" for what he'd done, as if Shifu had any room to talk. Not to mention Lin, that little hag. "Not good," he answered through gritted teeth.
"That's what I expected." She gave the medicine another more forceful nudge. "Now take your medicine, you sulking baby."
"Do not push me today," he warned, but downed the nasty goop anyway. He couldn't keep a pained cough from escaping him at the taste of the stuff. "I swear this gets worse each time you feed it to me."
"That's because of the fermentation," she replied casually.
He leaned away from her, aghast at the information. "You mean this is just the same batch over and over-"
"And it ferments further over time? Yes, that's exactly it."
"Augh!" He tossed the empty cup across the room as if it contained a bomb. "How could you do this to me? You're a doctor! Sort of!"
"Relax," she sighed. "The fermentation is good for you. It releases nutrients from the mixture, and so it becomes more potent over time."
"I know something else that gets more potent over time." Lin entered the room, Shifu close on her heels, her joke most unwelcome.
"Don't start," Shifu huffed.
Tai Lung glared at the two, his scowl growing by the second at the sight of them. Shifu was the last person in the world he'd wanted to see in Shanghai, and as for Lin... He'd been better off when she left the first time and he felt the same way about her now. "Have you come to inform me of my fate?"
"Yeah, right." Lin rolled her eyes at the question. "Like anyone here can get along well enough to agree on that in a single morning."
"She has a point," Yan-Yan admitted reluctantly. "I should leave you all to talk."
"Stay," Tai Lung ordered, eliciting confused stares from everyone in the room. "What? I want my doctor present in case I get an aneurysm from this."
"You sound just like your dad," Lin pointed out, then fell into awkward silence at the glowering the comment ellicited.
Shifu cleared his throat and took a step forward. "Tai Lung. I realize that there is too much bad blood between us for all of that to simply disappear overnight. Whatever we all decide, it is my hope that you will at least consider trying to rehabilitate yourself."
He would consider it alright- he might even play the role of the repentent ex-convict, to a certain extent. He would lure them all into a false sense of security, and then he would take his revenge. First, though, he was going to make them work for his agreement. "You don't care if I rehabilitate myself or not. You only care about your precious reputation."
"Now Tai Lung," Yan-Yan argued with a matronly pat on his arm, "We also would like to prevent you from trying to kill us all."
He almost laughed at her joke. "If I wanted the lot of you dead, you would be by now. But death is not revenge. Revenge is slow and sweet, to be savored."
"Well, at leastya know how to do revenge right," Lin pointed out approvingly. She recoiled slightly at Shifu's glare. "What? It's true!"
"Enough of your antics." Tai Lung could really only take the two of them in small doses, and his patience had been worn thin. "I would like to be left alone. I have... I have a lot to think about." That was a lie, of course.
"I am glad you are at least considering this second chance we are offering," Shifu said with a satisfied nod, then dragged Lin out of the room despite her protests. Apparently she wanted to stick around and torture him some more with her terrible jokes and disgusting pipe smoke.
Yan-Yan eyed him once they had gone. "You are so full of shit," she observed calmly.
"Oh, get off it, woman," he huffed, crossing his arms. He was not about to start taking guff from a chubby little housecat. "If I say I want to think about this 'second chance,' then perhaps I truly mean it."
"You just said you wanted revenge," she pointed out flatly. "Not that it's my problem, for the moment. But I'll give you one warning: if you go looking for revenge, all you'll find is trouble."
"Thank you for the words of wisdom," he scoffed. "Certainly you have opened my bitter, resentful eyes."
"Fine, don't listen to me," she sniffed. "It's not like anyone else around here does."
He rolled her eyes at her. "Enough with your whining." As annoying as the woman could be, though, her company was probably the only thing keeping him even remotely sane. He would never admit it aloud to anyone, but Yan-Yan was actually sometimes pleasant to talk to. And it wasn't like he had anyone else around he could stand for even a single moment.
"Yo, Yan-Yan!" Lin ran out the front door of Chen's house in an attempt to catch up with Yan-Yan on her way to the market. She'd left Shifu behind as soon as she'd noticed that the other woman was leaving, ignoring any and all protests. She wanted a chance to talk before things got any more awkward between the two of them. She knew Yan-Yan resented her for the way she'd kept her identity secret through their whole friendship and then left without saying goodbye. She understood the way her old friend felt, and she honestly couldn't say she'd feel any different in the same position. But she at least wanted a chance to talk about it.
"Yo yourself," the cat replied stiffly, allowing Lin to catch up and walk beside her. "You have some shopping to do?"
"I guess." Lin peered at her from the corner of her eye, but couldn't discern any real reaction to her presence; Yan-Yan had always been good at hiding what she felt. They were walking mostly down side streets that while not deserted, were nowhere near crowded either. And if they were going to have a fight, it wasn't like people screaming at each other on the streets of Shanghai was anything out of the ordinary. "So... You hate me now, huh?"
She started walking faster, pursing her lips at the question, but didn't answer.
"It's okay," Lin went on, following after her. "You can tell me. I won't be offended or anything. Y'know, ifya want we can even talk it out."
Yan-Yan stopped and turned around to give her a cold glare, then let out a long sigh. "I don't like to air out my dirty laundry," she sniffed. "But if I did I assure you, I would have reamed you out in front of the whole city for making a fool out of me."
"Aw, c'mon," Lin insisted, trying to sound as gentle as possible. "I didn't make a fool outta you."
"Yes you did!" she snapped. "You treated our entire friendship like a game, you treated me and my life like a joke, thus you made everything I felt and believed in for five years foolish. And I couldn't even get over it, because you weren't around for me to confront you." She paused as her eyes began to tear up, but then she turned away and took a deep breath before continuing, in a level tone of voice. "You were my first love. I know that even if you hadn't lied to me, my feelings still would have been stupid and misguided. But you were also my best friend, and at the very least you owed it to me to be honest. To be yourself."
"That was a really good speech," Lin complimented while she tried to think of some way to respond to it; for the moment, she was still trying to process Yan-Yan's proclamation of having been in love with her. That one had definitely come as a surprise.
Yan-Yan remained stoic at the compliment. "Thank you, I rehearsed it."
"It's, uhm..." She still didn't know what to do; she felt shitty, and rightfully so. She had clearly wronged Yan-Yan on multiple levels, had even made her cry, yet Lin was still at a loss for how to make amends. So, she started in the only way she knew how. "For what it's worth, I'm a gigantic asshole. And I'm sorry." And she truly meant it.
"No need to tell me you're a gigantic asshole. I had already deduced as much." Yan-Yan even went so far as to pick a piece of lint off her dress, as if she were bored with the conversation. "I suppose I will have to take your word for it that you're sorry."
"I really am," Lin confirmed with the wild hope that maybe their friendship might have a second chance. "I shoulda toldya the truth, and I really shoulda come to seeya when I first returned to China. But I never thought our friendship was a game. I dunno what I woulda done without you, to be honest. Also, I did not know you were in love with me. That one's completely new."
"I was only a girl," she muttered, blushing. "And you were... Well, I thought you were the first boy who'd ever really noticed me."
Lin grinned, mostly because she could see she was getting somewhere. "Sure, I wasn't a boy. But I still noticed you."
"Hmph!" she huffed, then continued on their walk. "More sickly sweet words from that gilded tongue of yours- I should have expected as much. Nothing's changed."
"If nothing's changed, does that mean we're still friends?"
Yan-Yan glanced at her with a frown. "Why didn't you come to see me when you first returned to China?"
Lin was caught off-guard by that question, but she probably should have seen that coming. She almost replied with a joke, but if she owed her old friend anything, it was the truth. "Kinda 'cause, I, uhm... Was afraid to faceya."
"Good," Yan-Yan accepted with a nod. "That means you're ashamed of what you did to me, as you should be. That makes me feel better."
"Okay." She started grinning again.
"You lost quite a few teeth since I last saw you," Yan-Yan pointed out, raising her eyebrows.
"Yeah!" Lin replied enthusiastically. "That's a good story. Mainly it involves me getting the butt of a musket in the face."
She actually snorted, ever so slightly. "I am so sure... Lin. It's so weird calling you a different name."
"I appreciate it." She had tried to get Chen and Wei-Shan to call her by her actual name, but they had both been especially annoying and refused to call her anything but Quan. "So..." She searched for something to talk about. "You got married," she settled on, which was of course a terrible topic to bring up.
Yan-Yan didn't seem to mind all that much, thankfully. "Not that it worked out," she sighed. "What about you?"
She debated for a moment on what to say, but Yan-Yan had never been the type to ask too many questions (unlike a certain red panda) and she missed having a friend she could talk to about anything. "I was engaged a few years back," she admitted. "Never made it to the altar."
"Why not?"
She supposed she should have seen that coming. "...He died." She hoped desperately that Yan-Yan didn't ask for any more details; even after four years she still didn't want to talk about it.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
Lin resisted the urge to let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks." And she meant it in more ways than one.
"So you're with Shifu, now?" she prodded, moving on to an equally awkward subject.
"Not exactly," Lin grumbled. "He's kinda a cold fish."
"Hm, apparently it runs in the family."
"Oh, ew," Lin huffed. "I used to babysit Tai Lung, y'know."
"And that explains why he's so messed up." They reached the Huangpu and stopped a while to watch the boats, large and small, travel along the water ferrying passengers through the city. It was a sight Lin found that she sorely missed. "Y'know, I never felt like I was really finished with this city. That make any sense to you?"
"Of course. Why do you think I still live here?" Yan-Yan leaned on the guard wall, staring out at the city in admiration. "I could never be finished with this city."
Lin watched her for a while. "Tell me something. Are we friends again?"
"I'm still angry with you. But maybe soon." Yan-Yan grinned at her, and she grinned back.
"Hm." Tigress stared intently at the scroll for nerve strikes while Po stood at her side in the Hall of Warriors, holding a lantern up and trying to peek over her shoulder. "Hmm."
"What's that supposed to mean?" he whispered, his nervousness spiking at her behavior; he didn't want to be on the receiving end of anything that warranted a "Hmm" from her.
"Relax, Po." She rolled the scroll back up and returned it to the shelf. "I was deciding where to strike you first."
"Oh." That didn't exactly put him at ease. "Maybe you should take a look at Mantis' chart again."
"That thing is useless," she argued. "It's just a cartoon panda drawn over the actual nerve point chart for a tiger. It wouldn't tell me where any of your nerve points are."
"So we're goin' in blind." He was starting to regret his decision to help her out with nerve strikes.
"We have the instructions from the scroll," she argued. "Besides, I'll start on your arm. That shouldn't have any... Severe effects."
He gulped, but went ahead and set his lantern down. At least if she got something wrong he wouldn't be vomiting continuously until a doctor was able to fix him up. "Just outta curiosity," he asked, his voice going up an octave when she grabbed his arm and poked at his elbow, "How sure're you that this'll work? Like... On a scale from one to ten."
"Four."
He let out a breathless groan, leaning away from her.
"Don't be a baby." She inspected his arm a moment longer. "I think I need to strike you about a third of the way up above your elbow." She gave the spot in question a hard poke. "Does that feel... Right?"
"I dunno." He had even less experience with nerve strikes and pressure points than she did. "I guess you just gotta try it." He tried not to let his voice crack again, but it did just a little bit.
"If it goes wrong we can always get Mantis," she tried to reassure him, but from his experience in receiving accupuncture from the insect he suspected things wouldn't go so well.
Still, he'd made a promise. "Okay." He took a deep breath and squinted his eyes closed so he wouldn't see her coming and flinch. "I'm ready, do it."
She struck him hard in his arm and he went limp and numb from the shoulder down. They stood in shocked silence, staring at his arm and waiting. "Did I do it?" Tigress asked hopefully.
"I think-" Po abruptly stopped when he felt his arm start twitching. "Not." He grunted in pain as a cold burning spread from his shoulder to his fingertips. "Is it supposed to burn?"
"Come on, Po," Tigress sighed, a defeated tone to her voice. "Let's go find Mantis and tell him you fell trying to get Monkey's cookies or something."
"Hey," he protested, but when she raised her eyebrows at him he had to admit that the story was kind of believable. "...Okay." He hoped he at least made it through the night with his arm still attached.
Lin stood in Chen's studio, squinting up at the artwork he had hanging on the walls. She recognized a few of her own early pieces, and she couldn't believe he'd even kept them, let alone put them on display. She must have missed something. "Yo, geezer," she greeted when Chen himself entered.
He ignored her, instead hopping past her to prepare ink and a brush for calligraphy practice at his gigantic desk.
"I gotta talk to you about something." She walked up behind him, peering down at the characters. They were very traditionally Chinese, careful and delicate, and of course he was writing things like "discipline" and "strength." She rolled her eyes, but made no comment. "You said you communed with Oogway or something." That particular claim of his had been nagging at the back of her mind all day, hence her reason for actually choosing to be in the same room with him.
At the mention of the deceased master, Chen actually set his brush down and looked at her, his expression grumpy as ever. "I never said I communed with a spirit. Oogway sent signs, I recognized 'em. Why? You got a problem?"
"Oogway spoke to me." She waited for a response about how she was a dumbass and clearly mistaken, but none came.
Chen simply maintained his disgruntled gaze and asked levelly, "Oh yeah? How's that?"
Lin hadn't expected to actually be taken seriously. "Uhm. I was meditating-"
"Hah!" he scoffed.
She paused to glare at him, then tried again. "Like I said, I was meditating under the peach tree, y'know, the one with the wisdom and crap. Anyway, I heard his voice. Like... A full sentence. In my ears."
He contemplated her for a moment, then picked up his little walking stick. "Interesting," he commented thoughtfully. "That's real interesting." Then he leaped up and whacked her between the eyes.
"Hey!" She swatted at him, but as usual he dodged her easily. "That hurt, you little dickweed!"
"Your chi's blocked by something," Chen informed her, ignoring her protests about his physical violence. "Oogway was trying to giveya a vision or something, but you're too much of a dumbass for one! So all's you got was a single lousy sentence. Unbelievable."
"Like you're one to talk," Lin snapped, annoyed at his reaction to her story. "I bet you've never had a vision in your long, decrepit life." She wondered if she'd made the right decision, even bringing the matter to Chen. She'd made her bed already, though, so she figured she might as well lie in it. "So what'd block my chi, anyway?"
"How'm I supposed to know?" He traded his stick for his brush and returned to his calligraphy. "Probably some dumbass inner crap. Figure it out yourself."
She couldn't say she hadn't expected his answer. Chen had never been very big on guidance. He had always been more of a "learn by doing" type of teacher. Of course, it would have helped if he actually knew what she should do. "I guess I didn't expect anything more outta you."
"Then go hang out with your pervert boyfriend if you're so disappointed," he shot back.
"Fine!" she snapped, bristling at the comment, then stomped out of the room and slammed the door behind her. She hated how Chen could get under her skin with a single comment, and seemed to know it, too. She wished that for once she could just speak to the asshole normally, but it wasn't like any of her relationships had ever been normal.
At least he'd given her some advice she could follow; she could spend some time with Shifu, the only person in the whole of Shanghai who didn't make her uncomfortably confront her past every five seconds. And luckily she found him in the hallway, just about to enter his room.
"Yo." She leaned against her door frame and nodded to Shifu.
He rolled his eyes at her. "No, please, speak to me like a street urchin."
She crossed her arms, but didn't reply with a sarcastic comment; she wasn't trying to start a fight, for once. "C'mere."
"I'd ask where you get off speaking to me like that, but I have unfortunately grown used to it," he sighed, joining her in her doorway. "So to what do I owe this pleasure?"
Lin grabbed him by the belt and pulled him into her room. "Spend the night with me," she ordered, amused at the bright blush that immediately sprouted on his face.
"Not this again," he huffed, but he let her guide him to her bed and push him to the floor. "Don't you have anything better to do?"
"Ah, relax," she dismissed, then plopped down into his lap. "I'm not actually trying to get into your pants this time."
"You could have fooled me." He noticeably didn't try to get her out of his lap, either.
"I just wanna spend the night together, like not necessarily in a sexual innuendo kinda way." She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him, because she knew he'd let her and she wanted to try to get away with as much as possible while he was in his unusually mellow mood. "Don't get an inflated ego over this or anything, but after two weeks of sleeping on top of each other every night it was weird being in separate rooms."
He raised his eyebrows at her. "So you miss sleeping with me?"
"Yeah." She may have been a prideful person, but she had come to terms with the fact that she would have to keep telling him expressly that she wanted him around to get anywhere in their relationship. "Is that so unusual?"
"Yes," he replied immediately and she gave his nose a flick for it. "...But I suppose I could stay."
She kissed him again, and he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her close against him, returning the kiss passionately. And, to her pleasant surprise, he didn't pull away. They kissed for ages, until she lost track of time and her butt started to hurt from sitting in his lap for so long. She accepted every kiss and nip of his, let him touch her however he pleased, but she didn't push any further. She didn't want to try for more than he wanted and end their embrace on an unpleasant note. When she'd just about had enough of his lap he finally pushed her down into the bed, but then pulled away from their kissing and instead settled in next to her.
"Wow," Lin mused, still stunned that he'd even done anything at all with her. "I can't believeya actually made out with me."
"Believe it or not I do have desires of my own," he huffed, blushing again. "And I... Suppose you are attractive."
"Don't bring out your best lines just yet," she teased. "You might actually make me swoon."
"Hah," he replied sarcastically.
"Y'know, I've decided," she informed him, because she felt like being honest with him and she knew the statement would embarrass the hell out of him, "That we're gonna have sex. Sooner or later, you'll come to my bed and kiss me, and you won't be able to stop."
Predictably, he looked scandalized at the statement. "We shall see about that!" he argued, though it looked to her like he was full of it.
"You're so cute whenya get mad at me." She grinned at the way he avoided her gaze and grumbled a half-hearted argument. "Honestly, hitting on you's the only thing that really cheers me up right now."
"Glad to be of service." He rolled his eyes.
She watched him for a moment, still amazed at how high his spirits seemed to be. "You're a lot more calm than usual. And definitely more calm than I'd expectya to be right now."
"I am absolutely not calm," he replied. "Not below the surface, in any case."
"You're doing that repressing thing again," she concluded, giving him a hard poke in the belly. "Ifya internalize all this crap you'll get an ulcer."
"You do not need to try and mother me," he grumbled.
"I'm serious, don't bottle all your crap up. It ain't good forya and you'll end up-"
"What?" he interrupted. "I'll end up what, exactly? Because it couldn't possibly be worse than how things stand right now, right at this moment. My son hates me and wants me dead, Chen likely does too, Oogway is-" He stopped and turned away from her.
"What, you're embarrassed now?" she asked. "Or just depressed?"
"Can you blame me?" Shifu seemed to be getting worked up, a response she apparently ellicited with ease. "Oogway is gone! It is just me now, I need to be the wise one, I need to be the leader. Who am I supposed to ask for help, for advice? You?"
That last part had hurt; Lin had suspected he didn't exactly hold her opinion in high esteem, but it was another thing to hear the accusation spoken aloud. "Y'know," she answered, her voice strained as she held back her anger, "you could ask me, if you weren't such a judgmental ass."
"Not everything is about you!" he shot back.
"Yeah? Well, I know this mighta escaped your notice since you got so many more important things to worry about, but you insulting me is kinda about me!" She wondered how they could go from confiding in each other and actually getting along for once to dissolving into a screaming match in the course of a few minutes. She suspected it had something to do with Shifu being a raging ass.
"You know what I meant!" he snapped. "You are not exactly an enlightened spiritual leader. All you ever do is make lewd jokes and smoke your stupid pipe!"
"My pipe is not stupid, and just 'cause I got a colorful sense of humor doesn't mean I don't got a brain!" She grabbed his ear hair and yanked.
"Ouch- how dare you-" he slapped her hand away, then she lunged at him. He grabbed both her wrists and held tight to block her, but she struggled as hard as she could and shouted every curse at him she could think of until she was hoarse. He finally managed to pin her, and even held her down despite a knee to the kidney.
"Get bent!" she snarled in his face, then kissed him.
He pulled away and scrambled off of her with a horrified expression. "What in the hell is wrong with you?"
"So that wasn't where we were headed with this?" Lin had to admit, she hadn't expected much from him, anyway.
"Is this a joke to you?" he insisted, his eye twitching. "Am I a joke to you?"
She suppressed the urge to roll her eyes at him. "You're not a joke to me," she assured him, despite the fact that he was the one who'd insulted her in the first place. "But y'know, pinning me down wasn't exactly the thing to do ifya didn't wanna make out more."
He glared at her.
"What? You got no right acting like I got nothing important to say to you, or like I can't or won't help you! I thought you actually felt something for me, even if you're being whiny and indecisive about it. Ifya don't even wanna hear my opinions then what're you doing with me?"
He continued to glare a moment longer before letting out a heavy sigh. "Very well. You... Have a point."
"I know," she answered, then snorted at his annoyed frown. She wished she could stay mad at him for the sake of her own pride, but she just couldn't. "So now that Oogway's gone, you feel lost. I can understand that."
"How can I be an enlightened leader?" he asked, surprising her. "Do I look enlightened to you?"
"No."
"Don't sugarcoat things for me, now," he replied sarcastically.
She flicked his nose and grinned at him, happy to hear anything even resembling a joke from him. "You don't hafta be Oogway," she told him gently, because she knew that was what he'd been thinking. "Oogway chose you 'cause he believed in you. It's normal to feel how you're feeling, it's normal to feel like a fraud, but just remember that you're not. And you're not alone, either. Okay?"
"Okay," he agreed, surprisingly enough.
"Wanna go to sleep?" She had a feeling that he'd worn himself out with his little tirade.
"Yes."
She put out her lantern and settled in next to him, pleased to feel the warmth of his body in the bed with her. Even after all these years, she was still so big of a sap that it made her happy just to have him near.
"Lin?"
"Hm?" she muttered groggily.
"Thank you."
She snorted, then rolled over and threw an arm around him. He seemed to get the message.
Chapter 10: Life is Uncertain. Eat Dessert First.
Chapter Text
Chapter 10: Life is Uncertain. Eat Dessert First.
Shifu cracked his eyes open, waiting for Lin to make a lewd joke or straddle him naked or something equally inappropriate. After all, she seemed fond of making him squirm first thing in the morning. When no dirty jokes or come-ons came, though, he sat up, cracking his aching back. "Her and her pillows," he grumbled. Once he realized he'd been left alone in the room he went about his morning stretches and returned to his own room to dress for the day. He stepped into the hallway expecting to hear heated arguing or screaming of some kind, only to be surprised again. The house remained eerily quiet. He practically tiptoed downstairs and peered into the kitchen.
Tai Lung sat at the kitchen island, sullenly chewing on his breakfast while Yan-Yan sat next to him, writing something on a scroll and nursing a cup of tea. Wei-Shan sat slumped onto the counter, apparently fast asleep. Lin, meanwhile, stood at the stove cooking eggs, the crackling sound of hot oil frying food the only thing to be heard in the room. Slowly, he approached the island and took a seat at Yan-Yan's other side. He felt as though if he made the wrong move he would surely set off a proverbial bomb in their midst.
"G'morning," Lin greeted, then served him a plate of fried eggs with rice, marinated cabbage, and some sort of brown mush.
"What is this?" he asked, hesitantly poking the mush with his chopsticks.
"That's fermented bean and chili paste, you mix it in with everything." She took a seat with her own plate, which was heaped with significantly more bean and chili paste than his.
"It's disgusting," Tai Lung suddenly complained; it must have been the least aggressive thing he'd said so far.
"Fermentation is good for you," Yan-Yan argued, not so much as glancing up from whatever she happened to be writing.
Wei-Shan muttered something in his sleep.
"I must say, this morning is much more quiet than I'd expected." Shifu tried a tiny bit of the paste, shocked to find that he actually enjoyed it.
"Believe it or not, we don't spend all of our time raving like lunatics," Yan-Yan sniffed, then set her brush aside and stamped her scroll with her name seal. "We do have our downtime." She rolled up her scroll, surveying their small group. "Plus Chen and Wei-Shan are hungover."
"What?" His eyes nearly popped out of his head at the statement.
"Why d'you think we got eggs and cabbage this morning?" Lin asked, giving him a look like he was some naive rube. "Which reminds me-" She reached out and gave a hard poke to the side of Wei-Shan's head.
He snorted and after a short pause slowly rose into an upright position, revealing that he'd actually been using his half-eating breakfast as a pillow.
"I can't believe I screwed you," she grumbled, tossing a napkin at him. "Lightweight!" With that, she pulled a flask from her belt and took a swig.
"Lin!" Shifu reprimanded, scandalized that she'd drink so early in the morning.
"Ah, don't act surprised."
Tai Lung dropped his chopsticks onto his empty plate with a clatter, sending a harsh glare around the table. "Is this what the lot of you do while I'm cooped up in that damned room?"
"Only half the time," Yan-Yan answered him evenly, then grabbed an orange from the fruit bowl.
"Give me the rinds," Wei-Shan requested, somewhat muffled through the napkin he was now using to wipe egg off his face.
"The other half is spent screaming at each other." She tossed her rinds across the island to Wei-Shan who gratefully began chewing on a piece as if it were candy. "We could do that now, if you'd like."
"I'll live," Tai Lung grumbled, poking at the bean paste on his plate.
"You're wasting it!" Lin chided, then scooped the lot up with her chopsticks and mixed it into the remainder of her breakfast. "Y'know, I got a batch just like this fermenting back in the valley. Can't wait til it's done."
"Blech. It's almost as bad as the pond scum this quack keeps feeding me." He pointed an accusing thumb in Yan-Yan's direction, though she seemed unconcerned.
Their relative peace was suddenly interrupted when Chen darted into the room and leapt into the air to whack Tai Lung's hand with his walking stick. He landed in the middle of the counter and turned on Yan-Yan. "What part of 'don't let him wander around the house' is too difficult forya to understand?"
"Enough of that, now." Yan-Yan sounded as if she were speaking to a young child. "It's just the kitchen." She poked the little master in the stomach, then turned to Tai Lung. "You have two choices: head back upstairs, or stay down here and take some more medicine."
Tai Lung stood up, his usual scowl deepening. "Not that I am actually doing as you say. You lot of geezers simply tire me." He left to a tableful of eye rolling.
"Now that we got some privacy, I've decided," Chen announced, levelling a disgruntled glare at the group at large, "That Wei-Shan's right. Quan should stay."
"What?" Shifu choked out in unison with Lin, then raised his eyebrows at her.
She ignored him, fuming at Chen. "You can't make me stick around here in this damn house with your decrepit ass!"
"Oh yeah?" Chen shot back. "Everyone who's had a sign from Oogway, raise your hand." He raised his hand in the air, scowling at Lin.
Slowly, reluctantly, she raised her hand.
Shifu stared at her, absorbing what the raised hand meant. "You experienced a sign from Master Oogway," he stated flatly, watching her for any indication of a joke or a lie. "You. You, Lin, the woman whose idea of spirituality is drinking until you hallucinate, received otherworldly communication from Master Oogway." Stating it out loud only made it sound more absurd.
"Quit it!" she snapped, then flicked his nose.
"What sort of sign was this, anyway?" He couldn't see why Master Oogway would have chosen to give signs to Chen and Lin, yet not to him.
She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. "I don't wanna talk about it."
"You don't- you don't want to talk about it?" He felt his eye twitching; only Lin could bring him to the brink of snapping completely in mere moments.
"Calm down," she scolded, but offered no explanation of her motives or what she'd even experienced.
"What is it with all this talk about signs?" Yan-Yan asked, her gaze darting around the table. "Since when do you lot even believe in this kind of thing?"
"Exactly!" Shifu agreed, pinching the bridge of his nose as a headache overcame him.
"The point is," Chen finally spoke up again, "Tai Lung doesn't need more physical training or whatever it is you'd do. He needs spiritual guidance."
"And I cannot provide that?" he asked accusingly. "You think I am incompetent? I am the Grand Master of kung fu, lest you all forget! There is nothing in this world that Lin of all people could provide better than I could!"
Lin stiffened next to him, but said nothing. In fact, no one said anything in response for quite some time.
"Awkward," Yan-Yan finally announced.
"I propose a vote," Wei-Shan said with surprising conviction for a man who'd spent most of their discussion gazing off into space. "Who is in favor of my idea, hm?"
Yan-Yan nodded. "I am."
"You know where I stand," Chen huffed.
After a moment's pause, Lin nodded as well, her brow furrowed and lips set in a determined line. "I'll stay," she agreed. "I'm in favor of it, that is."
"Unbelievable." Shifu stared at the group, especially Lin, in astonishment. "I am Tai Lung's father. Does my opinion count for nothing?"
"Apparently you'd rather mine did," Lin suddenly snapped, then fled the room before he'd had a chance to reply.
"Typical Quan," Chen dismissed with an agitated wave of his hand. "Always gotta start a fight about something."
"Have I somehow become mute and invisible?" Shifu asked, focusing his glare on Chen. "I am the Grand Master of kung fu, Tai Lung is my son and my student. If I say he shall return to the Valley of Peace with me, then that is what will happen."
Slowly, Chen approached him, his walking stick hitting the countertop with a resounding thwack. "Don't test me."
He couldn't say he wasn't intimidated by the small kung fu master. He'd heard the stories as well as anyone else, and he had even witnessed some of the incredible feats Chen had accomplished. However, he hadn't come as far as he had by backing down from a confrontation. "Consider yourself tested."
Surprisingly, Chen did not attempt to start a physical fight. He only said, "If that's the way ya want it, then that's the way it'll be."
"How delightfully cryptic of you," Wei-Shan cut in, apparently enjoying the scene.
"Yeah, I used to use that one all the time," Chen replied conversationally. "Scared the crap outta my students."
"Oh, I remember."
Shifu glared back and forth between the two, irritated at the casual interruption. "Shall I put on some tea to accompany this chat?"
"Don't bother, I'm done with your shit." Chen once again left them in the kitchen, as seemed to be his pattern.
"Just ignore me, I'm only background furniture," Yan-Yan sighed.
"Indeed," Shifu grumbled, fed up with each and every person in the house. He decided to get some air, and left the house without another word. "Of course!" he exclaimed when he stepped outside to find Lin lingering around the front door, leaning against the side of the house and smoking her calabash pipe.
"Don't be an ass," she replied with a tone that suggested she hadn't even heard what he'd said and only spoke automatically.
"Yes, you are always one hundred percent correct and I am once more an ass." He did his best to inject as much sarcasm as possible into his words. "How could I have forgotten?"
"Don't beat yourself up over it." She blew smoke into his face, but he resisted the urge to cough.
"And what should I do?" He could not believe that when there was so much at stake Lin was still starting petty arguments with him. "Allow Tai Lung to stay here just because you have decided that it is a good idea?"
"Right, 'cause I make decisions at random and with no reasoning whatsoever," she grumbled.
"You certainly give off that impression, yes!" He watched her for a response, but she apparently had taken to ignoring him, and instead just puffed on her pipe. "Since when do you receive signs from Master Oogway, hm? Since when do you commune with the dead and offer spiritual guidance to lost souls? At what point did I miss that development?"
"Well, Shifu, that's what happens whenya don't bother to get to know the first thing about a person." She sounded calm, completely unruffled by their argument, which irritated him even more.
"If you would just tell me something, anything of your past besides your damned sexual anecdotes-"
"That's not what I mean," she interrupted. "I mean the stuff you can't learn from just having me tellya all about my past. I mean knowing me, not just facts about me. How's that? That it's been this long and you still don't know me at all? And when I've been working my ass off trying to know you? How's that possible?"
He tried to speak his piece. "Lin, you are overreacting-"
"I'm overreacting? I'm telling you exactly what I'm experiencing right now and that is an overreaction? I wonder what you'd say if I actually acted angry over this."
"You are not angry?" he asked, puzzled.
"A little," she admitted. "Mostly-" She paused, as if it were difficult for her to think of the words. "Mostly I'm... I dunno. Disappointed? Sad? Something like that, but not really at the same time. It's that feeling you get when you expect something horrible to happen, and it does. It doesn't blindside you. It just makes you feel hollow. I guess that's it, then."
He'd nearly forgotten how skilled she was at piling on the guilt, but he didn't argue since she seemed sincere. "You are saying you did not expect me to know you at all? You expected no better from me?"
"It's still a lot higher than your expectations for me," she pointed out.
"How could you say that? My expectations of you are not that low!" At least, not all of the time. "It is just that- that- well, look at you! When you smoke like a chimney, drink like a fish and curse like a sailor, what am I supposed to expect from you?"
She pursed her lips, but remained silent while she put out her pipe. At first it didn't seem like she had anything at all to say back to him, but once she'd tucked her pipe away she spoke. "Look, Shifu, I can't be anyone but myself forya. Ifya don't like me, then quit jerking me around and tell me so. I'll just stay here and I won't come back to the Valley to bother you anymore. Actually, I'll just go now." With that, she walked off into the city.
Shifu watched her go, rooted to the spot. He felt as though he'd been sucker-punched in the stomach. He'd thought things had been going well with Lin- perhaps not swimmingly, but not badly either. Apparently she did not share the sentiment.
He would have continued his rumination, but the door clicked open and startled him.
"Ah, now I have you all to myself," Yan-Yan said as she joined him out on the porch. "How fortuitous."
"Oh, no," he grumbled. "You're here to speak to me about Lin, I suppose."
"I know all about your past together," Yan-Yan informed him, and he nearly fell over. "Don't look so surprised. You think Oogway wouldn't have written to Chen the moment he recognized Lin? Chen was always worried sick over her. We all thought that we'd never see her again. I may have my issues with her, but... It was nice reading those letters, and knowing my friend was okay."
Shifu had known, of course, of Lin's past in Shanghai. Still, he'd never really thought the people there might have gone though what he had when she'd left. He'd never imagined a whole other group of people who'd known her longer, who knew her better, had been missing her, too. "...Oh."
"I know it seems to you like none of us could care less, but that's not the case."
"I see where this is going," he sighed, preparing himself for yet another death threat. "I get it, you are going to flay me alive, I have already gotten the speech twice."
"No, actually, I wasn't going in that direction," she argued, surprising him. "I can't say that I see the appeal, aside from the kung fu warrior part- no offense. But Lin likes you and that's her business. Speaking of which, your little spat certainly has her in a tizzy."
"'In a tizzy' is like calling a monsoon 'bad weather.' Wait- you were eavesdropping on me again?" He should have seen it coming.
Yan-Yan pointed to a nearby open window. "Your voices carry like a couple of gongs in a town square. Don't blame me if I heard every last word."
"I don't remember that window being open before I stepped outside-"
"In any case, you really should have gone after her." She smoothed out her hanfu and readjusted her belt, then marched eastward down the street. "Follow me, then."
He should have let her go without him, but he'd always been a little stupid when it came to matters involving Lin. "How do you know where Lin is?"
"I have an idea, that's all. Step lively."
The neighborhood seemed to be getting progressively worse as they walked along, abandoned buildings and dank alleyways growing in numbers by the minute. "You do not come this way by yourself, do you?" he asked, eyeing a window in which he could have sworn he'd spotted a shadowy figure.
"It's broad daylight, don't be a nitwit," she chastised, like a mother scolding a child. "And besides that, I've been walking around this neighborhood since I was thirteen years old, I don't need any of your concern."
"My apologies," he grumbled. At first glance he'd thought Yan-Yan and Lin couldn't have been any more different from each other, but the more time he spent with the woman the more he saw that their personalities were incredibly similar. In fact, the biggest difference between the two seemed to be that Yan-Yan carried herself and spoke in a more cultured manner than Lin- most of the time. "Where are we headed, exactly?"
"The old docks," she replied, as if she were talking about going to a tea house. "We used to spend almost all of our free time over there when we were kids- betting on fights, hanging out at the bar and drinking, that sort of thing." Despite her similarities to Lin, it was still difficult to imagine Yan-Yan gambling and drinking in seedy bars.
"You bet on street fights?"
"I was very good at playing the odds back in my day."
He glanced sideways at her, sizing up her perfect posture and politely clasped hands. "You do not come from this kind of neighborhood, surely."
"No," she admitted. "I suppose I was going through one of those rebellious phases that teenagers tend to have."
He silently thanked the gods that Tigress had never gone through a rebellious phase- then again, the standard set by his previous child had been "murderous rampage" so a few years of drinking and gambling sounded like a cake walk in comparison. "I can only imagine the kind of grief your parents went through."
She laughed at the comment. "Oh, please. They had it easy with me. And it was nowhere near what Chen got from Lin." A fond smile crossed her face as she clearly thought back on her teenaged years. "The things he- she used to do to the old man, and I'm not certain he didn't deserve most of it. Did she tell you he had to bail her out of jail?"
"Yes, I'd heard tell of that incident." He wondered if it would be prudent to ask for the details, but he'd probably only end up frustrated, despite the events having taken place so long ago.
"And then all that trouble with the magistrate, what a nightmare that must have been for Chen. I nearly had a heart attack when all those wanted posters started going up. Ah! Here we are." She trotted down an alley and led him out to a small, abandoned docking area paved with cracked stone and lined with rotted, crumbling wood. All the businesses and storehouses along the waterfront appeared to be either permanently shut down or barely staying afloat, and everything in the area seemed to have a faint layer of grime over it. When the wind kicked up it brought with it a stench of salt and sewage.
"This place is falling apart," he grumbled, covering his nose.
"This is how it's always been." She swatted his hand away from his face, then led him to the last dock and down an adjacent dead end street.
They found Lin standing in front of a small, rundown, boarded up old single-story building. There was a splintered old sign over the now nailed-shut door, the only remaining part of which seemed to advertise a bar.
"It's gone," she said when they approached.
Yan-Yan nodded and placed a tentative hand on her back. "For a long time, now."
She continued staring at the building, her expression flat and unreadable. "This's a terrible trip."
"Yes it is, hon. But it wasn't supposed to be pleasant." Her term of affection was jarring to him, and unfamiliar. It made him feel like an intruder on the moment, like he was spying on them and seeing a tenderness between the two that was meant to be private.
Shifu cleared his throat more loudly than he needed to, hoping that somehow announcing his presence would relieve him of the unexpected guilt he felt.
Yan-Yan turned to him and shot him a dirty look, then mouthed something he couldn't quite make out and jerked her head toward Lin.
He gave up trying to figure out what she was attempting to tell him and said the first thing he could think of. "Lin, it is just some old bar."
Yan-Yan smacked a hand to her face in a show of frustration, which he attempted to ignore.
"If you hate this trip so much, then come back to the Valley of Peace with me," he went on, hoping to get some sort of positive response. "We can take Tai Lung back with us and deal with him there."
"You don't get it," Lin told him, and it wasn't an accusation, simply a statement. "You've lived in the same exact place most of your life. And I can tellya from experience, the Jade Palace doesn't really change. Not that much. I loved this old bar, and now it's just an empty shell. I loved this place, and everything is different. You can't understand what that's like."
"But you can still come back," he said. "Not everyone can do that." He refrained from mentioning his own past, the village where he'd been born which for all he knew remained deserted and decaying.
"I know." She apparently understood what he'd been thinking of. "Maybe it's that way for Tai Lung, huh? At least, maybe that's how he feels. In any case, he doesn't even want us here, why would the valley be any better?"
"Perhaps," Shifu admitted reluctantly. "But is that possibility enough to hinge our entire decision on?"
"Dunno," Lin answered, and he could tell she was speaking truthfully. "But I had a feeling it would be the right thing to do, staying here."
"That is it? Just a feeling?" Sometimes he wondered if she only opened her mouth in order to aggravate him.
"Whaddaya mean just a feeling? Since when isn't it enough, to do something because it feels right?" Her sincerity was admittedly persuasive, but he supposed he shouldn't have been surprised that she would argue with him. She had never been the kind of person to follow logic or reason over her gut; he at least knew that much about her.
"I'm starting to feel like a third wheel, here," Yan-Yan cut in. "Should I leave you two to kiss and make up?"
"Nonsense, you should not be wandering around this neighborhood alone," he protested, though in truth he had felt he and Lin had been about to have some sort of moment together.
"She shouldn't, huh?" Lin asked irritably, erasing all hope he'd had of putting their squabbles behind them. "You got some nerve coming here and casting judgement like that. You got real balls to come back here with me and talk shit about my old neighborhood when you know how hard it's been-" She stopped and threw her hands up in a show of frustration. "Never mind. I don't give a shit! Bye!"
"Lin, come back!" Yan-Yan protested to deaf ears as Lin marched up to the condemned building and started tearing at the boards nailed to the doorway. "What are you even doing?"
"I'm getting a drink!"
"You should know as well as anyone else that looters have long since taken anything good for themselves." The admonishment was not exactly what Shifu might have chosen, but it at least stopped Lin in her tracks. "Oi," Yan-Yan sighed as Lin leaned her head against the boarded up entrance, shoulders slumped. "This is quite a sight. Perhaps you are the one who should leave, Master Shifu."
"What?" He couldn't believe that after dragging him all the way down to some stinky old docks she was simply brushing him off. "But Lin-"
"Get lost!" Lin called over her shoulder before returning to her moping.
He glared back and forth between the two women, contemplating actually leaving them behind in some filthy alleyway. He could never do such a thing, though, and despite how much Lin had angered him so far that day he still felt for her. "You know what?" he directed at Lin's back. "You were right. This is a terrible trip." He walked up behind her and placed his hands gently on her shoulders, relieved that she didn't bother to pull away. "But in coming here, the two of us made a promise to do whatever is necessary to help Tai Lung. We have a duty to uphold. You do know that, do you not?"
She only nodded.
"Good. Then you won't mind if I do this." He did not see the expression on Lin's face when he snatched her up by her waist, spun her around and threw her over his shoulder, but judging by the indignant half-squawk half-screech she let out it had been an amusing one. "You'll return along with us if you do not want the same treatment," he directed to Yan-Yan, and she held her hands up in a mock surrender while snorting in laughter at Lin's predicament. "Shall we, then?"
Lin rummaged around in Chen's liquor cabinet, which he'd conveniently neglected to lock. She needed a stiff drink and according to Shifu she was in no shape to wander around the city on her own. She wasn't exactly inclined to listen to him after the way he'd treated her, making assumptions about her when he clearly hadn't bothered to learn a thing about her. However, she'd gone a little far trying to escape after he'd picked her up and she supposed she should probably stick around for a while for the sake of keeping the peace.
She grabbed a big bottle of sorghum and a small cup, then seated herself at the kitchen island and gratefully drank a swig of the liquor. "So how'd it go?" she directed at Yan-Yan as the cat entered and joined her.
"Pour me some of that," she ordered. "You owe me after making me take care of your boyfriend's bruised crotch."
Lin couldn't argue with that logic, so she grabbed another cup and filled it. "Hey, you're the doctor- kinda."
"I'm starting to feel like people around here are abusing my medical expertise." She downed her cup of sorghum in one go, then held it out for a refill.
"That's whatya get for opening your big mouth," Lin chastised playfully as she refilled the cup.
"Speaking of big mouths, a little birdie told me you slept with Wei-Shan," Yan-Yan stated conversationally, a grin spreading across her face.
"Augh," Lin grumbled, annoyed at the subject's newfound popularity. "What's with everyone asking after my sex life alluva sudden? I thought no one wanted to hear about this stuff!"
"Word gets around," she replied with an unconcerned shrug. "I know you used to have feelings for him."
"Huh." That came as a bit of a surprise, but in retrospect Lin knew she hadn't exactly been subtle in her old crush. "Y'know, looking back I probably coulda had sex with him back then, if I'd tried."
"What makes you think that?"
She gave Yan-Yan a knowing look, the kind they'd once shared in their youth when they knew each other so well that words hadn't been necessary.
"Really?" Apparently it still worked. "So he had a thing for you, too? Ew."
Lin shrugged. "Not really. But apparently he thought I was attractive."
"Still ew." After a long pause, Yan-Yan leaned in a little bit closer and lowered her voice. "So... What's his penis like?"
"Dear God." She formed a large circle with her hands as visual aid. "Like a friggin' wine bottle."
"No way!" Yan-Yan gasped, looking both horrified and amused at the gesture.
"Yeah, it really is. Maybe thicker." She honestly had been hard pressed to believe it herself when she'd found out, and she'd had the evidence right in front of her.
"I never would have guessed."
"I know, right? Monster cock lurks among us."
"Ewwww ew!" Yan-Yan snorted, then broke out into a full-on laugh. "Oh, gods, I shouldn't have asked."
"Oh, you wanted to know, don't pretend," Lin shot back, laughing as well.
She suddenly became serious and placed a hand on Lin's shoulder. "Okay, but really, tell me the truth."
"What?"
Yan-Yan paused dramatically, an amused glint still in her eyes. "Was it the biggest you'd had?"
She had to admit, it was a valid question. Among friends, anyway. "Nope."
Yan-Yan let out an excited scream which dissolved into more laughter, slamming her hand on the countertop. "I knew it!"
"To be fair, I think it was the biggest relative to overall body size," Lin added judiciously, which only caused Yan-Yan's cackling to intensify. Not that she wasn't already having her own fits of cackling as well. "But there was this bengal tiger... Oh man, Yan-Yan, now that you're single you gotta find a tiger. Oh, and you ever done it with a shark? They got these things called claspers-" At that point she couldn't go on because Yan-Yan's laughter had grown so loud she couldn't even hear herself speak over it.
"How- how-" she managed to gasp out, "Did you- with a shark?"
"A snorkel and shallow waters."
"I can't!" she screamed, slamming her hand into the countertop again and clutching her stomach. "I can't!"
Lin had missed this kind of talk. She remembered them joking and cracking up for hours as teenagers, getting yelled at by Chen to quiet down already so he could work in peace. It felt nice to hear Yan-Yan laugh at her jokes again. It was like they were becoming friends all over again.
Once Yan-Yan calmed down and wiped a tear from her eyes, she gave Lin a wicked grin. "I'll take those recommendations to heart, but I really would prefer a snow leopard."
Lin wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Ew! You sicko."
"You know I just keep bringing that up because it's the first thing I've ever been able to use to gross you out." She held up her cup and Lin toasted her, then they both gulped down their sorghum.
"Done!" Lin called out first, slamming her cup down.
"No, no," Yan-Yan coughed out after her last hasty swallow. "I finished first! Rematch!"
"You wish." She refilled their cups anyway, gave another toast, and definitely beat Yan-Yan again. But she kept her mouth shut.
"Done! Haaaahhhh, I told you so!" Yan-Yan boasted. "Another!"
"Let's nurse this one," she suggested, pouring their next helping.
"Says the loser." Still, Yan-Yan didn't so much as take a sip of her drink. "So... You want to stay here?"
"Ah, shit." She'd had a feeling someone would bring up her favorable vote for staying in Shanghai. "To be honest I was kinda just pissed at Shifu. Or upset, I guess."
"I've said it before and I'll say it again: I just don't see it." She shook her head, then held out her cup for a refill.
"You got your sorghum already, sweetie," Lin pointed out, suppressing a laugh at Yan-Yan's confused gaze. "Your cup is full, you lightweight."
"Oh! Goodness!" She exclaimed, her hand at her chest. "How embarrassing." She downed her drink, then held her cup out.
"I'm gonna hafta cut you off." Lin pulled the bottle close to her and sipped a bit at her own cup. "At least for now. It's barely noon!"
"So what? I've earned a little irresponsibility." She held out her cup a moment longer, then sighed and set it down. "Fine, if you insist. Now, are you staying here or not?"
"I dunno." She rubbed at her face, hoping they could change the subject soon. "I mean, it was rough enough coming here to see Chen the first time, and now visiting again's been... Pretty damn horrendous. I dunno if I could stand it for, what? Another coupla months?"
"But you'd have me!" Yan-Yan checked her cup for another few drops of alcohol, oblivious to how touched Lin was at the proclamation.
"Thanks." She leaned her head in her hand, truly contemplating the offer for her to stay for the first time. She couldn't help but believe in the point she'd brought up to Shifu, that maybe bringing Tai Lung straight back to the Valley of Peace would turn out badly. And she had to admit, that if Tai Lung were ever going to be able to let go of his anger, it wouldn't exactly be helpful to keep Shifu around. Speaking of whom, her relationship with the melon-head seemed to be going nowhere fast. It felt to her like every time they took a step forward, they took two steps back. And it wasn't like his students were going to miss her. "Maybe I will stay."
"I thinkin' I drank this too furst," Yan-Yan hummed, then stumbled to her feet. "I'mma gon' go lie dun."
"Y'know, I forgot you got that weird southern province accent whenever you got real drunk," Lin commented fondly, only to get an irritated wave over the shoulder in response. "Feel better."
Lin finished off her own cup of sorghum, then stashed the bottle. The last thing she needed was to get as messed up as Yan-Yan had, especially with Chen and Wei-Shan around to torture her for it. She honestly wasn't sure what she could possibly do next, except contemplate the very real possibility of staying in Shanghai longer. And if she was going to think about that, then she shouldn't be near any alcohol, anyway.
She supposed the only way to truly make a decision, for her, would be to ask Tai Lung where he stood on the subject. He'd seemed pretty unhappy to see her, and she couldn't say she'd expected anything less, but she headed up to his room all the same.
"Hey," she greeted when she walked through the door, only to catch him in the middle of reading a scroll. "Got your romance novels, I see."
"What the- that is not what I am reading- who said you could-" He fumbled the scroll closed and tossed it halfway across the room, then jumped to his feet. "Begone, you old hag!"
"That didn't work on me when the people of that one village tried to burn me at the stake, and it won't work on me now." She crossed her arms and took him in, head to toe; he looked about the same as she remembered from their meeting some months ago. He actually did appear less enraged than before, though he had the fact that he hadn't tried to kill her yet on his side. "We talked about what to do withya."
"Oh? I suppose I will be returning to the Valley of Peace." He glared at her, his feet firmly planted on the floor as if he expected a fight.
"Eventually." Lin figured that whether they chose to go with Wei-Shan's idea or not, she and Tai Lung would eventually travel back down to the Valley.
"Eventually?" he repeated, his usual glower momentarily replaced with befuddlement.
"We all- well, all except Shifu- think it's best if you stayed here longer."
He blinked back at her. "Excuse me?"
"I know it's unexpected, but..." She tried to think of the gentlest way to put it. "But we think you're probably gonna go bonkers again ifya go to the Valley."
"Go 'bonkers'?" he scoffed. "Is it 'bonkers' to want what is rightfully mine? Ah, no matter. I will have you know that I no longer require the Dragon Scroll. Let that idiot panda have it, for all I care."
"How big of you." She doubted the sincerity of his words, apart from calling Po an idiot. "So you actually wanna go straight back to the Valley?"
He hesitated to answer her for just a moment. "I suppose I could live with it."
She watched him for a moment; she'd been able to tell when he was lying as a kid and she could tell he was lying now. "Bullshit."
"What?" he snarled, taking a step toward her. "You would dare-"
"Oh cut that 'how dare you' crap," she dismissed; she could see that he still held on to a lot of his anger, but chances were that he didn't intend to actually attack her. "Look, kid, I'd like to take your word for it, but I can't. You're a bad liar, and I can see right through you. You look me in the eye, you tell me you won't attack Shifu or Po the minute you're back in the Valley."
"Of course I won't," he replied immediately, one eye twitching ever so slightly. "As you can see, I have decided to attempt this 'rehabilitation' all of you wrinkled old sacks have so kindly offered to help me with."
"Bullshit," she repeated, pleased at the redness in his face.
"Listen up, old woman!" he snapped. "When I say I am repenting, then I mean it!"
"Tai Lung, d'you remember when you were a kid and you got into my freshly baked green tea cookies?" Lin asked calmly.
"Of course not, that was ages ago," he grumbled.
"Well, when I asked ifya ate any, you said no. And I saw straight through your weak, poorly constructed lies." She gave a shrug. "I guess what I'm saying is, you suck at lying."
"Enough!" His fur stood on end and he pointed an accusing finger at her. "You asked me a question, and now you're saying my answer is a lie! What is this supposed to be? An interrogation of some sort?"
"Nope." Lin debated lighting up her pipe, but decided against it; Tai Lung seemed to be just as bothered by her smoke as Shifu was. "I just wanna be informed as possible before I decide whether or not to stay here withya." She watched as Tai Lung's mouth fell open and a breathless wheezing noise escaped him. "I'm currently leaning toward yeah."
"You- you- what reason could you possibly have for staying?" he managed to work out, still rather breathless at the information.
She had wondered the same thing herself since the suggestion had first been made; after all, she hadn't exactly seen Tai Lung grow up the way Shifu had, and she didn't know the first thing about him as an adult. But maybe that was an advantage, considering how much he hated pretty much every aspect of his past. And while she wasn't the most experienced teacher around, she at least could offer him what knowledge and wisdom she'd gained in her travels. "Tai Lung, I knowya think everyone's out to use you or hurt you. I used to feel the same way. But I still care what happens to you, and I feel like... I feel like staying is the right thing to do. I dunno what I'll really be able to teachya. But everyone else seems to think I should try, and I guess I do, too. What I'm trying to say is, I missed out on a lot in your life. But now that you're getting a second chance, I don't wanna miss out on that."
"Still going around making pseudo-heartfelt speeches, I see." He didn't sound completely against what she'd said, despite his efforts to look angry and intimidating. "Do what you want. Now, leave me to my reading."
She watched him cross the room to pick up his discarded scroll, and despite her best efforts she couldn't help but think that somewhere under all the anger and resentment that some glimmer of the child she'd once known still remained. "I'll seeya, kid."
Shifu sat in his room, attempting to meditate. He could not for the life of him clear his mind, though. He kept thinking back on the events of the day, of how his opinion had been disregarded, how Chen had threatened him, how Lin had been by turns sensitive and aggravating. And, of course, he couldn't help but think of Tai Lung. He wondered what his son felt about everything that had been happening, if the man even felt anything aside from his anger anymore. And he wondered if maybe Lin had made a good point, when she'd suggested it would be too emotionally difficult for Tai Lung to return to the Valley just yet.
He put that last thought aside. The day Lin made a valid point about his own son was the day he bowed down at her feet and called her "Master." As in, never. Especially after he'd thrown her over his shoulder, and she'd somehow found a way to reach down and punch him in the genitals from behind. He winced thinking about the pain that incident had caused; as soon as he'd returned to the house he'd retreated to his room. Of course, then Yan-Yan had come to check on him and that had been a whole new level of embarrassing, especially when she'd insisted on a full examination. It would take him a while to erase the memory of her tugging at his pants while animatedly discussing the possibility of surgery. He shuddered at the thought, and not for the first time.
Since then, he'd decided to spend the rest of the day on meditation and reflection. Now it was long past sundown and he found that he'd lost his concentration. He supposed it had grown late enough that he could likely stretch his legs without incident, so he headed downstairs in the hope of grabbing a late night snack. However, once he reached the sitting room he paused at the unusual sight of Chen's door slightly ajar, light glowing in the crack. The door had remained firmly shut, whether Chen currently occupied the room or not, throughout his visit. Curious, he slowly pushed the door open just enough to step into the room.
He blinked at the walls, so full of artwork that not so much as a sliver of the original wood remained, at the gigantic desk that definitely looked too big for himself, let alone Chen, and at the shelves piled high with scrolls, brushes and paints. The room appeared to encompass the floor space of one entire side of the house, as massive as it was intimidating. Standing in the middle of the studio was Lin, staring up at one of the ink paintings adorning the wall.
Shifu followed her gaze to see a scroll covered in black ink, except for a single point on the page. He had no idea what the point of the painting was, but Lin seemed to like it, if her undivided attention was anything to judge by. "What is that?" he asked.
"It's a lantern in the dark," she replied.
He squinted at the thing, turning his head to the side a bit. "Ah, I see it now." He just didn't understand it, nor did he understand why Lin was so mesmerized by it. "Is that one of Master Chen's paintings?"
"No." She finally looked away from the painting, a faint blush forming on her cheeks. "Mine, actually."
"Yours?" He stared at her a moment, then back at the painting, then back to her. "You did that?"
"It was a long time ago," she dismissed, and if he didn't know any better, he'd say she sounded embarrassed. "That was the first exercise Chen ever made me do. I dunno why he's even still got it, it's not like it's any good."
"He must think it is, if he has it hanging on his wall."
She snorted. "Sure," she accepted sarcastically.
He had to admit, how they'd made it so far into a conversation without dissolving into screaming and arguing was beyond him. "About this morning-"
"Forget it," she interrupted, though a frown crossed her face. "I shouldn't holdya to an unrealistic standard you can't meet. I just... I get frustrated, sometimes."
"I do, too," Shifu admitted, relieved that they were discussing their problems civilly. "I suppose I could try to keep my temper a little better."
"Me too." She finally turned to look at him, her frown replaced with a grin. "So how d'ya like Chen's studio?"
"It is magnificent." He swept his gaze over the other paintings hanging on the wall, some by Chen and others by a range of artists he had, of course, never heard of. He paused as he caught sight of a painting of a beautiful young woman in a long, flowing hanfu made up of layer upon layer of red, gold, and white cloth. She looked gentle and mournful, as she wrote poetry in delicate characters upon a scroll. The part of the painting that took him by surprise, though, was that the woman... Was Lin. "Dear gods," he observed.
Lin followed his gaze, then let out an annoyed "tsk" at the sight of the painting. "I'm gonna kill that old fraud for putting that on display. Honestly!"
"Why? You look lovely."
"Most people look lovely in youth," she huffed.
"Well, you are quite young in this." He wondered, briefly, if she had modeled for Chen in the hanfu, and if so, how the man had managed to get her into the garment. And if he'd be willing to share his secret.
"I was sixteen, I think," she confirmed. "It was just before I left Chen's- he needed a model, and I was the only one around. So, of course, he managed to butcher my likeness by painting that stupid hanfu and that vapid expression on me. I wish he woulda burned it like I asked."
"I am guessing that was after he realized you were female." He was a little disappointed at the thought that Lin had never worn such an elegant garment, though it wasn't entirely unexpected.
"I didn't know that he knew." Lin shook her head up at the painting. "I got all huffy that he turned me into a girl in the painting... Looking back, it shoulda been obvious that he knew exactly what was going on."
"Did you ever try to tell him?"
"Yeah, but you know me," she sighed. "I chickened out. He gave me months to tell him the truth before he finally observed that I'd missed my period one month and asked if I was pregnant."
"That is how he told you he knew?" Shifu gasped, horrified; he'd never even discussed periods with Tigress, and he was her father. It was so far outside the realm of appropriate behavior for a teacher to say such a thing to a student, he could barely comprehend it.
"It's kinda funny when you remind me how conservative you are," she teased him with a grin. "But I was pretty embarrassed when Chen asked after my menstrual flow, being sixteen and all." She paused, her expression suddenly becoming critical. "Wait- if you're so horrified, how'd Tigress find out about periods?"
"She had hers, that is how," he huffed. "Not that it is any of your business."
Lin looked stunned. "No wonder she resents you!"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"You got any idea how terrifying that is? One day you just start bleeding outta your cash and prizes and nobody'll giveya a straight answer about it- you're insane!"
"I am not insane!" he growled, annoyed by her judgment. "I asked a local physician's attendant to explain it to her at the appropriate time."
"And apparently the appropriate time was after she'd been scarred for life."
"May we please stop talking about womanly functions?" he snapped.
"You're so repressed that it's scary, y'know that?"
"I don't care!" He pinched the bridge of his nose, willing his stress headache to go away; only Lin knew precisely how to get to him. "How is it that you can so successfully derail a perfectly innocent conversation?"
"Experience." She eyed him critically, apparently finally willing to stop talking about the female reproductive cycle. "So you think I'm lovely, huh?"
Why he expected her to say anything remotely diplomatic, he had no idea. "It is a lovely painting," he corrected, blushing at her disbelieving stare.
"Pervert," she suddenly accused.
"What?"
"I always knewya had a thing for young girls," she laughed, nodding to the painting.
"I am not a pervert and I do not have a 'thing' for young girls!" He didn't even know why he was still talking to her.
"So you like your women with a little more experience, then?" she went on, disregarding his discomfort.
"Of course I would prefer a woman closer to my own age, I am not some sort of cradle-robbing old perv-"
She interrupted him with a kiss which somehow, even after she'd already kissed him multiple times, still took him by surprise.
That surprise, however, did not prevent him from grabbing her by the hips and pushing her up against Chen's desk; her startled grunt and the wrinkling sound of the paper she sat on reminded him of precisely how inappropriate his behavior was, and he pulled away from her before he forgot himself again. "Sorry," he mumbled, embarrassed.
"Sorry?" She pushed herself away from the desk and took a moment to straighten out her clothes. "The only thing you should be sorry about is stopping. I always wanted to screw someone on that desk-"
"Oh, ew!" He suppressed a gag at the idea. "On Chen's desk?"
"I always did have a bit of a problem with authority."
"More like a complex."
"You're so uptight," she sighed, then reached out to adjust his collar, despite the fact that it was perfectly fine. "How about just one more little kiss?"
"I know you too well for that."
"Maybe you'd change your tune if I put on a dress like the one in that painting."
He absolutely would, and with great enthusiasm. "Doubtful." He batted her hands away, ignoring the look of skepticism on her face. "In any case, now is not the time to discuss our relationship."
"You got a pretty broad definition of the word 'relationship,' ifya ask me." She topped off the statement with a flick to his nose. "You sure you don't wanna at least fool around a little?"
"Positive." He knew that it was not exactly the time to talk about their situation, seeing as the reason they were in Shanghai was to figure out how to rehabilitate Tai Lung. Still, if Lin truly planned on staying behind he doubted he'd have another chance any time soon. "And if what is going on between us is not a relationship, what would you call it?"
"I dunno," she replied thoughtfully. "You already know I don't like labels, but even if I did I don't think there's a word for it. It's that weird stage before a relationship, when you're both figuring out what you want and if you're gonna go through with it. Y'know, that scary place where you're not even sure if the other person feels the same way, but you're too afraid to just come out and ask."
"Oh." He'd been expecting her to completely avoid answering the question, but he supposed she'd become slightly better at handling such discussions over the years. "...And you are certain that you want a relationship with me, then?"
"No," she answered in a scathingly sarcastic tone. "I've just been chasing afterya like a jackass for the past month 'cause it's fun for me to get repeatedly rejected."
He glared at her for her attitude, but she remained unapologetic (not that he'd expected anything else). "You are such a pleasant conversationalist," he shot back. "It is a wonder no one has snatched you up yet."
"Yeah, whatever," she dismissed impatiently. "What about you? Does this mean you finally got some clue about whatya want?" She looked as though she were on edge, waiting to hear how he felt; he wasn't used to her caring so much.
"I do like you very much," he admitted, and she even leaned in closer to him in her interest. "And even though we fight constantly, I... Enjoy your company. In a sick, masochistic sort of way."
She stared at him. "That's it?"
He rolled his eyes. "Did I not just tell you yesterday that this is not the time?"
She looked upset for a moment, but it was so brief he wondered if he wasn't imagining things. "Y'know, you can't stay up here forever," she pointed out. "With or without Tai Lung, you'll hafta head back to the Valley in a coupla days. What if I really do stay behind? Is that gonna be the time?"
"Perhaps we should decide if that is even going to happen, first." He didn't like bringing the same questions about their relationship up so often; he had managed to keep himself distracted for the most part by everything else going on in his life. Whenever Lin brought up their relationship, he couldn't help but feel just a little bit of panic. He knew the truth by now; he did have feelings for her again. Perhaps he'd never stopped. Yet he couldn't help but resist any attempt on her part to move forward. He couldn't even bring himself to tell her out loud how he felt. He kept thinking, deep down, that if they did pursue a relationship he would fail at it. He'd never in his life pursued a serious relationship for more than a week or two, and at his age he wasn't exactly jumping at the chance to enter such uncharted territory. And then it would just be another failure to add to his record, and all the hope they shared now would be dashed. "Tell me something, Lin."
"Yeah?"
"Do you want to stay here?"
She looked aghast at the suggestion before looking away from him and furrowing her brow. "...I think I do."
His stomach churned at the admission. "I did not realize." He reached out for her, but thought better of it and returned his hand to his side. "Would you come back?"
"What, you don't trust me?"
"You did say that you did not plan on leaving the Valley again," he pointed out. "Yet here we are."
"It'd only be for a coupla months," she reasoned. "It'd go by fast, and then before y'know it I'll be back to get under your skin again." She reached out and grabbed him by the collar, and he allowed her to pull him closer. "Look, I won't say I'll be waiting around forya forever. I still got my own life to live, however I see fit. But what I can say is that no matter what happens, I'll always come back."
"You say that now," he argued, "but no matter how you complain about the people here, they are clearly very important to you. What if you decide that you would rather be close to them?"
Lin let out a snort of laughter. "Yeah right! Of course I care about everyone here, even moreso when I'm in a different province." She flicked his nose and smiled warmly at him. "The Valley's my home now. That won't change. Okay?"
Shifu blushed, unaccustomed to such gentleness from her. "Okay," he agreed.
"Good."
He could have lived that moment forever, if it weren't for all the other issues weighing on his mind. After all, the entire reason Chen had decided it would be a good idea for Lin to stay in Shanghai had been an apparent vision or sign or whatnot from Oogway, one that he knew nothing about. "I need to know-"
"You're gonna ask about Oogway again," she stated flatly.
"I do not understand, that is all," he replied, though the glare he received hinted that he'd phrased his concern incorrectly. "I mean that I do not understand why I would not have received a sign, myself."
"Maybe you just didn't notice."
"Why would I not notice a sign from Master Oogway?" He could have torn his own fur out in his frustration at her suggestion. "He was my master almost all my life!"
"Then I dunno what to tellya," she said bluntly. "I got a sign, I don't pretend to understand why or how. Maybe you won't get a sign or a vision or whatever until later."
He stared at her, wondering if that had been her feeble attempt to comfort or appease him. "Later?" he repeated.
"Yeah, later. Maybe it's just not time yet."
That last part at least had made an odd sort of sense, in terms of Oogway. "I am already in need of a vision, how much later can I possibly wait?"
Lin didn't try to reassure him again. She put her hands on her back and pushed, causing a loud crack, then slapped one of his ears. "Y'know what you need?"
He feared what the answer might be, but his curiosity usually got the better of him with Lin. "What?"
"A distraction." She grabbed his sleeve and started dragging him to the front door. "C'mon, let's go out."
"What?" He stopped in his tracks, suddenly nervous. "You mean... On a date?"
"Sure, ifya insist." She missed the pointed of his question, of course. "C'mon, let's go." She yanked on him, but he didn't budge.
"Where could we possibly go this time of night?" Shifu asked, worried she might drag him to some seedy bar down by the docks or whatnot.
"The night market, duh."
He waited for her to elaborate, but she gave him no further information. "What do you mean a night market?" he asked, irritated that she wouldn't simply tell him what was going on. "Who on earth would go to a market at night?"
She stared at him as if he'd just asked who on earth would eat rice. "You've been to Shanghai before, andya never heard of the night market?"
"Obviously not."
"'Course not," she tsked. "You were probably too busy with your scented candles."
He bristled at the jab. "They are not scented!"
"Whatever! Let's go, already." Lin gave his sleeve yet another tug, and for reasons unbeknownst to even himself he allowed her to drag him out of the house. "Y'know, I miss being able to go out and do stuff at night. Down in that valley the most fun you can get after sunset is starting a fight and I get tired of that after a while."
"I'll take your word for it." He managed to extract his arm from her grip. "What exactly can I expect at this night market? Drunken ruffians? Women of ill-repute?"
"Women of ill-repute?" she repeated, raising her eyebrows at him. "What the hell?"
"Enough." He didn't need to hear her go on and on about how he spoke and behaved like a crochety old man. "How am I supposed to know what types of places you spend your nights at?"
"Oh my God," she muttered to herself.
"Stop that!"
"I can't believe you." She shook her head at him as she led him through a dank, darkened alleyway. "What, you think I just go around looking for trouble?"
"Yes. Yes I do."
She smacked him in the arm. "Well, you're about to see the night market so get your money ready for me."
They emerged from the alleyway onto the main road that ran along the river- only it had been completely transformed. Either side of the river was packed with makeshift stalls selling everything from produce to clothing to very questionable looking herbs, each one festooned with colorful lanterns to light up the road and attract shoppers. And attract shoppers they did- the crowds were as bountiful as any daytime market at its peak, the people just as energetic and raucous. Even the river contributed to the chaos, its dark waters clogged with boats, each carrying the same colorful lanterns of the stalls and advertising rides. "This... really is literally a night market."
"That's what I toldya!" Lin scolded, then dragged him into the crowd. "You're so obtuse, y'know that?"
"Me?" he asked, astounded that she could be so blind. "I am the obtuse one here?"
"Just 'cause I'm obtuse doesn't mean you ain't, too. Ooh! Check it out!" Lin stopped dead at a stand that appeared to be selling only food drenched in a bright red chili paste. "This crispy lotus root looks friggin' amazing." Without warning, she launched into an animated conversation in Shanghai dialect with the rabbit tending the stand, pointing at every single dish on display and presumably asking questions. At one point the woman tried to address Shifu, but then Lin said something that caused her to snort and disregard him. Eventually they walked away with a heaping pile of the lotus root Lin had been eyeing, which Shifu had been forced to pay for.
"What did you say about me?" he asked as soon as they were out of earshot of the vendor.
"That you'd crap your pants ifya ate anything from there," she replied, unconcerned. "Wanna try some?"
He had to admit, she was probably right about him. "That looks deadly."
"It's not that spicy. Just got a little kick to it, really." She shoved a handful into her mouth as if she were eating something as bland as plain rice.
"Well... I suppose one could not hurt." He took the smallest bite he could manage out of one piece of root, and nearly choked to death from the burning heat that immediately coated his tongue and throat. "Lin-" he rasped, his eyes watering. "You are dead to me."
"Guess I shoulda picked up a drink or something forya." She didn't exactly sound sorry about his predicament. "Here, this place up ahead's got some seats."
They approached another food vendor, this one with tiny wood tables set out around it and crates used for chairs. The entire place smelled rotten, which did nothing to comfort Shifu. "Augh."
"It's stinky tofu! Take a seat, you baby."
He let that one go and plopped down onto the least wobbly looking crate he could find. After a couple of minutes, Lin joined him with an armful of food and drink. He watched with raised eyebrows as she set down a bottle and two cups, the lotus root she'd already been holding, a black mass he could only assume was stinky tofu, and a massive bowl of dumplings. "Dinner?"
"Second dinner." She poured some of the bottle for him and he downed it gratefully- then burst into coughing.
"This burns even worse!" He didn't even know how he'd been able to speak. "What is it?"
"Just sorghum." She drank her portion in a single gulp, then shoved a quivering mass of stinky tofu in her mouth.
"Blegh." He wasn't so sure how he felt about the night market, after what he'd experienced so far.
"Relax." She grabbed a chunk with her chopsticks and shoved it at his mouth. "Just try it! I promise it's not spicy like the lotus root was."
"No."
"C'mon! It's delicious, you just gotta ignore the stink." She leaned across the table and waved the stuff in his face like a mother trying to feed a finnicky child.
Just to get her to stop making a scene, he held his breath and opened his mouth to allow her to feed him. "Hm... That actually is good."
"Toldya so." She poured more sorghum for each of them, then dug into the dumplings. "These looked interesting, too- they're filled with sweet egg and red bean."
"I want you to know how bad of an influence you are on me." He ate an entire dumpling in one bite, then grabbed another. "Drinking alcohol and eating rich foods out on the street in the middle of the night is not befitting of a kung fu master."
"Well tonight you're something more important 'an a kung fu master."
"Oh? What would that be?"
"You're my date." With a bark of laughter she clinked her cup against his and downed another helping of sorghum. "Play your cards right andya might find out what I keep hidden under all this fur."
"I think that is the newest nominee for most disturbing thing you've ever said to me." He sipped his sorghum delicately, determined not to have a repeat of his first drink.
"You drink like a little old lady with poor eyesight." She topped off her cup once more. "Looks like I gotta handle this bottle on my own."
"I'd prefer it if you did not become sloppily drunk, actually."
She rolled her eyes at him. "Since when do I get sloppily drunk?"
He scoffed at the question. "Since always. Don't you remember the wine soup incident?"
"Hah!" She slapped the table, a huge grin spreading across her face. "I'd forgot all about that one. So you do remember the little things from our relationship."
"I would not exactly call you telling me you were leaving me forever and ever and then having to tuck your drunken butt into bed a 'little thing'. But yes, I remember a few choice interactions."
"Jeez, that was a lifetime ago." Her tone suddenly became wistful. "You were the first man I ever felt like I could really be vulnerable in front of without, y'know, descending on my carcass like a starving cannibal."
After meeting Chen and Wei-Shan, he completely understood what she meant. "Thank you, I suppose." It ocurred to him that while Lin complained extensively about having to be around her former mentors, she hardly ever was actually around them. "Lin, why are you spending so much time with me?"
"'Cause I'm trying to get withya, duh," she replied, then shoved a dumpling into her mouth.
"I had gathered that much, yes." He watched her eat for a moment, contemplating the best way to bring up such a potentially testy subject. "Yan-Yan, Chen, and Wei-Shan... They are all very close to you."
"Uhuh." She seemed completely uninterested in what he had to say, her attention focused mainly on their meal.
"Like family," he elaborated.
"Uhuh," she repeated flatly.
"So then why are you spending all of your time with me?"
Lin rolled her eyes at him, then took a swig of her drink. "For real? C'mon, Shifu, you've met them. Y'think they drive you crazy, how the hell d'you think I feel? I mean, Chen's the biggest, crustiest turd on the face of the planet, not to mention he can't stand the sight of me, and Wei-Shan swore he wouldn't get weird after I screwed him, which was a total lie 'cause now he won't friggin' stop bringing it up-" She paused her rant to chug some more alcohol- "And Yan-Yan is actually being pretty awesome right now, I got no complaints there. I mean, she's not exactly jumping at the chance to hang around me, but she needs time I guess."
"Why did you volunteer to stay here, then?"
"It's like I toldya, I had a feeling that I should."
He supposed he should have seen such a response coming. "What type of feeling?"
"Ugh," she said around a mouthful of stinky tofu. "Why d'ya gotta be such a quizmaster all the friggin' time?"
"I am not a quizmaster!" he argued. "I just want to talk to you about your life and feelings, but like always it is like pulling teeth. And I should know- I have pulled teeth before!"
"Ew, you pulled teeth? Gross!" She leaned forward and lowered her voice. "Tell me about it."
"You would not believe the size of the pliers- wait just one moment!" He grabbed the sorghum she'd been holding and held it out of reach, just to be sure he kept her attention. "You are trying to distract me from our conversation."
"No, I'm actually just really into this teeth pulling story." She sounded sincere. "Why were you pulling teeth, again?"
"That was a long time ago and I would rather not get into it."
"Awww, you're no fun." She tried to grab the alcohol back from him, but he raised the cup over his head. "Yeah, that's gonna work," she said, then started drinking straight from the bottle.
"Just answer my question." He gave her back her cup, momentarily defeated.
"I dunno!" She paused to pour him some more, even though he hadn't finished his cup yet. "I just... I guess I just got this flash of intuition or something. A gut feeling. God knows I don't wanna spend months on end living in Chen's house. Been there, done that. But if there's even a chance that it's the right thing to do, that it'll help Tai Lung, then I gotta stay."
"And what about me? I raised Tai Lung, I trained him, what am I supposed to do? Just leave him in the hands of other people while I run along home?"
"That's the idea, yeah."
He gulped down his sorghum and slammed his cup on the table. "And then what? You cannot tell me you truly believe that I should not have a hand in any of this."
"That's not what I'm saying." Lin served him the last dumpling, surprisingly enough, then leaned in closer and lowered her voice. "I don't trust him in the valley, and neither should you, is what I'm saying. All this 'oh, I guess I'll let you geezers try to fix me and act mildly irritated yet harmless' shit is an act and don't even tell me you don't know it."
"Of course I know it!" He massaged his temples as he once again thought about the distinct possibility that Tai Lung could rampage again. "Gods know I've seen the gears turning in his head, too. But taking him back to the Valley of Peace is the safest option. Po defeated him once and can do so again."
"The point is to avoid that scenario completely," she argued. "Say he does go back with you, and he ends up attacking you or Po. Say Po beats him again. What happens after that? He just goes back to prison and we forget this whole mess ever happened?"
"I see your point, but leaving him in Shanghai is hardly a desirable option. He could just as easily rampage here and there would be no one to stop him."
"There's Chen and Wei-Shan," she replied.
"You cannot expect the two of them to be able to handle such a threat at their ages. Especially someone with Tai Lung's skill."
She let out a frustrated sigh. "Shifu, I love the Valley of Peace as much as anyone else, but you need to face the fact that it's not like the rest of the world. And I think if maybe we kept Tai Lung here in Shanghai, the dose of reality would be good for him. Y'know, in the valley people would cringe and scream at the sight of him. Here, no one cares whether he even lives or dies. He could actually see what life is like outside of that kung fu palace of yours."
"What if it makes no difference?" he argued, because he still had trouble seeing how it possibly could.
"What if bringing him to the valley makes no difference?" she shot back. "What if nothing at all makes a difference?"
The question hung heavy in the air, and Shifu couldn't bring himself to say anything in response. He hadn't said it out loud, had done his best not to even think of it, but that possibility had been his biggest fear. If Tai Lung could not reform, had no hope of ever changing, and he had to once again see his son imprisoned or executed... He didn't think he could handle going through it all yet again.
"Sorry," Lin grumbled, then refreshed his drink.
"It's alright." He gulped his sorghum down like Lin had been doing, then practically hacked up a lung. "I know that is a possibility," he wheezed. "I simply- had not wanted to- to discuss it."
"You're just as bad as Yan-Yan," she sighed, though the affection in her voice was clear. "Listen to us, talking shop on a date. Pathetic!"
"Speak for yourself." He held out his cup for a refill, but she hesitated.
"I'm not gonna hafta deal withya blowing heart dust all over me, am I?" she asked with a wide grin.
"I can't believe you even remember that!" He rolled his eyes as she laughed at him. "Let's just finish this bottle and be on our way."
"Wow." She raised her eyebrows. "Romantic."
"I thought you hated romance."
"I must, if I'm still hanging around you." She empty the remainder of the sorghum into her mouth and scarfed down the last of the stinky tofu. "C'mon, let's go ride on a boat."
"You mean one of those rickety old ones down on the river?" He could just imagine one of the little boats sinking under the weight of two passengers stepping aboard. "You could save us some time and just jump into the water."
She rolled her eyes at him. "That's so funny I forgot to laugh."
He sipped at his sorghum in lieu of a response.
"Okay, if you're so scared of riding on a boat, whaddaya wanna do?"
He ignored the implication that he was too frightened to go along with one of her bad ideas- it was only bait to rile him up. "Aren't you tired yet?"
"I'm tired all the time," she replied. "Whether it's dark out or light out doesn't make a difference."
"We are too old to be staying up all hours of the night," he argued.
"Look who's talking, the guy who's up to pee every hour on the hour."
"Fine, we can walk through the market a little longer," Shifu conceded. He supposed that even if he had insisted on going back to Chen's, Lin would have stayed out without him- and gotten herself into trouble in the process. "But only for a little while. I want to go to bed."
"Oh really-"
"That's not what I meant!"
"Hngh." Shifu cracked his eyes open and reached for the cup of water that was shoved in his face. "Mmph," he grumbled in thanks, gulping down the cool liquid.
"How did I know you'd have a hangover?" Lin leaned over him and pinched his cheek like one would do to a child.
He gulped a few more times to try to lubricate his dry and scratchy throat. "Oh, thank gods you're fully clothed."
"Hey!" She smacked him in the arm, then settled back into the bed next to him. "Can I askya something? Like, seriously?"
"First thing in the morning?" He turned his neck and grimaced at the way it popped; he would never get used to Lin's mushy pile of pillows. "Are you sick?"
"You're just a laugh riot lately," she replied flatly.
He caught sight of a pitcher next to the bed and poured himself more water. "Go ahead, I have nothing to hide."
"So you say now." She yanked on his mustache and he kissed her; it was the type of familiar, comfortable peck on the lips that couples normally shared. "I know you're gonna do the dirty with me sooner or later, but right at this moment, d'ya think you'll ever actually wanna sleep with me?"
"What?" He choked on his water, a refreshing change from choking on sorghum.
"I mean, you kiss me and all," she went on, undeterred by his reaction. "I'm just asking if there's ever gonna be a time when you actually wanna do more'n that. Or are you just gonna freak out and start choking every time I bring it up until my dying day?"
"I do not 'freak out' when you bring up... Intimacy." He tried to ignore her skeptical frown. "I only react with surprise when you behave inappropriately."
"I'm gonna go ahead and assume that means the latter," she huffed, crossing her arms.
"Since when did you start caring so much about sex?" He still remembered a time when he would have been seriously bruised between his legs for even bringing up the subject with her.
"It's not like I care that much," she grumbled. "I just like to push your buttons."
He'd known as much was true, but hearing her admit it out loud was almost surreal. "I suppose once you stop pushing my buttons, I will give the idea some consideration." He wondered if she knew how true his statement was; he'd been tempted to sleep with her multiple times already, she simply tended to ruin the moment with her ill-timed urges to aggravate him.
"Only you can make every possible response still sound like a rejection." She sulked beside him, which he actually found comical in its childishness. "What if I grabbed your-"
"Grab anything of mine and you are a dead woman." He wasn't exactly in the mood or the physical condition to deal with her barrage of come-ons, especially when they were already in bed together.
"I had fun last night," Lin said, catching him by surprise. "It's been a long time since we hung out 'cause we wanted to, and not just 'cause we were stuck together."
"I... Had fun as well," he admitted reluctantly, fearing that saying so out loud would result in Lin keeping him out all night every night. "You are good company when you are not trying to push my buttons."
"Ditto." Before he could argue with the suggestion that he also purposely instigated fights, she wrapped her arms around him and settled her head on his shoulder.
"Oh... Okay." He would be lying if he denied that it felt nice to be held. "This, um... Is... Okay." He tried to fight the blush rising in his face, but it was no use.
"Calm down." She slapped his belly, and it was probably a bad sign that he was simply relieved that she didn't aim lower. "It's not so bad to act like normal people once in a while, right?"
"Right." He was starting to doze off again, something he hadn't done since he was a boy. "Lin," he muttered, trying to express some sort of affection to her before he fell completely asleep.
"Yeah, what?"
"Lin!" Yan-Yan barged through the door, which provided Shifu with the adrenaline and motivation to practically leap out of bed, his fur on end.
"Yeah, what?" Lin repeated, unfazed.
"Dim sum!" Yan-Yan, too, remained completely unconcerned with the fact that she had just interrupted an intimate moment.
"Yyyyyeeeesssss!" Lin was out of bed faster than Shifu had been, making a beeline for the door.
"You're not going out in clothes you slept in." Yan-Yan grabbed her by the tail and began to drag her down the hall. "We're going to a nice place, after all. And Shifu, go back to your own room, you old pervert!"
"Alright," Shifu accepted, because this was simply the kind of thing that seemed run of the mill in Shanghai. "That just happened." He at least was grateful that he would get a nice meal soon; he'd started to feel peckish.
Lin yawned loudly, then sprawled out onto Yan-Yan's bed. "Can't I just go out for dim sum naked?"
"I doubt you would get service, especially where we're going." Yan-Yan had been digging through three separate trunks, tsking to herself and occasionally holding up one of her many colorful dresses, then shaking her head and dropping it.
"Someplace fancy?" Lin raised her eyebrows, skeptical that Chen would ever go anywhere that cost more than a couple of yuan. Or anywhere that wasn't a dingy bar, really. "Whose idea was this?"
"Mine, of course." She briefly held up a jade green hanfu in front of Lin, as if imagining what it might look like on her, then stuffed it back into the trunk with an annoyed sigh.
"You got too many clothes," Lin observed, ignoring the death glare Yan-Yan sent her way. "And meanwhile, I don't see a single pair of pants."
"I don't wear pants," Yan-Yan replied shortly. "Unlike you, I actually enjoy looking feminine and not being mistaken for a man."
"Femininity is a meaningless construct created for the express purpose of subjugating women."
Yan-Yan glared again.
"What?" Lin asked with a shrug. "It's true."
With a deep breath, she continued in her search. "Be that as it may, your clothing is filthy, stinky, and entirely unfit for public."
Lin sniffed herself, but couldn't really tell if anything smelled off or not. "Whatever," she concluded. "Do I gotta wear a dress, though? Can't I just borrow something from Wei-Shan?"
"I am putting you in a dress if it's the last thing I do." Yan-Yan looked and sounded determined, though why was a complete mystery.
"What if someone recognizes me?" Lin mused, wondering if anyone she'd known in her teenaged years was even still around.
"Please," Yan-Yan snorted. "You really think you still look like you did forty years ago?"
"There's nothing wrong with the way I look, if that's what you're getting at." She sat up and frowned at her old friend, crossing her arms. "You just in a bad mood or areya still mad at me?"
She stopped what she was doing and stared at Lin a moment, her eyes narrowed in thought. "I suppose I should let bygones be bygones," she sighed. "After all, it has been decades. And you were my best friend. And no matter what you may have done to me, knowing you at all changed me for the better."
"Same here," Lin replied, hopeful for a reconciliation. "I mean... You taught me what it really meant to, y'know, have friendship and all."
"Don't get sappy on me, now." She threw a pink qipao covered in a fan design in Lin's face. "Try that on."
"Not on your life." She dropped the thing onto the bed, wrinkling her nose at it. "No way. I'd take a hanfu over a qipao any day."
"That's at least somewhat helpful." Yan-Yan took the dress back and continued her search. "So you and Shifu were out rather late last night. And it looked to me like that cold snap is over."
"You are such a busybody." She didn't mind all that much, actually; it wasn't like she'd ever kept all that much from Yan-Yan. "But if we're on the subject of sex... I suspect I may soon be finally able to hit that."
"Wait a minute- you two never had sex?" Yan-Yan stared at her in disbelief. "Not even back when you were young and, quite frankly, in much better shape?"
Lin frowned at the reaction. "Sex and love ain't mutually inclusive," she sniffed. "I just wasn't ready."
"So how far did you get?"
She paused to think for a moment. "Well, one time I accidentally touched his crotch when we were making out. Actually, it was really more of an accidental punch."
"Hot," Yan-Yan observed flatly.
"Sorry I don't got any sordid tales forya," she huffed. "So what if we never got past heavy petting?"
"Well maybe the only reason you want to have sex with him so much is because you kind of see him as a conquest you never got around to."
"Or maybe it's been a while and I'm horny as hell." She watched the ongoing search for the perfect dress, reflecting on that last truth. "How much longer we got 'til it's time to leave, anyway?"
"At least another hour. Chen's ready to go the minute he gets an idea in his head, but you know Wei-Shan." She set the pale blue hanfu she'd been contemplating back down and leaned forward. "You're asking me to help you get laid, aren't you?"
"Too soon?"
An excited gleam entered Yan-Yan's eyes. "I have the perfect dress," she whispered conspiratorially. "This is just like when we were kids!"
"Yes, this's exactly like when we were a couple of awkward virgins," Lin replied sarcastically, though she was pleased by the positive reaction.
"Here it is!" Yan-Yan snatched the dress in question out of the trunk in a flurry of red and gold, then headed for the door. "Come along back to your own room, I need to give you a thorough rinse and brush out that fur of yours. Hurry up!"
"My word," Lin joked, putting on a higher-pitched, breathy voice, "I feel just like an Imperial princess."
"Hop to it, Princess! I haven't got all morning!"
Shifu sighed to himself as he tugged his clothing into place. Here he was in Shanghai, for the express purpose of deciding the best way in which to rehabilitate Tai Lung, and he couldn't stop thinking about Lin. Not that she'd made it easy for him to focus on anything else. She wouldn't stop needling him about his feelings, and the more he thought on the subject the more confused he became. Sometimes he wondered if he only felt attracted to her because of their past together, and sometimes he wondered if the same was true for her. And then there was her insistence on sleeping together- not that he was outright opposed to the idea. After all, they shared a certain chemistry, and he couldn't deny having thought about spending a night doing... Certain things with her. If he did, though, he couldn't help but worry that his feelings would only become more confusing. He didn't exactly want to wait, it was simply that it was the best thing to do. Probably.
He pinched the bridge of his nose when he realized how much time he'd spent contemplating going to bed with Lin. He was no better than a horny teenager. It would be best for him to simply head downstairs, then at least he would have the rest of the house's occupants to behave like fools and distract him.
Once out in the hallway, though, he paused and stared at Lin's door. Perhaps it would be best to talk things over with her, to explain the way he'd been... Feeling. And once he told her that waiting would be the right thing to do for their relationship, perhaps she would stop hitting on him so much. Clearly, he needed to stop by her room to have this talk.
After a couple of knocks on the door, he was greeted with her standard lack of response, so he let himself in. "Lin, are you hanging around here in the nude again-" He stopped dead in his tracks, staring with wide eyes at the sight before him.
"What?" Lin asked, furrowing her brow at him.
"You're wearing a dress," he pointed out incredulously. "A real live dress! As in women's clothing. As in-"
"I get the picture!" she snapped. "So I'm wearing a dress. It's not like it's anything I ain't done before." She puffed angrily on her long-stemmed pipe, which somehow looked almost elegant with the addition of her hanfu. Despite how out of the ordinary the sight was, he liked seeing her in women's clothing. The hanfu was similar to the one in the painting Chen had done of her, an elegant gleaming red silk embroidered with delicate gold lotus blossoms cascading down the garment.
"It matches your tattoo." He mentally kicked himself for saying something so stupid. "I mean, ahm... You look lovely."
"Thanks." She actually sounded flattered. "Yan-Yan had it just laying around, so..." She trailed off and cleared her throat. "You coming in, or just hanging out around the door?"
"Oh. Right." He shut the door and approached her, though he felt nervous doing so. Something at that moment felt different between them than it ever had been before. It made his heart beat faster and his skin break out into goosebumps. Without even thinking about it he took her by the shoulders and kissed her deeply.
"Hah!" she laughed when he pulled away, then took a deep drag from her pipe. "If I'd known you'd react like this to a dress I'd've put one on a lot sooner." Her tobacco of the moment smelled more light and floral than usual, a pleasant departure from her preferred musky blend. The scent mixed with her smell of fresh earth was intoxicating, and though he knew he should leave before anything untoward happened between them, he didn't want to.
"I want you," he admitted, hoping for a positive reaction.
She looked floored at the statement, as if no matter how long she'd spent hitting on him she'd never expected any sort of reciprocation. She stepped away from him and put out her pipe, carefully setting it aside on the nearby desk. She continued to stare down at the thing for a bit, apparently contemplating what he'd said.
"Please say something." He was starting to feel foolish.
"First, tell me you meant that." She spoke evenly, as if the situation were something reasonable and normal.
He almost lost his nerve, but seeing her in that hanfu gave him more courage than he'd normally have in such a situation. "I did. I do."
"Well," she sighed, turning back toward him. "I already toldya plenty of times. Ifya want me, I'm right here waiting. So go ahead and make a move."
Without another word, he picked her up and carried her to the pile of cushions she called a bed.
Lin laughed heartily and kicked her feet in the air, clearly enjoying every moment. "What a sap!" she chuckled, though the jab was more affectionate than anything else.
"You love it and you know it," he replied, sinking deeply into the cushions with her still held tightly in his arms.
"Yeah," she agreed. "I do."
Chapter 11: Things Sweet to Taste Prove in Digestion Sour
Chapter Text
Chapter 11: Things Sweet to Taste Prove in Digestion Sour
Lin lay in bed, feeling more nerve-wracked than any woman her age should, and for the first time in years regretting the sexual encounter she'd just had. Or, more accurately, the immediate aftermath. Shifu had held her and kissed her, and she'd been so tired and dumbfounded that they'd finally slept together she hadn't been thinking. "So how do I look without the dress?" she'd asked playfully.
He'd smiled at her and said, "I still think you are lovely."
"And I think I still love you," she'd blurted out.
Now they lay side by side in her bed in awkward silence, avoiding each other's gaze like the plague, but at the same time too chicken-shit to actually try to make a run for it. She couldn't exactly attribute her word vomit to his prowess in bed, since he'd actually been pretty bad- not the worst she'd ever had, but definitely far from the best. Still, she loved him and so she'd enjoyed herself anyway. And now she couldn't think of an excuse to take back what she'd said.
Shifu let out a nervous cough, finally breaking the silence. "I, uhm... Care for you, too, Lin."
She was probably being unfair to him, but she felt annoyed at the attempted copout. "That's not what I said and you know it." She'd made a mistake, sleeping with him in the first place. She should have known things would go straight to shit between them the minute sex got involved.
Of course, Shifu seemed to know exactly what to say to make things worse. "Let's just pretend I misheard you, then."
The suggestion that he'd rather forget she'd ever mentioned her feelings had her seeing red faster than anything she'd faced in Shanghai before. She glared at him a moment, contemplating the extreme acts of violence she'd have liked to commit, then sat up and smacked him directly in the balls.
"Agh!"
"Get out!" she snapped, and just to give him some incentive she snatched up all of his clothes, marched to the door and threw them all out into the hallway.
"What are you doing?" He ran to the door and stretched out his arm in a pathetic attempt to try to reach his garments without risk of exposing himself. "Have you lost your mind?"
"Your room's right next door, you'll live." She kicked him behind his knee to buckle his leg and gave him a hard shove, then slammed the door shut behind him. "Well," she mumbled to herself as she marveled at the fact that she'd at long last driven him to cursing, "that coulda gone better."
A high-pitched, feminine scream from the hallway informed her that someone had found Shifu before he'd managed to get his things in order, which soothed her nerves a bit.
"Oh- For the love of-" Shifu's voice carried from the hallway. "It is nothing you have not seen before, Tai Lung!" After some more colorful cursing and a thud, he threw the door open. "Lin!" He had managed to get his pants on, to his credit. "You cannot get rid of me that easily!"
"Watch me." She slapped him across the face, then slammed the door again.
"Agh!"
Lin sincerely wished she had a lock, though she supposed that Shifu could probably use some sort of kung fu to get to her anyway if he really wanted to. Instead she shoved her trunk in front of the door as a barricade and hoped that did the trick.
"I will get you, do not think that I won't!" Shifu ranted as he shoved the door open, pushing the trunk along with it.
"I said get out!" Lin screamed back at him, then gripped the trunk and tried to push the door closed again, despite the fact that she knew he was stronger. "Just take your giant head and go!" She at least managed to keep him from opening the door more than a crack.
"No!"
"And why not!?"
"For one thing, you still have my underwear!"
She grabbed the undergarment in question from the floor and flung it through the small opening in the doorway, hitting Shifu directly in the face.
"I have had enough!" he yelled, his voice somewhat muffled beneath the underwear. He managed to get the garment off his face, then squeezed through the opening in the door.
"Don't touch me!" Lin realized how stupid she probably looked, butt-naked and screaming at him, but that had never stopped her before.
"Why are you behaving like this?" Shifu came closer to her, but made no move to try to grab her, thankfully. "Because I did not say that I loved you back?"
She was starting to wish he had continued yelling and cursing. "I didn't mean it," she snapped, mainly because she wanted to get rid of him before he rejected her again.
"Oh, you didn't? Then it makes perfect sense that you knocked me over and slapped me in the face."
She contemplated slapping him in the face again as a distraction. "Y'know, you were pretty insistent that we didn't talk about feelings up 'til now."
His face got that red tinge to it that he only seemed to get when they were arguing. "That was before you said- you said- the thing!" He paused for a second, as if he'd only just realized exactly what she'd said to him. "You love me!"
"Shut the hell up!" She tried pushing him toward the door, but he was prepared for her and braced himself.
He looked like his mind had been blown, like he'd never even considered the possibility. "Did you come back to the Valley because you love me? Is that it?"
"Ohmygod," she grunted as she continued trying to push him out of the room. She realized that wasn't exactly working, though. "You're a piece of shit!"
"Do not speak that way to me!" He grabbed hold of her arm, probably because she'd been about to slap him again.
"You coulda handled this shit delicately, y'know, like someone normal would!" she screamed in his face, pleased to see him wince at her volume. "But no! You gotta say it'd be better if you'd never heard me in the first place, and then, when I try to kickya outta my room, you come barging back in here and rub it in my face! Yeah, I said I loved you, because I'm a goddamn moron! Only a friggin' self-destructive idiot would ever love you! You piece of shit!"
"Well you are a- a jackass!"
"Don't hold back, dickhead!"
"You are only fighting with me because gods forbid you show even a hint of vulnerability or emotion to another person! You aren't just self-destructive, you're destructive to everyone around you, too!"
"Ooh, wow, what a mind-blowing diagnosis," she replied sarcastically. "I never woulda known that without your expertise!" She yanked her arm out of his grip and, since it didn't look like he'd leave her alone anytime soon, picked up Yan-Yan's dress from the floor and tried to remember how to get it back on. "Unbelievable," she grumbled to herself as she wrapped the dress around herself the wrong way, then had to reverse it.
"You do not even know how to put a dress on," Shifu pointed out helpfully.
"Wowwwwwwwwwww," Lin drew out as nasally as possibly, because she knew it would irritate him. "Wowowow."
"Stop that!"
"Shove it up your ass, you balding marmoset." She figured she'd pretty much gotten everything on right, so she shoved past him, kicked the trunk over and left.
"Where do you think you are going?" he sniped, following after her. "If you think this is over-"
"Go put your goddamn underwear back on!" she interrupted, then broke into a run down the stairs; she could see everyone else waiting around in the sitting room and knew he wouldn't risk the embarrassment of facing them after she'd loudly advertised such a fact. Just as she'd predicted, he turned and ran the moment he'd noticed their audience.
Chen gave her an especially disgruntled glare, probably because she'd made him wait for food, while Wei-Shan attempted to engage Tai Lung in a conversation about the life cycle of the walnut tree.
"It's about time," Yan-Yan greeted with an awkward smile, dressed in the pink qipao Lin had rejected and donning a white peony tucked behind her ear. She clearly had heard how things had gone upstairs.
"Nice flower," Lin complimented.
"Thanks!" she reached up to fluff the petals a bit. "Chen gave it to me."
She waited for some indication that the last statement was a joke, but Chen huffed and let out an irritated, "Ah, geez," which Yan-Yan responded to with a poke to the little rodent. "This is definitely the weirdest and grossest thing that's happened here."
"I'll say," Tai Lung agreed, his frown growing.
"Since when're you allowed to leave the house, anyway?" Lin was surprised any of them were going out to begin with, but the idea of bringing Tai Lung along seemed pretty absurd even for them.
"Oh, everyone thinks he's dead anyway," Wei-Shan dismissed casually. "No one's going to pay him any mind. Besides, Tai Lung knows how to behave in public."
"That makes five of us," Shifu commented as he joined them, finally fully dressed, and behaving like he thought he could murder Lin just by looking at her.
"So what should we call you in public?" Yan-Yan mused, ignoring the insult. "How about Bao? I always thought that was cute."
"Absolutely not," Tai Lung huffed. "It makes me sound like a steamed bun."
"We should callya Dong," Lin suggested with a snort.
"Shut up, hag."
"Ho-Ho," Wei-Shan said.
"What is wrong with the lot of you?" Tai Lung was clearly becoming agitated at their suggestions, which only fueled them on. "Can't we decide on a real name to call me?"
"You seem like a Xing-fu to me," Chen told him. "It means joyful."
"Fine, everyone laugh at me," Tai Lung grumbled, crossing his arms.
"Seriously, though," Lin interjected, since she was starting to pity him and wanted to get a move on so they could eat, "I like Keung."
"Sounds good to me," Yan-Yan agreed.
"Okay, let's go," Chen proclaimed, and they set out without bothering to get an opinion from Tai Lung at all.
Lin glanced at Shifu, but apparently he'd decided to ignore her and keep his mouth uncharacteristically shut. Under any other circumstances she would have tried to start something with him, but in this instance she was just happy to be able to put a pause on their fight. No one else seemed to notice, either, what with Tai Lung's whining about how he didn't even get to pick out his own fake name and Chen's loud reprimands about keeping a low profile. Not that anyone else on the street really paid them any mind as they walked by; they were no more eccentric a bunch than any of the other residents of the city.
"Hey!" A hand grabbed her by the belt and yanked her back to walk behind the rest of the group. "So I'm guessing it didn't go so well," Yan-Yan whispered. "Judging from all the screaming- unless that's what it sounds like-"
"Nope, your first guess was pretty spot on," Lin grumbled, glaring at Shifu's back.
"That was quite some fight. How exactly did it get from sleeping together to that?"
"I dunno. It just kinda... Kept escalating." Looking back, she definitely saw a pattern. "One minute I'm trying really hard not to criticize the way he-"
"I really don't need to know."
"-Then the next I'm slapping the shit outta him."
"Are we still talking about the sex?" Yan-Yan asked. "Or is this the fighting?"
"Fighting," Lin sighed, crossing her arms. "I don't wanna talk about it, anyway."
Yan-Yan shook her head, then smacked Lin on the arm. "Shame on you. You should know better than to raise your hand in a relationship."
She rubbed at her arm, but didn't argue with the smack; she supposed Yan-Yan had a point. "Trust me, this's pretty mild as far as my relationships go."
Yan-Yan eyed the men, who were still embroiled in an argument about names, then leaned in close. "Alright, I need to know-"
"It's about average in size, I'd say," she interrupted, fully aware of her friend's obsession with knowing the penis size of every man she'd ever slept with. "Y'know, you never ask me the size of anyone's clitoris or anything like that-"
"Shifu has a clitoris?"
With a loud sigh, Shifu finally broke his apparent silent treatment. "I can hear everything you are saying," he informed them, his ear twitching irritably.
"Good, you can tell Yan-Yan all about your clitoris," Lin shot back; she hadn't exactly expected their conversation to be private, what with Shifu's gigantic ears, but if he made a habit of eavesdropping he'd never admitted it before.
"Shut the hell up, we're here!" Chen interrupted just as Shifu had begun to sprout his signature red blotches.
They had stopped in front of a small but well-kept storefront with a banner advertising dim sum in brilliant red. The neighborhood looked rather patchwork, some buildings in a state of decay and abandonment like most of those on Chen's block, while others like the restaurant had been restored and sported reputable-looking establishments. They crowded into the restaurant, bustling with waitresses in red qipaos wheeling carts loaded up with steamers and covered dishes back and forth to tables crowded tight with large families. Every available shelf in the place was loaded up with ornate bamboo arrangements tied with red ribbon, sporting notes with well wishes.
"Is this place new?" Lin had trouble believing a brand new restaurant could already have such a large crowd.
"Whatever gaveya that idea?" Chen asked sarcastically, then turned to speak to a goose who had come to seat them.
The only remaining table big enough to seat all of them happened to be the most conspicuous, right in the middle of the floor, and somehow Lin also happened to end up sitting between Chen and Shifu. She tried to stay positive and flagged down the first cart she saw. "One of everything," she ordered without bothering to ask what the waitress had to offer.
"D'ya gotta embarrass me wherever we go?" Chen sniped. "No one's even ordered a drink yet-"
At that moment another waitress arrived to take their drink orders.
"Relax, old man." She pointedly put her napkin on her lap and grabbed her chopsticks with her pinky raised. "You gonna flap your gums, or areya gonna eat?" No sight could have been better in that moment than the steaming hot dishes being uncovered and set before them. Steamed buns, fragrant sticky rice wrapped tightly in packets of pandan leaves, small crispy fried bits of soy marinated tofu, bamboo core piled high with turnips in a rich stew, and chewy bean curd wrapped in hot peppers, then fried and covered in sticky sweet sauce made up their first round of dishes. "They serve soup dumplings here?"
"You ain't even had a bite of anythingya just ordered yet," Chen chided her. "Now pass that bamboo core this way."
"What is any of this, even?" Tai Lung complained, poking at the pandan-wrapped rice with his chopsticks. "What horrors await me within these demon leaves?"
"It's just rice," Yan-Yan sighed, snatching one up. "I'll share mine, if you're afraid you won't like it." She patiently opened up her packet and scooped some rice out onto his plate.
"...I suppose that will do."
Lin realized that Shifu was probably also out of his element, what with decades upon decades of simple, bare-bones meals prepared only for nourishment rather than taste. One look at his face told her that he shared Tai Lung's conundrum, though she doubted he'd ask her about anything on the table.
Instead he turned to his other side to ask Wei-Shan about the bounty before them. "What is in these steamed buns?"
Wei-Shan, who had just bitten into one, chewed thoughtfully. "Something tasty," he concluded.
Lin resisted the urge to laugh at Shifu's grumpy frown as she tasted one for herself; she could have told him right away that the bun contained sweet and spicy mushrooms dotted with bits of pickled cabbage.
Soon they had demolished the food already in front of them, and even Shifu and Tai Lung had swallowed their fears long enough to taste most of the dishes. Luckily, relief came in the form of their drinks and a cart piled high with bamboo steamers.
"Soup dumplings?" Lin asked the moment she caught sight of them, and the rabbit rolling the cart barely had time to nod before she ordered. "Six- no, better make it eight."
"You trying to bankrupt me?" Chen asked between mouthfuls of his comically large beer mug.
"I didn't seeya complaining whenya ate all of the bamboo core yourself."
"That's because he's the only one who likes it," Yan-Yan pointed out with a laugh.
"Bamboo core is definitely not tasty, no," Wei-Shan agreed.
"Whatever, the whole point of dim sum is to eat as much as possible regardless of what's on the cart." Lin spooned up a soup dumpling, pouring a bit of vinegar over it. "That's what makes it so special."
Wei-Shan's usual far-off expression was briefly replaced by a grin. "I remember the first time we took you here, Quan. You had no idea what dim sum was, and we had to explain it to you."
"Then she said yes to every dish that was offered to us," Chen added sourly. "The bill was through the roof."
She remembered the experience; the sensory overload as woman after woman came by with a cart loaded with tasty treats, and at every offer she'd let out a muffled "Yeah," "Right here," or "Bring it," through her already full mouth. So really not much different than how she handled dim sum as an adult. "Ah, you got money to spare and everyone knows it," she directed at Chen, then chugged her own beer.
"So this is soup inside of a dumpling?" Tai Lung mused, holding one up and glaring intently. He looked like he was trying to make the thing combust with his mind.
"Put it in your spoon," Yan-Yan scolded. "Then give it some vinegar and eat it."
Shifu attempted to bite into a dumpling of his own, and somehow managed to squirt hot broth all over himself. "Ack!"
Lin snorted in laughter, leaning away from him to avoid the splash. His hilarious ineptitude with food was almost endearing enough to make her forget their disastrous morning together. "Try breaking it open with your chopsticks first," she suggested.
"I do not need you to tell me how to eat." He apparently was not in such a good mood himself. "In fact, you are not in a position to tell me how to do anything-"
"So!" Yan-Yan interrupted loudly. "Keung!" She nudged Tai Lung to get him to acknowlegde the name, but he only rolled his eyes. "How do you like Shanghai's dim sum?"
"Well, it's not nearly as terrible as your cooking," he replied with a shrug, as if that were even close to a compliment.
"Hahahaaaa," Yan-Yan laughed fakely through her teeth. "What a kidder you are."
Lin watched the display, then after the table had lapsed into awkward silence from the poor attempt at changing the subject, turned back to Shifu. "So you think I'm inept? S'that what you're saying?"
"Yes, among other things," he answered with a glare.
Yan-Yan let out another awkward, fake laugh in an apparent attempt to stop them from fighting in public, but to no avail.
"You'd be in jail by now if it weren't for me!" she pointed out.
"You are the one who would be in jail without me! You are a common criminal and a loose woman to boot!"
"Please stop," Yan-Yan begged helplessly, lunging toward Chen to hold him back from entering the fight.
"Now you group of geezers are starting to get a little interesting," Tai Lung commented as he casually continued with his meal.
"We're trying to have a nice meal out in public, remember?" Yan-Yan asked, which seemed to momentarily cow Shifu into silence.
Lin had a lot to say about the "common criminal" and "loose woman" jabs, but she held it in for the sake of her humiliated friend. Instead she turned to Tai Lung to try changing the subject again. "Say, Keung, since you're sticking around we'll hafta teachya all about the local delicacies."
Shifu slammed his chopsticks down on the table, his eye twitching. "He is not staying here, and certainly not simply to stuff his face like you do!"
"Go choke on a dick!" she screamed back.
"That is really more your area of expertise!"
"And yours is acting like a stuck-up, dick-nosed shit stain!"
"Do you ever wonder if there's intelligent life on other worlds?" Wei-Shan asked absently.
"Shut up!" they both ordered in unison.
"Don't you tell him to shut up!" Lin snapped, turning sideways in her chair in order to better shout in Shifu's face. "You wanna fight so bad, then fight with me!"
"What are you going to do, slap me again?" he shot back. "I should have never brought you along on this trip!"
"You brought me along!?" Lin could feel her fur frizzing at the notion that he really thought that was how things had gone down. "Screw you!"
"Been there, done that, and regretting every moment of it-" Shifu was cut off by Wei-Shan grabbing the back of his collar and hauling him to his feet.
"It would appear it is time to leave," he announced.
Lin glanced around the room as it dawned on her that their screaming match had gotten the attention of everyone in the restaurant, including the now disgruntled staff.
Chen let out a defeated sigh. "Just leave it all," he grumbled to Yan-Yan, then hopped out of his seat and headed for the door.
She dropped an entire money bag on the table and followed Chen, stopping to bow and apologize profusely to every staff member she passed.
"Well that was a bust." Tai Lung actually sounded disappointed, if only briefly, before getting up to join Yan-Yan.
Wei-Shan, meanwhile, shoved Shifu ahead of himself and seemed to make a point of becoming a living shield between him and Lin. "What a lovely meal. It's too bad we couldn't stay longer."
Lin remained silent as she trailed behind the group, fuming about the recent barrage of insults Shifu had hurled at her. As soon as they stepped out onto the street, she was ready to start again. "Y'know, you deserve another slap!"
"I agree," Wei-Shan chimed in, then did something wholly unexpected. He punched Shifu.
Lin watched the scene unfold, her mouth falling slightly open at the sight; Wei-Shan had actually landed a punch on Shifu, who tumbled backward and had to flip himself back onto his feet.
"Was that a kung fu punch?" she asked, amazed the old raccoon dog could even still punch at all.
"Yes. And now for a kung fu fight."
"I call tag teams!" Chen chimed in, hopping up to Wei-Shan's side like a child running into a candy store. "I been waiting too long for this to miss out on the fun."
Shifu looked horrified by the turn of events. "What- Lin, did you tell them to do this?"
She had actually been about to step in and put a stop to the fight, but the rude question did a good job of changing her mind. "Nope," she answered casually, then took a few steps back from the scene. "Don't lemme interruptya now."
"Here, hold my glasses," Wei-Shan ordered to no one in particular, then threw his glasses over his shoulder without paying any attention to where they would land.
Luckily, Lin was able to lunge forward and catch them before they hit the ground.
"Wait, I can't see anything without my glasses."
She threw them back at him and he caught them with surprising ease for someone who couldn't see anything except fuzzy blobs.
"Alright, enough of this nonsense!" Yan-Yan barged up to the kung fu masters, and in a show of incredible flexibility, managed to slap both Wei-Shan and Chen at the same time. "You are in so much trouble," she ground out as if she were scolding misbehaving children.
Lin let out a snort of disappointment and left the scene before she could witness anymore meltdowns; she was in the middle of one of her own, she didn't have time for everyone else's crap, too.
Surprisingly, Tai Lung ran after her. "Good idea," he complimented, following her around the corner.
"What're you doing? I thought you didn't like me anymore."
"I don't like anyone else here either," he replied. "And there are more of them, and they are going out of their minds in the middle of the street. Which was admittedly quite amusing, until it became annoying."
"So you're afraid Yan-Yan's gonna come after you next, huh?" she concluded.
"I fear nothing, least of all an aging divorcee," he argued, though his pace quickened at the mention of Yan-Yan.
"Okay," she agreed, though she couldn't hide the skepticism in her voice. "I'm still hungry. Wanna look for sweet potatoes or something?"
"Hmph," was all the response he would give, but he followed her anyway.
As much as Tai Lung claimed he couldn't stand her anymore, Lin was grateful for the company. At the very least it gave her some hope that he might actually go along with her trying to teach him. And it gave her hope that they might one day be close again.
Shifu watched, taken aback by all that had happened, as Yan-Yan scolded Wei-Shan and Chen like children. He'd thought, however briefly, that he'd stood a chance at having at least one normal, sane day in Shanghai. Yet here he was, wondering if it were possible to shrink into the ground as passersby stared at the loud scene he had found himself sucked into. Lin and Tai Lung had tellingly disappeared, though no one else seemed quite as concerned about that as he was, and Chen and Wei-Shan looked properly disgruntled. Well, Chen did at least- Wei-Shan just looked as vacant as normal. After experiencing the speed and force of the man's punch, though, that blank stare was more disturbing than ever. If Yan-Yan hadn't intervened, Shifu had no doubt he would have been dragged into a fight. He let out a sigh of relief that someone amongst them still had some sense left. "Thank you-"
Yan-Yan cut him off with a slap in the face. "Shame on you! You are apparently in charge of all of kung fu, not to mention your son is in sore need of guidance- so suck it up and behave like an adult, old man! Now march!"
"Yes ma'am."
"I raised three children to adulthood! I should not have to round up a bunch of old men like toddlers! You men are all the same, overgrown children, can't keep your shit together or your dicks in your pants! This is not my life, you hear me? You can't make this my life!"
He got the feeling she might have been projecting a little bit, but he wisely held his tongue. He hadn't seen Yan-Yan lose her cool, and judging from how cowed his fellow kung fu masters were he could tell it was a rare and terrifying event for them as well.
"Never in my life have I been so embarrassed!" she continued to rant. "You promised me a nice meal out! You promised me one normal day! Do I ask for much? No! No, I don't! I give and give and what do I get in return? I get nothing! I get to break up fights in the streets! I get to look like a lunatic screaming in public at a bunch of big, wrinkled babies! I deserve my peace! I deserve better than this! You promised me, Chen, are you listening? Can you hear me, do you understand the words I'm saying to you? You owe me!" She finally paused to take a few breaths and Shifu resisted the urge to pop his ears after all the screaming. She was actually capable of reaching a volume and pitch even more horrid than Lin's, a feat which he'd assumed was impossible.
Not that he'd ever expected anything that had happened that day. Well, he always started any day with Lin assuming they had a good chance of ending up in a fight. The events leading up to the fight had been much more of a shock to him. While he had been admittedly tempted, he had never actually planned to sleep with Lin, and certainly not in Shanghai. After their night together, though, it had been difficult to resist her, and the only reason he hadn't made a move on her sooner was that he'd been so exhausted after the night market he'd fallen asleep the minute he was off his feet. That, and he may have also been slightly inebriated.
Now that he finally had some time to calm down and contemplate his morning, it seemed almost surreal. Lin had not been lying about her experience and skill in... Certain areas. She had also been nothing like he'd imagined- not that he'd ever purposely imagined such a thing. Not more than a handful of times, anyway. To be honest he'd half expected to come out of their encounter bleeding and covered in bruises. Instead Lin had been... Affectionate. And gentle. He had trouble even thinking about her in such terms. She had even let him be on top! He supposed that was not the most important thing that had happened that morning.
Lin had said she loved him.
Just thinking about it made it feel so much more real. He didn't even know what to think- the last time Lin had told him she loved him she'd left for over thirty years. It was difficult, to say the least, to understand what was going through her mind at the best of times, but after saying such a thing to him... To be honest, it had frightened him. Imagining that she cared for him so deeply, he'd only been able to see all the ways in which he could disappoint her and destroy their relationship. And on top of that, she wanted to stay in Shanghai with Tai Lung while he returned to the valley alone. What would happen if he left her so soon? Would she realize she'd made a mistake? Would she decide she didn't love him after all? Would she leave him again?
He felt his chest tighten at that thought. He didn't know if he could bear her leaving him a second time. He- he loved her. He had done his best to deny it, as always, but it was the truth; he'd fallen in love with her. Again.
"Home again, home again, jiggity jig!" Yan-Yan suddenly announced, and he realized he'd been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed they'd walked all the way back to Chen's house. She threw the door open and marched into the house, but they all stopped in the sitting room.
"What?" Lin asked defensively from where she sat lounging in a chair, eating a sweet potato.
"Where is Tai Lung?" Shifu asked, hoping to high heaven she even knew.
"Upstairs, probably brooding or whatever it is he does." She seemed confused as to why everyone in the room seemed to be staring at her; more like, they were staring at both her and Shifu, waiting for another blow-up. "What?" she asked again.
He decided he should speak to her before anyone else demanded her attention. "Lin, we need to talk."
"Nope," she replied, taking another bite of her sweet potato.
"Nope?" he repeated incredulously, his eye twitching.
"And as for you!" Lin pointed at Wei-Shan accusingly, effectively changing the subject. "What's your deal?"
Wei-Shan shrugged. "What can I say? When you all get in a room together, you are all aggravating buffoons. I try to ignore it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I didn't get any dessert." He left the room to uncomfortable silence.
"Typical Wei-Shan," Lin dismissed.
"Yep," Chen agreed.
"Wait- you aggravate him?" Shifu asked, distracted from his fight with Lin for the moment.
"He's got some temper on him," Chen said, shaking his head. "I remember all those mountains he destroyed."
"What? I thought you were the one who could split a mountain with your chi!"
Chen laughed. "He's the one who taught me that trick, believe it or not! I did it once or twice, but it ain't really my thing. I usually get the credit, though. Makes him kinda mad, but that's what he gets, y'know."
"...That's what he gets for what?" Yan-Yan asked, her brow furrowed as if the idea of Wei-Shan being capable of anything other than absent-minded rambling was too confusing to comprehend.
"Like I said, he used to be the destroyer of mountains!" Chen sounded annoyed, like they should somehow know this already. "That's why they called him Wei-Shan, back then. Never did catch his real name. Anyway, that's how we met. Oogway sent me to go stop him from spreading destruction and death across all of China, that sorta thing. What was he, back then? Somewhere around Quan's age when she first showed up here. What a little pissant."
After another moment of tense silence, Shifu finally spoke his mind. "Why on earth have I never heard this before?"
"History's got a way of getting distorted," Chen explained. "Plus I'm the only one left alive who knows. Well, b'sides you guys now I guess."
"So he was the greatest villain of his time," Yan-Yan said flatly, skepticism clear in her voice.
"Yep," he confirmed.
"Well that makes me feel a little better about banging him," Lin sighed.
Shifu did his best to ignore the comment. "Master Chen, are you saying that you rehabilitated Wei-Shan? Is that why you want to take Tai Lung in?"
"Why does everyone gotta read so much into everything?" Chen griped, not that the reaction was unexpected. "B'sides, ain't like I did much. He was kinda like Quan, except, y'know, competent."
"Hey!" Lin protested. "I'm not incompetent! I've accomplished a ton in my life, I'll haveya know, and traveled all over the world-"
"And then came crawling back to China for handouts and a free roof over your head 'causeya can't support yourself," Chen interrupted irritably. "Yeah, everyone knows the story-"
"That's not how it is!"
"In any case," Yan-Yan cut in firmly, "Master Chen, this means you have experience in dealing with... This sort of thing."
"And I have experience in dealing with Tai Lung," Shifu pointed out. He was not about to sit around and listen to Chen talk about how much more qualified he was to rehabilitate Tai Lung. "So once again I will point out that I should be the one making the decisions here!"
"You wanna get hit again?" Chen asked.
He could feel himself turning red, but he held his tongue for the sake of keeping the peace in the house. "If you will excuse us, Lin and I need to talk."
"Not happening," Lin argued, her attention now turned back to her sweet potato.
"Give me some of that sweet potato," Yan-Yan ordered, taking a seat next to Lin. "I'm still hungry."
Shifu watched, disgruntled as they both ignored him and shared the sweet potato that was apparently so much more interesting than he was.
"I'm done here," Chen announced before hopping off and locking himself into his studio.
"Lin," Shifu tried one more time to reason with her. "Are we going to simply keep up this fight forever?"
"Yeah, that sounds good," she replied.
"I think you've done enough for now," Yan-Yan added coldly, fixing him with a glare that he swore almost froze his veins.
"...Yes ma'am," he grumbled reluctantly, then headed upstairs. While Chen and Wei-Shan were both skilled masters of kung fu he would not wish to face anytime soon, the thought of butting heads with Yan-Yan outright terrified him. She had raised three children, after all, and even he had to admit that nothing in the world was more intimidating than an angry mother.
Lin stifled a yawn as she shuffled downstairs, her clothing wrinkled and hastily thrown on. She'd woken up in the middle of the night and hadn't been able to fall back to sleep, no thanks to Shifu. She hadn't felt so much stress over a fight in years, and it wasn't something she found too pleasant. In fact, after her return from dim sum she'd spent the majority of her day holed up in her room and avoiding social interaction like the plague. She'd tried her best to meditate, but she'd been distracted by an upset stomach from the stress and the fact that she'd eaten too fast. And now she found herself trying not to think of any of it, except she couldn't help herself, and thus couldn't sleep. She would have made her way straight to the kitchen for a drink, but she noticed that she wasn't alone.
"Yo." Lin plopped down next to Wei-Shan, surprised to see him in the sitting room. Out of all the rooms in the house, the sitting room saw the least amount of sitting.
"Yo," he greeted back, leaning back in his seat and popping a kumquat into his mouth. "It's been a little while since we were alone together."
She realized that he was right; it was the first time they'd been alone in a room together since she'd left the Tavan Bogd mountains. "Oh," she replied flatly, partly because she felt a little awkward and partly because she was still mad at him for decking Shifu. Well, at first she'd been pretty pleased, but then she'd gotten angry the more she'd thought about how he had stuck his nose where it didn't belong.
"I thought you said things wouldn't get awkward after we slept together." He offered her a kumquat.
"You're an asshole." She took the fruit anyway. "And you're the one making it awkward, bringing up the fact that we banged every five seconds."
"I suppose," he conceded, unexpectedly enough. Then, out of the blue he said, "I miss living together."
"Can't say I'm one for living in a single room with another person for three years straight, or even three months for that matter. But I miss you too."
He nodded, then took off his glasses to polish them. Without the thick spectacles his eyes actually looked normal, instead of their usual appearance of staring vacantly into space. "Do you remember what I said to you the day you moved in with me?"
She grinned at the memory his question brought up. "If I remember right, it went something like 'I like you more than my solitude, but just barely, so don't push it.'"
"Yes, that sounds correct."
"Good times."
He chewed thoughtfully on his snack for a bit, his expression distant. "And that time you were stuck sick in bed for over a week?"
"And Chen yelled atya 'cause you kept bringing me junk food? Yeah, I remember that. I also remember whenya used to wake me up in the middle of the night with your drunken demands for attention." Despite how embarrassed and irritated she'd been as a teenager, she appreciated those moments all the same. Living in a one room studio together, they'd really only had screens around each of their beds for what little privacy they'd been able to offer. Yet Wei-Shan, despite his claims that he preferred living alone, had made it clear that he couldn't get enough of her company. Even if it had been a little awkward, it had been good for her to feel so wanted.
Wei-Shan cleared his throat, interrupting her trip down memory lane. "I'm sorry."
"Eh?"
"I should have never left you alone," he clarified.
It took her a moment to realize he was talking about that fateful night she'd left Shanghai, diving into the harbor to escape Imperial soldiers. They were only supposed to have split up briefly, but she'd wrapped her arms around him tightly anyway. She'd been afraid she'd never see him again, which had turned out to be pretty justified. "I don't even remember the last time I thoughta that."
"I should have apologized sooner," he admittedly sheepishly. "I'd wanted to bring you up to the mountains with me, before things went south. It was nice, when you came to stay."
In spite of herself, she grinned and blushed like she had as a girl. "Shut the hell up, you old flirt," she teased.
"Now, you know as well as I do that my bountiful charm cannot be contained."
"Yeah, yeah." Sometimes she hated how she could never bear to stay angry with him. Even as a bratty teenager she'd always forgiven him within the day, no matter what. She supposed it helped that he knew exactly how to sweet talk her. "Don't think I forgot your antics, by the way," she warned, though it lacked her usual firmness. "My love life is my business, and I don't need you or anyone else butting in."
"Hm." Apparently he was done giving out apologies. "I only worry about you because I care, my dear."
"And why d'ya gotta call me your dear all the time?" She had never minded before, but now it pissed Shifu off and she was the one who would have to hear about it.
"I always knew about your little crush. At first I was teasing you, but... It seemed like calling you that made you happy, so I got into the habit."
"...I guess at this pointya might as well keep it up." She supposed she could deal with the trouble. "But seriously, stop threatening Shifu. It ain't like I'm still a kid."
"But you're my friend," he argued, and even though she would have called bullshit on anyone else for the excuse, she found it endearing coming from him. "Besides, I have nothing better to do at this point in my life than look out for you."
"Okay," she agreed, tired of the subject. "So tell me, were you really some crazy villainous mountain destroyer? Or was Chen screwing with me?"
He didn't look too pleased that his past had been discussed behind his back, not that she'd react any differently. "Chen told you that?"
"Yeah," she confirmed.
"...It's true."
She stared at him, trying to imagine him destroying mountains with his chi or murdering people, or even fighting Chen. "That's so weird."
"'Weird' is one word for it," he replied irritably. Chen was probably going to get it later.
"What's the real harm in someone like me knowing your past?" she prodded. "Ain't like I'm anyone to judge."
He didn't answer her, which in her experience was a sure sign to drop the subject.
She didn't want to, though. "I wanna see villainous baby Wei-Shan! We got any portraits or anything around here?"
"Like that portrait of you in that fancy dress, writing poetry? Hm, perhaps I should paint you in that dress of Yan-Yan's."
"How about a nude portrait instead?" she asked, undeterred by his attempts to embarrass her.
"Why do you think no one cares if snakes go around in the nude?" he mused.
She wasn't going to be thrown off by a change in subject, either. "They tuck their junk in. Anyway, I bet Chen's got something laying around in his studio. We should take a look." She wondered how long she could keep pushing until he finally just walked away from her.
He wasn't about to give up pretending not to hear her. "Odd. How do you suppose snakes do that?"
"Who cares?" She gestured toward Chen's studio, knowing the physical threat would be enough to break him. "It's portrait time."
He stood up and made a beeline for the door. "Goodbye forever, have a good life."
She shook her head at the display. "Where're you going?"
"Home," he answered shortly.
"I know where you live," she pointed out.
He stopped with one foot out the door. "I can move away."
"No you can't." She had too much experience with his bluffs to be so easily fooled.
He stepped back inside and shut the door. "You are irritating me."
"So?"
"So make me an offer."
She'd had a feeling their conversation had been heading this way. "I'm not paying you."
"I don't want money anyway." He made no move to walk away from the door, as if he might bolt as soon as he heard something he didn't like.
"I ain't paying in sexual favors, either," she added.
"That's gross." He seemed offended, to her surprise.
"Really?" She wished she could say she was indifferent to his lack of interest, but her ego was a little too fragile for that. "Not even a quick spanking? I'll even bend over Chen's desk forya."
"...No," he replied after a long pause, though he sounded pained by the refusal.
It was enough to make her grin, at least. Not that she had actually intended to go through with anything, but it was fun to joke around once in a while. "You were pretty good in the sack. I'm gonna miss getting banged by someone who knows the difference between a vagina and an asshole."
"Knowledge is power," he agreed, and she snorted in laughter.
"So what're you after, huh?"
He approached her and held out his hand; she took it, letting him hoist her out of her seat. "Why did I need to defend your honor today?"
"So it's information you're after," she hummed. "Sorry, but that's too precious a commodity to me. Feel free to give the spanking instead."
"It is precisely as precious to you as it is to me. Trade me or don't. Pick one."
"You're not much of a haggler." Lin thought for a moment on the predicament; Wei-Shan could get kind of a big mouth on him, and she didn't want him blabbing about her mistake like he had about them sleeping together. "You need to swear to me that this will stay between us."
"Swear on what?" He was being obtuse, as usual.
"Swear on my life."
He gave a shrug. "If you insist. I swear on your life."
"What's with the cavalier attitude?" she sniped. "What, is my life meaningless to you? That's what you're trying to say?"
He let out a long sigh. "No," he replied flatly. "Your life is more meaningful to me than all the lives of every other person on this earth combined. I pledge myself to you for all eternity and worship you as the goddess you are. Let's continue, now."
"I guess that's good enough," she sniffed, crossing her arms.
"You'd make a good goddess of chaos and destruction, actually." He sometimes said the strangest things to her, yet she almost always ended up feeling either flattered, amused, or both.
"I'll keep that in mind for when I'm deified." She supposed the most painless way to talk about what had happened that morning would be to just blurt it out; besides, she probably would have told him sooner or later, anyway. "I told Shifu I love him. But he didn't say it back. He wanted to pretend I never said anything in the first place."
"I thought I'd heard some screaming this morning." He probably had only noticed because someone else had pointed it out. "So this upsets you, I take it."
"Duh," she grumbled.
"And... It upsets Shifu?"
"I screamed at him and maybe knocked him over. Also I may or may not have slapped him."
He stared blankly at her. "I don't get it. He's angry that you... Slept with him?"
"No, I'm not describing sex! This was the fight afterward!"
"Oh," he accepted. "You really should be more specific."
"Apparently." She was starting to get a little antsy, talking about her personal life. "Can we do this, now?"
"Still on Chen's desk?" he teased.
"I wouldn't dream of doing it anywhere else," she shot back with a snort.
"Well this was exactly what I needed to walk in on tonight," Shifu's voice sounded behind her and she nearly jumped to the ceiling.
"-The hell?" She spun around to see Shifu on the stairs, glaring their way. "Geeze, for a chubby old man you sure can sneak up on people."
"I see that I was not exaggerating when I called you a loose woman!"
Lin could only stare at him, confused. "You lost me there."
"It has been less than a day since we shared a bed, yet here you are talking to Wei-Shan about doing it on Chen's desk!"
"This is weird," Wei-Shan complained with a frown. "I don't like it."
"You got that right," Lin agreed. "And, I mean, who over the age of thirteen refers to sex as 'doing it'?"
"No one," Wei-Shan answered. "Except for Shifu, it would seem."
"This blows my mind!" Shifu snapped, his fur bristling. "I catch you planning to cheat on me, and your response is to make fun of me!"
She felt like she was suffering from a lucid nightmare. How Shifu thought from hearing one snippet of conversation that she would sleep with Wei-Shan after chasing him for weeks, she had no idea. And how he could think he had any claim over her after refusing to so much as acknowledge she had feelings for him was even further beyond her. "How in the hell can I cheat on you when you won't even admit we're together!?"
Wei-Shan started sidling away as her voice rose to a shriek.
"Don't you walk away from this!" She'd be damned if she let him escape when he was the one who'd brought up Chen's desk. "You're a part of it now!"
"We are together!" Shifu shouted at her. "On what alternate plane of existence are we not together!? Why on earth would I ever sleep with you if we were not together!?"
"Oh, now we're together! Now that you think I'm gonna sleep with someone else, y'mean!" She grabbed Wei-Shan by the arm and yanked him back toward her, stopping him from another escape attempt. "And what if I do bang him, huh? What're you gonna do about it?" Of course she was blowing smoke, but she was so riled up that she couldn't help but wave the threat in his face.
"I am about to set this house on fire to get away from you," Wei-Shan warned, but Lin ignored him.
"Areya gonna leave me? Big deal! Obviously you don't take me or my feelings seriously anyway, so good riddance! You probably only stuck around this long to get in my pants!"
"Oh, yes, that makes perfect sense!" Shifu grasped his head like he was in actual, physical pain. "That is exactly why I turned you down every time you propositioned me up until now!"
"You suck, by the way!" she snapped, mostly out of spite. "You suck at sex! You're lukewarm at best!" It was also kind of true.
"For the love of- you are so immature!" He then gestured to Wei-Shan, who'd been trying to slip out of her grasp without her noticing. "And let him go, already! This is between the two of us!"
"Fine!" She pushed Wei-Shan away and, to his credit, he ran straight for the front door and didn't even stop to complain about it.
"What's going on down here?" Yan-Yan came running down the stairs, holding a silk robe tightly closed with both arms, a sleep mask dangling from one ear.
"I give up!" Shifu announced. "This is ridiculous! If you would like to apologize to me, I will be in my room!"
"What should I apologize for?" Yan-Yan asked, stifling a yawn. "You're the one who woke me up."
"I was talking to Lin!" he snapped.
"Alright, no need to act like a cranky-pants."
"You are all a bunch of irritating lunatics!" Shifu continued as he headed upstairs. "You deserve each other! You deserve to rot in this house together!"
"What a baby," Yan-Yan sighed. "Not that you're any better." She narrowed her eyes at Lin, tapping her fingers on the banister. "So you're going back for more of the 'Destroyer of Mountains' over there, hm?"
"Ew, no!" Lin took a deep breath to calm her nerves and resist the temptation to just dissolve into fevered strings of profanity. "I was joking around with Wei-Shan and Shifu decided to take it seriously. That's all."
"When are you going to just apologize to the man and end all of our misery?" Yan-Yan had the nerve to complain.
Lin felt her fur bristle at the suggestion that she should be the one apologizing. "Never! He should be begging me for forgiveness!"
"You slapped the man and called him a shithead."
"So?" She realized she was starting to sound petty, but the truth was that she had already begun to contemplate backing down.
"Lin, I'm fading fast and you're both assholes. Now go upstairs and swallow your pride so I can get some sleep." She stomped back upstairs, her tail twitching irritably.
Lin supposed Yan-Yan had a point. She hadn't exactly been the kindest or most understanding person. And she was getting tired of the screaming matches; she didn't have the stamina or the stubbornness of her youth anymore. Most of it, but not all of it. So she dragged herself upstairs and grudgingly entered Shifu's room.
"I see you've decided to forego proper manners," he grumbled from where he sat on his bed cross-legged, apparently attempting to meditate. Not that he ever managed to calm down enough to succeed at it.
"Like you ever knock on my door." She leaned against the wall, reluctant to approach him. "Look, I'm sorry I hit you. That's... Not the way I wanna treatya. I know I'm not exactly what you'd call a good person, but I at least was never the kinda person to hit someone I care about."
He stared at her, blinking dazedly. "This isn't what I was expecting," he told her. "Not that I didn't mind getting slapped, but... You would not be the first woman to slap me. You were not even the last woman to slap me."
"Yan-Yan?"
"To be fair, she slapped everyone."
"I'm still sorry for slapping you." She hadn't held back, either, and even with Shifu's kung fu training she knew it must have hurt him. "And y'know Wei-Shan and I were just joking around earlier, right?"
After a short pause he let out a sigh. "I suppose I was maybe, possibly... Lashing out. A little."
She was certainly familiar with that habit. "I'm real sick of fighting. But it's like we can't help it."
He nodded in agreement, his mouth set in a grim line. "You are the only person I spend more time with than my students. When I yell at them, they simply agree and fall in line. Perhaps I am still not quite used to dealing with someone who does not have to listen to me."
"Yeah, you're bossy as hell." She ignored the dirty look he gave her. "What can I say? I know I'm not all milk and honey. I never was, andya know it. I've been trying my best, but, I mean... Shit." She took a moment to gather her nerve. She didn't look forward to bringing up the fact that she'd told him she loved him. "I wantya to understand that there're certain things about relationships that're just as hard for me now as they always were. I've been involved with a few people in my life, y'know, like... Pretty seriously. And I always ended up disappointed. The last person I was with got shot to death, so... That was pretty cool. Great way to end a relationship." She paused again, trying not to ramble on about irrelevant memories. She didn't want to get caught up in the past. "My point is, what I said wasn't exactly flippant or easy to express. And your reaction was just enough to make me snap like a dry twig."
"So you're saying that you think I will disappoint you," he concluded, and it wasn't too far off.
She decided to try to be tactful. "I'm asking you not to, that's all."
"Well, I don't believe I am going to be shot any time soon. Is there anything else I should keep in mind?" He reached out and patted the spot beside him.
Lin accepted the invitation gratefully, thought she wasn't sure if she wanted to discuss so much of her past with him just yet. There was a lot to cover, and not all of it was pleasant. But she decided that even if it wasn't everything, she should at least let him know she was willing to open up. "Well, let's see. Don't leave me 'cause you decidedya can't handle me anymore. And don't ditch me 'cause you got tired of me. And don't lie to me about whatya want 'cause you think I'll change my mind forya later on down the road. Oh, and don't beat the hell outta me or try to kill me. I'd go on, but the list gets kinda long and boring from there. We can cover the rest later."
He stared at her, his mouth slightly agape. After a moment he seemed to realize she was waiting for a response and cleared his throat. "Pardon me. I did not expect this list to be quite so... Brutal."
"You shoulda taken a hint from the 'shot to death' part," she pointed out. "But that's not something I'm too eager to discuss." She fished in her robe for her calabash pipe and set about stuffing and lighting it.
"I see," Shifu accepted, watching her. He thankfully didn't complain about her smoking, either. "Lin, I realize that more often than not I tend to focus on your qualities negatively. But I do know how resilient and strong you are."
"Ah, geez." She'd heard more romantic lines in her time, but the significance of Shifu calling her strong wasn't lost on her. "Ditto." She puffed on her pipe, blushing at the compliment.
"I also realize that it has been frustrating for you to deal with my confusion about... Us."
"What's so confusing, anyway?" she asked. "Why hesitate?"
He took her question seriously, surprisingly enough. "What if I only have feelings for you because of our past together? What if it is only because I am latching onto you out of vulnerability or grief? What if I am just lonely? What if things don't work out and we end up so alienated from one another that we never speak again?" He looked vaguely horrified at having spilled his guts so completely, but Lin understood.
"Yeah, I worry about that stuff, too. Butya can't let your worries get in the way of living your life."
"You mean that after all the pain you have gone through, you are still willing to take that kind of chance with me without even a second thought?" he asked, dumbfounded.
"Yeah, duh."
He turned bright red and fidgeted with the sheets for a bit. "...I love you, too."
She couldn't help but tease him, and she figured she'd earned it at this point. "You coulda saved us all a lotta trouble if you'd just said so sixteen hours ago."
"Well I was confused!" he huffed. "And you seemed embarrassed. How could I have known you would throw my clothes in the hall and slap me?"
"What else didya really expect from me?" She pressed down on the bed's mattress, but it didn't give much. She'd known already that it was hard and uncomfortable, but she still felt the impulse to test it. "Look, I'd like to stick around, but this bed's a hot mess and I like actually being able to sleep once in a while."
"And after I slept on your mushy mess of pillows?" he criticized. "Haven't you ever heard of a compromise?"
"Nope, what's that?" She laughed at the disgruntled look on his face. "Okay, but I can't guarantee I'll make it through the night."
"Good enough, I suppose." He stared at her like he was going to say something else, then backed away a little. "So. Did you return to the Valley because you still love me?"
She had, but she wasn't about to have pillow talk about it. "Don't push your luck, melon-head."
Instead of arguing, he actually smiled and kissed her; maybe he knew her well enough already to get what she meant.
"Alright, time for round two," she announced. "And this time I got a few pointers forya, so maybe think of it like a hands-on learning experience."
That wiped the smile off his face. "Oh, gods," he complained.
"Strip," she ordered; after all, if they were going to make up, she wanted to make up all the way.
Rahim lay in bed, staring at his ceiling as one thought remained prevalent in his mind: there was a reason he lived on the opposite side of the country from his family. He tried to ignore the sound of his brother and his sister-in-law shouting a conversation back and forth across the house, or the persistent thumping outside his window of his mother vigorously beating out rugs, or the screeching of his cousin's two young daughters fighting and chasing each other about with violent intent. "I miss Bombay," he muttered aloud to no one in particular as he pressed his palms into his eyes and counted backwards from ten.
His cousin, Saanvi, banged his door open. "You're not up yet?" she demanded shrilly. "Lazy! No wonder you have no wife and no children!"
"You don't even live here," he groaned, wondering if it was too late to find an inn.
"Exactly! I've already gotten ready and started my chores for the day. And Auntie wouldn't need me to come over and help her if you lived closer. Now get up before I get angry." She threw a pile of sheets in his face. "This is your fresh bedding for tonight, try to go against your nature and be a little grateful."
"Saanvi, this is why I've always hated you like a sister."
"If you had a real sister I would pity her for being cursed with two lumps for brothers." She slammed the door and started screaming across the house at her two daughters, her voice joining the morning cacophany.
He rolled out of bed and dressed himself for the day, all the while cursing his family; he'd been under enough pressure as it was without their meddling. He'd already met with the new Nawab, a general from the British army, and several high-ranking officials from the East India Trading Company. Manan had been right; they wanted to try to get free access to opium, in order to transport it legally over India's border with China. So far no one had been entirely forthcoming with details, despite multiple meetings, but he doubted the fact that a general had been present for said meetings could be a good thing. And, as he had suspected, there had been mention of appointing Rahim to meet with the Grand Master of kung fu, in order to "gently suggest" to the man that he had nothing to fear from the British Empire. Rahim somehow doubted that his role was anything other than a distraction from his employers' true intent. Yet there was nothing he could do, at least if he hoped to stay alive and out of prison. He hoped, at least, that his contact had arrived in the Valley of Peace with plenty of time to receive his letter.
He made his way downstairs and into Manan's office as quickly and quietly as possible, so no one would have time to accost him for a chore or complaint. His brother's office, while a luxury in its mere existence, was only about the size of a closet. Whatever space hadn't been taken up already by hoarder-style books stacked to the ceiling was occupied by the small desk, which spanned the full length of the room. Manan sat in a chair several sizes too small for him, hunched over his desk with his nose in a book.
"You are going to die in here," Rahim informed him, standing in the doorway to avoid knocking over one of the precarious stacks. "These books are going to collapse and crush you one day."
"Your attitude is more likely to crush me than a book." Manan stuck a marker in his current read and somehow managed to squeeze it into the middle of a stack without knocking the whole thing over. "You need something?"
"Besides another several hours of sleep?"
"I shouldn't be surprised by that comment, yet somehow I'd thought you might learn to be a little less lazy in your old age." He leaned back in his chair, contemplating his book collection. "Perhaps you should read more."
"And turn into a hoarder? No thank you." Rahim winced at the sound of his young cousins screeching; apparently a fight had broken out.
Manan briefly covered his ears, then spoke with his voice lowered. "When are you scheduled to leave for China?"
"I have not yet been informed." He felt uneasy about that particular detail. He knew he was simply a pawn in someone else's game, but it didn't bode well that they felt confident enough to make the fact obvious to him. "But when I do-" He stopped short, unsure if it was the time to say anything.
"What?"
He supposed he owed his brother a warning, if anyone; they had grown up close, and Manan had taken over as the head of their family in order to make his life in Bombay possible. He was not exactly familiar with personal sacrifice, but if there ever was a time to become acquainted he was afraid he'd found it. "Once I leave, there is little chance of my ever returning."
Manan stared at him for a moment, then turned his attention back to his book stacks. "I'd thought as much."
Rahim had realized once he'd attended his first meeting regarding his trip to China that it would be necessary for him to commit treason. He had already betrayed the British government by sending his letter of warning, and once he made it into the Valley of Peace he fully intended on divulging every bit of information he could to the Grand Master. He would lose his job, his home, everything in his life he'd worked for. He would become an outcast, living the rest of his life in exile- if he even survived. He'd already balked at the idea several times, but no matter how often he tried to chicken out he couldn't bear the idea of betraying a friend. So now he found himself both unable to stand his family and wishing he had more time with them. "I know you must think I'm insane, to take such a risk for the sake of another country-"
"You mean for the sake of your friend," his brother corrected, and he was right.
"I must do what I feel is right," Rahim said. "I don't want to lose my family... But I do not think there is any other choice."
"This isn't like you," Manan sighed.
He hated hearing it, but his brother was once again right about him. It wasn't like him to break a rule or put his neck on the line for the sake of a friend. Sure, he'd been a supportive friend in the past, and it wasn't as if he'd never broken a law for his own purposes; but when it came to putting himself in danger for someone else, he'd always found an excuse to avoid such a responsibility. This time was different, though. This time there was no one to step in and take over when he failed. "It isn't like me, no. But I find that it can be quite exhilirating to act against one's character."
"Tell that to Saanvi," Manan joked. "Maybe she'll try acting like she finally got that stick removed from her butt."
"Doubtful."
They laughed together, and he couldn't help the pang in his chest knowing that this could very well be the last time.
Shifu sat up, wide awake at the first light of dawn. For the first time since he'd left the valley with Lin he felt like he was waking up normally. He glanced down at Lin, who'd unexpectedly chosen to stay the entire night with him; all he could see of her was a sizeable lump in the sheets.
"Go back to sleep," came a muffled groan from the lump.
He found the familiarity of the demand comforting, almost as if they'd been together for years and this was a routine for them. "I am up for the day. Try to stop me, if you dare."
A snort shortly followed by a yawn emanated from the lump. Then, Lin popped her head out of the sheets. "Now I'm up. Thanks a lot, doofus." She gave him a shove, though it seemed to be an affectionate gesture.
"You should have gone to bed earlier if it bothers you that much," he lectured, though part of him only said so to annoy her.
"Heheheh," she laughed evilly, a grin on her face. "How can I sleep when I'm close enough for one of these?" She punctuated her sentence by shoving her hand under him and giving his behind a hard squeeze.
"Agh!" He nearly fell out of the bed, he jumped so much. "Enough of that! There is no reason for you to be so interested in my rear end!"
"I'm gonna get that ass, just you wait and see."
"Don't touch me," he grumbled, rubbing at where she'd squeezed a little too hard.
"That ain't whatya said last night," she teased, then stood up and began her morning yoga routine in the nude. She practically bent over backwards, then once she'd straightened back up waggled her eyebrows suggestively at him. "I think it went more along the lines of 'Hhhhhnnnnnnngh!'"
"Stop that! I don't sound like that!"
She laughed at him, which he should have seen coming. "Just be happy I'm in a good mood instead of starting fights withya." She sat down and stretched her legs out in front of her, bending so far forward that her fingers reached past her feet.
He supposed she had a point there; getting teased was far better than getting slapped. "For a time I'd hoped your temper had improved over the years, but I know now I had hoped in vain," he said, watching as she bent her legs over her head, essentially making herself into what looked like a living knot.
"Eh?" She seemed confused by the comment. "You're lucky, I ain't got a temper even half as bad as I used to."
"I seem to remember differently," he replied, unable to take his eyes off of her stretching.
She snorted. "I ain't talking about back when you knew me." She slowly began untangling her limbs from each other.
He blinked back at her, wondering exactly what kind of temper she could have had that would have been worse than her current state. "You cannot be serious."
"I am, war sucks, and that's all we're gonna say about it." She stood up and began to get dressed, so Shifu decided to follow her lead.
He wanted to say something casual or perhaps something to make her laugh, to relieve the awkward silence that fell at her proclamation, but he was at a loss. He supposed the most he could do was turn the subject to a more pertinent matter. "So you want to stay in Shanghai," he sighed, "while I return to the Valley of Peace."
She nodded, then frowned at his skeptical snort. "I'll makeya a deal," she offered.
"What deal is that?"
"Ifya let me do this," she said slowly, as if she thought speaking too quickly might put him off the idea, "then I'll bring Tai Lung back in time for New Year's."
He was surprised by the offer. "That is barely two months," he pointed out. "What could you acheive in such a short time?"
"You still don't get this whole idea, huh?" She sounded exasperated, as if he were being obtuse rather than her remaining stubbornly vague. "I'm the primer. I wanna stay here to make him ready for the valley again. To make sure he's not some volatile villain. Then we come back to the Jade Palace and you do the work from there. Got it?"
"I see." He had to admit, he felt much more receptive to that idea than the thought of Lin handling the majority of Tai Lung's rehabilitation. "What will you do with him, though? I cannot leave here thinking that you are planning to 'wing it,' as you are so fond of saying."
"Well, I figure he should quit sitting around on his ass all day and get a job," she answered, which came as something of a shock.
"You don't find that... Risky?"
She shrugged. "What's he got to gain by rampaging through Shanghai in the middle of a shift? No one here knows him, he can blend in with his fake name and contribute to a household. It'll be good for him to see how regular people make a living."
"Huh." He hadn't imagined for a minute that Lin's plan would be so incredibly simple. Even with her usual ineloquent phrasing, it didn't sound like a bad idea. "So you will be teaching him humility through hard labor and everyday tasks?"
"Sure, why not?"
He tried to ignore how flippant she sounded; he should know better than to believe her tone matched her actual attitude. "...And it would only be until the new year?"
"Yeah," she confirmed. "Then it's back to the Valley of Peace for... Whatever your plan is."
He remained silent for a while, partly because he didn't have a definite plan to speak of, and partly because he was contemplating Lin's proposal. "If I agree to this, you must promise to write me every day. You must promise you will not try to bite off more than you can chew, and that if you need help you will ask for it."
"Geez, fine," she agreed reluctantly. "Take all the fun outta it, why dontchya?"
"Don't test me," he warned.
She scoffed at him, then plopped back down into the bed, lying spread-eagle.
He resisted his kneejerk reaction to fight with her about her behavior and fought with all his might to speak his next words. "...Very well. I will agree to your plan."
She sat back up and stared at him, wide-eyed.
"What is it?"
"You agree?" she asked in astonishment. "With me?"
"Oh, stop it," he said, annoyed by her reaction. "It is not all that unbelievable." He waited for her to stop making shocked faces at him, but quickly gave up on the notion that she would stop on her own. "That being said, I do need to return to the valley. My students need me, and the Jade Palace does not run on its own."
"Okay," she agreed casually, which only annoyed him more.
"You seem very upset at the thought of being separated." He injected as much sarcasm into his voice as he could manage.
"What?" Lin asked defensively. "I'll missya and all, but I'm not that broken up over you going home when I know I'm gonna seeya again soon."
Surprisingly enough, the statement was comforting to hear. "I see," he accepted, unable to hold back a smile. "So... When you return to the Valley of Peace, perhaps we could discuss our future-"
"I'm not marrying you," she interrupted.
His eye twitched at the declaration. "That is not what I was going to ask!"
"I'm not doing anal either," she added. "Not yet, anyway."
"I meant your living at the Jade Palace!" He didn't know why he was even trying to correct her. "Never mind!"
"You got a problem with me living there?" she snapped.
"No! I do not! I simply meant- I meant sharing a room!"
She raised her eyebrows at him. "That's it? We gotta have a discussion about that, but it took me flying into a rage to getya to talk about your feelings for me?"
"I said never mind!" He pinched the bridge of his nose and took and few deep breaths. "I am calm. We are not going to fight."
"M'kay," Lin sighed as she pushed herself to her feet. "I'm gonna go eat, then, while you do your weird... Whatever this is."
Shifu let her leave for the sake of calming himself down. He didn't understand how she could behave like she loved him one minute and like she was looking for a fight the next. He took a deep breath and tried not to focus too much on Lin's behavior; instead he decided to begin planning his journey back to the Valley of Peace. As reluctant as he felt to leave Shanghai without Tai Lung in tow, he couldn't help but believe what Lin had feared; that Tai Lung would only repeat his rampage if he returned to the valley so soon. Instead, Shifu had no choice but to trust in Lin and the bunch of weirdos she called her family. So, rather than allow himself to tense up into a ball of anxiety, he focused his mind on what he would need to do in order to be prepared for his journey by the next morning.
Yan-Yan bustled about the kitchen, deep in thought as she set about making some tea. She'd been mortified the day before at the behavior of basically everyone around her, and while she'd gone easy on Lin, she hadn't really spoken to Chen since they'd returned home. Not that she'd said much to Wei-Shan or Shifu, but that was normal for them. To be honest, things between her and Chen had become strained ever since Tai Lung had come onto the scene. She supposed that had probably contributed to her losing her temper.
She poured two cups of tea and headed to Chen's studio with them; she had already blown off as much steam as she was going to, so it was time to make the peace. And knowing the grumpy little raisin, he'd never come to see her first. She found Chen at his enormous desk, of course. The old man was all too predictable, and on top of it she'd had decades of experience in dealing with him. "You should have stopped Wei-Shan yesterday," she scolded instead of greeting him. "Your behavior was out of line and you know it."
"What'm I, his mommy?" he griped, eyeing the tea in her hands.
"At the very least you did not have to join him." She set a cup down on Chen's desk for him, though sometimes she had to wonder why she even bothered. "You embarrassed me and you butted in on a fight that was none of your business."
"Don't act like my wife," Chen grumbled. "'Cause you sure as hell ain't."
Yan-Yan glared at him, then gently set her own tea down on the desk. "I know you want me to respond with violence," she told him in an even voice, "but I won't. So don't you dare try to push my buttons like that."
"Hmph," he replied sullenly.
"I don't see what you're so angry about," she sighed. "I would have thought you'd at least be happy that Lin decided to stay."
"Quan."
"Her name is Lin now," she corrected, irritated by Chen's stubborn attitude.
Chen seemed surprisingly worked up about the disagreement. "Quan was her name when this was her home, and as long as she's under this roof it still is!"
She decided to let it go, well aware of how littered with open wounds his relationship with Lin had always been. "Whatever you say."
"Whatever I say is right," he huffed. "This is my house, y'know!"
"Yes, I know." She hated when he got on his "this is my house" tirade. She decided it was best to derail him as soon as possible. "So why did you give me that flower?"
"Eh?"
"The peony," she clarified. "What was that for?"
"Nothing," he replied. "I went for a walk that morning. Some idiot was handing 'em out. I don't like peonies. End of story."
"If I'd known you didn't like peonies, I wouldn't have worn it." She wondered if she'd toed the line with that comment, though his expression remained stony.
"Peonies remind me of bad times," he stated flatly. "Wear 'em all you like. Maybe they'll grow on me."
She smiled at the comment; despite all of Chen's blustering, she couldn't help the warm fuzzy feeling it gave her to think he looked upon their time together so fondly. "Looks like I found your gooey center."
"Gooey," he repeated, narrowing his eyes. "That's gross."
Sometimes she marveled at how much of Chen's mannerisms and speech Lin shared; the two had clearly been close, despite their constant arguing. Yet she could tell there was something off between them now, something not quite right. "When are we going to invite my grandchildren over again? I'm certain they miss their great uncle." She gave him a little poke to raise his spirits, which seemed to work.
"I figured with that giant lump hanging out upstairs the timing wasn't great," he grumbled. "But I guess they could visit for a coupla hours or something, when it calms down around here."
"I'll bet I could get Yiliang to bring the twins over," she offered, and she could tell by his scowl that he was pleased with the idea. "Maybe Yi-Yi even has some blackberries left." She smiled when Chen snorted at her daughter's most hated nickname; he'd called her that ever since she was a little girl, and Yan-Yan had started using it because she'd found it so adorable. "She's still mad at me about this whole divorce business, but with four girls I doubt she'd object to a babysitter for an afternoon."
"Her husband sure makes enough money," Chen huffed. "The jackass could pay for a nanny if it's that tough for her."
Yan-Yan couldn't help but laugh at the assertion; she'd been pleased from the first moment she'd found out that Chen despised her oldest daughter's husband, as she was none too fond of the man herself. Not that she'd had much of a say in who her daughter had married. "At least they won't starve," she reassured him.
He grunted in response, then picked up an ink brush and began to write calligraphy.
"I take it you're finished talking for the moment," she observed; she wished he would just end a conversation like a normal person for once, instead of either leaving the room or simply ignoring her in favor of work. She turned to go, but was surprised to hear him clear his throat. She stopped, waiting for an insult or a complaint.
"Try not to worry too much," he told her. "You'll get constipated."
She held back a snort of laughter at the advice and nodded at him before leaving the studio. It wasn't exactly what someone would normally consider kind advice, but for Chen it had been sort of sweet. Even after all the decades she'd known the old man, he could still surprise her once in a while.
Yan-Yan returned to the kitchen, surprised to find Tai Lung sitting at the island, eating apricots while he read intently through a scroll. "Well, look who's finally out of his room," she commented, greeted by a prefunctory grunt. As she passed by him, she took a peek over his shoulder at what he found so engrossing, amused to see it was one of her romance stories. She'd lent him a few scrolls back when he'd first regained his consciousness, assuming he'd probably discover that her vast collection contained only cheesy romance and immediately lose interest. However, Tai Lung consumed the stories with a voracity rivaling her own.
"What part are you at?" she asked while she cleaned out her teapot.
"The part where the two lovers discover that they're actually brother and sister," he replied, leaning away from his reading to shoot her a dirty look. "I can't believe you would lend me something so disgusting."
"Keep reading!" she urged. "Trust me, it's worth it." She didn't want to spoil anything for him by revealing that the two were actually not related, but had thought they were due to the complex relationships of their long-dead parents. "Oh, my favorite part is the kiss on the cliff overlooking the sea. Or when they're in the field-"
"I get it," he interrupted, his brow furrowed. "Don't spoil anything for me."
She snorted in laughter at how into the story he was. "If you really like this one, I should lend you the one about the squid."
"You have the most terrible taste in writing." Despite his comment, he didn't take his eyes off the scroll.
"Hm, I'm so sure." She finished up her cleaning, then took a seat next to him and began picking at an apricot.
"Do you mind?" he sniffed indignantly.
She ignored the attitude; it was just a normal part of dealing with him. "So looks like you're sticking around Shanghai a little longer. Disappointed?"
"Of course," he replied. "I was looking forward to getting away from this insane asylum for crusty old farts."
She knew that she wasn't exactly a spring chicken, but it still wasn't pleasant to be lumped in with the likes of Chen and Wei-Shan. "You think I'm a crusty old fart?"
"You?" He let out and awkward cough and leaned in closer to his scroll. "Perhaps not so much a crusty old fart as a mad scientist bent on destroying me with her experiments."
"That's a little better." She leaned back in her seat and eyed him; she might as well enjoy the view, since he insisted on walking around shirtless all the time. "Won't you miss Shifu?"
"Hah! That's a good one."
"He came all this way," she pointed out. "Obviously he cares for you."
"He cares about his reputation," Tai Lung replied sourly. "He cares about 'upholding the traditions of kung fu.' All he wants is to see to it that I settle down or disappear."
"That's cold." She hoped her own children didn't say or think such brutal things about her, but knowing her situation they likely did. "Tai Lung, I hope for your sake that you can learn to move on from the past."
"Like you have?" He'd landed a low blow there, not that it lacked truth.
"Fine, I will drop the subject." She dropped her half-eaten apricot on the counter next to him and began licking the sticky juice off her fingers. "You can finish that."
He eyed her with a disgruntled frown on his face, then looked away. "Gross."
"No it isn't," she argued. "Plenty of people share food and live to tell the tale." She supposed she should quit stalling on her chores before she ran out of daylight.
"I am certain you are the authority, the person who has been trying to murder me with fermented algae for weeks." He wrinkled his nose as if he had the medicine in front of him at that very moment.
Yan-Yan laughed at him. "I could give you some more, if you like."
"Don't you have anything better to do?" he complained. "I would like to get back to reading your filthy incest story before the end of time, if it's at all possible."
"I was just leaving." She decided to tease him on her way out, and just before she walked through the door she left him with something to sweat over. "And if you ask me it's just about time for another physical." She preened when she heard him choking on his apricot at the threat; it felt good to have a patient again.
Shifu's last day in Shanghai went by in something of a blur; Chen had reluctantly allowed Tai Lung to roam the house freely, but the snow leopard refused to speak a word to him and spent every waking moment either up in the room he'd been given or at Yan-Yan's side. The fact that his son had stuck so closely to the woman had not gone over Shifu's head, but Lin had assured him that a little crush was the least of their worries. Not that the phrasing had been at all assuring.
Meanwhile, Wei-Shan and Chen had spent much of their time in deep conversation, which apparently was of the utmost secrecy. Shifu truly did not care what they chose to discuss, so long as it had nothing to do with Tai Lung.
He'd mainly been distracted, though, by the task of buying and packing proper rations and supplies for his journey, ignoring tips from Lin that had turned out to be thinly veiled sex jokes, and plotting his route on his map- which also required him to ignore Lin, since she kept suggesting he take dangerous routes populated mostly by bandits. By the end of the day he'd been ready to fall straight to sleep, but Lin had made other plans for him and he'd found that he couldn't quite ignore her any longer.
"Rise and shine!"
Shifu awoke to Lin yanking on his beard and resisted the urge to snap at her; he was not about to lose his temper just before his journey. He didn't want to find out how long she could draw out a fight over long distance. "I am up," he informed her wearily, pushing himself out of his bed and dressing for the day.
"We're all gonna say goodbye and then it's off withya, okay?" She didn't sound upset, not that she'd ever claimed to be.
"I don't get breakfast?" he asked hopefully, but she only slapped him on the back and laughed. He supposed he shouldn't have expected any better. "I will write you as soon as I arrive in the Valley of Peace," he promised.
"Sounds fine by me," she accepted, then helped him gather his things.
He had told Lin that he would trust her, that he would be alright leaving Tai Lung in her hands, but he couldn't help but feel anxious now that he was actually leaving. "You will write back, correct?"
"'Course I will." She grabbed his collar and yanked it out of place in a misguided attempt to help him dress, then gave him a gentle kiss. "Don't miss me too much, melon-head."
He smiled at the old nickname, if only briefly. "Same to you, you overgrown piece of lint." He kissed her back, then headed downstairs.
He was surprised to find that the household was already up and waiting for him in the sitting room, including Tai Lung.
"Congratulations on leaving and never coming back," Chen announced, sounding somewhat less annoyed than usual. "We won't missya, don't ever talk to me again."
He stared at the rodent for a moment. "...Thank you?"
"I said don't talk to me." Apparently Chen had meant that little diatribe.
"Have a good journey," Wei-Shan added, sounding almost giddy. "I will try to wait until you're out of city limits before I steal your girlfriend."
Lin smacked the man upside the head, to Shifu's relief. "Grossness," she declared.
"I'll say," Yan-Yan agreed, wrinkling her nose. Then, surprisingly enough, she bowed to Shifu. "Good luck, Master Shifu. Should you ever choose to return, warn us first."
"Wow, lookit all these warm goodbyes you're getting," Lin observed sarcastically. "It's almost like you'll actually be missed."
"Why is he still here?" Chen complained. "Quan, make the badger leave so I can stop looking at him."
Shifu tried to ignore the fact that everyone seemed so pleased to see him go, and instead turned his attention to Tai Lung. He didn't know what he'd been expecting, but he was still disappointed to see that his son looked completely disinterested in the proceedings. He had no idea what to say, either, but he knew he needed to say something. "Tai Lung, I cannot say one way or the other if this will be good for you. I have my reservations-"
Lin interrupted him with a pointed cough.
"-But as of right now, you are walking aimlessly through darkness. I trust that here in Shanghai, if nothing else, you will find your path."
"Blah blah blah," Tai Lung grumbled. "Can we end this, now?"
He tried not to let the sarcastic comments get to him. "I miss you, my son," he said earnestly. "I miss the days when we were happy. Perhaps, with time, we will be happy again." He turned away before he could see any eye-rolling or disgusted frowning. "I suppose that is my cue to go."
"Breakfast time!" Yan-Yan suddenly announced, then in a show of unexpected kindness ushered everyone except Lin into the kitchen. She stuck her head back through the doorway just long enough to give Lin a wink, then left them to have some privacy.
"I cannot believe I am actually leaving you and Tai Lung here," Shifu said, for lack of a better goodbye. He'd never been any good with them, anyway.
"You'll see us again before New Year's," she reassured him, then threw him off-guard by giving him a tight hug.
He embraced her in return, and gave her a kiss before letting go. "You will write to me often?"
"Yeah, we already talked about that." She sounded exasperated, but he could see from her grin that she was only teasing.
"And do not forget, you are not alone. You have plenty of help if you only ask."
"I know, I know."
"Do not make excuses for Tai Lung, either, just because you remember him as a child." He didn't want her going blindly into her task, thinking that Tai Lung would retain any sort of nostalgia or affection for her. "He is a dangerous man, now, and one who no longer follows a conscience."
Her smile faltered at the lecture. "I know," she repeated, though with less gusto than before.
"I love you."
"I know."
He glared at her for that one.
She laughed in return and gave him a little push. "I love you, don't get all huffy now."
He still had trouble walking out the door, though, even after hearing her confess her love again. "Will you wait for me?"
"Huh?" She furrowed her brow at him. "Whaddaya mean?"
"I mean... You will not lose interest while we are apart?" He winced at how vulnerable he sounded. This was not the impression he wanted to leave before they had to be separated again.
She punched him in the arm. "Don't be a dumbass," she admonished. "It's only a few weeks and then I'll be back. I think I can manage to wait that long!"
Although the answer had been obvious, he still felt better hearing her say it out loud. "I believe I will manage as well."
"You'd better!"
He almost became irritated at the response, until she snorted in laughter. "You had better not pick any fights while you're here," he warned. "Especially not with Tai Lung in tow."
"Relax, I'm a grown woman." She kissed him, then nudged him toward the door. "Keep this up and you'll lose all your daylight," she warned. "So have a safe journey home, don't cry about us too much, and I'll write to you every week. Now, seeya later."
He opened the door, then paused to look back at her, standing with one arm leaned on a chair and smiling at him with a warmth that was completely and totally... Lin. "You have the best smile in the universe," he told her, pleased to see her blush at the compliment. "See you later." And with that, he was on his way.
Po rubbed at his eyes and squinted to refocus them, stifling a yawn. He reached for his lantern and pulled it closer, wincing at how loud it sounded, being dragged across the inlaid marble floors of the Hall of Warriors.
Tigress gave a curt nod of approval at the extra light, so he guessed it wasn't such a big deal that it had been noisy. She sat across from him, leaning over the same scroll and scrutinizing every line. Currently laid out between them was a complete diagram of nerve points and chi flow, using a tiger as a model. "We will need to make a chart of our own," Tigress suddenly stated. "I'll never be able to learn nerve attacks on you if we can't actually get to your nerve points."
He felt the urge to point out that his elusive nerve points had been a pretty big help when he defeated Tai Lung, but he knew the statement would fall flat. "'Kay. So... Like, y'mean, draw?"
"It doesn't need to be fancy," she reassured him. "Just accurate."
He still had his doubts. "I'm not exactly the best with an ink brush," he warned her, more for his own sake than hers. "One time I got a note home from school tellin' my dad that my abstract paintings were disturbing and cause for concern? But I was actually tryin' to, like, draw a flower. So..."
"I have a steady enough hand," Tigress sighed, a note of frustration in her voice. "I suppose it will help me memorize your nerve points better, anyway."
"Ah, cool, cool." He fell into awkward silence and tried to focus on the diagram of the tiger. "So's this gonna be our model? 'Cause we tried with the arm and it was... Not fun." He shuddered as he remembered Mantis attempting to cure him with accupuncture; it worked after the fifth try, but getting there had involved a lot of pain and involuntary muscle movement. "B'sides, I can't keep goin' to Mantis with excuses about why I got a weird burning sensation somewhere." He realized how that had sounded after he said it, but luckily Tigress didn't seem to notice.
"You're right," she agreed, her eyes growing momentarily wider. "But maybe accupuncture is the key. If I learn enough from Mantis to use it on you, we could practice finding your nerve points with the needles. Then we can go on to test the nerve strike technique on the suspected nerve point."
"Sounds good to me." He was relieved that she'd thought of a much safer way to go about their secret training. "What should I do?"
"Right now?" She seemed surprised that he'd even asked. "You can continue to be my test subject. And do what you can to keep the others from getting suspicious."
"Sure," he agreed. "But d'ya really think we gotta keep this from 'em? I'm sure everyone'd be supportive if they knew you were just tryin' to improve-"
She glared at him.
"Sorry, I'll stop." He let out a nervous chuckle under her scrutiny; Tigress could be really scary, even now that they were teammates. "Can I... Ask ya something?"
She nodded curtly at him as she rolled up the diagram.
"How long is this gonna be a secret?" He was starting to wonder if she ever planned on telling the others or Master Shifu.
"Until I master nerve strikes," she answered, then returned the diagram to the library of scrolls. "Why? Getting cold feet?"
"No!" He didn't want Tigress to start thinking she couldn't trust him. He had his concerns about how long they'd be able to keep their meetings under wraps, sure, but it wasn't like he was about to go around telling everyone her secret. "No, no way. You don't gotta worry, I'm cool."
"I see."
"It's just, we're a team. So it feels weird, sometimes, keeping secrets."
She seemed to relax a little bit at the explanation, and when she spoke her voice had a much softer tone to it. "I know. It'll only be for a little while, okay?"
"Okay." Po awkwardly cleared his throat; he sensed that Tigress was ready to head to bed for the night, but he didn't want her to go yet. He'd kind of been enjoying hanging out with her, even if she only talked about nerve strikes. It was almost like they were buddies or something. "You wanna... Get something to eat?"
"Late night snacking is undisciplined and detrimental to the peak physical health a master of kung fu must maintain," she replied.
"So that's... A no?"
"It is." Surprisingly, though, she stopped short of lecturing him not to eat anything. "Goodnight, Po." She gave him a small nod. "Get some rest, too."
"Okay," he agreed weakly as he watched her walk away. "G'night!" He didn't think he was ready for bed yet, himself; he was too excited for their future meetings. Mainly, he was excited that he wouldn't have to worry about losing his arm to botched nerve attacks anymore. Plus, he did have a craving for some of Monkey's almond cookies.
Shifu sighed as he took a seat at the bar of an admittedly shady inn; unfortunately in this instance he did not have Lin with him to blame for his presence there. Or perhaps he could blame her, since he had missed her enough to actually step foot inside the type of place she would enjoy. After only a week on the road he found himself constantly worrying over her and Tai Lung, and had gotten to the point where he couldn't even sleep through a night properly because he did not have her digging her knee into his side.
He tried to push his worries aside for the moment and took a look around the inn's first floor. It was a tiny, side-of-the-road type of establishment, full to the brim with unsavory characters stopped for a night of drinking before continuing their travels. This particular inn offered only rice for sustenance to weary travelers, and even then only grudgingly. The main attraction seemed to be the wine and beer, poured from massive barrels by the equally massive ox who tended the bar. The dimly lit, cramped lower level held a few tables, but most patrons took to standing as the place was packed to capacity. Shifu had been shocked to find that the inn even had any rooms left, but he'd apparently managed to come in early enough to rent the last one.
"Hello."
Startled by the feminine voice, Shifu nearly jumped out of his seat. He turned to his left, where the voice had come from, only to see a pretty young wolf with grey fur sitting in the stool next to him, smiling down at him and batting her big, brown eyes. He looked around to see if there could possibly be anyone else in her line of sight; he had never been the type of man pretty young women said hello to, even back when he had been young himself. "...Hello," he finally greeted back skeptically, still feeling as though he was mistaken in thinking she'd spoken to him.
"You are peculiar looking," she continued, which sounded much more like something women typically said to him. "I like your big ears." That, however, did not.
"Erm... Thank you." He supposed there couldn't be any harm in speaking to the girl; her accent was clearly foreign, and she appeared to be in the rather sketchy inn alone. The least he could do was keep her company. "I am sorry, was that a compliment?"
"Yes." She continued to smile at him as she smoothed out her simple black and white hanfu. "I apologize if it is too forward, but I did not know how else to start the conversation."
"Don't worry about it," he reassured her. "Are you traveling alone?"
"Of course," she confirmed cheerfully. "It is good for thinking, but unfortunately I like very much to talk, too. And you looked like a good person to talk to. The only person here, I think, who would not behave brutishly." She had a good point, there. "And I like your fluffy tail," she added.
He had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but he supposed he should accept the compliment. "...Thank you. Again."
"You remind me of a stuffed animal I had as a child," she went on, apparently oblivious to the possibility of her comments being even a little bit insulting. "I think it was some sort of lemur."
"I am a red panda," he informed her stiffly; perhaps talking to her had been a bad idea, after all.
"I have met a family of red pandas!" she went on brightly, as if he were handling the conversation just as cheerfully. "In Bhutan, I think. All of their ears were much smaller than yours."
"Good to know," he grumbled as he scanned the room for somewhere else to sit.
"It is much better to have big ears, I think," she added, then indicated her own- which were admittedly larger than he'd seen on other wolves, though most wolves he'd met kept their ears back against their heads, while hers were constantly perked up, alert and friendly.
Come to think of it, most of the wolves he'd seen had longer, thinner snouts than hers, and their fur was usually much darker as well. And their tails were not quite so... Curly as hers, nor their fur quite so fluffy. She was small for a wolf, too, though still a good two or so heads taller than him. "You do not look like other wolves around here," he admitted.
"That is because I am not from around here." That much was obvious to anyone who heard her speak.
He considered her for a moment, then eyed an empty seat at the opposite end of the bar, contemplating his decision. "...May I offer you a drink?" he sighed, knowing already that he'd regret it.
"Tea like you are drinking would be acceptable," she replied. "A nice man already gave me plenty of wine." That explained a lot. "Not as good as the wine I am used to. But it was a kind gesture. Until he tried to kiss me." She paused to wrinkle her nose at the memory. "Sinful behavior," she commented scathingly. "I hope for his sake that he will seek penance."
He stared at her, caught off-guard by the second part of her story. "...You think kissing is sinful?"
"Before marriage," she clarified.
"But... It isn't."
"I sometimes hear that from men," she replied, raising her eyebrows at him. "Men who want to kiss me," she added, still eyeing him critically. "You look like the marriage type."
"Excuse me, bartender!" he called out, practically leaning across the bar to get the man's attention. "I would like another pot of green tea and-" He paused to glance back at the young woman, who was still watching him with interest. "And a shot of your strongest liquor!"
"No need to shout," the ox returned calmly, then went about preparing the drinks.
"You are nervous," she observed, sounding pleased. "But you are not the type I like. I would prefer a canine man, who can give me children. Also, your mustache is a little... Stupid."
"Stupid," he repeated flatly, though relief washed over him at the knowledge that she hadn't been hitting on him in earnest. "I see."
"It suits you," she said with a smile. When she noticed the disgruntled expression on his face, though, her smile faltered. "I did not mean to say you are stupid," she added quickly. "Such a mustache would look stupid on a different man, but on you it is very... Um... Regal?"
"I think I will take that shot of liquor to go," he sighed as the bartender served the tea and alcohol he'd ordered.
"Wait, I apologize!" The woman even went so far as to grab his shoulder to keep him from leaving. "Please do not go. I like you."
"You like me?" If he left now, he knew he would save himself an absolute world of trouble. However, he made the monumental mistake of looking up into her wide, pleading eyes, melting his resolve in an instant. "...Thank you," he grumbled, then downed his liquor and coughed a little at the way it burned his throat; he'd need it if he planned on spending any more time in the wolf's presence.
"You are welcome." Her bright smile returned as she settled back into her seat and poured them each a cup of tea; it was admittedly a beautiful smile, though he'd appreciate it more if she wasn't so... Annoying. "So what brings a man like you to the open road?"
"Business," he answered as honestly as he could without revealing too much. "In Shanghai."
"I hear people speak of Shanghai often," she informed him gravely. "I hear it is a place of much sinful behavior."
"I suppose." He wondered what her fixation on "sin" was to begin with, but then he had met people like her before, who obsessed over morality.
"I would like very much to go there some day," she continued, catching him by surprise with the sentiment. "I would bet I could do a lot of good in a city like that."
His interest was somewhat piqued by that. "What do you do, if you don't mind my asking?"
"Right now, I just travel." She didn't sound too pleased about it. "I used to... I once came close to taking my vows. Until I decided that I would prefer to have children."
"Vows?" he repeated.
"You have heard of nuns, correct?"
He blinked at her, confused. "You... Are a nun?"
"I was going to be, once. As I said, I wanted children so I left to begin my journey." She took a dainty sip of her tea, and he had to admit he had trouble imagining a young lady like her taking any sort of journey on her own.
"You wanted to see the world before you settled down?" He realized he might be getting a little nosy, but he didn't have much else to do for the evening, and she seemed unusually open.
"I wanted to find my family," she clarified, "before I think about starting my own. At least, I wanted to start my own family. I am getting older, now... Who knows if I will be able to find a husband?"
Shifu could only stare at her in disbelief for a moment. "...You are very young," he pointed out.
"Not young enough," she argued back. "My time may already be up. I can only hope, once I find my family, that they will be able to arrange a marriage."
"You want an arranged marriage?" He had trouble believing a woman independent enough to leave her home and travel on her own could want to participate in such a custom, but she did seem rather unusual.
"That is the way it is done, is it not?" she asked as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"I... Yes, in most places, but... But you would have no say in who you marry, you would be treated like property-"
"It does not matter to me," she interrupted sharply, apparently annoyed by his protest. "A husband is a husband. As long as he is not impotent, and is a kind person, then I have I no qualms." She then finished off her cup of tea and set it down on the bar with a loud clack. "Shall we change the subject?"
"Of course," he accepted, well aware that he had overstepped his bounds. After all, the woman's life was no business of his- she was just someone he happened to enter a conversation with at a bar. At the end of the night they would go their own separate ways, never to see each other again.
"So you are spending the night here?" she asked, returning to her normal cheerful tone.
"Yes," he replied as he took a sip of his tea.
"May I join you?"
And promptly spit it back out all over the bar, earning him a dirty look from the bartender. "W-what?"
"You have quite the dirty mind," she pointed out, her voice taking on a hint of disapproval. "I only wish to share a room- I cannot afford one on my own."
Shifu wasn't stupid; clearly this had been her intent in talking to him from the beginning. He stared at her, surprised by the revelation. He had assumed by her air of friendly naivety that she was something of a simple girl, but he had been wrong. She had merely been playing a game with him, the least threatening person in the room. "I am afraid that would not be possible," he answered stiffly as he considered walking away altogether. He had better things to do than let this woman con him.
"I understand," she sighed, then took another sip of tea. "It would not technically be proper. I am sure you would not want anyone to get the wrong idea."
"And I have only just met you," he added. "I mean no offense, but one cannot be too careful in a place like this."
"Certainly not." She took another sip of her tea and cleared her throat a little. "I apologize for being so forward. Now, where were we in the conversation?" Apparently she was not ready to give up on him yet.
He, however, felt differently. "I think it is about time I retire to bed."
Rather than attempt to stall him, though, she simply let him go. "Very well, then. I wish you a safe journey." She turned back to her tea, sipping thoughtfully at it as he slid off his stool and walked away. Perhaps she had resolved to move on to a new target.
At the bottom of the stairs leading up to the rooms above, he turned to look back at the bar. She remained in the same seat, and a couple of men he assumed were bandits- a crocodile and a wolf- had approached her. However, she did not seem to have the same friendly facade she'd used on Shifu; instead, she looked rather wary. He knew he was letting his curiosity get the best of him, but he strained to hear what they were saying over the noise in the rowdy tavern.
"My friend and I have a bet that we think you can settle for us," the wolf informed her in a drunken slur. "Y'see, he thinks you look more like a spitter, but I think you like to swallow."
It occurred to Shifu as the girl grabbed her teapot and splashed her remaining tea in the faces of the two bandits that he might have misjudged her. Even if he hadn't, she had clearly gotten herself in over her head, and he couldn't stand by and do nothing. Cursing his nosiness, he barreled into the altercation, inserting himself between her and the bandits before they could retaliate.
They blinked down at him in surprise at his sudden appearance, then looked sidelong at each other in disbelief at the nerve of such a tiny old man at getting in their way.
"Miss," Shifu directed over his shoulder at the young woman, who was just as shocked at his presence as the bandits, "it suddenly occurred to me that I did not say a proper goodnight to you."
Perhaps she was not quite as intelligent and conniving as he had originally thought, because she didn't seem to understand that he meant to protect her. "Now is not a good time, these men are harassing me!"
"He knows!" the wolf pointed out before he could. "He was just using witty banter to sound cool before he started fighting us."
"Oh, okay," she accepted. "That makes sense."
"I dunno if I wanna beat up an old man over this," the crocodile suddenly interrupted. "I mean, I know the tea thing was pretty humiliating, but even if she is a hooker that line was kinda gross."
"What is a hooker?" She looked around at the three men with complete sincerity, blinking her wide, innocent eyes in confusion.
Shifu found himself at a loss and looked to the two bandits, who both shook their heads. "...Someone who gets paid for sex," he answered her in a strained voice.
The innocence didn't last long; her face began to turn a blotchy shade of pink, and suddenly a torrent of foreign words burst forth from her mouth as she gestured wildly, attracting the attention of most of the other patrons.
"Excuse me." Within moments the large, imposing bartender had joined them, and he glowered down at Shifu as he gestured to the young woman. "I'm gonna hafta ask you to take your friend here and go."
"But she's not-"
The ox held up a hand to interrupt his protest and pointed to the door.
He knew that if he made a fuss he risked revealing his identity as a kung fu master, and certainly every lowlife in the place would want to rip him to shreds if that happened. And even if he did fight, he doubted he'd still be welcome to stay at the inn, anyway. So, he didn't have much of a choice but to grab the girl and drag her out of the place while she continued to screech foreign insults the entire way out. "This is not how I had expected this night to end," he informed her sourly over his shoulder, then she called him a "vigliacco" and kicked a chair over as he forced her through the door.
Shifu groaned as he sat up, wishing for the life of him that the previous night had been nothing more than a bad dream. Unfortunately, it had been all too real, and after searching out an impromptu camp ground he'd spent the night on the ground with the young woman who'd caused his misfortune to begin with huddled against him for warmth. He had to admit, though, she at least slept peacefully and quietly. And she had kept him warm, even if it had felt somewhat strange to be the little spoon. Not that anything untoward had happened; the petite wolf was as chaste as they came, and he certainly held no interest in any woman besides Lin. She had even rejected his offer to share his admittedly small blanket and his body heat at first, claiming it was improper. However, after a few minutes of lying huddled on the ground and shivering, she had slowly inched toward him until she'd ended up under the blanket anyway, holding him tightly to her chest like a stuffed toy.
"Wake up," he ordered when he noticed how high the sun had gotten already; it must have been two or three hours after dawn. When he received no reply, he yanked the blanket off of her and gave her shoulder a harsh nudge.
"Nnnyehhh," she whined, curling up into a little ball and burying her face in her knees.
He paused to wonder how she'd survived on her own for even a couple of minutes, then folded and packed his blanket. "I am going to do my business," he informed her, "and then I am leaving. You are welcome to stay here and lie prone on the ground, waiting to be snatched up by bandits at any moment. If, however, you would like to live through today, I will escort you to the nearest town. It is your choice."
When he clambered back out of the bushes, ready to set off, he was surprised to find her prepared to leave as well. He did not question how she had gotten ready so fast, and instead nodded curtly to her and headed toward the road.
After several long, blissful minutes of walking in silence, she nudged his arm to get his attention, then held out some kind of thick, hard cookie. "Breakfast?" Her voice was still weak and raspy from having just woken up.
"No thank you, I have my own rations." He didn't like the looks of the thing, anyway.
"I am sorry for what I did last night," she sighed, unexpectedly. "You should not have been kicked out of that inn because of me. I have imposed on your kindness a great deal."
"It is alright," he found himself saying. "Your reaction was understandable. Besides, their rooms were very drafty; I am sure I was warmer last night with you than I would have been alone in there."
She blushed and looked away. "I apologize for that, as well."
"You have no need to apologize. I have had worse sleeping partners than you." A certain drooling old woman with intense morning breath came to mind.
"You said you would accompany me to the next town- how far away is it?"
"About two days south of here. We should get there by tomorrow evening." He wondered briefly why he did these things to himself, but then followed it up with a reminder of his duty as a master of kung fu to help people in need.
"That long?" she asked, and it was clear she was worried about sleeping next to him again.
"Relax, it will go by quickly." He hoped so, at least. But perhaps he was simply mistaken and she was not quite as annoying as he'd originally thought.
"Perhaps as we walk we could sing hymns to pass the time," she suggested.
"No." Alright, so maybe his first impression had been correct. Certainly he had been through worse.
"Then what about a game of 'I spy'? I spy with my eyes something that is-"
"Finish that sentence and you will be sorry," he interrupted.
"I have heard that many people enjoy a game called 'twenty questions,'" she went on, apparently oblivious to the fact that all he wanted was a little peace and quiet. "The object is to guess what the other person is thinking of with twenty questions or less. I could guess first."
"I know precisely what I am thinking of," he grumbled as his eye twitched.
"Is it an animal, vegetable, or mineral?"
"None of those."
"Is it an idea?"
"Yes."
"Does it have to do with me?"
"Yes."
"...You are thinking you want me to stop talking," she concluded, sounding a bit hurt at the idea.
"You win," he informed her, and refrained from so much as looking in her general direction; if she tried to give him weepy puppy eyes, his resolve would dissipate for sure. "How did you get so good at this game?"
After a couple of beats she answered in a shaky voice, "Because I am used to being unwanted."
He almost turned around and walked away from her right then and there. He could tell from her tone that she had probably become teary-eyed, and that was just about the last thing he needed at the moment. Still studiously avoiding her gaze, he managed to grumble, "You are no more unwanted than any other stranger who might have latched on to me and made my journey more difficult than need be."
"I realize I am a burden to you," she replied quietly. "I should go on by myself."
He wanted to let her leave, never to come anywhere near him again, but the protective part of himself he was starting to wish he could smother couldn't help but imagine her dead on the side of the road somewhere. "I will escort you to the nearest town as promised," he sighed, as a headache began to settle in. "You are not a burden. I want to help you."
"You do not need to go out of your way for me," she insisted, and when he finally glanced up at her she looked more resolute than anything else. "I am able to care for myself."
"I assure you, it is not out of my way at all." He wasn't lying about it to make her feel better, either- the next town over really was directly in his path.
"If you do not mind my asking, where are you going?"
He didn't see any harm in telling her. "I am on my way to the Valley of Peace." He quickly discovered that he had been mistaken in his assumption.
She let out a wince-inducing squeal of delight and clapped her hands like a small child. "That is precisely where I am going!" she informed him with such enthusiasm that he knew in that instant he would be stuck with her. "This must be a sign!"
He agreed- it was a sign that he had done something horrible in a previous life. "I suppose you will want to travel together, won't you?"
"It is the obvious thing to do, yes?" She seemed so excited about it that all he could do was shake his head and attempt to keep his eye from twitching. "Tell me, what business do you have in the Valley of Peace?"
"I live there," he replied grimly, already imagining her following him home like some lost little orphan.
Inexplicably, she glanced around warily before leaning in closer to him and lowering her voice. "Perhaps you have heard of the person I am looking for."
"That is why you're going to the Valley of Peace?" he asked. "You are looking for someone?"
"Yes! I am searching for the man to whom I owe my very life," she informed him dramatically. "A man by the name of Master Shifu."
Shifu gaped at her at the tidbit of information, yet she didn't seem to realize the source of his confusion.
"What is it?" she asked innocently, completely unaware that the person she'd been looking for had been right in front of her for nearly an entire day.
"I- you- I-" He paused to take a deep breath and calm himself; it wouldn't do to get fed up with someone who needed his help before she'd even asked. "It is just that... Do you even know what he looks like?"
"I have contemplated it many times," she admitted sheepishly. "But even if I do not recognize him, I am hoping he will recognize me." Clearly that hope had proven in vain.
"And why would he recognize you?"
"Because he is my father, of course."
Chapter 12: How To Shuck an Oyster
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 12: How To Shuck an Oyster
Shifu stared at the young wolf, his mouth hanging open and his eye twitching; to say he'd been rendered speechless by her proclamation would be an understatement.
"Sir?" the girl asked, waving her hand in his face.
He managed to muster the energy to push her hand away, then reached up to massage his own temples. "Master Shifu is your father," he repeated flatly, still trying to wrap his head around the statement.
"Yes," she confirmed cheerfuly. "Have you met him?" Apparently she had no idea exactly who he was, or she would have surely recognized him by then. "I must admit, I am... What is the word? I am not rushing toward meeting him, to be honest."
"Hesitant," he said, still too dumbfounded to end her ignorance.
"Yes! I am hesitant to meet him. It is my understanding that he does not know about me." She'd certainly hit the nail on the head with that one.
"I am lost," he admitted; the road was lined with thick-trunked magnolia trees, and he leaned against one to be sure he didn't fall over.
The girl looked reluctant to give him any answers, but after a moment of silence reached into her traveling bag and produced a worn, wrinkled piece of paper. "You seem like an honest man, so I will show you this. It is a letter from my mother."
"A letter?" He realized he'd begun to sound like an echo, but he couldn't help himself. He reached out for the paper, terrified of what he would see; however, once he unfolded the apparent letter, he could make neither heads nor tails of the contents. The characters written down were completely unrecognizable; yet he knew that bold hand-writing. He snapped his head up to stare at the girl again; he should have seen it sooner. Her small frame, her big brown eyes, her familiar smile, her curly tail, her fluffy fur- he could scream, it was so obvious. "Lin," he concluded.
"That was my mother's name!" the wolf confirmed brightly, then snatched the letter back and tucked it into her bag again. "You have met her?"
"You- You- I-" he managed to choke out before he was rendered speechless again.
"I have heard my father is a strong kung fu master," she went on excitedly, oblivious to his negative reaction. "With a head the size and shape of a ripe melon- much like yours is! And I know that it was my mother's wish that he not know of me, but she had remarked once that I looked like my father, so... So... Perhaps he will know who I am-"
"I am not your father!" he interrupted, his voice taking on a shrill tone he hadn't heard from himself since puberty.
She blinked down at him. "...I am aware of that," she answered slowly, her brow furrowed in confusion.
"You do not understand!" he snapped. "I am Master Shifu!"
"No you are not!" she argued immediately, her face turning a bit red.
"Yes I am!" He couldn't believe Lin had done such a thing to him- and to her daughter- he couldn't believe Lin had a daughter.
"You most definitively are not," she yelled, then pointed her index and pinky fingers at the ground. "Spiteful old man!"
"Fine!" he shouted back. "Don't believe me, stay here and rot on the side of the road! See if I care! If you think I will be crawling back to Lin and telling her all about you, then you are mistaken!" He stormed off down the road in his anger, but only made it a few feet before a tremulous sniff behind him caused him to stop in his tracks. Reluctantly, he turned around to see the girl had become teary-eyed.
"My mother is alive?" she asked, the argument apparently forgotten.
"Yes," he huffed, resisting the urge to add, "But not for long if I get my hands on her." He doubted the young woman would take it well. Speaking of whom- "What is your name?" he finally asked.
"Gia," she answered quietly, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.
He recognized that name; Lin had named her daughter after her own estranged sister. "I am Master Shifu," he insisted, though considerably more gently this time around; he realized now that she must have been just as shocked as he was. He also realized that spending so much time with Lin had given his temper too short a fuse. "And I am afraid it is impossible for me to be your father."
She continued to sniffle for a little while, and he politely tried to look like he wasn't staring. "Then who is it?" she asked.
"I am as lost as you are." He waited awkwardly for her to finish her crying, hoping futilely that all of this was just a bad dream.
"B-but my mother is in the Valley of Peace? I can meet her?" Apparently she wasn't done with the surprises.
He'd had no idea that she had never met Lin; he wondered how old she had been, even, when she'd been abandoned. "I... Ahm..." But he could not exactly go marching back to Shanghai with the girl in tow, especially considering Tai Lung's current state of limbo. "I do not know," he said bluntly, since he couldn't think up an excuse. "We should rest a bit, I think." He gave up on trying to make any progress and sat down beneath a magnolia tree, rubbing at his temples to relieve the pressure that had built in his head.
Lin had a daughter. Lin had procreated. Lin had lied to his face about having children.
"You don't happen to have any siblings, do you?" he asked wearily, just to be sure.
"No," she answered, thankfully, then took a seat beside him. Then again, she'd thought he was her father, so he couldn't exactly count on her to be well-informed. "I am sorry I called you a spiteful old man and a coward." She still sounded nasal and stuffed up from her crying.
"You didn't call me a coward."
"Yes I did, last night."
He supposed she meant the foreign words she'd been spouting at the inn. He tried to recall what Lin had told him about her travels; he knew she'd returned to her home country, and that she could never stop complaining about the Pope. "You are from... Rome?"
"Oh my, no," Gia said. "I am not what you call a city girl. I grew up in the northern mountains."
"So you're not from the south, either? You have not met any of your family?" He would have thought Lin would have at least left the girl with her extended family.
"No, I have not," she confirmed. "I was raised in a, ahm... Convent? Is this the word? By the Sisters."
"What?" he asked absently, stunned by the idea that Lin would allow any child of hers anywhere near a religious establishment.
She didn't seem to understand what he meant. "I was raised by nuns," she clarified. "In the mountains. As I said, I would have taken my vows... But then I was shown that letter from my mother. It was then, that I made the decision to leave the convent."
"I see." He felt lightheaded from all the information he'd had to process. "The fact that you exist is a bit difficult for me to grasp, to say the least," he admitted.
She didn't answer him at first; she seemed to be processing his comment. She clasped her hands together and stared at them, deep in thought, then cleared her throat. "Have I traveled this great distance for nothing?" For someone who'd been crying not too long ago, her voice sounded surprisingly steady.
He could have sent her away, he could have forgotten he'd ever met her and surely saved himself a world of trouble. But he could not even do such a thing to a stranger, let alone someone who may as well have been family to him. "No," he told her. "You will meet your mother, that much I can promise." Though when, he couldn't say. It was only a week's journey back to Shanghai, and surely the girl would be thrilled at meeting Lin; yet he could not stop thinking about how such a reunion might interrupt Tai Lung's rehabilitation. Lin would surely be distracted by her estranged child's presence, and quite possibly very upset. Not to mention that Tai Lung likely would not take kindly to him returning so soon after his departure. To be honest, if he were forced to choose between compromising Tai Lung's rehabilitation and making Gia wait a few more weeks to meet her mother, the latter won out. "Lin will return to the Valley of Peace before the new year," he told her, keeping his information vague to avoid too many uncomfortable questions.
"Then I suppose I shall continue my journey to the Valley of Peace."
They lapsed into awkward silence as Shifu contemplated exactly what the girl's arrival in the valley would mean. Certainly if she hadn't even had enough money for a room at the inn they'd been kicked out of, she wouldn't have the money for a place to stay once they arrived. And while he could not simply abandon her to the elements, he didn't know how he could justify or explain her staying at the Jade Palace to his students. He could barely even justify or explain her existence, and yet there she was. He never would have believed in a million years that Lin would have actually borne a child, yet all evidence proved him wrong. Even if Gia's claims were some sort of elaborate hoax, how could she possibly have known of his connection to Lin, or the name of Lin's estranged sister? And if her intention were to trick him, wouldn't she have been able to recognize him from the start?
Not to mention her resemblance to Lin. While she did not look exactly like her mother, there was still enough of a resemblance for her claim to be believable. Not to mention her presence at such a shady inn and her outburst at having been insulted both bore a strong resemblance to Lin's tendencies.
"I still do not understand all this," Shifu admitted, in hopes of getting some more information from the girl. "That letter... It says that I am- am- your father?"
"It does not matter anymore," Gia sighed. "You are not, and we will both need to wait for answers."
At her statement, he was once again tempted to take her to Shanghai and demand that Lin explain herself. The prospect of getting some answers was a difficult one to resist, but he reminded himself of Tai Lung. He could not put the Valley of Peace, his students, or Lin and her family in Shanghai at risk no matter how badly he wanted to know what in the world was going on. Gia was right- they both would simply have to wait. "We should get moving," he said, because he honestly no longer had the energy to discuss Gia's quest or lineage.
They set out once more, traveling along the road in silence while Shifu tried to keep his mind as blank as possible. He tried not to wonder if Gia looked anything like the aunt for whom she was named, tried not to think about who Lin had had a child with, tried not to think about why Lin had abandoned her daughter and then lied to him about it. Of course, he failed.
Gia cleared her throat. "...Perhaps we could try another travel game?"
In spite of his earlier annoyance, a game would be a welcome distraction. "Alright. But not twenty questions."
"Lin, it has been a week now, and you've done absolutely nothing with Tai Lung."
Lin stopped in her tracks, her hand halfway to a bottle of wine. She contemplated turning and running from the kitchen, but she was in the mood to celebrate and Chen had a lot of wine. "Huh?" She snatched the bottle she'd been after, then grabbed two cups and sat at the island, watching Yan-Yan work on a stir-fry for lunch.
"You heard me!" Yan-Yan could be kind of scary when she started acting all motherly. She even turned away from her lunch preparation to wave her chopsticks menacingly.
Luckily, she knew how to put a stop to that. "You could use a drink." She held out a cup filled to the brim and put on her most charming grin.
Yan-Yan snatched the cup and took a swig. "What are you trying to pull?" she asked suspiciously.
"I been looking for jobs," Lin finally admitted. "Y'know, for me and the kid. I finally found something promising today, so cheers!"
"Well, that's certainly an interesting approach." She still sounded skeptical.
"Trust me, it'll work." At least, Lin hoped it did. "B'sides, a little hard labor'll help him stay all muscled up forya," she teased.
"Oh, stop," Yan-Yan said, smiling widely and finishing off her wine. She'd been placated, for the time being.
Truth be told, Lin had no idea what she was doing. Her plan began and ended with "make Tai Lung work," and she'd been avoiding most of the household like the plague in order to keep from letting on that she was completely stumped. She winged most of what she did in life, so coming up with a plan of action for Tai Lung had been a bit out of her reach. Now, if she'd needed to come up with a battle plan, that would have been more in her realm of understanding. As it stood, she'd only ever had one student in her entire life and she hadn't been the best teacher in the world back then, either. Not to mention her lesson plan for her previous student didn't apply now- she couldn't exactly throw paint in Tai Lung's face and sleep with him. That would be gross.
"She sat in deep thought, unable to erase the passionate encounter from her mind; was he truly her long lost brother?" Yan-Yan leaned on the counter next to her and refilled their wine.
"Eugh!" She wrinkled her nose at the joke. "You and your weird romance stories."
Yan-Yan turned back to her stir-fry and dumped it out into a large serving bowl. "What do you say we leave this for the boys and I buy you some soup dumplings?"
Lin waited for some kind of explanation for the offer, but none came. "What's in it for you?"
She let out an irritated sigh at the question. "I only wanted a little help with something, since you've got so much free time on your hands."
"I don't fight for money anymore."
"I just want you to come somewhere with me," she snapped. "You don't need to give me such a hard time."
"Where to?" Lin wasn't used to her friend being so cagey. Normally they were very open with each other, even after all the years they'd spent apart. It gave her a bad feeling about wherever they were supposed to be heading.
"This stays between you and me," Yan-Yan ordered, and Lin nodded, familiar with such pacts between the two of them. "Right. So... We're going to my ex-husband's house."
"How come?" Lin asked without missing a beat.
Yan-Yan avoided her gaze and reluctantly answered, "I'm returning some things."
"What things?" Lin asked pointedly. As far as she'd seen Yan-Yan only owned dresses and cheesy romance stories, neither of which likely held any value for her ex-husband. "What's he want, your wedding dress?"
"Chen and I already burned that old thing back when I first moved in," Yan-Yan dismissed.
"Y'know, that reminds me." Lin took a swig of her wine to steel herself in case whatever Yan-Yan told her happened to be absolutely disgusting. "What's up with you and Chen?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, he gaveya a flower. And that wedding dress tidbit? Kinda... I dunno." She didn't want to actually ask what she'd been thinking, because then she would need to hear herself say it out loud. "Like, areya... Dating?"
"Ugh!" Yan-Yan pushed her, nearly knocking her off of her stool. "Uuuuugh!" Then she made a retching noise and chugged her wine.
"I guess not," Lin sighed, relieved.
"I may vomit," she complained, then retched again. "He's older than life as we know it! Why on earth would you- ever- I just can't with you right now, I can't."
"Uhp, sorry." Truth be told, she was pretty amused by the reaction.
"No you're not," Yan-Yan rightfully accused. "But you're still coming with me, so let's go." She headed for the door without looking back, apprently under the assumption that Lin would just get up and follow her.
She supposed she should, though, so she headed out of the house with her friend as they began their journey to what she could only assume would be a ritzy neighborhood. The day was overcast, not that such a thing was uncommon in Shanghai, and the streets were crowded, but not so much that they couldn't walk side by side.
Lin lit her calabash pipe and began to smoke, though her tobacco from Bombay was nearly used up already. She could sit out on the porch with a bottle of whiskey and a pipeful of that blend all day; it sounded like heaven to her. She'd miss the stuff once she finished it off.
"Missing Shifu?" Yan-Yan asked, nudging her to get her attention.
She realized that her expression had been kind of dreamy and far-off. "Huh? Oh, uh... I guess." She shrugged. She hadn't given the subject much thought; it hadn't been very long, after all, and it wasn't like she'd never see him again. "...Should I?"
"You are such a terrible person," Yan-Yan sighed, though she sounded like she might laugh. "How would he feel, if you said that to his face?"
"Dunno, I'll hafta find out next time I see him."
Yan-Yan did laugh this time. "I guess this is all run-of-the-mill to you, what with your world travels and such."
She wouldn't go that far, but once she really thought about it, she could see how her lifestyle would have desensitized her to certain things that would bother her friends, like being separated from a loved one. Or like trying to wrangle a gigantic, possibly murderous snow leopard. "I guessya could consider this whole scenario adventurous," she admitted. "I dunno, to me it just feels more stressful 'an romantic or exciting."
"You just need to get into it more," Yan-Yan advised sagely. "I mean, when have we ever had the chance to harbor a real life convict? Well, besides you, of course."
"Uh..." She wondered if Yan-Yan realized just how storied her past actually was. "I guess it is kinda run-of-the-mill for me." She got an elbow in her side for that remark. "Hey!"
"You are such a snot," she accused. "Not that that's any different from the past."
They emerged from a side street onto the main road alongside the Huangpu river and Yan-Yan turned to lead them north. And while the city had certainly changed a lot over the years, Lin had no doubt that the wealthier neighborhoods of the city remained in the northern part.
"How long're we gonna walk?" she asked, eyeing one of the small boats floating along the river. "'Cause you're not getting me all the way up to the historic district without those dumplings."
"Oh, you're such a whiner." Yan-Yan turned onto a bridge to cross the river as they spoke. "It's just up by Suzhou Creek, you'll live."
"Or we could take a water taxi, just spitballing here." She wasn't too excited about walking for almost an hour just to go return some trinkets to Yan-Yan's crappy ex-husband.
"Too expensive," she argued, picking up her pace. "A brisk walk is excellent for your health, anyway. And by the looks of it, you need all the help you can get."
Lin let the insult slide, partly because Yan-Yan was a doctor now and she knew how doctors could be, and partly because of some remaining guilt she felt over her past behavior. "Can we at least stop for those dumplings along the way?" She was starting to wish she'd eaten before she let her friend drag her off on some weird chore.
"If you insist."
She eyed Yan-Yan, observing how tense her friend looked. "You never told me what we're going over there to return."
"Nothing much," Yan-Yan replied, though if it were really nothing much then there was no reason for their trip. "Just... Jewelry."
"Oh yeah?"
She started straightening her whiskers. "Yes. I was quite close with his mother, and she gave me some things of hers."
"So basically you have this stuff you got as gifts from this guy's mom, and now he wantsya to give 'em over?" Lin couldn't say she liked the sounds of the man. "What a prick!"
"Please behave yourself when we get there," she begged. "I was lucky this divorce went as smoothly as it did. If he wants some jewelry, fine, I can spare it. Better I do this and still be able to see my grandchildren."
Lin didn't agree in the least, but she nodded in agreement anyway. She didn't want to make their trip any more difficult for Yan-Yan than it needed to be, though she couldn't guarantee she'd be able to control herself when she finally met this notorious ex-husband.
All things considered, their walk was pleasant. The soup dumplings Yan-Yan bought from a small street cart had been delicious, and they passed by a few interesting storefronts. They talked mostly about food and art, and for a while Yan-Yan told stories about the grossest surgeries she'd ever performed. They ended up in a neighborhood just south of the Suzhou Creek, and west of where it met the Huangpu River.
It seemed that everywhere Lin looked there were trees lining the streets, city workers actually repairing buildings and walkways, and fancy tea shops with leisurely patrons simply sitting around in the middle of the day and conversing with each other. "Ugh," she commented as they passed by a small but well-manicured public park.
"What do you mean, 'ugh'?" Yan-Yan asked, her tone defensive. "This is the neighborhood I lived in until very recently."
"You should know me well enough to know what I mean by 'ugh,'" she replied.
"Right, right, wealth disparity," she sighed, turning a longing eye to the well-kept homes around them. "I suppose this is the first time in my life that I've been on the have-not side."
Lin could tell she was sinking into self-pity, and even though she wasn't the best at cheering people up she still tried. "Hey, it ain't so bad for us right now. We at least got someone who cares enough to help us out, right? Things're a lot easier when you're not alone."
"Yes, you're right." She stopped in front of a stately home with red pillars and corbel wood brackets; it appeared to be only one story tall, but still towered over them. Its wood siding was punctuated by paper screens with intricately patterned wood inlays over them. The house's double door entry bore ornate brass knockers in the shape of a cat holding a serpent in its mouth, one of which Yan-Yan banged against the wood.
A young cat answered the door and bowed to them, then beckoned them into the house. The entryway was decorated heavily with paintings of presumably long-dead family members and lush plantlife; it led into a perpendicular hallway, and straight ahead of them Lin could see dappled sunlight through the paper screens, which she guessed came from a courtyard.
Yan-Yan gave a shallow bow to the woman who'd let them in. "Hello, uhm... Weici."
"Meihui, please," she corrected. "Welcome, Miss Yan-Yan, and welcome to your guest as well," she greeted politely, to Lin's surprise; she hadn't expected the woman to be so nice. Meihui was short, even for a cat, and pudgy; her round face made her look even more youthful than she already was. Her fur, meanwhile, was sleek and black, and her eyes a strikingly bright shade of gold which were set off by a warm green hanfu. Her beauty, of course, had been something Lin had expected.
"You're a lot nicer'n I imagined," she admitted, and then at the woman's confused expression she said, "I'm Lin, Yan-Yan's friend."
"A pleasure, Miss Lin." Meihui gave a small nod of her head.
"Jeez, check out these manners," Lin whispered to Yan-Yan, only to get pushed away. She supposed she should try to make conversation with their host. "You're cute, too."
"Uhm... Thank you?"
"Quit it," Yan-Yan hissed in her ear.
Meihui cleared her throat quietly, obviously uncomfortable. "Xiaojian should be with us shortly," she informed them nervously. She seemed like someone who was trying to act natural but was actually far out of her element.
Yan-Yan reached into her hanfu and pulled out a red satin pouch, clearly heavy with the jewelry in question. "Can't we just leave this with you and go?" she asked irritably.
"Uhm..." Meihui nervously clasped her hands together, turning away from them to glance down the hallway. "I- I do not think I should. He wants to see you."
Lin didn't think she could be so irritated by someone she'd never even met. "What's he got to see her for, huh?" she asked.
"Lin, please," Yan-Yan reprimanded before Meihui could try to answer. "Let's just get this done with as little fuss as possible."
She snorted and crossed her arms, but waited silently with the other two women.
After what felt like ages, an older cat with small, oval spectacles and gray tabby fur came striding down the hallway. He stopped in the entryway next to Meihui and, rather than greeting them, simply eyed them expectantly- which rubbed Lin the wrong way.
"Lin, this is my ex-husband, Xiaojian," Yan-Yan introduced, stiffly and formally. She even bowed a little, gesturing at her ex-husband while giving Lin a stern glare.
She supposed she probably should have just bowed and said hello, but she didn't like to do something just because she should have. So instead, she stepped forward and punched the man in the face.
"Lin!" Yan-Yan shrieked, grabbing her and yanking her back too late.
To Lin's utter shock, Xiaojian fell to the floor, unconscious in a single blow. "What the hell?" she mused aloud, her brow furrowed. "Good God, Yan-Yan, I can't believe you married this limp noodle."
Meihui stood stock still, her eyes wide and one hand over her mouth. She seemed to still be processing what had just happened.
"Same goes for you," Lin told her.
"Shut up!" Yan-Yan actually ran to her ex-husband's side, checking his eyes and his pulse while muttering under her breath. "How could you do this to me?" she snapped as she attempted to lift him.
"How could I do what to you?" She took pity on her friend and grabbed Xiaojian from her, throwing the unconscious man roughly over her shoulder.
"You're not the only one involved in this situation, Lin!" she seethed, setting off through the house as if she still owned the place, Lin and Meihui following close behind. "That is my ex-husband you knocked out, in his house, in front of his wife! And you know my kids are going to hear all about this, then I'll be the one looking like a common thug!" She stormed through the hallway, passing by an open entry into a sitting room and rounding the corner to throw the first door on their right open. "And what if he presses charges, hm? You think the fact that I brought you over here in the first place is going to be irrelevent?" She gestured to the bed, and Lin dropped her ex-husband onto it.
"...I have some smelling salts," Meihui finally piped up, her voice meek and shaky.
"It's fine," Lin reassured her. "I'll just give him a sailor's alarm." Before Yan-Yan could stop her, she slapped the man across the face.
"Dammit, Lin!" Yan-Yan snapped while her ex gasped and coughed on the bed.
"Agh!" Xiaojian poked tenderly under his eye, where a bruise was sprouting. "What- what is going on?" He sat up and held onto his head for a moment, then looked around the room. His eyes landed on Lin and he stared for a long moment before he started turning red. "You!"
"There we go," Lin commented; she'd been worried the guy wouldn't remember the excellent punch she'd delivered. "That was one of my easier knockouts, y'know."
"The both of you get out of my house this instant! I'll have you know I'm contacting the authorities the moment I get the chance-"
"So what you're saying is, you want me to break some bones." Lin cracked her knuckles and resisted the urge to wince at the pain. It wasn't exactly good for her arthritis, but it got her point across.
"How dare you-"
She interrupted the man by slapping him again, ignoring the way Yan-Yan shrieked about how irresponsible her behavior was. "Listen up, fool. I been to prison more times'n you've been in a woman, and it ain't ever made a difference to me before. You wanna call the 'authorities'? Please. I don't get intimidated by weaklings or morons, and you're both. So let's make this simple- do what you want. But I ever hear fromya again, or my friend here gets any more harrassment fromya, then I'll be back. And I won't be in a good mood like I am now." She nodded to Meihui. "Sorry for decking your husband, but he deserved it. Thanks for welcoming us into your home."
"Uhm," she squeaked. "You're... Welcome?"
"Lin, just come on," Yan-Yan snapped, grabbing her by the sleeve and yanking her out of the room. She stopped in the doorway to look back at her ex-husband. "And here's your crappy jewelry!" she spat out unexpectedly, tossing the satin pouch to the floor. She then grabbed Lin by the arm and ran out of the house, back onto the street, and around the nearest corner before stopping to catch her breath.
"Just like old times, huh?" Lin asked, hoping the reminder of their younger days would lighten the mood.
"Just like old times?" she repeated incredulously. "Are you out of your mind!? You punched, slapped, and threatened my ex-husband! This isn't old times, Lin, and I don't expect you to behave like a teenager! There are other people you need to consider when you act, you- you- knucklehead!"
Lin tried her best to look sheepish, even though she didn't regret for a minute punching out Xiaojian. She at least should have been a little more sensitive to Yan-Yan's worries. "Sorry, you're right. I acted without thinking."
"Damn right you did!" Yan-Yan huffed, then started walking. "...But it was amazing watching him crumple like a bad kite."
Lin laughed, catching up to walk by her side. "So you're not that mad anymore?"
"I'm still mad," Yan-Yan corrected. "But I'm also looking on the bright side."
"Whaddaya say we head home and drink some more?" she suggested, well aware that there was no faster way to her friend's heart than through a drink.
"That is an excellent idea." Yan-Yan sped up her pace, her mouth falling into a miserable frown. "Men are the worst. Why do we have to live with a bunch of men?"
"Because life isn't fair," she sighed; as much as she cared for their friends, she understood the sentiment perfectly.
"Well... It wasn't so bad with just me and Chen. Oh, but the best was when my daughters were young. My son, he always wanted to do his own thing, even when he was really little. My girls, they always wanted to be with me. There's nothing like it in the world, feeling needed like that." She stopped and readjusted her dress, her eyes tearing up.
"I guess," Lin said awkwardly. She couldn't think of what else to say, so she let the conversation lapse into silence. When Yan-Yan let out a small sniff, she gave her a little push, which seemed to comfort her.
They walked quietly back to Chen's house, then entered through the back door into the kitchen so they could snatch his best bottle of liquor and run upstairs to Yan-Yan's room without being caught; it reminded Lin of their days together as teenagers, stealing from the liquor cabinet and hiding out in her room talking and playing silly games like truth or dare all night.
Yan-Yan loosened her belt, flopped down on her bed and took a swig straight from the bottle. "That was the first time I saw my ex-husband since the divorce was final."
"Huh." Lin sat next to her and stole the bottle from her hands. "Don't go too fast, lightweight." She pulled out her pipe but got a smack in the hand before she could even light it.
"I have to admit," she said, rolling up her sleeves, "it's a little embarrassing you saw me cry."
"Eh, you didn't cry all that much," Lin dismissed.
"I think the most I ever cried in my life was after my divorce, when my kids stopped talking to me," Yan-Yan said quietly, leaning forward to rest her arms on her knees. "What about you?"
"Me?" Lin blinked back at her, surprised by the question.
"Oh, come on," Yan-Yan prodded. "Don't give me that tough guy act you like to put on so much. Tell me the truth."
"Not sure, really," she answered honestly. "I guess off the top of my head, it was the first time I got pregnant. Y'know, when I found out."
Yan-Yan straightened up, staring at her with wide eyes.
"What?" she grumbled. "I thought we were supposed to be doing that best friends sharing every deep dark secret bullshit."
"Lin!" she admonished. "You never told me you had any children-"
"'Cause I don't."
Yan-Yan pursed her lips in momentary silence, then started to smooth out her blankets. "I see."
Lin rolled her eyes at the behavior. "Does that makeya uncomfortable?"
"It just isn't something I have ever... Spoken about." She stopped fidgeting with her covers and sat still, staring intently at her bed. "I did it, too."
"Eh?"
"I ended a pregnancy too!" she snapped. "Now don't make me repeat myself again."
Lin let her sit for a while, unsure of what to say next. She knew she wasn't exactly the most sensitive person on the planet, and Yan-Yan seemed upset. "Actually, the first one I had, but I gave it up to someone else. It was my second pregnancy that I got an abortion. But I never had any regrets, about either choice. How about you?"
"A little," she sighed. "It was right after I'd gotten married, a honeymoon conception. I had a new husband I barely knew, my father died, and I had to learn how to be a mother to my stepson, and I was still so young... I didn't want a baby on top of everything else. I wasn't ready to be pregnant, to have two children to care for. That's how I really got back into contact with Chen, actually. He was so sweet when my father died, told me if I needed anything I could just ask. So I showed up here and asked if he knew anyone who could help me. He was the only one I knew I could trust to keep it a secret."
They lapsed into silence; it wasn't a topic Lin was used to discussing, and she could tell Yan-Yan felt the same way. After they shared a few more drinks, she said the first thing that popped into her mind. "You ever tell your ex?"
Yan-Yan snorted. "Hell no."
"Me neither." Lin paused, contemplating some way to lift the mood a little. "I told the other guy I was screwing, though."
Yan-Yan laughed.
"What? I wasn't joking." She wished Yan-Yan would let her smoke at least a little bit.
"You had two boyfriends at once?" she gasped in a scandalized tone of voice, then leaned in closer for details. "Did they know about each other?"
"Well, they banged me at the same time so I can only hope they were smart enough to figure it out."
Yan-Yan let out a squeal. "I can't believe you did that! I always wanted to do that!" Then she blushed brightly and covered her face. "I mean- I may have considered something similar once or twice."
Lin decided that it couldn't hurt to embarrass her even more. "Well, you're single now," she pointed out. "And y'know, I bet Shifu'd be open to a third-"
"Augh!" She slapped Lin on the arm. "Ew, with that old fart? No!"
Lin couldn't help but laugh at the reaction. "But you got no problem with me, huh?"
Yan-Yan rolled her eyes. "Just because you don't actively gross me out does not mean you have a chance with me." She leaned back into her pillows and sighed. "Alright, serious question: do you think I could attract... Younger men?"
"Yeah," Lin answered.
"Don't give it any thought now."
"Remember that story about me sleeping with two guys?" she reminded Yan-Yan. "One of 'em was almost half my age."
"No!"
"Yeah." She didn't see what was so unbelievable about it; she clearly wasn't the least popular woman around. "Look, anyone can get a younger man. The key is confidence. Some guys just like older women 'cause we're so much more confident and in control, y'know? So own it, and they will come to you. Trust me."
"After being a devoted wife and raising three children, I want to spend my golden years sandwiched between as many young studs as possible."
"I like a woman who's got her priorities in order."
Yan-Yan let out a wistful sigh. "You make it sound so easy. Not just finding men to sleep with, but... Everything. Moving on, getting over the past... Living your life."
"Well you gotta be screwed 'cause I suck at that stuff."
"Hadn't you moved on when you were with your fiancé?" Yan-Yan asked, giving her a gentle elbow in the side.
She couldn't help but blush at the subject; it was kind of weird talking about her late fiancé, especially knowing that if Shifu ever found out she'd been engaged he'd probably lose his shit. But she supposed that even if she had missed her family and friends in China, she had been happy in London. "I guess so," she admitted reluctantly. It had made her feel oddly guilty, being happy with someone and making the decision, once and for all, to never return to China. Up until then, she'd always had it in her mind that one day she would find the time and the strength to go back- it had been difficult to finally admit to herself she didn't actually intend for that day to come. And yet fate had decided otherwise. "If he hadn't died, I woulda stayed."
Yan-Yan stayed silent for a while after the admission, and Lin felt too awkward to say anything. "...I suppose I understand," she finally said.
"And that's for you to keep to yourself," she added.
Yan-Yan gave her a push, then took a drink of the liquor. "Keep whatever secret you want, but don't think for a second that it won't come back to bite you."
She shrugged. "Keep it a secret, don't keep it a secret... I'm bound to get screwed no matter what I do. Law of the universe."
"You're not afraid of making things worse for yourself?"
"If I did anything out of fear, it wouldn't be of my own will," Lin reasoned. "Not that I've never acted outta fear, but I try not to make it habit."
"I'm afraid all the time, these days," Yan-Yan sighed. "I can't help but wonder what's going to happen to me."
Lin knew the feeling all too well. "Whatever you want, that's what," she reassured her friend. "You might not see it this way, but you're free now. And freedom, it's scary and it can be lonely sometimes, but it's the only thing in this whole world worth having."
"More than love?"
"More'n anything." Lin held up the liquor bottle, which they'd somehow already gotten halfway through. "Cheers to your new life, huh?"
"Okay," Yan-Yan replied, though she still sounded down. "I suppose if you have faith, then I can too." She took the bottle and drank deeply from it. "Now get up! I want to dress you up again."
"Uuuuugh," Lin complained, but she rolled off the bed and began to strip anyway. She didn't know why Yan-Yan had such an obsession with dressing her up, but she figured it couldn't hurt to endure a few dresses to cheer her friend up. "Come near me with makeup and I'll bite your hand off." She had her limits, though.
Shifu sat by a campfire, his ink brush and some paper in hand, quickly writing down characters and then crossing them out to begin again. Each line went something like, "What on earth is wrong with you?" or "You are dead to me," or "How could you do this to me you lying, gutless worm of a woman!?" However, none of them seemed right. At first he'd wanted to write the most scathing letter possible to Lin about how she could never be trusted and had the moral character of pond scum, but the more epithets he committed to paper the more he questioned the wisdom of sending such a letter to Shanghai.
He set aside his attempts to write a letter that properly conveyed his rage for the time being. Traveling with Gia had been an exhausting undertaking, and he wanted nothing more than to lie down on the cold, hard ground and wait for sleep, or death, whichever came first.
"Master Shifu!"
Unfortunately, he was doomed to this waking nightmare for eternity.
Gia came clambering out from the foliage of a willow tree; they had been camping in a grove of willows which grew alongside a picturesque stream. She sat down beside him and pulled out some sort of beaded necklace with a cross hanging at the end of it, all the better to torture him with, he was sure. "I had the most glorious idea! I shall teach you the Rosary. Prayer shall relax us for a good night's sleep and give us strength to go on in the morning!"
He contemplated grabbing the beads and chucking them into the fire; she hadn't stopped talking all day about a combination of whatever random thought popped into her head and what she assumed he needed to know about her strange, fanatical religion in order to avoid the burning fires of hell, or whatnot. As it was, he only had the energy to weakly say, "Or we could not do that."
She looked like he had just told her that he despised her and wished to see her dead. "You do not wish to learn the prayers of the Rosary?" she asked tremulously.
"No," he answered bluntly, because he was so sick of her rosaries and her blood of Christs and her- her- whatever else. He had thankfully not absorbed much of her off-the-wall ranting. "I want sleep." He pointedly threw some dirt onto the campfire to put it out.
She appeared defeated for the time being, and even went so far as to prepare a spot for herself to sleep, however morosely.
Shifu decided to let her sulk, and finished putting the fire out before himself finally settling down to get some rest.
"Will you tell me about my mother?" she suddenly asked, startling him.
His eyes were still adjusting to the dark, but her turned onto his side to look at her, anyway; she had wrapped herself up so completely in her blanket that she looked like she'd built herself a coccoon, an exact habit that Lin herself kept. "Gia, it is late and there will be plenty of time for this discussion tomorrow."
"I know," she sighed dejectedly, poking her face out of her blanket. "But I am not certain if I will sleep. There is much on my mind."
He couldn't blame her for that. "...I do not know what to say. You sleep with your blankets the same way."
She smiled widely and closed her eyes. "That is odd." Then her eyes snapped open and she glared at him. "How would you know such a thing?"
Shifu felt his face turning red and almost made up an excuse to give her, but stopped himself. He did not need to justify his love life to a young woman he had just met. "It is none of your concern," he told her harshly.
"Dirty old man," she accused, then pulled her blanket over her head.
He let out a frustrated sigh, but did not try to pursue an argument; he wasn't in the mood and he needed his rest. He doubted she'd hold a grudge for long, anyway; and if she did, then at least it would give him a few precious moments of peace and quiet.
Tai Lung sat in one of Chen's many uncomfortable wooden chairs, watching as Yan-Yan bent over and obsessively adjusted a hideous pink flatwoven rug on the floor that she'd insisted would "cheer the place up a little." Lin was yammering on about something he didn't really care for- tobacco or some such.
"Yo!" Lin poked him hard in the arm and with a long-suffering sigh he turned to see her pour tobacco onto a small piece of paper and begin to roll it.
"I thought you only smoked pipes." Not that he gave a damn, so long as she didn't blow the smoke directly into his face.
"Pipes give a richer flavor, but cigarettes are more portable," she replied, as if giving a lecture. "B'sides, if we're gonna go to work, I'll need something I can hold in my mouth instead of my hands, y'know?"
"Fascinating," he grumbled; he didn't look forward to being mired in clouds of her tobacco stink.
"Plus y'can smoke like, twenty at once!"
He nearly gagged at the thought. "You didn't actually do that, did you?"
"Rule number one of life in the real world, kid: it's okay to do something stupid as long as it's on a bet or a dare." She licked the edge of her rolling paper to seal the cigarette and began work on a new one.
"Why on earth would I ever do that?" He picked up her bag of tobacco and gave it a sniff, wrinkling his nose; it reminded him of the stuff the guards at Chor Ghom used to smoke. The stink of it would waft down to his cell deep in the mountain, or cling to the clothing of a guard bringing him meals, stinging his nose as he tried to eat.
"Well, you do a bet for the money and a dare for the reputation. Both're important on the streets, y'know. If people think you're a good sport they'll trustya more." She tossed another cigarette into her pile. "Wanna practice?"
"I'll live without it, thanks."
"Suit yourself." She offered him a cigarette, but he turned it down with a gagging noise. "Guess what we're gonna do today."
"You said you found us a job," he sighed; he hoped her memory wasn't always so bad.
"We're gonna go to the docks!" She clapped a little bit, as if this were exciting news. "Ship work's some of the toughest there is, so it'll build character."
"I'm forty years old, I already have character."
"It's good honest work, and it'll doya good," she replied.
"Right, because I've never worked a day in my life," he grumbled sarcastically, crossing his arms. It wasn't as if he'd spent the first half of his life mastering kung fu or anything.
"Kung fu's different," she argued. "Whatever you might say, I knowya love working at kung fu, and it's a life full of prestige and honor. It's different to work hard just to make a living, even if it's somethingya hate, even if people look down atya for it. That's what real life is for most people, and it's come time you learned that."
He snorted and leaned back in his chair. "Why?"
She shoved a cigarette into his hands, as if he would ever smoke the thing. "'Cause it's through hardship and pain that people learn empathy."
He tossed it over his shoulder, unconcerned with where it might land. "What does empathy have to do with anything?"
"Empathy is the natural enemy of indifference and entitlement." She lit up a cigarette for herself, then turned her attention to Yan-Yan, still on the floor moving her rug around little by little. "It's not gonna make a difference where you put the damn thing," she said, her smoke filling the room.
"Shut up," Yan-Yan replied irritably, then pulled the rug a finger's width closer to them.
"It's hideous no matter what you do to it," Tai Lung grunted; he could barely even look at the thing, its shade of pink was so eye-searingly bright.
"It's just gonna get moved when we walk all over it," Lin added, then slouched down in her chair to reach one foot toward the monstrosity.
"Don't you dare!" Yan-Yan shrieked, smacking Lin's foot away from the rug. "This rug isn't for walking on, it's for decoration!" As she scolded them, the front door swung open and Wei-Shan and Chen joined them, stopping directly on top of the rug.
"Why are you on the floor?" Wei-Shan asked absently, though his attention quickly shifted from Yan-Yan to her rug. "...Is this a dream?"
"More like a nightmare," Chen replied, lifting one foot as if he'd just stepped in garbage.
"Get off of it!" Yan-Yan screeched, then started yanking on the rug, apparently thinking she could just pull it out from under their feet.
Tai Lung watched the fight as someone might watch a play that they barely held any interest in. He only needed to endure the buffoonery of the household until the new year, and then Lin would finally take him back to the Valley of Peace. He kept reminding himself of this, yet every time he did the new year only seemed further and further away. Only a week had gone by since Shifu's departure, and though Lin had mostly left him in peace during that time, it had still felt like months to him. In all honesty, oftentimes he found himself questioning why he'd even been left in Shanghai to begin with. He never would have guessed, even in his wildest dreams, that Shifu would have actually agreed to such a plan. And he had to side with Shifu on the matter; what Lin, or her ridiculous comrades could ever teach him he didn't know. Well, perhaps Yan-Yan could tutor him on the finer points of mental and physical torture, since she herself was such an expert.
Yet they expected to be able to "reform" him, as if he needed to repent for anything. Did this veritable circus of fools truly think they could somehow affect a deep change within him, make him regret his past decisions, or apologize for trying to take by force what was rightfully his? He scoffed to himself, watching now as Yan-Yan and Chen engaged in a tug-of-war with the rug, arguing loudly about whether or not it would even stay in the house. These were the people who believed that they could somehow shape his future. These people, who could not even choose a rug, put it on the floor, and walk on it like someone normal.
Somehow Yan-Yan managed to win the tug of war, then started her fastidious placement of the thing all over again, complete with agitated tsking and minute adjustments. It was tempting to reach out with his foot like Lin had done, but he'd suffered too many of the woman's medical exams to risk raising her ire.
Besides, in spite of himself, in spite of knowing how ridiculous the entire scene was, he felt himself growing irritated that everyone else was giving her such a hard time over the thing- especially now that Lin and Chen had begun discussing which disgusting mental images of viscera the color evoked. Of course it was nothing short of an abomination, and he'd said his piece on it, but they didn't need to keep harping on about a stupid piece of fabric. If Yan-Yan wanted to put down a blindingly grotesque rug, if such a thing would appease her, then there was no harm in allowing it.
"Maybe it's not as hideous as I first thought," he grumbled, interrupting the discussion that had now simply turned to which internal organs were grossest looking upon being separated from the body.
"Well I'm glad his highness approves," Yan-Yan replied, a playful tone to her voice that was wholly unexpected. "And I will never get over the lungs. The lungs are hands down the grossest."
"Large intestines," Lin argued. "Nothing beats intestines in ick factor. I had this vivid nightmare once about just piles and piles of intestines-"
"The inside of an eyeball always freaked me out," Chen interrupted. "Like jelly, eugh."
"I always found that such things never bothered me," Wei-Shan said with a casual shrug, as if they were having a normal conversation.
"This is morbid and disgusting," Tai Lung commented. "And you are all wrong. It's an inside out esophagus, case closed."
With a grin, Lin gathered up her cigarettes and shoved them into her robes. "I think it's about time we headed out for our first day on the job." She gave him a light smack on the arm to indicate he should follow her, then headed out the door.
"Happy first day," Yan-Yan called after them like a mother might send off her children on the first day of school; Chen and Wei-Shan mumbled half-hearted goodbyes after them, too.
Tai Lung followed Lin through the streets of Shanghai, somewhat hesitant once he saw the spring in her step; if they were headed for something that excited Lin, then it couldn't be anything good. "I am getting a bad feeling about this."
"Too bad." She lit up one of her cigarettes and led him down a street that mostly appeared to be storehouses and cramped tenements. "In caseya didn't notice, nobody's here to cater to your feelings."
"And in case you didn't notice, you are an unbearable shrew." One which he only needed to tolerate for a couple of months, and then he could return to the Valley of Peace and get his claws into that smug, thieving panda for round two.
"That's subjective." She turned down an alleyway overflowing with garbage and literally hopped a fence to cut over to another street; he didn't see why they needed to take such odd shortcuts, not that he couldn't handle the physical activity.
He wrinkled his nose as the neighborhood began to smell briny and rotten. "I can't tell if I'm smelling sewage or a crime scene," he grumbled, covering his nose with one hand.
"It's just harbor water," she replied, because apparently that made it so much better.
"Oh, gods," he gagged. They had finally reached the docks, not that he was pleased by their destination. Sticky mud gave way to warped and creaky wood, the briny stink so strong that he would be surprised if anyone in the area even still had a sense of smell. Dingy storehouses made up the majority of the buildings at the docks, though he did spot a bar with boarded up windows despite the fact that it was still clearly open and had men walking in and out of it. Several slips already had boats in them, but currently no one was loading cargo. A crowd of what he assumed could only be dock workers from the looks of their worn clothing, dirty hands, and wet pant legs, was gathered around one particular ship. The crowd undulated as they appeared to be taking turns peering into the water, all of them shouting at the top of their lungs in an indistinct cacophony.
Lin stopped a boar who was heading toward the crowd to join in the gawking. "Yo, what's the deal?" She nodded toward the dock.
"New guy fell off the gangway," the boar explained with a shake of his head, then ran off.
"I don't get it." Tai Lung glanced down at Lin, who was now staring at the crowd with disgust. "Can't they just fish him out and get on with it?"
"They're probably fishing him out right now," she replied. "In pieces."
"...What?"
She glanced up at him, her brow furrowed in confusion, then pointed at the ship that was currently attempting to pull out of the dock and make room for a couple of rams to lean down and look into the murky water. "Whenya fall off the gangway you land between the ship and the dock. That's pretty much a guaranteed splat."
"Augh," he grumbled, sticking his tongue out at the imagery. "Did you really need to use the word 'splat'?"
A booming voice suddenly sounded behind them, interrupting their conversation. "Well I'll be!"
They turned to see a gigantic, heavily tattooed gaur bull who looked to be around Tai Lung's age standing over them, grinning broadly. He leaned down and laughed, then addressed Lin. "It's been ages since I seen your mug 'round here!"
Lin looked stumped. "Uh..."
"Aw, c'mon!" He gave her a playful punch on the shoulder, which apparently didn't jog her memory. He straightened up and patted his chest emphatically. "Y'don't remember?" he insisted. "It's me! Lil' Li Peng!"
Lin gasped in recognition at the name. "I didn't recognizeya at all, runt!" she exclaimed with a hearty laugh.
Tai Lung didn't think the man's appearance warranted the nickname; in fact, his real name fit him just fine.
Lin elbowed him. "This's Li Peng, his dad used to own my favorite bar." She held out her hand at about the height of her waist. "He was only this big last time I saw him!"
Seeing as the bison now stood over even Tai Lung, that was quite the growth spurt. Not that he cared; he hated getting caught in the middle of two people catching up on old times.
She continued talking to the man, undeterred by Tai Lung's glowering silence. "This's Keung, he's my friend's son. He's useless, I had to come down here and get him a job."
"Well, you're in luck!" Li Peng exclaimed. "You're lookin' at your supervisor."
"Yeesh, can't believe you're my boss," she groused. "What wereya when I last sawya? Ten? Eleven?"
He laughed and gave her a pat on the shoulder that threw her off-balance with its power. "Man, my sister's gonna freak when I tell her about this! She had such a crush onya."
"Yeah, I get that a lot," Lin replied haughtily, grinning. "The ladies do love me."
"Oh, gag me," Tai Lung finally complained; he couldn't take anymore of her idiotic chatter. "Nobody has ever or will ever be attracted to you, now may we please get to work and be done with it?"
Li Peng laughed at him and gave him a hearty slap on the back. "I like this guy! Eager to work, huh?"
He considered breaking the man's wrist, but decided against it; he would need to keep his hands to himself if he hoped to make his supposed reformation a convincing act. He settled for a darkly growled, "Yes."
"Well, looks like they got part of the new guy outta the water," Li Peng continued, his cheerful attitude undeterred by either Tai Lung's anger or the gruesome death of an employee. He clapped his hands and whistled to get the attention of the dock workers lingering around the slip to get a look at their coworker's remains, waving one arm in the air. "Back to work, you slobs!" he ordered, his voice somehow becoming even more deep and booming. It did the trick, as anyone who'd still been slacking rushed to return to his duties. He turned back to Lin and Tai Lung, his smile still firmly in place. "You guys good with loading ships?"
"Isn't that what the dead man had just been doing?" Tai Lung asked.
"Yep! Man, y'never know when your time's gonna be up." He clucked his tongue and shook his head, then lapsed right back into his upbeat behavior. "Well! Keung, you look strong and healthy. Quan... I dunno, y'think you'll be able to keep up?"
Lin snorted, clearly insulted by the question. "You just stay outta my way, runt."
Apparently, Li Peng had no problem with workers beneath him speaking to him in such a way. "Hah! That's what I liketa hear. A'right, you two, time for training." He pointed in the general direction of the storehouses. "These storehouses're numbered. You ask me what number you go to for what ship. I tellya. You go to that storehouse. There're crates in there, labeled with the name of the ship they belong on. Get the crate, put it on the ship, I mark it on my list. When we run outta crates, we do the next ship. Keep doin' that 'til I tellya to stop." He then pointed at the ship that had killed their predecessor, now pulled back into its slip with a gangway being put into place. "That's the Roaring Thunder. Don't ask about a ship's name, people get sensitive about that stuff. Roaring Thunder's got storehouse five." He turned to indicate a storehouse directly behind him. "Enjoy!" He then ran off toward the ship, presumably to resume his duties as supervisor.
"...That's it?" Tai Lung glanced down at Lin, puffing on the cigarette that had now been smoked down to a little stub in her mouth. "That's our training?"
She shrugged. "It's a straightforward job. Quit complaining and get a move on." With that, she headed toward the storehouse the gaur had pointed out, its large barn-style doors swung open and chained in place.
Once Tai Lung got a look inside the building, he was shocked to see the size of the storage space. Large crates were stacked high from wall-to-wall, packed in as tightly as possible without room for even someone of Chen's size to get in between them. "What happens if we need crates from the back?"
"These places usually got back door," Lin replied. "You only gotta worry ifya need something from the middle." That wasn't exactly comforting, but she didn't look concerned; she was too busy reading labels. "Found one!" she announced and then, despite the crate being larger that she herself was, bent down to lift it. She managed to get her arms underneath it, then hauled the thing up and started walking.
"Can you even see?"
"Huh?" She had her head turned to her side, likely to keep her cigarette from burning a hole in the crate. "Yeah, whatever!"
He supposed if she wanted to run the risk of meeting the fate of the man who'd fallen from the gangway, he couldn't stop her. He instead turned his attention to the labels on the crates. He would have thought that cargo belonging on the same ship would have all been stored together, yet it seemed that every label he read had a different name on it. "Buddha's Delight, the Mei Ling," he read aloud to himself, "Sweet Salvation- Ball Sweat? Is this someone's idea of a joke?"
"Hey, what gives?" Lin had already returned from the ship, and incredibly, grabbed another crate that belonged to their chosen vessel. "You're slacking off on the first day? I vouched forya, kid, you're making me look bad, too!"
"But-" He couldn't get another word out before she left him again.
Tai Lung gave one of the crates a push out of spite, then continued looking for something, anything, labeled "Roaring Thunder." Or was it "Rolling Thunder"? Something with thunder, in any case. When he discovered that the deeper he dug into the cargo, the more "Ball Sweat" boxes there were, he realized just how long of a day he had ahead of him.
Shifu stood in the middle of a small village's marketplace, waiting impatiently as the local residents, mostly geese and ducks, eyed him and Gia warily. He got the feeling that they didn't receive many visitors, though Gia didn't seem to notice a thing. She stood at a florist's stand, going through every single flower on offer and sniffing it. He didn't see why she wanted to spend money on such a frivolous purchase when she claimed to have so little- unless she expected him to buy her a flower, which, if her lineage was anything to judge by, was a distinct possibility. Currently she kept going back and forth between pink roses and yellow ones, with no end in sight. He wondered if he'd be justified in simply dragging her away.
"You know," she suddenly said in between sniffs. "I realize they are the same rose, and yet the pink always smell better than the yellow. How is that?" She continued her endless loop of back-and-forth smelling, while the proprietor of the stand stood over her and glowered.
Shifu couldn't exactly blame the woman; Gia had been lingering around her flower stand and simply smelling things for longer than some people had even stayed at the market at all. He had literally watched a woman walk into the market with her children in tow, buy all of her groceries, wrangle all three of her unruly children, and leave in the time it had taken Gia to come to the conclusion that pink roses smelled better than yellow ones. "Gia." He'd become fed up with her dilly-dallying. "Make a decision, or I will personally purchase every last rose, set them all on fire, and dance on their ashes. Do you understand me?"
She looked crestfallen, but nodded in compliance. In the end, she purchased a single yellow rose, to the florist's chagrin. As they walked away, she gave the thing another sniff.
"I thought the pink ones smelled better." He couldn't say he understood the girl at all, not that he'd expected any child of Lin's to be sensible.
She finally pulled the flower out of her face. "But I like the color yellow."
He decided to leave the matter be; it was only a rose, after all. He surveyed the rest of the market; it didn't even begin to rival the ones in Shanghai or the Valley of Peace, but considering that he could count the number of houses in the village it was a decent one. While there were less than a dozen stands, their produce was ripe and unbruised, the flowers had all been exquisite and in peak bloom, the dried goods well-packaged, and everything at a low price. The market had been set up in the town square, which didn't boast anything fancy; it was simply a space in between some of the humble wooden houses with a small temple in the middle. All the roads in town were unpaved dirt, though wildflowers grew in vibrant patches throughout town, mostly at the edges of houses. The village itself sat neatly in a tiny valley between two sugarloaf mountains, and while it wasn't along a main trade route he wouldn't call it an isolated location, either.
"We should find the village inn," he suggested, watching as Gia picked the thorns off of her rose; Lin wouldn't have done such a thing. His ear twitched irritably as he realized that he'd had Lin so prominently on his mind that Gia's ridiculous flower had been all it took for him to think about her. He shouldn't even have compared the two women; it wasn't as if Lin had bothered to raise her daughter.
"Master Shifu, do you think a lot about the future?" Gia asked absently as she picked at her rose. She clearly hadn't heard a word he'd said.
"Yes. For instance, I am currently thinking about finding this village's inn so that we may sleep in real beds tonight." He scanned the crowd for someone who looked friendly enough to approach.
"I always did wish I could fly," she stated wistfully, still concentrating on her flower.
"Fascinating, thank you for telling me that. Now, let's find an inn."
"Hm?" she asked, as if she'd only just heard him. "Oh, this town has no inns." Apparently, she had only just heard him.
"...What?" He stared at her, waiting for some explanation or indication that she was joking.
"This town has no inns," she repeated innocently.
He felt his eye twitch. "How do you know that?"
"We walked through the entire town," she replied. "There was no inn. I assumed the inn of a town would be in the town. Yes?"
"Dammit," he grumbled when he realized she was right.
"Watch your language," she snapped. "Testona pelata."
"I don't know exactly what that means, but I know it has something to do with my head." He snatched the rose from her hands, then headed for the temple.
"My rose!"
"You will get this back when you are willing to explain what you called me." He walked brusquely up the stone steps to the small, squat building. The roof was multi-inclined as was tradition and the red doors were flanked by two small, plain pillars of wood. He pushed the doors open and stepped inside an anteroom, sparsely decorated with a few zen ink paintings of trees and flower arrangements. "Hello?" he called.
Gia took the opportunity to grab her flower back from him. "You have a large bald head," she sniffed indignantly.
"I am not balding-" He cut himself off when a monk, an old goose with gray feathers, entered the room from a doorway to their right.
He looked back and forth between the two of them, wearing a confused frown. "May I... Help you?"
"Ah, yes." Shifu cleared his throat awkwardly, suddenly all too aware of what it must look like to strangers, him traveling with a much younger woman who was very clearly not related to him. "I am Master Shifu of the Jade Palace and this is... Is..." He couldn't exactly introduce Gia to a monk as his lover's estranged daughter. "...Gia," he finished lamely.
The monk's flat stare spoke volumes, though he bowed and greeted them all the same. "It is an honor, Master Shifu. I have heard tales of your heroics."
"We, uhm... Would greatly appreciate a place to stay for the night. If you could spare it." He supposed he could just let the matter rest for the time being.
"I see." The goose sounded more than a little hesitant. "Far be it from me to turn away travelers in need, and certainly not such an esteemed guest as you, Master Shifu."
Shifu quickly bowed to the man, grabbing Gia's sleeve and yanking her into a bow with him; he didn't need her insulting their host when they were looking at the prospect of actually having a roof over their heads. "You have our gratitude. Your hospitality will not be forgotten."
With a sigh, the monk motioned for them to follow him, then led them into an adjacent hall which was open on their left to a small courtyard, simple wooden pillars in place to support the roof. The courtyard consisted of the brightly colored wildflowers that had grown around town and a small plum tree, a narrow stone path cutting through the flowers. The monk led them through the hallway into another room, this one small and bare with wooden floors and a stone statue of Buddha resting atop a low credenza, surrounded by candles and dried purple plum petals. "I use this room for meditation. Hopefully it will suit your needs."
Shifu couldn't say he was happy about having to sleep on a floor, but he supposed beggars couldn't be choosers. "It is perfect," he accepted.
"Excellent. I'll get you some blankets and pillows." With that, the monk left them.
"He does not seem to like us," Gia muttered in Shifu's ear as they watched the goose waddle away.
"Never mind that," he replied with a wave of his hand. "The important thing is that this is infinitely better than sleeping in dirt." He doubted Gia would react well if he informed her of his suspicions. "And I am not balding."
She looked down at him and raised her eyebrows. "You do not have the view that I have," she said pointedly.
"You are just like your mother," he huffed, then knelt down and set about unpacking his own blanket for the evening.
"Really?" she asked excitedly.
"No." He wasn't exactly lying; there were times when he wondered if it were even possible for such a naive, sweet girl to have come from Lin's family tree, and then there were times like now, when she proved him completely wrong. She wasn't exactly like her mother, but she shared enough in common with the woman that he found his temper flaring often in her company. When he heard her begin to sniffle, he rolled his eyes but softened his approach. "There are many ways in which you are different from your mother," he clarified gently. "But sometimes- for instance, when you insult me- you seem just like her. Except she couldn't see the top of my head." He resisted the urge to place a self-conscious hand on his scalp and feel for missing hairs.
With one last sniff, she knelt beside him and placed a hand atop his head. "I am sorry I lost my temper and called you a baldy big-head," she said, though hearing her repeat the insult did nothing to help him forgive her. "I am... What is it you say? Out of my, ahm, excrement?"
"Element," he corrected, stifling a laugh. "And I am sorry I keep losing my temper with you, as well. I keep forgetting that this is all just as difficult for you as it is for me." He removed her hand from his head and gave it a heartening squeeze before letting go. It was a lovely moment, until Gia spoke again.
"So where is my mother, exactly?"
He'd had a feeling the question had been coming, but that hadn't helped him prepare any better. "That is an excellent question," he replied. "Now, shall we eat?"
"Master Shifu, now is not the time for gluttony," she lectured, apparently missing the fact that he'd changed the subject deliberately. "I am trying to ask you about my mother."
He couldn't very well tell her that her mother was in Shanghai, when he'd been leading her away from the city this whole time. Yet once they reached the Valley he would have to explain where Lin had gone to his students, and he would need to tell them about Tai Lung at some point before the snow leopard's return to the Jade Palace. So if he lied to Gia now it would certainly come back to bite him in the rear. "If I tell you, you must promise me that you will trust in my judgement."
"Yes," she agreed. "I promise."
"She is in Shanghai." He waited for her to lose her temper and shout something in Italian at him again, but she didn't.
Instead she stared at him, her eyes growing wide and her smile stiffening. She squeezed her rose so hard that the stem broke in her hand and her fur began to stand on end.
He recognized her look of rage well enough to instinctively back away from her; he doubted she could hit all that hard, but he didn't want to have to find out.
However, she stood up and walked out the door instead of attacking him either physically or verbally. The sound of the front doors to the temple swinging open and getting slammed shut again drifted into the room, the floor vibrating with the force she'd used.
Shifu sighed to himself, then returned to setting out his blanket. He should have known better than to blurt out such information to the girl; after all, he barely knew her, and he had no way to predict how she would react in certain situations. He should have made an excuse to wait until they'd arrived safely in the Valley of Peace before saying anything, that way he at least didn't have to worry about her getting into any trouble. Although, he doubted she'd find any trouble in a small, peaceful village of ducks and geese. She would be alright on her own for the time being, and it was best for him to give her the space she needed to calm down and collect her thoughts.
The monk returned with more blankets and some pillows, and he set up spots for both himself and Gia on the floor before sitting before the small shrine in the room to meditate. Clearing his mind was the best he could do at the moment; he needed some way to forget his worries over Tai Lung, Lin, and now Lin's daughter. He could only thank the gods that he had left operations at the Jade Palace under the watchful eye of Tigress. He had no need to worry over her; she would never falter, never let him down. He could at least count on her to be responsible and steadfast in his absence, no matter what, even if she did on occasion disobey an order. That thought helped him relax enough to begin clearing his mind. He let himself drift, tried his best to feel the peace in the universe all around him, to allow his spirit to grow beyond his physical body and become one with all of creation.
He did not succeed. Wearily, he opened his eyes, hours having passed since he'd been left alone with his thoughts and the sun now well below the horizon. He crawled over to his blankets and lay down on his back, contemplating the ceiling. How could he possibly follow in Master Oogway's footsteps if he could not even feel at one with the universe for even a single second? How could he lead his students and rehabilitate Tai Lung when his own spiritual prowess was so sorely lacking? He'd thought that once he'd accepted Po as the Dragon Warrior some block within him would be flushed out, yet here he was, just as lost as always. How could Oogway have said that the Dragon Warrior would bring peace to him when he felt everything but peaceful? He tried to remind himself of Lin's counsel, that no one in the world truly knew what they were doing in life, but it did little to comfort him.
Soft footsteps interrupted his fretting and he turned his head to see Gia enter the room with some tangerine slices in her hands. She stopped at the sight of the makeshift bed he'd made up for her, then lay down beside him. "Master Shifu," she greeted quietly, then began eating her tangerine slices.
He nodded to her. "...Are you cold?"
"I am warm enough, thank you."
He felt so awkward, arguing with her when they had known each other for so little time. "Let me know if you get cold. We each have two blankets, and I would be happy to give you one of mine."
"Thank you," she repeated sullenly.
"...Please try to understand," he finally said, unable to avoid the subject any longer. "Your mother is in Shanghai for a very important reason, one that requires utter and complete focus. If I took you back there to see her, it could have... Very poor consequences, for all of us. It is difficult and complex to try to explain, but I promise you that I am only trying to do what's right. Once we arrive in the Valley of Peace I will be able to explain all of this much more clearly."
She didn't reply to him for a long time, her eyes watery, slowly eating her tangerine. "I have waited all my life to meet her," she said.
"And you will," he promised. "I swear to you on my honor that I will personally see to it that you are reunited with your mother. But it must wait until New Year's. Please tell me you understand."
"I do not." Then, she offered him a tangerine slice. "But I gave my word that I would trust your judgement, Master Shifu. And if my mother saw fit to lead me to you, then she must trust it as well."
He took the fruit, relieved by the peace offering. "Thank you, Gia. Your trust means a great deal to me."
"Do you think she will like me?" Gia edged a bit closer to him, placing her remaining pieces of fruit between them to share.
"I cannot say," he answered honestly. "You are... Not exactly what I had expected, and I doubt Lin will feel any differently. All I can tell you is that she is a fair woman, and I am certain that she will give you a chance." Even if he needed to force her by hog-tying her and locking her up in a closet with the girl.
"I always thought it would be nice to be best friends with my mother," she sighed, burrowing into her blankets. "I have met women who are so close to their mothers that they do everything together. I cannot help but think... It could be like that, for me. Do you think I am hoping for too much?"
He absolutely did, but he didn't have the heart to disappoint her. "You can't know until you try."
She turned her head to look at him, her eyelids drooping with sleep. "Do you have any children of your own, Master Shifu?"
He hesitated to answer the question; even if he only told her about Tigress, he did not exactly go around calling her his daughter to everyone he met. After all, such a connection might hurt her reputation as one of the most powerful and respected masters of kung fu in all of China. But he doubted Gia would care about any of that. "Yes, two children. They are grown now, like yourself. I believe my daughter, Tigress, is about your age."
She beamed at him. "Will I meet her?"
"Once we make it to the valley, yes." He wondered if he should begin to tell her the story of his complicated relationship with Tai Lung, for the sake of easing her into everything that was going on in Shanghai. Or he could just keep his information vague for the time being. "My son isn't currently in the valley. He's away to... Train. He will be back around the same time as your mother." He quickly grabbed a tangerine slice and shoved it in his mouth so he would have an excuse to think carefully before answering any more questions.
"I see." She sounded pleased. "I cannot wait. A daughter of yours, she would be like my stepsister, yes?"
He choked a bit on the tangerine. "S-stepsister?" he repeated incredulously; Tigress would not be pleased to hear such a thing. "I, ahm, wouldn't go that far. Not yet."
"Growing up, I always wanted a sister, or another girl my own age to play with." She let out a wistful sigh. "Of course I am grateful that I had the nuns to care for me, but... A sibling would have been nice. Perhaps this Tigress and I will be fast friends!"
He winced at the assertion; no way on earth would Tigress ever welcome a daughter of Lin's with open arms. "I do not think so. Tigress is... Ahm... Shy. Very shy." He could see he'd disappointed her with the news that his daughter was not about to frolic and play with her. "Perhaps you will get along well with one of my other students," he comforted; Viper had always been kind and outgoing, so he doubted she would reject Gia.
"Students?"
"Yes. I am a teacher, and I have a number of students. Masters Viper, Monkey, Crane, Mantis, and of course Tigress. And then there's Po. He will be undoubtedly pleased to meet you." He couldn't even imagine what he'd be in for, with Po and Gia together in one room, their frantic energy uniting to create the ultimate annoyance for him.
"A male friend?" she asked, scandalized. "This is such a strange place. To think people here do not find it inappropriate for a woman to spend time with a man who is not of her own family."
He would have told her that many areas still held onto such attitudes, but it would do no good. The Valley of Peace had not been such a place since Master Oogway had found it, and it would not be for at least as long as he lived. "And what about me? Since we've met I have yet to wake up without you squeezing the life out of me!"
"That is different," she argued. "You are old and infirm."
He decided to let her get away with that one, since she didn't know any better.
"And beside that, you and my mother are... Are..." She trailed off, her eyes wide with confusion. "In love?" she asked.
"Yes, I suppose you could call it that," he replied, shaking his head at her confusion; he didn't look forward to trying to explain the nature of his and Lin's relationship to her.
"And you will marry?" she asked, yanking him right out of his comfort zone.
He snorted. "Perhaps in my dreams," he grumbled; the day Lin agreed to marry him would be the day he sent her to have her head examined. The woman was so anti-marriage that Gia had a better chance of getting Lin to give up smoking and drinking than she did of convincing Lin to help her find a husband.
"You mean to say that you have no plans to marry my mother?" Gia gasped.
Shifu pinched the bridge of his nose, well aware of what would happen next- no matter how he tried to sugar coat things for her. "No," he answered flatly. "Now it is time to get some sleep."
She glared daggers at him, then swiped her remaining tangerine slices and rolled over. "Dirty old man," she accused over her shoulder.
"Goodnight to you, too." He didn't take her reaction seriously; he would inevitably wake the next morning as her little spoon, getting squeezed tightly like a stuffed toy. And then she would start in with her unending chatter, having completely forgotten how put off she'd been before falling asleep. Then she would scold him for his decadent rations (dumplings) and how he ate too fast, say some sort of prayer, and wave her hands around. Then he would be treated to approximately three straight hours of religious stories, followed by probing questions into his life. Then she would get angry at him and insult him again. It had quickly become his daily routine, and he had already gotten used to it. After all, he knew the routine was only temporary. Once they arrived in the Valley of Peace, things would change- whether for better or worse, he did not yet know.
"G'morning!" Lin threw open the door to Tai Lung's room, unconcerned with knocking; she'd already learned he never did anything worth keeping private.
Tai Lung lay face down on his bedroll, groaning. "Kill me."
She approached him, her arms crossed; he didn't bother to move. "What, you telling me you're too sore to move? Mister kung fu master?" She reached down and poked his back.
"Ugh," he grunted, swatting at her. "Leave me to wallow."
"Wallow?" she repeated skeptically; she didn't see what he had to complain so much about. She did get him a job, after all.
"That job is torture. What is even the point of it? What will I ever accomplish by carrying boxes onto a ship? It is nothing but pure depression."
"Oh, that," she dismissed; she'd gotten used to such jobs, but she supposed after growing up in the lap of luxury at the Jade Palace, Tai Lung would need some time to adjust. "You'll feel better come pay day."
"I think I need Yan-Yan to take a look at me," he went on.
"Uh-huh." She raised her eyebrows at him, not that he could see. "Sure you need Yan-Yan." She'd known for a long time that a little crush had been brewing, and his demand was only further proof. "Lookit me, kid." She knelt down next to him and yanked on his ear to get him to finally turn his head and scowl up at her. "Lay one hand on Yan-Yan and it's your funeral."
He continued to scowl. "I am not amused by whatever type of joke this is supposed to be."
"Ain't no joke." She gave his whiskers a yank and with an angry grunt he finally sat up. "I see the gears turning in your head, kid- I met enough men in my life to know when the boner ambition starts kicking in."
"Boner ambition?" he repeated. "Do you even hear yourself talk?"
She ignored the jab, then poked him hard in the chest. "Yan-Yan's in a fragile place right now. You mess with her, I mess with you. Capisce?"
He smacked her hand away. "What is this, part of my training? Because it is not helping. And neither is your sorry excuse for a job. You know what actually would be helping me? The study and practice of kung fu, in the Valley of Peace. That would help me."
"Ah, whatever." She had better things to do than to spend all morning harping at him. "You wanna do kung fu stuff, go talk to Chen or Wei-Shan about it. I don't got time for that shit."
"How magnanimous of you," he replied sarcastically.
"Anyway, we got today off. Wanna go get drunk or something?" She stood up and rubbed at her knees; the wooden floor certainly hadn't done them any favors.
"And miss Yan-Yan's daily serving of gruel?" he shot back. "I couldn't."
She eyed him for a bit; as far as she'd heard, Tai Lung had at one time been the greatest warrior in all of China. Now he sat before her, lounging around in his bed like some lazy child. She didn't know whether it had been the two decades in chains or his time recovering from his injuries that had softened him- or perhaps the loss of his obsession, the Dragon Scroll. Either way, she didn't like seeing him in such a funk. "You're depressed," she concluded.
His eyes widened and his jaw dropped open briefly before he caught himself and closed it with an audible click. "Depressed?" he worked out through clenched teeth, clearly insulted by the observation.
"Yeah." She continued to watch him, her hands on her hips, while he fumbled for something to say.
"Me? Depressed? I am the most powerful kung fu master the world has ever seen!" He raised a fist and shook it at her, but didn't bother to try to stand. "And you believe that I am depressed?" He let out a condescending scoff. "I will have you know that I am not losing my mind or becoming hysterical."
"That's not what depression is," she sighed, though she doubted she could convince him of anything in just one conversation. "It's more like... I dunno. A void. An emptiness. A lack of... Whatever it is that drives people to live."
"And I suppose you would know."
"Well... So what if I do?" she asked defensively.
He snorted. "Sure. More manipulative words from the world's greatest bullshitter. That will pair excellently with my morning gruel."
Lin let the matter drop; if he wasn't ready yet to discuss his feelings, she wouldn't push. They had time, still, to develop a bond. She still didn't know exactly how she would do it, but she would gain his trust sooner or later even if it killed her. "So you're feeling sore, huh?"
"Perhaps a little," he admitted reluctantly.
"C'mon downstairs, I got just the thing." She motioned for him to follow her, surprised that he actually did get up and walk with her down to the kitchen.
Wei-Shan nodded to them from the island, where he and Chen were currently engaged in a game of mahjong.
"Watchya got riding on that?" Lin asked before plunging into the liquor cabinet in search of a cure-all.
"Not my liquor," Chen replied pointedly.
"I didn't arrive in Shanghai with any material possessions," Wei-Shan added. "I suppose if Chen loses I could always tell him what you look like naked, and if I lose I will not."
She found the bottle she'd been looking for and pointed it menacingly at him. "One more word about that and I'll be draining all the blood outta your body through your asshole." She grabbed a shot glass and some hot sauce from the cabinet, then filled the glass with part hot sauce, part hard liquor.
Tai Lung stared down at the concoction. "You cannot be serious."
"Capsaicin and alcohol relax muscles," she replied, shoving the shot toward him. "Unless you wanna drink more of that algae crap."
"You are going to turn me into an alcoholic, just like you," he grumbled, but downed the shot at the mention of Yan-Yan's green gunk. "Ack!" he choked out, likely from the burning pain of the high alcohol concentration in the liquor paired with the searing heat of the hot sauce.
"That hot sauce should be hot, I made it myself." With that, she took a seat and made another muscle relaxing shot for herself; she'd woken up more sore than she was willing to admit. There had been a time when she could have done dock work all day and then gone out drinking all night and start it all over again come dawn. Now, she found herself making a beeline for her bed and drinking shots to numb her soreness. "Getting old sucks," she sighed.
"Not for me," Wei-Shan said, then shot a victorious smile at Chen. "I believe that's my win. Now, for my promise-"
"I'll giveya five yuan and a sack of oranges to shut your dirty trap," Chen interrupted. "And by giveya a sack of oranges, I mean beatya with one."
"So tell me, oh wise teacher," Tai Lung said sarcastically, diverting Lin's attention back to him, "what will I be learning today?"
She hadn't really thought of that yet. "Huh." She thought for a second until an idea popped into her head, one that would also afford her sweet vengeance. "I think it's time for us to learn a little something from Chen."
"Me?" Chen asked with a snort. "Yeah, right. You think I'm gonna do all your dirty work forya, huh?"
"No," she argued. "You're gonna show us your stash of baby Wei-Shan portraits." Then she pointed at Wei-Shan. "And you're coming with us."
Wei-Shan stared at Chen, but he'd already blown his chances of getting the old jerboa on his side once he'd threatened to describe Lin naked.
"Let's get this over with," Chen grumbled, then hopped down from the countertop and led them to his studio.
Lin grabbed Wei-Shan's arm and physically dragged him along, to be sure he didn't try to slip away.
"I don't see what this could possibly have to do with my training," Tai Lung complained, though he accompanied them to the studio without a struggle.
Yan-Yan looked up from where she'd been sitting at Chen's desk, composing some sort of letter as she was wont to do in the mornings. "This is certainly a surprise," she greeted, setting her brush down. "What's going on?"
"Call it an art viewing," Chen replied, then hopped toward the wall furthest from the door, where massive shelves were stuffed full of old scrolls of his artwork. He stood and stared at the scrolls, his eyes darting back and forth in search of his target; while none of them held any distinguishing marks, he seemed to know exactly what each scroll held. After a moment, he jumped high in the air, plucking a scroll from a top shelf, then joined Yan-Yan at his desk to unroll the painting. "There," he told them flatly as they all gathered around the portrait in question. "Happy now?"
"No," Wei-Shan answered, though he shut up when Lin punched him in the arm.
She couldn't help but stare back and forth between the portrait in the scroll and the old man beside her; mainly, it was weird to see Wei-Shan without glasses. The boy in the portrait looked no older than a teenager, his whiskers barely even grown in, his fur fluffy and white, his face devoid of any wrinkles. He was depicted in battle with Chen on a snowy mountainside, coming at the old rodent from the air with his hands outstretch as if to grab the man and strangle him. The expression painted on Wei-Shan's face reminded her of the look on Tai Lung's face when they'd met in the Tavan Bogd mountains; it was one of pure rage, slightly manic in its potency. "Well," she commented awkwardly, "I seeya haven't changed much."
"That's no kung fu form I've ever seen," Tai Lung said haughtily.
"He didn't know kung fu back then," Chen replied, tapping his walking stick on the scroll for emphasis. "This was when we first met."
"I never would have believed it if you hadn't already told us," Yan-Yan said incredulously. "And look at this, Wei-Shan, you actually used to be cute, too."
Lin had to admit, it was an accurate assessment. "See, Tai Lung? Anyone can change, even this psycho." She jabbed a thumb in Wei-Shan's direction. "So why not you? You gotta learn to let go of all that anger and sadness."
"Yes, yes," Tai Lung grumbled, crossing his arms. "I get it, Chen rehabilitated the fruit basket here, so you can rehabilitate me. Believe it or not, I am capable of comprehending your heavy-handed lesson."
"But areya capable of actually learning it?" she shot back, which put a sullen frown on his face. "Chen, back me up, here. What exactly happened, all those years ago?"
"I'm not the one to ask," Chen replied, then nodded toward Wei-Shan, who was currently clenching his teeth in aggravation over the entire discussion.
She should have known the little rat wouldn't make things easy for her. "Wei-Shan? You care to enlighten us?"
"Nope," he answered tensely.
It was rare that Lin ever saw him angry, but instead of being put off she only felt more curious. "Aw, c'mon," she whined.
"Yes," Yan-Yan agreed, her ears perked up in anticipation. "Tell us!"
He took a deep breath through his nose, then relaxed into his usual dazed expression. "You two have very nasal voices," he informed them, then walked out of the studio.
"Really?" Yan-Yan gasped, her hand flying up to her throat. "My voice is nasal? Like Lin's?"
"Y'know, I been trying not to get offended by the shitya say about me, but you're wearing on my nerves," Lin snapped at her.
"This has been a truly fascinating lesson indeed," Tai Lung drawled. "I have not had such a revelation since I was a wee lad. I am afraid my poor brain can take no more earth-shaking epiphanies for the day, and I shall have to eat breakfast to recover." After his diatribe he stalked after Wei-Shan, presumably headed to the kitchen.
"Nice job," Chen commented sarcastically, giving Lin a whack in the side with his little walking stick. "Nowya got the whole house in a funk. When're you gonna learn to leave well enough alone?"
"But you're the one who grabbed the scroll for us!" she argued, only to be ignored by Chen while he rolled the scroll back up and returned it to its rightful place on the shelf.
"Quit while you're behind," Yan-Yan advised quietly.
Lin glared at Chen's back, then let out a frustrated sigh. "Whatever," she grumbled. She could use some breakfast, anyway.
Notes:
A/N: Well, now you finally know who the wolf is! I hope that info was worth waiting for. A couple of notes for this chapter: Li Peng, as far as I researched, means big and strong, hence Tai Lung's thought that the name fit him. Anyone who watches the KFP tv series may have also noticed the nod to the character Mei Ling, in the form of a ship's name.
Chapter 13: Life is an Onion and One Cries While Peeling It
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 13: Life is an Onion and One Cries While Peeling It
The scent of Po's now famous rendition of his father's secret ingredient noodle soup wafted through the barracks, filling every room with its sweet and savory aroma. Tigress couldn't help but admit she enjoyed the smell of it. Not only because of the mouth-watering source, but because having the scent of home cooking fill the barracks triggered something in her, perhaps from some long lost memory. It felt comforting, and though her room was nowhere near the kitchen it warmed her in spite of the cold autumn mist descending over the valley. She supposed it might also be possible that she had begun to see Po in a different light since they'd started their clandestine late night meetings.
It had been difficult for her, at first, to accept this interloper into her world. When Po had literally fallen from the sky and landed in front of Oogway's outstretched claw, only to be accepted by the tortoise as the Dragon Warrior, she had hoped it was all some elaborate joke or misunderstanding. Even after Po had proven himself by defeating Tai Lung and deciphering the mysterious message of Oogway's blank scroll, Tigress had remained distant. She had, of course, accepted him as one of them- a master of kung fu and a student of Shifu's. However, seeing how this new student had revitalized their master had awakened a painful jealousy within her that she couldn't shake.
But now with Master Shifu away, and all of the time she'd spent alone with Po, she couldn't help but begin to let her defenses down. She couldn't see Po and her master together and become distracted by her resentment, and it helped her to see the simple wisdom and genuine love for all things kung fu the panda possessed. Po had become a comfortable part of her life, a part of her daily routine that made her feel less frazzled, less out of place. Of course she had the rest of the five for company, and she and Viper had been friends for years, but Viper had never seemed to truly understand her concerns or her single-minded dedication. She seemed to think the answer to everything was to get Tigress out of her comfort zone, or question her about the true meaning of her motives. It could sometimes be helpful, of course, but it could also be exhausting. Whether or not Po understood what little she revealed about herself to him, he at least accepted it without question.
She couldn't say she thought of Po as a friend just yet, but she felt that they'd begun to form a bond, a trust that hadn't been there before. It was strange to her, that someone so different from herself could still have so much in common with her. She stirred herself from her attempted meditation, now too lost in her own thoughts to truly focus, and headed down the hall to the kitchen.
Po stood at the stove, of course, humming and stirring his soup, leaning over the pot to sniff at the dish.
She crossed her arms, waiting to be noticed, but he was too absorbed in the food to realize there was another presence in the room. "You should remain aware of your surroundings regardless of what activities you're engaged in," she advised, causing him to jump in alarm.
"Ah!" he squeaked out, whirling around with wide eyes. "Oh- Tigress- uh, hi. Didn't noticeya there."
"I know." She nodded to him in greeting.
He shuffled his feet awkwardly, then reached up to scratch the back of his head. "You, uhm... Need something?"
She'd been hoping that the rest of the Five would be present, or at the very least that Po would be setting the table; the soup had smelled finished to her, though she wasn't an expert on the subject. "I appreciate the help you've given me." It was true, and she should get into the habit of saying it more. "So... Maybe I could set the table. Or something."
He grinned at her, though whether he was more pleased by her thanks or her offer of help she didn't know. "Sure! Well, ya know where the plates are." With that, he turned back to the soup to give it a stir and taste the broth.
She slowly grabbed plates from the cabinets as she watched him season the broth with minced garlic and powdered spices she couldn't quite recognize, not even bothering to measure the amounts he tossed in by hand. He seemed to be able to simply taste the broth and then decide what it was missing, with barely any deliberation at all. "It's interesting," she told him as she set down a stack of bowls for him to serve into. "Your cooking, I mean. I'd never thought of it as something one could do by instinct."
"I guess it's experience," he replied with a shrug, though he sounded pleased by the observation.
"That... Makes sense, I suppose." She brought cups and spoons over to the table. "So, your father's restaurant... It's doing alright?"
He let out a sigh and rubbed his hands on his apron. "Dad's managing. I feel kinda guilty, y'know. I mean, yeah, I love kung fu and being the Dragon Warrior's important, but... It was always the two of us, and now he's all alone."
She understood the sentiment. Part of why she'd stayed at the Jade Palace rather than traveling the country seeking her own legacy was because she hadn't wanted to leave Master Shifu- not that he needed her. There was once a time when she'd worried how her master or the Furious Five would fare without her, but since Po's arrival it had become clear to her that she was neither unique nor irreplaceable. Not to Master Shifu or to anyone else. "It must be hard, being apart from someone who needs you."
"Yeah." He began ladeling soup into bowls and carried them to the table, balancing all six portions on his arms before sliding them into their proper spots. "But I got you, and the rest of the Five and Master Shifu, now. So it's not as hard as being alone."
"I see." His words reminded her of a time when she was a child, when she'd first come to the Jade Palace. She'd been happy, of course, but also frightened of a new home and a new life ahead of her. Master Oogway had comforted her, then, by promising that as long as she lived at the Jade Palace, she would never be alone again. And while those words had proven true, it had never stopped her from feeling isolated. "So you... Care for us?"
"Of course! You guys're my friends. Andya know what they say, friends are the family ya choose for yourself."
"Awwww, that's so sweet!" Viper slithered into the kitchen at that very moment, a wide smile in place. "Did you guys hear that? Po, you're just the sweetest."
"He's adorable," Mantis agreed as he followed her in, accompanied by Monkey and Crane. "I can barely keep my pincers to myself."
Viper rolled her eyes at the joke, but made no comment.
"Personally, I find that Po is more of a dearheart than a sweetie," Monkey teased as well. "It's a subtle difference."
"Don't you two ever give it a rest?" Crane asked, though his words held less impact due to the fact that he kept stifling laughter at the jokes.
Tigress quickly took her own seat at the table; though she hadn't been doing anything wrong or illicit, she still couldn't help feeling embarrassed. "Training went well today," she commented in as normal a tone as she could muster. "Though I have some notes."
A chorus of sighs sounded at the table, and Mantis slumped down so far he was almost lying on the table. "But your notes always take so long," he whined.
"Agreed. That's why I've written everything down and delivered my observations to each of your rooms to be read at your leisure." She took a sip of her soup, ignoring the frustrated groans around her.
"Man, Tigress," Po spoke up from where he'd settled down at the head of the table, "I dunno where ya get the energy. I mean, most of us're struggling to find enough hours in the day as it is, and ya always manage to go above and beyond. Am I right, guys?"
In spite of herself, Tigress briefly smiled at the way he'd defended her.
"You're right," Viper agreed, sounding incensed. "I'm sorry, Tigress, it's obvious that you're working hard. I'll read the notes after dinner."
"A little study session never hurt anyone," Crane added apologetically.
"Who wants to be my study buddy?" Monkey asked the group, and Mantis was quick to acquiesce with a high-five- or high-pincer.
As they all began to chat and joke around, Po leaned over to Tigress and said quietly, "Are we gonna be study buddies tonight?"
Tigress knew exactly what he meant, referencing their normal meetings to learn nerve attacks, but she still blushed slightly at how suggestive such a question sounded out of context. Then, she kicked him under the table.
"Ah- ow!" he cried out, then at a few curious looks from their friends grinned and blew on his noodles. "Mine's still pretty hot," he lied.
She fixed him with a stern glare, which he seemed to get the gist of, then turned her attention to her dinner. The last thing she needed was for someone to discover that not only had she directly violated Shifu's orders, but she'd also dragged another Master into her disobedience.
"So, Tigress," Viper suddenly said, "you seem to be really into helping us train. Have you been thinking about taking on students?"
She breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that Viper hadn't caught on to anything odd in her exchange with Po. "No, I haven't thought about it." She didn't know how she was going to keep up appearances once Shifu returned, but then again, he'd have Lin to distract him with her insufferable antics. She'd at least need to impress more firmly upon Po their need for discretion.
"Why not?" Viper interrupted her thoughts.
Tigress took another sip of her soup as she considered her response. "Well, I still have so much to learn."
"Okay, so then there I was, nothing between me and execution but this lion, right?"
"Stop," Tai Lung drawled as he downed some room temperature tea; although they'd gotten far into autumn, Shanghai's oppressive humidity clung to his fur and thoroughly sweated him out. Some days it was like trying to breathe underwater, and Lin's inane stories did nothing to help.
"And Rome ain't exactly a lenient place, either."
"Stop." He'd been trying to shut her up half-heartedly for some time, but he found himself moving and thinking sluggishly in the face of such a tropical climate.
"Next thing I know, we're making out-"
"Stop!" That had certainly snapped him out of his stupor.
Lin frowned at him from her seat beside him on the front stoop of Chen's house, the two of them wielding fans and tea to help beat the unseasonable heat of the day. "You're no fun," she complained, then glanced up at the dark, overcast sky. They'd been hoping for rain all day, but no matter how swollen or ominous the clouds overhead became, not a single drop had fallen.
"How long must we sit out here and fan ourselves like little old ladies?" Tai Lung asked; he honestly was starting to wish for more work at the docks. At least then he wouldn't have to listen to the old hag's blustering. "It's clearly not about to rain any time soon."
"I could swear I felt a drop on my nose." She patted her nose with her hand, furrowing her brow. "I mean, my nose is wet."
"You're a dog," he grumbled. "Your nose is always wet."
"Well yeah, but I mean it's wet with rain."
He let out a long-suffering sigh; at this rate, he would never get the old coots to let him go back to the valley. "This is completely unproductive, just like every half-baked idea you have had for this supposed rehabilitation," he accused. "You've got no clue what you're doing, and everyone can see it as plain as day."
She didn't reply to him, only sat with her arms crossed, the only indication she'd heard him at all a scowl on her face. Then, with a crack of thunder rain began to pour.
Tai Lung didn't know whether he was relieved to have some respite from the heat, or annoyed at the timing of the cloudburst. He considered heading inside like he'd been planning to do, but the cool drops of rain kept him rooted to the spot.
"Maybe I don't know what I'm doing," Lin admitted reluctantly, causing him to do a double take.
He'd known as much, of course, but he'd never thought the old hag would ever actually admit it. "You... Don't?" he repeated; it must be some sort of trick.
"In fact," she went on, "I don't even know you. Maybe I did, once upon a time, but not anymore. I guess I'm having trouble figuring out howya got from the way you were to the way you are. I mean... How'd things turn out so badly? How'd you end up like this?"
He couldn't say it was easy to make him feel poorly about himself, but somehow Lin had done the trick. That question, how he'd ended up like this, echoed in his head; it was the same question that he'd repeated to himself during those countless lonely nights locked up in Chor Ghom. "Spare me the introspection, you withered old crow."
"D'you remember when we used to sit up on the roof and look at the stars together?" she asked, catching him off-guard.
He hadn't thought about those times in years. He had long since put those childhood memories behind him, knowing they could do nothing but hold him back. But he remembered. Much of his childhood blurred together in a whirl of kung fu, of exhaustion and broken bones and yearning for something he would never have- those three months, however, did not. Lin's time at the Jade Palace had been so different, so entirely new to him that his memories of it stood out crisp and fresh as if they were all a part of a book he had just read. "Yes."
"Hard to believeya actually used to be cute."
"Yes, and it's hard to believe that there was once a time when you didn't sound like a phlegmy grinding stone on a rusty pile of chains."
She laughed, and for a moment it almost- almost- brought him back to seven-years-old, warm and happy and stuffing his face with sugary desserts, naively thinking that things would always be that way. "Fair enough," she accepted.
"Not hard to believe that it's always been as nasal as a broken flute," he went on.
"Alright, that's enough."
"Like the wail of a thousand sick and dying dolphins."
"Some people happen to like dolphins, actually."
"A cacophony of lemurs wailing after having consumed tainted food." He couldn't help but grin at the look of consternation on the old woman's face as the rain weighed down her fluffy fur and made her look as though she were slowly deflating.
"I'm heading in," she announced, then grabbed their teacups and nodded for him to follow.
He scoffed at the presumption of the gesture, but got up and followed her inside anyway. He had no reason to sit out in the rain now that he'd finally managed to cool off a little, and if he did remain out on the porch he ran the risk of some neighbor of Chen's mistaking him for someone who actually wanted to carry on small talk for hours at a time.
"Maybe I should teachya yoga," Lin suggested as she shook out her fur, sending large droplets of water flying around the sitting room. She patted at her fur, still damp but now properly frizzed out like she seemed to enjoy it.
"Not on your life," Tai Lung objected. "Oogway tried that on me and I don't wish to relive the experience."
"It is a form of meditation," she went on. "And you do kinda hafta do what I say."
He glowered down at her. "Send me back to prison, then."
Surprisingly, she laughed at him, loudly and deeply. After a moment, she revealed what she found so funny. "You're such a wimp," she accused.
"What?" He blinked down at her, more in disbelief than in anger. "How can you say that? I was the greatest warrior in all of China before that idiot panda ruined my reputation! Even your precious Shifu was frightened of me, and still is I'll bet!"
Her laughter died down and she stared back at him, sharing in his expression of disbelief. "You're not serious?"
"Of course I am!" he roared; he didn't know why he continued to put up with such frustration. Really he should have killed the woman back in the Tavan Bogd mountains, when he'd had his chance.
"Y'know you ruined your own reputation, right?" she continued, vexingly unintimidated. "And that it's not a good thing when your own parents are scared that you're gonna murder, like, everyone you see? Including them?"
"Don't lecture me!" he snapped. "You know nothing-"
"My rug!" Their argument was interrupted as Yan-Yan ran into the room, faster than he'd ever seen her move. "You're dripping all over my brand new rug!"
Lin stepped off the hideous pink monstrosity, and Tai Lung grudgingly followed suit; he had no interest in starting another fight over the piece of fabric.
"You two had better have that thing spotless before I get back," she ordered, her nose turned up in indignation as she headed for the door. When she got to the entryway, she opened the door and took one look at the downpour outside before slamming it shut again. "Before I get back from the kitchen," she amended, then altered her course. Before leaving the room, though, she pointed one menacing finger at Tai Lung. "And you, Mister, are due for an accupuncture session. Don't think I'll forget!" With that, she disappeared into the kitchen.
"She's been in a real mood lately," Lin commented quietly. "And now she's doing the mom thing."
"Mom thing?" Tai Lung repeated.
"Y'know, when she talks to you like she's your mom," she elaborated. "I think that whole ex-husband encounter really got to her."
"Kindly shut up," he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "The last thing I have any interest in is any single personal detail of any kind about anyone."
She let out an irritated sigh, but didn't bother to argue. "Whatever, just go get us some towels from the kitchen."
"Why should I go?"
"'Cause I said so and I'm in charge ofya," she shot back. "Unless you want me to takeya up on that prison offer."
With a low growl, he headed into the kitchen. He didn't actually believe Lin for a second, but he would rather get the chore over with than rouse any more of Yan-Yan's ire. He couldn't prove anything, but he was certain that if he irritated her she got him back for it in her medical care, and he didn't much like the idea of receiving vengeance in the form of accupuncture. "Towels?" he asked with as much restraint as he could muster.
Yan-Yan gestured toward a lower cabinet on the far end of the room, then went about heating water for some tea. "Why is it so difficult for me to have one thing of my own in this house?" she suddenly asked him, an accusing tone in her voice.
"I... Wouldn't know." He did nothing to mask his confusion; he didn't see why any of this was his concern.
"All I want is some indication that I live here, too. Something out in public where other people can see, that I'm able to call my own. Do you think I like living with a bunch of dark wood and sober ink paintings?"
Tai Lung buried his head in the cabinet and grabbed a fistful of dish towels before making a beeline for the exit; he slowed down once he finally noticed Chen standing on the countertop, irritably listening to Yan-Yan's complaints. "Oh. You weren't talking to me."
"Go clean up my rug!" she snapped back, returning the pep to his step.
He scowled when he heard Chen snort behind him, though not for long; Yan-Yan's tirade was far from over. Rather than stick around to hear it, though, he joined Lin in the sitting room and tossed the towels onto the wet splotches in the rug. "There. All clean."
Lin, who'd apparently decided she could simply park her butt in a chair and watch him, motioned to the pile of towels. "I'm not sure if this's just laziness or ignorance."
"You want to talk to me about lazy?" He crossed his arms and glared at her, waiting for her to make a move to help. "Most of this puddle came from you, you walking mop."
"Show me you actually know how to sop up a puddle and maybe I'll helpya out," she replied casually, then kicked the towels.
"Hey!" He winced at how whiny he'd just sounded. "And what is this supposed to be teaching me?"
"I dunno," she replied with a shrug. "Do your own dirty work?"
"Wow." Chen had joined them, apparently done listening to all of Yan-Yan's complaints. "You really know how to teach, dontchya?" Somehow the man surpassed even Lin in the level of sarcasm he could achieve, and with less apparent effort.
"Shut the hell up, you peeled off scab." Her combative response sounded as natural as if they'd already been arguing.
"Typical," he commented, and somehow that single word seemed to rile her up more than any insult the man threw at her.
"Typical?" She repeated incredulously, then launched into a screaming tirade that was mostly unintelligible; she apparently only used Shanghai dialect while fighting with Chen. There were a few Mandarin words and phrases thrown in, like "burst hemorrhoid" and "crusty old jackass."
Tai Lung took the opportunity to sidle out of the room and back into the kitchen, leaving behind the pile of rags and wet rug. "Is it possible to find a room in this house in which no one is fighting?"
Yan-Yan gave no reply. She had moved to a seat at the kitchen island, where she currently sipped on a cup of tea with a small frown on her face. She was staring at the teapot on the counter, of all things.
"Are you ignoring me?" He arched a brow at her, not that she was looking.
"No," she sighed. "But I'm not exactly in the mood for sarcastic banter."
He joined her at the kitchen island, though he wasn't thirsty at the moment. "Is there... Something special about that teapot?"
"Of course not," she said. "I was thinking, that's all."
He didn't bother asking her what she'd been thinking about; he held no interest in such talk. Honestly at the moment he wished he could find Wei-Shan and ask the man his secret for disappearing from the house just in time to avoid an uncomfortable scene.
"I was thinking about old times," Yan-Yan went on, apparently fed up with waiting for him to feign interest in her inner musings. "Back when I had a home of my own."
"Alright, then." Tai Lung wondered how long he could go without actually instigating further conversation, only to get a response anyway.
"I thought you might understand." She sighed, slumping down in her chair a little. "I suppose you're not interested in anything other than yourself, hm?"
"Sounds about right," he replied in the hopes of ending the conversation.
"I shouldn't be surprised," she sighed. "Although I'd thought... Well, it seems to me that we were getting on alright, that's all."
He blinked, startled by her implication; did this woman who did nothing but torture him about his health day in and day out really think of him as a friend? A confidant, even? "Uhm." He wasn't sure how to respond; no one had so much as suggested they might be a friend of his since his childhood. Kung fu had isolated him fairly effectively before his stint in prison, and the closest he'd come for many years was a fellow master regarding him as an ally. "I suppose we get along fairly well, comparatively."
She smiled a bit at that. "Comparatively," she repeated, bobbing her head toward the kitchen doorway, through which Lin and Chen's fight was still audible. "Tai Lung, I need to ask you. I know right now you're of the opinion that your rampage was justified-"
"It was my scroll-"
"Still," she said a bit more forcefully, not allowing him to interrupt further, "don't you regret any of it? Don't you regret killing people? Don't you regret alienating your family?"
He knew it was only a matter of time before that question came up, and he supposed there would come a time when he would need to lie. But if he acted like a remorseful saint now, it would be too soon and they might catch on that he was only acting. "Truthfully, when I think back on having killed people... I feel nothing." He tried to ignore the way she winced. "I was trained to kill. Yes, the people I was meant to kill were neither innocent nor good, but they were still people. They were still lives I snuffed out, and I was taught to think nothing of it. So when it came to taking the lives of villagers... It wasn't that far of a stretch, really. I barely remember it, barely even registered it at the time. I was focused on the scroll and nothing else."
"Hm," was all she would say back, and for whatever reason that simple "hm" made his insides twist like nothing Shifu or Lin had said to him so far in their attempts to make him regret his actions.
"As for my family," he continued, mainly to avoid an awkward silence, "I'm an orphan. I have no family to speak of."
"Oh, don't be a brat," she admonished, taking on her signature motherly tone. "You were raised, weren't you? The people who raised you are your family. I'm certain Master Oogway would weep if he were alive to hear you say such a thing."
"And I'm certain Shifu has already heard me say it, what with the size of those ears."
She snorted in laughter at the jab, and he couldn't help but puff up a little in pride at having made a pretty woman laugh. "Stop it now!" She didn't sound quite as stern as before, despite her protest. "You shouldn't talk about your own father that way."
"It's been a long time since I've done what I should," he pointed out.
"Hm," she hummed again, though this time a blush rose to her cheeks.
"What?" he asked, furrowing his brow. "What did I say this time?"
"Nothing," she replied, then straightened up more in her seat and smoothed out her dress. "It's just that I'm not used to big, strong men flirting with me."
"Flirting?" he wheezed out, his mouth suddenly feeling very dry. "Who said I was- I just- f-flirting?"
"I feel you're a bit old for me, though," she added. "Not that I believe for a moment you were being sincere."
"Oh- no, no, nope. Of course not." He crossed his arms imposingly, trying to regain some composure. "It was an accident, you see. Miswording. Or something of the sort. And if anyone in this scenario is too old, it's you." He decided to retreat while he still had some semblance of dignity left. "In any case, I've tired of this banter."
"Sure," Yan-Yan replied skeptically, though a small smile tugged at her lips.
He looked away and got out of the kitchen as quickly as he could; he hadn't been so embarrassed in decades. He tried to remind himself that Yan-Yan was nobody compared to him, that he was Tai Lung, the greatest warrior in all of China. And he also tried not to blush when he thought about that smile.
Dinner that night had been a tense affair; Yan-Yan and Chen barely spoke to each other, Tai Lung sullenly ate in silence, Wei-Shan went about pretending none of them existed, and Lin wasn't about to utter a single word in Chen's direction. It was just like him to criticize and nitpick every last thing she did, pointing out every little flaw in her personality and every personal failure. Lin would rather not speak to the little germ at all than listen to him tear her apart for another second.
And so dinner had gone by in relative silence, and everyone had gone off to do their own things, leaving Yan-Yan and Lin behind to wash dishes- typical. She should really bring up a strike to Yan-Yan, make the men do their own domestic work for once. In the meantime, though, she had more pressing matters to discuss.
Lin leaned against the kitchen counter, a towel in one hand as she watched Yan-Yan furiously scrub dishes; while she understood the silent treatment with Chen, she didn't get why she was receiving it, too. Maybe she was just an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire. "I can dry," she offered, and Yan-Yan only nodded in reply. "So... What's up?"
"Nothing," she answered evasively. Yan-Yan had always been a pretty good liar, but Lin could still tell when something was off.
"You still mad at me for punching your ex?" she pressed. "Or is it something else? Is it the rug?"
"It's not the rug!" Yan-Yan snapped, then let out a long sigh. "Chen's mad at me for going to see my ex-husband."
"How's that his business?"
"He warned me not to go back, but-"
"Wait a second," Lin interrupted. "How long were you talking to Chen about going over there before you took me along behind his back?"
"Only a few days..." She trailed off, hunching her shoulders down in an uncharacteristic display of meekness.
Lin snatched a dish from her hands and began to dry it, ignoring the suds still clinging to the ceramic. "I ain't exactly thrilled thatya kept something from me untilya decided to go behind Chen's back, but... I can't hold it against you, what with going behind Chen's back being so fun."
Yan-Yan remained silent, and Lin tried to pretend she couldn't see the tears welling up in her friend's eyes.
"Y'know Chen's all talk, anyway," she continued. "He'll blow steam for a little bit, then calm down and forget all about it." It was a pattern she was all too familiar with.
"I let him down," Yan-Yan replied suddenly. "He told me to stay strong, but I caved. The truth is... The truth is that I wanted to go back. I wanted to see my old house again and... I suppose I wanted to see my husband, too. Ex-husband. I was weak."
"Trust me, you're not weak. I've been through a few break-ups in my time and you're definitely taking yours better'n I ever took any of mine." Lin wished there was something she could do to make Yan-Yan get over her divorce and move on right in that moment. She wished she could just force her friend to see that she was better off.
"Yeah, right," Yan-Yan scoffed. "I'm living in Chen's house, wallowing in my own self-pity, spending most of my time either drinking, complaining, or trying to get a finnicky escaped convict to take his medicine." She fell silent for a moment, then let out a sniff. "And now Chen's mad at me. And... Disappointed."
"You'll get used to it," Lin advised. "I sure did."
"Will you stop comparing us?" she snapped, dropping the dish she'd been working on back into the sink. "This situation is different, alright? I'm not like you, I never belonged here the way you did! I was never even close to Chen until long after you'd left Shanghai! I was always just... Someone who Chen was forced to get to know because of you. He never..." She leaned against the sink, her shoulders drooping.
Lin had a feeling she knew how that sentence was supposed to end; she'd been in the same position the entire time she'd known Chen. Never, not even once, had the rodent actually said out loud that he cared for them. It had gotten to Lin, too, on more than one occasion. And, to be perfectly honest... She still had her own doubts. There had once been a time when, even if she never heard the words, she'd truly believed Chen had cared for her. That had come to an abrupt end the day he'd announced he knew she was a girl and he was kicking her out. Sometimes she wondered if Chen was capable of really caring about anyone, but most of the time she came to the conclusion that it was just her. "Hey," she tried to soothe Yan-Yan. "He tookya in, didn't he?"
"Yes, but I mean... Chen just pities me," Yan-Yan insisted as Chen chose exactly that moment to enter the room- though how much he'd already heard was up for debate. "You were always- always his favorite. Even after you left. You were the child he'd always wanted."
"And he was the man standing behind you in the doorway," Lin replied, waiting for her to notice Chen's presence.
"I don't get it- Oh! Oh." Slowly, Yan-Yan turned around to face Chen, her face already bright red with embarrassment.
"Well," Chen huffed, hopping over to them and on top of the counter. "I see you both're pretty comfortable talking about me behind my back, while you're living under my roof."
"I'm sorry, Chen."
"I'm not," Lin added.
"Whatever," he dimissed harshly, then glared at each of them in turn. "Yan-Yan, don't be a fool. You really think I don't give a damn about you?"
Lin stiffened as she realized what was about to happen. It seemed impossible that Chen was finally going to express some sentiment to them besides annoyance, yet it was happening. She felt like she had entered some type of fever dream.
Yan-Yan, to her credit, held it together a full two seconds longer than Lin had expected. "Chen- I-" That was as far as she got before she made a noise that sounded like a mix between a constipated frog and a boar with a cold, then burst into tears.
"I always cared for you," Chen continued, his voice still gruff as ever. "Thought you had enough sense to see that. You're just as much my kid to me as my own flesh and blood woulda been." He paused for an especially loud wail from Yan-Yan. "I'm proud of you. I've always been proud."
"B-but- but-" She sniffed loudly, then tried again to speak. "W-what have I ever done- in m-my whole life- th-that you could possibly-" She dissolved into ugly sobbing again, but her meaning was clear.
"You're stronger 'an you realize, kid," Chen said, and his voice even softened a little. "You're the bravest, strongest woman I ever met. You grew up into a good person, and there ain't nothing you've done in your life that ain't worth being proud of. I'll always-" He paused and glared at Lin, then let out a disgruntled sigh. Clearly he wanted to be alone with Yan-Yan for this speech, but Lin wasn't about to leave any time soon. "I love you," he grumbled very quietly and quickly.
That appeared to be about all Yan-Yan had been able to take, and she screeched something barely comprehendible that sounded like, "Oh, Chen!" She lunged forward and wrapped both arms around him, leaving nothing visible except his tail, twitching irritably.
Lin almost made a comment about how Yan-Yan sounded like she was being stabbed, but held it back. If what she expected was about to happen did happen, then she'd probably end up in a similar condition.
Chen finally managed to wriggle free from Yan-Yan's grasp, fur and clothing dissheveled from the tight hug, then turned to Lin.
In spite of her desire to keep her cool, her heart raced at the prospect of actually hearing, straight from his own mouth, that Chen gave two shits about her. She even found herself leaning in closer in anticipation, not wanting to miss a word.
"Quan." He nodded at her. "Quit dicking around." With that, he left the kitchen.
Lin stood rooted to the spot, dumbfounded at what had just occurred. Vindication, proof that Chen even cared at all, was all she had ever wanted from the angry little turd, and he'd gone and said everything she'd ever wanted to hear to someone else. In front of her. She would have screamed, but she didn't have the energy.
"Lin!" Yan-Yan choked out, still a blubbering mess. "Isn't it w-wonderful? I never- I n-never thought he'd ever-" She threw her arms around Lin and squeezed tightly, apparently oblivious to the fact that she'd been the only person in the room to receive any warm words at all.
"Yeah," Lin agreed, patting her on the back. "It's great."
Once Yan-Yan had calmed down enough to head to bed, Lin made a beeline for Chen's studio. She had taken too much of the old wart's shit lying down, and now it was time to stand up for herself. Whether she'd be able to do so without having a complete breakdown, she wasn't certain, but she was sure as hell going to try. She stormed into Chen's studio, finding him in his usual spot at the desk; he behaved like he didn't even see or hear her enter.
"Hey, you little gutter rat," she snapped, and that was as far as she could get before realizing she had no idea what she'd even thought she would say to him.
"Yes?" he asked irritably, not even pausing as he carefully pulled his ink brush across a page.
"You're a butthead!" She winced at her own words; that hadn't exactly been the most eloquent thing she'd ever said.
He rolled his eyes at her. "You gonna stand there and sputter out juvenile insults, or you gonna actually grow a spine and say what you got crawling up your ass?"
"Oh, you wanna know what's wrong, huh?" She squared her shoulders, doing her best to form the words and force them out. "All those things you said to Yan-Yan-" Lin stopped herself as her throat tightened, pushing back the unexpectedly strong urge to become a blubbering mess like Yan-Yan.
"It figures," Chen grumbled. "I say one nice thing and you got a problem with it."
"I don't got a problem with anything you said to her," Lin snapped, then before she could stop herself the words came pouring out of her mouth. "But why couldn't you say it to me, too?"
Silence descended on the room and they stared at each other for what was likely only a few seconds, but the moment seemed to stretch on forever.
Lin turned to leave, made it as far as opening the door and putting one foot through it, before she managed to gather her nerve and stop herself. She stepped back into the room and slammed the door as hard as she could, just for the satisfaction of the loud bang. "No," she said, squaring her shoulders and facing Chen again. "No, I'm not walking away. Not this time." She was too old to run away from him like she had as a child. "I mean it. You said all that- everything I ever wanted- to Yan-Yan. Why not me, too?"
"Ah, geez," Chen sighed, throwing his brush down on the desk. "Everyone's just gotta whine and moan about what I never say tonight, huh?" He paused for a long time, but Lin didn't bother to say anything. "Y'know, Yan-Yan's not like you," he finally continued. "She needed to hear that stuff."
"And I don't, I guess." She didn't generally care what people thought of her, but she did sometimes wonder if people just assumed she was somehow emotionless.
"I didn't think so, no." He sounded like he thought that was the end of the conversation.
Lin didn't feel angry, not the way she normally did. For her, anger was usually a fast burn that flared high and blinded her. This time she felt cold, like ice had settled into her stomach, and she felt her fur standing on end. She wanted to prove that she could feel something, too. That she wasn't just an empty shell to be dumped on and ignored. "You thought wrong," she informed Chen as she strode up to him. He hopped off his desk, apparently sensing what was about to happen. She grabbed the edge of the desk, with all her strength, lifted. It easily flipped over, papers flying everywhere and ink crashing to the floor.
"Oh, what the hell?" Chen sounded more irritated than anything else at having his furniture thrown around, like it was a minor annoyance.
Lin turned on him, and when she spoke she was surprised at how ragged her voice sounded. "Yan-Yan's not like me?" She also hadn't meant to scream, yet her voice had reached a volume that only Chen could prompt. "What's that supposed to mean, huh!? You think I don't feel anything, is that it? You think I don't need to know anyone cares about me? That I just exist to take your abuse?"
"Ah, c'mon," he dismissed, which was what he said whenever he thought she was overreacting.
"No, you c'mon!" She'd waited a long time to say everything she was screaming at him, and even now she felt like an invisible hand was squeezing her insides, trying to keep her from speaking. Her voice was hoarse already, even though she'd just started screaming. "I had no one when I met you! You were everything to me! And you threw me out of this house like I was nothing!" She couldn't stop some tears from rolling down her face at the opening of such an old wound. "You abandoned me!" At this point she needed to put so much effort into getting her words out that it felt like they were tearing her throat apart. "Didn't you ever know how I felt? That I felt anything at all? Didn't you ever care? This was the first real home I ever had in my life! I trusted you! And you sent me away. You left me." She covered her face. At the same time that she wanted him to know how much pain he'd caused her, she didn't want him to see the evidence of it. "You didn't want me anymore."
Chen said nothing back to her, not so much as a snide remark.
She couldn't bring herself to look at him. She'd never shown him any vulnerability before, and she didn't want to know his reaction. All she knew was that it wasn't what he expected from her, and she resented that as much as any of her other greivances. "Why can't I be like Yan-Yan?" Her tears were coming on so strongly now that she couldn't hide her crying any longer. "Why can't I be vulnerable to you, too? Why can't I need you to love me, too?" She waited for an answer, but none came. She wished she could at least cry quietly, with dignity, but ugly sobbing seemed to be her lot for the evening. She cried for a long time, refusing to so much as glance at him, until eventually she exhausted herself and quieted down.
Finally, Chen spoke. "Quan." He sounded almost gentle, like he was finally going to give her some words of affection. "Go sleep it off."
"So I mean nothing at all to you." She'd always suspected it, deep down. But knowing it was true left an empty space inside of her, one to join all the others she'd collected over the years. "I'll go now." She walked out the door, part of her hoping he'd call after her; yet she knew it wouldn't happen.
She managed to drag herself up to her room for some privacy before falling into her bed of pillows. She doubted she'd be getting any sleep, but she no longer had the will or the energy to stand. She grabbed a pillow and held it close to her chest, then did her best to remember what it was like to not be here. To be literally anywhere else. She just wanted to forget, for a few hours, the open wound in her heart that had festered for so much of her adult life, and pretend that she could actually hope to be a normal person with normal relationships. She'd had "normal" once. She'd had a house and a fiance and a healthy relationship with someone who'd thought the world of her. But now... Now she was back in Chen's house, and so often it felt like being back at sixteen again. So, like she always did when something in her life was going horribly, she tried not to think about it.
Late into the night Lin found herself in the kitchen, unable to sleep and in serious need of some hydration. She sipped at some herbal tea she'd prepared, hoping that if it didn't calm her nerves it would at least help with how parched she felt. She rubbed at her eyes, still sore and red from the literal hours she'd spent sobbing in her room. Even with no one around, she couldn't help but feel ashamed at her crying session.
"You look even more awful than usual," Tai Lung greeted her, entering the room to rummage through the fruit bowl.
"Go to hell," Lin snapped, downing her tea in one gulp. If anyone found out she'd been up half the night crying, she'd be even more mortified than she already was- if that was possible.
"Been there, done that."
"Yeah, right," she scoffed, then refilled her tea cup. "Whiner."
"Whiner?" Tai Lung growled, gripping the counter. "Whiner? Do you have any idea-"
"What you've been through?" Lin finished for him, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, you've mentioned it a few hundred times."
"How dare you!" He loomed menacingly over her, but she honestly couldn't care less whether he was serious or not.
"How dare I what?" she shot back at him, partly because she was tired of taking crap from everyone around her and partly because she was just plain angry. "All you ever do is feel sorry for yourself, Tai Lung. And why? You weren't some stupid chosen warrior? Oh, that's so awful, I feel so bad for you. It must be pretty shitty to have everyone giving you a second chance, even your dad who you tried to murder. That sounds like the worst possible thing that's ever happened to anyone, ever. Go ahead, keep whining about it like some ungrateful, pathetic loser."
"You don't know what I've been through!" he tried to argue, but she wasn't having any of it.
"Is it worse than what I've been through? What Yan-Yan's been through? What Chen or Wei-Shan or Shifu have been through? 'Cause we've all been through some pretty nasty shit, but the only one I hear whining at anyone who'll listen at all hours of the day in every goddamn conversation, is you. Shut up, Tai Lung. Shut up!"
"Give me a break, you old hag-"
"I said shut up!" she screeched and she accidentally gripped her tea cup too hard. When it broke and splashed tea all over her, she just dropped the shards on the counter and stared down at the cut on her hand.
Tai Lung actually looked wary of her for the first time she could remember, and even took a step back. Then, without another word, he walked away.
Numbly, she went through the motions of cleaning and wrapping her cut, then walked upstairs with the intention of going straight to bed. Instead, she stopped in front of a different door: the door to her old room, where she'd lived as Chen's student. She hesitated only momentarily, then she opened the door and stepped inside.
It looked almost exactly like all the other rooms in Chen's house, with the same furniture arranged in the same positions and the same ink landscapes on the wall. She didn't know what she'd been expecting, but to see the room so utterly cleaned out of any evidence she'd ever lived there hurt.
"I was wondering when you would come in here."
"Holy shit!" she cursed, jumping higher than she ever had in her life. "What the hell-" She spun around, searching for the source of the voice, but the room remained empty. "I'm losing my mind," she concluded, then made a beeline for the window. She opened the shutters and leaned out to take a few breaths of fresh air. "These goddamn people're driving me over the edge. That's gotta be it."
"Yep, sounds about right."
"Ah!" she screeched as she turned to look behind her. Once again, she found that she was alone in the room. "I know that voice!" she called out to the empty air. "Get your ass out here, old man!"
The voice came from directly behind her again. "Is that any way to speak to an old friend?"
"Holy Mary mother of God!" Lin fell to her knees and crawled across the room. "Pray for us sinners now until the hour of our deaths Amen!"
"I thought you weren't Catholic anymore."
"I'm performing an exorcism!" She didn't have any holy water, so she pulled her flask out of her robes and splashed some sorghum around the room. "Begone, demon!"
"Enough of this foolishness," the disembodied voice sighed, its tone more amused than frustrated. "Lin, you must meditate. Clear your mind and feel my presence around you."
"Ew."
"Just do it."
She hesitated only momentarily, then sat cross-legged on the floor and did as the voice instructed. It admittedly took her longer than usual to relax and clear her mind, probably because a disembodied voice had scared the crap out of her, but once she had she felt a warm weight settle on top of her head.
Opening her eyes, she reached up to take a cup of tea from her head, and stood to face the old turtle who'd placed it there. "Oogway," she stated, dazed by the vision.
He nodded, smiling; while he still held onto his elderly appearance, there was something radiant and steady about him, as if he was filled with more vigor now than he ever had been in life. Which made sense, when she thought about it. "Lin," he greeted warmly. "It is about time you said hello to your old friend."
She reached out and tentatively poked him; he felt solid.
He took the prodding with nothing more than a blink, then told her, "Drink the tea."
Lin glanced down at the tea, then back up at the dead person in front of her. "...Is this gonna trap me in the realm of the dead for all eternity?"
Oogway laughed, which she supposed was a good sign. "You are correct in thinking the tea is not of this world, but it is meant only to help give you clarity." He held out his claws in an invitation for her to drink.
Her immediate instinct was to run. Deep down inside, she wanted to throw down the tea and fight her way out of this vision. In all honesty, though, it wasn't because she didn't trust Oogway or because she didn't believe in what she was seeing. The idea of clarity, of what she might see in the vision, scared her.
"You are ready," Oogway told her, apparently sensing the reason for her hesitation. "The peach tree blooms when the time is right, and so shall your spiritual understanding."
"Ugh," she said, then chugged the tea. It was thick and syrupy, tasting strongly of honey and lemon. "Did you just give me hot lemon syrup?" she asked, coughing a little at the sweetness of the concoction.
"The taste of that tea is entirely dependent on your own consciousness," he replied.
"Just say it."
With a smile, he nodded. "How interesting."
She tossed the cup over her shoulder, unconcerned with smashing something that only existed in spirit form. "Alright, what'm I all cleared out for?"
He reached out with one long claw and touched the tip of it right between her eyes; she didn't so much see a ripple as she did feel one, radiating through her entire body. "A vision, of course!"
"...I thought this was the vision." She realized, of course, that she'd been wrong when the room began to melt away.
Oogway chuckled, which did nothing to put her at ease. "And how would a vision of me be of any use to you?"
"I dunno." She shrugged. "You'd tell me wise crap?" She felt grass beneath her feet and looked down to see that she was indeed standing in lush green grass, dotted with sunlight. When she looked back up, she nearly fell over in her surprise; they stood in the middle of a lemon orchard.
"Now, Lin," he lectured her. "If I simply told you everything you need to learn, you would do no growing of your own." He reached up and picked a ripe, round lemon from a tree and pulled it in half, then handed a piece to her.
She took the lemon, eyeing it suspiciously; it looked like it had been cut cleanly by a sharp knife. "What's with all this spirit food?"
"This isn't the spirit world," he informed her gently. "Go on, take a bite."
She did, the familiar sweetness of a freshly picked lemon and the clean scent of it jogging her memory. She looked around her once more, noticing for the first time that through the lemon trees she could see a plain wooden farmhouse straight ahead, and to her left the sharp dropoff of a cliffside and the shimmering blue waters of the sea. Salt wafted on the air, mingling with the smell of the lemons, the cool shade of the orchard protecting them from the hot sun. "Screw you!" she snapped at Oogway, bristling as she realized what he'd done. "Who d'you thinkya are you nosy jackass?"
He remained serene. "I thought you might react this way."
"You cut this time travel bullshit out right now!" she ordered, though she knew he wouldn't listen to her.
"Time? This place has no such thing. It is nothing more than a memory." He reached out his claws and indicated the little two-story house as the front door swung open, and out stepped an old woman.
Lin had thought that a vision from Oogway would have been some mystical, magical experience with lots of his smartass metaphors thrown in. She hadn't expected to be thrust so unceremoniously into her own memories, and she wasn't ready for it. "Bye," she announced, then turned around and began to walk away.
"Lin," Oogway called after her. "You have no place to go within your own mind except deeper into your subconscious. If you leave now... You will not have a pleasant experience."
As much as she wanted to ignore him and run, she knew he was being truthful with his warning. So, despite every part of her wishing she didn't have to, she turned back around to watch whatever horrible memory awaited her.
The old woman, though much larger than Lin, still bore a striking resemblance. She was a dog with fluffy fur, dull and grayed with age, and brown eyes which appeared faded and yellowish in the afternoon sun. Her muzzle was a bit longer than Lin's, and she lacked the many scars Lin had. Though her tail curled it did so only slightly and was much more proportional to her body. She wiped her hands on her stained apron and looked up into the trees. "Get your delinquent little ass down outta those trees beforeya curse the crop!" she shouted, her voice low and gravelly. "Lord knows you ain't doing your chores up there."
A little girl's voice drifted down from somewhere above them, high-pitched and squeaky. "But I'm picking lemons, Nonna."
"Suppertime!" Lin's grandmother called. "Now get down here before I smackya one."
A runty little dog climbed out of a nearby lemon tree and landed on her behind on dismount; she looked like nothing more than a tiny, tan piece of fluff. "Ow," she cried, her eyes tearing up.
"Up," her grandmother ordered, and she stood and followed the old woman inside.
"Well," Lin said, turning away from the house, "I think we've all learned a valuable lesson here."
Oogway grabbed her by the arm in a gentle yet unbreakable grip. "And miss supper? Come, let us continue."
With a heavy sigh, she followed him into the farmhouse. The entry led into a large dining room, simply furnished with a long table and benches, mismatching wooden chairs at either end. A small doorway at the back of the room led into the kitchen, while a staircase to their right led upstairs to the bedrooms. The dining room, though large, barely contained the nine people currently at the table dining on a heavenly smelling soup. At the head of the table sat Lin's grandmother, a glass of limoncello set out in front of her in lieu of any food, smoking heavily on a cracked wooden pipe. The seat at the other end of the table remained empty, though Lin knew it was reserved for her father. At the end of one bench next to her father's empty chair sat Lin's mother, Benedetta, bouncing a toddler in her lap while facing the door so she could scold her husband the moment he stepped through it. Lin's younger self sat across from her, quietly sipping at her soup, while the other five children piled onto the benches chattered loudly back and forth.
Her sister Bianca, older than her by only a couple of years yet still towering over her, sat next to her with a smug look on her face that always had preceded whatever sort of mental torture she'd decided to inflict that day. Despite her dainty features and the snow white fur that was her namesake, she had always been rotten to the core. "I'm so jealous of Gia," she sighed wistfully, eyeing the younger girl next to her for a reaction. "She's marrying so far up, it's almost criminal."
A look of misery crossed the young Lin's face, but she didn't speak.
Two of her other sisters, Maria and Rosa, sat together further down the bench; the two had always been inseparable. Though they weren't twins, the two had always been mistaken as such because of their matching flaming red fur and small, fluffy tails. "I hope I find someone as rich as that," Maria said, elbowing Rosa next to her. "We should marry into the same family!"
"But then like," Rosa replied with a mouthful of soup, "wouldn't that be, like, incestuous or something?"
Their brothers, Giuliano and Lorenzo, simply ignored the conversation from where they sat across the table and scarfed down their soup as if it were their last meal. The two boys took mostly after their father, and kept to themselves as often as possible. Giuliano, though, tended to get a little more bossy since he was the oldest of the children, while Lorenzo stayed true to his position as the second youngest and mostly followed along with the others.
"You girls should be taking this more seriously," their mother scolded. "The two of you will be next, in a couple of years. And a family like ours, we can't afford to be picky about suitors. Gia was lucky, you hear? No amount of beauty will get you such a good match when you live in the dirt and eat lemons for every meal."
"I'm gonna marry a unicorn, Mama," the toddler, Mimi, said cheerfully.
"Of course, dear," their mother replied fondly, stroking the girl's head.
Lin's younger self finally spoke up, a sour note in her tiny voice. "Unicorns aren't real. They're made up."
"Oh?" Benedetta's mouth fell into a hard frown. "And who will you be marrying, Liria? You think a prince from your little picture books would marry a good-for-nothing crybaby like yourself?" She let out a short, cruel laugh. "You had better hope you grow up even half as pretty as your sisters, not that it would help with an attitude like yours."
She fell silent again, then, when she thought her mother wasn't looking, stuck out her tongue.
"That's it!" Benedetta dropped her spoon on the table with a clatter. "You think I can't see you? Huh? Go, cut a switch right now, and bring it to your father!"
"Nooo!" she whined while Bianca hid a snicker behind one hand.
At last, their grandmother joined the conversation. "I don't like people who can't do their own dirty work," she said firmly, her smoke forming an intimidating cloud around her. "Punish the girl yourself, or not at all." She leaned back in her chair, sipping at her limoncello.
The table had quieted at the admonishment; everyone knew, from the first moment they could know anything at all, that their grandmother's word was law. Although she rarely interfered with the daily goings ons of the household, when she did she had power over even their father.
Lin turned her attention back to her mother; as she'd expected, the look in Benedetta's eyes was murderous. The two women's mutual hatred had always been a source of tension in the house, and looking back now Lin suspected that her grandmother's favoritism toward her had been a huge part of why her mother had always seemed to hate her, too.
"Time for bed!" their mother suddenly announced, then plopped Mimi on the floor and began clearing the table with no small amount of agitation, going so far as to tear her children's half-eaten dinners out of their hands. "Go, now!" she shouted over the symphony of whines and groans. "Would you rather be in bed, or out working in the orchard?"
As the children began to shuffle toward the staircase, Lin's grandmother stood and exited the house, still tightly clutching her pipe and limoncello. And, as always, young Lin had been stuck at the end of the line, pushed and shoved back by her larger siblings.
Just then, the door swung open and in walked their father; though his fur was much shorter and lacked all fuzziness, he looked remarkably like their grandmother. Dark, severe eyes glowered around the room; their father had never been in a good mood, not once in the fourteen years that Lin had known him. "You're done already? Without me?"
"You don't even come in from the orchard all through supper and you have the nerve to act surprised?" their mother shouted at him from across the table and, sensing the fight that was brewing, most of the children had the good sense to run upstairs and out of sight.
Lin, however, stayed behind; whether out of fear or curiosity it was unclear, but she held tight to the banister and watched the exchange from the stairs, forgotten by her siblings.
"I work all day, and I expect a meal when I get a moment!" her father shouted back, yanking his chair out with a loud scrape to sit down. "What have you got to complain about, eh? It's not like you're the one cooking!"
With an annoyed scoff, Benedetta grabbed the dishes she'd gathered and disappeared into the kitchen; as much as she fought with her husband, at the end of the day she always caved. When she reappeared with a fresh bowl of soup, she stopped dead, having caught sight of her errant daughter on the stairs. "Liria!"
Lin's younger self cowered, rooted to the spot.
"You come down here right now, young lady!" Benedetta dropped the soup onto the table, just out of her husband's reach. "March!"
She did as she was told, shaking like a leaf in the process.
"Do you know what your daughter did today, Nunzio?" Benedetta demanded.
"Did she refuse to feed me?" Lin's father asked sarcastically, reaching for the soup; she slapped his hand away.
"She yelled at her little sister, and then stuck her tongue out at me- in the middle of supper no less." She grabbed her daughter by the shoulder and gave her a little shake, not that the girl needed any help in that department. "What do you say to that? Hm?"
He let out a frustrated sigh, shooting the soup one last longing look before turning to Lin. "S'this true?" he asked gruffly.
Terrified, the girl nodded.
"C'mon then," he said, sounding resigned. He stood up and grabbed Lin's arm, leading her toward the door. "I swear to God, these trees're gonna die from all the switches we gotta cut for you kids." He winced as his young daughter began to wail and cry, struggling against his grip. "Gotta miss supper for this goddamn shit," he muttered. "Always something new in this goddamn house."
"I'm not watching the rest." Lin turned to Oogway, her stomach in knots at the sight of the memory. "I get the picture, we can stop now."
He shook his head. "Not quite," he said with a sympathetic pat to her back. Thankfully, though, he headed up the stairs instead of following her father out the door. "But you have a point, there is no use in forcing you to see such a punishment. Let's skip ahead a bit."
"Okay," she agreed, relieved. Although, she doubted what they were about to see was any less depressing. She followed him up the stairs and into her old room, which she'd shared with all of her sisters; at one point, there had been one bed for all of her siblings together, but once Giuliano had hit puberty and Mimi had grown their brood to eight, her parents had finally given in and separated the boys and the girls.
They entered to see Lin's sisters sitting on the bed together with a lit lantern on their bedside table; Bianca was brushing Mimi's fur while Maria and Rosa took turns whispering into each other's ears and giggling.
"Gag me," Lin complained; she didn't see what was so important about bringing her to the plain wooden room, decorated only by a faded rug woven of old brown scraps and a quilt their mother had made from whatever she'd been able to get her hands on that at least had flowers on it. The thing was still hideous, its squares clashing terribly with each other.
The room had one small window that looked out onto the sea, and a chair set up next to it for reading or enjoying the view. Lin realized, when she saw who was sitting in that chair, the purpose of the vision.
"You really like torturing me, dontchya?" she asked Oogway miserably, and he only beckoned for her to look closer.
Sitting in that chair was her oldest sister, Gia. While Gia's fur was tan like Lin's, it was sleek and well-behaved, though it still looked soft to the touch. Her eyes were large and expressive, a stunning shade of green that people always remarked on, her nose dainty and small, her posture perfect, her tail straight and elegant. Gia had always been called a great beauty by everyone in their small village, but to Lin all that had ever mattered had been her kind heart. Now she leaned morosely against the wall, staring out at the sea with teary eyes.
Lin wished she could say something to comfort her sister, even though she knew logically that all she was seeing was a memory. It all looked so real, though.
"Gia." Lin's younger self came limping into the room and made a beeline for the girl at the window. "Gia, I got the switch," she complained tearfully, pulling at her sister's dress.
Without a word, Gia picked her up and placed her in her lap, encircling her in a loose hug. The younger girl winced at having to sit on her sore behind, but didn't complain further.
Lin watched as her past self looked out the window, clearly confused by her older sister's depressed stated. "Did you get the switch, too?" she asked quietly.
"No," Gia answered, her voice gentle and soothing despite her distress. "I'm going away."
"To get married," Lin finished, her young face screwed up in thought. "You're gonna come back, right?"
"No," Gia said again. "I won't be able to come back at all. Where I'm going is very far away, and you'll have to stay here without me."
"But I thought getting married was supposed to be a good thing."
"It isn't." She stared absently out the window for a while, then tugged at Lin's ear. "Enough of this talk," she said, a sudden forced cheerfulness in her voice. "Go get the brush."
Lin's young counterpart didn't seem to notice the falseness of it, and instead nodded emphatically, hopping out of her sister's lap.
At last, the vision faded, and Lin was left standing back in her old room at Chen's house, Oogway still by her side. She stared at the spot where her sister had been, unable to express the regret and the melancholy that had welled up from deep inside her. She could tell Oogway was waiting for something, though. "I... Haven't thought about my sister in a long time." She was surprised at how hoarse she sounded.
He nodded. "I believe you told Shifu you never went to see her?"
Lin snorted. "She was dead, it's not like it counts." She recalled the discovery, how alone she'd felt, how resigned to her own dismal fate at the time.
"How did she die?" Oogway asked, though he must have already known if he could probe so deeply into her memories.
"Killed herself, the year after she got married." Her grief had been indescribable when she'd found out; all the time she'd spent missing her sister, all those years she'd assumed Gia had been, if not happy, then at least safe and surviving- all that time, her sister had been dead. Her parents must have known, too, and the realization had awakened a whole new level of anger and hatred toward them; all that time, and they'd never said a word. As far as they were concerned, their oldest daughter might as well have never existed in the first place.
"That must have affected you greatly. I am sorry, my friend."
"Ifya ask me, some people're just too good for this world," she said shakily, wiping away a tear. She doubted that had hidden it from Oogway, but still. "What's the point of all this, huh?" she asked him, anger overtaking her. "What's this all got to do with anything?" For a split second she wanted to punch the old turtle, for dredging up bad memories and for making her feel emotions that she'd kept long buried for a reason. She suppressed the urge, though, and breathed deeply to calm herself.
"You are doing well with your temper," he complimented, as if he could read her mind. "But there is more yet to be learned. I knew from the day your mind reached out to me, and called for me. Do you remember it? That day under the peach tree?"
She blinked back at him, stunned. "Yeah. I... I called you here?"
Oogway let out a warm-hearted chuckle. "Believe me, I was as surprised then as you are now." He gestured for her to sit where she had been meditating, and once she did so he sat beside her. "You mind is more open now than it has ever been. I see great potential there, which is why I tried to join you at the peach tree that day. However, you were not yet ready for me. You were still holding back- something your grief over Chen has taken care of."
"I guess the old dingleberry's still good for something," she grumbled, embarrassed that Oogway knew about her fight with Chen.
"Lin, you must be willing to bare yourself to me-"
"Ewww, no!"
He paused, tapping one claw on the belly of his shell. "...In order for my visions to reach you," he finished, somewhat flatly.
She supposed it wasn't quite the time or place to act like a smartass. "I don't really get it, but okay." She reached out and poked his arm, still surprised by how real he felt. "And I do mean it, when I say I don't get it. Any of it, I mean."
Oogway gave her a knowing look, as if his gaze stretched through all of time and space- which it probably did, seeing as how he was dead now. "I understand that you will never have any affection for your parents. But they are long dead now, and whatever misdeeds they have committed are in the past. Lin, in order to teach Tai Lung, you must first learn for yourself to let go of the past. You must learn to forgive the transgressions of others, and of yourself."
"Oh, what a bunch of bullshit."
Surprisingly, Oogway laughed. "I suspected you would react as such. However, this is indeed a serious matter which I ask that you treat with utmost importance. How you receive my visions, whether or not you are able and willing to learn from me, will shape your future and the futures of those around you."
She ruminated on that a bit; she supposed if Oogway had bothered to appear to her at all from beyond the grave then he must have thought it was important. "But why not Shifu or Tai Lung?" she asked.
Oogway's face fell at the question. "I am afraid Tai Lung's mind is too clouded by hatred and pride to receive any such visions. Even my power is not great enough to reach a mind that has closed itself off to me. As for Shifu... He has had me with him for nearly his entire life. I have always been available to help him, and he has always sought out that help. But I cannot guide him forever. I passed on the title of Grand Master to him for a reason, because I know that he has the wisdom and the power to go on without my help or approval, if only he would take the time to look inside himself."
"Yeah, that's pretty much what I said."
Oogway smiled at the comment. "See? You are already more wise than you knew. With my guidance, you will soon understand the importance of your visions, and you will come to know how to help Tai Lung. Do you accept?"
She shrugged. "Not like I got a better plan."
"Excellent." He reached out and momentarily gripped her shoulder. "I must go soon. Should you have any more questions, now is the time to ask."
"Actually, yeah, I can think of one." Lin wondered if he'd even give her a straight answer, but it was worth a try. "So I gotta know... Did Tai Lung ever stand a chance at getting that Dragon Scroll?"
Oogway let out a long sigh, and turned to look out the small bedroom window. For the first time in her vision, there was an air of sadness about him. "The Dragon Scroll was never meant for any one person, specifically. When I first created the scroll, I shared it with all who would look upon it. The scroll was meant to show my students that there were no special, chosen warriors. That to enjoy kung fu, to truly love it and all it stood for, they needed only to look within themselves, and there they would find all the power they needed. This idea... Failed miserably." He paused then, momentarily closing his eyes as he reminisced. "Soon my own students believed that the scroll held mystical powers, and then all the warriors across China. People began to fight over it, to covet it only for themselves. I built the dragon in the Jade Palace, imbued it with my own chi, and placed the scroll within its jaws, denying it to all in order to maintain peace. I had hoped that one day, the scroll could be revealed again, perhaps to someone who felt as I did. Someone who loved kung fu wholly, unconditionally- without hesitation, without pride, and without ambition. Someone whose sole desire was to learn kung fu out of love and dedication.
"For a time I thought that person might have been Shifu. But, sadly, as he grew so too did his pride and ambition. The same thing happened to Tai Lung- and to so many other students of kung fu. It was too late, after Tai Lung's rampage, that I at last realized the truth. It was my training, Shifu's training, and the training of countless other masters that had created such pride and ambition. To be raised in our culture of kung fu, to be steeped so deeply in it and never know the other facets of this world- this was the problem. Kung fu students became too prideful in their own abilities, too hungry for more power like what they had tasted. No longer could there truly be a student of kung fu who loved it purely, without ulterior motive. When Tai Lung escaped Chor Ghom and I decided to name a Dragon Warrior, I feared that none suitable would show themselves. But, as surely as if it were meant to be, the universe brought Po to me. Po, who was raised to make noodles, and who loves kung fu- without pride, without ambition. Simply and purely. Po, who shares the scroll with all who wish to see it, because he knows what I had tried so hard to teach my own students- that such a love should be shared with all, not coveted and locked away.
"And so you see Lin, even when you first arrived in the valley Tai Lung had already proven that he could not have been the one to receive the scroll. He loved kung fu, yes. But he had already begun to feel ambition, to desire more power. Perhaps to impress Shifu, perhaps to feel important or worthwhile. In any case, it was not to be."
Lin took a moment to process the story; of course she'd always known that if Oogway hadn't picked Tai Lung as the Dragon Warrior he'd had a reason for it. She still felt pity for Tai Lung, though; even as a child, he hadn't stood a chance. "You think we can really do this? Y'know, get Tai Lung to change?"
Oogway didn't answer her immediately; he didn't seem surprised by the question, more like he was choosing his words carefully. "I cannot say," he answered. "His path is not clear to me now. What happens to Tai Lung will be of his own choosing."
"Huh." She'd always figured Oogway was a set fate kind of guy, but she supposed that even he couldn't see the future. Still, there was one more thing she needed to ask, just in case. "...What about me?"
"Enjoy the journey, my friend. Do not worry so much about your destination."
"How can I not worry whenya just gave me a mysterious warning about my fate and the fates of those around me?"
He let out a long sigh, shaking his head. "Sounds to me like Shifu is rubbing off on you, my friend."
"Hey!" she protested, and with a chuckle, Oogway was gone.
With a gasp, Lin opened her eyes and nearly fell over; she sat in the same cross-legged position on the floor where she'd started her meditation, and her joints were sore from lack of movement. She realized, too, that although she felt as if she'd only spent a short time in her vision the sun was rising. She stretched out her legs in front of her, groaning as the feeling of pins and needles spread through them. "Uugh. What a night."
"Tell me about it."
"Bah!" She nearly fell over a second time, then scrambled to her feet to get a look around the room.
Wei-Shan sat on the bed, watching her with his usual far-off expression.
"Creeper!" she snapped, then did a few squats to try to get her legs to feel normal again. "Can't a person get any privacy in this house?"
"Probably not," he said, his eyes still fixed on her. "You were meditating for quite some time. It looked to me like something important was going on."
"Not talking about it," she grunted, then reached down to touch her toes.
"If I really want to know, I'll be able to find out."
She straightened up and narrowed her eyes at him. "Is that a threat?"
He shrugged. "Not that I know of."
Lin gave up on trying to loosen up her joints and simply collapsed on the bed next to Wei-Shan. "I dunno. I kinda wanna talk about what happened to help process all of it, but at the same time... I don't want anyone to know."
"Then it was important," Wei-Shan concluded.
"Yeah." She figured there was no point in hiding that much from him. "I guess I was just... Remembering my family."
He said nothing, but took her hand in his.
She wondered how it was that she was ending up so vulnerable so often, lately. "I wish I coulda seen my sister one more time before she died," she blurted out, then turned away to avoid that unreadable gaze.
"She would still be dead, either way." Despite the harsh nature of the words, they offered her some comfort. "Did your fight with Chen bring this on?"
She grimaced at the question. "You're awful curious this morning," she pointed out, mainly to stall.
"Yes, I am."
She should have known it wouldn't work. "I guess so, but I'm not gonna talk about Chen, either."
"Fair enough," he answered, then withdrew his hand.
She turned to Wei-Shan, compelled by her recent vision to offer up some honesty. "Y'know, you were the first person b'sides Gia who ever had me completely, one hundred percent convinced thatya actually wanted me around."
He gave a short nod. "I had a feeling. You have a suprisingly strong need for constant confirmation that you're liked by the people around you." When she punched him in the arm for the comment, he simply adjusted his glasses. "All I did was fulfill that need to the best of my ability."
"That's probably why I had such a crush onya," she admitted sheepishly. "But... I mean, you did say you woulda got with me, so that propped up my ego a little bit."
He raised his eyebrows at her. "I said that?" he asked, obviously confused. "Hm, you must have been in a bad mood that day."
She punched him again, irritated as much at the realization that he'd lied as she was at the flippant admission.
"You're lucky I'm a very robust old man," he reminded her. "Otherwise you would have broken a bone by now."
"Deal with it, you lying old perv."
"My lies are half of why we're friends in the first place," he pointed out, and sadly enough he was right.
"We're kinda both liars," she admitted, though he was probably only one of two people she'd ever admit such a thing to. "D'you think a person's past matters a whole lot in a relationship?"
"Well, I've been single my entire life, so in my opinion you shouldn't be asking me for relationship advice."
She crossed her arms and snorted at the statement; he kind of had a point. "Alright, then I'll askya something you're an expert in. Why'd you decide to quit being a little shit and become Chen's student?"
He hesitated to answer her, staring off into the distance as if deep in thought. "It's something I'd prefer to keep to myself." He paused again, frowning to himself as he thought. "But if you want to know, I'll tell you," he finally offered. "Though I doubt it'll help."
She snorted. "Whaddaya mean it won't help? I'm in pretty much the same situation, here! Lay it on me!"
"I won't go into detail," he said slowly. "But I will say this: you weren't the first teenager in history to get a crush on your teacher."
Her mouth fell slightly open and stared at him, not quite able to fully process the statement.
"Goodbye," he said flatly, then got up and left the room.
"I'm gonna vomit," she grumbled to herself. "No, first I'm gonna drink heavily, then I'm gonna vomit." She had been through way too much in one night, and the mental image Wei-Shan's confession evoked was the last thing she needed. And, as he'd warned, completely unhelpful.
Lin spent a little more time stretching out her sore joints as she contemplated the meaning of Oogway's vision. He'd talked about letting go of the past, about forgiveness, yet she hadn't given much thought to her family in years. She'd been under the impression that she had put all that behind her; if anything, she would have expected a vision having to do with Chen. But maybe Oogway had some larger plan in mind, or maybe her situation with Chen had dredged up memories of her family subconsciously- or something. She was starting to get tired out from all the thinking, so she gave up on it for the time being. Her stomach had been grumbling for a while, anyway.
She headed down to the kitchen, fully expecting to find an empty room, but was surprised to see Yan-Yan up early cooking some rice porridge. Suddenly, an idea came to her.
She stared at Yan-Yan as the cat bustled around the kitchen, humming an unusually cheerful tune under her breath. And she remembered her warning to Tai Lung about pursuing her friend, and Wei-Shan's admission about Chen. But no- she couldn't- and yet, it made sense. Could she really be considering doing such a thing to her friends, though? It was wrong, it was a horrible thing to do, especially to Yan-Yan. At the same time, even after Oogway's vision she still had no solid plan to go by. Slowly, she approached the island and sat down. "Hey, Yan-Yan."
"Oh, good morning," she greeted over her shoulder. "Would you like some breakfast?"
"Nah, I'm good." Lin paused, bracing herself for the truly terrible thing she was about to do. "But, uh... Tai Lung said he needsya. Upstairs. For... Acupuncture. He needs acupuncture. Immediately."
"That's odd," she mused, and then after a tense moment of thought, shrugged. "Well, I am his doctor. Take over for me, then."
"Got it." Lin hopped out of her chair and approached the stove, frowning as the sound of Yan-Yan's humming moved upstairs. "Dear god, I'm a pimp." She buried her face in her hands for a bit, then shook it off to focus on the porridge Yan-Yan had left behind. If she thought too much about it, she would just keep on feeling guilty. Better to distract herself with a task. A task other than pimping out her friend to a convict in a sleazy attempt to get some remorse out of the man. Maybe she'd just let the porridge sit on low heat and go write a letter to Shifu. That sounded like a slightly more distracting activity. And she'd leave out this latest detail, too. Just to be safe.
Notes:
The title of this chapter is a French proverb. I think that's the only reference I need to mention at the moment!
Chapter 14: When in Doubt Add More Wine
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 14: When in Doubt Add More Wine
Shifu stopped at the top of the rolling hills overlooking the Valley of Peace, letting out a relieved sigh at the sight of his home. It had not been a simple matter to get Gia across the Thread of Hope. The moment they'd stepped onto the first bridge he'd had to grab her and haul her up when she leaned over the ropes to stare down into the mist and almost fell. After the third time he'd lost his temper and snapped at her, causing first a terse argument and then a torrent of tears. This had been a pattern through the entire Thread of Hope. Thankfully, they had finally reached the Valley of Peace. Soon their journey would be at an end... And he would get to find out how interesting it would be to have Gia around the Jade Palace. "We have arrived," he announced as she came clambering up beside him.
"It's beautiful," Gia gasped, her eyes glistening with tears- not that it took much for her to cry. Still, she had a point.
It wasn't until he'd been away for some time that Shifu truly appreciated the splendor of the valley, and the mountain and Jade Palace looming over it as a constant protector. The sun's rays cast a warm yellow light over the village as the wind pushed the morning mist out for the day, the water from the stream flowing through the valley glistening as if it were flecked with gold. "It is lovely," he agreed. No matter what he had been through in the past month, returning home soothed him utterly and completely.
Gia let out a sniffle beside him, then wiped at her eyes and ran down the steep hillside.
"Gia!" he called out after her. "Slow down, you'll fall!" He ran after her, since she hadn't heeded his warning, and as he'd suspected he needed to catch her at least twice before they made it down into the valley proper.
"We're here!" she gasped, out of breath from her romp. "We have made it!" She began to jump in place in her excitement, both giggling and tearing up at the same time.
"Perhaps you should save some of that energy for the thousand steps up the mountain," he advised, though that bit of advice also went in one ear and out the other. When it became apparent that he would need to move things along a bit more forcefully, he took hold of her sleeve and led her toward the village. "I know you're excited, but it's been a long journey and I would like to be back home as soon as possible."
He didn't need to prompt her much more after that; in fact, she kept running ahead of him, peering into shops and restaurants along the way, greeting confused villagers, and marveling at street vendors selling sweet potatoes and fireworks. When they at last made it to the thousand steps, she stopped at the moon bridge before them and nearly fell into the stream when she leaned over the railing to look at the water. When they began their ascent up the mountain to the Jade Palace, Shifu was surprised by how well Gia was able to keep up. "I must admit, I expected you to have more trouble with these steps."
"I grew up on a mountainside," she replied. "Steps do not give me much trouble." That much had been the truth; she made it all the way up the stairs without a single break, a feat that remained well out of her mother's grasp.
He pushed open the red double doors that served as the Jade Palace's gates and led Gia into the theater, suppressing his annoyance when she let out another tremulous sniff.
"Master Shifu, it's amazing," she said quietly, once again tearing up as she gazed in admiration at the Jade Palace.
He supposed her reaction wasn't entirely out of place, so he gave her a pat on the arm and led her forward, into the Hall of Warriors. He stopped at the Moon Pool and watched for a moment as she strained to take everything in, her eyes as wide and innocent as a child's. "Gia. Gia. Gia."
She finally turned her attention back to him. "My apologies, it is just... Very large. And... Different."
"Your reaction is not uncalled for," he reassured her. "But I must ask you to wait here alone for a bit. I need to find my students and, ahm... Explain things. I will bring them back here to meet you before you know it. Will you be able to wait here, quietly, without touching anything?"
She nodded emphatically, smiling at the mention of meeting his students.
"Alright. I will be right back. Don't touch anything." He didn't know how he was going to explain this to his students- he hoped that they at least would be relieved enough to see him that they wouldn't react too poorly. That was probably hoping too much, though.
He walked to the training hall deep in thought, trying his best to decide where to start with the lengthy explanation he would now need to give. He supposed Gia's existence could come first, though he would have to reach his students before they met her themselves. Luckily, he could hear Tigress' familiar voice, shouting orders at the others from inside the training hall over the sounds of the machinery. He stepped through the front doors, pleased to see that all of the five and Po were hard at work.
"Good morning, students."
There was a moment of stillness before they all gathered before him and gave their usual salutes, as if he had never been gone. "Good morning, Master," they greeted in unison, as they normally did in the barracks.
He smiled at the greeting; he hadn't realized until the moment he heard their voices the extent of how homesick he had been.
"Welcome back, Master!" Po said enthusiastically, always the first of his students to relax and speak informally- even if it happened to be inappropriate at the moment. "How was your trip? What's Shanghai like? What's Master Chen like? Did ya train together or go on a sweet top secret kung fu mission? Did ya bring us anything?"
Shifu sighed at the barrage of questions, though his relief to have some semblance of normalcy back in his life overrode his frustration. "Please, Po, not now. I have just arrived and there is much we need to discuss before... Before you all find out for yourselves what has happened."
The six of them exchanged uneasy sideways glances at this proclamation, and after a tense silence Viper was the first to speak up. "Master, what has happened?"
He hated having to admit to his students he'd kept something from them, especially something as important as Tai Lung's existence in Shanghai. He supposed he should start with Gia, since he doubted the girl would stay put as he'd instructed. He shivered at the thought of what might happen if she decided to investigate some of the many weapons on display in the Hall of Warriors. "I suppose I should introduce you to someone... Special."
"Oh my gods did you marry Lin?" Po burst out hopping in place. "Should we throw a banquet? It'll be so romantic, congratulations Master-"
"Stop that!" Shifu ordered, stilling the panda. "No, nothing of the sort has happened." He resisted the urge to snap at the Furious Five for the collection of relieved sighs they let out. "Lin has not even returned to the Valley of Peace with me."
Tigress seemed slightly alarmed by the news, despite her dislike of Lin. "Who, then, is with you?"
"Her name is Gia," he informed them. "She is... Some sort of traveling nun, I believe? Well, not quite. Ahm... This is difficult." He paused, trying to think of the simplest yet most sugar-coated way to tell them the truth.
"You... Brought a nun here?" Crane asked, furrowing his brow in confusion. "Have we done something wrong?"
"No, no," he assured them. "Ah, the thing of it is that- well-" He cut himself off, and then with a deep sigh gave up on his attempts to soothe their nerves. "She's Lin's daughter. There, I said it."
Surprisingly enough, all his students save Tigress burst out into laughter.
"Yeah, sure," Mantis said with a throaty chuckle. "Lin had a nun for a daughter and you brought her back here."
"That is about the gist of it, yes," Shifu replied sternly, and at his tone of voice their laughter slowly died down.
"Wait... What?" Mantis asked.
"Come with me." He turned and headed out the door, knowing his students would follow without hesitation. He didn't want to hear any more jokes or probing questions from them, and he knew that showing tended to be a much more effective teaching tool than telling. Besides, he wanted to get the introductions over with as soon as possible so that he could get Gia settled in and send out a letter to Shanghai.
"Master," Tigress spoke up as they traversed the grounds, "I don't understand. Is this why you were in Shanghai? And why did you not tell us earlier?"
"I will explain everything in my own time," he said, looking at the group over his shoulder to drive home the fact that they should all heed his words. "Now, let's have no more of these questions until we reach the Hall of Warriors. Agreed?"
"Yes, Master," sounded from behind his back, chorused rather weakly by six voices.
They reached the Hall of Warriors shortly, and with a deep breath Shifu pushed the doors open, ready to fully explain Gia's presence. "Students, this is- is-" He cut himself off, doing a double take in an attempt to spot the girl. "Where'd she go?" The Hall of Warriors appeared empty, which he did not take as a good sign.
Crane awkwardly cleared his throat. "Master, you've had a long journey. Maybe you need to rest."
"I don't need to rest!" he snapped back, rubbing at his temple as a headache began to set in. "I left her right here!"
"I believe ya, Master," Po said, rather unhelpfully.
"I can't believe this," Shifu grumbled to himself, turning in a full circle as he scanned the hall. He faced his students, his frustration growing at their puzzled expressions. "I told her not to move."
"Move to where?"
He pinched the bridge of his nose as Gia stepped into visibility from behind Po, a half-eaten tangerine in hand.
Po blinked in confusion, then glanced over at the wolf next to him. "Ah!" He jumped to the side a little, clearly startled by her sudden appearance.
"I am... What is it?" Gia popped a tangerine slice into her mouth, chewing with a pensive expression on her face. "I am not quite understanding?"
"Confused," Shifu sighed.
"Yes, I am confused," she confirmed, gesturing toward Po. "Is this a Valley of Peace custom? Am I to shout and jump also?"
"Gia, come here," he ordered; he didn't need this whole process delayed any further. Once she had joined him at his side, he gestured toward each of his students in turn as he introduced them. "These are my students: Tigress, Monkey, Crane, Mantis, Viper, and Po." He tried not to get distracted as she let out a quiet yet prolonged squeal beside him. "Students, this is Gia... Lin's daughter."
"Hello!" she greeted in a shout that prompted winces from everyone in the room. "Sorry," she whispered, then cleared her throat and finally chose a normal volume. "It is a pleasure to meet all of you! I am Gia."
"Yes, we established that," Shifu sighed; he did not look forward to the barrage of questions that was sure to come, and Gia's enthusiasm only made the situation more awkward.
With a "tsk," she handed him the remainder of her tangerine. "What is the word when an old man is angry and rude because he has not napped?"
"Grumpy," Po answered, then slapped a hand over his mouth at the glare Shifu gave him.
"Yes, grumpy!" Gia agreed cheerfully. "Master Shifu, do not be so grumpy. Yes, our journey was long and exhausting, but now you are at home."
Shifu ate a tangerine slice in an attempt to soothe himself, then eyed his students, all standing rigid and staring intently at him. Clearly they were waiting until he finally told them he would answer their questions, practically holding their breaths in anticipation. "Alright, go on. Ask away."
They all spoke at once, their voices forming a cacophany in which their words were completely indiscernible. He allowed this to go on until they realized on their own that they were doing themselves no favors and quieted down.
Viper slithered forward, eyeing Gia with great interest. "Master... I think I speak for all of us in saying that we're going to need a more in-depth explanation."
"Yeah!" Monkey agreed, gesturing to the young wolf. "Where's she from? Why's she here?"
"Why's Lin not here?" Po added.
"And what are we supposed to think of this kind of behavior?" Tigress asked coldly, a harsh frown on her face. "You told us your old friend would be visiting, and then allowed her to move in here behind our backs. Now you say she is gone, yet some child of hers is taking her place? The Jade Palace is our home, yet you don't see fit in giving us a choice about with whom we share it, or even any warning that we'll be sharing it." She seemed to realize belated that her criticism may have been out of line, and followed it up with a bow. "Master," she added curtly.
Meanwhile, Gia's enthusiasm had faded more and more throughout Tigress's speech, her expression now downright distraught and her eyes already glistening.
Shifu should have known things would take such a turn. "Tigress, I realize these past couple of months have held some jarring revelations for all of you, but I do not take kindly to the suggestion that I am out of line in opening our doors to people in need." He let his reply sink in, and though Tigress remained stoic at least her comrades had the decency to look guilty. "As for the rest of you, believe me when I say that Gia's arrival here was by no means a part of my plans. However, destiny does not necessarily heed our plans in its workings. I met Gia on my way back here from Shanghai. I cannot say I was... Prepared to know who she is. But she has traveled a long way and should be welcomed properly."
"I'm on it," Po announced suddenly, an excited gleam entering his eyes. "I'll need garlic, carrots, onions-"
"Po, I am sure we'll all enjoy whatever you plan to cook," he interrupted, "but there is more that I must tell you before we can think about dinner."
Po shuffled his feet in embarrassment. "Sure, sure. Can I have some tangerine?"
With a resigned sigh, he tossed the rest of the tangerine to Po, who caught it with minimal fumbling. "What I am about to tell you may shock you. Please, be prepared to hear some jarring news." He paused, preparing himself for the reactions he was about to receive. "Tai Lung is alive."
Everyone gasped, including Gia.
"Who is Tai Lung?" she then asked him in a nervous whisper.
"He is my son," he replied, though that was all the explanation he was able to get out.
"Master, we must immediately take action," Tigress announced, the rest uttering their agreement. "If the six of us work as a team-"
"No." Shifu straightened up as tall as possible, not that it made much of a difference, and folded his arms behind his back. "I forbid the lot of you from taking any action. Tai Lung will not be a threat where he is now- Masters Chen and Wei-Shan will see to it. Once New Year's comes, Tai Lung will be transported back here to the Valley of Peace to... To continue his rehabilitation under our supervision."
"Rehabilitation?" Po echoed, and a heavy silence fell over the group.
He cleared his throat, well aware of how out of his mind he sounded. "I... Believe that it is what Master Oogway would have wanted. And it is what I want. Tai Lung was a good person once, with as much promise as any of you. Certainly it is risky to give him a second chance, but... What is the point in returning him to prison? If even a device of Master Oogway's design could not hold him, what could we possibly do?"
"You know what we could do!" Tigress argued, her sudden temper flare not unexpected, though still startling. "Master, we must defeat Tai Lung! You have seen what he's done to this valley- to you! If we don't kill him first, he'll come for us!"
"Enough!" he snapped, and she obediently fell silent, though her glowering face spoke volumes. "I will hear no argument on this topic," he announced. "What is done, is done. Tai Lung has been free for some time, and has wreaked no havoc that I can see. It is time that we all take a lesson in forgiveness and compassion. And should this rehabilitation... Not work out, then I of course will call upon all of you to defend our home. But that is our last resort. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Master," they replied together.
"Excellent."
"Shifu?" Po asked gently, stepping forward. "Areya gonna be okay?"
It was the first time since he'd arrived that any one of his students had expressed concern over him, and while he didn't feel the time or the place were appropriate, he appreciated the gesture. "I will be, thank you. Now, as for Lin." This part was going to be particularly painful to tell. "She has decided to stay behind in Shanghai, in order to- ahm- help." Perhaps downplaying her role would soften the blow a little.
Without a word, Tigress turned on her heel and stormed out of the hall, slamming the door behind her with a bang loud enough to make his ears pop.
Shifu supposed she could have had a worse reaction. "I know you all must be thinking that I've gone off the deep end, but... It was the wish of Masters Chen and Wei-Shan that Lin stayed behind with them." That at least made it sound like the decision had been out of his hands- which, once he thought back on the events in Shanghai, it sort of had been.
"Master Shifu." This time it was Gia who addressed him. "Is my mother in danger?"
"No," he answered, surprised by the certainty he felt when he said so. "Tai Lung is a dangerous person, yes, and still very bitter and angry. But I don't believe he would harm your mother. She was once a very precious person in his life, and he cared deeply for her. I think he may still, deep down."
Uncomfortable silence reigned after his last statement. While Shifu was aware that his students knew some of his past with Lin and her acquaintance with Tai Lung, he doubted they'd realized precisely how close she had been to the child. He wondered what they would say if they found out that it had, in part, been her love for his son that had brought them together. "I think we've spoken about this enough," he sighed, ready to sit down and drink as much herbal tea as his stomach could hold. "Po, why don't you get started on that dinner you had in mind? Regardless of our odd circumstances, I am the Master of the Jade Palace, and I have returned home. So let's use what little excuse we have to enjoy our evening."
"Sure," Po agreed readily.
"Master, if Gia doesn't have a room yet I'd be happy to help her find one she likes," Viper spoke up, shooting a kind smile toward the girl.
Gia glanced down at him, as if waiting for his permission to go.
"Of course," Shifu said. "If that's alright with you, Gia-"
"Thankyougoodbye!" she replied in a single breath, running ahead and leaving Viper to chase after her and attempt to point her in the right direction.
"I never thought I'd say this," Mantis commented once the two women had left, "but damn. Lin's daughter is hot!"
Shifu felt his eye twitch. "Mantis, go clean up the training hall and never speak again," he ordered. "Monkey, Crane, why don't you help Po out in the kitchen? I need some time to myself."
With a salute from the four men and a disappointed groan from Mantis, the last of his students left the hall.
Alone with his thoughts at last, Shifu's first instinct was to head straight for Master Oogway's shrine. A candle had been lit, and since the peach tree hadn't borne petals or fruit in many weeks, a leaf had been used in their place. He had left his master's staff behind, though now that he had returned he took it from the shrine and held it gingerly; still broken into two pieces, the staff looked more like scrap wood than a relic from the creator of kung fu. He'd thought once he'd returned home he would simply write his letter to Shanghai and rest, but now he felt an itch to do something constructive.
He headed to his room, the broken pieces in hand. Of course he could use a proper bath and a change of clothing, but that could wait. Once back in his room, he searched for the bandages he always kept handy, just in case, and tore off a length. Then, with as much precision as he could muster, he carefully fit the two pieces of Oogway's staff back together. With the bandage tightly wrapped and tied around it, the staff didn't look pretty, but it was at least once more complete. He would have to find an actual craftsman to repair it, but this would do in the meantime. Satisfied, he headed toward the baths with his master's staff in hand. It felt odd to him, as it had the first time he'd weilded it.
What had possessed Shifu to finally attempt to repair this relic of Oogway's, he couldn't say. Perhaps his hope that Tai Lung was truly on his way to redemption in Shanghai had revitalized him. Or maybe, he admitted to himself with some embarrassment, he wanted to present a more authoritative image now that Gia would be staying at the Jade Palace. Of course, he knew what his master would have said on the subject. He had retreived the staff from its resting place simply because it was time to do so.
Shifu stopped outside the bathhouse, his musing interrupted by the sight of Viper lingering outside with Gia. His confusion doubled when he noticed that they were looking at something in the distance, Viper's mouth agape with awe. "Is there something I should know?" he asked as he approached the women.
"Master," Viper gasped, pointing with her tail. "I can't explain- I was showing Gia to the baths and it was just like this-" She shook her head, eyes wide and transfixed on whatever she'd observed.
Shifu turned to look where Viper was pointing, and realized immediately what had caused her such shock. The peach tree, previously bare of anything but a handful of dying leaves, now stood in full bloom with vibrant pink petals.
Lin yawned and stretched her back as she walked down the street with Tai Lung. They'd just finished a shift at the docks, and while Tai Lung had taken to the work surprisingly quickly, she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep up. Her joints ached, her muscles felt like jelly, and she was starting to itch from the sweat that had dried into her thick fur. On the bright side, Shanghai at sundown made for a relatively peaceful walk home, and in the peachy glow of the fading light even abandoned buildings and rotting wood looked prettier. Besides, at least dock work was mindless enough that she had plenty of time to contemplate Oogway's vision. She still couldn't quite wrap her head around the connection between what the old turtle meant to teach her and how she was supposed to pass such wisdom on to Tai Lung. She lit a cigarette for herself, offering one to Tai Lung mainly for her own amusement; the grossed out faces he made whenever she smoked were priceless.
"So Li Peng's been putting us through our paces, huh?" she said casually.
"Hmph," he grumbled.
"It'll be nice to get home and unwind."
"Yes, I'm so sure it will be relaxing to spend the evening soaking in the tension between you and the little gerbil." He crossed his arms, glowering. Actually, maybe he wasn't glowering. He wore the expression so much, it was entirely possible it could be his resting face. He did have a point, though.
Lin and Chen hadn't spoken for days. Chen refused to acknowledge that she existed and she wasn't about to break the silence; she didn't want to talk to him, anyway. Tai Lung had given her the silent treatment for a couple of days, too, after she'd yelled at him. The difference had been that he hadn't been able to keep it up when they worked a shift together; and eventually he'd given in and started talking to her about things besides loading cargo. They never mentioned their fight; they simply moved on as if it hadn't happened. Probably not the healthiest habit in the world, but Lin was sure that if it was that much of a problem she'd be hearing from Oogway about it.
She didn't regret yelling at Tai Lung; he'd been handled with kid gloves for way too long, and even though she'd been harsh it was about time he heard that other people went through hardship, too, and no one was going to waste time feeling sorry for him.
"This working an average job business," he suddenly spoke. "I feel as though we wake only to toil, then return home and collapse in a useless heap only to repeat the cycle. Is that normal?"
She snorted at how clueless he sounded. "Yup, pretty much. You work 'til you drop."
"So like kung fu training, but without any meaning or satisfaction," he concluded. "I would find that depressing if I had the energy."
She laughed at him; the fact that he was only learning about working class toil at forty amused her as much as his quip. "Your ignorance would be sad and offensive if I didn't find it so funny." She tried to give him a punch in the arm, but he dodged her. "Y'know, if you're so against spending the night at home, we could always go out."
"Out?" he repeated as if he'd never heard of such a concept. "Out where?"
"A bar. You do know what that is, right?"
"Oh shut up," he grumbled, and she laughed at him again.
"C'mon," she goaded, now fixated on the idea of going out and unwinding with a drink somewhere other than Chen's kitchen. "It'll be fun! We can stop home and grab Yan-Yan." She raised her voice in a teasing sing-song at Yan-Yan's name.
Tai Lung looked more irritated by the moment. "Ugh, why are you saying her name like that?"
"I thinkya know why." This time she managed to get a punch in. "Anyway, even if Yan-Yan's not home we should rinse off. Ain't good to sweat all up in the cooter and let it sit."
He made a retching noise. "I never want to hear you speak again."
"Too bad!"
Once they reached Chen's house she made a beeline for her room so she could quickly wash off; she hadn't been kidding when she'd said she needed a rinse. She wondered why Tai Lung seemed so reluctant to spend a night out as she bathed; he generally wasn't a shy person. Maybe he just didn't want to go outside his comfort zone. Or maybe he'd gotten stuck up from being raised by Shifu.
"Open up!" Yan-Yan's voice interrupted her thoughts from the other side of the door.
Lin was pretty much finished, so she threw on a robe and let Yan-Yan in.
"I hear there's talk of a field trip." Yan-Yan looked relatively dressed down in a simply tan hanfu, bare of any adornment; it was exactly the kind of thing she used to wear for their nights out as kids.
"Yeah, there's this bar the guys at work're alway yapping about." She noticed Yan-Yan had her hands behind her back; normally such a posture would put her on edge, but she trusted her friend not to pull a weapon on her. "Whatchya got there?"
"Oh," Yan-Yan said, apparently surprised that she'd been found out, even though it was painfully obvious that she had something hidden behind her back. "It's nothing, really, it's just... Here." She held out a rectangular package, simply wrapped in burlap and string.
Lin stared at the package, taken aback by the gesture. "What's this for?"
Yan-Yan shoved the present into her hands. "You helped me out with my ex, and even though you screwed up it worked out in the end. So here, take it."
"Butya got me dumplings," Lin argued, though she was curious enough to unwrap the gift; as she'd suspected from holding the package, it contained some sheets of paper, ink and a brush. "Hah."
"You don't like it?" Yan-Yan sounded disappointed. "I know you've been having a miserable time lately, but I thought you'd at least appreciate a little gift."
"Hey, I appreciate it." She sat down on the bed, still gripping the supplies; she wasn't sure how to react to the gesture. While it was a sincere act of kindness, it also reminded her how her art had gone to the wayside since traveling to Shanghai. "Y'gotta understand, things're weird for me right now. And, y'know, you didn't hafta do this."
"I'm not buying you more stinky tobacco, and I can't afford anything to drink that's even half as nice as Chen's stash, so... This was the next gift that came to mind." Yan-Yan took a seat next to her, snatched the paper and ink from her hands and set it neatly on the bedside table. "And besides, even if Chen never offers you any approval... Well, I've always thought the world of you, at least."
Lin felt blood rushing to her face in embarrassment at the compliment. "I ain't exactly someone you should admire," she argued. "You've always been better'n me at most things, and you sure as hell can keep your shit together a lot better when people scewya over 'an I ever will. But thanks."
She visibly relaxed at the response. "Now a compliment from you is certainly a rare treasure," she teased.
"Yeah, yeah," Lin shrugged off with a chuckle. "Guess the old man rubbed off on me more'n I'd like to admit." They shared a warm smile, and for a moment it felt like they'd never even been apart to begin with. "This ain't headed toward a kiss, is it? 'Cause I'm already taken, so..."
Yan-Yan slapped her arm a few times, scoffing at the question. "You're such an asshole!"
Lin took the blows, laughing at her friend's reaction.
Once Yan-Yan finished pummeling her, they headed out; Wei-Shan and Chen hadn't been anywhere to be seen, not that they'd ever gone out drinking with anyone besides each other. Lin led them to a place she'd often heard the men at the docks discussing, a relatively small tavern in the part of town that Shanghai's current revitalization seemed to have skipped over. The neighborhood was close enough to the docks for the wind to pick up the smell of the water, and the bar itself looked like the only open business on a block consisting mostly of warehouses and tenements. Warm lantern light spilled out onto the street from the squat building's windows, as well as the chatter of a crowd of tipsy working class folks.
Once they stepped inside, Yan-Yan took the lead to the bar and ordered beer for all three of them, Lin sitting next to her and Tai Lung standing uncomfortably behind them. Lin watched as he eyed the crowd; he looked like he was sizing up the establishment's relatively laid back patrons for a fight.
"What's gotya on edge, Keung?" She tried to elbow him in the side, but he blocked her.
"Nothing," he answered shortly.
"Why should there be?" Yan-Yan asked as she received three gigantic, frothy mugs from the bartender. When she turned to hand Tai Lung his drink, he hesitated.
"...What is it, again?" he asked warily, staring down his nose at the beer as if it were inedible sludge.
"Oh my God." Lin laughed when she realized the reason for his behavior. "You're nervous? About being in a bar? And drinking?"
"Shut up!" He snatched the beer from Yan-Yan and gulped it down, then retched and began to cough loudly. "I-I am not nervous- I have faced down far more daunting challenges than simply walking into an establishment such as this and drinking- whatever this is."
"Oh goodness." Yan-Yan momentarily covered her mouth with a hand, as if in shock. "He's never been in a bar before." She glanced at Lin, eyebrows raised, and they both dissolved into laughter at Tai Lung's apparent predicament.
"Oh, yes, laugh," he huffed sarcastically. "It is not as if I had better things to do. Not like I was training to achieve my lifelong dream or any of that nonsense. Gods forbid someone, anyone in this group of despondent slackers have any sort of drive."
"I think he's getting offended," Yan-Yan said, bumping her shoulder against Lin's.
"Don't talk about me like I'm not standing right here!" He drank from his mug again, and although he didn't cough this time he turned red while pressing his lips tightly together, clearly fighting the impulse.
Lin and Yan-Yan continued to laugh at him, although Lin stopped when she noticed that they had company.
Two large brown-furred boars, twin brothers who worked with them down at the docks, flanked Tai Lung and gave him friendly punches from either side. Their names were Feng and Gang, though she'd be damned if she could ever tell them apart. Identical down to the moles on their faces, the two had gotten used to no one ever committing to calling either of them by name. "'Ey, fancy meetin' youse guys here!" one of them greeted loudly, which one she couldn't say; they were a young, exuberant pair, and both of them extremely loud at all times.
"Finally decided to come join us, huh?" the other twin asked at the top of his voice.
Tai Lung visibly winced at their volume, glaring murderously at each young man in turn; he hated the twins. Well, he hated literally everyone. "We were just leaving."
They laughed together, their loud cackles rivaling Lin's own, then punched him again in unison; it was as if they'd rehearsed it.
"This guy!" One twin- possibly Gang- exclaimed, pointing Tai Lung out to everyone as if they'd never met him. "A laugh riot, 'm I right?"
"Yo, Quan, this your girl?" Feng- maybe- asked, nodding to Yan-Yan.
"Nope," Lin replied, though Yan-Yan shot her a desperate look as if she'd wanted her to lie for fear of being flirted with. "This's Yan-Yan, we go way back."
The twins greeted Yan-Yan in a cacophany of "Eeyy!"s while she smiled politely and nodded in silence; most people reacted to the two similarly. They then grabbed onto Tai Lung and began dragging him across the bar against his protests to the group of their other coworkers, going on about a card game they had going.
Lin didn't take any offense to getting left behind; she'd once been one of the guys, just like the twins in a lot of ways. But now she had short patience for keeping up the pretense of being "Quan" out in public, and often only joined in work socialization long enough to force Tai Lung to get to know the men they worked with. Besides, she was significantly older than most of the guys, and she understood how that would create some distance. "Takesya back, huh?" she asked Yan-Yan.
"More than I could ever say," she replied, relief in her voice. She eyed the group of men, jostling Tai Lung and giving him clearly unwelcome slaps on the back. "Seems like he's making friends."
"Yeah," Lin agreed, pleased to see how he'd gone off with the other men with only mild complaining. "They think it's hilarious, how much he hates everything."
They sat in silence, nursing their beers together; sometimes Lin liked to just hang out and listen to a crowd get progressively more drunk and rowdy. It made her feel nostalgic. And it was good to see Tai Lung finally fitting into a crowd, however begrudgingly; their coworkers were good people, so she could only hope they rubbed off on him a little.
Yan-Yan was the first to break their companionable silence. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you, while we have a moment to ourselves." She took a sip of her drink, as if only doing so to create suspense- which was probably the case. "Why do you love Shifu?"
"Eh?" Lin found the question odd. She knew that Yan-Yan's taste didn't exactly skew in the same direction as her own, but even so it was a weird thing to ask. "What kinda question's that supposed to be?" She gulped down some of her beer; maybe Yan-Yan was already getting tipsy.
"It's just that you haven't been back in the country for very long," she reasoned. "This whole romance seems a little fast, even by the standards set in my stories. And he doesn't exactly seem like... Well, like your normal crowd. At least not from what I remember. In fact, I remember him more belonging to the crowd that was trying to arrest you."
Lin shrugged. "I move fast."
"It would appear so." Yan-Yan paused again, apparently waiting for an answer.
"Quit that," she ordered; she didn't like being stared at. "And not that it's any of your business, but maybe I like a man who's honest and serious and all that stuff. Didya ask him why he loves me?"
"I don't care about Shifu, I care about you." Yan-Yan finished her drink and barely had to smile at the bartender before he was rushing over with a refill. "I simply don't understand how you two can barely get along, yet claim to be in love."
"Can we change the subject?" She was getting annoyed with all these questions; if she wanted to shack up with Shifu, that was her own business.
"Sure."
She let out a sigh of relief; she'd been worried that changing the subject would prove a lot more difficult.
"Here's another question," Yan-Yan said, taking a gulp from her drink. "Why did you sleep with Wei-Shan? I mean the real reason, not your whole, 'Eh, I was bored,' excuse."
Lin frowned at the question; apparently her trial wasn't over. "What's withya and trying to pry into every detail of my life?"
"I'm your friend, it's my job," she replied. "And besides, I worry about you."
She raised her eyebrows at the assertion but didn't bother to argue any further. "I dunno," she grumbled into her drink. "I guess I got caught up in old memories. Carried away or something."
Yan-Yan nodded contemplatively, as if she'd suspected as much all along; it irritated Lin. "Isn't it entirely possible, then, that you are doing the exact same thing with Shifu?"
"Nope." She should have seen something like this coming, really.
"Alright," Yan-Yan agreed, though with a heavy amount of skepticism. "I just wanted to... Check in. As someone who's watched her own relationship crash and burn."
Lin finished her drink and tried to get the bartender's attention for a refill, but to no avail. "Trust me, I've been through plenty of that, myself." She leaned over the bar and waved her arms back and forth at the man, satisfied to see him take notice of her and head their way; then she realized that Yan-Yan had beckoned him with nothing more than a single finger.
"One refill for my friend, please," she instructed.
Lin snorted at the situation; once she'd grown a little older and wiser, she'd never wanted for any kind of romantic attention. However, sitting in a room next to Yan-Yan rendered her- and any other woman around, for that matter- totally invisible. Yet Yan-Yan never seemed to realize it.
"I suppose it would be naive of me to think you'd never been through your own share of heartbreak," Yan-Yan sighed once the bartender left them, then sipped on her beer as she apparently thought through her next statement. "I'm trying to think of a gentle way to say it, but I shouldn't pull my punches with you."
"Neither metaphorically nor literally," Lin agreed.
"Honestly, you and Shifu, together, are... Insane. I mean terrifying. Being around the two of you was horrific, I can't imagine what it might be like to actually be in that relationship. That's all."
"Oh, that's all?" she scoffed, offended by the assertion; then again, she had told Yan-Yan not to pull her punches. "Y'know, it ain't the worst relationship I've ever been in."
"It can't possibly be the best, either."
"We'll even out over time."
Yan-Yan sighed, as if she were frustrated by Lin's arguments. "I'll just have to trust your judgement. I only thought it was right, as your friend, to say something. At least this one time. I'm sure Shifu is... Well, I'm sure it'll work out."
"Alright, alright," she accepted, glad at last that Yan-Yan was showing concern over her. "Let's shut up about Shifu, already. He probably heard this whole conversation, anyway, with those honkin' ears."
Yan-Yan snorted into her drink at the comment.
Suddenly a large hand slapped Lin in the back and Li Peng appeared at her side. "What about Grand Master Shifu?" he asked. "Wasn't he afterya back in the day, Quan?"
"Oh, he still is," Yan-Yan replied before Lin could stop her, a shit-eating grin on her face.
"Really?" Li Peng asked, clearly oblivious to Yan-Yan's meaning. "But you've always been a fighter, Quan! Bet you've had him in some tight spots, yourself."
Yan-Yan broke out into hysterical laughter at the statement.
Lin couldn't say she blamed her for laughing, but she'd rather not have to explain her entire identity on a night out. "Oh, shut up." Besides, her connection to Shifu might bring up some uncomfortable questions about "Keung."
Li Peng shook his head and turned to Lin. "Drunk," he mouthed with a grin, and she nodded back. "And speaking of drunk..." He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder with a chuckle, and Lin turned around to see Tai Lung telling an extremely animated story to a cackling group of their fellow dock workers.
"Oh no." She couldn't hear what he was saying, but she swore if it was a kung fu story she'd kick his ass from Shanghai all the way back to the Valley of Peace.
"Embarrassing, right?" Li Peng snorted in amusement as he also watched the display. "I mean, y'think a guy like that's all tough and serious business, and then he not only gets drunk off one drink, then he starts talking about all these cheesy romance stories! I mean, who reads that kinda stuff, right?"
Lin let out a relieved sigh; she'd nearly had a heart attack, thinking Tai Lung had blown his cover so easily.
"Good to seeya around again, Yan-Yan," he continued. "It's been a while! How're you doing?"
"Single life takes a little getting used to after all these years," she replied with a coy smile. "But I'm adjusting."
Lin gave her a little push. "Lookit you, flirting!"
Li Peng pointed back and forth between them. "So're you guys back together again?" he asked, his tone so casual that she doubted he felt he was prying.
Lin decided not to point out that they'd never been together in the first place. "Nah," she answered before Yan-Yan could make another dumb joke about Shifu. "I got someone waiting for me. A big-eared, even bigger-headed pain in the ass."
He grinned, nodding in understanding. "A'right, I get it. Yan-Yan still sounds like the better pick, though."
"I'll toast to that," Yan-Yan said, raising her mug to his.
Lin let the topic go; she'd gone out to have fun and that was what she was going to do. "'Scuse me," she said when she spotted money going down on the table where her coworkers sat with Tai Lung. She gave Yan-Yan a poke in the shoulder, directing her attention to the gambling. "But if I recall, you once had the most incredible luck."
Yan-Yan was dragging her across the room without any further incentive. "Never let it be said I'm one to ignore opportunity!"
Lin grinned to herself; nothing turned a night around quite like a big old fistful of money.
Gia had been settling in at the Jade Palace relatively well considering that she had no friends or family and spoke Mandarin as a second language. Shifu hadn't had the opportunity to spend much time with her, as he had been busy resuming his training schedule with his students, but she showed up for meals and seemed relatively upbeat. He often saw her walking the grounds on her own, deep in thought as she worried at a string of beads with a cross hanging off the end. He remembered her telling him once it had something to do with prayer, so he avoided interrupting her during those times. She had been getting along alright with his students- save Tigress, who wouldn't speak to her.
Well, his male students had all gotten annoyed with Gia as well when she kept confusing the men's and women's sides of the bathhouse, and then seen fit to give them a stern lecture on cleanliness. Personally, Shifu hadn't minded so much. Maybe that was just because Gia seemed to think him above such things and had thus exempted him from her indignation. Still, they were kind and welcoming overall, Viper especially.
As the days passed, though, Shifu found himself growing concerned over the amount of hours Gia spent in solitary prayer. While he appreciated spiritual dedication, he suspected a sense of loneliness and displacement to be more of a motivating factor. He'd concluded that the girl needed something to do. After coming to the conclusion that kung fu would be a terrible fit, he'd alighted on another idea. Lin was an excellent cook, something she'd apparently picked up from her grandmother. Perhaps the talent ran in the family, and Gia would take naturally to some kitchen duties. With Po supervising, perhaps Gia would blossom into a top notch cook like her mother.
Po had signed off on the idea wholeheartedly. His enthusiasm for the idea had been rivaled only by Gia's enthusiasm for nearly everything. Now Shifu only needed to get Gia's approval for the arrangement.
He found her sitting up at the peach tree, which was still in the process of shedding the pink petals it had mysteriously and suddenly produced. That had been quite a shock to behold, but Shifu had taken it as a good omen. Master Oogway was trying to tell him that he was on the right track, that things were going to be alright, he was certain. The petals had also given him extra motivation to summon a craftsman to the Jade Palace to properly mend Oogway's staff.
"It is quite peaceful here," Gia commented, apparently having heard his approach.
"Yes," Shifu agreed. "The Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom is my favorite place at the Jade Palace. My master, Oogway, planted it here a thousand years ago." He laid a hand on the trunk, momentarily filled with a fondness for the tree. "Apparently it bears excellent peaches."
"That is good to know." She smiled at him, though it lacked her usual sunniness.
He took this as evidence that his suspicions had been correct. "Gia, I sense there is something wrong."
She turned her attention back to the view of the village below. She clasped her hands together and squared her shoulders, speaking more hesitantly than he was used to. "I do not want to sound ungrateful. You have taken me in and that is more kindness than I deserve."
"But?"
"...But I am, what is it you call it? I am in the darkness."
"In the dark," he corrected.
"Yes." She took a deep breath, then stood up and faced him. "This Tai Lung is your son? And my mother is... Reconfiguring him?"
He did owe her an explanation. He'd been avoiding it for far longer than he should have, partly for fear of Gia's reaction to Tai Lung's past and partly because of how painful it was to recount the story. "Yes, Tai Lung is my son. And it's rehabilitating." He supposed it was as good a place to start as any.
"Your son is a dangerous person?" she asked.
"Yes. He was once my student, and has mastered all thousand scrolls of kung fu. But... There was darkness in his heart. It is a bit of a long story." He paused, wondering how much of the tale Gia would even understand, given her limited knowledge of kung fu. "There was something he wanted. Something that... I wanted for him."
"Ah, you taught him to covet," she concluded.
"Yes, you could say that." He tried not to get annoyed with the bluntness of the statment; though in possession of a much more positive attitude, Gia was just as blunt as Lin had always been. "And I allowed my pride to blind me to the darkness in his heart. He craved power, and thought this something would give him that. When my master denied it to him, and I did not contradict my master, he went on a rampage through this valley. He attempted to take it by force, and as a result remained imprisoned for the next twenty years. Recently, he escaped, and Po stopped him. We had thought that was the end for Tai Lung, that he had... Died. But he survived, and now he is in Shanghai with your mother. At least, that is the short version."
She furrowed her brow, apparently deep in thought over these events. After a long silence, she nodded. "Okay," she accepted.
He was surprised that "Okay" was all she had to say, but not unpleasantly so. It was a refreshing change. "Gia, I have something for you to do." He supposed now that they'd gotten the more difficult conversation out of the way, he could now assign her kitchen duty. "I believe it would be good for you to take on some chores around the Jade Palace."
She actually looked excited at the prospect. "Really?" she asked, as if she were receiving a great honor. "You would trust me to care for the Jade Palace?"
"Yes, in a manner of speaking." He had to say, he enjoyed her positive attitude. "Po handles a lot of the kitchen duties around here, but he also must focus on his kung fu. I am sure it would do a great deal of good for you to help him."
"Then I shall!" she announced loudly.
"Gia, please." He rubbed at his ear, wincing.
"My apologies." Then she bowed to him, catching him off-guard with the gesture. "I will not let you down, Master Shifu." She ran off down the outcropping toward the barracks, her determination reminiscent of his own students when faced with a mission.
"Hm," he mused. "That was easy." He supposed he should work on getting through the massive pile of mail that had stacked up during his absence, so he headed back toward his own room.
It occurred to him as he sat down at his desk that Lin may have already sent correspondence from Shanghai, and so he rifled through the stack of scrolls Zeng had provided him for any sign of her handwriting. Sure enough, stuck in the pile was a stack of folded up scrap paper, tied together with kitchen twine and marked with Master Chen's seal. He picked the filthy message up by a string, wrinkling his nose at it; he shouldn't have expected Lin to take any more care with the messages she sent him. The string was knotted too tightly for him to untie, but luckily he kept a small knife at his desk for such instances. He unfolded the scraps of paper and carefully read through her missive, hoping for a detailed account of Tai Lung's progress.
Shifu set the letter down before him, sighed heavily, and pinched the bridge of his nose. He set out some paper and prepared ink and a brush, but he couldn't think of anything to say in return to such a message. The initial pleasure he'd felt at seeing Lin's prompt message had long since faded and been replaced with the one emotion she seemed to ellicit most in him: frustration.
A sudden, awkward cough interrupted him in his task. He'd thought that holing up in his room would deter anyone from seeking him out, but he'd apparently thought wrong. He leaned back and turned his attention to his door, behind which a large, panda-shaped silhouette stood.
"You may as well come in." He could use a momentary distraction, anyway.
Po opened the door and stepped inside, but lingered by the doorway, shuffling his feet. "Is this an okay time, Master?"
"It is fine." Shifu waved him in as he once more scanned the multiple page letter that had been marked as urgent. He had hoped there had been something, anything of import contained in its rambling, but his hope had been in vain. "I am just reading Lin's first correspondence."
"Oh yeah?" Po sounded genuinely interested in the letter. "What's it say?"
He supposed there was nothing sensitive written down that he couldn't share, so he read the thing verbatim. "It reads, without any punctuation whatsoever, 'I hate this place I hate Chen I will burn this whole city to the ground and dance on its ashes especially Chen's I will cleanse this world with fire and all shall see my wrath soon all of China will fall at my hands ahahahahaha-' and the rest is just random cursing for three pages."
"Huh. Sounds, uh... Fun."
"She drew a picture to go with it." He held up the vivid ink illustration of Shanghai burning while Lin danced through the city with Chen's head on a pike, a word bubble over her head to indicate her maniacal laughter.
"Are you sure it was a good idea to leave her there? I mean, it sounds kinda like she's turning into a crazy supervillain or something."
"She'll be fine," he lied. He then dipped his brush in ink and scrawled out a quick reply of "What the hell is wrong with you?" After affixing his name seal, he prepared the letter for Zeng to messenger it safely back to Shanghai. Perhaps it was not worth the effort, but he honestly had nothing else to say to the violent nonsense she had sent him. He could only hope the response would bring her to her senses. "What brings you here, Po?"
"Oh! Yeah." He gestured to the stack of messages on Shifu's desk. "Lin got some mail, too. Should we just send it along to Shanghai?"
After the letter she'd sent to the Valley, Shifu wasn't feeling particularly generous. "I am sure it is nothing important. She can go through it once she returns."
"Right." He lingered in the room, scratching at the back of his head. "So, I've been in the kitchen with Gia..."
Shifu waited for his student to continue, but that seemed to be all he was willing to say. "And what?" he prompted.
"And, uh, I know I said before it'd be cool, but... Are ya sure it's a good idea for her to help out in there?" Po asked, raising his voice an octave with each word and taking a step back as he did so.
He leaned back from his desk, eyeing the panda. "You are questioning your master?"
Po took another step back. "No, no. No. Naaahhh." He paused, then spoke again, his voice once more taking on and unnaturally high pitch. "But maaaybe? Just a little?"
"Po, it will be fine." He didn't have time for his student's antics; there were too many things for him to catch up on around the Jade Palace. "Gia is Lin's daughter, she must know at least how to use a knife properly."
"Did Lin teach her?"
"No."
He let out a skeptical, high-pitched hum.
"Oh, for goodness sakes! It is just food, Po. She could not possibly be bad enough to warrant such a change in attitude. Now go back to the kitchen and help the poor girl." He crossed his arms and waited for Po to salute him and leave; he didn't see why the panda felt it so important to interrupt him for such a matter. Once Po had left, he turned his attention back to Lin's message.
He wondered if things were truly that bad in Shanghai. He thumbed at the short missive he'd written Lin, considering tearing the thing open and writing all about her daughter, as well as making every unkind accusation and asking every probing question that had popped into his head from the day he'd first realized Gia's true identity. And yet he held back for the very reason he'd withheld Lin's location from Gia for so long. He feared interfering with Tai Lung's rehabilitation, a delicate process that he already had begun to worry was going wrong. Perhaps it was selfish of him to prioritize Tai Lung over anyone else, but what else could he do? This was the task they had traveled to Shanghai for in the first place, and one Lin had made it abundantly clear that she was willing to sacrifice for. If he did not put Tai Lung above all else then what was the point of putting his faith in this rehabilitation? Lin would understand.
He doubted that last sentiment would prove true. But she would understand once she'd calmed down and stopped hitting him- assuming that would be the worst she would do. As horrible as Lin's ire could be, it was at least preferable to Tigress' cold silence. At least with Lin he knew exactly how angry she was, and usually what about.
Tigress simply stewed, for days or even weeks at a time. This instance was no exception. Of course he had no doubt that her anger had to do with Lin, Gia, and Tai Lung. He just needed to work out the "why" of it all. Obviously she hated Tai Lung for the same reasons anyone else would, no surprises there, and she'd made it clear that Lin's personality was not exactly her cup of tea. He could only assume her anger about Gia had to do with the girl's connection to Lin. But for the life of him he couldn't understand why Tigress seemed so unwilling to give the girl the slightest chance. And certainly she would question Lin's place in staying in Shanghai, as he had, but she had never known Tai Lung personally and she should trust in Shifu's judgement and accept it as his other students had. He also couldn't say her temper didn't cause him unease. Tai Lung had gone with his temper unchecked, and that had not exactly turned out well.
He turned his attention to the rest of his mail for the time being; he could stew over these matter once he'd gotten something productive done.
Shifu glared down at the inedible looking gray mush on his plate, an eye twitching. "What is this?" he asked, relieved to see Po ladling out bowls of noodles for everyone crowded around the kitchen table.
"Beans." Gia sat down at his side, in the seat Lin had taken to occupying during meals. She didn't seem to find anything wrong with the dish and centered it carefully in front of her, as if highly anticipating the meal. "Shall I lead us in a prayer?"
"No!" all of the Furious Five exclaimed at once; they had quickly learned not to encourage Gia's religious leanings unless they wanted to sacrifice the next five hours of their lives to her proselytizing.
Her demeanor became a bit more grumpy at the refusal, but she lapsed into silent prayer on her own without any argument.
Po cheerfully served everyone a heaping bowl of noodles before taking his seat at the opposite end of the table. "I'm sure Gia's beans taste... Okay."
Shifu glared at the panda, remembering how reluctant he'd been to share the kitchen. "Surely the two of you worked together?"
Po nervously turned his gaze to his soup. "Actually, Gia insisted on making her own dish."
He wouldn't have believed such a thing if it weren't for the girl's emphatic nodding. "Oh."
"It looks... Lovely...?" Viper smiled sympathetically at Gia, who beamed with pride at the forced compliment, her prayer apparently over.
"I am glad you all like my beans," she said as she stirred her own bowl of mush. "It is simple fare which reflects a pious lifestyle and a gratitude for the gifts God has bestowed upon us, both large and small. I learned in my childhood to make this dish, as well as wheat porridge."
. Shifu stared at her; he was starting to understand why Po had become so distressed about Gia taking on some of the kitchen duties. "...You can't cook." The revelation came as a shock to him. Despite the fact that Lin hadn't raised Gia, he had still expected her to take after her mother significantly more than she actually did. The discovery that she hadn't inherited Lin's talent in the kitchen was a disappointment, to say the least.
She bristled at the comment, her tone immediately turning defensive. "If you would like something more indulgent, feel free to ask the Devil." She took a dainty bite of the beans, not that he blamed her for eating such a small portion. "Gluttonous old man." She had certainly inherited Lin's temper, if nothing else.
"Alright, then," he accepted wearily as his students ate in awkward silence, most of them looking stunned at Gia's sudden verbal attack. He had grown used to such accusations from her. He gave it to the count of ten before she was either back to her usual cheerful self or crying like a lunatic.
"We are all kung fu masters here at this table," Tigress lectured harshly. "Gluttony is not a habit we tend to keep."
Shifu would have told Tigress it was not necessary in the slightest to come to his defense; he didn't even need to look at Gia to know her eyes had already become watery. However, it was Viper who jumped in to diffuse the situation.
"Well, this brings back memories of my sisters!" she exclaimed, then used the tip of her tail to jab at Crane and Mantis on either side of her.
"Oh, do tell," Crane prompted, his interest painfully fake.
"Yeah," Mantis agreed with a chuckle. "I was always curious about sisters." He earned himself another jab from Viper's tail with that comment.
"Sisters?" Gia asked, her ears perking up in her curiosity.
"Oh, yes, I grew up with two sisters," Viper replied congenially, then launched into one of her many stories which inevitably ended with a moral about how she'd been her parents' favorite child. This one had something to do with a holiday feast and a ribbon dancing competition, one they'd all heard many times over. Gia, however, sat enraptured by the tale.
Shifu had to give his student credit for knowing how diffuse the tension, or at least for being able to stop Gia from crying. Still, said tension had left him disconcerted, to say the least. He knew that keeping Gia at the Jade Palace would not work as a long-term solution, yet he remained at a loss for what to do with the girl. She seemed willing enough to work for her keep, but once Lin returned... He doubted both of them living in the barracks would work out. And he doubted his students would appreciate their presence; Tigress clearly had already reached her limit. After all, Lin and Gia were not masters or even students of kung fu. Perhaps it would help if he found Gia somewhere else to stay at the palace, yet assigning her to a servant's quarters... He shuddered at the thought of the powerful slap that awaited him should he suggest such a thing. Whether said slap would come from Lin or Gia herself was really the only question there. But perhaps the key to easing tension was not moving Gia elsewhere, but simply giving her a solid responsibility at the Jade Palace. Cooking would definitely not be the solution there, though.
He turned his attention back to the conversation at the table; Viper's story had sparked a string of similar family tales from his students. Po followed up with the story of the time he'd eaten all his father's bamboo furniture, which had reminded Monkey of the time he and his brother had glued their family's furniture to the ceiling. Then Mantis had gotten about five words into the story of how his parents had met- which involved his own father's decapitation- before Crane thankfully cut him off. Crane then recounted the tale of how he'd learned to fly, which had ended in his mother losing her temper and swatting at him with a broom.
Gia smiled and laughed at the stories, Crane's especially. "Such a story makes me think of when I first attempted to fly!" The statement was met with a roomful of confused and somewhat concerned stares.
"...What do you mean?" Shifu asked, when it became apparent no one else wanted to say anything.
"I thought I was a bird," she replied, blinking around at the others. "Oh!" she exclaimed, apparently realizing how odd her remarks had sounded. "The convent in which I was raised was an avian one," she clarified. "I did not realize I was not also a bird of some sort until I climbed a tree and leapt from it. It... It is funny like the others, right?"
Shifu could see in the eyes of his students that they felt the same as he did, that the tale was more depressing than funny. Still, Po and Viper prompted a round of forced chuckling, which seemed to put Gia at ease.
"I hope you were not hurt," Shifu said, imagining how young she must have been.
"A heavy layer of snow broke my fall," she assured him. "Though I was pierced through the leg by a fallen branch." That last part brought awkward silence back to the room.
Tigress was the first to speak again. "It is about time we retired to our meditations for the night," she announced sternly, which prompted the rest of his students to clear the table.
"I got this, guys," Po offered, shooing them away from the wash basin. "Don't worry! I been cleaning kitchens since before I could walk."
Shifu supposed he could take this opportunity to speak with Gia more about her plans for the future before his own nightly meditation. As his students filed out of the room, he gave Gia a tap on the elbow and beckoned for her to follow him; she followed him reluctantly, though she kept glancing back at the wash basin. He noticed, as he and Gia exited the kitchen, that Tigress had lingered to help Po clean. He filed the odd gesture away in his memory for later investigation.
"Master Shifu, I would very much like to help clean," Gia said, glancing back at the kitchen as they headed out of the barracks.
"You can clean all you like once we've spoken." He was pleased to see that she nodded and didn't protest any further. It really wasn't fair of him to continuously compare her to her mother, a woman she'd never met, but he couldn't help but think of how much of a fight Lin would have put up. Once they'd reached the palace proper, he stopped at the steps outside and turned to her, noting that she had begun to wring her hands nervously. "Gia, we have yet to speak about your future here at the Jade Palace."
She immediately began to tear up. "I cannot stay?"
He rubbed at his temple; he should have seen this coming. "I asked you to cook today because I had hoped to find you a place here. Yet seeing you with my students tonight... I am not kicking you out- I simply want you to give me your thoughts."
"Oh." She sighed in her relief. "Your students seem nice." She apparently had nothing else to say.
He didn't see why she was clamming up now, when she'd been nothing but candid with him in the past. "I see that you have been spending a lot of time alone," he prompted, hoping she would give him something to go on. "Why?"
"I feel... I do not know. I feel bad, but I do not know what type of bad I feel." She gave a helpless shrug.
He could certainly identify with such a feeling. "Don't worry, you'll settle in soon enough," he assured her. "You've been through quite a journey, after all. And you do not know anyone here."
"I know you."
He'd been afraid of that. "Gia, have you considered that perhaps..." He trailed off, well aware of the possibility that what he was about to say might ellicit anger, or worse, tears. Still, he had to at least bring the issue up. "Perhaps you have gotten attached to me far too quickly?" he rushed out, leaning away from her.
"Perhaps," she admitted, to his utter shock. Then, in a more predictable turn of events, began to cry. "I keep crying," she said in a rare moment of self-awareness. "I am sorry. This has been such a time of emotions for me. I seem to cry all the time, do I not?" She sniffed loudly.
He patted her on the arm, feeling guilty for having brought up the sensitive subject in the first place. That was another thing Gia had inherited from her mother- the ucanny ability to induce guilt at a moment's notice. "You are having trouble adjusting to your situation, that's all."
She seemed to be crying harder by the minute. "It is just that I have no friends in this whole country," she continued in a nasal voice. "And I cannot meet my mother because someone else's child is more important to her than I am." She flushed red after her last statement, a horrified expression on her face. "I should not have said that, I apologize."
Shifu pulled his handkerchief out of his robes and handed it to her; he expected it would not be the last one he'd lose to her. "It's alright. I think you'll find that the Valley of Peace is full of good people who will happily welcome you here."
She blubbered out something unintelligible, then loudly blew her nose.
"Feel free to keep that, by the way."
Gia let out a wet sniff, then took a few deep breaths in an apparent attempt to calm herself. "Am I wrong?" she asked.
"Wrong?" he repeated, furrowing his brow. "Wrong about what?"
"Am I wrong... To come here?" she elaborated. "Am I wrong to meet my mother? I know so little about her, what if- what if she hates me?"
"Of course Lin would not hate you," he insisted, though to be perfectly honest the prospect of the two meeting did make him nervous. "You're her daughter, after all. How could she hate her own flesh and blood?" He decided to withhold the information that Lin despised pretty much her entire family.
Gia stared down at her hands as she worried at her dress, still sniffling a bit. "Do you hate me, Master Shifu?"
He sighed in frustration, though he realized belatedly that did not exactly give off the best impression. "I don't hate you, I simply believe that it takes time to become close to a person. And to be perfectly honest, I enjoy my solitude once in a while."
Thankfully, she wasn't prompted into another round of sobbing by his answer. "I have had solitude, and I do not like it. I want a family."
He supposed he shouldn't be surprised by such a desire at this point. "I understand that, Gia, but I am trying to tell you that you should make more of an effort with other people. Besides me."
"Oh." She stared down at her feet a moment. "Perhaps you are right. I should get my rest. And I will not bother you so much, anymore."
He wondered if he would ever get through another day of his life without being guilted. With Lin and now her daughter around, he doubted it. "Wait." He supposed he'd be up late for a night. "Come with me." He led her into the Hall of Warriors, but rather than bring her to the many awe-inspiring artifacts of kung fu, he turned right down the oft-ignored hallway near the entrance, and then through a dusty door at the end of said hall.
On the other side of that door was the most valuable room in all the Jade Palace: its vast library. The thousand scrolls resting behind the Moon Pool were only the tip of the iceberg; this gigantinc room, filled to the brim with shelves in which even a single row dwarfed Shifu, held the rest of the collection Oogway had amassed over the years. Each gigantic wooden shelf had been filled to capacity with scrolls and papers, even some codexes, dimly lit by ornate torches- that particular detail stood out to him. Someone had used the room recently. He brushed the observation aside; Zeng had probably come in for something.
He reached the large, heavy wooden research table at the middle of the room and pulled out a chair for Gia. "Have a seat," he instructed, before heading to the very back of the room, toward the more neglected shelves which lined the walls. Normally he would need to send an attendant days in advance to search for something in the deep archives, but he knew the location of the scroll he sought by heart. Second shelf from the corner, bottom row, third scroll down. The aging piece of paper was older than Gia herself, and he cradled it carefully as he carried it back to the research table.
"Here," he told her with a sigh, then unrolled the scroll on the table for her to see. "I thought this might help."
In front of them laid the only depiction of herself Lin had produced during her three-month stay at the Jade Palace. The scroll contained an ink painting she'd created of herself and Tai Lung planting their vegetable garden. He'd thought it silly at the time, but it had been good for Tai Lung to have something to tend to, something besides his kung fu training. He'd saved all of her artwork, as he'd promised, but at times when he'd missed Lin most, he'd always turned to that ink painting. And later, when Tai Lung rampaged and was taken away to Chor Ghom, he'd pulled out that same scroll, reminded of how sweet and good his son had once been, and had wept bitterly over the painting like a broken man. Now, he hoped perhaps the painting might be of some comfort to Gia.
She stared at it in silence a long time, sitting straight in her chair, never moving her hands from her lap. Still, her eyes glistened in the dim light as she studied the painting in great detail. "This is my mother?" she asked quietly.
He wondered when Gia would stop revealing new depths to the tragedy of her abandonment by her mother; he hadn't realized she'd never seen so much as an image of Lin before. "Yes." He took a seat beside her, ready for a torrent of questions.
She only continued to stare at the painting. After several long minutes, she leaned back in her chair and turned her attention to Shifu. "It is a bit rough."
"Excuse me?" He furrowed his brow, totally lost.
"The painting," she clarified. "It is not quite the level of skill I would expect. My mother painted it?"
He nodded, taken aback by her reaction.
"The work I have seen from her has been executed with more skill. This must be quite early, yes?"
He felt like he should check the room to see if a doppleganger had replaced Gia, one well-versed in works of fine art. "Uhm, I suppose. It was well before you'd been born, I am sure."
"It seems rather rushed, too," Gia went on, oblivious to his shock. "I would have liked to see darker... I do not recall the word." She waited for him to supply her with the proper term, but he knew nothing about art. "Darker... Lowlights! I remember. And brighter highlights. Without them it is a bit gray. And it does not appear that she used a brush of good quality. This was likely nothing more than a simple study, rather than a completed work."
"Gia, what on earth is this?" He smacked one hand to his forehead, pointing between her and the scroll with the other. "Are- are you an artist? Is that it?"
She finally took note of his reaction and blushed shyly, turning her gaze to her lap. "My apologies," she told him quietly. "I should behave with more humility."
"No," he protested. "No, please do not." He wanted to hear more of this hidden knowledge of hers. "Tell me, are you an artist? How do you know these things?"
"I am afraid I cannot draw even a straight line," she replied sheepishly. "But at the convent we kept a collection of books. It was nothing as grand as this, but it was in need of care. And over time that became my duty. In addition to that, my mother did leave behind some of her works which I studied with great interest."
He stared at her. "Why did you not lead with that?" he asked, still clutching at his head, though in frustration now. "Do you have any idea the amount of care this library requires?"
"Very much, I am sure," she replied, though she left it at that.
He could bang his head on the table. "Gia, I am trying to say that you can spend your time here helping to maintain these archives."
Her eyes widened considerably at the suggestion. "I could not!" she protested. "My experience is much too limited!"
Shifu frowned at her protests. "You should know that I have very little tolerance for such a lack of confidence in your own skills," he warned her. "If you say you cannot do something, it had better be because that is the truth, and not because you wish to appear humble."
Gia turned red at the short lecture. "I- I perhaps could be of some help. But it is the truth, that my experience is limited."
He supposed he'd been a bit harsh with her. "Zeng generally handles these matters. I shall have a word with him and we'll see what he can teach you."
"Teach me?" she repeated. "No, that is too much kindness-"
"That's enough," he interrupted. "Consider the work you will do here payment for your apprenticeship, as well as your room and board. Now tell me with certainty, do you accept?"
She turned her eyes to Lin's old painting, and as she contemplated the work a determined frown crossed her face. Then she lunged at him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a painfully tight embrace. "Th-thank you, Master Shifu!" she choked out; she'd begun to cry again.
He resigned himself to having the life squeezed out of him; at least he'd found something for Gia to do. Now he only needed to worry about her destroying priceless scrolls with her tears.
Po stood in the kitchen, drying dishes and returning them to their proper cabinets while Tigress stood at the wash basin, slowly washing dishes. Her ears twitched every so often, either in the direction of the rooms of the other masters or in the direction of the barracks exit.
"It's safe," she announced quietly, then dropped the plate she'd been half-heartedly washing back into the basin.
Po kind of wished she would keep washing dishes, but let the issue go. "Okay, cool," he whispered, although he had no idea what they were supposed to be doing; Tigress hadn't exactly told him ahead of time she'd be staying after dinner for a secret meeting.
She dried her hands off, then pulled a scroll out of her vest and handed it to him. "I think I've found something useful for us."
He tried not to think about where the scroll had been and focused on opening it and reading the contents. The scroll appeared to contain instructions written by Master Oogway himself on how to map pressure points, specifically for the theory and application of nerve strikes. "Whoa!" he marveled, a broad smile spreading across his face as he read through. "Where'd ya get this? It's awesome!"
"Archives," she answered shortly as she watched him read. "I think it's worth looking there for more information, in addition to this. In the meantime, we have this documentation as a resource."
"Y'know, this's really cool an' all." Po paused in his reading to look at Tigress, but she remained as deadpan as usual. "But dontchya think, now that Master Shifu's back, he could teach ya all this?"
"No," she replied. "He won't, Po. You know he won't! What's the point in bringing it up? So he can find out I've disobeyed him, and dragged you into it with me?" She let out a frustated sigh and shook her head. "Master Shifu is still distracted. If we're just careful enough, we can still do this."
Po didn't like the idea of sneaking around behind Shifu's back. It had been one thing when Shifu had been gone, and he'd been sure that Tigress would come clean as soon as their master returned. But this, sneaking around right under their master's nose, keeping secrets from everyone... He wasn't so sure. But he had also made a promise to her, that he would keep their secret and help her out no matter what. And he didn't like backing out on a promise. "Tigress, I still thinkya should tell Shifu about this. But if ya don't, there's nothing I can do about that. I'll keep helping however I can... But I need a promise from ya."
She raised her eyebrows at him in surprise. "What kind of promise?" she asked.
"Promise me that this sneaking around won't last forever. I know Shifu doesn't think you're ready to learn all this, but once we got it down you'll be able to show him you can do whatever ya set your mind to. And then no more lies, no more secrets. Is'at... Is it okay with you?" He waited for her to scold him or remind him that what she did or did not tell their master was her own decision to make.
Instead, she crossed her arms and nodded once to him. "You've already done more than I could have asked, Po. If that's what you want in return, then I am honor-bound to promise it to you."
He smiled at her; lately Tigress was full of surprises, and nothing delighted him quite like getting so close to a woman he'd idolized as his hero. He still kind of did, actually. A lot. "You're not honor-bound or nothin'," he argued half-heartedly. It gave him butterflies to hear something like that from a kung fu master, despite being one himself, now. "But thanks, that means a lot."
She gave him one more nod, then dropped her arms back down to her sides. "We should decide on a new place to meet up, by the way. For practical sessions."
"Yeah, true." Now that Shifu had returned, practicing nerve strikes would be a lot trickier. With their master's famous sense of hearing, there weren't many places on the grounds they could go without him getting suspicious. He'd suggest his dad's restaurant, but he doubted they'd make it five minutes before his dad put them both to work. The Jade Palace was out, definitely the barracks, and the training hall, as well. "I got nothin'." He rolled up the scroll and handed it back to her.
Tigress grimaced as she tucked it back in to her vest. "It appears that we'll have to stick to studying for the time being. Meet me in the scroll room tomorrow night, after curfew." She then turned around to leave.
"Hey, wait up." Po felt a bit embarrassed by what he was about to say when she stopped and turned back to face him, waiting expectantly. "You, uh... Well, you wanna stay and help? For real?"
She glanced at the wash basin, then back at him. "Alright," she agreed, then returned to washing dishes while he dried.
He enjoyed the companionable silence between them, which was often the case when the two of them were together and not talking about nerve strikes. At first he'd felt the need to fill the silence, but the more time he spent with Tigress, the more he appreciated how nice it could be just to hang around each other.
"I can't remember the last time I washed dishes," she suddenly commented as she handed him a clean cup.
"Well you're really good at it," he replied. "You'd do good in the restaurant business."
"I'll keep that in mind if Shifu kicks me out of the Jade Palace." She sounded like she'd been trying to joke around, but after her statement she frowned and let out a quiet, frustrated sigh.
He normally didn't pry too much with Tigress, especially when it came to matters involving Shifu- he knew their relationship wasn't the best- but he felt like he couldn't let that go. Especially after she'd clearly gotten upset over Gia's arrival, which had honestly blind-sided everyone. Po was still trying to accept the idea of Lin having a kid. "Hey, you can talk t' me if ya want. I mean, I can't help noticing you've been havin' kinda a tough time."
She clenched her jaw as she continued scrubbing dishes. "Lin was bad enough," she said. "But at least when Master Shifu spent so much time with her I could attribute it to... Their relationship."
He tried not to think about Mantis' "doggy style" comments, but failed miserably and shuddered at the mental image.
"But now he trusts her with Tai Lung? And he trusts Tai Lung at all? For all we know she's sitting around on her butt drinking and smoking, like always. Then he brings Lin's daughter here, without so much as a warning? And we're supposed to believe that he just happened to meet her on the road?" She paused to scoff. "If this keeps up the Jade Palace will fall to ruin." She looked aghast a moment, clearly regretting what she'd just said.
"Hey, it's fine," Po assured her. He knew she hadn't meant that last part, and he definitely didn't hold it against her. "You're just venting. I do it, too, y'know. Everyone does. Ifya say somethin' you don't mean, then... Join the club. Right?" He smiled at her, hoping to cheer her up a little.
She looked at him like he'd just started juggling the dishes instead of drying them off. "Thank you, Po. That helps a little."
"I'm glad." He gave her a pat on the arm, then quickly withdrew his hand; he didn't think Tigress liked to be touched that much. "Y'know, I get that ya don't get along with Lin, but man... Gia's like the exact opposite. Ya never know, ya might actually like her. Even if her cooking's... Not at all likeable."
She snorted at the comment. "I think those beans of hers could be weaponized, if we had enough of them."
He chuckled, nodding. "Yeah. She wasn't so great in the kitchen, but she seems nice enough. Really talkative. Not sure what she was talkin' about half the time, somethin' to do with some dead guy and a cross I think? And lots about what it's like to be a nun, which sounds kinda terrible, actually. But like I said, she's nice."
Tigress rolled her eyes at him. "You think everyone is nice, Po."
"Most people are!" he argued, and he meant it.
"Agree to disagree."
"You're nice, and I'll bet ya don't think ya are."
She blinked at him, a confused frown on her face. "I'm a kung fu master. Why would I want to be nice?"
He laughed, even though she still looked confused. "I'm just sayin', you're nicer 'an ya think. And remember, ya didn't think you'd like me when I first showed up, and now we're friends. Maybe if ya just talk to Gia you'll feel better about her being here. 'Cause, I mean, it's not like Master Shifu's gonna change his mind for any one of us."
"You're starting to sound like Viper," she sighed. "Please don't try to push me into something I'd rather not do."
"Sorry," he replied sheepishly; he hadn't meant to sound pushy. He figured it was time to change the subject, judging by her furrowed brow. "Hey, we should play some mahjong after we're all done here!"
"What?" The suggestion at least seemed to distract her from the stuff bothering her. "Why?"
"'Cause it's fun," he said. "Do we need another reason?"
"Yes, we do." She sounded sincere, unfortunately. "We're supposed to meditate after this, Po. Kung fu requires as much spiritual discipline as it does physical discipline."
"Well, maybe a little fun once in a while's good for the spirit," he argued, raising his eyebrows at her. "Eh? Ehhhh? I can showya my patented one-handed shuffle. It's, uh, pretty impressive. Just to warn ya."
"Only one game," she conceded, shockingly enough. "And then an hour of meditation. Alright?"
"Yes, Master," he agreed with a grin, then bowed to her, his dish towel still in hand.
She laughed, however briefly, and he couldn't help but think she had a beautiful laugh.
Lin woke up face down in her pillows, and pushed herself up on her arms with a groan, then peeled a clammy yuan off her cheek and chucked it on the floor. "Yan-Yan, get up," she grumbled, taking a moment to swat at her with a pillow before making the crawl to the chamber pot.
"Nnnoooo," Yan-Yan whined, kicking her feet in the air several times before rolling over and covering her head with a pillow. "Too comfy," she announced, though her voice was considerably muffled.
Lin yanked her shirt off and tossed it across the room; she'd been sweating all night, having worn clothing to bed.
"Eeeewwww-"
"Oh shut up, it's nothing you ain't seen before." She yawned, wincing at how her head pounded; the worst thing about getting older was definitely the hangovers. After washing her hands, she returned to her pile of pillows; Yan-Yan had made an excellent point about their comfiness. "I'm kinda nauseous."
"Really?" Yan-Yan emerged from within the pillows and blankets, her dress wrinkled and still smelling of smoke and beer; if Lin looked closely, she could see bags under her violet eyes. "I could eat."
"Me too." Lin dug around under her back and pulled out another yuan. "Did we sleep on money?"
"Yeah, you don't remember rolling around in a pile of yuan?" Yan-Yan pulled a coin out from her sleeve and placed it on Lin's forehead. "Your idea."
"I'm gonna get so much shit at work for swindling those dumb kids." It had been worth it, though. "I do kinda remember the money-bed thing now thatya mention it." She also vaguely remembered a game of Truth or Dare, a ruan which she may or may not have stolen from the bar, and something to do with honey. "What'd we do with that honey again?"
"Put it on Tai Lung's palms while he was sleeping," she replied.
Lin snorted. "Oh, yeah. The ol' sticky dick trick."
"Is that what they call you out west?" Yan-Yan asked, then laughed when Lin slapped her in the arm.
"Laugh allya want, this time you're my one night stand," she joked, grinning when Yan-Yan wrinkled her nose and pushed her. "C'mon, lemme makeya some breakfast and giveya some cash for a water taxi home."
Yan-Yan pushed herself out of the pile of cushions and grabbed the ruan Lin had borrowed the night before. "You can play me a romantic tune while you're at it."
Lin threw her chest open and dug around for a clean shirt; normally she wouldn't worry too much, but she didn't want to chance Chen seeing her walking around without a top on and freaking out. "Aha!" She yanked one out from the bottom of the chest and haphazardly pulled it on. "I don't even think this's mine," she mused. The dusty garment smelled decades old and was a size or two bigger than her normal clothing. "Whatever," she concluded, then followed Yan-Yan downstairs to the kitchen.
Lin didn't feel like cooking much, so she simply rehydrated some dried shiitake mushrooms and sliced them thinly, tossed them with chili oil and cilantro, then served them alongside yesterday's rice and some pickled plums she'd found sitting around in the pantry.
"Spicy!" Yan-Yan exclaimed after one bite of the mushrooms, though that didn't stop her from eating more. "The resident chef strikes again."
"Strike," Lin repeated thoughtfully as she dug in. "Y'know, we're the only two I ever see cooking or cleaning around here."
Yan-Yan snorted. "Gee, I wonder why that is."
"Time for a strike." Lin got up momentarily to pull out some of the best wine available from Chen's cabinets, along with some cups. "Let's toast."
"You're going to turn me into an alcoholic." Yan-Yan poured, though she didn't raise her glass immediately. "You know that I owe Chen a lot. I don't know if this would be such a good idea."
"Chen did what any friend would do," Lin pointed out. "Doesn't mean you owe him free labor. And I know you're tired of hearing complaints left and right over everything you do around here-"
"As if you don't chime right in?"
"Look, you in or out?" Lin raised her glass and after another moment's hesitation Yan-Yan did as well. The both drank, Lin grinning at the idea their strike had given her. Tai Lung could use some more responsibility.
Speaking of whom, Tai Lung himself shuffled through the entryway into the kitchen. His eyes were bleary and bloodshot, his thick fur mussed in places and matted down with sticky honey in others. He didn't say a word to either of them, only gingerly sat down at the end of the island counter, large bags under his eyes and a sullen frown firmly on his face. He grabbed an orange from the fruit bowl and began to peel it, though it looked like he could barely move his fingers at all. He was clearly more hung over than either Yan-Yan or Lin, which she found hilarious considering how much less he'd had to drink.
Lin briefly made eye contact with Yan-Yan, who nodded once, decisively. That was all the prompting she needed to grab the ruan, then stand on her chair with one foot up on the counter, leaning over Tai Lung as he continued his clumsy attempts to peel his orange. She grinned widely and strummed as quickly as she possibly could on the instrument, while Yan-Yan watched on, her giggles drowned out by the noise.
Tai Lung sluggishly reached one hand out and grabbed a fistful of Lin's shirt, lifting her up off her feet; she continued strumming, though a little more discordantly now. Slowly, he stood up with Lin in hand, walked over to the kitchen door, opened it, placed her in the alleyway behind the house, and slammed the door in her face.
She stopped playing the ruan when the door slammed, though she still grinned as she heard Yan-Yan cackling loudly inside the house. Tai Lung had locked the kitchen door behind him, so she walked around to the front of the house to get back in, and decided it would be best to drop the ruan off in the sitting room. When she got back to the kitchen and tried to sit down in her seat again, Tai Lung picked up the chair and held it over her head. "Yeah, yeah, funny," she conceded while Yan-Yan broke out into fits of laughter again. She sat at the opposite end of the kitchen island instead, and started eating pickled plums with her fingers. "Whatsamatter, Tai Lung? You lost your voice from all that beautiful singing?"
He glared at her as he chewed on his orange.
She remembered playing the ruan the night before, and the boar twins had taught Tai Lung several vulgar bar songs to accompany her- which he had belted out without reservation, louder than anyone else in the room. Tai Lung's low threshold for alcohol and his ridiculous behavior had actually earned him a lot of free drinks, which had been forced into his hand in the hopes that he'd become more hilarious the more he drank. Lin had taken a fair amount of those drinks from him when nobody had been watching.
"Oh my goodness," Yan-Yan mused, watching him. "I think he did lose his voice." She immediately took Lin's former seat next to him and before anyone could blink she had both her hands around his throat, poking various areas with her thumbs.
Tai Lung let out an irritated snort, but otherwise sat still for the prodding.
"Well I don't feel any swollen glands," she said, then pried his mouth open and peered inside. "Keep your tongue flat, Tai Lung," she ordered.
Lin wondered if this was some sort of weird form of flirting for Yan-Yan. "This's an interesting display."
"Redness and irritation, but no open sores or white patches," Yan-Yan concluded, snapping Tai Lung's jaw shut again. She began rummaging around in the cabinets, and after a minute of waiting she emerged with honey in one hand and a jar of her patented fermented goop in the other. She then took the leftover hot water from reconstituting the mushrooms, poured it in a large cup, and stirred in a huge spoonful each of honey and her medicine before setting the horrible concoction in front of Tai Lung.
He emphatically shook his head, his whiskers twitching as he leaned away from the stuff. "No," he croaked out.
"He speaks," Lin said, grinning at what a baby he was being. "Just drink it, she'll only make your life harder ifya don't."
"We could try wrapping your throat in steamed banana leaves," Yan-Yan said thoughtfully. "Of course there's accupuncture as well. And if I cut an onion in half-"
Tai Lung grabbed the medicine and downed it in one desperate gulp. "Agghh," he groaned once he'd swallowed the stuff, wrinkling his nose. "Tastes like feet and sugar," he rasped.
"And yet you can talk now," she observed smugly.
Lin could tell when she was becoming a third wheel, and as much as it pained her, she stood to gain from letting Tai Lung get closer to Yan-Yan. "Well, I gotta go lie down," she announced. "Don't get too bored without me." She actually could use some more rest; she didn't bounce back from a night of drinking the way she used to.
On her way upstairs she grabbed the ruan from the sitting room, not that she planned on playing it again any time soon. She made it as far as the door to her old room before stopping dead in her tracks; she wanted to go back to bed so badly, yet she couldn't bring herself to walk any further down the hall. She felt pulled toward the room, as if by an invisible force. She frowned to herself in her irritation. If Oogway wanted to communicate, it didn't always have to be in that one room. Then again, she actually stood a chance at getting some privacy if she meditated in there. With a defeated sigh, she opened the door, walked in, and sat on the floor in lotus position.
"Nice ruan," Oogway's voice sounded from beside her. "Care to play me a song?"
Notes:
Thanks for reading, everyone! So as for references this chapter, you'll probably recognize the "Where'd he go?" joke from the first Kung Fu Panda movie, and the scroll room/library from the third movie. I should also state that while I'll definitely be incorporating some of the locations from the third movie and its art book, I won't be incorporating any of the events. The story is still pretty firmly set between the first and second movies, if you really want to give it a "canon friendly" timeline.
Chapter 15: Food for Thought is No Substitute for the Real Thing
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 15: Food for Thought is No Substitute for the Real Thing
Lin looked around her dusty old room, but all she could see were the disused bed, empty trunk, and creaky floorboards that had always been there. "So you just know everything about me, huh?" she asked irritably.
"You would be surprised what one can learn as a spirit," Oogway's voice replied serenely. "Perhaps you could write me a song about whether you've learned anything from my last visit."
"I'm more of a lyricist," she said, pushing the ruan pointedly away from her. "Not so great at writing the music part. You gonna show yourself any time soon? Or am I just gonna talk to air this time around?"
"Concentration is the key to all disciplines," he said.
"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled, then settled back into lotus position and closed her eyes. She couldn't say it was easy to relax and clear her mind, but she at least had a strong motivation to do so.
"I had hoped you would have spent more time meditating on your previous vision," Oogway's voice sounded from beside her, now.
Something dense and rough settled into her open palm, and she opened her eyes to see a plain piece of hardtack in her hand. "Great, I gotta eat this shit?" Considering she'd had to consume lemons for her last vision, she guessed this one had something to do with her many travels.
Oogway sat next to her, his staff in hand as always, shaking his head. "You only need something to jolt your memory. I explained this in our last meeting."
"You're starting to sound like Chen," she grumbled, wrinkling her nose. "I remember your last trip down trauma lane, I just don't quite get what I'm supposed to teach Tai Lung from it. You want me to, what? Marry him off? Whip him with a branch?"
Oogway only leveled her with that steady, unwavering gaze of his.
"Right, the forgiveness thing."
"And?" he prompted.
She sighed in her annoyance at his insistence on behaving like they were in a classroom, but answered anyway. "And trying to forget the past ain't the same thing as accepting it and moving on."
"Sounds about right." He stood up and offered a claw to help her stand, as well. "There is no point in postponing your next vision further." He gestured to the hard biscuit still in her hand. "Have a bite."
She hated hardtack, but she took a bite of the thing, anyway. It tasted peculiar, as if it had been smoked. "Ech," she grumbled, swallowing with no small amount of effort. "Tell me that's all I gotta eat."
"You're good," he confirmed, and she tossed the rest of the biscuit aside.
Once more the room faded into nothingness, and slowly someplace new came into focus. She squinted her eyes and did her best to recall where she'd tasted the smoky hardtack before. It took her a moment to realize that they were standing inside a tent at nighttime, dimly lit by a lantern- and flickering light from outside. She smelled smoke, and as the rest came into focus, she knew exactly the memory she would see. Now she could hear the sound of roaring fires, desperate shouting, running footfalls, screams. The plain burlap tent had just enough room inside for a tarp on the ground to protect its inhabitants from the dirt, a small chest containing some essential belongings, and a bedroll.
Lin turned her attention to a small figure huddled in the far corner of the tent, a scrawny girl with fluffy fur and a curly tail that looked far too big for her body. She wore a dress, a blue hanfu that looked completely out of place on her; the belt was sagging and the collar falling awkwardly open, though she did nothing to attempt to fix it. She instead busied herself crying piteously and wiping at her face, which only succeeded in matting her fur. Although she was clearly trying to keep quiet, her sobbing and sniffling still sounded loudly over the shouting and clanging of steel coming from outside of the tent.
"If I feel pity for myself in this context, is it still self-pity?" Lin asked, but Oogway didn't answer.
Suddenly, as if he'd been drawn by the noise, a young wolf bandit poked his head inside the tent. One eye was covered in bandages, a nasty-looking cut poking out from underneath, the other scanning the area for anything valuable. His gaze fell on the girl, who seemed too busy with her sobbing to notice the intruder. He stared at her a moment, a mix of interest and pity on his face, before stepping inside the tent. Compared to Lin's past self- or her current self for that matter- he was quite large and intimidating. "Hey," he called out softly.
At his greeting, she jerked her head up, her tears coming to a halt at the sight of the stranger. She sat perfectly still, as if he might lose interest and leave if she didn't move.
"You okay?" he asked awkwardly.
With a cry somewhere between a scream and a yelp, she lunged for the nearest hard object- a hairbrush- and chucked it at the bandit.
He only had time to look surprised before the brush hit him square between the eyes with enough force to knock his head back. His hands flew to his forehead and he hunched over with a muttered curse.
Meanwhile, Lin's younger self had grabbed a pillow and now held it out in front of herself like a shield.
"D-dammit," the bandit cursed again, though when he finally lifted his face he bore a grin, despite the clear pain the projectile brush had caused. "That's good aim y'got there."
She'd frozen again, her eyes wide with fear.
"Look, you don't gotta be afraid of me," he tried to soothe her. "I ain't here for anything but money. You got money onya?"
She slowly shook her head, never taking her eyes off of him.
"Then technically I shouldn't even be in here. But, y'know... You were crying." He paused, waiting for her to speak, but she remained silent. He edged a little bit closer to her. "I didn't mean to scareya. I just wanted to see if you're hurt."
She shook her head again.
"No? That's good." His face relaxed into a suave smile, and he inched even closer, now only an arm's length away from her. "You can answer me, y'know. With words. I got a few minutes to talk, so..."
At last, she spoke. "Get bent."
He looked taken aback for a split second, then laughed at the response. "I like you!" he informed her, slapping his knee. "Pretty and mouthy, just my type."
At his relatively benign reaction, she seemed to gather courage and threw the pillow aside. "You deaf on top of being blind? I said go blow it out your ass!"
He only laughed more at the insult. "Ah, that's awful sweet ofya," he countered, grinning jovially- as if he and his comrades were only around for a friendly visit, rather than sacking and burning their camp. "Man, I can't believe you were ever sad, lookin' at that glare of yours."
It was true; if looks could kill, her glare would have stopped his heart cold already.
"So maybe I didn't cheerya up," he went on, "but you're not so sad anymore, right? You're at least done crying. So that ain't so bad."
Her glare slowly faded as she realized that he was right; she'd been so angry and defensive, she hadn't been able to think of her depression. And though the girl still didn't trust the man in front of her, once she'd begun to calm down she noticed how handsome the bandit was. "I guess," she grumbled, blushing.
"I'm Guotin," he introduced. "You?"
"I dunno," she answered, and though she didn't quite trust him she was at least able to relax a bit. "I still gotta change it."
"Fair enough." He eyed her, his expression contemplative. "I gotta ask. Someone rough you up? One of my guys?"
For some reason, she felt compelled to answer him honestly. "The merchant did."
"I'll see if I can break a few teeth before I gotta run."
She smiled at the promise, mostly at the thought of her fiancé getting a punch in the face from a bandit.
"Wow." He gave her a moony-eyed grin, leaning toward her. "What a smile!"
"Touch me and die."
He only laughed, as he had at all her threats. "I'd believe it!"
In spite of herself, she was starting to like the weird bandit; at least, she liked him enough not to deck him. "...I guess you're not the worst," she admitted reluctantly.
He seemed as pleased as if she'd confessed her love to him. "Hey now, sweetie, you ain't gotta get all sappy to win my heart."
She didn't know what to say; she could swear he was trying to flirt, but no one had ever flirted with her. She wasn't exactly the type of girl who received positive attention from anyone, let alone a handsome wolf bandit. "Okay," she agreed, for lack of a better response; she was probably only imagining things. There was no way he'd ever flirt with her.
He opened his mouth to say something else, but a shout sounded from outside the tent, and his ears twitched back. "Sounds like my time's up," he told her, then in a move that utterly shocked her, he held out his hand. "I like your spark," he said determinedly. "Andya got great aim. Come with me. I promise you won't be harmed, and I'll see to it you get an even cut, onceya learn the ropes."
Almost instinctively, she reached out for his hand, then stopped herself. She knew this was a crossroads, that if she chose to run off with the stranger she'd escape her circumstances, she wouldn't have to be anyone's wife or mother or submit to a man who degraded her. But she also knew that if she took his hand, she'd only be relying on him to save her instead of earning her freedom on her own. She'd already done that once, and it hadn't ended well for her.
"C'mon," the bandit pleaded. "Don't think, just come with me. I can ditch those other losers once I get my cut, and it'll be just you and me, and the open road. Doesn't that sound great? There's a whole wide world out there, and it's ripe for the taking. Don't you want your piece of it?"
She did. And she wanted it on her own terms. "No," she answered, her voice a bit shaky. "I can't."
He looked disappointed, but he didn't push any further. "Okay," he accepted gently. "We ever cross paths again, consider me a friend." With that, he was gone.
And as she listened to his retreating footsteps, she made a promise to herself: that she would escape the man who planned to marry her, who kept her like a slave, no matter what. She would do it in her own way, under her own power, and she would finally take her life into her own hands. For better or for worse, even if she died trying, she would take her freedom for herself, without help from anyone. She had spent her whole life waiting to be saved, and it was time she stopped deluding herself; salvation lay only in her own two hands. And the moment she realized it, she felt more powerful than she ever had. She knew she could win, if she only fought hard enough.
"Quite a crossroads indeed," Oogway commented. "You made a wise choice, I believe."
"Yeah," Lin agreed, stunned as she came out of the vision, and in the blink of an eye everything was normal again and she was back in Chen's house. "Hey, since you're all ghostly and mystical and all-seeing now... You know what woulda happened if I'd gone with him?"
The old turtle's eyes turned up, as if he were thinking deeply on the subject. "The road not taken is full of infinite possibilities, none of which will do you any good," he said. "You would not want to dwell on what could have been."
"I guess. I just don't get how my past is gonna help anything," she sighed, shaking her head. "Yeah, you said forgetting ain't the same as forgiving. But there's a reason I decided to forget."
"You can always refuse my visions, if you like." To Oogway's credit, he didn't sound annoyed with her, or even disappointed this time. "I would miss the company, though."
"Ah, I see, guilting me." She should have known he'd pull out such tactics sooner or later. "Look, I'll keep trying. That's all I can promise."
He nodded to her, a small smile forming. "Excellent. There is another element of your vision I had hoped you would ruminate on, before I go."
Lin resisted the urge to groan. "What's that?"
"You tell me." Oogway gave her one of those penetrating stares of his, waiting.
Lin thought back on her vision; it had just been about her and Guotin, really. She'd thought they'd covered everything. And she didn't want to think much more about said vision. She liked Guotin and all, but she couldn't say it was pleasant to see their first meeting again, since it also brought up memories of her vile ex-fiancé, Marco-
"You're saying I gotta forgive Marco, too?" she realized aloud, horrified.
"I am saying that you must meditate on all aspects of your past, even the most painful ones. It is necessary for you to move on."
"I have moved on," she argued, but Oogway only shook his head.
"Try, Lin," he said, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Try to think back on the time you spent with him- all of it. Allow yourself to feel that pain all over again, and then try to let it go."
"I never wanna think about that buffoon again," she snapped. "I'm over it!"
"Are you, truly?" Oogway asked, staring at her with those eyes that seemed all-knowing. "In order to release your pain, you must experience it once again. It will not be easy for you, I know. But try to remember that part of your life. Truly think back on it."
"I remember how horrible it was," she replied bitterly. "I remember how horrible he was. I remember..."
"What?"
Oogway had reminded her of the time she'd first met Marco, a memory from a lifetime ago that she'd left long-buried. "I remember being a fool," she muttered as she thought back on how fragile she'd been, after her grandmother had died. And how he'd eaten her food and made such a fuss over it that she'd wanted to leave with him, she'd wanted him to take her away. How she'd imagined a life of travel and adventure, wonderful new experiences that would have made leaving her home worthwhile. She remembered the first time he'd taken her hand, and she remembered all the false promises he'd made her, and how completely she'd believed him because she was so desperate for someone, anyone, to give her a better life than what she'd had. She remembered him buying her lavish gifts of exotic spices and oils as they'd traveled, buying her new clothes and having their portrait painted together, telling her stories of all the beautiful and dangerous lands she had yet to see. She remembered thinking in those times that maybe he'd grow to love her, and then he wouldn't have such a bad temper anymore, he would learn to be gentle with her always and not just when he felt it necessary to pacify her.
She had been a fool, and that was what hurt her the most. "How could I have been so stupid?" she asked, hoping Oogway would have some wise answer for her that would make her feel better.
"You were not stupid," he told her. "You were just like anyone else: in need of hope."
"Hope, yeah," she grumbled skeptically. "How d'you suppose that explains Salvatore, huh?"
"I thought you might bring that up." He cleared his throat, sounding awkward for the first time she could remember. "I am afraid you may face that part of your past as well."
"No!" she protested immediately, her chest clenching at the idea of even trying. "You can't- don't bring me back to any of it! I don't wanna see!" Her hands settled instinctively on her stomach, worried some vision might start up from the perspective of her past self.
"We will have to visit this chapter in your life sooner or later," Oogway warned. "You must move on from all the wounds of your past."
"Don't make me go back to when I was pregnant," she begged, though she knew it was fruitless.
"There is a chance you may not have such a vision," he reassured her. "But I cannot promise anything further. I do not control your visions, I only guide you."
"Awesome," she grumbled. She wondered, and not for the first time, if the stuff Oogway kept showing her was even worth the effort. "What happens if I don't wanna see something, then?"
"You will anyway," he stated bluntly. It was probably as up front as he was ever going to get, and she appreciated he'd made the effort at least once to say something she'd understand. "Unless, of course, you close your mind to me. In which case, you will no longer receive any visions at all."
Lin took a moment to think about that; no more visions would definitely be easier on her. Yet without these visions she might never figure out what, if anything, she was supposed to teach Tai Lung. "I can't risk that," she admitted to him. "As much as I hate to admit it, I have to put myself second." She'd put other people ahead of herself a lot in her lifetime, and it had never turned out well for her. When she had left England and resolved to take it easy, maybe even retire, she had thought that finally she'd be able to put herself first. She'd wanted that, and she still did, but that didn't mean she'd be able to make it happen. At least when her fiancé, Al, had been alive she'd had someone looking after her. Oogway was helping her now, but there wasn't too much he could do for her. As far as everyday life went, she was on her own now. "I guess you're gonna tell me not to worry so much about future visions and focus on learning what I can now."
"You're starting to get it," he replied warmly, then nodded his head ever so slightly. "Now get some rest. You'll need it, with that hangover."
Lin once again found herself sitting in full lotus position, alone in her abandoned teenaged bedroom with her joints aching and still no clue as to what she should do next. She briefly contemplated her vision, and everything Oogway had discussed with her. She realized, with no small amount of trepidation, that she would need to meditate more in order to sort her thoughts out. At least she could meditate through yoga, and get some blood moving to her extremities again. She only made it as far as a sun salute, though, before a wave of dizziness hit her, and she felt the contents of her stomach begin to bubble up. Oogway had been right about the hangover, unfortunately. As she ran for the nearest receptacle, she wondered if it'd be possible to give a ghost a smack right in his smug face.
Shifu sat in the kitchen, a pot of tea and a pile of mail on the table before him. He'd been surprised at how well he'd been able to settle back into a routine in spite of recent events. Checking the mail, however, had become his top priority of each day. After Lin's preposterous excuse for a first letter, he was anxious to hear something, anything, about Tai Lung's progress. He had begun to wonder if it had been a mistake to trust her enough to leave her in Shanghai to supervise his wayward son. Perhaps he'd been swayed too easily by her insistence about Oogway's visions and her gut feelings- he certainly would never have accepted such reasoning from anyone else. Yet if Lin truly had received a vision from Oogway, then he needed to trust in his master- even when his master had passed on to the spirit plane.
He paused in his musing when he came across a particularly dense letter, and curiously checked its seal. Shifu sighed in relief when he realized that the thick scroll was a second correspondence from Lin. She'd finally written him a proper letter detailing what had been going on in Shanghai for the past few weeks. He still felt annoyed at her relative lack of communication- her enraged scribblings notwithstanding- but better late than never. He began to unroll the scroll, impressed by its length. She must have made significant progress with Tai Lung to have so much to say. Anxious to see her report, he began reading the scroll intently.
And soon, he felt a blush rise to his face. What he had in front of him was even further from a proper report than her previous letter. He set the scroll down momentarily, compelled to make absolutely sure he was alone. Lin had sent him a letter of a more... Erotic nature. He should have seen this coming; for one, she'd told him she would do such a thing. He glanced back down at the scroll, unsure of whether he wanted to stop or continue on in the hopes of gleaning any real information. He decided it would be best to skip ahead. Surely there was something relevant written in such a long scroll.
He methodically unraveled the entire thing, stopping every so often to scan the characters for any indication that she'd begun writing about Tai Lung. However, every time he stopped and checked he was treated to some colorful phrasing of hers, or a description of some filthy, perverted thing she apparently thought it appropriate to let him know she did to herself. "Oh gods," he grumbled to himself, trying not to linger too long in any one spot. He felt dirty just holding the scroll.
Finally, he reached the end of the letter. "Of course," he concluded upon the realization that the full length of the scroll, now piled up messily on the table beside him, had been nothing more than Lin's sexually explicit ramblings. Which she had so kindly concluded with the most pornographic self-portrait he'd ever seen in his life. "Of course," he ground out, his eye twitching at the sight of the illustration. For a woman who claimed to dislike self-portraits so much, she certainly didn't seem to have a problem using one to scar him for life.
"Hey, Master Shifu- Whoah!" Po walked into the kitchen, and unfortunately caught sight of the scroll before Shifu had a chance to hide its true nature. "Ohmygods," he rushed out, covering his eyes. "Oh that's- That's not right!" He let out a pained groan, as if someone had punched him in the stomach. "Ahhhhh, why? Why would ya not do that in private?"
Shifu bristled at the suggestion that he would intentionally peruse such a document in the kitchen, where anyone could see it, as well as the implication that he would do anything while viewing said document. "For your information, I thought this letter was going to be about Tai Lung."
"That's not natural," the panda continued, still covering his eyes. "There's no way- no way someone can bend that way." He then spread his fingers to peek out between them, and upon seeing that Shifu was well into the process of rolling up the scroll, let out a sigh of relief. "Man, that took years offa my life."
Shifu glared at the panda, realizing belatedly that part of what annoyed him about the comments was that he felt defensive on Lin's behalf. Not that he could reasonably defend anything she chose to do. "I assure you that the sight of the woman with whom I am currently involved will have no lasting effect on your mortality- nude or otherwise."
"Oh," Po said sheepishly, slowly turning red as he seemed to realize that he may have said something offensive. "Uh, sorry. Didn't meant to insult, uh... Your girlfriend?"
"Don't call her that, it makes me sound like a child. Or like I am seeing a child- which is actually true if we're speaking strictly in terms of mental maturity." He stopped there, fearing he might devolve into a rant about Lin and her incomprehensibly poor choices. "Anyway." He tried to think of something else to say, perhaps something less awkward. "Lin does not like labels." Yet somehow he'd managed to blurt out something even more awkward.
Thankfully, Po grasped at any possible chance to change the topic. "So, uh, how's Tai Lung doing? Y'know, with that whole reintegratin' into society thing?"
"I wouldn't know," Shifu admitted as he finished rolling up the scroll. "This nonsense is all I've heard from Lin since the last letter you walked in on." He took a moment to pointedly raise his eyebrows at Po.
"Hey, it's not on purpose," he argued.
"Just tell me what you need," Shifu sighed, rubbing at his temple. He could only hope that there would come a day when his life no longer consisted of one aggravation after another.
Po grinned sheepishly. "A snack."
"This is what I get for spending time in this kitchen," Shifu grumbled to himself. No matter how much time had passed, at least part of him still thought of the kitchen as Lin's room. It made perfect sense, then, that she would find a way to embarrass him in said room, even from another city. He wondered if she had somehow planned it. "Lin must have cursed this room before she left."
"So ya miss Lin, huh?" Po asked as he headed for the cabinets and began rummaging through them.
Shifu watched the panda, his brow furrowed in confusion. "What on earth would bring you to that conclusion?"
He shrugged as he opened a jar and sniffed at the contents. "'Cause ya can't get her off your mind, apparently."
"It would be a difficult task to not think of Lin when she is the only thing standing between Tai Lung and another rampage."
"Plus with Gia here an' all," Po added, clearly oblivious to how annoying his master found his interference.
"Yes, that too," Shifu ground out, glaring at him. Maybe he did miss Lin, but that didn't mean he was chomping at the bit to discuss his feelings, and certainly not with his student. He watched as Po tasted whatever condiment was inside the jar he'd been sniffing, then wrinkled his nose like a bear cub, then tasted the stuff again. "I need some air." He grabbed Lin's profane scroll and carried it with him out of the kitchen, for the sake of keeping it away from prying eyes.
He tucked the scroll into his belt, unwilling to leave it in his room for the time being. If a member of the staff somehow caught a glimpse at its contents, he would be mortified. No one would dare try to get a look at a scroll in his actual posession, not that anyone could pry it from his grasp. He supposed he could try to find a safe, dusty corner to tuck the thing away in at the Jade Palace's library. It was rare that anyone, even staff, actually browsed the thousands of scrolls stored in the room. Speaking of the library, he should probably check up on Gia to see how she'd been adjusting. According to Zeng's account, she'd been a focused, quiet worker. Which... Didn't sound right. Not the quiet part, at least.
Shifu arrived in the library of scrolls to find Gia dusting shelves with a small rag, balancing precariously on a narrow ladder. He watched her concentrate on her task for a bit, unsure of whether or not he should interrupt.
"Master Shifu?" she asked without turning around. Apparently her rather large ears were not just decorative.
"Ah, yes." He approached the shelf and took hold of the ladder to steady it for her. "Dusting, hm? Starting off small, I see."
She only hummed in agreement as she descended the ladder. It might have been a trick of his mind, but she didn't seem nearly as cheerful as usual. Perhaps the fact that she'd only spoken two words to him had something to do with it.
"So, Gia, have you learned a lot so far?" Shifu asked, hoping to distract her from whatever troubled her.
"Oh, yes, very much," she confirmed, perking up slightly at his question.
"Some of these documents have been secrets of the Jade Palace for centuries," he commented with a chuckle. "I hope you won't let any slip."
Gia didn't so much as humor him with a forced laugh, and instead glared at him, her eyes watery.
"...It was a joke." He shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "It was supposed to be funny," he clarified, in case she had forgotten the word.
"I do not think it is very funny to tease me for being unable to read your scrolls," she replied angrily, then sniffed.
He blinked back at her, though he shouldn't have been surprised; Gia still had a thick accent and tended to mix up words, so she probably hadn't been in the country for very long. "I didn't realize you were still learning to read."
She didn't say anything, and instead turned back to her work, though not before he saw the embarrassed blush on her face.
"Are you able to read..." He paused, trying to remember what Lin had called her western style of writing. "Roman characters? Did I get that right?"
"You did," she confirmed. "And I can. Otherwise I would not be able to read my bible."
He understood why she had been hesitant to work maintaining the archives, now. If she could only read Roman characters, then it would be close to impossible for her to organize the scrolls, and it would make restoration of more wordy texts all the more difficult. "Well, if you should need any help learning-"
"No," she interrupted.
He waited for some elaboration, but none came. "...Alright," he accepted. It was probably for the best not to ask. He couldn't stop himself from arguing, though. "You do not need to isolate yourself simply because of what I said earlier, about spending time with others- that is, if I did suggest-" He paused and pinched the bridge of his nose; sometimes speaking to Gia was just as difficult as speaking to Lin. "This is giving me flashbacks," he admitted.
"Flashbacks?" Gia asked, her ears perking up in interest. "This is about the past, yes?"
"Yes," he confirmed.
"With my mother?"
Shifu let out a heavy sigh. Of course Gia wanted to hear more about her mother. He would have refused, but the prospect of getting some sort of story about Lin seemed to have sigificantly cheered Gia up. She had once again paused her work to instead lean in close to him in anticipation, her hands politely clasped together as if she were about to beg. Even her tail had begun to wag ever so slightly. He decided not to mention that, it would probably be rude. "I suppose I could tell you a bit about Lin."
"Okay," she accepted, her undivided attention on him now that he'd mentioned Lin.
He tucked his hands into his sleeves, drawing a blank at her intent stare. "Uhm." He was used to Gia at least asking a leading question or two. "Well..." He told her the first thing he could think of. "She may or may not have been a fire-breather in a Russian circus."
"Really?" she asked excitedly, then furrowed her brow. "What do you mean to say, may or may not have?"
"It is something she told me," he replied. "And as you may have noticed from everything you have- or haven't- heard, your mother can be a bit... Cagey."
"Cagey," she repeated thoughtfully. "So this is a word for someone who is a liar, yes?"
"Not quite," he amended; he shouldn't be putting such ideas about Lin into Gia's head, even if they were true. "It is more like... Someone who is evasive about the truth. She doesn't always lie- she doesn't always tell the truth, either. Or answer your questions at all. This is difficult to explain. I suppose, ahm, it's best to tell you that she does not like to talk about her past or anything to do with it much. And sometimes she lies because of that. Or because she thinks it would be funny. Mainly because my anger and confusion amuse her."
"I see," she accepted slowly; she didn't sound like she'd understood much of what he'd said. "It was always my understanding that my mother is a virtuous woman."
He snorted, then immediately regretted it at the way Gia narrowed her eyes at him. "My apologies, it is just, ahm..." He once again debated the wisdom of telling Gia exactly the type of person her mother was. "...Allergies."
She seemed satisfied with the excuse. "I know you know nothing of my father, Master Shifu, but did my mother ever mention anyone it could possibly be?"
"Not to my recollection, no." He was certain it would be unwise to mention the python. "It, ahm... It makes sense, though. That you are half-wolf." He would never forget Lin's knowledge of wolf anatomy- or, more accurately, her traumatizing insistence on sharing such knowledge.
"So she knew many wolves?"
He nodded, embarrassed by his own big mouth.
She self-consciously reached up to her cheeks and smoothed out her fur. "It is very obvious that I am only half, yes? The fluff gives it away."
"True. Though you could have turned out much fluffier, considering Lin's looks. She always reminded me of a dandelion." He smiled a bit at how emphatically Gia nodded in agreement.
"Thank goodness I am not like a dandelion," she sighed, as if this were one of the worst things she could imagine. She then clarified her concern. "Not many wolves or dogs look upon me with much kindness, due to my parentage. It is something I discovered when I first began my travels. There is much information I missed, I believe, not being raised by fellow canines."
"Lin would not have been any more helpful," he warned. "It is rare, if at all, I've heard her talk about such politics. I doubt such issues ever cross her mind to begin with."
"My biggest concern is how this may affect my marriage prospects," she said thoughtfully. "If I am to rely on an arranged marriage, my lineage would be of great importance. Yes?"
He did not like the direction the conversation had taken. "Yes, I suppose," he answered tersely. "But that is not something you need concern yourself with."
"I have noticed your students are not married. Is this why?"
"This?" he repeated, confused.
"You hating marriage," she clarified.
"Well," he declared, turning on his heel, "I have reached my limit for today." He then froze when Lin's scroll fell from his belt and landed on the floor with a loud clatter. "That's nothing, just a letter from Lin-"
Gia gasped, then snatched the scroll from the floor. How she'd managed to move so quickly. he didn't know. "This is a letter from my mother?"
"Don't open that!" He knew of course that she wouldn't understand the characters, but if she got a look at the painting within he might just die on the spot.
"Why not?"
Shifu winced at the innocent, wide-eyed stare she gave him. "...Graphic content."
She immdiately narrowed her eyes at him, but thankfully shoved the scroll into his hands. "Dirty old man."
"Well it is not as if I am the one who painted it," he snapped, then shut his mouth with an audible click. So much for not revealing to Gia what kind of person Lin truly was.
Gia brought her hand up to her mouth, as if she might vomit at any moment. "I think I must pray," she said weakly.
He knew he should apologize, but he had humiliated himself enough for one day. "I'll leave you to it."
He fled from the library of scrolls; he needed to get to the training hall, anyway. Although, it might not be the best idea to have Lin's letter on him still. He couldn't turn back to try to hide it in the library, not after his encounter with Gia, either. Perhaps it would be alright to leave the thing in his room as long as it was well-hidden, under his bed roll for instance.
Shifu would have spent more time contemplating where he should hide the incriminating scroll, but during his musing he nearly ran headlong into Viper.
"Master Shifu!" She had that excited tone in her voice that she only adopted when she was about to meddle in someone else's personal affairs. He'd only observed her using that tone with other people, until now, and he clutched protectively at the scroll in his belt.
"Yes, hello, Viper," he greeted, wondering if it would be too obvious of him to start backing away. Maybe he could derail her by bringing up another topic. He had just been to see Gia. "I haven't thanked you yet for that judicious use of your stories about your sisters."
"It was no problem," she replied with a bow. "It seems to me like you've gotten yourself quite the fan."
He supposed she was right on that point, and he'd only made things worse by giving Gia the opportunity to work for Zeng. Then again, if he continued with his slip-ups regarding the nature of his relationship with Lin, that might not be the case for very much longer. "I wish I could argue with that."
The two of them lapsed into silence, and Shifu was just formulating an excuse to walk away without seeming rude when Viper spoke up again. "Po says you miss Lin."
He could kill the panda. "Po says a lot of things," he replied judiciously.
"I heard about the letter, too."
He felt heat rising to his face. Not only could he kill the panda, but he would. "Viper, this topic of conversation is not appropriate between a master and a student. Or between anyone, for that matter."
Viper sighed at him, probably thinking up some rhetoric about how wonderful discussing uncomfortable topics was for the soul or whatever it was she always seemed to be preaching to Tigress. "I know how, uhm, wound up you can get about these kinds of things."
"Wound up?" he repeated, hoping for dear life that she wasn't speaking about him in a sexual way.
"Angry," she clarified, to his great relief. "I'd just like to say, that I think what Lin did is kind of sweet."
Now he was confused. "You... You did hear about what type of letter this was, right?" He regretted saying that. If she didn't already know the truth about Lin's letter, he'd now have to explain it to her.
"Yes, the erotic kind," she answered as casually as if she were speaking to a female friend.
He choked a bit on his own saliva. If Lin's antics didn't give him a heart attack, then Viper's decision to speak to him about them as though he were giggling with her at a slumber party would. "Viper, I feel I must repeat myself here- this is not appropriate."
She had the nerve to then hold up her tail to him. "I'm only trying to say that I think it's nice that Lin is trying to show you that she cares for you," she insisted. "Sure, her timing isn't the greatest, but she's thinking of you and she wants to express that. You should consider that before you get angry, that's all." She then eyed the scroll, which he still held onto for dear life. "Is that the letter?"
"Thank you for your input," he managed to choke out, despite his throat closing up from pure embarrassment. "Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to try to extricate myself from this waking nightmare."
He decided after that particular encounter to simply hide the scroll as best he could beneath his bedroll and hope for the best. It probably wouldn't turn out any worse than carrying the thing around had. And now he could train his students in peace. As aggravating as it was to get Po through the training course while the panda kept trying to give him significant looks, it could have been worse. At least Po and Viper didn't seem to have spilled the beans to any of his other students about Lin's letter... Yet. That still didn't stop him from taking his dinner in his room and meditating for the evening. Of course, he tried to meditate on his bedroll and was interrupted by the feeling of Lin's scroll underneath him. As he pulled the scroll from its hiding place, he contemplated the fact that even from another city, Lin was still interrupting him. He also took it as a sign that he should cut his losses and turn in for the night.
Shifu felt as though he had only just fallen asleep when he woke with a start and sat up, expecting to see the dim light of pre-dawn filtering through his high-set windows. Instead, he was greeted with darkness. He'd woken up in the middle of the night, possibly from some dream, possibly from the urge to use the bathroom. He set out to use the chamber pot in the hope that he would fall back to sleep easily enough once his bladder had been emptied, but once he returned to bed he only tossed and turned. He would never get back to sleep at this rate; then again, he should be used to such troubles. The older he got, the harder it became to stay asleep at night. He had tried every remedy he'd ever heard of over the years to ease him back into sleep: warm milk, herbal tea, meditation, cleaning, reading-
He glanced at Lin's scroll, resting innocuously at his bedside along with a few candles and a jade inlaid box containing the knife and flint required to light them. He should have burned the thing by now, but at the same time the thought of destroying the scroll almost made him feel guilty. As much as he hated to admit it, or to even think back on his conversation with Viper, she'd had a point. Lin wouldn't send him such an elaborate message just for the purpose of irritating him. It was a wildly inappropriate letter, but Lin was a wildly inappropriate woman, and he shouldn't expect an expression of emotion from her to be in the least bit demure. Maybe this was her version of a love letter. And if he were being brutally honest, there was a part of him that enjoyed the filthy letter. Even the likely physically impossible self-portrait. Alright, especially the self-portrait. With a sigh, he lit the candles by his bed and unrolled the scroll to read the entire thing in earnest. He did owe it to Lin, after all the effort she'd put into writing it.
"Boqin!" Guotin, Bandit King of the North, called out from where he sat inside his tent. When he received no answer, he called out even more loudly. "Boqin!" He didn't need to wander all over his camp searching for some twenty-something year old twerp who was perfectly capable of coming to him. Least of all when said twerp was now his right-hand man. He hoped the kid learned the ropes soon- he also didn't need to worry about replacing another right-hand man.
His previous second in command, a wolf about his age by the name of Zhong, had been by all appearances perfect for the job. Likeable but not soft, just tough enough to help keep the rest of his army of bandits in line, but spineless enough to never toe that line himself. At least, that was what Guotin had thought, until they'd had to move camp to avoid a raid by some suspiciously knowledgable members of the Imperial Guard. The mysterious extra yuan in Zhong's possession had been enough evidence to justify an execution. At least, it was enough in bandit circles.
Boqin had been the frontrunner for a replacement from the beginning, except for the fact that no one seemed to like him too much. The kid had a mouth on him, and sometimes got into trouble using it- that was likely how he'd become a bandit in the first place. Gods knew he was smart enough to get an honest job, and he worked harder than any other man Guotin had ever employed. Guotin needed someone who was hard-working and sharp like that. He'd be the first to admit that he could sometimes be a bit dense. But likeability had always been what set his leadership apart from other bandits, and it had been what allowed him to acquire more men out of any other bandit in all of China. Plus, he hated that their names kind of rhymed. It sounded weird.
Guotin had considered going without promoting another underling to assist him; he had done it before. But if he was ever going to start thinking about finding himself a wife and bringing up some heirs, he couldn't go back to taking on all that work on his own. In the end, he'd resolved to promote Boqin and hope that he was likeable enough for the both of them. "Boqin!"
"I hear you," the younger wolf announced as he ducked through the tent's flap to join him. "And I'm not cleaning up after you," he added pointedly, staring down at Guotin with sharp yellow eyes.
Guotin snorted. His tent may have been large, but he'd made it cozy with tons of personal touches. His bedroll remained out at all times, his sheets perpetually rumpled- who had the time to make a bed every day? He also liked to keep his collection of especially high-quality weapons he'd stolen over the years out and about, though he should probably stop leaving his crossbow in the middle of the tent. Currently, he sat at his trunk, using it as a table to try to get some long-term planning done. And planning his next few months, where they would camp, what locations to hit, who to look out for, when to schedule music night- all that required a lot of paper. Paper which usually ended up scattered all over the ground, as it currently was. "I never askedya to clean up."
Boquin sat across from him at the large trunk, pulling a clean piece of paper and a stick of graphite toward him. "Never asked me to clean up," he repeated as he wrote on the paper. "Check."
"The hell's this all about?"
"I'm taking minutes, sir."
Guotin stared at the black-furred wolf, who despite being considerably smaller than himself, as most other wolves were, remained thoroughly unintimidated and unimpressed. Not that Boqin was weak- he had plenty of muscle on him, as much as any other bandit in the camp, and fought well with both fist and dagger. But Guotin had become accustomed, over the years, to people growing nervous in his presence. That was why he had always been so friendly, to try to put others at ease. Well, that, and to emphasize further when he was feeling unfriendly. "Is this 'taking minutes' stuff really necessary?"
"It allows us to refer to this meeting in the future," Boqin replied shortly. "Which creates a more efficient work flow. Unless you would prefer inefficiency from your subordinates, sir."
Guotin leaned on the trunk, already bored by the kid in three sentences. "You got a real stick up your ass, huh?" He tried to remind himself that the stick up his new right-hand man's ass would help him get more done.
Boqin didn't reply to the question, nor did he show any emotion in response to the insult. He only wrote it down on his paper. "Next order of business?" he asked once he'd finished.
"Yeah, sure." Guotin had called the kid over for a reason. "I could use your input in this long-term planning I'm trying to get done. After Zong screwed us over, I'm a lot more concerned about security in the camp, too. You always got your ear to the ground, right?"
"Of course, sir. I have yet to discover any more traitors in our midst, though I agree that vigilance is key right now." He reached out with one hand and snatched the corner of a map that had been just barely showing from underneath Guotin's copious notes, pulling it to the top of the mess. "I know we've moved further from the border and the Fobidden City, sir, but I suggest we keep traveling for the time being. The Imperial Guard is more aware of us now, and we should stay one step ahead of them. It could also work to our advantage to investigate the skirmishes breaking out at the Indian border."
"Skirmishes?" He'd expected his subordinate to have some good input, but he was still taken by surprise by how thorough the kid seemed to be.
"There have been rumors floating around of war, specifically with the East India Trading Company overthrowing Bengal. I've heard they've begun to fortify Calcutta, which does not bode well for our Emperor."
"Yeah, I've heard," Guotin replied, a bit put off that Boqin had felt the need to explain current events to him. "Why should I care, though?"
"I assumed we would like to get our hands on some of the opium that the East India Trading Company is illegally moving over the border," Boqin replied matter-of-factly. "It will be more heavily guarded due to its illicit nature, but that also means that our target likely won't be able to pursue us should we succeed. Sir." The kid had a point.
"Cool," he agreed with a nod of his head.
"Don't try to sound young, sir. It's pathetic." Irritatingly enough, Boqin made a note of his own admonishment.
"I executed Zhong and I can execute you, too," he threatened.
Boqin silently made a note of the threat.
"Stop writing down everything I say!"
He wrote that down, too.
Guotin decided to simply move on. Maybe a lighter topic of conversation would help with some workplace bonding. "So, moving further South sounds like it could work out well for us. I mean, we couldn't stay there. I'm the Bandit King of the North, and all. But maybe I could swing a visit to my sweetheart, huh?"
"Sweetheart?" Boqin asked skeptically. "You're not talking about Lady Lotus Blossom, are you? The woman you absconded with from her father's home? And who then dumped you after your famous battle with Master Dog, who took your eye? And married Master Dog?"
At least he could never claim that Boqin didn't do his research. "Hey, that Lady Lotus Blossom incident may be famous, but that don't make her my sweetheart. Ah, but I lost my sweetheart to a kung fu master, too." He let out a long, forlorn sigh. "'Least I got laid, though."
"Words of wisdom we can all live by, sir," Boqin replied flatly. "Shall I include that in my minutes?"
Guotin gave the younger wolf a rough pat on the arm. "Y'know, I don't care what the guys say aboutya being an annoying lil' prick, Boqin. I likeya."
"You really should work on making your veiled insults more subtle, sir," Boqin advised. "I'll make a note of that."
Guotin decided to ignore the jab; he didn't want to digress too much from his favorite topic. "Now that I mention it, I wonder how my best girl's doing? Maybe we should drop a line to the Valley of Peace, let her know I'll be in the neighborhood."
"I'm sure that would go over well."
"Ah, you're such a buzzkill. If we address it to Lin, I'm sure it'll be fine."
Boqin narrowed his eyes at him, brow furrowed. "You mean that woman who looked like a frizzy old mop? That is who you mean when you talk about your 'sweetheart' or your 'best girl' or 'sweet thing'?" He shuddered at the last nickname.
Guotin smacked the kid upside the head, clicking his tongue in disapproval of the distasteful description. "Don't talk about a lady like that! And for your information, my lady ain't an old mop, she's a delicate flower in spring bloom."
"Okay," Boqin replied skeptically.
He shook his head; some men simply had no taste. "We traveled halfway across China together, y'know. That was way back in the day- almost got her to stick around with me, too. She said I'd never see her again, but I knew she was lying- maybe it took a while, but I'm glad she came around again."
"I'm not. She put her cigarettes out on my tent."
"Maybe she heardya callin' her a frizzy old mop behind her back," Guotin replied with a hearty laugh; he liked a woman with a taste for revenge. "Take it from me, kiddo, never insult a woman who knows whereya live."
"I'll do my best to control myself, sir," Boqin replied sardonically.
"Anyway, I'll bet I can steal her back from Shifu if I try hard enough, right? Might at least be able to get a kiss or two." He somehow doubted that, but it was nice to dream sometimes.
Boqin raised his eyebrows. "Master Shifu? Since when have you ever been able to win a fight with him?"
"A little positivity wouldn't killya." He didn't want to think about fighting at the moment, not now that he'd found such a pleasant subject to discuss. "Hey, remember that little gray wolf? The one who was headed to the Valley of Peace? Maybe she's made it down that way, by now. I could go out with her."
"There is a difference between positivity and delusion, sir."
"You're no good at guy talk, Boqin. The point ain't if a lady'll actually go out withya, the point is to talk about the ladies to begin with."
"I'd rather work," he replied flatly.
"Fine, fine," Guotin agreed with a sigh. At least Boqin had proven he could keep their meetings on track. He could have stood to talk about women a little longer, though. He really had been wondering about that wolf who'd asked him for directions. Something about her had gotten stuck in his mind, and he couldn't help but think of her. Sure, he'd probably never see her again, but there was always hope. He'd beaten the odds before.
When he'd first met his sweetheart, it had been a similarly brief introduction. Even though she hadn't even given him a name, he'd known the merchant she'd traveled with had been headed to Shanghai. He'd spent weeks in Shanghai looking for her everywhere he could think of, and eventually he had found that same merchant. Sure, the man was reluctant to talk, having remembered Guotin's powerful right hook, but he'd opened up once he was reminded how willing Guotin was to reenact history. It hadn't helped, though. All the merchant could offer was a tale of the girl beating the crap out of him and taking off. Guotin had known from the start she'd had a spark in her, but he'd still been impressed. In the end, he hadn't found her in Shanghai, but he'd run into her years later on the road.
She'd started calling herself Lin by then. He'd recognized her immediately, but he'd still told her to give him all her money just to see if she'd recognize him back. She had, and she'd given him a real shiner for the stunt he'd pulled, too. He was nothing if not a romantic at heart, and so he'd insisted on traveling with her across the country and set about finally wooing her in the process. That had been an excellent fall, the best time he'd ever spent with a woman. But she'd already fallen in love with someone else by then. He'd been too late. And in the end, she left the country no matter what promises he'd made to her. "I'm not looking for someone to love me," she'd said. "I just wanna be alone." That had been hard to hear. But he'd moved on over time, and appreciated the memories.
When they'd met again a couple of months back, he could hardly believe his luck. Sure, she'd still never fall for him, but it was nice to spend some warm nights with an old friend. Maybe he'd had the last of his warm nights with her, but he hoped he could still have her friendship. It certainly looked like he'd have the opportunity to find out, soon enough.
Tai Lung rubbed at his forehead as he made his way down to the kitchen for breakfast; he was still feeling the effects of the other night's "festivities." Well, it was nothing one of Lin's giant fried egg breakfasts couldn't fix. Assuming it wasn't accompanied by Yan-Yan's horrific algae concoction. When he entered the kitchen, he was greeted as usual by the enticing aroma of Lin's cooking- not that he'd ever admit aloud to her how enjoyable he found her food. The old dog herself sat at the kitchen island with Yan-Yan, the two women sipping tea while two already licked clean plates sat in front of them. But, to his dismay, the pots and pans left on the stove were also empty.
"Where is all the food?" he asked, picking up a still-greasy frying pan with his finger and thumb to further make his point.
"There's plenty of food," Lin replied as she refilled her tea cup.
"Where?"
"It's in the cabinets," Yan-Yan added. "Where it always is."
"Yeah," Lin agreed. "So get cooking."
He stared at the two women, aghast. "Cook?" he repeated, the thought of stooping so low as to prepare meals like a common peasant sending shivers up his spine. "Me?"
Lin cackled evilly, and to his dismay Yan-Yan joined in. "From now on, you and those two other goobers are gonna do all your own cooking and cleaning. And us ladies of the house are gonna do whatever we want and ignore chores like you've been doing."
"This place is going to be filthy," Yan-Yan sighed. "I'm not looking forward to that."
"Meh," Lin replied with a shrug.
"This is ridiculous," Tai Lung huffed. "Need I remind you two over-dramatic biddies that I am-"
"The greatest kung fu warrior in the world?" Yan-Yan interrupted.
"Soon to be recognized by all of China as inherently better than the rest of us and therefor the rightful Lord of All Existence?" Lin added sarcastically.
"Lord of the dance?" Yan-Yan continued.
"Lord of the flies?" Lin waggled her eyebrows at that one.
Tai Lung crossed his arms. "Are you quite done, now?"
"Yeah, I'm hungry." The old dog stood up with one last sip of her tea.
"Lin, you just ate a gigantic plate of food," Yan-Yan argued.
"Yeah, but I could go for some dessert. Like tofu soup, and fried bean gluten, maybe some fried rice cakes."
"That's at least two whole other meals!"
"Excuse me!" Tai Lung interrupted them. How could they behave as though he didn't even exist? After all, the only reason the hag had even stayed in Shanghai was for him. "And what am I supposed to do?"
Lin walked over to the back door, stopping to reach inside a lower cabinet. She pulled an apron out of the cabinet and tossed it at him. "Cook," she ordered. "It's not that hard to figure out. Consider this part of your rehabilitation." She then nodded to Yan-Yan, who unfortunately jumped out of her seat to follow. Just like that, they had both gone.
He considered going after them and forcing them to come back and feed him, but he was immediately bombarded by the other two old geezers who'd been forced upon him.
"Nice apron," Chen commented as he entered the kitchen with Wei-Shan.
"Don't get the wrong idea, you couple of fossils," Tai Lung grumbled. "Lin threw this thing at me and ran out the door."
Wei-Shan made a beeline for the back door at that.
"Along with Yan-Yan."
Curiously, the old raccoon dog turned on his heel and returned to the kitchen island to sit with Chen.
Tai Lung raised his eyebrows at the behavior, but made no comment. He didn't have any desire to learn about the peculiar man's motivations.
"He and Yan-Yan don't get along so great," Chen explained, not that he'd asked.
"Fascinating," he replied with as much sarcasm as he could muster, then changed the subject before they could assail him with their rambling stories. "So which one of you is the cook?"
"Quan," they answered in unison- possibly only to irritate him.
"Not anymore, according to her." He dropped the apron onto the back of an empty chair and crossed his arms, waiting for one of them to volunteer; he wasn't sure which would be worse, to be honest.
"Then get Yan-Yan to do it," Chen said with a shrug. "Where'd they go again? The market or something?"
"Yan-Yan has claimed that she will no longer cook, either." Tai Lung's proclamation was met with heavy silence, as if he had just announced someone's death.
Slowly, Chen and Wei-Shan glanced sideways at each other, then both turned their stares on Tai Lung.
"Absolutely not!"
"Quan gave you the apron," Wei-Shan pointed out matter-of-factly, as if this had somehow granted him and only him some divine burden.
"That is true," Chen agreed, maddeningly enough. "Make us something."
"I'll make you flat," Tai Lung threatened, hovering his fist over the old master's head. "If you're so hungry, cook your own damn breakfast!"
His only reply was an unconcerned, "Meh."
He wondered if Lin had picked up her infuriating attitude from the walking raisin or if they had simply gravitated toward each other because of how snotty they both were. Either way, the old man seemed to be enjoying getting a rise out of him, so he took a moment to try to calm himself. The last thing he wanted to do was give Chen the satisfaction of getting to him- more than he already had, anyway. "Very well, don't eat," he said levelly, then turned to rummage through the cabinets.
"We're out of oranges," Wei-Shan complained behind him.
"I don't care," he ground out, slamming one cabinet door closed to search through another. "Eat what's in the fruit bowl." It was starting to look like he'd have to do the same. As Lin had pointed out earlier, there was plenty of food in the kitchen- it just needed to be cooked.
"Persimmons?" Wei-Shan asked skeptically.
"You're a persimmon, you great fussy baby," Tai Lung said. He yanked a bag of rice from the cabinet and eyed it warily; rice couldn't be that hard to cook, could it? "There are no directions on this bag."
Chen snorted. "Now who's a persimmon?"
"Tai Lung, I would think," Wei-Shan replied oh-so-helpfully.
"Well if you're both such expert chefs, how about a hand here?" Tai Lung felt like a housewife sniping at a lazy husband; all he needed to do to complete the image was to put on that apron.
Wei-Shan eyed the rice thoughtfully, then shrugged. "Quan might be upset if we helped you."
"That's right," Chen agreed, though judging by how the man constantly went out of his way to irk Lin, he probably only wanted to avoid cooking. "If she's the one makingya cook, then it must be some sorta training."
Tai Lung felt his ear twitch; Lin had told him to consider this "training," though she'd done so as flippantly as possible. He certainly didn't want to admit that to the geezers, but knowing her she'd tell them she'd ordered him to cook in earnest the moment she returned. And to be perfectly honest, he wasn't the biggest fan of persimmons, either. He grabbed a pot and dumped some rice into it. He then poured water over top until it looked... Wet. "How do I light this stove?"
Chen started laughing at the question, and even the normally deadpan Wei-Shan let out a snort.
"Oh, shove it!" Luckily, he quickly discovered that Lin had forgotten to put out a burner, and so plopped his rice pot atop of it. "How long does it take?"
Chen's laughter intensified.
"Never. Mind," Tai Lung ground out. He squeezed his hands into fists and closed his eyes to take a deep breath; if he swung at the little turd now, he'd never make it back to the Valley of Peace. He needed to calm down a bit, that was all.
"Tai Lung." Wei-Shan interrupted his attempt at meditation with a poke. "How about a drink?"
"Think he can figure out how to open the bottle?" Chen asked, sounding as though he could barely contain his mirth.
Wei-Shan ignored the joke. "I've heard you're quite bibulous. How about it?"
"Bulbous?"
"Perhaps a bit in the nose."
"And you're about to lose yours," Tai Lung growled. Perhaps once he was done defeating the panda, he should make his way back to Shanghai to teach the two meddling geezers a lesson of their own.
"I'm talking about wine," Wei-Shan specified, indicating a low cabinet beside him. "And drinking it."
"Yeah, how's about something we don't gotta wait forya to figure out?" Chen seemed more cheerful than usual, probably because of how amusing he'd found Tai Lung's struggle with the rice. "Pick something dark, it's more filling."
"...Are you talking about drinking alcohol in place of an actual meal?" He shuddered at the thought. Such behavior would never have been tolerated back at the Jade Palace, not even by Oogway. He wondered how Chen and Wei-Shan had behaved in their heyday as kung fu masters, and what the Jade Palace would have been like then. Maybe it had only become so strict after Shifu had become its Master. "What would Oogway have said?"
"Probably some stupid metaphor about a waterfall or some shit," Chen replied flippantly. "Or maybe it was meditation." He turned to Wei-Shan. "What was that one annoying thing he used to say when we were hung over?"
"Those who seek pleasure rather than peace often find nothing but regret," the raccoon dog recited. "Then he used to hit a gong, if I remember correctly."
Chen nodded. "That old pain in the ass." For the first time since Tai Lung had met him, his tone of voice sounded affectionate. "Woulda been nice to see him one more time, before he turned into a buncha flowers and floated off to the spirit realm."
"Are you actually remembering someone, anyone, fondly?" Tai Lung asked incredulously as he grabbed a random bottle from the cabinet where Chen hoarded a concerning amount of alcohol. "Or is this a stroke?"
"You're one to talk." He had a point, there.
"Hmph." That was as close as Tai Lung was about to get to conceding to anything the dessicated rat said. He set the bottle down on the island counter and watched as the two old men happily poured themselves drinks. "Is this sort of alcoholism a Shanghai thing, or am I just lucky enough to live with a group of pickled buffoons?"
"Why not both?" Wei-Shan asked, then nudged the bottle toward him.
He nearly gagged at the thought of ever drinking again. After his night at the bar with Lin and Yan-Yan, he doubted he would ever have any problem staying sober. "I'll stick with tea."
"Assumingya can even make a pot of tea," Chen added.
Tai Lung crossed his arms in as authoritative pose as he could manage. "I'm not feeding you any of this rice."
"Does that mean you're hand-feeding me?" Wei-Shan asked.
"The only way your mouth is coming anywhere near me is if I punch it," Tai Lung threatened.
"But smoked rice is my favorite."
He furrowed his brow at the statement, until he caught sight of the smoke billowing out of the rice pot. He dove toward the stove and managed to blow out the flame of the burner in time to save his rice. Well, he thought he saved his rice. It still looked pretty ricey. As far as rice went.
Chen, irritatingly enough, hopped up onto his shoulder. "That's the worst rice I've ever seen," he marveled as he peered into the pot. "'The hell's wrong withya?"
"Shut up," Tai Lung replied, swatting at the old man until he returnd to the kitchen island. He couldn't have done that poorly. If Lin, of all people, could excel at cooking then it couldn't be that difficult. He pointedly scraped some rice into a bowl for himself, then ate a bite. "It's fine," he lied through his teeth, which he might not have for much longer if the crunching noises coming from his mouth were any indication. "Why don't you try some, Wei-Shan?"
"I still have my original teeth for a reason," he said. "Perhaps you should have a persimmon."
"I made this rice and I'm going to eat it!" Tai Lung snapped. He paused as he heard himself and wrinkled his nose. "Oh, no. I'm starting to sound like the old hag."
"Nah," Wei-Shan dismissed. "You'd need more phlegm."
"And a nasal whine," Chen added.
"And your voice would need the ability to reach pitches that only other dogs are able to hear," Wei-Shan continued.
"She isn't that high-pitched," Tai Lung argued. "More screechy, really."
"She is when she's happy."
"What?" Chen growled.
"Hm?" Wei-Shan shoved a persimmon in his mouth and pretended he hadn't heard.
"Ew," Tai Lung grumbled, wrinkling his nose at what the statement had implied. "I suppose you find that joke hilarious." He set aside his somewhat less than edible rice as subtley as he could manage. "Now pass me a persimmon."
Wei-Shan grabbed one of the shiny, red-orange fruits and tossed it to him. "It was only a matter of time."
"Who even likes these things, anyway?" Tai Lung bit into his persimmon, resisting the urge to smack his lips at how incredibly dry the flesh felt, despite the juice bursting from it.
"Yan-Yan," Chen said gruffly. "Yan-Yan likes 'em." He was starting to look morose. Well, more morose than usual. Or maybe he was just scowling less. "How come she ain't cooking anymore, huh? Something Quan said, I bet."
"Almost definitely," Wei-Shan agreed.
"What do you mean almost?" Tai Lung asked with a scoff. "This has Lin's name written all over it. Something about how they're done doing everything, blah blah blah." He tended to tune Lin out when she started to get preachy. Which was a lot.
"I guess it was only a matter of time," Chen sighed.
"Like the persimmon," Wei-Shan added.
"Shut the hell up."
"Well, the two of you can feel free to cook and clean." He knew he was wasting his breath saying it again, but he couldn't help but have hope. "So that I'm not made to do everything myself-" He stopped himself when they started laughing at him again. He should have seen that coming. He allowed the old men to have their laugh. He would have his day soon enough. If he could survive Chen's house until the new year, that was.
Yan-Yan stifled a yawn as she watched Lin carefully inspect lemons at the crowded market. It wasn't quite so lively as the night market tended to be, nor as colorful without the beautiful lanterns lining the street, but the river was lined with just as many stalls. Lin had made a point of blowing half her salary at food stalls, as she'd mentioned before they had left Chen's. "I can't believe you downed all that." She shook her head as she remembered how vigorously her friend had inhaled the mountains of fried gluten, rice cakes, and tofu soup. "You still eat like a teenager."
"Hey, you're only as old asya eat." Lin didn't even bother to look up from her task of putting her hands all over every lemon at the stand.
"Do you always molest your produce like this?"
"Lemons with smoother skin're juicier," she replied.
"Sometimes I forget how much of a know-it-all you always were," Yan-Yan said as she turned her attention to some apples. "But then you remind me."
"You could stand to back outta my ass a little," Lin shot back, attracting a sideways glance from the vendor before she returned to helping customers who were actually making purchases. "S'this some sorta sexual frustration thing?"
"No!" Yan-Yan slapped her arm, but she didn't so much as flinch.
She only shrugged and finally filled her shopping bag with an obscene amount of lemons. At least the vendor was appeased.
"Well... It has been a long time for me," Yan-Yan sighed. "For sex, I mean," she needlessly clarified. "It's been a while."
"Yeah, it's been a while for me, too," Lin replied, and Yan-Yan slapped her arm again in response.
"Oh, stop yourself! You've only been apart from Shifu for a few weeks."
"He's too inept to count," she sighed morosely. "It's been months since I got an orgasm from another organism, y'get my drift?"
"Yes, and you're gross."
"It was Wei-Shan, in caseya didn't figure that out-"
"Stop it!" she interrupted, briefly covering her ears in case Lin didn't heed her order. When it looked like Lin wasn't talking anymore, she returned her hands to her sides, relieved.
"Actually, wait- what'm saying? It was this guy I know, some bandit king of whatever. Big, burly wolf, eye patch, that sorta thing. You woulda been into him." She waggled her eyebrows, but Yan-Yan only rolled her eyes.
"Sure," she replied skeptically. "But I believe I'm the one here with the most dire need."
Lin stopped at a booth selling pears and started inspecting them, one by one. "I wouldn't exactly call sex a 'dire need,' but sure."
"You, of all people?" Yan-Yan sighed in frustration as Lin rejected yet another pear, then just picked three for her and tossed them in her bag.
"Just 'cause I like it doesn't mean I'd classify it as a 'dire need' or anything," she argued, frowning as Yan-Yan paid for the pears.
She would have continued their argument, but Lin's head suddenly whipped around to stare at something in the distance- or, judging from the lecherous grin on her face, someone.
Lin elbowed her in the side and nodded toward where she was looking, a few booths away from them. "Look who it is," she said.
Yan-Yan didn't need any more prompting than that; she would recognize that little black cat anywhere. "Hide!" she hissed, then ran between two produce stalls and into an alleyway nearby. The last thing she needed was Meihui walking in on her complaints about her lack of a sex life. Unfortunately, Lin hadn't bothered to follow. "Lin!" She tried to wave her friend over, but Lin only furrowed her brow at her and shrugged. Then, horrifyingly, the woman turned around and waved to Meihui. She could kill that treacherous little lint ball. She ran back out into the market with the intent of grabbing Lin and dragging her away, but emerged too late; Meihui had already reached them.
"Good morning," the young cat greeted, as polite and reserved as ever.
"Hey there," Lin replied, her grin still firmly in place.
Yan-Yan resisted the urge to gag and grabbed Lin's arm. "Yes, hello, it was nice seeing you and now we've really got to run-"
"Run where?" Lin interrupted. "Last I checked we got nothing to do."
She luckily already had an excuse up her sleeve. "Chen needs us to-"
"Screw that turd-licker," Lin snapped. "We're on strike, remember? Even if we weren't, I ain't doing shit for him."
Yan-Yan contemplated strangling her friend, though only briefly; there were too many witnesses around. Instead she let go of Lin with a push and resigned herself to this living hell. "My apologies for Lin's vulgar language," she said to Meihui through clenched teeth. "She grew up on a farm-"
"Really?" Meihui gasped, turning to the old dog. "I did, too!"
"Of course you did," she sighed to herself.
"Lemon orchard, to be exact," Lin corrected, leaning over Meihui like she might try to take a bite out of the girl. "I'll bet we got a lot in common."
"Not that much," Yan-Yan scolded, giving Lin's tail a yank in warning. "For instance, there's the dramatic age gap."
Lin rolled her eyes, but didn't argue the point.
She was starting to have flashbacks to when they were young and Lin had been masquerading as Quan, flirting with every girl remotely close to their own age they encountered. "Have I mentioned that Lin is a woman?"
Lin elbowed her. "I'm sure she's noticed by now."
"Uhm, okay." Meihui laughed nervously.
Yan-Yan felt the urge to commit physical violence rush up from within her. "Well, Mei-Mei, since you and I have no real reason to socialize-"
"Actually," the pudgy little cat interrupted, sounding more determined than usual. "Miss Yan-Yan, if I may be so bold- I may not be sophisticated like you, with your famous and worldly friends, your good taste, or your poise, but I had hoped that you and I could be friends."
"Alright, I've had enough." Yan-Yan grabbed Lin's tail and yanked again. "Lin and I need to discuss something in private." She gave Lin one last yank and stormed off to scold her friend properly behind a particularly large produce stand.
Lin followed her reluctantly. "What?"
"You're a horrible person," Yan-Yan snapped.
"No, I'm horny," Lin argued. "And Meihui's hot. I can flirt if I want. B'sides, ifya cozy up to little Meihui, it'll just kill your ex." She gave Yan-Yan a nudge with her elbow. "Plus it'll makeya look like a good sport to your kids."
She hated when Lin made a good point. "Why is it that you can always think up reasons for me to do something I don't want to do?"
"It's a talent of mine." She then nodded toward Meihui and waggled her eyebrows. "So y'think she's a screamer- ow!"
Yan-Yan rubbed at her hand. She'd slapped Lin's arm a little too hard, but it was worth it. "Has it ever occurred to you that I might not appreciate you lusting after my ex-husband's second wife? Besides, you're dreaming if you think a pretty young woman like her would ever go for you."
"Ouch, that hurts." Lin crossed her arms. "Or areya just jealous?"
"Jealous?" she repeated, then paused to clear her throat; she'd begun to get a little shrill. "Of what?"
"Maybe you're jealous that I'm giving attention to another girl-"
"Oh give me a break!" Yan-Yan threw her hands up in frustration. She should have known Lin would be like this; she'd always had to feel like the center of attention. "She is my ex-husband's wife, did it ever occur to you that I'm angry because you should be picking me? Taking my side?"
"Y'know, it'd do you a lotta good to quit demonizing the poor girl!"
"Like you have any idea what would do anyone a lot of good! You haven't even been in this country for most of our lives!" She paused to cover her face with her hands and take a deep, calming breath. She was in public, and she couldn't let Lin's antics get to her in front of other people. And certainly not in front of Meihui. She couldn't afford another meltdown like the one she'd had in front of her favorite dim sum restaurant. "Never mind."
"Never mind?" Lin sounded completely flummoxed. "Y'mean you're just dropping it?"
"Yes," she replied shortly; she didn't need a whole long discussion. What she needed was the chance to get far away from Meihui, preferably for life.
Lin crossed her arms and suddenly found the oranges on sale at the stand beside them incredibly interesting. "Okay, I'm sorry."
Yan-Yan furrowed her brow. "You are? That was quick."
"What can I say? I've matured." She shrugged and put an arm around Yan-Yan's shoulders. "B'sides, you'll always be my best girl."
"Ugh." Yan-Yan shrugged off her friend's arm, then hid her embarrassed blush by perusing her shopping list. "We should probably go say a proper goodbye to Meihui. I mean... Perhaps you had a point. About the demonizing. But I'll have you know I'm only saying that so I can take the high road."
"You know we've fallen far when I'm the idea man," Lin joked.
She couldn't help but snort at that. "Alright, time to swallow my pride." She marched back out into the market proper, suppressing her rage and discomfort as she so often had in her life. She prepared herself for the humiliation of trying to be nice to Meihui, except for one little hiccup. She didn't see the young black cat anywhere. "We got ditched!"
"To be fair, we ditched the kid first," Lin pointed out.
"...True." Why did she ever bother trying to be polite, or taking the high road? What was even the point when it didn't seem to help her at all, and she always ended up miserable from it? Was it really worth it?
"Hey, how's about we grab some spicy lotus root?" Lin suggested. "I'll buy."
With a sigh, Yan-Yan resigned herself to following Lin's stomach around for the rest of the day. It was better than wallowing. "And afterwards I'll get the ingredients to make my acid reflux remedy."
"I don't see why we should take a night shift, it's not as if anyone else does anything down at that dock."
"It's another one of the important lessons you're learning from me: hard work never goes unpunished."
Tai Lung rolled his eyes at Lin. It was bad enough that she'd forced him to sit in the kitchen with her like a couple of old biddies, now he found himself complaining about work like her, too.
"B'sides, the other guys do plenty." Lin leaned back in her seat, drumming her fingers on the kitchen island. "I gotta teachya a lesson or something today."
"Good to know you put so much thought into my rehabilitation," he growled, glaring at her. Not that her ineptitude did anything to hurt his real goal. Still, it would be nice if she could just give him a chore or some such and leave him alone. "Perhaps after you've finished with me you could offer your services to prisons across the country."
"Geez, this's what I get for dating a guy with a weird kung fu villain for a son."
"I am not weird," Tai Lung grumbled. "You are weird."
"Right, 'cause going mad with power is totally normal," Lin shot back. "That's why we got such an epidemic of farmers and artisans going mad with power all over the country."
"Shut up," he sighed, tired of going back and forth with her. "Do you know what I need?"
"Better role models?" she suggested.
He scoffed at her answer. "I need to relax. Which should not and, technically speaking, cannot ever involve you."
"Sure it can!" she argued. "Just lookit the great time we had at the bar. I got an idea, actually- don't move! This's training so you gotta do what I say."
"Oh, goodie," he replied sarcastically.
She jumped out of her chair and ran out of the kitchen, though she wasn't gone long. She soon returned with a scroll, some ink, and a brush in hand. She hopped into the chair next to him with enough gusto to put him on edge, then rolled out the blank scroll and dipped her brush into ink. "Let's make a list."
He didn't know why he'd allowed her to do such a thing to him. "Seriously? A list?"
"Yeah!" she replied jovially; her good mood was starting to become unnerving. "We can start planning a window box garden. Sound good?"
"What is the point?" he asked. "We will be gone by New Year's."
"Yeah, but maybe we can sprout the seeds indoors. And anyway, it ain't likeya can't take the plans with us." She hovered her brush over the scroll, waiting expectantly. "So, what're we gonna grow?"
"I don't know," he grumbled, rubbing at his temple. "Cilantro?"
"Good idea!" She wrote down the herb onto her list, then paused again for his input.
"Are you 'handling' me? Is that what's going on here?" He snatched the ink brush out of her hand, grimacing as he accidentally flicked ink onto his face.
"I just thought it'd be nice to start a new garden," she replied.
"But you're behaving as though you are cheerful. And seeing as you're not drunk, presumably, and no one's gotten injured within your line of sight recently, I'm starting to worry." He grabbed the scroll from her as well, sliding it toward him. He clucked his tongue at the sight of her messily scrawled handwriting; how was he supposed to read this list if she didn't bother to make it even remotely legible?
She watched him carefully re-write the one item on their list so far. "I'm in a good mood, s'that such a crime?"
"Yes," he answered immediately, then added scallions to their list.
"You hate it so much, just wait a little while and it'll pass," she replied matter-of-factly. It was odd hearing her say something so self-aware.
He supposed even Lin could have her moments. "I suppose you have reason for being happy, what with this exciting new step in my training: hobbies."
"Y'know, no one around here's impressed with that sarcasm of yours," she sniffed, eyeing the list. "In fact, it could use some work."
"Sure it could." He proceeded to put peas and soybeans on the list. "Just add it to the list of lessons that Shifu would surely fully endorse."
Lin snorted, but didn't reply to the jab.
Tai Lung waited a bit for her to say something, then raised an eyebrow at the little dog. "Speaking of which, what have you two been writing back and forth about? Or would I be traumatized to hear what you've been sending him?"
"Ah, it's nothing," she replied easily, but didn't elaborate further.
He didn't need to be a genius to figure this one out. "You haven't told him anything of any relevance, have you?"
She shrugged. "Depends on your definition of 'relevant.'"
He dropped the ink brush onto the island countertop, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose the way Shifu often did when something aggravated him. If the old lady ruined his chance to make it back to the Valley of Peace and get his revenge with her obstinance and incompetence, he would kick her fuzzy little butt straight off one of the gangways down at the docks. And he would laugh as he did it. "You do realize that Shifu will lose his mind if you don't tell him something, correct?" he growled. "That my freedom is at stake here?"
"Quit worrying so much, you'll get an ulcer," she dismissed, as if they were discussing something inconsequential, such as literally any other aspect of her life. "Everything's gonna be fine. I happen to think you're making pretty good progress, so far."
He rolled his eyes at that; it wasn't as if she'd even taught him anything. All she ever did was force him into manual labor or play pranks on him, or get him drunk, and then call it "training." Yet here she was giving herself a pat on the back and saying he'd made "progress," whatever that was supposed to mean. "Your head has just as much fuzz inside of it as it does outside, if you think you're calling the shots in all this."
"Well, Shifu trusts me." She snatched the scroll and brush from him, scowling as he stifled a laugh. "You got a real talent for ruining my good moods," she grumbled, then added garlic to their list.
"I'm not saying anything that wasn't already common knowledge."
"Fine, you don't wanna keep doing this list, screw it," she snapped. "I was gonna make some preserved lemons, I'll get started on that. You can help."
"It would be nice to learn to make something more useful, first," Tai Lung grumbled. "Like rice, for instance."
Lin didn't answer him, instead pretending that she was too involved in setting out a bunch of jars and bowls for those lemons of her.
Tai Lung tapped one finger on the island countertop, waiting for her to acknowledge him. Had he actually hurt her feelings? The thought weirded him out to no end, for lack of a better term. "I didn't mean to ruin your mood," he grumbled reluctantly; there would be no living with her if he didn't say something. Not for a few days, anyway. "Now tell me about rice."
"What, you can't figure out rice?" Lin asked, her tone disbelieving. "The smarter'n everyone else kung fu master?"
Tai Lung glared at her.
"Fine," Lin said as she climbed up onto the countertop in order to rummage through the cabinets. "It's one part rice, two parts water, bring it to a boil then cover and lower to a simmer. Sound easy enough?"
"Of course it's easy," he shot back, though he had his doubts. He watched her grab ingredients from the cabinets, finding what she needed as easily as she had when she'd been a cook at the Jade Palace. There was something almost cozy about the moment. "...What's a simmer?"
Lin laughed. "C'mere, kid. I'll teachya how to hold a knife, and we'll go from there."
"Now that, I know," he argued, rolling his eyes at her. "Believe it or not I handled knives as a kung fu master." He approached the counter and grabbed the back of the old lady's shirt, lifting her off their work surface and placing her back on the floor where she belonged.
"Really? A kitchen knife?" She grabbed the fruit bowl, overflowing with lemons that she had presumably purchased for this exact purpose, then shoved a large, gleaming knife into his hand.
"It's the same principle."
"You're holding it wrong." She grabbed a knife herself and demonstrated her own grip to him. "We're not stabbing anyone, just slicing lemons. Keep your grip loose, forefinger on the base of the blade- no, don't form a fist, you want your thumb pointing away fromya." She set a lemon down onto the wood block counter in front of him. "Hold your lemon with your fingers on top of it, fingertips pointing down. Watchya don't cut yourself now." She grabbed her own lemon and cut the fruit slowly for his benefit, resulting in even, pretty wedges.
It looked easy enough, but by the time he was through with his own lemon, which was significantly longer than he'd hoped, he was left with uneven, jagged lemon wedges.
"Well, we can use those ones for tea," Lin sighed, then placed another lemon in front of him. "Don't worry, I got plenty extra for learning on. And don't try to rush- you're gonna work slow untilya got experience."
He watched as she chopped another lemon, this time in mere seconds, then reached for another. "How old were you when you learned to use a knife?" He didn't know why he'd felt compelled to ask such a thing. It wasn't as though Lin's mundane life had been of any interest to him before.
"Not sure." She shrugged, her eyes still fixed on her work. "Probably around four or five or so."
"Hm. That's about the age I began studying kung fu." He'd only been thinking aloud, but he realized at Lin's wide grin that he'd sounded as though he'd actually attempted to bond with her. "Don't read too much into that."
"Okay," she accepted, though the grin stayed in place. "Y'know, I learned this recipe from my grandma. Even before I could use a knife, she'd sit me on the counter and make me pack the lemons with her."
"Wow. Not only have you taught me how to cut lemons, you've also taught me everything I would ever need to know about childcare."
"Ewww, childcare," she whined nasally.
"Agreed." He paused to look down at his poorly butchered lemons. What had become of him? He was cooking alongside Lin and reminiscing like an old lady. He had been feared, respected once. Now he debased himself doing chores for Lin and loading ships at the docks. Lying to everyone around him about his rehabilitation was easy enough, but he was starting to feel buried in those lies. Had he begun to believe in them, himself? Was his revenge really worth this?
"Hey!" Lin interrupted his musing and snatched up a couple of his lemon wedges. "You're getting the hang of this really fast." She dropped them into a large mixing bowl along with her own lemon wedges, then elbowed him in the side as some sort of sign of approval. "I guess you're not so hopeless, after all."
"I should think not," he replied with an indignant sniff. "And I don't appreciate being underestimated." That much, at least, was the truth.
Captain Zhensheng of the Imperial Guard was an imposing man, large even for a chow chow and heavily armed at all times. Though his white fur was trimmed short and immaculately groomed, there remained a mean glint in his eye that revealed his nature to be anything but genteel. He currently stood stewing at the edge of his patrol's camp in the heavily wooded area around the back roads frequented by bandits. His arms crossed, piercing black eyes searching the inky treeline for any signs of intruders, he was the perfect picture of an enforcer of law.
Yet there were precisely three intruders he could not spot, concealed in the thick foliage of the catalpa trees that heavily populated the forest. The three assassins huddled together in their black cloaks, awaiting their chance to descend into the camp.
Wu Qiang stifled a yawn, earning glares from Bai and Zhin. "Sorry, girls," she whispered sheepishly.
Zhin shook her head at her companion, but said nothing. The less she allowed herself to digress from business, the better. In the light of a full moon, they risked being spotted even as well-concealed as they were. She wouldn't compromise their position with petty arguing. "Don't forget, we came here for a reason." Zhin carefully unrolled a poster they'd discovered on their travels through Jiangsu province. The wanted poster featured an old dog, depicted much in the way one would draw a dried out dandelion. The poster specifically stated that all those with information on the whereabouts of the suspect should contact Captain Zhensheng of the Imperial Guard.
"I don't think Master Shifu will appreciate us going after his lady friend," Bai pointed out.
"True," Zhin agreed judiciously. "But this could be a worthwhile job, if we play our cards right. Or would you rather live the rest of your days on rice porridge?"
"No, but I also can't agree that it's a good idea to try to make a deal with a man who raided the very inn we nearly stayed at on such a fateful night."
"Fateful? What fateful? We ate pudding and left."
Qiang sighed. "I could go for more pudding."
"Enough with the pudding," Bai hissed. "We've all heard tell of Captain Zhengsheng. The law is practically in his name. What would ever compel that man to hire us?"
"He may be a lawful Captain of the Imperial guard," Zhin whispered as she watched the man turn his head toward them. "But he's no different than anyone else who wants something badly enough: they're always willing to pay."
With that, she signaled to her sisters. They leapt from the treetops together, landing simultaneously in front of Zhengsheng, their dark cloaks billowing slightly around them. Before he had time to react to the outlaws revealing themselves, they all saluted to him and bowed, though only for a moment. After all, if Zhengsheng took their appearance badly, they needed to remain vigilant. Zhin stepped forward, ever the most reasonable voice of the three assassins. Without introduction, she showed the Captain the wanted poster.
He glared at the poster as intensely as if a real person were in front of him, then turned the look on Zhin. "Wu Sisters," he stated flatly.
"Yes," Zhin confirmed, then rolled the wanted poster up and tucked it into her shirt. "And you must be Captain Zhengsheng."
"I am." He rested one hand on the sword in his belt, and despite only a slight height advantage he still seemed to loom over them. It was probably all that fur. "Well?"
Zhin suppressed the urge to roll her eyes at him. At least the man didn't piddle about. "It's like the poster said. We're contacting you about the whereabouts of your suspect."
He raised his eyebrows at her, but said nothing.
"I like the strong, silent type," Bai whispered to her, and she shushed her sister as discreetly as possible.
"Last we saw this Lin, she was with Grand Master Shifu," Zhin went on, watching the man for some reaction. He would probably know about Shifu already, having raided the inn, but there was always the possibility that Shifu had gone unnoticed. Not a strong possibility, but still.
"I am aware of Master Shifu's involvement," Zhengsheng confirmed. "Do you expect to be rewarded for such paltry information?"
It seemed she had been wise to keep the couple's destination to herself as a bargaining chip. "That depends on your definition of a reward," she replied smoothly. "For us, a proper reward would be a paying job. Perhaps we could hunt down this fugitive for you?"
"And what makes you think I wouldn't want to hunt down that miserable little creature for myself?" he asked harshly.
She smiled ever so slightly, just to show him that she remained unintimidated. "You don't know where the miserable little creature was headed. Do you?"
Zhengsheng's nostrils flared at the suggestion that she'd withheld information, but he made no move toward her. When he spoke, his voice remained level. "Tell me."
Zhin held up her hand to indicate the man should have some patience, then went about explaining the deal she had to offer. "My sisters and I will do as you like: kill the woman, bring her to you, whatever you wish- but no torture. Should you choose to employ us, we insist on a payment of no less than five-hundred yuan. No haggling, no exceptions. But, just to show you we're on your side this time, Captain, I will tell you what we heard. The woman you seek was headed for Shanghai last we'd spoken."
"Shanghai, you say?" He rubbed at his chin as he thought over the information. "Master Shifu must have been traveling to Shanghai, as well," he added.
"Yes, we're aware." Zhin had her reservations about going up against the renowned kung fu master, especially since Master Chen resided in Shanghai and would almost certainly be with them. However, she couldn't let an opportunity for some coin stop her and her sisters. At the very least they possessed enough skill to escape an encounter if it became clear that they could not win.
"I'll hire you," he concluded. "But don't do anything just yet."
Bai and Qiang both glanced sideways at her, clearly confused by the instruction. She couldn't say she understood it, herself. "You'll have to be a bit more clear about your intentions."
"I want you to bring me that little old witch," he said, a snarl entering his voice as he spoke of the woman. "But not yet. I'd like to know what she's up to, first. Why she's in Shanghai, and with Master Shifu. If Master Shifu is in league with that treacherous snake, I'll arrest him, too."
The sisters once more shared a nervous glance, and Zhin cleared her throat. "Shifu will cost you extra." She paused, and he nodded once to her. "Very well. But I must ask... What do you want with this old dog, anyway?"
He eyed them suspiciously, his intimidating frown unmoving. After a moment, he clasped his hands behind his back as if he were addressing his own men. "I am a Captain of the Imperial Guard. I was born of a noble family, I am carrying on the tradition of my ancestors. Yet now here I am, banished to wander China's backwaters on 'routine checks.' That old dog brought shame upon me, defaced the Forbidden City, destroyed my ancestral home- and eluded my grasp. She made a fool of me, and now I am treated like a fool. I will have my revenge. If that's alright with you ladies."
"Oh, that's just fine with us," Bai replied, and Qiang nodded along once she'd been elbowed into it.
Zhin was all too familiar with this scenario. A once powerful man, stripped of his rank, and likely mad from his thirst for vengeance. She wanted to ask him exactly how it was anyone else's fault that he couldn't do his job, but she refrained. After all, keeping her clients happy was part of her job, which she did well. Unlike Captain Zhengsheng, apparently. "I see, Captain. Well, we guarantee you- for the right price, of course- that we will accomplish what you ask of us."
"Hm." He narrowed his eyes at the three snow leopards, and for a moment Zhin thought he might have been offended by her guarantee and what it might suggest about his own efficiency. Rather than accuse her of disrespect, though, he nodded his head. "Enough. I've already agreed to a deal. Go to Shanghai, and I will have a courier bring you the first half of your payment."
Zhin decided not to question how the Captain seemed to know all-too-well the way these types of deals worked. "As you wish." She signaled to her sisters, and together they leapt back into the tree tops. They traveled East for a time, leaping from tree branch to tree branch until they were well away from the Captain's encampment. Zhin finally came to rest when she caught a glimpse of moonlight reflecting off the surface of some water, a small stream by the looks of it. Bai and Qiang huddled close to her, their brows knotted in concern.
She supposed she should bring up what they'd just done. "Well, that was an interesting conversation."
"That man is out of his damn mind," Bai replied. "Arrest Shifu? What on earth does he think he's talking about?"
"It would seem that Shifu has taken up with a wanted woman," Zhin pointed out. "Aligning himself with someone who has acted against the Emperor is an act of treason in itself."
"But doesn't that make Captain Zhengsheng a traitor for hiring us?" Qiang asked.
"Very good, Qiang," Zhin replied lightly. "And should he feel the need to try to back out of our deal, we can easily remind him of that. But let's try to do this job quietly and get paid, instead."
"You're right," her sister sighed. "But he was a jerk."
"No arguments here," Bai added.
"I know he was a jerk." Zhin rubbed at her temple. Her comrades seemed to be missing the point. "Jerks still have money, though."
"Zhin, you can't be serious," Qiang argued, a tinge of worry entering her voice. "When it comes down to it, are we really going to bring Shifu to that jerk?"
"Yes. No. I don't know." Zhin paused to gather her thoughts. Master Shifu was and had always been their enemy, of course. But he had also been someone their own Master had felt fondly toward, and so they rarely interfered with him or his students out of respect for her. When they did meet on the battlefield, it was always in a fair fight, one in which they respected their opponent. Trying to capture Shifu, to bring him to Captain Zhengsheng for whatever he had planned... Qiang had a point. It didn't feel right. "It won't come to that," she concluded. "I'm sure Master Shifu won't even be in the picture."
"He will once we spirit away his girlfriend," Bai said.
"We don't even know if we're going to capture anyone. Zhengsheng only wants us to tail this Lin woman and report to him on what she's up to. That's it. There's no guarantee there will be any more to this job than that, so let's not worry. Okay?"
Reluctantly, Bai and Qiang agreed.
"Good. Now let's make camp, already." She could use a good night's sleep to clear her head. Perhaps Qiang could give her a few tips on the subject.
Notes:
I know I take a while to get these chapters done, so I'd like to once again thank everyone who's still reading and reviewing! Knowing that people are enjoying the fic is really helping me along. As far as references go, the title is a quote from Walt Kelly, and Guotin's speech in the flashback references both Howl's Moving Castle and Lady and the Tramp.
Chapter 16: He Who Eats Alone Chokes Alone
Chapter Text
Chapter 16: He Who Eats Alone Chokes Alone
"Po, stop fidgeting," Tigress whispered.
"Sorry," Po replied in a much more exaggerated whisper.
She sighed, but made no comment. She didn't have much room to talk at the moment, herself. She was the one who had dragged him out of bed in the dark of night to sneak around the grounds and spy on Lin's daughter, of all people.
Tigress watched Gia walk in her cheerful, bouncy gait into the Jade Palace, her lantern bobbing along with her. They'd been mostly hidden behind some of the many trees planted on the grounds, though Po couldn't quite camouflage himself so well. "This complicates our task," she informed him quietly. She'd been keeping an eye on the little wolf for quite some time, and unfortunately for her and Po the girl seemed to spend nearly every night in the Library of Scrolls, in addition to her days. If she hadn't already known that Shifu had given Gia a room in the barracks, she'd swear the wolf lived in that library.
"Uhuh." Po glanced at her, then back to the Jade Palace. "We're spying on Gia 'cause...?"
"She spends almost all of her time in the Library of Scrolls," Tigress said. She didn't know what was so hard to understand. "We need to learn her schedule so that we can properly avoid detection."
"Seems kinda creepy, that's all." He shrunk slightly under the harsh look she gave him. "Y'know, maybe ya could get to know Gia a little better. Instead of this... Stuff we're doin'. Weird stuff. This's weird."
"Why bother?" she grumbled. "She's Lin's demon spawn, I don't care how sweet and simple she pretends to be."
"She couldn't be that simple if Shifu's convinced she's qualified to care for the scrolls," he pointed out.
"Exactly," she confirmed with a nod. She decided to ignore the frustrated sigh he let out beside her.
"Tigress, Gia is a sweet person. I just think, I dunno, you're bein' unfair 'cause of who her mom is. And ya know how intense you can get." He stepped sideways away from her, as if he thought she might hit him for what he'd said, but she only silently shook her head. "C'mon, whaddaya got to lose by just giving her a chance? I'll bet Gia'd be super happy if ya talked to her, too. I get the feeling she likes being around women better'n men."
Tigress blinked to herself, slowly turning to look at Po. He looked as cute and clueless as always, yet he'd made an extremely astute remark. He probably hadn't even realized it, either. "Why do you say that, Po?"
"It's not that I take offense or nothin'," he replied, misconstruing her meaning as she'd expected he might. "But she grew up around nothin' but women, and she's probably only really had female friends. Plus I see how excited she gets whenever Viper says hi, and she does not react that way to us guys. Except Master Shifu, I guess, but they did have that whole road trip together. Speaking of which, I heard she was travelin' alone before she met Shifu, and y'know, not every woman's a super strong kung fu master... We dunno what kinda trouble she had to deal with. Plus, y'know, that whole bathhouse incident."
Tigress nodded along at all of his excellent points. "You are shockingly good at gathering intelligence, Po," she observed.
"Uh, thanks. I think."
"Maybe you're right," she continued, her mind working overtime to make use of all he'd told her. "Maybe the answer to our problem is to get close to Gia."
"That's not really what I meant-"
"I'll do it," she said with a final, decisive nod.
Po stared at her a moment. "...Okay."
She glanced sideways at him, her brow furrowed. Even after all the time they'd spent together studying nerve attacks, she couldn't quite read him. "Alright, tell me what you meant."
"Uh." He blinked back at her, then cleared his throat a little. "I meant that maybe it'd be a good idea to get to know Gia for real."
"Not interested," she replied shortly. "Besides, we don't have the time."
"We?"
"Wait for me in the kitchen," Tigress ordered, ignoring his question. He was going to have to be able to infer the obvious on his own sooner or later, and he would never learn if she simply told him. "I'll rendezvous with you after I've made contact."
"Maybe try to take it down a notch," Po whispered.
She punched him in the arm, ignoring the way he grunted in pain and made ridiculous faces. "Wait for me in the kitchen," she repeated, then headed for the library. Even though her goal wasn't to remain concealed, she couldn't help but stay light on her feet, just in case.
She found Gia sitting at the research table, leaning low over a scroll with her brow furrowed, the perfect picture of a scholar intently studying her subject. While she had lit the torches in the room, she'd placed her lantern on the table beside her for additional light.
"Hello, Gia," she greeted, and the girl looked up at her with wide eyes. Po was right, Gia did seem ecstatic to have been addressed by her. "I've heard you've been maintaining these archives."
"Oh, no," she protested as she fumbled to roll up her scroll. "I am only an apprentice at best, Master Tigress. You mustn't give me credit for the hard work of others."
"Alright," Tigress accepted shortly. She caught a glimpse of the scroll as she approached the table, before Gia had managed to finish rolling it up. She'd expected something from the archives, perhaps a historical scroll, but instead she'd seen a simple exercise a child might use to learn to write characters.
"I- I only need to, uhm, put this away," Gia stuttered, pulling the scroll into her lap. "And then I will go."
"No need," Tigress argued. She supposed Po had been right, the woman was polite enough, and didn't seem to have much in common with her irritating mother. And at least she was willing to work for her keep at the Jade Palace. However, Shifu would have never offered to let her stay in the first place if she hadn't been Lin's daughter. Tigress hadn't let it slip her notice, either, that while Shifu had barely spoken two words to her since his return, he'd been all too willing to offer his time and company to Gia. He seemed to be far more interested, lately, in newcomers to the Jade Palace than he'd ever been in her. Regardless, she needed use of the scroll library, and Gia practically lived there. "Do you often study here at night?"
"No," she answered quickly, then after a moment, she grimaced and hung her head. She appeared to be praying, though it didn't last long. "I must apologize. I have lied."
"So you do come here to study... Reading." Tigress watched with some bemusement as a blush became visible beneath Gia's gray fur. "You are ashamed?"
"I was a missionary," Gia informed her, and she blinked in surprise.
It was her understanding that missionaries traveled extensively, which in her opinion required a certain amount of toughness. It wasn't the type of thing she would have expected Gia to show any interest in. "You traveled?"
"Yes, for many years. I thought that perhaps if I were to help others, God would help me find my way. I read a lot, I've never had trouble before..." Gia trailed off with a quiet sniff, though she thankfully didn't start crying. "I had hoped I would learn to be braver, smarter, perhaps not such a... A crying baby, I think you call it."
"Crybaby," Tigress corrected, though she realized belatedly it might have come off as insulting.
Gia didn't seem to mind. "Yes, that. But I feel now as though I have not changed, not nearly enough. And now I cannot read, either."
Tigress understood. Gia was trying to tell her that she was now without something that had always given her comfort, and she felt diminished because of it. "I can understand that," she replied judiciously. "It must be frustrating for you." She'd felt the same way, on more than one occasion. She'd felt that way when Po had arrived at the Jade Palace. Even if she'd never gotten much attention or approval from Shifu, before Po had arrived she had at least been confident in her own skill. When Oogway had chosen him as the Dragon Warrior instead, and he'd improbably defeated Tai Lung, Tigress had begun to question herself more than ever before. If she could learn nerve strikes, it would prove without a doubt that at the very least she still had potential.
"I should not complain," Gia suddenly argued, a determined frown crossing her face. "I must not be ungrateful, or prideful."
Against all odds, Tigress found herself... Not hating Lin's daughter. Maybe she should stop thinking of Gia as "Lin's daughter" altogether. "Po and I like to study here some evenings, as well," she said as an idea formed in her mind. "Perhaps we could help you."
"No," she refused, with no explanation.
Tigress had never been one to give up easily, though. "Why not?"
Gia straightened up in her chair and squared her shoulders. "I am too much of a burden already. I must not bother you with such matters."
"I can respect that." Tigress took a seat beside her, suddenly aware that she might seem a bit too intimidating, standing over Gia as they spoke. "But you'll learn faster, and then you can leave here earlier and Po and I will also have a chance to study. Without your... Observation."
Her lips thinned a bit at the proposal. "Is that proper?" she asked, her tone suddenly disapproving. "A man and a woman alone in the middle of the night?"
"We're teammates, so yes," she answered harshly, indignant at the question. "And for the record, I value my time greatly, so I don't generally waste it by answering foolish questions about my personal life."
Gia turned a bit red at the admonishment and nodded obediently. "I apologize."
"That being said," Tigress added, "I wouldn't offer to help you if I felt it was a waste of my time." She still had her plan to think of. If she could get Gia to agree to tutoring, she could get the girl out of the library at a reasonable hour and have time for her own research.
"I accept, then," she agreed quietly. "But you should consider a chaperone-"
"I'll stop you there," Tigress interrupted. "I am not weak or weak of will, I am not vulnerable, nor am I an innocent young maiden. I need no chaperone, either for protection or for the preservation of some imaginary source of honor. I am a master of kung fu, I know what true honor is. Are we clear?"
Gia nodded, clearly embarrassed at the repeated admonishments.
"Also- Po? Really?" She sighed, leaning back in her chair. She couldn't even begin to imagine meeting Po for some sort of secret tryst. It was too absurd, the idea of Po of all people engaging in a clandestine affair. Not that she didn't think of him as totally unappealing, just that she didn't think he was the type to sneak around like some character in a trashy romance story. Well, he was sneaking around with her, just for kung fu reasons. "Po is a stuffed animal disguised as a person."
"Oh." Gia clasped her hands in her lap, watching Tigress with big brown eyes. "So you do not have an interest, then?"
"Not especially, no." This night had taken a strange turn. She was pretty sure they had begun what Viper would call "girl talk."
Gia let out a sigh, though why she would be relieved at such information was beyond Tigress. "I do not know much about men- besides that they smell terrible and never stop talking- but I do not find myself tempted, either."
Tigress laughed at Gia's assessment, in spite of herself. "So you've gotten to know Mantis and Monkey fairly well, then."
She smiled, her ears perking up at Tigress's laugh. "A little bit, yes. They are, what is the phrase? Rough around the sides?"
"Edges," Tigress corrected. "And you'll get used to them." She certainly had, though it had taken some time. She wondered if there would come a time when she would get used to Gia, too, though she sincerely hoped it didn't come to that. No matter how mild she found Gia in comparison to Lin, she still didn't like the idea of either of them staying at the Jade Palace permanently. Not that Shifu cared about her opinion. "I should go." She stood up, ignoring how the wolf's face fell at the announcement. "Get your rest tonight, lessons will start tomorrow. You should know that I am a strict tutor, and I'll tolerate no nonsense and no whining."
"Yes, of course," Gia accepted eagerly.
Tigress nodded once at her, then turned and left the library. She'd been surprised by the ease with which she'd convinced Gia. She wondered if perhaps she should listen to Po more often. Maybe once in a while, anyway.
Po had tea waiting for her at the table when she arrived in the kitchen, as well as carefully peeled and separated sections of orange. They shared a smile and she sat across from him to try a sip of the tea. "Chamomile?"
"So it doesn't keep us up," he replied, then popped an orange section into his mouth.
"Fruit will keep you up," Tigress pointed out. "It'll give you, uhm... Gas." She winced awkwardly at the sentiment. She normally didn't speak so crassly.
Po didn't seem to mind. "Just a little won't hurt," he argued congenially. "So tell me, how'd it go with Gia?"
"Quite well," she said, savoring her chamomile. "We have an agreement."
"Oh yeah?" he asked, and nudged the little bowl of orange segments toward her.
With a resigned sigh, she took one. "Gia's not quite familiar with Chinese characters yet. If we help her with her reading, she'll clear out of the library early enough for us to get some research done without her prying eyes."
"She must like ya, huh?" he asked with a grin.
Tigress furrowed her brow, unsure of what he meant. "I suppose," she agreed hesitantly. "We've really only just met. Why would you say so?"
Po shrugged. "I guess 'cause she's askin' for your help. Sounds like she likes ya."
"Hm." She put the subject out of her mind; she couldn't spend all night thinking about Gia. "I think we might have room to train in the library, if we move the research table aside. We'll have to check and see."
"Yeah, I guess that could work." He didn't sound especially interested, though why should he? Tigress was the one learning a new technique, and she couldn't expect him to feel enthusiastic every step of the way. "It'll be cool lookin' at all Oogway's old scrolls."
"Yes, I'm looking forward to it." She furrowed her brow as Po continued to smile at her. "Is there something wrong?"
"No, why?"
"You're staring at me."
"Oh, uh- it's nothin'-" He interrupted himself with an exaggerated cough and stuffed some orange slices into his mouth, now avoiding eye contact. "Just thinkin' about kung fu, that's all."
"Alright." She would have suggested that they spend a bit of time focusing on his mastering of Dragon style, except for their sudden interruption. They both fell into awkward silence as Shifu entered the kitchen, blinking at the two of them in surprise.
"Ah, hello," he greeted slowly. "Do not let me interrupt you."
"Good evening, Master," Tigress replied with a bow of her head. She glanced sideways at Po, and when he didn't move she jerked her head toward Shifu.
"Uh, yeah, good evening," Po finally said. "Master."
Shifu stared at them, as if awaiting something. Tigress knew what he wanted: an explanation. Unfortunately, she had none to give.
Po proved to be quicker on his feet than she'd expected. "Couldn't sleep, either?" he asked, though he still sounded a bit anxious. "I got chamomile."
"Chamomile," Shifu repeated thoughtfully, still staring at them intently. "Is that what prompted this... Late night meeting?"
"Sorta," Po replied, then got up to grab a cup for Shifu. "Personally, I was a little hungry. Orange?"
"No, I'll pass." He narrowed his eyes shrewdly at Po, then turned to Tigress. "Do not tell me you were up for a midnight snack, as well."
"No," she denied, then indicated her cup. "Just some... Chamomile." Normally she was better at lying through her teeth, but with Shifu she became more flustered than normal. She agreed with Po, that it felt wrong to lie to their master. Shifu had raised her, and she wanted nothing more from him than his approval. Going against his wishes, lying, sneaking around behind his back could only earn her the opposite. If Shifu found out what she was up to, what she had dragged Po into, he would be disappointed in her. She didn't think she could bear disappointing him. Not anymore. "It helps, with sleeping."
"Of course," he said, though with a note of skepticism in his voice. He sat at the head of the table as Po served him some of the chamomile, then sipped slowly at the tea. He clearly intended on staying as long as it took for him to dig up what they were hiding from him. "I didn't think the two of you spent much time together."
For some reason, Po started turning red and laughing nervously.
"Not normally," Tigress confirmed. She hoped Po's sudden loss of composure didn't cost them. "It's a coincidence."
"Yeah," the panda agreed. "Coinkydink."
Tigress stared at him, as did Shifu.
"Uh, that's what my dad used to say when I was a kid. Coinkydink." He sat heavily down in his chair and drank from his tea cup, staring down into it as if he might try to hide behind the tiny piece of ceramic.
"Cute," Tigress commented, for lack of a better response. While she did mean the sentiment, it came out sounding a bit stiff due to their current circumstances.
"Yes, adorable," Shifu added, narrowing his eyes at each of them in turn. "Is there something I should know?" he finally asked.
She at least felt relieved that he'd finally been direct. Still, the more she lied the less believable she sounded. "Not that I know of, Master. Why?" Turning the questioning back around on him would buy her a little bit of time to think over a possible story, if it came to that.
He watched her for another moment, then turned to glare at Po one more time. "No reason," he ground out, his ear twitching. He knew she was lying.
It didn't help that Po had gone from black and white to black and pink. "Yep, just a coupla teammates drinking chamomile," he said about an octave higher than his usual pitch. "Nothin' to report here."
"Not collecting souvenirs?" Shifu asked pointedly, which prompted another nervous chuckle from Po.
Tigress supposed their master was referring to the hero worship with which Po had once regarded her. She didn't see what that had to do with anything, though. It probably had some meaning that only Shifu and Po understood. Judging by how out of sorts Po had become, she'd need to derail the conversation. She cleared her throat for attention. "Master, I would like to ask a question about Tai Lung, if it isn't inappropriate."
Shifu blinked, as if startled by the statement. Then he gave her a curt nod.
"What is our course of action upon his return to the Valley?" She had many more questions than just the one, but their master had made it clear that he would accept no inquiries which questioned his judgment.
"Tai Lung will train with the six of you," he replied, though he didn't sound quite as certain of himself as usual. "And of course heavy meditation will be a requirement for him. His exact regimen won't be decided until we discover how much he has learned in Shanghai."
She suspected their old enemy would learn nothing in Shanghai, but she knew better than to say so out loud. Shifu had been cold enough to her as it was, after her outburst at Gia's arrival. She didn't need to give him more reasons to be angry with her.
"Y'know, I'm kinda excited," Po said. His enthusiasm surprised Tigress and, she suspected, Shifu as well. "I mean, Tai Lung was really awesome once upon a time, right? And now he's gonna be here, training as a kung fu master again, bein' awesome again. Plus it's kinda historic, right? It's not every day that a kung fu master gone bad gets a chance to be good again, and we're gonna be part of it! Well, mostly you, Shifu. Still cool, though." He sipped sheepishly at his tea as they stared at him.
"...You may have a point," Shifu admitted reluctantly. "But you should not get your hopes up too high, or let your guard down, Po. Should Tai Lung turn on us yet again, the responsibility of defeating him will once more fall to you."
"Oh." He visibly deflated at the short lecture, turning his eyes down to his teacup.
Tigress didn't like seeing Po disappointed, even if Shifu had only spoken the truth. She supposed she could trace the cause to all the time they'd spent training together, but she felt protective of the panda in a way she hadn't toward her other teammates. "Don't spend too much time dwelling on that, Po," she tried to reassure him. "That is a bridge we can cross once we come to it."
"Well said," Shifu told her, then held out his cup to Po for a refill.
With another smile, though less enthusiastically, Po emptied the last of the tea into his cup. "I know, I gotta focus on training."
"Yes," he said, taking a casual sip of the chamomile. "It is your duty, as the Dragon Warrior, to focus all of your attention and energy on your training. You musn't get distracted by... Other pursuits." He paused to level yet another suspicious glare at the two.
"I should get some rest," Tigress rushed out, before there was time for any further questioning. She raised her eyebrows at Po to signal he should run for it as well, and stood. "Good night, Master. Good night, Po."
She quickly bowed to each of them and fled the kitchen for the evening. How could Shifu know about her attempts to learn nerve strikes behind his back? He couldn't possibly know. He must have guessed that something strange had been going on, that was all. He couldn't know the truth. She wished she could speak to Po about it, but they couldn't talk until Shifu had either gone to sleep or gotten a safe distance away. She only hoped the panda was smart enough to pick up on what she had. She sat on her bed, contemplating what she would do if her secret got out. She supposed she would have no other choice but to beg Shifu for his forgiveness. How could she do such a thing, though, when she didn't regret her actions? Perhaps she should take her own advice, and cross that bridge if and when she came to it. Hopefully Shifu would remain in the dark until she'd properly learned nerve strikes, and could prove him wrong about her. In the meantime, she'd simply have to be more careful about getting caught alone with Po.
Yan-Yan sighed as she stared down at the blank page in front of her. She sipped at some of the green tea she'd brewed for herself and tapped the end of her brush on the kitchen island. Normally she didn't write to her kids until the morning, but she'd been feeling restless after dinner and no one wanted to hang out with her. She might as well get a head-start on a letter to Baozhai, her youngest. Not that her children ever read her letters, but if they weren't going to see her then she could at least bombard them with paper. Baozhai had been such a sweet little girl, but she always followed along with what her siblings told her to do.
"Don't bother," Chen said in his usual grumpy tone as he hopped into the room. "Your kids'll talk to you or they won't, ain't nothingya can do about it."
"It makes me feel better," Yan-Yan argued. "I'm allowed to do something that makes me feel better."
"Hmph," he grunted, then grabbed a teacup more fitting for his size and joined her at the kitchen island. He watched her pour him some tea, then took a sip.
Yan-Yan rolled her eyes at the old rodent. "Okay, I give up. What's the problem?"
"What's going on between Wei-Shan and Quan?" Chen asked her.
"Hm?" She wondered if she could feign ignorance and get away with it. "Nothing out of the ordinary, as far as I can tell."
"Oh yeah?" He narrowed his eyes at her. "So there's nothing at all going on there, huh?"
"Chen, whatever you happened to see that made you suspicious, I assure you it's all in your head." She kept her expression as deadpan as possible, fixing her gaze on her scroll so that he couldn't intimidate her with his glaring.
"Sure, all in my head," he replied skeptically. "So it was all in my head that Quan was wearing his shirt the other day, or that weird joke she made about banging him. And it's all in my head that he made a comment about her sex noises. Huh. Interesting."
"She just found that shirt in the house," Yan-Yan argued, though she couldn't very well defend Lin's or Wei-Shan's careless comments. She didn't owe it to them at all, actually, to try to hide their activities from Chen, yet here she was doing just that.
"Don't treat me like an idiot, Yan-Yan. I know what's going on."
She sighed and finally turned to look at him. He was watching her, waiting for her to admit that she'd been lying. And she knew from experience that he wouldn't give in. "Fine, you've figured it out. Okay?"
He blinked up at her, as if she'd taken him by surprise by telling him what he'd wanted to know. "Oh."
"Yeah," she confirmed heavily, guilt settling into her gut when she realized that he wasn't so much surprised as he was upset.
"I need a drink," he announced morosely, then hopped out the back door.
With a shake of her head, Yan-Yan went about making a new pot of tea. She'd need a little help to stay up waiting for Chen. At this hour black tea would give her indigestion, so more green tea it was. She returned to writing her letter, and with some effort managed to get down an excellent opening line. Well, not so much excellent as factual. "This is your mother speaking" didn't really command attention the way it used to. She rested her head on her hands, staring down at the characters. She was having a crappy night. She'd been having crappy nights for a long time now. Sometimes she wished she could just turn back the clock to before she'd gotten divorced and her kids had disowned her. Back to when her kids had been small and wanted her.
Yan-Yan woke up with a start, jumping in her seat at the sound of the back door slamming. She rubbed at her face, certain there was ink on it, and rolled up her scroll. "Hi, Chen," she greeted. She had no idea how long she'd been out, but she could see through the windows that it was still pitch black out.
Chen grunted and hopped up to join her again at the kitchen island, stinking to high heaven of sorghum.
"Time for a drunken rant?" Yan-Yan asked, offering some cold tea to him.
Of course he ignored it. "I ain't drunk," he argued, and he'd almost be believable if he weren't as red as a ripe cherry. "I never get drunk, tolerance's too high."
"Right, I forgot." She pointedly pushed the tea closer to him. "Chen, I'm sorry about earlier today. I should have kept my big mouth shut."
"You're telling me," he agreed. "After all I did for those two knuckleheads! All I wanna do is stop thinking about it, but can I? No. No, I can't! How long was this going on, huh?"
"I understand it only happened a few months ago." She picked up the cup of tea and shoved it in his face, but he pushed it away.
"Why'd I even ask? That sonuvabitch, I always knew he had it in for her- how could he do this? I feel like one of my kids banged the other one." Chen reached up and rubbed his forehead.
"Oh, Chen," she sighed, giving up on trying to get him to sober up. "You should get to bed."
"And y'know I can't say nothin' about it to Quan!" he continued, ignoring her. "Gods forbid I try to tell her anything! Always acting like I'm a burden on her, getting pissed off at everything I say. I was doing her a favor, when I moved her in with Wei-Shan, and I never heard the end of it! And now- this!"
"Well, according to her, you kicked her out," Yan-Yan replied judiciously. "She just wants to know you care about her."
"Care? Care!?" He threw his hands up in the air at that. "I put a roof over her head then and I'm doing it now, not that she appreciates it! I taught that little ingrate everything I know! How's she repay me? Calls me names, tells me she doesn't want me around- runs off to live with Shifu! What'd he ever do for her, huh? And Wei-Shan- he wanted to take her away, too, y'know! Used to talk about taking her up to the mountains, and I'll betya anything she woulda run off with him if it weren't for those Imperial Guards. Thought she was dead, but does she got the decency to so much as drop a line? No! Why bother with us little people anymore, huh? We're only her family, not like we're important to her!"
Yan-Yan shook her head; she'd been hearing this particular rant for years, although the complaint about Shifu was new. It was at times like this that it was best to tuck the little old grump in and let him wear himself out. "Okay, let's get you to bed and you can tell me all about it there."
"Tellya all about what? That ungrateful fuzzball screaming at me for never saying 'I love you' out loud to her, even though she can't even stand being in the same room with me?"
"Yes, I believe we were getting to that." She picked Chen up, relieved that he didn't put up a fight this time, and headed toward his studio.
"What'm I supposed to say to her, huh? She'd only turn it into a joke, or throw it back in my face like everything else. She wants a buncha touchy feely crap, she can just run on back to Shifu like she likes to do so much! And once she's gone Wei-Shan can go back to screwing himself!"
She supposed this wasn't nearly as bad as when they'd thought Lin was dead after her escape from the Imperial Guard, and Chen had spent all night going on and on about "his little girl". That had been painful to listen to, especially as a teenager. That had been the first time she'd ever seen any emotion other than anger or annoyance from the jerboa- not that he'd been especially obliged to open up to her, at first.
She suspected it had always fallen upon Wei-Shan to lend an ear before, but Chen had chased him away that night. She hadn't overheard their entire fight, but she'd picked up enough to know that Chen blamed Wei-Shan for Lin having been chased into the harbor. There had been a plan in place, apparently, and Wei-Shan should have stayed with her. Yan-Yan couldn't say she hadn't gotten angry at the raccoon dog, herself. Not that she'd particularly liked him before then. She'd ended up spending the entire night at Chen's. While it had been awkward for her to see a man she'd always looked up to fall to pieces, she hadn't felt up to being alone or facing her parents, who had never understood her love for her friend.
Back then, she'd wanted nothing more than to find a way to get away from Chen, and now here she was taking care of him. She supposed that was just part of growing up. As she'd aged, she'd had to realize that her role models were people just like her, who were flawed and vulnerable the same as anyone else. Accepting that had meant that Chen was no longer an authority figure to her, but a friend instead. No, more than that. Chen was family. They were each other's family now, the family they had chosen for themselves.
Yan-Yan reached the very back corner of Chen's studio, where if one looked closely at one of the massive shelves a tiny bed could be found just below eye level, nestled among the works of art in storage. She set him down on the bed, though she didn't intend to let him sleep just yet. "Chen," she started, then paused to give him a poke, just to make sure he paid attention to her. "I understand how you feel. My son's completely disowned me, and my daughters only talk to me after I've harrassed them until they can't stand it anymore-"
"It's not the same-"
"Just listen!" she snapped, and to his credit the jerboa shut his mouth. "I get it. I really, really do. But I don't turn around and behave the same way toward my kids, I don't withhold affection, I don't fight them back! Because even if they're grown, they're still my kids and I'm still their mother. I'm older, and wiser, and it's up to me to show them that I love them, even when they're being snots. Okay?"
He didn't answer her, only glowered at the opposite end of the room like the sulky baby he was.
She shouldn't have expected any better. She loved Chen, she really did, but that didn't make him perfect. That gave her a bit of inspiration, actually. "Fine, be that way. Be the exact same way that Lin is. After all, nobody's perfect."
"Hey!" He crossed his arms, though the fact that he was literally sitting in a shelf somewhat detracted from his intimidating presence. "I'll haveya know I tried to make peace first! And what's she do? She throws it back in my face like everything else!"
"What on earth are you talking about?" Yan-Yan asked with a sigh. Chen and Lin fought so often that she couldn't even hope to keep every little slight and argument straight.
"I'm talking about when she came back to China," he informed her. "All this talk about wanting to see me first, like she was coming back for good or something." He paused and turned to glare at the wall, avoiding her gaze. "And then she doesn't even stick around a week before she's off running around again. Apparently Shifu's just so important that she's gotta go live with him in that boring damn valley. And d'you know how long she visited Wei-Shan? Months. She can't spend a week with me, but Wei-Shan gets the whole summer. And now alluva sudden she's willing to stick around here, now that she doesn't gotta be alone with me. I see how it is. I'm not supid."
"Oh, Chen." Yan-Yan wished, and not for the first time, that she could just force a reconciliation between him and Lin. She felt like the only one who could see the hurt feelings on either side of the fights, festering like open wounds. "Lin loves you, she does, but your acting like a big baby over all of this is hurting her just as much as you've been hurt! Can't you see that?"
He snorted at her plea. "No offense, Yan-Yan, but you just don't get it." He'd used that argument before, to her great annoyance.
"Then explain it to me," she insisted.
He hesitated, and she thought he wasn't going to talk to her anymore. He usually clammed up when she started asking questions. But for whatever reason, this time was different. "Quan never trusted me," he admitted quietly. "She said she did, but that wasn't true. She woulda told me the truth if she'd trusted me. And maybe you're right, maybe I don't deserve it. But I thought... I dunno. I figured something would change, eventually. I thought when I took her in, it'd be like we were a family and everything would turn out fine. I thought she'd start to trust me, sooner or later. But she never did. Never. You don't get it, what it's like to pour everything you got into a kid, and at the end of it all it's like you're still a stranger to her. And you gotta just step aside and watch her move on, always wondering if things coulda been different. If maybe you didn't try hard enough, or... Or if it's just that you're not a good person. Or not worth loving. And I know relationships don't always work out, and I know that I always screw up. I know that."
Yan-Yan wondered if he was speaking in general, or if he meant the affair he'd had with a student, which had ended his marriage. She tried not to bring the incident up, but she couldn't help but think of it- especially after what she'd been through with her ex-husband. After what her ex-husband had done to her, she'd needed to do everything in her power to not think about that part of Chen's past, because if she did she might start to hate him for it.
"I ruin everything, right?" he went on. "That's what you're thinking. It's true, so why not think it? I ruined my marriage, I ruined the life of someone I loved... I ruined Quan, too. She was a mess when I found her and I only made it worse. I only made her life worse."
Yan-Yan didn't know how long she could listen, so she decided to cut him off there. "Maybe you should get some sleep."
"Shit, I think I had a little too much to drink," he finally admitted. "But I'm not drunk. Maybe a little buzzed. Not drunk."
"I know you're not." She reached into the shelf and gave him a gentle pat on the head. "For the record, I do know what it's like. I've got my kids as proof of that."
"Yeah, you're right." He must have been really drunk if he was willing to say someone else was right. "But the thing is, you never screwed up. You were always a good mom. Your kids're ungrateful, probably 'cause of that idiot ex-husband of yours. Butya know it's not your fault. And at least you don't gotta live with 'em and watch 'em ignoreya."
"I've wondered if it's my fault that my children ignore me, Chen. I always wonder if I tried hard enough, if I could have been a better mother. I'm just trying to let you know that you're not alone."
"You were the best mother," Chen argued with her. "Don't you ever think otherwise. You did the right thing, asking for that divorce. I shoulda... I shoulda done what you did, y'know, being the first one to say it's over, with my wife. It coulda saved everyone involved a lotta pain, pain that I put 'em through. You were strong, andya did the right thing. Don't let anyone tellya you were wrong."
"Thanks, Chen. That's sweet of you to say." She suppressed some tears at his sentiments. She didn't think he'd ever realize how very important his good opinion was to her, and how much of a comfort it was for her to hear it. "And for the record, I know what it's like to have you looking out for me. I don't think you could have messed up that badly with Lin, because you're the best third parent I could have had."
"Hmph," he accepted gruffly. He was starting to sound more like his usual, grumpy self. "Now get outta here, already. What, you wanna sleep at the foot of my bed or something?"
She smiled at him. "As if I could fit." She started to walk away, but she paused and looked over her shoulder at the old man, tucking himself in, still red as a beet. "Let me know if you need anything. Okay?"
He grunted and waved her off. "I'm a grown man, lemme get my sleep."
Yan-Yan had learned over the years that this was Chen's version of "good night," so she left the studio and gently shut the door behind her, like she used to do for her children. She'd done the same for her father, when he'd fallen ill, and her mother, when she'd gotten old. This was turning out to be a much more difficult night than she'd expected. She paused in the sitting room and rubbed at her tired eyes, then nearly jumped out of her skin when Wei-Shan suddenly entered through the kitchen door.
"Oh. Hello, Wei-Shan." She frowned at him. It wasn't so much on purpose as it was an involuntary reaction to his presence. The way he stared bothered her immensely- one of the first things she'd ever noticed about the man was how he rarely ever blinked. And those thick glasses, there was something off about them, too. It seemed to her that they had been purposefully designed to obscure his gaze, to make him seem innocuous. When she'd first heard of his dubious past she had been as surprised as everyone else in the room, but it had also made sense to her. When those glasses were gone, there was something off about that stare of his, something that set her fur on end.
He'd noticed it right away. Wei-Shan didn't just stare at people because he was lost in his own world, he stared because he was watching. And he'd known from the moment they'd met that she could tell, and that she didn't like it, or him. Mostly, this meant that he avoided her when possible- which suited her just fine.
"So," Yan-Yan continued when she realized that he was just going to stand there and stare at her, rather than answer. "Chen isn't feeling well. In case you were looking for him."
"No," he replied distractedly. "Quan."
She struggled to relax her frown into a more neutral expression. "Lin is in her room, I think. Why, do you need her for something?"
He raised his eyebrows at her. It was clear that he wasn't accustomed to answering to another person. "You're nosy tonight, aren't you?"
"I slapped you before and I can do it again," she snapped, but he simply ignored her and walked up the stairs. Good riddance. Not that she found the thought of him alone in Lin's room with her even remotely comforting. But Lin was a grown woman now, she could take care of herself.
Yan-Yan reminded herself that Lin was a grown woman about three more times before she caved and ran up the stairs to check on her friend. Maybe it was just paranoia, but she had principles, dammit, and one of those principles just happened to be that friends should watch each other's backs. As angry as she had gotten at the time, that was exactly what Lin had done for her when she'd punched her ex-husband out. And maybe Lin was just behaving like a pig-headed horndog when she'd flirted with Meihui at the market, but she'd still had a plan for turning it to Yan-Yan's advantage. The least she could do for her friend in turn was to make sure that Wei-Shan didn't put the moves on her. And to not mention out loud that she didn't think Lin had enough self-control to say no.
When she burst into Lin's room, though, the old dog was sitting alone in her pile of cushions and reading a scroll.
"Yo," she greeted casually, apparently not bothered in the least by the dramatic entrance.
"What are you reading?" Yan-Yan asked, trying to calm herself after the rush of adrenaline she'd experienced from psyching herself up to defend Lin.
Lin wrinkled her nose in a show of confusion and rolled the scroll back up. "I'm not sure. Shifu keeps sending these weird letters to me."
She wasn't sure if she wanted to know details, but it was her job as a friend to ask. "What do you mean by weird?"
"He keeps writing these crazy rants about how irresponsible I am and asking what's wrong with me. I mean, what's he got to be so mad about? I wrote him updates."
Yan-Yan stared at her friend, eyebrows raised. "Lin, I've seen what you wrote. I wouldn't exactly call those updates."
"Really?"
"Yes! You don't remember? You asked me for my raunchiest romance so you could copy stuff down. And even though that brings to mind images which will haunt me for life, I did it for you." She sat down in the pillows beside Lin and smoothed out her hanfu. "You must have been drunk."
"Oh, yeah," Lin agreed. "Super drunk." Then, after a moment of contemplation, added, "I kinda wanna see that raunchy letter, now."
"It was quite long." Yan-Yan knew she should leave well enough alone, but she still had a bit of adrenaline in her system. "Listen, Lin. Was Wei-Shan in here?"
"Yeah, for a hot second," Lin replied casually, though she didn't elaborate. "Why? You looking for him?"
"No, I was looking for you." She fixed Lin with a pointed stare. "Just to be sure that you're... Okay."
"I know what you're doing," Lin replied, though she didn't sound as hostile as she would have expected. "And if I were you, I'd quit acting like we're still kids."
"Fine, you're a grown woman," Yan-Yan replied. She didn't know why she felt so angry about their discussion, she just did. "Go ahead and cheat on Shifu, see if I care."
"Yikes," Lin said, leaning away from her. "What in the hell's this all about, huh? Firstya got a problem with me dating Shifu, now you're convinced I'm a cheater? Are you having a nervous breakdown?"
"Right, there must be something wrong with my behavior," she snapped back.
Now Lin was starting to look and sound angry. "Yeah, there is! I'll haveya know that I have never- that I would never cheat on anyone, for any reason-"
"No, you just have threesomes and flirt with anything that moves."
"Get the hell out," Lin replied coldly. "Or I'll make you. Your choice."
"Okay, I can see my concern is unwanted, as always." Yan-Yan got up and stomped out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her. If Lin wanted to destroy her relationships, running around flirting and hitting on women in public, that was her own business. If Lin wanted to treat Wei-Shan like her little boyfriend when she knew perfectly well how inappropriate that was, it was her own business.
Maybe Lin was right, maybe she was jealous. Not that she still had any kind of romantic feelings left for the little snot, just that... That she was supposed to be the best friend. Her. She was supposed to know everything. She was supposed to be the one, she was supposed to be Lin's person. She was supposed to be the most important, the most loved, the closest friend. Maybe it was selfish, or unreasonable of her to feel that way. Yan-Yan wished she didn't feel that way. But she had never been anyone's most important person in her life, not even her own husband's. Lin had been her best friend, yet Lin had always cared more about Wei-Shan- and the same went for Chen. Nothing had changed. Even her own children had chosen her ex-husband over her. Every time she thought, even a little bit, that she belonged to someone, she'd been proven wrong. Painfully. Embarrassingly. And it was starting to get to her, she supposed. Maybe that was really why she'd never liked Wei-Shan. Maybe there was nothing wrong with him, and she was just imagining it because of her own jealousy.
Yan-Yan wondered if there would ever come a day when she didn't feel taken for granted. Or hopelessly, pathetically ignored. Lin was always telling her that she needed to date, or to get laid, and she went along with it because that was something fun to talk about. What she needed was to feel like it would matter to the people she already knew and cared about even a little bit if she disappeared from their lives. How hard was that to understand? She knew they all had felt the same way at some point. Gods only knew how many times she'd had to play therapist for them. That was her, good old Yan-Yan, there to lend an ear to anyone in need. There to mother them, to take care of them, to give and give and give and never expect anything in return. That was her, alright. She wasn't supposed to mind all that. It was just her personality. She wasn't supposed to ask for anyone to care for her in return, she was just fine.
"What's your problem, now?"
She blinked to herself, slowly realizing that she'd just been standing in the hallway outside her room, staring at her door and stewing. She looked up to find Tai Lung standing beside her with his usual put-upon expression. "Nothing," she lied. "Do you need medical attention, Tai Lung?"
"Ew, Gods no," he grumbled, wrinkling his nose. He was the most finicky adult patient she'd ever had. "I just thought I might remind you how to open a door, seeing as you seem to have forgotten."
Yan-Yan eyed the convict. He was a finicky patient, and he was younger than her, and attractive, and he blushed whenever she said anything even remotely flirty. Then, she stepped away from her door. "Why don't you show me how it's done, then?"
He furrowed his brow at her. "Alright," he agreed hesitantly. "That's odd, but alright." He reached down and pushed the door to her room open for her, then gestured to the doorway. "Ta-da," he announced flatly.
"You are such a shit-eater," Yan-Yan sighed, and ignored his blustering about her insult as she pushed him through the door. "Go on, get in there," she ordered in her most authoritative tone of voice.
"Not another exam," Tai Lung whined. "And I swear, if the word 'rectal' comes out of your mouth I will rampage again."
"Don't be a baby," she ordered, throwing her door shut. "Sit on the bed."
With a long-suffering sigh, he did as he was told.
She took a deep breath and tried to remember Lin's advice about confidence. Confidence. She needed to project confidence. How she would do that, she wasn't sure. But she sure as hell would try. Maybe if she just focused her attention on the fact that Tai Lung was already half-naked, so that was less work for her. "Confidence," she muttered out loud, only realizing she'd spoken after the fact.
"Huh?" he asked, clueless as usual. "Is this going to take long? I have work in the morning, I'll have you know, and I need my rest."
"How long this takes will be up to you," she replied, taking on her "I'm a doctor so you will listen to me" tone. That was as confident as she got, in her opinion. She would still need to make a move on him. Maybe she could just order him to kiss her, maybe that was an option. She could probably order him to strip, though that option would be more creepy than seductive. "Hold still," she settled on, approaching him in her most confident gait.
"Why are you walking like that?" he asked.
"Like what?"
He glanced nervously at the door, then back to her. "Like you're trying to shake something out of your underwear."
She felt herself turning red at the comment. She should have known she'd make a fool of herself. What had she been thinking, really? "Just open your mouth," she grumbled. "I want to check your throat."
"Oh, that's all?" He sounded relieved, though she tried not to take it personally. He leaned forward and opened his mouth for her, and she thoroughly inspected the back of his throat as if it had been her intention all along.
"You're fine," she sighed, snapping his jaw shut for him with one hand. "Perfectly fine. Nothing wrong. All healed."
"Don't sound too disappointed, now," he replied grumpily, rubbing at his jaw. "And for future reference, you could stand to manhandle me a bit less."
She rolled her eyes at him. "I hadn't realized you were such a delicate flower."
"I most certainly am not," he argued, his normal grumpy frown somehow becoming even more grumpy.
"Rectal," she said, mostly out of spite. She expected he would probably try to loom over her and make some vague threat about how strong and kung fu-ish he was, like he always did. He wouldn't even need to stand up to do so, he was still taller than her even while he was seated and she stood.
Instead, he leaned farther forward to ensure they were eye-level. "That had better be a joke," he said.
She couldn't help but laugh at him. "Oh my goodness, you really are frightened of a rectal exam, aren't you?"
"No!" he protested. "I am frightened of nothing!"
She knew a scaredy-cat when she saw one, so she didn't buy his argument for a single second. "Calm down, Tai Lung. I wouldn't go that far to get into your pants."
And there it was, that boyish blush that rose to his face whenever she flirted, and that made him seem so... Endearing. "Well good," he replied, shifting uncomfortably. "Because I don't go for that sort of thing- not that I go for anything- well, of course I go for, you know, women, I mean just look at me, I'm quite the catch I will have you know, and I could probably- I mean definitely have any woman I wanted if that were my goal, not that I have no interest, of course-"
Yan-Yan kissed him then, mostly just to shut him up. She supposed part of her wanted closure, too. She didn't expect him to have any real attraction to her, and the flirting was starting to drive her crazy. This way, he could reject her outright and they could get on with their lives. He didn't kiss her back, which she had expected, and when she pulled away he was more red-faced and wide-eyed than she'd ever seen him. "Nobody likes a babbler," she said.
"Right," he replied, his voice shrill and high-pitched. Then he cleared his throat loudly. "Right," he repeated in a comically low tone. "I have kissed women before, you know," he announced awkwardly. "Many, many women."
"Okay," she accepted, suppressing a laugh at his reaction. "I know, Tai Lung. You're the hot-shot kung fu prodigy."
"That's correct," he said with a stiff nod. "...But let's say that I, purely rhetorically, of course, had not exactly, ahm, kissed a woman. Before. Rhetorically, would it be at all possible to, in theory, try that again?"
Yan-Yan raised her eyebrows at him, caught-off guard by the question. "You mean, you are attracted to me?" she asked, then added, "In theory," in case she scared him off.
"In theory," he confirmed with another stiff nod.
"Then, both rhetorically and in theory, I would not be opposed to you kissing me," she replied.
"Okay," he accepted. "In theory," he said yet again.
"Just shut up and kiss me, Tai Lung," she ordered.
He rolled his eyes at the order, then took hold of her and pulled her roughly up into his lap, holding her against that muscular chest of his.
She took a moment to thank the Gods that the man never wore a shirt, then kissed him like her life depended on it.
When they parted, he grinned smugly down at her. "I'm a natural, aren't I?" He was practically preening, the cocky idiot.
"Oh, Tai Lung," she sighed with a sad shake of her head. "No. No, you're not."
He started to get all huffy, but she put a stop to that by grabbing him by his whiskers and pulling him into another kiss. She stopped only long enough to say, "Now you're going to make out with me, and not say another word. And when I've had enough, you will leave without a word. Okay?" She waited for him to nod in agreement, then practically dove face-first into him. Maybe making out with a convict who also happened to be her patient wasn't the greatest idea, but it certainly made her feel better.
Shifu walked through the village, watching as the residents enjoyed the crisp winter day, sharing warm drinks and roasted sweet potatoes on the street. It wouldn't be long, now, until Tai Lung and Lin returned to the Valley of Peace. Yet they were not at the forefront of his mind right now. He had no control over what happened in Shanghai. Lin had made that much perfectly clear. So he'd decided to try to focus on what he could control. Which brought him to Mr. Ping's restaurant just as it had begun to fill up with the lunchtime crowd, walking up behind Po as he approached the counter.
"Hello, Po," he greeted.
Po spun around, surprise clear on his face. "Master Shifu! I, uh- I was just gonna help my dad out for a little bit. Y'know, 'cause people're buying hot soup, it's winter-"
"Master Shifu!" Gia appeared from behind Po, because she was everywhere at all times. At least, it seemed that way lately. "You have come to eat noodles?"
"Uhm- not quite-"
"I had heard tell of your tremendous appetite," she went on cheerfully, as if there were nothing offensive about her words. "And witnessed it for myself."
"Alright," he grumbled, his eye twitching. "I need to speak with Po, so if you please-"
"Po!" Mr. Ping approached their little group, looking back and forth between Po and Gia. "You've replaced your lady friend awfully quick. Who's this?"
"Dad," the panda protested as he blushed, "Lin wasn't my lady friend-"
"My mother?" Gia interrupted, her eyes wide. "Master Po, you were involved with my mother? Master Shifu, did you know of this?"
"No." Shifu almost cracked a smile at the way Po sputtered and fumbled for words at the misunderstanding, but he was still trying to find out what Po happened to be doing with his daughter.
"I- uh- there was nothing goin' on with me and Lin," Po managed to get out. "N-nothin', with us- she's not my lady friend, Dad!"
"I can see that," Mr. Ping agreed, indicating Gia with one wing. "You have a new lady friend, now. Stop being rude and introduce us!"
"Gia's Lin's daughter!" the panda argued, a note of desperation entering his voice.
"Really," Ping replied, frowning in disapproval. "How scandalous! I thought I raised you with more class than that, Po."
"We're not an item!" Po went on, though it looked like that might fall upon deaf ears as well. "Gia's just a friend! So's Lin!"
Shifu supposed this was as good a time as any to step in and put a stop to the argument. "Be that as it may," he announced as clearly and authoritatively as he could manage, given the situation, "I must have a word with my student alone. Po?" He gestured to a table close to the restaurant's exit.
"Yeah, of course," Po readily agreed, likely in order to escape his father's curiosity. "I'll just be a minute, Gia."
"Patience is a virtue," she agreed before Mr. Ping began to usher her toward the kitchen.
"Now tell me, Gia, have you ever waited tables?" the goose asked as he whisked her away.
Shifu would have to put a stop to that just as soon as he finished putting a stop to whatever Po thought he was doing with Tigress. He waited until they'd been seated at the table and Po looked a litttle more relaxed, then crossed his arms and leaned forward to glare at the panda. "Tell me, Po, have you been having many late night snacks lately?"
Po furrowed his brow and began counting on his fingers. "Uh, no more'n usual, I think. If Monkey's askin', I'll replace his almond cookies."
"I'm more concerned with what you may have taken from Tigress." He waited for some clumsy confession, but Po still looked confused.
"I didn't even know she had snacks hidden in the kitchen. I mean, it's not good stuff, probably. Just nuts or something, I'd bet."
Shifu felt his eye twitch again. "You're missing the point."
Po held up his hands in surrender. "Did I take your snacks? Sorry, Master, I didn't realize."
"No!" Shifu paused to try to get his volume under control. He didn't need the whole of Mr. Ping's restaurant hearing him question Po's relationship with Tigress. Especially if his suspicions were right. It seemed to him, at least, that the late night sneaking around the two had been doing was clear evidence of an affair. "Let me make myself more clear."
"Yeah, that'd help," Po agreed, then recoiled slightly at the intensity of his glare.
"You are not to lay a single finger on Tigress," he ordered harshly. "My daughter is off-limits, do you understand?"
"Uh." Po started turning pink, clearly out of guilt. "Master, nothing's goin' on with me and Tigress, either-"
"Spare me," Shifu interrupted. "You stay away from her. The last thing she needs is to be distracted by silly romantic drama from her teammate. Whatever is going on between the two of you will end before she is hurt, you understand?"
"Yeah," Po said with a nod, though now an affectionate smile had spread across his face. "Wow, Master, you're bein' so protective. It's really nice, y'know?"
"Shut up," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Right," the panda replied, once again missing his point. "For the record, though, Tigress and I aren't dating. We're just friends. I mean, if ya don't believe me, ask her. Or better yet, just look at the two of us. I'm, like, pretty much the last person she'd ever be interested in. She's so far outta my league, I don't think she realizes that anyone might make that assumption, seeing us together."
Shifu stared his student down, but the more thought he gave to the explanation, the more he realized that he was behaving like a paranoid fool. Besides, since when had Tigress shown an interest in anyone who'd tried to court her, let alone a bumbling, childishly innocent young man like Po? He'd overreacted, probably seeing things that weren't there because of the stress he was feeling over Tai Lung. He should have known better than to let his imagination run wild in such a way. "My apologies, then," he said sheepishly. "I suppose you do have a point. I always imagined that Tigress would be courted by someone of a much more serious temperament than yourself."
Po let out a loud sigh of relief at the apology. "Yeah, I can see that bein' her type." He even wiped some sweat from his brow. "Ya had me nervous, there, Master. I thought I was about to end up with my sweet potatoes roasted. Not to use, uh, bad language."
"Don't worry about it." Shifu leaned over to peer past Po and into Mr. Ping's kitchen, where the goose had made quick work of putting Gia into an apron and loading her arms up with orders of noodles. "You shouldn't have brought Gia here."
"Huh?" Po turned around and let out a small yelp when he caught sight of what his father had done. "Lin'll kill me if she finds out about this!" He jumped to his feet and ran to the kitchen with the speed and agility of a trained kung fu master, grabbing the orders from Gia before she could begin waiting tables.
Shifu only wished he could motivate his student in such a way with Dragon style. Unfortunately for them, Lin didn't care for kung fu in the least. And that fact, coupled with her refusal to communicate with him about Tai Lung, was truly starting to worry him.
Winter had fully descended upon Shanghai, which meant a damp chill in the air. It rarely ever became cold enough for snow, but the long-time residents of the city had begun to bundle up as if they faced freezing temperatures. Lin, Wei-Shan, and Tai Lung, however, had remained untouched by the drop in temperatures. Tai Lung in particular complained often of feeling hot, which Lin couldn't blame him for. He had spent the last twenty years shirtless in the heart of a freezing mountain. And while Wei-Shan rarely complained, he was currently glaring daggers at the brazier set in the middle of the sitting room, where they had gathered for tea on Yan-Yan's insistence.
Lin hadn't given it much thought, but she supposed she had been used to Shanghai's climate back when she'd lived there. And where she'd grown up in Calabria, winters had been even milder. Shanghai winters had actually seemed harsh to her, at first. Now, however, after so many years living in England and then her stint in the Tavan Bogd mountains with Wei-Shan, the cool Shanghai air felt more like a refreshing breeze than anything else.
"My granddaughters are coming for a visit today," Yan-Yan announced, pretending that she didn't notice how miserable the members of the household with thicker fur were.
"If I wasn't already without a shirt I'd be taking it off now," Tai Lung complained.
"I'm going to destroy that thing," Wei-Shan threatened, still glaring at the brazier. "With my bare hands, if necessary."
"No one's doing anything!" Yan-Yan snapped. "I'm cold."
"Listen to the damn woman," Chen added from where he sat on the floor by the brazier, a rodent-sized cup of tea in his hand. "She's the only one ofya with even half a brain, so if she wants a brazier she gets a brazier."
That managed to shut everyone up for approximately three seconds. "I'm so hot," Lin complained. "Can't I just take my shirt off?"
"Absolutely not," Chen snapped.
"Not likeya ain't seen it before," she grumbled. "Everyone here has."
"Unfortunately," Tai Lung added.
"My house, my rules," Chen argued, and Lin rolled her eyes in return.
"You sound just likeya did when I was a kid," she said. Honestly, the miserable old fart should have been happy she was even speaking to him again. "As in, full of shit."
Yan-Yan cleared her throat, interrupting their argument. "So no one cares about my granddaughters visiting, I presume."
"Nope," Wei-Shan answered, and Tai Lung grunted and slid down further in his seat.
"How old're they, again?" Lin asked, skeptical about the prospect of having children around. She didn't like the idea of getting roped into babysitting, but if she needed to she could always sacrifice Tai Lung in her stead.
"Five," Yan-Yan answered, which prompted a round of groaning. "Stop that! You're all a bunch of overgrown spoiled brats!"
"Tell me about it," Chen agreed. "You all don't like kids? Tough shit. Suck it up or get out."
"Getting out sounds good," Wei-Shan replied, then stood up and headed for the door. "Don't wait up."
"Hey, wait for me," Lin called out, but before she could get up and follow Chen's little walking stick stung her head. "Hey!"
Chen landed deftly back in place by the brazier, as if he'd never moved at all. "Not on your life," he ordered, without any explanation.
She wished the old man was slower so she could grab him and shake him. "I can go where I want, when I want," she snapped.
"Actually," Yan-Yan cut in, "I'd like it if you'd meet my granddaughters. It won't be all of them, just the two oldest. You can handle that, can't you?"
Lin frowned at the request. She wasn't exactly feeling charitable after Yan-Yan had gone off on her the other night, without any provocation. Maybe it had something to do with Chen shit-talking her, maybe it was Yan-Yan acting insecure about Meihui. Either way, Lin didn't have a lot of patience left, not with Oogway's damn visions to figure out and Tai Lung to worry over.
"Lin?" Yan-Yan asked again, raising her eyebrows. "You're staying, right?"
"I'm not in a good mood," Lin replied pointedly. "And I don't like kids."
"Fine," she replied stiffly, then paused briefly to eye Chen and Tai Lung. Then, with a deep breath, she said, "I'm sorry, alright? Please stay."
Lin snorted at the apology. She did have to wonder about the sincerity, considering the fact that Yan-Yan had waited until she wanted something to give one. But she shouldn't have been surprised at Yan-Yan's little blow-up; she'd always been kind of jealous. And Oogway had been trying to teach her all about forgiveness and crap, so she might as well try. "Whatever." She jabbed Tai Lung in the arm with a finger to get his attention. "If I gotta stay, so d'you."
He glared at her, like always. "How did I know you'd say that?"
"You're psychic," she answered shortly, then excused herself from the brazier to hide out in the kitchen.
It was a bit drafty in there when neither the oven nor the stove were lit, so she could only hope that Yan-Yan and Chen stayed in the sitting room with their precious coals. She wasn't in the mood for attitude from either of them today. She also didn't appreciate that Chen had decided that she existed again, because he apparently just couldn't resist sniping at her. She should have followed Wei-Shan out the door when she had the chance. Now she had to deal with screaming toddlers all day. Were five-year olds considered toddlers, even? She didn't know. She'd never had to know, thank God, and she planned to keep it that way. If she couldn't stand the little girls, she'd bail. Tai Lung could handle kids. Sure, he was an outlaw at worst and an ex-con at best, but she had no reason to believe he'd harm a couple of children. In fact, it'd probably be pretty funny to see him try his hand at babysitting.
Tai Lung yawned, slouching in his seat and watching as Yan-Yan stoked the coals in the brazier, kneeling over the thing as if they were in subzero temperatures. Chen had hopped off into his studio to "work," though Tai Lung had his own doubts about that, and Lin seemed to be spending more and more time alone recently. She didn't seem to be on very good terms with Yan-Yan at the moment, and the woman had never been on good terms with Chen, but he hadn't bothered to ask about such matters. He didn't care about the old crone's personal life, or anyone else's. His only concern was getting through the next couple of weeks without sweating to death as Yan-Yan steadily raised the temperature of the house to "hellscape."
"Can't you just wear more layers?" he asked, arching a brow at the sight of her gently blowing on the coals. They hadn't gone out, and they'd already gotten as hot as they were going to get.
"That only helps so much," she argued. "Especially if I'm already freezing. Besides, why should I be the one to suffer? The rest of you are technically just visiting. I live here."
"Hmph," he grunted, mostly because he didn't care enough about the issue to argue it.
"How's your rehabilitation?" she suddenly asked.
He rolled his eyes at the question; more like his servitude. He'd been forced to cook, as it seemed to be his only alternative to starving to death, and soon the dishes had piled up so much that he'd started washing those just to have something clean to cook and eat with. Pretty soon he'd be wearing a maid uniform and cleaning the house full time. "You live here, you should know."
"I'm just trying to make small talk," she snapped back, her gaze still fixed on the brazier.
He cleared his throat uncomfortably at her admonishment. He had some idea of what this awkwardness between them was about- he wasn't a complete rube. They'd made out, and now Yan-Yan felt weird around him. That seemed to be the case, anyway. He didn't feel weird, personally. He had nothing to feel weird about. Plenty of women would have killed to have a chance with him, he was certain, and if Yan-Yan wanted to behave like nothing ever happened then that was just fine with him. It wasn't as if he couldn't move on whenever he felt like it. "Look-"
A knock on the door interrupted him, and he would have continued but Yan-Yan shouted, "Lin!" at the top of her lungs, then hopped up and ran to the door.
Lin reluctantly returned from the kitchen, her arms crossed, and poked at Tai Lung until he stood up while Yan-Yan answered the door.
Then Yan-Yan squealed, high-pitched and, for lack of a better term, girlishly. "My grandbabies!" Two black and white balls of fuzz attached themselves to her, and she kneeled down to hug them tightly.
Tai Lung thought he might gag at the sight.
"Look at my big, strong girls!" she went on, and in spite of how nauseating the display was, it was sort of nice to see her so happy. She finally let the two children go and patted each on the head. "Keung, Lin, these are two of my grandaughters. Ziying-" she gestured to the larger of the girls, more robust and plump with fluffier fur, its black and white pattern forming a mask on her face- "and Jiangying." She indicated the smaller sister, her fur sleeker and silkier, her build much more slender, her eyes more heavily lidded even at such a young age, her black fur only occasionally interrupted by spots of white- one of which landed directly on her nose. Both twins had big yellow-green eyes and watched the other adults in the room warily. "And this is their mother, my oldest daughter Yiliang."
Yiliang was slender like her smaller daughter, and her fur reflected the same point pattern as her mother except in shades of gray. She stared coldly back at them with Yan-Yan's unusual violet eyes- though it was hard to say they were Yan-Yan's eyes when they lacked her warmth. "Mother," she greeted shortly, with barely a nod. "The girls only need to be watched for a couple of hours."
"Really, that long?" Yan-Yan sounded about ready to cry from joy, and Tai Lung bristled on her behalf.
"The babies are sick at home," Yiliang replied. "I need to get back to them. Is Chen here?"
"Yes, he's working in his studio." Yan-Yan pulled out her handkerchief and started rubbing at Jiangying's tiny cheek with it. "You can say hello, if you want."
Her cold violet eyes darted toward the door to Chen's studio and lingered only momentarily. "No. Give him my regards. I'll be back before dinner." She gave one last shallow nod, then hugged her children goodbye and left.
Lin let out a breath beside him, as if she'd been holding it.
"Sweeties, go say hi to Gong Gong Chen." Yan-Yan motivated her granddaughters with gentle pats on the bottom, and they scampered off to Chen's studio. She then turned on Tai Lung and Lin, eyeing them suspiciously.
Tai Lung shrugged; he didn't see what he could have possibly done wrong. He'd stood off to the side with his mouth shut, trying to blend into the background as much as possible. What boggled his mind was that Lin had done the same.
"Okay, what's with the silence?" Judging by how Yan-Yan was staring at Lin, she'd had the same thought.
Lin shrugged and shook her head, her mouth tightly shut and her arms crossed. She was red in the face, too, though he hadn't noticed that before.
"Lin, I know you," the cat said. "I sent my grandkids into the next room for a reason. Why the silence?"
With another deep breath, she finally answered. "Trust me, you didn't want me to open my mouth with your daughter and grandkids around."
"I'm giving you the chance to say something now."
"Your daughter needs a swift smack to the mouth," Lin snapped, then turned to Tai Lung. "Help Yan-Yan watch her grandkids." With that, she returned to the kitchen to continue her sulking.
"Well that was rough," Yan-Yan observed with a sigh. "Alright, Keung, let's go."
"Ugh, that name," he grumbled, but he followed her to Chen's studio anyway. He didn't know what he'd expected to see, but the two little girls sitting on the floor and carefully painting colorful stick figures while Chen patiently supervised surprised him. Maybe it was the rodent's unprecedented patience.
"Oh, Chen, they're going to get their clothes and fur covered in this paint," Yan-Yan groaned.
"We're learning complimentary colors," Jiangying announced proudly as she smeared green across her paper with her brush.
"My tummy hurts," Ziying added, then reached over and put red on her sister's painting.
"No!" the smaller girl cried, and surprisingly it was Chen who got between them.
"Ziying, don't paint over someone else's painting," he ordered. "Jiangying, it's not the end of the world. Remember what I taughtya, now."
"Nothing is precious," the two girls recited dutifully.
"That's a nice lesson for a couple of five-year-olds," Yan-Yan said sarcastically.
"It's an art thing," Chen replied shortly. "Go throw those out," he told the children. "You can always make new ones."
They did as he'd said, Ziying excitedly tearing her own painting to pieces on the way to the trash bin- and then chasing her sister with an equal amount of excitement on the way back.
"Alright, that's enough," Yan-Yan announced firmly, then swept the rambunctious girl up as if it were second nature for her. "Hold her, Keung." She shoved Ziying into Tai Lung's hands, and he held her at arm's length with his nose wrinkled.
"What am I supposed to do with this... Bundle of joy?" He hated the way young children smelled, and this girl was no different. It was that combination of dried spit and powder that turned his stomach.
"Hold her," Yan-Yan ordered with an annoyed scoff, then picked up Jiangying. "Like this." She cradled the girl close to her chest, the little cat's chin resting on her shoulder.
Tai Lung did his best to mirror her movements, though he already wanted revenge for such humiliation. "I am not a nanny," he grumbled.
"My tummy hurts," Ziying announced again, and then wretched.
"No!" he shouted at the feeling of hot sick running down his back, and quickly returned to holding the girl at arm's length. As it turned out, that had been a terrible decision, as she only projectile vomited all over his front. "Aaaaggh!" He had no idea what to do with the child, so he simply stood there and screamed as she coated him in more vomit than he'd ever thought a tiny kitten could contain.
When she'd finally finished, she started crying.
"Oh, gods." Tai Lung hadn't thought it could get worse than the vomiting, but the crying was definitely worse.
Yan-Yan let out a frustrated sigh and set Jiangying down. "Don't you dare go near that throw-up," she told the child, then took Ziying from Tai Lung's hands and set her down with her sister and Chen. "Honestly, Keung, how can you be so bad at this?" She then pulled gloves out from her hanfu and put them on.
"Not an exam," he complained at the same time as Ziying. He hoped nobody commented on the fact that he'd had the same thought as a five-year-old. He supposed if Yan-Yan tried to make fun of him, he could point out how she kept gloves in her hanfu.
"I'm just looking through the vomit," Yan-Yan replied matter-of-factly, as if this were totally normal. "Hold still, now." She sifted through his fur, where most of the sick had landed, then made her way behind him. "Aha," she announced, and when she came back into view she was holding a large, sticky lump. She gave the thing a few good squeezes, and Tai Lung resisted the urge to throw up, himself. "I'd thought so. Paper."
"I didn't do it," Ziying argued with a sniff.
"I think you did, little girl." Yan-Yan tossed away the thrown-up paper like the girls had their paintings, then removed her gloves and began to poke and prod at her granddaughter's stomach. "How much paper did you eat?"
"Just a little," the girl admitted.
"She eats it all the time," Jiangying piped up. That was no surprise; she'd seemed like the tattle-tale type. "Whenever Mama's not looking. She ate part of her painting, too."
"Snitch!" the larger girl accused, then took a swipe at her sister.
"Enough!" Yan-Yan snapped, and the girls settled down, both staring up at her with wide-eyed expressions of guilt.
Tai Lung took advantage of that momentary silence to bring up the most important issue at hand. "May I please go bathe now?"
"Fine, I don't need any more samples," Yan-Yan replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. She barely even paid attention to him, didn't so much as bother to turn around.
He slunk off without another word, not that he would have been heard if he'd spoken again. He tried his best not to drip on the floor, as he was certain he'd be brow-beaten into wiping up any stray puddles. He didn't see why he had to play babysitter with Yan-Yan's bratty grandchildren in the first place. It had absolutely nothing to do with his rehabilitation, not that he believed they could change him. He had been revered, once, he had been feared, he had been powerful. Now he was sponging a five-year-old's vomit off of himself in the home of some washed up geriatric. He might as well be the washed up geriatric. Maybe he should make a run for it like Wei-Shan had, and leave Lin to run babysitter duty.
He could have. He could have just jumped out the window, run off to work and asked for a shift. Yet for reasons he couldn't understand, he walked back downstairs to continue playing nanny.
Lin sat at the kitchen island with a cup of mint tea, staring at it and desperately wishing it was wine. She had a feeling, though, that Yan-Yan would scold her for drinking while her two grandkids were around. Lin then realized that she was being stupid; she could just pour sorghum into her tea and Yan-Yan would never notice.
"What's that?" Yan-Yan's fluffy granddaughter, the bigger one, came trotting into the kitchen.
Lin regarded the child as she poured her soghum. "What's your name, again?"
"Ziying," she replied, her eyes fixed on the spiked tea. "I want tea, too."
"Too bad," Lin replied, then gulped down her whole cup at once and set it back down on the island. "It's all gone."
Ziying ran up to the edge of the island, standing on her toes to reach up and tip over the cup with one tiny hand. When she saw that the cup was indeed empty, she bristled. "Hey! That's not fair!"
"No one cares." She watched the girl peer into the empty cup, as if she would will some tea back into it. "Where's your sister?"
"She didn't wanna wrestle," Ziying replied, then sniffed and wiped at her face with her sleeve. "So I put her away."
Lin wasn't sure what that meant, but knowing how weird kids could be, it probably wasn't anything good. She'd heard a ruckus going on earlier, but she'd figured it was just kids being kids. "You're bigger and stronger, huh?"
She nodded.
Lin leaned over and gave the girl a smack upside the head, ignoring her wail. "I'm bigger and stonger 'an you. Doesn't feel so great to get pushed around by someone just 'cause they think they can, right?"
Ziying shook her head.
"Go be nice to your sister and leave me the hell alone," she ordered, and the little girl turned on her heel and ran out of the kitchen, still sniffling. Lin rolled her eyes and retrieved her cup. Why anyone ever had kids and kept them, she couldn't understand. She started brewing more tea, and managed to get another pot of tea brewed and spiked with more sorghum before Yan-Yan came stomping into the kitchen to further torture her. If only she'd had work.
"What on earth did you do to my grandchildren?" Yan-Yan asked.
"Just the one," Lin corrected. "And I told her to leave me alone."
"She rolled her sister up in my rug!"
Lin snorted. "Did she unroll her?"
Yan-Yan walked up to the kitchen island and leaned on it, glaring at Lin. "She said the mean lady told her to unroll her sister. I'm assuming you're the mean lady."
"That's what they call me," she agreed, then took a sip of her drink. "I don't see what the problem is, then."
Yan-Yan rubbed at her face in frustration. "The problem is that you're the mean lady. So what did you do?"
Lin shrugged. "I dunno. I was mean. It's kinda my thing, in caseya missed that."
"She's just a child! You can't be mean to a child!" She grabbed Lin's cup before she could stop her and took a sip, then grimaced. "And you're drinking? Lin, come on!"
"Come on with what?" Lin snapped, snatching the drink back. "I'm not babysitting. Your grandkids seem like cute kids, but I don't like kids. Not even cute ones! The only reason I ever liked Tai Lung was 'cause he didn't even act like a kid."
"You don't have to be cruel to my granddaughter!" Yan-Yan argued.
"I wasn't cruel, I was firm, and I told her to quit pushing her sister around! Kids think you're mean whenya scold 'em, that doesn't mean I mistreated her." Lin drank her spiked mint tea. "And I can drink if I damn well feel like it, since I'm not the one responsible for your grandkids."
"No, no, you're not responsible," Yan-Yan agreed sarcastically. "You're not responsible for anything!"
Lin wanted to stay calm, but she couldn't handle Yan-Yan's sudden grudge against her. Not now. She took a deep breath, and calmly replied, "I'm responsible for how I treat other people, unlike you."
"Oh really? You really think you, of all people, have the high ground there? After the stunt you pulled running off and not bothering to contact us? After what you did to my ex after I asked you not to cause trouble? After how you've treated Chen-"
"What'd I ever do to Chen?"
"I'm not doing this," Yan-Yan said, shutting her eyes tightly. "I- I'm Chen's friend, Lin. He tells me stuff. And I'm under a lot of stress right now, and you flirted with my ex-husband's new wife, what's-her-name-"
"You're still pissed over that?" Lin wondered if she was really the one Oogway should be coming to and preaching about forgiveness to. "Listen, she's clearly a nice woman. She wants to get to know you, and ifya ask me-"
"I didn't!" Yan-Yan yelled. "I didn't ask you! No one did! Butt out!"
Lin tapped her fingers on the countertop, silent in the face of Yan-Yan's rage. As much as she hated to admit it, her friend had a point. It was no reason to treat her like crap, but she'd gotten used to having to apologize first all the time. "I thought you wanted my help, but I was wrong to assume. I was a buttinski. Sorry."
Yan-Yan didn't reply right away, and stole the rest of Lin's drink as she apparently thought over the apology. Then she snorted. "Buttinski?" she repeated.
Lin grinned. "Yeah, that's another thing they call me."
"Okay. I'm sorry, too." She reached out and grasped Lin's hand, and they shared a smile. Yan-Yan's didn't last long, though. "I'm just not happy," she admitted quietly. "And I suppose I was looking for someone to take it out on."
"How come?" Lin asked. She had some idea, of course, she just thought that Yan-Yan might have something more to tell her.
"I lost everything, why would I be happy? My children don't talk to me except to ask for a favor, I barely see my grandchildren, I had to move in with Chen. I could have maybe handled all of that if I could still work. I know everything an official doctor does, did you know that, Lin?" She paused, but not long enough to get an answer. "I was a better doctor than my ex-husband, I am a better doctor. I practiced medicine for so many years, and now I'll never be able to again. Not really. I should probably just quit altogether and find a hobby, like embroidery or something."
"You can't give up, Yan-Yan," Lin said, her shoulders squared as determinedly as if she were the one who was going to go practice medicine. "You can't quit."
"I can do whatever I want," Yan-Yan replied stiffly. "And that includes quitting. The only patient I've had since my divorce is Tai Lung. I'm not even a real doctor, technically. Why shouldn't I quit? I can focus on enjoying myself, instead."
"I know you, you enjoy doing doctor stuff." Lin poured more tea, watching her for some reaction. "I've seenya poking and prodding Tai Lung. I've seen how your face lights up whenya talk about cutting someone open. You love it."
"I did. And now I quit. I can change my mind." Yan-Yan stole the cup of tea from her and drank it. "Can't drink and practice medicine at the same time."
Lin shook her head at her friend's insistence on quitting. She figured she would need to get personal in order to get through to her. "Okay, I'm gonna tellya something I didn't tellya when we were kids. Don't make a big deal or anything."
Yan-Yan leaned in close and returned Lin's empty cup to her. "Alright, go on."
"I wanted to quit, a lot," she admitted. "Well, not just when I was a kid. As an adult I wanted to quit a few times, too. But the point is, I was a terrible apprentice."
"Oh, please," she sighed. "I saw your artwork, you weren't terrible-"
"Yes, I was," Lin interrupted. "You don't know, 'cause you're not an artist. To you, it looks like talent if I can draw at all. Lemme tellya something that I knew, and that Chen and Wei-Shan knew, from day one: I have no talent."
"That's not true," she argued.
"Yes, it is," Lin replied evenly. "I have no talent. I never had talent. But the thing is, Yan-Yan, there're people out there who're great 'cause they got talent, and there're people who're great 'cause they worked hard and refused to quit. Now maybeya don't understand that 'cause you were the first kinda person. But now you gotta be like me. You gotta be the person who won't quit."
Slowly, Yan-Yan smiled. "So you're saying that you think you're great?"
Lin pushed her, and they laughed together.
Yan-Yan didn't laugh for long, though. "I know what you're saying, Lin. But... But you at least had the advantage of being able to pass yourself off as a man. I work closely with my patients, people know who I am, and even without all that, I... I don't know if I could pull it off. Nobody trusts a woman as their doctor."
Lin stared at her. "Yan-Yan! Women trust women."
Yan-Yan sighed, shaking her head. "It wouldn't work."
"Why not?" she insisted. "Who'd you go to whenya needed your abortion?"
Yan-Yan smacked her in the arm. "Lin!" she scolded. "My granddaughters are in the next room! What if they hear you?"
"Sorry," she replied with a shrug. "Who'd you go to whenya needed your rhymes with shmashmortion?"
Yan-Yan smacked her arm again.
"I bet it was a woman," Lin pointed out. "Mine was."
"Of course it was a woman," she finally answered. "But I don't want to dispense herbs and deliver babies forever, no matter how good I am at it."
"There ain't nothing wrong with that," Lin argued, determined to make her friend see that she could take more than one path to achieve what she wanted. "B'sides, women need more care'n that. How many times've you gotten sick or been in pain and a doctor didn't believeya, huh? How many times've those guys saidya were making it up or imagining things?"
Yan-Yan took a deep breath. "Too many to count."
"Betya woulda seen a woman, ifya coulda." Lin grinned, pleased to see that she was starting to convince her. "You could be that woman, Yan-Yan. Not just midwife stuff, not just herbs, but everything, even surgery."
Yan-Yan's eyes lit up at the mention of surgery. "You think so?" she asked, and Lin nodded emphatically. "But no... For a practice that comprehensive I'd need a nurse or an assistant, especially if I wanted to perform surgery. Where would I find someone willing to work with me?"
Lin racked her brain for a bit. "What about one of your daughters?"
She snorted. "They never had any interest in medicine. Besides, even if they did, they'll barely even look at me. I doubt I could get them to agree to anything."
"Well, who was your last assistant?"
Yan-Yan smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. "I was the assistant, technically. To my husband, remember?"
"Ah, yeah." Lin scratched at her chin; she felt like she had almost reached an idea, she just needed to think a little longer. "So who's he got now, then?"
"That young thing he's married to," she said with a scoff. "Lei Li or whatever-"
"Meihui!" Lin exclaimed; it was as if a fire had been lit in her brain.
"I didn't realize you were so dedicated to getting her name right."
"No!" Lin grabbed her by the shoulders, resisting the urge to shake her. "Meihui can be your assistant! That's how you can get back at your ex- we'll steal Meihui from him!"
"How on earth would we do that?" Yan-Yan asked skeptically, sipping at her tea.
"You really think she'd be the first woman I've stolen away from her husband?" Lin waggled her eyebrows to go with the statement, but Yan-Yan only let out a disgusted sigh and rolled her eyes at the display.
"I didn't believe that for a second when we were kids, and I don't believe it now."
"Hah!" Lin laughed. "I'll betya I can seduce little Meihui beforeya can seduce Tai Lung."
"Lin!" Yan-Yan hissed, and gave her a push. "Remember? My grandkids in the next room? With Tai Lung?"
"Oh yeah, that."
"And you'd probably lose that bet, by the way," she added. "Even if you were serious."
Lin raised her eyebrows, wondering exactly what that meant. Before she could say anything, though, Yan-Yan's grandchildren came running into the room.
Ziying stopped and looked up at Lin with big, adorable eyes. "What's a shmashmortion?" she asked innocently.
Yan-Yan rounded on Lin, glaring daggers at her. "You're a dead woman."
"Only ifya catch me," Lin replied, then turned on her heel and ran out the back door. She figured she might as well wait out the grandchildren in a bar or cafe, while she had the opportunity to get away. Yan-Yan would be fine with just Tai Lung. Chen seemed to like the kids, too. But she wasn't like them, and she had her limits. In this, at least, she would always be on the outside.
Lin sat at Chen's oversized desk, sipping at a bottle of sorghum and staring despondently at the artwork mounted on the wall. Chen kept the work of his former students on the wall behind his desk, the one he stared at while he sat there. She recognized a painting of Wei-Shan's, an ink piece that looked like abstract nonsense close up, yet formed into a stunning view of a mountainside in the midst of a snowstorm when the viewer stepped back. And she recognized her own piece, a stupid doodle she'd done as a teenager of Chen talking out of his ass. It seemed like an insult to her, that he would choose beautiful works of art from his other students and a crappy doodle from her. Like she couldn't do any better. She could and she had, and the evidence of that was hanging on the opposite wall. She glared at that doodle with contempt, more angry that she wasn't in on the joke than she was that it was at her expense.
Chen walked into the studio, and even though he grunted at the sight of her she didn't bother looking up. She just took another gulp from her sorghum.
"You're in my spot," he pointed out as he hopped up onto the desk.
"Shut the hell up, you hateful old canker sore," Lin groaned.
Chen rolled his eyes at the insult. "I don't do small talk." He whacked her hand with his walking stick. "Now get outta my way."
"Get bent," she replied sullenly. She didn't even know why she'd gone straight to the studio when she'd come home. Maybe she was looking for another fight. Or maybe part of her, a stupid part deep down, still hoped for an apology.
"Whaddaya want, huh?" he asked, then grabbed some paper and a brush. "You just come in here to give me a hard time?"
"Maybe I'm just shocked by the fact that you're talking to me," she said with a shrug. "It's not likeya want anything to do with me."
"This shit again," he complained as he wet his ink. "I need a lock for this damn door." He started practicing calligraphy, which he usually did when he was especially irritated.
"I should go back to the Valley of Peace and get it over with."
"Well then at leastya wouldn't be sleeping with Wei-Shan," he said tersely, not looking up from the page.
Lin glared at him. "Really? You got a bug up your ass about that?" She stood up and stepped away from the desk. "What's it matter to you, anyway?"
He stopped his calligraphy long enough to turn around and finally look her in the eye. "So you admit it."
"Yeah, I banged Wei-Shan," Lin snapped. "And it's nunya business, you goddamn turd! I'm a grown woman!"
"When're you gonna stop being so naive?" Chen shouted at her. "The minute I'm not around to watch afterya-"
"I don't need anyone watching after me, least of all you!" Lin shouted back. "And why wouldya even bother in the first place? It's not like you give a damn about me!" She left the studio, ignoring what he'd tried to say back to her. Something about her lack of judgment, she didn't care. She'd heard it all before, over and over again. At this point she didn't know why she even bothered anymore. She didn't even need Chen in order to have a fight with him, she knew his lines so well. Yet she still held out the stupid hope that the fighting would stop and Chen would care for her again.
Maybe he never had cared, but she'd believed he had, way back in the beginning. Back when she painted the lantern in the dark, and he'd seemed proud of her. Or the nights when he'd check in on her while he thought she was asleep, just to be sure she was alright. And she'd pretended to be sleeping so she could sneak out of the house behind his back moments later. And he'd given her praise, back then, in his own sparse manner. Maybe she had just been desperate for kindness in any form or amount, or maybe there had been a real kinship between them. Either way, she'd loved him like she'd loved her own grandmother. She'd wanted his approval, his pride, his love, and she still did even now.
Even as a grown woman with her own priorities and her own life, his disappointment in her gnawed away at her. Chen was the one in the wrong, but there would always be a small part of her that wanted to run back and beg him to forgive her. She knew she hadn't done anything wrong, yet it pained her to walk away. Maybe because standing up for herself had never been in her nature, not really. She'd learned to do it, of course, but it was hard work for her. It always felt wrong, no matter how many years passed, and she needed to force herself into it. She knew why, of course. That had never been a mystery to her, and Oogway's visions of her childhood had certainly renewed her perspective of that part of her psyche. It scared her, to stand up for herself. It scared her because she would get hit. Put back in her place. Rejected. And that was why she worked so hard to stand up for herself, anyway. She'd come too far from that tiny lemon orchard to let anyone put her back in any kind of place, let alone the one they imagined she belonged in.
Standing up for herself and for other people had always cost her something, anyway. In the end she was still punished. She lost friends, lost homes, lost jobs and relationships. Sometimes it had been too hard to stand up for herself, and she'd just let it go. Things always turned out worse in those cases, though. Fighting had been her way of life for too long. She'd grown to hate it. There had once been a time when she'd been young and stupid, and felt that all her struggling had a certain romance to it. She'd been proud, thinking she could survive anything, thinking she had some invisible badge of honor to show for it, had somehow learned valuable life experience. Now she saw all the fighting and struggling she'd done the way she saw it in the lives of everyone else: unjust, wrong, meaningless. She'd been honest with Shifu, when she'd told him she wanted to retire, at least in some part. She just wanted to rest. She was tired.
Lin finally had to admit to herself, too, that even the thought of putting a brush to paper exhausted her. She'd taken the materials Yan-Yan had gifted her and shoved them in a trunk without a second thought. She didn't even want to see them. She hated that she felt this way, and she hated herself for feeling it. Maybe Chen had noticed, maybe that was why he'd been so hard on her. She could never talk to him about not wanting to make art, though. He'd never felt that way in his entire life. The man lived in his studio, literally. He loved it more than air, and for any student of his to feel even slightly differently was failure of the worst kind. She was a failure. She'd failed her own goals, and she'd failed Chen. She couldn't shake the feeling that she'd probably fail Tai Lung, too. Chen was right. She had nothing to show for her life, and very little left to give, if anything at all.
"The angst is thick in the air, tonight." Oogway's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
Blinking, Lin realized that she'd made her way back to her childhood room again, as if in a trance. "Very funny," she grumbled reluctantly. She couldn't say she'd have a different response if she were him.
Oogway stood in front of her, called to her this time without need of meditation. Persumably, anyway. "There is an old saying I'd like to pass on to you, Lin," he informed her.
"Oh yeah?"
"You're thinking too much." He smiled kindly at her, and it only made her feel worse.
She felt ridiculous, thinking about her heartache over some cantankerous old man when she should be focusing entirely on Tai Lung. And she felt sillier still, that when Oogway offered her kindness it only made her yearn for the same from Chen. "You're gonna show me something hard to watch," she concluded. "It's time for a vision about Chen now, right?"
Oogway nodded. "I think we have said everything that needs to be said," he told her, and she appreciated that he wasn't forcing her to talk. "Here." He placed a small cup of wine, Chen's favorite type, in her hand. She gulped it down without hesitation; the sooner this vision started, the sooner it would be over.
She had noticed that with each successive vision she had become more immersed in her memories, and this time she didn't even have a sense of watching events unfold. She just was sixteen, she was Quan, and she walked into Chen's house through the back door like she would any other night.
She stopped in the kitchen at the sight of Chen and Wei-Shan sitting at the kitchen island and drinking wine. It looked as if they'd been waiting for her, though what she'd done this time she had no idea.
"You're late, Quan," Chen groused.
She looked back and forth between him and Wei-Shan, her brow furrowed in confusion. "Since when do I got a curfew?"
"I didn't mean you're home late," he replied gruffly, but her confused expression remained.
"Okay. Thanks for letting me know, I'll address that," she snorted, then headed for the doorway.
"You pregnant?"
That stopped her in her tracks. She slowly turned back around, her mouth slightly ajar. "...What?"
Wei-Shan finally spoke up, not that anything he said was helpful or comforting. "You missed your period," he clarified.
"Women get periods," she spat back, her fur bristling. "What's this, some kinda joke? You calling me a girl as an insult or something?"
"No," Chen answered levelly. "I'm saying I know you're a girl. 'Course, ifya really wanna keep arguing about it, feel free to explain why you bleed into your underwear every month. Except this one, obviously." He took a pointed sip of his wine, raising his eyebrows at her. "Go ahead. I'm waiting."
She had gone pale, rooted to the spot in fear and shaking. She didn't answer, only stared back at them. She didn't know what she expected to happen, only that she expected it to be bad.
Wei-Shan seemed to take pity on her and pulled out the chair next to him, giving it an inviting pat. "Don't be afraid, Quan. Come here, have some wine."
"She already steals enough of it," Chen huffed, but Wei-Shan refilled his cup anyway and placed it in the empty spot.
"I've known all along," he said, and that revelation shocked Chen as well.
"What? You knew andya didn't tell me?" He looked ready to whack Wei-Shan over the head with his little stick, but held back.
"A person's entitled to have a secret or two," he replied easily. "Some things I am capable of keeping to myself. When I want to, of course."
Quan had finally stopped shaking, and slowly approached the island to sit beside Wei-Shan. "W-what're you gonna do to me?" she asked quietly.
"Obviously we must kill you now," Wei-Shan replied without missing a beat, which earned a whack from Chen's walking stick.
"Quit dicking around with the kid, already." Chen actually set his walking stick down, a rare gesture which meant a serious conversation was about to take place. "Quan, I gaveya plenty of time to come to me and tell me the truth on your own. So how come I gotta worry about shit like this?"
She remained silent, a sulking frown crossing her face as she stared at her lap.
"I guess she really is pregnant," Wei-Shan concluded lightly. "Shall we celebrate?"
"I'm not pregnant!" she snapped. "Sometimes periods are late. Don't you dumbass geezers know anything?"
"I know enough to be able to tell when someone lies to my face," Chen replied harshly, though he stopped at a pointed look from Wei-Shan.
"I only lied 'cause I had to!" she argued. "Where'd I be right now if I never pretended to be a boy, huh?"
Chen's silence was telling. It stretched out to an uncomfortable length, and for a long time they both remained quiet, avoiding each other's gaze.
It was Wei-Shan who broke through the tension. "I should go," he said. "I have a lot of arrangements to make, still."
"Arrangements?" she echoed.
Wei-Shan glanced at Chen, but the old rodent remained stubbornly silent. "It might be best if you came to study with me for a while."
She looked back and forth between them, then threw her cup at Chen; he deftly caught it and set it back down on the counter. "You're kicking me out!?" she bellowed at the top of her lungs. "You dried up old sonuva bitch!"
Wei-Shan reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. "Quan, calm down-"
"No!" She knocked his hand away then stormed out of the room; it had been one of the few times Wei-Shan had been unable to reason with her.
Not that Lin had ever thought there was anything reasonable about what Chen had done to her, even after all these years. She figured that was the whole purpose of the vision, that this was one more thing she needed to get over. That was the closest she'd come to crying since she'd made her vow not to. She'd spent the night awake in bed, wondering why, wondering what was wrong with her. Wondering if things could have been different, wishing they were
She'd wanted more than anything that night to turn back time, even just a little bit. Now, she realized that she could, in a way. In her visions, she could go back and see the times when they had been close, and it hadn't been torture just to stay in the room with him.
Even before she'd fully considered her urge, she was fifteen and falling asleep at Chen's big desk, still stubbornly holding on to her ink brush. Despite her insistence that she was fine to pull an all-nighter, Chen pulled a blanket over her shoulders. Then it was the first day of the New Year, and she went down to the kitchen only to find that Chen had her favorite tofu soup already on the table, along with a fat red envelope containing more money than she'd ever seen in her life. It was probably a meager amount to Chen, but he still told her to hold onto it for when she was older. She was already thinking about all the food and drink she'd buy with it, though.
It was her first winter in Shanghai, and she'd felt more homesick than ever. She missed her grandmother, and she missed how they'd cooked and eaten all day and night for the holidays. The day of the Winter Festival, Chen forced her to paint lanterns even though she was way too old for it, and he hung them in spite of her embarrassed protesting. He said there was always a feast, back in some valley where he'd used to live, so he took her to dim sum for the first time. She felt better, but she never told him so.
The first lesson Chen had ever given her, painting a lantern in the dark. She was terrified of failing at what felt like the most important test of her life, and her brush shook as she painted quickly with her ink. In the blink of an eye she was done, certain she would be rejected the moment he looked at her work. Instead, he nodded and smiled. He seemed proud of her, and she was so happy that she held back tears.
Then, she was in Chen's studio again. At first she thought this might be another memory, but she was Lin. She was her current self, and could see no sign of her past self in sight. She knew this wasn't reality, though- she'd been in her old bedroom, like always, in real life. She jumped a little as Chen banged open the door and hopped in.
"Chen?" she called, just to be sure. He gave no indication that he knew she existed, not that such behavior was uncommon for him.
Wei-Shan entered the studio, and she knew now for sure that she was seeing a vision. Unlike Chen, Wei-Shan looked visibly younger, with shorter whiskers and fewer lines on his face. "There is no reason to panic, Chen," he said evenly.
Chen rounded on him, red in the face with anger. "Go to hell!" he shouted.
Lin blinked at the sight; she'd never actually seen or heard Chen and Wei-Shan fight. She'd always known they must have, of course, she'd just never witnessed it.
"I'd prefer not to," Wei-Shan answered, and she couldn't help but snort in amusement.
Chen didn't look so amused, himself. "This's all your fault," he went on, his voice rising as he spoke. "You didn't stick together, you made the call, and now she's dead for all we know!"
"Quan isn't dead," he replied, frowning back at the old master. "She's a grown woman, Chen, she'll take care of herself-"
"She's a kid!" Chen interrupted. "You hear me? A kid! If she could look after herself, then she wouldn't need me bailing her outta trouble all the time- and it was up to you to look after her this time! I shoulda known you'd screw it up, you never come through on anything that's really important!"
Wei-Shan seemed to take the berating in stride, though Lin could see his brow furrowing ever so slightly. "Quan will be fine," he insisted.
"Ain't that a buncha bullshit!" Chen poked him in the shin with his walking stick, but he remained unmoving. "You say she's a grown woman, like you saying it'll make it true. Maybe it's for the best she's on her own now. It'd be better'n watching her run off with you."
Lin cleaned her ears out, unsure if she'd heard right, then realized that the physical state of her ears probably had no bearing on some mystical vision. This wasn't her memory, this was the night she'd left Shanghai, the night she'd jumped into the harbor and been washed out to sea. She hadn't ever thought about what Chen and Wei-Shan might have been doing that night, and now she could see for sure. They'd fought about her. She watched Wei-Shan's face for a reaction, to confirm what Chen had just implied, but he remained stoic.
"You think I dunno whatya had planned?" the little jerboa continued, full-on ranting now. "You really think I can't see through your 'don't worry, she's a grown woman' bullshit? You think whenya said you were gonna take her up to the mountains I didn't know exactly what you had in mind? I've known you longer'n anyone! I know you! I can practically read your mind at this point, and lemme tellya, it ain't hard! I never shoulda askedya to take her in, I shoulda known better! You're an idiot, and that'll never change no matter how many years pass by!"
"You're wrong." Wei-Shan spoke quietly, and made no further attempt to argue. He didn't sound angry, or even annoyed. He sounded upset, which bothered Lin even more, as she didn't think of him as someone who could even feel upset.
"She's my kid!" Chen shouted back. "She's my kid! Didn't you ever stop to thinka that?" After his proclamation, a heavy silence hung in the air.
A few moments went by before an insistent knocking sounded at the door, and Chen hopped away. Wei-Shan remained in the studio, his expression unreadable.
Lin stood up from her seated position in her old room, mostly certain that her visions had come to an abrupt end. There had been no parting message from Oogway this time, so she couldn't be entirely sure. She didn't even remember having sat down. It was soon confirmed for her when Wei-Shan stepped into the room, and he was an old man again.
"Ah, I see you're done with your absent seizure," he said.
Lin didn't reply to him. She couldn't, not at the moment. She was still stunned from everything she'd experienced in her visions, and still trying to make sense of it all. It seemed like... Like Chen had accused Wei-Shan of having feelings for her. Sort of. She wondered if she should mention what she'd seen, but then just thinking about it seemed like a bad idea. Besides, that was the past, and if she bothered bringing it up at all, there was no guarantee he'd answer her.
Wei-Shan approached her and gave her a heavy pat on the head.
"Dreaming about me?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her.
"Wouldn't you just love that," she grumbled. She still felt unsteady on her feet, moreso than after her other visions, and a bit lightheaded. She closed her eyes a moment and rubbed at her forehead.
"There's water by the bed," Wei-Shan informed her. At least he'd made himself useful.
"Cool." Lin spotted the cup set on the floor and chugged the water, then sat on the old bed. Yet there was something different about the bed, something off. She leaned down and gave the sheets a sniff. "Did you change these sheets?"
"It seemed to me like you were trying to switch rooms."
She frowned at him, but he didn't respond further. "Fine," she accepted grudgingly. It would probably be a good idea to move back into her old room, considering it was the only place Oogway ever seemed to give her visions. She'd been putting it off, though. She hated the idea of living in the same room she had as a teenager. It brought up too many memories she'd just as soon forget. But she'd already relived a lot of those memories, so there was no point in avoiding it now. She figured she might as well rip the bandage off while she was thinking about it, and lay down on the bed. "I think I need some sleep."
"Hm." He remained standing, watching her.
Lin snorted at the lack of response; of course he wouldn't go anywhere. Wei-Shan didn't do subtle, and he rarely did boundaries unless he was the one setting them. "So just watch me sleep like a creeper, I guess."
"We both know you want me to stay."
She hated that he was right. "I had a vision," she finally admitted, rubbing at her tired eyes. "We both also know you were waiting to hear that."
He didn't answer her, only watched her.
Lin normally hated it when people stared at her, but it didn't bother her so much when Wei-Shan did it. She didn't know how much she should tell him, so she stuck with the beginning. "It was a vision of the past. The day Chen kicked me out."
"I see," he said. Then he walked over to the bed. He paused, as if he might ask her permission, but then sat down beside her without a word.
"I thought I was over all that crap, y'know?" She watched him for a reaction, and he shrugged in response. "You're not much help."
"Oh well," he replied nonchalantly.
She pushed him, but she didn't have the strength at the moment to knock him off the bed. That was probably for the best, anyway. "You're an asswipe." She still liked having him with her, though. She remembered when she'd lived with Wei-Shan in his tiny apartment, and he'd sit up in bed with her and never ask why. He never tried to solve her problems then, either, only kept her company. That seemed to be his strong point. "You heard about what Chen said to Yan-Yan, right?"
"I hear about everything," he replied. "And Chen is an ass."
She blinked up at him, surprised by the statement. He'd never once spoken ill of Chen to her or in front of her before. Usually when she complained about Chen he either defended the rodent or remained silent on the subject. "That's new," was all she could think to say.
"No, he's always been an ass."
Lin snorted. "Everyone in this house is an ass," she said with a tired sigh. She wanted so badly to fall asleep, but she knew it wasn't going to happen any time soon. "The point is... I dunno. There is no point."
Wei-Shan shook his head, then carefully removed his glasses and set them beside the bed. When he turned to look at her again he said, "I see," and it sent a shiver down her spine. Without his glasses, his stare was so intense that it felt like simply being looked at by him were an intimate act. Not to mention it was unsettling how focused his gaze looked, despite his poor vision. She'd been fooled on more than one occasion into thinking he might be about to say something deep or romantic to her, because of that stare, and she doubted she was the only one. That was just Wei-Shan, though. And in the end, he always gave her the comforting reminder that he wasn't about to change. Even after what she'd witnessed Chen say, she still knew she could count on that. "I had hoped the point would be that you're going to start cooking again."
She smacked him in the arm for that one. "Never."
"What was the point, again?" He yanked the bedsheet out from underneath her, then lay down beside her and covered them both. "I'm lost."
"I toldya there is none," she snapped, but she could tell from the way he looked at her that he knew it was a lie. "Chen hates me."
"Ah, so we've finally arrived here."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
He refused to answer her, only closed his eyes and rolled onto his back.
"I'm not gonna letya fall asleep," she warned.
He cracked his eyes open and looked at her sideways, and while he didn't smile she knew he was amused. "Poor little Quan, everyone hates her."
Lin resisted the urge to tear his stupid whiskers out of his smug face. "Fine, be that way. See ifya wake up in the morning."
"Angry little Quan, turning pink and purple," he replied with a yawn.
"What is this, a poem?" she snapped.
"Sarcastic little Quan, always so sad and lonely." He rolled onto his side and looked her in the eye again, then wrapped and arm around her. "Disappointed little Quan, can't accept that some people will never give her what she needs from them."
"You don't hafta be a shit about it," she grumbled, embarrassed at the feeling of tears welling up in her eyes. She'd known Wei-Shan wouldn't reassure her, but she hadn't expected the cruel confirmation that Chen would never love her. "I know already that he'll never want me around again, okay?"
"I never said that," he replied quietly. She could be mistaken, but he sounded contrite. "Chen will always be opaque. You need transparent."
"You're not exactly transparent, yourself."
"More translucent, really."
Lin closed what little distance remained between them and buried her face in his chest. Maybe she was too old to behave like a crybaby in need of coddling, but for the moment she didn't care.
He held her tightly and let her wipe off her face on his shirt. "Would you feel better if I destroyed something for you?"
"Uhuh."
"Alright. No mountains, though. I'm sick of that."
"I was thinking more a whole city, anyway," she replied, though it came out incredibly muffled. Maybe because of the way he held her, maybe because of her vision, she remembered the first night she'd ever spent with Wei-Shan, in his apartment. He hadn't gotten her a bed yet, so she'd slept in his, and he stayed on the floor beside her. Even though she'd said she was fine, he'd known she was lying and he'd held her hand until she'd fallen asleep.
He hummed thoughtfully, while she burrowed further down into the sheets. He seemed to notice she was having some trouble, because he pulled the sheets up over her head for her, then joined her underneath them. "You should come back to the mountain with me."
She snorted. "What, so soon?"
"Not for a little bit. For good."
Without so much as a single thought, she blurted her answer out. "No." There was something to be said for instinct, but she should have taken the time to let him down gently. Then again, Wei-Shan had never been the type of man to care about being let down gently. She cared, though. "I didn't mean that in a harsh way. I mean... I decided on the Valley of Peace. That's where I'm gonna live. And I'm with Shifu, so I'd like to live in the same town, at least. There's Tai Lung, too. Anyway, I liked spending the summer together. I like being together, now. But, y'know... No."
He stared at her.
"What?"
"It's interesting how long you can keep talking when I don't respond to you."
She hit him for that, though he didn't react. And she wondered again, about the vision she'd seen and how much of what Chen had said could be true. "...Wei-Shan, d'you love me?"
"I had a feeling you might bring that up," he said, and he even had the nerve to sound completely uninterested.
"So that's a no, then." Lin watched him for a reaction, and even in the dark she could see his frown. "Oh, so it's not a no?" She might have enjoyed teasing him a little too much, but he deserved it.
"Someday I will tell you how I feel about you," he replied stiffly. "But not right now."
"Why not?"
"Lots of reasons."
"Fine, get bent," she grumbled, but she didn't try to get out of bed and he made no attempt to move, either. "You're my friend, y'know," she added, just to try to rub it in a little. "I love you. It's not so hard to talk about."
"Hm." He closed his eyes, but he didn't loosen his hold on her. "Sweet little Quan, my favorite person."
"Cut that shit out," she ordered, but she still buried her face in his shoulder, squeezing her eyes shut in an attempt to keep herself from crying yet again. "You're not funny." She wiped her face on his shirt again, this time out of spite. "Is'at why you took me in, when Chen kicked me out?"
He hummed and patted her on the head, something he'd used to do when they'd settled in for sleep.
She didn't give in, though. She knew he was trying to shut her up, but it wasn't as if that had ever worked on her before. "I mean... You barely even noticed me back then, except for whenya felt like embarrassing me."
"How should I remember?"
"I knowya remember! C'mon!"
He didn't speak for a long time, and she was tired enough that she'd decided to quit badgering him and try to get some sleep. Then, he answered her. "I noticed you," he admitted reluctantly. "You were... Familiar to me. Even when we first met, I thought, 'Oh, it's you.' We'd always been together, and I waited a long time. But you wouldn't remember that."
She ruminated for a while on what he'd said, and what it could possibly mean. Then, she said the only thing she could say to such a sentiment. "You're a friggin' weirdo."
"Hm," he replied. "I see." He gave her yet another pat on the head, and didn't say anything more.
Lin decided she was done thinking or trying to figure anything out for the night. She just needed some sleep.
Chapter 17: If There Was No Love, One Would Have Only Lived to Eat
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 17: If There Was No Love, One Would Have Only Lived to Eat
Lin woke up slowly, still clinging to Wei-Shan. Even after she'd fully awoken, she didn't want to move just yet. She felt drained, like even a full week in bed wouldn't be enough to help her.
"You cry in your sleep," Wei-Shan complained. He apparently wasn't fooled into thinking she was still sleeping. "You should get Yan-Yan to look at that."
She gave him a push and rolled over. "Get out," she ordered. "I need more sleep."
"I thought you hated sleeping alone."
It was true. After her fiancé had died, even after all these years, she still didn't like to sleep alone. Having another heartbeat in bed with her helped her sleep through the night. Sleeping alone, she probably didn't get more than a couple of hours of decent sleep, even if she forced herself to stay in bed all night. "How'd I know tellingya that'd come back to bite me?" she grumbled, then pulled the blankets over her head. "Get lost."
"If you insist," he finally accepted with a put-upon sigh. "I could use some breakfast." For him, breakfast was less of a meal by Lin's standards and more of a snack of fruit and nuts. But as he climbed out of bed he said, "You'll have to owe me," and then she heard the door open and close.
It reminded her of when they'd lived together. Since there'd been nothing even approaching a kitchen in their apartment, meals had been either take-out, raw produce, or stolen from Chen. On mornings when she'd been up working late the night before, or had felt sick, Wei-Shan would go out to the market and get her something to eat, most often tofu soup or one of those filled steamed buns the size of her head. She supposed he meant to do the same now. She started nodding off before she knew it, and just as soon awoke to something touching her face. "Hhhhey." She reached her arm out and blindly swung at whoever was touching her, only to meet air. Finally, she cracked her eyes open. "Where's my food?"
Wei-Shan poked at her cheek one last time, then held something large, triangular, and wrapped in paper over her head. "Say please."
"Fat chance," she replied, then snatched the thing from him and tore the wrapping open, gasping at the sight of the package's contents. Inside was a sandwich overflowing with marinated and fried tofu, hot sauce, cilantro, pickled carrots and radishes, and sesame oil- all between two huge, thick slices of sesame pancake. "This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my goddamn life."
He knelt on the floor beside the bed. "Going to cry again?"
She normally would have given him a punch or a push for that, but she was too busy trying to eat the sandwich lying down. She got half the filling all over her face, but it was worth it. And it was so good that she did cry a little bit. "Ain't you gonna eat anything?"
"I'm more in the mood to eat a peach," he answered without missing a beat.
"Then check the fruit bowl," she grumbled.
"I'm looking at her."
She gave up on keeping both hands on her sandwich and smacked him upside the head for that one. "Can'tya let me eat my breakfast in peace?"
"Not when there's mail to be read." He dropped a scroll from the Jade Palace onto her stomach.
Lin groaned and stuffed another huge bite of sesame pancake sandwich into her mouth.
"If it makes you feel any better, I don't care whether you read it or not."
"Hmph." She swallowed her bite, then set the food down on her chest and opened the scroll. She'd expected more of Shifu reprimanding her. After all, when he got mad at her he could really rant, so she didn't feel surprised he'd sent two letters in such a short time. She furrowed her brow as she read through the thing. If she didn't know any better, it looked like he was trying to take back the previous letter. "This's weird. This sounds kinda like an apology, minus the actual words 'I'm sorry.'"
Wei-Shan stole a bit of tofu from her, though he got his hand smacked for it. "Shifu's not mad at you anymore?"
"How'd you know he was mad at me?"
"It's his default state."
"Jackass," Lin concluded, dropping the letter unceremoniously on the floor. "What else is new?" She returned her attention to her food, though she didn't have much left to munch on. "I guess I should write back."
"Are you looking for input?"
"More like sympathy."
"Sorry for your loss," he replied.
Lin rolled her eyes, then stuffed the rest of the sesame pancake sandwich into her mouth. It was hard to chew such a huge bite, but she needed it.
"Dessert?" He pulled an orange from his shirt and held it out to her.
Lin nodded emphatically, her mouth too full to answer. She grabbed the orange, still lying in bed, and wiped the stay furs off of it. She felt Wei-Shan's eyes on her fingers as she peeled the fruit and smiled at his obvious desire. "So what're you gonna do after all this's over?" she asked as she tossed him her orange peel.
"I don't imagine my habits will change," he replied, obtuse as ever.
"You know exactly what I mean," she accused, but she went ahead and spelled it out for him anyway. "I'm talking about whether you're gonna stay in Shanghai or not."
He chewed contemplatively on his orange peel. "I enjoyed my life in Shanghai. At first, I didn't want to leave." It was more than she'd ever expected him to volunteer. "And there's you and Chen. Yan-Yan, too, I suppose."
She knew him too well to get her hopes up. "You're not staying."
"No," he confirmed.
"So you're gonna go back to living alone on the side of an almost perpetually frozen over mountainside." Lately she'd spent a lot of time thinking about what things in Shanghai would be like once she left. And about maybe visiting a little more often.
"Don't think you'll change my mind," he warned.
"I wouldn't try to do that." She probably wasn't lying very well, but he'd see through it even if she was.
"You'd only ask me why." He stared at her for a moment, looking lost in thought. "You might understand, out of everyone. The way the mountain wind howls and rumbles, it's like a call meant only for me."
She kind of did get it; she'd felt the same way about plenty of places in her life. Just never the same place for very long. Well, there was one exception. "The way you describe it, sounds kinda like the sea." That salty sea air was more familiar to her than even Shanghai. Maybe it had something to do with having been born by the sea. "Seems like I'm never too far from it. I'm gonna miss that when I go back to the valley."
"The real question is, how long can you stay in the valley?" he asked, surprising her.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It was clear long before we first parted ways that it was only a matter of time before you left Shanghai," he clarified matter-of-factly. "Chen refused to acknowledge it, but a wandering soul is easy enough to recognize."
She didn't question his odd phrasing, even after the weird things he'd said to her the night before. She'd known him long enough to just accept the things he said, no matter how unusual. "I've settled down before," she pointed out. "You know about the years I spent in London."
"And in all that time, you never traveled elsewhere?" He had a point, actually.
Even though she'd made a home for herself in London, she'd still felt a pull. An instinct to run off. She'd often disappeared for weeks at a time to wander the country-side. She'd even spent time working at sea, on a merchant ship. Once she'd walked all the way to the highlands. Her friends and fiancé had gotten used to her disappearances, if reluctantly so. Often they'd had to deal with nothing more than a note or a hasty "seeya later" in the middle of the night. "Okay, you got me. But I'll be fine in the Valley of Peace. If I get bored, I'll figure something out."
"Your specialty," he added.
"I don't care if you're trying to be sarcastic, it's true." Lin punctuated her statement with an indignant sniff. "Not that you'd care."
"You're right, I don't. Even if you couldn't figure anything out, I would be here just the same. Though I am relieved to be able to fill the role of the clueless one."
"I think you've got more of a clue 'an you let on," she pointed out.
"Don't go spreading that around," he warned. "People might ask me for help-" he wrinkled his nose, then- "or advice."
"Gosh, I can't imagine what it might be like to lead a life as difficult as yours," she replied sarcastically. "You're a brave, brave soul."
"I am, aren't I?"
She snorted. His aversion to people wasn't exactly a surprise to her, after all. "Maybe this means I can blackmailya into buying me more of those sandwiches."
"Enjoy it while it lasts. Once you're a married woman you won't be able to spend time with an eligible single man like myself." His deadpan manner suggested sarcasm, but she still gagged at the sentiment.
"Married? Ugh!"
"Oh, so you really think Shifu wouldn't ask?"
She knew from experience that he would- he'd as good as admitted when they were younger he had marriage on his mind after only two days together. She just figured she'd burn down that bridge when she came to it. "I don't think it's any of your business, anyway."
He raised his eyebrows at her. "I agree. Not that it stops me."
"Yeah, I realized that." Lin almost tried to hit him again, but she knew he'd only dodge her. "Y'know, I knowya don't like Shifu very much."
"What tipped you off?" Wei-Shan asked. "Was it the punch to the face?"
"Among other things," she replied. "No one here seems to like him. But you might remember that I don't got the best track record with love." She hadn't told him everything about her past or the relationships she'd had, but she'd told him enough to get the gist.
"So?"
"Just tell me things're gonna turn out okay. Pretend to believe you think I can make the right decisions."
He placed a hand on her cheek and gently stroked her fur. "Of course things will turn out okay, my dear."
"You better not slap me right now."
"I wouldn't do that. Unlike you." He let go of her and stood, brushing off some crumbs that had traveled onto him from the sandwich. "Now that all your pep talks are taken care of, I should make myself scarce."
"Whaddaya mean?" she asked. She finally sat up in bed, and her stomach rumbled a little from the large meal she'd had so early in the morning.
"Chen isn't pleased." Wei-Shan gave her one last pat on the head. "I won't be gone for good," he reassured her, then left.
So much for asking him about her odd vision of the night she'd left Shanghai. She probably should have seen that coming. After all, Chen had been going through the roof last she'd checked. She wished she could make herself scarce, too, but she had Tai Lung to think about. She couldn't just up and leave while she was trying to teach him right from wrong. To be honest, if it weren't for Tai Lung she would have run off already. As it stood, all she could really do was take care of herself the best she knew how. So, second breakfast it was. She headed down to the kitchen, surprised by how empty the house seemed. Maybe everyone else was still asleep. She did tend to be an early riser, assuming she fell asleep in the first place.
Lin leaned against the kitchen counter, yawning and scratching herself. She opened up a few cabinets and peered inside, but nothing looked appetizing at the moment. She considered going out looking for another one of those sesame pancake sandwiches, but she wasn't sure where to find them. She would have spent more time rifling through the cabinets, but a soft knock sounded at the back door. Lin furrowed her brow, hesitating. It wasn't often that anyone came to the back door, and if they did that was usually a sign of trouble. She considered pretending no one was home, but decided against it. If there was trouble on the other side of the door, better to face it sooner rather than later.
She answered the door, then stared. Standing out in the back alley, a tightly swaddled black kitten her arms, was Meihui. "Huh."
"Hello," Meihui greeted nervously, her whiskers twitching. "Lin, right?"
"Right." She continued to stare, still dumbfounded by the woman's presence. She knew Meihui wanted to make nice with Yan-Yan, she just never expected to see the little black cat turn up at their door. "Why the hell're you at the back door?"
"There wasn't any answer at the front." It made sense, considering how gently she'd knocked at the back door.
Lin nodded, eyeing the woman. "So whaddaya want?"
"Oh! Uhm. I hoped I could speak with Yan-Yan again. I know she lives here with Master Chen, I didn't expect you'd be here- not that- not that there's anything wrong with you. Oh. That sounded bad." Meihui stopped and took a deep breath. "I know you think I'm weird. I know Yan-Yan doesn't like me. I'm just... Trying anyway. I know it's..."
"Weird?" Lin suggested, and Meihui nodded sheepishly. "Well, you did marry the same guy and all."
"Yeah," she agreed. "It's an awkward situation. That's an understatement, I know." She let out a heavy sigh and frowned. "You're probably going to tell me to leave, now."
Lin sensed an opportunity to find out about something she'd been curious over. "No. You can stay, but I gotta ask... Didya know about Yan-Yan? Whenya married your husband, I mean." It was probably inappropriate to ask, but Lin had never been overly concerned with appropriate behavior.
Meihui hesitated, blinking back at her in surprise at the question. "No one has ever asked me that before," she said, then smiled weakly. "No, I didn't. My parents knew. They arranged the marriage, so of course they knew I was only a second wife. They thought it was better than I would do otherwise, though. And they decided- my parents and my husband, that is- that it would be better not to tell me. Something to do with me being young and fragile. That sort of thing."
"I see." Lin couldn't help but feel angry on the woman's behalf, but she held it in for the moment. "And how'd you find out, then?"
"My husband told me, eventually. When I got pregnant with little Chen, here. He told me... Everything. And he said if the baby was a boy, he would bring me to Shanghai to join the household." She squeezed her baby a little bit more tightly, while Lin fought the urge to go back to the woman's house and punch her husband in the face again.
"So he broughtya here and Yan-Yan left," she finished.
"Not right away," Meihui corrected. "Yan-Yan stayed, for a little bit. She tried to, uhm, live with me. In a way. We never really talked. She mostly avoided me. I thought... I thought maybe it would be nice. Like we would bond over our, well, mutual situation. I thought it might be like having a big sister or... Or something. It wasn't. I understand why she never liked me, but I'd hoped she might find out that I'm not so bad. I'm not, really." She gave a helpless shrug. "I never meant to replace anyone or to steal anyone's husband. I didn't know. And when I found out, I mean... It's not like I had anywhere else to go. So, that's that. I just wanted Yan-Yan to know that I'm not so bad."
"No," Lin agreed in as gentle a tone as she could manage while fantasizing about beating that Xiaojian creep to a pulp. "You're not so bad. I can tell, y'know. I guess I might be a little biased, too, seeing as you and I got a lot more in common than you'd think. But that'd probably be oversharing."
"I didn't mean to overshare-"
"No, I'm gladya did. And I asked, after all." She knew it would probably be a bad idea, but she stepped aside and waved the young woman in. "C'mon, there's tea in here."
"Thank you!" Meihui seemed a lot more excited than she should have been, but then again it was pretty obvious that the woman didn't get out much. "I haven't made many friends, just yet."
Lin held back the urge to make a sarcastic joke; Meihui didn't seem like the type to take it in stride. "You can't stick around too long," she warned. "Yan-Yan's been in a mood, lately." She poured some chamomile for Meihui and added a dollop of honey. She had a feeling the woman would need the extra sugar, judging by how young her baby was. "That's a pretty quiet kidya got there."
"Yes, he's not much of a crier," she agreed, sipping at the sweet herbal tea. "Loud noises don't seem to bother him, either. I suppose you could say he's well-behaved, if that's possible for a boy so young. He's in good health, though."
"Wereya worried about him being sick?" She sat beside the little black cat and leaned forward to get a closer look at the fuzzy black kitten in her arms, dozing peacefully.
"Yes, but as far as we can tell he isn't ill."
"That's good." She felt a little bad for bringing up the subject, as Meihui sounded kind of morose now. "Y'know, even if the little ones get sick, they can still bounce back."
"I guess."
"If you're gonna overshare again, go ahead and do it." Lin didn't mind hearing a bunch of someone's personal details. So long as they didn't expect her to share right back, that was. "I've been around, so you're not gonna shock me."
After a moment's hesitation, she nodded in agreement. "Well, my first son fell ill, so I'm a bit paranoid. He was sick for a long time, and nothing helped, so... He's no longer with us. That's why we decided to try for another baby. But we don't talk about it. Not really."
"I see." She was familiar with the story. In some places, people expected at least a few of their children to pass away before adulthood. That was how it had been, where she'd grown up. That was why it hadn't been a terrible shock when she and her little sister had fallen ill, and her sister had died. "Sorry to hear about it. Sounds tough."
Meihui nodded again.
It was probably a good time to change the subject. "By the way, why're you so interested in getting Yan-Yan to likeya? Can'tya just make friends elsewhere and let her hateya from afar?"
"You have a point," Meihui said, resignation clear in her voice. "I just thought... Well, it feels to me, anyway, that we're in the same situation. Or we were. Back before she left and moved in with a legendary artist."
"Legendary?" Chen hopped into the kitchen, clearly having concluded Meihui had been talking about him, judging from the smugness in his voice. "Ah, geez," he complained, even though he obviously enjoyed the praise. "What's this, some crazy fan?"
"This's Meihui," Lin introduced, rolling her eyes at the old master's behavior. "She's married to Yan-Yan's ex-husband."
"Yan-Yan's not gonna like this," he warned, but joined them at the kitchen island regardless. "What, you here to see her?"
Mehui nodded, blushing so brightly that even her black fur couldn't conceal it. "M-Master Chen, it's an honor, I would bow, but- well, I have my son."
Chen caught sight of the baby resting in Meihui's arms, and his whiskers twitched slightly. "Cute kid," he commented, and Lin resisted the urge to roll her eyes again.
"Why dontchya give her an autograph while you're at it?" she asked sarcastically, but Meihui gasped and nodded at the idea, so she probably shouldn't have even said anything. If she didn't know any better, she'd swear the young woman had tears in her eyes.
Chen let out a long-suffering sigh, though it rang rather false. "Fine, I'll get some paper or something." He seemed all too happy to leave the kitchen for paper, despite his protests.
"So you're into art, huh?" Lin asked, though the answer was obvious.
"Yes!" Meihui smiled widely. "I've always loved art, though there wasn't much to look at in my small village, growing up. My husband used to bring me paintings from Shanghai, though those were only reproductions. To meet someone as distinguished as Master Chen- it's a great honor."
"Okay, cool." She eyed the cat, curious now for the sake of her own ego whether the woman had heard of her. "Y'know, Wei-Shan's probably still around here somewhere, too."
Her eyes grew wide. "Master Wei-Shan? Do you think I could meet him? I mean, his depictions of mountains are like nothing I've ever seen."
Lin laughed at how excited she was getting. "This's pretty cute to watch, y'know."
"I'm sorry," Meihui replied with an embarrassed blush. "I can get a little carried away. I know most people wouldn't like to be fawned over. I am trying to hold back."
She couldn't help but laugh again at that information. "You're a funny woman, and I mean that as a compliment."
"Th-thank you." She bounced her little boy a bit, though the child remained fast asleep. "I'm sorry I didn't ask before- are you a student of Master Chen's as well?"
"Good guess," Lin confirmed with a nod. "Though back when I first started out, they called me Quan. Well, Chen and Wei-Shan still do..." She trailed off once she realized that Meihui was giving her the same wide-eyed, starstruck look she'd given Chen. "Uh, I'm guessing you're gonna ask for my autograph too, now?"
"That would be lovely," she accepted in a whisper that sounded forced. She'd apparently become so excited that she could barely speak.
"This's kinda weird to me," Lin admitted. "I've never met anyone who was, like, my fan. I'm assuming that's what this is, anyway."
Meihui nodded.
"So weird," Lin mused aloud. If Meihui was a fan of her work, then she'd only ever seen her early work, when she'd been living in Shanghai, and maybe some materials from her travels through China afterward. She didn't think much had survived from that time, though, aside from what Shifu had kept at the Jade Palace. "Not that I'm annoyed or put off, or anything. I guess I'm just used to being a nobody."
Chen returned to the room, a sketch of plum blossoms and ripe plums growing from a delicate branch in one hand and a brush loaded with ink in the other. He signed his name by hand for Meihui while she looked on with a bright smile and thanked him profusely.
"Here, gimme," Lin said, then took the brush before Chen could protest.
"Ah, you'll ruin it," he grumbled.
"You only filled up half the page," she argued.
"Yeah, it's called negative space! You can't just add to it, you'll kill the composition."
Lin held the brush over the paper. "I seem to remember a lesson in my youth having to do with nothing being precious."
Chen snatched the sketch out of her reach, then handed it gingerly to Meihui. "That doesn't apply to fans," he said indignantly. "I'll grab fresh paper forya."
"Don't forget more ink," she called after him as he left the kitchen again. "So, got any requests for me?" she asked Meihui. She wasn't up to anything elaborate, but she didn't expect the woman to request a sketch more complex than what Chen had done.
"I suppose anything you like," Meihui replied, still sounding rather shy. "I don't expect you to draw the same kinds of things you did in your old work."
"Yeah, I've mostly been doing murals the past coupla years." Lin noticed Chen's return from the corner of her eye, and took a piece of paper from his hand the moment he was close enough. He grumbled something about her manners, but she ignored it and began drawing. It didn't take her long to finish up her sketch of a blooming lily, and quickly signed her name.
"That's filthy!" Chen complained.
"Ah, you just got a dirty mind," Lin said with a snort, then passed the sketch over to Meihui. "Then again, so do I." She winked at their guest, and the little cat blushed brightly at the sight of the suggestive flower.
"I'm sure it's just a coincidence," she accepted, though she sounded like she was just trying to be polite. "There must be plenty of flowers in nature which look like... Like... Certain body parts. On women."
"That reminds me, I've been looking for a model- ow!" Lin cut herself off when Chen gave her a whack with his walking stick. "You're such an old buzzkill, y'know that?"
"It's my favorite hobby," he shot back.
"What the hell is this?" Yan-Yan's voice asked shrilly from behind them.
They turned around to see her standing in the kitchen doorway, glaring daggers at Meihui, her fur frizzed out.
Lin jumped up and pushed Yan-Yan back out into the sitting room, then held her in place by her shoulders so she couldn't escape. "Remember what we talked about, now."
"That doesn't mean I'm ready to make nice with that toddler," Yan-Yan hissed. "How could you bring her over here without even consulting me?"
"I didn't, she showed up on her own." She resisted the urge to raise her voice, worried about Meihui overhearing them. "Listen, if an opportunity arises, I take it. And not only did she present herself on a silver platter, she's a big art buff who loves my work. Chen's, too, I guess. The point is, you just gotta swallow your pride long enough to make nice, and we're in. Okay?"
Yan-Yan continued her intense glaring.
"Quit that."
"I'm going to stab you to death with my accupuncture needles," she threatened.
"But not until afterya make friends with Meihui, right?" Lin prodded.
"Fine."
Lin dragged her back into the kitchen and practically forced her into a seat beside Meihui at the island. "Yan-Yan has something to say."
Yan-Yan sighed heavily. "I suppose it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to give you a chance, Peepee," she said stiffly.
Meihui smiled tentatively. "Thank you, that would be lovely. And it's Meihui."
"Whatever."
Lin elbowed Yan-Yan in the side.
"I mean, apologies for the mistake." She took Lin's cup of chamomile and drank deeply. "I see you've brought little Chen."
Lin glanced at Chen to see his ears turning red, the smug little narcissist. "Seriously? You named your kid after this talking turd?"
"Better'n naming him after a fuzzy loudmouth like you," Chen said.
"Actually," Meihui interrupted their arguing, "I named my first son Quan Li."
Lin felt herself beginning to blush, and considering that the woman's first son had passed away, she felt too awkward to say much. "Uh- thanks."
"Don't mind these two," Yan-Yan said, sounding much more relaxed. "They always fight like this. When I settle down for bed at night, it's about as peaceful as a drunken brawl at the docks."
"It must be nice to have such a lively household," Meihui said wistfully.
"Well, if you're that jealous, you could always steal it." Yan-Yan's comment was met with an uncomfortable silence. "What? I'm kidding."
As if on cue, the baby awoke and began to fuss and whimper. Meihui stroked his head and ears, but it didn't look like he was about to settle down again any time soon. "I should probably go," she said, hopping out of her chair. "When he starts to cry he can be a loud little thing."
Yan-Yan waved cheerfully. "Have a safe trip home."
Lin knew her friend still had a lot of resentment to sort through, but she didn't want to scare Meihui off. She escorted the woman out of the kitchen and to the front door, and helped her stow her signed sketches. "Sorry you had to go so soon."
Meihui paused at the door, and looked at her with watery eyes. "I want to thank you for your kindness, Lin. I know this sounds extreme, but you've lifted my spirits more than I could say. I hope- I hope I didn't upset Yan-Yan too much."
"She'll live," Lin dismissed easily. "And I'll never argue with a cutie like you dropping by for a visit."
Meihui surprised her by planting a kiss on her cheek. "I'll try not to be a stranger, then," she flirted back, blushing brightly. Then she slipped out the door before Lin had a chance to respond.
Lin would be lying if she said she hadn't gotten a huge ego boost from that parting interaction. Especially the kiss on the cheek. She'd probably have to tone down her flirting in the future. To be fair, she hadn't meant to give the young woman the wrong impression to begin with. As with most women she flirted with, she'd assumed that Meihui only had any interest in men, and she would get a polite rejection. She wasn't used to being the one giving the polite rejection. She decided not to mention this turn of events to anyone- especially Yan-Yan.
"Geez," Chen said as he hopped into the sitting room with her. "That was wife number two for Yan-Yan's ex? She couldn'ta been older'n thirty."
"Uh, yeah," she agreed. That just made her feel dirty for all her flirting. "Nice woman," she added, wincing at her own stilted reply.
"Alright, what'd you do?" he accused.
"Nothing!"
"Cough it up, you frizzy little liar," he ordered, waving his walking stick menacingly at her. "You got Yan-Yan in a funk with that visit, she's drinking wine straight from the bottle now."
She crossed her arms and frowned down at the rodent. She wouldn't be intimidated by him or his tiny stick. "Trust me, the information you want won't help."
"You didn't sleep with that girl, didya?" he asked defeatedly, as if he'd already assumed that she had.
"No!" She could toss the grouchy raisin out with the trash, and no one would be the wiser. "You saw it yourself, all I did was flirt a little-"
"Ah, geez," he interrupted. "What'd you, kiss her or something?"
"She kissed me," Lin argued, then realized what she'd let slip. "On the cheek," she added. "Lotsa women do that. It's a thing, a woman thing. Straight woman thing. They do it to each other all the time. Sisterly. Sisterly kisses!"
He leveled a flat stare at her.
"I did nothing wrong, shut up!"
"Oh, yeah," Chen said sarcastically. "Sounds perfectly innocent to me."
"I'm not talking about this!" Lin snapped, then stomped upstairs before Chen could get to her any more than he already had. Normally she could stay somewhat cool under pressure, but Chen got under her skin more than anyone ever had- or ever would, she suspected.
Unfortunately, she wasn't about to find any peace upstairs, judging by the sound of someone running up after her.
"Alright, time to stab you with my acupuncture needles," Yan-Yan snapped, poking her in the chest. "What were you thinking, springing that infant on me? And her baby, on top of it!"
"You're right, so sorry," Lin said quickly, then headed into her room and tossed the door closed behind her.
Yan-Yan caught it before it closed completely and stormed in after her. "Don't walk away!"
"I got shit to do," she argued, crossing her arms.
Yan-Yan frowned as she eyed the messy bed. "I thought you didn't want your old room."
"Well, I changed my mind." Lin sat down on the bed to drive her point home. "You got a problem with that, in addition to the problemya got with me helpingya out?"
"Well, maybe I'm not quite ready yet!" Yan-Yan argued. "Meihui reminds me of my ex-husband, in case you'd forgotten that connection. You said you had a dead fiancé, I don't see you going around talking about him all the time or anything!"
"No," Lin said. "I don't. It's still kinda hard. But the difference is that he's dead."
Yan-Yan didn't reply to her right away, but avoided eye contact while she stood fixing her whiskers. "...Sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
"I knowya shouldn'ta. But I guess it's fine." Lin patted the spot beside her on the bed, and Yan-Yan plopped down with a heavy sigh.
"As much as I'd love to bend your ear complaining about my ex-husband, it occurs to me that I know nothing about this mysterious man of yours." She still avoided eye contact, but now at least it wasn't because she'd put her foot in her mouth. "Do you feel like talking right now?"
"What're you, sucking up to me?" Lin grinned. She liked being sucked up to.
"Just trying to take my mind off the fact that the man I wasted the best years of my life on is sleeping with a woman our daughter's age," she replied.
"I can see how that'd depressya." Lin didn't like talking much about her years in England, so of course suddenly everyone had gotten curious. Well, just Wei-Shan and Yan-Yan, but it was still a bit much for her. "Do I really gotta?"
"We could always do makeovers," she offered.
"Okay, so what'd you wanna know about my dead fiancé? Age, profession, favorite color?"
She snorted. "I get it. I don't need to know everything, I just thought it might be something to bond over."
"Oh. Sure." Lin found, to her surprise, that she wanted to talk. Maybe she'd just needed a little push.
Yan-Yan seemed to pick up in the slight disappointment in her voice. "What was his name?"
"I called him Al," she said as she pulled out her calabash pipe and started to stuff it. "He didn't let anyone else call him by a nickname, just me."
"So he was kind of uptight, then?"
"No, not really. He drank at bars, gambled, smoked this pipe all hours of the day and night- very clean-mouthed, though. I hardly ever heard him curse. That was probably a habit from work. He was a diplomat." She lit the pipe and began puffing on it, ignoring how Yan-Yan wrinkled her nose and leaned away.
"So when you say 'this pipe,' you mean that exact pipe? It's that old?" She sounded grossed out at the thought, and grimaced when Lin nodded. "Eugh, the years of saliva that must be encrusted in that thing-"
"Anyway," Lin interrupted pointedly. "What else'd you wanna know?"
"Plenty!" Yan-Yan gave her a playful nudge in the side with her elbow.
Lin could guess her meaning easily, and she didn't like it. "I ain't tellingya about my sex life with a dead man. That's over the line."
"It's weird to hear you say something is over the line." Yan-Yan shrugged, though she seemed a bit disappointed. "Well, it's also weird knowing you were with a diplomat. Then again, you're with Shifu now, and he's as fancy as it gets- though you wouldn't know it."
"Al was never 'fancy,' and he sure as hell was nothing like Shifu." That statement wasn't entirely true, but she wasn't in the mood to get into too many details. "He knew how to cook, for one. And he was never..." She'd been about to say that Al had never been a huge ass to her, but she refrained. She didn't want to start another discussion with her friend on her compatibility with Shifu. "Well, he was sensitive."
"Sensitive?" Yan-Yan raised her eyebrows at that. "And he was in a relationship with you? We're sure, here?"
"Shut your yap," Lin snapped.
"Forgive me for forgetting about your obvious sensitive and nurturing ways," she said sarcastically.
"Fine, I'll shut up about all this-"
"No, no," she pleaded, giving Lin a smack in the shoulder. "I didn't mean anything by it! A sensitive guy doesn't sound like your type, though."
"Nah, I guess not." She couldn't argue with that assessment, and she had the track record to prove it. "But sometimesya need to forget about types and just appreciate a person who's kind and caring. And he loved music. He used to write me songs."
"Wow, that's romantic," Yan-Yan mused. "Love songs, I gather."
"Yeah, I guess." She couldn't help but feel embarrassed. "There was this one song he wrote that was romantic, but then he'd always change the lyrics to make fun of me. Like, 'she's picking her nose, but she's always a woman to me.' Then I'd tell him to get bent, and he'd just sing, 'she curses me out, but she's always a woman to me.' Shit like that."
Yan-Yan snorted. "I should have known there would be some sort of twist, what with this being a man you liked. Sounds like he was more your type than I thought."
"Hey, you saying something about my taste?" Lin joked.
"Only that you seem to prefer insults to romance."
"Yeah, haha." Lin didn't think she wanted to talk for much longer. Their discussion was bringing up a lot of memories she'd tried hard not to think of, and even now she felt herself weighed down by grief. No matter what she did, no matter how hard she tried to move on, it coiled itself around her heart and waited until, inevitably, she remembered again. "Look, I gotta meditate and stuff. Y'know, 'cause of Tai Lung."
"I don't really get it," she said, but stood up and brushed herself off anyway. "Should I send Tai Lung in for whatever this is?"
"No." Lin waved her off, and watched her go before collapsing back into bed. So she'd lied about meditating, it wasn't like she owed anyone the truth about what she did in her free time. She didn't want to meditate any time soon, either. She didn't want to see another vision, especially not now that she had Al on her mind. She knew it was only a matter of time before he showed up in a vision. It was inevitable. Of course part of her wanted to see that vision- to see him again. But she couldn't. She didn't know what she'd do, it would be so painful for her.
It had taken everything she'd had to put her past behind her to begin with, and now Oogway wanted to bring it all back. Why? What value could any of it possibly have to Tai Lung? What sorts of lessons were there to even pass on? It wasn't like Oogway had told her anything more than conventional wisdom so far. She could have easily told all that "forgive others, show people compassion" crap to Tai Lung without all the pain. And then her memories of Chen, and that vision that hadn't been a memory of hers at all- what use was all that, even to her?
She wondered what Shifu would say, if he knew. Well, she already knew that much: he'd go on an angry rant about how Oogway was visiting her from beyond the grave and not him, and get all pissy with her about it. But assuming he could make it through a conversation without bursting a hemorrhoid, she wondered what he might say. Maybe stuff about how she should trust Oogway, or heed her visions or something. She didn't really know.
She knew what Al would have said. He would have told her to do what she felt was best. He would have trusted her, without question. He always had. Not that it mattered now. The only dead person she'd ever known to have come back to help her out was Oogway, and assuming she could judge by those experiences, she didn't much care for the type of help dead people had to offer. To be honest, she would rather just nap.
Even sleep didn't offer her any peace, her dreams instilling a deep anxiety in her as she trudged her way through battlefields, wading through waist-deep torrents of blood with her musket held over her head to avoid wetting it. She couldn't quite make out where she was or who was with her, but she could hear screaming. Somewhere along the line she'd realized she was dreaming, not that it helped her wake up. It only made her think about how messed up she was, to have dreams like this in the first place. To be honest, good dreams rarely came to her anymore. She preferred the nights when she didn't dream at all, and awoke refreshed from total blankness.
"This is an unpleasant sight," Oogway's voice said from somewhere around her, though she couldn't see him. His clawed hand grabbed hold of her own and hoisted her from the river onto dry hardwood flooring. "But not entirely unexpected."
"Ugh, you're bothering me in my sleep, now?" She at least was dry, too, and in her normal clothes. Their surroundings remained indistinct, like when her eyes had trouble focusing. She had a feeling this vision wouldn't take her anywhere she wanted to go, though.
"I would think you would be relieved to have something other than a nightmare to focus on." Oogway gave her a pat on the back that she was sure he meant to be reassuring, but she couldn't relax. Not when she knew what was coming.
"I wanna get it over with," Lin said, tensing just at the thought.
"Whatever do you mean?" Oogway asked, though it was probably just a front.
"You know what I mean," she grumbled. "I wanna get it over with. I know you're gonna make me look at my dead fiancé sooner or later, might as well make it sooner."
"I wouldn't want to make you do anything," he replied gently, then handed her a hard-boiled egg that had come from nowhere. "But if you insist."
She should have known it would be an egg. They'd been Al's favorite. She ate the whole thing in one bite, squinting her eyes closed as she waited for the inevitable. She just needed one more moment to prepare herself. With a deep breath, she opened her eyes again to find herself exactly where she'd expected to be, at her old home in England.
Specifically, she was in her old room in England. It had once been a guest room in a stately row home, and she was the guest who'd never left. The house had been in disrepair by the time she'd arrived, anyway, all the family money gone and replaced by heavy debts, which she had helped repay in exchange for her room and board. The wooden floors were losing their nails, the finish worn to nothing and the wood splintering in some areas. Her bed, while large, was adorned with old, faded sheets. The wallpaper had begun to peel a bit at the edges, and the once resplendent damask pattern looked more like cobwebs on the wall, not to be confused with the actual cobwebs in the house. Lin watched her past self, sitting at a cramped old desk and concentrating hard as she carefully carved a wood block. The painstaking work was made all the more difficult by the fact that, traditionally, it was the end grain that made up the carving surface.
"I guess this ain't so bad, yet." When Lin didn't hear a response, she glanced to her side only to find that Oogway had disappeared on her. "Oogway, what the-" She cut herself off as a man stepped into the room's doorway, one she'd thought she'd never set her eyes on again.
A ridiculous looking little man. That was how everyone had described Albert Freeman, and despite that he'd stood nearly a full head taller than Lin and significantly wider, she'd always felt compelled to agree. Funnily enough, he had literally been a fat badger, the exact name Chen used for Shifu, and it had been his slight resemblance to Shifu that had compelled her to meet him. He'd had a round head and unusually large ears- enormous, really. And a big bushy tail, as well, almost as bushy as his eyebrows. He'd had the striped black and white fur typical to a badger, though his black fur was really more a rich black-brown when examined closely. By the time she'd met him, the black fur had already begun to get a salt-and-pepper look where it met the white stripes, even though he'd still been in his thirties. His snout had been a bit stunted, much like her own, and his nose had been a bit big. And just below it, always covering his upper lip, had grown a large, bushy push-broom style mustache. She'd loved that ridiculous mustache, and how it had tickled when he'd given her a gentle kiss goodbye before heading off to work. And then there were his eyes, unforgettably warm and green. They'd drooped a bit at the outside by nature, and so even when he was feeling annoyed or energetic he'd always had the look of being laid-back and a bit tired. All in all, a ridiculous looking little man. She'd always been a ridiculous looking little woman, though, so they'd fit together just fine.
Lin could already feel the stinging of tears, just seeing him in front of her again. It had been her most fervent dream, to see him one more time, hold him again, hear his voice. Even if just for a second. She would have given anything for that. But now that he was in front of her, she felt pain more than anything else. Heartache, was the word. Maybe it was the knowledge that the man before her hadn't risen from the dead, but was only a memory- one she couldn't touch or speak to. She managed to hold it together, though her throat constricted with the effort and left her speechless. She'd known that this memory was coming, and she'd fully expected herself to dissolve into screaming and sobbing. She was probably still in shock.
Even though Lin's back had been turned to him at the time, intently focused on carving out a wood block for printmaking, she could now see the way he smiled at the sight of her, his eyes twinkling. She wanted to look away, but she was transfixed by that somewhat clueless, love-addled gaze.
"Hard at work, I see," he greeted, his voice deep and warm with just the slightest smoker's rasp from his beloved calabash pipe. It sounded even lovelier when he sang to her, which he had done often and without a single bit of shame. "I'm missing you. Are you ready for bed?"
"Not even remotely," she answered shortly, not bothering to look up from her carving.
Lin wished she could yell at her past self, berate her for taking such a wonderful person for granted. Instead, she stood by silently and continued to watch the scene before her unfold.
"Sounds to me like you're ready for another all-nighter," he observed, only the slightest hint of disappointment in his voice. "Shall I put on some tea?"
"Nah," she dismissed, still focused wholly on her art.
Al remained standing in the doorway, watching her work, his affectionate smile still firmly in place.
"Canya not watch me like that?" she snapped. "It's creepy."
"Sorry." He approached her desk and, for lack of a place to sit, knelt down beside her.
"That's not any better."
"I wanted to talk with you," he told her, his eyes straying to her hands to watch their painstaking work. "I know you're working- but when are you not? So I thought earlier would be all the better."
She grunted in response.
"Your wood block is coming out splendidly," he complimented.
"What'd you wanna say?" she asked impatiently. She had yet to actually take a moment to look up from her work at him.
"Could you perhaps take a moment from carving-"
"No," she interrupted.
"Alright." He watched her a moment more, as if waiting to see if she might contradict herself and make eye contact after all. "I'd hoped we could discuss the nature of our relationship."
"Ugh," she replied. "Typical man. So clingy. This's why I swore off 'em for so long."
He laughed her comments off, his laughter as good-natured and hearty as always. Still, his eyes didn't quite crinkle in the corners like they would have if he were truly amused. "Really, Lin. I know this isn't your favorite subject, but it's been some time now. I care for you a great deal- as you well know. I'm not asking for a definition, I'm only asking what you want. Are we friends, or something more?"
"Why d'you gotta interrupt my work with this crap? I gotta concentrate, y'know." She kept carving, and he didn't reply to her, though he did stand up. "I dunno," she finally grumbled. "What's it they call it now? Friends with benefits? That sounds about right."
"Right," he replied quietly, and he sounded hurt.
She at least picked up on this, though she still didn't show him any kindness. "Should I pack my bags and go?"
"No, of course not. I would never give you a home here, only to use it as some bargaining chip to get you to be with me." He sounded more hurt at her question than her rejection. It was true, too, that he'd never try to manipulate or use her in such a way. He'd always had a bit of an innocence about him, like those types of behaviors never even occurred to him.
"I know how men's minds work," she said, her eyebrows rising slightly at the statement.
"That isn't how my mind works, and I should expect you'd know as much by now."
"Canya not?" Her tone became agitated again. "Lemme work in peace for once in my goddamn life!"
He took a few steps back, but didn't leave the room just yet. "Lin, I have never once asked you for anything. In all this time, no matter what I've done for you, I don't believe I've shown you any evidence of possessing an ulterior motive. If it seems to you that my kindness is excessive, or suspect, that truly is a pity. But if you want me to ask you for something so badly, then I will."
"Yeah? What?"
He finally sounded defensive for the first time in their conversation. "Stop being so mean about it." With that, he turned around and left the room, his heavy footfalls as he descended the stairs echoing through the hall.
Lin worked a moment more, then set down her carving tool and let out a heavy sigh. She'd have to interrupt her work now to go smooth things over with Al. If he'd just waited until she'd met her deadline, she could have spared some time to talk. But of course he'd insisted on coming to her while she was trying to carve a wood block, painstaking work that could take off a finger if her concentration faltered for even a moment. She stood from her desk and headed downstairs. The staircase led down to the house's small entryway and then the sitting room, which had been furnished lushly with an overstuffed sofa, a low coffee table, a bar cart loaded with sparkling glass bottles of liquor, and a large piano with bench. Seeing as Al hadn't parked himself at the piano, Lin made the next most obvious guess and headed into the kitchen.
While the house was full of slightly shabby evidence of the former wealth of Al's family, the kitchen was the most obvious of them. He loved to cook, but also made a point of keeping the kitchen in pristine condition. It was the kind of room once meant for a staff of household servants, a large wooden table situated in the middle which had once been meant for the cook's preparations and the staff meals. This was now the table at which they ate together. A sizable fireplace had been built into one wall, with not one but two separate coal ovens built in above it, while the opposite wall was dominated by counter space and a luxuriously large wash basin with a water pump built straight into it. The back door had once been the servants' entrance, and also led out to a small stone-lined courtyard shared by the row of stately homes, in which lines of laundry could be hung and wash tubs could be emptied.
Currently, Al stood at the counter, peeling and slicing some of his huge stash of hard-boiled eggs. He loved eggs, and he ate at least one daily.
"Hard boiled eggs at this time of night, huh?" she asked, leaning against the kitchen table.
"Yes," he replied sullenly, like a child who'd been scolded. "They're my favorite."
"Explains why you're always farting up a storm." She had hoped he would've laughed at that, but he remained silent. "I didn't mean to be mean, I was just... I was working." She sat down at the table and rubbed at her forehead, frustrated by this whole conversation. "And I'm not a very nice person. Overall."
He snorted and finally turned away from his eggs to give her a knowing look. "You think I didn't notice that from the moment we met?"
She shrugged. "You always struck me as pretty dense." She'd been mean to him from the very beginning of their relationship, that much was true. Yet he'd always treated her with as much kindness and good humor as if she were the nicest person he'd ever met. And she'd already met some of Freeman's friends; they were much nicer than her. "What ever madeya like me to begin with?"
He smiled at her, as warmly as always. "Well, when a complete stranger chases me into a darkened alley and pins me against a wall all while screaming Mandarin at the top of her lungs, I can't help but feel intrigued."
She laughed a little bit to herself. It hadn't been funny at the time, but that was an accurate description of how they'd met. She'd seen him on the dark streets of London, minding his own business, and from afar he'd looked almost exactly like Shifu. Enough, at least, that she had chased him while screaming at him in Mandarin. Once she'd grabbed him by his coat and pinned him against that wall, though, she'd gotten a good enough look at his face to realize he was a total stranger. She'd been stupid to ever think that she'd spotted Shifu, anyway. It was England. And the man had never been out of China in his life. She'd thought, once she'd returned Freeman to his feet, that he would have been frightened or angry. Instead, he'd smiled at her, and spoken to her kindly. She hadn't understood him at the time, as her English back then had been pretty non-existent. But he'd sounded kind, at least. Then she'd told him to fuck off in Mandarin and stormed away.
She'd been living on the streets, at that time, either looking for any odd bit of work she could find or begging for her supper. She'd thought that she would never see the oddly familiar stranger again. But he'd found her, somehow, and he'd done so on purpose. She'd always told him to get bent, always in Mandarin, and she'd thought her tone would have made her meaning clear. And it probably had. He disregarded her anyway, and always tried to speak with her. He'd taken to bringing her food during his lunch breaks, just so she would stop to eat instead of cursing him out and running off, and he could spend a bit of time with her. She'd learned a good amount of English from him, as well, with the way he always prattled on to her. He'd spoken a fair amount of different languages, too, but none of them ever seemed to be the same languages she knew. When the Holidays had come around, he'd invited her to spend them with him- at least, she'd been pretty sure that's what he was trying to say. She'd been able to confirm it after a couple of days, when they'd discovered their mutual fluency in French. For one reason or another, she'd never left. And he'd never once asked her to leave.
She wasn't an idiot, of course. She knew that there was a distinct possibility that he loved her. She just couldn't figure out why. Maybe it was the sex, she'd always been pretty amazing at that.
"Midnight snack?" Freeman set a plate in front of her of sliced egg on buttered bread. "We're out of tomato, sorry." He always apologized when there was no need to.
"I'll pick some up tomorrow." She watched him eat, waiting for him to insist on more discussion, but he only paid attention to his food. "I'm sorry. About being mean."
"I know," he replied gently, then went back to eating his eggs. Why the man always had to be so damn gentle she'd never know. It annoyed the hell out of her.
"So that's it? You don't wanna yell or anything?" She knew she was wasting her breath. She'd learned early on that he wasn't the yelling type, never would be. That didn't mean she couldn't be bothered by it.
"Why on earth would I want to yell at you?" He sounded genuinely puzzled. But then, he'd have no reason to feign being puzzled. He'd always been honest with her, even when she hadn't understood most of his words.
"'Cause you're angry at me," she pointed out. "You know what that is, right? Anger?"
"I've seen you display it fairly prominently, so I'd say so." He grinned at her, as if they were joking around together and nothing at all was wrong.
"Willya quit that shit already?" she snapped, and banged her fist on the table for emphasis. She immediately felt bad for it, though, because she'd made him jump. And then she felt angry at him for making her feel bad. "Don't be such a wimp!"
"Don't yell at me," he replied evenly, then got up for more eggs. "And don't blame me for jumping when you get like this, either."
"Like what?" she asked, even though she knew very well what "like this" meant. It meant when she got angry, when she felt that tightness in her chest and wanted to hit something. It also meant the times when she felt so enraged, she couldn't even see what was in front of her anymore. The times she didn't remember, and the times when all she remembered were the visions in front of her of a bloodied battlefield. She'd never hit him, she could never in a million years. But he'd seen enough of her to know that she was a dangerous person. "Like this" meant he was afraid of her, and she hated herself for it.
"I'm sorry," he said, even though he had nothing to apologize for. "I'm tired. Maybe we should talk in the morning." That was typical of him, always trying so hard to be diplomatic. She supposed it made sense; he was a diplomat by trade, after all.
"Don't apologize to me," Lin ordered, not that it would stop him. She took a few deep breaths and watched him, reminded herself that this was a man who would never harm her, that this was a man who was gentle and soft, and who had never harmed another soul in his life. This was someone unique, and she needed to remember that. "You're right," she admitted. "And I'm wrong. And we'll talk now. Okay?"
"Just because I'm right, that doesn't make you wrong," he argued. "I feel the way I feel, and you feel the way you feel. Those happen to be different right now. Maybe they will always be different, and maybe they won't. But there doesn't have to be a wrong one. You want to do what's right for you, and I can understand that. I only wanted to discuss it with some sensitivity, that's all."
"Sensitivity." She knew what that meant. That meant she'd hurt his feelings. Not that she was a total clod. She knew snapping at him would hurt his feelings, but she was starting to think his feelings were hurt in a different way. In a way in which he might confess some sort of misguided love to her. "Got it. I'm trying to be more sensitive. And less... Less me."
"You are not defined by your anger, Lin." He sat down beside her again and took her hands in his. "I understand you. You may not believe me, but it's true. I see how good you are, whether or not you see it yourself. We were meant to be together. I know it. And if you want to be together as just friends, then that's what I want, too."
"Ugh, this shit."
He ignored her. "Soulmates."
"I could literally pick you up and throw you, y'know."
"You know I like it when you pick me up," he said with a wink.
"Oh yeah?" Lin grabbed him and pulled him into her lap, and he laughed heartily and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Goddamn, you're heavy."
"We both know you like something to grab onto," he replied easily. "Don't complain about something you like."
"But then there'd be less to complain about," she argued. "And y'know I couldn't live without complaining."
"Yes, I've noticed." He kissed her, and in that moment she could honestly say that she felt purely, absolutely happy.
She knew what was happening to her, then. She'd known it for a while, but she'd tried not to think about it. And even though she was pretty sure that she loved him back, she kept her mouth shut. It was just too scary for her. Love had never worked out for her, and worse, it had always left her so much worse for wear afterward that she didn't know how she'd managed to pick herself back up again. So she swallowed it, buried it deep where she could mostly forget about it. It was the right thing to do, anyway. Eventually Freeman would get over her, and move on to someone better for him. He'd realize that he was wrong, that she was no good, and she would move on as well. She didn't begrudge him that fact; she wanted better for him. She was just too weak to leave him behind and let him find it all the sooner, that was all.
Lin remembered what had actually happened, though. She'd made excuses, to herself and to Al, and she'd broken his heart for years just because of her own cowardice. She'd wasted that time, and now it was time she'd never get back.
"So you do have some regrets, after all," Oogway observed calmly, making her jump with his sudden reappearance.
"Yeah." There was no use in hiding it. "Canya blame me, for not wanting to talk about it?"
"No, I cannot," he said with a sigh. "But remember, Lin, that the two of you developed a good relationship. Remember that you were together, and that those years were not wasted."
She had to admit that he was right. It had taken her long enough, but she'd eventually told Al how she felt. He'd proposed to her, and she'd said yes even though they both knew she'd never actually get married. They'd been happy, and totally in love, and she'd stopped hesitating or holding back. There had been many, many more good times than bad. But she could never change the fact that she'd hurt him, starting out. And now he was gone, and she couldn't even tell him how sorry she was. Not that he ever would have listened. He probably would have just apologized right back to her. "I miss him so much," she said, embarrassed at how ragged she sounded. "He was it for me, Oogway. He was always-" She knew she couldn't go on without crying, so she stopped herself there.
"Soulmates?" Oogway asked.
Lin laughed, and cried at the same time. She'd always thought that kind of shit was a bunch of sappy nonsense. When Al had said all that stuff to her, though, she knew he'd meant every word. And that was what had made it special. "Al Freeman was a silly ass," she told Oogway as she wiped her face off with her sleeve. "And I loved him very much."
"But you try not to think of him," Oogway said knowingly.
"Why should I? He's gone, and I'm never gonna see him again. End of story."
"That isn't the story that bears telling, now," he told her, and rested his claws gently on her back. "Tell me the story of you."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Huh? What's that mean?" She didn't have time to get an answer, though. She found herself in another vision, this time in the bedroom she and Al had shared.
She cracked her eyes open and yawned, staring at the ceiling as she lay in their four poster bed. The bed was a simple one without canopy, but plenty big for the both of them and incredibly plush like she liked. She needed it, too, considering the condition she was in. She'd been sick, bleeding, and cramping for days. Then again, juniper and hellebore could do that to a person, and she'd known what she'd been getting into when she'd decided to end her pregnancy. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and grimaced as a particularly powerful cramp washed over her. She rode it out staring at an old stain in the dingy cream-colored damask wallpaper. From what she could remember, the stain was mushroom gravy from a dish of food Al's grandmother had thrown at her nursemaid during her last few years. At least, that was the story he'd told. She'd never met his family members, as they had passed on.
She turned herself and sat at the edge of the bed. She felt dizzy, but she didn't want to spend another moment lying down. There was too much time to think, that way. To be honest, she wasn't thinking of anything morose, or even of her condition. She couldn't stop thinking of Al. It might seem odd to an outside observer, since she had been with him for a few years. They had never been exclusive, though, and she'd always insisted that they "just have fun." Getting pregnant had been something of a turning point for her. Sure, it had scared her- at her age, giving birth was practically a death sentence. But mostly it had made her think more about her choices. She'd loved Al for years, and yet she'd never admitted it for fear of getting hurt. She'd always felt convinced that the day would come when he'd leave her.
If anything could have driven him off, it would have been getting pregnant by another man. And having that other man propose to her, even if she had turned him down and dumped him. It would have driven anyone else off. Al had stayed, though. He'd held her hand through almost all her cramps, he'd taken care of her, cooked for her, even helped her bathe. If there was ever a way to prove he wouldn't leave her, he'd found it. She couldn't help but feel terrified about telling him how she felt, though. The timing wasn't the best, admittedly, but Al wouldn't care so much about something like that. She really was just being her usual self, putting it off because she was scared.
"Looks like someone's feeling better today." Al walked into the room, a plate of sliced buttered bread in hand. "I've got something simple to fill up your belly."
"Ah," she grumbled, waving him off. "Not hungry."
"You need to eat to keep your strength up." He placed the plate on the bed beside her and gave her forehead a feel for her temperature. "It isn't like you to turn your nose up at food."
"Making fun of my appetite?"
"No, that'd make me a hypocrite." He took a bite from her bread and she swiped at him for it, laughing.
"Don't make me laugh!" She took the bread from him, though she didn't eat any. "It hurts."
"Oh, no." He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, then the nose, and finally a light peck on the lips. "Forgive me?"
"Alright, alright." She pushed him away. "Quit it with that sappy shit, now." She took a bite of bread and chewed slowly, dreading what would happen once the food hit her stomach.
Al watched her for a bit, then smiled and kissed her again. "Since you're feeling better, there's something I've been wanting to bring up with you. I've been putting it off for a while, considering how stressful this has all been for you. But... Well, if you're up for a serious talk, that would be- uhm- nice."
"No wonder you're a diplomat, with that gilded tongue." She wondered if this was about their relationship. Well, if he wanted to bring it up anyway, she might as well jump right in. "But if we're being serious, I've been wanting to talk, too."
He blinked nervously down at her. "Oh. You have?"
"You're not getting dumped."
"Oh, good!" He blushed, clearly embarrassed about his outburst. "Perhaps I'll go first, then, yeah?"
"I'm ready as I'll ever be," she accepted.
He knelt down on one knee and took her hand.
"What the hell's this all about?" Lin grumbled, though she decided not to yank her hand away.
"I know this isn't the most romantic timing," he started, and she knew something profoundly stupid was to follow, "and that you turned Daniel down for the same thing. But you and I, we've been together a while, now. And in spite of yourself, I think you've grown to enjoy my company." He smiled warmly at her, and she snorted at the little joke. "Let's get married, Lin. You and me. Go ahead and call me a stiff or a dink, but I think you're just about the most perfect woman who's ever lived. Perfect for me, anyway. I love you. Don't you feel the same way? Or have I just been kidding myself?"
"Get back up on your feet, you knucklehead."
"I have a ring," he added, and fished around in his pocket until he produced a delicate silver ring set with a drop cut sapphire the same deep hue as the sea. "It was my mother's. Well- that sounds a bit weird. It's a family heirloom."
"It's for me, I'm guessing."
"Right! I didn't get to the most important part. What do you say we get married?" He stayed down on one knee, presenting the ring to her and waiting expectantly.
Lin stared down at him, her lip curling up slightly. "Seriously?"
He blinked back up at her, clearly stunned by the question. "R-right," he stuttered out, and awkwardly returned to his feet. "Ahm- I should go. Let you rest. And all." He tucked the ring back into his pocket and fled the room, and she could hear his footsteps rushing down the stairs.
She'd known the moment she'd seen the look on his face that she'd hurt him again. What was wrong with her, that she couldn't even admit to the man she loved that she wanted to be with him? He'd known from the start that she didn't believe in marriage, though. He should have known she wouldn't react well to a proposal! Lin stopped herself and rubbed at her temples. She couldn't blame Al for getting carried away. He was an emotional man, and it was in his nature to get carried away. She should have been more considerate of how he felt, no matter what.
She got up with a groan, though luckily her discomfort wasn't as severe as she'd expected. She walked down the stairs and sighed to herself at the sight of Al sitting at his piano, fiddling with the keys with tears in his eyes. The man was the perfect picture of heartbreak, and the worst part was that he wasn't even putting on a show to guilt her.
"I'd prefer to be alone," he announced, his voice shaky. "And you should get back to bed."
"I hurt your feelings." She felt like an idiot for stating the obvious. "I'm so sorry, Al. I didn't mean to- I thought you knew I didn't wanna ever get married. Anyway, I was an asshole. Sorry."
"I'll live," he replied, still playing out a sweet little tune on the piano with one hand. It was the kind of simple song he could plonk out without even thinking, and she'd enjoyed spending many an evening sitting on the sofa and sketching while she listened to such songs. "I've always loved you. And I always will. I'm glad I've made no secret of it, but you don't feel the same way and I keep pressuring you with gestures like these. Even if you did feel that way, you're right. You've always said you don't like marriage, so it was unfair of me to spring that on you."
"Why d'you gotta act so reasonable when I obviously just broke your heart?" she snapped, annoyed by how submissive he could be.
"Because I understand you," he said. "How can I get angry with you when I know how you feel?"
"You don't know shit!" she shouted, but he still didn't turn around to look at her. "If you knew anything at all about how I feel, you'd quit acting like an ass and face me."
He stopped playing piano and slowly turned around on the bench. He looked totally forlorn, but he still looked her in the eye with the same warm gaze as always. "You're going to tire yourself out, like this. Go lie down, and we'll talk more later."
Lin felt her heart ache at the thought of letting him think for another moment that she didn't love him, and she was also angry at him for assuming that he knew for sure she didn't. "Al, you dumbshit, of course I love you back." Her voice cracked a bit and she felt her eyes begin to water. She ran across the room, which in her condition was really more of a shuffle, and into his waiting arms. "I did always love you, I'd be lost without you. You're such an ass." She sniffed and wiped at her eyes in the hopes of hiding her tears from him before he could see them.
"Crybaby," he said affectionately, squeezing her tightly.
"Shut up and gimme the damn ring, you hypocrite." She sat down beside him, blushing at the sight of his sunny smile as he placed the sapphire ring gently into her outstretched palm.
"This is wonderful," he said. "I promise I'll make you as happy as you've made me. I'll never make you cry again, except from happiness."
"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled, pushing the ring awkwardly onto her finger. She'd never really worn jewelry before, and it felt odd to her. "Just 'cause we're engaged doesn't mean I'm gonna marryya."
He laughed at her disgruntled reply and wrapped his arms around her again. "My grumpy little woman." He kissed her gently so that his mustache tickled her, which always made her smile. "We don't need to get married if you don't want to. As long as we're in love, I'm happy."
"Good thing we are, then." Lin buried her face in his neck, smiling so hard that it hurt, tears in her eyes again. She wasn't just happy, but relieved. Everything finally seemed to be falling into place, even though her life was far from perfect. Having Al with her made all the bad things seem insignificant. "I promise I'm all in, forever. Just you and me."
When they parted, he turned back toward the piano and started to play for her.
She was back at the beginning again, her first night at Al's house. Sitting at the top of the stairs when she was supposed to be sleeping, listening and watching as Al sat at the piano downstairs and tried to perfect a song he'd written while puffing on his calabash pipe. They'd barely spoken two words to each other that the other could understand, and she'd always brushed him off as some annoying weirdo. But hearing this song, and seeing how surely his fingers moved over the keys was more valuable an experience to her than any conversation. Watching him while he thought he was alone, seeing him as he really was, listening to music that she'd felt sure came from his heart, she'd fallen in love with him. This was the moment. She'd forgotten that feeling, of falling in love. She'd wanted to forget, because remembering it, this moment, was more painful than anything she'd ever experienced, as she knew it would be.
Now she could feel it again. That transition from being unsure about another person to suddenly knowing. That flood of affection, the tightening of her chest, the goosebumps on her skin, it was almost too much. The first realization of love was a fleeting moment, but one she'd wanted to hold on to forever. Instead, she'd made the choice to turn her back on it. She regretted it now. She'd been a fool, like always. But at least in that moment, when she'd first fallen in love, she'd known it. At least she'd had the sense to appreciate it, even if it had only been for that one night.
She stayed there until he'd decided to stop for the evening, and that was when he spotted her. Rather than act annoyed, he beckoned excitedly to her. When she joined him at the piano, he said something she didn't understand and took hold of her hand, guiding it to the keys. She'd never even touched a piano before, so her fiddling was discordant at best, but he smiled and bounced along to her music all the same. Then he started trying to teach her scales, even though she didn't quite have a knack for it. Later, when they'd been able to communicate better, he'd taught her more. She'd always had difficulty with the piano, maybe because of her short arms, but she'd taken to the cavaquinho so well that Al had started writing accompaniments for her into his songs. He'd even asked her to write lyrics for him. She could have stayed in that memory for eternity, just her and Al playing that piano.
Lin came back to herself slowly, painfully. It was a similar sensation to forcing herself gradually out of a dream. Once she returned to reality, she looked around for Oogway but found that she really had truly come out of her vision and the old turtle was gone. There was no one waiting for her this time, not even Wei-Shan. She decided to stay in bed. While she was exhausted from her vision, she knew she wouldn't fall back asleep any time soon. If she closed her eyes and concentrated, she could almost feel Al's arms around her one last time.
She wondered what Oogway had meant, when he'd told her to tell him the story of her. Knowing him, he hadn't only been prompting more visions. It must have had something to do with Tai Lung's lessons, and what she needed to teach him. Did it mean that she should tell Tai Lung about her past? That couldn't have been it. The details of her life didn't seem like something that would prove helpful. And it was talking about that past, talking about Al, that had led her into those painful memories. Now she couldn't get them out of her mind.
Like that first holiday together, when Al had invited her into his home off the street, and it had snowed like in some saccharine song. He'd loved snow. The way he'd run out and play in it was like a child, and she'd joined in with him. She'd kissed him for the first time that day, out in the snow, while he wrapped her up in his warm jacket. He'd once taken her out to the country for her birthday, to a cottage in the snow without a single other soul around. She remembered the first time he'd ever bought her a paper bag filled to the brim with hot roasted chestnuts, and they'd walked down the street together while she ate her fill. She remembered packing lunches for him to take to work, hearty meals of boiled eggs with cheese and bread, and how happy he'd been to return the favor for her.
She didn't want to remember it all, but she did. She wanted to forget, because then she wouldn't also have to think of when he'd held her tight for the last time. That last day, when he'd left for three months of work in France, and she'd been worried for him because he'd always been a bit of wimp. She remembered how they'd been talking a lot lately about money, and all she'd wanted was for him to sell that old house and settle his family's debts, even if it meant they'd have nothing left. She'd gone to see him off at the dock, and they'd talked about all the places they'd go once he'd saved up some more money. It had been the typical talk of people with little to nothing to spare, a fantasy that they knew deep down would never come true. But it had been comforting, in its own way. He'd told her, "I love you. Everything's going to be okay." They'd been his last words to her.
She remembered how she'd found out he'd died from a form letter. She'd sold the entire estate the moment she'd gotten an offer. The old place was so full of memories, she couldn't make it two steps without breaking down over some little thing or other. She'd even pawned that sapphire ring. His body remained in France; she hadn't had the money to return it to England. She'd put a memorial stone down on his empty plot, and none of their so-called friends had shown. She'd known why. No one had wanted to deal with her. Her grief had made them uncomfortable. They thought it was too intense, as if it were unreasonable of her to show her grief, rather than try to hide it behind a veil and some demure sniffling. She'd been alone, with nothing left to remember Al by but some sheet music and his calabash pipe that he'd forgotten to bring on his trip, which she lit up now and smoked in her bed. It wasn't fair. He'd made her love him, and then he'd left her alone.
That was why she'd gone to India. Rahim had been her one friend who'd stood by her once Al had died- mostly because she'd made him. The Bengal tiger had really known how to take her mind off more morose matters. Rahim had never been serious about anything except work. He'd always been the kind of person who'd rather distract from something heavy than focus on it, and she'd needed that. Well, he'd kicked her out of his house at first. But after he'd gotten over that little hump, their three years together had been fun and easygoing. And he'd been Al's best friend. He'd at least understood a little bit of how she'd felt.
Who was she kidding, acting like she could take on the world? She'd crawled under a rock when something bad had happened to her and spent three years there. She'd traveled all the way to China, for what? Because she'd been lonely. Now so much was riding on her, Oogway came back from the dead to help her, and she still had no clue what to do. There was one thing she knew how to do in a situation like this. She could stay in bed and smoke.
Tigress sat at the research table in the Library of Scrolls, watching Gia lean over a children's scroll of simple beginner's characters and squint at them as if unlocking the secrets of some complex script. The torches were burning low in the dark room, and Tigress doubted that there would be much time left to research nerve strikes once they'd completed their reading lesson.
"Man," she announced, pointing at the first character.
"That's good." Tigress had spent some time volunteering at Bao Gu, and she'd taught the beginning kung fu classes for children. Yet trying to teach a grown adult was an unexpected challenge. She'd thought with the added focus and experience of adulthood, lessons with a grown woman would move quickly. That did not seem to be the case. "Are you able to read anything else?"
She pointed to the character for "forest" and looked up hopefully at Tigress. "Men?"
"No, that's forest. Let's go over these again."
"Forest," Gia repeated, tapping the page. "Forest. Forest." Then she closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. "I see it in my mind eye, like you told me."
"Mind's eye," Tigress corrected. It was how she'd been taught memorization, to visualize what she needed to remember without looking at it. "I know I told you earlier to go at your own pace, but it's getting late. Let's review one more time." She went through all twenty characters on the page and had Gia repeat them with her, then string them into a sentence. She could see the way the woman wilted with each passing moment, so she hoped once they'd finished she would be off to bed.
Gia made it to the end of their sentence, "The man walked into the forest one day and ran out of the forest the next night." Then, she started to tear up.
Tigress had been expecting this reaction to come much earlier in the night. "You'll improve with practice, Gia. There's no need to get emotional."
"I apologize," she replied quietly. "I am tired. It has been a long night."
She'd never argue with that. They'd started the night with Po's help as well, but he'd only gotten halfway through the night before he'd started yawning and nodding off. Tigress had taken pity on him and sent him to brew a big pot of tea for the three of them. Judging by the amount of time he'd been gone, she'd say he was fast asleep at the kitchen table. She'd have to wake him soon. "You should get some sleep."
Gia wiped at her eyes with her sleeve. "I like spending time together like this."
"Yes," she agreed stiffly. "But remember, Po and I need to study. It's important for... Kung fu." She rubbed at her forehead. Even she was getting tired, and normally she could work through a night without any problems.
"Kung fu requires study?" Gia asked, her ears perking up a bit.
"Yes, studying is a large part of the learning process, even with kung fu. It requires a great amount of concentration, dedication, spirituality-"
"Really?"
She nodded. "Yes, kung fu requires heavy spiritual study if one wishes to become a master. Here at the Jade Palace, we are taught Zen Buddhism, though I have noticed that we learn many Taoist principles as well." She was surprised to see Gia smile.
"I did not realize. I am often surprised by the ways in which this place reminds me of where I grew up." She ran her fingers over the wood grain of the table as she reminisced. "I studied religious writings for hours every day as a child. We kept to a strict schedule, in the convent. Morning prayers, chores, breakfast, study, work in the archives, midday prayers, lunch, more study, afternoon prayers- I should stop. I am being- what is the word?"
Tigress jolted out of her light cat nap and nodded again before she realized that she'd been asked a question. "Boring." She paused, realizing what she'd said. She needed to get out of the habit of letting Gia prompt her into an insult. "It wasn't boring, though," she reassured, maybe a little belatedly. "You're right about your life in a convent being similar to that of a kung fu master, aside from the physical requirements. I'm sure it's comforting to you."
She shrugged. "If I am to be honest, it is odd to me. I thought everything would be more different and new."
"Maybe you should get out of the Jade Palace more, see the village." Tigress knew she sounded hypocritical, considering how little she got out, herself. Gia didn't know that, though. "You should get to know some people down in the village." She felt a little bit like Viper, giving out that kind of advice.
"I think I would enjoy that," Gia agreed, and then her eyes lit up. "I have an idea!" That didn't sound promising. "Master Viper, you, and I could go to the village together. It could be like a- what is it in Mandarin? A girly day?"
Tigress knew the moment Viper got wind of such an idea, she would have no choice but to be dragged along. "Sounds about right."
"And you could introduce me to people."
Tigress furrowed her brow at that comment. "You're shy about meeting new people?"
"No," Gia replied. "But when I meet new people they all seem so busy, or they lose interest in our conversation very quickly, or they run away screaming. That last one has not happened in a long time, thankfully. I thought that if I were introduced by locals, then I would have better luck."
"...Okay." Tigress had experienced first-hand how long-winded Gia could get when it came to talking about religion, so she understood the compulsion to run away screaming. She'd witnessed Mantis and Monkey run from the woman in a similar fashion just the other week. "Viper has a few friends you might get along with."
"Good! I hope you do not think less of me, but I have never had many friends."
Tigress resisted the urge to snort at how obvious it was that Gia knew nothing about her. "I'll do my best to understand."
Gia didn't seem to catch her sarcasm, because she nodded in acceptance, smiling obliviously. "You are so kind, Master Tigress. I do not deserve such patience and consideration."
Tigress gave her hand a pat. While Gia was a bit slower to pick up new skills than one of the children she'd taught, she equaled them in the unpredictability of her mood from one moment to the next. She tended to swing back and forth between hopelessly upset and unnervingly cheerful with more speed and agility than Monkey could swing on the Seven-Talon Rings. At first, she'd found the behavior irritating, but as she'd gotten used to Gia's moods she had realized that they weren't necessarily as unpredictable as they'd seemed. Gia simply reacted- intensely- to everything happening in the moment, much like the children she'd taught. It was difficult for her to understand how a person could make it to adulthood while maintaining such emotional vulnerability, especially when she'd dedicated most of her life to reigning herself in as much as possible. It gave Gia a youthful, naive quality that, in spite of herself, Tigress found endearing. "Gia, you're treating me with more reverence than needed. I must be about your age, right?"
Gia blinked, furrowing her brow. "I have never thought about that much. Well, I have thought about my age, and how I am less likely to marry with each passing year. Soon I will be twenty-six, and still with no prospects."
Tigress resisted the urge to smack a hand to her forehead in frustration at the absurdity of what the woman had just said. "You're a year younger than I am, Gia," she pointed out. "I have yet to marry, and it hasn't impeded my life in the least."
"Yes, but are kung fu masters not supposed to remain celibate, like nuns?" She had asked the question with too much sincerity for Tigress to feel offended.
"Some do, but it isn't a requirement." Though her master's interest in Lin had made her wish it was. "Personally, I've always agreed with the sentiment that romantic entanglements are a distraction from the dedication of one's life to the mastery of kung fu."
"I see. So you have dedicated your life entirely to kung fu, with no plans to marry."
Tigress nodded, expecting Gia to have some sort of comment or judgment at the ready.
"So you are somewhat like a nun," she concluded instead, and this time Tigress couldn't hold back a snort of amusement.
"Not quite, but I see how you would make the connection." She decided against pointing out that she wouldn't be able to meet the virginal requirements of nunhood, since Gia might react poorly to such a statement. "Then again, there are much stricter expectations for women, when it comes to marriage. I have no interest in caring for a grown man, and while I do like children, I would not give up my study of kung fu for them."
"Children of my own are all I want," Gia replied, turning a bit red. "Perhaps you may find it foolish, but I even turned down the chance to take my vows and dedicate my life wholly to God because of that."
Tigress realized that Gia was the one fearful of her judgment, and suppressed a bit of embarrassment at it. "I don't find it foolish to pursue your desires, Gia. You wish to dedicate your life to a family, I wish to dedicate mine to kung fu. I won't scold you for it, if that's what you're afraid of." She couldn't say she'd never thought of starting a family of her own. She understood why Gia was so dedicated to the idea. After all, she'd also grown up without her parents, and so she'd fantasized often as a child of being surrounded by family. Even after she'd discovered kung fu, she'd always thought she'd grow up to have loads of children- until she hadn't. The day she'd been named a master, she had realized that she would rather practice kung fu than do anything else in the world. If that meant her desire to start a family would become nothing more than a distant memory, then so be it. Better to pursue her passion than spend her life wondering what she could have achieved, if she'd only had the time.
Gia smiled, apparently relieved. "I am glad you understand. Master Shifu does not seem quite comfortable with the subject."
"What else is new?" she blurted out, then stiffened at the realization that she'd spoken without considering her words. She had relaxed too much with Gia and forgotten herself, and now she'd said something negative about her master. It was one thing when her teammates blew off steam together, it was another entirely to criticize Shifu to an outsider.
Surprisingly, Gia laughed. Considering the gentle way in which Gia spoke, and her normally lovely voice, the nasal cackle that she produced was wholly unexpected. It was identical to her mother's laughter, yet somehow Tigress found that more funny than irritating.
Tigress couldn't help but laugh, too, Gia's was so infectious. "I didn't mean that, really," she tried to correct herself, though her laughter probably brought her sincerity into question.
"You are right, I should not laugh," Gia said, wiping a tear from her eye. "It is just... True!"
She would have corrected her comment again, despite the truth in it that Gia had pointed out, but she heard someone enter the library. She relaxed the moment she recognized Po's shuffling gait, and sure enough, the panda appeared from behind a shelf, smiling.
"Uh... Sorry the tea took so long," he said as he joined them at the table with a pot and cups, which went untouched. "But it sounds like you're having fun in here without me."
Tigress felt her face redden at the observation. She knew Po had no problem with poking fun at Shifu on occasion, but she decided not to mention her comment. She'd gotten too distracted as it was. "We should get to work, while there's still some night left."
Gia hopped out of her seat without any further prompting. "I- I apologize. I did not mean to take up so much time. I promise to perform better in our next lesson."
"Aw, c'mon," Po argued, as relaxed as ever. "It took me weeks to learn my first characters! You're doing fine."
"There's always room for improvement," Tigress said, though when she saw the way Gia's face fell at the comment, she added, "But you've done quite well, already."
Gia immediately cheered up at the belated praise. "Thank you, Master Tigress!" She scurried off, then paused and turned around to hurriedly say, "And you, Master Po," before leaving them for the night.
"No secret who's the favorite there, huh?" Po asked, elbowing Tigress playfully in the side.
Tigress shook her head at the assertion. "I think you're exaggerating a bit there." She'd never been anyone's favorite friend. Occasionally children- and Po- told her that she was their favorite kung fu master. That was about it. "Besides, we should get to work." She pulled Oogway's scroll on how to map pressure points from the shelf and returned to her seat. "So I believe we should start with-" She stopped herself when she saw Po grinning at her. "What?"
"Nothin'," he replied. "It's just that you're makin' a new friend."
She shook her head at the display. It wasn't as if she were a child. If a peer enjoyed her company, it was no big deal. "You're overreacting."
"Hey, at least it's a positive overreaction," he pointed out.
She smiled at him, then turned back to the scroll. "Fair enough. Now let's get to work."
"Where's Lin?" Yan-Yan sat at the kitchen island, reading one of her romance stories over tea. It was a nice break from her usual morning ritual of writing letters to her children, which went unanswered. Tai Lung stood at the stove, checking a steamer filled with bamboo leaf packets of steamed rice, similar to the ones they'd had at dim sum.
"Haven't seen her," he answered shortly, poking at one of the packets with his finger. "How does one tell when these are done?"
Yan-Yan shrugged. She'd never attempted to make anything even remotely complicated or labor intensive in all the time she'd cooked for her family. She'd always felt that simple food was good enough, and it left her with time for more important pursuits. "Maybe we should taste one."
"I suppose we must." He plated up one of the steamed rice packets and broke it open with chopsticks.
Yan-Yan tried a bite, surprised by the intense, yet salty flavor of lemon in the dish. "This isn't half bad."
"Eugh," he grumbled at the compliment, then went about wrapping a handful of the packets in a scarf for himself. Tai Lung had been especially mellow lately, and Yan-Yan couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with their little makeout session the other week. Maybe Tai Lung was trying to impress her by making an honest effort to reform, though she doubted it. Or maybe making out with a loser like her had depressed him. That was the more likely scenario.
Her life sure depressed her, and Meihui's little visit a few days ago hadn't helped. That was why she'd decided to bury her sorrows in unadulterated smut- or romance, as she'd been calling it when asked. "You're heading to work, aren't you?"
"Yes, not that it's any business of yours." He grabbed one last rice packet, presumably to eat as he walked, and headed for the back door.
"What about Lin?" Yan-Yan asked after him. "Shouldn't you go get her?"
"I'm not her chaperone," he replied irritably. "She knows her own schedule." With that, he left, shutting the door soundly behind him.
Yan-Yan stared at the door a moment, her eyebrows raised in surprise. While Tai Lung was never in a particularly good mood, he normally kept up a relatively friendly rapport when they spoke. Maybe she really was right, that he thought of her as a loser and was embarrassed to be seen with her.
She shook her head and took another sip of her tea. She needed to stop thinking such uncharitable things about herself, even if they were technically true. It was like Lin had told her, her life wasn't over just because she'd gotten divorced. She had her freedom, now, and if she put her mind to it she could have patients again, too. Speaking of Lin's pep talk, she needed to check on the old dog.
She marked her place in her story and headed upstairs to act as her friend's alarm. It still seemed odd to her that Lin had finally taken over her old room, but she'd decided not to question it for the time being. It probably had something to do with Chen's blow-up, once he'd found out exactly how close Lin and Wei-Shan had gotten. One unforeseen bright side- for her, at least- was Wei-Shan's prompt disappearance from the household. She knew she shouldn't be so petty, but she couldn't work on all her problems at once.
Yan-Yan walked into Lin's room and took in the familiar sight of her lying despondently in bed; apparently she hadn't grown out of such behavior. There had been many a time in their childhood when Yan-Yan had needed to literally drag her out of bed and force her out into the world. Sometimes she'd spent days on end in her room, just like this, and when questioned had only ever said she'd been working. "Tai Lung went to work."
"Huh?" She sat up, her eyes wide. "Tai Lung went to work... On his own? Without anyone forcing him?"
"Yes." They gazed at each other a moment. "This is progress, isn't it?"
"Yeah!" Lin seemed cheered at first, but slowly her pleasant surprise faded and she fell back down. "We got anything to eat around?"
"Not really."
"Eh, I'm not hungry anyway."
Yan-Yan sighed heavily, contemplating simply walking away. It would certainly make her life easier. Yet she needed to make an effort to help her friend, no matter how doomed said effort would be. "So what happened?" she asked.
"Nothing," Lin answered shortly, most likely lying.
"Then perhaps you should get out of bed and behave like an adult," she suggested. "I believe you were supposed to work today, as well."
"Adults make their own decisions," Lin said. "I'm taking a sick day."
"Come on," Yan-Yan said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "What's wrong this time? What's got sulky little sourpuss all curled up in bed again?"
"Ifya want me to talk, calling me names ain't gonna do it," she grumbled, then fished through a bowl of cigarette butts and pulled out the largest, least crumpled one to light it up.
"Ugh!" Yan-Yan gagged at the sight. "Why would you do a thing like that? It's disgusting!" She shouldn't have been surprised, honestly. The room smelled exactly like that bowl full of ash and cigarette butts. Maybe even more stale.
"Meh," Lin dismissed. "I'm outta tobacco, and this's all I got left. And it's too cheap and burnt up for pipe smoking. B'sides, this's my butt cup, ain't like anyone else had their mouth on these."
"Butt cup?" Yan-Yan repeated. "I didn't realize we had such a valuable relic stored right here, in our own house."
"Make fun all you want." She took a long drag on the mostly-used cigarette while she searched through her butt cup for another one to switch off with. "I gotta get to the store before I get desperate."
"You mean you're not desperate yet?" Yan-Yan asked with a shake of her head. "This is the face of addiction."
"Yeah, well take a good long look at the face of addiction, 'cause it's about to kick your-"
"Butt cup?"
Lin glared at her. "I'll let that slide, 'cause it was pretty good."
"I'm not trying to be mean," Yan-Yan went on, undeterred by her attitude. "I'm just trying to get you out of bed for something other than using the facilities. You can't lock yourself up in this room and smoke old cigarettes all day! You're an adult, with a life and responsibilities-"
"You just want me around as a buffer with Tai Lung," Lin interrupted. "I knowya did something and made everything awkward. Don't think I didn't notice that seduction comment."
Yan-Yan took a deep breath, bothered by the jab. "I won't allow this self-destructive behavior to continue. Get up and put on a fresh set of clothing right this instant, or I'll be forced to conclude that your problem is in need of a thorough physical exam."
She waggled her eyebrows at the threat. "Sounds neato," she replied lecherously. "I ain't been felt up in forever."
"I should have known that wouldn't work on you." Yan-Yan rubbed at the side of her face, trying to think of something that would help the situation. "Tai Lung cooked breakfast. He used your preserved lemons."
"Yeah?" She sounded slightly less morose. "How'd it turn out?"
"Pretty good. You should come downstairs and give it a try." Food had always been a good way to motivate Lin in the past, so she might as well try it now.
"You can just bring me up some." Lin fished yet another used up cigarette butt from her nasty bowl and lit it on the dying scrap in her mouth, then switched them out. "I ain't really been hungry, though."
"Tobacco is an appetite suppressant." She could only imagine how much Lin had been smoking if her massive appetite had been quelled. "At least go out with me to get more tobacco, instead of acting like a disgusting mess and smoking your dregs."
"Do it for me and I'll giveya money," she replied, unmoved.
"No! Lin, you need to get out of bed."
She grumbled something in an unrecognizable language, but Yan-Yan could tell from her years of experience with Lin that it was just a string of curses.
"Don't think you can talk like that to me just because you're speaking another language," she scolded.
"Quit your nagging, I'm not one of your kids."
"At least my kids left their rooms!" Yan-Yan snapped, irritated that Lin had brought up her children like that.
"Good for them," Lin shot back. "Give 'em a trophy."
"Honestly, I don't know why I'm even trying right now!"
"Then do us both a favor and quit it!" Lin shouted. "You're not my mother, you're not my keeper, and honestly, you don't even treat me that well! So quit acting likeya give a shit and get lost!"
"Alright, I've had enough," Yan-Yan snapped, then grabbed Lin's butt cup and hurried out of the room with it before Lin could react. She'd had a feeling that Lin would be too sluggish to react in time, and she was right. She brought the thing out into the alley and emptied the cigarette butts and ashes into the trash, then rinsed it out in the kitchen sink. She'd thought for sure that Lin would get mad enough to follow her, but apparently she'd thought wrong. She remained alone in the kitchen, not so much as a footstep sounding overhead.
She didn't know exactly what to do. That had been her last idea, to be honest. When they'd been kids she could have forced Lin out of bed with enough effort and time, but now she doubted she could budge the dog. The woman was strong enough to work the docks with a bunch of men twice her size, and it hadn't escaped her notice that whenever she'd tried to push or smack Lin there hadn't been so much as a flinch. Yan-Yan could only think of one person who would be more effective in moving Lin than herself, though she cringed at the thought of asking. Chen hadn't been in the best mood since their little talk.
She made her way to the studio and opened the door a crack, peeking in to see if she could tell how Chen was feeling from afar. He sat at his desk, as always, but rather than working on a piece of his own he stared unblinkingly at the works of old students and the portrait of Lin on the opposite wall. So he was in a depressed mood, too, then. She supposed it could be worse.
"Hi, Chen." Yan-Yan approached slowly, staring up at the wall as well, specifically at that portrait Lin hated so much of her in the red dress.
He grunted in response, his gaze unflinching.
"I remember this one," she said. She figured getting him to talk about his painting would be her best bet. "Lin always said you were messing with her when you painted this."
"What's she know, huh?" he asked sullenly.
Yan-Yan shrugged. "Then why did you paint it?"
He hesitated a moment, then answered her. "I just needed to practice figure painting, and my model fell through. I'd already done all the studies, so I didn't wanna change the pose."
"That's it?" She studied the work. At first glance, it was relatively unremarkable compared to Chen's other paintings. But the expression of melancholy on Lin's face was so life-like, so heart-wrenching, that it made the entire piece come alive. "Your model was good at expressing emotion."
"That wasn't the model," Chen dismissed grumpily. "That's Quan."
"That's how she looked at the time?"
"That's how she looks most of the time." He paused, and she could swear his eyes had started to get a little misty. "I guess I'm partly to blame for that."
Yan-Yan considered just picking up the little grump and tossing him into Lin's room. "How many times do I need to tell you to talk to Lin before you actually listen to me?"
"And how many times do I gotta tellya there's no point?" he snapped. "It'll be better for everyone to just let it lie."
"Like you did with Wei-Shan?" she asked, and she could tell from the redness in his ears that she'd hit a nerve. "Sorry, Chen. But I can't stand by and let you chase everyone but me out of your life! Who's that really going to be easier on?"
"C'mon, Yan-Yan," he grumbled. "You know I'm just gonna outlive all ofya."
"Enough!" she ordered. She felt like she'd only gained more children, moving in with Chen, rather than living without her kids. "I don't give a crap if you're going to live forever, suck it up like Oogway did. And besides, we both know that isn't what's bothering you."
"Hmph," he grumbled, then hopped off to the back of his studio and started rummaging around in one of his massive shelves.
"So you're just going to pretend to tidy up so you can ignore me?" Yan-Yan asked.
"No." He threw a fragrant little drawstring bag at her, and despite her somewhat below average reflexes, she caught it before it smacked her in the face. She peered inside the thing, frowning at its contents. "Tobacco?"
"It didn't come from me," he ordered.
"You told me you quit smoking," Yan-Yan grumbled, narrowing her eyes at the rodent. She should give him a sound smack right around his diminutive ears for lying to her.
"I quit smoking habitually," he corrected her, as if she'd only misunderstood him rather than fallen for a lie. "I can still roll a cigarette now and again if I feel like it."
"Why should I give this to Lin?" she went on, still annoyed. "She'll smoke herself to death up in that room."
"Let her alone," Chen grumbled, waving a hand dismissively. "She'll come out when she's ready."
"I really don't think that's going to help anything."
"Well, she never askedya to help, did she?" Chen asked, not that he would know for sure. "Sometimes people just need to be left alone. Let her smoke herself sick if she wants. That's up to her."
"You've been bringing her food, haven't you?" Yan-Yan accused. She should have known Chen would enable such self-destructive behavior. The man did the same thing himself most of the time, locking himself up in that studio and refusing to do anything but paint.
"It's my house, I can do what I want," he argued, then waved her off. "Go on, now. I ain't got all day to spend yapping."
"Fine!" Yan-Yan slammed the studio door behind her when she left, mostly for that lie he'd told about quitting smoking. She considered throwing away the tobacco he'd given her, but he'd only find out and give Lin more of it, himself. Besides, maybe she should listen to him and try leaving Lin alone for a bit. It wasn't as if any of her strategies had worked.
With a heavy sigh, she headed back up to Lin's room and swung the door open.
"Get bent," Lin snapped.
"You first!" she yelled back, then threw the tobacco at her with all her might and slammed the door shut again.
Chen had never said how she needed to deliver the tobacco. She felt a little bit bad about all their arguing, though. If she remembered correctly, Lin's birthday would soon be upon them. Maybe she could make peace between them with some noodles and a traditional red egg. She knew a stand at the market that sold peach buns, too. She knew Chen would want to celebrate, regardless of all their fighting, so she might as well plan a little something. She might even be able to get Tai Lung to participate, though judging by how he'd behaved that morning it would be a hard sell. It was at least something to occupy her for a while.
Shifu sat at his desk, staring down at the scroll in front of him. Lin had sent another letter. He'd taken the scroll to his room and gone so far as to put a sign on his door indicating that under no circumstances should he be disturbed- mostly directed at Po- because he feared what might be inside the correspondence. He didn't know if he could bring himself to open the thing, though. Lin had sent nothing but vulgar ramblings, serving no purpose other than to irritate or humiliate him. Except in the case of her last correspondence, which he supposed was also meant to titillate him. Of course, Lin's version of titillating was closer to everyone else's version of crude profanity.
It wouldn't do him any good to read one of Lin's inevitably frustrating letters at the moment. He'd save it for after dinner, when he could stew alone in his room. He grabbed hold of Oogway's repaired staff, though it still felt odd in his hands. This simple act, repairing the staff and carrying it with him, was an acknowledgment that his master was truly gone and would never return. Every time he picked up that staff, it filled him with a melancholy he had not felt since the night of Oogway's departure to the spirit realm. He closed his eyes and breathed calmly through his nose, as he did during meditation, and Lin's comforting assurance that his master had been proud of him came to mind. He held on to the memory of those words. She certainly wasn't about to write anything similar to him.
He headed toward the kitchen for dinner. He could use a distraction, and a meal with his students would keep his mind off matters. He found his students and Gia all seated at the table already, enjoying their meal without him. He didn't blame them, of course. He didn't always join them for meals, and it was rare he gave any warning at all that his duties had distracted him from dinner.
Po stood up from the table. "Lemme get ya a plate, Master Shifu."
Shifu held out a hand to stop him before he could move. "I can get my own food, don't interrupt your dinner just to serve me." He made sure Po sat back down before piling some stir-fried noodles and vegetables onto his plate and taking his usual seat at the table. He was well aware that his presence usually caused his students' conversation to die down a bit, but their silence as they picked at their noodles unnerved him. "Yes?" he asked.
No one seemed willing to speak, but of course silence could never be maintained for too long with Gia around. "Everyone was talking about Tai Lung," she informed him. "Now they are very quiet."
"So I've noticed." He should have known by their awkward behavior that they'd been discussing Tai Lung. He was only surprised something like this hadn't happened sooner.
"Nobody likes a tattle-tale," Mantis grumbled, but Viper quieted him with a swat of her tail.
Shifu might as well address the elephant in the room. "I know you're all concerned about Tai Lung. I understand that concern, but I believe that Master Oogway-" He paused and glanced at the staff, now leaning against the table beside him. "I believe that Master Oogway would have wanted us to offer Tai Lung this second chance. He was Tai Lung's family, too. Not just me."
They all stared down at their food, and Po coughed a few times into his fist. Then he elbowed Tigress.
She grunted and narrowed her eyes at the panda, then turned her gaze to Shifu. She didn't speak, which seemed to be what Po wanted, but she nodded ever so slightly.
Shifu nodded back. He had taught Tigress such stoic behavior to begin with, and so he understood the significance of such a gesture. She felt contrite over her initial reaction to the news of Tai Lung's rehabilitation. "Shall we enjoy our dinner? I'm sure you'd all rather discuss a lighter topic." If he hadn't been observant enough to see the relief in their faces, Monkey's loud sigh would have clued him in.
"Ooh, I learned something new today," Gia piped up. "I learned that there is a way to kill a man with a single finger! Some sort of finger hold... I forget the name."
Po coughed again, obviously reluctant to bring up his use of the Wuxi finger hold on Tai Lung.
"Yes, that is a kung fu technique," Shifu informed her. "Anyone else want to share something? Anything?"
They remained in awkward silence, avoiding his gaze as they ate their dinners.
"I'm learning to knit," Crane finally said, then glared at Monkey and Mantis as they snickered. "There's nothing wrong with a man learning to knit."
"Yeah, it's not that," Mantis replied with another laugh. "I mean, what, you couldn't save all that excitement for when you're eighty?" He and Monkey stopped laughing when Shifu cleared his throat. "Uh, no offense, Master Shifu."
"You should admire Master Crane for learning a useful skill that will benefit his everyday life," Gia scolded the two. "Besides, idle hands are the devil's workshop. Or idle feathers."
"Do you knit, too?" Crane asked, before Mantis could made a rude comment about the saying.
"No, but I can sew," Gia replied cheerfully.
It was then that Shifu noticed the heap of cloth Gia had been holding in her lap. He didn't think it wise to ask what she had with her, but he knew he wouldn't need to.
"This is what I'm working on now." Gia held up the thing to give them a clear view- which prompted a volley of amused snorts and, in most cases, barely contained quiet laughter.
Shifu, however, was not quite as amused as his students. The project in question was a stuffed toy of some sort, and worse, a depiction of him. Although with its squashed face, fat head, and explosion of white fur where his eyebrows should be, he could hardly call the thing an accurate representation.
"Wow," Po marveled, sounding as though he actually meant it. "It looks just like Master Shifu!"
At the proclamation, Monkey finally lost control of himself and burst out into uproarious laughter, slumping forward onto the kitchen table; it wasn't long before the others followed suit, and even Tigress snorted in amusement.
Shifu glared flatly at his students, then at Gia, who simply looked confused at the reaction to her creation; apparently she thought there was nothing comical in the toy's likeness, which was even more insulting than his students' laughter. "Why would you do that?"
"I thought you would make a cute stuffed animal," she replied innocently, which only renewed his students' laughter. "After all, you are soft and cuddly like one."
"I am not a plush toy," he argued, humiliated.
"You mean you do not like it?"
"No!" he snapped. "That thing is humiliating and- and disrespectful."
"Oh," she accepted tremulously, her ears drooping pathetically.
"Don't give me that face-"
"Hey, c'mon, Master," Po suddenly defended the girl. "She didn't mean any harm."
"Yes, Master, be nice," Viper agreed.
"Be nice?" he repeated incredulously. He glanced at Gia, tears now welling up in her eyes, then let out a defeated sigh. "I'm sorry, Gia. I am just not used to such... Unique expressions of affection."
"Unique," she repeated morosely. "That is bad, yes?"
"No," Viper answered for him, shooting him a reprimanding glare. "Unique means one of a kind! It's a good thing. Master Shifu only reacted badly because he was taken by surprise. Right, Master Shifu?"
That, and because the doll was hideous and insulting. "Yes, that's correct. I am very, very surprised. Shocked, if you will."
Viper glared at him again.
"But it is a lovely... Thing." He supposed it wasn't the end of the world if Gia made some odd, malformed doll of him. It wasn't even the worst thing that had happened to him in the past couple of weeks.
"I am pleased, then," Gia accepted with one last sniff. Then, her ears perking up, she turned to the rest of the table. "Perhaps I could make one for each of you!"
The entire group shared looks of alarm, and Viper cleared her throat, leaning in closer toward the young wolf. "Gia, you have such a lovely name." It was clear that she was trying to distract Gia in the hopes she would forget all about making more dolls. "I've been meaning to ask where it comes from."
Shifu knew that Gia had been named after her aunt, but he wondered if she knew that.
"Ah, yes, there is a story behind it," Gia said with a sunny smile. Her perky reaction probably meant that a depressing story wasn't far behind. "I was told that my mother named me for her eldest sister."
"Aww," Viper sighed, resting the tip of her tail on her chest.
"Yes, my mother chose it since she was pregnant with me when she found her sister's grave."
"And the hammer has fallen," Shifu commented under his breath. Then he actually processed what Gia had said, and blinked up at her. "Wait- Lin had told me she'd never bothered to search for her sister." She also had never mentioned to him that her sister had passed away.
"Oh." Gia looked thoughtful for a moment. "This is that 'cagey' thing we discussed, yes?"
"Yes." He wasn't ready to move on from he topic at hand yet. "You say that Lin found her sister's grave?" He could tell his students were becoming uncomfortable by the way they found their food so suddenly interesting.
She nodded emphatically. "My mother wanted to ask her sister for help. She discovered the village where her sister had moved with her husband, but she had been dead for many years." She paused, and awkward silence reigned in the face of her depressing story. "It was not long afterward that I was born. And that is how I got my name!" she finished cheerfully.
The only sound to be heard in the kitchen was Crane's uneasy cough.
Gia deflated a bit when she caught sight of everyone else's reactions. "Oh, my apologies. I realize it is not the most happy story, but there is no need to feel sad. My mother loved her sister very much, and always spoke highly of her. It is an honor to be named for her."
Everyone had returned their attention to their noodles, and Shifu couldn't blame them. Although Gia had claimed she felt the story was more sentimental than sad, he still couldn't think of anything to say. And he was wondering, now, how much of Lin's life that he'd thought he knew of had been a lie. First there was Gia, and now the death of Lin's sister- did he really know anything at all about Lin? Had she simply lied to him about everything?
Gia stood from the table and gave them all a shallow bow. "Excuse me. I am not very hungry." It was clear from the way she fled the room that their reactions had embarrassed her.
With a heavy sigh, Shifu stood. "Continue your dinner without me," he instructed his students before following Gia out. As much as he'd lectured her to spend time away from him, he had brought her to the Valley of Peace and so was responsible for her. He found Gia out on the barracks porch, and was relieved to see that she hadn't dissolved into tears, for once. "Gia," he greeted.
"I am not crying," she said. "You do not need to come consolidate me."
"I think you mean console," he corrected. He joined her at the porch's rail, looking out over the view of the training hall and the peach tree. "Why did you tell that story?"
"I... I like it." She leaned over the rail to look up at the stars. "It always made me feel like I was important to my mother. Like she loved me. And most of the time, it is hard to believe that about someone who has left you behind."
"I see." He couldn't say he knew exactly how she felt, but he had some inkling. After all, Gia wasn't the only person Lin had left behind in her travels. "Well, I think that is very beautiful."
"Thank you," she replied quietly. "Master Shifu, I am making an effort with others as you have instructed me, but... There is no one else who knows my mother as you do. I think I would like it if we spoke more about her."
"Oh." He didn't know how much he could really tell Gia. She still didn't know how brief his romance with Lin had been. Now that he thought of it, even counting the time they'd spent together before he'd left her in Shanghai, they'd only spent a total of about five months together. That was less than half a year. Gia did have a point, though. He knew Lin better than anyone in the Valley of Peace, and certainly better than she'd ever had a chance to. "Well, your mother is a very special woman," he said, for lack of a better idea.
She seemed to sense that he was at a loss. "I always make people uncomfortable," she said. "I feel... Awkward. Like it is so difficult to talk to others, or difficult for them to like me. I always wondered if things were this hard for my mother."
"A little," he admitted. "I mean... Your mother does tend to make people uncomfortable. Often. But she does it on purpose, so it isn't exactly the same thing."
"On purpose?" she repeated.
"Oh. Uhm." He'd spoken thoughtlessly and said something negative about Lin again. "She is- Lin is- well, she's outspoken. Very much so."
Gia nodded thoughtfully. "I had heard that. I had also heard that she enjoyed making others laugh."
More like she enjoyed laughing at others. "Yes, that's true. I should warn you now, though, that her sense of humor can be a bit harsh. But I'm sure that the nuns who raised you would have mentioned that."
"No, they did not."
"Oh." He felt himself turning a bit red in embarrassment. He wanted to do what those nuns had apparently done and only tell Gia the positive aspects of Lin's personality. Or just flat-out lie. At the same time, he couldn't leave such a sensitive girl totally unprepared for the onslaught of Lin's actual personality. "I don't mean to bash your mother," he amended. "It's just that I don't want you to be caught off-guard."
Gia blinked at his last statement, then furrowed her brow. "Master Shifu, is my mother a good person?"
"What?" He was somewhat confused by her question.
"You've said some things that have made me wonder about her character," Gia clarified with a frown. "Are you trying to tell me that she is not a good person?"
"No!" He paused, worried that he'd sounded a little too emphatic. "No. She is a good person, it's just that she's- well, I'll be honest with you, Gia. I don't know how good an idea it is to be honest, but you should know. Lin is loud, vulgar, at times irritating, definitely a known criminal, and I have in fact attempted to arrest her before. Oh, and I almost forgot mean. Very mean."
Gia remained silent, her only response to his description a blank stare.
"I know this sounds bad," he continued. "But she isn't a bad person. Lin is tough, because she's had a difficult life. But she cares very deeply about the people in her life, and I'm sure you'll be no different. She can be a wise and warm person, if you give her a chance."
She reached out and gave him a pat on the head. "Thank you, Master Shifu. I am glad that you told me the truth. I knew already that my mother is not perfect, but it is nice to pretend that she will be."
"Oh." He'd been mistaken, then, in thinking Gia had heard nothing but glowing praise of Lin. "Well, don't feel intimidated by all the things you've heard, good or bad. She's your mother, after all. When you meet her, that is what will count."
She sighed loudly, as though she'd been holding her breath. "You are right. I should stop thinking so much."
He felt like he could stand to keep that advice in mind, as well. "Things will work out, I'm sure. Now, if you'll excuse me, I should begin my nightly meditation."
He bid Gia goodnight and headed back toward his room. He paused briefly at the doorway to the kitchen, but if he ate something it would only be from a sense that he should, not out of actual hunger. He continued on, though not before noticing that Tigress had once again stayed behind to help Po clean up. He knew Po had meant it, when he'd denied the accusation that there was anything romantic going on between the two- the panda was a terrible liar. However, he'd spent enough nights helping Lin clean up after dinner to know where such things could lead. He put all that out of his mind as he entered his room, and sat down to meditate. A few hours clearing out all his thoughts, or at least making an effort to do so, sounded like a perfect end to the evening. He didn't quite reach a sense of enlightenment in those hours, but by the time he was ready for bed he'd been able to calm his mind moreso than usual. It was progress, in his opinion.
As Shifu prepared himself for bed, he caught sight of Lin's letter, still sitting unopened on his desk. He supposed he should take a look at whatever superfluous prattle she'd sent him so he could get some rest. Maybe he was being too harsh, though. Maybe she'd sent a real update, for once. He sat at his desk once more, and with a deep breath unrolled the letter. He skimmed over it first, not even bothering to read the characters, to ensure that there were no lewd drawings contained within. Once he'd discovered that it was a proper letter, he began to read more carefully. And, as he read, he found himself surprised. There was real information in the thing.
He now knew that Tai Lung was gainfully employed, though what he'd been doing Lin wouldn't say. Mostly Lin wrote about how constantly the man complained about everything, then recounted a story of how he'd been covered in vomit by one of Yan-Yan's grandchildren. It didn't exactly tell him much about whether Tai Lung had shown signs of remorse, but it sounded like he'd at least been able to keep from any violent outbursts.
The letter then took an even more shocking turn when she went on to accuse him of growing tired of her and devolved into a rant about no one wanting her around. Her handwriting became too much of a messy scrawl to read for a few paragraphs, but if he squinted he could make out "jackass," so he assumed she was writing about him. He realized as her handwriting became slightly more legible that she was giving him a hard time for the letters he'd sent her. Then the letter was interrupted by a big splotch of what appeared to be hot sauce. There were a few more insults, then the rest of the scroll had been ripped off and hastily replaced with scrap paper.
"What in the world?" he muttered to himself. Perhaps she'd felt that she'd spent too much space cursing at him. That scenario was unlikely, though. It was far more likely that she'd spilled hot sauce all over the rest of her paper. Not that the new section of scroll was any better. Lin had apparently worn herself out cursing at him, and so the letter devolved into some concerningly morose talk of the sea, most of which he didn't understand. The only part of the entire thing that made any sense to him at all was the very end of it, when Lin said they would be returning soon and that she would write again when they left Shanghai.
Shifu set the letter down, scratching at his head as he contemplated it. Maybe Po had been right, back when they'd received Lin's first correspondence, and she had gone mad in Shanghai. After seeing the way she and Chen had behaved toward each other, it was a believable scenario. He would find out when she returned, which would apparently happen soon. When, exactly, she hadn't said.
He hated being apart from Lin, and it wasn't only because he couldn't force her to explain her ramblings to him. The truth was, the longer she spent away, the more anxious he became. She had promised that she would return to the Valley with Tai Lung, and he believed her. He believed her intellectually, anyway. He couldn't deny any longer that a small, emotional part of himself worried that she'd lied. And with every new lie of hers he uncovered through Gia, that worry grew. He shouldn't have let her talk him into leaving her behind. Now he had no control whatsoever over her actions or Tai Lung's. He was angry with Lin for all this, but he missed her, too. In her own way, she had been there for him in the weeks before they'd parted. He hadn't been able to admit it before, but he needed that kind of support. Without it, he was starting to go a little mad, himself.
He also had to admit that it seemed like Lin was having a hard time without him. He'd probably been too harsh with her, though sometimes he felt like he needed to be in order to keep her on task. Maybe he should write her again, just to thank her for what little information she had provided. He'd already sent a letter apologizing to her for his harsh response to her last correspondence, so that had been taken care of. She'd probably written all her rambling and cursing before she'd received that second letter. Maybe he should try that love letter thing Lin had done, but without all the... Explicitness. He was no good at such things, but maybe he could put aside an hour or two tomorrow in order to get something committed to paper. He was sure Lin would like that. And maybe she'd finally send him something that wasn't peppered with foul language. Not likely, but he could dream.
Tai Lung sat at Chen's kitchen island, sipping at his evening tea as he read the latest romance that Yan-Yan had brought home along with the groceries. This one seemed familiar: the tale of a dashing yet troubled ex-convict, trying to turn his life around with the help of his female caretaker. He wrinkled his nose and set the scroll down. Reading about something he'd lived through, yet written with such flowery prose, seemed trite.
"Still on your lazy butt, I see." Yan-Yan bustled through the back door. She looked as haphazard as she always did after a day of house calls. "Meanwhile, I restarted two hearts today with nothing but my bare fist." She leaned over the pot of simple vegetable soup he'd been warming on the stove for her and breathed deeply. "This isn't one of Lin's recipes, is it?"
"I do have some talent in the kitchen," he replied, watching as she stripped off her coat and dropped her medicine bag on the floor. "Really? No proper hello?"
"Right, right." She sounded harried, but he could tell from her impish smile that she only meant to tease him. She hopped into the seat beside him and gave him a kiss. "Don't tell anyone, but sometimes I'm actually glad you stayed in Shanghai."
He rolled his eyes at her. "You're not as charming as you think."
She kissed him one more time, then got up to serve herself some soup. "Of course I am. Bedside manner is part of my job, after all. Speaking of which-"
"No, I haven't heard if I'm taking over Li Peng's old position," he said with a sigh. "You'll know when I know. I promise I'll barge straight into one of your house calls and shout it at the top of my lungs, regardless of the outcome."
"That's all I ask." She joined him again, now sipping at her soup. "I think you'd make a good supervisor, though if you ask me you could stand to work somewhere a little nicer than those docks."
"We've been over this." He poured her a cup of tea and set it alongside her soup. "I like it there, they like me, it's honest work. Besides, Lin needs someone around to make sure she doesn't piss off the wrong people."
"It's going to happen whether you keep an eye on her or not," Yan-Yan warned, but thankfully let the subject go. "A patient of mine was telling me about her garden, by the way."
"Fascinating," he said sarcastically, and she playfully smacked his arm.
"I was going to ask what you've got planned for the spring, but now I don't think I will."
"Garlic always does well for me," he replied, rubbing at his chin as he thought over his options. "Lin always wants chili peppers, of course."
Yan-Yan nodded. "Of course."
"And Chen says we could do with some eggplant this summer."
"Don't you dare, they give him terrible gas."
Tai Lung snorted at the thought of Chen trying to act like he was in charge of everyone while in the midst of said terrible gas. "I should have known as much."
"If you ask me, he's the one who really needs looking after."
They were interrupted by Lin bursting through the door, her usual tumbleweed self. "Yo," she greeted callously as she fished a spoon out from the nearest drawer and started eating the remainder of the soup straight from the pot. "Let's go," she demanded harshly.
"Huh?" Tai Lung woke with a start to the feeling of something heavy hitting him in the stomach, and it was a mark of how complacent he'd grown in Shanghai that he didn't immediately react with kung fu.
"Get up," Lin's voice sounded from the doorway of his room.
He sat up, grabbing at what she'd thrown onto him; it felt like a travel pack. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked groggily; judging by the light in the room, it was still well before dawn.
"Hurry up and get dressed," she ordered, rather than explaining herself. "We gotta go." Then she walked off, presumably to wait for him elsewhere.
He wondered if this was how she planned to set off for the Valley of Peace; it had gotten late enough in the season for a journey back to be a possibility. He couldn't argue with a journey, in that case; he'd been waiting to return to the valley this entire time, after all. Even as he dressed himself and resolved to follow Lin, though, something about it still felt... Wrong. His thoughts strayed to Yan-Yan, and how she might react to find they'd absconded in the night without any goodbyes. He cursed himself. He'd grown soft, and he had only to look to his ridiculous dream for proof. Such a thing was unacceptable. He pushed aside any thoughts except those of his goal: he wanted vengeance, he wanted to prove his power. He wanted to grind that panda into black and white dust.
His resolve steeled, he headed downstairs with the pack Lin had provided for him. She stood waiting by the front door, and only nodded to him before leaving the house. He didn't question any further, only followed. While the streets at night were comparatively quiet, Shanghai's streets were never what one would call deserted either. On their journey they passed through groups of revelers chatting outside of bars, the bustling night market, the staff of bakeries and restaurants preparing for the day ahead, and even people returning home from an evening's work. By the time they'd left the city proper, the sky had lightened and a pinkish tinge on the horizon hinted at the sunrise to come.
"This's interesting," Lin commented as they set out out onto a well-traveled dirt path, leaving the city behind them in favor of farmlands. Their path wound between rice paddies that stretched into the distance, the water flooding the fields reflecting the warm glow of the rising sun.
"What?" he asked with no small amount of trepidation. 'Interesting' didn't necessarily mean 'good' when it came to Lin.
"You must trust me, is all," she answered, without bothering to look back at him. "I never even toldya where we're headed, butya still followed me."
He had a bad feeling about this. "...We aren't going to the Valley of Peace?"
She laughed at him. That was definitely a bad sign.
"Where are you taking me you daft old hag?" he snapped; he hated when she played games like this.
"It's a surprise," she answered, as if speaking to a child. "You'll find out when we get there."
"I despise surprises," he grumbled. He could make a run for it back to the city, but insubordination on his part would surely come off as a bad sign to Lin. And then of course she would report his behavior to Shifu, and then he and his gaggle of idiots would certainly be on high alert. He'd found long ago that simply going along with whatever Lin decided to do to him afforded him a convenient amount of freedom. In fact, one would be hard-pressed to distinguish his treatment from that of anyone else in Chen's house. This kind of freedom suited his purposes well, and seeing as Lin had yet to unleash anything truly nasty upon him, he decided running away wasn't worth the sacrifice.
"Look." She pointed at the horizon, where the sun had begun to rise.
"So?" He furrowed his brow; he'd seen the sunrise plenty of times before.
"You gotta learn to appreciate natural beauty more," Lin scolded. "Didn'tya miss stuff like this, all those years you spent in prison?"
He scoffed at the question. There had been brief moments when he'd missed fresh air, sunlight, and the like. Mostly he had focused on the Dragon Scroll, on his revenge. Keeping his mind on his goals had been what had kept him sane, all those years alone in a dark pit with nothing but his thoughts.
"You're free now," she said, shocking him out of his thoughts. "It doesn't matter what I say, or even what Chen or Shifu say. We both know you're strong enough and fast enough to not hafta listen to us. You coulda left Chen's at any time. You coulda just gotten outta bed and walked outta the city, like we did this morning. No one woulda known until it was too late. Nobody knows where we're going now, even, or that we're gone at all. You could leave me in the dust. You can do whatever it is that you want." She paused, as if ruminating on her little speech.
He didn't say anything back to her; he had no idea where she was going with all this. To be honest, she had made him think of leaving her behind. She was right, after all. He could easily run straight toward that sunrise and she could do nothing to stop him.
She stopped in her tracks, and he nearly bumped into her. When she looked at him, it was almost like she wanted him to go. "Why don't you?" she asked gently.
"Huh?" He was so caught off guard, he was starting to think he'd imagined all this.
"Ifya left now, you could go anywhere in the world." She turned her attention back toward the sunrise. "That horizon is endless. If anyone knows that, it's me. All you gotta do is just... Let go of the past. Leave it all behindya. You could live any life you wanted to."
"...Are you telling me to go?" He couldn't quite wrap his head around her tactics. What did she want out of him? What did she hope to accomplish with such a speech?
"Nah," she answered easily, suddenly back to her normal self. "Just pointing out thatya could." She continued her journey down the road, not bothering to look behind her, trusting that he would follow.
And he did.
"Here we are," Lin announced, dropping her bag into the sand.
After a full day's travel they had arrived at what appeared to be their destination: a lonely, deserted beach nowhere near a settlement of any kind. The sun hung low on the horizon, and the wind blew bitter cold, carrying with it the scent of salt. The steep and rocky path they'd taken to the beach appeared to be their only exit, which made him nervous. It wasn't a good position to be in, tactically speaking. Bluffs loomed over the rest of the beach, as far as he could tell, some meager grass poking out from the rock every now and then. Tai Lung looked back and forth, up and down the shoreline, but could find no sign of anything but the sand and the dark water of the sea. "Where are we, exactly?"
"Here," she answered maddeningly enough. "At the sea."
"Okay." He waited for an explanation, but she only stared out at the ocean waves, apparently transfixed. "What are we doing here?"
"I needed to come to the sea," she replied. "And I gotta babysit you, so you're here with me."
He stared down at her as he gained some new insight into why Shifu had always had such a pronounced eye twitch. "You're saying you came here out of some impulse of your own, and just dragged me along?"
"What'm I supposed to do?" she shot back. "Hire a nanny?"
"I am not a child!" he snapped. "I am a kung fu master, I am the Master of A Thousand Scrolls!"
"God, you sound like Shifu," she complained, cleaning her ear out with a finger.
"I do not!"
"Oh, shut up and help me start a fire." She had the nerve to sound annoyed by him.
He crossed his arms and watched her pick out a spot for their camp and start digging at the sand. "Is this some sort of stereotype come to life?"
"No, dumbass, I'm digging a fire pit." She took off her pack and threw it at his feet. "At least pitch the tent. And make sure to dig down to the firmer sand beforeya do!"
He resisted the urge to sarcastically mimic her. He only went along with what she'd instructed him to do because he wanted some form of shelter before sunset was upon them. "I can't believe I allowed you to drag me all the way here just because you felt like it."
"I toldya before, no one's here to stopya from leaving," she shot back.
"Hmph." He winced as he heard himself; he was starting to sound like Chen. He focused on clearing away enough sand to pitch their tent. "Wait a minute." He'd just realized something. Something horrific. "We're sharing a tent?"
"Yeah, 'course we are." Lin furrowed her brow at him, as if he were out of his mind. "We're at the shore in the middle of winter, Tai Lung. Body heat."
He shivered at the way she'd said "body heat." The words alone would haunt him for the rest of his life. "First, we are sleeping back-to-back. Second, never speak to me again."
Lin wrinkled her nose and affected a whiny, high-pitched tone. "Never speak to me again, bleah," she repeated, then laughed.
"I hate you."
She shrugged, then started walking away from the pit she'd dug.
"Where are you going?" He wasn't about to take over all the work while she amused herself with a leisurely stroll on the beach.
"I can't just set the sand on fire," she replied.
He let her go, since she had a point, and he didn't fancy camping out on the beach without a fire to keep them warm. He managed to dig out a sizeable area for their tent and had it halfway up by the time Lin had returned, and by the time he'd finished his chore she had a warm fire waiting for him. He noticed with relief that she'd found some driftwood large enough to serve as a seat, and had set it down beside their fire. He hadn't been looking forward to getting cold sand down his pants.
He handed her pack back to her as he sat down, and she fished out a couple of slightly squashed dumplings that had been shaped and colored to look like peaches. They skewered the dumplings on sticks and heated them over the fire. Tai Lung had to admit, the companionable silence was nice. Mainly the part where Lin didn't talk.
"I remember eating these dumplings at the Jade Palace." He didn't know why he was inviting the torture of a conversation with Lin, but he'd just remembered why the peach-shaped dumplings seemed so familiar. "We ate them on Oogway's birthday."
"Sounds nice." She gave hers a poke, then returned it to the fire. "I was always disappointed as a kid that they weren't filled with peaches."
"Yes, they are something of a lie, aren't they?" He had to admit, even after traveling in Lin's pack, the plain dough was still delicious. Light and chewy, with just a hint of salt. It was a good meal for the end of a long day. "You could have just gotten the normal-looking ones."
She shrugged. "These're cute, though."
"Cute?" he repeated incredulously. Lin had never struck him as someone who would call anything cute. "Who are you?"
"Hey, I can think something's cute," she argued. "I call stuff cute all the time. I mean. I mostly call women cute, but I think stuff is cute, too. Like peach dumplings. And, uh..." She paused, rubbing at her face as she thought. "I can't think of anything else."
"That's alright, I've completely lost interest in your aimless babbling, anyway." Personally, he would never be caught dead walking around and calling food cute. Maybe Yan-Yan, but only in his mind. And even that was short-lived. He'd been putting a lot of time and effort into distancing himself from Yan-Yan lately.
Of course, that meant that the moment he thought of Yan-Yan, Lin would bring her up. "That reminds me, Yan-Yan mentioned something about seducing you." She paused and narrowed her eyes at him while she chewed. "Something I should know?"
"We may or may not have shared a stolen kiss or two," he replied evasively.
She wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out, which still had bits of chewed up dumpling on it. "Yuck."
"Yuck yourself," he shot back, turning his head away to avoid the view of her half-chewed dinner. "And for the record, I don't care what you said about Yan-Yan. I don't care about your disapproval, and I won't be warned away from a woman like I'm some immature child."
"I figured."
He frowned at Lin's casual response and turned to look at her again. "What do you mean, you figured?"
"I meant what I meant," she said, not that it clarified anything. "I never expectedya to listen to me. What do I look like, an idiot?"
"Then why even bother saying anything?" Tai Lung knew Lin well enough to know that she always had some trick or another under her sleeve.
"Well, at the time I meant it." Of course, she could also be more temperamental and ever-changing than any person had a right to. She stared into the fire for a bit after that statement, leaning her elbows on her knees as she often did when she was tired or deep in thought. "I guess now's as good a time to confess as any. When I saw how muchya liked her, I figured lettingya get close to Yan-Yan would be a good way to getya to take this whole rehabilitation thing a little more seriously."
"Excuse me?"
"What's the problem?"
He felt his jaw clench as he tried to control his anger with his usual mantra, that he only needed to get through a couple more weeks in order to get his revenge. "So, what, you just dangled her in front of me like some sort of carrot?"
"What I did was no worse'n setting up a coupla friends," she argued.
"Yes, you did set us up, in the sense of making us your patsies for your own personal gain!" Tai Lung shouted back.
"My personal gain?" she repeated incredulously. "What in the hell do I got to gain from all this crap? It's your rehabilitation, Tai Lung! It's for your gain!"
"Well that isn't what it feels like!"
"That's 'cause you're an entitled little shit who never bothered to grow up!"
"You don't know who I am!" he snapped. "I don't even know who I am!" He paused then, taken aback by the words that had spilled out of his mouth without any thought. It was as if someone else had spoken them, they hit such a deep nerve within him.
"Whaddaya mean?" Lin asked.
That was a good question. He wasn't even sure what he meant. But he'd said it. He reached for an answer, and the first thing that came to his mind was his lack of ancestry. He had wondered, as a child, where he had come from, what his birth family might have been like. "I don't even know where I come from," he pointed out. "I was left on a doorstep as a baby, without so much as a note. Is it such a surprise I don't know who I am?"
"That's irrelevant," she dismissed immediately. "You come from the Valley of Peace, you clod."
"Don't call me names!" Tai Lung glared at her, but she just glared right back, as if she thought she could actually take him. "What would you know about it, hm? Your family kept you!"
"My family hated me," she spat back. "I was only kept 'cause that's what people did, where I grew up."
"Well, for all I know my own family felt the same way!" He'd thought about it before, when he was a boy. And again, in prison. He had wondered what would have become of his life, if he'd never been left at the Jade Palace. Where he would be now, what he would have become. Sometimes he'd thought it would have been better to have stayed with his birth family and grown up into a simple farmer or a nomad. Only in his weakest of moments, in the dead of night, when not even the howling winds of the mountain reached his lonely pit, had he thought that. Mostly, he'd concluded that he was better off as the powerful warrior he'd become, even while imprisoned. He knew that one day, he'd receive the recognition he deserved, and all of his struggle would have been worthwhile. Even now he held on to that belief, though the Dragon Scroll had slipped from his grasp.
Lin's glare softened, though the last thing he wanted was her pity. "I'm gonna tellya something that isn't known by a whole lotta people. In fact, I think Yan-Yan's the only one left around who knows it." She took a deep breath, as if steeling herself.
"Fine," he grumbled, still annoyed at her for how she'd yelled at him before.
"I've brought a life into this world." She paused, putting her hands on her hips and turning her gaze down to the sand. A troubled frown crossed her face, as if this were a terrible thing to talk about. "When I was thirty, I had a baby. Deep in the Italian Alps, where no one would ever find her. And that's where I left her."
This information bothered Tai Lung more than he would ever admit. So Lin had not just abandoned him, but her own child, exactly like his own cowardly parents. "Why are you telling me this?"
"'Cause I think it'll helpya to know it," she replied firmly, looking him in the eye again. "I did the right thing. I won't ever believe otherwise."
"So you think my own parents did the right thing, abandoning me?" he asked incredulously. Her presumption could still blow him away, even after knowing her for so long.
She shook her head at him. "That's not what I'm saying. I dunno what their deal was. But I'm trying to say thatya don't know what coulda been, only what was. And what was, was that you were left behind by someone, possibly someone who didn't want you. But you were also raised by people who did, who wanted you more than anything else. People who loved you. And they proved it by choosing you. Ifya ask me, that's a lot more important and special than being raised by people who only keptya around 'cause they felt like they had no other choice. But what would I know about it, right?"
He rolled his eyes at her sentimentality, though it had calmed him a bit. And he agreed, at least, that it had probably been for the best that he'd been left by his parents. "I suppose I should be grateful for that lecture."
"You're welcome," she said, as if he'd actually thanked her.
"So tell me, is that what happened with you? You didn't want your own child?" He didn't want to know because he cared anything for her past, but because he felt she should be thorough, if she were looking to make a point about his own past.
"She was never my child," Lin replied, and she sounded like she really believed it. "There was a woman who loved her more'n I ever coulda. And I loved that woman, very much. So I thought it was only right, that I left them together. But yeah, if you wanna put it that way, I didn't want her. That's all you're getting outta me."
He crossed his arms, considering her answer. "You didn't want your own baby."
"Yeah." She finally finished up her dumpling and threw her stick into the fire. "How's this suddenly about me?"
"It isn't." He was telling the truth. He needed to know for sure that she hadn't wanted her own child. She'd abandoned him first, and now he knew for sure that she hadn't wanted him, either. Yet here she was, with him again, but why? Could she really be trying this hard just to impress Shifu? She'd certainly never made an effort to impress the man in the past. "I don't understand you," he admitted.
"Few ever do." She pulled out her calabash pipe to stuff and light it. "Even though it's not that hard."
"What makes you think that, your total lack of bias?" he asked sarcastically.
"I used to think it was hard," she clarified. "That's what people say, when you're a woman who's more complex than a pumpkin. But then I met some people who were willing to make the effort, and realized that anyone who said otherwise, just wasn't. Even people I'd loved hadn't tried for me. The truth is, most won't."
"What a heartwarming lesson," he grumbled.
"I understand you more'n you know," she added, and she sounded more solemn than he was used to hearing her. "I've put in the effort. And I know things aboutya. Things you don't think I know."
He scoffed at her assertion. "Prove it."
"Most of why you act likeya hate me is 'cause you're still upset that I left," she said without hesitation. "You still don't understand why it is that people leaveya, even though you think about it a lot. You like it in Shanghai, and not just 'cause Yan-Yan gaveya your first kiss. And you still think about revenge a lot."
He remained silent, watching her for any sign of a bluff, but she remained stoic. Maybe that was her tell. It was rare that Lin ever seemed serious about anything, after all. He hoped she was bluffing. Too much of what she'd said had struck a chord, and he didn't like feeling so exposed. He didn't like the idea that anyone might have an easy time figuring him out, he didn't like that she'd made him vulnerable with nothing but mere words, and he couldn't retaliate. "You think you know an awful lot," he replied quietly. He couldn't keep the tenseness out of his voice, and he knew that gave him away.
"I know exactly what you're thinking," she went on, as if she hadn't even heard him. "You think you'll wrap everything up in a neat little package. Getting your revenge or whatever, it'll be a bookend on your life. You'll have whatya want and everything'll be resolved and that'll be that. I can tellya right now it's not gonna happen."
"You know nothing," he argued, irritated by her smug attitude.
"Like I said, I know more'n you think." She fell silent, then, and focused entirely on smoking her pipe.
Tai Lung remained silent as well. He couldn't say he had any desire to talk about his exact plans or intentions, especially when revealing them would directly work against him.
"So about this plan," Lin suddenly spoke up. "You got everything worked out?"
"Don't you worry about any of that," Tai Lung replied pointedly, though she clearly knew what he had in mind.
"Say you did get your revenge and murder Shifu and Po," Lin said, surprisingly calm for someone who knew exactly what he planned to do. "What then? What's the plan for after?"
"After?" he repeated weakly; he had never given it much thought. He'd never thought beyond getting his revenge, aside from the usual "become the greatest warrior in all China" proclamation, though he realized now how vague that sounded. "None of your business," he settled on. In spite of himself he thought back on the other night, when he'd sat down in the kitchen with Lin and Yan-Yan, eating cold leftover fried rice and talking about stupid little things like work and the market and maybe planting that garden Lin had been yapping about after the spring thaw. He thought about sitting out on the porch and drinking tea with Lin, and about working at the docks and sitting with his co-workers at lunch time while they all shouted over each other at once in a parody of conversation. He even thought about Yan-Yan's stupid algae, and her simpering smile.
Lin watched him, as if she could read his mind; not that he believed she could for a second. "Ifya did that, I wouldn't be around to tellya what to do afterward," she warned. "I'd never forgiveya. Neither would anyone else. You'd be alone."
"I was alone for twenty years," he snapped. "I think I'd be able to handle it."
She shrugged. "Just lettingya know whereya stand. Don't go thinking this second chance means you can go back to killing people and have us stick around withya for it. That's not how it'd play out."
"I had neither expected nor wanted such a thing," he grumbled, yet something about her little speech made his stomach tie itself into knots. It was probably indigestion.
"As long as we're on the same page," she accepted, turning her gaze down the beach to the inky waves.
He watched her watch the sea for a while, irritated by her irrational interest in the water. "What on earth are you doing?"
"Enjoying my time on this earth," she replied without missing a beat.
"Ugh," he grumbled, wrinkling his nose at the sickeningly trite proclamation. "I don't understand what the big deal is about the sea. It's salt water. It makes waves. Ooooh, aaaahhhh, wondrous!" He kicked at the sand to get his point across, but she didn't so much as flinch. "There's nothing out there!"
"Hardly," she argued. "There's more lurking out there in the depths than you could ever imagine. I've seen a bit of it for myself." She puffed thoughtfully on her stinky old pipe. "I was born by the sea. The water there was brilliant and clear, but even so it still had its secrets. I remember wading out on hot summer days, and hearing distant calls... Where I come from, people say they're sirens, that they sing songs. To me it sounded more like laughter. I used to swim for hours, trying to find them."
"And it resulted in some pithy moral that you are now trying to pass onto me, I'm guessing?"
"No," she replied. "I just like the sea, is all."
"Obviously." He looked out at the water, but it seemed a bit creepy now, after her story. Not that he'd ever admit it to Lin. "So why is it, then?"
"Huh?" She turned back to him, though she looked disinterested.
"You said I wonder why people leave me. I assume you think you have the answer."
She only shrugged. "I dunno. You'd have to ask 'em."
"Okay," he accepted, and though he'd thought he never would, he asked her. "Why did you leave me, then?"
She looked at him for a long time, as if she wasn't sure what to say. It was entirely possible that she was trying to think up some lie to feed him. If that proved true, then she remained calm in her effort. That made sense. She'd always been a liar, before he'd ever even met her, so much so that sometimes he wondered if she understood herself how little truth actually came out of her mouth. "I loved you," she said. "I guess like a little brother. But I'm not anyone's mom, let alone yours."
"That's an obtuse answer and you know it," he accused.
"I mean that raising kids was never something I wanted," she said. "Not even you, who I loved. What you know of me, what you saw then, was only a brief glimpse of me. What I wanted, what was important to me, that had existed long before I met you. I don't expectya to understand. Shifu never did, either. But I had my own life and priorities, and the time I spent withya didn't change those. In the end, I made the choice that I thought was right for myself. It was right for me. The point is, the reason I left was entirely about me, not you."
"I see." Maybe there was a lot about Lin he still couldn't understand. But he understood this. He understood doing something entirely because of his goals, because he felt compelled to do it, because he needed to do it. He knew that much, at least.
"You don't think it's selfish?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him.
"It is," he replied. "But if there's one thing I've learned from you, it's that everyone is at least a little bit selfish. I've certainly been accused of it, and by you if I remember correctly. I... Understand what you mean. I understand how you felt."
She grinned at him. "See? Toldya it wasn't that hard."
He didn't know why, but he felt uncomfortable in his new understanding of Lin, and her acknowledgment of it. "So you condone selfishness, then?"
"Sometimes," she clarified. "You need to put yourself first once in a while. Ifya spend your whole life sacrificing and putting yourself second, you end up a miserable mess no matter how happy you've made other people. And in the end, you won't be able to make other people all that happy if you're too miserable a mess to be with 'em. Staying at the Jade Palace woulda been easy. But it woulda been painful, and I think I woulda found it lonely, too. I woulda given up everything to be with the people I loved, but then I would have resented you for it. My life wasn't easy all of the time- most of the time, really. But it was the life I chose, and it was worth it."
"What was your goal?" He doubted there was some equivalent to the Dragon Scroll for artists and crooks, but there must have been something specific Lin had wanted to achieve.
"I wanted to see the world, and I wanted to change it," she said, though that still sounded extremely vague to him. "And now I want to be happy."
"...That's it?"
"It's not a bad thing to want," Lin argued. "It's harder than it sounds, too."
"Doubtful." He couldn't even imagine setting his sights so low. What would he even do, with a goal as simple as to "be happy?" He supposed he saw his revenge plan as a way of achieving happiness. Or satisfaction. "I'll be honest. It sounds asinine to me."
"Thanks for the honesty." She sounded oddly sincere. "You should get some sleep. We're gonna go for a swim tomorrow."
He shivered at the thought of plunging into an icy cold ocean in the dead of winter. "That sounds like the worst."
"Please, it's not that cold around here." She waved him off. "Now get in the tent and get your rest." She turned away from him, once again fixated on the sea.
"Right. Want to tuck me in?" He waited for a response, but got none. He was tired, anyway, and not in the mood to attempt any more deep conversation with her. He'd had enough for the night, probably for life. Perhaps this talk of theirs had been Lin's true aim in bringing him to the beach, but he doubted it. After everything they'd spoken about, after everything he'd learned about her, he believed what she'd told him.
She just liked the sea. That was all.
Notes:
Thanks to everyone for continuing to read and review! This chapter took me a while because it just wouldn't stop growing. So I hope nobody minded the double-long update! As for references, there are a lot this time around: the plushes that Gia made were on sale on Amazon a number of years ago, and I had to put them in the fic. Sorry, everyone. Do yourselves a favor and google "Kung Fu Panda plush" and see the images that come up. Look into their cold, dead eyes and let them fill you with the dread and weight of your own mortality. Anyway! As for the butt cup, that's more a personal reference to my mom's Dixie cup full of water and cigarette butts that goes by the same name. "A ridiculous looking little man" is a reference to Agatha Christie's Detective Poirot, because I love mystery novels so why not. Billy Joel's "Always a Woman to Me" was referenced as the song Lin's deceased fiancé sang to her. Finally, the sesame pancake sandwich is an ode to Vanessa's in NYC, though if you're ever there I highly recommend the pork filling (get the dumplings, too).
Chapter 18: When the Time Comes That a Man Has Had His Dinner, Then the True Man Comes to the Surface
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 18: When the Time Comes That a Man Has Had His Dinner, Then the True Man Comes to the Surface
Wu Zhin crouched down low on the rooftop of an abandoned building, shrouded in her usual black cloak as she observed... Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
A loud crunching sounded beside her and she turned to glare at Qiang, who'd just bitten into some crispy rice. "Sorry," Qiang whispered, then finished off the snack.
Bai yawned in a show of disinterest. "Can we go yet?" she asked quietly. "That Lin woman obviously isn't here."
Zhin shook her head and turned her gaze back to the house they were currently casing: the famed Master Chen's residence in the city of Shanghai. This was the second night in a row they'd been staked out there, and so far they'd only seen signs of Chen himself and a Balinese cat who seemed to be nothing more than a chubby housewife.
"Bai has a point," Qiang agreed. "We'll just have to look for her somehwere else."
Zhin stared intently down at the house. "I just don't understand," she muttered, more to herself than her sisters. "Chen is the only person in all of Shanghai with a known connection to Shifu. If that woman was traveling with Shifu, she'd be here. There's nowhere else to look!"
"Maybe she went on vacation," Qiang suggested, and Zhin rubbed at her forehead while Bai rolled her eyes.
"Oh, yes," Bai said sarcastically. "Maybe she went out to the shore for a little sun and fun!"
"Maybe you should cut your losses and leave town before someone finds you out," a voice sounded from behind them.
Zhin whirled around, her hand already on her wind and fire wheels. She glanced at Bai and Qiang, but neither of them had been any more prepared for their visitor than she had.
An old, white-furred raccoon dog sat casually on a neighboring rooftop, watching them with intense blue eyes. Zhin took note of a pair of glasses tucked into his shirt, in case this encounter resulted in a battle. So far, the man didn't look particularly aggressive, but anyone who'd successfully sought them out during a mission was not someone to underestimate. He continued to watch them, unconcerned with their weapons. "Just a suggestion," he added with a shrug.
"Give me one good reason I shouldn't tear you to shreds," Zhin demanded.
He only shrugged again.
She nodded to her sisters, and together they leapt to the next rooftop. Zhin slashed at the man with one wind and fire wheel as they landed, but he was quicker than she'd expected and dodged her. However, Bai and Qiang had closed in and surrounded him before he could escape.
"Oh no," said, still deadpan. "It appears I'm in a pickle. Actually, I could go for a pickle about now."
"Ooh, pickles do sound good," Qiang agreed, then at Bai and Zhing's frowns, sheepishly added, "Maybe after this fight. Oh, that reminds me!" She turned to the old raccoon dog. "Tell us who sent you and we'll think about sparing your life."
"Nah," he answered.
Zhin barely needed to nod to her sisters, and together they attacked with wind and fire wheels slashing and stabbing. The man dodged a slash from Bai, deflected a jab from Qiang and somehow managed to leap over Zhin without her landing a single blow. When she turned around, he was back on the rooftop they'd started on. "How'd he do that?" she whispered to her sisters, and they both shrugged.
"I've got some information for you," he called out to them, then to add insult to injury, sat down again.
"You've got some nerve," Zhin replied, still tightly gripping her weapons. She didn't trust this man for a second, and he clearly didn't view them as threats.
Bai stepped forward, her chest stuck out in defiance. "I'll handle this," she announced, a determined frown on her face. "Well, let's hear it."
He watched them for a beat, then said, "Chen's a snorer."
"Hm, I can't say I'm surprised," Qiang mused.
"He's toying with us," Bai snapped. "That just burns me up! Nobody toys with me, I'm the one who toys with them."
"Don't lose your cool," Zhin ordered, then straightened up and glared at the raccoon dog. "I'll call a truce if you tell us who you are and what you want," she offered. She didn't like the idea of a full-on battle in the middle of a crowded city. Especially when the city was as active at night as Shanghai. It had been one thing when she'd thought the old man could be subdued quickly and quietly, but he'd proven to possess some skill.
"I'm Wei-Shan," he told her without argument. "And as I stated before, I want a pickle."
She was started to wonder if the man was just simple. "I think you know what I mean."
"I do know that," he confirmed. "Still could go for that pickle."
"How about this: have you seen this woman?" She removed the wanted poster of Lin from inside her cloak and unrolled it for the man to see.
"Sorry," he replied. "Can't see a thing without my glasses." His indicated the glasses currently tucked into his shirt, but made no move to put them on.
Zhin rolled her eyes, then took a chance and leapt to the neighboring rooftop to drop the poster in his lap. "Small dog, fluffy, goes by Lin, hangs around Master Shifu of the Jade Palace. You don't happen to be a friend of hers, hm?"
At an agonizingly slow pace, he removed his glasses from his shirt, polished them with his sleeve, and put them on. Then he stared at the poster. "What a terrible portrait," he commented. "Very amateurish."
She was starting to regret her decision not to fight this Wei-Shan. She would have liked having the satisfaction of beating him to a pulp. "I'll take that as a yes. Where is she?"
Bai and Qiang flanked her, their wind and fire wheels out. "We have ways of making you talk, old man," Bai threatened.
He had the nerve to remain seated, as though he thought he could defeat them without even moving. "That information will cost you," he bargained, removing his glasses and returning them to his shirt.
At least they were finally getting somewhere. "Very well," Zhin agreed. "Name your price."
"Pickles," he answered without missing a beat. "I just can't beat this craving."
She glared down at him, but he didn't so much as blink. "Is this a joke?"
"No," he said evenly. "I'm short on cash. Buy me pickles, and I'll tell you what you want to know."
"...This has to be a joke." She couldn't believe that all he would want were some pickles.
"No." He reached into his shirt and produced a list. "These are the kinds I like. Have fun at the night market."
She snatched the paper and took a look at it. It was, indeed, a list of different types of pickles. "You just walk around with a list of pickles on you?" she asked flatly.
"No, that was my grocery list." He waved them off. "Pickles, now."
"This is really happening," Zhin concluded. The chore was almost too demeaning to be worth the information, assuming Wei-Shan wasn't bluffing. She'd prefer to just pay the man and be on their way.
"I'm all for it," Qiang spoke up. "I'm hungry."
"I could use a little something to eat, too," Bai admitted reluctantly.
With a heavy sigh, Zhin nodded. "Fine. Bai, Qiang, head over to the night market and get this man what he requested." She handed off the list to Bai. "I'll stay behind and make sure he talks." She watched her sisters leap off into the night, running in the direction of the Huangpu river. Then, she sat down in front of the man. "Wei-Shan. That name sounds familiar. You're a kung fu master, I presume?"
He nodded, though didn't elaborate.
She supposed she couldn't expect him to be loose-lipped after all the obtuse things he'd said so far. "My sisters will return shortly with your... Weird bribe. Now tell me where Lin is."
"The Valley of Peace," he answered with a shrug. "I'm surprised you couldn't figure that out."
"But I know for a fact that she traveled here to Shanghai with Master Shifu-"
"And then she left," he interrupted. "With a man named Keung. Ask around if you don't believe me."
"Hm," Zhin mused as she thought over the information. "That woman really gets around. Tell me, who else would I speak to on this matter?"
"She worked down at the docks with Keung, loading ships," Wei-Shan said. "The men working there will be able to tell you that she and Keung have left town. Ask about Quan."
"Very well. I suppose that information was worth... A bunch of pickles." She furrowed her brow, still confused by the odd request. "Why not money, now?"
"It's rare that I'm ever in need of currency," he said. "And pickles last a while." The answer was as odd as his request had been, but Zhin didn't question him further.
Thankfully, it wasn't long until Bai and Qiang returned with the preserved vegetables in question, and Wei-Shan left them without so much as a goodbye.
"What a weird man," Zhin mused as they convened on the rooftop. "He's impossible to read, but I think his tip is solid. Lin hasn't been to Chen's the entire time we've staked it out, and I get the feeling that when we ask around about her down at the docks, they'll confirm that she's left town. Since we last saw her traveling with Shifu, it's likely she headed back to the Valley of Peace." Their only wild card was the man Wei-Shan had mentioned, the one called Keung. Still, she didn't see how a simple dock worker could pose a threat to them.
Qiang nodded, munching on some pickled radish. "Sounds like we'll be talking to some dock workers tomorrow, then heading back to Captain Zhensheng with this news."
Bai sighed heavily. "Great." The sarcasm in her voice was understandable. Captain Zhengsheng wasn't the creepiest client they'd ever had, but he was up there. "You know, girls, we should really take some time off soon. Wouldn't it be nice to get to explore a city like Shanghai instead of working the whole trip?"
Qiang smiled widely. "That sounds fantastic! I'll bet if we came back in the summer, there'd be loads to do."
Zhin rubbed at her temple as she listened to the conversation. "Can we stay on topic? We've got a lot to do, still, and I'm not sure that Wei-Shan man can be trusted."
"You told us he said he was a kung fu master," Qiang argued. "Kung fu masters don't lie!"
"Yes, that is true," Zhin agreed. "But what if he was lying about being a kung fu master?"
Qiang looked as though this possibility had blown her mind. "Ohhh!"
Bai rolled her eyes, then stole a pickle from the naive snow leopard. "Zhin, we've done all we can for tonight. Why don't we get some rest and start fresh in the morning? You know how paranoid you get when you don't sleep."
Zhin hated to admit that Bai had a point. She'd have a much clearer mind after a good night's sleep, and they did have to wait for daybreak to question the dock workers. "Fine. Let's go get some rest." She'd be keeping an eye on Chen's house the next day, as well. She wanted to be absolutely sure that Lin had fled the city before they returned to Zhengsheng with their report. Why Lin could have left was a mystery she'd need to address, as well. She could have gone to be with Shifu, or perhaps she had left Shifu for this Keung who worked at the docks with her. Or, least likely of the options, she'd caught on to the fact that someone was after her, and had made a run for it. Zhin could only hope, for her purse's sake, that her last thought did not prove true.
Tai Lung woke with a shiver running down his back from the cold draft in the air, then belatedly remembered that Lin had dragged him out to camp on the beach for apparently no reason. At least he had a warm, soft pillow of some sort in his arms to stave off some of the cold. It was much fuzzier than a normal pillow, probably wool or something. He didn't remember seeing a pillow among the items they'd brought, though.
"Bwah!" Tai Lung jumped back so far that he bowed out the tent, leaning against the side.
Lin yawned and cracked her eyes open to glare at him. "I don't appreciate being woken up like this," she rasped out, her voice more gravelly than usual. "My ear hurts, now."
"I told you to sleep back-to-back!" he snapped.
"I did," she replied, then paused to clear her throat. "Ain't my faultya wanted to cuddle."
He shuddered at that assertion, then attempted to crawl out of the tent without making any further physical contact with Lin. He collapsed half the thing on the way out, but it was worth it.
Lin crawled out after him, a grumpy frown on her face. "I oughta smackya one for acting like this," she said with a huff. "Since when'm I so bad, huh? Andya weren't complaining last night, whenya snatched me up like a stuffed animal." She approached the burnt-out campfire and nudged it with one foot. "Come help me get this cleaned out so we can restart it and get some breakfast going."
At least he wouldn't have to listen to her talking about their night together if he did as she said, so he went about scraping ashes and burnt up driftwood from their firepit, then replacing it with fresh wood. It wasn't long before Lin had a nice fire going, and they were warming peach-shaped dumplings on sticks as they had the night before.
"Didn't you bring anything else to eat?" Tai Lung asked in between bites. He could have used some variety.
"I brought what would last us a few days without going bad," Lin replied, grinning at him. "Whatsamatter, the city gotya going soft?"
"No," he argued, frowning at the assertion. "I can handle plain dumplings, I'm not some pampered princess."
"Coulda fooled me," she replied, then laughed while he glowered at her. "Relax, I got some pickles we can have for lunch. How's that sound?"
"You can have them," he said, still irritated at her suggestion that he had become some soft, pampered city boy. "I'll be perfectly alright with plain dumplings." He realized that his attempt to prove his toughness was somewhat undermined by the fact that the dumplings were shaped like adorable little peaches, but he chose to ignore it for the moment.
"Good, more for me," Lin accepted.
He wondered if that had just been a ploy for her to get all the pickles to herself. "We should have brought something to boil water in, so we could have tea."
"Relax," she replied as she finished off her food. "I got something to drink right here." She then proceeded to pull a flask from her belt and drink from it.
"I'll stick with our water pouch." He emphasized his point by reaching for the waxed cavas bag and drinking deeply from it. He then finished off his dumplings. "Alright, I'm ready for whatever torture you're planning to put me through today. Let's get it over with."
"Lemme digest a little, first," she argued, then leaned casually on one hand. She apparently had planned to spend all morning lounging by the fire. It was annoying, as was everything she did, but at least it was easy to tolerate.
"I don't know what's worse, that loud, overcrowded city, or spending my days alone at some deserted beach with you."
"I knowya like Shanghai," Lin argued. "Don't bother denying it. You're just doing that thing whereya like to act like you're better'n everything and everyone."
"Maybe because I am," he said with a scoff, and she laughed.
"Sure!" she agreed jovially, then drank from her flask.
"I get the sense that you're not taking me seriously," he commented darkly, and she only grinned in response. "Alright, Shanghai isn't so bad," he admitted. "I still maintain that it is too noisy and too crowded, but... It's convenient having so much to do. And everything is always open late, which is also convenient. There are interesting sights and a lot of history-"
"Nerd," she jeered.
He frowned at her. "Alright, what do you think is enjoyable about Shanghai?"
"The night life, of course," she answered predictably. "Lotsa great bars, you're never too far away from a good fight, and there's always some outta town sap to hustle ifya wanna make an easy yuan. Oh, and the food. Good God, the food."
"I can see why Shifu would trust my spiritual study to you," he said sarcastically.
"Aw, c'mon. It's not likeya even do that much in Shanghai, b'sides hang around the house with Yan-Yan." She grinned at the irritated glare he shot her. "What? It's true."
He supposed he had been something of a homebody, but only because no one had seemed particularly enthusiastic about him wandering the city. He needed to follow the rules set down for him as closely as possible, if he wanted to make it back to the Valley of Peace. "I'll do something before we leave, then," he insisted. "Something interesting."
"Oh yeah?" She sounded uncharacteristically intrigued. "What's the one thingya wanna do most before we leave the city?"
He only hesitated momentarily to ruminate on what she'd asked, but apparently that was too long.
"Don't think," she ordered. "Just answer."
Tai Lung rolled his eyes at the order. "How do you propose I answer you without thinking?"
She rubbed at her forehead, as though he were the frustrating one. "You really were raised by Shifu, huh?"
He glared at her. "Oh, please. Enough with that."
"Just clear your mind like you're meditating and talk without thinking. Let your gut do all the work." She took a sip from her flask, then offered it to him. "Sorghum helps."
"No, thank you," he rejected, resisting the urge to gag. He'd been traumatized for life when she'd taken him to that bar.
"Go on, give it a try."
"Fine." He breathed deeply through his nose and closed his eyes, clearing his mind as best he could. He focused on his breathing, and nothing else.
"So whaddaya wanna do most before we leave Shanghai?"
"Yan-Yan," he blurted out, then blushed in embarrassment when he realized what he'd said. His humiliation was only emphasized by Lin's uproarious laughter at the statement. "That isn't what I meant!"
She continued to laugh for a time, and he waited begrudgingly for her to calm down. "I dunno if we'll have time forya to lose your virginity, but maybe we can make it happen beforeya graduate school," she teased.
"I didn't mean that how it sounded." He didn't know why he bothered to correct her at all. She would still make fun of him. "But, since it's out in the open... I would not be opposed to a date. Or something." Somehow that had been even more embarrassing than the misunderstanding. So he turned the question around on her, before she could tease him any further. "What about you? What would you like to do before we go?"
"Meihui," she answered with a lecherous cackle.
"Yan-Yan's ex-husband's second wife?" He shuddered at the thought. "Gross."
"Hey, you never met her," Lin argued. "Meihui's adorable, I'll haveya know."
"I don't care," he replied, trying to rid himself of the mental image she'd evoked. "You're the gross factor in this particular equation."
"Yeah, right," she said skeptically, then kicked sand at him. "I am also adorable, and I still got some pretty nice muscles on me. Tons of cool scars, too. Plus I got this pooch, now." She paused to give her saggy stomach a pat. "Which is squishy and cute."
"Stop describing your barely-living body to me," he ordered with a gag. "I'm going to be sick."
"Oh, lighten up," she shot back. "You walk around without a shirt on, you don't hear me whining about how nauseous it makes me."
"You only wish you were as good-looking as I am," he argued with an indignant sniff. "I'm practically a god."
"Sure," Lin said sarcastically. "You're a virgin 'cause women're just intimidated by your god-like beauty. It all makes sense, now."
"You are a walking hairball in clothing." He honestly didn't believe any of Lin's claims about her love life, not that he cared. He had no interest in thinking about her that way, let alone discussing such matters with her. "Now let's drop it before I lose my breakfast."
"Fine. And for the record, I was joking about Meihui."
"Oh?" He raised his eyebrows at her, wondering if this would be another one of her secrets. "What's the real answer, then?"
"Why should I tell you?"she asked belligerently. "Ain't likeya care."
"Sounds good to me," he replied spitefully. He didn't need to deal with her arguments or her dramatics. She could force him to follow her all over the province, but she couldn't force him to play along with her ridiculous mind games.
She glared at him a while, drinking deeply from her flask. Then she turned around to look at the sea, like she'd been doing since they'd arrived. "I dunno," she said. "If I answer without thinking, that's what I come up with. I dunno. Maybe it's 'cause there's too much that I wanna do to name just one thing. That's how I've always been."
"Right," he agreed. "Selfish and greedy."
"Oh, go suck a dick." She grabbed her old dumpling stick from the sand and used it to stoke their campfire a bit. She'd become awfully grumpy all of a sudden, and if he was the one observing such a thing, then her mood really must have turned.
Tai Lung decided to silently follow suit, and joined her in stoking the fire. He'd never been exactly sure what to do when stoking a fire, all he knew was that he should poke it. He must not have been doing a bad job, though, because she let him help her without complaining or scolding him. To his surprise, their work made a real difference, and the fire started burning brighter.
"That looks good," Lin said, then dropped her stick back into the sand and started stripping.
"Ack!" He turned away and covered his eyes for good measure. "Stop that!"
"You strip, too," she ordered. "You can't go swimming in the winter without dry clothes waiting forya."
"Many would say you can't go swimming in the winter period." He slowly turned around and opened his eyes a crack to peek at her. He didn't know why he thought there would be a chance that she'd have clothes on, maybe because his time in Shanghai had killed so many brain cells. "Augh!"
"Oh, shut up," she snapped. "I've worked without my shirt on before, ain't like this's any worse. Now get your pants off or I'll do it forya."
That mental image did nothing to calm him. "This is harassment!"
"I'm sure Shifu would be happy to take your word over mine when I tell him how difficult you've been," she threatened.
He considered the threat, and thought of how close he was to his vengeance. Defying Lin's orders this one time might actually be worth the sacrifice.
"I thought you guys did that whole communal bathing thing at the Jade Palace," Lin added. "Think of it like that."
He'd always hated communal bathing. "I will have my revenge," he told her darkly.
"Yeah, yeah." She brushed him off as if he were still seven years old. "You'll get your revenge on Po and Shifu, blah blah blah."
"No, I meant I'll have my vengeance against you," he clarified, then slowly began removing his pants. "For doing this to me."
"Underwear, too," she said.
He really did feel like a seven-year-old again, being forced to take a bath by a parent. "This is worse than prison," he complained.
"Then go back," she replied flippantly.
He finished stripping, then slowly turned around to face her while he crouched down to cover his privates.
Lin stood as confidently and casually as she did clothed, her stance wide and her hands on her hips as she glanced down at the placement of his hands and snorted. "Really? It's not gonna faze me to see your wiener. It's no different to me 'an some weird-colored yam slapping around between your thighs."
Everything about this experience was traumatizing to him. "I hope you drown," he growled as he followed her down the beach to the water's edge. Lin just plunged right in as if they were in the height of summer, diving headfirst into the breaking waves. He watched her, still doing his damnedest to cover himself, then dipped one toe into the water. "Shit! It's freezing!"
"Duh!" Lin called back as she surfaced well beyond the breaking waves, floating along with the swells as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Just jump in, it's easier."
He would do no such thing, and not just because he would have to expose himself in order to dive into the waves like she had. Slowly, he stepped into the shallows, already shivering at the feel of the water. "You're going to give me hypothermia!"
"No," she argued, "you're gonna give me hypothermia, waiting all day forya!"
With a lot of awkward shuffling and bending over to cover himself, he finally made it to a depth that covered what he didn't want seen. He had never been much of a swimmer, so he walked through the waves as they broke against his chest and sprayed his face with sea foam, coughing and sputtering as he went. By the time he made it out to the swells, Lin was having yet another hearty laugh at his expense. "You are the literal worst," he snapped, trying to keep his teeth from chattering.
Lin splashed him, still laughing. "I see the yam is also weirdly shaped."
"You saw nothing!" he shouted back, reddening at the thought that he'd unwittingly exposed himself.
"Okay, we'll never speak of it again," she conceded, surprisingly enough. "As long asya calm down enough for my lesson."
"So you actually have something to teach me, for once?" He was skeptical, to say the least.
"Meditation in extreme conditions," she clarified. "It often has a much more potent effect than just, say, sitting in front of a buncha scented candles like Shifu does."
He could believe that. In fact, if he thought hard, he could remember having read something similar in one of the many scrolls Oogway had written and stored in the Jade Palace's library. "Alright, this actually sounds like something."
"Yeah, it is," she replied indignantly. "You gotta float, though."
"Very well." He'd never really made an effort to simply float in water, but how hard could it be? As much as it pained him to look at Lin in her current state of undress, he watched how she floated serenely on her back, rising and falling with the ocean swells. He lifted his feet from the ocean floor and leaned back, then promptly sank beneath the waves. Coughing, he resurfaced, wiping the freezing salt water from his eyes.
She stared at him blankly.
"What?" he asked.
"I'm stunned, that's all." She continued staring at him, clearly taken aback. "You mastered all one thousand scrolls of kung fu, butya can't float?"
"This is stupid," he concluded.
"No it isn't! I'll just... Teachya how to float. Like a toddler."
He buried his face in his hands. This was really not worth his vengeance. "How in the hell do you teach something like that?"
"I'll try." She let her lower body sink back down and tread water beside him. "Tread water with your arms only, like I'm doing."
"Fine." He lifted his legs from the ocean floor again, tucking them tightly against his body, while he flailed his arms furiously beneath the water to keep his head afloat. "There! See? I can tread water!"
Without answering, she disappeared beneath the swells.
"Lin? Lin!" The water was too dark for him to see where she'd gone, but he had the sinking feeling that this would not end well. "Where are you, you- aaiieee!" He clamped his mouth shut, hoping that she hadn't been able to hear his girlish squeal at the feeling of something touching his leg.
Lin resurfaced beside him and gave him a hard push, which was able to move him thanks to the water. "I'm just trying to help," she snapped.
"That was you?" He'd changed his mind. He hoped he was the one who drowned. "How dare you-"
"I was trying to move your legs!" she argued, then dove under the water again.
He didn't like the idea of Lin being underwater and touching him, but he apparently didn't have much of a choice, so he allowed her to yank his legs out from under him and splay them as if her were some lazy drunk sitting in a bar. Much like her.
"Now move your arms in circles," she ordered the moment she surfaced again.
He did as she'd told him, mostly to prevent her from touching him again.
"Slower!"
With a frustrated snort, he slowed his movements, surprised to find that he still stayed afloat.
"Now lean back." She watched him carefully as he leaned further and further back. "Keep it up," she ordered. "And stop moving your arms."
Eventually, he was floating. "Congratulations," he told her sarcastically. "You have officially taught me something."
Rather than argue with him, she clapped loudly for herself. "Thank you, thank you. It's all in a day's work."
"Yes, yes, just let me freeze to death while you're busy patting yourself on the back." He'd begun to shiver quite badly, and he'd noticed that they had floated a ways down the beach from their campfire, so he didn't relish the thought of the nude walk back after they'd finished this exercise.
"You got a point," she admitted reluctantly. "Just try to meditate for a little bit. Focus on the rhythm of the waves, okay?"
"Hmph." He closed his eyes, letting the swells rock him as he attempted to clear his mind. His entire body felt freezing cold, like ice had replaced the blood in his veins. He forced himself not to focus on his discomfort, instead feeling the waves in their steady rhythm and breathing the salty air deeply. Everything was dark, and peaceful.
Tai Lung soon realized, though, that he could no longer hear the waves crashing against the shore, or the sound of Lin treading water beside him. The darkness around him was more complete than he could ever imagine, even darker than the depths of Chor Ghom. He listened hard, but could only hear an odd, low rumbling, like the sound of his own body when he tightly covered his ears. He strained to see, but there was nothing to see, only inky blackness in every direction. He wasn't alone, though. He didn't know how to explain it, but he could feel the presence of something else in that darkness with him. Something strange and alien.
Gasping, Tai Lung opened his eyes, splashing wildly in the water before he realized that he was back in the freezing cold ocean with Lin. "What- what?" he sputtered out, still gasping for air. Apparently, he'd stopped breathing during his meditation.
"Let's go back to shore," Lin said, and she must have known that something had happened, because she sounded uncharacteristically serious.
They swam up to shore and he lingered behind her as they walked back along the beach to their camp. He didn't know what it was he had seen, but that must have been a vision of some sort. It had to have been a vision. He certainly hadn't fallen asleep and started dreaming. Or maybe he had. He'd never experienced a vision before, so how could he know for sure? When they reached the campfire, Lin fed some more driftwood into it and made him sit close to the flames, then grabbed a blanket from inside the tent and draped it around them while she made him cuddle against her while still nude for "body heat." He was so absorbed in thought that he let her, staring into the fire as he contemplated this apparent vision, and what it could have been that awaited him in that darkness.
"What'dya see?" Lin asked after they'd both finally stopped shivering.
He reached toward the campfire to warm his hands, unsure if he should tell her anything. Then again, revealing that he'd had some sort of vision could prove advantageous for him. She might take it as a sign that he was starting to come around to all her attempts at rehabilitation. "It's difficult to describe," he settled on.
"Give it a try." She didn't sound like she was in the mood to quibble, so he obeyed her.
"Darkness. Complete darkness, like I'd never seen before. And no sound- well, some sound. Rumbling. Of some sort. And a presence. I couldn't see anything, or hear anything, but I felt a presence. It was..." Frightening. It had been frightening, but he didn't want to admit that out loud. "Unnerving." That sounded much tougher.
Lin nodded as she listened to him. "Okay," she accepted, and that was it.
He didn't know what she meant, but he didn't want to get into a discussion, either, so he let it lie. If she wanted to elaborate, she would without any prompting from him. "May we dress ourselves, now?" he asked, partly just to break the tension.
"Yeah." She dressed herself without teasing him or making fun of any part of his body, which was odd, then sat back down in front of the fire and quietly sipped at her flask. "You've seen my scars, right?"
"I've attempted to avert my eyes from them, yes," he confirmed, unsure where she was going with the question.
"Ever notice the curve of 'em?" she asked.
"I try not to study your naked body in detail, forgive me."
"They're circular," she finished, then drank deeply from the flask. "Ifya look hard, you can tell. Each one's a part of a giant circle."
He still didn't understand what she was getting at, so he remained silent.
"Sucker scars," she clarified, then capped her flask and tucked it into her belt. "Like I said, there's more lurking out in those depths than you'll ever know. Or understand." Then she gestured to the tent. "Now fix that up, before it gets dark."
Tai Lung stared at her for a moment, stunned by what she'd said. Could she really be telling the truth, or was this another one of her tall tales? Or even worse, some pithy moral? He couldn't say. He stood up and went about fixing the damage he'd done to their tent, still wondering if that vision could have taken place somewhere deep within the ocean, as Lin was suggesting. If so, what was its significance? Should he even pay any attention to such an obscure vision? He stopped himself there. He was being ridiculous. Of course he hadn't seen some mystical, important vision. He'd fallen asleep or hallucinated, thanks to the freezing cold temperatures of the sea water. He would continue on with his plan, as always. He wouldn't get thrown off course by Lin's little distractions. He needed to stay determined. It was what had gotten him through Chor Ghom, and it was what would get him through this asinine rehabilitation and back to the Valley of Peace.
Yan-Yan stood in the sitting room, her arms crossed as she mulled over the conclusion she'd just come to. After waiting two days for Lin and Tai Lung to show up, after thoroughly searching the house, even going down to the docks to talk to Li Peng, she'd concluded that those two ungrateful losers had ditched her. She didn't know where they had gone, but they certainly didn't seem to be coming back. Li Peng hadn't been too happy about the development, either, seeing as two of his workers had simply disappeared without a word. She doubted Chen would be very happy to hear about it, either.
"They're gone," Yan-Yan announced as she entered the kitchen.
"Who, now?" Chen asked distractedly between mouthfuls of rice porridge. Apparently now that he had no other willing set of hands in the kitchen, he'd suddenly learned to cook.
"Lin and Tai Lung! This is a serious situation, Chen. Anything could have happened." She waited for him to show some concern, but he only stared at her as he chewed.
"...And?" He prompted flatly.
Yan-Yan crossed her arms, indignant at the question. He had a lot of nerve, assuming she had some ulterior motive for being upset. It was true, but still. "Fine. And today's Lin's birthday, and I had a whole nice thing planned to apologize for being so on-edge with her, but now she's gone and it's all ruined!" She would never forgive that little ball of lint for ditching her when she knew how much Yan-Yan liked throwing birthday parties.
"Thought so." Chen slurped up some more porridge.
"You're not worried about this?" Yan-Yan pressed. "Those two could be anywhere. Hell, Tai Lung could have snapped again and killed Lin, for all we know." She didn't really believe that last part, but it might actually get Chen's attention.
"He didn't do any such thing andya know it," Chen argued, completely unfazed. "You know how Quan is. She ran off, Tai Lung probably went along with her. She'll be back when she feels like it."
"When she feels like it," she repeated incredulously. "Chen! This isn't the time to sit by and let Lin do whatever she feels like! What happened to reigning her in a little?"
"Well, that never works," he snapped. "Forgive me for trying something new."
"This is horrible," she continued, still unconvinced that Chen understood the severity of the situation. "She could be anywhere."
"If she was in trouble, Wei-Shan woulda shown up here to let us know," he argued evenly. "In fact, ifya wanna know where she's holed up so bad, just ask him."
She didn't like the sound of that. "How would he know?"
"He keeps an eye on her." The old jerboa reached for a tiny cup of tea and sipped from it. "He's useful, that way."
She didn't like the sound of that, either. "So you don't have a problem with Wei-Shan spying on Lin, after the fit you threw when you found out about them sleeping together?"
"I didn't say I liked it," he corrected. "I just said he was useful. Y'know, Wei-Shan's not as goofy as he'd likeya to think. He knows what he's doing."
"Yes, I know." Yan-Yan sat down beside Chen, her jaw set. She hated being out of the loop, and worse, she hated worrying over her stupid, reckless friend all the time. She'd even started worrying about Tai Lung, the big jerk. "You're sure she's coming back?"
"She's not running off without a goodbye this time around," he reasoned. "Not after the hellya gave her for the last time she pulled that stunt."
In spite of all her worries, Yan-Yan smiled. "Thanks, Chen. That's slightly comforting. Ever so slightly." A knock sounded at the back door, and Yan-Yan answered it. She'd had a feeling that Wei-Shan would be standing on the other side. "No one wants to see you, get lost," she ordered, then slammed the door shut.
"Wei-Shan?" Chen asked, and she nodded. "Hmph," he grumbled, then finished off his tea. "Let him in."
As remiss as Yan-Yan was to do so, she opened the door again and let Wei-Shan into the kitchen. "Try not to have sex with anyone or anything while you're in here," she said sarcastically, mostly because she was still annoyed that he knew where Lin was and she didn't.
"Sure," he agreed. "I'll follow your lead."
"That's enough," Chen snapped, then pointed to Wei-Shan. "Go wait for me in the studio."
Unlike with most people, Wei-Shan followed Chen's order without so much as a pithy comment.
Yan-Yan watched him go, her nose wrinkled. "He's such a snot."
"Enough," Chen said, and to her surprise he sounded more tired than annoyed. "I don't like what Wei-Shan's done. But I don't need you picking fights with him, on top of everything else going on around here. Canya just keep it to yourself? Like usual?"
"Alright," she grumbled. "For you, Chen."
"Thanks." With that, he left her to go speak with Wei-Shan. About Lin, most likely.
She wondered what Lin was doing now, and whether she was thinking of them on her birthday. She wondered if Lin even remembered her own birthday. As Quan, she had always liked a good celebration, but had always insisted that her own birthday wasn't such a big deal. It wasn't that she hadn't liked being in the spotlight- Lin had always loved being the center of attention. Yan-Yan suspected that half the reason Lin had started that revolutionary movement in Shanghai had been for all the attention. But she had also never thought of herself as someone who deserved nice things, or kindness. That's the impression Yan-Yan had gotten. Lin was so easily flattered, it was like she felt honored by even the slightest bit of positive attention. Yan-Yan suspected that was why she'd gotten such a crush on Wei-Shan. It was probably also the reason she put up with the horrible fights with Shifu, and why they made up so quickly. He probably only needed to give her the slightest compliment before she forgave him.
Yan-Yan could understand that, though. Lin had never spoken much about her life with her family on that lemon orchard, but it was plain as day to anyone who knew even a little bit about her life that she'd been abused. A person didn't grow up to hate their family for no reason. She wished Lin would just let her take care of her, at least a little bit. Chen was right, she was a good mother. Maybe it was stupid to want to act like that toward a friend, but she'd rather take care of Lin than watch her make painful mistakes and falter. Maybe that smothering impulse had something to do with why her own children had so readily disowned her. Maybe she had made too many mistakes, in raising her kids.
Yan-Yan jumped a little when yet another knock sounded at the door. This was an unusually high-traffic day for Chen's house. Maybe Lin had forgotten her key when she'd taken off, and she and Tai Lung were the ones knocking. When she opened the back door, though, she was displeased to see Meihui standing in the alley. "There is a front door, you know."
Meihui shyly turned her gaze to the ground, her whiskers twitching. "My apologies, Miss Yan-Yan," she said in that fakely sweet voice of hers. "I- uhm-" She paused and glanced up, though she appeared to be trying to see past Yan-Yan into the kitchen. It was too quick a look to tell for sure, though. "I usually have better luck here."
"Fine, come in, do what you want like always," she accepted with a sigh, ushering the girl into the kitchen.
"Are you home alone today?" Meihui asked as she looked around the room, though what she thought she might find, Yan-Yan didn't know.
"Chen's here," she replied begrudgingly, well aware of Meihui's hero worship of the old master. "He's speaking to Wei-Shan in his studio and must not be disturbed."
"Oh." Meihui paused and leaned against the kitchen island. She seemed like she was trying to look casual, but in fact looked extremely stiff and uncomfortable. "Lin, too?"
"She's gone out of town for a bit." Yan-Yan narrowed her eyes at the little black cat. "Why? Need another autograph?" If so, she was getting thrown right back out into the alleyway where she belonged.
"Oh! No, no. I was just... Asking. To be polite." She glanced toward the door, clearly uncomfortable. "So..." She trailed off there, lost for words.
Yan-Yan supposed that she should take Lin's advice, and take her chance when it came to her. So, with a deep breath, she put all of her effort and concentration into being civil. "Meihui, I know I promised you I would make an effort to be your friend."
"Yes! Thank you for that." She bowed slightly, though it was unnecessary.
"I lied," she added, relishing the way the girl deflated. "I have a better offer for you, though. I can't promise I'll be your friend, but I can promise to offer you professional courtesy and mentorship- and pay. When you come work for me, of course."
Meihui stared blankly at her a moment. "Work for you?" she repeated.
"Yes," Yan-Yan confirmed in the no-nonsense voice she'd always used for business matters. That, and telling her children to do their chores. "You wouldn't know, since you were my replacement- in more ways than one- but my talents as a physician and as a surgeon far exceed those of my ex-husband. I know this must be an awkward job offer for you. Gods know it's awkward for me. But you will learn to do everything I can do, you will assist with every procedure, every suture. Did I mention I'll actually pay you, unlike Xiaojian?"
Meihui continued to stare, then awkwardly cleared her throat. "That's- that is a very generous offer, Miss Yan-Yan. But aren't you technically not allowed to, uhm... Actually be a doctor?"
"Who cares about that?" she dismissed, her confidence growing. She was actually starting to believe all that crap Lin constantly spouted, about making her own destiny and living a life of freedom. "I have the knowledge, the skill, and the equipment. All I need is someone to assist me. I've seen you work with Xiaojian, and you're good. You're more than good, you're my only option. Xiao's overdue for retirement, anyway. Don't you want to work with someone who's still in the game, instead of on their way out?"
"You make a compelling point." Meihui worried at the collar of her dress as she thought, which was a promising sign. It wasn't an outright rejection, anyway. "Xiaojian is my husband. I can't just leave him without an assistant."
"Why not?" Yan-Yan insisted. "He can hire someone new if he's so desperate for help. It's not like you haven't sacrificed for him, right?"
"Right," she agreed hesitantly.
"Of course you have! So have I. And now I'm free to do whatever I want. I want to practice medicine, and so that's what I'm going to do. Just as soon as I find my first patient. You'll have until then to make up your mind."
"Wait- you don't have any patients?" She furrowed her brow at Yan-Yan. "How do you suppose you'll get them?"
"I suppose I'll start by contacting some of the people I treated with Xiaojian and go from there." Yan-Yan was surprised by how such a well-formed idea had sprung from her mind in so little time. It wasn't like she'd been thinking a whole lot about how to get this venture off the ground. But maybe, subconsciously, she'd always known the day would come when she'd practice without Xiaojian by her side. "I know this probably sounds like a crazy, half-formed, terrible idea. But I can guarantee you that it's not. It's my dream, and I'm not going to let it go."
"Oh. Okay." Meihui clasped her hands together and bowed one more time. "I'll think it over, then."
"You will? I mean, of course you will. Now, good day to you, Miss." Yan-Yan opened the door and waved the black cat out, shutting it soundly behind her. Then she let out a massive sigh of relief. She couldn't believe she'd managed to sound so in control. She couldn't believe she'd pulled any of that off. Maybe Meihui would still come back to her and say no, but she'd gotten pretty far considering she didn't even have her first patient yet.
She'd need to work on that aspect next. Well, she had no need to worry. She would just pour on the confidence like she had with Meihui, and someone was bound to give her a chance. In fact, why should she waste away her day worrying needlessly about Lin, who could take care of herself? She should spend her day planning and working. With that, she headed to her room to put together a comprehensive list of prospective patients. Let Lin do what she wanted, whatever that currently was. She would focus on taking care of herself, for once.
Tigress stood at the top of the thousand steps, her tail twitching back and forth in agitation as she checked herself over to make sure she was presentable for a day in the village. After all, as a master of the Jade Palace, it was important that she conducted herself well and presented a clean and professional image when she was among the villagers. She couldn't say she was particularly looking forward to this "girls' day out" Gia had suggested, but as she'd predicted, Viper had latched on to the idea with unprecedented enthusiasm the moment she'd caught wind of it. So here she was, early as was her habit, and waiting for her two companions to join her.
"Good morning!" Gia shouted from across the theater, waving enthusiastically with both hands- each of which was holding what appeared to be more of her unnerving stuffed animals.
"Oh no," she muttered to herself at the sight of the things, but forced a smile and waved back.
Gia stopped in front of her, slightly out of breath from having run full-speed to her. And probably all the way from the barracks. "Master Viper will be here shortly," she said between deep breaths. "And- and this is for you." She presented Tigress with a plush toy modeled to look like the kung fu master, as nightmarish and dead-eyed as the rendition of Master Shifu had been.
Tigress furrowed her brow at the sight of the miniature version of herself, sporting an uncharacteristically cheerful smile and inexplicably raising its arms over its head, as if it were being held at arrow-point. "That's... Nice," she complimented hesitantly. "But why are my arms like that?"
"I wanted to make it look like you were doing kung fu," Gia replied sheepishly. "But I forgot how it looked."
"I see." Tigress wondered if the wolf would take offense to her burning the plush toy. And laughing maniacally as she did so.
"It is a token of our friendship!" Gia proclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly. "Growing up at the convent, I was the only child. All of my life, I wanted a strong female friendship with someone of my own age. And now, finally, I have you and Master Viper! My friends!"
Tigress grunted in surprise as Gia threw her arms around her in an unexpectedly tight embrace.
"Perhaps after our day out we could gossip and brush each other's fur! Would you mind that, Master Tigress? If I brushed your fur?"
"Oh gods," she muttered to herself as her mind conjured up images of Gia stalking her and ultimately killing her in her sleep. "This is how I die, isn't it?"
"Che?"
"I was just commenting how life-like this beautiful doll is," she lied, then gently extracted herself from Gia's surprisingly strong arms. She'd probably overreacted to Gia's enthusiasm, but she wasn't used to such strong shows of affection. She'd had dates less intimate than this. "Gia, you don't need to go overboard. Let's just have a low-key day-"
"Hellooo!" Viper called excitedly as she slithered across the theater, leapt through the air, and landed in a coil beside Gia.
Gia applauded the leap while jumping in place, like a child who'd just seen a circus act. "Wonderful, Master Viper!" she complimented.
Tigress had never seen a grown woman get so easily whipped into a frenzy as Gia. She remembered the first time Gia had wandered into the training hall and seen the masters practicing kung fu. She'd almost fainted, she'd gotten so worked up. "Maybe we should conserve our energy for the day ahead of us," she advised. She would even settle for conserving their energy until she'd gotten a strong cup of tea into her.
"Master Viper, my friend, I have a gift for you!" Gia presented Viper with her very own plush doll, complete with little fabric lotus flowers on its head.
"Aww, Gia! How lovely," Viper gushed. "You did such a good job on this, thank you!"
Tigress couldn't help but feel a little jealous at the sight of the doll. Compared to hers, it did look lovely. It at least looked normal. "Yes, good work. On... Both. Anyway, shall we get moving?" She turned toward the stairs, and Gia suddenly shot ahead of her, still jumping slightly as she went.
"I cannot wait to get started!" Gia yelled as she took the stairs at a dangerously fast pace and started cackling. "Running down stairs is a bit like falling, yes? What is it you say in Mandarin? Whooha! Whooha!"
"Did she hit her head?" Tigress asked as she watched the odd behavior.
"That's my fault," Viper admitted.
"Viper gave me tea this morning!" Gia exclaimed. "I had never tried lap song super thong tea before, but I rather liked it."
"You mean lapsang souchong tea?" Tigress asked.
Viper nodded. "Gia isn't used to tea, apparently."
"Oh, not at all!" Gia chimed in. "I have only ever had herbal tea before, but this smokelly tea was very good, for tea. I mostly drink wine. Wine is an excellent beverage, but I may need to try more of this lappy sag so dongs tea!"
"So you took a woman who pretty much exclusively consumes downers, but still has the energy of a toddler hopped up on sugar, and gave her the strongest tea we have," Tigress summarized flatly. No wonder Gia was acting like that tea had been injected directly into her veins.
"Well, it's an early morning," Viper argued quietly. "And it's not like she's used to the schedule Shifu keeps us on."
"Actually, Gia has always risen early," Tigress pointed out. "She kept a similar schedule while growing up in the convent."
"Whooha!" Gia shouted again.
"Gia, no one says 'whooha' here. Or anywhere, I think."
"I heard it once in a dream," she replied, which only concerned Tigress more.
"Maybe you're thinking of 'whee,'" Viper suggested gently, and Gia finally stopped running to looked back at them, her brow furrowed.
"Is this not the word for urination?" she asked, deadly serious.
Tigress couldn't help but snort in amusement at the question. "Sorry," she apologized immediately.
"It is, technically," Viper answered judiciously, with a puzzled glance at Tigress. "But you can also exclaim 'whee!' to denote that you're having fun. The two are unrelated. Aside from sounding exactly the same."
"Oh." Gia nodded, then continued her run down the thousand steps. "I will weee!" she exclaimed.
"That's not- oh, whatever."
Tigress shook her head in amusement at the display. "She's going to crash pretty hard when that tea wears off," she warned. She had seen Gia's energy crash in their reading lessons, and she knew the moment that tea wore off, tears awaited them.
"She'll be fine," Viper said casually. "She's having fun, and you should, too!"
"I never said I wasn't." In fact, she was enjoying herself already, watching Gia run and skip like a happy young girl. "Viper, tell me the truth. What do you think of Gia?"
"Me?" Viper blinked back at her, surprised by the question. "You know me, I get along with most people."
"That doesn't mean you don't have an opinion," Tigress pointed out.
"Well, she seems nice. She can be a bit talkative, and she's pretty sheltered, sure, but she's nice. Or are you asking me what I think?" She emphasized her point with a wink. "Because she isn't really my type-"
"That's not what I meant," Tigress said with a sigh. "Believe it or not, I don't have your love life in mind every time I mention a woman."
"You could stand to be more of a wing-woman for me," Viper teased.
"What are we speaking of?" Gia asked, running back up the steps to join them. "What is a winged woman? Do you mean a bird? Like doves? Who is a dove? Will I meet her?"
"Gia, slow down," Tigress ordered. "No one's a dove."
"And a wing-woman is a friend who helps you find a date," Viper added.
"Date?" Gia repeated, furrowing her brow. "Like a certain day?"
"No, like when you're romantically interested in someone, so you go somewhere or do something with them." Viper replied easily. "You know, a date."
Gia shrugged in response. "I have never done that."
"Never?"
Tigress shook her head at the question. It didn't seem so unusual to her, but then again, Viper had much more of an interest in romance than she ever had. She remembered when Viper had first come to the Jade Palace. They had both been teenagers, and while she had spent her evenings in solitary study or meditation, Viper had snuck out on dates like an average girl. And then had inevitably cried on her shoulder when the breakups had come. Tigress had dated a little bit, of course, and had even had a teenaged boyfriend, but she'd never gotten especially close to any of them. Eventually, she'd stopped bothering altogether. "Gia has mentioned to me that she's hoping for an arranged marriage," Tigress explained for her. "I don't think it's so unusual not to date when it doesn't align with one's life goals."
"Of course you'd say that, you haven't had a date in four years." Viper cringed back when Tigress glared at her for that statement. "Right, right, kung fu is more important than a social life. I personally like to try to have both, but alright."
"Is it common here?" Gia asked as they crossed the moon bridge into the village. "People dating, as you say?"
"Here in the valley, yes," Viper said, leading the way into the market. "And in the cities, it's more common. But not everywhere. Why? Are you thinking of dating?"
Gia turned her eyes to the ground and turned bright red. "N-no," she stuttered out shyly. "I am not."
Tigress gave Viper yet another warning look. "Don't listen to her, Gia. Viper loves dating, so she doesn't realize how overrated it is."
"How can you not love a first date?" Viper argued. "The adrenaline, the newness, the fun of getting to know someone, not to mention that first kisses are the best-"
"Meh," Tigress interrupted, and though Gia was still blushing and avoiding eye contact, she did smile at the comment.
"You're such a romance grouch."
"What can I say? It's not one of our mutual interests."
"What about flowers?" Gia suggested, pointing toward a market stall selling greens and early winter blooms. "You wear flowers, Master Viper, and your vest features vines, Master Tigress." Without waiting for an answer, she made a beeline for the florist. "Everyone likes flowers, do they not?"
Tigress glanced at Viper, and they muttered an agreement together.
Gia leaned forward and sniffed deeply at a bunch of winter jasmine. "Lovely!" she proclaimed. "Your climate is so mild for the mountains! Where I grew up, we would never have such greenery this late into winter."
"Really?" Viper asked as Gia continued to browse the stand. "What were your winters like?"
"Very much snow," Gia replied. "There were many storms, and the temperatures were often too low to venture outside for long. The spring was a slow thaw, similar to your winter." She picked up a jasmine bloom and paid the vendor for it, smelling the flower one more time. "Sister Anna loved the summer best, when the wild flowers bloomed."
"Who, now?" Tigress asked, then snapped her mouth shut once she realized how nosy she'd been. It wasn't like her to ask for such personal details. Perhaps Viper was rubbing off on her.
"Sister Anna Maria raised me," Gia stated matter-of-factly, as though this information were common knowledge.
"What's she like?" Viper asked, nudging the young wolf with her tail.
"Oh, she is dead," Gia said, just as casually. "She passed away some years ago. She was a good and pious woman, and an excellent influence."
Tigress didn't know what to say to that, and one look at Viper's face confirmed that her friend was at a loss, as well. Obviously, Gia would have been close with the woman who had raised her, yet she sounded uncharacteristically distant. "She sounds like she was a... Dependable woman."
"Yes," Gia confirmed, looking closely at her flower. "What is this, again? Jahhh- jasper?"
"Jasmine," Viper gently corrected her.
"Yes! Jasmine!" She smelled her flower one last time, then turned on her heel. "Shall we continue?" Without waiting for a response, she was off at more of a brisk pace than ever.
Tigress felt bad for having pursued the subject in the first place, but she couldn't apologize without making things more awkward. She must have made Gia uncomfortable. She couldn't think of what to say, so she decided to make a peace offering, instead. "Is anyone hungry?" she asked as they caught up to Gia. "I could treat us."
"Sure!" Viper agreed, though she wasn't the one Tigress had hoped to cheer up. "Sweet potatoes, we need to have sweet potatoes from a street vendor."
"Sweet potatoes?" Gia sounded intrigued. "I have never had those before."
"What?" Viper asked in a scandalized tone of voice. "How have you never had a sweet potato? They're a winter staple."
Gia shrugged. "We did not get much trade up in the mountains where I grew up. We ate what we could grow, and what we could get from the villagers."
"You'll like sweet potatoes," Tigress assured her, pleased to see her nod in agreement.
When they found a vendor and Gia ate her first ever bite of roasted sweet potato, her eyes grew wide like a child eating candy for the first time. "Ahh!" she shouted in shock. "It is sweet!"
"Good?" Tigress asked.
Gia nodded again, more vigorously this time. "This- this is so decadent! I should not-" She interrupted herself with another bite, and her tail wagged like a young puppy's.
"There's nothing wrong with experiencing what the Valley of Peace has to offer," Viper said in between bites of her own sweet potato. "You traveled all the way here, after all."
"Yes," Gia agreed reluctantly. "Though I took this journey to find my father."
"You mean mother," Tigress corrected.
"No," she argued. "I came to China in the hopes of finding my father. However, I discovered that Master Shifu is not my father, after all. I never expected that I would be able to meet my mother when I traveled here."
Tigress remained silent once confronted with this information, mainly because if she spoke she might lose control and express her anger. Especially since that anger was directed toward Gia's mother. The gall Lin had to make such a claim was unfathomable to her. She hadn't thought it would have been possible for her to dislike the old dog more, but she'd been wrong. She didn't have much time to dwell on it, though, as Gia started jumping up and down again, pointing at a sign for an apothecary.
"I can read that!" she screamed, her voice taking on the pitch and volume of someone getting stabbed.
"Gia, maybe take it down just one notch," Viper suggested as everyone around them covered their ears.
"Sorry," Gia whispered, blushing slightly in her embarrassment.
"It's excellent that you're remembering our lessons so well," Tigress encouraged, which caused Gia to turn even redder, a wide smile spreading across her face. The encouragement couldn't hurt. While most wouldn't expect it from her normally stoic demeanor, Tigress had found that positive reinforcement tended to be her most effective motivational tool while teaching. She realized something else, too, as she looked up at the sign advertising herbs and remedies. "You're especially good at remembering the characters we study that are plant-related."
Gia chewed thoughtfully on her sweet potato. "Perhaps it is an interest I developed from the botanical guides we created and maintained at my home, growing up. It was important that we knew all the plants on the mountains well. My mother illustrated one of our most comprehensive guides, and... Sister Anna Maria wrote the labels and notations."
"You should talk to Mantis," Viper suggested. "He's familiar with herbal remedies, and he knows some acupuncture. He tries, anyway."
"Perhaps," Gia replied stiffly. "Though if he comments on my appearance I may have to give him a sound boxing."
Tigress snorted in amusement at the threat. Gia was turning out to be a much more interesting person than she'd anticipated when they'd first met. "Viper and I both have, feel free to go ahead. He knows he deserves it."
"Then why does he not stop?" she asked.
"It's Mantis' way of teasing us," Viper replied, patting Gia on the back with her tail. "Kind of like how Monkey pranks us. He knows it gets under our skin, so he does it because he thinks it's funny. Like an annoying brother."
Gia looked back and forth between Viper and Tigress. "Brother?" she asked contemplatively, clasping her hands together. "I had never thought about that. It must be nice, to have someone like a brother. Yes?"
"When they aren't behaving like overgrown children, yes," Tigress answered. "This is the type of bond kung fu masters often form with their teammates. Your team becomes your family, the ones you can rely on most in the world." She'd thought she'd said something nice and sentimental, for once, but apparently she had once again put her foot in her mouth.
Gia had begun to tear up, and let out one of her now trademark sniffs.
"Oh- I- uhm-" She had no idea what to say to remedy the situation, and shot a pleading look toward Viper, who only responded by giving Gia yet another pat on the back. "I didn't mean- that is-"
Gia sniffled loudly. "That is just so beautiful," she half-spoke, half-sobbed. "Y-you are all a family, it is so- bellissima!"
"Uhm," Tigress repeated, then gave Gia a hesitant pat on the head. She wondered if this reaction was entirely emotional, or related to her crashing from her tea buzz. "Maybe we should see if there are any calming herbs here in the apothecary," she suggested. "Or at the very least some chamomile."
Gia nodded, a combination of tears and mucus now running down her face.
Tigress gave her one last pat on the head before ushering her into the store. "Maybe we should buy some handkerchiefs, too."
Lin sat in the cold sand, staring out at the ocean's dark waves, and the stars in the sky. She'd thought maybe coming to the sea would give her some answers. She'd grown up by the sea, and it had been her one solace in a home she'd hated. It was the sea that had taken her away from that little lemon orchard, at last. She'd sailed away, and never looked back. When she'd escaped Shanghai, she had leapt into the sea and it had delivered her back to shore, safe. And then again, when she'd walked into the sea, it had seen fit to spare her life. She wasn't ignorant, of course. She knew there was a price involved. That's how it was with anything mystical. She'd experienced enough mystical occurrences in the past to know. This was a much greater power than anything else she'd ever known, though. The sea was almost too great a power to comprehend, and she owed it her life many times over.
That debt had tied her to it. She'd hoped that she would be able to figure things out at the shore, but nothing had come to her. She approached the gently rolling waves, stepped into the shallow water, and looked down at her dim reflection. When she'd walked into the sea and been spared, it had left her with many more scars than she'd had before. She could just barely see them in her reflection, curving across her body like part of a giant circle. Sucker scars, that's what her fellow sailors had called them, back when she'd worked on merchant ships. Such a creature couldn't exist, though, they'd said. Not one large enough to leave her scars behind. And if it did exist, she wouldn't have survived such an encounter. According to them, anyway. She knew what she'd seen, though. Tai Lung had seen it, too, somehow. She couldn't deny how familiar his description of his vision had sounded. It was like he'd witnessed a fragment of her memory, as improbable as it seemed. Even if she didn't understand how, though, that didn't matter so much. What mattered was understanding why he'd seen such a thing.
She looked back up at the sea and jumped a little. She thought she saw something in the water- someone standing there- but when she blinked and rubbed at her eyes she was alone. That was all the prompting she needed. The sea was trying to give her a vision. Without hesitation, she plunged into the water, walking until she was submerged up to her shoulders. She closed her eyes and let the gentle, icy waves rock her, breathing deeply. She remembered that creature she'd seen beneath the ocean waves, all those years ago. An eye in the darkness, huge, gleaming, unblinking. Watching her, judging. It had saved her, and she'd never known why. What had it seen in her that it had deemed worth saving? Anything? She'd never believed so. After all, she hadn't cared to live any longer, so why would anyone or anything bother to save her? She remembered the pain she'd been in. She remembered the woman who'd broken her heart, on a beach like this. She had thought that she'd been loved. It had been difficult to realize that she'd been wrong. She'd waited so long to feel like that again, like someone had cared for her. It had been years since someone had loved her.
She remembered that someone. She remembered Anna. Maybe she'd only been fragile or misguided at the time, but she'd known how it felt to love someone. It hadn't been a mistake, or in her imagination. She'd loved Anna, and she'd always believed that her feelings hadn't been one-sided. Not that it would have mattered. She could be charming, but even she couldn't seduce a nun.
"Long time no see," Oogway greeted, and Lin opened her eyes to see him standing with her in the snow.
She blinked and took in their surroundings. They stood on a snow-covered mountainside, surrounded by evergreens. Further up the mountain she could see a gray stone building looming over them, as sturdy and as intimidating as a fortress. This, though, was a convent. The one place she had hoped never to see in her visions. "I can't do this one," she warned Oogway. "That last vision was hard enough on me."
"I know," he said gently.
"You made me go back to when Al was still around," she grumbled, angrier than ever at him. "I didn't learn a damn thing, except that these visions are torture."
"As I have mentioned, your visions are not up to me." He took her by the shoulder and turned her toward the convent. "I wish I could teach you this lesson on my own. But this is how the universe has chosen to guide you."
"I don't wanna learn any more lessons," she argued, and she didn't care how petulant she sounded. "Especially not if it means going back to this."
"I warned you already of the consequences, if you reject these visions." Oogway held out a small communion wafer to her, and she glared down at it, resentful of the phantom food.
She resented Oogway, too, and the universe, if it was indeed behind these visions. She even resented Tai Lung, for ever needing help or guidance in the first place. She had a feeling she wouldn't get any answers from Oogway, but there was something she needed to ask, regardless. "Am I gonna be pregnant?"
"I don't know."
"Fine, just lemme go." She took the wafer and shoved it in her mouth, then began the walk up the mountain to the convent. It was difficult terrain, walking up such a slope in the deep snow, but she had been twenty-five years younger the last time she'd taken this walk. She stopped and watched as a plump white dove approached her, walking with ease over the snow. She wore her simple nun's habit and cord, though she was currently without her veil. "Lin!" she called out, and waved a wing.
Lin waved back, though as she continued up the mountainside she found her walk more and more difficult. Soon, she needed to stop and breathe deeply. "Hi, Anna."
"Don't strain yourself," Anna lectured as she approached. "You shouldn't even be out on the mountainside after the way you collapsed." Though Anna's species meant that she was smaller even than Lin, she bossed others around like it was the most natural thing in the world, and she projected such a presence that most listened without question. Lin had this theory that Anna tended to remind people of their mothers, though she'd have to curse and hit her a lot more to resemble her own mother.
She had loved that about Anna. She had loved most things about the dove, really. Despite their opposing beliefs, Anna had proven to be a kind and understanding woman. She was as strong-willed as Lin, and more intelligent than maybe anyone Lin had ever met. Their debates had often lasted hours, and they had whiled away innumerable days together in the convent's library, reading through its archives and discussing the educational texts. Anna had been more to her than just a friend, even if she'd never been able to act on those feelings.
Seeing her now wasn't just difficult because of that, but because this meant that Lin truly had gone back to her first pregnancy. She wanted to argue and fight, run away from this vision regardless of the consequences, but she found herself fading into it, as she had the others. "I can do what I want," she said, as she had back then. "If labor starts in early, so be it."
"I've never met a more stubborn person in my life," the dove replied with a frustrated sigh. "If you want to carry to term, you'll need to take care of yourself."
"It's gonna be too big to carry to term, I toldya before." Lin stretched out her back, looking up to avoid the sight of her swollen belly. She didn't like looking at it. She liked thinking and talking about it even less, but once Anna started in it was best to go along until she was satisfied. "She'll make do. Or she'll die. Either one."
"Lin." Anna touched her arm, the way she did when she got worried. "Don't say that."
"Why not? It's life." Lin continued on her walk back up to the convent, and Anna wrapped a wing around her arm to help her. She decided not to argue, mostly because she liked being so close. "I'm gonna die, too, when she comes. She'll be too big for it to go any other way."
"Have some faith," Anna said gently. "You don't have to believe the worst will happen."
"Why not? It's been pretty consistent so far." She'd already gotten pregnant, and that was the worst thing she could have imagined happening to her. "Since I'm gonna die, why dontchya make me happy and send me off with a bang, huh?"
Anna laughed, shaking her head. "You don't give up in romance, clearly, so why give up on life?"
"I'm just being realistic." The truth was, she hadn't given up. There would always be a part of her that held on to the hope of surviving, that wanted to survive no matter what. But she also knew her odds, and they didn't look good. She'd seen it happen to other dogs, small ones like her. They just couldn't pass their babies, and died. She hoped that didn't happen, but she already looked like a sphere with a head and legs attached, at seven months along. "Why, you gonna miss me?"
"Of course I'd miss you." Anna paused in their walk, and though it took some effort for her to navigate around Lin's belly, wrapped her wings around her. "You're my dear friend, and I don't want anything bad to happen to you."
"Too late," Lin grumbled, but she leaned into the hug. "Stay with me, okay? Until the end?"
"I still think you're going to survive," Anna said with a rather conspicuous sniff. "Even if the baby's too large to pass, I've studied texts that speak of surgical techniques. But okay. If the worst happens, I'll be there with you. And if the best happens, I'll be there, too." She let go of Lin with an encouraging smile, her dark brown eyes still watery, then grabbed her arm and continued their walk.
"Best?" Lin snorted. "Hardly. If I do live, I ain't gonna be anyone's mommy."
"A baby is a blessing from God," Anna argued. "I always wanted one. Even after taking my vows, I still think about it sometimes."
Lin shrugged. "Then take this one."
"Don't joke about that," Anna scolded. "It's a serious matter."
"Then, seriously, take the baby," Lin replied. She'd meant to bring it up a long time ago. Most of the nuns had already figured out that she'd split if she survived the birth, but Anna had that whole "faith in people" attitude going. "I was gonna leave her here, anyway. You should be her mother. Seriously. I've thought about it a lot, and I know for sure you'd be great at it. You'd love her more than anything."
Anna didn't reply right away, only stared down at the snow as she contemplated the offer. "How do you know it won't be a boy?"
Lin laughed at the question. She knew it was Anna's way of accepting, and though she'd suspected the dove would want to raise the child, she was still relieved. "I don't. I just want it to be a girl."
"Why?"
"I dunno," she lied. The truth was, she didn't like men very much at the moment. She'd only known very few not to be cruel and selfish, and if she was going to bring a life into the world, she didn't want it turning out like that. Especially not like its no good scum of a father. "But I know a name. Ifya don't mind."
"Of course not!" Anna accepted, now sounding more excited. "Tell me, I'm sure I'll love it."
"Gia, if it's a girl," Lin said. "And it will be."
"Lovely."
Lin smiled at the compliment. She hadn't told Anna about her sister yet. It had only been a couple of months since she'd found out that Gia had died, and the wound still felt fresh. It was still too difficult to talk about, but she wanted to say something before she gave birth. That way, if she died, the baby would still be able to hear about where her name had come from. It seemed important. In a way, Gia had been the one to bring her to this place.
She'd gone to the town where Gia had lived to find her, only to find her grave. But she'd also met someone else, a woman who had known Gia for the year she'd lived there, and loved her. That woman had told her of a convent, deep in the Alps, in which women dedicated themselves to a pious and secluded life, so secluded that its existence was mere rumor. The tale went that these nuns maintained an archive of religious and educational texts, and were all well-educated. It sounded perfect, so she'd decided to find it. The baby would grow up educated, learn to read and write, and learn about the art that adorned the manuscripts. She would be hidden away, where her father would never find her- if he were still alive. That was a big if, but better safe than sorry.
"Listen," Lin said, since she was thinking of it. "If anyone comes looking for Gia, anyone at all, don't let 'em see her. Okay?"
Anna furrowed her brow, but nodded. "If that's what you want. Is this... For her protection?"
"Yeah. It is." She didn't want to elaborate any further, so she changed the subject. "Now, when I die, I wanna be cremated."
"Not this again!"
"Just put me in the snow," Lin went on, ignoring her protest. "The snow'll melt. It'll form a spring. And the spring'll join a river, and the river'll go out to the sea. And that's where I'll end up."
"You won't die," Anna insisted. "I'll see to it personally. And so will you! I've already prayed for you, and I've got the village doctor on standby for your labor. Some of us, we've assisted in births, so we'll all be on hand, too. It'll be fine."
"Well, if anyone can make it happen, you can," Lin accepted, mostly because she was tired of arguing the point. She was just tired overall. All the time. Tired and scared and empty. Even though she wanted to survive, she still didn't know if she had the energy to fight when the time came. Maybe dying would be like falling asleep and never waking up. Maybe she'd get to rest, and never feel pain or sadness or fear again. She wouldn't have to remember anything, or be anyone, or fight for anything. She wouldn't have to exist anymore. It sounded nice, after all she'd been through, to just fade away.
Lin stopped as she felt something spasm in her abdomen. Then again. The baby had started to kick again, which it tended to do the more she moved around. It was like a muscle spasm, almost, but with the distinct feeling of something moving inside her. She'd heard pregnant women croon about it like it was the best thing in the world, but she hated it. It was too foreign, too much of a reminder that her body wasn't hers anymore. It made her feel sick, she got so anxious and angry all at once.
"Lin?" Anna asked, but she didn't answer. "Lin, what is it?"
"I don't- I don't wanna do this," she managed to work out, her vision blurring with tears. The words felt forced, like it took everything she had just to speak. "Don't make me- I won't!"
With a gasp, Lin was free of her vision. Well, not so much free, as independent of it once more. She could see her past self, heavily pregnant and kneeling in the snow, Anna by her side. She turned around and ran down the mountain, away from it all. She knew if she accepted this vision, if she kept going, she'd go through the birth again. She couldn't do it. Not again.
"Lin." Oogway appeared before her, as if he'd easily leaped into her path, and she stopped to avoid barreling straight into him. "You must turn back."
"No." She felt herself tensing, ready to fight. "Show me something else. I won't do this. Not this vision."
"That is not up to me," Oogway argued, his voice ever serene.
"I've had enough of this bullshit!" Lin snapped, furious at him. How could he act so calm, like this was no big deal? How could he expect her to behave the same way, like this was nothing? She pushed past him and walked away, fully intending to leave the vision behind her regardless of the consequences.
"Lin, stop." Ooogway caught up to her, walking beside her. "If you close your mind and spirit off to me now, I will no longer be able to help you-"
"Help me?" she interrupted. "How in the hell is any of this helping me!? All you're doing is making things worse for me! This isn't helping, it's hurting!"
"Healing can be painful-"
"Then I don't wanna heal!" she shouted. "So just go back to being dead and leaving everyone to figure shit out on our own!" She couldn't take any more; despite Oogway's warning, she ran. He called after her, but she ignored him. She wanted nothing more than to escape from this memory, to forget everything she'd seen and heard altogether. She made it to a frozen stream and stopped, a sudden feeling of intense fear overtaking her. Although she could see the mountainous countryside and the clustered evergreens that should be there, something wasn't right. She somehow knew that if she stepped beyond this stream, nothing good awaited her. Yet, she wanted out of her damned vision and this looked like her only choice- so she stepped forward.
Immediate darkness overtook her, a darkness so complete it was unlike anything she'd ever experienced. It was less like a lack of light around her and more like a complete void, as if nothing existed, not even her. An unnatural screeching sounded, both shrill and deep, loud and sharp like a knife, but also burning. It was all around her and emanating from within her all at once, setting every nerve end on fire. Every one of her muscles tensed as she felt the worst pain she'd ever experienced in her life; she couldn't move, couldn't scream, couldn't breathe- she could only endure the torture. Her very essence was being torn apart, not just her body but her consciousness itself. She ceased to exist and then came back in an instant, her heart stopped and restarted, her mind could no longer comprehend thought and reverted into pure primal instinct. Seconds stretched into a lifetime, and even longer, then retracted back into seconds again.
Suddenly, Lin's eyes flew open and she was back in the sea, standing in exactly the same place she'd settled down to meditate. She gasped for air, her lungs burning, her muscles sore and her fur on end. She could hear splashing behind her, but was too shaky and weak to turn around and look.
"What in the hell are you doing?" Tai Lung called out behind her.
"Vision," she answered hoarsely, her throat raw.
"That's not a vision, it's a hypothermic hallucination!" He grabbed her under the arms and hoisted her out of the water. "You're out of your mind!" he accused as he clambered back up onto the beach with her in his arms. "And for your information, I didn't come all this way just to babysit you while you try to freeze yourself to death! The last thing I need on my hands is a scratchy little mutt-sicle." He dumped her onto the sand beside their fire pit and began trying to get a fire going.
Lin took that opportunity to shake herself out, which caused Tai Lung to sputter and complain. Everything ached, and she wanted nothing more than to lie down, but she knew that she'd be shaking sand from her fur for days afterward. It was bad enough that she was just sitting in the sand. "I'm gonna have a sandy ass forever now," she complained.
"Then maybe you should try not being a terrible nudist," Tai Lung snapped as he finally got a fire started. "What were you doing, standing out in that freezing water and screaming like a mad woman? Did you just come out here to die?" He grabbed a blanket from the tent and tossed it onto her.
"No," she argued, wrapping herself up tightly in the warm fabric. "But I think I did. It felt like dying, anyway. I think that's what it was." She'd come close to dying before, of course, but she'd never felt anything like what had happened to her when fleeing her vision.
"What?" Tai Lung sat down beside her and shoved her flask into her hands. "What in the hell are you talking about?"
Lin stared into the fire, exhausted from her ordeal and unsure of whether she should even talk about it. But she was tired of keeping her visions a secret and trying to figure out what Tai Lung should learn from them. And now that she would probably never get a vision again, was it even worth it, keeping them a secret? "There's something I'm gonna tellya," she decided aloud. "Butya can't spread it around."
"You say that every time you tell me anything," he pointed out. "And who would I even tell?"
"I screwed everything up." It finally sank in, when she said it out loud. "I'm never gonna see Oogway again."
"Oogway's dead, you daft tumbleweed," Tai Lung said, raising an eyebrow. "You do remember that, don't you?"
"Yeah," she agreed. "But I received visions from him. They were supposed to help, but I... I got upset. And I told him to leave me alone. Now I might never get a chance to talk to him again, and the last thing I said to him was that he should stay dead." She brought a hand up to cover her face, breathing deeply. When she spoke again, her voice was even more hoarse than before. "I dunno what to do."
Tai Lung edged away from her, clearly uncomfortable. "So you were... Really having a vision? In the freezing ocean?"
She took a moment to pull herself together, breathing deeply and willing herself to calm down. She just had to hold it together until she could be alone. She had to present a strong front to Tai Lung, even when she was falling apart. The moment stretched out, though, and she found herself just plain unresponsive.
"A vision," he repeated skeptically, his whiskers twitching. "A vision from Oogway."
Lin nodded, pulling the blanket tighter around herself.
"That manipulative old coot," Tai Lung grumbled, crossing his arms. "He can't leave well enough alone, even after death?"
Lin furrowed her brow, then leaned back to stare up at the snow leopard. "Wait, you believe me?"
He rolled his eyes at her. "Why would you lie about that? Besides, Oogway has always had odd mystical abilities. I grew up to him having visions, astral projecting, and whatever else he was up to. The man was practically guaranteed to haunt someone from beyond the grave. Why he chose you, though, I'm not quite sure."
"He saidya closed your mind off to him. I thought these visions were gonna be lessons for me to teachya, but... They were just memories." Lin paused to take another deep breath. "There was so much I still needed to ask him. And now it's all over, 'cause of me."
Tai Lung stared down at her, his expression contemplative, for once. She didn't expect him to say or do anything supportive. That just wasn't Tai Lung. "So the overgrown wrinkle wanted to contact me?"
"Yeah," Lin replied. "And don't ask me how the whole closing your mind off to him thing works, that's just what he said. And I guess what I did. I wouldn't know how to reverse it, though."
"Like I wanted to hear from that miserable old man, anyway," he said quietly, then grabbed her and yanked her closer. "You're still shivering," he pointed out with an awkward cough.
"I didn't realize." She leaned into Tai Lung's side, unconcerned with how uncomfortable it would make him. His fur was warm, and that was all the reason she needed. Even though she'd thought she'd be too upset and confused to sleep, she felt her eyes drooping the moment she started to warm up. "It was too hard for me," she muttered as she fought against sleep. "I'm sorry. Let's just go home."
Yan-Yan sighed heavily to herself as she shuffled into Chen's house after a long day of work. Or, rather, attempting to work. She must have spoken to half the people in Shanghai, all of them former patients of hers and her ex-husband's. Not one of them had agreed to take her on as an independent physician. A few had been alarmed that she'd even asked. And some of them had closed their shutters and pretended to not be home, which would have worked better if she hadn't seen them close their shutters.
She dropped heavily into one of the sitting room's wooden chairs. As much as she'd complained about their guests, the house felt so empty now, with only her and Chen living there. It was such a big house, but it felt cavernous without Tai Lung's sulking, Wei-Shan's weirdness, and Lin's boisterous presence. She'd started rubbing her feet when Chen emerged from his studio. "Hi," she greeted, leaning back in her chair. "What did you do today? Work?"
"Yep," he confirmed, hopping up onto the arm of her chair. "You?"
"Same."
"Hm." He sat down and settled in against her arm. "Leftovers for dinner?"
"You bet," she agreed. "Honestly at this point I could have nothing but plain rice and still be fine, I'm so tired."
"You'll get used to being back to work soon enough," he assured her.
"Assuming I ever get a patient," she added. "If I don't find at least one soon, Meihui will turn down my offer for sure. And she's the only person I can think of to be my nurse. I mean, sure, if I have a small enough client base and only the simplest surgical procedures, I'll be fine on my own. But the goal isn't to just treat five people and drain cysts."
"You'll be fine," Chen said, and she could swear she saw his eyes droop.
"At least I can still be your doctor." As she spoke, the statement gave her an idea. "Say, Chen. You're a regular at a few places, bars and restaurants and such, right? What if you recommended me to some of your friends?"
"I don't got friends," he argued, ornery as ever.
"Chen."
"Fine."
She smiled down at the old rodent, her hope renewed for the evening. "Don't forget to give details. I can do pretty much anything, and I'm not too proud to start small, so don't be afraid to send people to me for gross stuff. If I have to take off a few warts to build a patient base, then so be it. Oh, and make sure to let everyone know that my rates are pay-what-you-can only. If they can't pay, I'll still treat them. Alright?"
"Yeah, yeah, I know," he grumbled.
"Thanks, Chen." She wanted to hug him, but she held off since she figured he'd probably get all uppity about it and storm off. And, despite their earlier discussion of dinner, she found herself beginning to doze off in her chair, just as Chen had.
However, she didn't get a chance to fall asleep before she was brought back to full alertness by the front door bursting open. She jumped in her chair, startled, but it was Lin and Tai Lung who had thrown the door open. The two looked exhausted and filthy, and she noticed as they entered that they were shedding sand onto her nice rug.
Lin greeted her and Chen with a perfunctory, "Hi," and then attempted to walk past them to the stairs.
Yan-Yan leaped from her chair to get in front of Lin and stop her from leaving. "Hi? That's all you have to say to us?" she asked. "Where were you, even?" She waited for some sort of explanation, but Lin frowned at her.
"Nowhere," she answered, then attempted to get past her.
"Nuh-uh," Yan-Yan denied, grabbing Lin by the sleeve to stop her. "You don't get to run off for days and then just walk in here like you're coming home from work!"
"We went to the sea," Tai Lung said as he plopped down into a chair. "It was an exhausting ordeal in which Lin forced me to swim naked in freezing water. Happy, now?"
"No!" Yan-Yan snapped.
"Too bad." Lin yanked her arm free from her grip, still as sullen as a fussy baby. "I had shit to do. Now it's done. End of story."
Frustrated with her attitude and lack of answers, Yan-Yan gave Lin a push, though it barely moved her. "I can't believe you!" she lectured. "You up and disappeared, with Tai Lung, and we don't even get a damn note? You can be so selfish sometimes, did you know that? And I had this whole surprise party planned, and I had to cancel everything, it was so embarrassing-"
"Wait," Tai Lung interrupted, narrowing his eyes at her. "A surprise party?"
"Yes!" Yan-Yan replied, exasperated. "For Lin's birthday!"
"Why should I hafta worry about what other people want?" Lin snapped. "It was my birthday!"
"Alright, that's enough!" Chen shouted from where he'd been sitting on the arm of Yan-Yan's vacated chair, observing them. "Yan-Yan, let 'em get some rest. You can yell at 'em allya want in the morning. Then we'll, I dunno, do something. Birthday-ish. There. S'at good, or you wanna fight all evening?"
"Aren't you going to say something to her about this?" Yan-Yan demanded, only to receive a glare in response.
"Later. Right now, I'm tired, so quit it."
"Fine!" she snapped, angry at the entire situation and everyone involved. "Take her side like everyone else. I don't care!"
"Yikes," Lin grumbled.
"Don't you dare!" Yan-Yan yelled at her, then stormed into the kitchen. "Wants to 'yikes' me," she grumbled to herself as she searched through the cabinets for leftover rice, slamming the doors as she went. "Always running off like it's no big deal. Yikes my ass!"
Lin walked into the kitchen and dropped something round and wrinkled onto the kitchen island. "You wanna celebrate my birthday so much, here."
Yan-Yan frowned at her, then squinted at the thing on the island counter. It took her a moment, but she soon realized that it was a peach-shaped dumpling, the kind that was traditional to eat on birthdays. "So, what?" she asked harshly. "You came in here to yell at me for trying to do something nice for you?"
"No," Lin snapped. "I came in here to tellya to stop being an asshole!"
"I'm not the asshole, here!" Yan-Yan argued.
"Oh, so I'm an asshole, now," Lin yelled at her, throwing the peach dumpling at her. "Excuse me for putting my whole goddamn life on hold to live here and help Tai Lung out! So sorry that I tried to help you out! Sorry that I'm just not good enough forya! Sorry that it's so annoying when I try to trust you, and letya see how I'm feeling! That must be so taxing on your delicate friggin' constitution!"
"Don't act like you're some damn martyr, nobly sacrificing yourself for anyone!" she shouted back, and if she'd seen where the dumpling had landed she would have thrown it right back. "What have you even done this whole time besides work the docks and laze around, huh? Or is getting drunk and staying in bed all day part of your master plan? You act like you're so smart and so above us, but it's not like you're even doing anything!"
"So's that it?" Lin asked in an accusing tone. "You're sick of me, too? Huh?"
"Don't put words in my mouth!" Yan-Yan frowned, taken aback by the question. Did Lin really believe that? She had a sneaking suspicion that she knew who was responsible for putting the idea into Lin's head. With a deep breath and considerable effort, she managed to lower her voice to a normal volume. "Does this have something to do with Chen? Do you think he's sick of you?"
Lin glared at her, though she lowered her voice as well. "C'mon, wake up, Yan-Yan," she said reluctantly. "He's been sick of me, since we were kids. Why the hell'd you think I moved in with Wei-Shan?"
"That's not true," Yan-Yan argued. She knew for sure how Chen really felt, even if he wasn't willing to open up to Lin. Even if she told her friend everything, though, Lin would never believe it.
"You don't get it," Lin grumbled. "You never did. And I don't thinkya ever will."
"Fine, whatever," she accepted, irritated by the accusation. "That still doesn't mean you can treat me like crap!"
Lin crossed her arms, her nostrils flaring. "Since when?"
She'd already started, so she might as well spill her guts. Worst case scenario, she would no longer be friends with Lin by the end of it. But it seemed to her, at this point, that that's where they would end up if she kept her mouth shut. "Well, you used to treat me like there was something special between us, until you felt like flirting with some girl or running off to Wei-Shan. Maybe it's not the most mature thing in the world, but it's not the most unreasonable thing ever if I feel slighted when you do those sorts of things without thinking about me. You ran off to the beach without even a note, and you didn't think about how I might worry. And I told you that I still don't like Meihui or feel okay around her, but you still flirted with her, because apparently the world would end if you listened to someone else instead of doing whatever you want. You're inconsiderate, and thick-headed, and you always want everyone's attention, even when you're not willing to pay attention to them."
"Okay," Lin replied, her eyebrows raised. She looked taken aback by the admonishment.
"That's what my problem is," Yan-Yan added, embarrassed by what she'd said. She felt like a teenager, again, complaining about the things her friend did that technically had nothing to do with her. "I guess I'm just frustrated, that you don't seem to realize how often you hurt my feelings," she finished quietly.
"I didn't knowya felt that way," Lin replied hesitantly. "But I guess that's your whole point. I'm sorry. And, y'know, as dorky as it sounds, my feelings get hurt just like anyone else's. Especially whenya yell at me." She started turning red and avoided eye contact. "I knowya don't see me doing anything, but the truth is, this's been really hard for me, this rehabilitation thing. I'm on my own with it, and... And I'm not doing a very good job."
Yan-Yan ran around the kitchen counter and threw her arms around Lin. She felt relieved to hear an apology, but at the same time guilty to hear that her actions had affected Lin so deeply. "I'm sorry, too," she said, and Lin hugged her back, holding her tightly. "I'm the one screwing up all the time, lately. I'm sorry my temper's been too short."
"I'm sorry I run away all the time," Lin replied hoarsely, and Yan-Yan realized that, for the first time ever, she'd begun to cry in front of her.
"Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed, then belatedly realized that might not exactly sound supportive. "I mean, you're crying. I mean, don't cry! Or do. It's important to have an emotional release once in a while." She took Lin by the shoulders and pushed her away to look her in the eye, still a bit taken aback by the tears rolling down her face. "Lin, it's alright. I hate it when you run away, but at least you come back. I just want us to be close again, and more honest than we were before. I know you need to take Tai Lung back to the Valley of Peace soon, but... It just feels like we haven't had nearly enough time." She didn't know if it was the best idea to ask, and her recent impulsiveness hadn't necessarily worked out that well for her, but she couldn't stand the idea of Lin leaving again, maybe for good this time. Not when they'd finally aired out their grievances and stood a chance at really moving forward together. "Lin, come back to Shanghai, for good. I know you probably won't, and you're really into Shifu, but we missed you. I'll miss you. You could live here with Chen and me, and we could- we could be best friends again."
Lin wiped at her face with her sleeve, though she was still crying, so it didn't make much of a difference. "I wanna be best friends again, too," she said, her voice more nasal than ever. "But I'm gonna live in the valley. It's what I wanna do."
"I figured," she said. "I just want you to know that I'm never going to get sick of you. Okay?"
"Okay," Lin accepted tremulously, wiping at her face again. "I gotta go to bed."
"Sure." Yan-Yan sighed as she watched Lin go, then continued her search for leftover rice. Chen joined her for dinner, and they ate in companionable silence. Afterward, she didn't feel like going to bed just yet, so she stayed in the kitchen to drink herbal tea and read a sweeping romance.
She liked getting lost in stories about lovers who seemed to have to overcome every obstacle to be together, and she liked the satisfaction of the ultimately happy ending. Tragic endings didn't sit well with her, they were too much like real life. Not that the end of her marriage had been tragic. More pathetic and aggravating, really. That pretty much described the end of her flirtation with Tai Lung, too. Things had just fizzled out without any sort of resolution, and then he'd run off with Lin. Obviously not in a romantic sense. Gods, she hoped not. That would be creepy. But he'd sent the message loud and clear by leaving with Lin that whatever it was they'd been doing was now over. Maybe this was how things went in real life sometimes, but it would make a terrible ending to a story.
Tai Lung awoke, yawning, to bright morning sunlight streaming into his bedroom at Chen's house. He groaned and rolled over, pulling his blanket over his head. Normally on a morning like this, Lin would burst into his room and drag him out of bed for some stupid reason or another. Or to go to work, but he doubted their jobs were still waiting for them after they'd been no-shows. He laid in bed, waiting for Lin to "wake" him, until he realized that she wasn't coming. He got out of bed and got ready for the day on his own, then walked downstairs to the kitchen. He was looking forward to eating something besides those damn plain peach-shaped dumplings, for once.
He entered the kitchen to find Yan-Yan, Lin, and Chen gathered around the island counter, drinking tea and eating from a large plate piled high with those exact dumplings. "Dammit," he grumbled, instantly resenting the pastries.
"Nice ofya to join us," Chen greeted him sarcastically.
"Yo," Lin added, her mouth disgustingly full.
Yan-Yan merely nodded in his general direction.
"Oh, how I missed these cozy familial gatherings," Tai Lung said as he took a seat and poured himself some tea. "And look, peach dumplings. A delicacy I never tire of."
Lin swallowed loudly, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "They're cause of my birthday! Yan-Yan got 'em."
"How old are you now, anyway?" He gave in and grabbed a dumpling. He was too hungry to turn his nose up at food. "A thousand?"
"Hyuk, hyuk," she replied sarcastically. "Fifty-six, and you're a lot closer to it thanya think."
"Not as close as I am," Yan-Yan said in between sips of her tea. "And I'll tell you, I'd better have some patients by then."
"You'll get 'em," Chen said with the enthusiasm of someone who'd spoken those words at least a dozen times already that morning.
She narrowed her eyes at Chen, then turned to Lin. "Lin, are you sure this is all you want? It seems a little simple."
"I aged a year, it's not like I became Emperor or something." Lin shoved two more dumplings into her mouth, possibly only to disgust them. "Not that I'd ever run an imperial system of government. I'd turn it into a socialist democracy, if anything."
"I'd just settle for you swallowing your food," Tai Lung said, avoiding looking at the natural disaster that was her mouth.
"Sorry, that's not part of my five year plan," she said, because she never passed up an opportunity to be a little snot.
"Does your five year plan involve going back to work at all?" He'd probably go stir-crazy if he was expected to hang around the house and gnaw on dumplings, now.
"No point," Lin replied with a shrug. "We'll be leaving in a few days, anyway."
"Leaving?" he repeated, furrowing his brow. "You mean for the Valley of Peace?"
"Yeah, of course."
Tai Lung chewed thoughtfully on his dumplings while the others made asinine small talk, contemplating this development. His return to the Valley of Peace had only been a distant possibility for so long, it had started to feel like he'd never leave Shanghai. And as long as he'd been in the city, it still felt remarkably quick. Lin's words came to mind, about how no one would stick around for him after his revenge. What a bunch of nonsense. He couldn't deviate from his plan, not for any reason.
As much as Yan-Yan had wanted to shower Lin with unwarranted attention, she finished her breakfast in record time and was out the door without so much as an excuse. While normally Tai Lung would have enjoyed having some time at the house without Lin around to irritate him, he followed after her this time. He remembered her comments about how he rarely went out and about in the city, and he doubted that he'd have the freedom to so much as make it into a different room than Shifu once he returned to the Jade Palace.
"Where are we going?" he asked as they headed south along a block of residential buildings with boarded up windows and doors, large swaths of graffiti painted over them.
"We're not going anywhere," Lin replied. "I never invitedya along with me."
"Isn't it your responsibility to keep an eye on me?" he prodded. "What about that whole... Thing?"
"Well, Oogway ain't around to gimme visions and shit anymore, so I guess you're off the hook." Lin sped up, as if she could ever outpace him.
"So, what? You're just giving up?" He had trouble believing that. Giving up on another person, or even a project, seemed out of character for her.
Lin shrugged. "You're not gonna be my responsibility anymore once we get back to the valley, anyway. So I'm thinking I'll just drink until then."
"You could have done that at Chen's for free," he pointed out. He had trouble believing that she would leave just to drink when Yan-Yan had been chomping at the bit to make a big fuss over her.
She stopped in her tracks and rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine, I got some chores to do. You still can't come with me. These're solo chores, got it?"
"You make it sound as though you're visiting a sex shop," he teased, though to his utter horror, she nodded.
"Yeah, that's on the list. Since when're you the clingy type, anyway?"
"I am not being clingy, I just thought you might want to do something rehabilitation related." Truthfully, her odd behavior on their trip coupled with that story of Oogway's visions had concerned him. Not that he was worried about Lin, of all people. But she had been the clingy one, insisting on sleeping in the same tent and scarring him for life with her "body heat." How was he supposed to know whether she was done with all that?
"Pick something to do with your day and do it," Lin ordered. "There, that's your rehabilitation. Learn some independence. Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta place an order for some lumber."
"Oh, ew," he grumbled, wrinkling his nose at the innuendo.
"Bye!" With that, she ran down an alleyway and ditched him.
Well, he wouldn't say he'd been ditched. If he wanted to follow Lin he could have done so with ease. Instead, he decided to follow her oh-so-subtle suggestion and find something to do on his own. He made his way over to the river in the hopes of finding something interesting, and while he was able to get himself an apple to snack on and get some variety from plain dumplings, he didn't find himself intrigued by anything. The promenade was populated with the usual assortment of people walking down the street, talking with each other or running along and plowing down anyone who dared stand in their way. He watched the water taxis surging up and down the river. He'd never gotten a chance to take one, not even when he'd visited Shanghai in his youth. Maybe, some day, he would be able to visit again.
He knew it was stupid, but he imagined riding one of those water taxis with Yan-Yan, enjoying a leisurely day together. She would probably complain to him about her family, and he would talk about work or kung fu. They would take the boat upriver, and then walk back down along the promenade. For dinner, they'd eat at the night market. Yan-Yan would show him which stands had the best soup dumplings, and she'd try to get him to drink because she thought it was funny that he was such a lightweight.
He shook his head, disgusted with himself. Was this what he had become, some simpering, lovesick wimp? He turned away from the water and headed back toward Chen's house. It was time he made a decision. He would either distance himself from Yan-Yan for good, or... It made his palms sweat just at the hint of that thought. He could ask her out. Maybe he wouldn't be in Shanghai for much longer, but that hadn't stopped Shifu and Lin. He wrinkled his nose, disgusted with himself; how could he ever use those two crotchety old biddies as any sort of metric? It was gross. He was being ridiculous, anyway, even thinking of pursuing a woman. He had too much else to attend to in his life, and this so-called romance was only a distraction. A wonderful distraction, with soft fur and an endearingly wide controlling streak.
He made it all the way back to Chen's without having made a decision one way or the other. Once he put his mind to something, he always followed through on it, though. He thought he heard the sounds of wrinkling paper and clinking dishes in the kitchen, so he headed in with the intention of finding Yan-Yan and... Doing whatever he decided to do. She was where he'd expected, sitting at the kitchen island and reading one of her trashy romances while drinking tea.
"Hi," Yan-Yan greeted half-heartedly, not lifting her eyes from her scroll. "Want some tea?"
"I'll live without it." Tai Lung took a seat next to her at the island, watching her read. "So. Have you begun to mourn my departure yet?"
"That would imply some deep emotional connection between us," she replied stiffly. "So no."
He blinked back at her, caught off-guard by the comment. "Alright, then. That's... Aggressive of you."
"Don't ignore me and behave like an ass if you don't want me to get aggressive," Yan-Yan replied, shoving the scroll away to glare at him. "For you information, I wasn't expecting much from you. But it would have been nice if you could have behaved like a normal person after we made out."
"Oh."
"I'm doing this thing where I articulate my feelings in a concise manner," she continued, her tone a little more casual now. "I think I get what happened. It's easy to see that you've never been with a woman before. You got scared off, am I right?"
He shrugged, for lack of a better response. He hadn't expected their talk to go in this direction, but he did know that he actually felt bad for having slighted her. And he thought about her almost all the time. "Fine, you've got me," he grumbled.
"Thought so." She sipped on her tea, surprisingly calm.
"So, then. You want me to apologize? Ask... Ask you on a date?" He tapped his fingers nervously on the counter, watching her for her reaction.
She took a deep breath, then shook her head. "No."
"Oh." Maybe he'd phrased that wrong. After all, why would she have kissed him if she didn't want some sort of relationship? He steeled himself for his task. If he could master all one thousand scrolls of kung fu, he could master asking a woman out. "Well, we should go on a date. So I am asking." That hadn't been as hard as he'd thought it would be.
"And I'm saying no." Yan-Yan sipped at her tea, not seeming bothered in the least by the brutal rejection she'd just treated him to.
"W-what?" he stuttered out, shocked by her answer. "What?"
"No," she repeated. "I thought I was clear after the first two times."
"But why?" He winced at how whiny he'd sounded. The more questions he asked, the weaker he sounded.
"Look, I like you, Tai Lung." She took another sip of her tea, then set it down decisively. "I like you enough to make out with you. Hell, I even like you enough to sleep with you- not that I actually will. But I don't like you enough to try to date, especially considering all the challenges involved. To be honest, you're not even emotionally mature enough for it to be a possibility. I've already raised three children and catered to a man's wants and needs for most of my life, and I have no interest in doing either again, no matter how good you look without a shirt on."
He didn't have anything to say in response to that. He wished he'd accepted that cup of tea, so he'd have something to do with his hands. "Well," he finally managed to work out, suppressing his embarrassment, "that is fine. Not a big deal. Not at all."
Yan-Yan sighed, sounding wistful for the first time in their conversation. "This isn't ever going to be anything, as hard as it is to admit that. It wouldn't ever work."
It took him a moment, but Tai Lung finally managed to get ahold of himself and recover from his humiliation. "You're only realizing that now?" he asked with a scoff, though he doubted the feeble attempt to save face had worked.
"I don't know why I expected you to care." She paused, contemplating the scroll in front of her. "I don't know why I even bother with this romance nonsense. It's not something I've ever actually had. It's not something most people have, I think. Or, at least, it doesn't last. It didn't for Chen. And Lin... I think she'll end up hurt again, in time."
"What do you mean?" He furrowed his brow. "You did want to date me?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. That's the nice thing about infatuation, you never need to know what you want, or to wonder if things will work out. You just enjoy the moment and leave all the messiness for later. Well, we've come to 'later,' Tai Lung, and the only thing I know for sure is that it sucks."
He watched her brood for a moment, mulling over her words. She hadn't spoken as eloquently as she could have, but she'd certainly been concise. He supposed this whole conversation meant that she'd concluded they should be "just friends." He believed he'd heard there was a zone for that.
He tried to think back to his younger years, when he'd spent a lot of his free time with a bossy little bunny by the name of Mei. There hadn't been much discussion with her on any topic, really. He'd never had to speak with Mei, she'd been skilled enough at conversation for the both of them. Then she'd started getting suitors, and that was the end for the two of them. After all, by that age he'd already started to strike an intimidating figure, and when a girl of age to receive suitors spent so much time with a boy, it didn't look entirely innocent. Not that he'd ever thought of Mei that way. It hadn't been the same with her as it was now with Yan-Yan.
Yan-Yan's words filled him with a melancholy he'd never quite experienced. He realized that she was right, which bothered him even more than her initial rejection. "It wouldn't ever work" were her exact words, but he could tell she meant that he wouldn't work for her. He was the piece that didn't quite fit into place. And maybe at the beginning of all this, he would have blamed her for being blind to his charms or having no taste. But not now. Now he found himself ticking off all his mistakes in his head, cursing himself for not realizing what consequences awaited him. "I'm... Sorry," he grumbled reluctantly, his whiskers twitching slightly at the indignity of it all.
Yan-Yan looked up from her scroll, her mouth hanging open slightly in shock.
"Oh, stop that!" he snapped. "It's condescending."
"Look who's talking, the king of condescension." She smiled at him, then rolled up her scroll. "Well, we finally talked about this and the world didn't end. I'd say this was a successful conversation."
"I take it you're leaving now." He watched as she stood up, but he didn't try to follow her as he had Lin. He could at least read some social cues.
"I'm going to lie down for a bit," she confirmed. "Try not to have too much fun without me."
"I actually have a few other dates lined up, so if you'll just hurry along-" He stopped himself as she laughed at his joke, and watched her go. So much for that. He took Yan-Yan's tea set and cleaned it for her. He felt... Disappointed. And melancholy. He tried to think up something to do to take his mind off of such feelings, but he found himself at a loss. He wasn't used to not having anyone worried about leaving him alone, no one to follow him around and act as his self-appointed nanny. Normally he only had this kind of independence at work, but he couldn't exactly go down to the docks and ask for his job back. Luckily for him- or rather, not so luckily- Chen entered the kitchen to distract him.
"You done talking to Yan-Yan?" he asked shortly.
Tai Lung didn't want to socialize with Chen, but he couldn't say he wasn't intrigued by the jerboa's desire to speak to him. "Why?"
"C'mere," Chen ordered, then hopped back out of the kitchen without bothering to wait for him to follow.
He debated whether he would actually go along with Chen for a moment, then decided that he had nothing to lose. And as sad as it was, he also had nothing better to do. He followed Chen into the studio and watched as the rodent hopped up onto his desk as usual. Tai Lung narrowed his eyes at the old jerboa. It was rare that Chen paid him any attention these days, aside from an insult or two in passing. He could only guess what the little raisin was up to. "Yes?"
"Keep your voice down," he ordered irritably. "This ain't some public forum."
"Oh, goody," Tai Lung replied sarcastically. "A secret."
Chen glared at him. "I got my doubts about how wellya can keep your mouth shut, but this's important. So, you gonna at least try to keep this to yourself?"
Tai Lung crossed his arms and returned Chen's glare, though he knew he could never hope to intimidate the man. He contemplated the question as they stared each other down. What kind of secret could Chen possibly want to impart on him? Was it something about Oogway, or the Valley of Peace? Perhaps it was information he could use against Shifu and those useless students of his. "Very well. I shall keep your secret."
"Oh, how very kind." Chen's words were more sarcastic than even Tai Lung's. In a way, his mastery of sarcasm was admirable. "Now, listen up. You're gonna do what I say, or you're gonna end up back at the bottom of that gorge where I foundya." The death threat was new.
"You must have meant it when you said this was important." He was more intrigued than ever. "But you do not scare me, old man."
"Ifya had any sense in your head at all, you would be scared. I know stuff that you never even learned, with your thousand scrolls. Stuff that Oogway never wanted anyone to learn." With such incredible speed that Tai Lung wondered if maybe he was only imagining things, he leapt up and gave his forehead a whack with that little walking stick. "Now quit it with the posing and let's get down to business."
Tai Lung rubbed at the stinging spot on his forehead. If those little whacks with his staff were what Chen had meant when speaking about his techniques, then he had nothing to worry about.
"You're not gonna let Quan outta your sight, got it?" Chen continued, and Tai Lung couldn't help but roll his eyes.
He should have known this was just some speech about Lin. And here he'd thought he had been about to learn some great secret about kung fu. "I don't think that's necessary. Or possible."
"Well, make it possible," the jerboa ordered harshly. "I dunno how your lazy butt's so good at kung fu, but I'm assumingya can take on the Wu Sisters."
Tai Lung blinked and stared down at the old man, a concerned frown on his face. "Yes, but what do they have to do with anything?" Was Chen going senile at last?
"They were sniffing around here while you two had your little beach party," Chen clarified. "And they were looking for Quan."
"What?" he asked incredulously. "They wanted Lin? Not me?" That seemed highly unlikely to him, considering his far-flung reputation.
"Everyone thinks you're dead, remember?" Chen pointed out, and he couldn't argue with that logic. "They mentioned Quan by name. Wei-Shan sent 'em back to the Valley of Peace, but there's no guarantee they took the bait. You gotta keep an eye on her untilya get back. And after, too. It's not likely they'd strike inside the Valley of Peace, but they've been brazen before."
"Does anyone else know this?" This seemed more like Shifu's territory, to him. "What about Lin? She knows, right?"
"Wrong, and she ain't about to know." Chen emphasized his point by jabbing his walking stick in Tai Lung's direction. "She gets even one whiff of this, and she'll disappear again. For good, this time. So she never knows, got it?"
"Alright," he agreed reluctantly. He hated to admit it, but Chen had a point. The last time Lin had thought her life was in danger, she'd fled the country, even when Shifu had guaranteed her safety. With three assassins on her tail, there was no telling how the old woman would react. "What about Shifu?"
Chen frowned, tapping his walking stick on the table. "He's got such a big mouth, and he couldn't take on the Wu Sisters alone even if he tried. They like him, though." He sounded reluctant.
Tai Lung understood why Chen disliked Shifu. After all, the snow leopard could confidently say that no one disliked Shifu more than he did. Still, he didn't know if he alone could be responsible for staving off the three most powerful assassins in the country. He could beat them in a fight, of course, but they possessed a great deal more stealth than he ever had. If they wanted Lin dead, even he couldn't keep a close enough eye on her to stop them. Not alone. "I'll tell Shifu should it seem necessary," he grumbled. "How does that sound?"
"I guess you'd hafta," Chen agreed with a heavy sigh. "Don't let anything happen to her, in the meantime. That idiot's always gotta cause trouble, so the Wu Sisters might not be your only obstacle."
"If you're so concerned over Lin's safety, why don't you and Wei-Shan come with us?" Such a trip would be absolute torture, but then at least he wouldn't have to worry so much about his own vigilance.
Chen shook his head at the idea. "Quan ain't stupid. She'd know right away that something's up. We gotta keep this from her, or she's on the first ship outta here."
"Yes, I'm familiar with her compulsion to leave everyone and everything at all times."
"Calm down." Chen then gestured to the door with his walking stick. "We're done here."
Tai Lung rolled his eyes at the old master's cantankerous attitude, then returned to the kitchen before he had to listen to Chen start complaining or insulting him. He wondered what the Wu Sisters could possibly want with Lin, of all people. Sure, she was irritating, and of course he knew of her criminal past, but he had trouble believing she had the power or resources to make such an impact. And if there was someone out there who'd been after her for the past thirty-three years, then they had even less of a life than he did. Protecting Lin from the Wu Sisters would only do so much- if someone had hired them to assassinate her, then they would likely hire others. It would be best to find the source and attack it directly. Of course, he couldn't do that. He had to follow the rules of his "rehabilitation," or risk losing the element of surprise in his plan for vengeance. Besides, on the off-chance he did end up back in prison, who would ensure Lin didn't get murdered? Certainly not Shifu or his incompetent gaggle of freaks.
He leaned against the kitchen counter as he realized what he was contemplating. He had accepted Chen's orders without question, and now he was strategizing ways to protect Lin. Why? Was this some manifestation of his nostalgia for the bond they'd shared in his childhood? He must have started to lose his mind. He was likely going stir-crazy from being trapped in Chen's house and spending all his time with a bunch of annoying geezers. Once he reached the Valley of Peace, he would start feeling like his normal self again.
Notes:
Reference: the chapter title is a Mark Twain quote. :3
Chapter 19: At the Table with Good Friends and Family You Do Not Become Old
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 19: At the Table with Good Friends and Family You Do Not Become Old
Lin crawled out of bed with a long yawn, pushing aside a few pillows in order to get free. She hadn't been sleeping well, not that she was surprised. After she'd rejected Oogway's vision she'd tried every meditation pose she could think of, dedicating hours to her attempts at receiving another vision. As she'd suspected, the several days since she'd returned to Chen's had been free of even the hint of a vision.
Maybe it was time to set a date for her and Tai Lung's return to the Valley of Peace. It wasn't like Oogway was about to give her any more visions, and Tai Lung had already proven he was ready. She'd given him the chance to run away, and he hadn't. He'd followed her, regardless of where, and he'd stayed with her. He cared, though whether he cared more for her or his own ass she couldn't be sure yet. But he smiled and laughed, now, instead of glowering sullenly. He worked, he cooked, he read Yan-Yan's dumb stories and planned his garden for the spring.
Part of her wanted to leave him here in Shanghai. He seemed so much happier now than when they'd first started. He loved the city, she could see it in his eyes; he had even liked his job, as grueling as it could be. She felt guilty for tearing him away from it all to start over again in the Valley of Peace. But at the same time he needed to make amends with Shifu, and with his home. Oogway had been right, that forgetting the past was wrong. He needed to confront it, in order to truly grow and move on. She'd at least give him the choice, she decided. It was only right. He wouldn't change, anyway, if he didn't make the choice to change. And if he decided to stay in Shanghai, to run from his past, then who was she to judge? She'd done the same thing all her life.
She could address all that later. She dressed herself and headed downstairs to the kitchen, surprised to hear a knock at the door as she descended the stairs. She rushed to answer it, knowing that Wei-Shan would never knock at Chen's door, but still hoping it would be him. She'd spent her entire first day back in Shanghai searching for him, with no luck, and she was starting to think he'd left the city entirely. She swung the front door open to find a familiar little black cat waiting for her on the other side.
"Oh. Uh... Hi, Meihui." Lin stepped awkwardly aside to let her in. She hadn't seen the woman since the kiss on the cheek incident, and she was worried she might have to sit her down and have a talk. She'd never rejected anyone who wasn't a horrible creep, and considering how sweet and fragile Meihui seemed, she wasn't looking forward to it. Then again, she could be totally overreacting. For all she knew, Meihui hadn't given their flirting a second thought. "Wanna come in the kitchen?"
Meihui smiled at her and giggled a little. "Sure, that sounds nice." Apparently Meihui had given all that flirting a second thought.
"Yeah, I get the joke." Lin tried not to sound too negative. She didn't hold anything against Meihui, she was just annoyed with herself for creating the situation. "C'mon, I'll makeya some tea."
"Thanks," she accepted, and followed Lin into the kitchen. "I heard you went out of town for a little while."
Lin furrowed her brow at the comment. "You were over here?"
"Yes, I came to see Yan-Yan," she said as she took a seat at the kitchen island and watched Lin go about making a pot of tea. "She said something about wanting to hire me. I get the feeling you had something to do with that, too."
"Yeah, well, I got some good ideas once in a while." Lin cleared her throat and did her best to avoid eye contact. She could tell from Meihui's smile and the crinkles around the corners of her eyes that the talk was going to have to happen soon. Maybe she could stall a little longer, though. "How's your kid doing?"
"He's been well. He's learned to crawl, already."
"Huh. Making trouble, I take it." Lin finished brewing the pot of tea and served her a cup.
Meihui snorted, then sipped at her tea. "Yes, that's about right."
Lin joined her in the seat beside her, and gulped down her tea while she tried to think of some other subject to bring up. "Oh, you're probably here to see Yan-Yan again. Right?"
"That's true. I'm glad I got to see you again, though."
Lin set her tea down a little too hard at that. "Yeah, uh. You're flirting with me, right? I just... I gotta check. Since you're married."
Meihui sipped thoughtfully at her tea, then nodded. "Yes."
Lin waited for her to go on, but they lapsed into an awkward silence. She had a feeling she already knew the answer, but she needed to ask for clarification. "Yes you're acknowledging that you're married, or yes you're flirting with me?"
Meihui shrugged. "Both."
"Oh, okay," Lin accepted. "Thought so." This was what she got for flirting with a pretty woman while Shifu was off in the valley expecting monogamy out of her. "About that. I sorta... Got someone. Someone I'm being exclusive with, y'know?"
"I had a feeling you would say something like that," she admitted, and Lin tried not to feel too flattered at the disappointment in her voice. "Here I thought you flirted with me first, and I'll bet you were just trying to be nice. It's just, this whole flirting with another woman thing is relatively new to me."
"Oh yeah?" Lin probably shouldn't butt in, but she was already more involved than she should be. "How new?"
Meihui blushed deeply, then turned away to pour herself more tea.
"Wait- am I a first forya?"
"This is so embarrassing," she admitted. "I feel like such a fool. I- I never really thought about women that way until recently. Until we met. You're probably even more put off than before, now."
"I'm not put off at all," Lin reassured her. "I did flirt withya, kinda a lot. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or try to go behind anyone's back, it's just that I think it's fun to flirt sometimes. Maybe it's a bad habit."
"I don't get it." She leaned her head in her hand, which Lin had to admit that she found cute. "You were flirting just to flirt?"
"I guess people don't do that withya much."
"No."
Lin could understand that. Experience had taught her that most people didn't flirt unless they wanted it to go somewhere. "Well, if it helps, I meant all the stuff I said aboutya being cute and hot."
Meihui's ears perked up. "You said I was hot?"
"Well, you are." She realized that could be construed as flirting again. "But I just, y'know, wanna be faithful to the person I'm with. If I were single, you'd already be naked on top of this counter."
Meihui laughed at the description, and Lin was relieved that she seemed to be doing well at letting her down easy. "It figures. The one time I decide to be unfaithful, and you want the opposite."
Lin tried not to think about how much of a chance she would have had with Meihui if she'd been single. "So we're good?"
"Yeah," Meihui agreed, then poured tea for the both of them. "This has been sort of an odd few weeks for me. After we first met, I kept thinking about you. I can't pretend it was love, but I can't deny my attraction, either."
"Since the first time we met?" Lin asked, raising her eyebrows. "When I punched your husband?"
"You had a point about him deserving it," Meihui replied. "And it isn't like I'm pleased about having been a secret second wife all these years. Besides, you were so strong and confident, and a little dangerous." She paused, blushing again. "I'm not being too forward, am I? I've never really pursued anyone. Sexually, I mean."
"You'll get used to it after a while." Lin gave her a pat on the arm that she hoped was reassuring. "You're taking it better'n I did, the first time I realized I had a thing for another woman. I was a nervous wreck, thought everyone I met would find out and come after me. I thought I was an idiot for a long time, too, not realizing it sooner. But that's life. Sometimes people just take a while. You'll be alright, so long as you're kinder to yourself than I was. Well, the world's not always kind, either, but I'm more talking about being alright internally."
"Thanks, Lin. I'm sure I will be." Meihui leaned into her and gave her a soft kiss.
Lin didn't really mind, since she figured this was more about closure than anything else. Still, she didn't enjoy it that much, knowing that Shifu was waiting for her as chastely as... Well, him. She felt like she owed it to Meihui to let the woman end their flirtation on her own terms, though. It seemed like the right thing to do.
"Oh, come on."
Meihui pulled away from Lin like she'd been burned, looking fearfully at Yan-Yan as she stood in the kitchen doorway, glaring at them. Apparently, she was too dumbstruck to try to defend herself.
"Don't make a big deal outta this, Yan-Yan," Lin tried to reason in the hope that she would remember their talk from the other night.
"Don't make a big deal?" Yan-Yan repeated as she fussed with her whiskers. "Sure, okay, no big deal. Just have sex with Meihui for all I care, it's no big deal. I'll just be upstairs, not making a big deal of it." She turned around and fled the room before Lin could explain anything to her.
"Awesome," Lin grumbled with a frustrated sigh. "Uh, sorry, Meihui."
"I should probably go, shouldn't I?" Meihui asked, her voice shaky. "I'm only causing trouble."
"You're not, really." Lin hopped up to walk her to the door. She should have known better than to let Meihui kiss her, especially in the kitchen. Now Meihui felt weird and guilty about her first kiss ever with a woman, and it was her fault. "You don't have anything to feel bad about."
"I was trying to cheat on my husband," Meihui pointed out as they walked through the sitting room to the door. "I know I'm not on the highest moral ground, here."
"Yeah, but let's forget him for the moment." Or forever, she wanted to say, but she held that back. "It was just a little kiss. Don't get scared off just 'cause of Yan-Yan getting upset. It's kinda her thing."
"I'm not scared off," Meihui assured her, and a small smile spread across her face. "Are you worried about me?"
"So what if I am? I can have a soft, gooey inside, can't I?" Lin opened the door for her. "B'sides, I'm going back to the Valley of Peace soon, and I wanna see that you're okay before I do."
Meihui did yet another unexpected thing, and wrapped her arms around Lin in a tight embrace. She even ended the hug with one last kiss on the cheek. "You're a lot sweeter than you seem."
"Thanks." She couldn't help but smile at the compliment. It was rare that she heard something like that, these days.
"I'll write to you, okay?" With those parting words, Meihui walked off, a bounce in her step as she went.
"Yeah, okay!" Lin called after her. She'd never had a pen pal before. It felt pretty good, actually, having made a new friend. At her age, new friends didn't come along too often. Now she just had to worry about an old friend.
Lin found Yan-Yan sitting in her bed, hunched over one of her romance stories and surreptitiously wiping at her eyes with a floral handkerchief. "You cry at those things?"
Yan-Yan gave her face one last wipe. "You don't?"
Lin shrugged. "I don't read too much, these days."
"You should," she replied, taking on her bossy, motherly tone. "Reading is good for your mind and your soul. And it's a better way to pass the time than drinking."
"That's a matter of opinion."
"Look, it's just my way of blowing off steam," Yan-Yan said, tossing the handkerchief at Lin. "That and yelling at you. What were you thinking, going after Meihui like that? Were you trying to get under my skin?"
"No, and I'm not the one who initiated that kiss." Lin snorted when Yan-Yan's mouth fell open. "Thanks, that's a real flattering reaction."
"I knew that little hussy wasn't as innocent as she pretended to be!" she exclaimed, clenching her hands into fists.
"Relax, she's just got a little crush," Lin argued. "I let her down easy, that's what the kiss was about. Like I have stated before, I'm not about to cheat on Shifu. B'sides, you already told me how uncomfortable it makesya, so even if I did get with Meihui I'd be a lot better at sneaking around behind your back."
Yan-Yan wrinkled her nose. "That's comforting," she replied sarcastically. "But I suppose I'll believe you and try not feel too annoyed. I still can't believe I might work with that woman- she must have known I used to be into you, that seems to be a prerequisite for her."
"Believe it or not, this wasn't aboutya." Lin approached her on the bed, but didn't bother sitting down. She felt so ragged, she was worried sitting on a soft bed like Yan-Yan's might put her straight to sleep. "It was about me, and how charming I am."
Yan-Yan rolled her eyes. "Speaking about things that are about you, I've got something." She hopped off the bed and rifled through her trunk for a bit. "Here," she said, presenting Lin with a folded up garment. "For your birthday."
Lin took the fabric and stared down at it. Without even unfolding it, she could see that the blue brocade had been embroidered with shining silk thread in the pattern of ocean waves. "Is this pattern 'cause I went to the sea?" she asked.
"Oh, it's... Well, honestly, I don't have a lot of money," she replied sheepishly, blushing. "So this is a hand-me-down. It used to be my cloak, but I hardly ever wore it, and you don't even seem to have anything for winter weather. I thought you could use it. I'm sorry it isn't new."
"You don't gotta apologize." Lin unfolded the cloak to see that it was hooded and lined with soft wool. "This's probably the fanciest thing anyone's ever given me."
Yan-Yan raised her eyebrows at the comment. "Does that mean you don't like it?"
Lin had to admit, Yan-Yan knew her well. Still, as fancy as the cloak was, she could never dislike anything with an ocean theme. "No, I like it a lot. Thanks, Yan-Yan."
"Good." She sat back down, a relieved smile on her face. "You can be hard to read, sometimes. Oh, that reminds me, some mail came for you while you were gone."
"Yeah, I read it already. Shifu sent me a sexy letter back," she said with a grin. "Wanna check it out?"
"Gross," Yan-Yan grumbled, then after a moment's hesitation, nodded.
Lin retrieved the scroll and returned to give it to Yan-Yan. She wasn't so concerned with sharing the letter, since Yan-Yan had helped her draft hers, and since Shifu's reply was about as explicit as a nursery rhyme.
Yan-Yan snatched the letter from her and practically tore the thing open to read through it. "This is like popping a pimple. It's disgusting, but I can't look away."
Lin laughed as she watched Yan-Yan read the letter. "Even I can admit that this is a highly weird letter."
She nodded, then pointed to a passage in the scroll. "He's talking about your strong, muscular arms," she said with a grimace. "Is this about you, or about his sexual awakening in which he realizes his attraction to men?"
"Hey, Shifu appreciates me for who I am," Lin replied with an indignant sniff. "And I am a woman with strong, muscular arms."
"Who apparently uses them to hold her boyfriend close." Yan-Yan handed back the letter with a disgusted scoff. "I knew there would be some freaky shit in this letter, but you never could have prepared me for that."
"This was simultaneously the most all-ages friendly love letter I've ever received, and the most unsettling," Lin admitted. "But it was pretty sweet of him to make the effort."
"I suppose," Yan-Yan agreed reluctantly. "You have the oddest taste in men. And the most aggravating taste in women."
"You promised to drop that," Lin reminded her.
"I know, I know."
"I mean, you're gonna hafta forgive me if you're gonna write to me in the Valley of Peace," she added. "Since I'm thinking I'll take Tai Lung and leave tomorrow. That won't put a cramp in your thing with him, will it?"
Yan-Yan snorted. "Oh, please, no. That was never really anything, anyway."
Lin was surprised by that, but she didn't want to pry too much. "And you're okay?"
"Yes, absolutely," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "Anyway, you should talk to Chen about leaving. You know that the longer you wait, the more of an old grouch he'll be about it. I'll bet he's still in his studio."
"I'm really making the rounds lately, huh?" She knew that Yan-Yan was right, as much as she wanted to avoid talking to Chen. "Don't be surprised ifya hear screaming and cursing coming from downstairs."
"I never am," Yan-Yan replied, then picked her story back up.
Lin wondered, as she made her way down to the studio, what things would be like in Shanghai once she'd gone for good. Probably a whole lot better. After all, Chen and Wei-Shan wouldn't fight about her once she was out of town, and she wouldn't be around to aggravate Yan-Yan. It seemed to her like things were a lot easier for everyone else without her around. Maybe that was true in the Valley of Peace, as well. Shifu's students didn't seem to like her very much, except for Po. She could tell that her presence wasn't the best thing in the world for Shifu's relationship with his daughter, too. With Tai Lung returning, tensions would be higher than ever. Maybe she should start thinking about becoming a hermit, like Wei-Shan had.
"Yo," she greeted as walked up to Chen's desk, where he stood working on an ink painting of a bamboo forest.
He grunted in response, not that she'd expected any better.
"I'm thinking I should take Tai Lung back tomorrow." She waited for a reaction, but got none. "Just thought I'd letya know. Since this's your house and all."
His ear twitched at her use of his favorite rant. "Yeah, well, I knew you'd leave soon. So, no surprises here."
"Yeah." She hated his sullen behavior, and moreover, she hated that he expected her to accept it without an argument. "You're being a baby, by the way."
"Watch it," he snapped.
"You need to let Wei-Shan back into the house," Lin said, though she felt less than confident giving such an order. This could easily turn into another screaming match between them, and she didn't know if she had it in her to get through yet another one of them.
Chen snorted.
"I'm serious. He didn't do anything wrong, not in my opinion. I mean..." She trailed off, thinking back on the odd vision she'd seen of Chen and Wei-Shan fighting over her all those years ago. "You guys used to fight about me a lot, right?" she asked quietly.
He paused in his painting, his brush hovering over the paper as he frowned in thought. "That ain't for you to worry about," he grumbled, then continued his work.
She had never listened to Chen before, and she wasn't about to start now. "I knowya thought we were too close. And maybe that's true, but I needed someone. I needed someone back then, and I did when I stayed with him, too. You probably don't get it. But don't keep fighting with him just 'cause of me. It's stupid, and I don't wanna be responsible for all this trouble."
Chen didn't answer her at first, acting as though he found his ink painting too absorbing to bother. After a bit, though, he paused again. "I thoughtya were dead, y'know," he grumbled.
"I know," Lin admitted.
"So you heard." He didn't sound especially pleased about that. "You never so much as wrote a letter, in all those years."
Lin crossed her arms, shamed by that simple statement. She had known it wasn't right, never contacting anyone from Shanghai after she'd left, but she'd been too paranoid to send correspondence or to try to return. She'd taken every measure possible to stay one step ahead of the law, and that had included cutting off everyone she'd known in Shanghai. And, to be honest, part of her had truly believed that they didn't want to hear from her, anyway. "I didn't mean to-"
"Never mind," he interrupted. "I'm gladya didn't die, let's just leave it at that."
"Thanks." She approached the desk and watched over his shoulder as he continued painting. Maybe all this meant that Chen really did care about her, after all. Not that he'd ever tell her how he felt. She didn't think she'd ever really know for sure. "I'm thinking I'll leave with Tai Lung first thing in the morning. New Year's is coming up soon, and I honestly don't got anything more to teach him."
"Fine by me," Chen answered distractedly. "Don't sneak out again, though. Yan-Yan'll wanna say goodbye."
"Okay." Lin left the studio, almost as emotionally drained from their conversation as she became from their fights. This conversation had been somehow worse. At least when Chen got angry with her, there was some indication that he still felt something toward her. Maybe after this most recent fight with Wei-Shan he'd decided that he was done with her for good. She wouldn't have been surprised.
She spent the rest of her day alone in her room, though this time she didn't smoke. She wanted to save her tobacco for the road. And as much as she would have liked to polish off some of Chen's premium wine, she didn't think she'd find it very pleasant to start her journey in the morning with a hangover. In the evening, Yan-Yan surprised her by bringing some soup dumplings to her room, and they stayed up late eating and talking about her plans to start practicing medicine again. Not just that, of course. They also talked about Yan-Yan's kids, and some of Lin's more memorable stories. Yan-Yan seemed to especially like the story of her stint in a Russian circus, particularly the part about her affair with the fire breather. It was nice to spend some time together before her trip, and Yan-Yan even stayed with her for the night. She didn't have the best sleep of her life, but it was a marked improvement from the past few restless nights.
Po entered the Scroll Library, lantern in hand, yawning as he went. He hoped there would come a time when he could get a good night's sleep. Or even just half of one. Tigress had come up with a decent plan for them to study nerve strikes, but the late nights required had him falling asleep standing. The worst part was that every time one of his teammates asked about his exhaustion, he had to lie. Hopefully Tigress would come clean to Master Shifu soon, regardless of the consequences.
Gia sat at the large study table, poring over a scroll of characters. She appeared to be in deep concentration, though as he approached he could see her eyelids drooping. "Hello, Master Po," she greeted tiredly, not taking her attention off her scroll.
"Hey." He sat down and glanced at the scroll Gia was studying; it looked like she had moved from mostly nouns onto verbs, like "walk" and "speak." He'd never really thought about what it would take to teach a person to read, and it seemed a lot more painstaking than he remembered from having learned in his childhood. Then again, he didn't do as much of the teaching as Tigress did. He had been paying as close attention to her methods as he could, knowing that one day he would need to take on the role of teacher, as well. Any kung fu master who remained a resident of the institution where they'd learned was expected to teach, in order to pay forward the debt they owed to their masters. At least, that was what Shifu had said. Now that he thought of it, Shifu could have made all that up.
"Where is Master Tigress?" Gia asked him, finally looking away from her scroll to rub at her eyes.
"Oh, uh. She's comin' along soon." He couldn't exactly tell Gia that they had decided to travel to the library of scrolls separately in order to avoid suspicion. It wasn't like she knew about their secret endeavor to teach Tigress nerve strikes. "So, you goin' back to my dad's restaurant anytime soon?"
"To wait tables?" she asked with complete sincerity.
"Ah, no. As a customer." He couldn't help but feel awkward over his dad's behavior upon meeting Gia, but she didn't seem to hold it against him. "Sorry about my dad. He goes a little overboard sometimes."
She nodded to him, though such gestures still felt overly respectful no matter what his title was, now. "I am not someone to fault others for enthusiasm."
"Right," he accepted. "I'm glad. Y'know, you don't gotta be so formal with me." He had a hard time believing that anyone related to Lin could even understand the concept of formality, sometimes.
"Thank you, Master Po," she replied. "But I am not accustomed to the rules of the Jade Palace yet."
"Oh, it's not a rule, I just thought- y'know, it'd be nicer." He shrugged. "Anyway, it's up t'you."
"Very well, then," she said with a decisive nod. "I will consider your suggestion."
"Uh... Thanks?"
Gia suddenly stood from her chair, more alert than she'd been their whole conversation. He'd known her long enough to realize this meant that Tigress had entered the room, and he turned around in time to see her approaching.
"Good evening, Gia," she greeted. "And Po, work on honing your senses. You should be able to sense my approach much more quickly."
Po had become used to Tigress's use of criticisms as greetings, so he didn't take offense. "Okay, I'll work on it."
"Hello, Master Tigress," Gia greeted, her voice cheerful and bouncy at the master's entrance. "I have been studying quite extensively. I hope you will see an improvement in my skill tonight."
Tigress pulled up a chair to the table and quickly scanned Gia's scroll. "Let's get to work and see, shall we?"
Gia jumped into her seat and went about copying characters on paper marked with guide boxes, like those on a child's worksheet. While her characters were nowhere near as neat as the samples Tigress had written, Po could definitely see improvement from her last lesson. He thought it was sweet that she obviously wanted to impress Tigress. He could understand that. After all, he looked up to Tigress just as much as Gia did, and there were many days in the training hall when he found himself waiting not for Shifu's opinion, but hers. His admiration for her was part of why he had agreed to keep her nerve strike training a secret. That, and their friendship.
Po didn't have much of a concept of time in the library, but it felt like hours before Gia had copied and recited all her characters to Tigress' satisfaction and moved on to trying to read sentences. This was the most painstaking part of the night, because the sentences not only included characters from every single lesson, but some that Gia had never seen before and would have to figure out from context clues. Po had always thought it was a little harsh, to make her lessons so difficult, but according to Tigress it was the best way for her to learn at an accelerated pace.
"Po. Po."
"Huh?" He must have started to drift off a little. "I mean, yeah?" He watched Tigress expectantly as she rose from her seat.
"Please wrap up here with Gia. I'll be right back." She was gone before he had time to ask any questions.
"Wow, I didn't realize we were finishing the lesson already," he marveled.
"You were... What is the word?" Gia paused to think. "Snarling?"
"Snoring," he corrected sheepishly. "Hey, I got somethin' for ya." He handed her a new scroll for her reading, a children's story with illustrations. "I used to read this one a lot as a kid. I figured the pictures might help ya figure out words you didn't recognize."
"Thank you," she accepted, though she sounded hesitant.
"What's wrong?"
"This is a story for children," she said. "I only wish I were more... Advanced."
"You'll get there," he assured her. "I didn't learn kung fu until a few months ago, even though most people start when they're kids. I know it can be hard, learning somethin' new when it feels like everyone else's known it forever. Don't let it discourage ya."
"Thank you, Master Po," she accepted with a small smile. "I will remember that."
Tigress returned to the library soon after and bid Gia goodnight. She took a moment, too, to offer the young wolf praise on her progress, and Po smiled at the bounce in her step as she left.
"I know this was supposed to be some kinda cover," he told Tigress as she unrolled their scroll on mapping pressure points, "but it's real nice of ya."
"It isn't nice," Tigress argued with him. "It's the right thing to do. I don't deserve praise just for that." Her words struck him.
He'd always tried to do the right thing, of course, especially now that he was the Dragon Warrior. He'd always expected some kind of acknowledgment or praise, though. Not that he wouldn't give it out freely in turn, but he'd always liked being thanked, or told he was a good person. Tigress had made a good point. If he'd truly set out to do the right thing, then he shouldn't expect praise for it. He should treat it as a normal thing to do, because it should be normal. "I never thought of it like that."
"Hm," she grunted in response, no doubt oblivious to his inner realization. "Po, I've come to a realization." Maybe she had, after all.
"Yeah?"
"We're going to need to draw a new nerve chart." She indicated the old one from Mantis, the tiger with a panda drawn over it. They had begun mapping on this existing chart, but it had gotten so muddled that it was hard to tell the difference between new markings and old ones. "Maybe Mantis will be willing to do it."
"What'll we tell him?" Po already knew this was headed to yet another lie.
"I suppose we could tell him we're mapping nerve points for acupuncture," she replied as she stared down at the confusing chart. "But neither of us have shown an interest in acupuncture before. He'd see right through it."
"Yeah, but he wouldn't say anything," Po pointed out. Mantis might like to gossip, but never with Shifu. Well, sometimes with Shifu, if it was juicy enough. "Okay, maybe he would."
Tigress tapped her fingers on the table as she considered the chart, then grabbed the ink and paper Gia had been using to practice characters. She wet her brush, put it to paper, and... Drew a sweet potato.
"Uh, nice sweet potato," Po complimented, though he didn't understand its significance.
"It's supposed to be you," she grumbled, then dropped her brush onto the table and looked away from him. If he didn't know any better, he'd say she was embarrassed.
"Well, it's not like mine'd come out any better," he said with an awkward chuckle. He watched her, waiting for a reaction, but she just shook her head.
"Sometimes I wonder if we're doing the right thing," she admitted quietly, then turned to face him again. "I know Master Shifu has his reasons for denying me these lessons. And we keep hitting so many walls- maybe they're signs that we shouldn't be doing this."
He had to admit, he felt the same way. Still, he couldn't bear to see her so discouraged. "Hey," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I trust you, Tigress. I trust your judgment. Whether ya think we need to stop or go on, I believe in ya. Okay?"
She stared at him, her brow furrowed, as if she found his encouragement confusing.
He wasn't sure what else to say, honestly. He just... Liked looking into her eyes. They seemed to shine with their own light in the dim library, brilliant gold and ruby like a treasure meant to be admired. He doubted he'd ever get any closer than that to her, but it didn't bother him so much. He liked being the admirer. That way he never had to worry about whether his feelings were returned, or how to behave. He could feel however he wanted, and if no one knew, then there was no one to tell him to stop. He blinked and looked away, snapping himself out of the moment. He didn't know what had come over him. Sure, he'd had a crush on Tigress back when he'd only been her fan, but he hadn't felt that way in a long time. He'd gotten to know her as her friend, and he'd shaken those old feelings of infatuation. He'd thought he had, anyway.
"I'm sorry, Po," she said, and though she hadn't raised her voice her sudden proclamation still startled him. "I know you trust my judgment. But... I don't know if I do."
Po realized then that he still had his hand on her shoulder. He knew he should let her go, but instead he pulled her closer and embraced her. He heard her grunt in surprise at the gesture, and quickly let her go in case he'd made her uncomfortable. "S-sorry," he stuttered out, his heart racing. "Didn't mean'ta- uhm-" He found himself lost for words when Tigress hugged him again. He liked holding her more than he could ever say, so he just closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment for as long as it lasted.
When Tigress pulled away, she gave him an awkward pat on the shoulder. "You're soft, Po," she said. "I mean that in a good way."
"Uh, thanks."
"Now I must go," she announced, then stiffly rose from her seat and walked away.
"Wha- What about nerve strikes?" he called after her, but she ignored him and left without another word. He groaned and dropped his head to the table. He'd freaked her out. He should have known better than to try to grab Tigress, even though she'd seemed like she needed a hug. He should have just talked to her. Now she felt awkward, and he was going to feel awkward in response.
With a sigh, he gathered up the scrolls to return them to their normal hiding place, in the far corner at the very back of the archives. There was some space left at the bottom of the shelf, and since no one was likely to look there, he and Tigress had decided it was the perfect spot. Mostly Tigress. As he pushed the scrolls into place, he knocked one loose from the shelf. It rolled across the floor before he could grab it, unfurling in the process, and he stopped dead when he caught sight of what it contained.
The scroll was an ink painting, of a little snow leopard and a fluffy young dog planting a garden. The two depicted in the scene were unmistakable. They were Tai Lung and Lin. He gingerly picked up the scroll, already faded and smudged from age and use. It didn't take him long to find that the painting had been signed by Lin herself. It was her artwork. He rolled the scroll back up and returned it to its place on the shelf. It had given him a great idea. Maybe Mantis wouldn't draw their chart and keep it a secret, but Lin would.
Lin woke up in the morning to an empty bed and a quickly scrawled note from Yan-Yan explaining that she'd run out early to get something nice to eat from the market. She went through the motions of her morning routine in a fog, barely even able to think about the trip ahead of her. Mostly, she felt melancholy at the thought of leaving Shanghai again. She and Yan-Yan had finally started getting along like they'd used to, she was leaving behind a new friendship before it had even had a chance to get going, and she would miss city living. Still, it wasn't like she had a whole lot left for her here. Chen clearly wanted nothing more to do with her, Wei-Shan had run off and could be headed back to the mountains for all she knew, and it wasn't like she could go back to her job after she'd disappeared without a single word to Li Peng. The only thing to do was to move forward.
She finished packing her bag for the road, and packed Tai Lung's for him like she had for their trip to the sea. On a whim, she grabbed the ruan to bring along, too. She should probably trust Tai Lung to know how to pack his bag himself, but she'd known a few kung fu masters in her life, and if there was one thing she knew about them it was that they hardly ever ate. She didn't want to run out of food prematurely and have to forage, especially since she hated foraging. She then took a moment to stick her head into Tai Lung's room, unsurprised to find him still dozing, and threw his pack at him. "Get up!" she screamed, which seemed to do the trick. She didn't bother waiting for his snarky response.
Instead, she made her way down to the kitchen. It looked like Yan-Yan hadn't gotten back from the market yet, so she figured that she'd make some tea to go with whatever their breakfast might be. As down as she was about leaving the city, she still couldn't help but feel a little bit excited, too, about getting on the road again. Wei-Shan had been right about her, when he'd said it was in her nature to travel. It was one of the things she did best, and she couldn't deny that it was one of the things she enjoyed most in the world. She liked seeing the world, having new experiences, learning things and meeting people, and at the same time she liked the solitude of the road.
She set a pot of Assam tea on the kitchen island to steep, along with four cups. She leaned against the counter, trying to keep her mind off how impatient she'd started to feel. She didn't like to linger, once she'd decided to leave a place. It was like swimming in ice cold water, it was best to jump in without hesitation. Plus she was getting hungry.
Lin turned around at the sound of the back door opening and closing, relieved that her wait was over. "What'dya get-" She stopped herself when she saw that Yan-Yan hadn't returned from the market as she'd assumed. "Wei-Shan!" she exclaimed, relieved to see him one last time before she returned to the Valley of Peace. She ran into his arms and held him tightly. She'd needed to just be held by someone, and she knew Wei-Shan would always be willing to do so without question. "How'd you know I was leaving?"
"I've been spying," he admitted, and she let go of him to give him a slap in the arm.
"Why d'you smell like pickles?"
He reached into his pocket and produced a handful of pickled vegetables. "Want some?"
"Never." She wasn't that hungry. "Y'know, I didn't think you were gonna come back."
"I said I would," he replied simply, then ate the handful of old pickled vegetables. "So I did."
Lin stuck out her tongue in disgust at the sight of him eating the things. "You're gross. And thanks." Since he seemed hungry, she grabbed an orange from the fruit bowl and tossed it to him, and he bit into the thing whole without hesitation. "The way you eat is honestly perplexing."
Wei-Shan shrugged. "Oh well."
Lin leaned against the island and watched him practically inhale the orange, waiting until he was done to say what had been on her mind. "Y'know, I know this isn't the first time you and Chen fought over me."
He didn't do anything more than nod to confirm the statement.
"I told him to stop. But, I mean... I saw this vision. And Chen thought, back when we lived together, that something was going on with us. And that's what all this fighting was about this time, too, right? That he thinks you were... Y'know, a pervert." She raised her eyebrows at him, but he remained deadpan.
"Chen likes to believe the worst of people," Wei-Shan said casually. "In regards to me, he's normally right."
"But not this time?" Lin asked, though she still had her doubts.
"I only wanted to be together," he answered, and from his tone it almost sounded like an apology.
She wanted him to say more, to explain everything to her in detail, but she knew he would never do that for her. So she accepted what he'd said for what she felt it was, a proclamation that he cared for her. "Me too, back then."
"And now?"
"Now, more and more, I wanna be by myself," she admitted. "But I'm too scared to really do that."
"Let me know if I should build you a cabin on the mountain next to mine," he replied, and she smiled at the joke.
"I might hafta take that offer," she said cynically. "When Shifu gets a load of how bad I did with Tai Lung, I'll probably hafta run off and hide in those mountains."
Wei-Shan shrugged and sat down at the island. "You didn't do a bad job."
"I guess you'd know, since you were in Tai Lung's position." She took a seat beside him and leaned in close, lowering her voice in case anyone decided to walk in. "You weren't shitting me about that crush on Chen, wereya?"
"No," he answered at his normal volume. "Why, is Tai Lung madly in love with you now?"
She gagged a bit at the suggestion. "I know you're just trying to gross me out, but that was low. Now, I gotta know what happened with that. Is that really the reasonya reformed and became a kung fu master?"
"Reformed is an interesting way to put it," he replied, but didn't say anything more than that.
"Interesting?" she replied, furrowing her brow. "You did destroy all those mountains, right?"
"Right."
"So... Why?"
"I normally don't answer this many questions about myself," he informed her while he poured himself a cup of tea. "I'll say this: I was looking for someone."
"You were?"
"I said what I said," he told her firmly. "And that is that."
She rubbed at her temples at his obtuseness. She should have known that asking Wei-Shan any questions at all would only confuse her more.
Yan-Yan walked into the kitchen with Chen, then, a basket in hand loaded up with delicious-smelling treats wrapped in paper. She stopped short at the sight of Wei-Shan, and all eyes turned to Chen.
He noticed the tension in the room as they all waited for him to blow up, of course. "Relax," he grumbled, hopping up onto the kitchen island. "It's fine." He nodded to Wei-Shan, ever-so-slightly, and Wei-Shan returned the nod.
"Well, now that everything is apparently fine," Yan-Yan said, placing the basket on the island, "I'll go get Tai Lung so we can eat."
Lin wouldn't say she enjoyed being left alone in a room with Chen and Wei-Shan after everything that had happened, but at least tense silence was better than most of the possible alternatives. She took the opportunity to add another cup to the table and take a look at what Yan-Yan had brought. She caught sight of a triangular package in the basket and snatched it out, tearing the paper open excitedly. "A sesame pancake sandwich!"
"I had a feeling you might like those," Yan-Yan said as she returned with Tai Lung in tow.
"Yeah, Wei-Shan got me one-" She stopped herself and glanced at Chen. "Anyway, it's delicious."
"Wow, tension and drama," Tai Lung drawled, then sat down and dug into the basket of sandwiches. "How new for you geezers."
"I, personally, will miss having a full house," Yan-Yan said, then dug around in her basket and pulled out a carefully wrapped bowl of fried bean gluten. "I thought a little variety would be nice."
All things considered, it was a pleasant breakfast. Despite Yan-Yan's statement that her flirtation with Tai Lung was over, the two of them carried on their usual banter, and Chen seemed to be making an effort with Wei-Shan. Lin just stuffed her face and enjoyed the company. She hadn't realized when she'd decided to stay in Shanghai how much she would hate leaving. When she'd first arrived, all she'd wanted to do was get as far away as possible. Now, it felt more like home to her than it had in a long time.
"Tai Lung, tell me these sandwiches aren't the best thing you've ever had in your mouth," she said as she started in on her second helping.
"Yes, we get it, you are obsessed with food," he replied with a roll of his eyes, and she elbowed him in the side in turn.
"Whatever, they're the best thing I've ever had in my mouth."
"Nobody wants to hear about what's been in your mouth," he shot back.
"Actually, I find those stories quite entertaining," Yan-Yan argued as she picked at her fried bean gluten. "As long at there aren't too many details."
"Can we change the subject?" Chen asked, a grumpy frown on his face.
"Okay," Lin accepted. "Then tell me what you guys wanna do for the next few weeks."
"Curl up and die," Yan-Yan answered.
Chen scoffed at the statement. "Everything has to be such a big deal withya."
"Well, I still haven't found any patients," she said with a sigh. "I know it's still early, but I haven't received any promising responses. And what happened to your friends at the bar, hm?"
"I can't just make people sick," he argued back.
"Technically you can," Wei-Shan chimed in. "Nerve strikes. Or you could just injure them."
Chen snorted. "I'm not gonna attack innocent people just so she's got someone to patch up."
"If it helps, the concepts of innocence and guilt are ultimately meaningless in the greater context of the universe," he replied with a casual shrug.
"Yeah," Chen said sarcastically. "That helps a whole bunch."
"Well, what if we just find an asshole?" Lin asked in between bites of her sandwich. "Then it's not a big deal to break a few bones, right?"
"Alright," Yan-Yan cut in, "I'm just going to go ahead and say that allowing anyone to injure people for my practice is a breech of ethics."
"Every time you old farts reel me in, you disappoint," Tai Lung complained. "Here I thought you might actually say or do something interesting for once."
"Oh, you'll have plenty of interesting times out on the road with me," Lin informed him with a grin. "I'm bringing my ruan with me."
"You've got a very liberal definition of what belongs to you," Tai Lung pointed out.
"Nerd," she teased, amused by the offended frown that crossed his face.
"Tell me about it," Yan-Yan added.
Lin smiled at her. Maybe things in Shanghai weren't perfect, and maybe they never would be, but in that moment she felt good. Their casual talk and joking made it seem as though all the angst and drama of the past few weeks hadn't happened. That was the magic of goodbyes, though. Suddenly, when everyone knew that their time together would soon be up, they dropped all their squabbles and everything seemed fine. Just for a little while.
It wasn't long before Lin knew it was time to leave or they would never get out of the house. "Tai Lung, grab the bags," she ordered, and though he complained under his breath, he did as she'd said. "And don't leave the ruan behind!" she called after him.
Before she knew it, Yan-Yan had grabbed onto her and was squeezing her more tightly than she thought the cat was capable of. "I'll missya, too," she wheezed out.
"You will write," Yan-Yan said. "Even if there's nothing to write about. Okay? It's going to be so boring around here with only Chen for company."
"And possibly Meihui," Lin added. though Yan-Yan rolled her eyes.
Then Yan-Yan surprised her by hugging Tai Lung the same way, the moment he rejoined them. Judging by the look on Tai Lung's face, he was just as surprised by the gesture, and more than a little uncomfortable. "Okay," she said with a small sniff. "Now you both need to leave before I cry."
Lin turned to Chen, unsure of what to really say. "Well, I guess this's bye for now."
"Seeya later," he said, and that was apparently all he had for her.
She didn't know why she had bothered to hope for anything more. Chen had never been willing to admit he was wrong, to apologize, or to say anything even remotely positive. She shouldn't need to keep learning her lesson over and over again. At this point, though, his apathy only elicited a dull ache. She'd resigned herself to her role as nothing more than an annoyance to him. She turned her attention to Wei-Shan instead.
Wei-Shan only waved at them, though that stung a little less considering the conversation they'd had earlier.
She decided to listen to Yan-Yan and get out of there before it got too hard. More goodbyes and waving followed as she and Tai Lung walked out the door and around the corner, into the morning crowds. Lin paused for a bit, but resisted the urge to look back. She didn't like looking back when she left a place, especially since her volatile lifestyle meant there was always a chance she'd never get to return.
"We've got company," Tai Lung warned her, and she didn't have time to ask what he meant before Wei-Shan stepped in front of her.
"Bwah! I mean, uh." She glanced up at Tai Lung, who was scowling as usual. "A minute, please?"
"Ugh," he replied, then walked down the street and waited, arms crossed.
"What a baby," Lin said with a sigh, then turned back to Wei-Shan. "Got something else for me? Maybe more information that might help with the big baby?"
"Not quite," he answered.
She glanced at Tai Lung, just to make sure he was as uninterested in her conversation as she'd expect. "You know I'm not huge on long goodbyes."
"There is some information I owe you," he said, and for once he actually sounded serious. "I believe you asked me once about these things you call feelings." So much for sounding serious.
Lin pushed him, rolling her eyes at the comment. "Don't worry about it."
"I do have an answer for you," he insisted. "You should pay attention. I'm only saying this to you because you've been waiting to hear it from someone. Maybe not from me, but I hope it will help."
"So you're gonna lie," Lin concluded flatly.
"No," Wei-Shan argued, then pulled her close. "Now listen closely. I won't repeat it."
She sighed, expecting some stupid bit of deflection or a brush-off, like he usually gave her. "Go ahead."
"You're everything to me," he said, startling her with how abrupt, not to mention intense, the sentiment had been. "And I don't say that lightly. You were from the moment we met, and you will be until the day I die. The time we've had together has been brief, yes. But to me, it could fill a lifetime. Do you understand?"
Stunned, she only nodded in response.
"Good." He held her tightly again, though only briefly. "Now get lost."
"Okay," she accepted, at a loss for what else to do. She rejoined Tai Lung, and waved him along. She didn't know what to think or how to feel about that particular goodbye, so she focused on weaving through the crowded streets and leading Tai Lung out of the city. The sooner they got out on the road, the better.
Tai Lung glanced down at Lin as they walked south through the rice fields outside Shanghai, on their way to the main trade road that would take them back to the Valley of Peace. The sun still shone high in the sky, though that didn't stop the wind from giving him a chill. The most unusual part of their trip, thus far, was Lin's continued silence. He wasn't used to her keeping her mouth shut. She hadn't even been able to do so during their trip to the shore, which as far as he could tell had apparently been a meditative journey. It had been so many hours since she'd said something that he finally caved and spoke first. "What was that, when we were leaving?"
"Nothing," she replied evasively. "Just a goodbye."
"Hmph." He supposed he could understand that. After all, Yan-Yan had shared one last embrace with him before their departure. That had been nice. "Your silence is beginning to unnerve me," he admitted. "Normally you're the loudest old woman in the world."
"I dunno," she said, then glanced up at him with a frown. "It's a lot, leaving everyone. I'm sureya feel the same way."
He did, not that he'd ever say so to her.
"B'sides... I really thought Chen was gonna say something."
Tai Lung considered turning around and walking straight back to Shanghai. "More of your drama, I gather."
"I don't mean to whine about this shit all the time," she grumbled. "I just- I dunno. I thought maybe, before we left... I'd at least get an apology. Something. I guess I was stupid to think that."
He wanted to ignore her, but he couldn't help but listen. And he couldn't help but see the past flash before his eyes, Shifu's apology, and how it had blindsided him for a split second. But it had been too little, too late. All he'd been able to feel, hearing those words, was anger. What kind of pain could he have been spared from, if those words had come sooner? What would his life be like, then? Would he even be with Lin right now?
"Yo, kid."
He blinked, realizing at Lin's call that he'd stopped in his tracks. With a noncommittal grunt, he caught up to her. "Forget about Chen," he told her. "He's nothing but a little worm, so leave him to his dirt."
She snorted at the advice. "Geez, I wonder whatya say about me when I'm not around."
"If he did apologize, would you forgive him?" Tai Lung blurted out, though he regretted it. He didn't need to start psychoanalyzing himself, and certainly didn't need to do so by asking for Lin's input.
Lin shrugged. "Dunno," she answered. "I think I'd try, at least. Doesn't mean I'd succeed."
He marveled at the honesty of her answer. When they had first been stuck together in Shanghai, he would have bet anything that most of what came out of the old dog's mouth was some shabby attempt at wisdom, meant to steer him onto the "right path." Now, he was certain that she only ever spoke her mind, regardless of whether she thought it would hurt or help him. "Is it even worth trying?"
"Maybe things wouldn't work out," she said, her tone of voice thoughtful. "But... It's not like what I really want is to fight for the rest of our lives. So I guess it's worth trying to forgive the little prick, 'cause that'd end the fight. And... Ah, never mind. You don't wanna hear me whine about feelings and crap."
"That is correct." He found himself feeling curious for once, but he doubted he could ask after her personal life without regretting it.
"I'm glad we're outta there, sorta."
"Sort of?" he repeated, arching an eyebrow down at her.
She shrugged. "I'll miss Yan-Yan."
"Hm," he agreed.
"And Wei-Shan."
"Nope."
She punched him in the arm, and he let the hit land. It almost hurt, but not quite. "We don't gotta leave everything behind. We can still plant a garden at the Jade Palace- that old plot's got nothing on it now. There's plenty of time to plan, still."
He rolled his eyes at her. "I am sure that would go over so well with Shifu and his gaggle of numbskulls."
"So ignore 'em."
He laughed. "That must be the first piece of good advice you've given me throughout this whole ordeal."
She suddenly stopped walking, and grabbed his arm to stop him, too. "You don't hafta go with me."
"What do you mean I don't have to come?" This moment was heavily reminiscent of their walk to the sea.
"You like it in Shanghai," she said. "And I knowya had a thing for Yan-Yan. You could probably get another job, too. I mean, you got a life there. It might not seem like all that much to you now, but I know you'll miss it. So ifya wanna turn back, then I'll do what I can. I'll go back alone. It's up to you, now, Tai Lung. It's your choice." She watched him, waiting for a reaction.
He couldn't say he had any reaction to her words, initially. He had never expected to be offered a choice, certainly not at this point. And when she'd given it to him, he found himself uncertain of what he wanted. Mere weeks ago he would have returned to the Valley of Peace in a heartbeat, seeking his revenge. He'd be lying, of course, if he said that the idea of revenge didn't still appeal to him. Yet the thought of staying in Shanghai, perhaps having a little apartment of his own, spending evenings with Yan-Yan... It tempted him. He wondered, briefly, if Lin had gone through this sort of indecision when she'd had the choice to stay in the Valley or follow through with her plans. "If I stayed, Shifu would certainly send his students after me," he argued.
"Like I said, ifya wanna stay in Shanghai, I'll do what I can."
He stared down at the little dog, his eyes wide. He couldn't have understood her properly- if he had, then she'd just suggested that she would be willing to betray Shifu for him. "What you can?" he scoffed, regaining his composure. "And what is that?"
"Obviously I can lie," she replied easily. "Chen probably wouldn't go forya sticking around, but between me and Wei-Shan we could figure out somewhere to hideya for the time being. Yan-Yan might not approve of it, but I'll bet she'd go along, too. We can make it look likeya left the city, gimme time to try to convince Shifu it ain't worth chasingya. Probably won't work. But I'll try, ifya want me to."
He tried to deny it to himself, but he couldn't; in that moment, he felt affection for the old woman. "Don't," he said, without thinking. What was wrong with him, lately? He was a warrior, he was trained to fight, to survive- why should he care about what Lin did? Yet he couldn't help but remember what else he'd been trained for. He'd been trained to protect people. That was what Shifu had always told him. That kung fu was for protecting people, and that was it. And now with Lin's safety threatened, he also found himself not wanting to leave her side. He couldn't believe he'd gotten so soft after such a short time in Shanghai. He should return to the Valley if for no other reason than to rectify such weakness. "I'll go back to the Valley."
Even as he said it, he felt a pang in his chest. He wanted to stay in Shanghai with Yan-Yan, he wanted to go back to his job down at the docks, he wanted to plant a windowsill garden come spring. He rubbed at his temple, sighing heavily. Was this what it felt like to get old? He'd reached forty already, perhaps he'd begun some form of early-onset senility.
"You can still write to Yan-Yan," Lin said, as if she could read his tortured mind. "And who's to say you can't go back there? We dunno what the future holds. I promise, ifya ever change your mind, ifya wanna come back to Shanghai, I'll make it happen."
The sincerity in her voice bothered him. "Stop it with your empty promises." He hated when she sounded so certain of the things she had no power to guarantee. At least now he was old enough to know how powerless she was.
"It ain't empty," she argued. "I think you'll agree that if there's one thing I'm good at, it's running away."
"No, I can't deny that." And he could no longer deny that, just as it was when he'd been a child, his best friend in the world was this grubby little lint ball of a dog. "But there is something to be said of finishing what you start. Perhaps you would have learned that, had you bothered to keep learning kung fu."
She laughed and punched his arm. "Careful there! You're starting to sound like your dad."
He faked a gag, which caused her to laugh even harder. "The day I become like that damn shrew is the day you have permission to put me out of my misery."
"What, and deny me the pleasure of watching said misery? I'm sure it'd be hilarious." She shot him a smile, genuine and warm as it had been when he'd been a child. Back when that smile had easily convinced him he'd been her whole world, before he'd so painfully discovered he'd been wrong in ever thinking such a thing.
He sighed, mostly at himself; he'd been seven years old when all that had happened. It was not as if any of it mattered now. He wasn't a child any longer, and he wouldn't linger on childhood disappointments, either.
Lin elbowed him in the arm. "What's with the morose expression alluva sudden?"
"Nothing much," he lied. "I just realized that I'm going to have to spend two weeks on the road with you."
She snorted, then continued walking. "I got a way to make the time fly," she said, then grabbed the ruan from her back and began tuning the strings.
"Oh no," Tai Lung complained. "Anything but that."
"How about a game of 'I spy'?" she suggested.
"I stand corrected." In spite of himself, he found Lin's irritating behavior comforting. At the very least, it was something familiar to hold onto as they traveled forward together, uncertain of their futures.
"I knew that old coot wasn't to be trusted." Zhin crouched low, concealed in thick green shoots of rice as she hid in a paddy, observing the road out of Shanghai with a small telescope. "There's the old dog, plain as day. You were right about staking out this road, Qiang."
"See?" Qiang replied with a triumphant smile. "I can be the idea-woman, too, once in a while."
"I hate this job," Bai whispered miserably, her arms crossed as she sulked. "Why did we have to crouch in this cold, wet, rice field? She's obviously headed to the Valley of Peace, either way."
"Take a look at who she's with," Zhin ordered, then handed her the telescope.
"You mean that dock worker? Who cares?"
Zhin glared at her until she gave in, and with a heavy sigh, she lifted the telescope to her face.
"Oh my goodness," Bai gasped, then immediately handed the thing over to Qiang. "That's no dock worker."
"Exactly," Zhin confirmed grimly. She wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, but anyone with even the slightest knowledge of kung fu and its history would have recognized the snow leopard accompanying Lin in an instant. It was Tai Lung. "I could have sworn the Dragon Warrior killed him."
"I guess not," Qiang replied.
"Thank you for your valuable input," she shot back sarcastically.
"If Tai Lung is alive, and with that little fur ball-" Bai stopped herself, her eyes narrowing as she thought. "This is very valuable information," she concluded slowly.
Zhin nodded in agreement. "And we should be careful with whom we share it."
Qiang watched the two of them, her expression innocent and wide-eyed as always. Still, she was as much an assassin and a businesswoman as the two of them. "I don't think we should tell the Captain about this. Not right away."
"You're quite correct."
Bai frowned, her nostrils flaring. "Especially considering he never messengered us our money as agreed."
That little detail hadn't gone unnoticed to Zhin. Perhaps he'd decided to pay them in full upon their return, but she doubted it. The three of them had dealt with men like Zhengsheng before, and she knew from experience how quickly such deals could go sour. "We have our orders. We're not to go after Lin just yet."
"Not that we could, with Tai Lung right there," Qiang added, and she was right.
While they had never faced Tai Lung in battle before, if the tales were true, she didn't like their chances. After all, assassins were all about the element of surprise, the quick kill. They could hold their own in a battle, but against a powerful opponent such as Tai Lung, they would tire quickly. "This is the definition of an unforeseen development," Zhin grumbled. "Who is this little dog, anyway? How does she have such connections?"
"We could try asking," Qiang said.
Zhin rolled her eyes at her sister's suggestion. "Sure, Qiang, we'll just discuss it over a friendly pot of tea and a fight to the death."
"He is quite the specimen," Bai mused, clearly having gone off into her own little erotic world. "Like a hulking he-beast, glistening with the sweat of his labor in the noon sun- is it warming up out here?"
"Just kill me now and get it over with," Zhin snapped. "The two of you are impossible."
"Don't blame me for this ridiculous job," Bai replied indignantly. "And by the way, geniuses, what are we supposed to report to the Captain if we keep Tai Lung's existence among the living a secret?"
Zhin tapped at her chin as she thought. It was an excellent point, but from what they'd observed, they had enough to report already. "He wants to know what she was doing in Shanghai, and if Shifu's really her ally. We know she was with Tai Lung now, and we know she was with Shifu earlier. If you ask me, they're definitely headed to the Jade Palace. Whether to fight Shifu or to punish Tai Lung, I don't know."
Qiang nodded along with her train of thought. "Maybe we should follow them longer."
Zhin would have done that very thing- if they'd been paid. "No. We don't work for free."
"Preach, sister," Bai agreed.
"We'll return to Zhengsheng, we'll tell him about our conclusions while keeping Tai Lung our little secret, and we'll demand the money we're owed. Then, if he offers us enough money, we may reveal what we know about Tai Lung. Agreed?" Zhin waited for her comrades to give her plan their approval, then slunk through the rice paddy toward dry land. Worst case scenario, Zhengsheng refused to pay them and attacked them for their trouble. She liked their odds with him a lot better than she liked their odds with Tai Lung.
Tai Lung suppressed a shiver as he performed his usual chore of setting up a tent. After a few days they'd gotten to a road, some shortcut of Lin's that was really more of a back road for bandits and the like. He had no complaints about the privacy the road afforded, considering his status as an outlaw, but the bamboo forest they'd entered made him nervous. He hadn't forgotten Chen's warning, and he knew that in an endless expanse of tall, green bamboo the Wu Sisters could be lurking anywhere. They could ambush him at any moment in an attempt to take out Lin, and of course if they'd seen him already then he had to worry about them spreading word that he hadn't died.
He took a deep breath to calm himself. He had trained to hone his senses for many years. If the Wu Sisters approached, he would know it. Unfortunately, his heightened senses weren't so helpful when it came to the cold weather. The older he got, the more it felt like the wind blew right through him. It didn't help that Lin had refused to light a fire, citing her concern that bandits would attack as her reasoning. As much as he'd pointed out that he could take any two-bit bandit blindfolded, she'd refused. Eventually, he'd accepted that she had a point. If he did fight off roving bandits, the nitwits would make quick work of leaking the secret that he'd survived his fight against the Dragon Warrior. That would put a kink into everyone's plans, including his own. And he had to admit that it was a good idea to try to keep a low profile, considering the Wu Sisters could be searching for them at this very moment. Still, he didn't look forward to the long, cold night ahead of them.
He crawled inside the tent the moment he'd finished it, then wrapped himself up in his blanket, ignoring Lin as she burrowed under the blanket beside him without so much as asking. He knew what she'd say if he objected. "Body heat." He grimaced, sure he'd never think of that phrase the same way again.
Suddenly, an arm shot out from under the blanket, dangling a beat up old flask in his face. "Need a little warming up?" Lin's muffled voice sounded from somewhere around his shoulder.
He didn't like the idea of drinking again, but he was desperate at this point. Hesitantly, he took a sip from her flask, then immediately began coughing and spluttering. "Poison!" he wheezed. "Poison!"
Lin finally poked her head out from under the blanket, cackling as she snatched the flask from him. "You're such a lightweight." She punctuated the accusation with a deep gulp of the questionable alcohol.
"Is that even liquor?" he asked dubiously, and she only laughed again. She'd been right about it, though. His face already felt flushed, and a warm tingling sensation had begun to spread from his belly outward. "Fine, I'll take more." He took the flask from her and sipped again, unable to keep from coughing at the acidic burn.
Lin took her turn and practically chugged the stuff, unperturbed by its strength. "This's the good stuff," she informed him. "Took it from Chen."
"Are you sure this wasn't his paint stripper?" Tai Lung asked, already feeling woozy from the few sips he'd taken. Then he let out a small belch. "Oh gods," he groaned, dreading the havoc the drink would wreak on his digestive system.
"You're so melodramatic," she replied, drinking deeply from the flask again. "I just wanted something that'd get me drunk, y'know?"
"So it is paint stripper," he concluded, and she laughed again.
"Whatya had last time was beer," she explained. "This's hard liquor. S'lot stronger." She downed the stuff one more time, then shoved the flask into his hands. "I got an okay buzz going off'a this stuff. How's about you?"
"Ugh," he replied, then drank again. It got slightly easier to swallow the stuff with each attempt. "I'm only doing this so's I don't not freeze. Don't freeze." He shut his eyes, a wave of dizziness coming over him. Why he'd ever thought it would be a good idea to drink again, he didn't know.
"Oh, you'll still freeze," she said casually. "Jus' won't feel it coming, s'all."
"Fun." He gave the flask a shake, realizing belatedly that they'd nearly finished off its contents already. No wonder he felt so tipsy. "If we freeze, I blame you. Infa- In fact, I blame you for... Everything. I dunno. Ugh."
She remained silent in response to his proclamation, and he thought for a moment that she had fallen asleep. That would have been nice, though part of him wanted her awake so he could continue to berate her for getting him drunk again.
"Hey, Keung," Lin suddenly said, then tore the flask from his hand and drank the last of the liquor from it. "I mean- Tai Leung. Tai Lung."
"What?" He rubbed at his forehead, though his arm felt like lead. "Wha- wa's it?"
"Did I- I mean, uh. Oogway said I hadta do the rehab thing t'you." She tossed the now empty flask onto his chest. "Bop! But like, izzat 'cause I, like, ruinedya? I wasn't, y'know, good with kids. Ever. Andya hung around me a lot. I prob'ly said some shitty stuff t'ya, right? Did I like, makeya bad? Wuzzit my advice?"
"Someone thinks highly of herself," he grumbled, then suppressed a belch. "You're not so speshul. Ssssspecial. I'm a snake."
"You can't holdyer drink, dummy," Lin said with a laugh.
"Whatever!" Tai Lung dismissed. He didn't need her sass, especially when he'd only downed her furniture polish to stay warm. "Sass mouth."
Lin laughed at the insult. "Old lady!"
"I'm tryin'ta say a thing," he snapped. "I'ma guy who did lotsa stuff, right? And stuff did to me. Uh. Well, y'get my meaning. But that's years of stuff. Years. I knew you for a few months. You weren't so bad. Good. Y'were good. F'rme. There. Stop. Geroff me."
"Awwwww," Lin simpered, reaching up to pinch his cheeks. "Was I yer mommy?"
"Stop," he repeated. "Get. Off. Me."
"Bleugh," she grumbled, and her breath smelled like the putrid acid they'd just downed. "Whatever." She dropped back to his side, wrapping herself tightly in the blanket. "You jus' said everything's my fault. So I hadta check."
"Oh." He felt an unexpected amount of emotion well up within him, though he couldn't quite identify whether it was melancholy or affection. Somewhere between the two, perhaps. Either way, he didn't like it. This wasn't at all like the last time he'd gotten drunk, when he'd sung along with Lin's ruan and gambled with Yan-Yan. This was much worse. "Lin."
"Huh?" she asked, and it was probably about as coherent as she was going to get, so he accepted it.
"I'm a bad person. Aren't I?" His question hung heavy in the air, weighing him down more the longer it went unanswered. He didn't know what he'd hoped to hear from her. He wasn't a child anymore, and she wouldn't give him the same endless support now that she had then. He shouldn't have expected that.
Finally, she said, "Dunno yet. Tha's up to you." As slurred a response as it was, he felt she would have answered him the same way if she'd been sober. "Good. Bad. I'll loveya either way, in th'end."
He grabbed the flask from his chest and tossed it across the tent, still unsatisfied with her answer. "You don't mean that. Y'said you wouldn't stick around for- for my shit. If I did the revenge thing. Right?"
"Right," she agreed. "But loving someone an' stickin' around for their shit ain't the same thing." She yawned and burrowed into his side. "S'different." She sounded sad, so he stopped pursuing the matter.
"Fine. G'night." He needed his rest, anyway, before he opened his mouth and said more ridiculous things. If he really wanted to pursue the matter, he could do so while sober. Though he knew already that he would never do such a thing once he sobered up. They'd probably wake up in the morning and pretend nothing had ever happened.
He wondered, though, why she'd sounded so sad. He glanced down at Lin, but she looked like she'd fallen asleep already. Was it something she'd experienced? Or was she sad about him? He didn't quite understand yet. Maybe he never would. He remembered what she'd told him at the beach, about the ocean and the things she'd seen. She'd said there was more lurking in the depths than he'd ever know. He had a feeling that warning applied to Lin just as much as it had to the ocean. Perhaps that had something to do with his vision.
He yawned and closed his eyes. He'd let the matter rest for the time being. He'd had too much liquor to think about it now. He drifted off, his alcohol-induced vertigo creating the sensation of being rocked, like he had been on the ocean waves. The darkness surrounded him, and once again he heard nothing but the blood rushing in his ears. Was this a dream? He tried to move, but his limbs felt heavy and his lungs burned. He opened his mouth, only to inhale ice cold salt water. Was he in the sea? How deep had he gotten, for it to be such a pitch black void?
He tried again to swim, but with no indication of where the surface was he didn't know how he could possibly make it. He felt unexpectedly small and weak, in this massive void. He closed his eyes and wished for help, though he couldn't call for it. He knew he'd die without it. But who could help him now, alone in the depths? So this was it. He was dying. He didn't know why, but he felt relief at that realization.
He felt something, like in the vision before. Something was there with him. He couldn't hear it, couldn't see or smell, but he knew. He felt a presence with him, something unknown to him, totally foreign. It watched him, causing a shiver to run down his spine. He peered into the darkness, hoping to catch a glimpse of the creature. Then, directly in front of him, an eye slowly began to open. Not just any eye. A gigantic one, larger his whole head, an unearthly blue-green glow to it. It stared at him, into him, straight through him.
Gasping for air, Tai Lung awoke and sat straight up, then clutched at his head as more vertigo and a pounding headache overcame him. He squinted his eyes open, peering at his surroundings. He was back on the road, in his tent, morning light visible through the flap. Slowly, and with even worse vertigo than the night before, he crawled out of the tent to find Lin heating dumplings over an open fire.
"G'morning, sleepyhead," she greeted, and she sounded about as bad as he felt.
"Vision," he rasped out, then reached toward the water pouch beside her and made a grasping motion until she handed it over. Once he'd drunk deeply, he elaborated. "Like last time, but more." He had no interest in hiding this vision from her, especially after what she'd had to say about the last one.
"More?" Lin asked, raising her eyebrows.
"The thing with me, it showed itself." He shuddered, unsure how to describe the experience. "It was... Awful. But awe-inspiring. The eye, it was huge. Like a dinner plate." He paused to drink more water. "I'm not making sense, am I?"
"No," Lin replied, her mouth forming a grim line that looked out of place on her. "But I understand it, all the same."
He waited for her to explain it to him, but she said nothing more. "Well?" he prompted, impatient with her. "This is important, isn't it?"
"I dunno," she said with a shrug. "It must be, if you're getting a vision. But I dunno why you'd get a vision like that."
"Like what?"
"Like mine." She paused, staring into the fire as she tapped her fingers on her knee. "It was mine."
"Your what?" he pressed, frustrated by her sudden need to be cryptic.
"My vision," she said firmly, as though there were no doubt.
"And how would you know?" he snapped. It still irritated him, how much of a know-it-all she could be.
"'Cause it's my memory," she snapped back.
He blinked back at her, unsure what to make of the proclamation. After all, how could she know that for sure? She was only going off of the admittedly vague descriptions he'd given her. Yet, that vision had been so unusual, how could it possibly be confused with some other experience? It seemed unlikely that Lin would mix up such an intense experience with something else. "What in the hell was it, then?" he asked. "If this was something that happened to you, tell me."
"I toldya all I could already," she replied.
He knew what she meant. She meant those scars. And those comments about the things lurking in the depths of the ocean. But he still couldn't put the pieces together. "So you think I am somehow getting your visions?"
She shrugged. "Sounds like it. After all, I rejected Oogway. It's not like I'm gonna get any more of 'em." She popped a dumpling into her mouth, then tossed the rest to him. "Look, I barely understood what those visions meant when I was getting 'em. I'm not gonna be much help to you at this point."
"Great," he grumbled. "So I get to just guess."
"That's what I did," she said, then stood up. "Now hurry up and get packed. I'm not gonna sit around all day with my thumb up my ass just 'causeya had a vision. We got ground to cover."
He wrinkled his nose at the imagery, but downed his dumplings and helped her pack up the camp without complaint. He spared a glance toward the bamboo forest, as still and silent as the sea had been, and wondered if Lin's assassins awaited them within. Now on top of protecting Lin, he had to decipher her odd visions, which were apparently also her memories. Either way, he wanted none of it. At a time like this, he felt like it would have been easier to just go back to prison.
Notes:
Thanks again for reading, everyone! Not much to say, except for references: the chapter title is an Italian proverb, and Tai Lung's 'Poison!' line is a reference to Parks and Recreation when Leslie drinks Swanson moonshine for Ron's freedom. Anyway, I know it was a bit of a slow chapter, but consider it a breather. Until next time!
Chapter 20: Worries Go Down Better with Soup
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 20: Worries Go Down Better with Soup
The sun had begun to hang low in the early afternoon, the fresh smell of pine clung to the wind, and the brisk winter air felt crisp and invigorating. And Tai Lung hated all of it. He glowered straight ahead of him, following Lin along a winding back road lined with fir trees, determined to express the misery he felt. How had he come to despise the countryside so much? How had he turned into someone who could possibly miss an overcrowded city like Shanghai? Asking himself such questions was pointless. He already knew the answer.
Yan-Yan.
He... Missed her. More than he could say. The days he'd spent on the road with Lin had been torture for him. Every dull moment, every opportunity for his mind to wander left him with thoughts of Yan-Yan. It ate away at him, knowing that he could have been with her had he only done things differently. Perhaps he should have taken Lin's offer and gone back to Shanghai for her. Maybe she would have been moved by such a gesture, and given him a chance. Probably not.
He glanced down at Lin, contemplating her claims about her own extensive experience in the realm of love. Perhaps she would have some insight. Then again, in order to find out, he would have to spill his guts to her. He didn't like the idea of doing such a thing, but he did need to find a way to get his mind off Yan-Yan. This ache inside of him wasn't about to go away on its own. And now that they were nearly upon the Valley of Peace, he needed to take his plans for revenge more seriously.
At least no one had been following them, as far as he could tell. Tai Lung had kept his senses sharp throughout the journey, often waking up in the middle of the night at the slightest rustle of the branches around them. The Wu Sisters, if they had even chosen to tail Lin in the first place, didn't seem particularly concerned with orchestrating her demise. That worked out well for him, though he would continue his vigilance in the Valley of Peace. After all, assassins were trained to strike when least expected.
"Lin." In the meantime, he would address his concerns about Yan-Yan.
"Huh?" she asked. "Wanna hear another song on the ruan?"
"No! I mean, that's not it." He felt awkward even thinking of bringing up the subject of relationships with her.
"Well, go on," she prompted.
"I wanted to ask about... Love." He grimaced in embarrassment at himself and his preoccupation with such matters. He reminded himself that he needed to resolve these lingering feelings for Yan-Yan if he ever hoped to get back on track with his vengeance. "There's always talk of 'the one,'" he went on when she didn't answer. "Especially in those saccharine romance stories. But that can't be what it's like. That is... That's not really a thing, right?"
"It can be," she said thoughtfully. "If you're asking, I've had that."
"Ugh," he grumbled. "I suppose you'll tell me all about how Shifu is the love of your life and all that garbage."
"No, I wasn't gonna say that," she replied casually.
"Sparing me?"
"It just wouldn't be true, that's all."
He stared at her incredulously. "And here I thought you were little Miss True Love, coming back to Shifu after all these years."
"First, don't call me 'Little Miss' anything. Second, I never said I didn't love Shifu. There was someone else, though. Someone who was... He was the one. The whole true love thing. It took me a long time to find that, and even longer to let myself be vulnerable enough to admit to it. But I was close to your age, when I met him."
"And then what? You ran off?"
"No. He died." She glanced sideways at him, though it wasn't a kind look. "I didn't run off. I was home, at our home when he died alone. And you're a goddamn dickworm."
"What's a dickworm?"
"A tiny little parasitic worm that lives in a dick, duh."
"Your face is a dickworm," he grumbled. "And what does that make Shifu, by the way? Your second choice?"
"That's not how it works," Lin replied evenly. "You're right, it's not like in the stories. When you find someone, anyone, you think you've found the right person every single time. And then something happens, someone moves on or something comes between you. Andya find another one, and another one. And each time you're different, and it takes something a little more extraordinary than the last time to makeya believe it's real. But when I found 'the one,' really found him, I knew it. It was scary, and it was hard. It wasn't all roses and quivering loins, or whatever the hell those stories say. That's what made it better, though. The real thing is way better. When he died, I went to India for three years to, I dunno... Grieve, I guess. Try to get over it. Butya never really get over that. So, no, I wouldn't say Shifu is 'the one' or ever really was, even though I thought so for a long time. But that doesn't make him a second choice. Like I said, it takes something extraordinary."
"So you are Little Miss True Love, after all."
She snorted. "Shut up."
"So what was the overgrown hemorrhoid's reaction when you gave him that saccharine speech?"
"Oh, that's right," she said with a heavy sigh. "How the hell am I ever gonna tell him about all that?"
He shook his head at her response. It was typical Lin, really. "Perhaps it would make you feel better if I told you that I found comfort in the predictability of your shrewish secrecy."
"Maybe a little." She pulled out her map and checked it over as they walked. "So what brought on this little heart-to-heart?"
He supposed he would have to give a reason, and Lin already knew about his feelings for Yan-Yan. "I can't stop thinking about her," he admitted.
Lin nodded, clearly aware of who he meant. "You sure you're in love?" she asked. "Or areya just obsessing 'cause she rejectedya?"
He winced at the brutal question. "She told you about that, hm?"
"Nah, I guessed." She turned the map so he could see it and pointed out a marker Chen had drawn for them, some ways down the road. "How's about we stay somewhere tonight? I'm outta booze, and I got a little extra cash. If we shut up and hurry, we can make it to this roadside inn by nightfall, and thenya can spill your guts to me about true love allya want."
From the looks of the map, they could simply keep on their current path until they stumbled upon the structure. "We'd have to really run?" he asked.
"Yeah, otherwise it's another campout." She rolled up the map and returned it to her bag. "It's up to you."
He snorted, then picked her up, ignoring her indignant squawk. "Here, you can ride piggy-back, since you're child-sized." He tossed her onto his back, confident she was at least coordinated enough to keep herself from falling.
As expected, she grabbed on tightly to his shoulders. "Y'know, I woulda thought something like this'd embarrass the great and powerful Tai Lung."
"If you ask me, it's really more embarrassing for you." With that, he fell to all fours and bounded down the road at full speed. He'd had the stamina to run all the way from the Chor Ghom mountains to the Valley of Peace at this blistering pace, so he wasn't worried about running for the next hour or two. Lin, to her credit, managed not to lose her grip, though he doubted she found it comfortable to cling to his back as he ran. It was better than waiting around for her to pick up the pace, though.
They arrived at the small roadside inn, much more clean and quaint-looking than he ever could have expected. The two-story structure was narrower than it was tall, and looked in danger of tipping over in a strong wind. The place had been painted a brilliant blue-green that would have risked blending into the surrounding fir trees, if it weren't for the bright pink trim on the windows and door. The place was guarded by a veritable army of Ti-Tsang statues of varying sizes, and many of the little pig monks had been clad in colorful beads or given offerings of neatly tied bundles of fir branches. The small porch sported an aged wooden table and chairs, at which two equally-aged pigs currently sat chatting with steaming cups of tea. They appeared to be a husband and wife, from what he could tell.
Lin hopped off his back and went about brushing silvery strands of fur off her front. "Looks nice, huh?"
"Gag me," he replied lowly, and she elbowed him in the side for the comment.
Lin approached the couple, her usual grin in place. "Hello, there," she greeted, more politely than he'd ever heard from her. "This's sure a charming inn, am I right?"
"Why thank you, dear," the female pig accepted with a warm smile. "We do try."
"Any chanceya got an open room for me and my stepson, here?" she continued, and Tai Lung couldn't help but raise his eyebrows at the way she'd described their relationship.
The old woman squinted her watery little eyes at Tai Lung, as if viewing him from a great distance. She undoubtedly needed glasses, but was either too stubborn or poor to buy them. "My, he's a big one," she observed. "Reminds me of my grandson." She indicated her apparent grandson's height by holding her hand at about the level of the table. "Only ten, and already he's yea high."
"Kids," the old man finally chimed in. "They grow like bamboo."
"Ain't that the truth," Lin agreed cheerfully, then poked her thumb over her shoulder in Tai Lung's direction. "I swear he's gained a head on me every time I look away."
The old couple laughed at her annoying banter, then slowly stood from their chairs. The woman appeared to be the one in charge, because while the man entered the little inn, she stayed with them. "A room's ten yuan a night, just so ya's know. And every patron must leave an offering for Ti-Tsang." She paused to indicate the dozens of statues surrounding the house. "Every stay comes with complimentary supper or breakfast."
Lin grinned at Tai Lung, as if she were actually excited by this horrible place. "Supper sounds nice."
The old pig nodded and shuffled toward the door. "Every supper consists of our local specialties: fir syrup cakes and fir tea. Very medicinal, fir."
"Of course," Lin agreed, then held the door open for the little old lady.
Tai Lung followed them inside, his eyes narrowed at Lin. He didn't know what she was playing at, pretending to be so nice and polite to these pigs, but he intended to find out. Then he stopped and stared around the inn's first floor, his mouth slightly agape at the decor. The inside of the building was just as blue-green as the outside, and the walls were absolutely loaded with shelves and credenzas full of knicknacks, most of which were either Ti-Tsang or fir tree related. He stared openly at a breakfront loaded to overflowing with pinecones piled up inside colorful glassware decorated in characters which offered prayers for safe travels.
"Oh, you like our pinecone collection?" the old woman observed happily. "That's a cone from every fir tree we've ever planted." She paused to place a hand over her heart and sighed lovingly. "Our babies."
Tai Lung sidled away from the pig. "Yes. Lovely."
"Be good to the fir trees, and they give ya's life, that's what I always said," the pig continued as she approached the small counter where her husband was writing something in a ledger. "Don't forget your offering, now. We can sell ya's some beads, only one yuan."
"Sure," Lin agreed, surprising Tai Lung. Normally, Lin was the cheapest person in the room. Once she'd procured a room key and a necklace of yellow-gold beads from the couple, she gestured to Tai Lung to follow her and returned to the porch. "So which one should we do?" she asked, looking around at the collection of stone monks.
"Does it matter?" he asked. "This was a waste of money, either way."
"Calm down," Lin chided, then approached a particularly tiny Ti-Tsang residing at the side of the house. "Ti-Tsang's a protector of travelers, it's not a waste of money. B'sides, this place is fun."
"Fun?" he repeated. "Fun? That woman thinks these trees are her babies. She's going to hack us up at night and offer us to these statues!"
"You're such a scaredy-cat," she replied with a laugh, then placed the necklace on the little Ti-Tsang and clapped her hands together. "Now say a prayer or something."
He rolled his eyes, but offered a brief prayer to the statue. After all his teenaged travels with Shifu, this wouldn't be the first time he'd made an offering to Ti-Tsang. He still thought it was a waste of time and money, though.
He'd thought that their stay couldn't get any more bizarre, but then their supper came. Apparently when the old woman had advertised fir cakes and fir tea, she'd meant it literally. He stared down at the little syrup-covered pancake before him, slathered in syrup smelling strongly of fir, and the tea full of pine needles. "Seriously?"
"Don't be so picky," Lin replied. She sat across from him at the table on the porch, like the old owners of the inn had when they'd first arrived. "This's their specialty, remember? B'sides, it's fun to try new things." Despite her admonishment, when she bit into her fir cake her fur frizzed out and she grimaced.
"I think your reaction tells me everything I need to know," he said, poking at the cake with his chopsticks. "How can these people eat like this?"
"They've probably lived here their whole lives," she reasoned. "They're making do with what they got."
"They're trying to poison us, is what they're doing." He picked a pine needle from the surface of his tea and flicked it onto the ground. "Medicinal, my foot."
"Y'know, it's not oftenya get to find a weird place like this. You should enjoy it." She held her nose and shoved the rest of her pancake into her mouth, swallowing it in one bite. "I mean, this's like something out of a fever dream. It's amazing."
"How can you behave so positively?" He hesitantly sipped at his tea, wrinkling his nose. It tasted like some sort of air-freshening concoction.
Lin drank her tea as though it were... Well, a normal beverage. "I like to travel, so sue me. Y'know, I'm gonna ask if they got anything a little stronger'n this." She downed the rest of her fir tea, then disappeared inside the inn.
Tai Lung personally didn't plan on going back in there until it was time to sleep. The place would seem cramped even to someone of Lin's size, so for him it was downright claustrophobic. Not to mention that old couple creeped him out. He picked listlessly at his fir cake as he thought over what Lin had said, about his feelings for Yan-Yan. Could she be right? He didn't deal with rejection well, clearly, and he'd never even asked a woman out before. Perhaps he was mistaken about his feelings for Yan-Yan. Even if he wasn't, she'd made it clear that she had no interest in pursuing a relationship with him. He wouldn't either, in her shoes. He'd spent half his life in solitary confinement, he'd committed heinous crimes, and now he was effectively on probation. Meanwhile, Yan-Yan was a doctor with children and grandchildren, who wanted nothing more than a career and a life with her family. He didn't fit anywhere in that equation.
"Score," Lin announced as she rejoined him, a large bottle full of some pale green drink. "Fir liquor."
"Is that even a real thing?" he asked dubiously.
"We're about to find out," she replied, then popped the cork and drank straight from the bottle. "Oh my god," she wheezed, slamming the bottle back on the table. "That's the worst thing I ever tasted. Shit." Then she took another swig.
"Why are you still drinking it, if it's so bad?"
"Maybe if I get drunk enough, I won't care how it tastes," she said with a laugh, then offered the bottle to him.
"No, I'll stick with the horrific pine needle tea, thanks," he said darkly, which prompted another laugh from her. "So. You said we could discuss this love business more."
"Whaddaya wanna know?" she asked. "This ain't gonna be the talk, is it?"
"I know what sex is," he snapped, bristling at her insinuation. "I want to know how to stop it, that's all."
Lin raised her eyebrows at him as she drank more liquor. "Really?" she asked, wiping her mouth with her sleeve.
"Yes," he replied, exasperated. "You must know something about that, right?"
"A little." She tapped her fingers on the bottle of liquor, turning her gaze toward the setting sun as she apparently thought over her answer. "A rebound's a nice start."
"Oh, come on," he grumbled. "You mean to tell me that simply chasing after someone new is all I would need?"
"I said it's a start," she corrected. "And a fun one at that."
"Well, I don't care much for fun."
"Yeah, I'm starting to see that."
Tai Lung glared at her. "Okay, oh guru of love, then have you ever had a rebound?"
She snorted in response. "'Course I have, starting with my rebound from Shifu."
He raised an eyebrow. "You had a rebound relationship after you left the Valley of Peace?" He shouldn't have been surprised, considering how Lin claimed to have gotten around. Still, he'd always thought she would have had a proper mourning period for the end of that particular relationship. "With whom?"
"You probably wouldn't know him," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "This wolf guy, Guotin. Bandit, got an eye patch, super handsome." She paused to drink again, while Tai Lung gaped at her.
"Guotin?" he repeated incredulously. "Bandit King of the North? That Guotin?"
"Yeah, you know him?"
"I've battled him!" Granted, that was some years ago. Still, he couldn't believe Lin not only knew the notorious bandit, but had actually taken up with him. "How in the hell did you meet him?"
"Kinda a long story." She leaned back in her chair, her attitude more sobered now. "I met him while I was engaged to this guy, y'see. When I first came to China."
"Yes, Marco." Tai Lung remembered the story. He had heard the whole thing from the roof of the barracks, back when Lin had first told Shifu about it. Though judging by the surprised expression on Lin's face, she hadn't known that he'd eavesdropped on her life's story. "Guotin was the one who sacked your camp, then, and saved you from his... Unwanted advances?"
Lin nodded. "Didn't know you'd heard that," she said, still bemused. "But yeah, Guotin was one of 'em, anyway. When I was leaving China, we ran into each other again. Kinda like fate, I guess."
"And you cared for him?" Tai Lung prompted.
"Nah," Lin dismissed easily. "Well, I mean, yeah. He's my friend, but... Y'know, I didn't love the guy or anything. We just had something easy and casual together. Like I said, he was a rebound."
"That makes sense," he admitted. "Last I heard, the man was a cad."
"So he gets around." She sipped at her fir liquor, no longer grimacing at its taste, now. "No skin off my back. B'sides, it's not like I'm so chaste."
Tai Lung took a moment to consider her words. He leaned back in his chair and looked up at the emerging stars, wondering if he could really get over Yan-Yan so easily. Going straight after another woman, even if his intent was only for a casual fling, seemed like it would only complicate his feelings. "So it worked?" he asked. "Your rebound, I mean. After you were with Guotin, you didn't have feelings for Shifu anymore?"
"I never said that," she replied. "I still had feelings for him. The rebound was just... I dunno, a way to ease the pain. Getting over Shifu took me a while."
"And then you still came running back," he pointed out.
"Yeah, can't argue there," she accepted.
"What if I have feelings for this rebound and Yan-Yan? Or what if she has feelings for me? Then what?"
"I dunno about all that." She leaned her head in her hand and yawned. "I mean, when Guotin asked me to run away with him I just turned him down."
It was Tai Lung's turn to look shocked. "Alright, you're pulling my leg," he accused. "There is no way-"
"Why not?" she interrupted, a whiny tinge to her voice. "I'm a hot commodity, I'll haveya know!"
"Sure." He injected as much skepticism into his response as possible.
"Hey, Meihui wants me," she argued. "I even got a kiss outta her."
"Liar," he accused, mostly just to irritate her.
"No lie!" Lin drank from her bottle again, then pulled out her flask and filled it with the remaining liquor. "Meihui said I awakened her lust for women."
"Ewww." He feigned retching.
"Fine, whatever," she huffed. "The point is, a rebound helped for me. And ifya don't wanna do that, fine. Either way, what you're gonna need the most is just time. It'll help that you'll be living in a different province than Yan-Yan, too."
"Hmph," he grunted. He didn't like that answer. He didn't want to spend valuable time trying to get over a woman, he had other things on his plate to deal with. He'd been certain that Lin would have known of some technique to speed up the process, but apparently chasing tail was her only advice.
"I know it sucks," Lin said, her tone surprisingly gentle. "And sometimes... Sometimes it's really hard to get over someone. Sometimes you just don't ever get over 'em, not completely. I wish there was an easy way out. If there was, you know I'd tellya in a heartbeat."
He wondered, briefly, if she meant that man she'd mentioned earlier in the day, the one who'd died. "So you're saying I might not even get over Yan-Yan at all?"
She snorted at the question. "You knew her for a coupla months, Tai Lung. Even ifya love her, you'll move on eventually."
He didn't like the sound of "eventually," but he couldn't argue with her. It wasn't like she controlled his feelings or made up the rules about these types of things. "I think it's about time we retire to bed," he announced, then left his uneaten fir cake as an offering for one of the Ti-Tsang statues.
Their room upstairs, only one of two, was so tiny that he had to turn sideways just to get in the door, and even then he was hunched down to prevent himself from hitting his head on the ceiling. He went straight to bed- or the floor, rather, since the bed was only big enough to accommodate Lin- only to find that the room wasn't even large enough for him to stretch out across it. He curled up on his side, trying to find some sort of comfort. Of course, then the noises began.
"Lin," he whispered. "What is that?"
"Sounds like old people having sex to me," she replied casually, confirming his worst fears. "I guess the other room belongs to the owners."
"Kill me," he begged.
"I'll bet they're whipping each other with fir branches," she said, a mischievous glint in her eye that told him she was only trying to gross him out further.
"How can you just make jokes about this?" he hissed. "It's disgusting."
"I've had sex with people older'n those two," Lin pointed out, only nauseating him more. "B'sides, it's their house. They can bang if they want."
He gathered up his blankets and belly-crawled to the door. "Fine, stay here. I'm going to go sleep outside with Ti-Tsang."
"Good thing we left an offer, then," she teased.
He gagged to himself, then fled the house for the relative safety of the outdoors. He needed some time to himself, anyway. And at least all those creepy little statues would keep him distracted from his thoughts about Yan-Yan.
They set out at first dawn, and ate more of those infernal fir cakes on the road. Tai Lung was surprised by the quick pace Lin was able to keep, and soon realized that she was pressing on so quickly because they could reach the Thread of Hope by sundown. The fir trees soon gave way to the wastelands surrounding the Valley of Peace, vast plains of dead grass and desert sand stretched out before them. Still, they continued. At sundown, when they'd reached the Thread of Hope, Lin refused to stop. Tai Lung had no arguments. It felt pointless to stop and camp now that they'd gotten so close, and he'd traveled at night plenty of times before. There was something peaceful about the sugar loaf mountains and the long bridges over that bottomless chasm at night. The cold winter air gave everything a fresh, crisp scent, and though he shivered at the icy mist that clung to his fur, he continued on behind Lin. Their journey together was almost over.
They reached the end of the Thread of Hope and crossed the vast farmlands that circled the edge of the valley, and in the light of pre-dawn finally reached the bluff overlooking the village and the Jade Mountain. They both stopped there, neither needing to ask the other. It seemed they both needed to stop here, to consider what lay ahead of them.
"So, how's it feel to come back to whereya grew up after all these years?" Lin asked.
Tai Lung grimaced. "Is it possible to feel both the worst and sort of good at the same time?"
"It's called nostalgia, you'll get used to it."
Tai Lung glanced down at her, only to see tears welling in her eyes. He took in the sight of the valley in the dim light of pre-dawn, full of lit lanterns twinkling like stars. He supposed it was pretty, objectively, but he wouldn't say it brought him to tears.
"What in the hell's that for?" he asked, taken aback by the sight.
"I dunno," she replied quietly. "It's just a feeling."
"A feeling of what, exactly?"
She shrugged. "Not sure. Nostalgia? Relief? Being overwhelmed? Existential dread?" She then paused, her nose wrinkling slightly. She tended to do that when she was thinking very hard, not that he'd ever pointed it out. "Fear," she finished, decisively.
"If you're trying to cheer me up, you're doing a terrible job of it," he replied, and that at least got a snort out of her. "Besides, what do you have to be afraid of? Shifu?"
Lin continued staring at the valley, then crossed her arms. "It's complicated. Something along the lines of... Feeling out of my element. And I miss Shanghai."
"Me too." He hadn't meant to say that out loud, but there it was, hanging in the air. "Don't go spreading that around."
"Ditto." She gave his arm a punch, then nodded down toward the valley. "It's the worst thing in the world, confronting your horrible, screwed up past. It's so painful, that sometimes you think it's not worth the effort. It makesya wanna give up, that pain. But if you power through it, if you can stand it just long enough to make it out the other end, it'll makeya a better person. That's the idea, anyway."
"You're talking about me, right?"
"Right." She took a deep breath, then started the trek down to the village. "C'mon, now. Don't tell me you're not raring for a bath."
"I'd settle for you taking that bath," he complained, waving his hand in front of his nose to drive his point home.
"You ain't begun to witness how rank I can get," she replied with a bark of laughter. "This's barely a light stank, I got going on here."
"Please don't turn this into a challenge," he begged. No matter how it turned out, his nose would be on the losing end.
"It was just a joke," she dismissed easily, and they walked quietly side-by-side until they reached the edge of the village. Lin stopped, and they both looked down the still-empty streets toward the Jade Palace.
Tai Lung couldn't judge what Lin was thinking or feeling, but he was personally just drained. He didn't want to think about the future, not at this moment. He wanted to treat this place like somewhere inconsequential, somewhere he was only passing through, and pretend that when they got to their destination, things would be the same as they had for the past couple of months. He wanted to pretend they could go on with their easy-going lives, rather than reach this crossroads. He didn't want things to change just yet.
"Hey," Lin said quietly, and she sounded melancholy again. "There's one other thing that's making me kinda nervous. After this, you're gonna be learning from Shifu again."
"And?" he prompted, trying not to sound as pathetic as he felt.
"And we won't be joined at the hip anymore." She paused to elbow him in the side, and he batted her arm away. "I dunno. I guess I'm wondering if we'll still get to spend time together, now that we're back."
Tai Lung blinked down at her, confused by her statement. "So, what? You'll miss me?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
He didn't know what to think of the admission, or even what to say in response. So, he decided to take a page from Lin's book. "Nerd," he accused, then kept walking.
Lin laughed and followed after him.
Shifu awoke with a start to a weight plopping down on top of him, and sat up so quickly that he nearly butted heads with the person who'd taken up residence on his lap. He'd been having the most pleasant dream about meditating alone in a cave, with no one around to bother him or cause him stress. Having someone enter his room and simply sit on top of him was the last way in which he needed to be woken from said dream. He was about to either ream out or attack the culprit, then paused, staring at Lin, who just so happened to be completely nude. He blinked a few times, wondering if this could possibly be another dream. It certainly wouldn't be the first of its kind. But this felt too real. "Lin?"
She snorted. "Who'dya think was in your lap, the Emperor?" Her sarcasm served as a sure sign that this couldn't possibly be a dream. She was never this mean to him in his dreams.
He grabbed hold of Lin and held her tightly. In that moment all his complaints about her irresponsibility, her lack of communication, and her lies were forgotten. All he had room in his brain for were her earthy scent, her soft fur and scarred skin, her solid little body in his arms again. He closed his eyes and let his head rest on her shoulder as relief washed over him. In spite of her promises, he'd still feared she might never return. Her hands on his shoulders barely felt real, their grip was so gentle. And when one hand strayed from his shoulder he should have known the result would hardly be romantic, but he was determined to savor such a fleeting moment as much as possible.
"Alright, the moment is ruined." He pulled away from Lin and, with no small amount of resistance, yanked her hand out of his pants. "What on earth is wrong with you?"
"Aw, c'mon," she whined, then gave up on his pants and started tugging at his collar. "Is it really so bad that I want a 'welcome home' bang?"
"Yes," he replied shortly.
She frowned sullenly at his refusal. "I shoulda just sat on your face instead of in your lap."
He resisted her- with a notable amount of effort- as she attempted to push him down. "How is it possible for you to get so out of control so quickly?"
"Outta whose control, huh?" she asked harshly, then made another bid for his pants.
"Calm down," he ordered, squinting his eyes closed and taking a deep breath. He tried to remind himself of how happy he'd been to see her only moments ago. The thought kept him relatively calm.
Thankfully, she stopped attempting to undress him. "Damn, that's cold. You really don't wanna bone?"
"Not everyone has a sexual appetite akin to a gaping maw, constantly consuming all around it without ever reaching satisfaction. Keeping that in mind, I would like to speak to you before you attempt to tear my clothing to shreds."
She snorted, though she still seemed disappointed. "At least kiss me."
He decided it would be best not to point out the whiny tinge to her voice. "If you insist," he teased her. He wrapped his arms around her again and kissed her softly, still surprised by how gentle she could be.
"Okay," she said when she pulled away. "Can we bone now?"
"You are relentless."
She laughed, and he'd missed her laugh so much that he couldn't even feel annoyed that she was laughing at him. "You don't gotta tell me that."
"I suppose not." He only hoped that she had put her relentlessness to good use in helping Tai Lung during the last couple of months. "And where is Tai Lung? I am hoping he's significantly more clothed than you are, at least."
"Probably not," she answered, though before he had time to get worried she elaborated. "He's taking a bath."
"And may I say how glad I am that you decided to forego bathing in order to park your stinky, naked behind on top of me."
"Oh, quit your whining. We both knowya like it dirty." She grabbed hold of his collar and yanked it out of place. "Speaking of which-"
"Yes, you want to sleep with me, I get it," he interrupted with a heavy sigh.
"I have never in my life met a man who reacts with trepidation to a naked woman in his lap. Well, I have actually, but those men were gay, so at least it made sense."
"You're digressing," he warned, then took her by the waist and finally removed her from his lap, placing her beside him. "And I have more important things on my mind than sex."
"Like?"
"Tai Lung, remember?" He also had Gia on his mind, but it wouldn't do to bring her up in their current setting. "Or has it slipped your mind that he is supposed to be our top priority, now?"
"You can slip me a little something-"
"Oh, please!"
Lin huffed; where she got the nerve to be annoyed with him, he had no idea. "Maybe I shoulda taken this in a different direction. Like sexy undies or something."
"We're not discussing this," he replied, then got up and grabbed a spare shirt from his wardrobe. "And for the love of the gods, get dressed." He tossed the clothing at her in the hopes that she would listen to him, for once.
She put the shirt on, but of course left it wide open. "I don't see whatya got such sand up your butthole for." She flopped down onto his bed, not that he'd given her any indication that she should make herself at home. "You saidya wanted to talk first, ain't we talked enough?"
"Lin, I missed you, but that does not mean I am going to hop straight into bed with you the moment I see you!"
"Then why're we even dating?"
"Lin!"
"You're right, you've only taken me on like... One date. If that." She took a swipe at him, but couldn't quite reach, then rolled onto her stomach. "Ugh. I give up. Fine, don't ever touch me again and we'll live in a vow of extreme celibacy, just like you want."
"I do not want that." Shifu gave up on the hope that he would get some privacy for the morning and began to change clothes. If worst came to worst, he was strong enough to fight Lin off.
"So I see!" As expected, she leapt up and practically dove onto him.
"I am trying to get dressed for the day!" he protested, but Lin snorted at his argument and kissed him.
Well, kissing wasn't the precise term for it; the experience was more like a simulation of what it might feel like to have an octopus attach itself to him and try to suck the teeth out of his mouth.
"Holy gods," he gasped when she gave him a chance to breathe.
"I know," she replied with a smug grin. "I really am that good- andya really do like it dirty."
"You do smell a bit odd," he admitted.
"Ah, just power through it," Lin dismissed casually. "Lord knows I've done the same for you."
He rolled his eyes at the not-so-subtle insult and yanked her shirt closed for her. "Do you know what would complete this moment?"
"What?"
He reached into the wardrobe and pulled out a spare pair of pants. "Some pants." He shoved them into her arms and used her moment of distraction to finish changing, himself.
She waggled her eyebrows at him, then dropped the pants on the floor. "Whenya play hard to get like that it only makes me wantya more."
"Then I'm in a no-win situation."
"Oh please," she scoffed. "Ifya were so bothered by my flirting you'd yell at me or just gimme a flat 'no.' You're just being coy 'causeya like it when I chase afterya."
He picked up the pants and shoved them back into her hands. "If this is flirting for you, I'd hate to see what it's like when you're trying to be forward."
"Same to you," she replied. "What's your most seductive move, swaddling me in an over-sized blanket?"
"And what's yours, tying me up so I cannot escape?"
"Hey, if you're interested I got the rope!"
He should have seen that one coming. "Lin, everyone owns rope." He realized at the excited grin on her face that he hadn't said the right thing to get her to cool off. "Let me say, right now, that I am in no way trying to flirt. This is not the time. No. Alright?"
She pouted at him, her big brown eyes watery. "Okay," she accepted dejectedly.
"Don't give me that look," he lectured. "I can say no to you, you have no right to try to make me feel guilty about it."
"Yeah, you're right," she accepted, to his surprise. "I'm not trying to makeya feel guilty, I'm just disappointed thatya don't seem that excited to see me."
As always, her guilt trip was getting to him. She at least seemed to be telling the truth about how she felt, rather than trying to get into his pants. "I am excited to see you," he argued, then wrapped his arms around her in another embrace to show her he meant it. "This is a stressful time for both of us. Once you've settled in, perhaps I could take you on a second date and see where the night leads?"
She slapped him on the arm. "You want me to put out on our second date?"
"We've already slept together," he pointed out.
"Yeah, but that wasn't during a date."
It took him a moment to realize that she was joking with him. "Yes, yes, very funny." Maybe he should flirt just a little bit with her. "Maybe when the time is right, we could try some of the things you mentioned in your letter?"
"You sure you're flexible enough?" She grabbed him by the beard and pulled him into a kiss before he could answer her.
"Of course I am, I'm a kung fu master." He tried closing her shirt- or his shirt, rather- for her again. He had to admit she looked adorable in nothing but his shirt, but this was far from the time to give in to his temptation. That didn't mean he couldn't flirt just a little more, though. "You look very cute right now."
"Oh, yeah? Maybe I should hold on to this shirt, then." She flicked his nose, then turned around and walked out of his room, still wearing nothing but the shirt.
"Lin, wait-" Shifu let out a long-suffering sigh as the morning gong sounded and he was treated to a chorus of his students' alarmed shouts as they were inevitably flashed by Lin out in the hallway. He supposed it was better than if she'd left naked- which seemed to be the way she'd arrived.
"What, no welcome back?" Lin asked harshly out in the hallway, and he could only imagine what she looked like with almost nothing on, demanding conversation from his students.
"Lin, leave them alone and put on some clothes!" He'd finished dressing himself, so he joined his students in the hallway. "And for gods' sakes, take a bath!"
Totally unashamed, her shirt still hanging wide open, she responded to him by sticking her tongue out. Then she stomped off, presumably to bathe as he'd ordered, and he could only speculate on how she could stand the cold winter air with so little on.
"If we have to pick just one, I pick Gia," Mantis announced. "Why can't she walk around half-naked?"
Shifu felt his eye twitch. "What have I said about not speaking?"
Viper hissed in Mantis' direction, and Monkey shook his head.
"You need to work on your comedic timing," Monkey chided, which was as far from the actual issue as it was possible to get.
"Enough!" Shifu snapped. "Mantis, you're on cleaning duty for the training hall today. And Monkey, keep it up if you'd like to join him." He was relieved to see that his students at least had retained enough discipline to apologize for their behavior and bow. "Now that you're all paying attention-" he paused to shoot one last dirty look in Mantis's direction. "I think you've all deduced what Lin's presence here means. Tai Lung has returned to the Valley of Peace." He paused to let the statement sink in, pleased that his students seemed to be taking the matter seriously. "I would like you all to train as normal today. Tai Lung will not yet be joining you in the training hall. I still need to... Assess him. That will be all."
Shifu watched his students file out of the barracks, Po attempting several times to stop and say something, only to be ushered along by Tigress in each instance. He had formed a plan for Tai Lung's rehabilitation by now, but he had still formed no plan for how to introduce Lin and Gia. He didn't even know how to tell Gia that her mother had returned to the Jade Palace. He decided to hold off on that, until he was ready to introduce the two. If Gia knew of Lin's presence, she would only want to rush things. Not that he felt any attempt to ease the shock of their meeting would prove effective. Regardless of how the two met, he would end up stuck right in the middle. He took a deep breath and braced himself for the day ahead.
Lin sighed contentedly as she relaxed in a warm bath, her first in a long time. As much as she hated to admit it, she loved the luxury of a gigantic, full bath and the act of soaking in hot water for hours. The Jade Palace's baths had been built for communal bathing, and were large enough to accommodate an elephant. And she had this particular bath all to herself. The bath houses had always seemed like an overt luxury to her, even if they were built of simple wood like the training hall and were meant for the kung fu masters to share. While the round tub itself dominated the room she currently occupied, there was also an area with stools and buckets for a quick wash before entering the bath, large cabinets stocked with fluffy towels and robes in every size one could possibly need, and even separate rooms for the chamber pots. She imagined the other side was set up in the same way, and it boggled her mind to think there were two bathing areas like this.
Maybe that was because she wasn't used to this level of opulence. The public bathing houses she'd gone to in Shanghai had been considered a luxury, sure, but they hadn't been nearly as large, one needed to bring their own towels and supplies, and the baths were often crowded with dozens of patrons. She'd used these baths before, when she'd been the cook at the Jade Palace, but even then it hadn't technically been meant for her. She'd only gotten to use them because Tai Lung had let her, and even then Shifu had made a big fuss about how the bath house was for kung fu masters only. The servants had their own bath house, which in her memory bore a strong resemblance to the ones in Shanghai, only smaller.
To be honest, it made her feel guilty to take advantage of her access to the luxurious bath houses, especially when she knew there were staff members saddled with the job of heating the baths. She hated the idea of being waited on at all, as much as she recognized that the Jade Palace employed dozens of people and even provided them with quarters in which to live, like it had for her. Maybe she could needle Shifu about renovating the bath houses for the live-in staff, or negotiate a new contract. That would even the playing field a little.
She put the matter out of her mind and took a moment to wet her head again. She was only focusing on the unfairness of the baths because she was stressed about what, if anything, Tai Lung might try in regards to his whole plan for vengeance. She needed to think about something else, for at least a little while, so she focused on the time-consuming task of carefully oiling and detangling her fur. Once that was done, she leaned back to soak some more. Even if it was a luxury to soak like this, her thick fur needed it. She closed her eyes, and though she knew it wasn't safe to fall asleep in a tub full of water, she couldn't help but doze off.
"Lin."
She opened her eyes to see Shifu standing over her, his arms crossed. "So you changed your mind about banging?" she asked, though she knew he hadn't.
"You have been in this bath for two hours and I cannot find Tai Lung," he replied. "Get your butt in gear and help me."
"You sound like Yan-Yan right now," she grumbled, sliding down further into the warm water. "And I'm not clean yet."
"Why are you arguing with me?" he snapped. "We need to know Tai Lung's whereabouts at all times! This is a serious matter!"
"He's probably just napping." She reached for one of the many toiletries she'd piled at the edge of the bath and sniffed at it. "Rosewater? Is this really necessary?"
"It is for scenting the bath water, and what do you mean, 'napping'?" Shifu sounded like he was about to burst a hemorrhoid, despite the fact that she'd remained calm in an effort to keep him from freaking out.
"We traveled through most of the night," she clarified. "I told him to take a bath and get some sleep. He took the bath, so now he's probably sleeping. Okay?"
"It isn't okay, Lin. You cannot go easy on Tai Lung, or coddle him like some child! He needs to be treated like the risk that he is, not spoiled with naps. As of today, I am his master again, and I will be in charge of-"
"Fine, whatever," she interrupted. She wasn't in the mood to listen to him lecture her, not when she was trying to enjoy a nice bath. Besides, she'd expected he'd take over for her when they returned to the Valley of Peace. It wasn't like she was about to argue with him about that.
"Fine?" he repeated. "Whatever? It is not whatever, Lin-"
"Why're you still yelling at me?" she interrupted him again. "I agreed with you! What's the problem?"
"The problem is that you are not taking me seriously," he shot back, his face red in his anger.
She wasn't about to fight back and forth with him, so in lieu of a response she just splashed him with the bath water.
"What is wrong with you?" he lectured, as she'd expected him to. "You cannot splash me with water. It is the middle of winter, Lin, I could freeze!"
"Uhuh," she agreed, watching as he crossed the room to snatch up a robe and began to remove his wet shirt. "Shake it a little for me, baby."
"Excuse me?" he asked incredulously, turning to glare at her. "Are you trying to get me to undress?"
She was a little disappointed that he'd caught on so quickly. "Maybe," she answered coyly, shooting him a wink. "Is it working?"
"No!"
"What in the hell's wrong withya?" She had finally reached her snapping point. "I'm naked, wet, and agreeing withya. What more do you want from me?"
"Believe it or not, you cannot make this about sex!"
She rubbed at her forehead, frustrated at the turn of events. "I'm not talking about sex," she ground out. "I'm talking about how I'm not back for two goddamn hours beforeya start harping on me!"
"Well, you barely communicated with me when you were in Shanghai- which we specifically discussed! And now Tai Lung is nowhere in sight! What do you take me for?"
"A dink," she replied, sinking further down into the bath water. "I could use someone to reheat this bath a little, by the way."
"You're a child," Shifu snapped behind her, but she didn't bother turning around to look at him. "You have tainted this endeavor with your immaturity for long enough! I will find Tai Lung on my own and from now on, you'll have nothing more to do with his rehabilitation."
"Okay," Lin accepted.
"How can you just sit there and have nothing more to say than 'okay'?"
"Why the hell're you still arguing with me?" She rubbed at her tired eyes, contemplating getting out of her warm bath just so Shifu would be distracted by the sight of a naked woman. "I keep agreeing withya. There's no reason to argue with me."
"No, you are brushing me off!"
"I haven't slept in days." Lin felt aggravated at his badgering, but she was too exhausted to raise her voice again. "I'm trying to relax. Y'know, that thingya do to keep from going outta your mind from stress? You've probably never heard of it."
"You're not even listening to me, are you?" Shifu continued to nag. "Has it ever occurred to you that I have something important to discuss with you? Hm? Of course not! You are too busy indulging in hours-long baths, so busy with this task that I must now track down Tai Lung, who should have been in your charge!"
"What's so important?" She somehow doubted he had anything significant to tell her. He'd probably only been bluffing to try to make her feel guilty.
"I don't want to talk about it while you're naked in the bath," he argued, predictably enough.
"Then come back in another two hours." Lin dunked her head under the water to avoid listening to any more of his nagging. She knew he was annoyed by her letters, but she didn't think she deserved such an onslaught in the middle of her bath. It hadn't been too long ago that Shifu had actually been happy to see her. She'd thought so, anyway. Once she'd run out of breath and emerged, though, he was still there standing over her. "What? You gonna try to drown me, now?"
"It really is something important," he said, and while he still sounded annoyed he at least had stopped shouting. "This isn't the appropriate situation in which to tell you."
"Why not?"
"You are nude, for one thing." Of course he would go straight to that. "And I need to get Tai Lung and lay down some ground rules as soon as possible, for another. It would be nice if you would at least offer to help me look."
"When'm I ever nice to you?" she muttered with a yawn. She could use a nap, herself.
"It would be the right thing to do," he amended.
"Or," she counter-offered, "you could get into this bath with me and we could have sex for the rest of the day. I can't guarantee I won't fall asleep, but a good shake'll wake me right up."
"Tempting," he replied flatly. "But I'll stick with finding Tai Lung."
"What'd your dick fall off while I was gone?" She'd mostly asked that to annoy him, and when she looked up over her shoulder she could swear she saw a vein throbbing in his temple. "Just kidding. I know you've always preferred your hand to me."
"I'm not in the mood right now, Lin," he snapped. "I am going to return to my search for Tai Lung. Feel free to dress yourself and help me out."
"Make me."
"Don't tempt me," he replied darkly.
Honestly, she kind of liked the idea of some wet naked wrestling at the moment. "Do it. I dare you."
"You are so immature," he complained behind her. "You think I am going to stand here and do nothing while you bait me, don't you? Well, if you want me to make you get out of this bath, then that's what I'll do. Don't think I won't!" Suddenly, he jumped into the bath beside her. Apparently he'd been undressing the whole time he'd been ranting.
She waggled her eyebrows at him. "I dunno what you're planning, but it looks good to me."
"I'm glad." He disappeared under the water before she could say anything else, shortly returning to the surface with a large stopper in hand. "Blegh!" he coughed, wiping at his mouth as the water level began to drop. "This water didn't get this murky just from you, did it?"
Lin considered pushing him back down under the receding water and holding him there. "You're obnoxious." She hunkered down, following the warm water as it dropped, determined to milk every last drop of her long-awaited bath.
"Likewise," he replied as he climbed out of the tub and used her towel to dry off.
"I'm about five seconds away from using you as a bath stopper," she threatened, then got out of the bath so she could snatch the towel away from him. "Lookit me, Shifu. Lookit this fur. Do I look like a quick rinse'll do the trick?"
"Just scrub yourself." How the man was dressing himself so quickly when he was barely even dry, she didn't know.
As much as she hated to tell him something potentially embarrassing, she figured she should just give up the truth. "I felt."
He paused, his belt poised in his hands and ready to be tied. "Excuse me?"
"I felt," she repeated reluctantly. "If I scrub too hard my fur felts. Y'know. As in the fabric, felt."
"I understand," he said, a smile spreading across his face for the first time since their conversation had begun. "I just couldn't believe it for a moment, there."
"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled.
"Maybe I should give you a good scrub sometime to test that out. Make you a new winter coat."
"You're hilarious." She shook herself off, spraying Shifu with a satisfying amount of old bath water. "And I'll haveya know I put some effort into taking care of all this fur."
He snorted while he tried to wipe droplets of water off of himself. "You mean you're actually vain about all your layers of fuzz?"
Lin narrowed her eyes at him, then whipped around to turn her back on him. This resulted in Shifu getting smacked with her still-soaked tail. His grumbles about her immature behavior cheered her up a bit as she finished drying off and got dressed. "Y'know," she mused as they stepped out into the cold, "in the time it tookya to get me outta here you probably coulda found Tai Lung on your own."
"And leave you to felt without my intervention?" he asked sarcastically. "Never."
"I'm regretting tellingya about that." She grimaced as she thought of how she'd discovered the whole felting phenomenon as a child, and how much she'd squirmed and cried while her sister Gia had first attempted to brush out the mats, and then had resorted to cutting them out. She'd been balder than a newborn- not that she'd been born bald, herself. "Honestly, though, sounds to me likeya can't get my naked body outta your mind."
"You truly are an expert in the complexities of the mind." Despite their earlier bickering, he put an arm around her waist as they walked.
"Feeling brave, huh?" she asked.
"I'll risk getting felted to you," he replied.
"Alright, I think you've officially milked that dry. Though I wouldn't argue ifya felt me up."
"This is all you're getting."
"But I'm so cold," Lin lied, leaning hard against him. "Can'tya hold me tighter?" She grinned at the way her flirting had made him blush, and snaked a hand down his back to goose him.
"Hey!" He jumped a little and parted from her, rubbing at his behind.
"Oh, you're such a drama queen," she accused as they approached the barracks. "Ain't like I spankedya or something."
"Why is it that despite the short amount of time the two of you have been together, I have the misfortune of experiencing every one of these precious moments?" Tai Lung walked out of the building, still rubbing sleep from his eyes.
"Ah, you're fine," Lin argued.
"Fine? You try being the only seven-year-old in the village who knows what a grundle is."
She rolled her eyes at his complaining. This was all run-of-the-mill for Tai Lung, so she couldn't take a single word seriously. Instead, she pointed at him and turned to Shifu. "Lookit this, we found Tai Lung after I spent the necessary hours of hard labor assisting you in your search."
Shifu glared at her. "How subtle of you," he replied sarcastically.
Lin gave him a pat on the shoulder, then joined Tai Lung on the barracks porch. "Well, seeing as our extensive search is complete, I'm gonna try to get a little shut-eye." She poked Tai Lung in the side and he cringed away from her like a child. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"At least it's a short list to work with," he grumbled back.
Lin grinned to herself as she headed to her room, the sounds of Tai Lung's complaining and Shifu's chastising in response still distantly audible from within the barracks. She felt more relieved than she'd expected, to be able to simply walk away and leave Tai Lung's rehabilitation in someone else's hands. Maybe that was selfish of her, but she needed rest. The task had required more emotional fortitude than she possessed, and her visions had left her feeling raw in their wake. She'd been doing so well, before she'd gone to Shanghai, and now she was only holding on by a thread. Maybe getting those visions had been special, but she wished she'd never received them. Yet rejecting them had felt wrong, and now no matter how much she reminded herself that she'd hated those visions, she couldn't stop trying to get them back.
She needed to take a step back, for her own sake. If Tai Lung needed her, she would be there. But she wouldn't invest all of her time in his rehabilitation anymore, she would stop trying to receive more visions, she would stop dedicating so many hours to figuring out what she needed to learn from the ones she'd had. That kind of thing was up to Shifu, now. He'd made it clear that he didn't want her involved anymore, anyway. She could go back to trying to retire, or semi-retire, at least. She planned to start off with some sleep, and at the moment she felt she could spend the whole next month in bed. When she lay down, she knew she wouldn't sleep for very long. But even a few hours would be heavenly. Then, when she woke up, she could raid the kitchen for snacks and drink her weight in tea. That sounded like the best plan she'd had in a long time.
Shifu climbed up to the outcropping under the Peach Tree of Heavenly wisdom, pausing to take in the view of the valley. Then he turned to face Tai Lung, who remained lingering at the top of the stairs, arms crossed and an irritated frown fixed on his face. "I thought we could go over the rules and conditions of your return here," he said, for lack of a better greeting.
"Oh, did you?" Tai Lung asked sarcastically. "And here I thought we were going to pick peaches."
He supposed he shouldn't feel surprised at Tai Lung's behavior, after the time he'd spent in Shanghai, the capital city of smart-asses. "First rule: don't give me lip. Unless you'd like a severe punishment."
"I'll go out on a limb and say it's worth it," the snow leopard replied, his tail swishing back and forth irritably.
"Very well," Shifu accepted with a nod. "When we're done here you can go scrub Lin's residue out of the women's bath." He could tell by the grimace on Tai Lung's face that he had chosen a fitting punishment. "Now, where was I?"
"You were telling me not to give you lip, like the crusty old geezer you are," Tai Lung said.
"Ah, yes." He tried not to show his irritation, as that was likely Tai Lung's goal. "That was my first rule. My second rule is that you will carry yourself and behave with the decorum which is expected of any other master of the Jade Palace."
"Like the panda, you mean?" he shot back with a disgusted snarl.
"The panda is working on it," Shifu replied, his ear twitching slightly in annoyance at the accuracy of his son's sarcastic comment. "You were a student here all your life. You have no excuse."
Tai Lung only snorted in response.
"As I was saying," Shifu went on, undeterred by the ex-convict's bad attitude, "I also expect you to mind everything that I and the other masters of the Jade Palace tell you."
Of course, Tai Lung maintained his sarcastic tone. "Right, do what the panda says. Also makes perfect sense."
Shifu felt his eye twitch. "You will not have free reign to go down to the village on your own, and you will be strictly monitored even here at the Jade Palace. I will have a rigorous schedule for you, and you will be expected to follow it perfectly. I know that Lin was not nearly as disciplined in her dealings with you-" He paused momentarily when Tai Lung snorted again, then cleared his throat. "Things will be different here for you. I expect you to adapt, unless you wish to return to Chor Ghom."
"Yes, I get it," he said with a put-upon sigh. "Discipline, schedules, follow the rules, blah blah blah. I have lived here before."
Shifu didn't think he could handle anymore attitude, so he decided to end their talk. "Good, then you'll remember how to scrub the baths. Follow me." He pushed past Tai Lung and headed for the bath house in silence. He wondered if Lin had made any progress with him, or had even attempted to. Judging from Tai Lung's current belligerence, she hadn't done anything at all. He would need to speak to her about that.
When they reached the bath house, he ensured the women's side was not in use before leading Tai Lung in and retrieving some cleaning supplies from one of the cabinets.
"Good gods," Tai Lung complained as he jumped into the empty tub with his soapy water and scrub brush. "This is all from Lin alone?"
Shifu chose not to answer. While he didn't like how ineffective Lin's methods had apparently been, he also didn't want to disparage her in front of Tai Lung. They would need to show a united front for his rehabilitation, though he didn't plan on involving Lin too much. Speaking of Lin's methods, he might do well to ask Tai Lung about them. "So you held a job in Shanghai?"
"Yes," Tai Lung grunted as he scrubbed the sides of the bath. That was apparently all he planned to say.
"What type of job?" Shifu prodded, determined to get at least some information.
"Dock work," he replied shortly. "Mostly stevedoring."
Shifu blinked down at him, waiting for some indication that his answer had just been another example of his sarcasm. "...Really?"
"Yes," Tai Lung huffed. "May I clean this mess in peace, now?"
"I cannot believe this. Lin had you working the docks in Shanghai?" He couldn't disguise his irritation at this bit of information. He'd seen the docks near Chen's house, and they were not fit for habitation of any kind. "I cannot believe her. What kind of job is that for a master of kung fu?"
"You're annoying," Tai Lung proclaimed, pointedly dunking his scrub brush into his bucket.
"It clearly did nothing for you temperament." Shifu paused to take a deep breath and calm himself. He reminded himself of that united front he wanted to show. "Never mind. Tell me, did Chen teach you any of his techniques while you were in Shanghai?"
"No," he said. "Not unless you count his sarcasm."
"Oh, good," Shifu grumbled to himself. "What did you learn?"
"I learned all about nunya," Tai Lung told him airily.
"I know what that means!" he snapped. "And it is not none of my business! It is all of my business!" He realized that Tai Lung had finally gotten to him, and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Apparently his son had learned nothing from Lin, except for how to push his buttons. He sat at one of the benches lining the wall and focused on his breathing a moment.
"What's wrong?" Tai Lung taunted from inside the bath. "Can't handle keeping an eye on me?"
"Just you keep cleaning," he ordered. "And don't worry about me." He decided to stay seated and watch Tai Lung from afar. This way he didn't feel so tempted to try to converse.
Since Tai Lung apparently had no desire to speak with him, either, they spent the afternoon in silence while Shifu attempted meditation and Tai Lung scrubbed. After a couple of hours, Shifu started feeling anxious about the rising likelihood that Lin and Gia would meet without his intervention. So, while Tai Lung's task had not been completed entirely to his satisfaction, he still felt justified in accompanying him back to the barracks. Since he believed Lin's claim that she and Tai Lung had traveled through the night, he thought more rest would be in order before his old student began his grueling training the next day.
The moment Shifu brought Tai Lung into the barracks, he heard clattering noises and cabinet doors opening and closing in the kitchen. He knew exactly who would be causing such a ruckus, and he silently prayed that Lin had yet to meet her daughter. "Tai Lung, return to your room at once," he ordered before running into the kitchen.
He breathed a sigh of relief to see Lin there alone, though she was currently destroying the contents of the cabinets.
"Lin, I have something important to discuss with you still," he said without preamble. It would be best to make quick work of the news, while he still had the chance.
"I'm trying to make tea," she replied, apparently oblivious to his statement, "but these cabinets're a hot mess."
"Lin, this is important."
"Ugh," she complained as she bent down and began rummaging through the lower cabinets. "Can't find a damn thing in this kitchen anymore, I'll hafta fix that."
"Lin," he tried to interrupt, in an attempt to tell her of the Jade Palace's latest guest before they met face to face.
"Y'know what that panda needs? A system."
"Lin." He thought he might have a heart attack as he watched Gia walk right into the room, unnoticed by her mother, and stop dead at the sight of them. "Lin!"
"Like mine! I had this place in perfect order back when-"
"Lin!"
"What!?" she snapped, turning around to yank on his mustache. She gave Gia only a cursory glance, then turned back to the cabinets. Then, slowly, she seemed to realize something was amiss and turned back to face the young half-wolf again. Her brow furrowed, she pointed. "Who's this?"
"Ah..." He tried to think of a gentle way to break the news to her. Then he remembered the fact that she had lied to him about Gia's existence in the first place, and allowed his bitterness to get the better of him. "Remember back when you told me you had no children?"
Lin looked at him as if he had grown an extra head, then looked back to her daughter, agitation clear in every feature of her expression. "Gia," she concluded flatly.
The young woman smiled hopefully at her mother's recognition, but the smile soon faltered when Lin's angry frown remained in place. "M-mother," she greeted nervously, her voice shaking a bit. "I have... I have dreamed of the day I would meet you."
Shifu felt awful for the girl, but he was honestly unsure of what he could do to help her.
"Okay," Lin said, practically speaking in a grunt. She made no effort to say anything further- no happy greeting, no tearful welcome, nothing. Her reunion with her daughter had begun and ended with "Okay." It was very obvious by Lin's reaction that she had fully expected to never see her daughter again, and thus had never prepared for the moment.
Shifu held his tongue, as difficult as that was. This meeting was none of his business, and he needed to give both mother and daughter space. He backed away, intending to leave the two alone when Gia, to Shifu's utter surprise, looked at him with a pleading expression on her face, as if asking him to stay. It was obvious that she was in an awkward position, but he'd thought she'd gotten over her impulse to treat him like some kind of security blanket. Although she had been mistakenly under the impression that he was her father her entire life.
Lin crossed her arms, glancing back and forth between the two of them. "S'that it?" she asked harshly.
Gia looked close to tears, not that it was out of the ordinary for her; but he couldn't blame her. "Mother-"
"Canya not?" she interrupted. "I ain't your mommy, got that? There's a reason you're just meeting me now, not that I had a say in that."
Gia went bright red and turned her gaze to the floor, her only response a quiet sniff.
As if Lin hadn't been cruel enough already, her reaction to the girl's crying was a disgusted, "Ugh."
"Lin, that is enough!" Shifu couldn't bring himself to silently stand by any longer and watch Lin humiliate her own daughter. Certainly meeting Gia must have been a shock for her, but there was no excuse for her behavior.
"Yeah, it is," she replied, then pushed past him and walked out of the room.
Gia remained standing in the middle of the kitchen, rooted to the spot with her shoulders shaking.
As much as Shifu would have liked to chase after Lin and give her a piece of his mind, he had a feeling he was needed more here. "Gia, I'm sorry." He couldn't help but feel responsible; he should have told her the truth about how Lin could be. He was starting to think, in fact, that he should have never let them meet. Still, he had no way of knowing that Lin would treat her own daughter with such disdain. "I did not mean for this to happen." He cringed as he spoke; his words sounded like nothing more than a weak excuse.
"Sh-she hates me," she replied tremulously, turning her tear-streaked face toward him and looking at him with her big, watery puppy-dog eyes.
"Lin can be abrasive at first, but I am sure she does not hate you." He didn't even believe that himself.
She turned away from him and let out a sob that sounded as if it had been torn forcefully from her throat.
He supposed he hadn't exactly been comforting. He took her by the wrist and guided her to a seat at the kitchen table, fearing she might collapse dramatically to the floor. Purposely, of course- she was still Lin's daughter, after all. "You will be alright." He noticed the boiling water on the stove and decided a cup of peppermint tea couldn't hurt anything. Besides, he couldn't think of anything better to do and it wasn't like Gia was going anywhere or saying anything.
Gia took the cup of tea he'd brewed and clutched it tightly to her chest, letting out a high-pitched whine that hurt his ears.
He resigned himself to his fate as a tear and booger receptacle and sat beside her, placing a hand on her back. That was all it took for her to plop her face onto his shoulder and sob wetly into his hanfu.
She finally spoke again, her voice muffled. "Sh-Shifu," she managed to work out in between sobs, "I- I- I-" She didn't seem able to finish, and fell silent, shaking her head.
"You what?" he prodded gently, and pushed her away from his shoulder in order to see and hear her better. "It is alright, you can tell me. I understand." Up until that point, while he had felt bad for her he had still found there to be an air of the ridiculous about her sobbing, but not anymore. The sight of her sitting in front of him, face contorted into an open-mouthed grimace without emitting any sound, because her grief was so intense that she couldn't even breathe anymore- it was awful. It was what he had done, the first night he'd spent alone at the Jade Palace after Tai Lung had been dragged off to Chor Ghom.
After she had managed to catch her breath, she let out a loud sniff and stuttered out, "I- I am all a-alone." She paused a moment, as if contemplating the sentiment, then burst into a new round of sobbing. And in a horrible, depressing way, she was right.
But he wasn't about to tell her that. "You most certainly are not."
"I am," she choked out. "I am, I am. I h-have no one."
"You have me," he argued unthinkingly. He had a feeling that one would come back to bite him- hard.
She neither replied to him nor stopped crying, but she wrapped her arms around him in a bone-crushing embrace.
He didn't say anything further, either. He didn't know what more he could possibly tell her, and he doubted it would help. He managed to extract an arm from her iron grip and pat her gently on the back until she finally cried herself out.
When Gia slowly let go of him and straightened up in her seat, her eyes red and her face still soaked with tears, she avoided eye contact. "I apologize for my outburst," she said quietly, her voice hoarse.
"No need to apologize," Shifu insisted. "I know this was a... Difficult experience." He momentarily clenched his teeth as he remembered Lin's behavior. "You should rest, Gia. I promise you, I will take care of this."
"No!" she protested, her face going red. "No, please, Master Shifu. Do not do anything on my behalf- I would not want to look like I cannot face my own mother."
He didn't plan to let Lin off the hook so easily, but he supposed Gia didn't need to know about that. "Gia, please. I promise I will not do anything out of line, now get your rest."
She sniffed and rubbed at her face with her sleeve, then hesitantly nodded. "I shall leave you for the evening, Master Shifu. Thank you." She got up and bowed to him with a perfect kung fu salute, and he couldn't help but smile.
Once Gia had gone, Shifu braced himself with a cup of tea, then headed down the barracks hallway. He stopped in front of Lin's door, unsure of what he would say to her. He wanted to simply burst into her room and scream at her until she was properly shamed for her behavior, but for Gia's sake he needed to calm down and try to speak to Lin normally. Well, not normally. He still planned to scold her as harshly as possible. And, now that he thought about it, she probably wouldn't be inclined to let him into her room at the moment. So, he burst in as he'd wanted to.
He found Lin in her bed, puffing on her stinky old pipe, the stormy expression on her face the only indication that anything had happened.
"Get out," she growled, without even bothering to look at him.
"No." Shifu shut the door behind him. "What in the hell is wrong with you?"
"Fuck off," Lin snapped, but her foul language did not intimidate him.
"You have a lot of nerve," he said, then sat down on her bed without invitation, just to show that he would not leave until she spoke to him. "After the way you behaved, the least you can do is talk."
"Fine," she grumbled.
"I just had to change my clothes because your daughter practically covered me in mucus and tears." He gave her as pointed a look as he could manage, but she remained unmoved.
"First, she's not my daughter. Second, that's gross."
"I am fairly sure she is your daughter," he argued back, trying his best not to lose his temper. "I do believe the tail is an obvious indicator. Not to mention she has your sister's name."
"Maybe she's my sister's daughter." She kept puffing on her pipe and blowing smoke in his face through their conversation, and it was starting to get on his nerves.
"She is not your sister's daughter!" he snapped, then snatched the pipe out of her hands and threw it across the room. "She is your daughter and you know it!"
"Screw you!" she shot back, giving him a hard poke in the chest. "Just 'cause I had to push her out doesn't make her mine! I never asked to get knocked up!"
"You had sex, didn't you? In my book, that counts as asking for it!"
"Do you even know how sexist you sound right now?"
"I am not saying her father isn't also responsible for her!" He would not let her derail their fight with her social commentary- he knew her well enough to realize she only wanted to change the subject. "But clearly you do not want him to be, if you told her that I was her father!"
"I never said that!" she roared, flushed with either anger or humiliation- he wasn't sure which.
"Then why did she think I was?" he shot back; he knew there must be a thousand different facts she must be hiding from him, and he wanted to at least know a few.
She glared at him with that icy look she seemed to have reserved just for the times when he angered her. "Get out," she ordered.
There had once been a time when that would have been his cue to make a hasty retreat. However, this time was different, and he was tired of letting Lin push him around. "No," he ground out; he was a master of kung fu, it was not as if she could forcibly remove him.
She attempted to get up and run off herself, but he'd been expecting that and he grabbed her by the shoulders and held her in place.
"If you walk out of this room now, you should not plan on coming back," he warned harshly. He doubted he would actually follow through on the threat, but it worked.
"I don't wanna talk about this!" She shrugged his hands off, but made no move to try to leave again. "Take a hint!"
"You spend an awful lot of time thinking about what you want, don't you?" he snapped, and he could see from the look of shock on her face that he'd caught her off-guard with the accusation.
"What are you saying?" she asked slowly, as if she somehow didn't understand.
"I am saying that you are selfish!" He couldn't believe she had the nerve to play dumb in the middle of their fight. "You dropped your own child like a hot rock so you could continue picking fights all over the world, and now that she's found you, you refuse to acknowledge her! Have you ever stopped to consider what was best for her? Or are you simply incapable?"
She stared at him a moment, her expression unreadable, then took a step back. "Y'know, maybe it'd be best, after all, if I didn't come back."
He doubted such was the case, but from the waver in her voice it had almost sounded as if she'd been on the verge of tears. More likely, she was only acting to get the upper hand in their fight. "Maybe it would!" he agreed, calling her bluff. "If you cannot even treat your own child with a single shred of common decency, then there is no place here for you! Go!"
She took a deep breath and, in the same tone of voice she'd used when she'd met Gia, she said, "Okay." With that, she picked up her pipe from where it had landed in the corner and walked out of the room.
He wouldn't follow her. He didn't want her to have the satisfaction of her theatrics working on him. Instead, he waited a suitable amount of time before leaving Lin's room, and nearly jumped out of his skin.
Tai Lung was standing in the doorway across the hall, glowering at him.
"Must you lurk in the shadows like that?" he asked, willing his heart rate to slow.
"What have you done?" Tai Lung growled in return.
"Wha- go to bed, Tai Lung," he ordered.
"I heard that shouting," the snow leopard pointed out. "Half of the valley heard it. So I shall ask again: what have you done?"
"If Lin and I fight, it is none of your concern," Shifu snapped. "She's just worked up over her daughter-"
"Excuse me?" Tai Lung's eyebrows shot up and his mouth hung slightly open. "Did I hear you say 'daughter?'"
He supposed he'd already spilled the beans, so there was no use trying to keep it secret. "Yes," he confirmed. "Lin's estranged daughter. Gia. You will meet her in due time."
"This isn't some sick prank, is it?" he asked hesitantly.
"I'm afraid not." Shifu rubbed at his forehead; he could use some rest, himself. "I'm not in the condition to discuss this. You may save any further questions for the morning. Now, bed." He gestured authoritatively toward the room, and with a roll of his eyes, Tai Lung finally retreated.
For the first time in many years, he felt like he needed a drink to calm his nerves. Instead, he returned to his room, lit a bank of candles, placed Oogway's staff in front of him, and attempted to meditate. If only his master would come to him now and provide him some sort of guidance.
Lightheaded, Lin walked across the Jade Palace grounds, her limbs heavy and numb. She made it as far as the thousand steps down into the village, and then she sat. It wasn't so much that she needed to sit as it was that she felt she couldn't move any longer. She wanted to scream, or cry- something- but she couldn't.
She'd been unprepared for what it had been like to see Gia again; it had brought her back to a time when she'd been in pain, when she'd felt weak and alone. Gia, with her thick gray fur and her oddly large ears, brought up memories that Lin had spent a long time trying to put behind her. Memories of calling for help and receiving no response, of a closed fist and a hard struggle, the feeling of forcing a sharp edge into resisting, living flesh. And then pregnancy, that unique and horrible sensation of her body not belonging to her anymore, the feeling of something moving inside her, draining her of life no matter how she struggled. The pain of childbirth, of getting torn open from the inside out, so intense she'd blacked out. The infection and fever that nearly killed her. A screaming newborn caked in blood and viscera. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
She'd despised having that baby around her. She remembered the dull pain that had followed after childbirth, the emptiness, the wish that she could be anywhere else, or anyone else. And how angry she'd felt whenever the thing cried, like it had anything to cry about. How much she'd struggled and cried when it was time for a feeding, how many times she'd wanted desperately to leave the kid for dead, risk death herself by crawling out into the snow with her injuries and infection, just so she could get away. And how nobody had understood how thoroughly her life had been destroyed or how she'd felt. Not even Anna, who she'd loved.
Those memories were nothing more, she reminded herself. What had happened, happened. It was done now. She'd survived, and she'd moved on. Yet no matter how many times she told herself that, no matter how logical she tried to be, she couldn't stop the primal feelings that had risen up at the sight of the girl. Her heart was still pounding in her chest, and she needed to concentrate hard on taking deep breaths or she wouldn't be able to breathe at all. She gripped her pipe tightly in her lap with a shaking hand, though it had gone out. She needed something visceral to keep her in the moment.
How could Shifu have done this to her? How long had he known about that girl, and never said a word to her? And then to confront her like she'd committed some sort of crime, to call her selfish for giving up a child she'd never wanted, to behave like she was such a horrible person, to threaten her only source of shelter when he knew she had nowhere else to go- it was unforgivable. She would never forgive him. Never.
She felt like a fool, like she'd been tricked. By her own heart or Shifu, she couldn't decide. She'd chosen the Valley of Peace, she'd chosen Shifu, and it had been the wrong choice. Why was it that she could never make the right choice? She'd been so convinced, this time, that she could be happy. That she had someone who loved her, again. Maybe for good, this time.
It had all fallen apart so fast, she didn't even know how to feel, yet. When Shifu had said all those things to her, it hadn't quite felt real. To know the things he thought about her, and to wonder if he'd always thought about her that way, had been harder than she ever could have anticipated. She felt numb, yet on fire at the same time. There was a sinking feeling in her chest, a hollowness that ached throughout her whole body. It was like his words had reduced her to nothing.
She knew this feeling. She'd felt this before. Once, when she had loved someone so deeply that she would have died for her. And that person had grown tired of her, and cruelly left her behind on a beach in France. It had been to difficult for her, then, to feel this. She had walked into the ocean. She had wanted to die.
She couldn't say she didn't want the same now. To curl up and go to sleep, and never wake up again. never have to feel anything again. She wouldn't succumb, this time. In spite of the pain of confronting her past, in spite of her broken heart, a small, dim light of determination still remained inside of her. She held on to that feeling, no matter how faint. Maybe this was what Oogway's visions had really been for. Maybe they had been preparing her for this. Maybe it was more than just them. Maybe everything she'd been through since that day on the beach had prepared her for this moment. The fights, the lost loved ones, the struggles. They really had made her stronger. She would get up and keep going. She would put one foot in front of the other no matter the pain, no matter the cost. That was the determination that had guided her through her life, and it wouldn't be snuffed out now by some simpering little girl and a balding marmoset.
But Lin still couldn't move. She didn't know what to do, or where to go. She felt isolated, in that moment. No one could help her, there was no one who would understand what she felt or why she felt it, no one she could tell even if she wanted to. And she did. She wanted to tell someone everything, about how much she hated that half-wolf girl and every memory attached to her, about how much it hurt just to look at her, about how scared she'd felt, like she was still twenty-nine and pregnant, and all alone. She wanted someone who would look at her with kind eyes and tell her that everything would be okay, because she couldn't believe that it would on her own. But that person was gone, and she would never find anyone else like him. She held the calabash pipe tightly to her chest, and at last, she cried.
Po yawned as he shuffled out to the large red front gates of the Jade Palace. It was his turn to close them for the night, though after the rigorous training Tigress had put them through, he wished he could just eat a pile of rice and turn in. Once he reached the doors, though, he paused at the sight of someone small and fluffy sitting on the thousand steps. "Hey, Lin! Welcome back."
Lin didn't turn to face him, though she acknowledged him with a hoarse, "Hey, panda."
"Jeez, you sound as beat as I feel." He thought she might get up or at least look at him, but she did neither. "Lin?" He approached her and sat down on the steps beside her. This close up, he could finally see just how ragged she looked. The fur on her face was matter, her eyes red and puffy, and he could see now she was shivering in the cold. "What's wrong?"
Lin leaned forward onto her knees and looked away. "Nothing. I'm just tired."
"Oh." He could have sworn she looked like she'd been crying, but he must have been mistaken. "Why don't ya head to bed, then?"
"I can't," she replied shortly.
He stared at her, his brow furrowed in confusion. "Uh... How come?"
"Shifu kicked me out. Or I left. I'm not even sure." She shrugged, though it lacked her usual cheer.
"Wait- he- buh- what?" Po rubbed at his face as he tried to comprehend what was happening. "What happened?"
"We can talk about it later," she assured him, and if he wasn't so utterly lost he might actually feel flattered that she considered him a confidante. "Please just... Don't say anything to anyone."
"Uh, sure, I won't," he agreed, still trying to grasp what she'd told him. "But... You just got back from Shanghai! How- why?"
"I'm not talking about it," she snapped.
Po had no idea what could have possibly caused such a rift between Shifu and Lin so quickly, and he was still confused about the whole situation. He gently touched Lin's back, and began to rub. It was all he could think to do. She was cold and she needed comforting, and that generally helped him out. "Sorry this wasn't a better reunion."
She snorted at the sentiment. "You and me both, panda."
"So... You really can't stay?" He still felt like he must have heard her wrong.
"Yeah," she confirmed with a wry smile. "The worst part is I never got to take advantage of that well-stocked kitchen."
His dad's restaurant was almost about to close, and he opened his mouth to offer her his access to free leftover noodles when an idea came to him. Lin was an excellent cook, and while she could be a little abrasive, she was more often fun and good-natured. It didn't take him long to conclude that this was an excellent idea. "Okay, c'mon." He stood up and headed down the stairs to the village, glancing behind him to see if she was following.
Lin followed after him, though she looked confused. "What's up, panda?"
"We're gonna go see my dad," he replied. He'd decided that he'd ask his dad to give Lin a job, and his old room if she wanted it. There wasn't much he was good for except cooking and kung fu, but at least he could probably convince his dad to help Lin out. It was better than nothing, anyway. "You're a real great cook, and he could use some help. If ya don't mind my old room, that is."
"You sure your dad's gonna be okay with that?" she asked skeptically.
"Can't hurt to ask," he replied with a shrug. "I mean... It's the only place I know with an empty bed."
"True enough," she agreed quietly, then punched his arm.
He rubbed the spot where she'd hit him, leaning away from her a little; she didn't look mad, though. "What was that for?"
"Nothing," she said. "Just... Thanks, panda."
"Ya know my name's Po, right?"
She snorted in response to the question.
Po glanced down at Lin, and despite her amused snort she still looked miserable and exhausted. He wanted so badly to ask her what happened again, but she'd said she didn't want to talk about it. "So... How're ya feelin'?"
"Well, I can't say this was the worst day of my life," she replied with a shrug. "I've had worse days 'an this. I mean, this one was still very shitty, but at least there's that."
"I guess that's one way to stay optimistic." Personally, he'd probably be pitying himself pretty hard if he'd had to leave the Jade Palace.
"No," she grumbled. "Optimism would involve having some hope that things will improve in the future. I've learned from experience that optimism's a bunch'a bullshit."
"Well, that's not necessarily true," he argued in the hopes of cheering her up a little. "Ya never know, right?"
Lin rolled her eyes at him. "How old're you, again? Twenty?"
"Twenty-one," he corrected, though she only snorted at him again. "What?"
"Life gets harder the longerya live it," she replied. "And twenty-anything was a lifetime ago for me. Not that your life'll turn out as hard as mine's been, but it might. You never know!"
He frowned at her sarcastic use of his encouragement. "Hey, I'm not the one who hurt ya. Last I checked I was tryin' to help ya, right?"
"Yeah, I know," Lin muttered, and she sounded incensed. "Maybeya shouldn't."
"Ah, don't say that." He gave her a gentle pat on the back, but she didn't respond. It was rare that Lin didn't have anything to say, so it unnerved him, but he kept his mouth shut. If she didn't want to talk, then he probably shouldn't, either. Once they got down into the village and approached his dad's restaurant, though, he couldn't help himself. "You're gonna like it here," he assured her. "I mean, I'm biased, since I grew up here and all. But you know my dad already, you guys get along and stuff. He's needed extra help ever since I moved out, so I'm sure he'll say yes."
The dinner crowd had already left for the evening, and Po found his dad in the restaurant's kitchen, cleaning up. "Hey, Dad," he greeted as he ducked into the kitchen.
"Po!" The goose spared a moment for a tight hug, then placed a wet rag into his hand. "You can start wiping down the tables for me."
"Yeah, sure, in a minute." Po dropped the rag onto the counter, then placed a hand on Lin's back to give her a little encouragement to get out of the doorway. "Ta-da!" he announced loudly, mostly to make sure he had his dad's attention.
Ping stared at Lin a moment, then turned back to Po. "I don't do blind dates."
"No! I mean, that's not what I meant!" Po smacked a hand to his forehead, though Lin seemed a little cheered up by the mistake. He heard her snort, at least. "Dontchya remember Lin?"
"Oh, right, she's your girlfriend!" he concluded cheerfully. "Yes, I remember now."
"No!" Po argued as Lin let out a bark of laughter. "She's my friend, and she's here to help ya out with the restaurant." He paused to elbow Lin in the side. "Right?"
"Right," Lin confirmed, and as distraught as she'd been earlier, she sounded like her usual confident self, now. "I got kitchen experience, if that's whatya need. Ifya need a server, I can do that, too. Doesn't matter, really."
Ping raised his eyebrows, turning his gaze back and forth between Lin and Po. Then he narrowed his eyes at Po. "You think I can't handle the restaurant on my own, hm?"
"Dad, you said yourself ya need help," Po argued, frustrated with his dad's stubborn streak. "And Lin needs a place to stay. I figured she could stay in my old room and help ya out here. It works out perfectly!" Po tried to give him the same pleading eyes he'd used whenever he'd wanted something as a child in the hopes the tactic would still work.
His dad crossed his wings, one feather tapping as he regarded the two of them. "Oh, alright. But only on a trial basis!" With that, he picked up the wet rag and shoved it into Lin's hands. "You can wipe the tables down, then. Po, help me with the soup pots."
"Thanks, Dad."
"Yeah, thanks," Lin said, then got to work without another word.
Po watched her wipe down the tables quickly and quietly as he emptied and scrubbed soup pots. This so wasn't like her, but he figured something big had happened between her and Shifu for her to be acting so... Sad. Maybe she'd even met Gia. He wondered if that was what had led to Shifu apparently kicking her out. "Uhm, Dad?" he whispered. "About Lin."
"She seems efficient so far," he replied with an approving nod as he stored the leftover vegetables from the day.
"Yeah. But... Well, this's a tough time for her. I think. Just to warn ya."
Ping let out a heavy sigh. "It figures." He watched Lin a moment, then shrugged. "Oh, well! This is the restaurant business. I'd be more concerned if I'd found an employee who seemed well-adjusted. Now scrub harder, Po, that grime isn't going to come off on its own."
Po smiled at his dad's welcoming attitude. It looked like there really was always room for one more at Mr. Ping's, as his dad has always said.
Tigress scanned the landscape for signs of anyone up and about who might see her, then once she was certain the coast was clear, she headed for the Jade Palace proper. She hadn't seen Po return yet from his evening chores, but she felt confident he would meet her and Gia in the scroll library. Po was dependable. She paused to bury her face in her hands at the thought of their last interaction. "Now I must go," what had that been? She could be such an awkward boob sometimes. She might as well have screamed as she ran away from Po. He didn't deserve such treatment. It was just that she'd found herself feeling... Fond of him. She didn't object to growing closer to a teammate, of course, but the type of fondness she'd felt had been inappropriate. There was a reason that fraternization of a certain level was frowned upon between kung fu masters on the same team. It was a common occurrence, actually, for teammates to fraternize. And then there was an inevitable falling out, and the team suffered.
She didn't know why she was even thinking of this. It wasn't like she had feelings for Po, she'd only had a brief moment of strong affection. It was only because Po was so sweet, and kind, and cute. She shook her head. What was she thinking? Had she really just thought of someone, anyone, as "cute?" She must be losing her mind from lack of sleep. Besides, romantic entanglements were no longer something she had any desire for. When she'd been younger, sure, the prospect of a suitor had appealed to her, but even then she had only dated... Well, men who were like her. Men who were serious, intense, focused on their goals. To be honest, though, that focus had always been the death knell of a relationship. She had dumped many a man for believing that she should abandon her own goals in order to support his.
Po wasn't like that. If nothing else, he had proven so through his endless support in her effort to teach herself nerve strikes. Po could act a little cocky sometimes, but that's all it was. An act. In the end, he didn't think of himself as any more important or deserving than she was. He'd even professed to being a fan of her accomplishments, which she normally paid no attention to. When Po said it, though, it made her feel like the person he saw her as: strong, capable, independent, fierce.
She took a deep breath. Po was nothing more than a good friend, and she was only feeling a temporary infatuation due to the long nights they'd been studying together. In time, this minor infatuation would fade and she would have nothing more to worry about. Po was her teammate, her brother in arms, and that precluded any true romantic feelings. Her current state was nothing more than a fluke. The best way to deal with it would be to ignore it, keep her mind on other subjects.
Tigress paused as she reached the doors to the Jade Palace, furrowing her brow; she could swear she heard singing from inside. She opened the heavy front doors, realizing as she entered that the singing in question was coming from the library of scrolls down the hall. She hesitated a moment, considering turning back. Turning back had never been in her nature, though, so she slowly and quietly made her way down the hall and into the library. She couldn't say she quite understood the words, but she had a good idea of who might be singing them.
"Andrà tutto bene, andrà tutto bene, tutto bene." Gia sat at the large study table, several scrolls unrolled before her, singing the repetitive song to herself as she rocked slightly in her chair and ignored said scrolls.
"Gia?" Tigress crossed her arms, unsure of what to make of the scene. She wondered if the little wolf had finally snapped.
Gia jumped in her seat, clamping her mouth shut and blushing brightly.
"...What was that song?" She approached the table, surprised to see that the scrolls Gia had been staring at were all ink paintings of the Jade Palace's grounds.
Gia gulped, as if being caught singing had been such a huge embarrassment that it took effort to speak. "It is, ahm... It is the tutto bene song," she answered quietly. "Or I should call it to you the okay song."
Tigress ignored her poor grammar and raised an eyebrow. "The okay song?" she repeated. "What does that mean?"
"It means 'it is going to be okay.' I suppose you could say both of my mothers used to sing it to me, when I was in distress. It, uhm, helps." She picked at the edge of the table, still red in the face.
Tigress stared at her, dumbfounded. "You mean Lin sang that song?"
"I wouldn't remember," Gia amended. "But Mama Anna told me that my mother had taught her the song. It's meant to soothe- to soothe a child."
"Ah." She understood now why it would be embarrassing to get caught singing such a song with no audience, since it was essentially a baby's lullaby. "I didn't mean to intrude. I suppose I was curious." She paused, feeling awkward at the other woman's miserable frown. "You have a lovely voice."
"Thank you," she accepted tremulously as her eyes began to tear up. She pushed the ink paintings across the table, presumably to protect them from her tears.
Tigress didn't know what to do, exactly. She'd seen Gia cry before, of course. Anyone who'd met the girl had likely seen her cry. But there was obviously something very wrong, and she had a feeling she knew what. Shifu had announced today that Tai Lung had returned, which meant that Lin was also back at the Jade Palace. And she found it unlikely that the two had yet to meet. She tried to think of how Viper might handle such a situation. Probably with a bunch of probing questions meant to somehow sound sympathetic. "Gia, what happened?" She took a seat beside the girl and hesitantly patted her hand. "Perhaps talking will help you feel better."
Gia nodded, then pulled a handkerchief from her dress and patted her face down. "I- I met her. My mother." That last word had been more of a croak as more tears fell down her face.
"I see." Tigress couldn't say she was surprised. Lin cared nothing for those around her, so why would she care for her own daughter?
Gia took a moment to compose herself, the handkerchief now soaked through. "Sh-she hates me," she said quietly, her voice breaking once more. "She wants- she wants n-nothing to do with me."
"Well, then that's her problem," Tigress replied fiercely. She snapped her mouth shut when she realized that she'd probably said something out of line, but Gia surprised her by smiling at the sentiment.
"Y-you think so?" she asked, looking up at Tigress with those big, watery brown eyes.
"Yes." She found herself feeling protective of Gia. She never would have believed it when the girl first arrived, but she had grown to feel very strongly for the little wolf, perhaps the way she would feel for a younger sister. "You are my friend, Gia, and that's because I care for you. You're a person who's worth knowing. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise."
Gia nodded, tears now flowing rapidly, and grabbed hold of her hand. "Ti amo," she said, and while she still spoke quietly there was a passion in her voice that was intense as only Gia could be.
Unfortunately, Tigress didn't speak a word of Italian. "What does that mean?"
Gia blinked, blushing brightly as she looked down at her lap. "It means that you are my very good friend, Tigress. And I care for you, as well."
"Hm. Concise language." She suspected Gia's Italian had been a much more shortened form of the sentiment, but her blithe observation made Gia smile again.
That smile was short-lived, and soon she lapsed into tears once more. It wasn't as though those tears were unjustified, though. "Tigress, will you keep something a secret, if I tell it to you?"
Tigress shifted uncomfortably; she could keep a secret, of course, but she wasn't sure if she should be the one to hear it. Still, it wasn't as if anyone else was around, and she didn't have the heart to tell Gia no. "Alright," she agreed hesitantly.
"I remember," she said quietly, wringing her hands in her lap.
Tigress waited for an elaboration, but Gia seemed too choked up to continue. "You... Remember?" she prompted.
Gia sniffed and wiped at her face with her already dirty handkerchief before continuing. "I remember it was cold, and dark. There... There was snow, I think. My mother placed a hand on my head. She said something to me. Something about how everything changes, but it also stays the same. I know it was that, because she taught the song to the sisters and they used to sing it to me. I saw her walk through a door, and she was gone. That was the night she left me, and it is the first thing I ever remembered."
"Why is it that every time you talk about your life it's something horribly sad?"
She blinked up at Tigress and frowned. "You think my life is sad?"
"Gia, I didn't mean-"
"No," she interrupted. "I suppose it would seem sad to someone like you." She stood up and tucked her dirty handkerchief into her dress. "Bad things happen in life. I am not ignorant of that fact, and I do not need your judgment in order to inform me of it. I may have trouble reading logograms, and my Mandarin may not be the greatest, but my mind is- is-" She paused, clearly grasping for an adjective. "Good," she settled on. "It is good. And I think if you would learn Italian you would find that I can be quite smart, and well-spoken."
"I never meant to imply anything," Tigress insisted, taking hold of Gia's arm in an effort to keep her from running off.
Gia slid from her grasp with surprising ease, though. "Scappa," she snapped, and fled from the scroll library.
Tigress had no idea what the word meant, but she had a feeling it was less than charitable. She should have known better than to open her big mouth. She never seemed to be able to say the right thing, not even when it came to Gia, who so obviously wanted her friendship. Gia had been right, that what she'd said had been inappropriate and patronizing. She couldn't imagine how often Gia had been patronized so far. She realized now that she and Viper had both been guilty of such behavior on their trip to the village with Gia, and the young wolf hadn't said a word. It must have been difficult for her, holding her tongue while the people around her treated her like a child, just because her Mandarin wasn't perfect. Tigress could only imagine the frustration she would feel if she couldn't quite communicate the way she wanted with those around her. Maybe because, despite her fluency in Mandarin, she still had problems communicating with others. Especially the people she cared for.
She rolled up the scrolls Gia had left behind, and paused when she caught sight of the signature on one. This was Lin's artwork. Of course. No wonder Gia had been looking at these ink paintings. They were so lovely, it seemed impossible that they could have come from someone as hateful as Lin. She didn't know where to store the things, so she left them stacked on the table. As much as she would have liked to destroy the paintings, they were the property of the Jade Palace, and so it was her duty as a master of kung fu to keep them from harm.
Gia had also set out some blank paper, ink, and brushes for their nightly lesson, in spite of everything she'd been through. Tigress reached for them, to pack them away, then thought better of it. She wrote out a quick note to Po, explaining that she couldn't meet for their studies that night. She didn't think she would be able to concentrate much, now.
Then she wrote another note, apologizing to Gia. And she tore that note up, because she knew Gia would have a difficult time trying to read the characters, many of which hadn't come up in her lessons yet. If only she knew how to write something in Italian. She'd seen Roman characters before, but she'd never be able to form words or sentences with them without the proper lessons. She tried writing a much simpler apology to Gia, then tore that one up, too. It just seemed patronizing to her. She glanced over at the stack of ink paintings Lin had done. How could Gia look at those, knowing what her mother was truly like? And how could Lin create such beauty when she was such a miserable person?
Tigress wondered if Gia had inherited any of that talent. The young wolf had been maintaining the archives with her trademark enthusiasm, so perhaps. And she had shown a penchant for more creative pursuits when she'd created those hideous dolls. As disturbing as the dolls had been, though, she had made them with her own two hands to sincerely show that she cared for the people around her. That made them just as worthwhile as those ink paintings. Moreso, really. Encouraged by these thoughts, Tigress grabbed another sheet of blank paper, loaded her brush with ink, and began to draw.
Lin tossed her dirty rag into the wash basin at Mr. Ping's restaurant and bid the goose goodnight before following Po upstairs. She'd only been going through the motions, shutting down her brain in an effort not to think or feel anything. It was what she needed to do, to get a job and a place to live on such short notice, and she was no stranger to doing whatever was needed to survive. To be honest, there had been plenty of times when she'd pushed her feelings down, made them small and ignored them, in order to push on. Maybe that was part of why her past still haunted her, like Oogway had pointed out. She wasn't in any condition to contemplate that, though.
"Well, here we are," Po announced as he led her into his childhood room, which still looked like a kid lived in it.
Lin looked around at the walls, covered in drawings of kung fu masters and apparent "bad guys," throwing stars stuck haphazardly into it in places. The many shelves lining the walls were packed with Mr. Ping's spare dishes and cutlery, and the windowsill was lined with hand-carved figures of the Furious Five. She sat on the bed, which sagged horribly in the middle from its decades of use. Something in the room smelled off, like Po had left some forgotten, half-eaten snack behind when he'd moved out. As she sat on the broken bed, taking in the cramped little room, her situation finally hit her, and tears welled up in her eyes. Lin couldn't stop herself, as embarrassing as it was to make such a scene. She had once been able to keep a straight face through any crisis, but not anymore. Now she cried, and sobbed, and screamed.
"Oh- Uhhh- Lin, c'mon," Po begged awkwardly, wrapping a blanket around her. "This's just- just a bump in the road! It'll all be behind ya before ya know it."
She hoped that was true. There were so many parts of her past that she'd tried to put behind her, but it had never worked out. She couldn't let go, not really.
"Hey, it's gonna be fine. I mean, when ya think about it, you're not so bad off, right? We got ya a place to stay, here, a job, all the noodles you could want- right?"
She shook her head. Losing her home wasn't easy, but it also wasn't new to her. She'd always bounced back from stuff like that. "I- I-" She tried to catch her breath, but it was a difficult feat at the moment. "I d-don't wanna be alone again," she managed to choke out in between sobs.
And then she stopped, and stared down at her knees, tears still flowing. She hadn't realized exactly what she'd been feeling until she'd blurted it out. Now it hit her, harder than anything else that had just happened to her. She felt frightened, isolated, abandoned. She'd chosen the Valley of Peace, she'd left friends and a life behind in Shanghai, thinking that she'd found someone who loved her again. She'd been wrong. She felt so betrayed, so rejected, so stupid.
"Uh... Lin?" Po asked.
She pulled off the blanket and handed it to him, then climbed out of the bed and walked away. She needed time to think.
"Okay!" he called out after her. "I'll just, uh, give ya some space!"
She needed time to think, but at the same time her mind felt pretty blank. She didn't want to be alone again, that was what she'd said. She ruminated on that for a while, as she left the restaurant and walked through the darkened village. If she really searched herself, her own feelings, it became clear that this fear of being alone was nothing new. The last time she'd been alone, truly on her own, had been years ago. Back when she'd had to plan the funeral for the man she loved, when she'd had to settle his debts, sell their home, figure out what to do or where to go. She had been alone, then. She had done everything alone. It had been the first time in her life that she'd hated it. She'd wanted someone with her more than anything else in the world, and that was why she'd gone to India. She hadn't wanted to be alone.
That was why she'd stayed with Rahim, and later with Wei-Shan. That was why she'd come back to the Valley of Peace. That was why she'd made every one of her decisions for the past three years. All of them.
She stopped at one of the moon bridges throughout town and leaned against the edge, watching the water rush by beneath her. She liked the way the moonlight glinted on the surface of the stream. She wished she could go to the sea again, at that moment. She closed her eyes and remembered, vividly, the sea by her home in Calabria. She could feel those warm and gentle waves lapping at her, hear the peaceful sound of the breeze on the water. She missed floating most of all. She felt so much lighter when she floated, and watched the clouds go by. That scent of salt and lemons. That was the first place she ever remembered being happy.
Lin knew now what she needed to do. It frightened her, but there was no other decision to make. She could feel in her gut it was right. She needed to be alone again.
Now that her head felt more clear, she realized what a fool she'd been to think she could have a relationship with Shifu. She'd wanted to see him again so badly, thinking that she would somehow love him again, after all these years. What she had really loved was the idea of him. She had loved the thought of returning to a place where she had once been cared for, and to have the person who'd cared for her accept her with opens arms. That hadn't been how things had happened, but she'd pushed on, convinced that they belonged together. Why? Because she was lonely? Because she had lost her way? Because she had been trying to forget her pain, the people she'd lost?
Maybe all of those reasons. Probably more that she couldn't think of at the moment, too. In the end, she couldn't call that love. Not really. And Shifu had made it clear that day that he didn't love her, either. If he had, he would have told her about Gia. He would have given her the benefit of the doubt. He would have trusted her, believed the best of her, understood her. He'd done none of those things. He'd assumed she was a horrible person, because she hadn't kept her child. He'd thought her anger cruel and inappropriate, without stopping to consider that she was reacting to a situation that made her feel like she might die from the panic gripping her. He had rejected her, taken her home from her, broken her trust. And the worst part of it all was that... She honestly couldn't tell herself that it was out of character for him.
It hurt her to admit that to herself. She had wanted things to work out between them so badly that she had ignored the truth. That she had ignored the fact that, when push came to shove, he treated her like dirt. It made her feel smaller and more stupid than anything else she'd been forced to face that day. She had been in relationships like that before, she had been treated like she was worthless before, and every time she'd gotten out she'd sworn it would never happen again. She'd sworn she'd learned her lesson. Yet here she was again.
If before all this she had only been holding on by a thread, now she was in freefall. She lit her calabash pipe and smoked it, the weight of it in her hand and the scent of the tobacco offering her some comfort. This pipe was her one reminder that someone had loved her unconditionally. That she was someone worth loving. It helped to have such a physical reminder, in times when that just didn't feel true or real.
She realized something, then. She was mourning again. This time not for the person she had loved and lost, but for the life she had thought she would have. For the love she had thought had been in her grasp. For the man she had thought Shifu would be, and the disappointment of realizing he was not. For the home she had thought she would live in for the rest of her life. She would have to forge a new life, find a new home. But she couldn't now. All she could do now was grieve. It seemed to her that it was all she ever did, these days.
Tai Lung had known better than to listen to Shifu for a long time, and his so-called rehabilitation had yet to beat that out of him. So, the moment he felt he wouldn't be heard, he climbed out the window of his room and onto the barracks roof. He was overcome, briefly, by nostalgia for his childhood, when he'd hid up on this roof to avoid the responsibilities and stresses of his everyday life. In other words, Shifu. He remembered, too, sitting here with Lin and looking at the stars. Now he scanned the horizon, in search of any sign of Lin or her would-be assassins. He'd circled the Jade Palace's grounds twice before he spotted her, sitting on the thousand steps and holding that calabash pipe of hers. They hadn't even been back a day, and already Shifu had upset her again. Or maybe she was upset over that daughter of hers.
He still couldn't wrap his head around the idea of Lin with a child. Obviously they weren't on the best of terms, if Lin had been "worked up," as Shifu had claimed. He decided to hang back and keep an eye out, rather than approach her. He doubted Shifu or his students would come looking for him, or for Lin, for that matter. He stayed vigilant, until sometime after sundown, when a large figure approached from the direction of the Jade Palace. He tensed momentarily, until he realized that this was the panda.
Tai Lung glared at the two, suspicious of the panda's motives. What did he want with Lin, anyway? He watched as they spoke, and then headed down the stairs toward the village. This was unexpected. He followed them at a safe distance, leaping across rooftops through the darkened village, until they reached some sort of restaurant. From the smell of the place, it likely served noodle soup. He crouched on a neighboring rooftop and watched as the two conversed with a goose, and then the panda led Lin into the building. He circled around to the side of the building, satisfied to find an open window through which he could continue to observe the two. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but Lin looked upset. When she fled the room and the restaurant, he was left with two choices. He could continue to follow Lin, ensuring her safety for the night, or...
Tai Lung balked at the idea that had come to his mind at first. He couldn't possibly, it was not an option. Yet... If he informed the panda of the Wu Sisters' interest in Lin, not only would he have a second set of eyes and ears for his cause, but it would be the perfect method with which to earn the oaf's trust. After all, how could he still be the fearsome criminal Tai Lung, if he was so concerned for the life of another? If he were willing to work with the panda against a common enemy? It was perfect, really. And if the panda were capable of defeating him in battle, as humiliating as that was to acknowledge, then he must be capable enough to protect Lin from the Wu Sisters.
With a put-upon sigh, Tai Lung leapt toward the restaurant, grabbed the edge of the roof, and swung himself in through the window. The panda was still in the room he'd entered, as he'd expected. What he hadn't expected was the condition of said room. It looked like some ten-year-old obsessed with kung fu currently resided in the room, judging by the drawings all over the walls, the collection of throwing stars, and the hand-carved wooden figures in the windowsill. He gave the figure of Mantis a bewildered poke.
"T-Tai Lung!" the panda choked out, adopting a defensive stance.
"Yes, yes, it's me," he confirmed with a dismissive wave. What a simpleton. "What on earth are these?" He indicated the figures, unable to hold back his curiosity.
"Oh, uh, I made those," the panda replied sheepishly, relaxing at the question. "D'you like 'em- wait a minute- you just broke into my room!"
"Certainly not, panda, you had the window open for just anyone to come in." He knew his argument wasn't correct, not that he cared. "And since I had business with you, I saw fit to enter. I am beginning to regret the decision, but here I am." He scanned the room once more, his lip curling at the stacks of dishes everywhere and the sunken cot. This looked like some sort of storage room for the restaurant below, combined with pathetically small living quarters. And judging by the panda's proclamation that he'd made the figurines in the window, this was his room. "What did you bring Lin here for- oh, ew. I just realized."
"Wha- no!" the panda protested, going so far as to wave his arms in front of him to emphasize the point. "No! No. How many times do I gotta say there's nothin' goin' on with me and Lin?"
Tai Lung raised his eyebrow at the information that this assumption had been made multiple times, but said nothing.
"We're just friends," the panda went on. "I brought her here 'cause she's gonna stay with my dad and help him out at the restaurant a while."
Tai Lung couldn't say he wasn't still skeptical, but the panda didn't seem like the lying type. "Why on earth would she do a thing like that?"
"'Cause Shifu kicked her out." He paused, a morose frown crossing his face. "Uh... Yeah. She said she had nowhere to go, so... Well, I wanted to help her out."
Tai Lung felt his jaw clench in anger at the news. He should have known when he heard the old hemorrhoid fighting with her that he'd do something like this. He couldn't wait for his revenge, now, for the day when he could wring that fuzzy little neck. "I see," he growled. "Well, this isn't the least defensible place you could have brought her. I don't know if I could make it down from the Jade Palace to keep a lookout every night, of course, but at least the entrances are limited and the structure is solid-"
"Uhm," the panda interrupted. "What're ya talkin' about?"
"I'm talking about assassins, of course." He gestured to a crude drawing affixed to the wall of the panda fighting three snow leopardesses with wind and fire wheels. "I assume you are familiar with the Wu Sisters."
"Whoah!" the panda exclaimed, actually excited by the information. "Oh, man, this's so cool! I got the Wu Sisters after me? Really?"
"No, you single-celled buffoon! They're after Lin. Hence why I tailed you." He gave an indignant sniff. As if the Wu Sisters would ever go after that monochromatic oaf. How full of himself did the panda have to be to think such a thing?
The panda furrowed his brow in confusion, which was understandable. There was no reason to believe they would go after Lin, either. Sure, she had a criminal past, but it was small-time at best. "What'd she ever do to 'em?"
"Nothing, I assume," Tai Lung explained with a roll of his eyes. "They're assassins, panda, people hire them to kill their targets. You're a kung fu master, as painful as it is for me to say that aloud! You should know what assassins do by now."
"I know what assassins do," the panda grumbled defensively. "I just thought- y'know, never mind. Does Shifu know?"
"Shifu is even more of a moron than you are," Tai Lung dismissed. "He would want to chase the Wu Sisters, hunt them down and fight them. Assassins are patient, they play a waiting game, and the best way to face them is to wait in turn. Besides, it isn't as if that giant-eyebrowed freak would care what happens to Lin."
"Of course he would!" the panda argued. "He loves Lin-"
"Oh, does he?" Tai Lung insisted, indicating the room around him. "That must be why he put her up in such luxurious accomodations, right?"
The panda shut his mouth, a red tinge visible beneath his white fur. "Well, yeah. This doesn't look good."
"No, it doesn't." Tai Lung approached the bear, drawing himself to his full height and throwing out his chest in order to strike an intimidating pose. "Which is why you will help me. Master Chen has tasked me with protecting the little fuzzball from harm-" He paused and winced when the panda interrupted him with an excited squeal.
"Sorry, go on."
"As I was saying, I require your assistance in this matter, especially now that Lin is away from the Jade Palace. You are the one who brought her to this- this house of noodles. Ergo, you shall keep an eye on her. This task requires constant vigilance, do you understand? The Wu Sisters could strike at any moment, day or night."
"Cool," the panda breathed.
Tai Lung's whiskers twitched as he considered simply killing the panda right then and there. "Are you helping me or not?" he snapped.
"Yeah, definitely-"
"Good, shut up, I don't want to talk to you anymore." If nothing else, his time in Shanghai had taught him how to end a conversation succinctly.
"Wait!" the panda called out, and he stopped to raise an eyebrow at his old foe. "Ya know my name's Po, right?"
"Ugh," Tai Lung replied with a rolled of his eyes. He left back through the window before the panda could irritate him any further. After all, he wasn't there to socialize.
Tai Lung leapt across the rooftops, scanning the streets for any sign of life. He wasn't used to such empty streets at night after living in a busy city like Shanghai, and he found it unsettling. Thankfully, it wasn't long before he spotted Lin at a moon bridge. In such a small town, she stuck out like a sore thumb. He circled the rooftops around her, scanning for any signs the assassins, but found none. He settled down on one of the nearby rooftops, crouching to conceal himself behind the corner of the roof's hip. He could be wrong, but he got the impression from watching Lin that his presence wouldn't be welcomed at the moment.
He recalled, as he watched her smoke her pipe and wipe at her face, what Yan-Yan had told him. She'd said that Lin would end up hurt again, in time. At least now maybe Lin would see Shifu for what he truly was: a heartless, cantankerous old fool concerned only with the tenets of kung fu and his precious reputation. He realized after some time that he would need to make himself comfortable for the night if he planned to keep an eye on Lin. Well, it wouldn't be his first stakeout.
He experienced, then, a moment of self-awareness. Here he was, crouching on a rooftop and stalking an old woman like some sort of lunatic. Since when did he care so much whether Lin lived or died? Since when was she his responsibility? One look down at her, leaning against that half-wall and pathetically crying into the river, weakened his resolve. Somewhere along the way, as horrifying as it was to admit, he had come to see Lin as his. His friend, his confidante, his mother-figure- well, maybe not quite that last one. Either way, she was his. He'd admitted it, so he might as well own it. And he wouldn't let anyone harm her or come between them, not even Shifu. If he had to sit up on this roof all night, if he had to do so every night, then so be it. He would.
Notes:
Thanks again for reading and reviewing! As for my references: the title of the chapter is a Jewish proverb, "there's always room for one more at Mr. Ping's" was, of course, from the KFP Holiday special, and Tai Lung's line about "the stresses of life, in otherwords Shifu" was a paraphrasing of a line from Frasier, which I marathon about 4 times a year. I have no problem revealing that Gia's Italian phrase, "scappa" is the command form of "scappare," meaning "to escape." When spoken it means something along the lines of "go away" or "get away from me." Her song is purely made up, though I do imagine kind of an Ingrid Michaelson sound to it. "Ti amo" I feel is pretty well known, but just in case, it translates to "I love you." Until next chapter!
Chapter 21: Not for All the Tea in China
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 21: Not for All the Tea in China
Shifu woke slowly and, with a tired yawn, reached out beside him. He felt around his bed a moment, confused to find it empty, until his sleep-addled mind finally recalled his and Lin's epic fight. He didn't know why he'd even looked for her in the first place, regardless of having forgotten yesterday's events. He hadn't shared a bed with her in months. Perhaps it was simply that she was on his mind. Lin had a tendency to get under his skin, and not just in the irritating sense. Thoughts of her overran his mind and took over his focus, even haunted his dreams. Having her near only made it worse, in spite of their argument. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't had a few fantasies about what it would be like, when Lin returned to him.
Not that he'd had anything untoward in mind. Well, with Lin involved, something untoward was bound to happen sooner or later. But he'd more fantasized about how, once Tai Lung had settled in, he would plan a romantic evening for her. Perhaps she would have taken a moonlit stroll across the mountain with him, and their dinner could have been a candlelit picnic under the stars. Or he could have taken her to a restaurant, one of those tiny, intimate spots. They could have stayed up all night talking and spent the morning dozing in each other's arms.
Instead they'd fought. He didn't know why he'd even bothered to hope for anything else. He certainly hadn't been going on their track record. She hadn't let him have a moment of peace yet, and this instance was no different. Though he had to wonder what on earth she was thinking. How could she have treated her own daughter so hatefully, without even bothering to get to know her? He'd expected Lin to be angry at him for not writing to her about Gia, but he hadn't expected the vitriol she'd displayed. And it was a rare occurrence indeed that she ever walked out on a fight with him like she had the night before. He didn't expect she'd have the nerve to show her face to him any time soon, though he could always be wrong. He'd let her cool off for the time being. He needed to focus on how he might handle Tai Lung's rehabilitation, anyway.
Shifu groaned to himself as he prepared for the day. It appeared, due to Lin's negligence out of either ineptitude or indifference, that he would be starting from square one with Tai Lung. To make things even more difficult for him, Tai Lung already knew all his kung fu teachings and his style. Tai Lung's knowledge of the thousand scrolls would only add to his pride and stubbornness. He hadn't interacted much with his son in the past day, but it didn't look like he would have an easy time getting through to the man. He took hold of Master Oogway's staff and paused to think back on his fervent and recurring wish that his master guide him. He hadn't been the only one to benefit from Master Oogway's guidance. After all, Tai Lung had learned lessons from the ancient tortoise. Perhaps it was time that Tai Lung learned some lessons from a few other masters.
He took his place in the barracks hallway, perfectly calm and presentable by the time the morning gong rang and his students all stepped into the hall to give their morning salutes. All save one. Shifu eyed the door to Tai Lung's room, waiting for a belated appearance, but none seemed forthcoming. There were a few choice words he would have liked to mutter in the face of such disobedience, but he remained calm in front of his students. "I see Master Tai Lung has decided not to join us this morning," he observed loudly as he marched down the hall and planted himself firmly in front of the closed door. "Perhaps he has forgotten a kung fu master's way of life." Which would, again, be Lin's fault.
He shoved the door open, disgruntled to see Tai Lung still fast asleep, face planted in his pillow and legs bent at the knee while his feet rested on the wall. He looked as though he'd fallen from the window above and simply passed out where he'd landed, he was positioned so haphazardly. He didn't even sleep properly anymore. "Tai Lung!" Shifu snapped, and only got a muffled grunt in response. "You will peel yourself off that bed and stand at attention with your fellow masters, now."
With a loud sniff, Tai Lung finally lifted his face from the pillow to glare at him, more haggard than even the previous day. "Have you got any clue what time it is?" he asked impetuously.
Shifu realized that this would not be an easy task for him. "Po!" he called, and the panda joined them promptly, though remained hovering by the door. Shifu would have expected some enraged reaction from Tai Lung, facing the object of his ire and humiliation once more, but the cat only turned the same flat stare on Po.
"Go away, panda," he ordered.
"Uhhh," Po managed to work out nervously before Shifu stepped in.
"You do not give my students orders!" He grabbed Tai Lung's blanket and tore it off the man, not that it had any effect. "And you will rise for the day, before Po and I force you."
Tai Lung gave one last irritated sniff, then plopped his face back into his pillow. "Try it," came the muffled response.
"Very well. You have left me with no choice." He turned to Po, who gave him a helpless shrug in response. Shifu couldn't help but sigh in frustration. "Sit on him."
"What?" Tai Lung shot to his feet so quickly that he nearly overbalanced and fell. "That panda will not sit on me again! Do you hear me, you wrinkled little buffoon?"
"Ah, excellent, you're up," Shifu observed, then gestured to the door with his staff. "Your fellow students await your arrival. Unless, of course, you feel the need for more beauty sleep." That suggestion of vanity had Tai Lung's hackles rising, but the snow leopard stomped out into the hallway all the same. Shifu followed him, Po on his heels, pleased to finally have all his students now with him. "Students," he addressed them, and though they remained at attention, there were more than a few nervous glances in Tai Lung's direction. Or, in Tigress's case, furious glances. "I know you have faced Tai Lung as enemies in the past, but I hope that you will be able to overcome that grudge in order to achieve a greater good. While Tai Lung is by no means completely forgiven, it is our duty as masters of kung fu and examples to the people of China to give him the opportunity to repent for his actions. If you should have any questions, now would be the time."
Silence met the announcement. It looked, initially, like no one had anything to say, until Po slowly raised a hand in the air.
Shifu ignored Tai Lung's derisive snort. "Yes?"
"So we're gonna be trainin' together?" Po asked, pointing back and forth between himself and Tai Lung.
"That is the idea." He took note of the fact that while Tai Lung glowered, as expected, Po actually looked excited at the prospect. "Now, I want you all to take care of your usual morning chores. Tai Lung, you may help Po for the morning."
"Cool," Po accepted.
"Over my dead body," Tai Lung said.
"Or imprisoned body," Shifu threatened. "Your choice, really."
After several long moments of glaring at each other, Tai Lung finally conceded. "Fine. Panda, let's go." He strode imperiously out of the barracks, Po following after him while weakly reminding the snow leopard of his name.
He dismissed the rest of his students as well, though it didn't take him long to notice that Tigress lingered behind. He could only guess that she had a complaint for him. Lately, it seemed that was all she ever had to say to him. "Yes, Tigress?"
She gave him a salute before speaking hesitantly. "Master, you... Speak to Gia often. Correct?"
That was not what he'd expected to hear. "I do," he confirmed, furrowing his brow. "Why do you ask?"
"I only wanted to know if she was well. Considering the circumstances." Tigress's tone softened slightly at that last statement.
Shifu blinked up at her, taken aback at the fact that Tigress knew of Gia and Lin's disastrous meeting. Exactly what she knew of the previous night's events was unclear, so he decided to stay tight-lipped so as to avoid revealing any uncomfortable details. "I see." He hadn't even realized that Tigress and Gia had gotten close enough to warrant such concern. "I have not spoken to her yet today. I imagine she will still be a bit... Weepy."
"Yes," Tigress agreed, then awkwardly cleared her throat. "In that case, I should see to my chores." With one more salute, she left the barracks.
He still found it unusual that Tigress had shown more concern over Gia's emotional state than Tai Lung's return, but he didn't press the issue. Better not to instigate her. He had more pressing worries on his plate. He set out to the scroll library to prepare for Tai Lung's first lesson, and hopefully, the snow leopard's first chance to show that he was willing to change.
Lin grunted as she managed to lift herself out of the low-set bed, which had begun to droop in the middle over the years- she was pretty sure the thing was older than Po. She took a moment to look at the prints of each member of the Furious Five hanging around the room- not to mention the posed wooden figures, the drawings from the panda's childhood of his kung fu heroes, and the countless other toys and play-weapons strewn about the room. It must have been nice for him, growing up with a room of his own. Or maybe she was wrong- maybe it had been lonely. She had realized some years ago that for most people, family was generally considered a good thing.
She shook her head and walked out; just because she was staying in a childhood room, didn't mean it was a sign that she needed to reflect upon her own life. She'd done plenty of that in Shanghai, already. Really, she just wanted to work so she didn't have to think about the night before. "Hey, Ping!" she called down the stairs as she rubbed at her knuckles, then her knees to relieve some of the stiffness there. "You gonna put me on prep?" Her knife skills were solid, and using a gigantic cleaver sounded great at the moment.
"Oh, you are awake already?" The goose appeared at the bottom of the staircase, carrying a giant empty pot as he peered up at her.
"I'm an early riser."
"Wonderful!" he exclaimed with a little jump, then bustled out of sight. "Come down here, I just got the produce shipment in!" His good mood was, admittedly, infectious. Somehow he always seemed upbeat- in fact, the only thing that ever seemed capable of bringing the old bird out of the clouds was some sort of slight from his son. From what little she'd witnessed, those arguments were few and far between, and were usually resolved within the day- not at all like the fights she tended to get into.
She grinned as she entered the kitchen and saw him bustling around already, preparing for the long day ahead. She noticed the crates full of seasonal vegetables near the door, so pulled them over to the wash basin and went about giving it a hard scrub. "So this's all for today, right?" she asked.
"Yes, yes," he replied harriedly as he went about pouring copious amounts of flour into a gigantic mixing bowl. "I'm impressed that you're showing such initiative. I assumed when you said you had professional kitchen experience it was probably a lie."
"What, 'cause I'm a woman?" she asked flatly.
"No, because you're a friend of Po's."
She snorted in laughter, then went about rinsing the wash basin and filling it with fresh water. "Yeah, he's a young guy, he's bound to have some deadbeat friends." Which still technically described her.
"Well, if you've got any questions, just ask," Ping said as he seasoned his flour, then used a wing to slowly stir in some water. "Remember, though, that the noodles are my domain. Once we're done with morning prep, I can teach you the system set up for orders and serving, and show you more of the kitchen."
"Sounds good." She'd certainly worked in larger and more confusing establishments than Ping's, and only working with one other person would ease the transition.
She went about scrubbing vegetables while Ping used a thin rolling pin to pound out the dough, telling story after story of Po's childhood. Apparently the panda had been quite the little rebel, trying to escape his familial obligation to the restaurant with a new passion every other week. Ping spoke about how he was actually relieved when Po discovered kung fu, because then at least his son had stuck with something and he would no longer have to pay for new dancing ribbons, or a beginner's acupuncture kit, or singing lessons. She wondered, briefly, if these were the types of stories she might have heard about Gia if she'd ever been able to see Anna again. She pushed the thought from her mind. She didn't want to think about the girl at the moment.
The next hour passed by quickly, with her chopping vegetables and Ping making batch after batch of his noodle dough, then leaving it to rest until it was ready to be cut and stretched into noodles. Once the dough had finished, Ping took inventory of his spices and other ingredients, then excused himself to run out to the market. It was just as well, as Lin had plenty more vegetables still to peel and dice. It was a meditative act, standing alone in the kitchen, enjoying the fresh air of the courtyard-style restaurant while she diced.
"Welcome to Mr. Ping's Noodles! Come on down an' see what ya won!" Po's voice suddenly announced as the panda entered the restaurant, Tai Lung trailing behind him with his trademark sourpuss on. He held up the fine wool-lined cloak with the cerulean sea woven into it, the one from Yan-Yan, and did a twirl.
Lin laughed at the gesture. She figured that was meant to cheer her up. "Hey, thanks! You guys didn't hafta grab my stuff for me." She paused in her duty to gesture back and forth between the two with her cleaver. "You two're together now, huh?"
"Unfortunately," Tai Lung replied as he approached the order counter. He was carrying her things in a wicker basket, like a little old lady. "And I see what you did, there. Ha ha." He pointedly set the basket down.
"Shifu wanted Tai Lung to help me with my morning chores," Po explained, then seemed to realize he'd said something insensitive and slapped a hand to his mouth.
"You can say his name in front'a me," Lin said with a roll of her eyes. "Jeez, I'm not that fragile. Not this morning, anyway. Though I don't see how bringing me my stuff counts as one of your chores."
"He doesn't exactly know about that," Po admitted sheepishly. "Y'know, I dunno if he even realizes you're gone, so-"
"Not gonna talk to him," Lin interrupted. The last thing she needed at the moment was someone meddling in her personal life, and no matter how much Po had helped her, the sentiment applied to him, too.
"What is all this junk, anyway?" Tai Lung asked, thankfully changing the subject. He reached into the basket and pulled out a half-empty bottle of wine. "Really?" He asked flatly. "It looks expired. And this-" He reached back in and pulled out a small codex bound in plain black. "What's this, your diary?"
Lin snatched it from him and tucked it back into the basket. "Read that and you'll lose your fingers," she threatened, brandishing the cleaver at him. He didn't need to know all the deeply personal things she'd written in that book. No one did. In fact, if she had any sense in her she would burn it to ensure its secrets would die with her.
"So it is a diary," he concluded, wrinkling his nose. "Don't worry, I have no desire to read all your girlish thoughts and feelings."
"Actually, I mostly filled that up when I'd first been widowed." It was the truth, and while she didn't normally like to bring the subject up, she thought she'd teach Tai Lung a lesson in sensitivity by making him uncomfortable.
As she'd predicted, both men fell into an awkward silence, shuffling their feet and clearing their throats in a surprisingly similar manner.
"Yeah," she observed lightly. "That's what I thought."
"You're such a miserable little lint ball," Tai Lung grumbled, then snatched the basket back up. "I don't know why I bothered to help you out at all."
"Hey," Po interjected, grinning in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Lookit what I got, by the way." He pulled Lin's ruan off his back and presented it to the two of them. "When're we gonna hear a song, Lin?"
"When I'm not working," she replied.
"Burn it," Tai Lung said at the same time.
"Oh, you're such a pill. When you're sober, at least."
"Tai Lung!" Po gasped, apparently scandalized by this information. "You drink?"
"Shut the hell up," Tai Lung said. "And let's go put these things up in that horrifying shrine to arrested development you once called your bedroom."
"My what, now?" Po asked cluelessly as he led Tai Lung upstairs.
"Ugh."
Lin snorted in amusement at the exchange. She never would have expected Tai Lung to tolerate Po so well, especially considering they'd just arrived back in the valley. She didn't entirely trust him to have put aside his little revenge plan, but the fact that he hadn't flipped out and attacked the panda on sight showed significant improvement. She wondered how indignant he'd get if she commended his restraint. It probably wasn't a good idea, as amusing as she found the thought.
"I am telling you, panda, that odor isn't natural." Tai Lung returned with Po, waving his hand in front of his nose despite having left Po's room.
"What odor?" Po asked, clearly confused. "I don't smell anything up there."
"Even I think you're gross for that, panda," Lin said. "And I've had my fingers up other people's buttholes."
"How nice of you to mention that while you're preparing food," Tai Lung replied, casting a wary eye over the vegetables on her cutting board.
"That's pretty yucky," Po added.
Lin snorted at the criticism. "You get a little further with Tigress and then try to tell me that."
"Wha- nah- nope!" Po choked out, while Tai Lung rolled his eyes.
She liked teasing him with comments like that, though sometimes the panda's embarrassed reaction made her wonder if there were indeed some feelings there. "By the way, that smell was an old bowl of noodles I found under the mattress in the middle of the night. It was gray and fuzzy."
Tai Lung gagged, and she wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't faked it.
Po laughed, a childish grin crossing his face. "Oh, gross! You still got it?"
"I threw it out the window," she replied. She didn't think she could be blamed for such a reaction, especially when the reason she'd found the old bowl in the first place was that she kept feeling a weird lump in that saggy bed.
"I wonder if I could find it out there."
"I wouldn't count on it if I were you. I got a strong arm."
"So you released it to the universe," Tai Lung concluded, and she snorted at the joke.
As pleased as she was that there were people in the valley who cared enough to pay her a visit, they had distracted her too much. She could feel a heavy melancholy settling over her, and the only thing that dulled it was focusing her attention entirely on her work. "Alright, time to get going."
"Aw, and my dad's still not back," Po complained, though if he'd planned to stick around, that much was prevented by Tai Lung grabbing him by the scruff of the neck and dragging him toward the door.
"Come on, panda," he growled as Po waved goodbye. "If Shifu notices we're gone he'll start acting like he's got mustard up his little sphincter."
"Ew!"
Lin grinned at Tai Lung's use of one of her turns of phrase, then turned her attention back to prepping her vegetables. When it came to working a kitchen, there were no thoughts of Shifu's betrayal, or that half-wolf's weepy little act, or what the future might hold for her. There was only one task after another, each requiring her full attention, yet rote at the same time. That was what she needed most, so she was grateful to have it.
Tigress sighed to herself as she finished filling the barracks' water stores for the day, then headed toward the training hall. She'd made more than a few social missteps the night before, and they still hung over her head. She couldn't wait to get started with training for the day, so she could put her regrets out of her mind. Nothing else in the world distracted her from her problems like training did. She paused a moment when she realized that someone was walking behind her, and turned.
"Ah, good morning," she greeted Gia stiffly.
Gia looked up at her with wide eyes and nodded, then turned her gaze to the ground.
She hadn't expected forgiveness to come so easily, and so she accepted the hesitant greeting and turned to leave.
"Tigress," Gia called out weakly, and she turned on her heel to give the girl her full attention. "I... I liked your note." She held up the drawing Tigress had done of her with a warm smile.
Tigress winced at the sight of the drawing. It looked like it had been done by a toddler with an unusually unsteady hand. The black and white lump wouldn't have even been recognizable as Gia if she hadn't labeled it. "Thank you," she replied shortly, blushing in embarrassment. The drawing had looked a lot better in the low light of her lantern in the middle of the night than it did now in broad daylight.
Gia held the paper close to her chest, as if it were the most precious thing she had ever owned. "I should not have snapped at you."
"It's alright, Gia. You were right." She bowed to Gia, to show that she was truly contrite. "I realized, once you chastised me, how difficult it must have been for you to learn a new language, and to be treated like you were simple or childish for the way you spoke it. I was the one who was out of line. I'm sorry." It was what she'd wanted to write to Gia, but had feared would be lost in translation.
Gia's eyes glistened at the apology, though she managed to hold in her tears. "Non sai quanto significhi per me."
"Sorry, what?"
"I only wanted to say that our friendship is... Is..." She trailed off, blushing lightly as she tried to think of the right words.
Tigress would have stepped in immediately before, but now she waited respectfully for some indication that her help was wanted.
"Important," Gia finally finished with a decisive nod.
"Thank you," Tigress accepted, then cleared her throat. She wasn't used to such emotional conversations. "By the way, I've got a new exercise for you, now that you're familiar with a good amount of characters."
"What is it?" She luckily didn't point out the sudden change of subject, though she must have noticed its awkwardness.
"I have some work sheets with only partially completed characters on them, and you'll complete them from memory. It's one that I used to do, back when I learned." She watched Gia for any sign that the rudimentary exercise might insult her, wary after her call-out.
Gia seemed pleased with the idea, though. "That sounds good. A simpler lesson will work well with my... Current distraction."
Tigress knew she should keep her mouth shut, but her temper flared at the reminder of how heartbroken Gia was because of her own mother. "Forget about Lin," she ordered tersely. "She had her chance. You should move on."
Gia gasped, as if this advice were totally unexpected. "I could not do that! She is my mother. And however angry she was, she will calm down in time."
"So you plan to speak with her again?"
"Yes, if it is possible." The young wolf looked more determined than ever, her narrow shoulders squared as she spoke. "I must not give up with such little effort. I have traveled too far to run away with my tail between my legs now."
As ill-advised as she thought another encounter with Lin was, she couldn't help but admire Gia's determination. She had said more than her piece already, and so she let the matter go. After all, it was not her place to get involved in Gia's relationship with Lin, no matter the temptation. "Has anyone ever told you that you have the spirit of a kung fu warrior?"
Gia turned bright red at the compliment, and when she replied she stumbled over her words. "Oh, no! Not me, certainly no."
"So you're flattered," Tigress observed. "Perhaps you harbor some desire to learn, then?"
"No, no," Gia continued to argue, now redder than ever. "I could never be a strong and honorable warrior like you, no." Inexplicably, she paused to clutch her prayer beads and signed the shape of a cross in front of her. "I must attend to my work now, Master Tigress. It was lovely to speak with you."
Tigress watched her go, a bit taken aback by the reaction. Although, she was in no position to judge. She didn't have the best track record when it came to social interaction, which had been the cause of the tension between her and Gia in the first place. She was glad that she had been forgiven so quickly. It still stunned her, sometimes, how caring a person the young wolf could be. It made her feel as though she should be doing more for her new friend, though most would say their reading lessons were enough. Still, she felt guilty that she'd only proposed the idea to begin with as a cover for her study of nerve strikes. It had been a selfish thing to do, using Gia in such a way.
She didn't have much more time for feeling guilty, as she was joined by yet another companion on the path to the training hall. "Oh, uh, hey," Po greeted awkwardly as he joined her from a side path that led from the entrance to the grounds.
She couldn't blame him for his behavior. She'd been feeling the same way, ever since their embrace in the scroll library, and they hadn't spoken of it since. In fact, they hadn't had a chance to study nerve strikes together since, either. "Hello," she replied, surprised by how meek her greeting sounded.
They walked together in uncomfortable silence for a bit before Po broke it. "So, I got somethin' I wanna ask ya."
For some reason, her heartbeat quickened at the request. "Go on."
"Whaddaya know about the Wu Sisters?" Po asked her, his voice lowered to a whisper.
Tigress looked sideways at him, confused by both the question and his secrecy. She didn't know what she'd expected, but it certainly hadn't been this. "Your knowledge of the world of kung fu is usually impressive, Po. Why don't you tell me what you know first?"
He nodded, launching happily into a recitation of his encyclopedic knowledge. "The Wu Sisters are a trio of elite assassins, the most fearsome and deadly in all of China. They were trained by the legendary Lady Wu, a former student of Oogway himself, in the arts of subterfuge and combat. The three are snow leopards, each fight with two wind and fire wheels, and once they're paid to eliminate a mark-" He paused here to gulp, as though the subject made him nervous. "Uhm. They always follow through."
Tigress nodded to him. "I believe you've covered everything."
"But, you've actually faced 'em," he argued. "Ya know more 'an I could ever learn from reading scrolls."
"Thank you, Po." She tried to suppress her flattered blush, but her body betrayed her.
"Hey, what're we talking about?" Viper suddenly slithered up alongside them, glancing curiously back and forth between the two.
Tigress would have audibly groaned if it weren't for Po's presence. She could tell from the mischievous glint in Viper's eyes that she thought there was something romantic happening. "Matters of kung fu," Tigress replied pointedly. "Specifically, the Wu Sisters."
"Oh, them!" Viper waved her tail dismissively. "You don't have to worry about them right now, Po. In fact, it's been quite a while since they've stirred up trouble for us."
"Yeah," he accepted hesitantly. "I just, uhm... Well, I was readin' about 'em, and I wanted to know more. From, y'know, first-hand experiences and all. Like, for instance, do they always kill people?"
Tigress exchanged a confused glance with Viper, who shrugged her body bemusedly. She supposed they both would need some clarification. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, like, maybe sometimes they get hired to follow someone? Or maybe beat 'em up, but not kill 'em?"
"They've been known to kidnap. Is that what you mean?" Tigress found herself only more confused as Po became increasingly uneasy.
"Sorta," he replied, shifting his weight uncomfortably. "It's just, how long do they take to strike, usually? I mean, do they normally stake someone out a long time, or...?"
"They will follow someone as long as they feel is necessary," Viper answered slowly, narrowing her eyes at the panda. "Are you worried they might strike here in the valley? Because they haven't been known to do that."
"Except that one time," Tigress corrected her, wincing when Po let out a high-pitched whine in response. "Po, what are you so frightened about? Have you heard something?"
"What? Me?" He let out an awkwardly loud, rehearsed chuckle. "Nah, naaaaah. No way! Nope."
"Right." Tigress continued to watch him as he fiddled his thumbs and studiously avoided eye contact. "What do you know?" She gave him a light poke, which caused him to jump in place. He was definitely hiding something.
"Yeah, spill it," Viper added, then slithered to his other side and poked at him with her tail. "We've got you surrounded."
"Oh, man." Po glanced back and forth between them, and Tigress could swear she saw sweat beading at his temples.
"You know I could wrap you up like a holiday gift and throw you clear across this mountain," Viper said conversationally. "Don't make me do it."
"Okay, okay," he admitted with a heavy sigh. "I know somethin'. But you gotta act like ya don't know anything at all."
"On my honor as a kung fu master," Viper replied.
Tigress thought she was taking her title a little less seriously than was proper, but let it go. "I promise, Po."
He took a deep breath, then spoke so quickly on exhale that it was difficult to make out what he'd said. "ShifukickedLinoutnowshe'satmydad'syoudidn'thearitfromme." He finished the run-on sentence by gasping for air.
"...What?" Tigress couldn't say she'd quite understood him.
"Shifu kicked Lin out?" Viper gasped, apparently fluent in Po's nervous rambling. "And she's at your dad's? What in the world happened?"
He shrugged. "I dunno. She won't say."
Tigress wondered if this meant that their master had finally come to his senses. Perhaps he'd witnessed Lin's rejection of Gia, or maybe he'd been unimpressed with Tai Lung's progress in Shanghai. Maybe he'd simply realized that Lin was a shiftless liar, and they were all better off without her around. She would have proposed some of these theories, if they hadn't already reached the training hall's courtyard, where the rest of their team awaited.
"Hey, what's up?" Monkey greeted with a casual wave.
"Shifu kicked Lin out," Viper replied without a moment's hesitation. "Now she's staying with Po's dad."
"Viper!" Po whined.
"Oh, right. And I didn't hear that from Po," she added as an afterthought.
"Wow, thanks."
Normally Tigress would have reminded Viper that sharing gossip about their master was inappropriate, but she rather enjoyed this particular piece of news. She didn't express this sentiment, of course. She was fully aware of how petty it would sound, and she wouldn't want their master overhearing her.
Speaking of whom, Master Shifu joined them in the courtyard then, Tai Lung in tow. The curmudgeonly frowns on their faces were almost identical, and the sight would have been funny if it weren't for Tai Lung's past and the threat he posed.
Shifu's ear twitched ominously. "Did I overhear your conversation correctly?" he asked harshly, though his question was met with nervous silence. "Po," he snapped, turning on the panda.
Of course, it didn't take much to make Po break. "I'm sorry, Master! I was gonna tell ya about Lin and the restaurant. Or, well, I was gonna see if I could get her to say somethin', but I mean, I had to do somethin'-"
"Stop rambling," Shifu ordered, rubbing at his temples. "We will not discuss this. It isn't appropriate." Shifu reached into his sleeve and produced a scroll, then presented it to Tai Lung, interrupting the snow leopard in the midst of his eye-rolling.
"What is this?" he grumbled dubiously as he unrolled the scroll and peered down at the contents. "You must be going senile," he grumbled. "I already know Dragon Style."
"True," Shifu accepted, then held out his hand to gesture toward Po, "but he doesn't."
"I been workin' on it," Po argued sheepishly.
"And you could use some help," Shifu concluded, raising his eyebrows at Tai Lung.
"You cannot be serious," Tai Lung replied flatly.
"Before now you have only been a student," he continued, unintimidated by Tai Lung's resistance. "You have thought only of your own education and your own advancement. It was foolish of me to think this would not cause you to harbor selfish impulses. So, from now on, your concern shall be for the panda's education. It is time you learned to teach."
"Really? The panda?"
"Yes, the panda!"
Tai Lung scoffed at the order. "And what have I got to teach the great and powerful Dragon Warrior?" The sarcasm in his voice at Po's title was not lost on Tigress.
Shifu used his master's staff to point at the scroll still in Tai Lung's hands. "Dragon Style," he replied casually, though he still frowned.
"Master," Tigress finally interrupted, unable to stand silently by any longer. "I have been working with Po on Dragon Style up until now, and he has come a long way! Would it truly be wise to leave him in the hands of someone we're not even sure we can trust?"
"She means me," Tai Lung pointed out in a mocking stage whisper.
Tigress glared at him, but didn't dignify the comment with a reply.
"Enough," Shifu scolded Tai Lung, not that he looked at all incensed.
"Master, I demand you take my protest seriously!" Tigress snapped, knowing the moment the words left her mouth that she'd only made more trouble for herself.
Shifu's eye twitched as he rounded on her. "And as for you, Tigress, if you do not trust in your master's judgment, then you may leave. Don't return until you've completed fifty laps around the mountain."
Gritting her teeth, she accepted the punishment with a salute and a bow. She had let her temper flare and stepped up to defend her own efforts. She could accept that it hadn't been her place to defend territory which had never technically been hers. But she didn't see how Master Shifu could justify endangering Po's education in order to try to force Tai Lung's rehabilitation. She began her laps around the grounds, focusing on her task in order to calm her thoughts.
She had barely finished her tenth lap when she reached the front of the Jade Palace once more to see Gia standing on the front steps, wiping at her face with her sleeve. Tigress slowed to a stop, surprised to see Gia outside of the library of scrolls during the day. "Gia? What are you doing out here?"
"I began to cry in the archives," she replied with a sniff. "Master Zeng told me to take a personal day."
So they both had been turned out. She felt heartened by the coincidence. At least she wasn't alone in her inability to perform her work. "Sorry to hear that. I imagine that keeping to your usual routine would have helped more than spending the day wallowing."
"Yes!" Gia agreed with a small frown. "There is not much to do, now." She wiped at her face, her tears finally subsided. "You are training?"
"Somewhat," Tigress said with a frustrated sigh. She supposed there was no reason to try to hide her transgression. "I spoke out of turn and questioned Master Shifu's judgment, so I must do laps as a punishment."
Gia gasped, a hand to her mouth as she regarded Tigress with wide eyes. "So you broke the rules?"
She supposed it would seem out of character to someone who had yet to become familiar with her temper. "Yes. I should not have, but sometimes I let my anger get the best of me."
Slowly, Gia nodded. "Just as I let my emotions overwhelm me."
Tigress blinked at the comparison. She hadn't thought of her outbursts as similar to Gia's, but she supposed the wolf had a point. Whether her anger or Gia's distress, they both tended to let their emotions take over from time to time. "Yes, that's true. I can't say it's pleasant, being punished, but at least running these laps is clearing my head a little."
"Laps?"
"Yes, I'm running around the perimeter of the mountain."
"Perhaps I shall go lapping with you, then."
Tigress opened her mouth to tell Gia, in the gentlest way possible, that she would never be able to keep up with a trained master of kung fu. Then she hesitated. Why deny Gia some physical activity, if that was what she wanted? Tigress wasn't accustomed to slowing herself down to keep pace with others, but if she'd be at her laps most of the day, then why not make the task more pleasant with some company? "Alright," she accepted with a nod. "Let's see what you've got."
Gia made as if to run forward right then, but Tigress stopped her with a hand to her shoulder.
"You can't run laps in a dress," she pointed out. "You should change out of it first. Otherwise the layers will get in the way, and you'll have chafing all the way down to your knees."
Gia turned bright red at the admonishment. "Ch-chafing?" she repeated breathlessly.
"Yes, it's quite painful. Trust me, you won't want me rubbing cream onto your sore thighs all night. Master Shifu keeps some spare sets of clothing in the bath house for new students. Why don't you change into one of those and meet me here?"
"Very well," Gia agreed quietly, then stiffly walked away in the direction of the bath house.
Tigress didn't know what she'd said to make Gia feel awkward this time, though looking back on their conversation, she could see how her comments about chafing and wearing pants could have been ill-received. After all, Gia was a religious woman, and likely unused to speaking candidly about her body. Not to mention the suggestion that she should change into pants, which many more conservative types still considered inappropriate for women to wear. She'd actually had her doubts about whether Gia would return in proper clothing, but soon enough she was back and wearing the plain burlap men's hanfu and pants which all new students at the Jade Palace were issued.
Shy and reserved was not normally how she would describe Gia, but that was how she appeared now with her gaze turned to the ground and her hands clasped. "It is... Alright?"
"Of course," Tigress assured her. "Let's begin."
Blushing, she nodded, and then broke into a run to follow her down the path.
Tigress found herself surprised not only by Gia's ability to keep up, but her determination to complete every single lap with her. Of course, Gia couldn't keep up for all forty remaining laps, but when she began to slow Tigress stayed with her and encouraged her. It took much longer than a solo run would have, and required many more breaks for water and rest, but it was worth the delay to see how focused Gia had become. When they completed the laps for the day, Tigress felt satisfaction, too, at the proud smile on her friend's face. "Have you ever run this many laps before?"
"Truthfully, I have not lapped at all before," Gia replied, still out of breath and flushed from their run. She looked and sounded exhausted, though it was still an outlandish statement after what she had accomplished.
"That can't be true."
"I have run in a straight line, I suppose," she corrected. "And growing up on a mountain has given me... What is the word? Stamina. Yes."
Tigress returned Gia's tired smile, then gave her a pat on the back and steered her back toward the bath house. "You achieved quite a lofty goal today. I think that warrants a reward."
"Oh." Gia's face had become redder, though that wasn't unusual for someone who'd pushed herself so hard. "Is this about-" She paused, then lowered her voice as if she were saying something scandalous. "The chafing?"
"No, unless you have some. I was talking about taking a bath." She noticed that Gia remained uncharacteristically silent on their walk, and once they entered the bath house she appeared to hesitate. "What's wrong? You've never been in a communal bath before?"
"I have," Gia replied, shyly turning away as Tigress began to disrobe. "I suppose- it is embarrassing, is it not, with just us two?"
"I don't think so, no," Tigress said thoughtfully as she quickly finished undressing, then grabbed a bucket of water to give herself a pre-bath rinse. "But then, it's always just been Viper and me using this bath house." She tried not to look in Gia's direction as she prepared for the bath, as well, considering her shyness. However, once she'd entered the bath and Gia approached to join her, she caught sight of the large, shining scar on the wolf's thigh. The way her thick gray fur stopped growing abruptly around the edges of the fist-sized patch of skin made it seem like a gleaming stamp that had been pressed into her body. "That scar... Is it from your fall, when you were a child?"
Gia nodded, then quickly lowered herself into the water, likely to cover herself up. "It is ugly, and I never cared for it," she replied quietly. "But Mama Anna said to think of it as a memory."
"In that case, I have quite a few memories," she said as she thought over the late nun's words. It was true, in the sense that a scar was a reminder of the wound that had caused it, and how that wound had come about. She got the sense that there might have been a deeper meaning to the comment, meant only for Gia.
"Yes, I suppose so," Gia agreed, then finally looked her in the eye. "This is nice."
"Agreed." It wasn't often that Tigress put aside the time for a long soak in a hot bath, and she had a feeling that it was a rare treat for Gia, as well.
"I would like to stay here forever," she said with a sigh, relaxing against the side of the bath. "As long as no one will be able to find me. Except for you, of course."
"No one else?" Tigress repeated, raising her eyebrows. "Why is that?"
Gia cupped water in her hands and carefully wet her head. "I am sure this sounds timid to you, but I cannot help but feel afraid that I will run into my mother today."
"Oh." She'd forgotten that Gia had yet to hear about Lin's departure from the Jade Palace. She decided there was no use in keeping it a secret. Besides, if anyone deserved to hear such news, it was Gia. "Don't worry. You won't."
"I won't?"
"She left the Jade Palace," Tigress clarified. "From what I understand, Master Shifu made her leave. Po said she's working at his father's restaurant now, though I can't imagine why Po would do such a thing for her."
"Master Shifu did this?" Gia asked, her voice tight like it had been when she'd fought with Tigress.
"That is what I heard." She couldn't understand why Gia was so angry at this turn of events, considering how Lin had treated her.
Gia brought her fists down into the bath water, causing a large splash. "I told him not to intervene!" she snapped, then seemed to realize Tigress was watching her and turned bright red. "I apologize," she added, speaking more meekly now. "I did not mean to make a scene."
"That's alright," she accepted. She'd be a hypocrite not to.
"It is just that I wanted to handle this matter on my own!" Gia continued heatedly. "It is my own responsibility! I am not a helpless child!"
"I know," Tigress replied, suppressing the pang of jealousy that arose within her. She didn't think Shifu had ever, or would ever, behave in such a way toward her. He had taught her to fight her own battles, and if she were in trouble, he would expect her to take care of it on her own. It was a lesson she'd been expected to learn at a young age.
"And now my mother has left the Jade Palace," Gia kept fuming. "What if she believes that I put Master Shifu up to such a thing? Surely this will make everything more difficult."
She knew she should keep her opinion to herself. She had tried so hard, but she couldn't stand Gia worrying over Lin's actions after what she'd been put through. "Why do you care what Lin thinks? She abandoned you! She doesn't care about anyone but herself, and she's not worth knowing in the first place-"
"Enough, Tigress!" Gia said firmly. "I know that my mother is a flawed woman, but I want to give her a chance. My relationship with her is no one's business but mine."
Incensed, Tigress lowered her voice. "...Yes, Gia, you're right. I'm sorry."
Gia hugged herself, sinking down into the water as she stared intently into her own reflection. "I am going to give her a chance," she repeated firmly. "I am going to speak to her." She sounded as though she were repeating a mantra for inner strength.
Tigress felt that any words of encouragement she could offer would be too obviously insincere, considering what she had just said about Lin, so instead she placed a hand on Gia's shoulder.
Gia turned her face away, but didn't shrug Tigress' hand off, either. "If only I could be as strong as you," she said, her voice wavering.
If anything in the world could make her feel more like a fraud than Gia's blind admiration, she certainly couldn't name it. "I am not strong. Only hardened." Through her upbringing, her training, her battles, she had learned to close off her heart. She had learned to suppress herself. "You shouldn't want to be like me. I'm not admirable. I'm only a bad-tempered failure."
"Not so in the eyes of God. Not in my eyes, either." Gia clasped her hands together, as though in prayer, but only briefly. Then, she pulled herself out of the tub and wrapped herself tightly in a towel. "I feel I must be alone, now. Please do not take offense."
"No, I don't." Tigress didn't look at her, knowing it would make her uncomfortable, but she had a feeling that she still felt tense about her mother. "I'll see you at your lessons."
"Perhaps it would be best for me to take some time away from them, after all." Gia walked back into her line of sight, now in her usual black and white hanfu, but still avoiding eye contact. "I thank you for your understanding, Master Tigress. I will tell you when I am ready to return to my lessons, if you will be kind enough to have me back." She fled the bath house before Tigress could say anything in return.
Tigress understood why Gia might want to be alone, although the sudden change of heart about her reading lessons seemed out of character. She had probably offended Gia once more with her comments about Lin, too. She shouldn't have butted in. She sank down into the hot bath water, closing her eyes as she soaked. She had to admit to herself, as much as it pained her, that she was jealous. It seemed that she was fading more and more into the background in Shifu's eyes with each new day, especially with Tai Lung's return. Yet he always seemed to have enough time and attention for Lin. Po had gone out of his way for the old dog, yet Tigress still struggled to properly connect with him. Even Gia, her friend who admired her, was distracted by Lin. She had been overshadowed her whole life, but that didn't stop the fire in her belly when she thought of the little lint ball. She could only hope that she never needed to see the old woman again. That, at least, would comfort her.
Wu Zhin crouched low as she and her sisters traveled through darkness across the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Now that Tibet was under Chinese rule, the Empire shared its western border with India. Considering the unrest happening there, and the slow takeover by the British Empire, she didn't look forward to advancing toward this particular border. However, if they ever hoped to squeeze any yuan out of their latest client, they would need to meet him where he'd instructed them to. She couldn't understand why Captain Zhengsheng had chosen to travel so far west, except perhaps in an attempt to observe the unrest at the border for himself. She suspected that he likely was low on money and aimed to intercept some of the opium that had been crossing the border illegally.
There was another reason she didn't particularly like traveling through the region. Although mountains left many crevices, ravines, and caves that might conceal them in their trade, the plateau was largely tundra. Conifers grew from the arid land in small copses dotting the plateau and the mountainsides, but they did not have access to the lush forests they were used to. The grass didn't grow tall here, either. Their only option was to pass through the plains as quickly as possible, then take shelter in the hills. The landscape would grow more mountainous as they continued west, though Zengsheng would not remain hidden as he awaited their return to him. He was not what one might call subtle.
They found Zhengsheng's encampment fairly easily. He'd set out subtle markers for them, stone beads in the dry grass that looked as though they'd been cut from a monk's string of malas. She hadn't stopped to think too hard on where they had come from, only picked them up and handed them to Bai as she found them. Zhengsheng awaited them at the edge of his encampment, at the mouth of a pass between two rocky hills. If it hadn't been for his fluffy fur, the gray of his armor plating in the darkness of night could have been mistaken for any other boulder amidst the hills.
Reluctantly, they bowed before the hulking chow-chow. Rather than return the gesture, he simply handed Zhin a guru bead, the larger head bead commonly found on a string of malas. It matched the others. She wasn't a stupid woman, and so she knew this gesture was not a greeting, but a threat. He wanted results, and would not take kindly to the news they had to offer. If they disappointed him, he intended they meet the same fate as the nameless monk who had once prayed with these beads. She glanced sideways at Bai, then at Qiang; both had understood the threat, as well, judging by their glares.
Zhin cleared her throat and began their meeting, since the Captain didn't seem to have anything to say. "We've come about the matter of our payment," she stated bluntly. After his threat, she wasn't in the mood for games.
"I believe I hired you to find information for me," he returned harshly. He had something up his sleeve, something that was boosting his confidence.
Perhaps if she played her cards right, she could coax him into revealing his hand. "And so we did," Zhin told him. "We discovered quite a few interesting facts that are not common knowledge. They would likely aid you greatly in your vendetta."
"Yeah," Qiang added, squaring her shoulders. "We're full of useful facts!"
"Facts which cost money," Bai emphasized coldly. "Of course, we could always find a paying customer."
"You promised us payment in Shanghai," Zhin pointed out. "I don't believe our reputation is that of a volunteer service."
The Captain seemed irritated at being pressed for payment, but nonetheless he produced a coin purse and tossed it into her waiting hands. "The information?"
Zhin could feel from the weight of the purse alone that the payment was meager, an insult to herself and her sisters. She carefully tucked it into her belt, double-checking that it was secure. She owed this man no urgency. When she was done, she slowly returned her gaze to her so-called client. "This is not our usual rate."
"As I told you before, you will receive the rest of your payment once that mutt is within my grasp." His hand rested on something that had been tucked into his belt, a scroll. "Besides, I may have found information on my own which is much more valuable than what you have to offer."
Zhin glanced down at the scroll in his belt. "A message," she concluded.
"Yes," Zhengsheng confirmed. "My men intercepted it. It would seem that the Bandit King of the North is headed this way, and has intentions of visiting my target in the Valley of Peace."
She narrowed her eyes at the information. She supposed the Captain was sharing the news with her since he intended to keep them in his employ, though she'd frankly had enough of this particular mission. She had crossed paths with Guotin many times before, as their two professions were not so exclusive from one another. Frankly, she wasn't surprised the wolf had given himself away. He'd never been the brightest lantern in the bunch. "That corroborates what we have discovered. It would appear Lin has traveled to the Valley of Peace with a companion."
"Companion?" Zhengsheng's black eyes glittered ominously in the moonlight, his bloodlust obvious in his growl.
Zhin spared a stern look for her sisters, to warn them not to interrupt. She'd decided to withhold the news about Tai Lung. She had a feeling that Captain Zhengsheng was not the one to relay this information to. "A dock worker from the city," she replied. "By the name of Keung. Large man, but simple. A leopard. Perhaps she has lost interest in Shifu and taken a lover, I would not know."
"I mean, he is hotter," Bai muttered under her breath, and Zhin elbowed her in the side.
"Yet you did not ascertain her purpose in Shanghai," Zhengsheng stated.
"It appeared to be a personal visit," Zhin added, frowning at his assumption that they had not done their job properly. "She is an acquaintance of Master Chen's. It would appear that she is also close to Master Wei-Shan, along with a divorcee who seemed to be of no particular importance. Most likely, Lin is one of Chen's former art students." She crossed her arms as she regarded their client coldly. "We have now officially covered all the information your payment warrants." She probably should not have instigated him with that last comment, but she was losing her patience. "Unless you feel you can afford more."
"I'm afraid that will not be necessary," he replied, then drew his sword. He moved more quickly than one would expect of a dog of his size, but Zhin had been expecting his attack and dodged it easily. "Your services are no longer needed. And as members of the Imperial Guard, it is our duty to neutralize threats to the Empire, such as yourselves." His men had been waiting in the hills, their spears at the ready.
Two archers aimed arrows at them, but Qiang deflected the projectiles with quick swipes of her wind and fire wheels.
Zhengsheng's men were approaching from up in the hills to flank them, so though they wouldn't find any shelter out on the open tundra, they retreated toward it so as not to be cornered. Better to give up any hope they might have of a defensive advantage than get trapped and overwhelmed in the hills.
Once they'd gotten some space to themselves, Zhin assessed the soldiers heading toward them. "Try to break their ranks," she ordered. "And don't let their archers get a clear shot!" She linked arms with Bai and Qiang, and with their combined strength they launched her into the air. She soared gracefully over the nine or ten men who'd been approaching, landing beyond them to target their leader.
Zhengsheng was ready for her, and used his sword to block a powerful blow from her wind and fire wheel.
She already had him on the defensive with that first blow, so she used her strength and speed to overwhelm him with a furious onslaught of attacks. She leaped and spun easily through the air, moving as fluidly and circuitously as her weapons, landing a blow on his sword and pushing him back each time. She didn't relent, leaving only moments between each attack before spinning her body like a top and landing a blow with her other arm. She could see she was wearing him down from the sweat on his brow, the worried frown on his face, the way his sword trembled a little more with each block. She almost had him.
She sensed a sudden rush of air at her cheek, and leapt back just in time to dodge two arrows from the archers. To her great frustration, this left Zhengsheng just enough breathing room to gather himself and go on the offensive.
He swung his sword broadly, across her chest, and she leapt backward to dodge again. She could tell he planned to back her into his men so they could provide backup and overwhelm her. She couldn't allow him to succeed. He aimed yet another broad stroke of his sword at her chest, but she'd been prepared this time, and leapt down to tumble between his legs and stand up behind him.
As an assassin, she had no qualms over fighting dishonorably, so she slashed at his back with her wind and fire wheel, satisfied to see the wet, red evidence that her blow had landed. She spun around to slash him with her other hand, but an arrow from an archer made contact with her weapon. She just barely managed to hang on to her wind and fire wheel, but missed Zhengsheng with her second attack as a result. She cursed to herself under her breath. Those archers were proving themselves problematic.
Zhengsheng had turned to face her, and he charged with his sword pointed directly at her stomach, obviously aiming to impale her. She leapt out of his way and over his head, just barely fast enough to dodge three more arrows. She then flattened herself on the ground to duck beneath two spears. Some of the soldiers had escaped their battle with Bai and Qiang to provide reinforcements to Zhengsheng. She had made a rookie mistake, allowing herself to be flanked. She'd gotten rusty in the months since her last job. While she was on the ground, she aimed her wind and fire wheels at the men's ankles, cutting one so deeply that he cried out and crumpled like the dead, dried leaves of the season.
That left her just enough of an opening to run back toward the open tundra and rejoin her sisters. Bai and Qiang had severely wounded three soldiers already, but she'd had enough trouble for one night. She sprinted between the confused men, easily dodging their spears, and signaled to her companions to follow her. She noticed that as they retreated, while the archers continued to aim arrows their way, the rest did not follow.
It was for the best. She didn't need the Emperor sending forces after them for the murder of a Captain of the Imperial Guard. Zhengsheng simply wasn't worth the problems he would cause them, let alone the problems he had already caused them. It had been a mistake to approach him in the first place. She'd let her desperation overcome her better judgment.
They continued to run until Zhengsheng's camp disappeared beyond the horizon and they reached a rocky slope where they could shelter themselves beneath the uneven side of a particularly large boulder. They gathered together in the shadows there, none of them daring to propose venturing out for firewood, regardless of the cold.
"Well that went straight to hell," Bai finally commented, though she kept her voice quiet.
"I don't like this," Zhin told her sisters. "Not in the least. Zhengsheng said he'd intercepted a message from Guotin, that he no longer needed us. He's got something planned, and I can bet you it won't be good for any of us."
They nodded quietly.
"We should help," Qiang added.
"That Guotin's always screwing up," Bai grumbled in return. "Who says we should be the ones to bail him out this time?"
"It's the right thing to do," she insisted. "He's never crossed us, has he? And he was writing to that Lin person, right? He's going to get caught up in the middle of all this if we don't intervene."
"True," Zhin sighed in agreement. "Perhaps the Captain means to hire Guotin and his hundred men. But if Guotin holds any kind of sentimentality for that old dog, Lin, he'll refuse outright. I doubt it will go over well."
"But Guotin's got a hundred men," Bai pointed out.
"And Zhengsheng is likely going to intercept illegal opium shipments at the border to keep the profit for himself," Zhin pointed out. "He'll have all the money he wants to hire Guotin's hundred men, whether Guotin himself agrees to it or not. You really think a big bunch of lunkheaded bandits like that wouldn't stab their leader in the back for the right price?"
"I can't believe this," Bai grumbled with a roll of her eyes. "You're both worried over that dumb old wolf? What's he got that's any good to us?"
"If we don't try to help, Zhengsheng could end up with a hundred bandits marching on the Valley of Peace," Qiang argued determinedly. "We can't just turn a blind eye."
Bai crossed her arms and huffed, but didn't argue any further. It was a sign that she'd given in.
"Let's get our rest, for now," Zhin said. "We'll tail Zhengsheng at a fair distance come morning. Hopefully our suspicions are not correct." Judging by what had transpired already, that hope would likely prove in vain. She didn't give the matter any further thought, though. She needed her rest, if she intended to take on the unlikely role of protector.
"Next time, let's just take an easy political assassination job," Bai grumbled as they huddled up for warmth.
Zhin didn't reply, but she couldn't help but agree.
Po stretched his sore muscles as he made his way down into the village to check in on his dad and Lin. He didn't just have their well-being in mind, as much as he'd like to say he did. He wanted to ask Lin for the details of her sudden departure from the Jade Palace. He hadn't felt right asking Gia, considering how upset she'd seemed, and he didn't have the nerve to confront Master Shifu. He knew dinner service would long be over by the time he got to his dad's, and hopefully Lin would still be awake to talk.
When Po arrived at the restaurant, he had to smile at the sight of his dad and Lin finishing up a game of mahjong at a table set right in front of the kitchen to take advantage of the light from its lanterns. His dad's clueless grin and Lin's begrudging expression made it easy to conclude who had won. "Hey, can I play?" he asked by way of greeting.
"Aha!" his dad exclaimed, then began setting up a new game. "Came to play the winner, I see!"
"Actually, I was wondering if I could play the loser," he corrected sheepishly, avoiding Lin's suspicious gaze.
"She's not very good," his father warned, earning a glare from the old dog that anyone else who knew her would run screaming from. "And a sore loser," he added.
"The only reason I ain't saying anything," she said in a huff, "is 'cause you're putting me up."
"Enjoy your three days of dish duty," he replied cheerfully, then stood to allow Po to sit and headed for the kitchen. "Who wants tea?"
"Sounds awesome to me," Po replied, then took his dad's place at the table across from Lin and finished setting up the tiles. "So you like to bet on these games?"
"Oh, great, now you wanna swindle me," she sighed. "What'd you have in mind?"
"Nothin' much," he answered casually. "Just some info on why you're livin' with my dad."
"I thought I was living with your dad 'cause you were doing me a favor," she shot back, peering down at the thirteen tiles he'd dealt her as if they were booby-trapped.
"Well, yeah, that too," he admitted. "But, y'know, I was talking about the other reason. The reason ya left the Jade Palace- or Shifu threw ya out?"
"I'm tired of gambling," she grumbled. "I'll just tellya."
"Oh, good, 'cause I got a winnin' hand, anyway."
She narrowed her eyes at him, pursing her lips. "You counted the tiles," she accused.
"Wow, you really are a sore loser."
"This kinda stuff ain't even worth gambling on, anyway," she dismissed irritably, clearly only upset over her loss. "It ain't got the same kinda excitement as betting on fights. Then again, there ain't any loan sharks to deal with, so I guess that's a plus."
"Uhuh. So the reason you live with my dad...?"
"Right, right." She casually leaned forward on her elbows, as if she were about to tell him a long and detailed story. "Gia."
"Whuh?" he asked, confused.
"It all comes back to Gia," she reiterated. "First the girl was a pain in my cooch, now she's a pain in my ass. Shows up here outta nowhere, acting like I'm her mommy and she's still some little baby- and Shifu takes her side!"
"But, uh... You are technically her mommy," Po pointed out, then shrank under her intense glare. "Kinda."
"I did right by that girl," Lin said sharply. "And in return I expected to never hafta set eyes on her again."
"I don't mean to sound harsh or anything, but... Harsh."
"The truth is the truth. If it sounds harsh t'ya, then so be it." She got up from the table, cracking her back as she stood. "Anyway, Shifu didn't like hearing that anymore'n you did. So here I am."
"Wait- are ya sayin' he kicked ya out just over that?" Po watched as she headed into the kitchen and started rummaging around in cabinets.
"Yeah," she answered flippantly, then pulled out a gigantic bottle adorned in nothing more than a warning label and uncorked it. "What's your point?" She then began to drink straight from the bottle.
Po was pretty sure Lin had just taken a long swig of furniture polish, but he let that go for the moment. "But I thought you and Shifu were totally solid. I thought ya were, like... In love and stuff."
"Me too," Lin replied. "But I've been wrong on that front before."
Po's dad grabbed the bottle from her hands before she could drink any more of it, squinting at the label. "I thought I was out of disinfectant."
"Huh? That's disinfectant?" Lin joined him in finally reading the warning label. "That's the weakest disinfectant I've ever seen. I got wine stronger'n this stuff."
"I took a chance on a new vendor, this is what it got me," he replied with a shake of his head. "Whatever happened to quality in a product, hm?"
Po waved at them from where he still sat at the table, now alone. "Uh, hello? Remember the conversation we were having, Lin?"
"I'm not a complete ditz, so yeah, I do remember," Lin snapped at him, then turned to the stove. "This water's boiling, Ping. Where's the tea?"
"Green or black?" the goose asked.
"You got any jasmine?"
"I think so, it's been a while."
Po watched their back and forth as the two puttered around the kitchen, opening and closing cabinets. They easily dodged each other, as in sync as if they had been working together for years. He wondered if there was something generational about it, what with his dad and Lin being around the same age. Or maybe they just got along well. "Man, lookit you two. Like two peas in a pod, huh?"
"You're exaggerating, Po," his dad dismissed with a wave of his wing. "Lin has experience working in a kitchen, she knows how to move around one."
"Among other rooms," she added with a waggle of her eyebrows.
"C'mon, Lin, not in front'a my dad," Po begged.
"Oh, I don't mind if you flirt with your girlfriend," his dad said with a kind smile.
"Yeah, sweetie," Lin chimed in, playing along with his father's misconception with a mischievous grin. "You don't gotta act so formal around Dad now that we're so well acquainted. In fact, why dontchya c'mere and gimme a kiss?" She leered at him, beckoning him forward.
"We're not dating, Dad!" Po protested, disturbed by Lin's gleeful willingness to pretend otherwise. "And Lin, don't call my Dad 'Dad!' You're just gonna make him think we're gonna get married or somethin'-"
"See, this's the problem with dating a younger man," Lin interrupted him, while his dad nodded sympathetically. "No desire for commitment. I ain't getting any younger, panda!"
"Quit stringing her along, Po," his dad scolded. "I mean, things are obviously getting serious, if you wanted her to live and work here. What's the hold-up? And, more importantly, am I getting grandbabies out of this?"
"I'm a little old for kids," she replied. "Though I never get tired of trying. Right, panda?" She waggled her eyebrows at Po, and he buried his now red face in his hands.
"We're not even together," he groaned in the hopes that his dad would finally believe him. "I dunno why she's lyin', but she is!"
"Hey, it's just a joke." Lin finally seemed ready to give up her ruse. "You don't gotta act like I'm so repugnant, by the way," she added with an indignant sniff.
"No, you're not, I just got frustrated-"
"Uh oh, lovers' quarrel," his dad muttered under his breath.
Po decided to just let the misunderstanding go, so he could get back to their original conversation. "Lin, ya still haven't told me exactly what happened," he pointed out as gently as possible. "I mean, you and Shifu didn't go from bein' totally in love to broken up overnight for no reason."
Lin slammed a cast iron teapot on the counter, glaring silently at him, then went about brewing some jasmine tea.
After a few moments of this tense silence, his dad raised a feather and pointed toward the restaurant's side entrance, into the alley where he received his produce deliveries. "I'm going to leave a special note for the delivery guy," he announced as he backed away from the two of them. "He should know there's a new employee who might receive shipments now and then." Then he retreated into the alley.
"You happy, now?" Lin grumbled, then poured herself a cup of tea. "We were having a nice time untilya brought that shit back up."
"Lin, c'mon," he pleaded, then got up from the table and approached the counter. "You're the only one who can tell me what's goin' on with ya." He leaned down on the counter, practically kneeling, so he could be eye level with her. "Please?"
Lin regarded him coolly, then poured a second cup of tea and pushed it toward him. "There's not much to tell," she finally said. "I didn't react well to Gia. I... I wasn't what you'd call a 'natural mother' in the first place. And it... Wasn't easy. To see her again. To remember, y'know, everything." She turned her eyes down to her tea, and he could swear they'd gotten watery. "Anyway, Shifu didn't get that. He didn't even try. So here I am." She cleared her throat, then finished off her cup and turned around to clean up the pot she'd boiled her water in. "Anything else deeply personal you'd like me to whine to you about, or nah?"
"Nah," Po answered quietly, wondering exactly what "everything" was, that Lin had remembered. It couldn't have been good, from her description. But he'd upset her enough already by asking about her fight with Shifu, so he let it rest. "How're ya doin', by the way? In general. And adjusting to the restaurant, I guess."
She shrugged. "This ain't my first restaurant gig, panda, so don't worry that fuzzy head over me. If I do something wrong or forget something, your dad'll lemme know. I learned that much today." When she turned to face him again, her eyes were dry, and though her grin wasn't quite as wide as usual, at least she felt well enough to smile. "You and Tai Lung worry so much over me lately it's sickening, y'know that?"
"Me and Tai Lung?" he asked, slack-jawed for a moment.
"Don't gimme that look," she ordered, reaching across the counter to give him a hard poke. "And drink your tea. I didn't just make it for fun."
Po obediently sipped at his tea, the pause giving him a chance to think a bit. Mostly about Tai Lung, and the different ways in which they'd interacted over the past day. "He's real different from how I imagined."
"Whaddaya mean?" Lin asked, gulping down her own tea as heartily as she did alcohol.
"I mean... I thought he'd wanna kill me on sight or somethin'." He held back from telling Lin about the Wu Sisters, though he did have his doubts about even more secrecy in his life. "He's not exactly friendly, o'course. But he's more... Regular, I guess. Like this mornin', it was his idea to bring ya your stuff. And then he was jokin' around with ya. I dunno, it's like he's not exactly repentant, but he's not so angry anymore, either."
"You think?" Lin asked, as though she hadn't noticed, herself. "Maybe there's some hope there, then."
"Yeah, maybe," Po agreed as his dad joined them again.
"Po, when are you going to help out around here again?" the goose asked the moment he'd entered the kitchen.
"Ya got Lin now, though," Po argued, though he knew there was really no arguing with his dad.
"She's still in her training period." He joined Lin at the counter, and she poured him a cup of tea without bothering to ask if he wanted any. "I need you to help show her the ropes."
"Oh, I know my way around a bit of rope," Lin replied with a cackle.
"This's like a disease with ya, isn't it?" Po asked with a shake of his head. He tried not to let a mental picture form, but sadly failed.
"Hey, I just take an opportunity to wisecrack when I see one." She finished off her tea, then pulled her flask from her belt. "Anyway, I'm done acting like a real person. Time to drink 'til I sleep." She opened the flask and a strong scent of pine wafted from it. "Don't wait up, Ping."
"I never do," his dad replied.
Po watched Lin go, already draining her flask as she went. "Wow, she's... Not doing great."
His dad shrugged, then refilled his tea. "Like I told you, son, this is the restaurant business. I wasn't expecting to find anyone who drank any less."
He wondered what else his father hadn't taught him about the restaurant business, but decided not to ask. "I guess I should head back for the night. I'll see if I can come by during lunch service one of these days, okay?"
"Make it soon," the goose ordered as he sipped at his tea. "She could use your guidance in the customer service department. Although, she was right when she said that frightened customers tip more."
He'd had a feeling about that. He bid his dad goodnight and headed out of the restaurant, yawning as he rounded the corner. He could really use some sleep. As he yawned, he walked straight into something fuzzy, yet hard. He jumped and let out a startled shout. "Jeez! You're really good at this stalkin' stuff, huh?"
Tai Lung's usual flat glare remained unchanged. "Your life means nothing to me, panda. I could kill you right here."
"Could ya, though?" he asked, thinking of their last fight. He shut his mouth after he caught sight of the angry frown on Tai Lung's face, though.
"And where do you think you're going in such a hurry? I thought we had an agreement."
He blinked back at the snow leopard as he realized what was happening. "Wow," he mused. "You're really worried over Lin, huh?"
Tai Lung's whiskers twitched irritably. "You should be, too. You're the one who took her away from the Jade Palace, and now I have to spend my nights guarding over this gods-forsaken restaurant."
"Look, I got somewhere to go," Po argued. He was probably already running late for his meeting with Tigress in the scroll library as it was. "But I'll come back here to relieve ya before dawn. Is that okay?" He thought he'd sounded reasonable, but he needed to duck quickly to avoid a swipe aimed at his head. "Hey!"
"Don't disappoint me," Tai Lung threatened, then leapt into the air and disappeared into the darkness of the night.
"Man, he's creepy," Po muttered under his breath, squinting up at the rooftops to no avail. He gave up on trying to spot Tai Lung and hurried back toward the Jade Palace. It looked like his nights were about to get a lot longer.
Lin wove her way through the narrow spaces between the long communal tables at Mr. Ping's, taking orders and serving noodles for the lunch rush. She didn't particularly like taking on the duties of a server, but at least it was an opportunity to collect tips. Ping split all the tips from the day evenly with her, so as long as she collected a decent amount of coins for the tip jar, he didn't particularly care about her less-than-cheerful attitude. She dropped three bowls of soup onto a table in front of a group of men her age, two pigs and the old goat from the apothecary. She interrupted their conversation on which herbs were best for relieving muscle pain to rap her knuckles on the wooden table. "C'mon, I don't got all day," she ordered.
They had already gone through two lunch services with her, so they knew well enough by now to obediently empty their pockets for her tip jar. It had also helped that they'd witnessed her drag a young man who'd stiffed her out of the restaurant by his tail and toss him in the dirt. The old goat smiled at her and tipped a little extra, but she didn't have the time or the temperament to flirt at the moment.
"Eat it or wear it," she snapped, referring to their food, and they all quickly grabbed hold of their spoons. She turned on her heel and hustled back to the kitchen, where a queue had already formed to put in more orders.
"Lin, take over the order counter," Ping called out as she joined him. "We're getting so much business today! I'll have to run out for some emergency ingredients. Isn't that exciting? I'll need to bulk up my produce orders starting this week." His goofy smile widened when she dropped her tips into their jar. "Look at this! You're going to make me a wealthy man."
She snorted at the praise, then waved forward the next customer as Ping ran out to take care of his chores. She took orders from several regulars and served them at the counter, since she couldn't get out from the kitchen while handling such a rush alone. Once she'd served the last customer in line, she ducked down to make sure she put all the yuan she'd just been paid in the lock box for the day.
"Aha!"
Lin looked up from the counter to see Shifu pushing through the crowd of noodle shop patrons, his eye twitching. "Oh, boy." She couldn't say she was happy to see him. This was the first time Shifu had bothered to show his face since he'd kicked her out, and she hadn't been willing to go crawling back to the Jade Palace to see him. To be honest, she'd been hoping for a clean break, to never see him again. She should have known Shifu wouldn't make things that easy for her. She took a deep breath, suppressing her anger and sorrow as well as she could manage for the moment. If it were up to her, she'd have chased him out with a cleaver. As it stood, she couldn't guarantee even to herself that she wouldn't resort to that.
He reached the counter and slammed his hands down on it, leaning so far forward that it looked like he'd tried jumping over but had gotten stuck. "You!"
She rolled her eyes and grabbed her cleaver to start chopping up vegetables. "Might wanna push that vein back into your forehead." She felt her muscles tighten. What did he have to be angry about? What had she ever done to him, besides support him and dedicate the last few months of her life to helping his son?
"Where have you been?" he demanded.
"Here." She chopped the vegetables a little too hard and sent some pieces flying off the cutting board.
"Do you really think you can walk away from our fight and not return for days on end without a single word to me since?"
"Yeah," she replied. "Seeing as I'm a grown woman who can do as I please and all." She noticed how he left out the part where he'd told her to leave and not come back.
He glared at a patron who'd been trying to sidle up to the counter to put in an order, causing the rabbit to back away. "Lin, this is absolutely absurd. You cannot just run off and start cooking soup and waiting tables!"
She dropped her vegetables into a pot of broth, then returned to the counter with the cleaver still in hand. "You kicked me out."
"I didn't mean that! We were fighting and I-"
"I'm leaving you," she interrupted, since he apparently thought he could dump her and then come strolling on back like he'd never done anything.
"Leaving me?" he repeated incredulously. "You're leaving me?"
"It was a mistake, rushing into a relationship so soon after I came back," she clarified. "Obviously we don't really know each other as well as we thought. Plus I'm so angry atya that I can't even think of a word to describe the depth of my rage."
"You are leaving me over one fight!" he snapped. "That is insane!"
"D'you still think I was wrong to give up Gia?" she asked, knowing his answer would be the same as the last time they'd spoken.
"Of course!"
It was still disappointing to hear, though. She couldn't deny the heartache that deepened at his admission that he didn't understand her, or particularly care to. "Then there's nothing more for us to discuss. Now move aside so I can make some tips."
"No! You are coming back to the Jade Palace with me whether you like it or not, and we are going to discuss a lot!" He leaned back and gestured to the exit. "Now come along, you've wasted enough time here."
"I see." Lin clenched her jaw in anger at his attitude. She could have screamed in his face, point out that he had a lot of nerve to walk into her job and treat her like a child who couldn't make her own decisions, but she didn't think it would make any difference. She grabbed the largest ladle in the place, filled it with soup, and tossed it directly in his face. "Get out."
He opened his mouth to scream at her, but stopped dead as Mr. Ping walked up to the counter with an armful of produce.
"Oh my," the goose observed at the sight of Shifu, soaking wet and covered in noodles. "That is certainly a new way to eat noodles. That will be five yuan, please."
Without another word, Shifu slapped five yuan onto the counter and stormed out of the restaurant.
"He's got some nerve coming in here and trying to order me around!" Lin ranted, scooping up the coins. "And he didn't even tip! Next!"
The rabbit who'd been trying to order through the entire argument stepped up. "One secret ingredient-"
"Yeah, yeah, five yuan," she dismissed, still fuming at the way Shifu had stormed into the restaurant and completely disregarded her feelings. And he'd told her that it was ridiculous of her to work at a restaurant, that she was wasting time, as if everything she did was foolish. "Sometimes I just wanna tear out that little rat's ear hair and make him eat it!" She dropped the soup onto the counter and held out her hand. "How about a tip, huh? I don't do this for my health!"
The man hastily dropped some coins in her hand and ran off to sit at a table.
"Wasn't Shifu your previous boss?" Mr. Ping asked hesitantly from where he'd been seasoning some noodles.
"Yeah, technically, but after we banged it was all downhill from there," she grumbled.
"Oh," he said shortly. "Well at least I have nothing to worry about."
She would have laughed at the comment if she were in a better mood. As it was, she could only manage a vaguely amused grunt in response. She could feel her anger fading already, replaced by the heavy melancholy that had hung over her since she'd left the Jade Palace. She tried to say something pithy back to Ping, but the words caught in her throat. She shook slightly as she returned to her prep work, and she had to chop vegetables more slowly and deliberately due to it.
Ping walked up beside her and held out his wing for the cleaver. "You're not suited to prep right now," he told her bluntly, so she handed the knife over. "Go take a quick smoke break, then bus the tables and catch up on dishes."
She nodded, still unable to speak for fear of the words pushing tears out along with them. She walked out to the front of the restaurant and squatted on the street, leaning against the stone wall while she stuffed and lit her long-stemmed pipe. Part of her wanted to run after Shifu, grab him and force him to listen while she berated him. She wanted to ask him how he could abandon her, when she'd missed him so much. How could he discard her like old trash, after he'd promised that he never would. She wanted to tell him what a liar he was. She wanted to cry and say she was sorry and beg him to forgive her, even though she didn't think she was in the wrong. She knew she wasn't in the wrong.
She didn't do any of that. She squatted and smoked her pipe. She knew she hadn't seen the last of Shifu, so she could always fight with him later. Really, though, she didn't want to spill her guts like that. She didn't want him to know how much he'd hurt her. She didn't want him to have the satisfaction of seeing her tears. If she could have, she would have curled up right there in the dirt like it was her own bed. Instead, she put out her pipe and went to bus tables.
Shifu walked home from Mr. Ping's restaurant fuming, as well as wet and clammy from the soup that had been splashed all over him. If Lin thought he was just going to go crawling back home to hide from her, then she had another thing coming. He'd visit that damn noodle shop every day if he had to. He wouldn't allow her to dismiss him so easily. He'd show her the tenacity possessed by a master of kung fu.
Truthfully, he'd been blind-sided when he'd first heard that Lin had taken his admonishment seriously and left the Jade Palace. He hadn't been able to believe it. The moment his lessons with his students had ended, he'd gone straight to Lin's room to check for her. He hadn't expected to find it bare, her belongings already gone. All that was left of her in that room now was the fur she'd shed, and even that would get cleaned up by the staff soon enough. They had fought before, and she'd threatened to leave before, but she had never followed through. Not out of anger, anyway. After he'd gotten over his shock, he'd felt angry all over again at her actions. After recklessly abandoning her own child, and then treating the girl like dirt the moment they'd been reunited, she didn't get to run away from everything like it had never happened. She didn't get to run away from him, not again. She owed him, at the very least, an explanation.
When Shifu reached the top of the thousand steps, he was surprised to see that his students had moved their practice into the arena. Mostly, Tai Lung was making Po squat while holding a large bucket of water in each hand, and the Furious Five were watching and loudly discussing his form. Tigress appeared to be absent from the spectacle, not that he'd expect her to take part in such an obvious waste of time. He would have scolded them for slacking while Po took part in what was clearly only a simple exercise of endurance, but he didn't have the energy at the moment.
Shifu scowled as his students all fell silent at the sight of him walking across the arena covered in noodles and dripping wet with the broth of Mr. Ping's secret ingredient soup. "Not one word," he warned them darkly as he passed. His ear twitched when he heard Po's overly loud whisper behind his back.
"Either he went to see Lin, or he finally beat my dad at mahjong."
Monkey whispered back, "Well, everyone knows Master Shifu sucks at mahjong, so-"
"Enough!" he snapped over his shoulder. "And return to the kwoon before I decide your next exercise for you!" He continued on to the bath house while his students disbanded like a group of guilty children. He didn't like that Tai Lung's presence had already had such an influence on them, though mostly he didn't like that Tai Lung had become the kind of person to negatively influence his other students. He would need to speak to all of them about the matter, but in due time. First he needed to figure out what, exactly, to do about Lin.
He washed himself off and changed into fresh clothing, then headed to the Hall of Warriors to meditate in front of the Moon Pool as his master had once done. Well, he wouldn't be properly meditating. He simply needed a quiet place to think. As he sat, resting Oogway's staff gently across his lap, he felt a wave of resentment toward Lin come over him. He was supposed to be focusing his time and energy on Tai Lung, and here she was distracting him. She'd been nothing but a distraction from the moment he'd met her. Maybe he should be grateful that she'd run off to Mr. Ping's. He rubbed at his forehead, frowning to himself at that thought. He shouldn't think such a thing, no matter how obtusely Lin chose to behave. He loved her.
Shifu frowned to himself. Lin had said she was leaving him, and she'd seemed serious. He'd never seen her so apathetic toward him. Sure, she'd thrown soup in his face, but only after he'd pushed her. And she'd done worse to him before. What her curt tone had conveyed most to him was that she'd found him to be an annoyance. He'd been angry, and he'd spoken to her harshly, true, but he'd thought she wanted him to come and get her. He'd thought she'd put up a fight for show, but she'd go with him and they'd make up like they always had. He'd even stayed away a few days in the hopes that she'd calm down, or at least that he would calm down. It appeared that hadn't happened on either side, yet.
He was interrupted from his thoughts by the sound of footsteps, and he stood to face his visitor. "Hello, Gia," he greeted hesitantly. It had been some time since he'd seen her, though she looked no less upset now than she had the night she'd met her mother.
"My mother is gone. Yes?" It was unlike her to eschew a formal greeting, though it was probably due to the stress of her ordeal.
"Yes," Shifu confirmed hesitantly, then took out his handkerchief and offered it to her.
Although her eyes were already watery, she snatched the handkerchief from his hand and threw it, though the force of her throw was diminished by the cloth's slow descent to the ground. "You interfered!" Gia accused, her face now red and blotchy. "You did not listen to my request! E l'hai spinta via! Come ti permetti?"
"Gia, I was only trying to help you," he attempted to reason with her, but she whirled around and stomped away.
"Non sono cose che ti riguardano, quindi lasciami in pace!" she screamed, then slammed one of the Jade Palace's massive doors behind her. It would have been an impressive feat of strength, if not for the fact that she'd been berating him.
At least, he was fairly sure she'd berated him. He had no idea what she'd actually said, but it seemed likely. Slowly, he sat back down in front of the Moon Pool. He'd thought that Gia would have appreciated his effort to stand up for her. After all, he'd taken her in off the street and had clearly shown her more kindness than Lin ever had. He'd thought a lot of things, lately, that had turned out to be painfully incorrect. It was all connected to Lin, of course. Sometimes he thought she wouldn't be satisfied until she'd driven him to madness.
He closed his eyes and breathed deeply through his nose in an attempt to calm himself. He wished this could all be over. He wanted nothing more than to skip forward in time, to when he and Lin had made up, when Tai Lung had mended his ways and he could finally know some semblance of peace. Forcing Tai Lung to teach seemed to him like the correct path to take, though he could only hope it would work. Master Oogway had tamed Shifu's young ego with the same technique, which had led to his lifetime vocation. Teaching others would lead Tai Lung down a better path than whatever Lin had been teaching him, that much was certain. There were times when he seemed less disciplined and more obstinate than he'd been before his time with Lin. Shifu wondered if he would ever know the truth of what she had taught the snow leopard in their time together, or why.
One thing he did know was that he wasn't going to let Lin's irresponsibility derail his efforts with Tai Lung, no matter how much of his time or effort she diverted. Surely she couldn't stay angry with him forever, though. In due time, Lin would realize how unreasonably she was behaving and return to the Jade Palace. After all, why in the world would she want to run off to Mr. Ping's noodle restaurant to chop vegetables and wait tables? What kind of job was that for her to take, at her age? She was behaving like a child. He would wait her out, until she tired of her tantrum. Then he would bring her home with him, where she belonged.
Lin woke one night from a dreamless sleep and pushed herself out of the droopy cot and onto the floor, the dull headache and dry throat of a hangover already forming. She sat on the floor cradling her head a while, and though she didn't have anything in particular on her mind, her grief overtook her once more and she cried until she retched into her chamber pot. When she was done, she washed the sickly taste out of her mouth with the meager remains left in one of the bottles of wine she'd bought herself, then changed into a clean set of clothes. She hadn't made any plans, but she moved now with purpose, taken over by instinct. Maybe this feeling was what had woken her.
She packed what little she had and counted the money she'd made in her short time at Mr. Ping's. She didn't know where she would go. If she returned to Shanghai, Chen would surely be waiting for her with an agitated "I told you so." Yan-Yan, too, though she would smile and hug her along with it. And Wei-Shan might still be in town. Maybe she should just go back up to the mountains with him, like he'd asked. It would be a nice way to spend her remaining years. Although, it had been a long time since she'd been to sea. And she'd never had the chance to sail the Pacific. If she was going to leave, she might as well go someplace and see something she never had before.
She stopped thinking of the possibilities. There were so many, it almost felt suffocating. She would get on the road, and go wherever it was that her heart took her. It might not always be right, but it always led her down an interesting path. On her way out of the restaurant, she paused to leave a note for Mr. Ping on the serving counter. Nothing special, really, just a thanks for how he'd helped her and a quick goodbye. She walked away, then, and didn't look back. That was her rule. Looking back weakened her resolve, and so she refused to do it.
The village was eerily quiet at night. At least, it seemed eerie to her now that she'd gotten used to Shanghai. Nobody else walked out on the darkened street, and few lanterns remained lit in the windows above her. She jumped a little, once, when a baby's cry pierced the heavy silence, then snorted to herself. Even if she could get away from Gia, even once Gia became as old and wrinkled as she was, the girl would still haunt her. Her memories were specters that reared their heads from the shadows and clawed at her with gaping, ravenous mouths. There would never be anything that could satisfy them. She could only keep running.
She paused at the top of the bluff outside the village, staring out into the darkness ahead of her. She wanted nothing more than to leave, but she couldn't bring herself to go on. Against her better judgment, she turned to look out at the Valley, the night sky filled with stars she'd never been able to see in the city. The Jade Palace and the village below were just visible in their light, and the light of the bright white moon. It was the clearest night she'd seen in weeks.
She remembered her first journey, when she had left the lemon orchard. The stars had been out on that final day, because she had always risen early. Marco had told her to give herself enough time to pack her things, but it hadn't been a long or a difficult task, since she hadn't owned much. She had packed her one spare dress, along with what few effects had any meaning to her still. From Gia, she'd packed the brush her sister had once used to brush her fur on those noisy, crowded evenings when she hadn't been alone. Her grandmother hadn't left her anything but bits of her wisdom, so she had packed one of the dull old kitchen knives her grandmother had liked to use best. She had always told Lin that when one traveled, a weapon was a necessary precaution.
Lastly, she had packed a gift from Vino, the printmaker in town and the closest thing to a teacher she'd had at the time. When he'd heard she was leaving for faraway places, he'd handed her a slim booklet of papers he had sewn together and carefully wrapped in waxed cloth, telling her to draw all the interesting things she would see so as never to forget them. Vino had been a middle-aged man, and so he didn't understand that to a young girl who had lost as much as she had, it would have been more comforting to hear someone say, "I don't want you to go." But Vino had never quite understood things like that, which explained why he never seemed to have any company besides her.
She had packed her things and eaten breakfast with Marco and her parents that early morning. Her parents had only eaten with them because they had always woken up early, not because they would miss her. There had been no conversations between them, no goodbyes. She had followed Marco to the village, where he had docked his ship, and as the orchard had faded into the distance she had stopped once to look back. There had been no one watching her, no one missing her. Not her parents, not her brothers. And so she'd left the only home she had ever known, and she hadn't felt sad to leave it behind.
She remembered a lot more than that, too, but she didn't focus on it so much. She thought back instead on when she'd first left Shanghai. She'd washed up on the shore of Shangba, and she'd coughed up so much sea water that it had felt like it was shredding up her throat and taking it along. Tears had run from her eyes, then, but she hadn't counted it as crying. Not really. When she'd finished, she'd wiped her face with her sleeve, even though it was soaking wet and covered in rough grains of sand which clung to her fur. Then she'd laid back down on the beach and closed her eyes. She'd been so tired, then. It hadn't seemed real to her, that her whole life had been torn from her again. This time, though, it had been a life she'd wanted, no matter how imperfect. She'd clasped her hands together tightly between her knees and prayed to her grandmother's spirit, even though she hadn't really believed her nonna would hear her.
It was interesting to her, how she could remember so many things in a single instant, and then leave them all behind in the next. It was like that when she created art. She knew everything, her process and the finished piece she wanted, in only a moment. Instinctually, almost. And yet to create it, to bring it to life, those ideas needed to rise to the surface of her mind, worked over and over like Ping's noodle dough. By the time it existed on paper or canvas or a wall, that first magical moment of its existence had faded away, and it had become a different thing entirely. Well, maybe the moment hadn't faded, since she thought each moment in time and in thought remained in existence infinitely, but she could never make her way back to it.
The Valley of Peace was like that, now. It had been suspended in time to her, forever existing in that one summer of her youth. Then she had tried to return to that moment, and worked it over and over until it had become completely different and unrecognizable to her. Her relationship with Shifu had gone that way, too. It seemed like the harder she tried, the worse things turned out for her. She wondered if Oogway would have had something Zen to say about that, if he were still appearing to her. Probably.
With a long sigh, she carefully made her way back down the steep hill and toward the village again. This was what happened when she looked back at a place. She thought and thought about it forever, and in the end she didn't want to leave. But her thoughts had made her wonder if maybe the Valley would continue to change, if maybe the next day it would be different than today, and so on. Or maybe it would just be her. She was always different from one day to the next, one moment to the next, but nobody else seemed to keep up with her. It was one of the things about her that drove people away. Nobody liked a person who was always changing, because then that person required attention, and paying attention to people rather than drawing a conclusion about them that could be relied upon forever was bothersome. That was what she figured, anyway.
But if she were thinking in Zen Buddhist terms, which she was since she'd been musing about Oogway, then different and the same were the same as each other. Different, same, same thing. That was what Oogway would tell her. And then he'd give her that toothless smile that quivered on his face, because even in her visions he quivered like very old people tended to do. She knew Zen Buddhism pretty well, because of Chen. Sure, Chen could never actually be Zen, but even among monks it was rare to find someone who was. It wasn't like she could point to herself as an example, though. She'd always been too frantic and impatient for Zen anything, except Zen painting. Zen painting was the closest one could ever get to capturing the moment of a piece of art as it first appeared in the mind, because it encouraged the artist to waste no time planning or worrying about mistakes. One stroke could be a mountain, a plum, a tree, the entire landscape. That was true Zen, or at least the only way she'd ever been able to practice it.
She stopped outside Ping's restaurant in the dim light of pre-dawn, blinking as she realized she'd returned without really noticing her surroundings. It had been a while since she'd gotten lost in thought like that, rather than feeling sorry for herself. She wondered if that could be considered Zen, too, though probably not.
"That was a short trip." Ping was standing at the counter when she entered, her note clutched in his feathers.
"Oh, yeah. That." She should have known better than to leave a note behind. "Changed my mind."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "You're not going to change your mind again, are you?"
"If you're gonna fire me, go on and do it."
"You'd deserve it." He paused to consider her, glancing down a few times at the note. "But you bring in a lot more tips than Po does." With that, he grabbed an apron from under the counter and tossed it at her. "So how did you change your mind?" he asked, which caught her off-guard, since he rarely asked questions.
She didn't mind answering this one, though. "I'm not the same person from one moment to the next," she replied. "Well, I am the same, but not the same. Anyway, the decision to leave was the decision made by the me of that moment. And the decision to stay was the decision made by the me of that moment."
"And the you of this moment-"
"Is already in the past by the time you ask your question," she finished for him.
He snorted in laughter at her statement. "So intellectual. Sounds like something a monk would say." He said it the way any working class person would, a bit dismissively but with no real malice. People who worked day to day didn't have the time for such musings, or any use for them, even those who practiced a religion.
Lin understood that life, and had lived that life more often than not. But she also understood philosophical thinking, even if she had no real use for it. Still, Ping had given her an answer to one of her many problems without even meaning to. Oogway, above all else, had been a monk. Nobody have ever called him that, but that didn't mean it wasn't true. Maybe to get back to her visions, she needed to think more spiritually. Or maybe more philosophically. She should probably just try to be a little more Zen, whatever the state of being Zen was. She'd gotten to a point where she could seriously meditate every day, but when she'd decided to go to Shanghai and help Tai Lung, she hadn't thought much about it. She'd put aside the parts of herself that took up her time and energy in order to focus on someone else, even though she'd vowed to stop doing things like that. Now it was time to take herself off the back burner.
She might have expressed all this to Ping, but she didn't think it would make sense to anyone besides herself. "The me of a past moment," she repeated to herself as she thought back on her visions. "Y'know, some Japanese Zen Buddhist once said there were sixty-five moments in the snap of a finger."
"I don't measure time in snaps," Ping replied matter-of-factly as he got to work on his noodle dough for the day. "I measure it in noodles."
"Now who sounds like a monk?" she teased, then put on her apron and started work, too. There were plenty of vegetables for her to prep, and in the snap of a finger it would be time for the restaurant to open.
The days passed by in a slow trickle, and Lin settled into life at Mr. Ping's noodle restaurant. She didn't have much of a social life yet, not that she'd had much of one for the past few months. Shifu visited the restaurant, but she'd been too busy ignoring him to have another conversation. She focused on her work when she was working, and at night she drank until she either fell asleep or started crying. In the case of the latter, she just cried herself to sleep, anyway. It wasn't ideal, but it was a routine, and it was all she could do for herself for the time being. She spent a lot of her downtime thinking about the Buddhist principle of one is all and all is one, but it didn't help much with her messy personal life. She was still heartbroken, the child she'd never wanted to see again was still in town, and she still needed a more permanent place to live than Po's old bedroom.
Lin stifled a yawn as she puttered around the restaurant after closing, bussing the last of the leftover dishes from the tables. Then she began the long task of washing the dishes. She could have sworn she'd had a winning hand in that mahjong match against Ping. She'd get him next time, for sure, and then he'd be the one stuck with the dishes. Not that he wasn't working at all. He'd walked home with Mrs. Hua, the grocer, in an attempt to negotiate a lower rate on the produce deliveries. He had a goofy type of charm that appealed to Mrs. Hua, so he was best suited to the task. Besides, Lin liked closing the restaurant on her own. She could hear the neighbors gossiping in the distance, their indistinct words occasionally truncated by a sharp bit of laughter, and the air still smelled of broth. Sometimes, when she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the wash basin, she envisioned her grandmother standing there.
She had always washed dishes in slow, deliberate circles while her pipe smoke had filled the kitchen. Her eyes had looked into a faraway place that no one else could see, and she hadn't taken kindly to being disturbed. Lin wondered if her nonna had ever thought of the same things she did, like memories as infinite moments and the nature of the universe.
Approaching footsteps brought her back to reality, and she could tell immediately it wasn't Ping's webbed gait. "We're closed," she called out without even looking up, but paused in her dishwashing at the voice that replied to her.
"That is fine. I am not here to eat."
Lin tossed her dish rag into the wash basin and turned around to glare at the girl, only slightly satisfied to see her shrink under the cold gaze. "Then get on outta here," she ordered.
To her credit, Gia didn't leave. "I wanted to speak to you again, Mother."
"Don't friggin' call me that." She could feel her fur bristling at the term. "Do I look like anyone's mother to you?"
"No," Gia admitted, then went so far as to take a seat at the table nearest to the kitchen. "But what do I call you?"
"Call me what everyone else does," she grumbled as she realized she wouldn't be getting rid of the young wolf anytime soon. "Just call me Lin."
"I could never," she insisted, sounding scandalized at the idea. "It would not be respectful."
"Hah," Lin scoffed at the suggestion that she owed her any respect, then left the kitchen to join her at the table. "Then add a 'Master' to it ifya really wanna."
"I could do that."
She eyed Gia for a moment before sitting down next to her. It was strange to notice the features Gia had inherited from her, in particular her big brown eyes- though the girl looked more like her father. Thankfully, she didn't have a reaction like she had the first time she'd seen the girl. She still felt on edge, and had a cold, sinking feeling in her stomach. But she could at least concentrate on the present. "What'd you wanna talk to me for, anyway?"
"I have so many questions."
"Great," Lin huffed as she realized what she was in for. "You think coming here and finding me's gonna answer all your questions? You think I'm gonna giveya some magic bandage on your life that'll tie up all your loose ends and tellya exactly who you are? Is that it?"
Gia was silent for a moment, an annoyed frown on her face. "Well, I did not think it would work quite like that."
"First Tai Lung and now you," she grumbled, crossing her arms. "How many times am I gonna hafta give the 'your inner self has nothing to do with whoever's mistake you are' speech?"
Gia stared at her, her mouth hanging open a moment, and Lin had no idea what her problem was until she choked out, "I was a mistake?"
"And now this," she huffed, throwing her hands up in her frustration. She should have never left a letter for the girl, should have never mentioned anything about Shifu or the Valley of Peace to anyone. Of course, at the time she'd never expected to actually return to the valley, but she should have known better.
"I am a mistake!"
"Well, yeah," Lin confirmed, annoyed by the genuine surprise in the exclamation. "That's kinda why I gaveya up. Isn't it obvious?"
"I thought- I just- you-" she sputtered before falling silent and pursing her lips, clearly upset.
"Never assume," Lin advised. "You'll always end up disappointed."
"How could you?"
"Whaddaya mean how could I?" she snapped. "If I got knocked up on purpose, then it wouldn'ta been a mistake! Maybe you should spend less time getting pissy about me leaving you in a home where you were safe and loved, and more time being grateful I didn't abort your whiny, self-righteous ass!"
"You are a heartless, evil woman!" Gia accused shrilly. "Perhaps you are the one who should stop getting piss on me!"
Lin couldn't help but snort at the mistake the girl had made with her wording.
"Do not laugh at me!" She slammed her fist down on the table and shot to her feet. "It is not funny!"
She had to admit, she would have never expected such a downright aggressive display from the naive girl, even with the most aggravating provocation. She eyed Gia critically, crossing her arms in a clear refusal to back down; although she hated to admit it, she was impressed. "Sit your ass back down," she ordered.
Disappointingly enough, Gia obeyed her.
"Y'know, I never expected to seeya again," Lin admitted. "When I left... I thought that was it. So tell me, why'd you come all the way here?"
"I wanted to meet my family," she replied, her perpetually sweet tone somewhat embittered. "I want to start a family of my own, and I had hoped to find out where I come from. I had hoped to find my parents, and perhaps have them involved in the lives of my own children, as they never were with me. But all I found was you, a hateful shrew of a woman, and I still do not know who my father is."
"Sucks, doesn't it?" Lin sighed, feeling a twinge of sympathy for the girl for the first time since meeting her. "You might not believe it, but I get where you're coming from. My parents were a coupla bitter assholes who hated kids, and me especially. So in a way, you really did get to find out where you come from. Why you'd ever leave Anna behind, I got no clue." Even though she hadn't planned on ever seeing the baby again, she'd still had her doubts about leaving her child in the care of a religious establishment. However, after knowing Anna, a woman who had never once judged her, she'd known the right thing to do. "She's your real mother. Not me."
"She is also dead," Gia informed her, though she should have seen it coming; most people didn't live long lives, especially in a place as unforgiving as the mountains. "She died just before I would have taken my vows. After that, I left the mountain. I traveled for many years, and learned many things, but all I wanted to do was meet my family. You took that away from me, when you lied about who and where my family is."
"I never lied about a damn thing," Lin argued, and she'd continue the argument to her grave if need be. "I never said anyone here was related to you. B'sides, family isn't about blood, it's about love. You should be old enough to understand that by now."
"Perhaps I would, if you had been around to teach me." That had been a pretty good insult, but it would take a lot more to get to her.
"I stand by my decision to giveya away," she replied firmly. "You said yourself I'm a mean, heartless woman. Y'think I woulda treated you any different if I'd raised you?" The question was met with silence, and she could tell from the frown on Gia's face that she believed its implication. "I can't say that I ever lovedya, to be honest. I knew you'd never really be my kid, so I guess I never bonded. But I did what I thought would be best for you. And I'll never apologize for that."
Tears had formed in the young girl's eyes as she listened to the short speech, and she shook her head as she reached up to wipe them away. "You did not want me?" she asked quietly.
"No," Lin admitted, as difficult as it was to tell someone something so harsh. "I didn't." It was the truth, though, and she couldn't lie to a person who'd traveled so far just for answers. "It has nothing to do with you, though. You can't think that. I never wanted kids of my own to begin with, and that's why I knew you'd have a better life if I gaveya up. Even if I'd made a bunch of money and settled down in a picturesque cottage in the woods, I knew you woulda been better off elsewhere. I was raised by people who never wanted children, and I know what it's like. I know what it does to a person, growing up convinced that you're completely worthless and unwanted, and I didn't wanna do that to you. I leftya with a person who loved you, more'n anything else in the world, 'cause that's what's important. Maybe I didn't wantya, but I at least cared enough to want a good life forya."
As silent tears continued to pour down her face, Gia suddenly lunged forward to wrap her arms around Lin.
"Ah, shit," she cursed, though it was muffled, what with her face squished into the girl's shoulder. "Leggo of me, already!"
Thankfully, Gia released her and sat back down with a loud sniff. "I want to know you," she insisted. "Perhaps you would have been horrible at raising me, but I am grown now. All I want is for you to give me a chance."
She had to admit, it was hard to look into those watery puppy dog eyes and tell the kid no; as harsh as she could be, she'd always felt a compulsion to try to help people, especially when they had nowhere else to turn. And if the best way she could help someone was by getting to know them, it didn't seem like too much to ask. "Okay, but promise me we'll take it slow."
"I promise," the wolf agreed, a tentative smile spreading across her face. "Whatever will make you comfortable, I will do it."
"Don't be a pushover, either," Lin ordered. "If I pissya off, you go ahead and scream at me likeya just did earlier. I don't wantya thinking that you need to walk on eggshells around me just to keep me around; I'm not that kinda person. Okay?"
"Okay," she agreed. "And what about my father?"
That was a tricky subject to broach. "He ain't around," she settled on, just to see what kind of questions the girl would ask.
"Why not? Is he dead?"
"I wouldn't know," she answered, and it was technically the truth. "I left before I even knew I was pregnant. He's about my age, and he didn't exactly live the healthiest lifestyle- had a lotta enemies, too. So don't get your hopes up."
"Why did you leave him?" Gia pressed, leaning forward in her eagerness.
Lin wasn't sure if she was ready to tell the whole truth yet, though, nor was she sure if Gia was ready to hear the truth. "It's kinda a long story," she sighed. "And to be honest, I think you should get to know me a little bit better before I tellya the whole thing. For now, let's just say that things didn't work out and leave it at that."
Gia didn't look too happy about the answer, but she accepted it anyway. "Very well."
"Got any more questions for me?" she asked, since she knew the girl would definitely have several hours' worth of them, and wanted to get some out of the way.
Gia stared at the table, her brow furrowed in thought, then tremulously asked, "Why do you hate me?"
"Ah jeez," she grumbled, rubbing at her temple; the girl was relentless. "I don't hateya."
"You were angry that I came here."
Lin hesitated; she didn't know how to answer Gia. She debated on how much of the truth she should tell. She knew she hadn't reacted well to Gia's presence in the Valley of Peace, and part of her felt bad for it. At the same time, she couldn't lie and say that seeing her estranged daughter for the first time in twenty-five years had been a pleasant experience. "There's a lotta reasons for that," she finally admitted. "I always thoughta you as a part of my past, long gone. And I hated being pregnant. Being pregnant and giving birth were up there on the scale of most horrible things that ever happened to me... So I guess I don't have a lotta good associations."
Gia started tearing up, of course. "That is a terrible thing to say!"
"Breast feeding was awful, too. I always found it really painful and exhausting- painful on the nipples, plus it makesya cramp like crazy after birth- the nuns used to force me to do it, and I'd cry the whole time."
"Stop it!"
"Well, you asked," she snapped. "Don't ask me for the truth and then yell at me for telling it."
"It is just difficult to hear," Gia replied tremulously, wiping at her eyes. "I know you endured a lot of pain for me, but hearing it from you is different."
"It's best ifya hear it from me," Lin said. "'Cause I got no reason to lie about it. B'sides, maybe ifya know how bad I was withya you'll understand why it was best that I left. I mean, it was a trial for anyone to try to get me to feedya and cleanya up. I was sick for a long time after giving birth and in pain for a long time, too. I... Never had a very good temper, and even though you were just a baby and I knew it wouldn't help, I still screamed atya a lot. And I never tended to you when you cried, even if you were sick. Which you were a lot, so you cried a lot. B'sides, parents are supposed to take care of their children, and while we're being brutally honest there were a lotta times when I couldn't even take care of myself. That list long enough forya?"
Gia sniffed loudly. "I was always told that you loved me very much and did not want to leave me."
"I know." Lin sighed at the shocked expression on the girl's face. "The lie was my idea in the first place. You were a kid, you didn't need to knowya had a shitty mom. What good could it've ever doneya to know that rejection was the first thingya had a chance to experience in the world?"
She remained silent at the response.
"I'm telling you the truth now 'cause you're old enough to hear it, and 'cause you clearly wanna know. So there it is. Maybe I didn't do all the right things, but I stand by my decisions. I did my best. It seemed to me, at least at the time, that you'd be alright."
"I was," she admitted. "I... I never wanted for much growing up, that is true. But I thought about you, and my father, and my family... All the time. I always wanted to meet you, until now. Now I wonder if it would have been better to never know all of this."
"Maybe. But you said it yourself, you're grown now, andya want me in your life. This stuff's part of the package, like it or not."
"Then perhaps it was a bad idea to meet you," she replied, then immediately teared up. "But I cannot say that," she sniffed. "You are my mother, I should not say that. I could not ever say it would be better not to know you."
"You just did," Lin pointed out, mostly because she was getting a little irritated.
Gia sniffed again.
"You wanna be babied, go running back to Shifu," she dismissed. "I ain't got time to coddle anyone, least of all a grown woman."
"It is just a lot," she said with one last sniff. "Coming here, meeting you, not knowing what my future will hold... It is not wrong to feel overwhelmed."
"I guess." Now she felt bad again for losing her temper with the kid. And it wasn't like she hadn't cried over the whole situation herself already. "I still ain't gonna coddleya every time you go crying like that. But, uh... Here." She pulled her relatively clean dish towel out from her belt and tossed it to Gia, who immediately started wiping up tears and blowing her nose.
"At least you stayed with me a whole year."
"Uh, about that..." Lin wasn't sure if it was right to break so much bad news to her at once, but she had resolved to tell the truth. "I didn't stick around that convent that long just 'cause of you."
Gia blinked down at her, a confused frown on her face. "W-what do you mean?"
"Look, I normally wouldn't say anything, but I don't wantya going around thinking I was some nurturing mother who didn't wanna leaveya. It's not the truth, and I don't wanna mislead you. Sister Anna mostly took care ofya. And I stayed... Mostly for her."
Gia started turning red and looked away from her. "You- You mean-"
"We got real close real fast," Lin said. "She was my best friend, back then, and I guess I wasn't ready to give that up and be alone again."
"Ah, yes," she sputtered out, turning her back to Lin with a nervous laugh.
"...Okay." Lin crossed her arms, eyeing the girl. "We done here? 'Cause I got a lotta cleaning to do still."
"I suppose I should let you go back to work," Gia accepted with a nod, then turned her watery eyes back on Lin. "I wish we could talk more. I... I would like this to last longer. Perhaps we could talk more some other time?"
"I guess we'd hafta," Lin said, then grabbed another dish towel from her belt and started wiping down the table. She hadn't been lying, about needing to clean. "If we wanna do this whole, y'know, thing." She scrubbed at the table, even though she knew it was totally unnecessary. "So, I dunno. This's kinda a shitty time for me. Overall. But come visit me during a shift or something when I'm less exhausted and, uh... We'll take it from there, I guess."
"I guess," Gia repeated thoughtfully. "So, you only guess. You do not know."
Lin snorted. "I guess not."
"Ah, I see. You are being that word Master Shifu taught me. Snotty." She seemed to realize immediately what she'd said, and started to blush.
She wasn't surprised, but she also didn't want to talk about Shifu at the moment. "Yeah, you could say that. I prefer smart-ass, though. Now go home."
"Okay." She stood there and stared at Lin, watching her wipe tables down.
"You can't go home if you're watching me wipe tables."
"Ah, yes. Goodnight." She still didn't move, though.
"Okay," Lin sighed, then threw her dish rag at Gia, pleased to see her catch it. "Finish wiping the tables, I got dishes to get to."
"Yes! Of course!" She practically dove onto the nearest table with the rag.
"And no talking," Lin added, since she didn't want to answer a million and one questions while working. She wasn't sure how well it would work, but she was prepared to yell if need be. She was surprised, though, at the girl's ability to stay quiet as they cleaned up for the night. Once everything was done, she counted out a few coins from her half of the tips and handed them over. "Here, you earned 'em."
Gia tried to refuse the yuan. "No, I could not-"
"Stop it, now," Lin interrupted, then shoved the money into her hands. "If I get paid for this shit, then you get a cut for helping. End of story."
"Yes, ma'am," she accepted quietly.
"Get on home, now," Lin ordered. "I need my sleep."
"Yes, ma'am," she repeated, then after a moment's hesitation, bowed. "Goodnight."
Lin sighed at the sight. "Stand up. You don't gotta bow to me. You don't even gotta be polite to me. Okay?"
"Okay," Gia replied with a nod.
"'Night, then." Lin turned around and walked upstairs, not bothering to look over her shoulder to see if the kid had left yet. At this point, she was so tired that she wouldn't care if the girl spent all night down in the restaurant, so long as she was quiet. She probably wouldn't get much sleep, but maybe if she measured it in moments it would seem like plenty.
Notes:
Let me start off here with references: "Really? The panda?" is of course the line from the first KFP movie (still my favorite one). The goat from the apothecary is a shout out to Nievelion's Ning Guo from his fic A Different Lesson, and some of you may remember he showed up earlier in the fic, too. The Zen master Lin mentions is a real historical figure, Zen Master Dōgen, who lived in 13th century Japan. I was also influence by the book A Tale for the Time Being, hence how I even know about Dōgen. Finally, some translations for Gia's Italian in case anyone wants them:
Non sai quanto significhi per me. - You don't know how much you mean to me.
E l'hai spinta via! - And you drove her away!
Come ti permetti? - How dare you?
Non sono cose che ti riguardano, quindi lasciami in pace! - It has nothing to do with you, so just leave me alone!
The author's note hasn't been this long in a while! Anyway, I'll end it like I always do, by thanking everyone for reading and reviewing. I hope to bring you another update soon!
Chapter 22: Never Shit Where You Eat
Chapter Text
Chapter 22: Never Shit Where You Eat
Shifu couldn't deny that he'd been having a trying week. He'd been having a trying twenty years. But his morning had been special. He'd awoken late after staying up half the night fuming over Lin's immature behavior, he'd missed his breakfast, it had taken him at least twenty minutes to get Tai Lung out of bed- let alone into the training hall- and now he had a mountain of mail to get through. His only comfort was that he could drink as much tea as he liked while he did so. He had barely begun his task when his ear twitched at the sound of fluttering feathers and the frantic padding of webbed feet outside his door.
"Come in," he called tiredly.
Zeng stepped inside, panting despite the effort he put into trying to calmly bow.
He rubbed at his eyes, too exhausted to even feel annoyed at this interruption. "What is it? Is Gia crying again?"
"Uhm- uh-" Zeng stuttered out, still out of breath. "Yes, but- but that's not why I'm here. I mean, she's always crying. It's- it's not pressing-"
"Zeng," he snapped, now finally irritated.
"More mail," the goose finished quickly, then handed over three scrolls and bowed his way out of the room.
Shifu glanced at the mail in his hands. Two scrolls were addressed to Lin- of course she was still getting mail at the Jade Palace. That didn't make things awkward for him at all.
Shifu stared down at the third scroll Zeng had delivered to him, unsure what to make of it. It was addressed to Tai Lung in painstakingly neat calligraphy, undoubtedly Yan-Yan's handwriting. Yet what could she possibly want to write to Tai Lung for? Did she have questions about his health? Perhaps she'd decided to send along the recipe for her horrifying algae cure? He felt tempted to simply open up the scroll and read the thing, but he couldn't bring himself to violate his son's privacy in such a way. Despite the fact that Tai Lung was currently on thin ice, he should at least have some privacy.
Shifu took the scroll and headed toward the training hall, still ruminating on this development. Tai Lung had yet to say more than two words about what had gone on in Shanghai, and with Lin in the middle of her nervous breakdown- or whatever it was- he only had the letters she'd sent him as reference. And, if he were being honest with himself, he couldn't trust what she'd written after witnessing Tai Lung's terrible attitude. In fact, it seemed to him that leaving Tai Lung in Shanghai had been simply a waste of time.
He entered the training hall, pleased to see his students hard at work. Tai Lung was currently using a staff, as Shifu often did, to correct Po's stance. Shifu watched as Tai Lung nudged Po's legs a bit further apart with the staff, took a step back to observe the pose, then repeated the process. He realized with no amusement of his own that Tai Lung was toying with Po, continuously "correcting" his stance simply to see how long it would take the panda to fall over. "Tai Lung!" he called out harshly, interrupting the snow leopard's senseless prank.
"Oh, what is it now?" Tai Lung sighed, tossing his staff at Po, who in turn caught it only to slide into a full split with a pained grunt.
Shifu glared at his... Well, his student, now, he supposed. "Feel free to show a bit more respect." He should have known that giving Tai Lung responsibility would work out this way. "And I'll want to know now if you've got any medical conditions I should worry about." He pointedly held out the scroll, waiting for a reaction.
Tai Lung snatched the letter from his hand as if he'd already opened and read the thing. "Don't go through my mail, old man!"
Shifu glared at Tai Lung, though he doubted the snow leopard would ever back down under his gaze. "I do not make it a habit to read anyone else's mail," he ground out, "but your correspondences will pass through me to ensure they come from reputable sources. Is that understood?"
"Yes, I understand that you are a nosy little hemorrhoid," Tai Lung replied, tucking the scroll into his belt. His use of one of Lin's favorite terms was not lost on Shifu. "May I continue showing the panda everything I know?"
"Certainly, assuming you remember anything besides childish pranks." He supposed the dig was immature, but he needed some way to get through Tai Lung's thick skull. Despite the convict's steadfast refusal to express remorse or any desire to change, he at the very least seemed to listen to Lin. So maybe resorting to such sarcasm would help. "But I will understand if your memory is too fuzzy."
Tai Lung snorted, his gaze fixed on Shifu. "Panda, get up," he ordered tersely. "Let's find your center of gravity." He spun on his heel and approached Po, who'd already begun squatting again, then swept out the panda's leg from under him with barely a kick. Po nearly toppled over, but Tai Lung caught hold of him just in time- only to flip him head over heels and launch him through the air to land directly in the Jade Tortoise.
Shifu frowned to himself as he watched his least experienced student roll around inside the training tool, desperately grabbing at the edges of the thing to haul himself up, but unable to because of the rocking of the Jade Tortoise keeping him in perpetual motion.
"Hm," Tai Lung mused, observing the spectacle. "Around the belly button, wouldn't you say?"
"Yes," Shifu agreed. "And you've earned yourself an afternoon of chores, rather than training. Seeing as you no longer seem to have any interest in kung fu, I'm sure you're quite satisfied with yourself."
"Chores?" he repeated vaguely, as if the concept were entirely foreign. "Again?"
"You'll busy yourself cleaning the bathhouse until the end of the training day. Once your peers- you may know them as the masters who are serious about kung fu- have completed today's training, you will return here to clean up after them." Shifu paused, dazed by the fact that he had, for the first time in his life, sincerely suggested that Tai Lung was not serious about kung fu.
"Fine," Tai Lung accepted shortly, then sauntered out of the training hall as if he were off to do as he pleased.
Shifu followed after, unwilling to leave the snow leopard alone just yet. He caught up easily enough, considering that his speed still eclipsed his son's. "You really thought I would let you just walk away, didn't you?"
"It was worth a try," he replied airily.
He rubbed at his temples as they trekked back to the bath house together, unsure what he could possibly say or do to get through to his son. He wouldn't say the man before him now was totally unrecognizable to him. If he were perfectly honest with himself, Tai Lung had started to cultivate something of an attitude back in his teenage years. Actually, Tai Lung's attitude was more accurately traced back to all the nasty words and habits he'd learned from Lin as a child. That gave him an idea of where to start, as far as trying to get through to the snow leopard. "You sound just like Lin, lately," he said casually, pleased by the grimace that crossed Tai Lung's face.
"Hold your tongue, old man," he grumbled, his whiskers twitching irritably. "I am nothing like that walking jar of pickles."
"What?"
"Jar of pickles," he repeated. "It's a play on words to imply she's a drunkard, try to keep up."
Shifu couldn't argue much with the assertion, but he couldn't let Tai Lung speak about his elders in such a manner. "I have had enough of your disrespectful tongue." Despite his stern tone, he sensed he wasn't being taken seriously. "I'm not kidding, Tai Lung. If you've forgotten your manners so thoroughly that you cannot behave like a proper kung fu master for even a moment, then I'll- I'll-"
"Send me to finishing school?" Tai Lung interrupted with a snort.
Shifu rubbed thoughtfully at his chin at this suggestion. "Not quite," he answered slowly as they entered the men's baths. He turned the idea over in his head while he supervised Tai Lung's scrubbing, ignoring his son's whiny complaints, which he noticed increased in frequency the longer they were ignored.
Tai Lung had given the tub its first rinse, and was on his fifth tirade by the time Shifu had come to a decision. "I can't for the life of me understand what in the hell's been going on in here! The fur and feathers make sense, but what is this? Is this... Is this a half-eaten dumpling crusted onto here? That goddamned panda, I'll have his head for this-"
"That's enough," Shifu interrupted with a sigh. "You are in desperate need of some etiquette lessons to remind you how a true kung fu master is to behave."
Tai Lung snapped his gaze up from the old dumpling in question, glaring at him. "You're kidding."
"I am not." He kept his voice as level and cool as possible, despite how irritated he was at Tai Lung's immaturity. "Starting tomorrow, your mornings will begin with lessons on proper manners and language. If you have any objections, feel free to go back to prison."
Tai Lung narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips, but remained silent.
"I thought so." He would likely need some help with said lessons. Po, Mantis, and Monkey were all out of the question. In fact, those three could use some etiquette lessons of their own. Tigress behaved in an exemplary manner for the most part, though her nasty temper could flare up at any moment. He suspected it would ignite more often than not in the presence of Tai Lung. That left Viper and Crane. Viper could be a little bit too casual and loose-lipped, as far as the manners of a kung fu master were concerned. Crane tended to behave in too nervous a manner, and was easily cowed by his less reserved teammates.
Every one of his students had some flaw that made them less than ideal candidates, but he couldn't exactly hire someone from the village for a matter such as this. He wished he had someone he could speak to about his indecision, someone who might be able to offer a little insight. Master Oogway would have been the perfect teacher for a task such as this, or at least would have been willing to give him some valuable advice. If Lin weren't so angry with him, she'd at least listen to his thoughts on the matter. She would probably say something completely useless on the subject, like, "What's it matter?" or, "Who cares?" She wouldn't take his concerns seriously even for a moment.
He felt a pang in his chest as he thought of Lin. Things were as far from what they should have been as he could imagine. She should be at the Jade Palace with him, irritating him with her combative questions and hogging the blankets at night despite her copious amounts of fur. He wondered for probably the thousandth time how she could have run off to become some simple waitress without so much as looking back. She must have some doubts in her mind about her decision. She must miss him, regardless of how angry she was. And what right did she have to be so angry, anyway? She was the one in the wrong. She was the one who'd abandoned her daughter, treated the girl like dirt, and lied to him. She was the one who'd left, after she'd promised she wouldn't. He should have gone after her that night and dragged her back right then and there. The matter would have been settled by now if he'd only acted more quickly, instead of letting her storm off. Then she would have known for sure that he... He hadn't meant to kick her out. Not really. He'd never expected her to take him seriously. Gods knew she never had before.
He stopped Tai Lung in his duties, although they weren't done. "That's enough cleaning for one day. We can pick this up later. I believe some solitary meditation is in order now." Not that it would help him any. But perhaps Tai Lung would get something out of it.
Tai Lung didn't especially enjoy climbing out of his window like some rebellious child, but that seemed to be his lot for the time being. He'd learned to be stealthy at a young age, applying the skills from his kung fu lessons to keep his activities too quiet even for Shifu to pick up on. It hadn't been easy to sneak around as he'd grown, but it helped that Shifu was often distracted. He'd already been sneaking in and out of his window to check up on Lin at night, and though it was still afternoon, he felt too antsy to simply sit around in his room in "solitary meditation," as Shifu had put it. So he might as well check up on Lin again, since she was the only person in the entire province worth spending any time with at all. Not that she was great company. But twenty years in solitary confinement hadn't endeared solitude to him.
Tai Lung stopped dead at the sight of a scrawny little gray wolf standing at the top of the Thousand Steps. That curly tail was unmistakable, not to mention her unusual fluffiness. This was Lin's... Child. He wrinkled his nose at that thought. He hadn't given much thought to what Shifu had told him the night Lin had left, but here she was, the reason that old blowhard had driven Lin off. The baby that Lin had never wanted. Why had she bothered to come all the way back here, to the Valley of Peace? Didn't she know she had been unwanted? Didn't she know her place?
"Hello," she called out, then hesitantly turned around. "Are you... Tai Lung?"
He glowered at her, feeling offended that she'd addressed him first. It wasn't as though he were chomping at the bit to speak to her. "Yes," he replied shortly, his tail lashing back and forth in his irritation. He couldn't believe this girl had the nerve to move into the Jade Palace, to try to claim Lin as her own. What an ego she must have, to think she could show up out of nowhere and lay claim to someone who'd never even wanted her.
"I am Gia," she introduced, clasping her hands together.
"Yes, yes," he replied dismissively, then walked past her to descend the steps. "I know all the latest gossip." He paused briefly to glare at her over his shoulder. "And a bit of advice for your next life: when someone abandons you with no intention of ever returning, maybe don't go looking for them." He had just enough time to catch a glimpse of her face turning red before he continued down the steps. Good riddance. Maybe now that the little whelp knew where he stood on the subject of her, she wouldn't bother him any further.
He put the girl out of his mind for the time being. He needed to check on Lin. Entering the village had been a trial so far, even while accompanying the panda. At least with the big, fuzzy oaf, most of the villagers simply shied away from him or averted their eyes. They trusted the panda. Walking the fairly busy streets alone in broad daylight, he got treated to the sight of people gasping and dropping their groceries at the sight of him, or turning and running for their lives. He rolled his eyes at the drama of it all. It wasn't as if he'd come running through with his claws slashing. At this rate Shifu would hear of his excursion for sure. "Yes, yes, we get it," he snapped at a mother who'd leaped over her child to shield the little piglet. "May I please take my walk in peace, now?" Of course, no one listened to him.
He at least didn't need to go all the way to that dusty little noodle shop to find Lin. He'd made it as far as the market on the main street before spotting a familiar gigantic fluffy tail in the crowd. It wasn't difficult to sneak up on Lin, but it was difficult to shock her. When he stood over her, his arms crossed, he almost cracked a grin at the sight of the rabbit woman next to Lin grabbing her arm and trying to drag her to "safety."
"What the- quit it!" Lin argued, resisting the woman easily.
Speechless, her whiskers trembling, the rabbit pointed to him.
Lin glanced over her shoulder and shrugged. "Yeah, I see the nerd."
"I'm no such thing," Tai Lung argued, raising his eyebrows at the rabbit woman. Direct eye contact with him seemed to frighten her so badly that her knees buckled, as she fell back into the fruit stand Lin was still browsing, despite the vendor having run for his life.
"Oh, for the love of-" Lin dropped the pear she'd been squeezing and turned around to give him a hard poke in the stomach. "Canya calm it down a little? This lady's about to die, over here." Lin attempted to tug her sleeve out of the woman's grasp, but she continued holding on for dear life. "She's gonna wrench my arm outta the socket at this rate." She waved a hand in front of the rabbit's face but received no reaction. "Hello? What the hell's wrong withya?"
With a long-suffering sigh, Tai Lung showed both women some mercy and extracted the little brown rabbit's hand from Lin's sleeve as gently as possible. That seemed to jolt the woman out of her terror-stricken stupor, as she then chose to scream at the top of her lungs and dive behind the produce stand. "Lovely," he grumbled. This was getting old fast.
"That's whatya get for rampaging," Lin replied casually, peering over the edge of the stand. "Yo, you hear me at all?"
"Leave her there," Tai Lung argued with a snort. Why Lin had any concern for the annoying woman perplexed him.
"I feel bad," Lin argued, as if talking about a lost toddler. "I mean, what's she gonna do, freeze to death back there?"
Tai Lung leaned over the fruit stand, glowering down at the rabbit. "Go home," he commanded, and she finally fled the scene. "There, now she's going home. Happy?"
"Not especially," Lin replied as she watched the woman flee. "It's kinda awkward. She has a weird run, too."
"She isn't important, leave her be."
"She's a regular at the restaurant," Lin said, then ventured out into the market, clearly expecting him to follow. "Not that we really talk. But she's pretty cute when she isn't shitting herself."
"Ugh," Tai Lung grumbled. He should have known it would only be a matter of time before Lin started acting like some two-bit skirt chaser. "May we not?"
Lin wouldn't be herself if she didn't blurt out whatever asinine thought that popped into her head, though. "All I'm saying is, I'd bang her."
"Ew." Tai Lung noticed that the longer he was in Lin's company, the more comfortable the villagers had become. Well, comfortable wasn't the right description. They were less terrified, perhaps because they saw someone conversing with him and not getting torn to shreds. They had gone back to mostly just silently cowering, like they did when he had the panda at his side. He wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that Lin served noodles at that restaurant. He'd witnessed her work briefly, and personally he thought she'd already terrorized the villagers more than he ever had. "What is this? Do these people actually think you're tough?"
"They just know me, that's all," she said. "Ping's noodles're the most popular in the village. Most people've seen me at the restaurant."
"More like most people have been victimized by you at the restaurant."
"Uhuh. So what's up?" Lin asked as she eyed the various market stalls, her focused gaze giving off the impression of a great ancient predator on the hunt.
"Shifu thinks I'm meditating," he replied, and she snorted. "I'm starting to think I should have taken you up on that offer to stay in Shanghai."
"I'm starting to think I shoulda stayed, too- aha!" Lin made a beeline for a stall selling a rich looking concoction of fried tofu piled high with assorted pickled vegetables and what looked to be chili powder. "Now that's what I'm talking about."
"You're just a stomach on legs, aren't you?"
"Yep." She paid the seller with surprisingly little fuss, though the man's eyes did dart nervously toward Tai Lung several times, then dug into the fried tofu the minute she'd gotten her hands on it. "You should try this," she informed him, her mouth obscenely full.
"No thanks," he grumbled. "I think you've put me off eating for good."
She opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out to fully display the half-masticated food. "Bleaahh!"
Tai Lung covered his eyes, for lack of a better way to try to escape the image. "Get away from me!"
She only laughed at him. "This's the kinda stuff I miss about living together," she said fondly.
Blinking, he removed his hands from his face to stare down at her, dumbstruck by the statement. "You miss living with me?" he repeated. Maybe he was blowing the statement out of proportion, and she'd only meant that she missed teasing him all the time and forcing him to do her chores. But then, as he recalled, that was how she'd always shown affection for Shifu. And if he thought hard on their time in Shanghai, Lin hadn't treated anyone else much differently. Perhaps he'd only escaped such treatment before because he'd been a child. "Are you going soft on me, old woman?"
"I been soft a long time before you came along," she said with a wry smile. "Y'know, I never said this before, but it's been kinda nice getting to knowya as an adult. Even if you're an entitled asswipe with a weird God complex."
"So you're saying you like me," he concluded.
"I never claimed otherwise."
He hadn't been able to avoid the fact that he'd grown close to Lin, despite his protests. After all, hadn't she been the first person he'd gone to, when he'd left the Jade Palace this afternoon? He'd found, too, that he missed going down to Chen's kitchen in the mornings and seeing her lazy butt parked at the island counter, stuffing her face with eggs. Eating a bland breakfast of plain porridge and steamed tofu in chilly silence with Shifu's students couldn't compare to those Shanghai mornings. Especially the mornings when Chen had provoked Lin into throwing things. Sometimes it was fun to have breakfast and a show. "I suppose I'll admit that, as far as companions go, you could be worse."
"Sorry, kid, I don't fall for that hard-to-get bullshit anymore," she replied with a shrug. "Say you care about me or don't. Pick one."
"I'll choose 'don't,' then." He watched her eat her fried tofu, chewing lazily as if she were unconcerned by his response. "Did you hear me?"
"Yeah," she answered, then fell silent again.
"Is this a silent treatment? Am I getting frozen out?"
"Nah." She picked a few yellow pickled radishes off the top of her meal, then offered them to him. When he refused, she flicked them at him.
"Hey!" he snapped, then rolled his eyes when several of the surrounding villagers dove to the ground for cover at his outburst. "So, what? You're angry?"
"Of course I'm angry," she replied around mouthfuls of tofu. "You're constantly coming to me asking for my emotional labor, whining and expecting me to hold your little baby hand for every damn moment of every damn day- even when you're someone else's problem."
"Emotional labor?" he repeated.
"Yeah. Y'know, the concept of spending my time and energy to helpya out, helpya with your problems, listen to your whining. That sorta shit. I spend my time on you, you take my time, you expect me to care aboutya and show it, but you refuse to reciprocate. Just like your dad." She flicked another pickle at him. "You don't wanna admitya care about me? Fine. Just go spend all your time with some of your other friends. Oh wait! You don't got any."
"Are you quite done yet?" he grumbled. That remark about his lack of friends hit a little more close to home than he'd admit, although it was wrong. Yan-Yan had written to him, after all.
"No," Lin replied firmly. "I'm working on myself right now. I don't got time for anyone who's not interested in giving back a little in a friendship." She pelted him with yet another pickle.
"Fine, you old crone, I care about you. Now will you keep your damn pickles to yourself?" He brushed bits of pickled radish off of himself, illustrating his point. "What is with you and covering me in food?"
"That's more like it," she grumbled, but lapsed into silence again, more interested in her food than conversation with him.
"You're still angry?" he asked with a frustrated sigh.
"Gimme a break," she replied sullenly. "I've been having a tough time."
"So you and Shifu broke up," he replied with a snort. "He's dumb and he's got a big head. You'll live."
She raised her eyebrows at him. "Wow. Areya giving me that whole best friends forever speech about how I can do better?"
"Shut up."
She turned her attention back to her food, staying quiet as he'd commanded, which concerned him. Once she'd finished, she stared down at the empty container that had once held her lunch. "I miss Al," she suddenly remarked, then veered to her right and ran off into the market crowd before he could say anything in return.
Tai Lung only lost sight of Lin for a moment, but he couldn't help the panicked tightness in his chest at the unreasonable thought that perhaps the Wu Sisters would use the crowd for cover and take her life right now, in this moment. He found her quickly enough, at another food stall ordering cakes made of sticky rice pressed tightly together and then fried. The vendor covered them in a thick, dark sauce that smelled of soy and sugar, along with sliced scallions, and Lin dug into them as heartily as she had the tofu.
"Y'know, there's some good food around here ifya know where to look," she commented thoughtfully, then took off walking again.
"You shouldn't run off alone like that," Tai Lung snapped as he followed her.
She snorted at him. "What'm I, a child?"
He supposed she wouldn't have reason to worry, still being in the dark about her would-be assassins. "Why did you say that?"
"'Cause I'm not a child, obviously," she replied.
"No. The other thing." He wondered if she even remembered what she'd said. She'd seemed pretty out of it since she'd left the Jade Palace, so he wouldn't be surprised. Though he had witnessed her purposely denying her own behavior before, so deceit couldn't be ruled out. "Who is 'Al?' That dead man you loved?"
"Yeah," she answered with a frustrated sigh, then stuffed another rice cake in her mouth.
"You miss him? Not Shifu?" Sometimes he just didn't understand Lin. Most of the time, really.
"Shut up," she grumbled around her mouthful of fried food.
"You truly are a shrew," he replied, then gave in to temptation and stole a fried rice cake from her.
"Come see me tonight," she suddenly ordered, poking him in the side. That was apparently all she had in the way of a goodbye for him, because then she turned down a side street and left him behind.
He still followed at a fair distance to insure that she arrived back at Mr. Ping's safely, then headed back toward the Jade Palace. He hoped no one had sent word to Shifu about his walk, but he had some hope, due to Lin's influence. And honestly, part of him had started to wonder if maybe these threats to send him back to prison should he misbehave were all bluster. After all, Shifu and Lin had invested months of time in him already. They wouldn't want to see their hard work go to waste, would they? Not that they'd truly done anything. He was the one who'd been working hard all this time, hauling shipments at the Shanghai docks, swimming in the freezing ocean, and attempting to teach that panda how to actually be good at kung fu.
Yet he still returned to his room in the barracks and sat down on the floor to pretend he was meditating like an obedient prisoner. Because that was what Shifu wanted, despite Tai Lung's multiple escapes. Shifu wanted him to behave like he had as a child, to stay cloistered on this mountain as if nothing else in the world existed, to become the embodiment of all things kung fu. The resentment he'd felt when he'd first realized that doing everything the "right" way- in other words, Shifu's way- still hadn't earned him a damn thing remained. Or maybe he'd done everything wrong in the first place. That thought stung more than his resentment toward Shifu. He never would have doubted himself before Shanghai, but his decisions had led him to this path, which he hated, so maybe there were things he could have done differently. There were certainly things he planned to do differently now, starting with never paying any attention to what Shifu wanted.
He should probably stop paying so much attention to Lin, too. Let her take care of herself, handle her ridiculous romantic drama and potential assassins on her own. But at least Lin needed him. That was something. Perhaps not something worth fighting for, but it was the only part of his life that didn't seem pointless at the moment.
Lin grumbled obscenities to herself as she puttered around Po's room- or her room, she figured- and cleared the floor of dirty handkerchiefs and empty bottles. It had gotten late, but there was no helping that. After all, she'd worked dinner service at the noodle shop and closed with Ping. As much as she appreciated the hefty percentage of the tips and the free warm place to sleep, it wasn't a job that left her in the best mood. Serving people for a living got on her nerves, probably because it was uncomfortable and loud and she couldn't just walk away when she felt like it. Not if she wanted to save up money, anyway. What she was saving for, she didn't know. She had no idea what the future held for her. It felt right, though, to put money away. It was something she could control, for the time being, and it comforted her.
Without so much as a greeting, Tai Lung suddenly appeared at the little window over the bed.
She couldn't say she was surprised. "Don't you know how to use a door?" Lin asked as he climbed in through the window, waving a hand in front of his nose.
"I don't want those mouth-breathers you call neighbors running back to Shifu with stories of this visit, forgive me." Tai Lung wrinkled his nose as he glanced around the room. "The real question is, how can you stand living in this overpowering smell of soup?"
"God only knows," she said with a sigh. "To be honest, my appetite's not what it used to be, lately."
"In what way?" he asked incredulously, though she let that one slide.
"Yeah, yeah." It made her nervous, the way he kept inspecting every corner of the room, as if he thought something might jump out and get him. "Canya settle down, already?"
Tai Lung's gaze fell on Lin's things- excepting the alcohol- still packed as if he had only just delivered them, and raised his eyebrows. "I see my urgency in returning your property to you wasn't in vain," he said sarcastically.
"Meh," Lin grumbled. "They're just things."
He leaned closer to a basket to peer inside. "And I see your little diary isn't in here anymore."
"And you're not gonna see it," she replied pointedly. The last thing she needed was to field a bunch of personal questions. "You ain't here for a book club."
"Why am I here, then?"
Lin sat down on the bed, instantly sinking into its saggy middle. "I'm not sleeping so well," she informed him.
"I wonder why?" Tai Lung replied sarcastically, eyeing the bed.
"I figured I'd sleep better if someone stayed with me," she added.
"Oh no you don't," he argued. "This whole situation is sad enough from the outside, I'm not getting involved."
"Why not?" she whined. "It's not like it'd be the first time! And I can't sleep. C'mooon!"
"Oh, gods, you're annoying."
"No I'm not!" Lin knew she was probably asking too much, but she hadn't gotten a whole lot of sleep since they'd left Shanghai and she was starting to get a little desperate. "I just thought it'd be nice to spend some time together. Y'know, it's a lot easier getting dumped whenya got a Dumpee Brigade."
Tai Lung narrowed his eyes at her. "...A what?"
"Dumpee Brigade," she emphasized, though she realized that the terminology was just something she'd made up. "'Cause we both got dumped!"
"Ugh," he grumbled, covering his face with one hand. "This again."
"What 'this again?'" she asked harshly, then grabbed one of the equally saggy pillows from the bed and tried to lean against it for some semblance of back support. "It's true. We're both dumped, we're both on our own again, we're both in a place that's familiar but doesn't quite feel like home anymore... I thought since we got this common ground, now-"
"Common ground?" he interrupted, looking up from his palm to stare intently at her.
"Yeah. Maybe it's not the best thing to have in common, but it's something. More'n before, anyway..." She trailed off as she realized how needy and dumb she sounded, but she couldn't just take her words back. "Never mind," she added, embarrassed that she'd even said anything. She'd gotten carried away by the progress Tai Lung had made in Shanghai, and for a little while she'd forgotten that they weren't close anymore. She'd projected what she wanted over the truth, ignoring reality, like she'd done with Shifu. "You're right about me. I'm just a pathetic old lady."
Tai Lung crossed his arms, his expression as grumpy as always. "No more pathetic than I am, I suppose," he admitted grudgingly, then sat down on the bed beside her. "I'm assuming this will involve alcohol. Or were you planning on using your little guilt tactics on me all night?"
Lin raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "You're staying?"
"So long as you don't get drunk without me," he replied.
It was an easy enough requirement to meet, on her end. "Then I guess I should hand this over." Lin flopped over onto her belly to reach down beneath the bed, groping around until she found a wine bottle she'd stashed beneath it. She held the bottle up to Tai Lung, and after a moment's hesitation, he took it.
"This isn't something the panda left behind, is it?" he asked as he peered at the bottle's label.
Lin laughed at his reticence, which she understood perfectly. Those moldy noodles she'd found under the bed would haunt her for the rest of her life. "Nah, that's mine." She laid on her stomach and watched him drink, grimacing all the way. "Why d'ya wanna drink with me ifya don't even like it?"
"I'll like it eventually," he argued, then tried to drink again but chugged a little too fast and started coughing. He pushed her when she laughed at him, not that it stopped her. "I have your mail, by the way," he added, his voice raspy from all the coughing.
"Mail?" Lin repeated, confused by the statement. "Who in the hell would ever send me a letter?" She could imagine Wei-Shan maybe sending her something, but not for another couple of months at least.
"Yan-Yan," Tai Lung replied, handing her a scroll.
"I don't wanna think about where you were keeping this."
He glared at her, then pointedly pulled a second scroll from the side of his belt. "Your little girlfriend sent one, too."
She took the second scroll, blinking down at it in amazement. Meihui really had written to her. "They must've written these while we were still on the road."
"Thanks, I never would have figured that obvious fact out on my own." He went back to drinking her wine, though he now drank from the bottle in conservative sips.
"No one ever really writes to me." Maybe she just wasn't used to people knowing how to contact her. Even when she'd lived with Al, and he'd gone to be diplomatic in other countries, he'd usually been too far away to afford the fees. She began to break the seal on Yan-Yan's letter, but hesitated, suddenly irrationally nervous that her friend had somehow known that she had messed up her whole life again and lived in a cramped little kid's bedroom over a noodle shop. Or, worse, the whole letter had been written in ignorant support of her, which had been proven unjustified before it had even had a chance to arrive.
"Good gods, it isn't a stink bomb or something," Tai Lung grumbled next to her.
"Gimme that." She snatched the wine bottle from his hand and finished it off, then tore open Yan-Yan's letter. She read the first line, just a standard greeting, but couldn't read any further. She dropped the letter on the floor, trying to find the words for the pit in her stomach. "She'll just be disappointed."
"What?"
"With me," Lin elaborated. "She'll be disappointed with me. When she finds out about... This." She indicated the room around them with a derisive snort. "I couldn't even help you. Of course I screwed up everything else in my life. I never shoulda come here in the first place. Now I can't leave."
"I hadn't realized this was going to be a night of piteous whining," Tai Lung shot back, and though he'd said something derisive he sounded awkward and halting in his delivery, and couldn't seem to make eye contact. He cleared his throat, then leaned over and fished under her bed until he found another bottle.
"C'mon, I'm not saying anything that other people haven't thought or said about me before," she pointed out, bothered more by his awkwardness than she would have been if he'd just been able to dismiss her sincerely.
"Yes, but at least you had the balls to act like you didn't believe them," he snapped, then turned his attention to trying to uncork the bottle. "Ever since that stupid ocean trip, I've had to listen to your 'woe is me' monologuing, like you think you're so deep now. Just give it a rest for a night."
She couldn't say that his assessment of her was wrong, but it still hurt to hear it. She didn't know if she had it in her to truly forget everything that had happened to her recently, all her anxieties, or even any part of the past that had been weighing her down for years. But she wanted to. "Okay." She took the wine from him and drank deeply. "Tell me how your training or whatever is going."
"The worst," he complained. "Not only do I have to put up with Shifu all day long, now I am apparently the panda's new teacher."
"You? A teacher?" Lin snorted at the idea. "Yeah, that'll work out well."
"Oh, like you could do any better," he shot back, then fell silent.
Lin didn't say anything in return. She had nothing to say to the accusation. It was true, and she couldn't deny it.
"I didn't mean it like that," he added awkwardly. "I didn't mean that you're-"
"It's fine," Lin interrupted, her grip tightening on the wine bottle. "I was a bad teacher. I never said I wasn't."
Tai Lung reached over and pried the bottle from her hand. "You aren't so bad," he insisted. "I've had worse."
She shook her head at his attempts to soothe her. She knew the truth, and she wasn't going to deny it just to make someone else feel better about having pointed it out. "I sucked. But I'm not your teacher anymore, Shifu is."
"That's not true," he grumbled, then gulped down some of the wine.
"Yeah, it is."
"No, it isn't," he replied emphatically. "I was your student in Shanghai, and I still am now, Shifu be damned!"
Lin stared up at him, lost for words in the face of his insistence. She never would have expected such a turnaround from him, not even after a million years of rehabilitation. Especially after the terrible job she'd done at it.
Tai Lung turned red and looked away, suddenly finding the old drawings of bandits on the wall fascinating. "Anyway. I don't imagine you have much experience with having a student, with your temperament and all, but no one in their right mind would leave their master alone like this."
"No," Lin mused, still stunned by his attitude. "I don't got a lotta experience with that, you're right. I only ever had one student before, and I had a torrid affair with him, so..." She snorted as Tai Lung looked back at her, horror-stricken. "What?"
"That's horrible!" he replied.
"No more horrible 'an trying to kill your teacher," she pointed out.
Hesitantly, he nodded. "Yes, you've made a point, there."
"B'sides, it's not like I had his baby or anything," she added. "I dumped him and got an abortion before that could happen."
"You know, I'm really starting to wonder if I should even be here," he grumbled. "Judging by these gross personal details you keep sharing with me, probably not."
"Hey, I didn't even get that detailed," she argued, grinning at how uncomfortable he looked. "I mean, I didn't even mention that I got knocked up in a threesome."
"Oh, good gods," he groaned with a gag.
Lin laughed at his reaction. "Get over it."
"I don't know why you feel the need to tell me these stories about your terrible sex life," Tai Lung said, his nose still wrinkled. "This sounds like something you'd tell Yan-Yan."
Lin realized, with a pang of loneliness, that he was right. "Yan-Yan's not here," she pointed out. "You're the person I got right now."
Tai Lung's whiskers twitched slightly. "So it would seem."
"If you're gonna ask me what we're gonna do next, I don't got an answer," she added. She'd never been good at planning ahead.
"I can't say I've got a plan, either," he admitted reluctantly, and she wondered if that meant he'd abandoned his plan for revenge. Probably not, but she could hope.
"I think from here on out we just gotta wait to see what happens. Even if we made plans... Plans always fall through. I've learned that the hard way." She was overtaken by melancholy, then, as she thought of Al once more. She'd been thinking about him a lot, lately. Sometimes she wondered if this was the way it would always be. All she wanted was to get away from his death, but it followed her like a specter.
"Enough brooding," Tai Lung ordered, diverting her attention with more wine.
Lin snorted. "You're telling me to stop brooding? That's your default state!"
"I like to think of my default state as bothered in general by the aggravations around me, but alright."
"Your default state is nerdy, actually," she teased with a snort, though he only rolled his eyes in response.
"If you'd really like to go there, then your default state is an old witch," he argued.
"Well, hey, if being accused of witchcraft and almost getting killed by a whole town makes me a witch, then I'm a witch," Lin replied. It had been a while since she'd looked back on those particular memories. "And while we're on the subject, I don't wantya going around calling women that."
Tai Lung raised his eyebrows at her. "Really?"
"Really." If she was going to stay on as Tai Lung's teacher, she might as well boss him around. "It's a word for a woman who lives her own life. And it's got a lotta violence attached. I ain't ever heard it from a man who's never raised a hand to a woman, that's for sure."
The skeptical look disappeared from his face, replaced by something... Gentler. She never would have called Tai Lung gentle in a million years, so this change was more unnerving than anything else. "I will protect you."
Lin leaned back, concerned about this unusual behavior. "Uh, what?"
"Don't read too much into it," he grumbled, returning to his usual sullen self with such speed that she wondered if she was just imagining things. "I just meant that it's my duty, as your student. Also, I'm drunk."
Lin decided to let it go. "You're a lightweight if I ever saw one," she said with a laugh. "Well, I guess I can't letya get too far ahead."
She began to drink in earnest as she and Tai Lung talked about stupid things like his melodramatic romance stories and her mahjong games with Ping. It was almost like being back in Shanghai again, when they could relax without worrying about Shifu or kung fu or what would happen to the both of them. And, inevitably, they talked about Shanghai, too. Mostly they made fun of Chen and commiserated about how Yan-Yan's home remedies were truly the nastiest creations of all time, but it felt nice to have someone to talk to about how much she missed the city and her friends. Soon enough, Tai Lung had had too much to drink to stay awake any longer, though she was far from that point.
Lin sat up and listened to Tai Lung's slightly labored breathing, and that wheezing inhale that suggested he'd soon begin snoring. She wondered if this was it for her. If there would be anything more for her past this point. Maybe this job waiting tables and prepping vegetables would be the only job she'd have for the rest of her life, maybe she'd live out her days in this room, or a rented room like it, and maybe this odd pseudo-parental friendship with Tai Lung was the most meaningful relationship she would have. Maybe a job she didn't particularly care about, a room she didn't especially like, and a man-child with a God complex were all she deserved. It seemed fitting. Everything she had ever wanted was in the past, so what else could be left for her now?
She slid onto the floor and sat, leaning against the bed. She'd been happy, once. Really happy, not just temporarily, not just in some sort of manic episode. There had been a time when she'd really believed that things would stay that way. She'd thought she would grow old, and sick, and Al would take care of her until she died. Then he would have buried her at sea, and that would have been that. They'd never had big plans, they'd only ever planned to be together. She'd never thought that would be too much to hold onto. She'd never imagined what her life would be like when he was gone, and she was the one left behind. That was why she'd tried to return to a moment from the past, one she could have never hoped to have again. She couldn't imagine moving forward, so she'd tried to go back.
She jumped a little when her hand bumped into something hard, but it was only Yan-Yan's scroll. With a heavy sigh, she picked up the letter and began to read in the dim light of her dying lantern.
"Hi. It's me, Yan-Yan. Obviously. Is it weird that we've known each other all this time, but this is my first letter to you? I think so. I never really thought about it when we were kids. I always figured you'd stay in Shanghai, anyway. And when you left, obviously I couldn't write to you. But that's... A weird thing to write about. I'm usually more deft at these things. I'd start over, but I get the feeling you'd rather I didn't. It hasn't been that long since you left, but the house feels so empty, now. I'd gotten used to you and that big lug lazing around here all the time. Now I come home to silence and plain rice. That's how it was before, too, but I hadn't realized how much better a home could feel with noisy conversations and crowded rooms. I just want more people here, I suppose. I used to think this was how Chen preferred his life to be, all quiet and solitary, but I can tell he misses you. It turns out we're both lost like this.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to say all that. I'm not trying to make you feel guilty, I promise. Want to hear something weird? Wei-Shan's still hanging around. I don't know why. He won't say anything about it, and he seems to have found someplace else to stay. I feel like he knows something I don't, which I'm sure is exactly what he wants. It's obnoxious. But enough about him. I'm sure if he wants you to know about what he's been up to, he'll write to you as well. Meihui has been dropping by more and more. We don't exactly have patients yet, but Chen suggested we practice our sutures on some of his torn jackets. If you're wondering: yes, I did try to smack him one for that. He's too fast for me. I've been thinking that maybe we should take a trip to the Valley of Peace and finally find out for ourselves what's so great about it. I hope you wouldn't mind, but Chen says that there's plenty of space for visitors at the Jade Palace.
"How is everything there? I hope you're not wasting too much time and energy on those horrifying fights you and Shifu get into. I don't know if I've ever said this to you, but I think you're right a lot of the time. Most of the time. When I'm not the one disagreeing with you. Don't let that get to your head. And write me back- a real letter, not one of your stupid cartoons. I can't wait to hear from you."
Lin stared at the letter a long time, re-reading it over and over until her eyes were too tired to focus on the words. She wanted to hold onto that feeling of reading them for the first time for as long as she possibly could. The excitement, the curiosity, the fleeting happiness at knowing that these words were just for her, from someone she cared about. She didn't want to stop reading, either, because then she would have to start thinking about what she would write in return. She didn't want to think about that just yet. There was so much to write, and none of it good. It would be better to let Yan-Yan go on thinking that she was doing alright, but she knew that if she didn't respond she would hurt her friend's feelings. And if she wrote a bunch of lies, it would probably blow up in her face.
She wanted to write the truth. She wanted to write that she was sorry for being such a liar all the time. If she didn't lie about herself, then other people would get to know her too much. When people knew too much about her, they stopped liking her. No one would want her if they really knew her. Only Al ever had, and he was gone now. She grabbed one of the mostly empty wine bottles from the floor and sipped the last dregs from it, then grabbed Meihui's letter and opened it.
In front of her was a painting in bright, saturated shades of pink, red, and verdant green, depicting a blooming lotus flower. She stared at the painting for a long time, at its simplicity, blocking out shapes with color and shade. A lotus represented the universe, it represented all. That was why she'd had it tattooed on her as a young woman. All is one. One is all. That was what she'd truly believed, what she still believed. Here it was in front of her, with more raw power than she'd seen in a long time. The signature on the painting was Meihui's. No letter accompanied it. She had only painted this lotus, and sent it to her. She wished Meihui were here right now, so she could ask, "How did you know? How could you possibly know I needed this?" She wiped her tears on her sleeves and gently rolled the painting back up, placing it carefully between the bed and the wall. She would hang it up in the morning.
She curled up, resting her head on her knees, a sense of well-being overtaking her. She didn't care how fleeting it probably was. She held onto it with all she had. This was what it was like, to be cared for. To have people who thought about her. She wondered, again, if it had been the right thing to leave them behind. But she had stayed in the Valley for a reason, even if it was sometimes hard to remember. She still wanted to learn from Oogway, even if she might not be able to contact him again. And she realized, as she leaned her head back and felt a fuzzy arm beneath it, Tai Lung needed her.
Shifu adjusted his clothing as he walked through the village. Not that he thought for a moment that his appearance would have any effect on the outcome of his visit, but he was too nervous not to fidget. Lin was bound to still be angry, but he'd sworn that he would keep going back to see her until she spoke to him properly. And after that, as well, if she still refused to return to the Jade Palace. He didn't know what he could possibly say to bring her back, or what he could possibly do short of dragging her back by force. He had to try, though.
Shifu paused at the entrance to Mr. Ping's restaurant and watched Lin bustle around in her dirty apron, serving noodles to patrons. He hated to admit it, but she looked cute as a waitress. The way she moved between the tables and through the crowds was natural, though she still had a harried scowl on her face as she dropped bowls of soup down in front of patrons. More than anything, seeing her in an apron brought back fond memories of her time as the Jade Palace's cook. He watched her walk back behind the counter before entering the restaurant to approach her, though he felt hesitant considering her reaction to their last conversation. She'd ignored him during every one of his visits since then, not so much as bothering to wait on his table, but that was technically an improvement. If he was going to ever speak to her again, he would need to be the one to initiate contact.
"Lin," he called out once he reached the counter, watching her stir a stock pot with her back to him. He'd be ready, this time, if she tried to throw soup in his face.
"I'm working," Lin replied, without bothering to so much as look over her shoulder. "Y'know, that thingya should be doing instead of harassing me all the time."
"I am not harassing you, I am trying to speak with you," he said, already annoyed by her attitude. How she could get a rise out of him so easily, he would never understand.
She only let out a wistful sigh. "Jeez, I wish I had the leisure time to stalk someone."
He felt his eye twitch. "I'm not stalking you!" he snapped, then blushed at the stares he'd attracted. "You cannot take a quick break to talk to me?"
"My breaks're few and far between, so why should I waste 'em on you?" She finally turned around, though only to grab some scallions and slice them thinly.
He didn't want to take the low road in this particular argument, but if he was going to get a moment alone with her, he would need to. "You said you loved me."
"I say a lotta things," she replied coolly.
Shifu felt his mouth fall open in shock. "Stop that right this moment," he ordered once the feeling returned to his face.
"Stop what?" she asked. "Being mean to you? No. No, I won't stop that."
"You can't say you don't love me just to be mean," he snapped, angry now at her immature behavior. He should have known she would instigate him the moment he tried to speak with her. It was the thing she did best. "That's not right."
"It's two different kindsa mean," Lin said as she ladled out broth and noodles into three bowls, then topped the soups with sliced scallions. "I'm being mean, and I mean it."
"You don't mean it," he argued. "You couldn't!"
"Quit bothering me at work," Lin snapped in return, brandishing her cleaver at him.
"Lin, I just want-"
"I'm gonna stopya right there," she interrupted, "'cause I don't give a damn what you want."
That was the last straw for him. Regardless of Mr. Ping's rules, he needed to confront Lin properly, so he let himself into the kitchen area. "I've had enough of this nonsense! I won't let you stand there and berate me just because you're looking for an excuse to run away!"
Lin looked furious, which for her was a disturbingly calm expression punctuated by her mouth set in a straight line and her ears so flattened they were barely visible in her fluffy fur. She'd given him that look before, so he remembered what had followed- and that was the worst part. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked tersely, slamming her knife down onto the cutting board.
He was already in hot water with her, so it wasn't as if he could make things any worse. "Don't be obtuse. You've had issues with commitment from the very beginning, we both know that."
She reached out and he braced himself for a slap or a push, but instead she grabbed him by the ear and yanked him close to her, as if she were going to whisper to him. "You don't know the first thing about me!" she shouted into his ear.
"Lin, let go of me," he protested, but her grip on his ear only tightened painfully.
"You get outta here, or I'll rip this ear right off," she threatened. "You got me?"
"You are behaving like a common thug-"
She twisted his ear, and he interrupted himself with a pained grunt. "I'll giveya 'til the count of three," she growled, "and then I'll throwya out myself." She let him go with a push, then grabbed her gigantic cleaver again. "One," she began counting, approaching him with the cleaver.
"This isn't over," Shifu warned her as he backed away. "I'll be back! You cannot stay angry like this forever-"
"Two!"
"You really expect me to believe that you would be capable of such violence, in public, and against me, no less? Lin, be reasonable-"
"Three!" She brandished the cleaver at him, and with a dawning sense of horror, he realized that she was taking aim as she had so often done with her wooden spoon.
"Well, I'd better leave you to think about what we've discussed," he finished quickly, then ran out the kitchen door. He winced at the sound of air rushing by his ear and the loud thunk of the cleaver digging itself into wood as he passed through the doorway, but didn't stop to look.
"I won't miss next time!" Lin screamed after him. And then, as he fled through the restaurant, he heard her turn her screaming on the customers. "What're you looking at!? Eat your goddamn noodles!"
Shifu had never seen so many people duck their heads down and quietly slurp noodles in unison before. He continued out the door, though he paused when he almost ran into Mr. Ping. "You really shouldn't leave her alone with your business so often," he advised the confused goose before continuing down the street. Part of him wanted to escape the humiliation of such a public scene, and part of him feared that Lin might retrieve the cleaver and come after him. He finally stopped at a moon bridge, aware of all the stares he'd been attracting by running full-speed down the street. Though, as he stood to rest a moment, he noticed that passersby continued to stare. He wondered if perhaps Lin had managed to cut him and he hadn't felt it in the ensuing adrenaline rush, so he patted down his ears and head in search of a wet spot. He paused when his hand reached his face, then ran to the edge of the bridge to look at himself in the stream below.
Shifu glared into his reflection, his eye twitching. Lin's cleaver may have missed his ear, but it had taken a piece of him with it. He stroked at his poor mustache, now raggedly uneven. The right side of his mustache was nearly as short as it had been when he was a young man, the ends of the hair split from having been haphazardly chopped. He would need to choose between dramatically shortening his mustache or leaving it obviously lopsided until the mangled right side grew out. He wondered if Lin had indeed missed as she had claimed, or if her aim had remained as true now as it had been in their youth, when she could nail him with a wooden spoon from a hundred paces. It certainly wouldn't be out of character for her to take half his mustache off.
By the time he'd made his way back up to the Jade Palace, he had resolved to trim his mustache, as much as it pained him. Or rather, he'd resolved to have Zeng trim his mustache. He'd never been able to get the length even on his own. He stepped into the scroll library, pleased to see Zeng speaking with Gia in hushed tones about the importance of keeping lanterns and torches lit minimally so as not to damage the scrolls with light or smoke. It would seem that he'd taken his role training her seriously.
Shifu stopped beside the two and cleared his throat for their attention. They both stared outright at his destroyed mustache, though Gia was the only one of them bold enough to comment on it.
"That is a most unusual choice of style for your facial hair," she marveled, then seemed to remember that she was currently angry at him and frowned. "It looks more stupid than before," she snapped before marching off to the back of the archives.
Shifu sighed to himself while Zeng stuttered nervously at the girl's outburst. "It's fine," he soothed the goose, not that Zeng was the sort who could be soothed. "I was hoping you could help me with a trim."
"Oh," Zeng sighed, obviously relieved that he wasn't about to get lectured for Gia's rudeness. "Well, what you've done so far doesn't- it doesn't look so bad."
"It's hideous," he replied, rubbing at his temples. "And it was an accident."
"Sorry." Zeng removed the cloth gloves he'd been wearing over his feathers for handling the scrolls and placed them on a shelf. "I'll go get the shears, then."
Shifu decided not to comment on his unenthusiastic tone. "I'll meet you," he said before venturing further into the library. He wanted to have a word with Gia over her unusual grudge. Normally when she'd gotten angry at him over some slight, she'd forgotten it within a day. This continued shunning must mean that she was particularly angry, so perhaps a conversation would help. Or maybe she would just mangle his facial hair, like her mother had. He found Gia sniffling in a corner and patting her face with a handkerchief, her work gloves tucked into her over-skirt.
"Are you alright?" he asked needlessly.
"I am not speaking to you," she replied nasally.
He had deduced as much. "I did not mean to upset you." He waited for an answer, but got none. "I only interfered because I wanted to help." He paused, thinking about how badly the entire situation had blown up in his face. And, if he were being honest with himself, he knew it hadn't been the most helpful thing in the world to react to Lin's behavior with anger. "Well, not precisely," he admitted. "I thought- I wanted to stand up for you. I suppose it didn't work."
"No," Gia finally said. "Because I am able to stand up for myself. Perhaps not in the time you would like, or the way you would like, but in my time, and my way. Do you understand?"
"I understand." He felt like an incensed child. Perhaps Gia was right, that he should have held his tongue. "Gia, you should know that this is not how I wanted things to turn out, either. I- I thought Lin would have returned by now. I never expected her to move out like this. But I intend to get her back."
She turned around to face him, clutching her wet handkerchief in both hands. "Is my mother the one who cut you?"
"I think you mean trimmed me," he replied, though he wouldn't put it past Lin to literally cut him. "And yes. She's less than pleased with me at the moment."
"She seems quite harsh even when you are not around," Gia said with an assenting nod.
Shifu raised his eyebrows at the comment. "What do you mean by that?"
Gia turned red, but didn't cry or turn away from him again. "I have been to the noodle restaurant to see my mother. She said some terrible things to me, but also some good things. And she told me the truth."
"The truth?" he repeated, somewhat afraid to hear for himself what that might be.
"The truth is that she never wanted me, or loved me," Gia said, her voice unexpectedly steady while repeating the brutal sentiments. "In fact, she hated being a mother and was cruel to me. That is why she gave me up."
Shifu couldn't help but let his mouth fall open a bit at the information. Of course, it made sense, considering how Lin had reacted to her reunion with Gia, but it didn't help his opinion of Lin. "You were just a baby, though!"
"That is the truth," Gia repeated firmly. "I do not intend to defend my mother. I only intend to know her. Whether she is a good person or a bad person, I still want to know her."
Shifu couldn't argue with Gia about what she wanted. But he now had some misgivings about Lin's character that he'd never had before, hearing the things she'd told her daughter. "I never thought Lin was the type of person who would treat a child cruelly," he said, though he seemed more upset than Gia over the fact.
"It is a common enough occurrence," Gia replied. "My mother, she said that she did not like to feed me or comfort me. I do not understand, but she said it was a difficult time for her. She was in a lot of pain. Inside and out."
"A lot of pain?" Shifu prodded, confused by the phrasing.
"I was a very large baby," she clarified. "Compared to my mother."
Understanding dawned on him, but he found himself speechless at the implications.
"Mother nearly died when I was born," Gia went on. "She was ill for a very long time. The nuns, they all prayed for her, and for me. We were both ill. When we both lived, it was considered highly unlikely."
"I see," Shifu choked out.
"My mother, she said that this was very terrible for her. The... The worst thing that had ever happened to her. She cried a lot. To her, I was only pain. That is what I understand."
He couldn't reconcile the conflicted emotions that rose up at Gia's story. He couldn't help the anger and horror he felt at hearing that Lin had never loved the girl, or hadn't treated her well, yet he still worried for her. It made him sick to think that Lin had come so close to dying, that her life would have ended then and there and he never would have known. Although all these events had occurred long after Lin had left the Valley of Peace, he couldn't help but feel guilty, too, that he hadn't been there for her. "Gia, did Lin mention your father, or why she told you that I was your father?"
"She did not wish to speak of my father," Gia answered, sounding distressed for the first time in her story. "And she did not ever say that you were him."
"You thought I was your father," Shifu said flatly. "I distinctly remember that." More like, he distinctly remembered how she had frightened the living daylights out of him with that assertion.
Gia blushed. "I did not know for sure. I only thought so. You were... Mentioned."
"Mentioned?"
"My mother spoke of you only to Sister Anna, my Mama. My mother was not a woman who confided much in others, and she did not discuss my father or her pregnancy. They were very close, and Sister Anna thought that because of how she spoke of you, you must be my father. I realized upon our meeting, of course, that it was not true." So Gia had only assumed that he was her father, based on the assumptions of others.
"Of course." He remembered his accusation on the night he'd fought with Lin, that she had lied to Gia and told her that he was her father. So she had been telling him the truth, when she'd claimed to have never said anything of the like. He tried to ignore his embarrassment, for the time being. "This is quite a bit of new information for me."
"I do not know for sure now how much of what I was told as a girl was truth or lies," she added, her shoulders drooping a bit at the admission. "But if it will help you, I will tell you what Sister Anna told me. She said that my mother and my father loved each other very much, and that they wanted to stay together forever. Even though they were far apart, they kept each other close in their love. Perhaps they were together again, and perhaps not. Perhaps they would find me again, and perhaps not. But inside our hearts, we would always be a family."
He could only feel bitter at the story, after how poorly his second chance with Lin had turned out. He didn't say this to Gia, since it seemed to give her comfort."This woman must have cared for you a great deal to tell you all that."
Gia nodded. "She was my real mother," she said thoughtfully, then turned back to the shelves with a conspicuous sniffle. "I have told you all I can. I must return to my duties, now."
"Thank you for speaking with me. Perhaps sometime we could talk about a topic other than Lin."
"That sounds nice." She slipped her gloves back on and shooed him away, then.
Shifu left willingly. After all, he still needed his mustache evened out. He once again ran his hand over the shortened side of his facial hair, thinking fondly back on all the times Lin had tugged at his mustache looking for a kiss. Surely she wouldn't have tried to hurt him with that cleaver. She must have been aiming for his hair. That bothered him, all the same. She'd wanted to at the very least play a cruel prank on him, and he didn't like it. He hadn't liked hearing about her treatment of Gia, either. He hated that there was a side of her that was capable of cruelty at all. He had known she could be mean and petty, but he'd always thought of her as someone with a kind heart. He'd thought she was the sort of person who would always do the right thing.
Yet in spite of his anger and disappointment toward her, his heart still ached from her absence. He still loved her. He still held on to the impossible hope that some day they would be together again, and this separation would only have been a bump in the road. But in this moment, the only certain part of his future was the fate of his mustache. The rest remained unknown.
Chen wet his ink brush and painted in lightning fast strokes, as if it were more a reflex than an act that required any thought or effort for him. Yan-Yan knew better than that, of course. She knew his speed was a conscious decision in itself, in order to prevent over-working a piece. If Chen didn't like the end result, he simply disposed of it. She watched him a moment, then returned her attention to the romance she was currently reading, some sort of pirate adventure that was more sex scene than swashbuckling. She tried not to move too dramatically, since she was the subject of Chen's ink work. "So is this going to be one of those pieces that becomes famous and has nobles paying out the ass for it?" she asked casually. "And they'll think I'm some lounging beauty reading poetry when I'm actually just a slob who decided to lie around all day reading smut?"
"Maybe," Chen replied shortly, his attention never straying from his work. "I wouldn't put it past 'em. Also, ew, don't read smut in front of me."
"Too late," she said with a shrug. "I'm currently in the middle of a rather wordy description of quivering loins."
"That's disgusting," he shot back.
"It's the closest thing I have to a life right now, so I don't really care what you think," she said loftily.
"Then get out more," he told her, as though this were the most obvious thing in the world. "I don't see why you gotta lock yourself up in the house just 'cause Quan's not here. No one's stoppingya from going out."
"We can't all have a bunch of mysterious drinking buddies that no one else is allowed to meet," she shot back, but he only shook his head in response. As much as she needled him about only ever allowing Wei-Shan along with him to his usual bar, the last thing in the world she wanted was to accompany him to some old man hangout and watch him complain and eat peanuts with a bunch of like-minded windbags. "We still need to find a good dim sum place we haven't been banned from." Thanks to Lin and Shifu, of course. She was still a little annoyed over that.
"That big-headed idiot had a lotta nerve," he grumbled, apparently reading her mind. "Next time I catch him talking to Quan like that, I ain't holding back no matter what you say."
"If you insist." She hadn't liked Shifu's behavior any more than Chen had, though she wasn't the sort to resort to violence so easily.
"I shouldn'ta even let Wei-Shan get in the first hit," he went on fuming.
"Let it go, Chen," she ordered. If not for Lin's sake, then for hers. If she let him, he'd be at it all day. "She loves him, she's going to be with him, end of story. Alright?"
"Can't be with him if he's dead," Chen muttered, though the threat lacked sincerity. "I just don't like it, Yan-Yan. Since when's Quan such a doormat, huh? I know I taught her better'n that."
"You had your chance to say something to her while she was here, and you didn't," Yan-Yan pointed out. "So drop it."
"Fine," he agreed reluctantly. "So we'll get dim sum for the New Year. Happy, now?"
"Infinitely," she replied with a smile as she thought longingly of soup dumplings.
Their plans were interrupted, however, by a frantic knock at the door. Yan-Yan raised her eyebrows at Chen, but he shrugged. He rarely took on commissions anymore, if Wei-Shan wanted to get into the house he would just find a way to slip in unannounced, and Chen didn't have any other friends who visited. In fact, the only people who'd been to see them besides Lin and Shifu had been her children when they'd been desperate for a babysitter. Yan-Yan felt a little thrill at the thought that this might be the latter. She knew it was ridiculous to think her children would call on her so suddenly, but she could have hope.
The rapping at the door sounded louder, now, and she could hear voices yelling and crying outside. She only needed to glance at Chen, and he knew to accompany her to the sitting room to answer the call. Something wasn't right.
As they reached the door, Yiliang and four screaming children suddenly burst into the sitting room; Yan-Yan would have to lecture Chen later about locking the door. Two fuzzy gray infants cried and squirmed in their slings, Dandan on her back and Xiaodan against her chest, while she held Ziying, the larger of her older daughters, in one arm as the girl wailed. Jiangying held fast to her mother's other hand, practically hanging off of it as she was in the midst of a total screaming meltdown.
"What on earth is going on?" Yan-Yan shouted over the children, then reached out toward Ziying, but stopped dead when she caught sight of the source of the girl's wailing: one of her perfect little feet was swollen and twisted, black and blue bruising visible under the fur. Yan-Yan gasped so loudly it was audible even over the multiple tantrums. "What happened to her foot?"
"I left my husband!" Yiliang shouted, and suddenly her children fell silent. She began to turn red in the face as the whole room stared intently at her. "I- may we speak privately?"
"Absolutely not," Yan-Yan snapped. "This girl is badly injured and I want to know what's happened now."
Flushing even more brightly, Yiliang finally let go of Jiangying's hand and let the girl plop down on the floor. "It was time to bind their feet."
"And you were going to go through with it!" Yan-Yan scolded. "What were you thinking?" She knew it was standard practice among those with more wealth and status than she currently possessed, but she had always been against it. The last thing she had ever wanted to be was a lady of leisure, and whether her children wanted such a life themselves, she had decided long before they'd been born that she would give them the chance to choose. Maybe it had been Lin's influence, during their teenaged friendship. No one had ever made her feel as free and as powerful as Lin had, and no one could have been more anti-establishment. When the time had come for her own daughters to have their feet bound, she had told her husband in no uncertain terms that he would get his feet broken, too, if he'd tried to force the issue. It had helped that she'd had Chen backing her up on the issue.
"He said it would be for the best!" Yiliang said tremulously, obviously referring to her own husband. "I thought it would! But then I saw my little Zizi crying and screaming, the way they tried to hold her down-" She paused as she began to tear up. "I can't believe I let anyone hurt my baby. You're right, I'm a terrible mother. I'm so sorry- please, Mama, please help her."
"Of course I'll treat Ziying," Yan-Yan replied with a heavy sigh. "And you're not a terrible mother, honey. Now let's get her into the kitchen and see what can be done. Chen, do you mind running and fetching Meihui for me?"
"On it," he accepted shortly, and was out the door without another word.
Yan-Yan tried to take Ziying from Yiliang's grip, but she wouldn't let go, probably out of shock. With a sigh, she gave up for the moment. Maybe talking her daughter through events would get her to accept them and calm down a bit. "Yiyi, tell me exactly what happened."
"I don't know," she said, a frantic note entering her voice. "I just, they were doing it, they broke her foot, and I grabbed her- and everyone was yelling at me- I took all the girls and I walked away, Ma, I walked away, I just kept walking-"
"Okay," Yan-Yan cut her off, taking her by the arms and rubbing them like she'd done to calm her daughter as a child. "Take a deep breath, Yiyi."
"What do I do?" Yiliang asked, panic-stricken. "What do I do, Ma? What do I do?"
"You're going to breathe deeply, you're going to calm down in front of the kids, and you're going to take them upstairs and get them settled while I fix up Zizi's foot. Okay?"
"Okay," she accepted tremulously, then took several deep breaths. "I can do that." She handed Ziying over to Yan-Yan, then beckoned to Jiangying to follow her as she brought the two babies upstairs.
Yan-Yan cradled the young girl and hummed a lullaby to soothe her as she brought her into the kitchen. The island counter would have to be her exam table for the time being, and she didn't have supplies on hand at the moment to set broken bones. She would have to hope that Meihui brought what was needed when she arrived with Chen. In the meantime, she grabbed a numbing salve from the cabinet. Sadly, it wouldn't do much for her granddaughter's pain, but it was something. She removed all wrappings from Ziying's foot as the girl trembled and sniffled, examining it thoroughly. It appeared to only have been broken in one spot, though that break ran across the middle of the foot. That was at least four different bones to worry about.
"Zizi, I'm going to touch your foot," Yan-Yan said, holding the girl's leg steady with one hand. "I want you to be a big girl and try not to move." She winced at Ziying's cries as she rubbed the numbing salve onto her foot, but didn't relent. "You'll feel better soon, I promise. And then your Gong Gong Chen will get you a tasty treat from the market, okay?"
With a tremulous sniff, she nodded, and Yan-Yan stroked her head to keep her calm.
Meihui burst into the kitchen through the back door, Chen in tow and a medical kit in hand. "I'm here, I've got supplies," she said quickly, then began unpacking wrappings and a splint. "Do we need traction?"
"No, she's small enough I can set the bones by hand." Yan-Yan decided not to express relief that Chen's kung fu prowess had allowed him to get to Meihui and bring her back in record time. It wouldn't do to show her granddaughter that she'd been worried. "Have you set bones before?"
Meihui shook her head.
"Well, you can't practice on my granddaughter, but stand close and watch my technique. It's a sight better than Xiaojian's, I can tell you that much. In fact, I began my medical career as a bone setter."
"Yes, Doctor," Meihui replied, and she'd said it in such a sincere manner that Yan-Yan couldn't help but feel a thrill at it.
Setting bones was not just a matter of precision and experience, but also one of force. So it was necessary that Chen and Meihui hold down little Ziying so that her struggling didn't ruin Yan-Yan's alignment. She set the bones by hand, as she'd promised. She felt the bones that had been broken, where they should match up and where the break had occurred, and simply pushed the pieces back together. It was a gruesome business, and a painful one that caused Ziying to scream and cry, but such was the way of medicine. Yan-Yan flattened her palms onto either side of the foot to ensure she'd aligned the bones properly, then began to wrap the foot. At this point Ziying had calmed down enough that Meihui could join her side again, and help her tie on a splint to keep the foot stationary.
All told, the whole procedure took mere minutes, as quickness was essential to the patient's comfort and the setting's success. "I wish we had some crutches, or a cane of the proper size," Yan-Yan sighed as she picked Ziying up and carried her upstairs to a spare room. The girl would have her own room during recovery, though she suspected Jiangying would make frequent visits. The most important thing was to give Ziying her own bed, so the broken foot wasn't at risk of being kicked or jostled by a bedmate.
"I got a guy who makes my canes for me," Chen informed her as they tucked Ziying into bed. "I'll see what he can do."
"Thanks, Chen." With a kiss to Ziying's forehead and instructions to stay still and rest, she left Chen to watch over her granddaughter and returned to the kitchen to put together something warm and calming for the girl. For everyone, actually. "Oh, you're still here?" she observed when she found Meihui still packing up supplies at the island.
"Not for much longer," Meihui assured her. "I wanted to say that you were amazing. I've never seen anyone set bones so quickly."
"It's experience," Yan-Yan replied shortly as she rummaged through Chen's cabinets for some suitable ingredients. "Perhaps you'll be able to do the same, some day."
"Perhaps." She finished packing supplies and wet a kitchen towel to clean off the island counter. "You still don't like me. Why do you want to teach me, Yan-Yan?"
"Call it the foolishness of old age," Yan-Yan said, still keeping her eyes on the cabinets. "I'm old enough now that I'm starting to realize I should pass on some of my knowledge to someone. Besides, I could use the help." She decided on a mixture of chamomile, lavender, peppermint, and lemon balm. "My reasons aren't what matters. What matters is that you've obviously decided to stick with me. We're going to be a team from now on, so I'll do my best to remain courteous."
"Alright," Meihui said as she wiped down the counter. "I am a bit nervous about all this. Excited, too, though. After all, we've just had our first patient."
"Get out," Yan-Yan ordered. The last thing she needed was the woman trying to make small talk about her granddaughter, as if this were just any other job.
"I didn't mean to-"
"But you did," she interrupted. "So go. I'll call on you again if you're needed."
Meihui grabbed her things and hurried out the back door, spouting apologies as she went.
Yan-Yan watched her leave, then put water on to boil for the herbal tea and sat down heavily at the kitchen island to wait. By the time her water had boiled, Chen had returned to the kitchen to sit with her.
"Zizi's asleep," he told her with a comforting hand on her arm. "Kid's all worn out from the day."
She nodded, willing herself not to cry from her own exhaustion and roiling emotions. It didn't take long for a few tears to escape, in spite of her effort. She wiped the tears from her face with a loud sniff. "Zizi's the most energetic child I've ever seen in my life," she said. "I swear she could run faster than a grown man. And her own father tried to cripple her for- for social status."
"So she'll walk again?" Chen asked.
"Not the way she could before. She'll have a bit of a limp, and running will be harder for her. We might even have to break and re-set the foot as she grows, though hopefully not." She shook her head and wiped her face one more time. "As mad as I was at Lin for punching my ex in the face, now I wish she was here to punch my son-in-law."
"Hey, I still got some fight left in me," Chen replied as he patted her hand. "And I can punch a helluva lot harder than Quan."
Even though it had been a terrible day so far, he'd still managed to make her smile.
"And then we'll celebrate with dim sum," he added, and her smile widened.
She supposed they would need to talk about this new development, what with her daughter and granddaughters having no place to go. "What about Yiliang and the kids?"
Chen furrowed his brow, as though he didn't understand the question. "What, they got something against dim sum?"
She resisted the urge to cry again. "You don't- you don't have to do that," she managed to work out without sobbing. "You don't have to take them in just because-"
"Just because they're family?" he interrupted harshly. He paused, but she couldn't answer him, she was so touched by his insistence. "I know you'd take care of 'em in a heartbeat," he said, his voice gentler now. "And I would, too. I wasn't always... I mean, I left my family to go with Oogway, y'know."
She still couldn't reply, this time because she was shocked by the admission. She had never heard Chen talk about his family, the one he'd grown up in. Part of her had wondered if he'd forgotten them, since it had been so many years.
"They're all gone now," he went on. "I was the oldest son. It was my job to take care of my Ma and my siblings, and I up and ran out to make a better life for myself."
"Chen-"
"No, it's true," he said heavily. "No matter how much money I sent home, it didn't change the fact that I was never there. I'm not gonna do that again."
She wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly, and for once he let her. "You don't need to explain anything to me." She let him go to wipe her face dry again. "I get it. You're our family, too, you know."
His ears turned red and he let out an embarrassed cough. "Anyway," he went on, his gruff tone returning. "Ain't like we got anything else to do with all this room."
She would have gone on spouting sentimentalities to Chen, but another knock sounded at the front door. They shared a hesitant look before once more walking to the sitting room together. Yan-Yan thought this might be her son-in-law or one of his relatives come for her runaway daughter, and she could tell from how closely Chen followed her that he had the same thing in mind. With a deep breath, she swung the door open.
"...Li Peng?" She blinked up at the burly gaur, confused by this turn of events.
"Hey, Yan-Yan," he greeted sheepishly, and Chen let out a snort.
"Well, I'm gonna watch the back door for trouble," the jerboa dismissed before hopping off to the kitchen.
"Man, I can't believe Chen's still kickin'," Li Peng commented once the master had left. "Wonder what his secret is."
"We're sort of in the middle of a situation, here," Yan-Yan said. While she normally would have been a little more hospitable, these were extenuating circumstances. "What did you want?"
"Oh, right." Li Peng cleared his throat, apparently waiting to be invited in, but that wasn't about to happen. "Uh, is Quan around?"
She should have known the big lug was there to complain about Lin disappearing from work. She certainly couldn't blame him. "I'm afraid Quan has stepped out. Out of the city, that is. Keung, too."
"Dammit," he cursed under his breath, then offered her an apologetic smile. "I didn't mean to bother any ofya. It's just that I gotta replace those guys, now. But I guess I shoulda known better'n to hire Quan, huh?" He leaned an arm against the door frame, relaxing more. "So that leaves you free, right?"
Yan-Yan crossed her arms and slowly eyed Li Peng up and down, knowing that she'd make him nervous by doing do. "Since when?"
"Well, if Quan's outta the picture, I was just thinkin' maybe you and me could, uh..." He rubbed at the back of his neck as he trailed off in the face of her cold stare. "Whatsamatter?"
"I told you I have a situation," Yan-Yan snapped. "That doesn't mean you can linger in the door to practice your flirting."
"So I guessya won't go out with me, then," he joked, though she'd had too stressful a morning to find him amusing at the moment.
"No," she answered, then shooed him away and closed the door. Things were too complicated at the moment to go out carousing with some meathead from the docks, even if that meathead was a sweet guy like Li Peng. And even if he did have pecs too big to even get her arms around. And tattoos in all the right places. She had her romances for that sort of thing, though. She suddenly thought back to her earlier conversation with Chen, then, about how she never got out and those stories were all the life she had. And Chen, the most cantankerous old barnacle in the city, had told her to get out more. Chen had more of a life than she did.
Yan-Yan threw the door back open and ran out onto the street. Luckily for her, Li Peng had only made it down the block. "Hey!" she screamed after him, and he turned around with a bemused expression. "I'll go out with you!" she shouted, causing some whooping and clapping from passersby. "Oh, get a life!" she scolded them.
"I'll pickya up tomorrow night!" Li Peng shouted back with a friendly wave.
"Fine!" Yan-Yan marched back into the house and shut the door soundly behind her. Maybe her family needed her at the moment, but surely with Chen around to help out she could spare a couple of hours for herself.
"What was that all about?" Chen had apparently seen fit to come out of the kitchen long enough to snoop around in her personal life, after all.
"Nothing," Yan-Yan replied loftily. "Just making a date."
"Ain't the timing bad for that?" Chen asked skeptically.
She shrugged. She refused to second guess her decision to do something for herself once in a while. "Perhaps, but if I wait for good timing I'll never date again."
After a pause, Chen nodded. "Fair enough," he conceded.
Yan-Yan marveled at the event that had just unfolded. Chen had conceded a point to her, without argument. She could hardly believe it, it was such an unexpected change. There had been a lot of unexpected changes in her life, lately. But now, for the first time, she had received a sign that the change at hand had the potential for good. She had a reason to feel hopeful.
Chapter 23: Kissing Don't Last: Cookery Do
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 23: Kissing Don't Last: Cookery Do
Shifu took a moment to brace himself. He stood outside Mr. Ping's restaurant once more, planning to confront Lin yet again. Of course Gia had shared some pertinent information with him, though her sources tended to be less than reliable. Still, he felt a twinge of guilt deep down in his stomach at the thought that Lin had nearly died in childbirth. And knowing that at that time, she hadn't even been on his mind. In fact, if his math were correct, he'd been involved with another woman during Lin's ordeal. He knew logically that there was no relationship between the two incidents, that Lin had been out of his life for eight years by the time she'd had Gia, but it didn't change his feelings. Yet he couldn't reconcile his guilt and sympathy with the fact that Lin had abandoned her only child, or with how cruelly she'd behaved. How could she claim to have never loved her own daughter? Surely no one could be so heartless. He couldn't let any of it lie.
He still resented her, too, for the shortening of his mustache. He needed to speak with Lin, though he had learned by now not to expect too many answers, if any at all. He suppressed the urge to try to cover his upper lip, straightened himself and squared his shoulders. He wouldn't show her how embarrassed he was over his new look, which may or may not have been purposeful on Lin's part. He didn't even know how he'd react if she'd truly meant to aim a knife at his head, rather than his mustache. Though if she had aimed for the mustache, it was still far too close to his head for comfort.
Shifu had chosen to return at closing time, in case Lin decided to repeat her violent display. She couldn't endanger innocent bystanders if there were none. He peeked into the restaurant to gauge her position and mood, unsurprised to see that she was wiping down the counter for the night, and her mood appeared as disgruntled as usual.
"Nice facial hair," Lin commented smugly as he approached the counter.
Well, that confirmed his suspicion that she'd cut his mustache on purpose. "I shouldn't even be here after what you pulled," he grumbled. "And I'd like a bean bun, assuming there are any left."
"I retain the right to refuse service," she replied, which he should have seen coming.
"After you nearly killed me?" he argued.
She shrugged. "You're fine."
He glared at her, angered by her flippant attitude. "You may have hit your mark last time, but what you did was extremely dangerous! You cannot go around throwing knives like that, you could have severely injured someone. You could have killed me!"
"Y'know, it was below freezing whenya kicked me out," Lin replied with an indignant sniff. "I coulda died."
"Oh please," Shifu huffed. Of course she would try to take his point and turn it around on him. "You were fine!"
"Sounds like a familiar argument."
"Unbelievable! You really told me that just to make a point?" Sometimes he wondered if she were a sociopath. She truly cared more about winning the argument than she did about the safety of those around her.
Lin, true to form, did not relent. "My point is that what you did was wrong, moron! You were wrong!"
"Fine!" He snapped. "Fine, I was wrong. But so were you."
Lin stared at him, her mouth slightly agape a moment before she regained what little composure she possessed. "You seriously think that's the takeaway here? Whether I was wrong or not doesn't involve you! It's between me and that girl!"
"Do you hear yourself? You just called your own daughter 'that girl!'"
"So?" she demanded loudly. "What's it to you, huh?"
He didn't know how she managed to escalate every interaction between them to a fight. It would be impressive, if it weren't so aggravating. He held his tongue for the moment, though, as Mr. Ping had joined them from upstairs, a collection of scrolls and papers under one wing.
"Sounds like I need to balance the books elsewhere," the goose commented, leveling each of them with a mildly annoyed, half-lidded gaze.
"Dontchya got that mahjong game with your friend tonight?" Lin asked, as unfazed by her new employer's ire as she'd always been by Shifu's.
"Aiguo," Ping replied with a satisfied nod. "Easy money. I might as well finish up there, it isn't like winning against him takes much concentration." He walked toward the door, then paused and looked back at Lin again with brighter eyes than before. "I just remembered, he's got a house for sale."
"Can't afford it," Lin replied shortly, without so much as considering the goose's suggestion.
Ping looked rather ridiculous with his beak pursed, but Shifu couldn't bring himself to laugh, considering the confrontational nature of his evening. "Too bad. It would be nice to spend some time at home once in a while." With that last passive-aggressive comment, the goose was off.
"Like he's got anything to complain about," Lin grumbled. "I'm the one stuck here all hours doing the grunt work."
Shifu's anger at Lin momentarily gave way to nostalgia. "You sound just like you did back when you were our cook."
"No I don't," she argued, probably just for the sake of being obtuse. "And I don't remember saying you could stick around all night, either."
"And I don't remember you being a heartless shrew," he snapped. So much for that moment of nostalgia.
"Get bent," she replied. "And while you're at it, stick it up your ass!"
"I will do no such thing!" Shifu paused to take a deep breath. He was getting sucked into a fight again, and he needed to find a way to de-escalate things. "Look, I only came down here to make peace."
"Calling me a heartless shrew really helped with that," Lin said sarcastically.
He felt his eye twitch, but ignored it and forged ahead. "I think it would be best, don't you? Considering that your daughter still lives at the Jade Palace, and you'll be seeing her much more."
Lin threw her cleaning rag across the room, deftly landing it on the edge of the wash basin. "Don't call her that."
"Don't call her what?"
"My daughter!" Lin squared her shoulders and slammed her hands onto the counter, clearly ready for a fight. "I'm not her mommy, got it?"
He couldn't help but lose his temper at that callous declaration. "I don't get this, Lin!" he shouted. "You're caring and nurturing toward Tai Lung, but you can't be bothered to nurture your own daughter enough to even acknowledge she's yours?"
"No!" she replied, and he furrowed his brow at how blunt she'd been.
"What do you mean, 'no'?"
"I mean no!" she reiterated. "No! I'm not nurturing! Tai Lung is my friend, and I care for him, and I treat him that way. But I don't nurture. I don't behave like his mommy and if he ever wanted me to behave even remotely like that, he'd get a smack for it!"
"You owe it to your daughter-"
"Oh that's a laugh!" she interrupted. "I owe nurturing? I don't owe it to anyone to be 'nurturing' just 'cause I'm a woman. That's not a requirement, despite what you apparently came all the way down here to tell me."
He resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her. "This isn't about you being a woman," he said, rubbing at his temples. "Don't drag your politics into it."
"You first," she snapped. "Like hell this ain't about me being a woman. You treat your daughter like goddamn wallpaper and I don't see anyone lecturing you about nurturing. I don't think it even occurred to you that this lecture could apply to you. And when this entire fight is about what I decided to do when I got pregnant and how you disapprove of that, then yeah, it is about me being a woman."
"This isn't about Tigress!" he shouted, blood pounding in his ears from how angry her tirade had made him. How dare she bring up his daughter in their argument, as if she could somehow throw his relationship with Tigress in his face for a cheap shot! She knew nothing about his relationship with her.
"And it's not about Gia, either!" Lin yelled right back. "It's about you!"
"What?" he asked, taken aback by her accusation. He had done nothing this entire time but try to get Lin to treat her own child with some modicum of kindness. "No it isn't!"
"It absolutely is!" she argued. "You wouldn't be down here if it were just about Gia! The first thing on your mind is yourself, and how you're uncomfortable with my life and my choices, how your stupid pride is hurt 'cause I won't takeya back after you tossed me to the curb in a decision that took you less than a minute to make! You're a self-absorbed ass!"
"I'm self-absorbed?" he asked incredulously. If she was going to pull that card, then he wouldn't hold his tongue. "Look in a mirror! You're the one who can't take a moment away from yourself to consider the feelings of your own child! You're the one who's too caught up in your anger to listen to a single thing I say, including my apologies! You're the one who claimed you didn't love me just because you were feeling petty!"
"I wasn't feeling petty!" She tore her apron off and threw it in his face. "I was feeling rejected, betrayed, disrespected- but not petty! How the hell else'm I supposed to feel, anyway, whenya treat me like a goddamn villain for not keeping a kid I had no business raising in the first place?"
"Let's not forget how you treated her when she met you for the first time," Shifu added. He would not let her make him out to be the bad guy in all this.
Lin glared at him, her jaw set. She looked like she had held in her anger momentarily to think, which was a rare act for her. "Ifya love me, then you're supposed to love me no matter what," she finally said. "You're supposed to be on my side regardless of whether you think I'm right or wrong. You're supposed to give me the benefit of the doubt. You're supposed to decide that I must've had a good reason for doing whatever I did, you're supposed to decide to support me. Didya even know that? D'you even understand what a relationship is?"
He thought that argument was a little one-sided, considering her actions, and he wouldn't let her lecture him without saying so. "Lin, please. You were being outright cruel to Gia, I was only trying to protect the poor girl."
She remained unmoved by his pleas, her hands balled into fists, though when she spoke she sounded more hesitant and vulnerable than he could have ever expected. "Well, whatever happened to protecting me?"
He remained silent for a moment, stunned by her question. "You- you never wanted that from me," he pointed out, still shaken. "You were always angry when I mentioned it-"
"That was a long time ago," she interrupted. "And I was very stupid. I'm old enough and smart enough now to put my pride aside and admit I needed you. I'm not- I'm not some monster. I needed you to tell me what was going on, I needed you to be there. I don't care how much you like the kid, the point is that you didn't even think of me. You put someone else so far ahead of me that it didn't occur to you that I was even worth protecting. You did the opposite of that, too. You went out of your way to hurt me, 'cause you thought I was outta line. How's that supposed to make me feel?"
He wished he had some answer for her, but he couldn't think of anything to say. He just stood there, like an idiot.
"You don't know anything, do you?" she accused once she realized he had nothing to say to her. "You didn't even know anything I just said! That I'm supposed to be a priority for you! You asshole!" She picked up an old piece of leftover onion and threw it at him, and he didn't bother to dodge it. "I just wanted to be together," she went on, her voice thick with grief, her words labored. "That was all I wanted, and you ruined it." She turned on her heel and walked up the stairs to her room, slamming the door behind her.
Shifu stood alone in the darkened restaurant a while, trying not to listen too closely to the sound of Lin crying above him. For the first time since their prolonged fight had begun, he'd started to think that she was... Somewhat right. Not entirely, of course. But she was right, that he never should have told her to leave the Jade Palace.
He didn't know if he could fix that particular mistake of his, but now was as good a time as any to try. He walked upstairs to the small apartment Lin shared with Mr. Ping, and stopped at the door that had the crude drawing of Po in a cape on it. He considered knocking, but thought better of it. Lin would never answer, anyway. He gently pushed open the door to Po's old room, eyeing the blanket-covered lump on the old cot that was so improbably the source of noisy crying. "I thought you didn't cry."
A muffled, nasal growl came from the cot. It sounded almost like, "Get bent," but it could just as easily have been a wordless grunt.
Cautiously, he approached the cot and gave the lumpy blanket a soft pat. Lin's hand shot out from somewhere in the mess of dirty linens and punched him in the stomach.
"Oof!" He doubled over, the wind momentarily knocked out of him. It might just have been his imagination, but he could swear that she got exponentially stronger the more upset she was. "I'm trying to apologize," he wheezed, then kneeled next to the cot. After a few deep breaths, he slowly reached out with both hands and lifted the blanket, keeping careful watch for any more sucker punches that might await him. When nothing happened, he peered inside the little cocoon Lin had made for herself. She'd curled up on her side and had lifted up the front of her shirt to cover her face, but he could hear her sniffling. He'd wanted to look her in the eye for this, but that didn't seem to be a possibility. "I'm sorry."
Lin didn't move or respond, which he was unaccustomed to. She normally would have at least cursed at him.
Shifu decided this was worth risking his hand over, so he took hold of her stretched out collar and tugged it down as slowly as he could manage while still prying it from her grip. He didn't know why he felt so shocked at the sight of her bloodshot eyes and tear-streaked face. He'd been able to hear her crying. He supposed he'd never thought he'd lay eyes on such a sight in his lifetime. It felt wrong, like he'd walked in on something far more private than some simple tears.
"What?" Lin finally snapped.
"I didn't mean to hurt you." He wondered if she'd even heard his apology.
If his words had touched her, she didn't show it. "That doesn't change anything."
His hip was starting to bother him from leaning over the bed for so long, so he pulled the blanket off Lin's head and sat down beside her. "I'm sorry," he told her. When she didn't answer, he added, "I'm asking for your forgiveness." She still didn't reply to him. He groped for something to say that might prompt a response, but nothing particularly moving came to mind. "Would you like my handkerchief?"
"Blow it out your ass," she replied. It was something, at least.
He handed her the handkerchief, anyway, and she used it to wipe her face dry.
"I don't need you now, y'know. That ship's sailed." To add insult to injury, she threw his handkerchief out the window once she'd finished with it.
He suppressed his irritation for the moment. If he was going to make up with Lin, he couldn't let her instigate him. "Wouldn't you rather stay mad at me in the comfort of the Jade Palace?"
"No," she answered petulantly.
"So you don't want your bed of cushions, meals whenever you like, giant hot baths-"
"I could use a bath," she interrupted, though she still sounded nasal and combative. It was a start.
"Want to come use the bath house?"
She frowned, though she avoided looking directly at him. "Yeah, but not with you."
"It doesn't have to be with me." Though he would like the chance to talk to her more, but he left that part out. He had a feeling she would react poorly to the suggestion.
She crossed her arms. "Yeah, I guess," she finally agreed.
He had to practically drag her out of bed, but she followed him willingly after he'd gotten her on her feet. Any further attempts at conversation were either cut off with an irritated grunt or ignored completely, so he eventually fell silent. Their walk gave him time to contemplate how best to get Lin to stop being so angry at him, at least. And time to realize just how much the smell of noodle soup had seeped into her clothes and fur in the time she'd been working at Ping's.
Once they reached the Jade Palace's baths, she stripped in front of him with no qualms. If he tried to leave, she would just say, "Where the hell d'you think you're going?" with that tone she got when she was ready to fight, so he hovered awkwardly around the doorway while she soaked. To be fair, it was far from the most uncomfortable interaction they'd ever had.
He'd begun to nod off standing up, they'd been in the baths so long, when Lin suddenly spoke up.
"No," she said, loudly and clearly, still hunched over in the bath water.
"...No?" he repeated, confused by this sudden declaration. Maybe the heat had gone to her head.
"I gave it a lotta thought," she went on, "and the answer's no. I don't forgive you."
Shifu felt his eye twitch as the weight of the words settled into his mind. "You don't forgive me," he repeated, his voice tight.
"I tried, I failed, end of story." Lin then dunked her head under the water and didn't come up for a long time.
Shifu found himself shuffling backward, hoping he could flee before she resurfaced, but he had no such luck. He watched her shake her head out, her fur wet but still improbably fluffy. He wanted to scream. Not anything in particular, just wordless screaming. It would be nice to simply scream continuously until he lost his voice. Instead he managed to speak at a normal volume, though he couldn't hide the anger in his voice. "Did you lead me on just to get a bath?"
"No," Lin answered, her tone more casual than was appropriate. "I just needed time to think."
Shifu stared incredulously at her, but she didn't seem to have anything more to say to him. "Fine," he snapped. "I hope you shrivel up like a prune in there!" He recoiled when Lin started crying again, taken aback by her reaction. "Wh-what are you doing?" He had never seen her behave like this before. It was as if Lin's personality had been replaced by some meek crybaby. He was reminded briefly of Gia, but even Gia would have yelled back at him.
"I wanna go home," Lin sniveled childishly before devolving into the noisy sobbing she'd been doing back at Ping's.
"Lin?" He cautiously approached the tub and knelt down to do the only thing he could think of at a time like this. He gave her a pat on the head. "There, there," he attempted to comfort her. He recoiled when she started to scream at him in a language he couldn't begin to understand. "I'll give you some time alone!" he shouted over her, then retreated back out into the cold. It was better than the alternative. He wasn't sure what Lin would do to him if he went back inside the bath house, but he felt that her dragging him into the bath and holding him underwater was a distinct possibility.
It would just figure that when he was finally ready to give his heart to Lin, she turned out to have more severe emotional problems than ever. He wished there was someone he could send to speak to her, but Po was the only one of his students who got along with her, and she was currently nude. The next obvious choice would be Gia, except that Lin didn't especially care for her own daughter. He felt so powerless. He could defeat almost any opponent, yet he couldn't do anything to comfort the woman he loved, let alone earn her forgiveness. It reminded him of when they'd been young, and she'd run from him whenever she was upset to drown her sorrows in wine or cookies.
At that thought, he headed toward the kitchen. He didn't exactly approve of Lin's drinking habits, but Shifu at least knew where Monkey kept his almond cookies. It wasn't much, as far as peace offerings went, but he had no better ideas.
By the time he'd returned with the cookies in hand, Lin had calmed down enough to glare at him and splash him with tepid water when got within range. "You wouldn't want to get these almond cookies wet, now would you?" he asked, and it was all he needed to say to make her forget that she wanted nothing to do with him.
Lin climbed out of the bath and devoured the cookies offered to her like a feral child.
Shifu thought this was probably a good time to dry her off, so he wrapped her in a fresh towel, surprised to see her shivering. "You may spend the night, if you like."
Lin shook her head.
"Come now, Lin. You're in no condition to go down into the village on your own, not to mention how late it is. And I miss you."
She leaned forward and kissed him. It was a brief, gentle kiss that filled him with hope. "You'll stay with me?"
"Of course."
"Shoulda said that instead of kicking me out," she snapped, then stood and began to dry herself off.
He couldn't help but lose his temper a little at that last jab. "Have you lost your mind? You're acting like you've got two different people in there!"
"Oh, yeah, making derisive remarks about my mental health'll totally get me to forgiveya," she said with a scoff, then wrapped herself in one of the clean robes stocked in the bath house. He got the distinct feeling that she planned on keeping it.
"I suppose you have a point."
"I'm not staying withya, by the way," she added. "Ifya think you're getting me in bed after the shitya pulled, you got another thing coming."
"That isn't what I was suggesting!" He paused to take a breath and calm himself. "I am only concerned for your well-being."
"Since when?" she asked accusingly, which caused his ear to twitch.
"Spend the night if you like," he ground out. "If not, I will escort you back to Mr. Ping's."
"Hmph," she grumbled, then put another robe on over the first one and left.
Shifu decided her clothes would be fine in the bath house and followed her out into the cold. Despite what Lin had said, she headed straight toward the barracks. Even in the dark, he could see her hunched shoulders, so he decided to stay a few paces behind and keep his opinions to himself for the moment. He was not surprised to see that once they'd entered the barracks, she made a beeline for the kitchen and began rummaging through the cabinets like old times.
"Did the panda move all this shit again?" she asked, and he winced at the sound of ceramic hitting ceramic as she shoved things aside within the cabinet.
"I wouldn't know. I'm assuming you're hungry?"
"I'm sick of noodles," she replied. "Don't tell the goose."
"So you're not staying, but you are eating my food," he concluded as he watched her tear the kitchen apart. He was in no hurry to help her find anything.
"I'll probably see if the girl wants to talk to me again," she said.
His eye twitched. By "the girl," she probably meant Gia. "She has a name."
"I made her, and I can call her what I want," Lin snapped. "And if all you're gonna do is stand there and criticize me like you're not even sorry in the first place, then you can go choke on a dick."
He supposed that since he was doing all this by way of an apology, Lin had a point. After all, wasn't she angry to begin with because he hadn't shown enough understanding toward her? "Alright," he accepted. "Though you could stand to tone down the language a little bit, if you're planning on staying."
"I'll probably drop in on the kid, too," Lin added, as if she'd never scolded him.
Shifu raised his eyebrows. "You mean Tai Lung?"
Lin finally emerged from the cabinet with a bag of rice and dropped it onto the counter. "Yeah, of course I mean him," she said as she went about making rice like she had when she'd still lived there. "You can't hog him all to yourself, y'know."
"I wouldn't exactly call it that." He decided not to tell her about how Tai Lung spent what little time he had outside of the training hall in solitude, and how even at meals he maintained a stony silence no matter who attempted to address him.
"You should think about sending him my way once in a while," she continued, apparently oblivious to the fact that she had done nothing to help Tai Lung's temperament in Shanghai. "He could help out at the restaurant sometimes, see how it suits him. He's not a bad cook, y'know."
Shifu's eyes widened at that statement and he groped for a chair before he fell to the floor. "Tai Lung cooks?"
"Yeah," Lin said with a casual shrug, as though this should have been old news. "He had a pretty good teacher on that front." She covered the rice pot and watched it, likely to avoid his gaze. "Better'n I was at teaching... A lotta other stuff."
Shifu slowly sat down, wondering if he would finally hear something about her time teaching Tai Lung in Shanghai. When she didn't say anything else, he decided to try to prod her a little. "You... Taught Tai Lung a lot of other 'stuff?'"
"Yeah," she muttered, then fell silent again. He would have asked her more questions, but she suddenly said, "I shouldn't be here," and made a beeline for the door.
He knew it would be a bad idea to stop her, but he couldn't help his gut reaction. He headed her off with his superior speed and took hold of her by the shoulders so she couldn't try to slip around him and run off.
"Lemme go!" she snapped, though she hadn't yet resorted to hitting him.
"Don't go," he pleaded, in the hopes that he might still convince her talk through their problems with him. "I miss you."
"I was gone for months in Shanghai," she said as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp. "You obviously didn't miss me then! Why wouldya miss me now?"
"Of course I always missed you," he argued, hurt that she would think he hadn't cared that she'd been away. "I love you, Lin. Don't you-" That was as far as he got before she kissed him. He hesitated at first, considering how volatile she'd been all night, but in the end he couldn't bring himself to resist her. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close as they kissed, determined to make this moment last as long as possible before Lin inevitably decided she hated him again.
Lin pulled away sooner than he would have liked, but he didn't let her go just yet. Hopefully she was only coming up for air. "I should go," she said, even though she was holding tightly to his collar and had yet to let go.
Shifu kissed her again, and she kissed him back without hesitation, her hands traveling up his chest and over his shoulders. Then she jumped. With a surprised grunt, he caught her on instinct, but judging by how she'd wrapped her legs around him that had been the point. He carried her to the kitchen table and sat her on the edge, then attempted to extract himself from her. "Lin, wait," he managed to gasp out in between kisses, though he needed to repeat himself a few times before she finally listened.
"What?" she snapped, her bad attitude in no way tempered by their passionate embrace. Not that it had ever been before.
He took a few steps back from the table, in case she tried to grab him again. If she did, he didn't think he would have the willpower to stop her again. "This doesn't strike you as odd? You're obviously still upset with me."
"Obviously," she agreed, crossing her arms.
"And you said you would not sleep with me," he added.
"Never said I wouldn't make out withya, though," she argued. "But if we're being honest, here, well... I'm not wearing underwear, so now's as good a time as any."
Shifu tried to understand what was going through her head, but as always, he failed. "I have no idea what's going on," he admitted.
"What else is new?" she asked with a derisive snort, then hopped off the table and headed out the door. "Lemme know when the rice is done," she called over her shoulder, then walked down the hall.
His head hurt. What in the world was Lin thinking? He stuck his head out of the kitchen doorway to see where she was headed, and true to her word, she appeared to be looking for Tai Lung. At least, that was what he assumed by the way she kept throwing random doors open and calling the snow leopard's name. She seemed to eventually find the right room, but Shifu was still left confused. Why had she kissed him? Why was she even at the Jade Palace? She clearly still resented him for his actions, and most of what came out of her mouth was an admonishment for them.
She had said she didn't forgive him, yet she had apparently given it a lot of thought. If she were willing to think over her decision first, then maybe she'd be willing to think again. Maybe she only needed more time to calm down, and then she would be open to speaking to him more about the matter. Maybe he could convince her to forgive him for what he'd done. Because, he had realized that night, he had been wrong. Of course Lin shouldn't have been so harsh to Gia. But Lin hadn't denied Gia the chance to know her. Lin hadn't told Gia to leave. She hadn't been as harsh to her daughter as he'd been to her. Shifu had let his temper get the better of him, and he'd stupidly alienated the only woman he'd ever loved. And now that he'd had time to let his anger fade, all that remained was regret. That, and the one good thing that remained in the wake of such a disaster: the slim hope that everything would still turn out alright, if he tried hard enough to fix it.
Tai Lung groaned at the loud, nasal voice calling his name. He'd only just gotten back into his room from tailing Lin, and now she was dragging him out of bed. He got up and shuffled toward the door, but Lin burst through it before he was halfway across the room, dressed in the robes from the bath house, which were now conspicuously disheveled.
"There you are!" she threw the door closed behind her much harder than necessary. "Why didn'tya answer me?"
"I've got some questions of my own," Tai Lung said. "For instance, why in the hell do you look like a monk who's just been passed around the docks like a basket of cookies?"
"I dunno what's wrong with me," Lin replied, her eyes watery. Then, with a pitiful sniff, she shuffled across his room and dropped herself onto his bed. "I'm in the middle of a nervous breakdown," she whined nasally, then buried her head in his pillow.
"Sure, I didn't need any sleep tonight."
"Life is endless suffering," she said, her voice muffled by the pillow.
"Oh dear gods," Tai Lung huffed, rolling his eyes at her dramatics. "I should have never indulged you with that little slumber party. Did you come all the way here just to snivel to me about your mid-life crisis?"
Lin lifted her head from the pillow to give him a dirty look. "I got a life outside of you, believe it or not."
He narrowed his eyes at her. He knew precisely who she'd been with at the Jade Palace, of course. He'd seen her go into the baths with Shifu with his own eyes. "So you were here to... What? Enjoy the view?"
"I was gonna bang Shifu," she admitted, then dropped her face back into her pillow. "Why didn't I bring my pipe?"
"Eugh." He truly wished he hadn't been privy to such a confession, but at least it wasn't the most disgusting thing he'd ever heard Lin say. "What I'm getting from this is that your life decisions are worse by the day."
She nodded in agreement at his assessment, then turned her head to the side to breathe. "To be fair, I didn't go through with it."
"So you came to your senses?" He didn't know why he was indulging her in this silly gossip.
Lin remained silent, guiltily shifting her gaze to the floor.
"Oh dear gods," he repeated.
"He was like, 'What does this mean, wehh,' and wouldn't go any further 'an kissing," she clarified, her tone sullen. "So I left."
"Is self-respect a foreign concept to you?" Tai Lung honestly didn't know whether to be less disgusted with these new details or more disgusted.
Lin rolled over onto her back and crossed her arms. "Why can'tya be more like Yan-Yan and just ask me about penises?"
He tried not to think of that question specifically in reference to Shifu's privates, but it was obviously what she'd meant. "Ew."
She gave an indignant sniff, then wiped her face with her sleeve. "Anyway, what's so wrong with wanting to have some fun for once?"
"Thanks for implying that I'm no fun." Tai Lung did not appreciate being kicked out of his own bed for so long, so he walked up to Lin and loomed over her to drop the hint.
"All we do is get drunk and complain," she pointed out, oblivious to his obvious desire to go back to bed.
"You're drunk right now, aren't you?" he realized aloud.
"No, I'm slightly hung over. There's a difference. Also, maybe I'm still a little buzzed." She shrugged. "I'm off the clock, I can do what I want."
He gave up on waiting for Lin to realize he wanted his bed back, so he simply picked her up and placed her on the floor, then settled down for, hopefully, some sleep.
"Heeeyyy!" she whined childishly, then pushed him against the wall with a surprising amount of strength and proceeded to crowd him by climbing back into the already too-small bed with him. "This's why you're no fun," she grumbled, then pulled the blankets over her head.
He honestly didn't have the energy to kick her out. He was a grown man, regularly sharing his bed with a woman who had once been his mother figure. Nothing weird about that. "If it's fun you want, the New Year's festival is coming up soon."
"I'll be working," she complained from under the blankets.
"There's no way Ping'll stay open the entire festival. On the first night of the New Year, everyone gathers on the village main street to eat, dance, and watch fireworks. It lasts almost all night, and it's the only remotely interesting thing that ever happens around here. At least, if it's anything like I remember."
"You been?"
"Yes, kung fu masters are generally required to make an appearance at such events." That was what Shifu's reason had been for going along with Oogway to the festival, and Tai Lung had been over the moon the first year that Oogway had insisted he be allowed to attend. Other children had thought of him as odd, but he'd had his one friend, the bossy little rabbit, Mei. They had danced and chased each other through the crowds of people, and Mei had shared her festival treats since Tai Lung was not allowed money for such indulgences.
When they had grown older and grown apart, the festival had still been slightly less boring than everyday life. He'd enjoyed the fireworks, and had started earning a bit of an allowance by then, which he used to purchase whatever cakes or fried confections he liked. By then he had shot up and bulked up, and village girls had started taking notice of him. He remembered, begrudgingly, how Shifu had always striven to keep those teenaged girls away from him. It wasn't as though their flirting would have led to anything. He had been too awkward and sheltered to know how to handle such situations, despite his avid consumption of romance stories. It had been good for his ego, though.
"I used to think they were fun," Tai Lung admitted. "Those festivals. It was the one time I felt like... Like I wasn't some cloistered hermit. Or some prisoner." He had felt that way at the time, but now that he had escaped prison, he knew the comforts of the Jade Palace had been no such thing. Not back then, at least.
Lin didn't answer for a bit. He'd thought she'd fallen asleep, but then she suddenly spoke up. "Chen used to give me a red envelope for every New Year," she said, then poked her head out from under the blanket. "There'd be fireworks all over the city. We never had to go any farther than the front porch for a party. I had a lotta friends, back then, and they all used to talk about how I was becoming a 'fine young man.'" She paused to snort at her own deception. "Yan-Yan always wore a beautiful red dress and turned down every guy who flirted with her, and we'd spend all night party-hopping through the city. I never told her, but I was jealous back then. Even though I hated dresses, there was that part of me that wanted to put on a red dress and have someone say I looked beautiful. Even if it was just Chen."
He tried to imagine what Lin must have been like, at that age. Probably not much different than she'd been when they'd first met, considering it had only been a few years since she'd fled Shanghai. "Did Shifu ever call you beautiful?" he asked, mostly because he still couldn't quite grasp what she saw in the old turd.
"Yeah."
"Perhaps that is the root of your psychological dependency," he said, which elicited a slap in the arm and a laugh from her.
"I'm not a kid anymore," she said with one last snort. "Don't go acting like my sad little story's still true."
"Hmph." He pulled the covers up a bit more and closed his eyes. "Talk about your sad childhood all you like," he said with a yawn. "I can fall asleep to it."
She laughed again, then started in on some story of how her family used to bang pans together to chase away evil spirits on the New Year or something. True to his word, he had started to drift off, and soon her words faded away as he fell into a deep sleep.
He was back in the cold depths of the ocean, surrounded by crushing darkness. He knew what came next, and he dreaded it. Soon enough he felt that shift in the water, heard the low pulsing of the thing moving toward him. Slowly, as though to draw out the tense moment, that large, unblinking eye opened in front of him. It stared into him, sure of everything he had ever done or been. And yet this creature was alien to him, its motives and thoughts impossible for him to ever even begin to understand. The creature did not speak, but he could feel its gaze imploring him to look back, to stare into the depths of that inky pupil and know what lay beneath. He didn't want to, but he felt compelled all the same. The darkness swallowed him then, and he heard nothing but the deep, slow pulse of the sea, drawing him down into it. It pressed on him with a crushing weight, and yet at the same time he felt weightless. It whispered secrets, so quietly that he strained to make them out. The sea was alive, and it wanted him to know that he would always owe it a debt.
Tai Lung cracked his eyes open, awoken from his nightly vision by the morning gong. Normally, though, that vision ended when the gigantic creature appeared before him. It had never before gone on as long as this. He would have to ask Lin what this new segment meant, seeing as she thought these were her memories to begin with. Not that she had been much help so far. Speaking of Lin, as much as he appreciated the ability to get some sleep without worrying about the Wu Sisters coming for her in the night, he was starting to dislike this newfound clinginess of hers. She was currently snuggled up in the space between his arm and his chest, her face pressed into his side as she drooled in her sleep.
Shifu burst through the door to rant and rave about the importance of waking up on time, as he did every morning. "Tai Lung, how many times must I come in here to- to-" He paused, his gaze falling squarely on Lin, his eye twitching.
Lin's response to Shifu's prematurely ended tirade had been to let out a wordless whine and press herself further into Tai Lung's side, which he supposed could be considered cute by a sap like Shifu, but he didn't think it was anything to strike a man speechless.
"To what, exactly?" Tai Lung grumbled, suppressing a yawn. He'd rather get his irritating morning routine over with sooner than later, so he could wake Lin properly and ask her about his dream.
Shifu's eye continued to twitch, his face turning redder by the second. Stiffly, he walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him, then only moments later returned. "So I'm not imagining things," he ground out.
"You're not intimidating," Tai Lung informed him. "In case that's what you're trying to do, here." He sat up, which finally woke Lin.
"I'm up, I'm up," she grumbled hoarsely, then proceeded to lean over the edge of the bed and cough up a lung like the disgusting tobacco addict she was. "God, what a hangover," she rasped once she'd finished, then narrowed her eyes at Shifu, still red-faced and glaring at her. "What the hell d'you want?"
Shifu took a deep breath, his eye still twitching. "I want you to tell me what this is all about."
Tai Lung puzzled at that statement a moment before realizing what it meant. "Aaaaugh!" he shouted with a gag, then leapt to the foot of the bed to put some distance between himself and Lin.
"Why the hell're you so disgusting?" Lin asked tiredly, rubbing at her eyes. "If I ever banged Tai Lung my vagina would fold in on itself and wink out of existence, because that is how gross and wrong it'd be. Also, his penis looks like a sweet potato."
He didn't think he'd been so embarrassed ever, or at least since his teenaged years.
"I am going to ignore that last comment," Shifu ground out, then rounded on Tai Lung. "What is she doing here?"
"How am I supposed to understand why the old woman can't sleep without crowding me out of my own bed?" Tai Lung snapped. He wouldn't forgive her any time soon for that sweet potato crack.
The redness in Shifu's face had started to go down, but he didn't seem quite as placated as he should be. He turned his glare back toward Lin. "You're still teaching him, aren't you?"
"Not especially," she argued, and it had been true so far. "Are we not allowed to be friends? Is that what you're getting at?"
"Friends?" he repeated incredulously.
"Like two peas in a pod," Tai Lung added, mostly just to spite Shifu. "May we move on, now? I thought I was supposed to be learning my place in the universe by experiencing the joys of teaching that ridiculous panda how to stop stinking up the place with his terrible kung fu."
"Heyyy," the panda's voice whined from the hallway, causing Shifu's eye to twitch again.
"You are dismissed, Tai Lung," Shifu ordered, pointing to the door. "As are the rest of you!" he snapped, which caused some awkward coughing out in the hall.
Tai Lung glanced at Lin, but she gave him a nod that somewhat reassured him. He didn't know what he was so worried about, anyway. She was an old woman who'd taken care of herself plenty before now, and could continue to do so. Still, he couldn't help the way his gut twisted when he joined the rest of Shifu's students and overheard the old hemorrhoid lecturing Lin about what was and was not 'appropriate.' If he could, he'd give Shifu a sound clap on those gigantic ears of his.
"You don't really think I'm ridiculous, do ya?" the panda asked as they trudged toward the training hall.
Tai Lung let out a heavy sigh. "Life is endless suffering," he grumbled back.
"You got some nerve, acting all scandalized like that," Lin snapped. She glared at Shifu, her head pounding and her throat dry and scratchy. She shouldn't have fallen asleep at the Jade Palace, and in fact never should have gone with him in the first place. But she'd been weak. She'd been angry, sad, lonely- and desperate, too. And she couldn't deny that she'd liked kissing him again. "I can't believe I was gonna go to bed with you."
Shifu crossed his arms, his expression stern. "You need to learn some boundaries," he lectured. "It simply isn't appropriate to spend the night with Tai Lung in such a way-"
"It's not appropriate to neck with me in the kitchen, either, but that didn't stopya last night," she shot back.
He pursed his lips at her. "That is neither here nor there."
"Yeah, neither is my sex life," she grumbled. Maybe it had been inadvisable to try to seduce him, but she was still disgruntled that it hadn't worked.
"If you miss me so much, just move back in," he replied, which only showed how full of himself he was.
"I don't miss you, I miss having sex," she said, glaring at him and his huge head. "I figured you'd be an easy target, but I miscalculated."
His ear twitched irritably. "If this is the way you're going to behave, then I don't want you spending time with Tai Lung."
She rolled her eyes at his ridiculous order. Like he had the power to control what she did or who she saw. He sure couldn't do the same to Tai Lung, either, judging by how often the snow leopard seemed to visit her behind Shifu's back.
"I can see you rolling your eyes at me," he accused.
"Yeah, I am." Lin didn't have anything to hide. She'd never made it a secret when she thought he was being an ass before, and she certainly wouldn't now. "In caseya haven't noticed, you don't have any say in how I live my life!"
"And in case you haven't noticed, I am trying to get my son onto the right path!" Shifu now sported a twitching eye to join in with his ear.
"Yeah, right," Lin grumbled.
"Don't give me that attitude! I am his father, and I know what is best for him! You're not his mother. You aren't anything to Tai Lung!"
"Fine, I'm nothing," she snapped. "That's why he'll spend the night with me but won't even giveya the time of day. Sure." She knew that comment was a low blow, but she'd had enough of Shifu's constant antagonism. If he wanted to fight with her so badly, then he'd have to get used to her not pulling her punches.
His tail was starting to frizz out in his anger. "That is exactly the kind of behavior that I just told you is inappropriate," he snapped. "You may spend the night here all you want, but do so in Gia's room, or in my room-"
She snorted at that particular suggestion.
"Don't act like you weren't planning on it just a few hours ago," he pointed out, aggravatingly enough. "Sleep in your own room you so readily abandoned, for all I care. But you cannot carry on with this unhealthy relationship you have formed with Tai Lung!"
"Unhealthy?" Lin repeated incredulously. "You wouldn't know unhealthy if it smackedya in the face!"
"I would and it has!"
"Well it's about to again!" Lin shouted, then smacked him across the face.
Shifu glared at her. "Do that again," he said stoically. "I dare you."
Lin wasn't afraid of him, and she was too angry to particularly care what he decided to do to her if she slapped him again, so she went ahead and did so. She figured it was worth it. She knew that if Shifu were expecting a slap, though, that he was plenty fast enough to dodge it. The fact that he didn't bother tipped her off. "I know what you're doing," she informed him. "I been around the block a few times, y'know."
"Then walk away," he replied, and he almost sounded like he wasn't bluffing.
Lin knew that walking away would be the right choice to make, and staying would be truly inadvisable. But she was in just enough of a self-destructive mood to go for another slap. He caught her hand mid-air and pulled her against him, wrapping his other arm around her. "Take your goddamn hands off'a me before I take 'em off'a you," she growled.
"We both know you're more likely to kiss me than hit me right now," he replied, apparently unconcerned by her threat. "But in the unlikely case that I'm wrong about that, I'll gladly let you go." He'd gotten to know her a lot better than she'd realized.
With an annoyed sigh, she kissed him. She couldn't pinpoint any single reason as to why she couldn't seem to stop herself from making such regrettable life choices, but it probably had something to do with being in a dark place. Then again, her life choices had never been the greatest.
Shifu pulled away from their kiss to say something, because he couldn't seem to go more than a few seconds without opening his big mouth and ruining everything. "You do miss me, don't you?"
"I've never missed anyone less in my entire life," she said harshly, angry at the smug question.
"Then why are you doing this?" he pressed.
"Good question." She pushed him away and stormed past him, out of the room. She didn't know what had gotten into her lately, but she was going to do the smart thing and put a stop to it. She heard him call after her, but she only flashed him a rude hand gesture over her shoulder and kept walking. Sure, she could have had sex, and it might even have been... Well, not good. More like not especially bad. But she had her dignity, sort of. She had a little bit left, at least. For now.
Lin headed for the peach tree. She'd wanted to visit it from the beginning, it had just taken her all night and part of the morning to get there. She needed to focus on her new plan, to try to be more Zen, like Oogway probably wanted. Maybe wanted. She wasn't sure, but it was better than doing nothing. Once she got to that outcropping, though, she couldn't settle down. She couldn't help but feel angry at Oogway. His visions had torn all her wounds open and left them raw for others to rub salt into, and now she was left walking around with them, barely able to function. She'd almost slept with Shifu twice already, and if that didn't scream "crisis," she didn't know what did.
She sat down to meditate, trying to keep in mind that it was no big deal if she failed, she could just start over. She started over a lot. She started over so much that she was starting to worry she'd be late for work, which required her to start over again.
"Oh, good! You are still here."
Lin cracked her eyes open and glanced over her shoulder at the gray wolf approaching her. "Hooray," she grumbled sarcastically. She knew she'd promised the girl some more time together, but she wasn't at her most social at the moment.
"I had hoped we could speak again soon," Gia continued, oblivious to Lin's reluctance. Or maybe she had chosen to ignore it. "I have heard so many stories, it is hard to know where to begin."
"Stories?" Lin stood up and brushed her backside off, eyeing the girl. "What'dya hear about me?"
"Well, I have heard... Mixed things about you," Gia reluctantly admitted.
"I'm not surprised," Lin said, frowning at the girl's confused blink. "People don't always like me, and that's fine. I'm used to it. I'm a woman, an old woman by most people's standards, and I make no secret of what I want or what I think. I don't cater to men, or to anyone for that matter, and I don't fade into the background. If you're anything like that, you'll notice people'll hateya more and more for it the olderya get."
"I do not know if I would say I'm like that," Gia replied, her face reddening slightly under Lin's scrutinizing gaze.
"Then I guess we don't got a lot in common."
"Oh." Gia clasped her hands and stared down at them shyly. "I heard Master Shifu arguing with you today. Does he hate you?"
"The answer to that appears to change from one moment to the next," Lin answered truthfully. "So I dunno. What I do know is that it makes him angry that I'm more complicated 'an he thought I was."
She nodded. "Do you hate Master Shifu?"
Lin shrugged. "That answer also changes from moment to moment. But right now, yes. And if I change my mind to no, that doesn't mean I like him."
"But you were in love?" Gia asked, genuine confusion in her voice.
Lin couldn't help but sigh in trepidation at the question. "Yeah, sorta. Maybe." She rubbed at her forehead, trying to think of some way to put her complex feelings into words. Then she gave up, since she'd only just met the girl and it wouldn't help anything, anyway. "It's not your business. Just ask me some other questions, or something."
"I see what you mean, about being complicated."
"Get bent," she snapped.
Gia frowned at the insult, and though her eyes appeared more watery than before, she didn't cry. "I do not know that phrase."
"Oh, sorry," Lin said. "I meant, vaffanculo, secchione."
Gia gasped dramatically, slapping a hand to her mouth as her eyes widened.
"Oh my god," Lin grumbled. "What?"
"You used foul language!"
Lin rubbed at the side of her face as she wished fervently for a drink. "You're being so annoying. Is that a regular thing forya?"
"I am not annoying!" Gia argued in a whiny tone of voice. Her cheeks had gone a little pink and she'd starting wringing the life out of her skirt with balled fists. "You are very mean!"
She held back an irritated sigh. After she'd left the girl cloistered in a convent, she should have expected such a reaction. "Sorry, okay? How about you don't comment on my love life, and I don't curseya out?"
"You should not do that in the first place," Gia lectured with an indignant sniff. "But I will make a deal."
"Good." Lin rubbed at the side of her face, exhausted from her life in general and this interaction in particular. "I really dunno what to do withya," she admitted. She'd set a precedent of telling the kid the truth, so she might as well stick with it.
Gia frowned at her, but didn't object to the statement. "Do you have questions for me about my childhood?"
Lin shrugged. "I dunno what I'd ask. I trusted Anna, so I never really wondered." She felt a pang of sadness at the thought of the dove, and the fact that she had passed away. She had missed Anna for so long that her grief felt distant and dull, which she took as a blessing. The last thing she needed in her life was more mourning. "When'd Anna die, anyway?"
Gia's eyes glistened and her shoulders tensed. "You do not want to know anything about me?"
"You're in one piece, aren'tya?" Lin snapped. "I asked a question, by the way."
Gia didn't look pleased at her response, but she answered anyway. "I was seventeen when she died." Her voice was quiet and strained, the way Lin imagined she herself sounded when she spoke of Al's death.
"Okay," she accepted. She didn't want to push the girl any further, seeing how hurt she was by having to talk about Anna's death at all. "We can stop," Lin added, in case she needed to clarify.
The wolf shook her head, her eyes more watery than before. "You do not wish to know anything about me," she said tremulously.
"If that were the case I wouldn't even giveya the time of day," Lin informed her, unable to keep the edge out of her voice. She couldn't help but feel offended that the girl had the nerve to accuse her of making no effort, just like everyone else did to her. "I learned plenty aboutya from this talk already."
Gia's large ears perked up. "Yes?"
"Yeah," Lin confirmed. "I guess I gotta hold your hand and explain it all, as I just learned. I learned you ain't been in love before, that you're kinda a crybaby, which I noticed before, and you're insecure about your personal relationships. I also learned thatya loved Anna very much, and you have trouble getting over grief. And you're nosy and annoying."
Her nostrils flared. "I am not annoying," she insisted.
"Now I've learned that you're in deep denial about how annoying you are," Lin added, mostly to get on her nerves. "And you should learn to take a little teasing if you're gonna hang around me."
Gia seemed to calm down a little bit at that last comment. "Teasing?"
"Yeah."
"...Sister Anna told me that you used to tease her." She finally smiled, if a bit weakly. "You called her culino piume, yes?"
Lin laughed at the reminder. "Yeah! My little feather butt." She felt a warm sense of fondness at the memory of the days she was bed-ridden, and Anna sat by her side, reading to her and keeping her company. She'd started calling the bird her little feather butt partly out of boredom, and partly because every time Anna stood up to leave her backside was at eye-level thanks to Lin's prone position. And to be honest, she'd been flirting a little. Anna had taken it in good humor, though she hadn't returned the teasing no matter how much Lin had prompted her. "I hadn't thought about that in a long time."
Gia stared at her a moment. "I believe what you told me, that you loved Sister Anna," she said suddenly. "I can tell."
"Yeah, well." Lin shrugged, caught off-guard by the observation. "I don't really hide my emotions well."
"I have noticed that, yes," she agreed, apparently unaware of how annoying that was.
Lin snorted. "Thereya go, we're getting to know each other just likeya wanted."
"I suppose so," Gia agreed, however hesitantly. "Though I would like to spend more time together. What is it? Quantity time?"
"Quality time," Lin told her. "Quantity would probably factor in there, too."
"I would like it if we did an activity together." Gia smiled encouragingly, like she thought Lin would agree to some sort of mother-daughter bonding session.
Lin considered the request, though Gia's expectant smile was distracting. She figured she'd have to agree to something sooner or later, though, so she might as well get it over with. "Okay," she accepted, amused by the shout of joy that Gia let out. "Nothing fancy, though."
"Of course," Gia said, nodding fervently.
"No bible shit, either."
Gia frowned at that demand, but nodded again.
Lin wasn't sure what to do with the kid, but then she remembered what Tai Lung had told her the night before, when they'd been discussing the concept of him having fun, for once. "How about we meet up the first night of the New Year? I hear there's a street festival and fireworks."
Gia got so excited by the idea that her tail began to wag. "Yes!"
"I'm not gonna spend all night withya," Lin warned. That would be too much, too soon for her. "I got a life to live, y'know." And she was planning on getting incredibly drunk. Maybe she'd even find someone to go home with, someone other than Shifu.
"Alright," Gia agreed, though she sounded a little more sedate, now.
"Anyway, I gotta get to work." Lin stepped around her and walked away before she got sucked into more conversation. She needed to get to work, and she didn't want Shifu to come looking for her before she could get away. Besides, she needed time to run to the bath house and get her clothes back on. She couldn't exactly show up at the restaurant in her current skimpy robes, though she had a feeling some of the regulars wouldn't mind. She was glad her clothes remained where she'd left them and she could change quickly without running into Shifu again. She might smack him around some more if she caught sight of him at that moment, and then she'd inevitably try to climb him like those thousand steps.
She'd almost gotten to the arena before one more person attempted to waylay her.
"Lin, wait up," Po called as he ran after her.
"I'm really popular today, huh?" she said over her shoulder, but didn't stop. She didn't need her wages docked just because the panda wanted to chat.
"I got somethin' important I been meanin' to ask ya," he said breathlessly as he caught up to her and walked alongside her.
"Ask away," she replied.
"Not here," he protested, then lowered his voice. "It's kinda a secret. Especially from Shifu."
Lin shrugged. "I ain't got a problem with that. Come see me after my shift tonight."
"I can't." He ran a few steps ahead of her, but she simply walked around him. "Lin, it's really secret. Even from my dad."
"Fine," she accepted with an annoyed sigh. She still owed him for getting her a job and a place to stay, so she couldn't blow him off. "I'll come up here after my shift. Better?"
"Yeah, that's good. Meet me in the scroll library."
"Scroll library?" she repeated, confused.
"Y'know, the library. Where Oogway stored all the knowledge he accrued over his long life. It's in the Jade Palace, ya walk in and make a right, it's down the hall, there. You've seen it, right?"
Lin frowned, irritated that she'd never known about such a room. "Nobody tells me anything," she grumbled. She could have used a place like that, especially when she had been trying to figure out what had happened to Tai Lung.
"Well, anyway, I'll talk to ya there," Po replied as she reached the steps and started jogging down them without pausing, while he stopped at the top. "Bye!"
She made it down the steps and ran through the village, wheezing by the time she got to the restaurant. She ran into the kitchen and managed to get her apron on just before Ping entered through the alleyway door with the morning's produce shipment. He raised his eyebrows at her, but made no comment on her whereabouts for the night. She was grateful for that. She didn't want to admit that she'd caved so easily, even if she hadn't actually spent the night with Shifu. She didn't want to admit that, even after everything... She missed him.
Yan-Yan closed the kitchen door gently behind her as she returned home for the night, briefly reminded of sneaking back into her parents' house in her youth after a night of carousing with Lin. She paused to straighten her hanfu out, just in case Chen was up and about to see her. She didn't want to try to explain to him that her date with Li Peng had gone particularly well. She hadn't even stopped to tell Li Peng that when she'd dressed herself and tiptoed out of his place while he snored.
She leaned against the kitchen island and allowed herself a satisfied smile. She'd finally slept with a man other than her ex-husband. It had felt like less of a big deal than she'd expected. Small talk had led to flirting, flirting had led to kissing, and then Yan-Yan had decided that she'd like to top it all off with an orgasm. Luckily, she hadn't been disappointed.
Yan-Yan jumped a little when Yiliang threw the door open and walked into the room.
"Where were you?" she demanded, her nostrils flaring like they had since childhood. It was more of a nervous reaction than an angry one. "I was worried!"
Yan-Yan sighed in frustration. Her elder daughter had always been rather high-strung. "You don't need to worry about me, I'm your mother. I've been an adult since before you were born."
"You've been gone practically the whole night," Yiliang complained.
"I had a date."
Yiliang's lips thinned at the information.
"Oh, what?" Yan-Yan asked defensively. "Your father had a second wife, for gods' sakes. It's not the end of the world if I go on a date. Besides, you're no saint yourself. You think I never heard you sneaking in through your bedroom window at the crack of dawn?" She couldn't suppress her amusement at the the blush on her daughter's face. "Last I remember, you made it through about seven boyfriends before you were married, one of which happened to coincide with your engagement."
"That's enough," Yiliang demanded, her hands flying to her cheeks in an attempt to cover her blush. "I was a teenager, and you are a grandmother."
"A grandmother in need of a good dicking," Yan-Yan corrected.
"Mom!"
"I'm single, and I'm capable of making my own decisions," she argued, unconcerned with her daughter's disapproval. She'd gotten used to that. "And anyway, if you're leaving your husband, you'll eventually start dating, too." She waited for a response, but got none. "Are you leaving him?"
"I said I was, wasn't I?" Yiliang snapped, then looked away.
Chen chose that moment to enter the kitchen. He took one look at Yiliang in her pajamas and Yan-Yan still in her violet hanfu and crossed his arms. "Well, look who finally got a life of her own."
"Stow it," Yan-Yan ordered. "We were in the middle of an important discussion."
"How important?" Chen hopped up onto the counter.
"Yiliang's thinking of going back to her husband." She knew that if she couldn't talk some sense into her daughter on her own, Chen would back her up.
"I'm not!" Yiliang argued. "I just- I don't think... I don't think he'll be too happy to give me a divorce."
"Why not?"
"I'm pregnant." She once again avoided Yan-Yan's gaze. "He'll come for me and take me back home. He wants a son."
"Then Chen will kill him," Yan-Yan replied coolly, and Chen nodded along.
"You can't do that," Yiliang argued tiredly. "We both know it."
"Okay," Chen accepted. "I know a guy."
"You can't do that, either!" she rubbed at her temples, a frustrated frown on her face. "I'll say I miscarried. It won't work forever, but it'll buy me some time. And then..."
"And then?" Yan-Yan pressed. She didn't like this situation, and to be honest she wanted to simply make these decisions for her daughter. She held back, though.
"I don't know!" Yiliang admitted. "But I'm not going back. Not ever."
"There's plenty of room here for you and the kids," Chen replied, patting her hand with his tiny one. "And if we need help, I can hire someone."
"See, honey?" Yan-Yan rounded the kitchen island so she could rub her daughter's back. "We'll figure things out, all of us together."
Yiliang's eyes started to well up with tears. "I'm so sorry, Mommy," she cried.
"Chen-"
"Yep," Chen interrupted, and he left the kitchen to give them some time alone.
Yiliang cried even harder now that they were alone. "Staying married wasn't worth losing you, or hurting my babies- I just didn't know what else to do. I was so wrong, Mom, can you ever forgive me?"
Yan-Yan held her tightly and rocked her back and forth. "Of course, sweetie," she said. "I'm your mother. I forgave you before you even asked." She gave one last hard squeeze before letting her go.
"I know this sounds insensitive," Yiliang said with a sniffle, "but I keep thinking I wish he had another woman, like Dad, so he wouldn't care about me leaving."
"You're right, that does sound insensitive." Yan-Yan's feelings weren't hurt by it, though. To be honest, her daughter had a point. Now that she was dating again, she didn't know why she'd ever been so upset to lose her husband. It helped, too, that at least one of her children was talking to her again. But the truth was, she hadn't missed Xiaojian for a long time. And maybe if he hadn't had Meihui to focus on, he wouldn't have agreed to their divorce. "It's true, isn't it? Your father would have been too proud to divorce me if it weren't for Meihui." In a way, she actually owed the younger woman. "Thank goodness, I suppose!"
"So you're not upset at all about the divorce," Yiliang concluded, and she sounded genuinely upset.
"I was," Yan-Yan corrected her. "I'm over it by now. I could have lived without you kids taking your father's side, but I've learned to accept it wasn't my fault. People are going to react to my actions, whether their reaction is appropriate or not. That doesn't mean I should allow myself to be miserable instead of doing what's right for me." She paused, thinking of Lin. She wished her friend was with her now, to hear how she'd helped Yan-Yan. "I have a friend who told me that I can do anything, because I'm free. And I agree. I feel free, now. Maybe you will, too, in time."
Yiliang didn't answer. She didn't seem ready to commit to an answer one way or another, and Yan-Yan didn't intend to push her.
"Maybe it's time to get to bed, hm?"
"I feel like a little girl again, hearing you say it's time for bed."
Yan-Yan smiled. She no longer missed her marriage, but she had sorely missed her daughter. Hopefully, her other children would soon follow. If not, she was still happier than she had been in a long time.
Po paced in the scroll library, wringing his hands as he wished that he could check the time. He'd lit a couple of the torches near the study table, but not all of them, since Gia had lectured him recently on the damage the smoke and light could do to the scrolls. He perked up at the sound of the door being noisily opened and closed, and Lin's usual heavy footsteps. For such a little dog, she really sounded more like... Two horses.
"Hey," she greeted, dropping down into a chair at the table as though she'd been in the library a hundred times already. "This place's a lot bigger'n I expected."
"Yeah, I guess so."
"I mean, it makes sense. Oogway lived to a thousand, he probably collected a lotta stuff in his life-"
"Uh, Lin?" Po interrupted. "I kinda wanted to talk to ya about somethin'." He didn't want to be rude, but he had the feeling she'd keep on rambling if he'd let her.
"That's why I'm here," she answered, and leaned back in her chair. "Go ahead and confess your love to me."
"Lin, c'mon!"
"What?" she asked with a shrug. "It's obvious."
Po ignored her teasing. He took the scroll containing the pressure point chart he and Tigress had been trying to put together on their own and unrolled it on the table in front of her. Considering it had originally been Mantis' chart and had featured a tiger, he thought they'd done relatively well. He quickly realized that was probably not the case when Lin took one look at it and snorted. "Uh, I kinda need a real acupuncture chart," he clarified. At Lin's quizzical look, he also provided her with Oogway's scroll about mapping pressure points. He twiddled his thumbs as he watched her lean over the scroll, her nose almost touching the thing. He was so nervous he felt like he could jump out of his skin, waiting for her answer.
"Jeez, you shoulda written to me in Shanghai about this," Lin marveled as she scanned Oogway's scroll. "Yan-Yan knows all about this kinda stuff, she woulda been a big help. Still, I gotta be able to drawya from life to get an accurate chart. I'll see if she's got any tips in my next letter."
"Yan-Yan?" Po repeated vaguely, unable to follow everything Lin had just said.
"Oh, right, I never talked about her withya all that much, huh? Yan-Yan's a doctor, we were childhood best friends, that kinda thing. We reconnected in Shanghai, since she lives with Chen and all." She looked up from the scroll and grinned. "Not jealous I got a bestie b'sides you, areya?" she teased.
"Nah, I'm not the jealous type," Po replied easily, happy to know they would have the opinion of a real doctor to help them, now.
"Good." She pulled the example Po had provided toward her, the tiger chart with Mantis's haphazard panda cartoon drawn over it. "I can see whyya need me," she commented as she looked the thing over. "This's an incomplete chart, y'know."
"Huh?" Po leaned over her shoulder to look, but he couldn't figure out what she meant. "Y'mean mine and Tigress's notes? 'Cause we're still workin' on it."
"Nah, the original," she replied, tapping a finger on the tiger. "A body exists in three dimensions, as do its pressure points. This's only a front view, which meansya can't use it to reference pressure points on the sides or the back."
"Wouldn't they just mirror the front, though?" he asked.
"Not necessarily." She lifted the paper and checked the opposite side, then dropped it back to the table. "I can do the full work-up forya. Front, sides, back, top view, view from underneath, and palms. That should giveya a more accurate set of references. And I'll need to make 'em a lot bigger 'an this, speaking of accuracy."
"Oh, that'd be great," Po agreed, though he hadn't realized this would be such an elaborate undertaking for her. "Thanks a lot."
"Y'know what they say, panda," she replied. "The best thanks is in the form of cash."
He laughed at her joke, though his laughter soon petered out at the sight of the frown on her face.
"You think that's a joke, huh?" She didn't sound too happy.
"Uh." He didn't know how to answer that. "I just thought... This'd be a favor for a friend?"
"Deal's off," Lin answered shortly, then stood from the table and walked away.
"Hey, wait!" Po took a moment to gather up the scroll and old chart, then ran after her. "C'mon, Lin. We are friends, right?"
"Last I checked, I'm a master artist," Lin said as they exited the Jade Palace. "I don't even get an employee discount at that noodle restaurant, and you got the nerve to ask me for free art?" She yanked her long-stemmed pipe from her shirt and lit it, then blew the smoke in his face. "If you were my friend, you'd know better'n to assume I just give away my hard work. This's an insult to my trade."
"But I don't got money to spare! It's not like I get paid for bein' a kung fu master!" He ran in front of her and blocked her path, determined to change her mind. "Listen, Lin, maybe we can work somethin' out. Like a trade or somethin'? I... I could give ya somethin' of mine. Not my action figures, but somethin' else maybe."
She regarded him coolly as she puffed on her pipe. "Trade, huh?" She sounded intrigued, thankfully. "Actually, those action figuresya make are the most valuable thingsya own. And since my fee usually starts up there in the triple digits-"
"Triple?" he choked out, then gulped at Lin's offended glare. "Sorry. I just didn't realize art was that expensive."
"You woulda, if you'd bothered to ask," she pointed out.
"Fair enough."
"I won't ask for those action figures," she assured him. "But I'll tellya what: Shifu never technically fired me. I'm still the Jade Palace's resident artist."
"Oh, nice!"
"He hasn't paid me, either."
"Oh." He had a feeling he knew where this was leading, and it might be worth giving up his action figures just to avoid getting between Lin and Shifu.
"Get me back on the payroll, and I'll do those charts as part of my quota." She paused to puff thoughtfully on her pipe. "Actually, throw an action figure in there for me, too."
He winced at the request. "Which one?"
"I don't want those ones in your room," she dismissed. "I wantya to make me a new one."
"Really?" He'd never had someone interested enough in his action figures to ask him to make one before. "You really like 'em that much?"
"Yeah, you got some talent inya," she replied, and she finally sounded like she'd relaxed again. "Hold off for now, though. I gotta figure out what I want, first."
"Okay, that works."
"Maybe one of my enemies so I could use it for a curse," she added in a mutter.
"What?"
"Nothing, don't worry about it," she dismissed easily, then poked at his stomach with her pipe. "And remember: you owe me."
"What? Still?"
"Triple digits, remember?"
"Right. Yeah." He wondered how she hadn't become as rich as Master Chen, with those prices. He didn't think it would be a very good idea to actually ask her about that, though. "So how much do I owe ya?"
"You'll find out when I need something," she replied ominously, then started cackling.
He leaned away from her. "You're scarin' me."
"Anyway," she continued as if she hadn't heard him, "I'll needya to pose for the drawings. Y'know, be my model for accuracy."
Po grinned at the thought of being an art model. Sure, it was only for an acupuncture chart and not, say, a poster of him in a cool cape, but it was still fun. "Yeah, I can handle that."
"Great," Lin replied. "And figure out someplace warm on your own for that."
"Huh?"
"I mean, it's not like you can do it at the restaurant. Unless you're okay posing nude in front'a your dad, which I figure you're not." She nodded sagely as he started to choke on his own spit. "Anyway, seeya. Lemme know when you're ready to get naked for me." With that last, horrific comment, Lin trotted down the thousand steps and left him behind to scream internally alone.
Notes:
Thanks again for reading and reviewing, everyone! As for the references here: the title quote is credited to George Meredith, and when Po contemplated that Lin sounds like "two horses," it's a reference to the parody comic/video "Ariel Needs Legs" by Niel Cicierega. And Lin's exclamation of "vaffanculo, secchione," is basically Italian for "fuck off, nerd." It's not a direct translation, but you can search it if you want to know the literal meaning of vaffanculo. :P
Chapter 24: Do Not Fear Your Pastry Rising Slowly. Only Fear it Standing Still
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 24: Do Not Fear Your Pastry Rising Slowly. Only Fear it Standing Still
Shifu leaned as far as he could around the doorway to Ping's restaurant without either falling over or being seen. The last thing he needed was Lin witnessing his observation. She'd already accused him of stalking her. And this didn't count as stalking, he was simply waiting for her to take a break so he could speak privately with her. He needed to ask her what their bizarre tryst the other night had meant, and he refused to do so in front of a crowd of strangers.
"This is pathetic, even for you."
He recognized the snide voice behind him immediately and let out an irritated sigh as he turned around to face Tai Lung, who had been escorted to the restaurant by Po. "You two are supposed to be engaged in training at the moment," he reminded them. He'd thought that Tigress would at least put in some effort to keeping everyone on track while he was away. Tai Lung, while difficult, had not yet shown any signs of violent behavior. He'd thought this meant he could leave the man in the hands of his students without worry, but apparently not.
"Sorry, Master Shifu," Po chimed in. "I gotta help my dad out, it's the first day of the New Year!"
As annoyed as Shifu was by this development, he gave Po a nod of approval. The panda, at least, was fulfilling his duty to his family, unlike Tai Lung. He also thought of Lin's suggestion, that Tai Lung help her at the noodle restaurant every now and then, and that she and the snow leopard had somehow become... Friends. He wondered if allowing Tai Lung to do just that would warm her heart toward him at all. He shouldn't make decisions about Tai Lung based on whether he would earn points with Lin, though. He should seriously think about what was best for his son. "Tai Lung, you may take the day away from training to help Mr. Ping, as well."
Tai Lung looked more disgruntled than usual at receiving his permission. "I have no desire to sling noodles with a smelly panda," he grumbled.
Shifu decided to take a cue from Lin in response to such reluctance. "Too late, you're already here," he declared, then used his staff to push Tai Lung into the busy restaurant.
"Thanks, Shifu," Po said over his shoulder before dragging the ex-con up to the counter, waving cheerfully at his father and Lin as he did so.
Shifu watched them from his concealed vantage point, his heart aching at the sight of Lin's smile when the two men entered the kitchen. It had been too long since she'd given him that smile, the one that made her eyes crinkle up and filled him with warmth. He'd taken that for granted before, when she'd smiled at him that way every day. He'd barely paid her any attention, and then he'd left her in Shanghai. She'd smiled at him that way when she'd returned, yet he'd still paid her no attention, assuming she would have plenty more for him.
He did his best to shake off the guilt that had settled over him and entered the restaurant, confident now that Lin would have some time for a quick break. She noticed him immediately, like she had a sixth sense for him, and left through the side door without even bothering to remove her apron. Considering the crowded kitchen and Mr. Ping's usual rule about him staying out of it during business hours, he retreated and circled around to the alley at the side of the building. Predictably, Lin was sitting on an old delivery crate and smoking, though she had eschewed her usual pipe for a small cigarette.
"So you got anything new for me?" she asked the moment he'd gotten close. "Or just the same tired shit I been hearing since I left?"
"You are back to hating me, then," he concluded flatly, and she shrugged in response. "I suppose in your mind that I am heartless and cruel and only came to see you out of a sense of hurt pride."
"And in your mind you can do whateverya want to me, so long asya say you're sorry after," she snapped.
"That isn't true," he argued. "I admit that I've made mistakes, but that does not mean I intend to abuse you."
Lin leaned forward, her hand resting on the crate between her splayed legs, and looked away. She didn't respond to him, but the puffs of smoke from her cigarette floated up more thickly than before.
"It confuses me that you're so angry with me now, the way you kissed me the other day," he added, and her shoulders hunched up like a child who'd been caught with the cookie jar.
"That just proves what I said before, that you don't know anything," she grumbled over her shoulder. "It was a stupid thing to do."
"It didn't feel stupid to me, kissing you," he ventured to say, since she sounded like her anger might be softening.
"That's 'cause you're an idiot," she said, merciless as always. She finally turned back around, though she didn't look at him with anything approaching tenderness. "And anyways, I'm outta your league."
Shifu stared at her a moment, his brow knitted at the proclamation. "Excuse me?" he finally asked, his mind blown by the assertion that she was somehow too far above him for them to ever be together. "You are out of my league? I am the Grand Master of kung fu!"
"So you keep feeling the need to shout at people," she replied flatly, as if their conversation bored her.
He bristled at her indifference. At least when she was angry with him, it showed that she still had some sort of feeling toward him. "I have personally known the last three emperors!"
"You guys really burn through 'em, huh?"
He resisted the urge to tear his fur out. "I am one of the most well-known and celebrated kung fu masters of my time!"
"Yeah, y'know none of that has any real meaning to me or anyone else, right?" she asked, then clenched her stinky little cigarette between her teeth and began to pick at her nails.
"What?" He paused to try to calm down enough to control his volume. "I live in a palace on top of a mountain! In what way is that not real?"
"You're only touting all this inflated 'status' bullcrap 'cause you know the real truth, and you know I know it." She leaned back and finally turned her attention back to him, though it was only to condescendingly raise her eyebrows.
"The truth being?" he prompted, rubbing at his temple. He shouldn't have even asked, but he had a feeling she would explain it anyway.
She put her cigarette out on the old crate. "The truth being that in reality I'm the cool yet relatable rebel and you're the nerd who hyperventilates when I kissya."
"That was one time!"
"Oh, you did it at least twice," she argued. She was right, but that didn't make her point any less irritating. "The point is that I'm outta your league. You're reaching for me, and you're reaching hard."
He was not about to let Lin win her deluded argument. "May I remind you that you were the one chasing me up until recently?"
"Yeah, what was my problem?" She laughed, as if she now found the idea of wanting to be with him absurd. "Anyway, I'm past that phase."
"Now you're just being cruel," he grumbled.
"I find it funny that your definition of cruel includes me making fun of you, but not you kicking me out of our home the day I returned from spending several months trying to help your son not be a murderer anymore." She stood up and brushed herself off. "Anyway, I gotta go back to work."
"You are not out of my league!" he snapped.
She continued toward the side door to Ping's kitchen, and without missing a beat replied, "I'm just gonna go ahead and referya to when you almost passed out during sex 'causeya forgot to breathe."
"One time!" He stopped after that, though, because she'd returned to the kitchen and he knew she wouldn't feel a single bit of shame over bringing up more vulgar details like that if he followed. She could be so aggravating that he almost wished he'd never taken up with her in the first place, but then his guilt returned to him, worse than ever for thinking such a terrible thought.
Lin had never been a dainty, quiet girl. She'd been shy when they'd first met, but never dainty or quiet. He thought about her as she'd been then, unsure and nervous enough that he might have written her off, yet too fierce to ignore. Perhaps a part of that girl remained, no matter how much she protested against it. Maybe she was still unsure, and that was the source of her inscrutable behavior.
Maybe it was pathetic of him, but he returned to the restaurant and took a seat, though he knew Lin would never deign to wait on him. He watched her as she pushed Tai Lung and Po around the kitchen, having fully embraced her role as Mr. Ping's right hand. While the goose smiled happily and stretched his noodles, Lin acted as his enforcer. She forced Po out of the way when she needed room, corrected Tai Lung's knife grip, and ordered both men around as though she owned the place. She was more cutthroat than she'd ever been in the Jade Palace's kitchen, but that was somewhat understandable, considering the large crowds that Mr. Ping's noodles tended to attract.
"Aren't you just the definition of lovelorn?"
Shifu started, blinking back at Viper's curious blue-eyed gaze. He knew he'd been too focused on Lin if she'd so easily snuck up on him. "The more pressing question on my mind is, how often do you lot slack off behind my back like this?"
"It's the New Year," Viper argued pleadingly. "Besides, shouldn't we spend some time in town, participating in our community?"
Although he had a feeling that she could stand to have her own way a little less, Shifu indicated the empty seat across from him. "I supposed you have a point."
She coiled herself onto the bench, sparing a look back at the kitchen. "She's really something when she gets going," the snake observed, clearly referencing Lin.
Shifu responded with a noncommittal grunt. Though it would be inappropriate to discuss his personal relationships with a student, he also knew that once Viper got it into her mind that she was going to counsel someone, there was no stopping her.
"You can talk to me about these matters," Viper encouraged. "I may not spend a lot of time talking about my own relationships, but I'm more experienced than most people realize. And I tend to give good advice."
"I thought you were single," he pointed out, though that may have been a little harsh.
"By choice, at the moment," Viper replied with a lofty flick of her tail. "I'm spending some time focusing on me." That sounded like something Lin might say to him, but he held his tongue.
"Right." He eyed Lin, who happened to look up and catch his gaze right at that moment. She looked at him coolly, as though he were any other customer, then returned to chopping vegetables. "Perhaps I should do the same."
"But you love Lin," Viper pointed out, then offered him a sheepish smile. "Sorry, just an observation."
He tapped his fingers irritably on the table. He couldn't believe he'd even let Lin get to him enough to consider discussing such matters with his student. It was embarrassing, that's what it was. "Yet apparently she is out of my league."
Viper blinked back at him in surprise at the statement. "Out... Out of your league?" she repeated.
"In a social sense, I suppose." He did his best to ignore the heat in his face. "Lin suggested today that she is, how should I put it? Too cool for me."
"Well, that's most people, isn't it?" Viper asked, then recoiled slightly at his glare. "No offense, of course, Master. It's just that... Well, you have plenty of wonderful qualities. But the concept of being, ah, cool- you shouldn't worry about that at your age."
"So you're saying I'm a crotchety old man?"
"That sounds more like something Lin would say." Viper paused, frowning as she thought. "Well, by most standards you're a very eligible man, Master Shifu. But Lin isn't most people. She doesn't care about your kung fu ability or your status, or even your accomplishments. You could be a pauper and she wouldn't look at you any differently. That's the sense I've gotten, anyway, from the short time I've known her. That's a good thing, really. But by her standards, yes. She is out of your league."
He bristled, in spite of how pragmatic Viper had been. "What does that even mean, 'by her standards?'"
"You would need to ask Lin about that," she replied, giving him a significant look. "Maybe you could try, at least?"
Shifu snorted. "As if that woman could be reasoned with, or even spoken to without a fight."
"She isn't that bad," Viper argued. "She's just angry with you, and trying to figure things out. You know how breakups can be, Master."
"Not particularly," he admitted. "My only real one was with Lin. And now a second time."
"Oh," she said, blinking at him in surprise. "Oh. Well, that actually explains quite a bit."
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing, don't worry about it." Viper cleared her throat awkwardly. "I get the feeling that Lin thinks she's out of everyone's league, if that makes you feel any better."
"It doesn't, though that sounds accurate." He crossed his arms, fully aware that he was sulking like a child, yet unable to stop himself. Lin had a knack for making him behave childishly. He watched Lin serve noodles, a pang of jealousy pulling at his heart when he noticed some of the other male patrons try to flirt with her. "What if she starts seeing other people?"
"You wouldn't be able to do anything about that," Viper conceded, a note of sympathy in her voice. "But that doesn't mean it's over between you two for good."
"It doesn't?" Maybe Viper had been right, when she'd suggested he knew nothing about breakups.
"Plenty of couples get back together after seeing other people," she comforted. "Though you'll have to work pretty hard at winning her back."
"That doesn't seem possible at the moment." Shifu watched Lin shake down an old pig for a particularly sizable tip with some distaste, yet also nostalgia. She'd used to try to get money out of him.
"You could try dating around," Viper suggested. "After all, you are the valley's most eligible bachelor. In your age range."
Shifu decided to ignore that last qualifier. "I have no particular desire to date other women," he said with a heavy sigh. "I suppose I must accept my new role as Lin's punching bag in the hopes that she will eventually forgive me. Not that I would stop being her punching bag if she did. She would just stop literally punching me. I'd hope."
Viper narrowed her eyes at him, pursing her lips.
"Oh, don't give me that look," he grumbled. "Love is complicated."
"Yes," she agreed hesitantly. "I was just thinking." She tapped her tail on the table as she finished her thought. "I think you should come down to the festival tonight and have some fun."
Shifu raised his eyebrows. Of course he'd put in appearances for the sake of the Jade Palace, and he may have enjoyed himself when Tai Lung was still a child, but he didn't see how that would help his situation.
"I bet Lin will be there," she elaborated. "And in a good mood."
"I see." Shifu realized what she meant, of course. That perhaps during the night's festivities, Lin would be more relaxed in his presence. And she'd probably be drunk, if he were honest with himself, which would help with her willingness to talk to him. He caught Viper smiling at him as if she were expecting to lay out some sort of scheme with him. "This is none of your business," he added, however belatedly.
"Yes, Master Shifu," she accepted skeptically.
"A'right, here I am," Po announced as he sidled up to their table, a similar smile plastered on his face.
Shifu wanted to ask how much of that exchange the panda had heard, but he decided it would be best not to know. "Where is Tai Lung?"
Po pointed over his shoulder to the snow leopard. Tai Lung had been tasked with lighting the festive red lanterns strung across the outdoor dining area, likely because of his height. "He's not bad, but he's kinda slow."
"I heard that, you overstuffed dumpling!" Tai Lung snapped, though he mostly kept his attention on standing on his toes to reach the lanterns.
Shifu glanced back and forth between his students, still shocked that Tai Lung had been so amenable to helping at the restaurant. If he'd asked the man to do something similar, he'd have met much more resistance. "I suppose you're taking our orders."
"Yeah," Po confirmed. "Lin, uh... Doesn't wanna." He paused to offer an awkward pat on Shifu back, and Shifu rubbed at his temples, irritated by the sympathetic gesture. "And Tai Lung's too inexperienced to get the orders right. So, two secret ingredient soups?"
"Make it one," Shifu grumbled. "I'm leaving." It was simply too humiliating to face his students' pity, especially when said pity was directed at his love life.
"You're coming back tonight, though," Viper ordered.
Shifu blinked at the young woman, taken aback by her sudden bossiness. "Excuse me?"
"Remember what we discussed," Viper added, undeterred by his tone.
"Good day," Shifu huffed, then retreated before either of them could say anything more to him. He didn't bother so much as trying to look at Lin again, though part of him hoped she'd follow him.
It would be romantic if she ran out after him and asked him to stay, not that he expected as much. Then again, there had never been much romance between them. He wondered if that had anything to do with the fact that Lin didn't seem to have any trouble acting as though she didn't care at all for him after their fight. His only hope was following Viper's advice and courting Lin during the festival. It was a long shot, but he didn't have any other ideas.
Shifu had spent much of the afternoon and the evening preparing himself for the celebrations down in the village. He tried to keep his expectations low, though his heart still pounded in his chest as though he were a young man planning to court his sweetheart. He'd have a lot more work to do than simply courting a woman tonight. Lin could be difficult enough to deal with already, but now she thought less of him than the dirt beneath her feet. He descended the thousand steps into the village like a lady attending a grand ball. No, that was the wrong analogy. He felt more like he was being dragged to the underworld by bloodthirsty demons. And Lin, their queen, awaited his arrival so that she may feast upon his remains. He took a deep breath, reminding himself that Lin was not, in fact, a demon queen. She was a vulnerable, emotionally injured woman to whom he must make amends.
He paused at the sight of Lin waiting at the bottom of the steps, gulping nervously. Then he reminded himself that it was exactly that sort of behavior that was apparently too nerdy for her. Still, she'd worn her red hanfu. Even though it was a men's hanfu, the sight of her in red reminded him of their first time together, when she'd worn that red dress embroidered with lotuses. On such a dark evening, standing beneath the soft light of the festive red lanterns that had been strung over nearly every street, she glowed. He hoped he inspired a similar reaction in her, though he didn't think she'd ever seen him dressed up. Not that he'd worn anything terribly different than usual. He'd simply put a red and gold sash over his normal clothes, made from the same vine-embroidered fabric that had been used for Tigress' vest. He had added a jade pendant carved into the same stylized yin yang that Oogway's cloak had borne, since this was the first day of his Ben Ming Nian, on top of everything else. He would need all the luck he could get in the Year of the Dog, the same year in which he'd been born. He resisted the urge to adjust the brocade as he approached Lin, noticing that her red hanfu set fit her much more nicely than her normal brown shirt and pants. "Hello," he greeted, which didn't receive a response. "You look lovely."
She grunted.
"Uhm." He gave in to his impulse to adjust his sash. "How do I look?"
Lin swept her eyes over him, though her gaze was far from warm. "Well, y'know what they say," she said. "You can polish a turd allya want, but in the end it's still a turd."
"Words of encouragement to be remembered, for sure," he replied flatly. He should have known she'd insult him the moment he spoke to her. "I'll take that to mean that I look good, but you still find my personality repugnant."
"I wouldn't even go so far as to say you look good," Lin replied. "But whatever."
"It seems to me that despite what you might say, you're reluctant to leave my side," he pointed out.
She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm waiting here for Gia."
"Gia?" Shifu repeated incredulously, shocked by her statement. He never would have expected Lin to socialize with Gia after the fraught relationship they'd had so far, and certainly never after Lin's reaction to her daughter's return to her.
"I'm not repeating myself," Lin snapped. She was more obstinate than ever, now that they were perpetually fighting.
He frowned in response to her nasty attitude. "Fine. Be that way."
"I don't need your permission to be mean," she said, obviously determined to get the last word in.
Shifu pinched the bridge of his nose, willing himself to hold onto his patience. "Why am I speaking to you?" He failed slightly in that pursuit. "Oh, wait, you're out of my league," he said sarcastically.
Lin snorted. "Yeah, that's correct." She still eyed him with more interest than she'd shown in him since the day she'd returned from Shanghai. "At least your mustache looks better now."
"It does?" He still felt ridiculous, walking around with a mustache the length of a young man's.
"It's cuter when it's short," she complimented, amazingly enough.
"It's bizarre to hear you say something positive about me," he admitted, blushing. Perhaps this meant that she was starting to forgive him.
"I ain't saying anything positive about you," she argued, pausing to drink from her flask. "I'm the one who decided to cut it."
"And with such precision, too."
Lin gave him an appraising once-over after that quip. "Not bad," she admitted reluctantly, and he wondered if she meant his sarcastic remark or him.
He nervously tucked his hands into his sleeves, turning to glance up the Jade Palace steps in the hopes that someone else was headed down to relieve the awkward tension between them. The steps remained empty. "U-uhm," he managed to stutter out. "Thank you, I suppose."
"Hmph," she grumbled. "Keep an eye out for Gia." With that order, she turned and walked away.
He watched her until she turned down a side street and disappeared from view, confused by her sudden retreat. He'd thought that he'd been doing relatively well with her, all things considered. He'd at least gotten her from outright insults to banter, which was something. He should probably speak to her a little more gently if he planned to court her tonight, or at least to make an attempt at it. He'd come prepared with a purse full of coins to treat her to all kinds of foods and alcoholic drinks, which seemed to be the quickest way to her heart.
Of course, she immediately foiled his plan by returning from her walk with a gift for him. It was cupful of what appeared to be juice, which she shoved into his hands without preamble. "Here, try this. You gotta drink it all in one gulp, though, or else it doesn't taste any good," she warned.
Despite the fact that listening to her would be an extremely bad idea, Shifu knew he'd never win her back if he couldn't trust her with something as simple as a cup of juice. So, he took a deep breath and gulped down the stuff. At first, it tasted like regular orange juice- and then it started to burn, badly. "Agh!" he wheezed out as he began to cough, and she unhelpfully slapped him on the back. "Wh-what is that?" he hacked as a tingling warmth spread through his whole body.
"Strongest baijiu in the entire village," she replied matter-of-factly. "And orange juice. In fact, a mere five of these are strong enough to knock me straight on my ass."
"I do not want to be knocked onto any part of my body!" he snapped as a wave of dizziness overcame him. Why had he taken the drink from her? He should have known it would have been alcoholic to a level bordering on deadly. "Do you have any idea how bad it would look if I became drunk in public?"
"It's a festival, Shifu," she pointed out flatly. "Everyone else is already drunk, I don't think they care."
"You're not drunk," he shot back.
She snorted at his assertion. "I'm on my way."
He glared at her, annoyed by her flippant attitude; he didn't see why she found his desire to retain some smidgen of dignity so difficult to understand. "Don't you have anything to stop this from affecting me?" He could already feel heat rising in his face as what he imagined was a rather embarrassing flush formed in his cheeks.
"I got something to help," she confirmed, then offered him her flask. "This's my little secret, so don't tip anyone off. Just take a coupla swigs of this, and you won't feel a thing."
"Thank you," he sighed, taking the offered flask and drinking deeply from it. He erupted into another fit of coughing when the contents of the flask began to burn his throat even worse than the alcohol had. "Eurgh!" The stuff tasted like acid and wood polish, and he shoved it back into her hands in the hopes of never seeing it again. "What is that?"
"Hard liquor," she informed him, as if this were perfectly reasonable.
"What the hell is wrong with you!?" he burst out. "In what possible way could more alcohol help me?"
She shrugged at him, clearly not taking him seriously. "It'll makeya feel less self-conscious."
"Why do I even bother?" he asked as his dizziness only worsened.
"'Cause you're obsessed with me." She took a swig from her flask, then offered it to him again.
He stared at her incredulously, unable to believe that she'd even consider offering him more liquor after his reaction to her tricking him- twice. Then, he gave up. "Fine," he grumbled, gulping down the liquid fire that didn't seem to bother Lin in the slightest. "If I throw up, I am aiming for you."
"Likewise." She yanked the liquor from him and took another drink. "Also, I might have sex withya tonight. Depends on how much I drink."
"Wait- what?"
"Shut up," she snapped, giving him a hard poke in the stomach. "Don't go spreading that around."
"I don't get it. You... I thought you didn't want anything to do with me, now." Shifu rubbed at his face, trying to make sense of what she'd said to him. Why on earth would she want to spend the night with him when she apparently couldn't stand him for more than a few minutes at a time?
"I don't," Lin confirmed, which did nothing to clear things up for him. "But I get pretty horny when I'm drunk, and you're always around, so..." She trailed off and gave a shrug to punctuate her statement.
He couldn't hold back his sarcasm at that explanation. "How discerning of you."
Lin laughed. She laughed with her whole body, her shoulders shaking and her eyes squinting closed, all her teeth showing, even the wooden ones.
He didn't know why he'd never really paused to appreciate that about her before. He wanted to tell her, but the words caught in his throat. If he tried to tell her how he felt, she would respond with hostility, or worse, indifference. He would rather watch her laugh.
"Quit staring at me," she ordered once her laughter had died down, then pushed him aside and walked across the street. "Get lost!" she shouted across to him.
He scoffed at the immaturity of her actions, but moved along for the sake of staying on her good side. At least, he thought he was on her good side. It could be hard to tell when it came to Lin. He wasn't even sure if she'd meant it when she'd said she might go home with him. How would he react if she tried? At the moment, he would probably go no further than simply kissing her, as he had before. But if he kept accepting drinks from her, then it wouldn't be long before he'd become as easily seduced as a heroine from one of Tai Lung's disturbing romance stories.
Although, he had to admit, it made him feel nostalgic when she was being mean to him in that certain way that suggested she thought of it all as just a joke. He thought wistfully of their time together in Shanghai, when she'd crawled into bed with him every night, wrapped her arms tenderly around him, and made fun of him mercilessly. He wanted that to be his future with her, not this perpetual fight.
His preoccupation with his love life was momentarily forgotten as he made his way down the main street and approached the center of town, where decorations had become the most elaborate. Ahead of him lay the village's square, packed with food and fireworks vendors, decorated in a frenzy of red. Lanterns and ribbons criss-crossed over the streets and the square, and long strings of firecrackers hung from the corners of stalls and lintels of businesses. Couplets of red paper boasting poetic lines with well wishes for the New Year hung on either side of every doorway, potted kumquat trees had been set out and decorated with wishes for wealth and good luck, and bright red paper cuttings of peaches, peonies, and pine trees hung in every window, illuminated by the soft lantern light within the homes. Although the Valley was deep into winter, he didn't think it possible to feel cold in the midst of such a celebration. Judging by the the families crowding the streets and the square, he wasn't alone in that sentiment.
Shifu watched a mother tickle her child and offer her a sweet, and Lin's words returned to him. Her accusation that he treated his own daughter like wallpaper... He hadn't forgotten it, or the sting it left behind. Master Oogway had always told him that the New Year was a time for family. Perhaps he should spend the evening with his students and his children, and forget about his silly romantic troubles. After all, he'd given Tai Lung permission to attend tonight, so long as he remained with a chaperone. Everyone would be in one place, relaxing and having fun. There was no reason he couldn't join them.
Lin stared up at the thousand steps to the Jade Palace, a disgruntled frown fixed on her face. Shifu had put her in a foul mood, which she was trying like hell to shake. It didn't bode well to harbor bad feelings on the New Year, though hers were particularly justified. Besides, she hadn't been lying when she said she'd felt tempted to seduce him again. The truth was, kissing him was the one thing that made her forget all the horrible things he'd said and done. And that was horrible in itself. But when he held her, all she wanted to do was go back to before he'd kicked her out, before she'd met Gia, when she'd felt sure they'd stay together and things would turn out alright. She looked down and pressed her palms to her eyes, reminding herself to stop thinking such melancholy thoughts. This night was for eating, drinking, gambling, and the irresponsible use of fireworks. She would not let that melon head ruin her fun.
Lin looked up and let out an irritated grunt at the sight of Tigress walking down the steps with Gia. The last thing she needed was more lip from Tigress, who had made her contempt for her obvious from the moment they'd first met. Why did Gia have to be with the one other person in the entire Valley who could also ruin her fun?
Gia bounded down the last few steps like an excited child and stopped short in front of her, still bouncing in place. "Mother!"
"Don't call me that," Lin grumbled, still warily eyeing Tigress, who'd stopped just behind Gia. Rather than greet her, Tigress only returned her glare and crossed her arms. Lin had bent over backward to please the stoic young woman when she'd been pursuing Shifu, but now that her relationship with that hemorrhoid had ended she didn't need to worry about brown-nosing anymore. "Get bent," she told Tigress, unable to keep some of her glee out of her voice. "And get outta here, while you're at it."
Tigress' frown deepened and she stepped forward to loom over Lin. "How dare you-"
"Wait!" Gia inserted herself between them, and at her pleading look, Tigress backed off. Then she turned that look on Lin, though it didn't work so well on her. "Why are you saying such terrible things?"
"'Cause she's an asshole and I don't like her," Lin replied with a shrug. She didn't feel she needed to explain herself beyond that. She'd lived for too long and been through too much to keep tolerating people who treated her like crap.
"Since when?" Tigress asked with a scoff.
"Since always," Lin clarified. It felt so good to finally speak her mind, now that she had no reason to try to impress Tigress. "The difference is that I ain't chasing Shifu like a moron anymore." She paused, debating whether the next statement she had in mind would make her look pathetic, but her desire to piss Tigress off won out. "I'm still gonna peg him, though."
"What?" Gia asked, tilting her head, while Tigress let out an angry roar and raised her hand as if to take a swipe at Lin. "Please do not fight," Gia pleaded, which stopped her once more. "Lin, you are my... Family. And Tigress, you are my close friend. You should not argue so much. Yes?"
Tigress slowly lowered her arm and gave a single nod, though fury still blazed in her eyes.
Lin snorted. "I stand by what I said. I won't instigate more, but I'm not spending my precious time with this jackass." She turned on her heel and walked away, still annoyed. She didn't like being told what to do or how to act, especially by someone she barely knew. Tigress had been hostile to her from the moment they'd met, and now that she was free of the Jade Palace she had no intention of going out of her way to keep the peace. She made it halfway down the block before Gia caught up with her.
"Wait! Why are you leaving? You promised-"
"I said I'd spend time with you, I never made promises about anyone else."
Gia started turning red, and let out a loud sniff. "You are not nice," she snapped.
"Never said I was," Lin replied, unconcerned by the insult. "I'm not patient, either. Ifya want my time, it's for you alone. Okay?"
She looked away with watery eyes, worrying at her skirt. "Okay."
Lin sighed, temporarily overtaken with pity. "I'm sure you're good friends with Tigress. Do whatya want with her. But I don't get along with everyone, and not everyone gets along with me. Tigress hates me, and she'd be miserable ifya brought her along, too. Ifya wanna go hang out with her, I'll understand. You can always catch up with me later."
"You are trying to make me feel better?" Gia asked tremulously, furrowing her brow.
"I'm trying to be diplomatic. Is it working?" She knew her efforts didn't always turn out so well.
"No. Yes. Maybe?" Gia paused, burying her face in her hands, and took a few deep breaths. "Yes," she finally said. "What is the phrase, again? Un po."
"It's 'a little,'" Lin said. "And I guess I shouldn'ta put you in the middle of that." No matter how good it had felt to run her mouth. "Sorry."
"Th-thank you," she stuttered out, apparently taken aback by the apology.
Lin did her best not to feel offended by the suggestion that the girl didn't expect her to apologize. She was trying to be nice, at least somewhat. It was hard, though, when Gia still put her on edge and she hadn't had much to drink yet. She was doing her best. "So. You going with her or me?"
"You," Gia decided, squaring her shoulders. "I already told Tigress that I would."
"You didn't hafta pick me, y'know." Lin waited for an answer, but only got a nervous nod in response, so she started walking again. She needed more to drink than what her flask contained, so she headed down the main street in the hopes of finding a booth selling baijiu. "You drink, right?"
"Right," Gia said, then lapsed into awkward silence again.
Lin tried to think of something else to say as they paused to let a group of men carrying the pieces of a lion dance costume cross their path. Personally, Lin wouldn't have stopped, but she didn't think the girl would follow her if she just pushed the men aside and kept walking. She couldn't come up with an icebreaker by the time the men had dispersed, so they continued their walk in silence until Lin spotted a booth selling baijiu along with fried rice cakes and stopped for a bit of each. Once she'd paid, she shoved the rice cakes into Gia's hands and took a swig of baijiu. "Try some," she ordered, and when the girl hesitated, she grabbed one for herself and popped it into her mouth.
Heartened by her enthusiasm for the food, Gia pinched a cake between one finger and her thumb and took a small bite of it. Her eyes widened so much as she chewed that she looked more like a doll than a person. "Ah! This is so tasty!"
"They're some of my favorites, here in the Valley," Lin agreed, watching as she wolfed down the rest of the rice cake.
"It is very decadent," she said when she'd finished. "I should not have more."
"It's a holiday," Lin pointed out. "The whole purpose of a holiday is to have fun and eat. Unless it's one of those boring ones with lots of praying."
Gia frowned. "It is not boring to pray," she argued. "It is through prayer that we feel God's love."
"Believe it or not, I used to live at that convent, too," Lin reminded her. "It's nothing I ain't heard before."
Gia pursed her lips. "Very well."
"What're you so upset about?" Lin gave her a poke in the stomach, amused to see her jump back at the touch. Maybe she was ticklish, too. "It's a festival, and we got food and alcohol. So what if I'm not into religion? There's plenty of other stuff to do tonight."
Gia smiled tentatively, then ate another rice cake, her cheeks flushing with pleasure as she chewed. "You are right, it is a night to have fun. Although, it feels odd to wear... Red." She indicated the presumably borrowed faded red men's coat she had put on over her usual black hanfu, though she had eschewed her usual white over-skirt.
"How so?" Lin asked.
"Red is... Not considered a color for women of virtue," Gia grumbled, sounding embarrassed. "Back home, that is. Here it is good luck."
Lin nodded. "It's very auspicious. You gotta wear red clothes on the New Year. Red underwear's especially lucky, but only ifya got it as a gift from someone else."
Gia gasped, sounding scandalized.
Lin laughed, patting her hip. "I got mine on."
She turned bright red and looked away. "V-Viper told me about the colors," she continued, clearly trying to change the subject. "And she said that white is a funeral color here! Is that not odd?"
"It was a little weird at first," Lin admitted. "When I found out my wedding dress was supposed to be red instead of white, I was real confused."
Gia stared at her with wide eyes.
"Never mind," she grumbled when she realized she hadn't mentioned her arranged engagement before. "I'll tellya about it later."
"Okay," Gia accepted, though she still looked curious.
"C'mon, I'll buy us some firecrackers," Lin offered as a distraction, then set off in search of a fireworks vendor. On the first night of the New Year, she didn't have far to go. She bought two rows of firecrackers and handed one over to Gia, though she could tell by the girl's confused expression that she had no idea what to do. "C'mon," Lin instructed, then found a relatively peaceful area by the river, lit her firecrackers with her knife and flint, and finally dragged Gia back a safe distance to watch them go off.
"Ahh!" Gia shouted, jumping when the fireworks started to pop and dance. "Is this not dangerous?"
"If kids can handle it, so can we," Lin argued, raising her voice to be heard over the firecrackers. "B'sides, isn't it the Year of the Dog, now? If anyone should celebrate, it's us." She grinned as they watched the firecrackers go off, and some of the local kids ran up to get a look at them, too. Their excited energy seemed to calm Gia's nerves, and soon she was laughing and clapping with them.
In fact, once the first round of firecrackers had worn itself out, Gia ran back to the bank of the river to light hers. She returned to Lin's side just in time, and she started to cheer and jump with a group of rabbit and pig girls who looked like the rough and tumble sort who'd light firecrackers all the time. She was having fun watching the fireworks, too, but she stayed back so she didn't have to interact with the kids. She doubted they'd approach her anyway, since she was already pretty widely known as "the mean old noodle lady." Once the firecrackers had finished, she led Gia to one of the many picnic tables that had been set out along the main street so she could rest while she finished her rice cakes.
"I have never seen a firecracker before," Gia said with a happy sigh. "That was very much fun."
"Very much," Lin agreed around a mouthful of rice cake. "You're not so bad, onceya stop asking me so many personal questions."
"And you are not so bad, once you stop being mean to me," Gia replied.
Lin snorted in laughter at the sincere declaration that she was mean. She didn't disagree, it was just funny to hear someone say it without any malice. "I'm glad I got to start off the night withya, actually. Even if Shifu tried to butt in."
"He did?" Gia asked dubiously, then looked around as if she expected Shifu to walk up right at that moment. He did tend to have that sort of timing. "And that made you angry."
"Yeah," Lin agreed, though it wasn't completely true. "I mean, it wasn't the worst thing that's ever happened to me." She finished off the rice cakes, unwilling to admit that she'd sort of had fun with him. "His mustache looks better now."
"I agree." Gia tilted her head, watching her. "You do not entirely hate Master Shifu, correct?"
Lin grunted, reluctant to talk about her feelings, which she had trouble recognizing herself these days. "He still... Makes me laugh." She grimaced at the admission. It bothered her that there were times when she could feel happy or comfortable with him. Although, those times tended to end abruptly when the memory of what he'd done returned to her, and she felt everything all over again. The cold anger, the fear, betrayal, disappointment, grief- they all returned to her in waves, and then slowly ebbed away just long enough for her to hope they'd dulled for good.
"He makes you laugh?"
"Yeah. And he was nice to me, for a little bit. But that just makes me feel worse." And then, in a moment of weakness that utterly humiliated her, she started to tear up. She turned away and covered her face with her hands, but she knew it would just be more obvious that she'd cried. "Goddammit," she grumbled, willing herself to stop with every bit of energy she had.
"Mama, sei una piagnona come me," Gia said, a gentleness in her voice that Lin couldn't bring herself to find any comfort in.
"Da piccola ero una grande piagnucolona," Lin grumbled. "Ma ora non più." She paused to try to get herself under control again, miserable that she'd done this to herself in public, and in front of Gia, too. "And don't call me 'Mama,'" she added.
"Sorry," the girl whispered. "I did not mean to upset you."
Lin laughed bitterly, wiping tears from her eyes as she finally calmed down a little. "What a buncha shit," she said with a sniff. "When I was really, really in love I hesitated for years on end. And now, when I didn't hesitate for even a moment, it turns out I wasn't in love like I thought I was. Life is just a buncha shit." Maybe she'd said too much, but she'd already cried in front of the girl. It wasn't like she was about to embarrass herself more.
Gia nodded along. "Yes, it is."
"Really?" She wiped at her eyes again, then took a gulp from their bottle of baijiu. "Little miss optimism agrees with me?"
Gia yanked the liquor from her hands and practically chugged it, then set the bottle down and smacked her lips like it might as well have been water. "I came here to find my father, only to discover he wasn't my father, then I met my mother, who turned out not to love me. Life is... What you said."
"Shit," Lin offered, eyeing the girl. She was impressed by how well she could hold her liquor, but nuns were bigger drinkers than one would think. "Kid, don't feel so bad about the me not lovingya crap. Apparently I don't love anyone."
"Excellent," she grumbled.
"If it matters at all," she said, even though she knew it would probably be better to keep her mouth shut, "I kinda like you, now."
Gia glanced sideways at her, and then slowly, she smiled. She held out the bottle of liquor, and with a snort Lin took it and drank.
"Lookit this, we got something in common."
"Yes," she agreed. "I think I kind of like you, too. If it matters."
"Ooh, she likes me," Lin teased, giving her a little push. "Yeah, I guess it matters."
Gia blushed, clearly pleased by their interaction. At times like that, Lin could see a bit of her sister in the girl, as much as she hated to admit it. Mostly she hated to admit it because she hated to think about her sister.
"Even though you're annoying," Lin added belatedly, just to needle her.
"Ehi!" Gia whined, though she giggled a little, too. "You are also annoying."
"I guess it's inherited, then," she replied, and they both laughed. "Y'know, I knew you'd grow up well with Anna taking care ofya, but I wasn't so sure if we'd actually get along."
"I was certain we would not, after we first met," Gia said, then blushed a little and looked away. "I apologize. I should not have brought that up."
Lin couldn't say she was surprised. If she were in Gia's place, she'd probably never stop bringing up their first meeting. "Like I said, I was upset. 'Cause, y'know, memories. And old feelings, too." She paused for another drink. "I'm not the greatest at analyzing myself. But I guess I was traumatized 'cause of everything that happened. And you're the only reminder left of it, really."
Gia worried at her skirt, but said nothing.
"Sorry for being so harsh and makingya cry. Likeya said before, it's a lot." Lin offered her the bottle, and she took it and drank.
"It is," she agreed. "I never thought I would see you. I... Most of the time, I thought you had probably died by now."
Lin laughed, because she understood why someone would think that about her. "I almost did a few times," she admitted. "But here I am. And here you are. Y'know, you beat the odds just as much as I did."
"I know," Gia said with a nod.
"I guessya could say it runs in the bloodline," she added, and at Gia's quizzical look, she decided to talk a bit about her own family. "I'm talking about my nonna. I dunno anything about her past before I was born, but she was tough as nails as long as I knew her. She was always a fighter, no matter what, and I learned that from her. You were, too. No matter how small or sick you were, you just kept going. That's the one thing I'm glad I was able to giveya."
Gia's eyes became misty and her tail started to wag. "Really?" she asked excitedly. "Do you mean that?"
"I do."
She sniffed and wiped at her eyes with her sleeve. "I think it would have been nice if I could have known the other women in our family."
"You wouldn'ta liked anyone but your Aunt Gia," Lin warned. "Nonna was a pretty unpleasant woman, even though I think she loved me. And all the rest of 'em hated me, and treated me like crap. Gia was more like... Well, like you. But sadder."
"Sadder?" she repeated.
"She was strong, too," Lin clarified. "But everyone's got their breaking point. She died 'cause she couldn't stand it anymore. I can't blame her." She didn't like how morose the conversation had become, but it was her own fault for bringing up her family.
"Do you mean..." Gia paused, her mouth falling open slightly as the realization hit her. "Your sister. She..." She trailed off and brought her hand to her mouth, as though it were too horrifying to say out loud.
"Killed herself," Lin finished for her, because she didn't believe in making something like that too taboo to even say. Even before she had tried it for herself, she'd always understood why someone would decide to die instead of trying to go on. "She was in pain her whole life. Not physically, but... In a different way. Do you understand?"
Slowly, Gia nodded.
Lin frowned. "I wish you didn't. Maybe I didn't loveya, but I wanted you to be happy. I leftya at that place 'cause I thought you'd be protected against most of the bad things in the world." She rolled her eyes when Gia pulled her into a tight embrace, but decided not to fight it.
"Do you understand, too?" Gia asked in a whisper, and Lin realized that part of the purpose of the embrace was that so she could answer the question in a whisper as well, in case other people overheard their conversation.
She pulled away from the hug, though she tried not to sound too agitated. "Yeah. Andya don't gotta try to keep all this a secret for me."
"Yes," Gia agreed. "I wish... I wish I did not have to call you Lin."
Lin laughed again, relieved to be off the subject. "That's what you're concerned about, after everything I toldya?"
The young wolf frowned, her face flushed. "Well, it is a legitimate concern! It is odd to call you by name."
"I'm sure we'll figure out something," Lin reassured her. She didn't say so out loud, but she might consider agreeing to something familial, like "Auntie." She'd wait until she hadn't had so much to drink to decide, though. In the meantime, she wanted to put Gia on the spot instead of herself. "So what's the deal with you and Tigress, anyway?"
Gia turned bright red and stalled by drinking more baijiu.
Lin had a feeling she knew what that reaction was about, but she also knew that mentioning romantic feelings for another woman to someone who'd been raised in a convent was a bad idea. "I mean, how'd you guys get to be friends?"
Gia coughed a little as she finished chugging. "O-oh! Oh. Of course. You see, Tigress agreed to teach me to read Chinese characters!"
"Huh." Lin couldn't really see Tigress warming to a new addition to the Jade Palace enough to offer such a thing. Maybe it had something to do with the nerve chart Po had asked her for, but she kept that to herself, as well. "I never woulda guessed that. Tigress never treated me well, to be honest."
"You mentioned that," the girl said, her voice becoming weak. "I did not think that Tigress could be... Mean."
Lin shrugged. "I won't badmouth her to you," she offered. "I just think she's resistant to meeting new people, so it's odd to me that you two became friends."
"She can be shy," Gia agreed, though that wasn't what Lin had meant. "But so can I. And she is very smart and kind and strong, and her fur is soft and shiny."
"Are her eyes like beautiful, shining rubies?" Lin teased, unable to hold herself back.
"Yes!" Gia agreed enthusiastically, then turned bright red again. "I mean to say, she would be very pretty. To a man."
"Yeah, I could see that," Lin agreed, taking pity on the girl. "You're very pretty, too, y'know."
Gia shook her head emphatically, now so red that she looked like she might melt at any moment. "No! I am not!"
"Yeah, you are. And I don't even thinka myself as your mom, so I got no reason to lie about it." She could see that she wasn't making a dent, but she continued anyway. "I didn't think I was pretty when I was young, either. But I know now that I was. Which is weird, 'cause now I don't even care. I think caring too much about how I look is too much pressure. It always made me unhappy, thinking like that. And it's not like I care about how other people look." She knew that she was only embarrassing Gia, so she decided to end on a joke. "Unless they're men and they're real ugly."
That elicited a laugh from Gia, though she also shook her head. "That is mean! I should not find that funny."
"But it is funny, so you do," Lin argued, grinning at her. "And now you know that I am extremely funny."
"Perhaps," Gia said loftily.
"Are you teasing me?" Lin asked incredulously, then gave her a push. "How mean!"
"I am not the mean one, here!" she argued, though she'd started laughing again.
"Yet here you are, teasing your elder." Lin laughed, too, though she knew the baijiu was helping in that area. She probably wouldn't be able to relax so much with the kid, otherwise. But she hadn't been lying when she'd said she'd started to like her. There was a lot about her that reminded Lin of Anna, and she couldn't help the sense of fondness she felt toward the girl. "Y'know, I knowya wanted to spend time with Tigress, too."
Gia stopped laughing, that embarrassed blush returning to her cheeks. "It is alright. I want to get to know you."
"Andya have," Lin pointed out. "I toldya I'd be running around tonight. Why dontchya go catch up with Tigress? Ifya start missing me, enough people know me from the restaurant that you can always find me again." She of course had her own motives for splitting up, but she actually wanted to make the kid happy by showing her that she wouldn't hold a grudge against her friend. So much for being able to mouth off to Tigress whenever she wanted.
"Okay," Gia accepted, a contented smile on her face. "Perhaps in time you and Tigress will learn to like each other, since you both like me."
"Don't go wishing for miracles," Lin replied, then left the bottle of baijiu with her and headed off in search of a new adventure.
She wanted to experience the festival a little, not just sit and talk. Though she also wouldn't mind flirting with someone, if she got the chance. The rabbit woman Tai Lung had scared the crap out of had been showing up to the restaurant a lot more, and had even written her name and address down and handed it over along with her tip. That had been an ego boost that Lin had sorely needed. Not to mention that goat who ran the apothecary and his group of geezers had been eyeing her lately. But she was in the mood to be in charge tonight, and men tended to get real whiny about that sort of thing if they weren't already into it. An Zhi, the rabbit, was the cutest of the bunch, too, with soft chestnut brown fur speckled with silver and eyes to match.
She paused at a crowd of onlookers blocking the street and wormed her way to the front to watch the lion dance that had attracted such attention. A few days ago, she never would have thought about flirting with other people, or even considered her options, however dispassionately she was doing so. She wondered if that was a sign of healing. Even being out and about by herself, enjoying the lion dance, felt like healing. Movement beyond the costumed dancers caught her eye, and she found Ping in the crowd, who'd spotted her and waved. She waved back, but neither of them moved to meet the other. Even though they weren't next to each other, it felt like they were watching the dance together, and she smiled to herself in a way that she hadn't been able to for a long time. Po joined the crowd with his father then, and they shared a wave with each other, too.
Perhaps in those moments, another woman her age might have felt some sort of attraction to Ping. But Lin found that the part of her heart that softened was toward the panda, and her smile widened. She didn't expect to chase after Po, but it was nice to feel that someone was cute and nice again, rather than just thinking so with nothing behind it. And she flushed not so much due to those feelings, than due to the pleasure she felt at the thought that maybe she would be okay, after all.
Shifu found his students gathered at a picnic table, passing around sunflower-shaped dumplings and bottles of baijiu. To his surprise, Tai Lung sat at the table, sullenly sipping some baijiu from a cup. He approached them and sat at the end of the table, suddenly very self-conscious. Of course he ate meals with his students regularly, but it was rare that he joined them in such celebratory moments.
"Hello," Shifu greeted awkwardly, and the rest gave him their usual greetings, though their salutes were more relaxed than usual.
Tai Lung grunted irritably, which he'd expected.
He noticed that Po was missing from the group, though he didn't ask after the panda. He knew that Po was a loyal son, and would be paying a visit to his father for the holiday.
Gia sat down at the table, squeezing herself in next to Tigress, though he hadn't had a chance to see where she'd come from. "Hello, I am here!" she announced after everyone had already noticed her, and Tai Lung noticeably leaned away from her. "Is this wine? I will drink some, yes."
Tigress poured her a cup of baijiu. "This is grain liquor," she corrected, though Gia didn't seem overly concerned about the strength of the alcohol.
"I think I like this New Year," Gia said, her face pink from the alcohol. "It is not so somber as I would expect. What is this?" She grabbed a dumpling and popped it in her mouth before anyone could answer her.
"You're in quite a good mood," Shifu observed, confused. He knew for a fact that she had just been with Lin, and Lin wasn't exactly Gia's biggest fan. Even if she liked Gia, Lin was still harsh and angry enough to make the girl cry.
"I saw firecrackers!" Gia replied cheerfully, clapping her hands like a child. "They are very loud, yes?"
Shifu wasn't surprised that Lin had dragged Gia along to play with dangerous explosives, but he still didn't approve.
Viper joined the conversation before he could voice his disapproval, though. "I'm glad you're having so much fun, Gia! Were you with Po?"
He winced, waiting for Gia to start crying because of something Lin had said or done to her.
"I was with my mother," Gia said as casually as someone with a normal mother might. "Ah! Do not tell her I called her that." Then she laughed.
Shifu came to a realization, then. "Are you drunk?"
She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Perhaps. How strong is a bottle of this... What is it?" She indicated the baijiu.
"You drank a whole bottle of baijiu?" Monkey asked incredulously. "You're my hero!"
"Wow, you gotta be really drunk," Mantis added with a chuckle. "Maybe drunk enough to kiss a bug?"
"My mother taught me a phrase for this." Gia paused, tapping on her chin. "Get bent." Then she refilled her drink while they all stared at her with mouths agape.
"Well that just happened," Crane observed, breaking the silence.
Shifu was less than pleased at the phrases Lin had apparently been teaching Gia, and he could tell from Tigress' frown that she agreed. "Gia, since when do you talk like this?" Though he did recall the night they'd met, when she'd called him names in Italian. Maybe it was as much the drink's influence as Lin's.
"You shouldn't repeat the things Lin says," Tigress added, sounding just as protective as he did.
Gia didn't look pleased at their concern, though before she could argue Po emerged from the crowd, giving both her and Tigress friendly pats on the back.
"Hey, guys!" he greeted. "I just finished helping Dad set up the noodle cart, and I got some time to hang out before I gotta go back. Got us some day old bean buns, while I was at it." He dropped a basket in the middle of the table, which Monkey and Mantis immediately tore into. "Are the decorations awesome this year, or what?"
Tigress slid down the bench to make room for him, and Gia followed her. "These decorations look the same as every year."
"And they're awesome every year!" Po plopped down in the space made for him and took a bean bun. "Maybe I'm just feelin' extra festive this year. I mean, Dad's been doin' great now that he's got extra help around the restaurant, and I don't gotta worry about him bein' alone..." He trailed off, glancing at Shifu. "Uh, sorry. Didn't mean to bring up a sore subject."
"It is fine," Shifu grumbled into his baijiu. "I am sure I'll survive."
"Well, I know guy talk when I hear it!" Viper said chirpily, as though she'd been waiting all night for an excuse to say it. She slithered off the bench and paused to collect Gia and Tigress. "Come on, let's go get some sweet potatoes and watch the dancers!"
Gia squealed with delight and jumped up, dragging Tigress along with her.
"Hey, wait up, guys," Po said, then tried to get up, only for Tai Lung to grab him by the arm and yank him back down.
"If I have to endure this torture, so do you," he said petulantly, apparently willing to join the conversation now that he had a chance to say something negative.
"Yeah, guy time!" Mantis added, completely ignoring Tai Lung's declaration that time spent with them was torture. "You don't wanna run off with a bunch of girls, do you?"
"I would," Monkey replied, and they both burst into laughter.
"That's not funny," Crane said stiffly. "Viper and Tigress are our teammates."
"I meant real girls," Monkey corrected with a wave of his hand. "Not them."
"Except Gia," Mantis said. "She's-" he paused when he noticed Shifu's irritated glare. "Uh- she's a lovely young maiden. And an... Upright citizen."
"You're still walking on thin ice," Shifu informed him, but let the almost-lecherous comment slide. He was still bothered enough to contemplate trying to sic Lin on the insect. Not that Lin would care about Gia enough to do anything. And now he was thinking about Lin again. "Give me another drink," he ordered.
"Aw, what's wrong?" Po asked, which he rolled his eyes at.
"What do you think, panda?" Tai Lung replied with a snort. "The codger's moping over Lin."
He took issue with that wording, but didn't have a chance to say so, since his students were more than ready to jump in with their own advice.
"I got a technique for getting over a woman," Mantis advised as he poured drinks for all of them. "Use it on all my exes."
"All one of her," Monkey heckled, causing Crane to snort with laughter.
"Anyway," Mantis pressed on, sounding only slightly indignant, "the trick is to think of all the things they did that annoyed you. Try it, Master Shifu."
"I don't know," Shifu said, reluctant to bash Lin when he wanted so badly to win her back.
"It seems kinda mean," Po added.
"It's not mean as long as you focus on your lack of compatibility," Crane said with a decisive nod. "That's what I do."
"Yeah, he's boring," Mantis added with a laugh.
"Fine," Shifu conceded, if only to get the men off his back. He made a mental note, as well, to let them know he didn't appreciate how closely they'd been paying attention to his love life. "I will list a few things." He couldn't say he liked the way they leaned toward him, waiting for the juicy details, but he pressed on anyway. "She always announced her bowel movements."
"Ewww!" they all exclaimed simultaneously.
Then, after an awkward pause, Po asked, "What's that mean, exactly?"
Shifu rubbed at his temples. "I don't want to tell the details."
Then Tai Lung spoke up. "He means that if she leaves a room to do her business, she feels the need to say so. Once she farted up the whole room, then when she left she said, 'I've been barking all night, and now it's time for the bite.'"
"Oh, wow," Po said with a snort, and Monkey and Mantis laughed as well.
"That's... Colorful," Crane added.
Shifu glanced sideways at Tai Lung, but he looked stoic as ever. "Yes. She also insisted on making spicy food even though it doesn't agree with me."
"You can do better than that," Mantis prompted with a nudge.
He sipped at his baijiu as he thought. "She has never been above physically attacking me."
"Ouch!"
He was starting to get the hang of this. "She flirted with other people in front of me! And she never made the bed. Not even once."
"I feel like those two aren't necessarily on the same level," Crane pointed out.
"Let him talk, he's on a roll," Monkey dismissed.
Shifu steeled himself with another drink. "She hit me in the crotch far too many times for it to be accidental, regardless of what she said. She snapped at me for ridiculous reasons. She would say, 'this is for you,' and when I held out my hand, she would put garbage or nail clippings or some such in it. She drank even when we were supposed to be doing something important. Which reminds me, she never took anything seriously!"
"She always dropped spoilers even when she knew I hadn't finished a story," Tai Lung suddenly added, then finished off his drink. "And she made me drink algae."
Shifu furrowed his brow. "...I have not had those experiences."
"Don't get distracted, now," Mantis said, refilling his baijiu for him. "Let's keep this party going."
Shifu drank, thinking of the myriad ways in which Lin had annoyed him. "Did I mention all the terrible names she had for her bowel movements? Brown butter, the Emperor's gold, plops. Even if she just felt like she had to go she'd call it a 'rumble in the streets.'"
"Yan-Yan just called it 'big jobs,'" Tai Lung added wistfully.
Shifu raised his eyebrows. "Yan-Yan?" he asked incredulously. He stared at his son, but received no response. "Is this what that letter was about?" He sincerely hoped this was yet another misunderstanding. If Yan-Yan had carried on some kind of relationship with his son during his rehabilitation in Shanghai, he would have quite a bit to say to the cat. Tai Lung may be an adult, but Yan-Yan had been his doctor, and such a relationship was unethical at best and taking advantage at worst.
"Nunya business," Tai Lung grumbled, then downed his drink and stood up. "I'm going to go find Lin. Since you find her so annoying, you might want to stay here."
Shifu blinked after Tai Lung as he walked away, stunned by his sudden defense of Lin. Then, for once, he decided not to let his son get away with acting disrespectful and getting the last word in. He finished his own drink with minimal coughing before following after the snow leopard. "I think that if a woman whose charge was to care for you took advantage, then I should know," he declared when he caught up.
"Good gods, you're still here?" Tai Lung drawled in return.
"If Yan-Yan is sending you letters-"
"Hey, you got a letter from Yan-Yan, too?" Lin poked her head out from a line reaching most of the way across the street, for a booth advertising sweet pan-fried nian gao and baijiu. Of course she would pop up again just in time to hear their argument. "How come you didn't tell me, huh?"
"It's a private matter," Tai Lung argued, then joined Lin in line. The people he'd cut probably would have complained, if it weren't for the fact that he was still considered a fearsome and dangerous villain in the village.
"Private?" Shifu repeated, narrowing his eyes.
"So's it a sexy letter?" Lin asked, her tone inappropriately casual.
"No," Tai Lung snapped. "It's just heartfelt."
Lin nodded in agreement, then took a swig from her flask.
"Mind cluing me in?" Shifu asked irritably, looking back and forth between the two. It frustrated him that they seemed to have excluded him entirely from the conversation, especially when they understood a situation he had only just discovered. "And I'll remind you, Lin, that I am Tai Lung's father."
Lin rolled her eyes very conspicuously. And then a second time.
"Stop that and answer me!" He couldn't believe he loved a woman who was so immature. "And you, too, Tai Lung. If you've formed an inappropriate bond with that so-called doctor-"
"Her name's Yan-Yan," Lin interrupted, crossing her arms. "And she's my best friend, remember?"
"Goddamn, even I know you don't talk about a woman's best friend like that," Tai Lung added.
"Did it ever occur to you that sometimes when people live together, they form bonds with one another?" Lin continued, her fur starting to frizz out extra as was her habit when she became particularly agitated.
Shifu couldn't believe what he was witnessing. Lin and Tai Lung were ganging up on him. He turned to Tai Lung in the hopes of breaking up this unholy alliance. "Weren't you just talking about how she farts up the whole room?"
Tai Lung crossed his arms, mirroring Lin. This was not a good sign. "Better just a room than the whole valley."
"Nice," Lin complimented.
"Ugh," Shifu grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Just get lost and leave Tai Lung to me for a little bit, huh?" Lin said, uncrossing her arms to drink from her flask again. "I'll make sure he doesn't rampage on anything."
"I believe I told you that I didn't want you spending too much time with him," Shifu replied, though judging by the way Tai Lung's eyes narrowed at his statement, she hadn't communicated that to anyone yet.
"I remember," she said with a shrug. "I just think you're fulla shit."
"Among other things," Tai Lung grumbled.
"I should ground you like a child," Shifu snapped at him. "Because that is how you're behaving!"
"Aren't I always grounded, technically?" he asked, then took Lin's flask from her and drank from it deeply enough to make Shifu wonder what he'd been up to in Shanghai.
Shifu turned his attention back to Lin. "You are a terrible influence on him."
"He's forty, he'll live," she replied. "And honestly, I thought you were trying to be nice, letting him come to this thing like anyone else. Isn't that the whole point?"
Shifu glared at the two of them, well aware that Lin had him backed into a corner with that last argument. "Very well," he ground out. "But if I catch one whiff of undue mischief, it is straight back up the mountain with you."
"Undue mischief?" Tai Lung and Lin both repeated in unison, and then snorted together to boot.
"I need a drink," Shifu growled, then headed back to the picnic table where his good students had congregated. He slid into the seat he'd left behind, picked up his cup, and held it out for a refill.
His students all eyed each other as if they somehow knew how his conversation had gone, then Mantis topped him off.
Shifu drank deeply, then set his cup down and cleared his throat. "Fine," he said. "Since you're all clearly going to tiptoe around me if I don't, I'll say it. My son and my girlfriend like each other more than me." That had probably been the drink talking, honestly.
Po's large paw landed on his back in a comforting pat. "Don't worry about it so much," he soothed. "But, uh, dontchya mean ex-girlfriend?"
Shifu glared at him for that one.
"Remember," Mantis prompted, "all those nail clippings."
Monkey nodded sagely beside him.
"Maybe it's not working," Crane said judiciously. "I mean, you can't force feelings to go away."
"Yes," Shifu agreed, slapping the table to emphasize the point. "That is exactly right, thank you, Crane." He finished off his drink for good measure, too. "A woman is like this baijiu. You want it more when it's gone."
"You're not makin' much sense," Po pointed out while Mantis and Monkey chuckled together and refilled his drink.
"Don't ruin this for us, Po," Monkey warned, and Shifu decided to ignore that comment.
Maybe Lin had a point, about letting loose tonight. He could have a few drinks if he wanted, and everyone else in the village would be too focused on their own celebrations to think less of him. "Po, you have never been in love with a woman," Shifu informed the panda. "You would not understand their..." He waved his hand in the air, trying to remember the word he'd just had in mind. "Stuff."
"Right," Po agreed hesitantly, twiddling his thumbs. "Well, I got an idea. A good one. For getting Lin back, that is."
Shifu paused with his drink halfway to his mouth and glanced up at Po, along with everyone else at the table.
The panda had gone slightly red from the scrutiny, but he continued his point levelly. "Lin's still technically the Jade Palace's official artist, ain't she? I mean, ya haven't replaced her, right?"
Shifu nodded, as did Monkey, Mantis, and Crane.
"Well, what if ya pay her a salary again?" Po said, seemingly encouraged by the rapt attention. "She'd hafta come back and be the resident artist again. Then she'd be around all the time!"
"That is an excellent idea, panda," Shifu commended, pleased with the plan. "I shall do that."
"What if she just quits?" Crane asked, and they all glared at him until he shrank back. "Okay, she won't, I guess..."
"Exactly," Mantis said, throwing up his pincers. "If you make her an offer she can't refuse, then she can't refuse it!"
This was all making a lot of sense. "Yes," Shifu agreed. "This is the perfect plan." He tried to drink from his cup, but realized quickly that it had been emptied already. When he stood up, a wave of dizziness overtook him, and he had no choice but to admit that the drink had gone to his head. "I think I may need to walk this off a little."
"You should walk right over there to Lin and give her a piece of your mind," Monkey suggested.
"Yeah!" Mantis chimed in.
"Uh, no," Po argued. "Just ask her to come back to work."
"Yeah!" Mantis repeated.
"No," Shifu said, rubbing at his temples. "I need to sober up a little, first."
"Nooo," Mantis whined.
"Yes," Shifu argued. "I must keep my senses sharp, for Lin requires a firm hand. Wait. Or am I thinking of the children's kung fu classes?" He paused, trying to remember who or what required a firm hand. "I know Lin requires something, and I will be prepared for it."
"I'll bet," the insect added with a hearty laugh.
"You're doing laps now," Shifu snapped at him. "You may stop when I'm sober."
"Laps around what, though?" Mantis asked, scratching at his head with a pincer.
"Uhm." He hadn't thought about that yet. "I don't know. Just cover the whole festival." His stomach grumbled just then. "And bring me back something to eat."
With a groan, Mantis began his laps.
"Hey, wait up," Monkey called, following after him. "I wanna see the festival, too!" He had apparently missed the part about the laps being a punishment.
"Monkey, it's not-" Crane paused in his explanation, then let out a heavy sigh. "They've had too much to drink." He buried his face in his wing a moment before going after the two.
Shifu realized fairly quickly that this left him alone with Po. He stared into his empty cup, contemplating what to do next. He wanted to drink more, but he needed to slow down for his own sake, if for no other reason.
"So..." Po twiddled his thumbs. "Ya said you're havin' trouble with Tai Lung, huh?"
Shifu eyed the panda. He was the Dragon Warrior, now, and such a position required great wisdom. Even if Po could not offer him counsel, it would be good practice for his student. "Fine, but do not repeat this."
"Promise," he said, holding up one hand in an oath.
"This whole situation is getting out of hand," Shifu confided uneasily. "Tai Lung will not listen to a single thing I try to teach him. All he ever wants to do is be alone or be with- with Lin. In fact, I told him I would arrange etiquette lessons so he could relearn the manners befitting a master of kung fu, but I don't even know where to start!"
Po, for his part, looked more excited than sympathetic. "Master, I know who'd be perfect for those etiquette lessons!" He then physically grabbed Shifu by the shoulders and turned him to face... A sweet potato vendor. Tigress and Gia were currently standing to the side and sharing a sweet potato while Gia animatedly spoke to the sow behind the stand. From what he could tell with his above average hearing, she was asking the woman everything anyone could possibly want to know about sweet potatoes, while the sow patiently nodded and waited for the long line of questions to end.
"Gia?" he asked skeptically.
"And Tigress," Po added.
He narrowed his eyes. "What?"
"Well, Gia's real polite, right?" Po asked. "Except when she drinks, I guess."
"Right," Shifu agreed slowly.
"And Tigress knows everything there is to know about how kung fu masters act, right?"
"No," Shifu denied, then twisted himself on the bench to face the picnic table again. "Tigress is indeed knowledgeable, but she's too unpredictable. She would let her temper get the better of her, dealing with someone like Tai Lung."
Po nodded thoughtfully. "Except that she's always super relaxed with Gia."
Shifu rubbed at the side of his face as he thought over the idea, then turned to look at Tigress and Gia again. Tigress was smiling. And laughing. He hadn't seen his daughter so happy in a long time. "How did you know that?"
"Tigress and I've been helping Gia with her reading," he said, as though Shifu should know this already. "Anyway, she's super patient when we're teachin' Gia. Maybe it's 'cause they're..." He trailed off then, though Shifu could tell he'd wanted to say something.
"They're what?" Shifu prompted, confused by Po's reluctance.
"I think," Po said slowly, twiddling his thumbs, "that there's such a thing as two people who're meant to be together. Y'know?"
"I know." He tried not to think of Lin, then, but he couldn't help himself. Perhaps the panda was right, though. Perhaps Tigress and Gia were meant to be close friends. Perhaps, if he convinced Lin to forgive him, they were meant to be a family someday. And Po's solution to his etiquette lesson problem- that no one student of his was perfect for the job- was simple yet elegant. All he needed was a team, rather than a single teacher. "I will think about it."
"Awesome! I'm fulla so many good ideas tonight," Po bragged, as he tended to sometimes do.
Shifu turned back to the panda, eyeing him suspiciously. "Yes, you have had far more good ideas tonight than usual," he observed shrewdly, which caused Po to nervously avoid eye contact. "When did you have time to brainstorm all this, exactly?"
"Uhp, looks like Tigress and Gia need me!" Po suddenly exclaimed. "You know how it is, teachin' stuff. Readin'. Stuff. I should go." He retreated in the direction the rest of his students had.
Shifu watched him go, still suspicious over his sudden flurry of ideas. And it had been Po's idea for Lin to work at the noodle shop. He had never been a fan of that arrangement. He had seen the evidence for himself that Lin wasn't lying about her status as a master artist. A job waiting tables and chopping vegetables was beneath her. In fact, he planned to find her and tell her as much right that moment. If she didn't want to listen, then that would be her problem. She was going to return to her work as an artist if he had to tie the brush to her hand and lock her in the Jade Palace studio. She'd probably slap him for saying all those things, but he knew from experience that if he waited her out long enough she would eventually give up and kiss him. He looked forward to the kissing part.
Tai Lung bit into some sweet fried nian gao, briefly hit by nostalgia for Shanghai at the taste. He was certain the valley's celebration of the New Year's start paled in comparison to Shanghai's. He imagined, too, that Yan-Yan knew where to go for all the best parties, best fireworks, best food.
"So what was in that letter Yan-Yan sentya?" Lin asked him, poking him in the side to get his attention.
"What was in yours?" Tai Lung shot back.
"Okay, I get your point," she conceded with surprising readiness. "I just wanted to know if it was, y'know... Romantic. Seeing as I'm your mentor and all. Or something."
He snorted at the excuse, but he didn't have anything to hide, anyway. "That element of our relationship is over for good," he said. If he hadn't been convinced of that before, the letter would have confirmed it for him. "She only wrote me friendly things, like how she was bored without us and that I should stay out of trouble and make an effort to reform myself, blah blah blah." He'd actually been a little disappointed that she hadn't written anything along the lines of wanting him back, but he had already known what the letter would contain. "She sent along a new story, too." He'd already finished it, actually. It had been a quick read, a romance about a princess with mystical powers who was courted by three men, all of whom died in the story's climax. He assumed that was so the writer could go on to write the princess with even more characters in a sequel.
"Oh, that's nice," Lin said, like she didn't have an opinion about everything he'd just told her.
"Let's hear it," he grumbled, annoyed that she was holding back.
"I just think it'd be a good time for a rebound, and that's where I'll leave it."
"Sure," he replied skeptically, which earned him a punch in the arm.
"I already wrote back to her," Lin added. "You gotta take my letter and send it out with yours."
"Why should I?" He rubbed at his arm, surprised by the strength with which she'd been able to hit him. Maybe she'd been working out lately.
"'Cause I can't afford to send something all the way to Shanghai," Lin said, a whiny tinge to her voice. "And the Jade Palace has messengers on staff, so it's not like it'd costya anything."
"Okay, fine." He decided that since she had pried into his correspondence with Yan-Yan, he'd do the same to her. "Did you admit that you've been dumped?"
Lin turned pink and frowned at the question. "Yeah," she grumbled. "I mean, I kinda hafta."
He regretted the question, now that he saw how badly he'd made her feel. "Well, she'll write you some sentimental drivel that will cheer you up," he added. "Like how you're going to move on and be happy on your own. Or something."
A small smile tugged at her lips, and she momentarily leaned against him. That was all the thanks she offered, and it was all he needed from her. "Let's get real drunk and go gamble."
"Gamble?" he repeated, furrowing his brow. He hadn't thought of the Valley as having enough seedy characters in it for Lin to take part in her usual activities, but apparently he'd been wrong.
"Ping invited me to a mahjong game," Lin clarified, punching her fist into her hand. "And he's as high-stakes as it gets around these parts. I'm gonna clean up! So long as I'm not playing against Ping, that is."
Tai Lung snorted. "I'll watch," he conceded, because as much confidence as he possessed in his kung fu skills, he could honestly say he had no business playing mahjong for money. After all, he'd learned from the worst player in the province: Shifu.
"Hey, maybe you'll learn something," Lin replied. "Then I'll have fulfilled my duty as your teacher."
"If you really want to fulfill your duty as my teacher, you'll tell me more about these visions I keep getting," he pointed out. He doubted she'd have any more input for him than she had before, but she was his only hope for some insight.
"Aw, c'mon," Lin groaned like a child avoiding homework. "It's the first night of the New Year! Can't we just forget about that serious crap and have fun?"
"I saw more this time," he added. "That thing just stared at me, like it could see through me. And the sea..." He trailed off when Lin started drinking from her flask, annoyed by her lack of interest. "Am I boring you?"
"A little," she said.
"You're just an alcoholic old crone, aren't you?" he asked in his frustration.
She stuck her tongue out at him. Why anyone over the age of five would try to insult a person in such a way, he didn't understand. "I already lived that whole vision, remember? I don't got much to tellya about it. Except that now I gotta return to the sea when I die."
"I'm assuming that's the debt from the vision," he grumbled. "You're sure you don't remember anything more significant? Can't you give me any teacherly advice?"
"Nope," she said with a shrug.
He clutched at his head so as to resist the urge to shake her. "Then why on Earth am I even having these visions?"
"How the hell'm I supposed to know?" Lin asked with a scoff. "I don't even know why I was having 'em."
"And to think I chose you to guide me," he said flatly. "Willingly."
"Look, I remember about as much as you saw," Lin told him as she led him through town to her mahjong game. "Maybe that thing I saw was a spirit of the sea. Maybe it was just someone who lived there. Maybe it was neither. I decided not to overthink it a long time ago, but if you're seeing it, it must be important. Some of the sailors I met had a name for it, though."
"Oh?" That was at least something new.
"Kraken," Lin told him with a laugh. "Y'know, like a sea monster. Doesn't that sound ridiculous?"
"Yes, yet you saw this thing and now it's in my visions." He wondered, and not for the first time, if it might be better to just go back to prison.
Lin narrowed her eyes at him, frowning. "It wasn't a monster. It was something that could look at you and see right into you. And then it chose to save me."
"Save you?"
"From drowning," she clarified.
Tai Lung rubbed at his chin, contemplating Lin's story. She actually had given him some relevant information. If the creature in the vision saved Lin's life, then he was witnessing a significant moment. Or maybe not. He still had no idea of the meaning of such a vision. "I'm getting confused," he admitted. "How did that insufferable coot, Oogway, ever do this sort of thing?"
"Beats me," Lin said, then offered him her flask.
He took a swig from it, then returned it to her. He didn't want to drink too much and make a fool of himself. "Your wisdom is incomparable, oh great teacher."
"I'll give your situation some more thought later," she promised, though that didn't stop her from rolling her eyes at him. "Oogway said those visions were supposed to help you, so keep paying attention to 'em. In the meantime, let's make some easy money."
"Once again, I am not gambling." He'd nearly lost all his money the last time he had chosen to participate in gambling of any kind, though he'd been much more inebriated back then. He still didn't feel like letting go of what little savings he had. He would have liked to spend some time in solitary meditation, contemplating his visions, instead. But if he tried to do such a thing, Lin would give him a hard time. According to her, he needed to relax once in a while. Once in a while happened far more often for Lin than it ever had for him, of course.
Tai Lung watched Lin gamble for a little while, but there wasn't much excitement involved in watching old people play mahjong. He definitely received as much food as he would ever need, since the game was hosted in Mr. Ping's restaurant and the goose kept pushing dumplings on him as payment for his work earlier in the day. A few of the group seemed wary around him, but most ignored him, paying rapt attention to the games. There were two pigs, a rabbit, and three geese in the group. Lin currently played against a sow who had placed a large stack of yuan on the table. Lin, meanwhile, had a gigantic bottle of baijiu that she kept drinking from.
"I'm going to fall asleep where I stand," Tai Lung told her. "I'm going to go."
Lin waved him off, unconcerned with him being in the village alone. "I'm in the thick of it now," she said. "Go on without me." She sounded like she'd been wounded in battle.
He wished he could get this kind of independence from Shifu, but that didn't seem like it would ever happen. "See you in the morning, I'm sure."
Tai Lung found that he didn't get nearly as many extreme reactions on the street as usual. He assumed that everyone still out had been drinking as much as Lin had, so they didn't much notice him. A few children pointed and stared, but parents didn't run or scream. They were headed toward the Jade Palace, to get a good view of the first of many rounds of fireworks that would be set off that night. He stopped and watched what he could see between houses for a bit, remembering the fireworks he'd once watched with Lin as a child. If he remembered correctly, she and Shifu had argued briefly about marriage, and Oogway had needed to change the subject. So not much had changed, there.
Except that Oogway was gone, now.
He walked down the street and stopped on a moon bridge, watching the water of the stream that cut through town beneath it. Oogway had shown himself to Lin in those visions, yet refused to appear to him. He knew it must have to do with his past indiscretions. Oogway had always projected a relaxed air, but he could be as unforgiving as anyone else. After all, the old turtle had been the one to design his restraints in Chor-Ghom. Maybe these visions weren't from Oogway, though. Lin had suggested the idea that the thing he saw in the visions, that she had seen, was not of this world. Perhaps it was the one showing him this memory. That only confused the matter.
Tai Lung stretched out his shoulders, stiff from stress, staring intently into the water. And then he blinked, startled by the sight of something looking back at him. The moment he'd closed his eyes, though, it had disappeared. He frowned down at the stream, trying to catch another glimpse of it, but nothing happened. He thought he had seen that large, unnerving eye again. He must be seeing things from lack of sleep and too much to drink.
He wondered if he should simply return to Lin. It was unlikely the Wu Sisters would strike on the New Year, when the village was crawling with kung fu masters, but stranger things had happened. And the panda was too busy hawking noodles at that ridiculous cart to take care of the old woman. He would focus on keeping Lin under his watch, as he normally did, and maybe the meaning of his visions would appear more clear in the morning. If not, then at least he wouldn't wake up hung over like the rest of the valley's residents would.
Lin cackled to herself as she walked down the crowded street, though there were no children out anymore at this late hour. She had won big at her mahjong game. Ping had really meant it when he'd said his friend, Gogo or whatever, was bad at mahjong. She was glad, too, because she'd put a date on the line and Gogo was... What was the word? Ugly. He had small eyes and a mouth that always frowned, and his ears were lopsided. She normally liked pigs, and she'd gone out with ugly men before, but usually they had an element of appeal like big hands or a sense of humor. What was his name- Gorgot- was boring and his jokes were stupid. Winning her game had been the most interesting part of playing, though she couldn't remember what she'd won. Ping had been handling the pot, so she'd just ask him in the morning.
In the meantime, she wanted food. Not just any food, though. Free food. She flexed her fingers and eyed the food stalls up and down the street. Many vendors were already preparing to close down. There was one, however, still trying to flag down customers.
Po stood with Ping's noodle cart, wearing an apron and that weird hat made to look like a bowl of noodles. Lin swore she'd never let Ping put that hat on her. She'd wanted to practice her flirting, but Po was her easiest target for a free meal. She inserted herself into a conversation with Viper, leaning on the noodle cart. "Seriously? You got stuck with this thing?"
"Yeah," Po sighed, then furrowed his brow. "Wait, you haven't worked the cart all night!"
"I stayed late at the restaurant," Lin replied indignantly. "B'sides, Ping says I'm too drunk to trust with money right now."
"Figures," he complained.
Lin rolled her eyes, then turned her attention to Viper. The snake had fresh jasmine flowers on her head for the night, which she'd tied together in bunches with red ribbons. "Hey, Viper," she greeted, figuring this was her chance to flirt a little. "Looks like I had too much to drink. Wanna take me home and tuck me in?"
"Wait, what?" Po leaned away from her, as did Viper.
"In your dreams," Viper said with a snort. "Don't you think you're being a little inappropriate?"
"Dontchya think you're being a little sober?" Lin shot back, disappointed by the harsh rejection. "Loosen up, already."
"No thanks."
Lin drank from her flask, then turned to Po. "What about you, panda?"
"Huh?" He edged farther behind the noodle cart, gulping nervously. "What about me, now?"
"You're no fun, either," she whined, then drank from her flask again.
"I'm just going to... Go," Viper said, then slithered away without another word.
"Dammit," Lin grumbled to herself. "Am I losing my edge? I can't be. Meihui's just as pretty as Viper and she wants to kiss the shit outta me." That reminded her, she needed to mail her letter to Meihui out with Yan-Yan's. She had to admit, she'd gotten flirtier in her letter than she probably should have, but at least she was single now.
"Who's Meihui?" Po asked.
"My best friend's ex-husband's second wife," Lin said. "She's real cute, and she paints."
"Uh... That sounds iffy." Po handed her a child-sized serving of noodles, glancing nervously around in the process. "Here, eat somethin'. It'll help ya sober up."
"Wow, and I only had to strike out with your friend to get it," she marveled, taking the noodles and devouring them. She was just drunk enough to not feel tired of noodles anymore. "I meant it, by the way, when I said you're welcome to it."
"Welcome to what?" he asked with wide, clueless eyes.
She liked green eyes, and she took a moment to appreciate them. "All I'm saying is, I wouldn't say no."
"Huh?" He looked deep in thought, then shook his head. "Never mind. Okay."
Maybe she was losing her edge, after all. She'd never gotten such a dense response from anyone, except maybe Shifu. But she'd figured Shifu out a while ago. All he needed were a few sappy lines and some gross coy act where she didn't actually mention sex. Mentioning sex, or anything related, freaked him out too much. It also helped if she got him a little mad, first. "Panda, d'you ever, like..." She trailed off, then finished her noodles. "Anyway, d'you ever just, like, wanna go for an easy target?"
"You're really losin' me tonight." He scratched at his head and frowned at her, then gave her a bean bun. "Here, maybe this'll help."
"Thanks!" She ate it as fast as she could, because she just couldn't feel full.
"Anyway, my dad says that just 'cause somethin's easy, doesn't make it the right thing to do."
"Your dad says lotsa stuff." Lin wiped her hands off on his apron. "But, y'know, I don't listen all the time."
"I can tell." Po gestured hopefully to the noodle cart. "Feelin' good enough to take 'er for a spin, yet?"
"I don't wanna," Lin argued with a sniff. "I'd rather take you for a spin."
"Uh- buh-" Po stuttered nonsensically, then shrunk down behind the cart as if he thought he could hide behind it.
"Oh my God," Lin grumbled. "It's just a line, quit being a baby."
"What are you doing to my student?" Shifu joined them, because Shifu always showed up if she stayed in the same place long enough.
Well, if she wanted to flirt, then Shifu would be the obvious choice. She had to warm him up first by getting a little fight into him. "What's it to you, melonhead?"
"Po is trying to help his father," Shifu lectured, bristling at the slightest insult as always. "You should not be harassing him like some common vagabond."
"What?" She turned to Po and gave him a little poke to make sure he wasn't trying to run off. "D'you hear how he's talking to me?"
"Uhuh, sure," the panda agreed nervously. "Please don't break anything."
"Nobody's ever on my side," she complained with a sniff. "Panda, you're the one who got me a job and a place to stay. How come you're gonna just hide back there?"
"Maybe we should talk about this later-"
"Don't put Po in the middle of our argument," Shifu interrupted. "Or are you drunk enough that Ping has convinced you that Po is actually your boyfriend?"
"Please don't bring that up," Po pleaded.
Lin had gotten a whiff of jealousy from Shifu, and she wasn't about to ignore it. "I'll haveya know that I ain't seeing anyone exclusively right now. But I'm screening candidates for my traditional wild New Year's sex, and the panda's made my list."
"Excuse me?" Shifu ground out, turning red.
"I don't like this list," Po added in a squeaky voice.
"You keep your depraved claws out of my student!" Shifu snapped, going so far as to insert himself between her and the panda.
She frowned, unsatisfied with his reaction. Shifu was supposed to get jealous and want her more, not act like she was some predator he had to protect Po from. "Ugh, whatever." She scanned the dwindling crowd, hoping to find someone cute. "I'll just go find that guy from the apothecary. He's always offering to gimme drugs, I'll get high and bang him." She left out the part about the drugs in question being herbal remedies for arthritis, just to get on his nerves. She walked off, her patience and interest both officially gone.
"Oh no you don't!" Shifu chased after her and grabbed her by the arm, though not firmly enough to hurt. "You are in no condition to wander off like this. And I'll be damned if I let that perverted old goat take advantage of you!"
"Yeah, we both know you wanna be the old pervert taking advantage of me." She tried to yank her arm away, but couldn't break his grip. "Hey, what's your problem?"
"My problem is that you're drunk and irresponsible!" He dragged her to the closest bench and made her sit down. "Do you really want to be dragged off by the first lech who gets his hands on you?"
"I already was," she replied pointedly, raising her eyebrows at him.
Shifu blushed. "That's not true. I'm trying to protect you!"
Lin stared at him, unsure of whether to get angry at him or laugh at him. He was trying to protect her? He sure hadn't cared about that in a long time. He frequently acted like others needed protecting from her, and tonight had been no different. "You're an idiot," she said, because it was the only conclusion she could draw at this point.
"So you're just going to insult me," he grumbled, crossing his arms and standing over her like some kind of prison guard.
"Jeez, canya siddown, already?" Lin grabbed his sleeve and yanked it until he finally sat beside her. "And all I mean is, since when d'you care about protecting me?"
He tensed at her question and frowned. "Since always! I've just been terrible at showing it lately. And by the way, I need you to never hit on Po again."
"So the rest're fair game?" she asked, though she really only thought Viper was attractive.
"No!" He seemed pretty angry about the whole issue. "Do not hit on any of my students! In fact, don't hit on anyone, period!"
Lin bristled at the order. "Where d'you get off, giving me orders? Especially orders about my personal life!" As annoyed as she was, though, she wasn't surprised. He'd always been pushy and bossy, which meant he tended to get too big for his britches every now and then. "You're nothing to me but a balding annoyance, so you don't get to tell me shit."
He huffed and turned red. "You kissed me, remember?"
"I kiss lotsa people." Well, not lately, but he didn't need to know that.
"Must you be so contrary?" He rubbed at his temples, as if she were the one who'd latched onto him and been annoying. "And hasn't anyone ever told you it's bad luck to be mean on the New Year?"
"It is not," Lin argued. "You just made that up."
"Well, I'm sick of your cruelty!" he snapped.
"Y'know what you are?" she shot back. "You're a yeasted dough!"
Shifu opened his mouth to argue with her, but hesitated. "I'm a what?"
"A yeasted dough." Lin could see he didn't know enough about baking to get what she meant. "You rise and rise, until someone needs to punchya down so you don't turn out like shit."
Shifu stared at her with his mouth hanging open before managing any words. "Are you saying I need to be put in my place?" Of course, he didn't bother to wait for her answer. "You are such a hypocrite! You would never let me live if I ever said something like that to you!"
Lin pushed him, since he needed a reminder that she was planning on replying. "First, you've said stuff like that to me before and you're still alive. Second, it's not what I meant."
He frowned skeptically. "It isn't?"
"I meant you're more combative 'an I am, or anyone, I think. Anyway, if I don't fight back then you'll just get even more worked up."
"Since when?"
"How's about the day I came back?" she pointed out. "Whenya drained my bath 'cause I kept agreeing withya and it droveya up the goddamn wall."
He glared at her, no defense or comeback at the ready. "You make me sound crazy," he finally said, in a tone suspiciously close to a whine.
"You are." She laughed at him and his angry little ear twitch. "I liked you crazy. I tend to gravitate toward it. But it's not so bad, so long as you're not hurting anyone."
"I'm not so bad?" he asked. He didn't seem angry anymore.
"That's not what I meant," she grumbled. "You should know 'causeya did hurt someone. You hurt me." She turned away from him so he wouldn't see how upset she'd gotten with practically no prompting. But she didn't want to get up and leave, either. She wanted to hear him apologize again. She already knew that she wouldn't believe it and that she wouldn't forgive him, but every time he said it she tried to remember Oogway's lessons. And even if it never worked, there was a part of her that wanted him to keep trying.
"I'm sorry," Shifu said, right on cue.
Lin smiled, because he was still trying, but it didn't change anything. "I don't believe you."
"What? But I-"
Lin interrupted him with a finger to his mouth. She was done being sad drunk. "Get me some baijiu and something good to eat."
He pulled her hand away from his face. "You're already drunk enough."
"I could get my own liquor and drink alone," Lin pointed out. "Or you could share with me until I get horny drunk again instead of sad drunk. Then I'll flirt withya."
He raised his eyebrows. "You're more direct than ever right now." Then he stood up and went in search of food and drink.
Lin watched him go, leaning back against the wall behind her. She didn't love Shifu. She didn't know if she'd ever really love anyone again, after Al. Maybe he had been it for her. Her last true love. She'd suspected as much before, but Shifu had given her the proof. If she loved him, she'd be able to forgive him, like Oogway had tried to teach her. She'd always forgiven Al, even when he'd acted like a wimp or gambled too much. That was love, wasn't it? Maybe her real problem was that she couldn't love Shifu because she was already in love. She still loved Al. She didn't know if she could ever stop, or even make room for someone else. How could there be room? Al inhabited every corner of her heart.
Shifu returned with a small bottle of baijiu and some tangyuan, round rice cakes in sweet syrup. She ate a few spoonfuls and drank more deeply from the bottle than he'd approve of, then shared as promised. She didn't know how she felt about Shifu, really. She still felt a sense of nostalgia with him, to be honest, even though she hated him and how he'd hurt her. But she didn't hate him all the time. And sometimes she was sad and lonely and desperate to have him back, like he'd dumped her normally instead of kicking her out into a cold winter night. Sometimes, lately, she felt fine and hardly thought of him at all. That was usually while she worked.
"I have something to ask you," he said, interrupting their companionable silence.
"Okay." Lin took the baijiu from him and drank, in case it was something offensive.
"Will you come back to work?" he asked, which surprised her.
She remembered asking the panda to get her pay back for her, of course, but she hadn't expected it to work so fast. And she hadn't expected Shifu to ask her nicely, without insulting her, like it was his own idea or something. "I dunno." She wanted the money, and she wanted to see that studio she hadn't known about, but she wondered now if it was a good idea.
"You're an artist, Lin, and you shouldn't have to do anything else for a living," he said, which was even more jarring. He'd never shown such respect for her craft or how she saw herself before. "Please think about it."
"Fine," she accepted. "But if I come back, it'll hafta be part time so I can still work the restaurant."
"What? Why?" His weird understanding streak had come to an end.
"'Cause I can't just leave Ping with no help," she told him firmly. "And 'cause I like having a job away from the Jade Palace. I work hard and earn my own tips, and I don't gotta listen to your crappy comments about how my money comes from you."
"I don't do that."
She drank more baijiu, ignoring him.
That seemed to change his tune, and he hesitantly asked, "Do I really do that?"
"Yeah." She was starting to feel warm and fuzzy from the drink again, so she let it go. "But tonight, I'm gonna be in charge of you." She leaned into him so he didn't have any doubts about the intent of her words.
It took him under a second to start blushing. "I could never," he protested. "You have had too much to drink-"
Lin shoved the liquor at him. "It's fine if you've had too much, too."
He hesitantly took the bottle from her, but didn't drink. Instead, he nervously shoved a big bite of tangyuan into his mouth, then swallowed with an awkward gulp. "What do you mean, exactly, when you say you'll 'be in charge'?"
"Well, let's put it this way. Remember when I said I like men who could beat the shit outta me?"
He nodded slowly, not quite catching on.
"That's 'cause I like to make 'em kneel and beg."
Shifu sat there rigidly, like he'd just been cornered by some powerful enemy.
"Don't gimme that look," Lin scolded. "I know you're into it." She meant it, too. There were certain things she could tell about a person, and it helped that she'd already slept with him.
Shifu took a long drink of the baijiu, then handed it back along with the tangyuan.
Lin tried to drink, but found the bottle empty. "You drank it all."
"I'll get more," he offered, then jumped up.
"So we are gonna party tonight," she called after him, laughing at the way his ears turned red. She was going to have fun, no matter what. And if she had to shut off her brain and get drunk enough to go home with Shifu, then she'd do it. She'd kind of wanted to go home with him from the start, but she wasn't about to admit that out loud.
Shifu had to finally, at long last, admit to himself that he was drunk. He couldn't even pretend that it had been an accident. He had allowed Lin to pour hard liquor down his throat until he was barely coherent, and of course she had run off the moment he was too inebriated to hide it. He'd found her again near a drum performance, where she was trying to teach Gia some sort of dance. As the group of geese and pigs hit their red, barrel-shaped drums with thick drumsticks, Lin turned her foot out and placed it in front of her, then switched feet. Gia followed suit, but quickly lost her bearing when Lin began dancing faster.
"C'mon, this's just the basics," Lin needled, elbowing Gia in the side.
Gia tried again, then tripped and fell into Lin. They both would have fallen over, if Shifu hadn't rushed forward to catch them and get them back onto their feet. Instead of getting angry, Lin laughed, and Gia dissolved into laughter too.
Shifu didn't quite understand how they had gotten on such good terms, but he didn't ask. "Lin, you left me." He hadn't meant to sound whiny, but he didn't have much control over his tongue at the moment.
"Aww, I made the baby sad," Lin mocked, but she grabbed him by the mustache and pulled him into a kiss anyway.
"Agh!" Gia shrieked at the sight of them kissing, which embarrassed him. "I am going now!" she announced shrilly, then ran off before he could explain that he was not normally this inappropriate.
Lin rolled her eyes. "She'll live." She grabbed him by the sleeve and positioned him next to her, then attempted to teach him that dance move of hers. "Put your foot out, then your other foot. Like- like a boat."
"A boat," he repeated to himself. It didn't make sense, but maybe he was too drunk to understand. "I don't get it."
"I learned this in India," she went on, as if he were following along with her just fine. "Well, this's the basic move. When I was younger, I could do a flip, no lie. From a dead stand."
"I flip sometimes," he replied, furrowing his brow as he stared down at her feet. "Can't dance, though."
Lin stopped dancing and shrugged. "I was kinda done, anyway," she accepted with a smile.
"I came here to look for you," Shifu told her, though he couldn't remember why it had been so important to find her in the first place. "I was going to ask you... A thing. Will you do me... Do me the, the thing..." He trailed off as he tried to get a handle on his words. He'd been more affected by all the liquor he'd had to drink than he'd expected.
"Uhuh," Lin encouraged as she grabbed him by the collar and pulled him into a darkened alley.
Well, a little privacy would help him gather his thoughts on the matter. "Will you do work?" He paused again, embarrassed by his miswording. "I mean, did you think about it? The work?"
"Y'mean being the Jade Palace's official artist again, right?" she asked as she led him down the alley, then turned him and started backing him up.
"Yes, that," he agreed. His back was against a wall now, though he couldn't imagine why. Perhaps he should have been paying closer attention to where they were going.
"With a raise, of course," she added.
"Of course," he agreed. He tried to conclude their meeting by returning to the main street, but Lin held fast to him, and for some reason he couldn't seem to break her grip.
"Huh," Lin mused. "You're not as strong when you're drunk, areya?"
"I would not know," he said indignantly. "I am not... What?" He paused, trying to remember what she'd asked him. "I'm drunk," he concluded flatly.
"Don't worry," she reassured him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "I am, too."
"Oh, good," he sighed, relieved that she was in a similar state, and that no one was with them in the alley to see it.
Lin kissed him with one of her forceful, dizzying kisses that left him breathless and wishing for more, then pulled back and added a sweet little kiss to his cheek, too.
"Oh," he realized out loud. "You wanted to kiss this whole time."
"Yeah," she said, laughing at him. "You remember what I said, right?"
"That you were going to take advantage of me, yes," he confirmed, shaking his head at the thought. She could really be over the top sometimes.
"Well, I'm gonna," Lin concluded, and one hand landed squarely on his backside.
Shifu managed to sidle away from her this time, though she stayed close. "I am not that kind of girl," he informed her stiffly, then realized what he'd said when she started laughing again. "Man," he corrected. "That kind of man."
"What kind?" she asked, then grabbed him by the belt, presumably to keep him from leaving.
"The alleyway kind," he said with an indignant sniff. "I require the comfort of a proper bedroom, I will have you know."
"Okay, let's go to your bedroom, then," she accepted.
He nodded, pleased that he had won their argument. "Okay, we shall go."
Lin took his hand, her palm warm and calloused, and led him back to the main street. "I'm kinda hungry," she said over her shoulder.
"So hungry," he agreed, astonished that he hadn't noticed it before. "I have money. Is there food? There is still food, correct?"
"We need so much food," Lin replied. "Then we're gonna go up there and do it." She snorted and giggled, though he wasn't sure what was so funny.
"Sounds good." This was an excellent plan.
Po ran through the village toward his dad's restaurant, pushing the noodle cart ahead of him. He passed by a couple of drunken stragglers on his way, then groaned to himself when fireworks began exploding far above his head. Everyone knew the best place to view the fireworks was from up on the mountain, but he'd gotten held up when his dad had asked him to watch the noodle cart. And since Lin had run off for the night, he'd had to help. He wheeled the cart around to the back of the restaurant, then headed inside to lock up his earnings and put away his apron.
He paused at the sight of Tigress sitting at one of the long tables, staring up at the light show. "Hey," he greeted, then quickly locked away the money from the cart and threw his apron onto a hook. "I thought you'd be up at the Jade Palace by now."
"You, too," she replied. "I suppose it makes more sense for you to be here."
He shrugged. "I won't judge."
"I didn't want to be around the crowds anymore," Tigress added. "I like the New Year celebration, but it gets old after a few hours. And I thought your father wouldn't mind if I watched from here."
"Where is my dad?" Po asked, then sat beside her at the table.
She raised her eyebrows at him. "According to him, he has a date to attend tonight."
"Ew." He wrinkled his nose, though Tigress grinned a little at his reaction.
"Just don't tell Viper. She'll go on and on about how your father is a 'sexual being.'"
Po shuddered at the memory of how Viper had said that about Master Shifu. "I think I'm good just not thinkin' about my dad's personal life, ever."
"Me, too," Tigress agreed, and they lapsed into silence as they looked up through the red lanterns and watched the fireworks above.
Po didn't mind. He liked sitting quietly and enjoying her company while they watched the fireworks. He felt comfortable in silence with her, which wasn't something he could say about many people. He didn't feel nervous or insecure, or like he needed to make a joke just to fill the pauses between conversation. Sure, she'd made him nervous when they'd first met. Tigress made most people nervous, though. Once he'd gotten to know her, he'd felt differently. He stole a glance sideways at her and blushed when their eyes met. "Uh- what is it?"
"Nothing," Tigress replied thoughtfully. "I was just looking at you."
"Okay," Po accepted, furrowing his brow. "Cool. I guess." He looked down to make sure he didn't have any noodle pieces on him or anything from working the cart, but he couldn't find anything.
She frowned and turned her attention back to the fireworks. "Anyway," she said, but didn't add anything to it.
Po watched her, waiting for her to say something, but soon gave up. He wondered what that had been all about, but decided to let it go. He'd probably find something on his face next time he saw his reflection. He watched the fireworks with her until the last small explosion lit up the sky. He continued to watch for any signs of more fireworks for a while, but soon realized with the same disappointment he'd felt as a child that the show was over. "The worst part of the fireworks display's when it's over."
"That's true," Tigress agreed with a tender smile.
He'd never seen her smile like that. Not at him, at least. "Uh- uhm- yeah. Gotta love those fireworks. So great. The best."
"You're babbling." She gave him a gentle pat on the arm, which did nothing to calm his racing heart. "We haven't had a chance to spend time together all night."
"Yeah, well, y'know how it is with the restaurant." He tried to sound casual, though his voice still squeaked a little. "My dad had an important mahjong game, and Lin... Was out. I guess." He winced at the memory of Lin hitting on him. He could only hope it was another one of her jokes, related to his dad's assumption that they'd been dating. He decided to bury the memory of the things Lin had said to him deep down and never think of them again.
Tigress pursed her lips at the mention of Lin, but didn't say anything.
He probably shouldn't have brought her up, anyway, considering the fact that they didn't get along. But he was going to have to tell Tigress sooner or later about his request for Lin to draw new nerve charts for them, especially since Shifu had agreed to pay her again. "Listen, about the nerve strike lessons-"
"Not right now," Tigress interrupted, surprising him with her disregard for their special training. She had never come off as the type of person to delay a conversation about training. Or anything having to do with training. "I have other issues on my mind tonight," she clarified.
Po could understand that. He got distracted all the time by his familial obligations, by helping out friends, by food. Lately, though, he'd been distracted by his own feelings. To say his old crush on Tigress had returned would be an understatement. These days he thought about her all the time, and while he enjoyed training during the day with her and the rest of his teammates, he found himself anxiously awaiting their nighttime meetings, when they could be alone together. "Wanna talk?"
"Not especially," she answered tightly. "I can deal with my issues on my own."
"Oh." He gave her a gentle nudge. "Ya don't gotta. I mean, just in case."
She relaxed a little, but shook her head. "It's nothing serious. I just... Have been feeling off, lately."
"I hope ya at least had fun tonight. I sure did."
"I did, as well." She snorted a bit in laughter. "I'll admit, I had no idea that Gia could let loose so much."
"Yeah, I didn't realize she was such a heavy drinker." He still felt shocked over that. He would have expected Gia to think that kind of revelry was immoral or something. "She can really surprise ya, huh?"
"She can," Tigress agreed. "The more I get to know her, the more I realize that she's the kind of woman who knows her own mind and chases after the things she wants."
"Just like you," Po pointed out with a grin, but Tigress lowered her head as if in shame.
"I'm not like that," she said quietly. "Not really."
"What?" He couldn't believe that, not after everything he'd seen her accomplish. "You wanted to be a great kung fu master, and ya did that. Now you're learning nerve strikes, 'cause it's what ya think is right for ya, no matter what. How're you not the kinda person to know your mind or do what ya want?"
"I said I don't want to talk about myself, or the nerve strikes," she replied sharply. "Besides, Shifu said himself that I'll never be able to learn them."
"That's not true!" he protested. He would have loved to be able to stop keeping secrets from his master and his friends, but not at the expense of Tigress' training. "Look, you're makin' good progress, we just need a better nerve chart. And I got that taken care of!"
She furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"
"I mean I talked to Lin," he clarified, though he faltered slightly at her angry frown. "I-I asked her to draw a new chart. She's- uh- she's gonna do it."
Tigress stood up, glaring down at him. "How could you?" she fumed. "This was supposed to be a secret, and not only did you tell someone, you told Lin!"
"I didn't tell her what it was for!" Po protested, but that didn't seem to help anything.
"I can't believe you! The last person I would ever want involved in this is that- that mutt!" She paused, her eyes widening as she brought a hand to her mouth.
Po was caught off-guard by her outburst, too. "If Lin's a mutt, then so's Gia," he pointed out.
"I know," she said, then took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I don't- I don't look down on people because of their lineage. You know that. Lin just makes me so angry."
"Why?" he asked, because he genuinely wanted to know.
"What?"
"Why d'ya hate Lin so much?" Po insisted.
Tigress crossed her arms, her guard up again. "It isn't obvious?" she asked.
He watched her for a moment, surprised at how tense she'd become over the simple question. "C'mon, it's gotta be more'n just that she's, uh... Well, kinda off-putting."
Tigress snorted at his wording. "Off-putting is a very mild way to say it. What reason do I have to like her? Her disrespect toward everything we do and stand for has been clear from the start. But even without that to consider-" She cut herself off and shook her head. "We should drop this."
"No, tell me," Po insisted, though he tried his best to do so gently. "I thought, y'know, you were starting to think'a me as someone you could talk to. I'd like to be, anyway."
She blinked at him, as if he'd said something unusual. "Okay," she accepted, then breathed deeply through her nose before continuing. "Po, I know the woman is... Somewhat kind to you. But just take a look at what she's done. She abandoned her daughter, and ran off the minute she discovered Gia here- clearly giving no thought to the fact that she is handing off her own responsibility to us. And Shifu trusted her to help rehabilitate Tai Lung, but just look at him! He doesn't seem as though he's even begun to feel remorseful for all he's done. She has clearly failed Shifu, and she's failed us as well. But, of course, rather than face her failure- well, as I said, she simply ran off. So why do you stand up for her so much? Why would you ask your father to put his neck out for her? What is so special about her?"
Po didn't really think of it that way; he liked Lin, they got along alright, and he would have done what he could to help any of his friends. But he had a feeling that Tigress didn't know as much about Lin's situation as he did. "Tigress, I knowya think Lin's just tryin' to run away, but... I mean, she stayed here. She's tryin' with Gia."
Tigress remained silent, an angry frown growing on her face.
"I know you're angry and worried, 'cause ya think she's hurting people ya care about. It's 'cause you're a really caring and protective person, and that's great, but ya gotta consider that Lin's not doin' any of this on purpose. And, if ya ask me, she's hurting just as much." He hoped he'd gotten through to her, though he had a feeling it would take a lot more than that.
"Sure she's hurting," Tigress snapped; so much for getting through to her. "Of course! Why didn't I see that before? Because apparently that overgrown tumbleweed is the only one who matters here, right? Let's all just drop everything and cater to her!"
"I don't get why you're so angry," he admitted. "But I'm tryin' to understand."
"Of course you don't get it, Po!" She turned away from him, her tail lashing irritably. "You didn't grow up in the Jade Palace! You weren't raised there, you barely knew Oogway- in fact, you barely know any of us! Yet everything is practically handed to you in a neat little package, already. You didn't have to work for the title of Dragon Warrior, you don't seem to be working at all at mastering Dragon Style, and you never had to work for Shifu's acknowledgment or respect! You couldn't possibly understand why I'm angry!"
He glared at her, hurt by her accusations. Not just that, but angry as well, that she would say all those things to him when she knew how hard he was trying, when he'd gone out of his way to help her so much. "What's your problem, Tigress?" He stood up to face her, undeterred by the angry glint in her eyes. "I never did anything to you! D'you not like me? D'you just not like anyone,is that it? 'Cause if we're bein' honest, you're not one to judge, with the way ya act!"
"Excuse me?"
"Oh, right, like this's news to ya!" He was probably getting out of hand, but he couldn't help himself; he wanted her to know how much she'd hurt him. "You never treated me like anything but a burden until ya needed help with something! And like an idiot, I thought that meant ya liked me, finally, but I guess I was wrong! Well, maybe I'm the one who shouldn't like you! I mean, it obviously takes a lotta hard work, and likeya said I don't know the first thing about that!" He regretted everything he'd said the moment he saw the wounded look on Tigress' face.
She fled the restaurant without another word.
"Hey- Tigress, wait!" He knew calling out to her wouldn't stop her, though. He chased after her, knowing that he probably didn't have her stamina. But he'd been training just as hard at his fellow kung fu masters, and he could catch up to her as long as he didn't have to keep up for a long distance. Luckily, there were only a few lone stragglers left out on the street at this hour, so he didn't have to worry about looking like a maniac chasing down a woman in the middle of the night.
He managed to get close enough to grab Tigress by the hand and stopped them both at the moon bridge closest to the restaurant.
"Let go," she ordered him, but he needed to apologize first.
"Tigress," he pleaded quietly. "What I said about you bein' hard to like, I didn't mean that. I swear I didn't mean it."
"It's true, though," she replied levelly. "I am difficult to like. I don't joke around, I don't play games, I don't 'hang out.' I work hard and I hold other people to very high standards. And even when I put kung fu first I still fall short."
"You don't fall short," Po argued. "You're the whole reason I love kung fu in the first place!"
"Yes, well, you can stop looking up to me. There's not much left to look up to."
"I dunno what ya mean," he said. "You're awesome, and so- so strong, all the time. You're always so confident, too, and it's like, ya know who you are. You're wonderful, Tigress. I'm sorry. I shouldn'ta been such a jerk. You deserve a better friend 'an me."
She yanked her hand from his, but didn't run again. "Enough!" she snapped. "Don't you get it? I can't stand it when you put me up on this pedestal! I'm not all those things. I'm angry, and resentful, and I put my own ambition before the needs of my team!"
"So what?" he asked, and her eyes widened a little. "I know you got flaws. Everyone does! That doesn't erase all the good things about ya."
Tigress suddenly grabbed hold of his face with both hands and planted a rough kiss on his lips. She kissed like someone who had no patience for or particular interest in the act, though he imagined she would have to in order to kiss someone in the first place.
He barely had time to enjoy the kiss before Tigress pulled away. "Wow," he said, for lack of a better compliment. He wasn't at his most articulate.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I don't know what I was thinking."
"I don't either, but I like what you were thinkin'," he replied. "So don't worry about it."
"What were we talking about?" she asked, and he realized that she was flustered. "I mean, where were we?"
He wasn't used to seeing her like this, and it confused him. "We were kissin'. Ya know, on the lips. Ya kissed me."
"Before that, I mean," she corrected, her business-like tone ruined by her hesitance and her slight breathlessness.
"What- but ya kissed me!" He pointed out. "We're not gonna talk about that?"
"I simply felt like kissing you," Tigress replied stiffly. "The impulse has now passed."
"Jeez. That's... Weird." He didn't know what had changed about him, that suddenly women were coming on to him. Had he started giving off pheromones or something? "So does that mean I can kiss you when I... Uh... Feel like it?"
"No," she answered shortly.
"Okay, cool. Cool." He tapped the low wall of the moon bridge, still confused by their interaction. "So are ya gonna kiss me again? Or was this, like... The one time?"
"Do we have to discuss this right now?" she asked irritably. "It's getting late."
"Oh, so that was a goodbye kiss," he joked, though her chilly silence wasn't the reaction he'd been hoping for. "I was just jokin'."
"I should have known this would be a joke to you," she grumbled, and he grabbed her hand again before she could run away.
"It's not a joke! I just- you're angry again and I'm tryin' to lighten the mood." He squeezed her hand, hoping she would realize that he was sincere. "I have feelings for you, okay? I really- I like ya." He hadn't felt the kind of nerves that overtook him after blurting all that out since he'd first started training at the Jade Palace. He waited for her to say something, but she just stared at him with an expression he'd never seen on her face before. It didn't take him long to realize that it was abject terror. "Uhm- forget I said anything," he muttered, letting go of her hand.
"I like you," Tigress told him quietly. "But I don't know- I don't know if I feel something more, really. We shouldn't be doing this at all, and I'm the one who put you in this position. Like always. Please forgive me." With that, she turned from him and ran off toward the Jade Palace.
Po watched her go, then leaned over the low bridge wall and looked down at the flowing stream. A lot had happened that night that he would need to take a long time to think through and process. But, for the time being, all he could really think was, "Well, at least she kissed me."
Shifu slowly awoke to the sensation of fingers on his head and the scent of tobacco. He cracked his eyes open to see Lin sitting up in his bed beside him, puffing on her calabash pipe with one hand while absently stroking the top of his head with the other. She stared straight ahead, and so didn't notice that he'd woken up. She seemed so far away that he doubted she'd notice even if she were facing him. He closed his eyes, enjoying her gentle touch and full of hope that this meant they would soon be together again for good.
However, it wasn't long before Lin withdrew her hand, and he felt her shifting beside him before her warmth left the bed. He cracked his eyes open again in time to see her dress herself, and then sneak out the door without pausing to look back. If she had, she would have seen him watching her.
He didn't bother to follow Lin, knowing she wouldn't take kindly to it. Instead, he stayed awake and calmed himself with the memory of how affectionately she'd just touched him, and how she still smiled when he kissed her. There was still something gentle left beneath her anger, and the knowledge of that kept him going. Even so, he had moments of doubt. He remembered what Gia had told him of her cruelty to her own infant, and he himself had been on the receiving end of her open palm. He wondered how a woman like Lin, who was capable of compassion and vulnerability, could also resort so easily to violence.
But then again, he'd known the answer a long time. He'd seen her scarred body, himself. All the times they'd been together, he'd tried not to think about the abundance of those scars and how she might have gotten them, but it was obvious that they hadn't been accidental. She'd told him of the violence she'd experienced in her childhood, and he remembered with a shudder how much she'd disliked others touching her because of the fear she'd felt at it. She clearly hadn't led a peaceful life since then. He wondered, briefly, if any of those scars had come from Gia's father. It would explain her refusal to talk about the man at all, but he pushed the thought aside. He was jumping to conclusions, and depressing ones, at that. Lin would probably tell him the truth eventually. Maybe.
He stayed up until sunrise, trying to think of what to say to Lin when he saw her next, and trying to decide when to see her next. He came to the conclusion that he should go to her as soon as possible, so he would visit Ping's restaurant to speak with her. He winced as he stood and dressed himself. Lin had been both enthusiastic and drunk during their night together, which did not add up to precision or gentleness. He admitted that he had enjoyed himself last night, though when Lin had whispered, "Let's have some fun," in his ear and accompanied him back to the Jade Palace with her mouth firmly attached to his for most of the way, he'd expected something a little more orthodox. He should have seen it as a warning sign when she'd stopped in the kitchen to grab a bottle of oil. And he wasn't so much sore from what she'd done with it as he was from her affinity for spanking. The hangover didn't help with his discomfort, either.
Shifu made it to the end of the hall with some effort, clutching at his achy head. When the morning gong rang, his students dragged themselves out of their rooms in a similar fashion and greeted him in exhausted mumbles. He was too hungover to bother scolding them for their lack of discipline. It would have been hypocritical of him, anyway. "You're all dismissed for breakfast," he grumbled, rubbing at his temples.
"Noodles," Po groaned as he headed out of the barracks. "Gotta have my dad's noodles."
"Noodles?" Viper asked, perkier than the others but still wilting compared to her normal self. "I could go for noodles."
The others voiced their agreement, even Tai Lung, and followed after Po. Gia, who appeared to be running laps, of all things, caught up to them outside and followed after with little prompting. That was how Shifu ended up on his way to Ping's restaurant to ask Lin about the nature of their sexual relationship with literally all his students and her daughter in tow.
"Oh, good God," was the first thing out of Lin's mouth when they entered the restaurant, which did not bode well.
"Daaad," Po called out in a whiny tone of voice which did not suit a master of kung fu, let alone the Dragon Warrior, then plopped down at the table closest to the kitchen.
Ping ran to him like a new parent to an ailing baby and patted his head to comfort him. "My poor Po is sick!" he exclaimed. "Look at you, you're wasting away!"
Tai Lung snorted at the display, though Shifu couldn't bring himself to scold the snow leopard. It was ridiculous.
He instead walked up to the counter while everyone else was distracted by Ping's over-the-top fretting. "Lin," he addressed her quietly, so his students wouldn't hear. "I want to speak with you about last night."
Lin rolled her eyes at him. "Just 'cause I finger-banged you doesn't mean I forgive you." Of course, she had to put it in the crudest way possible- and the loudest way, too.
This prompted a chorus of groans, a confused, "Che?" from Gia, and an exclamation of, "It's my childhood all over again!" from Tai Lung.
"And now everyone knows," Shifu grumbled, certain he could feel a vein throbbing in his temple.
Ping joined Lin behind the kitchen again, his beak puckered. "You did wash your hands, right?" he asked her.
"Jeez!" Lin complained. "Why the hell wouldn't I?"
Shifu could have died right then and there and it would have been nothing short of a relief. "How could you air our intimate business in front of our own children like that?" he hissed.
"They'll get over it," Lin dismissed easily, not even mildly distracted from her task of chopping vegetables.
"But I won't."
"Just like I won't get over how harshly you judged me for getting pregnant and then giving up my baby," she replied coolly. "What a coincidence."
"If you're going to act out a romantic drama, do it in the alley," Ping ordered from where he was working quickly to assemble bowls of soup for his visitors.
"I second that," Tai Lung called out.
"Don't be obnoxious," Lin snapped at him, and Shifu let her because he agreed with the sentiment. Then, with an irritated snort, she grabbed Shifu by the sleeve and dragged him out the side door to the alley. She let go of him with a little bit of a push, then crossed her arms and glared at him. "Okay, go," she grumbled.
He was surprised and more than a little grateful that she'd changed her attitude about giving him a chance, though he could have done without the rough treatment. He decided to dive right in, before Lin ran out of patience for him. "What did last night mean?"
"Nothing," she said harshly. "Sex is sex."
"I don't know if I would classify last night as sex," he muttered, blushing at the memory of it.
"I classify most sexual acts as sex," she said with a shrug. "If genitals or anus are involved, it's sex."
He shuddered. "Must you be so explicit?"
"Always." She swept her eyes over him in a dispassionate inspection at odds with the affectionate way she'd woken him up early that morning, then nodded her head toward the restaurant. "We done? I got work."
"Wait." He couldn't stand her treating him this way, and he especially couldn't stand not knowing the truth. Was this the way she felt about him? Could she show him affection without ever meaning it? "Tell me the truth. Please. I at least want that." He paused, gulping, because he didn't necessarily want to know the answer to his question. But he needed to know it. "Did you really mean it, when you said you didn't love me?"
"Yes," Lin answered quietly, then looked away. "It's not like I was pretending, though. I thought I loved you. I wanted to."
He felt numb, as if he were staring down his own death, which he had done often in battle. "How can you say that, as if it causes you no pain at all?"
"Of course it hurts!" she shouted at him, finally showing some sort of emotion besides annoyance. "You think it doesn't hurt me to realize I didn't love you? You think it didn't hurt to admit it out loud? This's the worst I've felt in years!"
"You could have fooled me," Shifu snapped, and she reached for the door. "You're just walking away, now?"
Lin paused, but refused to look at him. "Sorry," she said, which shocked him. He'd never expected an apology from her, and it forced him to accept that she was being sincere. "I know this's hard to hear. But that's the way things are. And you hanging around me all the time only makes it harder, for both of us. So leave me alone." With that, she walked back into Ping's kitchen and left him behind.
He stood there, too stunned to move.
Luckily, Lin ran back out the door, threw her arms around him, and kissed him like she was trying to swallow his teeth.
This also left him too stunned to move. "Wait," he gasped out when she pulled away, then paused to catch his breath. "I thought you just said to leave you alone."
"I say a lotta things," she replied, then went back to trying to lick the back of his throat.
He pushed her as far away as he could manage, as much as it pained him to do so. "What is this all about? Do you... Forgive me?"
Lin snorted. "No."
Shifu had no idea why she insisted on confusing him like this. "So you never want to see me again, yet you're attempting to taste what I had for dinner last night."
"You're a freak," Lin replied, which answered nothing. When he didn't respond, she let out a frustrated sigh, like she was making perfect sense and he was just too dense to understand her. "I realized when I got to the other side of that door that it takes a while to find someone like that, and I just don't got the energy. So, you're a freak, I'm a freak, do the math."
He finally realized that she meant something sexual. "I most certainly am not a freak in- in that sense!" he snapped, offended by what she'd said. "I am perfectly normal!"
"I never said there was anything wrong with it," Lin said with a shrug. "All I'm saying is, you're up for anything. And I may be able to train you."
"Train me?" he repeated incredulously.
"Don't worry," she comforted him with a flirtatious flick to his nose. "You'll enjoy it." With that, she returned to the restaurant.
So this was going to be his courtship with Lin, now. One moment she never wanted to see him again, the next she was hitting on him so aggressively that he found it off-putting. He returned to the restaurant, unnerved to see her back to chopping vegetables as though everything were normal and she hadn't just told him that it pained her to be around him, then propositioned him.
Shifu placed both hands on the counter and leaned so far forward that she had no choice but to acknowledge him. Lin had said her piece, and now it was his turn to say his, even if he had to do so in front of an audience. "I love you," he told her firmly. "And I am not about to stop. So you had better get used to the idea of loving me, too, because I will win you back." With that announcement, he turned around and joined his students at one of the restaurant's long tables.
To his surprise, his male students took turns patting him on the back, and Viper and Gia both gave him encouraging smiles. Tigress seemed dispassionate about the display, as he'd expected.
"Good luck," Mantis wished him, despite the insect's previous advice to get over Lin.
"He'll need it," Lin called out from behind the counter, and Shifu blushed.
His personal business had officially been aired. But, as his students began chatting and making plans for the rest of the New Year, he realized that he was the only one who really cared. That much was a relief to him. However difficult his relationship with Lin became, his students would remain by his side. This may be his bad luck year, but by the end of it he planned to have Lin at his side, too.
Lin piled dishes in the wash basin, then wiped her hands on her apron. Shifu and the rest of the Jade Palace's residents had finished their hungover breakfast and left, though not before Gia had made her promise they would meet up again later that night. She yawned to herself, then grabbed some leftover noodles for her own breakfast. She was feeling pretty hungover, too, so leaning against the counter and slurping hot noodles sounded like the best thing in the world to her. She didn't need to think about her night with Shifu, what they'd said to each other, or the fact that the moment she'd gotten up the courage to tell him to leave her alone she'd chickened out and run right back to him. She needed noodles.
"We're opening a little later today," Ping informed her, then held out a scroll to her. "No one is going to be awake for our early lunch service, anyway."
Lin eyed the scroll warily, then set down her bowl and took it. "What's this about?"
"It's your mahjong winnings," he replied. "From last night. Don't you remember at all?"
"I had a lot to drink," she admitted sheepishly.
"I noticed," he replied, with some humor in his voice.
Lin snorted as she unrolled the scroll to take a look at it. Then she started choking on her own spit. "Th- this's the deed to a house!"
"You're welcome," Ping replied airily, sticking his beak in the air as he started preparing his noodle dough for the day.
"For what, now?"
"For teaching you how to properly play mahjong."
"Thanks," she said, since she couldn't argue with that. She'd gotten a lot of practice in with the goose since she'd started living with him. "Guess I'm better at mahjong when I'm drunk, huh?"
"No," he said flatly, "but everyone else was drunk, too."
"Fair enough." She rolled up the scroll and tucked it into her belt, then returned to her normal morning chore of prepping vegetables. "I still don't get it. What'd I bet that was worth a whole house?"
"My restaurant," Ping told her with an indignant sniff. "And a date."
She definitely remembered wagering the date. Not so much Ping's restaurant, though. "Good thing I won, I guess."
Ping laughed. "Good thing you had me around to help, is more like it."
She remembered bits and pieces of the mahjong game in question, but most of it was still fuzzy. She had clearer memories of how she'd celebrated afterward with Shifu. "Well, I got a date, still. Not that I actually wanted to spend the night with Shifu, but at least I got to stick it to him."
He paused briefly in his noodle preparation to shoot her a dirty look over his shoulder. "I feel like this would be a good time to mention that I won't miss living with you."
"Well hold on, now," Lin argued. "This's a pretty shady situation."
"You're not used to that?" he asked.
"Yeah, about ninety percent of my situations are shady, but you're not supposed to know that." She paused in her chopping to grab the scroll and look at it one more time. "There's a map included."
"And?"
The place marked off on the map was well outside the bounds of the village and, as far as she could tell, was in the middle of a deserted field with a lake. "And it looks like somewhere a serial killer goes to bury the bodies."
"Hm," he mused for a moment. Then he shrugged. "Well, have fun tonight!"
"Whaddaya mean tonight?" she snapped.
"You have a house, you don't need to sleep here anymore," he dismissed easily.
Lin walked up to him and slapped the half-formed noodles out of his wings. "I swear to God if I gotta sleep in the middle of a haunted field alone tonight, I'm gonna bury you in it!"
Ping glared at her for having messed with his noodles. It was the one thing he absolutely could not stand, which was why she'd done it. "If it's haunted, you wouldn't be alone, then, would you?"
Lin punched down on the noodle dough.
"Alright, alright," he caved, grabbing the dough back from her and cradling it like a newborn. "Just go easy on my noodles!"
"I'm gonna go check out that house today." She returned to her cutting board, though she took a moment to brandish the cleaver at him before she started chopping. "And I'm not going alone!"
"I'll send Po with you," the goose concluded as he gently patted his dough back into the proper shape. "He is the Dragon Warrior, after all. And he's also afraid of ghosts, so you'll have someone there who doesn't think you're crazy."
"Y'know, I'm not gonna miss living with you, either," she snapped over her shoulder, though it was only partly true. She wouldn't miss sleeping in Po's old room, or having her boss around constantly, or everything smelling like noodle soup. But she'd miss playing mahjong together in the evenings and knowing that there was someone else around who'd have her back. "Thanks for having me, by the way."
"Don't thank me for having you," he replied cheerfully. "That duty went to Shifu last night, didn't it?"
"You can get a real mouth onya, y'know that?" She liked that about Ping, of course.
"Just don't tell Po. I don't want him to pick up any bad habits."
Notes:
Happy Lunar New Year, everyone! I worked hard to get this chapter out in time, and I don't even care that it's incredibly long. So let me go ahead and list my references. The title of this chapter is based on "Do not fear going forward slowly; fear only to stand still.", which is a Chinese proverb. Viper's "Eligible bachelor. In your age range." was a quote from Frasier, which I'm sure most of you know by now is one of my favorite sitcoms. And a Ben Ming Nian, as suggested in the chapter, is the year of your birth sign and can insure bad luck due to offending Tai Sui, the God of Age. And you may have noticed that I once again included a shout-out to Ning Guo from Nievelion's fic, A Different Lesson, and referenced his courting Lin in Different Tales, Different Lessons. That always amused me, so I couldn't resist!
While we're at it, I'd like to go ahead and provide some translations for the Italian in the chapter:
"Mama, sei una piagnona come me." - Mama, you're a crybaby like me.
"Da piccola ero una grande piagnucolona. Ma ora non più." - I was a big crybaby when I was little. But not anymore.
"Ehi!" - Hey!
That about wraps it up! As always, thanks for reading and reviewing. And in light of the New Year, here's wishing everyone good fortune, good times with family and/or friends, and success!
Chapter 25: What is Patriotism but the Love of the Food One Ate as a Child?
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 25: What is Patriotism but the Love of the Food One Ate as a Child?
He was back in Bombay, the city he had adopted as his home. Rahim felt as though something were off about the way things looked, but he couldn't quite place it. Something about the edges of everything being fuzzy, shadows spreading more widely and obscuring more. Perhaps his eyesight had started to fade. He had more important concerns ahead of him, though. The sun sank low on the horizon, bathing the city in its warm orange light, and he could see the elaborately carved peaks of a Hindu temple in the distance, rising up behind the houses.
He reached the pier, unsurprised to see his friend standing at the edge of the stone riser that separated city from sea, staring out at the water. He had always thought her fascination with the ocean odd, but had never received an explanation for it. The warm light of a setting sun suited her fur, bringing life and color back to her that had been drained in such a short time from the stresses of widowhood.
That was why she had come to him in the first place. There was no one else left, she'd said. No one else who cared the way he did. He tried in vain to bury the realization that washed over him once more, that his best friend in the world had disappeared from it. No more letters, no more visits, no more arguments, no more songs played out on that damn piano until late into the night. He had loved Freeman like his own brother, and now he was left with nothing but fading memories and an equally fading woman.
When Lin had first arrived, he'd been hesitant to allow her to stay with him. She had sent no prior notice, just arrived out of the blue one day. He should have seen it coming the moment word had reached him that Freeman had died. He had warned his friend not to get caught up with a woman like this, the first time they had met. She'd moved in with him far too quickly and clung to him like a barnacle, corrosive in its effect. She had brought trouble wherever she went, she clearly had nothing and no position in society, and she didn't seem to want one. She had been chaos. How could he have known that it was Freeman who'd been the one to cling? Freeman, the idiot who thought he was so romantic, who loved her from the moment they'd met in spite of how terrible an idea it had clearly been, in spite of her instability, in spite of the fact that the last thing he'd needed in his life was another mouth to feed.
Rahim had disliked her on sight, and as though she could sense it, she'd seemed to dedicate herself to probing him for anything that might annoy him in the slightest. When Freeman had introduced them, she'd spoken stilted English, at first. He'd judged her as slow of mind because of that, and it had been obvious from her narrowed eyes and tight frown that she'd known.
She'd retaliated by switching easily between fluent French, Marathi, and Mandarin throughout their conversation, he suspected with the specific goal of confusing him. She'd asked him condescendingly if he'd ever been to this country or that, if he actually knew how to sail or was only a passenger on the ships he took to England, and so on. She'd discovered that he hated English beer, and so she'd ordered a pitcher for their table whenever the three of them went to a pub and poured him a mug, making him look like the rude one in front of Freeman if he turned his nose up at it. He had made her an enemy without realizing the torture it would bring him.
She'd flourished in England, sometimes he felt to spite his judgment. She'd started making more money than even Freeman and himself, she'd made the mortgage payments and treated all three of them whenever they went out with the smug air of someone showing off not to impress, but to make a point. "See?" she'd seemed to say with her gaze, with her hand on Freeman's arm. "I know how to play this game. You'll never get rid of me." The more he fought her, the more Freeman asked him to be more understanding, as if he were the source of their friction.
And then Freeman's announcement that they'd gotten engaged, and Rahim's certainty that his friend would surely fade from his life now. Then his shock when Lin had taken him aside and told him, in no uncertain terms, that if he tried to ditch Freeman just because he didn't like her she would make him pay. From that moment on, their enmity had ended in her eyes, and she'd expected the same from him. He'd had no choice but to accept her olive branch, however forceful. And once he had, he had realized that he'd sort of liked her all along, anyway. She was fun, she was smart, she was free and wild and everything he'd wanted to be when he'd left his home to make a life of his own. She was more than him, too, fierce and brave, protective of him in a way no other friend had ever been. She'd fed him, held his hand through difficult times, painted him, defended him when anyone so much as looked at him funny. He fell in love with her as thoroughly as Freeman had, albeit not in a romantic sense.
Rahim had been inconsolable to learn of his friend's death. At least, he'd thought he'd been inconsolable, that his grief had been as deep as grief could go. Lin had arrived and proven that she even grieved more intensely than he did. Some days he wondered whether he'd invited an actual woman into his home or a spirit posing as one. She'd seemed neither to sleep nor eat, her gaze blank and distant, her sobs like unnatural wails. He'd reached his breaking point within a couple of weeks, and asked her to find an inn or something. She'd responded by breaking not just his patience, but every fragile item he owned.
In her wake she left destruction, and more difficult to deal with, oppressive silence. When Rahim had cleaned his house and sat alone in it, he had realized that the thing that bothered him most about Lin's grief was his jealousy. He wanted to behave like she had. He wanted to fade away like a ghost and curl up in his bed, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. He was afraid, too, that if he did he might never come out of it. He also realized that he needed Lin, to remind him to stop and feel something, instead of putting those feelings aside, thinking them inconvenient. She needed him, too, and she had asked him for help only to face rejection. After she had embraced him as a brother, he had cast her out the moment he'd found her inconvenient.
It was the shame he'd felt that had compelled him to go out and look for her. He'd always known of her affinity for water, and though Bombay had plenty of waterfront to search, he had managed to find her. He watched her watch the sea, knowing that this woman was the only remnant left in his life of Freeman, knowing that their shared love and grief had bound them together for life. He had never wanted such a connection, but it had come to him anyway.
"What the hell're you looking at?" Lin finally asked, and he could no longer pretend that she didn't see him.
Rahim had gotten used to her hostility over the years, and so this question didn't faze him. "I came to get you."
"Get me?" She snorted. "I'm fine on my own."
"You weren't even fine with me," Rahim argued, annoyed that she would lie so blatantly. "Have you eaten at all? Slept?"
She didn't answer him, only pulled Freeman's old calabash pipe from her belt and stuffed it with tobacco.
Rahim watched as she lit the pipe and puffed on it, his heart contracting at the memory of Freeman puffing on that same pipe while playing the piano in his living room, as vivid as if he were there now. "I miss him, too," he said, surprised by the sorrow in his normally controlled voice.
"You know it's not the same," she grumbled. "You don't know what it's like for me."
"You don't know how I feel, either," he said. "Not really. No one... I never said any of the things I should have. I never called him brother. I thought he would be there, waiting until I was ready."
Lin nodded, more understanding in the distant profile of her face than he could have ever expected. "I wasted a lotta time, too," she said. "But he knew. And he always knew how you felt, too."
Rahim found himself briefly overwhelmed, and ducked his head to wipe away his tears before they matted his orange fur. "I hate that," he told her thickly. "I hate how much more time you had. I hate that I'm so jealous."
"I was jealous of you, too," she told him, surprising him. "When you and I fought, I always felt like he was siding with you."
"That's how I felt, too." He joined her at the edge of the pier and patted her shoulder. "I suppose he was trying to be diplomatic."
"That ass," she complained. "He never understood that there're times when it's better to just side with the person who's complaining."
"He was stuck between us. He did the best he could." He hated, too, that Freeman had always been the kind of man who had striven to do his best by everyone he knew. If it weren't for that, he wouldn't want to be a better man, himself. Wanting to be better, trying, was the hardest thing in the world. "I'm trying to do my best, too. I'm sorry I was an ass. I'm sorry I told you to leave. I want you to come back."
She made him wait until she was done puffing on Freeman's pipe and had put it out. "D'you really think I'm too messy to keep around?" she asked, causing him to start.
"...Too messy?" he repeated hesitantly, paling slightly.
"C'mon," she said, rolling her eyes at him. "Y'think I don't remember whatya said about me? I remember. When we first met, you told Al not to get involved with me. That I was 'too messy.' Y'know, emotionally."
He shifted uncomfortably at the suggestion she'd known all along about one of the worst things he'd ever said about her. "I remember, too," he admitted quietly. "It was what I thought. And I suppose that's how I behave. But... I don't want to be the person who can't be bothered, not anymore. And especially not with you. So come home with me."
She stood contemplating his offer, arms crossed as she regarded the harbor. "You're the only one who can even start to understand what it's like, losing Al," she told him. "That's part of why I came here. Butya don't gotta lie to me."
"I'm sorry," Rahim sighed, rubbing at his forehead. "For this and everything else I've ever done to you. I'm not lying, I want to make it up to you. I've always been an ass to you, and yet you still stick by me."
"You're my friend," she replied, without hesitation or sarcasm. "What else would I do?"
"You could always stop being friends with me," Rahim pointed out. "I would deserve it."
Lin shrugged. "I can't," she said, as though she truly believed it. "I can't stop anything. Not us. Not Al dying. Not the march of time. No matter how much I wanna turn back... I can't. I can't seem to go on, either. But I'm trying."
"Then we'll both go on, together," he promised. "I'll help you go on. For as long as you want, that is." It was the best promise he could make her, because she was right. Al Freeman had been his best and closest friend in the world, and every time he thought of the man all he could feel was a sinking emptiness inside of him. He couldn't stop anything, either. So he would move forward, as Lin had said. He would take comfort in not being alone. "You hungry?"
"Yeah," she said.
"I'll get us samosas."
With that, the two of them went on. Together.
Rahim rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and sat up in his tent. He was so stressed and distraught that now he was dreaming of his own memories, apparently. But he'd thought about that moment a lot, since he'd learned the Valley of Peace was in danger. He had promised Lin that he would move forward with her, and then he had stayed behind and let her go on without him. It was just another example of his selfishness, and he would not go on the way he had any longer. He would do the right thing, no matter the cost.
Not that there was any turning back at this point. He had been conscripted, as it were, and was currently camped out at the Indian-Chinese border with a British general and a company of about two hundred armed soldiers. There had been a lot of waiting involved, a lot of back and forth with him and the Chinese Captain at the border about how their company had been approved to enter the country and their weapons were merely for self-defense. He hated lying on behalf of the people who had invaded his home and planned to do the same to his dearest remaining friend, but at least this way he would know what was going on and could send warnings ahead. He hadn't heard anything back from Lin, though. He was certain she would have received his message and had time to send a reply back by now, but nothing. Perhaps she had never made it to the Valley of Peace. She could get easily distracted, especially when she was unsure of what she wanted.
His eyes slowly adjusted to the dark within his bare tent. He'd fallen asleep in his clothes again, too distracted to undress for the night, and had awoken only a couple of hours later from the discomfort. It tended to get cold where they were camped in the steppes and mountains, anyway. The temperature suited the bare landscape, short grass covering the mountainsides while dirt paths became muddy from travel and occasional rain. Bare rock loomed up from the ground around them, providing some cover. In order to find trees or shrubbery of any kind, they would need to cross both the border and the mountains into Chinese territory. His understanding of their geographical position was that the land on the other side of the border was actually colonized Tibet, but he hadn't had access to a map or much information since he had joined the British troops. The lack of trust did not bode well for his chances as a spy, but he had committed himself to this path and he would be damned if he went down as a coward.
Rahim jumped slightly at the sound of footsteps, then relaxed again. It was probably only a couple of soldiers out for some late night bladder relief. Speaking of which, he could use a trip of that sort, himself. He straightened out his clothing as best he could, then crawled out of his tent while trying not to think of the unsanitary hole in the ground that was his destination.
When he stood up, though, he nearly negated the need for such a trip. Standing before him was a large, burly, dark-furred wolf nearly as tall as himself, sporting an eye patch and an extremely sharp-looking sword. He gulped, slowly raising his arms in surrender. This was one of the bandits he'd been warned about, likely from the Chinese side of the border.
"That's right, nice and slow," the wolf growled in Mandarin, confirming his suspicion. "No funny business, okay?"
"Okay," Rahim agreed, hoping his Mandarin wasn't too rusty for proper communication.
"Well, even ifya did pull some funny business, I ain't afraid to fight a bigger guy," the wolf continued in a conversational tone that didn't quite fit their current situation.
Rahim glanced sideways to see other wolf-like shapes lurking in the dark, likely searching for opium. "I'm afraid," he replied.
The wolf narrowed his good eye at the response. "Huh? You're afraid what?"
Either his Mandarin really was rusty, or this man wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. "Afraid to fight," he clarified. "I do not fight. I am very bad at it."
"Weird," the wolf concluded, though he lowered his sword. "I don't make it a habit to attack people who aren't gonna fight back," he said, and hopefully that was the truth. "So maybeya can point me to some opium?"
That confirmed Rahim's other suspicion about this raid. "So you are a bandit." He slowly lowered his hands to his side, relieved that the wolf allowed him to. His arms had started to feel sore. "A wolf bandit." Now that his fear was subsiding and he'd had a chance to get a close look at the man, he was starting to get a feeling that he knew who the wolf was. "A wolf bandit with one eye." He'd heard stories of such a bandit, though he wasn't sure yet if he were quite so fortunate.
"That's right." The wolf furrowed his brow, clearly confused. "Guotin, Bandit King of the North. Now about that opium-"
"You know Lin," Rahim interrupted. He'd recognized that name for sure. Lin had definitely told him stories about a one-eyed wolf bandit named Guotin. Stories that made him want to avert his eyes from the man, but still, they had come in handy. And judging by the way the wolf's mouth had dropped open, his conclusion had been correct. "I am Rahim," he introduced. "I am correct, am I not?"
"Uh, yeah." Guotin shook his head incredulously, then narrowed his one eye at Rahim. "I heard of you, too," he said.
"I see," Rahim observed, surprised that Lin had spoken of him. Then again, she did like to brag about her sexual conquests on occasion. He hadn't expected her to see him that way, though. They had come together in a haze of grief, their physical relationship forged from a mutual desire for comfort and familiarity. He suspected Lin was too close with her past to admit such a thing, though.
"Man, here I thought she was lying," the wolf went on casually, as though talking to buddy in a bar. "I mean, no way a girl that petite could make it with a Bengal tiger-"
"Or three." He winced at the memory of how he'd accompanied her to Calcutta and offered the hospitality of his brother's home, only for her to seduce his sister-in-law. And his foul-tempered cousin. She still had a taste for getting on his nerves, regardless of the peace they'd forged between them. At least his cousin had mellowed for a couple of days.
Guotin paused, regarding him with an unreadable expression while he waited with baited breath to learn of his fate. "You," he said as he pointed at Rahim, "know how to do guy talk. C'mon with me."
Rahim let out the breath he'd been holding. So this bandit had decided not to kill him, thanks to their mutual friend. "I am getting kidnapped now." He had relaxed enough to complain, though he still followed Guotin into the woods. "I suppose I should not be surprised. This is what happens to me, when I put my neck out for someone."
"Relax, princess," Guotin replied with a laugh. "I'll haveya home before dawn." He held out a flask as an apparent peace offering. "So you a boyfriend or something?"
"Just a friend," Rahim replied, taking the flask and drinking more deeply than he probably should have, considering his precarious situation. "Though occasionally with benefits."
"Hah! Tell me about it."
He stared incredulously at the other man as he started to put together what was going on. "...Is that seriously why you have kidnapped me?"
"Look, it's not that weird." Guotin took the flask back and drank a bit from it before returning it to his belt. "I'm a leader, y'know? Gotta keep a healthy distance from the minions, ifya get what I mean. And any friend of Lin's is a friend of mine. Y'gotta take your friends as they come, right?"
Rahim continued to stare at him.
"So, go on. Tell me about it." He gave Rahim a hearty pat on the back. "Guy talk."
"As we say in Bombay, that is not going to happen."
Guotin laughed. "You got a little sense of humor going there, huh? I like that."
He sighed and shook his head. "Great. Now you are hitting on me."
The bandit laughed again. "What? No!" He wiped a tear from his eye as his laughter settled down. "No offense, I'm sure you're quite the catch."
"If you think I am looking to catch you, then you are a delusional man, indeed," Rahim replied. "And you are delusional as well if you think I will talk to you about my sex life."
"Y'know, normally my kidnap victims ain't so tight-lipped."
"Like Lady Lotus Blossom, for instance?" he suggested, emboldened by the wolf's good humor.
"Jeez, does everyone know about that?" Guotin asked sheepishly, though he lowered his voice as they walked, for obvious reasons.
"Lin told me." Rahim offered an apologetic shrug. He probably knew far more about the wolf than he ever should have, thanks to Lin's stories. "She also told me of your exploits together, so there is no need to go into any detail. I know you were her first rebound."
He snorted, hands on his hips as he led Rahim away from the British camp and into the mountains that crossed the border. There was a mountainside path littered with boulders, some of the smaller ones kicked loose at the slightest provocation, warning signs visible even in the dark. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised," he said lowly, sounding rather wistful for such a rough and tumble sort of man. They crested the mountain's first slope and there, its location concealed from below by the incline, boulders, and a copse of trees, was a meager valley dotted with a shocking number of tents- well over fifty, for sure. "For the record, Lady Lotus Blossom ran off with me of her own free will."
"Sure," Rahim accepted distractedly as he took in the sight of the camp. His heart raced at the thought that such a significant group of outlaws had been hidden right under the noses of his superiors. They could have been attacked at any moment by a force that, while outnumbered by them two to one, still could have overtaken them with the right strategy. Rahim didn't agree with the actions of the British military, but he also didn't want to get caught in the middle of a firefight at the border.
"C'mon, then," Guotin prompted, and he followed on unsteady feet, still shaken. "I got some wine in my tent. Ain't the best in the world, but it's something."
As they walked through the encampment, some wolves stalked into and out of tents in near-silence, but most appeared to be asleep. Rahim caught the eye of one particularly menacing wolf, then averted his gaze as quickly as possible. "Not much activity, I see."
"Nah," Guotin replied with a noncommittal shrug. "Send too many guys out, your operation's not so covert anymore. But hey, keep asking questions. Maybe you'll get your tongue cut out." Despite his conversational tone, Rahim didn't quite believe the implication that Guotin would not be the one doing the cutting.
He gulped and rubbed at the side of his cheek. "I didn't mean to probe. My apologies."
Guotin snorted in response. "So what's the deal, anyway?"
"The deal?" Rahim hoped this didn't mean that he was indeed going to lose his tongue.
"You and Lin," the wolf clarified as he stopped outside a tent toward the center of the camp. "How'd that happen, exactly?"
"Oh. This again." He supposed he should be relieved. This was at least a little bit better than bodily mutilation. Sort of. "We met through a mutual friend."
"Huh." Guotin opened the flap of the tent and waved him in.
Rahim crouched down to crawl into the tent, and found it so full of clutter that there wasn't much room left for him, anyway. He pushed a crossbow aside and settled on top of an unrolled scroll so that he wouldn't need to curl into such a tiny ball.
Guotin seemed unperturbed by the mess he had created. "So that's it? C'mon, let's have a real chat."
"A real chat," Rahim repeated skeptically. "And my tongue will remain intact?"
The wolf snorted. "For now."
"In regards to my relationship with Lin..." He paused, taking a moment to soak in the absurdity of the situation. Did this bandit really have nothing better to do? "As I've stated, we're just friends."
"Aw, c'mon!" Guotin fished a bottle of wine from beneath a torn old tunic and a pile of knives that probably should have had sheaths. "You're even less fun than-"
A younger wold, more slim and well-groomed, poked his head through the tent flap and scowled at them both. "I thought I might find you slacking off again."
"-Him," Guotin finished, gesturing toward this new visitor. "This's my second-in-command, Boqin."
"I see you've also compromised our position," Boqin continued, undeterred by his boss's casual dismissal. "Who is this intruder?"
"He's some old boyfriend of Lin's or something." Guotin drank wine straight from the bottle, still as laid back as ever.
"I see." Boqin gave Rahim a once over. "Blind him."
Guotin laughed, though Rahim didn't see what was so funny about these repeated threats to his face. And to his dismay, Boqin crawled into the tent, forcing him to squeeze between the two bandits.
"That wasn't a joke. He was with those British soldiers, wasn't he? If you're not going to kill him, at least make sure he can't lead them back to our camp." He said all this with a straight face, which only caused Guotin's laughter to double.
Rahim gulped and wished desperately he had learned something from Lin about getting out of such dangerous situations. "I promise you, I do not intend to snitch."
"Snitch!" Guotin wheezed out, brushing tears from his eyes while guffawing loudly.
"Considering those soldiers plan to cross the border, I wouldn't be opposed to letting you wander the mountains without use of your eyes, either." Boqin extracted the wine bottle from Guotin's hand and placed it beside him, not bothering to drink. "However, I could be dissuaded from taking action in exchange for some valuable intelligence. Gods know we're in short supply of that around here."
"Aw, leave him alone," Guotin argued. He'd gotten his laughter under control for the moment. "I wanna hang out with someone b'sides you once in a while, y'know? Or areya jealous?"
"Jealous is not the word I would use." He narrowed his eyes at Rahim, clearly displeased with this turn of events.
Rahim could tell he would have to prove his worth in order to keep his life, he just needed to appease one of the bandits with him. While Boqin posed a more obvious threat, Guotin's jovial demeanor didn't exactly put him at ease. "I can tell you that my party are under the employ of the British East India Company, and that we are on a diplomatic mission to the Valley of Peace." He erred on the side of the second-in-command, since he doubted Guotin got to be such a prominent bandit leader by ignoring the value of an enemy hostage's knowledge.
"No one needs soldiers for a diplomatic mission," Boqin pointed out. "Especially in such numbers."
"Man, we're talking about work now," Guotin complained, but he still leaned forward in interest. "But if they're that big a deal, how come they're so easy?"
"Easy?" Rahim asked.
"You gotta know by now they're only camped out here to get their smugglers situated, right?" he continued. "And we been skimming that opium supply pretty regularly, ain't we?"
Boqin nodded curtly.
"You'd think they'd tighten security after I've been robbing 'em the past coupla weeks."
Rahim had a feeling that this was not the time to bite his tongue. "Well, perhaps they have reason to believe that their activities here will soon be considered legal, and then they can request assistance from the Imperial Guard."
"Say what, now?"
"I should warn you, since you may be able to help. They intend to invade the Valley of Peace and eliminate the kung fu masters there, as a show of force to the Emperor. Their entire purpose is to pressure your Emperor into legalizing the export of opium, so that the East India Trading Company may make money from it."
Guotin stared up at him in shock. "Wait- so they're gonna attack the Valley of Peace? Where Lin lives? They're gonna attack my Lin?"
"I wouldn't call her your Lin- and she'd likely break your nose for saying such a thing- but yes. That is the gist of it." Although, he would have expected to hear back from her by now in regards to his letter. He'd even expected resistance at the border, yet all he'd found were these bandits. "I do not like this. If Lin had received my warning, she surely would have had Master Shifu send his warriors to intercept the British here at the border. I am beginning to wonder if she is even in the Valley of Peace, at all."
"Hell if I actually know," Guotin muttered, his expression now serious. "Either way, we gotta do something."
"Absolutely not," Boqin snapped. "This doesn't involve us-"
"It's our country, isn't it?" he argued.
"And what's our country ever done for us?" Boqin argued back. "Interfering with something this big would be suicide. They're heavily armed-"
"So are we," Guotin insisted.
"Not to mention their numbers-"
"We got numbers, too."
Boqin sighed in frustration, as if he were arguing with a child. "You can't blindly jump in like you're some sort of hero. There's much more at play here than just your ego."
"Ouch!" Guotin replied with a laugh. "My ego, huh?"
Rahim looked back and forth between the two men, wondering what sort of forces were at play beneath the surface. The wolves were obviously close, but what sort of past they had with each other was unclear. Guotin's past with Lin would certainly also be a factor in this argument. He hoped things didn't turn violent while he was stuck between the two.
"Lemme make this clear." Guotin leaned farther forward, digging his fist into the dirt to support his weight. "I'm the boss. I make the call. And if there's a chance my friend needs help, then I'm helping. That's the deal." The intensity of Guotin's glare made Boqin's look like a mere pre-teen's stink-eye.
After what felt like an eternity, Boqin backed down. "Fine. I can't stop you."
"Thank you," Rahim said carefully. He knew better than to insult a bandit leader by turning down such an offer. He might as well try to incorporate this unforeseen help into his plan. "I plan to speak with Master Shifu once I arrive in the Valley of Peace. I was told to negotiate a surrender, but I will instead divulge what intelligence I can and stall to give them time to prepare for battle."
"You really think they'll giveya that much time to talk with Shifu?" Guotin asked.
"Probably not," he replied lowly. "I don't strategize, I talk with people. I've never pulled off such subterfuge before."
"What if my men attacked those soldiers right now? Well, not now now, but y'know what I mean."
"Yes, yes, that sounds like it could work. You would need to take into account that your men will be outnumbered, at least two to one, and that the British troops are armed with muskets-"
"Muskets?" Guotin repeated. "Never mind."
"What- never mind?" Rahim blinked back at him, waiting for this to be an inappropriate joke. Just a minute ago this man was talking about how important it was to help his friend.
"I ain't letting my men go up against a bunch'a guns with daggers, bows, and arrows. Not without backup, at least."
"Well, what better backup than the kung fu masters in the Valley of Peace? I wrote to Lin to warn her of this well ahead of time. Suppose we head those soldiers off at the pass with your men?"
"Hm," Guotin mused, rubbing at his chin. "We could certainly move at a quicker pace than them."
Boqin stood up as far as he could inside the tent and pointed toward the flap. "May I see you without an audience?" He sounded like an irritated wife, though Rahim decided not to comment on that.
Guotin nodded. "We'll be back soon," he said over his shoulder, already on the way out.
Rahim sat awkwardly in the tent, wondering if he was even considered a prisoner. He would have liked the ability to freely roam the bandits' camp while he waited on Guotin and Boqin's discussion. He still needed to use the facilities.
"Absolutely not," Boqin whispered the moment they stepped out of the tent.
Guotin had expected as much. Part of the reason he'd chosen Boqin as his second-in-command had been for the younger wolf's sense of caution. But there were some instances in which caution was no longer appropriate, and this was one of them. "Sometimes you gotta do the right thing," Guotin told him. "Even if it seems crazy."
"This doesn't seem crazy," Boqin argued, rubbing at his temples. "It is crazy." He headed for his own tent, ushering Guotin in ahead of him.
"Whoa!" Guotin normally didn't think twice about entering one of his subordinates' tents, but this time he got an eyeful of one of his newer recruits nude with a rose clamped between his teeth. "Wrong tent."
"Enlai, get out," Boqin said in the same irritated tone he used when Guotin suggested a plan he didn't like.
Enlai, a lean wolf around Boqin's age who was good at picking locks and not much else, spat the rose on the floor, grabbed a pair of pants, and squeezed between the two of them to make a run for it.
"Where'd he get a rose in this region at this time of year?" Guotin asked, since that was the most puzzling part of this whole scenario to him.
"It's fake, he always pulls that trick-" Boqin stopped himself, as though he'd only just realized what he'd been saying and to whom. He narrowed his eyes at Guotin. "Stop."
Guotin had never minded his men taking part in relationships or any related activities, especially when he had his own affairs to consider. Still, he hadn't thought of Boqin that way before, probably because the guy was so uptight. "Hey, nice goin', Bo," he complimented.
"Don't call me that," the young wolf grumbled.
"You, my friend, have been holding out on me with your guy talk," he replied good-naturedly. "So, what's your meet-cute?"
"I hate you," Boqin replied, fixing Guotin with a look that could freeze the blood in the veins of a weaker-willed man than himself.
"You are so cute when you're mad," Guotin teased, giving him a patronizing pat on the head.
Boqin batted his hand away. "This isn't what we came here to discuss! Can you stay focused for once?" He paused to lower his voice. "I am not going to risk my life for some kung fu losers and your mean ex-girlfriend, and I don't advise asking any of these guys to, either. You'd have a revolt on your hands."
Guotin was smart enough to know that Boqin was right, but he still had to try. "What if it was a paid job?"
"Sure, anything's negotiable with enough money, but you don't have enough money."
"That's not what I mean." Guotin had been meaning to harass the Valley of Peace for a while, partly as an excuse to say hi to Lin and see if he could find that cute gray wolf, but also partly because he liked to piss off Master Shifu. They'd had their run-ins in the past, and the guy got so angry that it was more funny than anything else. "We'll already be right at the Jade Palace, right? So why not take a little commission with us on the way out?"
Boqin let his eyes narrow a little less, which was probably as close to surprised as he would ever look. "That's... Not the worst idea. The kung fu masters will be distracted and beaten, even if we manage to win against the British. It would be the perfect opportunity."
"I've had my eye on that legendary sword thingy for a while," Guotin added, thinking of the many weapons and valuable artifacts in the Hall of Heroes alone.
"I think we can manage that." Now that there was real money on the line, Boqin no longer seemed annoyed by the plan. "And we've been needing the opportunity to pull a real heist. We can't subsist on these incompetent opium smugglers forever."
"Excellent. We roll out at dawn!"
"No," Boqin argued. "Give me the night to come up with an official announcement and a plan of action. In the morning, I will brief you and provide you with a script to follow."
Guotin put an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close to his side. "Lookit you, the man behind the man," he commented, laughing at Boqin's frown. "I'm proud! I knew you'd be good at this stuff."
"Ugh," Boqin responded, sliding out of his grip. "There is one other order of business before we adjourn tonight."
"Bring it," he replied, rubbing at his eyes in an attempt to keep them from stinging with exhaustion. Now that they'd taken care of his main worry, his energy levels were starting to drop. Not that he couldn't still handle an all-nighter, it was just slightly more difficult than it used to be.
Boqin hesitated a moment, then cleared his throat. "You truly... Do not care about my personal activities?"
"Huh?" he asked, confused by the question. "What, like mahjong or something? Or areya finally gonna join music night?"
"No," the young man ground out, a light blush crossing his face. "I meant the company I keep."
"I don't even know Enlai," Guotin replied. "What, you think I'd disapprove? I ain't your dad or nothin'."
"You really have no idea what I mean," Boqin concluded flatly, though he didn't seem all that upset this time.
"Uh... I guess not?" Guotin scratched an itch on his chin as he waited for some further explanation, but Boqin only shook his head, a small smile forming on his face. "Hey, lookit that, you're capable of smiling."
"On occasion," Boqin replied lightly, then grabbed a brush, ink, and paper from a small storage box in the corner of his tent. "Now, leave me to my work." He sat cross-legged on his bed roll with an air of finality.
"Wait a minute," Guotin ordered as he finally realized what Boqin had meant. "You were worried I'd get all pissy thatya like guys, right?"
That was all it took for Boqin to return to his normal, irritable self. "May we please move on, now?"
"So how was Enlai, anyway?" he continued, leaning over Boqin to give him a friendly nudge. "Eh? Or did I interrupt beforeya could form an opinion?"
Boqin pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. "I should have known better than to bring this up."
"Aw, c'mon, spill it. I'm an enlightened kinda guy, I can handle it."
"This is workplace sexual harassment, and I won't stand for it."
"Or lie down for it," he replied, then laughed at his own joke.
"You know that tiger is still alone in the camp, right?" Boqin replied coldly. "Maybe check on him before someone else finds an 'intruder' and acts accordingly."
"Oh, shit, you're right." Guotin had forgotten all about Rahim for the moment. "Okay, seeya." He hurried out of Boqin's tent and back to his own, but luckily Rahim hadn't moved a muscle. "Good, you're alive."
"What?" the tiger asked, his voice slightly shrill.
"Uh... Nothin'. Anyway, I got the second-in-command's approval." He motioned for Rahim to stand and follow him out of the tent. "We're gonna make the announcement in the morning. Get back to your camp and don't say a word to anyone, got it?"
"Yes," the tiger agreed, yet remained standing awkwardly outside his tent.
"What?"
"I need to go," he whispered.
Guotin laughed at the euphemism. "C'mon, then, princess," he said with a snort. He didn't mind being a tour guide for the time being. He was too excited at the prospect of his new mission to sleep, anyway.
Dawn brought with it a sickening surprise. Guotin awoke to the sounds of his men arguing loudly amongst themselves, which considering their numbers, could easily turn into a riot of sorts. This kind of grumbling only ever erupted in disputes over money, and if there was a dispute about how he distributed payment, then that was indeed a problem for him. He quickly dressed and grabbed his favorite sword, a jian at least as old as himself but still sharp enough to split a hair. When he emerged from his tent, he was disgruntled to find his men all crowded together in a mob, yet facing the outer edges of camp. He would have quieted them to demand an explanation, but Boqin appeared at his side before he could.
"Sir, we have a problem," he greeted.
"Ya think?" Guotin grumbled. He didn't like to wake up early, and certainly not to a prospective mutiny. "Let's hear it, then."
"It's best if you see it," the young wolf replied, then led him through the crowd.
His men still parted easily for him to let him through, so at least there was that. He didn't like the greedy gleams that had entered their gazes as they eyed him and Boqin, some resting their hands on the hilts of their daggers. He glared right back at those bold enough to give him such an attitude, his hand gripping his jian in response. Most had the good sense to avert their eyes. He would have told Boqin he didn't like the looks of this, but once he discovered what his men had gotten so riled up over, he felt it went without saying.
Standing at the edge of the camp, with his men at full attention, was Rahim. And beside him, a large white chow chow wearing the uniformed armor of the Imperial Guard. At first Guotin thought that Rahim must have sold them out, betrayed him for either his employers or a bribe. But once his eyes met the tiger's, he knew this assumption could not be correct. For the briefest of moments, they shared an unspoken sentiment: "what do we do, now?" He had no answers.
Instead, he turned to the chow chow. "This is my camp," he told the man authoritatively, a growl entering his voice. "And these are my men!" He raised his voice at that last sentiment, barking it out like an order, and his men finally quieted. "Announce yourself."
The man bowed so shallowly that it seemed more an insult than anything else. "I am Captain Zhengsheng of the Imperial Guard," he introduced. "I and my associate have come with an offer." He gestured to Rahim, and the men who recognized him from the previous night began to grumble once more.
Guotin growled in their direction to shut them up, then stepped forward and regarded Rahim as though they had never met. "And you?"
"I am a diplomat," Rahim introduced, acting in kind. "I have come along with the good Captain to show you we come to speak with you in peace."
He turned back to Zhengsheng. "You know who I am," he concluded, because there was no way a Captain of the Imperial Guard would step foot in his camp without knowing his identity. "So what's this deal?"
"We should negotiate privately," Boqin cut in, speaking in clipped tones. One look at his strained face showed that he was worried, which did nothing to comfort Guotin. If Boqin was emoting, then they indeed had plenty to worry about.
"No need," Zhengsheng replied airily. "My offer is simple: join me and my British comrades in our raid on the Valley of Peace, and you in turn will be allowed to plunder its riches."
As more grumbles passed over the crowd in an ominous wave, Rahim spoke. "I must remind you, Captain, that the Valley of Peace is guarded not only by Master Shifu, the Grand Master of kung fu, but this Dragon Warrior I have heard of. Perhaps the danger is too great for these... Mercenaries."
The sentiment was a valid worry, but more a warning to Guotin than anything else. He understood, by Rahim's wording and emphatic tone, that Zhengsheng and the British were not to be trusted to follow through on such a deal. "My men are not for hire," Guotin refused flatly. "I call the shots around here, and anyone who's got a problem with it... Well, they don't last long. So I suggest you get a move on."
"What about an additional hundred yen per man?" Zhengsheng offered, as if he could simply pull that kind of money from thin air.
Guotin knew how easily the hearts and minds of men like his own were won with cash. Zhengsheng had only brought Rahim along as a shield to protect himself from attack before he could make this offer, in front of the whole camp. By announcing his price so publicly, he was trying to ensure a mutiny if Guotin turned him down. "I don't believeya," Guotin said, raising his voice for all his men to hear. "No way you got that kinda dough." He'd thought he'd called the Captain's bluff, but the man had come prepared.
Zhengsheng snapped his fingers at Rahim, as if he were a servant. Reluctantly, the tiger removed his travel pack from his side and tossed it on the ground in front of Guotin. It seemed that constantly shushing his men had worked against him, as now they were quiet enough to hear the heavy jangle of coins hitting the ground, and paying close enough attention to see the glint of yuan in the sunlight as they spilled from the bag.
In that moment, it seemed as though all hundred bandits in the camp had held their breaths. He held his, too. He glanced at Boqin, hoping for some clever plan.
Boqin leaned in close to whisper in his ear. "We have to take the deal," he ordered, quietly so the others wouldn't hear. "If we don't, they'll kill us."
So his suspicions were true. He knew what he must do, then, and he spared an affectionate glance toward his second in command. It hadn't escaped his notice that Boqin had said "we." So Boqin would be with him, loyal to the end. He couldn't say he'd expected that, and it was a silver lining to this particular cloud. "You don't have to follow me," he whispered back, then turned to Zhengsheng. "I and my men will not betray our countrymen, for any price. And it is my intention to protect the Valley of Peace from the likes of you and your sniveling comrades." He didn't stop to wait for a reaction from his men. He unsheathed his sword and swung at Zhengsheng, who easily jumped aside to dodge the blow.
His intent hadn't been to hit Zhengsheng, though. It had been to separate the chow chow from Rahim, in order to take the tiger with him. His allies were few, now, and he needed them by his side if he hoped to make any difference at all. He grabbed Rahim by the arm and dragged him along as he ran. For a guy who looked so athletic, he sure was slow. "Pick up the pace!" he snapped.
"Stop kidnapping me!" Rahim replied harriedly.
"Not this way!" Boqin appeared at Rahim's other side, daggers drawn and already stained with blood. "We're headed west toward India, we need to correct."
"We'll have to cut back through camp!" Guotin argued. "How're the three of us gonna fight our way through?"
Boqin took a deep breath, and when he spoke again it was in his usual cool tone of voice. "Simply follow my lead. Do you trust me, sir?"
Guotin nodded, then turned Rahim around with him and dragged him back toward the camp like a rag doll. The tiger had started babbling in some foreign language, so Guotin figured he wouldn't be much help to them.
He almost balked, himself, at the sight before them. His men had surged forward, diving to the ground to grasp at the travel bag and its valuable contents. They fought amongst themselves, more unruly than Guotin had ever seen them now that they had rejected their leader. Some lay bleeding on the ground, still using every last ounce of their strength to reach for those coins. Such desperation, such selfish greed. Guotin had thought his men better than this, but he had been wrong. It would seem he was no "Bandit King," after all.
Zhengsheng stood before them, black eyes narrowed in disgust, drawn to his full height. It was clear he now regarded himself as their new commander, though he didn't seem to relish the position. He caught sight of the three of them running for camp and pointed his sword straight at them. "Enough!" he bellowed in his deep, booming voice. "There will be plenty of gold to go around once your job is through. First, you must work for it! Kill the two traitors to your band, and bring the tiger to me!"
Possibly because most of the coins had been spoken for, likely because of the promise of more, they listened. Ninety-nine pairs of eyes turned to them, fervent with blood lust, and ninety-nine weapons were drawn. Guotin need not say anything to his last remaining follower. Boqin ran before him, daggers at the ready to cut a path through the wolves once more.
"Stay close behind me," Guotin ordered Rahim. "And try not to get killed!"
"But he only wants me captured," Rahim argued nervously, though he followed the order well enough.
Guotin regretted not bringing his crossbow along for this endeavor, though his blade had served him well enough in the past. Hopefully it would today.
"Hang back," Boqin ordered them, then ran into the crowd of hostile bandits at full speed. While he was hopelessly outnumbered, he had the advantage in speed and skill, not to mention the attention Guotin attracted as their former leader.
Guotin deflected several throwing knives with his blade, then cut down two truly naive men who had thought they could charge him with bare fists and win. Three more surged forward with short swords, and Guotin pushed Rahim back so he could retreat to avoid getting flanked. He deflected several high blows from the wolf farthest to his left, but had to jump back again to avoid a blow to his unguarded side from the wolf to his right. Unfortunately, Rahim blocked him from getting too far, and he nearly fell over after bumping into the tiger. He ended up with a painful, though thankfully shallow cut in his right side. He gritted his teeth, aware that more men had surrounded them. He didn't see an immediate way out, and Boqin had clearly not taken out enough men to be of any help to them.
A loud, sharp whistle drew the bandits' attention away from their opponent for a moment, but that was all it took. Boqin stood with many heavily laden money pouches clutched in his hand and waved them over his head, letting the coins within them clink for everyone to hear. "You all are getting soft," he announced. "I didn't have too much trouble snatching these coins."
Dozens of hands and eyes strayed to empty belts, then back to Boqin, who hurled the pouches at Zhengsheng. The response was immediate.
"No!" Zhengsheng roared as he was swarmed by wolf bandits snatching at the yuan that had spilled out around him. "You idiots!" He glared murderously at Boqin, but couldn't make it through the crowd of wolves to fight.
"C'mon." Guotin grabbed Rahim's sleeve and tugged the slower man along as he took the opportunity to skirt the crowd and join Boqin in their retreat through the bandits' camp. "Nice strategy," he complimented.
"Take it as a sign that you should listen to me more," Boqin replied. While his plan had given them a path toward the camp, there were plenty more bandits armed and waiting for them there.
Guotin grabbed the front of Rahim's collar and yanked him down to keep him from getting beheaded by a particularly skilled swordsman, then drove his opponent back with a jab straight toward the stomach. Their swords clashed only twice before Guotin's experience won out and he was able to hook his jian around the other wolf's and send it flying. He tried not to think too hard on faces and names when he landed a fatal blow to the chest and dragged Rahim farther into camp where Boqin had encountered another handful of their former allies.
"You and your big mouth!" Boqin scolded as they flanked Rahim, trying to fight off their former comrades while protecting the diplomat from harm. "Did you ever once think that we might go along with Zhengsheng's plans and reach the Valley of Peace undercover? Or that maybe, just maybe, talking openly of defending the home of our enemies might not go over so well with your men?"
"What can I say, kid?" Guotin replied as he deflected blows with his jian. "When you're this pretty, you don't gotta think."
"I hate you!"
"You always say that!"
"This is how I die," Rahim added from between them, before Guotin shouldered him out of the way of an enemy arrow. Where that had come from, he couldn't see. His opponent stabbed at him with a short sword, and shockingly, Rahim reached forward and wrapped his own massive hand around the wolf's wrist.
Guotin used the moment of surprise to his advantage and ran the man through, then turned to his next opponent, a new recruit with knives. He dodged the young bandit's knives with a circular motion, placing himself behind the man, and knocked him out with a blow to the head from his hilt. Another wolf tried to sneak up behind him, but his sword was already in position to stab backward, and the bandit was fatally wounded in the stomach before he'd even reached Guotin.
Boqin's daggers were moving so quickly they could barely be seen. His movements were much smoother and more practiced than Guotin's, despite his young age. His superior skill showed in the way he dodged blows from three of his fellow bandits, all armed with similar daggers, then used a swift kick to knock them into each other like falling dominoes. Their group simply leapt over the stunned bandits and kept running.
They made it most of the way through the camp with only the stray encounter with one or two opponents at a time, but once they reached the camp's edge, they were greeted by a wall of wolves. There must have been at least twenty waiting on the opposite end of camp for them. Guotin didn't spare a moment on feeling intimidated; if he ever had, he never would have survived this long.
He rushed forward with Boqin, still protecting a crouching Rahim. They stood back to back, deflecting blows from the crowd of wolves that had surged forward to kill them, deftly circling around each other. When Guotin leaned to the side to dodge a sword, Boqin grabbed it with one hand while slitting his opponent's throat with the other, giving Guotin time to kick the swordsman in the stomach, knocking him back and disarming him at the same time. Guotin then held his jian horizontally in front of him to block two more swords, but the bandits fell to the ground, their backs bleeding. He didn't have time to contemplate the felled wolves, since more surged forward to take their places. He took one man's arm straight away with his sword, dodged a swipe from a dagger, then ducked when he felt an elbow in his back. One of Boqin's throwing knives appeared between the wolf's eyes no sooner than he'd lowered his own head. He stepped forward to meet his next opponents, but they fell to the ground wounded, too.
Guotin blinked around at the felled and retreating bandits. Something fishy was going on here, but so long as it was going in his favor, he didn't have the time to question it. "C'mon," he ordered, and Boqin helped him drag Rahim along as they ran out of the camp, through the bare foliage of the copse of trees around it, and through the narrow valley. Some arrows followed their dramatic exit, but none made their marks. He ducked down as far as he could while still running at full speed, to create a smaller target. They were going to be running for a while still.
Rahim bent down and rested his hands on his knees, taking in deep, wheezing breaths. He wouldn't consider himself out of shape, but he wasn't used to running for long distances. He had escaped with Guotin and Boqin through a narrow valley, up a rocky hillside and back down again, and then into a poorly maintained mountain pass that veered south. They had stopped to rest on a narrow pass with a sheer cliff face on one side and an equally sheer drop on the other. They could see out over the valley below, but were provided cover by overgrown underbrush and a small, crumbling abandoned temple. They meandered inside the precarious building, which was essentially a half-collapsed tile roof supported by some old wooden beams. The beams had once been painted red, but the paint was now faded and peeling. He got the feeling that the beams would have given out already if it weren't for the thick layer of vines crawling more than halfway up them. The entire place was swathed in shadows from the mountain, making it dark and eerie as though it were night.
Guotin clapped Rahim hard on the back, that infernal perpetual smile of his uncompromised by their massive loss. "Well, look on the bright side. We'll make much better time with just the three of us!"
"Make that the six of us." Three pairs of eyes gleamed at them from the underbrush outside the temple.
Before Rahim could react, Guotin had drawn his double-sided straight sword from the sheath at his side, and Boqin two shining daggers. Three snow leopards, all female from the looks of their slender frames and flowing black cloaks, emerged from the shadows. "Wait," he intoned in the most calm, yet firm voice he could muster, stepping between his new comrades and the mysterious women. "There is no need for violence."
"You got no idea who these three are, do you?" Guotin asked with a frustrated snort, his sword still drawn.
"It does not matter." Rahim felt less confident in that sentiment than he'd managed to sound, but even with his limited knowledge of fighting styles he could see that the snow leopards had not entered an offensive stance. He turned to the tallest of the women, who stood between the other two, her sharp green eyes fixed unerringly on him. "I believe you suggested that you may wish to travel with us?"
"To the Valley of Peace, yes," she said curtly, then briefly eyed the two wolf bandits. "We witnessed the mutiny of Guotin's men- that's what happens when you get too many meat-heads together at once. You're welcome for the help, by the way."
He caught sight of Guotin making a face and silently mimicking the woman's speech from the corner of his eye. "You've met?"
"Yes, we've run afoul of each other now and again," she confirmed, while her two comrades devolved into returning Guotin's childish antics. "I am Wu Zhin, and these are my sisters in arms- will you stop that?" She paused to give each of the two women a slap on the shoulder. "Wu Bai and Wu Qiang," she finished flatly. "Most refer to us collectively as the Wu Sisters. Perhaps you may have heard of us?"
"No," he replied, shooting a warning glare in Guotin's direction as he stuck his tongue out at Zhin. At least Boqin had remained stoic through the entire exchange, remaining mature and professional in spite of his obvious youth. "I regret that your names have only reached my ears just now. I am Rahim, a diplomat by trade, and now a traitor by choice. But judging from your extensive knowledge of the events which have unfolded here, you probably are not surprised to hear such a thing."
"No, not at all," Zhin confirmed. "If your comrades are willing to put aside their differences and travel alongside us to the Valley of Peace, we can surely cut down your travel time. We're aware of shortcuts and passes that very few know of, and we have easily bypassed Imperial checkpoints many times before. Our trade, after all, relies more on stealth and speed than your Bandit 'King' of the North has ever possessed, even in his prime."
"Hey, who says I'm not in my prime anymore?" Guotin snapped, but Rahim held out a hand to stay him.
"What business have you in the Valley of Peace?" Rahim asked, determined to at least give these Wu Sisters a chance to explain their position.
"I will admit that we are not exactly welcome allies of the Jade Palace," Zhin told him reluctantly. "But our dear departed master held great affection for its master, Shifu. It is our wish to aid him and his students against these foreign invaders- and domestic mercenaries." She took a moment to glare at Guotin. "Not to mention that it would be to our advantage to preserve the Empire. After all, nobles are our usual clientele."
"Clientele?" he asked, curious as to what they did.
"The Wu Sisters are well-known assassins," Boqin finally spoke, as cool and calm as ever. "They generally only become involved in political clashes in order to perform their trade."
"I see." Rahim felt blood rushing to his head as his heart pounded in his chest. He tried to quell his fear with the reminder that these women were offering an alliance. "I wouldn't expect you to be the types to help us." He hadn't expected Guotin or Boqin to be those types, either, though.
"Believe it or not, even an assassin is capable of some patriotism," Zhin argued, crossing her arms as she once more swept her gaze over the three men. "I can't say we're fans of Captain Zhengsheng, to boot."
"That guy's a dick," Guotin agreed, then finally sheathed his sword. "Well, I can't say they're trustworthy, but if we got a mutual enemy, we might as well team up."
Boqin nodded, sheathing his daggers a bit more slowly than his boss. "Agreed."
"Looks like we have a deal, then," Rahim said, relieved that he hadn't been caught in the middle of a fight between outlaws. "Please, my friends, lead the way."
Bai finally spoke, breaking from her sister's side to slide an arm into Rahim's while she batted her piercing blue eyes up at him. "I'd be just as content to bring up the rear, so long as you're with me."
"Took you long enough," Guotin directed at the woman with an amused snort, then joined Zhin in leading their motley group.
"Can't say I blame her," Boqin said as he followed after the man, and Guotin let out a bark of laughter.
"Hey, lookit this! You're finally shootin' the breeze with me, now?"
"No. Keep walking."
Rahim gulped nervously as he brought up the rear of the group as Bai had wanted, and Qiang flanked his other side. Was this third assassin as forward as her comrade?
"Bai, don't scare off our new friend," she scolded, her voice sweet and innocent. "Look how much he's blushing, he's orange."
"He's a tiger, noodles for brains," Bai shot back. "He's supposed to be orange."
"Though I cannot say I'm not blushing from all this attention," he cut in with a smooth smile to each of the snow leopards. He supposed if he was going to have a couple of deadly assassins fight over him, it might as well be in the personal sense, rather than... For business.
"You look so nervous," Bai observed huskily. "I like that."
"Will you quit it back there?" Zhin called over her shoulder. "If we're not found out from the commotion you're making, it'll be from the scent of your pheromones wafting through the whole region."
Bai leaned up and whispered, "She's just jealous," to him, before joining her more authoritative sister.
"Don't mind Zhin," Qiang told him with a comforting pat on the arm. "She's always cranky like this. I keep telling her, if she would just introduce a little fiber to her diet-"
"Not another word, Qiang," Zhin warned darkly.
At least their journey would not be devoid of entertainment.
Guotin splashed his face with some water, but that was about as close to bathing as he would likely be able to get. They had found a valley surrounded by mountainsides covered in lush spruce tree forests. The trees provided perfect cover, and the valley itself was small and unpopulated, its only water source a trickling stream that would not sustain the numbers of the British troops or Guotin's defected bandits. They had traveled all day and well into the night to get to this location. The Wu Sisters had known the route by heart, and while he didn't entirely trust them, he knew them well enough to trust that they wouldn't go back on this particular deal.
"You smell awful," Boqin complained. He kneeled at the stream to sip at some water and fill a canteen, which he'd probably gotten from a Wu Sister.
"Hey, lookit the bright side. You don't gotta use that tent full of cigarette burns anymore."
Boqin only rolled his eyes before leaving to set up his spot on the ground for the quick rest they were taking.
"I'll take the first watch of the night," Wu Zhin called out to them. She was the sort of person who couldn't stand not being in charge, so Guotin had let her take the lead on their expedition. It wasn't like he knew where they were going, anyway.
Zhin helped her sisters set out some blankets for themselves on the far side of the stream from where Rahim and Boqin had chosen to camp. There was clearly less trust between the others than even he had for the Wu Sisters.
"Didn't you hear me?"
Guotin blinked, surprised at how quickly Zhin had managed to approach him without him noticing. "Huh?"
"I'm taking first watch," she repeated. "Go to sleep."
"I'm not that tired." That was a lie, but his exhaustion didn't change the fact that he still had too much on his mind to sleep. It wasn't every day that almost every single one of his men betrayed him and tried to murder him. He was going to be sore about that for a while.
"I'm guessing you're thinking about how spectacularly everything has blown up in your face." Her guess was spot on, of course.
"Yeah," he admitted. He didn't have any reason to hide it. "Reminds me of somethin' a friend of mine said to me once."
"Oh?" Zhin sat down beside him at the stream's edge and rinsed off her hands. "What's that?"
He took a moment to think back on that memory, of when he was young and naive enough to think that he could get a woman to fall in love with him if he only had enough time. "She said that when a person loses something or someone, they don't just mourn that loss. They mourn the loss of the life they thought they'd have, too. I guess that's how I'm feelin' now."
Zhin didn't answer at first, just pulled a handkerchief from her shirt and dried her hands with it.
"It's dumb, I know," he added.
"No, it isn't," she argued. "I know exactly what you mean, despite my air of confidence. Everyone has things they wanted out of life, but never got." She didn't specify, and he knew better than to ask. "Perhaps in the future you should focus your energy on cultivating a better quality of follower, rather than a higher quantity," Zhin suggested. "Our master only had the three of us, but our loyalty to her remains even after her passing."
"Yeah, well, I dunno if I've ever been good at tellin' the difference between loyalty and gettin' used." He scratched his chin as he gazed up at the stars, embarrassed by his own foolishness. He had grown too confident, too complacent, and he'd paid the price.
"Talking about Lady Lotus Blossom?" Zhin asked.
"Why's everyone know about that, huh?" he complained, briefly covering his face to hide how flushed it had become. "I was eighteen. I mean, c'mon. Were you even alive for that?"
"I was," she confirmed, amusement entering her voice. "Though not quite so old enough to hear about it. Not until some years later, that is. In fact, many in less savory professions such as ours use the story as an example."
"An example of what?" he grumbled, though he had a feeling he knew.
"One must be careful in whom their trust is placed," she replied, then surprised him by placing a gentle hand on his arm. "Though I do disagree with the narrative that you should deserve your... Wound. It was a harsh punishment, I think, for the simple crime of falling in love."
"I thought so, too, at the time. But the eye patch goes over pretty well with the ladies, so I ain't complainin' too much." He grinned at her, and she withdrew her hand with a roll of her eyes.
"I should have known better than to expect any depth from you," she said, though there was a hint of humor in her voice that softened the admonishment.
"Hey, now, I can tell when someone's flirting with me," he said, and normally he would have made a move on a woman who flirted with him so obviously. Not now, though. He knew, after all the women he'd had in his life, that he succumbed too easily to infatuation. Lady Lotus Blossom was only the most famous example of such a flaw, not necessarily the only one. "You're a little late, though."
"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow, an amused smile tugging at her lips. "Am I to understand that boy who follows you around like a little lost puppy is-"
"Nope," he interrupted. He didn't think Boqin would appreciate anything less than staunch denial on his part, regardless of how the Wu Sisters viewed such relationships. It would more be about the shame of someone thinking Boqin was with him, specifically, he suspected. "Nah, nothin' like that. I mean, if I was into guys I could do a lot worse, but I meant that I'm thinkin' about getting married when this's all over. Y'know, settle down, do the whole kids thing."
"I think in this case you're the one who's a little too late," she replied with a scoff. "It never ceases to amaze me, the entitlement that washed up old men like you feel to have young women at your sides. Tell me, are you familiar at all with the concepts of shame or decency?"
"Nah, but I'd be willing to read all about 'em so long asya write it all up for me on your inner thigh." He'd only meant to tease her, though he realized when she gave him a swift punch to the gourds that he'd gone a little too far with that particular joke. "So that's a 'no,' then," he wheezed out, hunching over to nurse the bruised area.
She gave him a patronizing pat on the cheek. "Correct, that's a no," she told him with false warmth, then left him to go keep watch over their little camp beside her sleeping comrades.
He crawled to the other side of the camp to lie down with Boqin and Rahim, only to hear the tiger's amused voice tease him. "You are quite bad at flirting."
"Not normally," Guotin argued, wincing as he settled down for the night. "Wu Zhin's just a hard lady to flirt with, that's what it is."
"Sure."
"Y'know, I'm likin' you less and less."
"I'm surprised Lin liked you at all," the tiger went on. "Rather than beating you senseless."
Guotin rolled his remaining eye at the jab. "She did on an occasion or two. Beat me up. But I loved her, back then." His confession was met with a somber silence, and he glanced at Rahim to see the man staring up at the stars with watery eyes. "What?"
"Nothing," he replied quietly. "Just memories."
He could understand that. "It's not like I'm still in love with her or anything," he added, embarrassed that he'd admitted so much to a man he barely knew. He supposed he hadn't just been blustering when he'd said he'd been starved for a real friendship. "We were kids, y'know? I... I kinda fall in love real easy. The first time we ever met, I asked her to run away with me." He laughed at the memory of himself, and at the knowledge that he probably hadn't changed much. "She said no, but I always kinda wished I'd stuck around with her. By the time I went after her, there weren't enough clues left to find her."
"You sound like someone I used to know."
"Yeah?"
"He was also a sentimental fool. The difference being that he persisted for many years."
"How'd that work out for him?"
"Pretty well, until he died."
"Love never worked out for me," Guotin grumbled, thinking back on the second time he'd asked Lin to run away with him, and her rejection. Lady Lotus Blossom had betrayed him, even cost him an eye with said betrayal, but at least that had given him a reason to hate her. It had taken a much longer time to get over Lin's rejection, to understand what she had meant when she'd said she wanted to be alone. He'd had to do a lot of growing up to let go of that particular wound, to remind himself that no one was at fault, that the way she felt didn't have that much to do with him. He must have fallen in love again at least a dozen times, after that. No woman ever stuck by him for long. They always liked the idea of a charming outlaw far more than the reality.
"I don't think I've ever been in love," Rahim admitted reluctantly. "Romantic love always somewhat... Escaped my understanding."
Guotin snorted. "I don't think I'd ever be capable of not falling in love. I'll probably be on my death bed, askin' out the first hospice nurse I see."
"That especially confuses me," Rahim said. "Why not just sleep together and leave it at that?"
"What, a one night stand?" Guotin couldn't help but sound dubious about that. "I ain't no heart breaker." More like the women he went after were the heart breakers. He'd been a one night stand for many a woman with whom he'd held hopes of a proper relationship.
"If you say so. I don't envy your pain."
He wouldn't either, if he were someone who could manage to remain detached.
"Can you two put a sock in it?" Boqin interrupted in a harsh whisper. "If I don't get at least some sleep it'll be a lot harder to carry your asses next time we're in a fight."
"Last I checked, I had your back," Guotin pointed out, surprised the other wolf was even still awake. "We were both in that mix."
"I did something, too," Rahim added, though his argument was met with a long, uncomfortable silence. "Whatever," he grunted after a while.
"We wouldn't have even been in that fight if you hadn't acted like such a simpering turncoat over that stupid little dog," Boqin continued, ignoring Rahim. "And now, what? It's just the two of us from now on? I'm not going back to being a petty thief, and I'm definitely not spending the rest of my life living alone with you in the woods and not getting laid. This was stupid. This whole thing is stupid."
Guotin listened to the rant, aware that Rahim had shuffled away from them once Boqin had gotten going. It did come off as a pretty personal moment. To be honest, he didn't know why Boqin had bothered to follow him rather than joining the rest of their comrades in their alliance with Zhengsheng. He hadn't thought they'd been close enough to warrant such loyalty. He usually had something charming to say in these sorts of situations, but this was an exception.
Boqin broke the silence between them first. "Never mind. I'm going to sleep."
"Sure." Guotin didn't like awkward situations, and this was as awkward as a post-fight campout could get. He had to say something. "Hey, sorry about Enlai."
"Who?" Boqin asked tiredly.
"Y'know, that new guy," Guotin said. "The one you were knockin' boots with."
"Oh, him," he muttered flatly. "Yeah, I think I'll survive my broken heart."
Guotin snorted in laughter. "I never woulda guessed you'd turn out to be such a player."
"Now's not really the time," Boqin dismissed, and for a moment Guotin thought he'd stepped in it again. "But yes, I am. Goodnight."
"Yeah, 'night." He breathed a sigh of relief, then rolled over and gave Rahim a thumbs up. The tiger shook his head, then covered his eyes with his arm.
Guotin shrugged, then stared up at the sky in search of any last fading stars.
Notes:
I did it! Sorry for the long wait for this chapter, but I picked up multiple jobs so this year has been mostly non-stop working for me. I basically have been writing this chapter one sentence at a time... Anyway! The title is a quote from the writer, philosopher, and inventor Lin Yutang. I think that's the only reference I have, though I do frequently forget them.
Thanks again to everyone for sticking with me through this!
Chapter 26: Food is Our Common Ground, a Universal Experience.
Chapter Text
Chapter 26: Food is Our Common Ground, a Universal Experience.
Lin squinted at Po, then held out her ink brush at arm's length to judge proportions before committing a few lines to her paper.
"Can I rest yet?" Po asked, flapping his arms a little bit.
"No," Lin snapped, and the panda lifted his arms, holding them as straight as possible. "I'm almost done with this angle."
"What's the next angle?" Po asked.
"I'd say from underneath, butya didn't take your pants off," Lin replied, which caused him to turn red and wheeze.
"Can we please not?" Tigress asked harshly from where she sat behind Lin, looking over her shoulder.
Lin didn't understand why Tigress had even decided to sit in on these drawing sessions. When Lin had shown up at the Jade Palace after her shift at the noodle shop to draw Po, he had made her wait before returning with Tigress and escorting her to the scroll library. Now she sat at the study table with Tigress while Po posed in front of one of the shelves, still fully-clothed as he had insisted on.
She knew Tigress's involvement had something to do with some secret Po and her had together, but there was no way in which Tigress could possibly contribute. In fact, her sour attitude and the fact that she kept looming over Lin's shoulder to watch her draw were extremely annoying. "I'll stop as soon asya stop making me smell that breath of yours," Lin said, not bothering to look up from her study long enough to face Tigress. She saw Po shake his head frantically, his eyes wide. "I know you're threatening me right now," she added. "You're not sneaky."
"Hmph," Tigress grumbled, and her chair squeaked as she presumably settled down. "I would never disgrace the Jade Palace with such behavior." Po looked too relieved for Lin to believe her protests.
Lin ignored the younger woman and instead focused on her work, mostly as a favor to Po. She turned her paper on its side to get a better angle for finishing up the panda's legs when Tigress loudly cleared her throat behind her.
"Keep your paper straight," Tigress ordered.
Lin wasn't dedicated enough to keeping the peace to let that slide, so in response she dipped her brush in ink and flicked it over her shoulder.
"Agh!"
Lin went back to drawing as if she'd done nothing.
"You overgrown degenerate-"
"No!" Po broke his pose and ran toward them, waving his arms in the air. "Stoooop!"
"I kinda hafta, now that you're outta your pose," Lin pointed out. She knew that ignoring the fact that Tigress had just lost her temper would only aggravate her more. And aggravating others was one of Lin's greatest skills.
"He wasn't talking to you," Tigress snapped, then stood and stomped toward the door. "Po, if she tries to do something nasty to you, tell me. Otherwise, I can't stay here."
"But-" Po tried to protest, but Tigress left before he could finish.
Lin narrowed her eyes at the panda. "So you asked her to be here 'causeya thought I'd... What? Forcibly undressya?"
Po started to turn red. "Uh." He backed up to the spot Lin had marked on the floor and got back into his pose, offering her an apologetic grin. "Sorry?"
Lin let out an annoyed snort, but finished up her study for him anyway. They had a deal, after all. She saved her revenge for when she'd put the final touch on the nerve chart and it no longer mattered if the panda broke his pose. "I was thinking that carvingya owe me could be a dildo."
Po sputtered and fell over completely. "No," he groaned from the floor.
"It was a joke." Lin tossed her brush down and flipped her nerve chart around for the panda to see.
That perked Po up enough to push himself off the floor. "Hey! That looks great!"
"Good, 'cause revisions cost extra. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm way overdue to take a lookit my new house." Lin left the chart on the table and headed toward the door.
"Wait, house? Ya got a house? When'd ya get a house?" Po ran after her, apparently excited by this news which technically had nothing to do with him.
"Yeah, I got a house now."
"Since when are you not a homeless layabout?" Tai Lung joined them the moment they walked out of the Hall of Heroes, falling into step at Lin's other side.
"Since I won a house off'a Ping's friend..." She tried to remember the man's name, but it wasn't coming to her. "Gogo? I dunno."
"Won? As in at that boring mahjong game?" Tai Lung raised his eyebrows, a skeptical frown on his face.
"What is mahjong?" Gia ran up the last of the thousand steps into the village, then turned right back around to join them. "And what did you win?"
"Mahjong's a game played with tiles, Po can teachya sometime," Lin explained with a dismissive wave. "But the important part's that I won a house."
"An entire house?" Gia repeated, confused. "I do not understand. Am I thinking of the wrong word?"
"Nope!" Lin couldn't help but let out a gloating cackle. "I won a house! A hoooouuuuuse ahahahahahhh!"
"Now that's an evil laugh," Po pointed out.
"Much better than most I've heard, yes," Tai Lung agreed. "Not better than mine, though."
"Let's hear it!" The panda sounded excited at the prospect of hearing it, despite the fact that they'd fought before, so he'd probably already heard it.
"I can't," Tai Lung said with an uptight sniff. "It's a spontaneous thing. I need to be filled with malevolent glee. You know, like Lin always is."
"Not always," Lin argued, amused by their discussion.
"Right, you're mostly sad and pathetic," Tai Lung corrected.
"Thanks."
"Malevolent glee," Gia repeated slowly. "This is a new turn of phrase for me, but I believe I understand it. Mostly because of this laughter. It is like the feeling you have when an enemy of yours fails, yes?"
"That's right," Lin confirmed, then laughed again. Malevolent glee was a pretty good description of her current mood. "I can't wait to get my hands on that house and shove it right under Shifu's nose. No more stinky old kiddy room for me!"
"Hey," Po whined.
"The only ones who should be complaining right now're the cleaning staff who gotta scour your nasty ass room nowadays," Lin replied. After living in the smell of Po's old room for so long, she didn't feel particularly generous.
"Ya sound like my dad," Po grumbled.
Lin ignored him to look down at her map. She didn't know how she'd amassed such an entourage, but at least now she didn't have to fear getting murdered at this mysterious new house anymore. She could still get haunted, but there were other people with her to use as shields.
With the map in hand, she led them outside of the village while Gia kept playing typical road trip word games with Po and Tai Lung constantly complained about said games. They traveled south, into the farmlands, and through some abandoned property where the fields had grown grass taller than Lin herself. At that point, she had to rely on her companions to keep their path straight, but once they were out of the grass and past a sparse spattering of pine trees, the small lake from the map was in sight. The location of the house was marked on top of the lake, which she'd hoped had been an error.
Once they reached the shore, complete with a mossy dock and an old punt, she saw exactly what that marker had meant. An island rose up from the middle of the small lake that looked taller than it was wide- it was practically a pile of rocks with some grass on top. Somehow, a weeping cherry tree had also managed to grow atop the rocky island, its thick roots visible above ground. The small cottage built atop the island was actually mostly hanging off the edge, supported by thick wooden beams jutting out from the rocks. Even in the light of the setting sun, holes were visible in the traditionally curved roof, and she could tell the circular doorway was missing a couple of hinges, from the way it hung partially open. Two unlit lanterns hung from corbels at the roof corners, swinging in the breeze, greenish from mold. A pole sporting a bucket on a rope stuck out from the back of the house, hopefully for the purpose of scooping up water from the lake rather than dumping waste. She set eyes on a tiny dock, just as dilapidated as the house, at the bottom of the steep steps that led up the island. They would have to take the old punt out to the island to see her new... Shack.
Po cleared his throat and spoke first. "Uh, looks nice."
"No it doesn't," Tai Lung argued.
"It only needs a bit of work," Gia argued. "It can be a suitable home in time."
"I still think someone was murdered here," Lin grumbled, then hopped onto the punt. "Anyway, c'mon. I'll need help clearing out all those murder victim remains."
Gia seemed hesitant, but Tai Lung took care of that by shoving her onto the punt ahead of him. Po almost got on without incident, but tripped over the pole and nearly fell into the water. Tai Lung grabbed him by the seat of his pants and got him planted on the punt, then used the pole to propel them toward the island.
"Y'know, in Venice you'd be called a gondoliere," Lin comment as she leaned back to relax.
"I loved Venice," Gia added with a wistful sigh. "I do miss riding the gondole."
"I was a gondoliere for a little bit," Lin said, which caused Gia to gasp and clap. "I ended up losing my gondola during a heist, though. Then again, I also got it in a heist. Easy come, easy go."
"Heist?" Po and Gia asked at the same time.
"Yeah, and my partners betrayed me," she added. That had been a memorable night. "I won in the end, but never mind the details." To be honest, the details got a bit raunchy, and she didn't think Gia would be able to handle them.
"Can do," Tai Lung grumbled as they docked at the island, and Lin left him to take care of tying up the punt so she could run up the stairs and get a load of her house.
She paused to take in the run-down old place. Up close, it looked even shabbier. The lanterns had tears, the rocky island was overgrown with weeds, and inside the house the floorboards warped and rose from the moisture. Still, it was all hers. She had a house. A place of her own again. Normally, she would have decided to try to sell it for a marginal profit and moved on. But she felt an affinity for the place that she couldn't understand, but didn't question. Without a doubt, she knew this was why she'd saved her money. She'd need all she had to fix up the little house.
"It is cozy." Gia caught up to her and walked right into the house to look around.
Po stopped in the doorway and eyed the questionable floor boards. "You sure that's okay to walk on?"
"Yeah, but grab me a lantern first," Lin ordered. She lit the moldy old lantern Po handed her with the flint and knife she kept in her belt and joined Gia in her tour. There wasn't much to see, as the whole cottage was only a single room. But there were plenty of windows, and when she threw the shutters open they let in so much light that she wouldn't need the lantern anymore if it weren't for the setting sun.
"You were right," Tai Lung said from the doorway. "This is most definitely a murder shack."
"It's not as bad as I thought it'd be," Lin admitted. "I like this place, actually. I always liked water. It sure needs a lotta work, though."
"Good luck with that," he dismissed.
Lin laughed. Like she was going to let him walk away from a chore this big. "You're helping me." Now that she thought about it, she could probably rope everyone in the shack into helping her out. "All ofya's are."
"Say what?" Po asked, blinking rapidly at her.
Gia clapped and jumped up and down, causing the floor boards to creak ominously. "Yes! This will be a wonderful bonding experience!"
"Yes, especially for you and the demons haunting this old shack," Tai Lung taunted.
Gia glared at him, but still held her rosary beads.
"Please, I'm the one who'll be living here." Lin gave him a warning smack on the arm. "And if there're demons here you're gonna be the first one I sacrifice to 'em."
"Are you taking her side?" Tai Lung asked indignantly. If she didn't know any better, she'd say he sounded like a jealous child fighting with a sibling.
"Nope." Lin brushed him off, since it would be best for everyone to avoid an argument about "sides," especially if it involved Gia. "Anyway, I think I'm ready for an assessment."
"Burn it down," Tai Lung suggested, but she ignored him.
She set the lantern down and walked around the house, one hand resting on her hip while she pointed out all the work she wanted done with the other. "These beams up here've been compromised, so we're gonna hafta install a temporary support and replace the main crossbeamya see here." She indicated a large block of moldy wood running across the center of the house. "Now this's looking like it's a little too small, to begin with, so we'll hafta go up a size, which of course'll run up the bill. That seems like it's our only structural issue, thankfully, but there's some other stuff to take care of, like re-shingling this roof to take care of all the leaks." She paused to stomp down a loose floorboard with one foot. "These floorboards're coming up 'cause of moisture damage, so we'll rip everything up and salvage what we can. I think we'll be able to save about fifty percent of these boards, and we can fill in the blanks with reclaimed wood. After that all we got left is replacing a coupla these window frames and fixing the door, and bang-boom we're done."
The three of them stared at her, though it was Po who spoke first. "That sounds kinda... Complex," he said.
"Meh," she replied with a dismissive wave. "With the four of us we can get it done in under two weeks." That was probably an optimistic estimate, considering how unlikely it was that she was the only one with any construction experience. "Alright, maybe a little over two weeks. Still, it's not complicated work."
"What about our duties at the Jade Palace?" Gia asked, concern in her voice as she looked around the old shack. "We would not want to abandon any of our responsibilities."
"Think of it as shifting your focus," Lin replied, ignoring Tai Lung's skeptical snort. "Anyway, I'll take care of-"
"What is going on here?" Shifu appeared in the doorway, his ear twitching as he glared around the room at each of them.
"Oh my God." Lin tilted her head to give him her best stink-eye. "Are you stalking me? Again?"
"I do not stalk you," he argued. "I was keeping an eye on Tai Lung!"
"Oh good," Tai Lung grumbled. "He was stalking me. That's better, isn't it?"
She didn't know why she'd expected to get through a day without Shifu's interference. Maybe it was more vain hope than anything else. "Get outta my house," she ordered. It felt so good to be able to say that.
"Your house?" Shifu repeated, glancing around the old cottage. "You don't own a house."
"I do now," Lin snapped. "I won it in a game of mahjong."
"Maybe you two should talk outside," Po suggested, stepping between them. The panda had good instincts. If Lin had brought anything substantial with her, she would have thrown it at Shifu by now. "And the rest of us can, y'know, familiarize ourselves. With the house. With the door closed. So we can't hear ya."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Lin grumbled. She pushed Shifu out the door and slammed it shut behind her. It swung back open again with a loud creak, but she ignored that. "Alright, say whatever shitty thing you're gonna say about me winning a house."
"You won a house?" Shifu repeated incredulously, still looking shocked. "You were gambling while you were drunk enough to- to- well, you know!"
"Yeah, so what?" Lin shot back. "I like to drink, I like to gamble, and I like to bang. Last night I did all three, so it was a good night in my book. In fact, the only thing missing was drawing naked ladies."
"That reminds me," he added, then handed her the crumpled paper of lewd drawings she'd left in his bed sheets.
"Ha! Well, thereya go. All my favorite activities in one night. Good for me."
"And this is your house," he continued, still focused on that detail. "You have a house. And this is it."
"What part of 'I won it in a game of mahjong' don't you get?" Lin crossed her arms and glared at him, waiting for his usual set of contradictions.
"That isn't even legally binding," Shifu argued, predictably. "You cannot lay claim to a house just because-"
"I own the deed?" She suggested, taking pleasure in the way his eye twitched at her interruption.
"Do you even know the name of the seller?" he insisted, undaunted by her logic.
She snorted. "How the hell'm I supposed to remember? Gogo or something?"
"That isn't even a real name!" Shifu snapped.
Lin decided to end the argument, not because she wanted to make up with him, but because she was tired of listening to him complain all the time. She was tired in general. She had a house of her own now, secluded in the middle of a cold, dark lake. She was ready to be left alone. "That sounds like a 'you' problem," she said flippantly.
"What? Are you kidding me-"
"I'm gonna need help fixing this place up," she continued, ignoring his arguments. "Let the kids come over here and work on the house. The panda can keep an eye on Tai Lung, and Gia... She'll probably be able to do something. I think. It'll build character."
Shifu glared at her, but he'd stopped twitching for the time being. "And what would they do? Measure things? Hammer things?"
"Yeah, that's pretty much how construction goes," Lin replied. She tried to resist rolling her eyes at his severe lack of knowledge about anything other than kung fu, but the urge overwhelmed her.
"You'd better watch that before you burst a blood vessel in your eye," he grumbled. He clenched his jaw while he considered her suggestion, then surprised her by nodding. "Fine. But only because Tai Lung will be supervised. And I will be checking in on you, as well, I'll have you know."
"Gee, thanks, Dad," she said sarcastically.
"I don't care how sarcastic your tone is, don't call me that," Shifu replied with a shudder. "It's gross."
"Well, don't stick your dick in a younger woman." Lin returned to the house on that comment, knowing he'd be too embarrassed to harp on her for it in front of anyone else. She snorted at the sight of Gia with her fingers in her ears while Po loudly hummed an off-key tune.
"You could have bothered to lower your voice," Tai Lung grumbled. The way he wrinkled his nose in disgust looked exactly the same as when he'd been a kid, and Lin felt a pang of nostalgia at it.
"Nah. By the way, we can get started on the house tomorrow." She ignored Tai Lung's immature groan. "Now take the old man and beat it."
"This is exciting," Gia commented brightly as she follow Po out the door. She seemed like she was getting used to Lin's demeanor, which made things a lot easier.
"I suppose this is going to be some sort of lesson, too," Tai Lung complained, his arms crossed in his usual grumpy pose. "Tell me now if I should brace myself for your sickening platitudes."
"Get over it," Lin dismissed, pushing him toward the door. "You're the one who came back to the Valley of Peace in the first place."
Shifu entered the house, then, taking each step as carefully as though he thought he might fall through the floor. "Tai Lung, go back to the Jade Palace with the others," he ordered, his eyes glued to his own feet. "And don't give me any lip."
Tai Lung followed the order, but gestured to Shifu and rolled his eyes on the way out. Lin snorted and nodded in agreement.
"I saw that!" Shifu shouted after him.
Lin crossed her arms and waited for some more of Shifu's lines about how he was sorry and she shouldn't still be mad at him, but he was more focused on her floor. "The sub floor's fine," she snapped. She wasn't in the most patient mood. "You're not gonna break anything just by standing in here. There were just four of us walking around in the house without incident."
He finally looked at her, though he didn't seem entirely comfortable. "This is an absolute hovel."
"Wow, that statement was very helpful." Lin picked a spot near the corner and sat cross-legged on the floor. She didn't feel like standing for whatever crappy conversation was about to happen. "Got any more hot tips for me?"
Shifu's ear twitched, but he managed to control his temper more than usual. "Here's one: move back into the Jade Palace."
She would have laughed in his face if she wasn't too exhausted for it. "Try again."
"I am trying, alright?" he snapped, then paused and breathed deeply through his nose. Thankfully, he didn't say anything about inner peace. "Why are you so dead set on living in this shack, anyway?"
"'Cause it's mine." She also felt weirdly attached to it, like this was some sort of destiny-related thing, but she didn't want to talk about that. Because the house was hers was good enough reason to keep it. She'd never actually owned a house of her own before. The closest she'd ever come was when she was helping Al pay the mortgage, but even then she hadn't been allowed to actually own anything. She had been so poor her whole life, and so many places prohibited women from owning property, that she'd never expected to own a house. She'd come to accept it. But now that she had it, no matter how rundown her house happened to be, she'd fight to keep it if necessary.
"Because it's yours," Shifu repeated slowly.
"That's right," Lin replied with a shrug. "You think it's so easy to buy a house? This was a lucky turn for me, so don't shit all over it likeya like to do to everything."
"I don't like to do that," he grumbled, but he stopped arguing with her about the house. "I don't see a kitchen," he added.
"I'll live." She'd cooked over an open fire before and she could do it again if need be. Besides, she pretty much got her fill of cooking at work.
"Are you sure you will be comfortable here?" He was starting to sound concerned for her, which was a nice change of pace.
"Tonight I'm going back to Ping's. But after we fix this place up, it'll be cozy as hell."
"That's not a place I would use for reference, but alright."
Lin laughed a little at his stupid joke, though she wished she could have held it in. She didn't want to look like she was going to take him back. She hadn't forgiven him, she might never forgive him, and she didn't want to give him any other impression. But she missed moments like this. "Hey, wanna break this place in with me?"
Shifu furrowed his brow at her, deep in thought for about a second before he understood her meaning and turned bright red. "Here?"
"That's what 'this place' means, yeah." She patted the floor beside her, but he didn't budge.
"It is filthy and cold in here," he argued. "I would feel-"
"Dirty?" Lin suggested, waggling her eyebrows. "That's the idea. C'mon, it's not gonna be this gross forever."
"The fact that this appeals to you is disturbing," he grumbled, but he still joined her on the floor. "I wish I'd brought a tarp, at least."
She snorted in amusement at his squeamishness. "We'll have plenty of tarps once the work starts, trust me. Plus I can see howya handle a hammer."
Shifu blushed again. "Oh? Does that interest you?"
Lin laughed again. "Your flirting's so tame, it's like... Just a regular conversation."
"That's enough out of you," he huffed, then kissed her.
A warm, salty breeze carrying on it the faint scent of lemons blew across the beach and kicked up the sand. The brilliant blue of the sky bled into the cerulean sea, its waves lapping gently at the shore. Tai Lung didn't know specifically where he was, but that didn't concern him too much. He looked around the beach, but found himself facing a cliff face with a rather difficult-looking climb behind him and water at all other sides. He was isolated there, completely alone. Normally that feeling of solitude pressed down on him like the dark days of his imprisonment had, but this time he felt at peace. He felt as though he'd been waiting to be alone for a long time. He spent some time staring out at the sea, watching the waves. He sat on the beach long enough that he started to hear noises.
He stood and approached the water's edge, listening to the distant sound of- he wasn't sure what. It sounded a bit like laughter, coming from far out at sea. Yet it was no laughter he'd ever heard before, the voices unnatural and strained, as though they had not been meant to laugh. He was so focused on the sound that he stepped into the shallows before he'd realized it. Startled, he looked down. There, in the sea, he saw not his own reflection, but that of a young girl. A wide-eyed, fluffy-furred child in a worn burlap dress, one arm cradled against her chest, bruising blooming out from her sleeve cuff. And then, beneath that reflection, that bottomless pit of a dinner plate eye, staring intently at him.
And that eye reminded him, that his arm hurt intensely. That her arm hurt, the girl in the reflection. That her father had been angry, she'd been frightened. There had been a kitchen, she'd been cooking with her grandmother, slicing lemons at the counter. Her father had gone after her grandmother, she'd gotten between them, she'd been thrown against the counter and jammed her arm. She'd run to this beach, to cry and hide and feel sorry for herself. All she wanted was to be alone.
Tai Lung closed his eyes and rubbed at his temples. Why was he seeing this? What was this thing that had chosen to show him so much, all these things that weren't his to see? He knew that these were Lin's memories. He didn't see what they had to do with him, if anything.
He opened his eyes again to find himself somewhere new. Still a beach, but gray and overcast. Instead of a cliff side behind him, sand dunes and tall beach grass. Beyond them, green meadows in the distance. Beside him, a woman somewhere in her thirties, a dog with rich brown fur, tall and broad, but with an attractive face and almond-shaped eyes. She was saying something, but all he could hear was the blood rushing in his ears. Everything seemed distant, disjointed. Something inside of him felt off, like there was a vibration spreading from the core of his body out to the tips of his fur, something screamed in the distance now instead of laughing. He tried to focus on the tall, beautiful woman looming over him. He thought he'd fallen to his knees, but he felt sand between his toes. He was smaller. He could hear this strange woman's voice now, muffled as though there were something clogging his ears.
"I'm sick of it!" she was saying. Shouting. "I'm done!"
There was quiet again, punctuated by that distant screaming. Or maybe it was wind. "Are you saying you're sick of me?" a voice asked, sounding somehow rough and young at the same time. It had come from him, though it wasn't his.
"Yes," the dog answered, and then the screaming overtook them, and then darkness.
He closed his eyes and opened them several times, the sudden silence and pitch black disorienting. Of course he remembered this. The cold depths of the ocean, where that horrible eye bore into him, seeing, questioning. He didn't drown this time, though. He breathed, oddly enough, but not air. Each breath he sucked in brought with it viscous, icy sea water which froze his insides before he expelled it again. There was ground underneath him, too, he realized. His feet had never touched ground in this vision before.
Soon, his eyes adjusted to the darkness, yet another new feature of this particular vision. He could see now that he stood on uneven silt, interrupted by the occasional half-buried rock or corroded artifact. Actually, he recognized some of the shapes rising from the ground. These were weapons of the Jade Palace, he was sure of it. Not just that. He realized, at the sight of one thick-bladed sword buried as though driven into the earth, that these were the weapons he had scattered about the Hall of Warriors in his last battle with Shifu. He tried to look away, but there was nothing else to see. He tried to walk, but his limbs struggled to move through the water bearing down on him.
He closed his eyes again, hoping that when he opened them there would be something with him, anything. When he opened them, the same view greeted him, though he noticed that things seemed more illuminated than before, as if he were holding a lantern. That circle of light grew, then, like it would have if he'd raised the invisible lantern high above his head. As his field of vision grew, he saw that he was not alone after all. He turned to look to his side, behind him, but he was surrounded.
The light had been cast over ten forms surrounding him, all seated with their backs to him, all meditating. They were all him. Each one with his broad shoulders, his spotted fur, his posture. Despite the resistance of the water surrounding him, he approached his closest self and walked around it, curious to see what kind of face it had. He couldn't quite see the front of the figure, though. He couldn't even see the side. It did not move a muscle, yet he saw only his own back, until he'd made it to the inside of the circle again. He shivered, disturbed by this new vision. He decided to try speaking.
"Hello?" The word came out in a muffled gargle, but it made a definite noise. There was no response for any one of the ten Tai Lungs around him, no response from anywhere in the dark expanse beyond them. For all he knew he was stuck here until the day he died. Stuck here in the cold and the dark, in the isolation, like he had been in Chor Ghom. Deep in that mountain, where the air had been thin but just as difficult to breathe as this salty sea water, where there had been nothing but his own thoughts, where even the guards barely got close enough to him to see. Here he was again, in another endless limbo, but worse. In a vision, there was no need to eat or to sleep, there would be no one to bring him meals, no occasional noise like footsteps or voices, reminding him of the existence of the outside world. Here there was only the sound of the blood rushing through his own body, only these ten silent apparitions, only the ruins of his past and the unknown depths beyond. And he knew, though he didn't see it, that the creature which had brought him here watched him still, with that unblinking eye.
Tai Lung awoke with a start, back in his own bed and coated in sweat. He grabbed a handkerchief from his bedside and used it to wipe his face clean, then the back of his neck. He took several long breaths, but decided what he needed was to get out for some fresh air. A light dusting of snow had fallen on the mountainside as he'd slept, and the soft coldness helped bring him back to himself. His visions had been coming almost every time he fell asleep now, which gave him even more incentive to spend his nights awake and watching over Lin. But this had been new. This... Was this what Lin had told him about? Were these visions really her memories? And if so, why did they now haunt him?
He should probably forget all that for the time being. He had enough to worry about already, sacrificing half his nights to protecting Lin from assassins who never actually showed up. Why the Wu Sisters hadn't shown their faces yet eluded him, but all this waiting was starting to wear on his nerves. He made the decision to speak to the panda about searching the valley for the assassins and putting this rumor to rest once and for all.
Speaking of Po, he'd finally returned from his shift watching over Lin. Tai Lung watched in the light of pre-dawn as the panda shuffled through the snow toward the barracks, vigorously rubbing his arms. The fuzzy idiot had gone out without so much as a scarf. Sure, their thick fur kept them warm, but once snow fell on it and soaked through, all that changed.
"You should have paid attention to the clouds," Tai Lung commented as the panda joined him on the covered porch, blowing his hot breath into his hands.
"Everything's fine, by the way," Po said. "No Wu Sisters. We sure they're here?"
Tai Lung shook his head. The panda was more perceptive than he would have expected. "We're going to search the whole valley. If we don't find them, then Lin's on her own at night."
Po inched a little closer to him. "You sure?"
"If you'd like to go all the way out to that miserable little island to watch over her every night, be my guest."
"I guess not." Po sidled so close to him that their arms were touching.
"I'm not into men, panda," Tai Lung said with a put-upon sigh.
"I'm not into ya, I'm just cold," Po argued, refusing to move away.
Tai Lung pressed one hand to his forehead, but didn't shrug the panda off. He didn't have the energy. "If you're so cold, go inside."
Po didn't listen to the order. "I'm into Tigress, actually," he said in a low voice, then coughed awkwardly into his fist.
Tai Lung glanced at the panda, now pink in the face, and raised an eyebrow. "Like to aim high, do you?"
"Hey, she kissed me," he announced proudly, then seemed to deflate. "But I guess she's not that into me after all. She kinda... Ran off. And now we're pretendin' it never happened. So. That's a thing."
"Yes, women are like that," Tai Lung told him. "Except for Lin, I suppose, which I try my hardest not to think about."
Po leaned forward on the porch railing and hummed, drumming his fingers on the wood. "So... What should I do?"
"Huh?"
"Ya said that's how women are," he pointed out. "So ya got experience, right?"
"Oh, right," Tai Lung sputtered. He had experience, alright. He had experience in being rejected. But then, one of Yan-Yan's main complaints had been that he'd refused to acknowledge their tryst. "I suppose just... Make yourself available. And be more aggressive. All of that, you know."
"Okay, yeah." Po seemed to really take his advice seriously, which he tried not to feel too good about. "I'll let ya have your alone time, now. It's too cold for me."
Tai Lung remembered his vision of Lin. All she had wanted was solitude, the same solitude which he had endured in prison and which still haunted him now. That feeling, of being calm and whole when there had been nothing or no one else with him, must have been how Lin had traveled the world on her own for so many years without complaint.
"Don't bother," Tai Lung grumbled. "I'll join you."
"Oh, cool-"
"But no more talking," he added. He and the panda ended up eating breakfast together, which was weird. Well, it was weird for him. After all, this was his most hated adversary, the one who'd stolen the Dragon Scroll from him. But it was hard to think of Po that way when he kept yawning loudly and slurping at leftover noodles. He still seemed like a goofy, fuzzy impostor most of the time, no matter how much progress he made in Dragon Style. It was like the panda in front of him and the panda who had performed the Wuxi finger hold on him were two completely different people.
When the morning gong rang, they joined Shifu's students in the hall for that pointless morning greeting. Once he'd put in an appearance for the old man, he felt confident he could slip away to talk to Lin about his visions without raising any alarms.
"Tai Lung," Shifu called out before he could even get out of sight of the barracks. "Come now," he ordered when he'd caught up. "It is time for your etiquette lessons."
"What?" he asked, not bothering to keep his irritation out of his voice. "But I have to go fix that old woman's house, don't I?"
"That can wait a bit," Shifu insisted, then gestured toward the Hall of Heroes. "I have arranged these lessons, so let's go. You will only delay the inevitable if you continue to argue with me."
"This is ridiculous," he complained, but he followed Shifu anyway. That threat about delaying the inevitable had gotten him. If nothing else, Shifu was as stubborn and immovable as the mountain itself. "What's this even got to do with my rehabilitation, hm? Seems to me like these 'etiquette lessons' are entirely about your chafed little ego."
Shifu's ear twitched, but he showed no other signs of having heard him. The great rodent made a show of throwing open the Jade Palace's door and leading him into the Hall of Heroes, where Tigress and Gia sat waiting at a low table in front of the Moon Pool.
"Great," Tai Lung observed. He didn't look forward to the torture of having to listen to that stuck up tiger and Lin's whiny spawn telling him how to act. "What is this, the orphan approach? None of us have real parents, so there's supposed to be some unspoken respect? Where's the panda?"
That finally got to Shifu, judging by the eye twitch. "That will be enough," he snapped, gesturing for Tai Lung to sit at the table across from the two women. "Your teachers will take it from here."
He spared a moment to make it clear to Shifu that he was shrugging the old man off, then sat down. He then resisted the urge to recoil at the intense glares awaiting him. Apparently that orphan diatribe had gotten to more than only Shifu. "So what have you biddies-"
Quicker than the blink of an eye, something long and wooden came down on the table with a loud crack. "Silence!" Gia barked out in a tone of voice more befitting of a warden than the simpering fool she was.
Tai Lung did recoil this time, eyeing the instrument that had threatened him so. "Is that a ruler?"
"Students speak only when spoken to," the little wolf told him. "And there will be no talking back."
Tigress nodded in approval. "Now let us move on to the basic rules of conduct for a master of kung fu."
Tai Lung pointed at the ruler. "You're going to let her keep that?" No sooner than he had spoken did the little brat deliver a stinging blow to his finger with her torture device.
"It is rude to point!" she barked.
Tigress nodded again. "Gia's methods are those of the Catholic nuns. If you've got a problem with that, I'm sure we could find something harsher. Now, the rules of conduct. A master of kung fu is never to harm an innocent person, never to deny help to those in need, and never to disrespect their master. Those are the three basic tenets laid down by Master Oogway." She paused and waited.
Tai Lung glanced down at the ruler, then hesitantly answered. "Yes, I know."
Gia slapped his knuckles with the ruler with an unearthly speed. "No talking back!"
"But she wanted me to answer her-" He paused to dodge her next blow and sat on his hands. "It's the truth! I know all this already!"
"It doesn't seem that way," Tigress replied calmly. "Gia? Does it seem that way?"
"No," the little wolf growled malevolently as she tapped her upturned palm with the ruler. He had underestimated this girl, he now realized. Where she had learned such speed and accuracy he didn't know, but he would not make the same mistake twice.
Tai Lung locked eyes with Gia, determined to stare her down, then slowly removed his hands from beneath him and placed them on the table. He said nothing, waiting for them to continue with their ridiculous lesson.
"That's better," Tigress commented with no small amount of satisfaction in her voice.
He resisted the urge to gag.
"I'll leave your transgressions unspoken for now. You already know what you've done wrong."
Tai Lung once again suppressed his gag reflex. He didn't know how much longer he'd make it without retching, but he needed more time to analyze Gia's movements.
"What you must do now is think about how you present yourself to the Valley," Tigress continued, totally unaware of his inner eye-rolling. "Let's go over the ten virtues of kung fu which are written on the banners in the training hall. Have you ever bothered to read them?"
He glanced back and forth between the two women. He was fairly sure he had a read on Gia's speed and alertness, and he had a plan. "Yes," he ground out. "Have you?"
His moment had come. When Gia brought the ruler down, he quickly turned his hands palms up. Before he'd even felt the sting of the blow, he closed one hand around the ruler and reached forward with his other to push down on it. By following the momentum she'd already established, he was able to break her grip and take the ruler from her despite her unexpected strength. It all took less than a second.
Gia, in turn, fell back in her shock. Except, he realized too late, there was no shock involved in that move. She had fallen back to gain leverage to kick the table up onto its side and into him, then when his arms were pinned against him, hook one foot around the ruler and kick it back into her own hands. Then she sat up, pulled the table back into position, and hit him in the head with her ruler. This also took less than a second.
Tigress joined him in staring at the girl with mouths slightly agape.
"Shall we continue?" Gia asked, the ruler returned to her lap as if nothing had happened.
Then slowly, Tigress spoke. "Wwwwwhhhat?"
"I want a rematch," Tai Lung demanded. "You sneaky little snipe! I could beat you in a fair match any day of the week-" He was cut off by her ruler, which he dodged just in time. He had lost his head momentarily then, but who could blame him? This whole scenario officially fell under the category of "too much." He could be talking to Lin about his vision of the ten versions of him instead of wasting his time here.
That thought gave him pause. He ignored Tigress's inquiries into where Gia had learned to move in such a way, remembering what she'd brought up to him. The ten virtues on those stupid banners. Power, focus, harmony, agility, honor, speed, sacrifice, grace, courage, and balance. Could it be nothing more than a coincidence?
He stood and turned his back to them. "I'm going to help Lin rebuild her gross house. Join me if you must." After that announcement, he was gone. He didn't want to spend another moment with those two unless he absolutely had to. Giving the excuse of helping Lin bought him enough freedom to leave without worrying about being stopped. Gia didn't even follow, he suspected because she still held a grudge against him for how he'd rubbed her face in the truth of her pathetic existence. Too bad for her. It wasn't up to him to help maintain her delusions.
Lin crossed her arms and stared at her new house with a furrowed brow. She'd gotten to work on it with the help of Tai Lung, Po, and Gia, and they'd started re-tiling the roof. Or rather, Tai Lung and Po had started re-tiling the roof because she didn't have a ladder and she didn't feel like climbing. It had taken her long enough just to get her hands on some tools and spare tiles. Well, spare in the sense that no one else had been using them, so she'd taken them. From behind a house. Sure, the house had half a roof, but you snooze you lose. "Get offa there!" she ordered the two men, and they joined her and Gia back on the ground, each showing off with their silly kung fu flips. She eyed the job they'd done so far from her vantage point. It didn't look great. "This gives me pause."
Gia blinked, confused. "But Mother, you already have paws."
"Oh, dear lord," Lin grumbled, burying her face in her hand. "Somebody take her away, please."
Tai Lung grabbed Gia by the back of the collar and yanked her away from Lin, perhaps a little too roughly, but it did the job.
"Thank you," she sighed. "Now, like I was saying: I dunno about this. Kinda looks like you two're ruining my roof."
"It was already ruined," Tai Lung argued.
"Even more," she shot back with an annoyed sniff. "Let's get the door straightened out, and one ofya can swipe a ladder from the Jade Palace, since no one wants to carry me up to the roof."
Po studiously avoided her gaze, but Tai Lung only shrugged.
Gia was under the weeping cherry tree, craning her neck to see. "May I come back, now?" she called.
Lin waved her over, then directed Tai Lung and Po to hold the door steady while she removed the hinges from it, including the broken ones. She also happened to have some extra hinges with her, since she figured Ping didn't know enough about home improvement to notice a little bit of hardware missing here and there. She'd left everything functional, so it'd be fine. The actual door frame looked to be in good shape, so she removed the remnants of broken hinges from that and gave it a quick sand with Gia helping. Then it was time for Tai Lung and Po to try to get the door back into place so she could attach the new hinges. That was when things started to get tricky.
"No, panda," Tai Lung huffed, "turn the door that way-"
"I am-"
"Well try harder-"
"If ya wanna switch places-"
Gia jumped into the fray to try to help Po correct the angle of the door, which was definitely a bad idea.
"Stop it!" Lin shouted at them, frustrated with their inane arguing and total inability to get such a simple thing right. "Stop! Stop!"
Po let go of the door. Then so did Gia. That was when it over-balanced, slipped out of Tai Lung's hands, and fell on Lin.
She was lucky to be strong enough to catch the door and put it on the ground next to her, but the impact still hurt her arms like hell. More than that, it pissed her off. "Why do I gotta constantly deal with everyone around me being a damn mess?" Lin asked irritably. "Dontchya even know how to use a hammer? Or how to measure something?"
"Y'know," Po replied judiciously, "we're here to helpya."
"Then help!" she snapped. "Learn how to do something- anything!" She then rounded on Gia, who'd begun her annoying habit of sniffling whenever someone so much as raised their voice. "Stop sniveling, already! Goddammit, this one's always got the waterworks going, you've always gotta have your hand held for everything-" she turned to Tai Lung and jabbed a finger at him, "-and you can't even hold a damn nail straight! The hell's wrong with the three ofya? I know Gia's been dropped on her head, but you kung fu assholes got no excuse!"
Po looked angry, at least she thought so- he was so fuzzy and round it could be hard to tell. "Hey, we didn't hafta come all the way here to help ya out," he lectured. "That's no way to talk to any of us, but especially Gia. So if ya feel that way, we can just leave." He walked down the island's little set of stairs, probably expecting Tai Lung and Gia to follow him, though neither of them did.
"Good!" Lin called after him. "Get lost!"
Tai Lung rolled his eyes. "I'm guessing this is the first time the panda has ever had to face your wrath."
"What's wrong, you two deaf? I said get lost." She lit up her pipe and began puffing angrily on it.
"I've gotten worse from you already," Tai Lung dismissed. "Not that I'm willing to build a house for you while you're screaming at me, but when you're deliberately trying to get rid of me I'd prefer not to let you have the satisfaction."
"That is true," Gia agreed, to her surprise. "And I have also heard worse from you, Mo- Ma'am." She sniffed again, her eyes still watery, but her shoulders squared in her resolve. "We can do this!"
"No, you can't," Lin dismissed with a snort. "That's why I'm mad."
"Let us try again," Gia urged. "Just myself and Tai Lung. You will direct us. Please?" She looked back and forth between her and Tai Lung with big, watery eyes.
Lin gave in almost immediately. "Fine. Let's try it again." She noticed as she directed Tai Lung and Gia on where to place the door that there were some really intense glares going on between the two, but she let it rest. Whatever kind of feud they'd started, it was working wonders for their concentration. She was able to get the door re-installed without a hitch while they had their aggressive staring contest. When she announced she was done, Gia crossed her arms and walked back to the weeping cherry tree. Lin glanced at Tai Lung, who shook his head as though he had no idea what was going on. She didn't believe him for a second, but she still had to deal with the panda's sulking.
To her surprise, it was Tai Lung who descended the stairs to the island's small dock. She heard some hushed conversation going on, but she decided against eavesdropping. "Hey." She joined Gia, leaning against the weeping cherry's trunk as she resumed smoking her pipe.
"Hey," Gia said in return, sounding a little deflated.
She wasn't sure what she should be saying right now, so she started with the obvious. "You did good. Sorry I yelled."
Gia studied her posture a moment, then leaned against the tree trunk beside her. "I will live."
"Uhuh." Lin grinned at how awkward Gia looked, but didn't tease her. "So what's on your mind?"
"Moth-" Gia paused at the glare she received. "Moth- um- moth. Moths are pretty."
Lin couldn't help it, she had to laugh at that ridiculous attempt at a save. "Okay, okay, that was pretty good," she admitted, and Gia smiled hopefully at her. "What'dya wanna say? Aside from, y'know, the obvious truth of moths being pretty."
Gia turned slightly red and cleared her throat. "Yes. Um." She paused again, looking down at the ground. "You like this Tai Lung person, correct?"
"Correct," she said. She had a feeling this conversation wasn't going to be funny anymore.
"Why?" Gia looked back up at her, but only briefly.
"Alright, what'd the big idiot do to you?" Lin didn't feel any kind of maternal instinct, but she was still annoyed that Tai Lung had gone and acted like an ass to the kid. She'd been shitty enough to Gia already herself, she didn't need some weird jealous spat going on behind her back on top of it.
"Nothing." Gia was not a convincing liar.
If she couldn't get the kid to fess up, then she'd just have to go on general knowledge. "Well, he's a butthead. I can't defend him on that."
Gia smiled a little bit at the insult.
"But I knew him when he was just a little kid. He wasn't always an ass. The point of him being here's to get him to quit acting so shitty, but I'm pretty sure he's always gonna have an attitude no matter what. But we still have fun together. I like... I dunno. I like that he's witty and a big whiny baby, and that when I make fun of him he gets all mad and defensive."
"You like those things?"
"He's also been good to my best friend. And he's a hard worker, when he stops complaining and gets off his butt. And he always tells me the truth about what's on his mind. People don't usually do that, not with anyone." She could tell from Gia's stiff posture that she was making her uncomfortable. "We understand each other, I think. But that doesn't make him a saint. So ifya got trouble, you lemme know and I'll get it straightened out. Okay?"
Gia frowned. "No," she insisted. "I fight my own battles. I still do not like that Master Shifu got into my business."
Lin couldn't help but correct her. "Our business."
She nodded. "Yes, that is right."
"He's a buttinski."
Gia nodded along sagely.
"Hey, you know what a buttinski is?" Lin asked, surprised.
"I have traveled across the world," Gia reminded her. "I have met Jewish people."
Lin laughed. "Yeah, I guess so. I'm gladya got to travel. It's an experience that can't ever be replaced or copied."
"It has been difficult," Gia admitted. "But I am glad, too. Although, I did begin this journey as a search for my father." She looked hopefully down at Lin with those big eyes of hers, apparently thinking that was all she'd need.
"Not gonna happen," Lin reminded her, and before she could protest Tai Lung and Po returned. With Shifu. "Where the hell'd you come from?" She pushed off from the tree and put her pipe out. She may not like the fact that Shifu was stalking her now, but at least he made for a decent distraction.
Of course Shifu gave her the snottiest reply possible. "The Jade Palace."
She ignored him and turned her attention to Po, who looked calmer now. "Sorry. We good?"
"Yeah," he answered sheepishly.
"Okay, that's settled, then. We're done here," Lin said, dismissing them with a wave. They'd been at it all day and she was going to have to redo most of their work as it was. She might as well get some rest. Not to mention she didn't want to socialize with Shifu in a group setting, or at all. She walked inside the old shack and inspected the bare single room. She decided that the lefthand corner opposite the door should be where her bed would go, then lowered herself to kneel in that corner and closed her eyes.
"The others have gone."
She cracked her eyes open again to give Shifu her trademark stink-face. "Yeah, what about you?"
"I thought you might need some company," he replied, then kneeled in front of her.
"If you're waiting to get laid, it ain't gonna happen." Mostly out of spite. She didn't like that expectant, smug air he tended to get about him when he thought she was about to sleep with him. It was a depressing reminder that he was just like every other man out there, only ever thinking of himself.
"I had a feeling you would say that," Shifu said, probably only to get on her nerves. "Of course, you have been known to throw yourself at me immediately after saying such things." That one had definitely been meant to get on her nerves.
"So you stayed here to annoy me. Great. My evening's complete." She should have brought wine with her. In lieu of that, she decided to smoke her pipe again. She raised her eyebrows at Shifu when he didn't so much as cough at the smoke of her first puff.
"I'm not going anywhere," he informed her stiffly, obviously bothered by her tobacco but resisting any reaction. "I am staying here to talk with you."
Lin tapped her knee with her fingers while she tried to think up a strategy for getting rid of him. "I askedya to leave," she pointed out. "Ifya wanted to prove your love, you'd respect my wishes."
"I do respect your wishes," he argued. "But I want you to know how serious I am about us."
"There is no 'us,'" Lin replied harshly. "I've made that clear. I might sleep withya once in a while, but that's it. We're not together, not dating, nothing. I'm not even having meaningless sex exclusively with you."
"What?" he gasped. "Who else are you going to bed with?"
"Nunya business," she grumbled. She didn't need to admit that she didn't have anyone else on her roster just yet. "Y'know why? We. Are. Not. Together."
He frowned at her and just kneeled there, watching her smoke her pipe. "I know you've got a softer spot for me than you'll ever admit."
She turned away from him, and while she was at it she blew her smoke in that direction, too. "Don't read too much into this," she said, "butya got a point. I have a weakness for anything that's bad for me, and that includes relationships."
"I could prove I'm not bad for you, if you'd let me." He reached out to place a tentative hand over hers, and she laughed, mostly at how much she wanted to give in.
"I'd probably lose interest, in that case," she teased him, then took mercy on him and put out her pipe.
He refused to back down, as usual. "I wish I could tell you something terribly romantic right now, but I've never been very good at all that. I promise I would, if I could find the words."
"Sentimental mush," she accused, though her weakness came through in her voice. "Even if I wanted to fall in love again, I don't think I'd ever trust you."
"I know it is much harder to regain trust once it has been broken," Shifu accepted, serious and stubborn as ever, "but that does not mean I'm giving up."
Lin nodded, because it was all she could do. She'd never be able to get him to agree with her, and if she kept arguing he'd never leave. "Someone once told me that just because two people disagree, it doesn't mean that one of 'em has to be wrong. But one person's feelings don't make a relationship. As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing significant between us. Sometimes love stays unrequited."
He didn't so much as budge. "It sounds like you're speaking from experience."
She didn't admit that she was, but it must have showed on her face, because he put his hand on hers again. "If you're gonna be like this, I might hafta sleep withya just to shutya up."
"I feel I should be concerned for my virtue."
"I don't see why, I've already taken it."
"Haha," he laughed sarcastically. "How clever of you."
"I like it whenya get mouthy," she said with a waggle of her eyebrows. "How's about you put that mouth to even better use?"
He seemed amused by her flirting, and leaned in for a short kiss.
She gave her eyebrows one more waggle. "That's not where I wantedya to put your mouth."
"Ugh!" he exclaimed, which she'd been prepared for. "You're the most vulgar woman on earth-"
She shut him up with a kiss, then pushed him away. "Get out," she ordered, which of course went straight over his head again. "What, you're not gonna lemme be alone in my own house for an hour or two?"
"Does that mean you'll be joining me later?" He was starting to get handsy now, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her toward him to kiss her cheek.
"Eugh," she grumbled, then flicked his nose to get him to back off a little. "Yeah, I'm not sleeping in some abandoned murder shack when I got a warm bed available."
"Alright. I'll wait up." He kissed her one more time, then shocked her by actually leaving.
Lin watched the doorway, convinced that Shifu would come back, but nothing happened. She decided to meditate for a while, then head over to the Jade Palace and try to get him drunk. She was beyond pretending she had any shame left, at this point. She might as well just lean into her sex life's downward spiral. At least the rest of her life was starting to limp along. And if she were being brutally honest with herself, even after everything he'd put her through, Shifu was still kind of her type. Especially when she propositioned him and he acted all shy and uptight.
She gave up on meditation for the night. She might as well just go to the Jade Palace now.
A full week passed by, and somehow Tai Lung had not been able to get Lin alone long enough to ask her about his visions. She had agreed to remain his teacher, so he didn't see why she couldn't make herself more available. He hadn't asked her, but only because he didn't want to have to field questions from the panda, or Shifu- or gods forbid, Gia. He'd bided his time, waiting. But Lin had been spending more and more time with Shifu in ways that would scar him if he spent any amount of time thinking about them. That much was obvious by her presence in the mornings, and Shifu's horrible smug grin that he'd regrettably come to learn meant the old man had gotten laid.
There was also that morning when they'd gone through the motions of their morning greeting to Shifu, and Lin had screamed, "Shut up!" from inside his room. And then, Shifu blushing in embarrassment the entire time, she'd stuck her head out of the door, still on all fours and wearing nothing but blankets. "It was bad enough I hadta hear that shit back when I actually likedya, I don't need it waking me up when I'm only here for some dick!" With that, she'd slammed the door shut and left Shifu looking like he'd rather sink into the floor than face them any longer. That had actually been somewhat amusing.
He had also spent the past week searching the entire village for any sign of the Wu Sisters, with the panda's assistance. They had encountered no signs of the deadly assassins, though Tai Lung had trouble putting his trust in the bumbling panda. He had agreed to call off their night watches, since Lin was Shifu's problem most nights anyway. He'd looked forward to getting some sleep once in a while, but those ten figures still haunted his dreams, their backs ever turned to him. He wouldn't get any rest in the foreseeable future, which made his work at Lin's hovel all the more unbearable.
They had just finished replacing all her horrible floorboards, mostly with materials he had stolen from the Jade Palace, when he finally decided he couldn't stand it anymore. Shifu had shown up like he always did at the end of the day, to hit on Lin and pretend he cared about the work they did at the little shack. Tai Lung didn't care. The first thing he did when those floorboards were done was sit down on them.
"Alright, c'mon, time to leave me alone." Lin was trying to kick all of them out so she could run off with the old man, but he wasn't about to let her brush him off.
Tai Lung stayed seated, crossing his arms as he glared at the two old horndogs. Gia and Po had run off the moment Lin had opened her big mouth, but he could stand his ground well enough.
"Tai Lung, it is time you returned to the Jade Palace under Po's supervision," Shifu reminded him, causing him to scoff.
Like he could be contained by the panda. If he wanted to do any true damage to the village or the Jade Palace, he could slip away from that oaf without a second thought. "I have some pressing matters to discuss with my teacher. Assuming your horrid sex lives can wait two seconds."
Shifu looked surprised at that announcement. "Very well. What did you wish to discuss?"
"What? No." He waved the overgrown rodent off. "Not you. Lin."
"Uh." Lin took a step away from Shifu. Apparently in all the time she'd spent in his bed, she'd never bothered to tell him about her and Tai Lung's arrangement.
Shifu turned to her, his big ears twitching. "Explain," he demanded.
Great, now Tai Lung would have to sit through their petty drama before getting Lin to talk.
Lin immediately became defensive. "Don't you talk to me like that!" Of course she would have an outburst like this.
"Don't try to distract me!" Shifu argued.
"I don't care about distractingya, 'cause I can do whatever the hell I want, including teaching this asshole how not to be an asshole! But I'm not gonna stand here and take it whenya talk to me like you're in charge of me in my own house!"
"This isn't even technically your house!" Shifu said, which in Tai Lung's opinion was probably toward the top of a list of worst things he could have said in that moment. "It isn't like you bought it or inherited it, or went through any proper channels-"
"So you're saying that 'cause I'm poor and have no family, I don't deserve a roof over my head?" Lin asked dangerously, and Shifu fell silent a moment as he realized his blunder.
"That is not what I'm saying," he tried to placate her, but Lin was too smart to fall for it.
"Then what're you saying? Explain." She even copied the old man's condescending tone.
Tai Lung, meanwhile, wished he had something to snack on while he watched all this. It was starting to get pretty good.
"I only meant- uhm-" Shifu paused to clear his throat. "You should go through the proper channels. That is what I meant."
"How so?" Lin pressed.
"Well, of course, you could- could-" Shifu was floundering, obviously.
Lin's shoulders looked tense, and she was balling her hands up into fists. This was shaping up to turn into a real fight, if Tai Lung didn't step in. And as much as he would have liked to see Shifu get his big head knocked around a bit, this was supposed to be his time with Lin.
"What do you know about managing real estate?" Tai Lung interrupted, addressing Shifu. "You've never purchased property in your life, old man."
Shifu looked at him with something like gratitude, but he didn't acknowledge it. "That's true. I have not."
"See? You got no idea what you're talking about, just like every other timeya criticize me!" Lin pointed out, but she looked a lot less close to punching him now. "B'sides, Ping's grandfather won the noodle shop in a game of mahjong, and nobody argued about it then! D'you even know what the law is regarding property or gambling in the Valley of Peace? I betya don't!"
"No," Shifu admitted, sounding more relieved than he probably should have.
"I knew it!" Lin declared triumphantly. "I win."
"I suppose so." The old man gave Tai Lung another meaningful look, which he once again ignored. "It would seem I've put my foot in my mouth."
"Yeah, that's accurate," Lin replied flippantly. As Tai Lung had predicted, her anger dissipated once she'd decided she'd won the argument.
Tai Lung cleared his throat loudly. "May I have a moment alone with the property owner, now?" That one had the effect of both earning a grin from Lin and a disgruntled grunt from Shifu. Two birds with one stone.
"That's right," Shifu remembered, his tone back to its usual stuck-up tightness. "We were fighting about you still teaching Tai Lung when you aren't supposed to be."
Lin rolled her eyes.
"Why must you always roll your eyes at me? You aren't a teenager anymore."
She rolled her eyes again. "I'm just teaching him little things about being more independent. Like cooking and stuff."
Shifu crossed his arms. He didn't look convinced.
"I'm better at it than you," Tai Lung cut in. If he was going to have his discussions with Lin continue, this was probably the only way. "Unless you've somehow learned how to make rice and preserved lemons."
"I know how to make rice," Shifu huffed.
"Barely," Lin added.
The old man narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't keep him too long," he grumbled. Their ruse had worked. One rushed goodbye and a kiss that Lin looked less than enthusiastic about later, and the little hemorrhoid was gone.
"Finally," Tai Lung said with a sigh of relief.
Lin turned her irritated frown on him. "That woulda gone a lot faster ifya hadn't spilled the beans about this whole teaching thing."
He should have known she'd turn on him the moment Shifu left. "It isn't my fault you kept it a secret."
"You're just lucky that cooking excuse worked," she said, then grudgingly sat down with him. "This place doesn't even got a kitchen. What's he think we're doing?"
"He has no idea, remember?" Tai Lung pointed out, prompting an amused snort from her. "And in the future I will try harder to keep to your rules and regulations regarding shrewish secrecy. Alright?"
"Fine," she sighed.
It was time to tell her about the vision. "I saw more in my visions the other night. Much more."
Lin's ears perked up in interest, but she didn't say anything. She only waited for him to continue.
"...You were in them." That part was difficult to admit. Lin had always guarded the details of her past so closely that he doubted she'd react well to what he had to tell her. "Well, it was more than that. I... I was you. It was very odd. A bit gross, now that I think of it."
Lin nodded, ignoring the joke he'd made in an attempt at levity. "Tell me everything." She stared at him so intensely that he felt he had no choice.
So he did. He told her every last detail, from beginning to end, including the part when she'd gotten her heart broken. And especially the part with the ten versions of him at the bottom of the ocean. Once he'd gotten every last detail out, he waited for her to freak out about how much he now knew of her past.
She pulled out her calabash pipe, lit it, and started smoking. "They really are my memories," she said miserably, her eyes wet. She wasn't angry, after all. She was upset.
Tai Lung was not as equipped to deal with this, despite all the sniveling she'd done about Shifu in the past few weeks. This was something much deeper and more important than her failed romance with some old twerp.
"I knew that creature was one, but I didn't think..." She trailed off, just puffing anxiously on her pipe.
"I don't know why this is happening," Tai Lung told her, hoping that it would somehow absolve him of the sin of what he'd experienced. "I had hoped you could help me."
She shrugged.
He should have seen that shrug coming, but it still left a pit in his stomach.
Then, she actually said something helpful. "Just go ahead and ask. Y'know, whatever questions you got. It's not like I can hide anything anymore." There was an unexpected sorrow in her voice at that last declaration, but he still didn't know what to say.
He started asking questions, like she'd told him to. "Did all of your family treat you so poorly?"
"Yeah, I guess. My parents hit me, my sisters taunted me, used to shake the lemon trees until I fell out. My older brother called me worthless and got me into trouble all the time. Gia was nice to me, that's about it. What's this got to do with anything? I thought we were gonna talk about the krakken thingy."
"I can't believe you're asking me that." Tai Lung resisted the urge to pinch his nose the way Shifu always did. He didn't want to look like that little tree rat, but he understood the habit well now that he spent so much time with Lin. "You're the one who's supposed to be helping me with these visions! You were the one having visions in the first place! Hadn't it occurred to you, even once, that we should review the details concerning these visions?"
Lin leaned her hands on her knees and stared back at him for a long time, frowning in thought. "I guess," she finally grumbled.
"What do you mean you guess?" He stopped himself from shouting more. He was starting to sound like Shifu, too. "Augh, you're ruining me."
"How so?" she asked with a snort. "Am I makingya more murdery or something?"
"You're missing the point." He knew that much was purposeful.
"No, you are. I don't talk about my past! Got it?" She looked around her immediate area, then hunched her shoulders and huffed in annoyance when she didn't find what she was looking for.
"You were looking for something to throw at me, weren't you?" he accused.
"Yeah, but I'm not dedicated enough to the idea to get up and grab something." She fell backward to lie down on the floor.
"No angry naps allowed."
"Whaddaya wanna figure this shit out so badly for, anyway?" Lin asked in an inappropriately whiny tone of voice. "You're the one who didn't wanna get rehabilitated in the first place."
He found himself struck speechless. Why did he care so much? She was right, he had never wanted this so-called rehabilitation, yet now he was charging mindlessly forward as though it were simply another challenge. He had unwittingly focused on getting to the bottom of the visions as intensely as he had once focused on mastering all thousand scrolls of kung fu. How had he been so easily tricked into going along with his captors' ill-advised plans?
"When I got that letter from Chen aboutya, I didn't know what to expect," Lin suddenly said, still lying on her back and staring at her ceiling. "But I remember how you were up in those mountains. And you were different when I sawya at Chen's. I didn't know how. But I think I do now. You don't wanna be alone."
"What?" he asked, scandalized by the accusation.
"I was the same way, and I denied it to myself for a long time. That's probably why I didn't see it before. But you said you hated everyone, even me, and then went right ahead living with us like it was nothing. You tried to kill the panda before, but now you're spending every day with him and poking fun at him likeya actually like him. It's 'cause you'd rather give up on your whole revenge scheme than be alone again." She didn't even look him in the eye once through her whole little speech about how she had him all figured out. If she had, he would have tried to muster up an indignant scowl for her.
Instead, he stood up and headed for the door. "Why must you always be such a nosy little know-it-all?" he snapped before slamming the door behind him. Now that it was fixed, it slammed beautifully, with a loud banging noise and everything. He couldn't even feel satisfied about it, though. Lin had pointed out his weakness to him, and he hadn't even been able to argue with her.
He stopped at the dock, watching the sun set over the lake as he thought. He had become distracted, lately. Distracted by Lin and her problems, by trying to get through each day, by these visions, even by that panda. He had lost focus on his goal of vengeance upon those who had wronged him, and... And he felt nothing. He thought of his vengeance, of the terrible things Shifu had done to him, of the panda stealing his scroll. He still felt nothing. It was as if he were witnessing things that had happened to someone else, from afar. None of these events felt like they had anything to do with him anymore. Why? It wasn't as if he had let go of his anger. There was still plenty inside of him to let out. But everything just seemed so... Pointless. And impossible.
"Okay, here I come," Lin announced when she finally climbed down the stairs to join him at the dock. "You done getting all pissy about our conversation yet?"
"Hmph." He didn't want to give her the satisfaction of forgiveness just yet.
"Look, I know howya feel." Lin sat down at the edge of the small dock, kicking her feet back and forth. She was so short they didn't even skim the water.
"How could you possibly know how I feel?" Tai Lung scoffed.
"Well not specifically," she amended. "I mean, I just know how it feels to be so angry you'd rather burn the whole world down 'an deal with it anymore. And I also know how it feels to be scared, and lonely, and frozen in place. I know how it feels to be confused. And I know how it feels when all that goes away, and there's just nothing left, 'cause everything's too shitty to be happy but you're too tired to be anything else, either. Am I hitting on anything yet?"
"I already knew all that," he said. "I know what it feels like to be you. Remember?" He didn't want to admit that he had some of those feelings in common with her.
Lin frowned up at him, then back out at the lake. "It's scary to be known," she told him, and it was probably the most honest thing he'd ever heard her say.
He felt compelled to return her honesty, despite his current crisis. "Yes. It is."
"When someone knows you, that just means there's no more excuses when they get sick of you. You can't just say, 'well they didn't know the first thing about me.' They knew you, and decided you weren't enough. Or you were too much. Either way, you're left behind with no one else to blame."
"It's not the solitude you fear," he reasoned. "It's the rejection."
"Yeah, I guess. It's lonelier being on your own 'cause no one wantsya than it is being on your own 'causeya decided to be."
"I fear the solitude most of all," he told her. He thought back to that suffocating darkness, with nothing and no one to reach out for. "All those years in that dark pit, I had to focus on my vengeance. There was nothing else. Only me and my thoughts. And sometimes, when I'm alone in my room at night, I feel like there's nothing and I want to scream." He had never told any of this to another soul, but they had both been in those icy depths. They had both seen that eye boring through them.
Lin looked deep in thought. "Solitude, rejection. Same thing. You, me. Same thing. That's what a monk'd say, anyway."
"Since when are you a monk?" he asked with a sarcastic laugh.
"Yeah, yeah." She pushed him in that affectionate way of hers.
While they were analyzing themselves, he might as well bring the vision back up. "And what about the ten versions of me? I was thinking they might have something to do with those ten virtues of kung fu that Shifu put up in the training hall."
"Don't remember 'em," Lin said. Of course she didn't.
"They're power, focus, harmony, agility, honor, speed, sacrifice, grace, courage, and balance."
"Doesn't ring a bell." Lin's stubbornness knew no bounds, sometimes. "But y'know, a squid's got ten tentacles."
"So?"
"So, squid. That thing. It has tentacles. It takes the form of a giant squid. Are we getting anywhere yet?"
Tai Lung rubbed at his chin, but he couldn't understand what connection that would have with the ten figures. "I suppose you've got a point. Could it have something to do with both?"
"I don't see why you'd have a big important vision and see stuff that's a metaphor for something as immaterial as agility," Lin argued.
"And what about that thing's arms?" he shot back. "They don't have anything to do with it, either."
Lin sighed and leaned over to stare into the water. "I dunno. This's way beyond what I ever saw."
"Well, you're all I've got," he grumbled. "So you might as well try."
She didn't respond right away. He was starting to think their discussion had ended when she finally leaned back and looked at him again. "What was that last thing on your list?"
"You mean balance?" he asked.
Lin nodded. "Oogway was always talking about balance. S'at it?"
He paused to look around them for any kind of sign from the universe. Of course nothing happened. He didn't know why he'd done something so idiotic in the first place. "So spiritual balance, the thing you were already trying to teach me about. That's what my vision means?" He was skeptical, but he also knew Lin was grasping at straws.
"We'll hafta keep thinking," Lin admitted, her shoulders drooping. "This's so stupid. I shoulda never shut out those visions. It's all my fault we can't figure this out."
It was, but Tai Lung decided not to say so. "Wait. You shut out those visions."
"Yeah, I know."
"What if there were never supposed to be ten of me there?" he wondered aloud. "What if all that debris from my past should have been debris from your past? What if you should have seen those ten wraiths of yourself?"
"Ew," Lin replied.
"Can we take this seriously, for once?" He leaned down to catch her eye. "What would it have meant if it were you?"
Lin blinked back at him, then looked away. "I dunno."
He resisted the urge to grab her by the shoulders and shake her violently. "At least think about it! You said you would try!"
"Well... Ten means completeness in divine order. It means perfection."
"Yes, I am already aware that you like to pretend you're perfect."
"I'm saying maybe they represent trials or something you gotta complete," Lin said with a roll of her eyes. "Like, you'll only be able to face each one once you've attained that virtue. Or some shit like that. I dunno what it'd mean for me, 'cause I suck at interpreting visions. If I were any good at it, I never woulda rejected 'em. B'sides, if you saw yourself, than that's what you were supposed to see."
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure," she said decisively, her shoulders squared. "About that being what you were supposed to see, that is. I got no idea about anything else."
"At least your cluelessness is consistent." He had to admit, even though they hadn't come any closer to solving the puzzle of these visions, it had been cathartic to finally make a serious attempt. "And for the record... I'm not going to leave you just because I've gotten to know you."
Lin snorted, but she also turned a bit red in the cheeks. "Yeah, whatever. I'm not leaving either and shit."
"Your depth is awe-inspiring," Tai Lung said sarcastically, which earned him a punch in the arm. "So has there ever been anyone who learned about you and your past without mystical intervention, or psychic connection- whatever it is I'm seeing?"
"That guy I was in love with," she answered. "Y'know, the one I toldya about on our way back here."
"I suppose there was something different about him."
"Yeah, I guess so. Al was a good listener," Lin said, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. "I mean, he was a big talker. But he'd shut up and listen when I had something to say. And I... I told him everything."
"What's everything?" Tai Lung asked.
"Everything," she repeated emphatically. "The things I've done, the things I've seen, the places I've been, what I think, what I know, how I feel. Everything."
"So this man knew everything about you?"
Lin nodded.
Tai Lung raised his eyebrows at her, but decided not to ask questions. Clearly it was not Lin's habit to talk about herself, and this man had somehow tricked her into telling him her life story. Or maybe he really was unbelievably wonderful, like Lin kept claiming. "Don't let Shifu find out, he'll act like someone put mustard up his butthole for weeks."
She snorted and grinned at his comment. "Yeah, that's true."
"So this man found out everything about you and was not disappointed," Tai Lung concluded from the lovelorn way she talked about him. "Yes?"
"Yeah."
"So if your fear was proven wrong, shouldn't you... Not have it anymore?" He had been under the impression that this was the way overcoming one's fears worked.
"People always disappointya," Lin said, though she didn't sound particularly morose. "That ain't ever gonna change."
"What a positive lesson for me," he grumbled in return.
"It's the truth," she insisted. "No point in hiding it. People're flawed and complicated. They don't act or live their lives according to your expectations. So, you end up disappointed. That's life. And another truth is that I'm more complicated than people want me to be. In general. So they don't really like me. In general."
"And I am crying on the inside for you. In general."
She punched him again, this time a lot harder. "You're not in any position to make fun of me!"
"You're right," he said, affecting a wistful tone. "Because I am so incredibly complicated that no one could ever love me, either."
"Quit it!" she snapped, but when he brought the back of his hand mournfully to his forehead she started to laugh.
"Woe is me, the most complicated person ever to live. Does my complexity know no bounds? No one has ever skimmed the surface of the vast ocean that is my personality." He'd had to raise his voice as he went so that Lin would be able to hear him over her own laughter, and by the time he was done she'd buried her face in her knees to muffle herself.
When she finally came back up for air, she had to wipe tears from her face with her sleeve. "Okay, I get it."
"Good." He sat with her a while, watching the stars come out over the lake. The wind stilled, and a hush seemed to fall over everything. The dark water reflected the sky, making it seem twice as big, and the moon hung low, shedding pale light over the tall grass and the trees. He was starting to see why Lin wanted to live here. "I suppose we're finished."
"Not yet." Lin grabbed his arm, firmly but not so much so that it hurt. It felt like she were holding onto him to keep herself from falling, though she didn't look like she was having trouble sitting upright. "I'm finally ready to answer that question about whether you're a good person or not," she told him, her voice suddenly somber. "And you are. To me, at least."
Tai Lung didn't know why that overwhelmed him so much. It was like everything he'd ever felt in his life had suddenly crashed into him and filled up his whole body. It was like grief, but not grief. Relief? Happiness? Sadness? He couldn't untangle any of it, and it all had to go somewhere, so it came out of his mouth in a mortifying wail that he could not control. He doubled over, covering his mouth in an attempt to stifle it. It occurred to him that he probably looked like he was doing an impression of Lin and her own emotional instability, but he was too far gone already to tease her.
Lin didn't let go of him, though she must have had to practically wrench her arm from its socket to keep her hand on his arm. "Just feel it, and it'll pass," she advised.
It took much longer than he would have liked, but she was right. Once he'd finished, he splashed some cold lake water on his face to wash away whatever snotty remnants stuck to his fur and calm the burning in his eyes, then took several deep breaths. "Don't tell anyone about that."
Lin patted his back. "It's not exactly hot gossip, anyway."
"I'm going to go." He stood up, ignoring how weak his legs felt. He was more exhausted now than he'd ever been from any of his kung fu training, or even his all-night vigils. "Be safe."
"Thanks, I guess. But there's one more thing."
He paused, waiting for her to tell him a joke or make a comment about her sex life.
"Don't fight with Gia anymore," she said instead, which both surprised him and left a bitter taste in his mouth. "I know everything sucks right now, but... We already established I'm not going anywhere. It's not a competition, y'know?"
"She said something?"
"No, I've been watching you two snipe at each other all week."
"Hmph," he grunted, then cleared the lake in a single powerful leap.
He'd had enough of this night.
Chapter 27: Fine Words Do Not Produce Food
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 27: Fine Words Do Not Produce Food
Lin woke from her short sleep with a start, gasping for air. She'd stopped breathing, which wasn't uncommon for her in sleep. But this hadn't been accompanied by a nightmare. She hadn't dreamed in a long time. There was nothing when she fell asleep, only a void. It was starting to drive her a little nuts. Usually when she slept with Shifu she could stay down for an hour or two, but she'd stopped sleeping in more than short bursts. If she didn't figure out what was going on with Tai Lung, she might end up dying from lack of sleep.
She'd been sleeping in her unfinished house whenever she didn't spend the night at the Jade Palace. She knew Ping would let her keep staying in Po's room until renovations were finished, but she felt the need to be near water more than ever. She couldn't explain it exactly, but looking out at the black lake at night gave her the feeling that Tai Lung's visions of her memory had something to do with it.
She wandered outside and down to the small dock, staring out at the still and quiet lake. Tiny snowflakes began falling lightly, illuminated in moonlight. Lin breathed deeply and enjoyed the smell of the snow. It was a welcome bit of peacefulness. It helped her relax as she did her best to try to recall what had happened with that creature. She remembered coming to deep in the ocean, she remembered that heavy presence and that giant eye. But nothing afterward. She needed to see what Tai Lung had been seeing. Just one tiny jog of memory, or even a vision.
She knew what she had to do. She undressed and plunged into the black water, letting it envelop her in the cold and the dark of it to intensify her meditation. She didn't feel afraid. She felt still. And soon, she could hear it, the rhythm of the sea like a heartbeat surrounding her. She strained to remember, to see what it was that she was missing. She knew she wasn't alone, and the creature arrived just as it had before. That eye in the darkness stared into her, through her, and those white, ropy tentacles moved around her like hazy ghosts in the water. A chorus of deep, feminine voices hummed as one as it assessed her, and she realized that this was the thing's voice.
"Interesting," it said slowly, the word rolling and reverberating through the water. It spoke like it had been out of practice. "Do not return to me alone." It sounded more like a warning than an order.
Lin resurfaced from beneath the waters of the lake as if she had only just jumped in, and hauled herself back up onto the dock. It seemed to her that vision had only taken a single moment, though it had felt much longer. She wasn't even out of breath, though she'd already started shivering from her excursion. She shook herself off as thoroughly as she could, then made her way inside to finish drying off with a tarp. As she did, she tried to remember what had happened back then. When she'd almost drowned herself.
It wasn't a thing she liked to think about. She liked it even less that Tai Lung had seen her memories. He knew about one of her past relationships, he had seen it end, and although he hadn't said anything he could probably surmise what had happened next. That bothered her almost as much as the blank spot in her memory did. Why had the creature said "do not return to me alone," back then? Would she encounter it again? She didn't live near the ocean, though. This had better not require a field trip.
What Lin needed most at the moment was some way to clear her head. Reluctantly, she dressed and headed out toward the Jade Palace. Meditating beneath the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom had helped her before, and it could again. She had a long night ahead of her.
Shifu woke before dawn, spent a short time in meditation, dressed, and greeted his students in the barracks hall at the morning gong. Then, he ate a simple breakfast of rice porridge and set out toward the peach tree of heavenly wisdom for a bit of tai chi in the gently falling snow. This peaceful morning had been routine for him, until recently. Now he relished every moment of it. Lin had been spending the night at the Jade Palace fairly often since she'd begun fixing up her run-down little shack, and her presence made mornings stressful, to say the least. She was, if possible, even more hostile in the morning than she was the rest of the time. She yelled at him, yelled at his students, stole food from the kitchens, stole his pillows, and once even wrestled him out of his shirt because she'd been cold. He knew he would have to weather this phase in order to prove himself to Lin, but the morning off felt like a refreshing vacation. He hoped she at least settled down a bit once her house was ready for habitation, but he had his doubts.
Lin had been enough of a problem, and his students had complained enough, that he'd decided it was finally time for him to move into the Jade Palace proper. It was, after all, much more appropriate for the Grand Master of kung fu. He'd planned to make the move since the title had fallen to him, but the thought of taking over Master Oogway's position had overwhelmed him. Moving into his master's old wing had been too much. However, he now led a lifestyle which demanded more privacy, more for everyone else's sake than his own. Although it was a relief to know that nobody would be around to see Lin walk around close to or even entirely naked. He had started to wonder if she were just a nudist, full stop. Even if she weren't, she didn't seem to spend much time dressed, unfortunately for everyone but himself. In the privacy of their very own wing, he wouldn't mind so much.
He felt a pang of longing at that thought. He was thinking about himself and Lin as a couple, planning for them as such, but he knew the truth. Lin could barely stand him, these days. And she had made it excruciatingly clear that she didn't intend to have a relationship with him any deeper than a physical one. Yet here he was, acting as though things would change when in all honesty, he had no idea what their future held. He hastened up the steps to the peach tree, eager to clear his mind for a bit.
Shifu paused at the top of the bluff, surprised to find Lin standing under the bare peach tree, looking out over the village as snow fell over the valley. He barely recognized her, in an elegant wool-trimmed cloak that cascaded down into the snow in shining cerulean brocade, woven into a subtle wave pattern. He took note that the depressions in the snow from her walk were barely visible anymore, which explained why he hadn't expected to find anyone at the peach tree. "Lin?" he asked hesitantly, uneasy at the unfamiliar scene. "How long have you been here?"
It took her a moment to answer him, as if she had almost forgotten he'd spoken at all. "...Huh? I dunno. A while."
"You aren't cold?" He didn't see any sign of a lantern or brazier around.
"All this fluff ain't just for show," she replied. She did have a good point.
He still had no idea what she was doing there, but he had a feeling he would need to ease into that question. "Where did you get that cloak from? It... Is unusual."
"It's a hand-me-down," she answered shortly.
He furrowed his brow, skeptical of the explanation; he didn't see why anyone would part with such a fine garment. "Alright, then."
"Why d'ya always gotta talk so much?" she asked with a frustrated sigh. "I was enjoying the snow."
He frowned at the complaint. "So you cannot enjoy the snow and talk at the same time?" Honestly, why she had to turn everything into a fight he would never understand.
"Not especially," she answered, maddeningly enough. "When snow falls, it makes everything quiet and still. It's like the whole world stops for it. Ifya come up to me and open your big trap, it's ruined."
"Wow, thank you so much for that." Despite his sarcastic comment, he couldn't help but feel surprised by Lin's appreciation of such subtlety. "What are you doing up here, anyway? I thought you hated me now."
"Not everything's about you, y'know." She took a few steps away from the peach tree and once her cloak no longer obscured the ground, he could see a large impression in the snow, as if she'd been sitting.
"Were you... Meditating?"
She rolled her eyes at him, which was apparently all the answer he'd get.
"You couldn't do that elsewhere?" he pressed. If she was going to wander the Jade Palace grounds at all hours of the day and night without his permission or knowledge, he at least wanted to know why.
She glanced over his shoulder, and he could tell she was trying to gauge if she could get past him and run off.
"I promise you that I am far too fast for you, and I will not allow you to get away." He raised his eyebrows, watching her scowl and huff. "I'm waiting for an explanation."
She turned around and faced the valley again, crossing her arms. "What, you dunno?"
He waited for some further explanation, but none seemed forthcoming. "Obviously I do not know, Lin, or I wouldn't have asked you!"
She hunched her shoulders, though whether it was because she was cold or stubborn he couldn't tell. "Tell me the truth, do I look stupid in this thing?"
He could pop a vein in his frustration over her secrecy. "You're changing the subject," he snapped.
"Well ifya want an answer from me then you'll hafta gimme an answer right back!" she argued.
He blinked at her, confused; why she cared at all about how she might look in a cloak boggled his mind. "You look fine," he sighed.
"And this is a fine place to spend the morning," she said, obtuse as ever.
"I know there's more to it than that-" He cut himself off at the sound of approaching footsteps crunching in the snow. He wanted to continue this argument, but not in front of one of his students.
Surprisingly enough, Gia crested the bluff in a plain burlap coat, beaming at the two of them. "You are both here!" she exclaimed, as if this simple fact were like a dream come true to her.
"Yeah, yeah," Lin grumbled, turning around to face them.
"Mother-"
"Don't start," she warned.
"My apologies." Gia blushed in embarrassment at the scolding. "It is just that you look radiant."
Shifu wanted to scold Lin himself, for getting so offended at Gia using the proper term for her. However, her expression had softened and it seemed to him like a tender moment might actually happen, so he kept his mouth shut for the time being.
"Oh yeah? You like it?" Lin twirled the cloak around a little, causing the material to glisten in the morning light. The effect made the waves look almost real.
Gia nodded, her eyes wide at the sight.
"Gimme that coat," Lin suddenly ordered, and Gia's hands flew to her chest, clutching the garment tightly against herself as if she feared being forcefully disrobed.
Shifu could have laughed at the sight if he weren't so irritated at Lin's behavior. "Don't speak to her like that! What is wrong with you?"
"This's nunya business," Lin shot back, then returned her attention to Gia. "You heard me, take off the damn coat." She even held out a hand, waiting for her daughter to hand the thing over.
Gia hesitated a moment more, then caved and removed her coat, handing it to Lin. She looked like a child facing a harsh punishment.
"Gia, don't do what she says." Shifu pinched the bridge of his nose, trying not to let a headache form. "She cannot do anything to you if you refuse." Not with him around, anyway.
"Too late," Lin answered in her daughter's stead, snatching the coat. Then, in an unexpected turn, she removed her own cloak and shoved it into Gia's arms. "Here," was all she said.
Gia stared at the lush fabric in her hands, mouth agape, before shaking her head vigorously. "No," she denied. "No, this is much too decadent a gift, I cannot accept it. And to wear such a garment, to flaunt this type of finery-"
"You saying you won't take a gift from me?" Lin asked harshly.
Gia blushed again, then slowly wrapped the cloak around herself; it only came down to about her knees, but it was so beautiful a piece of clothing that the odd length didn't seem to matter. "Th-thank you," she accepted quietly.
"Yeah, yeah," Lin dismissed as she shrugged on Gia's old burlap coat, so much larger than her that it appeared comical. "Happy birthday."
Shifu nearly choked. "It's your birthday?" he wheezed out to Gia. "Today? The day you were born?"
"...Yes?" She furrowed her brow, confused by his reaction. "Is this surprising?"
He turned his attention back to Lin. "You know her birthday!"
"Why wouldn't I?" She pulled out her calabash pipe and lit it, puffing irritably on the thing. "I was there for it."
He looked back up at Gia. "Why didn't you tell me?"
She wrung her hands together, turning her eyes to the ground. "You have done very much already, Master Shifu. I did not want to trouble you."
Lin snorted.
Shifu glared at her, though he couldn't say he hadn't expected the reaction; he didn't think it had ever once so much as occurred to Lin that it was possible not to trouble him. "Po will want to make something special for the occasion, I'm sure." He felt guilty now, that Lin had given the girl such an extravagant gift and he hadn't even realized what was happening. He would have at least liked to give her something sensible, like a few coins in a red envelope.
"It is not necessary," Gia insisted. "Even this cloak is so much more than I could ever need-"
"Don't be ungrateful," Lin scolded; apparently Gia's birthday was a big enough occasion to warrant an expensive gift, but not so much as to warrant a kind word. "Y'see the waves on there, right?" she suddenly asked, and Gia nodded in return. "Those're the same color as the sea where I grew up."
Shifu blinked at the cloak, then at Lin. It would have taken him months of prying to get such information from her, yet she'd offered it freely to Gia. Perhaps she did harbor some sentiment for her daughter. "It was a lemon farm, if I recall correctly."
"Yep, right on the sea." She puffed thoughtfully on the pipe, her attention more on the cloak than on Gia. "The sea was the only part of that place that I ever liked. The only part that ever felt right." Her wistful tone seemed out of place for her, not that it lasted long. She followed up the statement by snatching the fabric and giving it an emphatic shake. "Take good care of this thing, I ain't got the money to replace it."
"Yes, Miss Lin," Gia agreed obediently.
This time it was Shifu's turn to snort. "Miss Lin?" he repeated incredulously. "The last time you were a 'Miss' was probably before I met you."
She punched him in the arm for the statement, and it hurt quite a bit. It was still worth it. "We're still working on a name."
"Just let her call you Mother-"
Lin interrupted him with an even harder punch. "She can call me 'Mother' when I'm not alive anymore to give her a smack in the mouth for it."
"Charming."
"Like I give a shit about impressing you," she said.
Shifu normally did his best to hold back any sarcasm toward Lin in front of Gia, but he couldn't let that slide without comment. "Nice to see you're combative as always."
"Refer back to my previous statement," Lin replied.
"So!" Gia interrupted them, which was probably for the best. "I have a special request. Uhm." She paused to clear her throat. "Since it is my birthday, I would like to know some things about my father." The request was bound to go over poorly, but she'd likely been emboldened by Lin's reluctant shows of affection.
"And since it's your birthday, I'll say no nicely," Lin replied. "Nope. Happy Birthday."
"But-"
"Nope," Lin repeated.
"You can't tell her a single thing about the man?" Shifu asked in his frustration. He knew he had spoken out of turn, but he wanted to know about Gia's father almost as much as she did.
"No more'n you can mind your own business," Lin said with a smug air about her. She liked keeping this secret and holding it over his head, he was sure of it. "And I'm not cooking, by the way."
He'd gotten used to that. Lin never cooked for him anymore, assuming she ever even cooked at all outside of Ping's noodle shop. "I never asked you to."
"I did," Gia said, then turned her attention back to her mother. "Please?"
"No," Lin insisted. "Too tired." That much was believable, judging by the bags under her eyes and the slow, stiff way she walked.
Shifu realized then that he was probably being insensitive. As vital as Lin usually seemed, she was still old now. Not nearly his age, but old enough to be called an old woman, and old enough to have an adult daughter. She was probably aching from her active job and the cold, and they'd made it all the way to the barracks before it had even occurred to him that she might not be feeling her best. "Let me help you," he offered and took her arm, but she pushed him away so hard that he wouldn't be surprised to hear she was trying to knock him over.
"I'm tired, not dying," she snapped.
He couldn't exactly say the interaction was out of character for Lin.
Gia ran ahead of them to open the barracks door. "At least come inside for some tea."
"Fine," Lin agreed with a heavy sigh, as if this were some sort of inconvenience for her. "Not like I can work on the house in all this snow, anyway. Not like I got the energy, either."
"Gia, have a seat and let me make the tea," Shifu said, mostly to cover up the fact that he was starting to seriously worry about Lin. "It is your birthday, after all. It's the least I can do." He pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and practically forced Gia into it.
The way Lin sat down looked more like a controlled fall, and she splayed her limbs out once she was down. She looked like she might pass out at any moment.
"Are you feeling sick?" he asked, unable to bite his tongue and act like this was normal.
"I'm fine," Lin said shortly. "This's getting really annoying." She then leaned over and poked Gia's arm. "About that cloak thing. That came from a friend of mine, Yan-Yan. Anna ever tellya about her?"
Gia blinked, then shook her head.
"I see," Lin replied with a laugh. "Jealous, maybe? Guess I'll never know. Anyway, Yan-Yan's my best friend up in Shanghai. She's this smart doctor, thinks she's so classy, but she's as much in the gutter as anyone else. You'll like her whenya meet her."
"I will meet her?" Gia asked hopefully.
"Yeah! Why not? She's gonna freak when she seesya the first time. She's got daughters around your age, too, and some ingrate stepson. Well, that's a long story..."
Shifu served them tea and sat quietly by Lin's side as she told Gia stories of everyone living in Shanghai to rapt attention. It was nice to see Lin opening up to her daughter, for once, and he liked hearing her talk about her past and her life. She didn't say anything he hadn't already known, but he loved seeing her tell such stories with relish, happy to share her life instead of hiding it away like she usually did. She must have warmed to Gia considerably, to talk to her about such things. And when Gia told the story of her childhood fall and the branch through her leg, rather than respond with awkward silence, Lin laughed. It seemed inappropriate, but that had apparently been the reaction Gia had wanted from the beginning, because she laughed, too.
Shifu felt warm and happy, and proud of how far Lin and Gia had come in such a short time. He enjoyed having such a moment with the three of them. He was starting to feel like there was definite hope, after all, that Lin might forgive him and take him back.
Then Tigress entered the kitchen, and the spell was broken. Mainly by Lin saying "Ugh," incredibly loudly at the sight of her.
"You took the words right out of my mouth," Tigress replied sullenly.
"Excuse me?" Shifu stood between the two, unsure who to scold first. "Tigress, you are a representative of the Jade Palace! And Lin, stop acting like a child."
"No," Lin replied immediately. "Don't tell me what to do."
"Uhm," Gia said meekly, her gaze darting between the two women. "Please do not fight."
"I gotta go, anyway," Lin dismissed. "I'll be back for dinner." She walked out without another word, to Shifu's chagrin.
Shifu rubbed at his temples, a stress headache already forming. "I had better go, too. Gia, I'll make sure Po makes something nice for dinner for you." With that, he followed Lin back outside. "Care to tell me why you were so rude to my daughter?"
"Don't like her," Lin replied simply, and didn't elaborate no matter how much he stared at her.
"Well, then, that explains everything!" he replied sarcastically.
"Sure does," she agreed, ignoring his tone. "So where's this studio I keep hearing about? 'Cause I'm not coming back to work without a studio."
"It's near the palace, but we're discussing-" He cut himself off with a frustrated sigh when Lin simply walked away from him. He should have seen that coming. "Lin!" He caught up to her again and walked alongside her. "You cannot treat Tigress that way."
"She's been shitty to me from day one, so I'll act however I want," she said defensively. "B'sides, you don't run my life. I'm my own person. And we're not in a relationship anymore, so I got no reason to try to suck up to her to stay on your good side."
"I would appreciate it if you did not call my daughter shitty to my face," he grumbled.
Lin let out an annoyed grunt. "Fine, okay. Sorry. Just show me this studio."
Shifu led the way toward the studio building, but couldn't help but glance back at Lin. "Did something happen between you two?"
"It's nothing," she dismissed. "We just don't get along. Don't worry about it, it's not really an issue."
"Alright," he accepted skeptically, mostly because he knew that pushing her would only cause a fight.
"What?" she asked accusingly. "I said I was sorry, I said it was nothing. D'you want an essay about it?"
Shifu stopped walking and glared at her, willing himself to remain calm and not rise to the bait. "Do you want to fight? Are you in that bad of a mood?"
Lin glared back at him, then started walking in the general direction they'd been heading. "I'm tense," she grumbled.
"Why?" He took the lead again, well aware that she would likely wander off in the wrong direction without him.
"Lotsa reasons," she said. "And no reason. Like how people say they woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I mean, do I gotta have some traumatic backstory to all my moods?"
"I suppose not," he accepted.
"And I knowya think I'm moody," she snapped. "So keep your judgmental crap inside your big head where it belongs."
"Now you're just fighting with me without my participation," he pointed out.
"Whatever." Lin did look tense, on top of seeming exhausted.
Then Shifu finally put two and two together. "You didn't sleep last night," he realized. "How long have you gone without sleeping?"
"I dunno," she grumbled. "A while."
"Lin, you're too old to be pulling all-nighters," he lectured, but she ignored him. "I'm serious. You could become very ill, doing that. I know you like to pretend that you're still capable of all the things you did in your twenties, but it's just a fact of life."
Lin refused to look at him, her sullen frown still in place. "It's not like I don't wanna sleep. I just can't, sometimes. And that's a real fact of life."
"Oh." He hadn't known about that. "I sometimes wake up early, now that I'm older. Is it... Like that?"
"Can't be an age thing if it's always been a thing." She sighed, then sniffled wetly. "This's about the time when people usually try to tell me that some kinda exercise or home remedy'll cure my insomnia forever, so I'm gonna go ahead and assume you're fine with skipping that part."
"I am fine with that," he confirmed awkwardly.
"Okay, good."
He tried to think of something encouraging to say. "I have read that some monks and kung fu masters will forego sleep in order to meditate and achieve spiritual enlightenment."
"And I've read that it takes about two weeks to die of not sleeping, assumingya don't lose it and kill yourself first," she replied flatly.
"Okay, I've said the wrong thing." He tried not to panic at that. He could still salvage this conversation.
"Just a little."
"Well, if anything like that happened to you, I would lose it."
Lin, of course, only became more annoyed at any indication that he cared for her. "You seemed pretty unconcerned with leaving me alone and vulnerable out in the freezing cold."
"I was starting to think it had been a while since you'd brought that up." His sarcastic remark did not go over well, judging by her silence. He shouldn't have acted so flippantly when she so obviously took what he'd done to her seriously. "Lin..."
When she spoke, her voice had that hard, cold edge to it that she got when her anger at him had peaked. "Y'know, generally whenya abandon a person with abandonment issues, they kinda have trouble letting go of it."
He should have known she was only moments away from laying on the guilt. He had come to accept that he deserved it, though. "If I could go back in time and change what I've done, I would. I would do everything differently, from the moment I met Gia. But I can't change the way I acted, so I'm trying my hardest to make it up to you. I hope you can at least believe me."
Lin didn't react, only wiped her nose on her sleeve, which he let go without comment on how unsanitary it was.
He led her the rest of the way to the studio without conversation, knowing he would only dig himself deeper. They circled around the Jade Palace and through the sculpture garden to a small, simple wooden building beyond it which was normally hidden in foliage. A few evergreens around it still partially obscured the view, but this time of year it was fairly visible. The building was made of plain, unpainted wood and had high windows and paper screens to let light inside. A small porch adorned its front, a lantern hanging near the door in case it was ever needed. The front door was in actuality a large sliding panel that could be opened far enough to essentially remove an entire wall of the building, Shifu assumed for lighting purposes. The moment he opened that door, Lin became chatty again, as if their fight had never happened.
"Finally." Lin pushed past him into the studio and immediately started rifling through every drawer, chest, and cabinet in the place. "This ain't as well-stocked as I woulda liked," she said, as ungrateful as ever. "And it's a little too cluttered." She gestured to a couple of desks at the back wall. "Those can go. I'm gonna need the wall space. And the floor space." At that proclamation, she paused to waggle her eyebrows at him.
"May I remind you that this is a work space?" Shifu grumbled.
"Oh my God, it was a joke," she replied with her signature eye-roll.
"I'm surprised you can still see straight, with all the ocular gymnastics you like to pull."
"And I'm surprised you can still walk straight, with all the other kindsa gymnastics I like to pull," she added, causing him to blush.
"Speaking of which..." He might as well use this opportunity to bring up the issue of privacy. "A wise man once said-"
"Just spit it out," she ordered, her head still buried in a supply cabinet.
"I have to move rooms because you're always loud, belligerent, and naked." He winced, waiting for her to start screaming at him.
"Or you could stop trying to get with me," Lin suggested, shockingly not offended. "But if you're gonna switch rooms, get a bigger one. With a chamber pot close by. I don't wanna go down the hall every time I gotta pee. Y'know I get an infection if I don't pee after penetrative sex."
"Yes. Thank you for bringing that up right now. In addition to every single time we sleep together. And other times, too." He rubbed his temples, willing himself to stay and keep the conversation on track. "And must you use that word?"
"What, penetrative?" she asked obliviously. Then she closed the supply cabinet and looked at him with an evil glint in her eye. "Penetrative."
"Stop that."
"Penetrative."
"I will not allow you to change the subject of this conversation!" He stuck his fingers in his ears to reduce distractions, then continued. "I am-"
"Penetrative."
He pursed his lips, but continued. "I am getting a bigger room. In case you wanted to spend more time here."
She snorted. "Get your fingers outta your ears."
He realized that he had behaved somewhat immaturely, so he returned his hands to his sides. "And you're fine with all this?"
"I think the assumption that I have enough emotionally invested in you to spend more time here's a little penetrative, honestly." Of course she would answer him dismissively. He should have known.
Well, two could play at that game. "Alright, never mind. You aren't welcome in my new room."
Lin snorted. "Sure." She sounded more than a little skeptical.
They lapsed into silence as Lin continued her inventory of the room, and if he were a smarter man he would take this camaraderie as a sign that their earlier tiff had been forgotten. "Lin, are you... I mean, you're joking around like I didn't just spend the entire walk here offending you. Are you really alright?"
"You've spent almost every conversation we've ever had offending me," she said. "So I wasn't exactly blind-sided."
He blushed in embarrassment at her assessment. "I didn't mean to say anything ignorant or hurt your feelings. I'm sorry."
Lin pulled her head out of the cabinet she'd been inspecting and openly stared at him. "Really?"
"Okay, now you're the one who's acting offensive," he huffed.
"Sorry. You just... It's still a little weird to hearya apologize for a fight. Especially first. And we're not even together anymore." She went back to rummaging through the cabinet, so he didn't catch her facial expression. "If this's the way you are when you're trying to get with me, maybe I should never get back withya. Especially when I compare it to howya were when we were together."
He couldn't deny that his heart deflated at that proclamation and the joking way she'd said it, but he tried to keep it hidden. "I promise I will be the perfect partner should you decide to become emotionally available again."
"Promises, promises," she dismissed.
"If you don't believe me, then maybe you should give me a second chance and find out," he offered.
"And ifya turn out to not have changed at all then I get to go through yet another breakup," she replied sarcastically. "Which was so pleasant the last time."
"You are going to have to choose between being with me all the way or not at all eventually," he pointed out. "You do know that, right?"
"I know," Lin said, and if he didn't know any better he'd say she sounded melancholy at that thought. Then she shocked him by showing him a hint of emotional vulnerability. "Sometimes I get stuck, 'cause it seems too scary to move forward. Cuttingya outta my life is scary. Conversely, givingya another shot's also scary. Hence this whole standing still thing."
"You are... Scared?" he asked incredulously. It had never even occurred to him she might feel that way.
"I'm scared of a lotta things," she said. "And I feel scared a lotta the time. Going back to you was less scary than walking away, so I caved and did the thing that was less scary. Even though I know I'm probably just gonna get attached to you again, and then I'll probably end up hurt again. I can't help myself." She sighed and shut the cabinet, then moved on to checking over one of the drafting tables. "There're just so many good memories. We used to be friends once, at least I thought so. And walking away would be like admitting that it's all gone now."
"Lin, whatever happens, I promise that none of that will be gone."
"Y'know what woulda been the right time to say that?" Lin asked.
Shifu rolled his eyes and she answered her own question the same time he said, "Back when I kicked you out."
She snorted at their little harmony and leaned back against the drafting table with her arms crossed. "Yeah."
They lapsed into silence for a bit, and he glanced around the studio in search of something to talk about, just to fill the silence. "So... You're back at work."
"Wow, nice conversational skills," she taunted. Of course.
"I was just trying to break the silence," Shifu grumbled. "And while we're on the subject, why are you only back part-time? Is that also out of fear? Because you can't spend the rest of your life running away from your responsibilities in a noodle shop." He realized belatedly he'd been too harsh, and Lin concurred by throwing an old shop rag into his face.
"You're such a dick!"
"Sorry," he said, somewhat muffled as he was still yanking the rag off his head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that so sound so accusatory."
"Sure," she replied skeptically. "But for the record, I work at the noodle shop 'cause I like it."
He raised his eyebrows. "I've seen you at work."
She yanked the rag from his hand and threw it directly back into his face. "So I get annoyed with the customers! But I like Ping. He's my friend. And I like not being alone all the time, I like doing something that doesn't take a whole lotta mental or emotional energy. Believe it or not, art's really draining in that area. With Tai Lung's crap, and now Gia tracking me down, I need that energy for my personal life. Sometimes I just need a break to breathe, y'know? I'm burnt out enough as it is."
He'd never considered any of that, though he knew it was his own fault for not asking sooner. "I didn't know. I truly do apologize." He held out the rag for her and she laughed a little.
"Relax, I'm done throwing stuff."
"I know you don't want a relationship with me, but I am responsible for Gia being here and I'm certainly responsible for Tai Lung. I am more than capable of sharing the burden."
"Yeah, that won't feel like a relationship at all," she rpelied sarcastically.
"So you would rather keep everything from me and continue feeling overwhelmed?" Shifu asked pointedly.
Lin sighed and rubbed at her face in response.
"At least give me a chance to offer you some support. I owe you, don't I?"
"Fine, but only 'causeya got a point about owing me." Lin picked up a piece of graphite from the drafting table and scribbled something down on a scrap piece of paper.
When she handed him the paper, he was unnerved to see it was just a drawing of an eerie eye staring out from the darkness at him. "Well, that's... Interesting."
"Tai Lung's having vision," Lin told him.
He stared at the drawing, mouth agape, then at her. "What?"
"It's something he's gotta be willing to tellya himself, otherwise you can't do a damn thing," she replied firmly. "But I figured... You're only trying to help. And he's your son. So you should know."
"And Tai Lung told you about all this instead of me." He couldn't keep himself from sounding as wounded as he felt. "He doesn't trust me, even a bit."
"Give it time," she said.
"But what is this thing?"
"It's... It's..." Lin paused, squinting as if she couldn't quite grasp something. "I don't remember."
"You don't remember? What is that supposed to mean?" Shifu didn't expect to end up with even more questions about Tai Lung's rehabilitation tonight, and as much as Lin kept from him, he still had been blindsided by this particular tidbit.
"Exactly how it sounds." Lin rubbed at her face again. "I shouldn't talk about this anymore. It should come from him. It's just not right for me to spill it all behind his back. B'sides, then he won't trust either of us."
He still didn't understand what was going on, but Lin seemed even more overwhelmed than when they'd started this conversation, so it couldn't be anything good. "What if I brought it up?"
"No, then he'll know I blabbed. Canya please keep it to yourself? Just trust my judgment on this one?"
Shifu had to admit, he didn't have the best track record when it came to trusting Lin's judgment, and he had sworn to correct that. Moreso, she looked so sincere, he wanted to put his trust in her. "Alright," he agreed. "Thank you for telling me. It means a lot."
"Yeah," she muttered, then went back to inspecting the studio.
He chose a chair and sat with her in silence, because there was nothing left for him to say. He understood very little about Lin, and even less about this strange eye that apparently had been haunting Tai Lung. He couldn't even grasp how they were connected. But he could stay with Lin and make sure she was safe, and provide her with some company. It didn't seem like much, but after a long time, she started to smile. The best smile in the universe. He liked to think he at least had a little bit to do with that.
Lin yawned and trailed behind Shifu as he led her back to the barracks for dinner. She was glad she had finally gotten to see the Jade Palace's studio, and she'd even had time to sketch a few different ideas. But she couldn't shake her dizzying exhaustion. She had probably been thinking too hard about trying to be Zen and about her visions and her past. She had spent a lot of time thinking about Tai Lung's visions, too.
The more time she spent thinking about Tai Lung's visions, the more vividly she remembered that eye, looming in the dark. The more she questioned how or why she even knew that she owed a debt to sea, and why she couldn't remember more of that incident. She had stopped dreaming at night, which was something she normally wished for every single time she went to sleep, but it had somehow been even more restless than a nightmare. When she fell asleep, everything was gone, and there was only a void, and she woke up with her heart racing.
She would give anything to have some sort of spiritual guidance at the moment, but Shifu could barely understand a single word out of her mouth about the way she was feeling, and he was supposedly the spiritual leader of the entire Valley. She'd just have to keep digging deeper within herself and hope she came up with something.
"Feeling alright?" Shifu suddenly asked.
She grunted at him in response. She felt embarrassed that she'd so thoroughly spilled her guts to him, especially about that whole void thing. She'd known already he wouldn't understand, so she didn't know what she'd expected. Now he wouldn't stop checking on her, which was somehow horrible and nice at the same time.
"If you need some rest, we can put off dinner," he offered.
"I'm okay," she grumbled. Horrible-nice. "Ugh."
"Ugh?"
"Don't do that," she ordered. "It makes you sound like my dad."
"Saying 'ugh' makes you sound like a teenager," he argued. "So we're even."
"Ugh is not limited to specific age groups," Lin said with a sniff. "Anyone can say it, including me."
He stopped so abruptly that she almost bumped into him, then turned around and poked at her side before she could block him.
She couldn't help but scream at the startling tickle, then she gave him a good shove for it. "What the hell?"
"I'm trying to cheer you up," he said, then grabbed her and kissed her before she had a chance to argue with him.
She would have argued anyway, except that she liked this rare show of spontaneity. Besides, kissing was one of her favorite pastimes, even if she was kissing Shifu.
Unfortunately, he pulled away before she could really get going and grimaced. "Your nose is runny."
"Yeah, I noticed." Lin had figured that was too good to last, anyway. "I'm hungry, so hurry your big butt up."
"You like my butt big and you know it," he teased.
"Never said I didn't." She tried to give him a spank, but he dodged her. "Hey! No fair."
"All's fair in butts and war," Shifu replied, and she laughed. That joke had been unexpectedly good.
"Since when're you funny?"
"Since I started trying to impress you," he said, and she had a feeling he meant it.
Lin decided to ignore that, because it made her happy and she didn't want to think about the frustrating complexity of her feelings at the moment. She was here for Gia, and Gia's birthday, which she was also trying not to think too hard on because remembering the day she'd given birth never ended well. This was just a rough day for her, overall. Normally she distracted herself from it by drinking heavily, but that wasn't on the table at the moment. "Wanna have sex?"
"What, right now?" Of course he sounded scandalized.
"Yeah, I wouldn't be asking ahead of time. That's weird."
"More weird than just randomly having sex out in public?"
Lin scoffed. "There's trees and shit here," she pointed out. "S'not public if no one can seeya."
"That's not correct," Shifu replied in that annoying snotty tone he got when he thought he was correcting her. "Anyway, it's time for dinner. You said you were hungry."
She might as well tell him the truth of how she felt, since she didn't particularly care how he reacted anymore. They were no longer a couple, and so there were no longer consequences to worry about. "I am hungry, but I'd rather eat alone in bed. And also be drunk. God, I wish I was drunk."
"I am already aware that you'd rather be drunk for almost everything," he said.
"Or high on cold medicine. I would take that, too, in a pinch." She sneezed, purely by coincidence. She hated being sick, but the kind of cold medicine that knocked her on her ass made it bearable. And, back when Al was alive, him taking care of her had made it bearable. Him just being around had made everything more bearable.
"I am not giving you drugs or alcohol of any kind." Shifu's uptight comment brought her out of her own head and back to reality. "Po made dinner, Gia is looking forward to spending time with you, and you should be present for it."
She sighed. "I guess if you can get over your son trying to killya on purpose I can try to get over Gia almost killing me by just existing." She stopped to form some snow into a ball, then threw it at his head. "But not without some suffering."
"You are weird," he complained, wiping snow off his face. "I thought you were trying to be playful, for a second there."
"You should know by now that I'm more morose and nihilistic 'an anything else." She tossed another snowball at him, and this time he actually bothered to dodge. "That's why I got such a stellar sense of humor."
"This isn't fair." Shifu shook himself a little, still trying to get snow off of him from her first hit. "I can't throw a snowball at a sick woman."
"Sureya can," Lin argued. "Ifya think you can actually land a hit."
"The moment you're healthy I'm taking you up on that," he warned as they reached the barracks and entered the kitchen together.
"Oh, I friggin' dare you to try it." She had never been above a good taunting. "I'll bury you alive, literally. And when they try to dig you up, they'll discover the bloody scratch marks inside your icy tomb, your last desperate act in this world."
"Uhh." Po stared at them from where he stood over a wok, stir-frying noodles. "Should I be worried?"
"We're talking about a snowball fight," Shifu told him, then pulled an extra chair from the corner and placed it next to his. "And the only way Lin would win would be if I let her. Which I most certainly will not."
"Alright. I didn't think ya'd be gettin' along, what with the death threat. Glad I was wrong." Po started serving noodles and Shifu took it upon himself to pour some tea for every place setting while the rest of his students filed into the kitchen.
Lin just took a seat, since she was a guest and didn't have to worry about trying to help out. Or maybe she was still supposed to, but she was still exhausted and didn't feel like it. Shifu and Po didn't seem to mind. But she needed to sit down and disengage herself, because Po pointing out that she'd been getting along with Shifu made her feel some painful mix of anxiety and dread. She'd been writing back and forth with Meihui since the painting, and the fact that she was now single had propelled things pretty quickly into romantic territory. So now she had to decide whether to tell Shifu, despite the fact that she'd said at least five different times that they were not in any way exclusive. And she resented the fact that she even had to spend this amount of emotional effort on him.
"Gia, sit next to me," Lin ordered as soon as she saw the girl, indicating the chair Shifu had probably intended for himself. She needed to do literally anything but think about her life at the moment.
"Oh! Yes, I will." Gia looked pleased, though she glanced worriedly at Shifu. "Is this alright, Master Shifu?"
"I don't mind at all," he said, surprisingly.
Tai Lung took a seat in the chair closest to Lin's other side, glaring daggers at Gia. "What's all this about?"
"It's her birthday," Lin replied, then gave him a warning poke. "We're celebrating."
"Hmph."
Lin poked him again.
"Happy birthday," he grumbled, his scowl still firmly in place.
"Thank you," Gia accepted brightly, though Lin suspected her positivity was more for the sake of annoying Tai Lung than getting along with him.
Tigress sat at Gia's free side, which Lin had decided to be fine with as long as she didn't try to start anything. "Happy Birthday, Gia. I trust it's been a good day?"
"Truthfully, aging worries me," Gia replied. "Every year I feel as though I have accomplished nothing, and I have less time left than ever." The melancholy statement was met with awkward silence.
"That's birthdays forya," Lin said with a shrug, then drank some tea. She made a quick trip to the liquor cabinet for something to spike it with, despite Shifu's insistence that sobriety was required for this night. It tasted much better, then.
"Lin," Shifu scolded, but he was drowned out by Viper.
"Ooh, hot toddies!" She grabbed the bottle of liquor and poured a bit into her own tea, then passed it on. "The perfect way to warm up on a cold winter's evening."
"Yes! I agree!" Gia launched into a discussion with the snake about different heated alcoholic beverages, then spiked her tea when the bottle made its way back to her. It looked like Shifu and Tigress had been the only ones not to partake, which seemed pretty typical.
Shifu sighed and made eye contact with Lin from across the table. He shook his head, but he smiled at her, just a little. Was he being lighthearted? That was out of character. Maybe he'd already had a few drinks when she wasn't paying attention.
"Alright! Noodles for long life!" Po announced as he served up plates heaped with stir-fried noodles full of scallions, mushrooms, carrots, and bok choy.
Lin couldn't say she was ever in the mood for noodles anymore, but at least these ones were dry. And as well-made as Ping's ever were.
"Oh, good, noodles!" Gia exclaimed. "I have had a craving for noodles all day, since-" She paused and glanced at Lin. "Uhm, never mind."
"I know," Lin said with an irritated groan. "I smell like noodles. All the time." It was probably the worst part of working at a noodle shop, other than having to perform customer service of any kind.
"So that's what's been making the barracks smell like noodles every night," Mantis said with a chuckle. "Man, I really thought Po was up making noodles all the time."
She narrowed her eyes at the insect. "I will kill you."
"No death threats allowed at my birthday," Gia ordered.
"Or ever," Tigress added sharply.
Lin contemplated throwing her noodles in Tigress' face, but held herself back. She had promised herself that she would try to tolerate Tigress bossing her around for Gia's sake. "I will do as you requested, Gia," she ground out, then filled her mouth with noodles to keep herself from cursing.
"Speaking of death threats," Monkey spoke up, pointing over at Crane. "Crane has the best death threat story ever. He got a kiss of death!"
"Oh, it's... It was nothing." Crane pulled his hat down over his eyes, clearly embarrassed by the attention. "Just, uh, a gang boss and... Stuff."
"Tell it, tell it!" Monkey chanted, and Mantis and Po joined in until Crane finally gave up and told the story of how he'd faced a gang boss who had given him a kiss of death, but had managed to defeat the entire gang in a series of increasingly difficult battles. So, the usual for kung fu stuff.
Gia listened to the entire story, enraptured, then turned to Lin. "Were there any mafiosi where you grew up?"
Lin shrugged. "Two towns over. Our village was nowheresville, so it's not like we ever saw 'em. Printed up a thing or two for 'em with Vino, though."
Gia's eyes widened in that puppy-dog look she got when she was begging for something. "Who is Vino?"
"That was my first teacher, before Chen." Lin finished her tea, then refilled her cup with straight liquor. "He was a big drunk, and I apprenticed in his print shop unofficially. The end."
"What? What happened?"
The rest of the room had continued talking loudly without them, so Lin didn't see any harm in telling Gia the truth of what had happened. "I turned fourteen. So spending time alone with a man wasn't allowed anymore. I had to, y'know, get married. To whoever my parents made me marry."
"Oh." Gia leaned in more closely. "You mentioned this when we were at the New Year festival."
"Yeah. I was engaged for a while, to this distant cousin of mine. He brought me all the way to Shanghai, and I escaped there. That's how I ended up in China in the first place." She left out most of the details, since it wasn't exactly a good time to go over them.
"I see," Gia said, nodding thoughtfully. "You did not want an arranged marriage."
"Hell nah." Lin topped off her cup, then passed Gia the bottle. "But you don't gotta worry about any of that. I'd never makeya do that."
"Yes. Of course." Gia filled her own tea cup and drank deeply. "But you would not forbid me from marrying. Would you?"
"Ifya really wanted to get married, I wouldn't stopya. But you're still too young to be thinking about that kinda stuff, right?"
"Too young?" Gia repeated tightly. "What about having children? I barely have any time left!"
"Uh." Lin was suddenly aware of everyone in the room staring at them. "Okay. No one's stoppingya from getting pregnant."
"Out of wedlock!?" she shrieked. "Like- like some-"
"Like me?"
Gia turned bright red and fell silent.
"Well." Lin dropped her chopsticks on the table and stood up while everyone continued to watch the scene unfold. "That's my cue." She left the barracks, but stopped outside on the porch to calm herself down with a smoke. She'd never especially cared what people thought of her for never getting married, or for getting knocked up, but the hypocrisy of Gia commenting on it irritated her. If it weren't for her getting knocked up, the kid wouldn't even exist. And it wasn't like she'd ever wanted to get pregnant in the first place. It wasn't like she'd ever wanted any of it. And she'd tried like hell to get rid of it, too. But some things couldn't be controlled.
"Lin." Shifu joined her on the porch, waving a hand in front of his face and wrinkling his nose as he always did around smoke. "Gia did not mean to offend you. She's clearly putting herself under a lot of pressure. You should come back inside."
"I'm not the one who made a big scene," Lin pointed out. "So if this's supposed to be a lecture, I'm outta here for real."
"It isn't a lecture." He sighed, then looked pointedly at her calabash pipe. "Perhaps you could blow your smoke the other way?"
"I'll try, you big old fusspot." She couldn't help but find his aversion funny, even with her bad mood. "Maybe this was a bad idea."
"This?" he repeated blankly.
"Y'know, with Gia." She waved her hand in the air in a vague gesture. "Like, hanging out with her. Maybe it's a bad idea."
"No, of course not," Shifu argued, predictably. "I know you two have your differences, but you should try to have a relationship with her. Don't you think you would regret it if she left without you having ever gotten to know her?"
She thought he might be projecting a little, but she kept that to herself. He had a slight point. "I never planned on getting to know her," she reminded him. "But I guess since she's here it'd be okay to try again. Which'll probably go about as well as that dinner did."
"It's a process," he said, which was the most astute thing she'd ever heard out of his mouth.
"Yeah, you're right," she admitted.
"Oh, I'm right, hm?" Of course he had to be a big snot about it.
"Don't push me."
"Okay," he accepted, though he still sounded pretty smug.
She couldn't let that smug tone go without teasing him. "Congratulations on being right for the first time ever."
"Congratulations to you on realizing that I have a point."
"Yeah, yeah." Lin pushed him a little, then put out her pipe and returned to the kitchen. She sighed at the looks she got, but sat next to Gia regardless. "No more staring," she ordered. "The drama's over." She turned to Gia and gave her an elbow in the arm. "If I'm sorry and you're sorry, there's no reason we can't move on. Deal?"
Gia smiled. "Deal."
Shifu stood outside on the barracks porch, marveling at how well Gia's birthday dinner had gone. Aside from her and Lin's brief fight, and a few extremely depressing religious anecdotes, the entire evening had been, for the most part, pleasant. Lin hadn't even snapped at Tigress, which he didn't think she was capable of. He thought it odd that Gia had insisted on staying in the kitchen to clean up after her own celebration, but Tigress had been kind enough to stay with her and help. It seemed to him like they had established a strong, if unlikely, friendship. Almost everyone else had gone to get some sleep, except for Lin, who still insisted on announcing her bowel movements before leaving a room. Though not her most creative description, "Time to take a dump" had still been more than he ever wanted to hear.
"Gia. I need to speak with you."
He perked up at Tigress' voice and looked around, but he was still alone. A window in the kitchen must have been left open. That made sense, considering how red in the face everyone had gotten after all those drinks.
"You have clearly learned some form of kung fu. Why won't you tell me about it?"
Shifu normally busied himself with other thoughts to distract himself when he overheard a conversation, but hearing Tigress mention kung fu tempted him too much. Since when did Gia know any form of martial art?
"And I have told you, I don't know kung fu, not really," Gia said quietly. What had he missed?
"Then what was that display with Tai Lung? Why are you being so evasive?" Tigress insisted.
Now he was certain he'd missed something important. Something that his daughter had apparently chosen to keep secret from him.
"It was tricks," Gia replied firmly, a note of annoyance in her voice. "Tricks I've learned from various people, here and there. It wasn't anything formal."
"Then why can't you tell me where you learned these tricks?" Tigress asked.
Shifu concurred with the sentiment that Gia seemed to be hiding something.
"I don't remember every last thing I have learned from every last person!" Gia snapped at her, which was rare enough that it meant she had gotten truly annoyed. "I learned some in Egypt, some in India, some from Shaolin monks- it doesn't matter. I have no interest in pursuing martial arts. I only know as much as I do for self-defense. If you can't trust my word, then this conversation is over!"
There was a long pause, and Shifu leaned over the porch railing, closer to the windows, in anticipation of what he might hear next. "I apologize," Tigress said lowly. "...You're using so many contractions."
After another pause, Gia responded in a puzzled tone of voice. "Yes. And?"
"And I'm not used to hearing you speak like that."
"My Mandarin is improving," Gia pointed out. "I wasn't going to stagnate and stop learning new things."
"I know," Tigress said. Did she sound sheepish? That was new. "I know this might sound odd, but... I hope you don't lose your accent."
"Why not?"
"It's, uhm. It's nice. You know, pretty."
"Geez, even Tigress is better at flirting 'an you are."
Shifu jumped, his heart racing at the sound of a voice behind him- Lin's voice, of course. "Don't sneak up on me like that," he whispered.
"Don't eavesdrop on people's conversations," she whispered back. "Unless you're planning on sharing, of course."
"I would ask you if you are serious, but, regrettably, I already know that you are."
She responded by punching him, though he couldn't tell whether it was a good punch or a bad punch. Lin tended to deliver each with about the same amount of force. At least she had aimed for his arm. Then she pointed up, over their heads. When he stared blankly at her, she pointed more forcefully. "The roof," she finally whispered.
"Oh. Right." He picked her up and used a nearby tree for leverage to leap onto the barracks roof, pleased that he could still stick a landing in near silence at his age. They both listened for a bit, but it sounded like Tigress and Gia had left the kitchen, so he told Lin of what he'd heard.
"Huh," she mused after hearing the entire conversation summarized. "Makes sense."
"That's all you have to say? 'Makes sense?'" He should have known she'd respond with something so flippant.
Lin shrugged. "Yeah. She's been on the road since she was, like, seventeen. It doesn't take eight years to get here if you're traveling in a straight shot. B'sides, the first thing I learned after I left my parents' house was how to fight with a knife."
"Oh, good, she's secretly as much of a hooligan as you are," he grumbled.
"You obviously don't think there's that much wrong with me, ifya wanna get back with me," Lin argued indignantly. "Also, hooligan? Really?"
Shifu couldn't find a comeback for that. It was a good point. "I still think it's odd she never mentioned anything."
"Kinda goes with the whole innocent and humble routine, ifya ask me. I'm more concerned about whether or not she and Tigress are ever gonna bang it out."
He nearly swallowed his tongue at that comment.
"You mean to tell me you don't see awkward romance written all over that relationship? I'm honestly surprised every time I walk into a room with the two of 'em and don't find 'em dry humping. Then again, there's the whole Po factor." She shrugged, as if this were a normal way to speak about other people, let alone her own daughter.
"You can't talk about our daughters like that!" Still, he didn't like her mention of Po's inclusion in the situation. "So who likes Po? Gia?"
"Po likes Tigress," Lin clarified. "And don't ask me where Tigress lands 'cause I still got no clue."
"Why are you even paying attention to all this?"
"'Cause I can't afford to pay for entertainment." She punctuated the statement with a long yawn, then laid down on the roof. "Nice up here. Clear enough now to see the stars."
"Don't change the subject." He hated when she said something controversial, then changed track entirely. "Tell me more about his love triangle situation."
"That's all I know," Lin insisted, then pointed up at a red star. "There's Mars. Wish I could go there. There's rivers on Mars, y'know. You can see 'em ifya use a big enough telescope, etched into the planet just like ours are. I wonder if they're as red as everything else there."
"And this is more important than our children because, why?" he asked sarcastically, but she only got upset.
"Fine, don't listen. Don't ever talk to me again if you're gonna be like that."
"Not dramatic at all," he grumbled, but Lin looked so tired and sad, staring up at the sky, that he couldn't stay angry. "Sorry. Why do you want to go to another planet?"
"'Cause it's there," Lin answered with a sniff. "There and not here. That's good enough reason to go anywhere."
"Are there people there?" He didn't think so, but it seemed like a relevant question in terms of hypothetically visiting an alien planet.
"Dunno. Probably not, right? I mean, if there were, one of us or them woulda figured out a signal by now. It's close enough by that something shoulda happened by now. That's my theory, anyway."
"What about Venus?"
"Dunno. Its days are probably the same length as ours, and it has phases like the moon, which is cool. But the surface is obscured by clouds, so there's no way to see the sky from down there, I bet. But it must have air and liquid and gravity if it's got clouds. So there's something. I guess it'd be nice to find out what's under all those clouds."
He sidled a little closer to her, and was rewarded for his effort when Lin lifted her head and laid it back down in his lap. "Comfortable?"
"Meh," she replied with a slow blink and another yawn.
Shifu couldn't help but place a hand on her forehead. She really did seem ragged, and she felt burning hot under his palm. "I knew it! You've got a fever."
"I'm fine," she insisted yet again.
"It's from sitting out in the snow and working on that shack out in the cold all the time," he lectured while she continued to focus her gaze on the stars. "We need to get you back inside and into a warm bed."
"No way, I just got settled. And I'm not done tellingya about the universe." She pointed insistently up at the sky. "C'mon, the cold'll bring my fever down."
He rubbed at his temples, frustrated by her disregard for her own health. Still, it would be easier to get her into a bed if she were pacified first. "Fine, but only for another couple of minutes. Then you're going inside under a pile of blankets."
"I like blankets."
"And in the morning I'll tell Ping that you're taking a day off due to illness."
"Noooo," Lin protested in a nasal whine, "I need the money!"
He rested his hand on her forehead again, trying to remember what the difference in feeling was between a low fever and a high fever. He hadn't taken care of anyone sick since the last time Tigress had gotten ill, when she was thirteen years old. "I will pay you to take a sick day."
"Oh, okay," Lin accepted immediately.
He should have seen that coming. "How is it that you're so easily bought?"
She shrugged. "I've been really poor for a really long time."
"Right," he accepted awkwardly. Sometimes he forgot about some of the more difficult aspects of her life before their reunion. "So... The universe?"
"The universe." Lin pointed back up at the sky. "See that milky band of light in the sky? That's all stars. Stars out so far, we can't even imagine the distance. And there's so many of 'em, we can't even count 'em all. And didya know stars are born? They didn't always exist. They're born and they live and they die, just like a person. But for a lot longer, of course. I'd wanna see a star form, if I could."
"How do you know all these things about astronomy?" he asked. He'd never really bothered to talk to Lin about anything remotely scientific, partly because he had little interest in science, and partly because he'd always assumed she wouldn't have any interest either.
"Chen taught me," she said. "And it was interesting, so I kept up with it whenever I could. Gotta have hobbies. Y'know, I did this with Tai Lung when he was a kid."
That came as a surprise. "You did?"
"Yeah. Remember how he used to hide up here? I sat up here once and told him about the stars and the planets and stuff. What's that French term? Déjà vu."
"What?"
"The feeling of having lived through something before," she clarified.
"Oh." He looked up at the sky one more time, then stood and picked her up with him, ignoring a plaintive whine from her. "Time to go inside, before you die of exposure."
"Whatever," she complained, then sniffed again. She probably needed a handkerchief at this point. "I don't wanna go to bed."
"You are such a big baby when you're sick." And most of the rest of the time, but he decided not to point that out.
"Hey, where're we going?" She started to kick and squirm when he jumped off the barracks roof and started walking away. "Nooo, you finally decided to kill me and chop me up and bury me in the woods in pieces!"
"I have a new room, remember?" he grunted out. One of her kicks had somehow made painful contact with his elbow. "So calm down. Don't worry, I asked the staff to fill it with more pillows than any reasonable person could ever possibly want."
"That doesn't sound like enough pillows," she replied petulantly, then wiped her nose on his shirt.
"Eugh, my shirt." He couldn't stop himself from complaining. He had a right to whine just a little bit about his dirty shirt, didn't he? And he had a feeling that Lin was just getting started with her babyish behavior.
"Eugh," Lin agreed, then closed her eyes and settled down in his arms. "I kinda like you tonight." Of course she had to say something both heart-meltingly cute and depressing at the same time. She liked him tonight, but she likely would have changed her mind again by morning.
"I like you tonight, too." For now, he'd focus on the cute part. "You know, I have a brazier in the new room. And it can even heat up a teapot. We don't ever have to go to the kitchen for tea again."
"I like the kitchen," she argued weakly. "But also tea in bed sounds good. Bed sounds good."
"I thought you didn't want to go to bed."
"Changed my mind." She somehow yawned and sneezed in his face at the same time. "Are the pillows soft?"
"I imagine so. I asked specifically for extremely soft pillows." They finally reached the Jade Palace. He carried Lin down the corridor to their left, which housed some store rooms, a spare room, and Master Oogway's former quarters. He hadn't been able to bring himself to take his master's old room, so he had chosen the spare room. He passed through the rounded doorway, closed off with wooden screens rather than the paper ones separating rooms in the barracks, then paused. The sitting area, separated from the sleeping area by a wall of paper screens, was simple with a floor lined with straw mats and a low table for tea in it. Cushions surrounded the table for seating, and a cast iron tea set had been arranged in the middle of the table.
"Kinda bare," Lin commented.
"It has just been set up," Shifu pointed out.
"Weird that someone else did it forya."
He agreed, but he hadn't had the time to do all this himself. He walked around the table and through the wide paper screen doors into the sleeping area. The straw mats gave way to the Jade Palace's marble flooring, in a plain dark gray. A large storage cabinet stood against the opposite wall to his right, and to his left sat a raised bed piled high with a somewhat reasonable amount of overstuffed pillows. The walls were made of dark wood and had been made bare except for some remaining nails where paintings had once hung, probably for the benefit of guests. The brazier had already been set out and filled with hot coals, warming the room.
"Not enough pillows," Lin complained.
"I know," he said with a sigh. He put her down on the bed and she immediately went about shoving pillows under the blankets to create a nest for herself. He checked the large storage cabinet, pleased to find a number of handkerchiefs stored along with some of his clothing, a robe for sleep, extra blankets, and some towels. He handed the handkerchiefs to her, then changed into the robe while she watched and made rude comments, punctuated by nose blowing.
"Gimme that dick," Lin heckled nasally, then blew her nose so loudly it sounded like an out of tune horn.
"Stop," Shifu ordered, not that he would achieve anything. He joined her in bed, on his much more plain and normal side while she curled up in her pillow nest, buried under the blankets up to her chin. She looked cute like that, but he kept that thought to himself in case she took offense. "How is it?"
"It'll be nice with more pillows. And that dick."
"I'm not going near you until you're well."
"Jerk!" she accused, but she also laughed. "Today was a good day. Glad I came up here."
"Me too," he said with a contented sigh. "I take it this means that you do not, in fact, need to shun your own offspring."
"Don't go harping on this now," Lin grumbled. "I just said it was a good day."
"Tell me the truth," Shifu said, not that he expected her to take him seriously. "Why didn't you want to be a mother?"
"Lotsa reasons," Lin replied. "You already answered part of it."
He waited for her to elaborate, but she didn't. "...What?"
"You got two kids you actually raised," she said with a loud sniff, then wiped her nose with another handkerchief. "No one calls you 'a father.' Tigress and Tai Lung don't even callya Dad or something, which weirds me out, but I'm digressing. For a woman, having kids isn't something we do. It's something we are. It's just a bunch of bullshit."
He wondered if maybe she wasn't making sense because of her illness. "I'm still not getting it."
"You said it yourself. You didn't ask why I didn't want kids, you asked why I didn't wanna be a mother." She paused to wrinkle her nose and stick her tongue out. "It's gross that society just erases a woman's entire identity the moment she has kids and replaces it with 'mother.' And we're expected to go along with it like we were never anything else and will never be anything else. It's like some weird mind control. It creeps me out to no end. Especially the women who lean into it and talk about nothing but their kids and 'being a mom' for like the next twenty years."
"Having children changes your life," Shifu pointed out. "That's undeniable."
"Yeah, I know," she said with a scoff. "That's not what I'm talking about, though. You had kids. It changed your life, yeah. But you were never expected to be nothing else except a caretaker to 'em. You were still a kung fu master. Nobody tried to erase your personality and impose their own ideals onto you just for having kids. That's the kinda thing I'm talking about. And that's just one outta many reasons."
"Okay." He somewhat understood what she'd meant. He was attempting to, anyway. "What are some other reasons?"
"I don't like spending time with children," she said. "And I don't like babies. At all. Even a little. They're not cute to me, or precious or... Anything. They're boring blobs that consume and expel and can't communicate."
"Seriously?" he asked. "You don't like babies? That's possible?"
"It is definitely possible," Lin confirmed. "My parents didn't like babies, either. Neither did my Nonna. I mean, they learn and mature and grow, so it's not like I'm against 'em. But I'd spent time with women with newborns, and all I could think was, 'this's so goddamn boring and horrible and this's just her whole life now, why the hell would anyone want that?' And nothing changed when I had Gia." She paused to stare at him, probably to gauge his reaction, which he was trying hard to keep neutral as possible. "I don't hate babies. I just... Am stressed out by them."
"They are stressful," Shifu agreed. "But I like them." He paused to think about what she'd said, to try to put himself in her shoes. To be honest, before Tai Lung had been dropped on his doorstep, he hadn't given any thought to fatherhood. But the moment he had held the little snow leopard, he'd known. It was difficult for him to imagine Lin not forming that connection with Gia, even after giving birth to her. "I still don't get it," he admitted.
Lin stayed quiet for a little bit, then poked him in the head. "You didn't get mad or start a fight with me, andya didn't badmouth me or call me names. So I guess that's an improvement."
"That's an improvement?" he asked, momentarily shocked. Then he took a mental catalog of their past fights. "Oh my goodness, it is," he realized aloud.
"Yeah. There's a reason I dumped you."
As much as he hated to admit it, he had established a pretty grim pattern. "I am trying to be more conscientious and understanding."
"I can tell."
He turned onto his side to look her in the eye and express how much he cared for her and how much he wanted to do everything he could to make up for the past, but he didn't get a chance. Instead, he burst into laughter at the sight of her bundled up so tightly in the blankets that only her eyes and nose were visible.
"I'm cold," Lin whined with a loud sniff, then cackled.
"You're adorable." He gave her an affectionate pat on the head and then kissed her exposed nose.
"Ugh," she complained. "Quit that, you're acting like we're a couple or something."
That hurt to hear, but he would have to endure it in order to achieve his goal of actually becoming a couple again. "Soon," he reminded her, and she faked a gag.
"No way," she protested with another sniff. "We're not a couple. I'm just having sex with you 'cause you live in a palace with lotsa food."
"And because you like me today," he reminded her, then slid under the blankets and pulled her into an embrace. He was starting to feel the effects of the late hour and, if he could get away with it, wanted to fall asleep cuddling like they used to.
"Aaauugh, why?" she whined.
"Because you're too weakened by illness to stop me."
"It's true," Lin lamented, then wiped her nose on his robe. "And you're warm. You warm. Me cold. Hm."
"Tell me the truth," he mumbled into the top of her head, then yawned. "Do you still care for me?"
"I dunno," she replied, sounding equally exhausted. "I'd be sad if you were outta my life forever. But I'm still mad at you pretty much all the time. And we can't really be together if I'm always mad at you and not exactly in love with you. That's not... Good."
"Thank you for telling me the truth." He might as well let the subject rest.
"And I should definitely date other people," she added. "And you should, too. 'Cause if we just keep coming back to each other 'cause we're not meeting anyone new, that's also dysfunctional."
"I'll give that one some thought," he answered stiffly. He still did not like the idea of her seeing anyone else, but at least she wasn't holding him to a different standard. He didn't think he needed to meet anyone new to know he loved her, but he knew better than to start a debate with her about it. He only wished she felt the same way about him. "We should get some sleep."
"What, you're mad now?" she asked with a loud yawn.
"I'm not mad, just tired. And I don't want to talk about seeing other people. I just want to see you." He wished she would believe him, or at least give him a real second chance instead of this odd in-between dance they'd been doing. "If you went out with someone else, you would tell me. Right?"
"If that's whatya want," she agreed reluctantly.
"It is." He'd at least have some sense of where he stood, however difficult it would be to hear about.
"Does heavy flirting count?" she asked. "Or, like, romantic letters?"
His heart constricted at those questions. He hadn't expected her to have examples at the ready. "I... Maybe only tell me if you're actually seeing someone."
"Okay." She buried her face in his shoulder. "I'm not trying to be insensitive," she said, her voice muffled. "But I gotta care about myself and do what's good for me. Nobody else is gonna do it for me."
He wanted to say that he could, but he didn't. He knew the answer to that- that he'd already proven that he wouldn't. And, looking back on their relationship since Lin's return, she had always made an effort for him. She hadn't always gotten things right, but she had been steady and comforting when he'd needed her, and she'd done her best to apologize and forgive when they'd fought. And in return, he hadn't even been willing to admit his feelings to her until after he'd put her through a full day of screaming matches. Now he had some idea of what that must have felt like for her, especially after everything she'd done for him. "Keep taking care of yourself. I'll do the legwork this time around."
She responded with a quiet snore.
Shifu woke up alone in the morning, so he took a moment to vent his frustration by rolling over and sighing heavily into his pillow. Of course Lin had run off the moment she'd gotten a chance despite knowing that she needed rest and care. She was probably at the noodle restaurant at that very moment, infecting all the food with her illness. Or even worse, working on that infernal rundown shack of hers. He had worked through sickness before, but as a young man. Now that he was older, he understood the value of allowing his body time to recuperate. He wished Lin shared that sentiment so he didn't have to worry over her so much.
He was so busy fretting over Lin's health that he almost missed the slip of paper on the low table in the room's sitting area. Once he realized that it hadn't always been there, he picked it up and unfolded it, surprised to find that Lin had left him a note.
"Go tell Ping I'm sick. Working in the studio so I got something to do with my time. Don't bother me unless it's important. Or about sex. P.S. I know you were putting in a lot of effort yesterday, so. Good. I guess. Bye. Ugh."
He laughed a little bit at her sign-off, relieved that she'd decided to at least stay nearby so he could make sure she had basic comforts like heat and regular meals. She would have had those at Ping's, of course, but not necessarily at her little house. He tried not to think about how close she was to moving into that unheated shack with no type of bath or kitchen. With luck, he'd be able to convince her to return to the Jade Palace before she'd suffered too much, regardless of her feelings about him. Then, well, he'd have to wait and see.
"Ah. Jeez." Po stared down at the dish he'd prepared: tanghulu, each stick of reddish candied hawthorne berries carefully arranged in a red lacquered box. He slowed his breathing like he did when he meditated and fanned himself with his hands. "It's okay. It's all good. We can do this." He knew that Tai Lung was technically not the kind of person he should try to emulate, but he seemed like the kind of person who would be able to get a woman to like him. Well, Po didn't want to get Tigress to like him, like he was making her or something. He just wanted to make an effort, like Master Shifu was doing with Lin. Except that Tigress would not appreciate that comparison and he should probably never make it out loud.
Besides, he was doing this on his own terms. He was going to be more aggressive in his own way. Which meant cooking. Cooking tanghulu. Which Tigress would probably not like, since he'd never seen her eat a sweet in his life. This was a bad idea. This was the worst possible idea. But it was close to bed time and he couldn't exactly eat a bunch of tanghulu by himself.
"Hey, what's that smell?" Lin walked into the kitchen and made a beeline for the red lacquer box. "This looks like a present. I'm assuming it's for me."
"I dunno. Sure. Take 'em." Po sat down at the table and buried his head in his hands. What had ever made him think he could win Tigress over with just some candied fruit on a stick?
"Okay, I'm obviously joking."
Something hit him in the back of the head and he straightened up, looking down to see something orange roll under the table. "Did ya just hit me in the head with an orange?"
"Yeah," Lin replied. "'Cause you're being weird. What's with these delicious treats all ready to go and you acting likeya got nowhere to be?"
"It's nothin'," he lied. "Don't worry about it."
Lin poured the rest of the fruit bowl into her shirt, turning it into a makeshift pouch, then waddled toward the door. "I'm not gonna pry. Mainly 'cause I'm both real hungry and about to get laid. But whoever you're giving this to, probably Tigress I'm thinking, just do it. You made it. It's full of love or some shit. I dunno, I don't have the energy for a big pep talk. But life's short, gotta take chances, blah blah blah. Also, for, the record, I think you're definitely the better catch. Okay, I gotta go get plowed with an orange in my mouth, wish me luck." With that, she left.
"Ew," Po grumbled to himself. He did not want to picture that. But she did have a point, however vague. He should express his feelings while he still had the chance. Or maybe he could just not. Maybe he could just forget his feelings and pretend none of this ever happened, and that way he and Tigress would stay friends. And he could eat tanghulu alone for the rest of his life. Well, not alone. He'd have his dad.
He covered the red lacquer box and tied it with a ribbon. These were not going to end up with his dad while he spent the rest of his days pining. He tried to quell his terror on his way to the scroll library, but that didn't work. He only became more frightened and anxious at the idea of presenting his creation to Tigress as he got closer to the moment of truth. The last time he'd done anything like this was when he'd been twelve and had written a love note to a goose who lived down the street. He'd slid it under her door and she had proceeded to act like nothing had ever happened. Kind of like Tigress had been acting since their kiss. But she had kissed him.
He entered the library and found Tigress studying their new set of nerve charts with a concerned frown. "What's up?"
Tigress didn't bother to look at him. "I'm trying to memorize this chart. I hate to admit it, but these are... Better." She sighed and rubbed at her eyes. "I think I'm ready to try again. I've got all the spots on the arm memorized."
"Cool." He didn't know exactly how to bring up his feelings for her, so he placed the gift box on the table next to the nerve charts. Then he cleared his throat to get her to actually notice it. "I made this for ya."
Tigress just stared silently at the box.
Perfect. This was going great. He was so glad he'd followed everyone's advice and gone for it. "Uh. If ya don't wanna open it-"
"No, I'll open it," she interrupted quickly. When she got the box open and saw the tanghulu, she leaned back in her chair and sighed. "They look very professional," she complimented. "Almost too good to eat."
"Thanks!" That was a much more promising response than the unnerving silence had been. "I taught myself the recipe. Not to brag, but I got some skills when it comes to dessert."
Tigress nodded. "Thank you." Then she placed the cover back on the box and turned her attention back to the nerve charts.
Well, this was going to be harder than he'd anticipated. Which was saying a lot, since he'd anticipated this being incredibly difficult. "So, uh, I gotta admit somethin'. I kinda made these as a... Romantic gift. To ask ya out. Or, I dunno, do kung fu masters actually date? Or do we like, steal glances at each other from across the training hall until we get married? Sorry, I'm new to this. I'm rambling, now. Please interrupt me so I don't say anything even more embarrassing-"
"Okay, okay!" Tigress interrupted, thankfully. Then she pulled out the chair next to her and gestured for him to sit, waiting politely for him to settle in. "We've already had this discussion, Po."
"I know." He tried to remember that the whole point of this was to argue his case. "And I know you're not exactly sure of your feelings. I get it, I really do. But that's the whole point of goin' out with someone, isn't it? To figure out your feelings?"
She shook her head. "I don't want to hurt you. You're so sweet. And I'm not the kind of person who can give you what you need. I'm not... Emotionally available." She reached out and gripped Po's shoulder in a brief gesture of affection. "I do like you, but we're teammates. I kissed you because I was confused about how strong our friendship had become. Alright?"
"Alright," he accepted quietly, because he honestly couldn't think of what else to do. So much for being more aggressive.
"It was nice," she added, then leaned closer to the chart. "You're very gentle."
"Oh, uh. Thanks?"
"Now take a few steps back and hold still. I need to try this."
Po wondered if Tigress was really sending him mixed signals, or if this was all in his head. There was a high chance that he was misreading some of what she said, considering that he was relatively inexperienced. His thoughts were interrupted when Tigress jabbed a spot on his upper arm, and he swore he could actually see chi pulsing with her strike. He tried to move his arm, but nothing happened. "It worked."
"It worked?" Tigress tried to move his arm, but it remained stiff. "It worked! Yes! It worked!" She paused and cleared her throat, blushing. "I mean... Excellent work. We have made progress."
"Thanks to the charts," Po added.
Tigress glared at him, then let out a long sigh. "Yes," she agreed reluctantly. "Partly thanks to the new charts."
"Good. They cost an arm and a leg." He pointed to his immobilized arm and raised his eyebrows to make sure she got the joke. "Eh?"
"Very funny," Tigress conceded, though she didn't laugh. "Wait, she charged you for these?"
"Sorta."
She tsked. "That's some nerve."
"Hah! I get it."
"I wasn't trying to make a pun." Tigress still smiled a little, though. "But that would have been a good one."
Po poked at his stiffened arm. "So what's Oogway's chart say about reversing the nerve strikes? In case, y'know, I don't want my arm immobilized forever."
"It does wear off on its own eventually," Tigress pointed out, and he had a moment of panic before she checked the scroll. "It says I should direct my chi to the same spots I initially hit and focus on flowing it into you, clearing the block I created."
"Great."
She looked up at him, then back at the scroll and the charts. That didn't seem like a good sign.
"What?"
"Nothing," she answered quickly. "I just want to get this right."
Po gulped, but waited patiently for Tigress to ready herself.
When she finally struck him again, it looked like she'd gotten the strikes right, but nothing happened. Then she cursed quietly and struck him again with more force, which recreated the burning feeling from their first experiment.
"Aaaahhhh," he whispered loudly in an attempt not to scream. "Help. Please."
"Damn-" Tigress paused to check the scroll again, then struck him again, which only helped a little. "I can tell when it's not working. I can feel it."
"Just relax," he tried to soothe her, though the pain in his voice wasn't exactly soothing. "Breathe."
She breathed deeply, meditatively, while he tried not to grimace from the burning in his arm.
"Think'a something that calms ya," he suggested. "Something, like... I dunno. Noodles? No, that's me. Uh. Ya like kids. And steamed tofu. Ooh, what about gingko nuts?"
"Po, you're breaking my concentration," she warned, putting a finger to his mouth. "I need quiet."
"Mhm," he accepted, blushing from the contact.
Then she struck him again, and his arm finally worked. The burning sensation started to dissipate, too, thankfully. "Oh, jeez, that's so much better. That sucked! I mean, you didn't. Just, y'know, the pain."
"I know." Tigress sat heavily at the table and rubbed at her face, staring intently at Oogway's scroll. "Maybe I'm just not cut out for this. This one thing."
"Why would ya say that?"
"I can't get it right. I keep hurting you. I'm taking up your time so I can just run around in circles, with no end in sight."
Po sat beside her and bumped his shoulder against hers. Considering their conversation, he thought that was a suitably friendly gesture. "The thing about runnin' around in circles is, eventually ya stop. So tonight wasn't perfect. We still made progress."
"Thanks," she accepted quietly.
"You're welcome."
"I have to go now," Tigress said, abruptly standing. "Please clean up tonight."
"Wait- right now?" he asked, confused.
"Yes," she replied firmly, then left while Po was still trying to figure out why she was suddenly running away.
"Okay," he said to the empty room. "G'night."
Notes:
The chapter title is a Nigerian saying.
Chapter 28: If Wishes and Buts Were Clusters of Nuts, We'd All Have a Bowl of Granola
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 28: If Wishes and Buts Were Clusters of Nuts, We'd All Have a Bowl of Granola
Lin had given a lot of thought to her circumstances. She was about to move out to the middle of nowhere, and she'd agreed to take back her job as the Jade Palace's resident artist, so she had no other choice. She needed to scale back her hours at Ping's to part-time. She didn't think it would go well. She'd imagined the entire conversation already, and in her head Ping said something like, "What? You're abandoning me? You're abandoning noodles? How could you abandon noodles!?"
Not that she had anything to do with the noodles. She still only worked on vegetable prep and serving. But Ping was passionate enough about his noodles that such a response was likely.
Then Lin got up, walked into the kitchen, and said, "When I move into my new place I'm gonna hafta scale back to part-time."
And Ping's reaction was, "I'll see if Po can pick up some of the slack." That was it.
Now they were prepping for the day like it was any other day, and she didn't know whether to feel relieved or awkward.
"I have a parting gift for you," Ping announced, which tipped the scale in the favor of awkward.
"I'm just moving into my own place, not leaving forever," Lin pointed out, leaning against the counter. "I'll still be here part-time."
"It's still a type of parting," the goose argued stubbornly, then slapped a huge ball of dough down on the counter next to her and gestured to it. "Let's stretch some noodles."
Lin stared at him, struck momentarily speechless. He'd never let anyone but Po stretch noodles in his restaurant, ever. At least, that's how Po told it and that had been her experience. It took her a moment, but her shock was replaced by an overwhelming rush of affection. "You loooooove meeee," she teased with a cackle.
Ping pursed his beak. "Don't make me change my mind."
Lin rolled up her sleeves, ready to learn Ping's technique. "Alright, alright," she conceded. "Can't lose this chance to learn from the master."
He preened a little at that comment, but she didn't mind inflating his ego a little. It was true.
She couldn't stop herself from getting one more joke in. "Am I getting the recipe?"
"You're lucky I know you're kidding," Ping replied with a sniff. "Or I'd throw you out on your butt."
She laughed, partly because she knew the threat wasn't empty. She'd never in her life met someone who took his noodle recipe so seriously. Well, maybe once. Her nonna had been like that. "Sometimes, just a little, you make me feel like I'm in my grandma's kitchen again," she admitted. She normally wouldn't have gotten so sentimental, but he was teaching her his noodle stretching technique and that was a huge declaration of affection for him. She shouldn't let it go unanswered.
He glanced at her and cleared his throat, embarrassed. "Well. Thank you." A brief awkwardness hung in the air, then Ping patted the mound of noodle dough. "Let's split this baby in half and get started."
They spent the rest of the morning stretching the noodles, Ping demonstrating his folding and flipping technique she'd seen him use so many times at a slightly slower pace for her. She was a good cook, but even she messed up on her first few tries. Ping always cried out, "No, no, no!" before telling her what she'd done wrong, and she suppressed a laugh every time. By the time the restaurant opened, she wasn't quite as good as Ping, but she was getting there.
"Looking good," he complimented. "But don't open your own noodle shop. I would just run it into the ground."
Lin laughed again. "Can do."
Ping slid the pile of noodles she'd just stretched toward her. "Now figure out what you're going to make with those noodles."
"Wait. What?"
"Those aren't Mr. Ping's noodles, so they aren't going into Mr. Ping's noodle soup. Lin's noodles belong with Lin's recipe. Besides, it would be a waste to throw them away."
"Y'know, I like it whenya talk about us in the third person. It makes us sound like a cult." She contemplated her noodles as she spoke. "A noodle cult."
"That's preposterous." Ping proved he was serious about giving her a chance to create her own noodle dish by setting an empty pot on the stove for her. "A noodle cult. Ha!"
Lin decided not to point out that he constantly acted like the head priest of said noodle cult. Instead, she started searching the kitchen for ingredients. "Where's that chili oil I made last week?"
"If I've told you once I've told you a thousand times, Mr. Ping's noodles are sweet and savory, but never spicy," he argued back.
"And these aren't Mr. Ping's noodles, so I'm putting chili oil in 'em. Aha!" Lin grabbed her bottle of chili oil from a bottom cabinet, along with her chili sauce, dried chilies, and her fermented chili bean paste. "You just shoved all my spices into this one cabinet, huh?"
"No one's going to want to eat something so spicy," Ping warned in that singsong voice he took on when he was trying to make a point about how his noodles were the best. "My customers come for sweet and savory secret ingredient noodle soup."
"Good point." Lin dropped her ingredients on the counter and grabbed a bowl to mix up her sauce. "So if customers know what they want before they get here, they're not gonna change their minds for just any old noodles. These noodles gotta be new and exciting, with some sorta promotional twist. Like a spice challenge. And if a customer can get through an extra large bowl without crying, they get a free bean bun or something."
Ping narrowed his eyes at her.
"What? The bean bun's the cheapest thing on the menu."
"Don't open your own noodle shop," he said again, but this time with suspicion in his voice.
"Oh my God, you really do run a noodle cult, y'know that?" Lin grabbed some Sichuan peppercorns to round out her list of ingredients, then went about grinding them for her personal chili sauce recipe, which she finished with copious amounts of minced garlic.
She also cut and pickled some radishes and made some scallion salad to serve as cooling sides for the dish, which she and Ping agreed wouldn't be available to patrons who volunteered for their "challenge." By the time she was done, she had a dry noodle dish as deep red as blood. She garnished it with a few sesame seeds and scallion slices for appeal, then tasted it. "Yep, that's spicy," she concluded. "But is it spicy enough?"
"Let me taste." Ping slurped up a single noodle, then started to make choking and gagging noises.
Lin shrugged. "Guess so!" She put the bowl on display with a sign advertising the special. As it turned out, Ping had been right about the locals showing no interest in spicy food. She made it almost all the way through the lunch rush without any bites, then resorted to offering the bowl of noodles for free to anyone who won the spice challenge. The lunch rush still ended without a single bowl sold.
She didn't like being wrong, especially when she had created such a masterpiece, but maybe something spicy was more dinner fare around these parts. She ignored Ping's smug humming as she tended the counter, mostly wiping up spills and tallying the money from the lunch rush.
Then An Zhi, the rabbit Tai Lung had frightened the daylights out of, came up to the counter and read the sign.
"Spice challenge?" she asked.
"Yep," Lin said proudly, trying not to sound too desperate for someone to try it. "It's my own recipe, y'know. Good stuff."
An Zhi slapped five yuan down onto the counter. "I'll take that spice challenge," she announced, though she sounded a little nervous.
"Sure," Lin accepted. "Though you don't gotta pay unlessya can't finish it in time."
"Oh. Uh. Right." She cleared her throat, her ear twitching a little. "Well, that's tip."
"You're tipping a hundred percent?"
"Yyyes."
"Okay." Lin shrugged and tossed the coins into the tip jar. "One spicy noodle challenge, coming up." It didn't take long to dish up the noodles, since the chili sauce had been put together already. When Lin delivered them to An Zhi at her table, the rabbit stared into the bowl like she'd just seen a ghost.
"Wow. That's red."
"Yep," Lin agreed.
"Tell me the truth. How spicy is it? Is it... Extremely spicy?" She picked up her chopsticks and poked at the noodles.
"Ifya gotta ask, it's too spicy forya," Lin advised with an amused grin. It was funny to her how sensitive to spiciness the people in the Valley all were.
She took a deep breath, like someone about to duck their head underwater, then took a gigantic bite of noodles. "Mmmmmmmfff!" Her scream was muffled by the fact that her mouth was full, but it still caught some attention. She slammed her chopsticks down on the table and fanned at her mouth with both hands.
"Still doing the challenge?" Lin asked.
She shook her head, tears streaming down her face.
"Okay, I'll getya some napkins."
"Mmm thea," An Zhi added.
Lin grabbed large quantities of pickled radish and scallion salad to go along with those napkins and tea, then watched with some amusement as she gulped down a whole pot, interspersing it with gasping bites of the side dishes. "That'll be five yuan for the noodles and another two for the tea."
An Zhi took one last gulp of tea, then shakily dropped the yuan into Lin's outstretched palm. "Why?" she rasped out.
Lin shrugged. "Hey, I like 'em. Ain't my fault spicy food's rare around here."
The rabbit made a sobbing noise, then dropped her head down onto the table.
"More tea?"
"Yes please," she said in a small voice.
Lin decided to take pity on the woman and give her a free refill. Well, not totally free. Lin paid for it out of her large tip, since she knew Ping would have a fit if he caught sight of her giving out free refills to customers just because they were cute. But that entire scene had been too adorable to ignore. She even added a little orange to the tea, for good fortune.
An Zhi gulped down the new pot just as voraciously. "When does the burning stop?"
"Never," Lin replied, then laughed at the woman's horrified expression. "I dunno. It doesn't burn that much to me."
"That has to be a lie," she grumbled into her teacup.
"The first burn's not whatya gotta worry about, anyway," Lin warned her. "It's the second."
"The second?" she asked with a confused blink.
"Y'know. On the way out."
"Uuuuugh," An Zhi groaned, pushing the remaining dregs of her side dishes away. "Food is ruined for me forever. So thank you."
"You're welcome." Lin knew she couldn't stand around and chat all day, especially with Ping in the kitchen, so she turned away to get back to work.
"Wait," An Zhi said, and she stopped to wait for another order of tea or something. "Uhm. I have a confession."
Lin glanced at Ping, who had his back turned. "Interesting. Go on."
"I only did that to try to impress you." She turned a little bit pink in the cheeks. "So. That's. The thing. I did."
"Okay," Lin accepted. She knew An Zhi had been interested in her for a little while, since she was a regular at the shop and had flirted before. And it was obvious from the silver in her brown fur that they were around the same age. She realized that at this point she either had to express disinterest or make a move. "I gotta get back to work." She had meant that as a brush-off, but then she was overtaken by the urge to do something impulsive and fun, instead of stagnating every night like she'd been doing. "So ifya want a date, you're gonna hafta wait 'til after dinner."
"Okay!" she accepted brightly. She looked pretty surprised, too. "Uhm. Meet me at that address I gave you. You still have it, right?"
"Right," Lin said, then got back to the kitchen before Ping yelled at her.
Of course, he gave her shit the moment she stepped foot behind the counter. "For the record, we only accept monetary tips."
"Bite me," Lin replied cheerfully. She had a date tonight, so she didn't care about getting made fun of. She had a date, for the first time in... She wasn't even sure. The excitement and happiness she felt at that surprised her. She wished she had something to wear that didn't smell like noodle soup, but she was in such a good mood that she didn't even care that much about how soupy she smelled. "Can I cut out a little early for a date?" Lin asked.
"Depends on how busy dinner is," Ping replied. "But Shifu can wait."
"No! With An Zhi. Y'know, who I was just talking to?" She couldn't believe his obtuseness at a time like this. "C'mon. It's a first date. Cover for me pleeeeeease?"
"Fine," he groaned. "But only if you promise not to sulk when your noodles don't sell out!"
"If," she corrected him, and he snorted in response. "I feel like you got way too much attitude, considering I'm holding a knife for like ninety percent of our conversations."
"My attitude has gotten me through a lot in life," he argued. "I'm not going to abandon it just because you threaten me with knives all the time."
"Fair," she conceded.
Getting through the rest of her shift was a little difficult, considering how distracted she felt. Or maybe it was nerves. And a little bit of guilt was creeping in there, too. She didn't owe Shifu a damn thing, and had made that clear, but it still felt weird. On top of all that, her bath after work hadn't gotten the smell of noodles out of her fur.
Her nerves were no longer an issue, though, when she arrived at An Zhi's address in the southwest village to find a small storefront decorated with a string of lanterns and a sign reading Spring Peach Tea Shop. "A tea shop!" she gasped, then walked inside. "A gay tea shop!" The inside consisted of a counter with a few stools, some small displays of colorful tea sets, and rows of labeled drawers behind the counter containing a bounty of artisan teas. The whole place was warm and cozy, with paintings of peaches on the walls and the woods in an amber-toned medium finish. "I think I might die here."
"It's... Just a tea shop," An Zhi corrected her from behind the counter, where she donned a frilly apron printed with purple flowers. "Well, okay. It's also pretty gay. But still. Don't die."
"I can't believe this address was a tea shop this whole time." Lin leaned on the counter and peered at all the custom blends in carefully labeled drawers, like citrus green tea or lavender fig black tea. "And I waited all this time."
"That was a pretty block-headed move," An Zhi agreed as she assessed the drawers of flavored teas. She then opened three and scooped some tea out of each and into a teapot.
"You're custom blending your custom blends?"
"Too intense?" she asked with a wince.
"No, keep going." She was probably more excited for tea than any normal person would be, but this put her own flavors to shame.
After pouring some hot water into the pot An Zhi looked her way again. "Uh, you're staring pretty hard."
She might as well just tell the truth. "I feel like I hit the jackpot, here. Ifya don't like me that much, can we at least be friends?"
An Zhi smiled at her. "Well, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. I thought maybe we could do what people generally do on first dates. As in, just hang out and see what happens."
"Oh my God, you sound so normal right now," Lin marveled. She had spent so much time with Shifu that she had almost forgotten that there were people in existence who just dated, instead of either rejecting her or declaring their undying love and nothing in between.
An Zhi laughed, blissfully unaware of the genuine relief she'd been expressing. "Want some? Oh, wait! I totally forgot to ask about allergies. Sorry."
"I'm only allergic to dolphin saliva. Don't ask me how I know that. Or do, ifya wanna hear a story about dolphin sex."
She laughed again as she poured them both tea. "Really? Or are you messing with me?"
"Really. Also, dolphins are generally dicks." Lin tasted the tea and couldn't contain her grin. It tasted nutty, fruity, delicate, yet with a definite kick. "Jeez, that's good."
"Thanks." An Zhi removed her adorable apron and sat next to Lin at the customer side of the counter. "It's a green and black tea blend, with cashew and dried mangoes, and just a hint of chili. I thought you'd appreciate the spice, but I had to keep it at my level."
"Can I buy this blend? I mean, I'm using the money you tipped me with, so I'm essentially just giving your money back to you."
"It's the nature of commerce, I guess." An Zhi leaned a little closer to her. "But if I sell you this tea, then you might not have an excuse to come back."
"I could probably still think of a few." Lin couldn't say she was a stranger to making out on a first date, but she still felt that nervousness that came from being out of practice with dating. Apparently she still had plenty of charm left in her, despite the doubt that her recent dry spell and the insanely difficult relationship she'd had with Shifu had sown in her. And it was nice kissing An Zhi, who tasted like tea and knew how to use her tongue.
Eventually, she pulled away. She had some self-control, though she was thinking about maybe locking the door and spending the rest of the night up on that counter.
"Was that too fast?" An Zhi asked worriedly, and it was Lin's turn to laugh.
"Well, I already know your name, so not for me." She took another sip of her tea and gave the rabbit a pat on the back. "If you're uncomfortable, though, I'll understand."
"No, it's just... I've had a pretty long dry spell." An Zhi grimaced at the admission and turned her gaze to her tea. "Sometimes it's hard to get back into the swing of things. I know that's probably off-putting to hear."
"It's not." Lin hoped the relief in her voice came off as genuine. "I haven't been on a real date in literal years."
"What? Really?"
"Hey, you were the one who brought up dry spells!"
"Yeah, I meant for like, eight months. Years, you said?"
"Okay, now I gotta kissya again just to shut you up," Lin said, then followed through on her threat, which turned into more kissing. She couldn't deny it felt good to kiss An Zhi, even though they were technically supposed to be talking.
"Uhp, I guess I'm not getting tea tonight."
"Shit," Lin cursed as she leaned on the back of her chair to make awkward eye contact with Viper. "Since when're you into tea?"
"You don't know what I'm into," Viper shot back from the doorway, then slithered up to the shop's counter.
"I've got this." An Zhi ran behind the counter and opened a drawer labeled jasmine pearl. "Your usual?"
"I should probably just take a bit to go." Viper eyed Lin curiously, and Lin braced herself for a line of questioning that would probably ruin this date. "So. How's Master Shifu been?"
Lin wasn't going to bother to try to dance around this issue, especially if An Zhi wasn't the type to take kindly to dating around. "Can we please not bring up the guy I'm banging while I'm in the middle of a date?"
An Zhi paused in the process of weighing jasmine tea into a bag. "Whoa, you like guys? Since when?"
"I can do both," Lin argued. "God, this's not how I wanted to have this conversation. Or when. Like this's a third date conversation, at the earliest."
"I seriously thought you were a total butch lesbian," An Zhi said with a stunned blink, then went back to weighing out tea for Viper. "My gay senses were tingling so strongly. I must be getting old."
"Maybe you're not young, but you're sure hot. Like that salt and pepper fur."
"Please let me buy my tea and go," Viper cut in.
An Zhi dropped a bag of tea on the counter and took her payment from Viper before the nosy snake finally left. "So you're dating around, I gather."
"Yeah. I was gonna bring that up around the half-hour mark of the date," Lin joked, and An Zhi laughed.
"I'm relieved," she said. "I'm in the same place right now. To tell the truth... This is hard. But. I lost someone last year. I'm still feeling a little shy of commitment, since then."
Lin wondered how much more she was going to end up having in common with this woman. It was starting to get a little spooky. "This's weird. Me too. I mean, it's been longer'n a year."
"This is an extremely awkward conversation to have on a first date," An Zhi pointed out. "I should probably refresh our tea."
"Yeah, that'd help."
"And lock up."
"That, too."
An Zhi paused at the door, looking out the glass while she frowned thoughtfully. "So... How much longer than a year?"
Lin knew she should have expected more questions. Her romantic situation wasn't exactly the norm. "Just about four years, at this point. It doesn't get better, by the way."
"I didn't think so." An Zhi joined her back at the counter, but didn't touch her own tea. "This might be a little too soon. For me, I mean."
She should have expected that, too. "Wanna talk about it? I got the rest of the night blocked off, so I don't gotta be anywhere else."
An Zhi's eyes widened in surprise. "Really?"
Lin shrugged. "Yeah, what's the problem?"
"This was supposed to be a date. I asked you out, made out with you, and now I'm backing out without warning. And you barely know me." She looked away, her brows furrowed. "Nobody's that nice."
Lin laughed at that. "I think that's the first time I ever heard someone say that about me." An Zhi didn't seem reassured, so she elaborated. "I'm not nice. I likeya, and I have a lot in common withya. Maybe us going out's not such a good idea, but... I don't got a lotta friends here. So, why not?"
"You'd want to be friends?" She asked skeptically.
"Yeah, I thought I was pretty clear."
An Zhi smiled and nodded to her. "I find you nice."
"Not for long you won't," Lin warned her, and she snorted out a laugh. "But I'll try. I need more gay friends."
"Just your friend," An Zhi corrected her. "Well, okay. I am pretty gay."
"Gay enough to make out with me again?" Lin asked hopefully.
An Zhi shook her head. "That's more a matter of self-respect."
"Fair." She finished her tea and hopped down from her stool, awkwardly gesturing to the door. "I should probably go, then. I mean... I guess the date's over."
"You don't have to."
"Really?"
An Zhi shrugged. "You did say you wanted to be friends, and I have nothing else going on tonight."
"Okay!" Lin had probably accepted that offer a little too excitedly, but she hadn't been able to hang out with a woman her own age since leaving Shanghai. And to be honest, she was starting to wonder if she'd ever make any female friends in the Valley of Peace. Ones who weren't related to her, anyway. "Okay, so. If we're gonna be friends, I got a lot to fillya in on."
"The Shifu thing?" An Zhi asked skeptically.
"Uh. That's part of it."
"I'm starting to feel like I did the right thing by not pursuing you romantically."
Lin barked out a laugh, then got into the story. It was going to take a while to explain everything, but she found it much easier to get through than she'd expected. Maybe that had something to do with having friends.
Shifu had grown accustomed to spending a large portion of his days following Lin around like a lost child, so he no longer felt shame when he headed to her house immediately after his lunch. He arrived on her little rock to find Tai Lung and Gia already re-shingling her roof while Po cleaned up debris. Hopefully Lin was working inside the house instead of making the three do everything for her.
Shifu paused in the doorway at the sight of Lin, prying up an old window frame with a large crowbar. She'd rolled her sleeves up to the shoulder, and he could see her muscles work with every movement, some of her scars peeking out from her shirt. He hadn't expected to find her so attractive in the midst of this remodel.
He cleared his throat to announce himself, but Lin barely glanced his way. "H-hi," he greeted, kicking himself for sounding so nervous.
"Yo," Lin replied shortly, not stopping in her work.
That was alright by him, though he felt a little odd for staring so much. He got as close to her as he felt was safe, considering the nature of her work.
"You're here early today," she observed.
"Yes. I thought, uhm, perhaps I could help." And also cement this image of Lin in his mind for further admiration.
"You?" she asked incredulously.
"Yes. Why not?"
"No offense," she started, which was never a lead up to anything gentle, "but aren'tya kinda delicate for this stuff?" She punctuated the criticism by using the end of her crowbar to haphazardly scrape away some splintered wood that had been left behind. With only one hand.
He knew the reason he didn't feel as offended as he should was entirely hormonal, so he tried to muster up some indignance for her. "I cannot believe I need to once more remind you that I am a master of kung fu."
"Uhuh," she said, a note of amusement entering her voice as she worked on prying up one last piece of window frame.
"Uhuh," he repeated back to her, once more distracted by her physique. He hadn't been giving her arms enough credit lately. Or maybe it was the setting. What was the word Viper had once called a crush of hers? Dreamy. It was juvenile, but accurate.
"You are such a horny old asshole," Lin accused, though she still sounded on the verge of laughing.
"If anyone fits that description, it's you." He spotted a toolbox nearby and looked through it, picking out the least delicate looking one. "I told you I wanted to help you, so put me to work."
Lin finished removing the window frame with one last big pull, then wiped her brow with her forearm. "Okay, if you're really serious-" She paused and furrowed her brow the moment she turned to face him. "What the hell're you gonna do with an awl? Murder me?"
"Of course not!" He quickly dropped the tool back into the box and picked up some pliers instead.
"You got no idea what you're doing," Lin concluded.
"Give me that crowbar, then." He refused to admit she was absolutely right in her assessment. "I can pull up window frames."
"D'you even know how to tell the difference between the window frame and the actual wall?"
"Yyyes." That answer might have been less than convincing.
With a heavy sigh, Lin nodded toward the doorway. "If you're that into helping me, go help Po on pickup."
"Pickup?" He repeated. "You mean running around to clean up the garbage that Gia and Tai Lung keep throwing off your roof?"
"Yup."
He frowned and dropped the pliers. "I think I am more capable than Po, at least."
"Prove it," Lin said, then turned her attention to removing another window frame. "Start from the bottom. That's kinda like how it is in kung fu, too, right?"
Shifu felt his eye twitch slightly. "This isn't kung fu."
"Too bad," Lin said with nothing short of glee. "My house, my rules."
After that, he couldn't carry on any more conversation with her. Not just because of his newfound love of watching her perform physical labor, but because she was too busy loudly tearing apart her house to pay him any attention. He probably could have handled that situation a little better, but what was done was done. He ended up picking up Tai Lung and Gia's garbage alongside Po, as humiliating as being relegated to such a task was. He also found himself shocked by how much they kept just carelessly tossing off the roof.
"Are they supposed to throw away all these things?" Shifu asked dubiously, then ducked to avoid a mallet.
"Yeah, Lin says that's fine," Po replied. "She taught 'em how to do all that stuff, but I wasn't great at it, so... Yeah."
"Yes," Shifu agreed. He felt that pain, too. "So, has Tai Lung been behaving himself?"
"Yeah!" Po managed to catch a few shingles mid-air and tossed them into his garbage bucket. "He and I don't make a great team, tryin' to do this renovation stuff, but he and Gia're like a coupla machines at it. They never talk, though. Kinda weird. Maybe he learned to read minds up in Chor Ghom?"
"Doubtful." Shifu squinted up at the roof, watching the two of them work for a moment. He didn't recognize a single thing they were doing to that roof, but he recognized the look on Tai Lung's face. He was competing with Gia. Well, that seemed odd, but harmless enough. "I am glad he's found something productive to focus on. I had my doubts about this project at first, but he seems to be doing well."
"Just goes to show, I'm always right," Lin announced as she exited the house and joined them on her little rock. She started stretching rather extensively, and Shifu looked away in order to keep his mind out of the gutter. "I seeya over there," she said, of course.
Well, he wasn't perfect. "Oh, stop. I'm not doing anything."
"Uhuh," she said skeptically.
"So how much longer d'ya think Tai Lung and Gia'll be up there?" Po asked, shading his eyes to watch the two for a bit. "'Cause it kinda seems like we're nearin' the end already."
"Sure are," Lin confirmed. "Didn't I tellya it'd be quick? I'm-"
"Yes, we know, always right," Shifu interrupted with a shake of his head.
"I was gonna say, I'm glad we didn't get too much snow in the process," she corrected, narrowing her eyes at him. "But yeah, I am always right." She grabbed the bucket out of Shifu's hands and tossed it on the ground, then grabbed his sleeve. "C'mon, I got something I need help with inside. Po's fine on his own out here, right Po?"
"Right," Po confirmed, then returned to his task of picking up discarded shingles and nails.
"Alright, if you insist." Shifu felt heartened that Lin had decided he was capable enough to help her with something a little more complex than picking up garbage, but when they got back inside her little shack she just started kissing him. He liked kissing her, especially after watching her work, but he managed to pull himself away. "Wait, what about that thing you needed help with- Oh. I just now realized you were making a pass at me."
"Yep," Lin said with a shrug, her scars glinting in the light of the setting sun.
He resisted the urge to run his hands up and down her bare arms. "We can't! Gia and Tai Lung are on the roof, Po is right outside-"
"Then let's just make out a little," Lin said, punctuating her statement by flexing her arms.
"You're doing that on purpose."
"I know what you're about." She paused to stretch, too. She was evil.
"Tonight," he promised. "When we are alone. Wear this exact outfit."
"Now that's more like it!" she said with a cackle. "Man, you're really salivating over me right now, huh?"
"Slightly," he admitted. There was no point anymore in trying to pretend that he wasn't physically attracted to her, especially when letting her know as much went over so well. "But there are more important things to be done first."
"Yeah," she agreed with some trepidation. "Can't keep having sex in a half-finished house."
"That's not what I meant, but okay." As long as she prioritized fixing her house, he supposed he had nothing to complain about. "Do you need help installing new frames?"
"Nah, I got it. You can go back to helping Po with cleanup, then when we're done I'll pin you down with my big, strong arms-"
"Alright, that's enough." He blushed at the realization that she was quoting that dirty letter he'd sent her in Shanghai. "Bye, now." He needed to take a few calming breaths before returning to work, but Po didn't seem to notice anything was amiss.
Picking up junk from the roof work turned out to be much more physically taxing than he had anticipated, mostly because of the length of said task. He hadn't realized it at the time, but he had committed to a job that was still in full swing at sundown. He was just about to suggest they stop, himself, when Tai Lung suddenly let out a triumphant shout.
"Finished! Hah!" He raised his arms into the air in victory, and Shifu made a mental note to remind him of the importance of being a gracious winner.
"Have you inspected your work yet?" Gia asked him, which took some of the air out of his sails. "I have nearly completed my own inspection. I could check your work, as well." The offer sounded friendly enough, but Tai Lung reacted as though a hated rival had suggested he lacked the skill and fortitude to keep up with them.
"That won't be necessary," he growled. "Just you try to keep up with me."
Shifu still didn't understand what all that was about, but at least they were done throwing garbage at him and Po. He set his garbage pail aside and sat down near the weeping cherry tree, where upon close inspection, he could see the remnants of a fire pit left behind by the previous owner. Well, that answered the question of how Lin would cook her meals. "Po," he called out for the panda's attention, then pointed to the old fire pit. "Perhaps we could get this cleaned up a little."
Po dropped down beside him with a groan. "I'm so tired."
"Everyone else is still working," Shifu reminded him. "We should make ourselves useful." And it would be a nice surprise for Lin, but he didn't say that part aloud. He had a feeling that would only prompt Po to start asking him invasive personal questions. Instead, he directed the panda on what to do while they cleaned up fallen leaves and some stray nails, swept kicked up dirt back into the middle of the pit, and re-established its borders with the plentiful rocks on the island. By the time they were done, Lin had finished her work on the window frames and come outside to join them.
"Lookit this!" She sounded happy about their effort, thankfully. "A fire pit, huh?" She crouched down in front of the pit, still wiping the sweat from her brow with a handkerchief. "Well, that makes my life easier. Guess I oweya a thanks."
"Aw, it was nothin'," Po replied with a laugh.
"It seemed like the sensible thing to do," Shifu added, though he couldn't hide how pleased he was with Lin's reaction.
"Time to pack up!" Lin suddenly shouted, directing her voice toward the roof. That had probably been necessary to stop Gia and Tai Lung from finding something else to compete over. Lin straightened up and, despite the fact that they were in full view of his students, kissed Shifu. "Wanna get me some firewood?" she asked.
He should have known she was buttering him up. "We might as well test this out," he conceded. To be honest, he wasn't exactly unhappy with the interaction.
"Ew," Tai Lung commented before passing them by to board the punt.
"Are we heading back already?" Gia sounded disappointed that their day of work was over, oddly enough.
"Yep," Lin confirmed. "Grownups only until dawn."
"Okay, I gotta agree with Tai Lung, now," Po said, then followed Gia to the punt.
Shifu crossed the lake with them, then gathered wood as Lin had asked before returning. Lin had taken a leftover tarp and some rope and fashioned a hammock, supported by the cherry tree on one side and a post next to the house on the other. She had, of course, settled down in said hammock. "I should have seen this coming."
"There was a post, I assumed it was for a hammock," Lin replied easily. "I think I made the right call."
He resisted his initial instinct to point out how predictable her assumption had been, and instead decided to attempt flirting. "You look good with your sleeves rolled up, by the way."
"Yeah, I guessed as much," she replied with a laugh, then joined him in trying to get a fire going. Well, more accurately, she did all the work of starting the fire while he watched. She kissed him when she was done, so staying out of her way had probably been the right choice.
"So, what's next?" he asked, then realized that he sounded like he was trying to initiate sex. "I mean, with your house. This house."
"Hm." Lin leaned back on her hands and looked over at the little shack. "Gotta put down a good two coats of primer. Tai Lung and Gia can help with that, you and Po can hold the paint cans or something."
"Wait, that's it?" Shifu turned around to look at the house, as well. It still looked like a little shack in the middle of nowhere. "It's... Livable?"
"Yeah." Lin shrugged. "Guess I'm officially moving in. Shit, I got like... No furniture. Whatsoever. Or anything, really. I stole some lanterns fromya, but that's about it. Definitely gonna hafta steal a brazier next time I'm over."
Shifu sighed. "I'd had a feeling you were stealing from me."
"You knew I had sticky fingers from the start," she agreed. "Am I gonna get a lecture?"
"No." He knew she would only get offended if he tried. Besides, he could spare a few lanterns. "And I'll bring the brazier over willingly. Consider it a housewarming gift."
"Nah, I can take care of myself."
He was about to point out that her version of taking care of herself was just stealing from him, but she started laughing and he realized she'd been joking. "Very funny."
"Yep, I sure am."
He leaned forward and enjoyed the warmth of the fire, well aware that Lin was inching closer to him. "I think it would be best if you spent the night at the Jade Palace. Just until you have that brazier to keep you warm."
She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his neck, which resulted in a face full of fluff that he couldn't help sneezing from. "We got a fire right here, there's no wind, and the sky's totally clear. Why bother moving?"
Shifu had a list of reasons, including the fact that it wasn't safe to fall asleep while a fire was going, but they didn't seem so important when Lin kissed him. "Okay," he agreed reluctantly, then pulled her into his lap. "But I get to be the big spoon."
"I'm the one in charge here and we both know it," Lin replied with a laugh, then tugged on his mustache.
He obliged her with a kiss, which was an admission of sorts. He didn't mind, though. At times like this, he enjoyed letting Lin take charge.
Unfortunately, once night fell the wind off the lake picked up considerably and chilled them through. Lin didn't want to make the walk back to the Jade Palace, so they moved inside and used the cleanest of the tarps as blankets. It wasn't perfect, but it reminded Shifu of when they'd been on the road together and he enjoyed the nostalgia. He curled up beside Lin beneath the tarps, her tail draped over him like a fuzzy blanket, and almost felt like they were going to be alright.
"Hey."
"Hm?" he asked tiredly.
Lin was still wide awake, and she looked troubled. "I been meaning to say this. Even though I've said it a ton already." She paused again, then yanked on his beard. "Don't fall asleep!"
"That's what you've been meaning to say?" he asked with a yawn.
"No." Lin let out a frustrated sigh, then sat up. "Remember how I keep tellingya that we're not dating? And this isn't exclusive?"
"Yes, thank you for reminding me," he dismissed so he could get some sleep.
"I just wanted to check in. 'Cause, like... I'm not kidding about that."
He closed his eyes and pulled his blanket up a little more. Well, his tarp. "I know, I know."
"And I'm not saying I got anything serious going, butya asked me to tellya when I've been dating around, so this's me doing that," she added.
He opened his eyes and sat straight up. "What?"
Lin frowned at him. "What'd you think all the other times I said that?"
He shouldn't tell her the truth. He should make something up. Except every excuse he tried to think up sounded even worse than the truth, so he might as well tell the truth. "...That you were never going to actually go through with it?"
"Oh my God." It was never a good sign when Lin said that. "Fucking really?" She was definitely angry at him, now.
"How was I supposed to know you were actually seeing other people? You're always with me!" He recoiled at the glare she directed toward him. "What? You are."
"Not always," Lin argued. "Obviously, or I wouldn't have the time to date someone."
He had a feeling that he was dangerously close to getting kicked out of her house, but he didn't know what to say to make the situation better. "I suppose I didn't want to think about it," he admitted. "It makes me uncomfortable to think of you with another man."
Lin snorted at that, which he should have expected. She always acted derisively when she was angry at him. "Then don't think about it. But you should at least know, sinceya weren't taking me seriously before. But if you're seeing anyone else, don't feel like you gotta tell me. That's up to you."
He rubbed at his eyes, now fully awake. "I don't want you to see other people. I don't want to see other people. Can't it just be the two of us, even if you only want a physical relationship?"
"We talked about this already," she said with finality, then grabbed her calabash pipe and went back outside.
So much for them being alright. With a little bit of effort, Shifu got up off the floor and followed Lin outside. She was sitting on her makeshift hammock, but there was no way he was getting into that thing, so he stood beside her.
"I've told you how I feel," he said. "I don't think I should have to pretend otherwise. And just because we've already talked about something does not mean it never bears further discussion."
"I made myself clear," Lin snapped. "And discussing shit's what people in relationships do. This ain't a relationship! I made it clear from the beginning that all I want's sex, and not even exclusively with you. If it was a problem, then you shouldn'ta kept seeing me!"
He glared at her, his ear twitching slightly in his anger. "So that's it? It's your way or nothing?"
"Yes!" She threw her hands up, as if he were the one being frustrating at the moment. "It is so annoying that you don't know or understand any of this shit that the rest of us learned in our teens or twenties!"
"Which is what, exactly?"
"Compromise is a relationship thing. Casually sleeping together isn't a relationship. And ifya got a problem with anything the other person wants, you move on. Ifya want more and the other person doesn't, you either move on or let it go. If we were in a real, actual relationship, everything you're trying to argue with me about would be perfectly reasonable. But we're not. And it's ridiculously demanding to come to someone you're only booty-calling and ask for exclusivity. I'm not even sure how much clearer I could possibly be on this. This's like, a common thing. Anyone else in the world would take my side. I am not in this for anything serious. That bridge is burned. There is nothing to negotiate about that. Just like how, if that's a deal-breaker for you, you can absolutely walk away."
As much as he hated to admit it, he would have to check in with Viper to verify all these claims. "I admit that I do not know much about situations like ours or how they are typically handled."
"I can tell."
"But you came into this knowing that I still love you," he added pointedly. "You came into this knowing exactly what I want. So if that's a deal-breaker, you can be the one to walk away."
She crossed her arms and grunted at him. "I already tried that once, remember? It didn't work."
He remembered all too well. "So we're at an impasse."
"Look, I'm not mad at you for feeling a certain way or for expressing it," she said, which was a much more reasonable response than he'd expected. "But I never askedya to wait around for me. And I don't like that you're trying to push me into being with you again. I said already that I might never want that. I said already that you hurt me too much. And you acknowledged that you hurt me! I'm giving you as much of a chance as I feel comfortable with right now. Acting like I'm the bad guy for trying to meet other people and put my life back together after everything, that's not the way to win me over."
"That was one of the longest guilt trips I've ever taken."
"Good!" she said. "It should be. You were really shitty to me for a long time."
"I know," he said with a sigh. "I'm so sorry. I'm doing my best right now to make it up to you, and I know it might not work. But I can't even imagine giving up. We spent over three decades apart and I don't want to be separated for another moment, so. This is enough, for now." He felt like he was trying to convince himself, too. "I have to hold out hope that things will be okay. I let go of that for a long time, and it was no way to live."
Lin reached out, he thought for some sort of comforting gesture. However, she instead grabbed him by the belt and yanked him into the hammock while his guard was down.
"Agh! Why?" He flailed as the hammock rocked back and forth, unable to gain any sort of leverage. This was worse than her usual bed of mushy pillows.
"You said you wanted your life to be worth living, right?" She grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him against her. "Gotta try out the hammock, then."
"What? That makes no sense!"
"Hammocks are one of life's greatest pleasures," she replied, then gave his ear a yank. "And I like it whenya spill your guts to me. Now I got dirt on you."
"Lovely," he grunted, squirming as he tried to get up out of the hammock.
"You say anything to Tai Lung? Y'know, about the... Thing."
Shifu stilled, surprised Lin had brought that up. He supposed she wasn't as avoidant now as she had once been, but he still wasn't used to that. "No." He had taken Lin's request seriously, as much as it pained him to know there was something big going on in his son's life that he couldn't be a part of.
"Good," Lin said, wrapping her arms around him. Then she reached down and slapped his crotch.
"Ouch! Hey!" Shifu would have pushed her away, but there was no room to do so in the hammock.
"Got your balls!" she taunted.
"I thought you were going to comfort me," he complained, but Lin started kissing him, so he didn't really have anything to complain about anymore.
Lin woke with a yawn and stretched out her back, wincing as it cracked. She needed to get a proper bed and some pillows into her house as soon as possible. She was surprised to find Shifu still curled up next to her, since he tended to rise before dawn and wake her up with his nervous energy, but then he rolled over with a loud sniff.
"You gave me your cold," he grumbled nasally, his nose and eyes red.
She laughed at him, which only elicited a sullen frown. "Oh, what? You're the one who was all over me while I was sick. Don't blame me."
"Hmph." He wrapped himself more tightly in his tarp and shivered. "It's too cold in here."
"Shoulda got me that brazier sooner."
"Yes, everything's my fault," he said, then ducked his head into his arm and coughed. "You're the irresponsible one who steals all your necessities from me."
"You were pretty amused by it last night," Lin pointed out, but of course he ignored that point. She took pity on him since he seemed legitimately sick. And her way of showing that pity was to yank the tarp off him. "C'mon, let's getya back to your own bed. I ain't got all day."
"I can't move," he complained, but he was up on his feet fairly quickly after she tossed those tarps across the room. "What is your big rush? Do you have another date to get to?"
"I have work, dumbass. God, you're an even bigger baby 'an I am when I'm sick." She had to practically drag him out onto the punt with her, and was seriously thinking of throwing him overboard after dealing with his grumpy sniffling. "I'm gonna leaveya in the middle of a field to die," she threatened.
"I can take care of myself, I will have you know," Shifu said. His argument was somewhat ruined by the fact that he crawled off the punt instead of walking off.
"Crap," Lin muttered. She couldn't bring herself to just walk away, no matter how annoyed she was. As loathe as she was to admit it, helping Shifu out was the right thing to do. And for some reason beyond her grasp, she felt compelled to do the right thing. "Fine, c'mon," was all the warning she gave him before picking him up the way he'd done to her so many times.
"Lin!" he scolded. "This is embarrassing!"
"Now y'know how I feel." She noticed he wasn't bothering to struggle. "And it's not like I wanna trudge up all those stairs with your big heavy butt."
Shifu huffed indignantly. "I can climb the thousand steps myself. I simply need to gather my strength."
By the time they reached the village he was snoring, so she guessed "gathering my strength" was code for napping. When she'd gotten as far as Ping's noodle shop, her ears weren't the only part of her that needed a rest. She wasn't as young or as strong as she used to be, and hauling Shifu up a thousand stairs was a daunting enough task without having first carried him into town from her house. She might as well stop into the shop for a break and warn Ping about her annoying morning.
Someone loudly blew their nose behind her, catching her attention. "Well, well, well!"
Lin turned around and gave An Zhi a stiff smile. "Hey."
"Hey yourself, patient zero." An Zhi wiped furiously at her running nose, then gestured to Shifu with her handkerchief. "Another victim?"
"Yeah," Lin admitted with a shrug she hoped came off as charmingly cavalier.
"What, you kissed us on the same day or something?" She asked with a laugh, then narrowed her eyes when Lin shrugged again. "Ew!"
"Hey, we said we were both dating around!"
An Zhi stuck her tongue out and faked a gag. "That doesn't mean I want to ingest the saliva of every other person you're seeing."
"I brushed my teeth before our date!" Lin argued.
"You say that like it's not a given. Ew, is that not a given for you? Gods, I really dodged a bullet, didn't I?" She finished her teasing with a giggle that ended in a loud sneeze, then blew her nose.
Lin rolled her eyes. "Okay, that's enough. Didya come all the way here just to yell at me for getting you sick, or was there something else?"
"Neither." An Zhi gestured to an empty bag at her shoulder. "I live alone and my pantry is bare, so I needed to do the shopping. Trust me, I'd rather be sleeping this off like the princess there."
She glanced down at Shifu, still fast asleep in her arms, and snorted. "Yeah, I didn't wanna leave him at my place. I gotta let Ping know I'm gonna be a little late, you wanna come in and take a minute while I do?"
"I'll take all the minutes I can get at this point," An Zhi agreed with a nod, then followed her into the restaurant and slumped down at an empty table.
Lin laid Shifu down on the bench across from her, which only elicited a grunt from him. "Canya believe this guy's usually a light sleeper?"
"I'm more perplexed by your whole situation," she replied, gesturing between them. "But please don't tell me. I'm too sick to follow anything even remotely complicated."
Lin just shook her head in response to that. She didn't think it was the best time or place to get into all that, anyway. Instead she let herself into the kitchen and called upstairs for Ping. She only had to try twice before he stuck his head in the stairwell.
"What? You know how to do prep!" He looked like he wasn't quite finished washing up for the day, judging by his damp feathers.
"I gotta get Shifu up those stupid stairs," Lin called back. "I'll be right back!"
"You're not going anywhere! We're still dealing with the New Year's crowds and I need you here on time." He confirmed her suspicions about his morning routine by pointing a brush at her. "Make Shifu help."
"He can't, he's passed out."
"Then hang a sign for our specials around his neck and drop him by the door!"
"Okay fine, I'll get started on prep!" She didn't want to climb all the way up to the Jade Palace with Shifu, anyway. But she'd need to stow him somewhere safe first so Ping didn't actually follow through on that sign idea. He never joked when it came to advertising. She figured if Po's room had been good enough for her, it was good enough for Shifu, so she tossed the big snoring lump over her shoulder and carried him up there for the time being. He didn't so much as crack an eye open the whole time, so she didn't think Po's old bed would be too uncomfortable for him. She left her handkerchief and some water by the bed for him, tucked him in, and closed the door as one last small deterrent for Ping.
Speaking of whom, he was waiting for her in the kitchen with his beak pursed. "You can't bring all of your dates here just because we used to be roomies," was how he greeted her.
"I'm gonna go ahead and get my cleaver, just in caseya wanna piss me off some more," she replied. "And anyway, An Zhi's gonna have breakfast here."
"I am?" she asked from her table.
"On me," Lin clarified. "I oweya for gettingya sick."
"It's a deal."
Lin put together a pot of tea for them from her own stash, so Ping wouldn't complain about using up the restaurant's stock, then poured cups for the three of them. "I still gotta move some stuff into my house."
"I'm not giving you any more time off," Ping warned her.
"I took off early one night. Jeez." Lin started in with her prep work while Ping put together his noodle dough for the day. "What if I get Tai Lung to come in and cover?"
"He's useless," Ping argued. "He can't even get the orders right!"
"So..." An Zhi raised an eyebrow at them. "You're not scared of Tai Lung at all, are you?"
"Nah," Lin said, sipping at her tea. "You were ready to crap yourself, though."
An Zhi briefly rested her head on the table. "Yes, that was incredibly embarrassing and I'm so glad you brought it up."
"Tai Lung?" Ping asked. "He's just a big weirdo."
"I know," Lin said. "Did I tellya he likes reading those really corny romance stories? Like full of melodrama and heaving loins and shit."
"That's extremely weird," An Zhi agreed. "Why not read, I don't know. Literally anything else? Like poetry."
"Poetry?"
"I like poetry!"
"I like murder mysteries," Ping added. "The restaurant themed ones! They give me ideas for noodle dishes."
"What, like entrail noodles?" Lin asked.
He huffed and slapped his noodle dough down on the counter. "No, of course not! But I'm not going to tell you in case my secrets are revealed."
"Sure thing," Lin agreed, sharing a smile with An Zhi about Ping's ridiculous secrecy over his noodles.
An Zhi ended up staying and talking with them until the restaurant opened, and then Shifu came shuffling down the stairs, presumably having awoken from the noise of customers filling the place up.
"I smell like noodles," Shifu whined, wrinkling his nose.
Lin shoved him out of the kitchen before he could sneeze into anything. "Welcome to the club."
An Zhi waved him over, which Lin didn't exactly like the look of, but she let it go without saying much. "Shifu, right? I'm Lin's new friend. Also sick because of her."
Shifu hesitated a moment, glancing back and forth between her and Lin, then slowly joined her at the table she had staked out. "Hello."
"I don't bite. Except into noodles." She punctuated that statement with a slurp of her soup. "Lin's treat."
Lin narrowed her eyes at An Zhi, but still kept her mouth shut. She might as well give Shifu some soup and tea to help keep his complaining at a minimum. She also noticed that Ping was suddenly too busy stretching noodles to join the conversation, supposedly.
"So you... Are a patron here?" Shifu asked An Zhi. He still sounded inappropriately suspicious, though it was hard to take him seriously when he sounded so stuffed up.
"Yes, that's how we met. And I own a tea shop a few blocks over! You should buy my tea." An Zhi pointedly drank her tea.
"Of course," he said with a resigned sigh.
Lin dropped a bowl of noodles in front of Shifu and poured some tea, trying to silently mouth to An Zhi that she should not bring up the fact that they'd gone out.
"I see you mouthing something," Shifu grumbled. "What is it?"
"It's about your giant melon-head," she answered to cover for herself.
An Zhi laughed, then finished off her tea. "I should go. Thanks for breakfast, it helped a lot. And, uhm, good luck. To, you know, the two of you with your weird relationship." She left while Lin glared at her back, willing her to turn around to see that she had said something horrible. No such luck.
"Our weird relationship," Shifu repeated tensely, his ear twitching. "Good to know that you're spreading our business all over the place."
"To one friend," Lin corrected him.
"That's one too many." He loudly slurped his soup, drowning out the curse she'd spat at him.
She crossed her arms and waited for him to finish. "Y'know, I don't gotta stand here and listen to your griping after I literally carriedya into town and boughtya breakfast. Ingrate."
Shifu rubbed at his temples, like she was the one acting annoying. "Thank you for helping me. It was very considerate of you."
"That's more like it." She gave his twitchy ear a slap before returning to the kitchen. "Big baby."
"I heard that!" he called over his shoulder.
"That's 'cause your ears're bigger 'an my whole body!" Lin shouted back. She returned her full attention to chopping vegetables and taking orders. She wasn't going to think about that "weird relationship" comment or anything she might or might not be feeling at the moment. She didn't have time for it. She didn't want to have time for it, either. She just wanted at least one thing in her life to be easy.
Tai Lung didn't exactly enjoy spending most of his time helping Lin fix up her weird shack, but as he finished up the last coat of primer on the building, he did feel a bit of melancholy at the thought of not making trip out every day. He had outlasted the panda and Lin's nit-witted offspring in priming the building, so he comforted himself with some pride over that. Apparently he was better at evenly distributing white primer over wood, a skill which he hadn't thought of as a skill until Lin had dismissed everyone but him from the task. Now they were alone together on her island.
Lin crossed her arms as she gazed at their handiwork. "Finally. I have a house again. A real and true place of my own. It feels better 'an I can say."
Tai Lung grunted at her as he went about gathering up their brushes and tarps.
"I knowya hate it up at the Jade Palace," she told him, watching as he straightened up to glare at her. "Almost as much as I hated Chen's house, right?"
"Considerably more," he answered, pointedly dropping his pile near the stairs. "What is your point?"
"I got a house now," she replied, jabbing a thumb at her new home. "So ifya wanna get away, you can come stay with me."
"What a dream come true," he said sarcastically.
"Y'know, I don't gotta offerya anything," she said. "It's not like you're my responsibility anymore. I was just trying to be a good friend."
"Hmph," he replied, admittedly a bit petulantly. Then, reluctantly, he added, "I suppose I'm grateful for that. Maybe... Maybe I will visit. Once in a while."
"Too late, offer revoked," she said.
"You are a lint-covered little scab, you know that?" His insult was only met with laughter, predictably. "I know you are enamored with your little shack, but we should stop dallying about and discuss my visions."
"Yeah, yeah," Lin accepted lazily, then waved him into the house. It looked cozier now that she had some bedding, lanterns, and a brazier inside. There was also an overturned crate which he could only assume served as some sort of sad little table.
"A woman's home is her palace, I see."
"Hey, I'm on a budget."
It looked to him that there wasn't even a budget. Everything in the house had clearly either been stolen from the Jade Palace or fished from the garbage. He pointedly remained standing when Lin took a seat at the crate-table. He wasn't about to touch her trash furniture. Knowing her, she hadn't bothered to wash it. "Have you come to any conclusions yet?"
"Nope," Lin said with a shrug, then lit her pipe.
"Of course." He should have known she'd have nothing new for him. He couldn't say he'd figured out anything on his own, though. "I have not even had any new visions," he admitted. His sleep had been unnervingly dreamless, too. "I may sincerely take you up on that offer to stay out here. Perhaps it will help instigate something more. At least it will get me away from all that pointless kung fu training with those amateurs Shifu calls masters."
"Hm," was all Lin had to say to him.
He watched her, waiting for more, but she just kept puffing on her pipe. "What does 'hm' mean?"
"Well, I didn't wanna push it-"
"That's a lie and we both know it," he interrupted, suppressing an amused smile at how disgruntled she looked at having been called out. "Go ahead and say it."
"D'you really love kung fu? D'you even like it?"
"What?" Tai Lung asked. "What are you on about this time?"
"I'm just thinking about something Oogway mentioned," Lin replied. "That it's hard to find a kung fu master who loves it on its own, without wanting power or prestige. He said you were definitely not like that, just to be clear."
"How kind of him."
"I ain't seenya try to do kung fu or heardya talk about it while we were in Shanghai," she went on. "Now every time I seeya, you got some new complaint about training. You seemed happier without it, at least from my point of view."
"Hmph," he grunted in response. The old shrew had a lot of nerve, trying to decide what would and wouldn't make him happy. "Maybe you should let go of your odd preoccupation with happiness and let me do things my way."
"If I'd letya do things your way, everyone'd be dead by now."
"That sounds so good to me right now," he said with a sigh. He may not like solitude, but that didn't mean he liked other people, either.
Lin punched his arm. "Quit talking like that! I knowya don't mean it. Well, not anymore, anyway."
"Relax, it's not like I would kill you," he told her with sincerity. He would never harm Lin. In fact, if anyone even came close to harming her again, he would ensure they suffered. "I would simply kill everyone except you."
"Sounds healthy," she said with a laugh.
"If it were just the two of us... That wouldn't be so bad." He looked away, embarrassed at his admission. "I am sure you'd miss Shifu, for some reason."
"Hey! Low blow!" Lin lifted up the crate and groped around under it for a moment before pulling out the little black book he'd noticed among her things when he'd taken them from the Jade Palace. "Siddown, already. I got something to showya."
He begrudgingly sat on the floor beside her, sure to avoid touching the crate. "Your diary?"
"Sorta," Lin admitted, then flipped through several pages containing writing in another language. Once she reached the back of the book, she slid it toward him so he could read what she'd written in Chinese characters.
"In their wings, in their trees, all things die, be at peace. What is this? A poem? A prayer?" He glanced at her, wary of this new development.
"A song." Lin leaned back and reached under her blankets, pulling out her ruan. "It helps me just, y'know. Feel stuff."
Tai Lung reached for the book, and she let him take it and leaf through some more pages. "Since when do you write songs?"
"Since I was with Al," she admitted. "He was a musician. Wrote music, played the piano and guitar, some fiddle. Mostly piano. He taught me to play, too. I was never too good at writing music, mainly 'cause I can't figure how to read sheet music for shit, but I'm okay at lyrics. Anyway, I wrote down a lotta the songs we wrote together in there. And I add new ones when I miss him. I wantedya to see 'cause I thought it might be a good idea forya to write some stuff down. Maybe not songs, but hey. You could have that diary you always wanted."
"Har har," he grumbled sarcastically. He read through a few more songs while Lin tuned her ruan, until he got to one that chilled him. "This." He pointed down at the page, his visions fresh in his mind, and Lin pulled the book toward her.
"Oh yeah, that one. Wanna hear it?"
He nodded.
And she sang, "When you lie awake at night, d'you see it? The darkness consumes, but it's always there. D'you hear it? I can hear it, I swear. When you lie awake at night, the universe stretches on an' on. Until there's nothing left, nothing to swear on. Ain't no running, ain't no screaming, ain't no feeling, ain't no sight- when you lie awake at night." She stopped suddenly and raised her eyebrows at him. "You look like you seen a ghost."
Tai Lung felt faint, hearing her describe those experiences in a dirge-like ballad. "That's about the visions."
"Some of it. Yeah." Lin set her ruan aside. "It rattledya that much, huh?"
"Just a bit."
"Guess I'm a good writer!"
He glared at her for that one.
"Not sorry." Lin shut her journal and returned it to its hiding spot under the crate. "Go outside and meditate. I'm gonna stay here and giveya some space. Okay?"
"Fine," he accepted.
Tai Lung walked out to the end of her little dock and stared into the dark lake, though he doubted he would see the creature in it. He sat and looked out at the dusk sky for a time, waiting for night to fall. It seemed easier for visions to come to him at night. Once the horizon had darkened, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply. It was rare he concentrated so on meditation, but these visions had given him reason enough to try. And yet, hours passed by with no results. He eventually gave up, though he wasn't yet ready to go back inside with Lin.
He looked at the stars, instead. He couldn't remember any constellations he had learned in his youth. He'd spent too much time imprisoned underground. But the sight of those stars brought up some nostalgia, nonetheless. He remembered when Lin had stargazed with him as a child on the roof of the barracks, and wondered how much of what she'd told him had been accurate. That didn't matter much to him, anyway. He liked the memory regardless.
Slowly, he became aware of something watching him. He knew what that something was. He had felt this plenty of times before, but he still had to see for himself. Tai Lung closed his eyes a moment and breathed deeply, steeling himself, then look down into the water.
That eye stared back at him again, this time from the depths of the lake. He turned away from it, refusing to look, refusing to let it see into him yet again. He wanted nothing to do with these visions or the creature which gave them to him. He returned to Lin's little shack and knelt by her bedside, where she had fallen asleep. If he focused on something immediate, like keeping her safe, then perhaps the visions would not be able to reach him.
He recoiled slightly when Lin opened her eyes, but he didn't bother to hide. He doubted she'd have a problem with his presence. She didn't move or speak to him, though. She simply lay on her back and stared at the ceiling.
"Lin?" He waved a hand in front of her face, but she didn't respond. "Not creepy at all," he grumbled to himself when she realized she was sleeping with her eyes open. He turned to leave, so he could patrol the perimeter of the tiny island one more time.
"The nature of fire is to consume," something said behind him.
Startled, Tai Lung jumped and landed in a fighting stance, facing Lin once more. She appeared to be alone, but whatever had spoken hadn't sounded of this world. He crept toward Lin, his claws ready to slash whatever hid in the shadows.
Lin spoke to him then, yet it was the same voice that he'd heard before. Voices. It sounded like two creatures speaking at once, yet strained as though it took great effort for the words to rasp from her throat. "It will consume until there is nothing left."
"Good gods, could you get any creepier?" he asked, frustrated by the display.
Lin slowly sat up, closing her eyes in an equally sluggish blink. She turned to him, and when she opened her eyes again it wasn't Lin looking at him. Instead it was that thing. Two glowing, empty eyes staring straight into him, and through him. The shadows around her grew, swallowing up the little shack and everything in it. "Let me in," the creature rasped at him, its voice enveloping him as thoroughly as the darkness.
"No!"
Tai Lung blinked rapidly as he looked around him, panting. He had definitely just screamed, but now he sat outside Lin's house at her crumbling little dock, meditating as he had been before. The stars had faded, giving way to sunrise, which was the last clue to this confusing turn of events. He had slipped into another vision.
He hunched forward and gripped his head, trying to slow his breathing. The fact that what he had just witnessed was a vision did nothing to comfort him. Let me in. Those words echoed in his head, over and over, filling him with horror at just the memory of them. What did they mean? What did that creature want from him?
"Bwah!" He jumped once more, this time at the feeling of something poking him in the back.
"Jeez, you're really wound up," Lin commented, then sat beside him. "What's with all the yelling?"
Tai Lung couldn't help but lean away from her. The creature had spoken through her in that vision, and his original visions of it had been her memories. Lin had encountered that thing in person, and lived to tell the tale, yet he knew for a fact that she should have drowned that day. It had saved her life, yet there had to have been some sort of cost. "Let me in." He didn't realize what he was saying until it had already left his mouth.
Lin stared at him for a long time, both of them silent. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?" she finally asked.
He nearly fell face-first into the dock. He had been expecting some great reaction from her, some indication that he had discovered her dark secret, but no. She didn't even realize what he was talking about. Of course. "I had a vision. It's... Messing with my head."
"Oh, okay," she accepted, as if this were something normal that happened to everyone. "Well, c'mon into the house. I made some herbal tea on the brazier."
He followed her into the house, his legs still weak from the terror of that vision. "What kind of herbal tea?" He smelled something familiar and woody in the air once they entered the house, but he couldn't quite place it.
Lin glanced over her shoulder at him, then handed him a cup filled with hot water and pine needles.
"Augh!" He shoved the cup back into her hands, retching at the sight of it. "Pine tea? Like at that horrid inn?"
"I ended up getting a taste for it," Lin explained. "And there're some pine trees out beyond that field, so I figured I'd do some foraging."
"You disgust me."
"Whatever," Lin dismissed easily, then sipped at the horrible pine tea. "So what kinda vision didya have?"
"Same as usual." He didn't know why he'd just lied to her. It wasn't like there was anyone else lining up to help him with these visions, and even if someone else tried, they would never know as much as Lin. But still, he couldn't shake his uneasiness at the thought of that thing having some sort of control over her. It was just a vision, it wasn't necessarily literal, but now he saw it as a possibility. "You need to tell me everything about when you met that creature," he concluded. "It's the only way I'll get all this sorted."
"I've already toldya that I don't remember anything you ain't already seen in your visions," Lin replied
"Humor me." He wasn't about to take no for an answer again.
Lin finished her tea, then refilled it from a steaming pot of pine needle water she'd left on her floor. "Fine. Wait til tomorrow and I'll showya."
He gulped. "Show me?" he repeated hesitantly. He couldn't help but imagine that thing coming for him through her. "...How?"
"I'm an artist, remember?"
"Oh. Yes." That still left him feeling uneasy. "Why tomorrow?"
"It takes time to draw stuff? Duh." Lin downed her pine tea and refilled her cup. "You want breakfast? I got some scraps from work."
"...Scraps?"
"Y'know, scraps. Carrot tops, onion roots, I think a few pomelo skins..." Lin trailed off at the sight of his grimace. "Cut it out, you big picky snob!"
"If not eating garbage makes me a snob, so be it. I've been called worse." Perhaps he had overreacted to that strange vision. Lin seemed the same as she always had. There was no way she could be possessed by that thing.
"Stir fried carrot tops and pomelo skins ain't garbage," Lin argued with an indignant sniff. "It's just poor person food." She was, at the very least, not currently possessed. Unless that supernatural kraken liked eating garbage and acting high and mighty about it.
"Might I suggest eating rich person food instead, then?"
"I spent all my money renovating this place, and I don't got the time to get all the way up to the Jade Palace." That explained the pine needle tea.
Tai Lung crossed his arms. "I'm still not eating your pomelo skins or drinking your hot tree juice."
"Whatever, wimp," Lin dismissed, then finished off her pot of tea and grabbed her ruan.
"Oh no. Are you going to sing another creepy song about visions and darkness?"
Lin snorted. "No! I've had enough of that, now I'm ready for some cheering up. Gonna sing a little ditty I like to call 'I'm Gonna Fuck My Teacher.'"
"I'm leaving." Tai Lung fled the house before Lin could even think of singing that to him. He needed to return to the Jade Palace, anyway, hopefully before the morning gong rang. Even if he were late, he could always tell Shifu he'd been with Lin and get off the hook with some minor grumbling. If all else failed, he'd take a page out of Lin's book and sing a dirty song to serve as a distraction.
Tai Lung shook his head at that thought. He needed more sleep.
Notes:
I'll start with references: The chapter title is a quote from Stephen Colbert's character in Strangers with Candy. "In their wings, in their trees" is the Forest God prayer from Night in the Woods (Lin's other songs were written by me!). And "hot tree juice" was a reference to Iroh calling some terrible tea "hot leaf juice" in Avatar: The Last Airbender. I'd also like to say I'm pleased to see some of you returning to my frustrating slowly update fic! Thank you! I'm also pleased to see some new readers. Hi! It's gonna be a while. The others will tell you. Anyway, thanks everyone for reading and reviewing!
Chapter 29: Food is the Most Primitive Form of Comfort
Notes:
I'm starting this chapter off with a trigger warning, just in case. It's a bit spoilery for the chapter content, so if you care about that feel free to skip. But: there is discussion of suicide, suicidal thoughts, and ideation in this chapter. I know I've written mention of suicide before, but this chapter goes into more depth, hence the warning. If you or anyone you know has had / is having suicidal thoughts, please talk to someone you trust or call your country's National Suicide Prevention line (800-273-8255 in the US). You are important, you are loved, and you deserve help.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 29: Food is the Most Primitive Form of Comfort
Tigress yawned as she poured herself a cup of lapsang souchong. Practicing nerve strikes had become much more rewarding now that she was actually making progress, but her session with Po were leaving her more and more exhausted throughout the day. She could see the effects of their sessions clearly on Po, as well. And learning nerve strikes on top of teaching Gia her characters had become the bulk of her nights. They might need to break soon just to regain their strength. She was so close to mastering the technique, though. As loathe as she was to admit it, Lin's nerve charts had made the difference.
She was just about to leave the kitchen and head toward the library when Shifu entered the kitchen. She nodded to him and remained seated, sipping at her tea. If she left now, he might ask questions or follow her. That wouldn't have normally been a problem, but she had asked Gia for a night off from their lessons to dedicate her entire evening to training.
"Good evening," Shifu greeted tiredly, then gestured toward the teapot. "Would you be willing to share?"
"Certainly," Tigress said. She suspected Shifu needed a boost due to his frequent visits from Lin, but she wasn't going to torture herself by bringing up the subject.
Shifu took the seat beside her and helped himself to tea, dashing all hope she might have had to make it out of the kitchen any time soon. "What made you want such a strong drink this time of night?"
She took a sip of her own tea to buy herself a bit of time. "I needed something to keep me awake before a reading lesson with Gia." She hoped that he didn't know otherwise.
"I see." A thoughtful frown crossed his face. "But Gia is with Lin right now."
Well, so much for that. "Is she? There must have been a miscommunication between us." Tigress tried to keep her expression neutral. She'd already made it clear to Gia how she felt about Lin and what she thought would come of that particular relationship. She'd made herself clear on that front to Shifu, too. Nobody seemed to listen. "Well, that clears up my night."
"So it does," Shifu agreed stiffly, watching her with suspicion. "Any idea what you'll get up to now?"
"No," she answered slowly. "What is all this about?" She tamped down her sudden excitement at the thought that perhaps, for once, Shifu had come to her in the hopes of spending some time together. It might be immature, but she would put off her training with Po for that. He'd understand.
"I'm not sure how to put this, so I might as well be blunt."
Tigress leaned closer, anticipating the request. Did she still have her dominoes? She'd have to check her room.
"What, exactly, is going on between you and Po?" Shifu asked.
Tigress felt a moment of panic, thinking he had found out about her nerve strike training. "What do you mean?" she asked, blinking rapidly at the realization that she had gotten herself worked up over an invitation that would never come.
"I mean, are you... Romantically involved?" Of course. He had no clue what she was doing.
"No," she answered shortly, her chest tightening with anger. She tried to remind herself that this anger was unjustified. Keeping her training a secret from Shifu was her goal. And she was too old to be sitting around hoping for some kind of Daddy-daughter night.
Shifu looked at her closely, as if he'd be able to detect a lie just from her expression. "Nothing?"
"Nothing. Is that all?"
"That's all," he said with a sigh. He sounded relieved.
Tigress couldn't let that go without comment. "I thought you liked Po."
"Of course I do, he is my student." Shifu stood to leave the kitchen, then paused. "It is just... I'm glad you are not allowing a romantic entanglement distract you from your commitment to kung fu."
"Distract me?" Tigress could normally keep her temper under control around Shifu, and especially toward him, but her exhaustion had left her with a short fuse. "Since when have I had a history of being distracted by romance?"
"I am not saying it's a pattern," Shifu argued, his ear twitching. "All I am saying is that romance could be a distraction."
"Like yours is," she pointed out. "At this point I keep up my training more than you do, but I suppose you're too busy being a hypocrite to see that."
His eye twitched as well. "That is not what I was talking about. And I will have you know, Tigress, that my romantic life is none of your business-"
"It was when Lin was in here nude all the time!" she shouted, rising to her feet as well. "I've seen that woman's cervix!"
"That isn't how anatomy works and you know it!" he shouted back, now red in the face. "And I am not talking about being in love, I am talking about-"
"So now I'm incapable of being in love?" she screamed over him.
"I never said that!"
"You implied it!"
"Well it isn't as though you love Po!"
"I never said I did!"
"Okay!"
"Okay!" Tigress stormed out of the kitchen. She needed to be alone to cool down and catch her breath. It had been years since she'd had a screaming match like that with Shifu, but he deserved it. The nerve he had trying to tell her not to have a relationship, or somehow implying there was something wrong with her or with Po. Po, of all people! The most sweet, supportive, kind-
Po. She was late to meet up with him, thanks to Shifu, but she couldn't very well go to their training session feeling like this. She took a detour around the mountain instead, running laps at full speed to try to calm herself. She didn't keep count, didn't bother to keep track of time. She just ran until she was too tired to keep running. When she stopped to catch her breath, she again thought of Po. He'd probably waited for her. She gave herself some time to come down from the adrenaline of her anger and her run before heading into the scroll library. And, of course, sitting at their usual table was Po. Waiting for her.
"Hey!" he called out, waving her over. "What happened? You're, like, never late to anything. You okay?"
Tigress sat beside him, fully intending to lie about her emotional state and forget her troubles with training. But looking at him, concern in his eyes, she couldn't do it. "I'm not... Not entirely okay. If you must know."
Po scooted his chair so close to hers that their knees were touching. "What's wrong? D'ya wanna talk about it?"
"It's nothing new," she said, trying to reassure him. "Just Shifu. We fought, and I'm still a little worked up."
"Oh!" He didn't look reassured at all. "What about? I mean, if ya wanna tell me."
"Nothing new," she repeated, then shook her head. She felt like she was making excuses for Shifu, for herself, to herself. "I don't want you to worry."
"Well, too late," Po said gently, placing a hand over hers. "I'm officially worried. That's what happens to me when my friends don't feel good." He was so sweet.
Tigress took a deep breath and let it out to try to center herself, but it didn't have any effect. "Shifu came to talk to me, and I thought... I thought he wanted..." She paused and trained her gaze on a dark corner, steeling herself for the embarrassment of admitting this aloud to someone. "...To spend time with me. Together. But I was wrong, and I became upset. It really isn't a big deal."
Po's arms were around her before she'd had time to react. "Jeez, I'm sorry. That sucks."
She was tired. Too tired to pull away, too tired to think about the consequences of getting this close to him. She just wanted to feel wanted. "You have no reason to apologize," she mumbled into his fur, unsure if he could even hear her. It didn't matter.
"I know. I wanted to, anyway." Po was so good to her, even after she'd rejected him, twice. And why? Because of exactly what Shifu had told her. That a romantic relationship would only distract her from kung fu. That it wasn't worth the effort. That she wasn't worth the effort.
Tigress gave up resisting the way she'd been feeling, she gave up ignoring it, and she gave up questioning herself. She kissed Po with more abandon she remembered ever kissing anyone in her life. She kissed him like she was drowning and he was air. And he kissed her back the same way, holding her tightly in a protective embrace she found new and thrilling.
She ended their kiss abruptly to scan the library, her eyes narrowed. She could have sworn she'd heard footsteps. She was certain only their fellow kung fu masters could vacate the room fast enough to escape her detection, but she knew the sounds of their footfalls by heart and knew for certain she hadn't heard them.
"What's up?" Po asked. He clearly hadn't noticed anything amiss. Maybe no one had seen them, and she was just feeling paranoid.
"...Nothing." Her nerves were on end and she hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep lately. It must not have been anything. She leaned in to kiss Po again, but to her surprise he let her go and leaned away.
"Look, I love kissin' ya," he said quickly. Her surprise must have been showing on her face. "But you're feelin' really low right now, and I don't wanna take advantage of that. I mean, I'm here for ya, of course, whatever ya need. I care a lot about ya, Tigress. So, uhm, maybe let's take a beat?"
"Alright," she accepted with a nod. "That's very wise of you, Po."
He blushed adorably. "Thanks."
Wait, had she just thought of Po as adorable? Screw it, she had, and it was the truth. "You're adorable."
"I am?" He sounded delighted at the compliment. "Jeez, thanks! You're, uh, super duper pretty."
"Thank you," Tigress accepted with a short laugh. "No one has ever called me super duper pretty before."
"Well, they should. But, uh, please don't kiss 'em." He grinned at his own joke. Adorably. "Maybe we should do some nerve strike stuff?"
Tigress shook her head, then grabbed hold of his hand. If she was going to give in to this, she might as well give in all the way. "I would rather just sit with you. If you're up for that."
"Honestly? That sounds perfect."
"Ugh," Lin groaned as she cracked her eyes open to see a shadowy figure by her bedside. "Bwah!" She jumped out of her skin before realizing the shadowy figure was just Gia. "What in the hell's wrong withya?" she snapped. She'd thought spending the evening with the kid at the noodle restaurant would have been plenty, but apparently she'd thought wrong. "You followed me home and broke into my house in the middle of the night!"
Gia sat on her knees beside Lin's bed of pillows, hands clasped in her lap as usual, though Lin noticed that she happened to be squeezing her hands together with an unusual amount of force. "I'm sorry," she said, and her voice sounded ragged.
Lin stared at her for a bit. Was this what she had to look forward to, being in Gia's life? She could see showing up to her house and knocking on the door in the middle of the night, but breaking in was creepy. Or maybe it wasn't. Maybe that was something daughters were supposed to do, when they needed their mothers. Not that she felt like Gia's mother for even a second. "So what's up?" She wrapped a blanket around herself and sat up, waiting for the waterworks.
Gia didn't cry, surprisingly. "I don't want to say."
"Okay." She contemplated demanding an explanation, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to know what could possibly make Gia too upset to even cry. But then, as she thought about what could possibly upset the girl so much, she began to feel more and more protective. "No one hurtya, right?"
"No, it's not anything like that." Gia looked down at her hands much in the way she did when she prayed, though her blank stare now was nothing like the focused gaze she had during prayer. "I... I am a bad person. That is all."
"Look, I'm just gonna say it." Lin knew she shouldn't pry, but if Gia was going to scare the crap out of her in the middle of the night, then she needed a good reason. "I don't thinka myself as your mother quite yet, but I'm guessing that's the eventual goal. So I'm not gonna judge or anything. Just assume it's the unconditional love of a mother type situation."
"Unconditional love of a mother?" Gia repeated, furrowing her brow.
Maybe that had been too much of a stretch even to fool her. "Well, not yet. More like, I don't really care ifya did anything bad. Lookit me, Gia. I've been arrested more times 'an I've been to church. Whatever's botheringya, I guarantee I've done worse. Just lay it on me."
After a moment's hesitation, she nodded. "I've sinned."
"I figured you were gonna say something like that." Lin gestured to her to continue.
With a gulp, she said, "I try very hard to be a good person. I do. But... But there is something about me that I have kept hidden. Something bad."
"Okay." Lin somehow doubted she'd be shocked by whatever Gia had to tell her. "Tell me. I'll keep it a secret."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Gia closed her eyes, and at last tears began to form in their corners. "I am a lustful and covetous woman," she said hesitantly, as if Lin might cry out in shock.
Lin wasn't sure what she meant, honestly. "...Yeah, and?"
"And I have... Unnatural feelings." Gia reached up to wipe some tears from her face. "I saw Master Tigress kissing Master Po tonight, and I felt- I felt so envious. I'm a terrible person." She sounded like someone confessing to a murder.
"That's normal," Lin reasoned. "You're just a regular person, Gia, and people get jealous sometimes. It happens."
"You don't understand," Gia insisted, then paused to choke back more tears. It took her a moment to get herself together enough to speak again, but Lin waited. "I was jealous because I would like Master Tigress to feel that way for me," she finally finished, then turned her face away in apparent shame.
"Great," Lin grumbled with a sigh, though she realized belatedly that her comment might come off the wrong way. "They really did a number onya in that convent, huh? I thought Anna was gonna keepya from picking up shit like this."
"I'm sorry, Mother," Gia replied as she began to sob. "I-I am a shameful d-daughter. You d-deserve someone n-normal and- and better-"
"I'm not talking about your whole lesbian pining situation," Lin interrupted, frustrated at the miscommunication. "I'm mad that anyone ever letya think there was something wrong withya." She reached out and grabbed Gia by the shoulders, resisting the urge to give her a shake. "You've been around, right? You've traveled. You should know at your age that there's nothing wrong with loving women. Whatever you read, whatever you heard, that was wrong. You're just the way you were meant to be, understand? You're good the way you are."
Gia kept right on sobbing, as if the heartfelt speech had gone straight over her head.
"Oh, c'mon. I didn't make a good speech, there?"
She shook her head. "It doesn't matter," she sniffled out miserably. "Sh-she won't ever love me."
"Oh, that." That wasn't something she could make better with a heart-to-heart. "I know, honey. I know how it is." She patted the pillows beside her and let Gia crawl into bed with her, then tucked her in as best she could while the girl was shaking and sobbing. "Even the best of us fall for a straight girl once in a while," she comforted, patting Gia on the head. "Just cry it out."
Gia did just that, crying into Lin's shoulder until she'd started to drift off. "M-mother- I mean, Lin?"
Lin woke at the question, though she wasn't at her most alert. "Huh? Wha?"
"Could you put some clothing on?"
Lin snorted at the question. "That's whatya get for busting in here while I was sleeping. I never wear clothes to bed." She indicated a trunk she'd procured and left in a corner of the house. "There's a nightgown in there, I think."
Gia got to her feet and shuffled wearily across the room, then returned with what looked like an over-sized shirt that Lin had probably taken from the Jade Palace.
Lin shrugged and put the thing on. "I know it doesn't help much now, but you're still really young," she pointed out as Gia tucked herself back in. "At my age, twenty-six-year-olds are babies to me. Hell, even when I was thirty. You're gonna grow up so much more in your life, and so much is gonna change. You're gonna find someone else to love sooner or later, y'know."
"But," Gia argued tearfully, and let out a tremulous sniff. "But I have never felt this way before."
Lin resisted the urge to laugh at the sentiment, mostly because she knew exactly what Gia meant. "Listen, that's 'cause you're older and wiser now 'an you ever were before. Love feels different the more experienceya get under your belt."
"You don't know what it is like to feel this way for a woman."
Lin did laugh, this time. "Sure," she said sarcastically. Then she changed her tone, since she knew Gia had trouble picking up on sarcasm. "I've loved women before, Gia."
"You mean... Romantically?"
She nodded.
"I tried to kill myself," Lin told her. "Over a woman."
Gia stared at her, struck speechless for once.
"I tried to go back to the sea," she went on, fully aware that what she was saying only made sense to her. "I tried. But here I am."
"You- Suicide is a sin-"
"I don't give a shit whatya read in your bible," Lin snapped. "And ifya repeat this to anyone- anyone- then you'll need to use that thing as a shield. You got me?"
Gia gulped and nodded. "How long ago?"
"Gonna make me do the math, huh?" Lin flopped back into her pillows, trying her best to stay dispassionate. "A pretty long time ago. Eighteen years, I think. God, it feels like it's been longer 'an that. Like a lifetime ago."
"I don't understand why you would do such a thing."
"I dunno," she replied honestly. "I mean. It's not like I'd never thought about it before then. It's just... I felt like I wanted to go to sleep, and never dream or wake up. I wanted to stop existing. It sounded nice, sometimes. To never know or think anything ever again. To just rest. I dunno if that's what death'd actually be like, but I do know that the feeling of actually dying is the worst thing ever." She paused to clear her throat. "Just to be clear, I know thinking that way's wrong. I know it's not okay to think it'll be good to die, so let's skip that whole counseling session. I'm in a much better place now 'an I was then, and I've had a lotta support when I needed it. But back then, that's where my head was at."
"Oh."
"It's not like it was 'cause of getting dumped," Lin added, for clarity's sake. "More like... There was a lot going on with me already, and that was the catalyst. I was in a lotta pain, but I lucked out and got a second chance, and... Well, it took a good while to start feeling better. But I did. It was worth the effort. Okay?"
"Okay," Gia accepted, then hugged her tightly. "I am glad for your second chance, too. I don't know what I would do if I hadn't gotten to meet you."
"Jeez," Lin huffed, but she hugged her back. It was a nice feeling, having family who cared, though she knew calling Gia "family" out loud would get the girl way too excited. "Okay, enough of that." Lin broke off their embrace, since it seemed like Gia wasn't going to ever let go.
Gia sniffled and wiped at her face with her sleeve, but she seemed a lot calmer now. She fiddled with the sheets, avoiding eye contact. "I have something to tell you. I don't think you will like it."
"Go on, it's not like I didn't tellya a buncha personal stuff," Lin encouraged.
With a gulp, Gia continued. "I know that I say a lot of things about- about what is sinful, and such. I have done some of those things, though."
Honestly, Lin was relieved to hear that. She'd started to think Gia had no life at all, and just spent all her time locked away to avoid "sin." She grinned as she tried to think of what Gia might mean. Most likely, she'd done something totally innocuous, like saying a swear word. "Yeah?"
Gia nodded. "When I was a girl, I had feelings for a girl from the village. I kissed her. She didn't react how I'd hoped. She told her mother, and I got into big trouble. After that, the nuns agreed that I shouldn't visit the village anymore, or spend time with the children. So I stayed in the convent, and if someone came to visit, I stayed in the library."
Lin frowned to herself as she listened to the account. "You're right. I didn't like that." Mostly she didn't like hearing the way the girl had been treated. "Sister Anna, she allowed this?"
"She said that she didn't like it, but that she thought it was for the best. She wanted to protect me."
Lin couldn't argue with that logic. Considering how hateful people could be, she'd done the most logical thing. "It still sucks. People are garbage. And I'll betya turned out a lot better'n any of their stupid kids."
Gia smiled, though only slightly. "I wouldn't know."
"Y'know, you're getting real good at contractions, too," she added, hoping to change the subject for a couple of minutes, if only to lighten the mood.
"It is from talking to you," she admitted sheepishly. "You speak with lots of contractions. Master Shifu says that you use an 'unnecessary amount' of them."
"Of course he'd say something like that, the little hemorrhoid," Lin grumbled, and Gia smacked her arm for the insult. "Don't you try to scold me," she warned. "I might not letya call me Mother, but I created you, and I sure as shit can destroy you."
"I don't understand you and Master Shifu," she grumbled, sounding grumpy at the threat. "If you hate him that much, don't spend time with him."
"I wish it were that easy." She eyed Gia, wondering how much of her complex relationship with Shifu the young wolf knew already. "Look, we got a lotta history together," she explained. "Well, not a lot. I mean, we never knew each other for that much time. But it was... Dense. I really loved him, back when I was a kid. And I thought I loved him this time around, too. I dunno how I feel, really. It's all so hard and so complicated. After Al died-" She cut herself off, then, when she realized how much she'd said. She'd never mentioned that part of her past to Gia before, and she wasn't sure how wise it would be to tell her now. Still, her relationship with Al had been a huge, important part of her life. If she was going to get to know her daughter, she'd have to talk about it sooner or later.
"Who?" Gia asked innocently.
"Al," Lin repeated quietly. "He was this man I was engaged to. Voluntarily. For a while. I still miss him a lot, but, y'know. No one lives forever."
Gia stared at her a moment, then embraced her again. "I'm sorry, Mother," she said with a sniffle. "I did not realize!"
"Okay, okay," she grumbled, squirming out of Gia's grip. "Don't make such a big deal." She didn't bother correcting her use of "Mother" for the time being. The kid had been through a lot, and not just that night.
"You don't have to tell me any more," Gia said, her eyes watery. "I will understand."
It was the first time in a long time anyone had refused to push her or needle her for information. She'd almost forgotten how nice it was, to have someone respect her privacy, and put her emotional state in front of their own curiosity. "Thanks." She sat up to stretch out her joints for a bit, then fell onto her back again. "So that whole story about the girl- that was your first kiss?"
Gia nodded.
"Depressing," Lin commented.
"I suppose," she replied, frowning. "What about you?"
"I was already an adult when I had my first kiss," she explained. It had been a long time since she'd thought about it, actually. "Shifu just mashed his face into mine, like a complete amateur. Of course." Still, she smiled at the memory. "I loved him, but I hated that kiss. He surprised me, and I was totally unprepared, and it made me feel- I dunno, itchy. I didn't like being touched so much, back then. Anyway, I kneed him right in the baby-makers for that move, and we ended up making up after that. Looking back, I find the whole thing kinda funny."
"So you two never really got along," Gia concluded thoughtfully.
Lin laughed at the observation. "That's not necessarily true," she argued. "If he pissed me off, I let him know, just like now. But back then, we got along in our own way. I guess we don't now, but things aren't the same between us. We're not the same. Anyway, I don't wanna get into it too much. Like I said before, it's complicated, and I'm not sure how I feel."
"You were much more demure back then, weren't you?"
Lin snorted. "Not especially. It's just that at that point, I'd been through a lot and it affected me for a long time. But it's not like I didn't think about or talk about sex, if that's whatya mean. I remember when I was first engaged, even though it was arranged, I was kinda excited about finding out all about sex. Our first night together, he was still acting nice toward me, so I was kinda disappointed that he didn't make a move. Jeez, I'd almost forgotten all about that, actually. I read as much about it as I could, too, like I thought I could be some sorta scholar on the subject. Anyway, that was before I realized what a turd he was and ran away."
Gia nodded shallowly and worried at the sheets. "I had hoped you might arrange a marriage for me. In the near future. Perhaps."
Lin was taken aback by the request, especially considering that the kid's visit was due to her broken heart over another woman. "D'you like men that way?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Never before," Gia grumbled, then buried her face in the sheets. "But perhaps I will one day. Even if not, I would like to have children."
"Hm." Lin decided the best way to deal with this particular problem was to change the subject. She understood the concept of giving someone time to accept the parts of themself they hadn't been able to or allowed to before. It bothered her, though. She didn't like the thought of sending a naive girl off into a marriage with some stranger she'd never love, even if Gia wanted that. "I didn't tellya yet, about my first kiss with another woman."
Slowly, she lifted her eyes from the sheets, her attention caught.
"I had this friend, Parvati, when I lived in Bombay," Lin continued, sensing that she'd hit a nerve. "We'd met on the road, and we'd traveled all over together. We shared a little apartment in the city, just one room, but it was plenty. We were at home, talking about sex, and how I was planning to lose my virginity for sure that summer."
Gia gasped, clearly scandalized by this.
"It was years ago," Lin reminded her. "There's no point in getting offended by a memory."
Slowly, she nodded.
"Anyway, where was I? Yeah, there was this python who practiced Tantra, and I was definitely gonna- okay, I won't get into details. But we were talking about this, and Parvati asked if I wanted to try anything with her."
"Just like that?" Gia asked, stunned. "How could she speak so bluntly about such a vulgar topic?"
"Parvati was always blunt and vulgar, just like me. Those've always been the kindsa people I get along with best." Lin grinned at the memory of her friend, a red panda from a small village in Nepal who'd wanted to soak up every tiny pleasure to be found in city life. Unlike Shifu, most of her fur had been ruddy in color, occasionally broken up by bits of white on her face and tail. "So she kissed me. I'd wanted her to kiss me for a while, and I liked it, but I still freaked out a little. It hadn't occurred to me before I'd met her that I could feel anything like that for women, although it should have. There were plenty of signs I'd never noticed until way after the fact. I was just being dense, is all."
"Dense," Gia repeated thoughtfully. "Perhaps I am simply dense with men, as you said."
Lin somehow doubted that, but she kept it to herself. "Ifya think so. I wouldn't know about your feelings."
"I suppose not," she agreed sadly, her eyes becoming watery. "I hate my feelings. I wish I could make them all stop. I want to be like a normal person, who has very neat feelings wrapped up inside of their packages."
Lin grinned at the metaphor. She hadn't known that Gia had a strong enough grasp of Mandarin to make up metaphors, especially good ones. "Maybeya get that from me. Buon sangue non mente. I was always such a crybaby."
"Piango e piango, sempre. Un giorno o l'altro, morirò del mio pianto."
Lin placed her hands on Gia's shoulders and let her cry for a bit. "I don't think you should marry a man," she said, slowly and plainly so there would be no confusion over her opinion. "I can't tell you what to do. But if I could, I would tell you not to."
Gia kept crying and shook her head. "Mother, haven't you loved a man before? Haven't you loved Shifu?"
"Him and more," she replied. "But marriage is the thing that'll take away your self. Understand? You'll get smaller and smaller untilya disappear."
"I want children," she repeated, more firmly this time. "I want to get pregnant. I want to have a baby. That is what I want more than anything."
"It's foolishness," Lin concluded, though there was nothing she could really do about the girl's wants. "Good men are very few. And even they will cover you up until you're nothing. And when they're gone, it'll be like you're a shadow. Alone. Empty."
Gia stroked the fur on top of her head, as if soothing a child. "Mother, your life has been very difficult, hasn't it?"
"Yes." She couldn't deny that, even if she'd wanted to. "What I want is for you to have an easy life, with no pain or heartache."
Although there was no malice in her voice, Gia replied, "Then you should not have left me."
She didn't say anything back to that. It held its own truth, although she still felt she'd been right to leave. She pulled the blankets back around the both of them and fluffed some of her pillows, then settled down to try to get some sleep.
"Will you tell me more stories in the morning?" Gia suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Lin groggily blinked her eyes open, furrowing her brow.
"I like the stories of your life," she clarified. "Will you tell me more?"
"Let's see how I feel, first." It was all she could promise.
"Okay," Gia accepted, and then she finally slept.
Lin found herself waking up long before she wanted to again, this time in the early morning and to an insistent knocking on her door. Gia let out a quiet groan and burrowed deeper into the blankets, but she figured that was fair enough. It was her house, so she should answer the door. "Go away!" she called, but she had a feeling she knew who their visitor was, so she got up and started getting dressed anyway.
"Lin, it's me," Shifu called from the other side of the door, proving her right.
"I know." She finished dressing and dragged herself toward the door, amused to hear him huffing indignantly outside.
"Let me in, please," he said. "It's cold out here!"
Lin cracked the door open to get a look at him, but didn't step aside to let him into the house. "Whaddaya want?" He didn't look too cold to her.
"I brought dumplings," he offered, holding up a little basket carefully covered in a plain handkerchief for her to see. "Tai Lung mentioned your eating habits. I thought it was wise to ensure you have at least one meal a day that hasn't come from the garbage."
"Har har," she replied sarcastically, though she had to admit, he had her with the offer of food.
His ears twitched as Gia grunted and rolled over, and he dropped the basket back down to his side. "Unbelievable!"
"Huh?" Lin wondered if she could act fast enough to snatch the food and shut the door in his face.
"You have someone in there!" he accused, and technically he was right.
And even if she had brought someone home, he'd have no justification for his jealousy. She'd made it clear from the moment he'd kicked her out that they were no longer a couple, and she'd outright told him that the time they were spending together now was neither serious nor exclusive. She was honestly tired of constantly explaining all this to him. "That's nunya."
"Nunya who?" he demanded.
"Nunya business," she replied, then slammed the door in his face. Screw the dumplings, she could make her own.
"Lin!" Shifu snapped from outside. "I will stand out here all day if I have to! You owe me an explanation!"
"No I don't!" she shouted back.
Gia finally emerged from the blankets and sat up with a yawn. "Is 'at Master Shifu?" she asked groggily.
"Go back to sleep, honey."
"Who's honey?" Shifu yelled. "You promised me you would tell me about any dates you went on!"
An indignant frown on her face, Gia got up and marched to the door, throwing it open. "Shame on you, Master Shifu!" she scolded. "Making a scene like this is totally inappropriate, and envy is a sin!" She paused to make a quick sign of the cross, and Lin got a satisfying glimpse of Shifu's flummoxed expression. "Harassing women at the crack of dawn like some ruffian! Have you been drinking?"
"W-what?" he sputtered out. "No!"
"Alright, Gia, that's enough." Lin loved the scene before her, but she had to call the girl off before she burst an aneurysm. "Believe it or not, I can defend myself." She waved Gia away from the door, still grinning at the accusation of Shifu being a drunk.
"I- I hadn't realized Gia was here," Shifu said sheepishly.
"You gonna apologize, or nah?" Lin asked pointedly, crossing her arms.
He scowled at her, but held out the basket of dumplings as a peace offering. "Very well. I'm sorry."
"Good," she said, grabbing the food from him. Then she slammed the door in his face again. "And that's howya handle Shifu," she informed her daughter as she set the dumplings on her crate table. "Want breakfast?"
Gia kneeled at the crate, then let out a small sniff. "I feel bad," she announced. "Was I not a bit harsh?"
Lin snorted. "He's had worse," she dismissed. She removed the cloth from over the dumplings and gave one a squeeze, then scoffed in annoyance. "Great, they're cold."
"We can build a fire," Gia suggested.
"Nah, he's still out there." Lin narrowed her eyes at the door. "Waiting."
"Mother, don't be paranoid."
"Don't call me Mother," she shot back.
Gia got back to her feet and grabbed the basket, then walked out the door. Then she walked back in. "This is awkward."
"Toldya he'd be out there."
"Master Shifu is trying to build a fire. Perhaps we should apologize."
"You really don't know shit about men." With a long-suffering sigh, Lin led the way back outside and marched up to the fire pit, where Shifu was kneeling and trying to get a spark to catch. "What're you doing?"
Before he could answer, Gia started sniveling. "I'm sorry, Master Shifu," she cried, and Lin shook her head in disgust.
"Traitor," Lin accused, then snatched the dumplings away from her. She turned back to Shifu and gave him a nudge. "As for you, move aside. We both knowya can't get a fire going any more'n you can give a woman an orgasm."
"Mother!" Gia gasped.
"Don't call me that!"
Shifu rolled his eyes, but handed her his knife and flint. "Gia, stop hovering and crying," he ordered. "Just have a seat."
Gia sat at the fire pit as instructed, but continued to sniffle.
"Don't be such a pushover," Lin said. "Especially ifya plan to still do that idiotic arranged marriage thing." She got a fire going, then grabbed a nearby stick to stoke it.
"You need to clean up your property," Shifu lectured with some matronly clucking of his tongue. "The longer you leave this place in such a sorry state, the worse off it will be."
"Not everyone's got a team of servants on landscaping duty," she replied, which caused his ear to twitch. "B'sides, I live on a rock. It'll look pretty much the same whether I pick up sticks or not."
"I am sure this weeping cherry tree will look lovely in the spring," Gia said. She seemed like her spirits were lifting quickly.
"Yeah, it'll give this place some color," Lin agreed.
Shifu stared pointedly at the house, which Lin had begun to paint with whatever samples and leftover cans she could find on her way to work and back. The result was extremely rainbow-ish, which Lin loved, so it worked out fine by her. "You mean to say there is not enough color for you already?"
"Remember that time you stalked me and harassed me at my house?" Lin asked in as innocent a tone as she could manage.
"I was only trying to bring you breakfast," he argued. "It is not my fault you're so obtuse."
Gia cleared her throat, and Shifu shut his mouth, turning red. "The fire looks ready," she pointed out quietly.
"Yes, of course," Shifu said sheepishly. "Lin, do you have a pot or a steamer we could use?"
Lin grabbed the nearest stick from the ground and held it out to him. "Whatya see is whatya get."
He hesitantly took the stick from her and used his knife to scrape off some of the bark. "Do you own any household necessities?"
"Depends on your definition of 'necessity,'" she replied, then pulled out her flask to take a swig. She needed it, with Shifu around to frazzle her nerves and Gia constantly trying to call her "Mother."
"Of course," he grumbled, glaring at the flask. "We haven't even eaten breakfast yet, and you're starting in."
"If I didn't like this flask so much it'd already be up your ass," she informed him, then grabbed a stick and started skewering dumplings.
"Uhm," Gia said. "Mo- Lin? May I have some?" Lin held out her dumpling stick for Gia, but she shook her head. "I meant the... I am not sure what is in that flask. If it's strong, I want it."
Lin shot Shifu a smug grin, then handed over the flask. She laughed when Gia took a longer hit from the flask than even she had. "I guess that's proof thatya really are Italian," she observed, patting her on the back.
"I'm surrounded," Shifu complained, then handed his stripped stick to Gia and started on another. "I suppose I should just be happy that the two of you have bonded."
"Why?" Lin asked with a snort. "What's it to you?"
"It is almost as if I care about you or something of the like," he said sarcastically. "How odd."
"Outlandish." She bit a dumpling off the stick, but it still hadn't warmed through.
"Lin, may I hear another story about your life?" Gia asked, glancing between the two of them. "Perhaps one about yourself and Master Shifu?"
"Ick," she replied, which Shifu frowned at. "Okay, maybe the heart dust story."
"Not that one!" Shifu protested.
"Oh, I'm definitely telling that one now." She ate another dumpling, this one nice and warm, then ignored Shifu and turned to Gia. "So when we were younger and I used to work as the cook, Shifu kept spending all this time around me 'cause of his big wimpy crush."
"A crush is not wimpy."
"Don't interrupt. Anyway, he followed me out drinking one night, but turned out to be such a lightweight it was ridiculous. After three drinks he threw up in a fountain, lost a shoe, and could barely stand. Then he got all weird and kept cackling about nothing, and when I finally asked him what was so funny, he held up his hand like there was something in it and went, 'This is my heart dust!' and blew. I guess that was supposed to be a love confession?"
"I wouldn't remember," Shifu grumbled.
"It was hilarious."
Gia giggled, slapping one knee with her hand. "Only three drinks and all that?"
"Yep!"
"Master Shifu, I had no idea you were so funny!"
"Sure. Funny. That's the word for it," Lin added with a snort, then finished off her dumplings.
"I'd like to hear another," Gia said, still smiling from the last one.
"Nah, that's enough for now. I don't like talking about the past for too long at a time." Lin also didn't want to tell too many stories in front of Shifu. That was more something for her and Gia to bond, just the two of them.
Gia gave her big puppy eyes. "Please?"
"Nope!"
With a sigh, she ate her dumplings, then stood up. "Ogni storiella mi racconti è un filo tirato nel tessuto della tua vita, e che io svelarle tutte finché sparisce sulle mani come l'acqua luccicanti." She then turned around and walked into the house.
"What was all that?" Shifu asked.
Lin hesitated a moment, unsure if she should tell him. Then again, it wasn't like he hadn't said similar things to her before. "She said each little story I tell her is a loose thread in the fabric of my life, and that she'd unravel them all until they spilled over her hands like gleaming water."
Shifu stared at her.
"What?"
"Gia really said that?" he asked skeptically. "She phrased it exactly like that?"
Lin snorted. "Yeah. It's not like I ever say shit like that."
"But..."
Lin scooped up a handful of dirt and threw it at him. Shifu waved his hand in front of his face, coughing and squinting. "You're such a bloody little hemorrhoid," she scolded. "Mandarin's her second language! She's not gonna be as articulate in it while she's still getting used to it. You're acting like she's dumb or something!"
"I am not!" He coughed a little more and wiped his face with his sleeve. "I just am surprised that she talks that way. I didn't realize she said things like that."
"She's very poetic sometimes," Lin confirmed. "And very annoying the rest of the time."
Shifu stood and brushed himself off, then added a log to their fire. "I'd tell you to be nice, but I value my life."
"Good." Lin might not want to date Shifu anymore, but she didn't mind looking at his butt while he bent over. "Shake it!" she taunted, just to annoy him.
He crossed his arms and glared at her. "I am not going stand for you talking to me like that anymore."
"That's okay, I'd rather you lie down for it anyway," she replied with a cackle.
"I'm done," Shifu announced with an uptight sniff, then tried to make a big deal about marching away. Slowly.
She suppressed a laugh before chasing after him. "Fine! Just thought I'd flirt a little."
"That wasn't flirting," he argued.
"Okay, how about this?" Lin yanked him toward her and lowered her voice so that Gia wouldn't overhear her flirting. "You were real bad today. Am I gonna hafta give someone a spanking?"
"Lin, stop that," he argued, already red in the face. "Gia is right inside."
"So? I toldya, I'm flirting." She reached up to stroke his ear, which she knew for a fact he loved. "These ears feel so soft, I just wanna yank 'em."
"I've told you before that these things you say are too aggressive to be considered flirting." He stepped back from her, though she could tell from how red he looked that she'd gotten to him.
"And I've told you before that if I left everything to you, I'd be lying in a pitch dark room waiting forya to wrap up your thirty seconds." She grinned at the way he nervously glanced at the house and frowned. "Aw, c'mon. Gia's a big girl, it's not gonna kill her if she finds us flirting."
"Once again, what you call flirting is everyone else's definition of vulgar sexual harassment. And I do not appreciate what you implied about my- Oh, Gia." He looked about the color of a ripe red plum at this point.
Gia rejoined them, looking curiously at Shifu. "What did she say this time?"
Lin gave her a smack on the arm for that, though she still found it pretty funny. "All I did was flirt! Shifu's just a big old tight-ass." Then she gave Shifu a wink, just to embarrass him further. "In more ways than one."
"What is the phrase in Mandarin that I am searching for?" Gia asked, wrinkling her nose. "Mi fa cagare."
Lin laughed at the phrase. "I don't think there's a direct translation. Just say, 'that's gross,' or, 'that's awful.'"
"That's gross," she repeated carefully. "That's awful."
"What does the Italian phrase mean?" Shifu asked. His color seemed to be calming down, now that he had Gia agreeing with him about how gross Lin was.
"Literally?" Lin knew he'd get grossed out again, so of course she was excited to tell him. "It would mean, 'it makes me poop.'"
"Eugh!" Shifu wrinkled his nose. "Why on Earth would anyone say that? What kind of vulgar language is this?"
"Y'know, you're always complaining about vulgarity, but you've never learned a second language," Lin pointed out. "You don't realize that it's the most universal part of language. When people learn new languages, the first words and phrases they always learn are curses and slang. Y'know, vulgarity."
"Italian is a very beautiful language with many lyrical qualities," Gia added indignantly.
"Nerd," she said with a laugh.
"Ehi!"
Lin caught Shifu grinning at them like an idiot and curled her lip at him. "What's with you alluva sudden?"
"Nothing," he answered quickly.
Lin leaned toward Gia and nudged her side. "È così ficcanaso."
"Non essere così cattiva!" Gia said disapprovingly. "Tiene solo."
"Stronzate," Lin argued back, rolling her eyes at Gia's gasp.
Shifu interrupted them by clearing his throat, his ear twitching. "Has anyone ever mentioned to you that it's rude to exclude someone from a conversation by speaking a language they don't understand?"
"Ora sta diventando irritabile," Lin said to Gia, just to annoy him more.
"Stop it," Gia scolded, apparently too concerned about Shifu to have a little fun at his expense. "Master Shifu is correct, we should not discuss him in Italian."
"You were talking about me?" he snapped, his eye now twitching, too. "What are you saying?"
"That you are nosy," Gia answered before Lin could tell him to mind his business. "Well, Lin said that. I told her not to be so mean."
Shifu narrowed his eyes at Lin, his lips pursed in that uptight way that made him look even more ridiculous than usual. "You are such a rude little tumbleweed."
She laughed at the insult. "Whatever, melon-head. By the way, in Italian it's testa di melone. Just in caseya wanna keep track of when I'm talking aboutya."
"One of these days you are going to insult the wrong person," he grumbled.
Lin couldn't help but laugh again at his ignorance. "You really think I haven't already? Not that I didn't come out on top all those times. But I can't stick around and tell any more stories. If I don't book it I'll be late to work."
"Could I join you?" Gia asked, her ears perking up. That was an unexpected request, but she knew Ping would let anyone who either paid for a meal or offered to work hang around the restaurant.
"Sure, I guess."
"I will leave you two be," Shifu offered, which also caught her off-guard.
"Since when're you so thoughtful?" she asked, and his eye twitched again.
"Since always!" he snapped, then took a deep breath. "I should go. I will see you both later." He left by doing one of his bizarre kung fu leaps across the lake, which left Lin to take Gia with her on the punt.
"Hey," Lin said as she realized something that should have been completely obvious to her already. "I had the punt over here on the island, so... How'd you get across the lake last night?"
Gia pointed at Shifu's retreating back, a puzzled expression on her face. "I jumped," she replied like this was totally normal. "Is that not what everyone does?"
Lin stared at her, waiting for an admission that this was a joke, but she was apparently completely serious. So that discussion with Tigress about Gia knowing kung fu might not have been entirely inaccurate. "Okay. I'm gonna need about five pots of tea before we get into this."
"There is nothing to get into," Gia said as she followed her onto the punt. "I simply picked up some things traveling. I could not very well live with Shaolin monks without learning a thing or two."
"Nope," Lin replied. "Tea first. Then this whole Shaolin monk story." She should have known Gia would have some truly preposterous travel stories. Lord knew she did. She liked that they had that in common. In fact, she liked a lot of what she was learning about the girl. Enough so that she felt like this effort of getting to know each other had turned out to be something worthwhile. Maybe that conclusion was a little premature, but she had wasted enough time with the people she cared about already, and Shifu had taught her that her heart was more resilient than she'd known. And after everything she'd learned last night, she found herself hoping that Gia was just as resilient.
Tai Lung was sitting in meditation in front of the Moon Pool when Lin found him. He'd been meditating as often as Shifu would allow it, considering the increasing oddity of his visions. In a surprising turn of events, he found Shifu amenable to his frequent requests for solitary meditation. Although he'd experienced no further visions since his night with Lin, it was a welcome respite from spending his time with the rest of the Jade Palace's residents.
"Yo," Lin greeted him, then leaned the entirety of her weight on his back. "I finished the thing, whenever you're done napping."
"Naps are for babies and old people." He stood up, then reached over his shoulder to pry Lin off his back and place her down on the floor. "Let's go."
"What, no piggyback ride?"
Tai Lung glared at her. "The situation doesn't exactly call for it. Now lead the way."
"Ugh, I hate it whenya get bossy," Lin complained, but she started walking anyway. She let him out of the Jade Palace and around it to the small building that served as her work space.
Although Tai Lung looked forward to the possibility of having a new piece to this puzzle, he still hesitated on the porch. He was going to see that thing again, even if it was just Lin's interpretation. Either way, the experience would be unpleasant. He breathed deeply to steel himself, reminding himself that he was unlikely to see anything he hadn't seen before in his visions.
"Okay?" Lin asked, one hand on the door.
He nodded, and she led him inside. There, taking up the entirety of the far wall, was the painting Lin had done of the creature. Tai Lung felt his heart thumping in his chest at the sight of it. Black ink covered most of the paper, and gradually from its depths emerged the creature's massive tentacles, reaching toward him. And there in the center, that glowing blue-green eye, totally alien yet all-knowing. He turned around and fled to the studio's porch, gasping in deep breaths of the cold mountain air. Air. Not water.
"Guess I didn't realize you were so traumatized," Lin commented when she joined him. She held out her flask to him and he sipped from it until his heart started to calm and a pleasant tingling spread out from his stomach.
"Why doesn't it bother you?" he finally asked. It was a question he should have asked a long time ago.
"'Cause I barely remember," Lin told him. "Those visions were supposed to remind me, y'know. Of things I don't really think about anymore, and things I don't even remember. But they happened. It's kinda like whenya smell something familiar and alluva suddenya remember something you'd forgotten until that smell. Like your grandma's cooking or something."
"Or like you," he added, though why he would admit that he didn't know. Her liquor must have loosened his tongue.
"Me?"
He might as well tell her, now that he'd brought it up. "I had forgotten a lot of that summer, until you came back and reminded me."
"Oh." Lin looked awkward for a bit, then took her flask from him and drank from it. "So that thing. The... Whatever it was. I remember coming to under the water. It was almost like there was nothing at first, except now I know what nothing's like and it wasn't even close. But anyway, there wasn't even enough light to breath out and see which way the bubbles went. And all I could hear was the rhythm of the ocean, like hearing a giant creature breathing from inside it. And then I remember, something was there. I didn't see or hear, but I knew."
"This is exactly what I've been seeing," Tai Lung confirmed. "Go on, tell me more."
"Then there was the eye. Almost as big as my whole body." Lin paused and stared out into the distance as she remembered that moment. He understood, so he didn't push. "I knew right away it was nothing like a regular person. How could it be? The ocean's so vast, so different. It woulda never known any of the same things we do. It might not've ever even seen the sky. But the way it looked at me, it was like it knew me. It knew everything inside of me. It could see."
He shivered at the memory of how that felt. "And?"
"And that's what I remember," Lin finished, then chugged the rest of the liquor from her flask. "Next thing I remember's being on the beach with a buncha really annoying circular wounds."
"The sucker marks," Tai Lung guessed.
"That's right. Everything between that moment and when I ended up on the beach is just... Gone. Even if I try to remember, I can't. Maybe I blacked out."
He contemplated the wisdom of telling her what he'd surmised from his visions, but he had to tell her something. "I don't think you did."
She frowned up at him, then turned around and walked back into the studio.
He braced himself before following her in.
Lin was standing in front of that horrifying painting of the creature, her arms crossed as she eyed him. The tentacles in that painting surrounded her, as if she and the creature were one. "You been acting weird."
Tai Lung could feel his fur standing on end. He reminded himself that this was just Lin, not some unknown monster from the depths of the ocean, and she probably didn't even know how she looked right now. It didn't help. "I'm on edge from all these visions."
"Tell me something I don't know."
There was plenty Lin didn't know, but he wasn't about to tell her any of it. Best to leave it alone. "The more visions I have the more convinced I become that we shouldn't have done this," he admitted. "This doesn't feel like something we should go looking for."
Lin narrowed her eyes at him, and for a moment he thought she might ask him what he wasn't telling her. But then she nodded. "That's fair."
"It is?"
"Yeah, it is. This shit's creepy! It's weird! It's stressful, too. How can I blameya for freaking out when I did the exact same thing?" She sat down on the floor of her studio and waited until he joined her, then surprised him by grabbing hold of his hand. "If this's too much, ifya need to stop, we can stop," she said.
He waited for her to say something more about how they shouldn't stop, about how important his rehabilitation was, but she didn't. "...That's it?" he asked incredulously.
"Yep."
He should have known. Lin was the one who had offered to let him stay in Shanghai. She had given him multiple opportunities to turn his back on this rehabilitation multiple times already. "Why do you keep offering to let me quit?"
Lin raised her eyebrows at him. "'Cause you're stressed and unhappy like, always? 'Cause no one should hafta go through this stupid weird mystical shit?"
"The answer to doing something difficult isn't always to quit," he argued, yanking his hand away from her. He stopped himself there, reeling at how much like Shifu he'd sounded.
"That's not what I'm saying," Lin replied indignantly. "I'm saying the only reason to do something this hard is 'cause you think it's worth doing. And the only time to do it is when you're ready! If one of those ain't the case, if neither's the case, you need to know there's no shame in taking a step back. I'll still be here."
He rubbed at his forehead, squinting his eyes shut in his frustration. "Then what was the point of even doing this?"
"The point?" She barked out a laugh, short and sarcastic. "The only point is to try. And you've already done that. But everyone has their limits, and you're seeming pretty close to yours."
"And your limit?" Tai Lung knew he had asked that question too harshly, and the implication behind it. He hadn't meant to rub her nose in her failure with Oogway's visions, but he'd lashed out without thinking.
"My limit's been reached," she admitted, her voice tight. "We know that already."
They sat together in heavy silence a while, Tai Lung trying to come up with something to say to alleviate the awkwardness he'd created. Lin looked upset, but at least she hadn't walked away from their conversation.
He supposed there was really only one thing to say. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
"It was a low blow," she agreed. "But apology accepted."
"Where do we go from here?" Tai Lung asked, though he already knew that Lin didn't have an answer for him.
She shrugged, as he'd expected. "Didya try writing stuff down, like I suggested?"
"Of course not, I'm not an angsty preteen."
"Nah, just an angsty adult." Lin got up and rummaged around in several drawers before pulling out a blank scroll and holding it out for him. "Try," she ordered.
He took the scroll with an irritated grunt. "What am I supposed to do? Write down every thought that pops into my head?" He hadn't ever kept a journal growing up, and he hadn't ever intended to start. If Lin thought this would help with his visions, though, he might as well give it a try. It wasn't as though he had anything else to go on.
"You can," she answered. "Or you can write down what you're feeling, or a dreamya had, or a song like I do. Maybe even a letter to someone thatya never intend them to read. You can write whateverya want down on there. You don't even gotta keep it. You can burn it or bury it or whatever afterward. The important part is the writing."
"And what will it accomplish, specifically?" he asked skeptically while Lin went back to her tall cabinet of drawers to look for something else.
"It can bring your inner thoughts and emotions into focus," she replied, then dropped some ink and a brush in front of him. "Or ifya got something you can't let go, it's a way of getting it out and trying to move on. At bare minimum, ifya write down all your visions you might be able to compare 'em and see if there's somethingya missed."
"...That last thing sounds useful, actually," he admitted.
"Okay, then," Lin accepted with a nod. "You stay here, take a desk ifya need it, and write while I draw."
"Draw?" He had sincerely thought Lin was only using the studio space to squeeze money out of Shifu while she lazed about and took naps. Apparently he'd been wrong.
"Yeah, there's some stupid tournament coming up in the spring," Lin said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I gotta start some mockups for the posters."
"I still can't believe you actually do your job."
"Keep that attitude up ifya wanna get a faceful of red paint," she said, then sat at a desk and proceeded to ignore him in favor of her work.
He decided to remain seated in his spot on the floor while he wrote down the details of each of the visions he had received so far. The exercise proved useful immediately in jogging his memory, and beneath each entry he wrote a short list of what he thought might be significant about each experience. His first vision, though short, had been triggered by his lesson on meditation in extreme conditions from Lin. In the ocean. That had to be significant, considering the nature of the creature appearing to him, so he made a note of it. By the time he had gone through all his experiences, he had a number of lists to easily look through for similarities, or... Something. Anything.
He glanced at Lin, only to see her resting her head in her hand and staring blankly down at her desk.
"Uninspired?" he asked.
"Just the old internal debate about selling out," she said with a grimace. "This job pays well enough, but y'know... I'm making posters of people jump kicking."
"Kung fu is incredibly important and honorable, blah blah blah," Tai Lung replied. "There, feel any better?"
Lin snorted at his joke. "Yeah, and it always works out great for everyone involved, right?"
"Right," he grumbled. "That's why Shifu and I have such a healthy relationship."
Lin's expression turned serious at that. "About that. Can I askya something?"
Tai Lung set his brush down, waiting for her question.
"Whenya went after Shifu all those years ago, were you actually trying to kill him?"
No one had ever asked him that before. And it had been a long time since he'd thought back on what he was feeling and thinking that day. But now that Lin had asked him, he probed his mind for an answer. "I don't know," he said, hoping she didn't get upset with him. "I was angry, and bitter, and I wanted to hurt him. I wanted to hurt everyone. But I don't... I don't know if I was even thinking that far ahead."
Lin nodded at what he'd said, still looking down at her paper. "I get it."
Tai Lung snorted. "You get attempted patricide?" he asked skeptically.
She shocked him by simply answering, "Yes."
He stared at her back, waiting for her to tell him what in the hell she meant.
Eventually, she turned around to face him. "You remember back at that beach, when I said I understandya more'n you knew?"
He nodded.
"After my grandmother died... I got a knife from the kitchen. Biggest knife I could find. I had it all worked out. I was gonna kill 'em in their sleep. My dad first, 'cause he was bigger and stronger. I'd slit his throat before he could even wake up. Then I'd stab my mom. I didn't know what I'd do after that, but that wasn't the important part. Anyway, I stood over their bed for almost an hour while they slept, holding that knife, trying to work up the nerve to actually do it."
Tai Lung shifted uncomfortably at this story. It was unbearably creepy, somehow moreso than his own actual murders. At least he had been in a haze of rage, rather than stalking people at night with a weapon. "You didn't murder them, though."
"Nah. I was too scared. In the end, I just went down to the beach and watched the ocean. Kept the knife under my pillow 'til the day I left that house, though." She paused and let out a heavy sigh. "That's the first time I've told anyone that. I never even told that story to Al."
"Why not?"
"Why d'ya think?" Lin asked with a scoff. "It makes me sound like a serial killer!"
"As someone who has actually been imprisoned for murder, I can confirm that it does indeed," he replied flatly.
"I was thirteen," Lin snapped. "I've changed a lot since then. B'sides, it's not like I wasn't under stress."
"I know," Tai Lung said. He awkwardly cleared his throat, then held out his hand to her. "I understand."
She eyed him a moment before before leaving her seat to sidle up against him on the floor. "I'm glad I didn't do it," she said. "Just to be clear."
He knew what she was trying to prompt from him, and rolled his eyes at her obvious emotional ploy. "Fine, I will admit that I regret that rampage. Now, let us discuss what I have written."
Lin dragged the scroll he'd been using toward her and raised her eyebrows at the first list. "Ocean?" she asked. "Wow, excellent insight, there."
"The visions tend to happen more at night and more around water," Tai Lung said, pointing at his lists. "This is about comparison. To give me insight."
"And?"
"And it isn't working." He rubbed at his eyes and looked over his notes again. There were three things tying all of these visions together: water, Lin, and that creature. It didn't bring him to any solid conclusions, though. "Am I even supposed to be learning anything from these visions? They feel more like I'm being haunted. By you. And I spend most of my spare time with you, anyway!"
"Oooooh, I'm a ghooooost," Lin teased, because she couldn't take anything seriously for more than a minute or two at a time.
"Yes," Tai Lung replied sarcastically. "You are a ghost. Congratulations, you have solved the mystery of these visions."
"Whaddaya learn from that, though?" she asked, as if this were a real discussion.
"That I should never, ever go swimming again."
"Got it. Well, now that that's all squared away, I guess we got no reason to hang out together anymore."
"I would still spend time with you and you know it."
Lin leaned into him harder and he gave up trying to pretend that they had any normal boundaries whatsoever and put his arm around her. It wasn't long before Lin was snoring into his side, and most likely drooling on him as well. Honestly, he thought she had a good idea, there. If he wasn't going to figure out his visions, and didn't have Shifu tailing him or the panda to worry about, then he might as well have a nap. There were worse places to doze than Lin's studio, which was warm and full of light, and cluttered in way that felt homey to him. The rest of the Jade Palace felt cold and sterile to him, in comparison to this space. So, still holding onto Lin, he tried to get a bit of sleep.
He should have known how that would turn out. He realized this when he found himself in a crowded bar, a loud band playing, people drunkenly dancing about. This must have been another of Lin's memories, but he found he had no control over her body. He was simply... Here.
And then there was Yan-Yan, just a child with bright eyes and a shy smile, grabbing hold of Lin's hand and pulling her toward the dancing crowd. She shouted something that was swallowed up in the music and shouts around them, but Lin smiled and nodded all the same, and swung her around so suddenly that she screamed in surprise. Laughing and hanging off of each other, they traversed the dance floor in unskilled jumps and spins, not caring one bit how they must have looked. If Tai Lung tried hard enough, he could almost pretend that he was the one dancing in this crowd, that this had happened to him.
He liked this feeling of keeping himself while he existed in Lin. though. He felt like he was floating. Not in the ocean, but weightless among the stars, and all the stars were made of this joy, radiating it in a warm light that cascaded over him. He remembered something that Oogway had once said, that the entire universe existed within a person. He could believe that, now.
He wished he could scoop this moment up in his hands and carry it back to Lin, so she could feel it again, too. He knew she didn't remember this anymore, this uncomplicated joy. He was surprised she could even feel this way at fourteen, after a life of nothing but abuse. But maybe that was why her emotions were so strong in this moment. It was like the feeling of soaring through the sky for the first time, after spending his entire life chained up in a hole in the ground. It was the feeling of freedom, when he'd never known it before.
Green eyes looked back at him, a badger with an oddly familiar face. "Al! Let's dance!" Lin grabbed his hand and spun him around, the two of them laughing together. Tai Lung continued to float on that joy, even though Lin was older now, more hesitant now, scarred inside and out. But that music filled her ears and drowned out those things until she forgot them, even if only for a little while. This was what it felt like to put aside the whole world and just be.
But she remembered. And if Lin remembered, so did Tai Lung. Those days were gone. Al was gone. And as radiant as Lin's joy had been, her grief was infinitely darker. Crushing. Empty. A vast, cold void that consumed him and pressed into every cell of his body.
Once again Tai Lung found himself enrobed in darkness, and once again the creature appeared before him. Something brushed his back, and as though the words were coming from his own mind, it spoke to him. Lin's voice spoke to him. "Show me," it said. "Show me the story of you."
He opened his mouth, surprised to find he didn't gasp for air. "How?"
"With a moment," it answered, then he was wrapped in odd pale limbs thick as tree trunks, their tooth-like undersides cutting his flesh. Tentacles.
Then he was sitting on the outcropping under the peach tree, seven years old again, watching fireworks. He was happy, bathing in the glow of his father's attention, Lin's attention, Oogway's benign warmth. And then he noticed the way that Lin looked at Shifu, and he looked at her, and suddenly he was invisible. That loneliness that had defined his childhood, the feeling of his father looking right through him, even pervaded this moment of joy. And worse, the woman who had paid him a type of attention he'd never known before was now wrapped up in someone else. The rush of feelings, of memories, of understanding nearly overwhelmed him. How he'd been so desperate to keep Lin in his life, how his interest in romance had suddenly swelled that summer, how he'd focused more on kung fu than people after she had left him behind, how Shifu had briefly seen him for who he was and not what he wanted from him. So much had happened in that lazy summer, yet so little had changed. It had left a yearning behind in him, one which he'd buried down deep so he wouldn't be distracted, wondering how things might have been different.
The fireworks, the night around him, the peach tree and the Jade Palace all faded away. Oogway and Shifu disappeared. Lin turned to him, and stared at him with a long, probing gaze. Waiting.
Unnerved, he wanted nothing more than to escape, yet he remained rooted to the spot. "What?" he asked shakily. "What is it you want?"
Her voice sounded raw, raspy, like a scream and a whisper at the same time. "See," she said. "Understand."
He awoke with a startled shout, gasping for air and drenched with sweat.
"Ew!" Lin sat up beside him, wiping herself off. "You sweated all over me! Nasty!"
Tai Lung stood and staggered outside to get some fresh air and cool off a little bit, surprised to find the sun was already setting.
"Shit!" Lin ran out after him, throwing on a coat that was far too big for her. "I lost track of time and dinner service's starting," she rushed out. "Gotta go! Ping's already pissed at me!" She ran off without even stopping to ask him if he'd had any more visions.
Tai Lung sat heavily down on the studio's porch and watched her go, a hollow ache in his chest that he hadn't felt before those visions. But he knew this feeling. It was one of loss. Not just for Lin or Shifu, but for everything he had lost, and everything she has lost, because he had felt that, too, just as clearly.
He didn't want to ruminate on his visions anymore, or Lin's connection to that thing, or their past together. The last thing he wanted was to think at all. He closed his eyes, breathed deeply, and sat with this aching feeling of his. Just to feel it. That would have to be enough for now.
Shifu poured himself some tea and sat at the table in his room, listening to the rain pattering on the Jade Palace's roof and the distant rumble of thunder. He'd resigned himself to an evening in, due to the weather, and had made sure his students knew they had permission for the same luxury. He had gathered a number of reading materials to entertain him, lit a generously sized brazier, put on his softest robe, and given Zeng instructions not to disturb him for any reason. Instructions which, judging by the sound of wet footsteps slapping on the stone floors outside his door, were being ignored. With an irritated sigh, he made it to the door and swung it open just in time to see a soaking wet mop draped in rags standing out in the hallway. "...What is going on?"
Lin shook herself, spraying him and everything in the hallway with icy cold water.
"Agh!" He ducked behind the door, which she took as an invitation to enter his room. "Why are you out in this weather?"
"I been working," Lin replied with another shake. "And I was gonna head home, but y'know... The storm. You got a towel or what?"
"It's been raining all day," Shifu pointed out while he retrieved several towels from his wardrobe and passed them all to her.
"Well, I worked all night last night and into today," she said as though this behavior were normal. "I got deadlines, y'know."
"I don't," he admitted, recoiling slightly at her angry frown. "I delegate details like that."
"Of course you do." Lin promptly stripped naked, throwing her clothes unceremoniously in a pile on the floor.
"No, please, allow me," Shifu said sarcastically, then picked up her clothes and hung them to dry over the open doors of his wardrobe.
Lin followed him and snatched the first piece of dry clothing within her reach, a spare shirt of his. "I don't feel like banging," she told him bluntly.
"Thank you for that piece of breaking news."
She shrugged his shirt on and stuck her tongue out at him. "You got anything to do around here? Like... God, I can't even come up with any examples 'cause this place is such a boring, kung fu obsessed mausoleum."
"You could read," he suggested, sweeping his hand toward the pile of scrolls he had gathered by the brazier. "Or leave."
"Likeya really want me to leave," she said with snort. "You're obsessed with me." She grabbed his cup of tea and several pillows, then plopped down on the floor and made a complete mess of his collection of scrolls by pawing through them. She scanned most of them, scoffed disgustedly, and tossed them aside before settling on one without any further comment to him.
"You're welcome," Shifu said pointedly.
"Yuhuh," was all Lin said back.
He let her rudeness go and grabbed himself a new cup so he could drink his tea. He chose a scroll about theory of achieving flight through extensive meditation and the proper application of chi and settled down to read as he'd planned. He made it about halfway through the scroll before it lost him and he needed to set it aside for a mental break and a fresh pot of tea.
Shifu refreshed Lin's tea, too. He watched her, stretched out on the floor beside the brazier in a spare shirt of his, happily sipping on hot tea and reading. If he just forgot everything else they'd been through, all the horrible things they'd said and done to each other, and focused on this moment... It felt like a real relationship. It felt like everything he wanted to have with her. Comfortable nights like these, spent relaxing quietly together- that was what he wanted, more than anything. It didn't seem like too much to ask. "What are you reading?" he asked, unable to keep his fondness for her out of his voice.
She hesitated a moment in answering him, clearly waiting until she'd gotten to a good stopping point. Perhaps her behavior would have annoyed him at another time, but at that moment he found it cute. Perhaps due to her lack of pants. She finally looked up at him, raising her eyebrows. "Some romance, I think one of Tai Lung's stories that he's so into. That kid's got some issues."
Shifu snorted at the assertion; he doubted the racy stories Tai Lung had been somehow getting his hands on since childhood were the source of his "issues." He joined her on the floor beside the brazier, pleased to find that she didn't protest. "I assume this is some sort of sweeping romance."
"I guess," she answered. "But like... Super complex. So the main character's this girl who becomes close friends with this other wealthy noble girl, right? And they start spending all this time together, then the main girl starts getting it on with her friend's dad who's old as hell and married and all, and obviously he's just some horny old man trying to get his dick wet, right? But she's totally hung up on him. And he's got like a million mistresses and she tries to leave him a bunch of times but he always wins her back. Eventually he sets her up in this house with his daughter, 'cause he knocked her up, y'know. And he like only shows up to bang her, but then his son starts coming around to help take care of her and the baby. And now the son is falling in love with her I think? And like, wants to marry her and raise his sister together. Not his sister the friend of the main character, his sister the love child of the main character."
"...Yes, I had deduced that." Alright, so maybe some of Tai Lung's issues stemmed from those stories. "This doesn't sound like a story you would enjoy very much."
She shrugged. "Meh. It's not so exciting to read about when you've lived it. Just to be clear, I was the horny old guy in this scenario."
"Of course you were." He wondered if she were telling him some small grain of truth. Probably not. At the moment he couldn't bring himself to care about much beside the fact that she was talking to him like a normal person, without any fighting or screaming. "Is there anything in this world you haven't done?"
"Bears," she answered without missing a beat. "I've never done a bear."
"I could have lived a long and happy life without hearing that." He should have seen that coming.
"Not that I got anything against bears," she went on. "It's just that I never had a lotta opportunities. I knew this brown bear when I was in the circus, but he was so old at that point he was more like a gray bear. And I was still in my thirties, so I wasn't having any of that, y'know? Nah, I just stuck with the fire-breather and the conjoined twins. And two of the acrobats."
He winced as she went through the list, trying his best to suppress his jealousy. After all, Lin was prone to exaggeration. And even if she weren't lying, these were events from years ago. "I thought you were the fire breather."
"When'd I ever say that?" she asked, confused.
"You breathed fire. Remember?" Sometimes he wondered if she even bothered trying to keep all her outlandish stories straight.
"Yeah, 'cause the fire breather taught me how," she replied casually. "I never said that was what I did in the circus."
He rubbed at his temple. "What did you do, then?"
She lifted up one arm to flex it, grinning at him. "Whaddaya think? Strong man."
He snorted. "Strong man?" he repeated skeptically. "I could overpower you without a second thought."
"You're an anomaly," she argued. "B'sides, I worked out a lot back then. We had this big promotional poster with a print of everyone sitting on the oversized barbell while I lifted it. That was a trip! I loved that job."
"Why did you leave it?" he asked, though he still had his doubts about her whole account.
"Turns out sleeping with most of your co-workers ain't such a good idea, and let's leave it at that."
He wondered if it were possible to have a normal conversation with Lin. Then again, he supposed this kind of subject matter were normal by her standards. To be honest, though, he was pleased she was bothering to tell him anything about her life, regardless of whether or not her stories were true. And he'd found that the less he contradicted her, the more she revealed. "What did you do after the circus?" he asked, hoping she wouldn't shut down or change the subject.
"Hm." She sounded thoughtful, as if trying to decide what to tell him and what to keep to herself- not that he'd expected any different. "Not much, I guess. I was kinda, I dunno... Lost. That was after I had Gia, y'know, and it changed me a lot. I wasn't sure of anything, really. In the end I just enlisted and went to war. Figured no matter how screwed up I got, I could still fight. I was always good at that much, anyway."
"That's... Sad." He probably shouldn't have said anything, but she didn't seem offended. "What about after that? Did you find yourself, as it were?"
"Not really," she answered, as if she were talking about something as inconsequential as whether or not she'd found a lost sock. "After I got discharged, I just felt worse. I guess I just wasn't cut out for war. Anyway, I ended up falling in love, then."
He choked a little on his own spit. "What?" Maybe it had been a bit of a stretch, but he'd always been under the impression that Lin's relationships after him were... Well, casual, to say the least.
"See, I knew you'd get butthurt over this," she grumbled, turning her attention back to the story. "I shouldn'ta said anything."
"No, I apologize, please go on." As much as he hated to hear Lin's claim of having loved someone else, someone beside him, he didn't want to discourage her from telling him about her past. "Please, Lin. I... I was caught off guard. I'm not 'freaking out' as you say. I am fine."
She let out a heavy sigh. "Fine," she accepted. "But am I gonna hafta giveya a play by play of everything I've ever done?"
He considered saying she should tell him as much as she wanted, but he had a feeling she'd answer with "nothing." She'd never said much about her life, so it was a difficult choice to make. "Ahm... You said you'd spent a good number of years in England. Correct?"
"Yeah, that's right." She sounded like she was getting agitated, so maybe that was not the best subject to bring up.
"Well, you were... In love. And this was before you'd been to England?"
"Yeah," she said again. "What's your point?"
"I suppose I would like to know what your life was like while you were still traveling. And perhaps a little bit about why you decided to settle down." He didn't think it sounded like too much, but he could never tell with Lin.
She shrugged. "I mean, traveling around was, y'know... It's always tough. There's never enough money, and the olderya get the harder it is. But we were alright, I thought."
He felt his stomach knot up, hearing that this love of Lin's had traveled with her. "How long did that last?"
"Five years, I think?" She paused, her expression unreadable. "It didn't end well. I thought I could fix all our problems, but in the end I couldn't. And that's fine, looking back. We weren't right for each other. But that was the most hurt I'd been... Ever, I think, over getting dumped. She... Got tired of me. And she 'couldn't handle me anymore' apparently. Anyway, ifya ever dump someone and those're the reasons, just lie. 'Cause that's not something anyone ever needs to hear."
"Oh," Shifu said, his voice a bit strangled. He remembered Lin mentioning such a slight to him back in Shanghai, though he'd never expected to receive details on the matter. And he still was a bit shocked by the fact that Lin was talking about a woman.
"Don't get all uptight on me," she grumbled. "Ah, I dunno why I talked so much about that. It was years ago."
"Right, of course." He couldn't hold his tongue any longer, no matter how hard he tried. "...She?"
She glared at him. "Really? That's what you're lingering on?"
"Never mind," he answered quickly. "I, uhm, was confirming. That's all. Please, go on."
She glared silently at him a moment longer, then surprisingly conceded and continued with her account of her life. "There's not much else to tell. After that, I went to England."
"I seem to remember you saying that you'd swum the English Channel?" he prompted, curious as to whether or not she would maintain such a story.
"Oh, yeah. That." She didn't sound too keen on telling that part.
"And you didn't have any problems?" he pushed. Part of him believed that she'd actually accomplished such a feat. At least, he wanted to believe her.
Lin's gaze became less focused, distant; apparently he'd brought up a strong memory for her. "I remember something... An eye in the darkness, looking straight at me. Huge, glowing, strange... And then nothing." She furrowed her brow, then seemed to realize she'd just said something odd and snorted. "When I washed up on shore, I had all these weird wounds all over me. Big circles. That's how I got my scars. Most of 'em, anyway. And that's probably connected to Tai Lung's visions, but I don't wanna discuss it without him, so don't even bother asking."
A shiver ran down his spine at the thought of such a thing. Of course, he'd noticed her odd scars before. It was difficult not to, at least when she was nude. But when he'd asked about them, she'd only ever told him they came from the sea. He tried not to let on how disturbing he found her tale, and especially the fact that it somehow now haunted Tai Lung. He didn't want their conversation to end yet. "Next thing I know you're going to tell me there's an odd story behind your cataracts, as well."
"I guess there is," she replied, then pointed to her one milky eye. "This's the eye I saw it with. Some mysterious olm ritual."
He stared at her in disbelief; did she have these stories on hand or did she simply make whatever she thought was most interesting up on the spot? "What on earth is an olm?"
"Weird eyeless salamander thingies," she said casually. "Live in caves, that sorta thing. I got lost in this cave system in- I think it was Slovenia?"
He'd done his best not to question anything she'd told him, but he couldn't hold back any longer. "You're pulling my leg," he accused.
"Fine," she sighed. "Ifya don't wanna hear it, I won't tell it."
He rubbed at his temple; he should have known this night was too good to last. "I didn't mean to offend you, Lin, I just... Eyeless? Is that even possible?"
She rolled up her scroll, no longer bothering to keep up the pretense of having any interest in the thing. "You're right, y'know," she suddenly told him. "This story ain't really my thing."
"Ah." He wasn't sure what to make of that. "Are you... Surprised that I was right?"
She snorted. "About me? Yeah. I'll betya didn't even believe a single word I've said tonight."
He had been taking all her stories with a grain of salt. "Considering how often you like to lie to me just to get under my skin, can you blame me for showing a bit of skepticism?"
"It ain't as often asya like to think," she argued. "Why can'tya just admit you'd rather ignore what I'm actually like so you can pretend the stuff about me that makesya uncomfortable doesn't exist?"
"That isn't true. Lin, I have no desire to change you-"
She interrupted him with a snort.
He glared at her for it, but she remained unconcerned. He supposed he could continue to argue with her about the subject until she became so angry with him that she stormed out and either made the trek home in the rain or, more likely, spent the night with Gia. But he'd been taking a different approach to Lin all night, so why stop? "Alright, go ahead and believe what you want. But I would like a chance to change your mind, at the very least."
"Oh yeah?" she asked, though she sounded more amused than intrigued. Still, she wasn't angry so that was a step in the right direction.
He hadn't thought too far ahead in his plan, which probably explained what he blurted out next. "Go on a date with me."
Lin raised her eyebrows, and for a moment awkward silence reigned between them. "...A date?" She sounded as though his attempt at extending an olive branch might drive her away even more effectively than a fight.
"Yes," he said. He'd already dug his grave, he may as well lie in it. "Weren't you the one who said we'd been moving too quickly?"
"Well, yeah-"
"Then let me court you properly." He could tell from the way her shoulders had begun to shake that she was holding in laughter at him. "Oh, what's the harm? Do you mean to tell me that you have got no problem sleeping with me, and even spending the night with me here, but a simple date is too much to ask?"
"Nah," she wheezed out, then dissolved into laughter. It took her a bit to compose herself again, but once she did she finally let him in on what she found so amusing. "I-it was your wording," she chuckled. "You wanna court me? Who the hell says that?"
"I do!" He paused and took a moment; he shouldn't be so annoyed with Lin when she'd behaved no different than she normally did. "We will go anywhere you like, even a bar. I will pay for everything-" he knew that particular detail was bound to get her on the hook- "and I promise to be a gentleman."
"What's that mean? No sex?" Of course she would immediately ask about sex.
"I believe that would be for the best, don't you?"
She furrowed her brow at him, as if the concept of abstinence were totally foreign to her. "I guess. I dunno if this whole date thing'd be for the best either, if we're being honest."
He should have seen that coming. "We've been getting along tonight, haven't we?" he pointed out. "I want to spend time with you Lin, fully clothed and in the light of day."
She rolled her eyes at him. "Like we've never banged like that."
"Semantics."
She grinned at his response, which he took as a good sign.
"I promise, it will be a casual, no-pressure situation. Just two people, sharing a good time."
"Sounds exactly like what we've been doing already," she said. "Except without the sex, so then what's the point?"
"Lin, come on." He tried to think of what she might say to him if their roles were reversed. They had been, of course, but his memory wasn't what it used to be. "Let me show you a good time. What is the worst that could happen? If it is a bad date, you can dump me again and we'll go back to whatever this is."
"Geez, I dunno." She turned away from him and stared into the brazier.
Shifu had wished many times he could see what was going on in Lin's mind, but never more than at that moment. He couldn't help but feel that if there was ever a time for Lin to give him a second chance, this was it.
"So if I go out withya, and I decide to dumpya again, we can go back to just banging and you'll leave me alone with this shit?" she asked.
It wasn't the most promising response in the world, but he wasn't in any position to complain. "I never said I would stop trying to win you back-"
"No deal," she interrupted.
He rubbed at his forehead, holding in his frustration for the time being. "Alright," he agreed reluctantly. "I will agree to your terms. Now will you go out with me?"
She shrugged. "I guess."
"You are a jackass," he snapped; he couldn't take her flippant attitude any longer. "I'm trying, alright? The very least you could do is behave like you are aware of that fact!"
"I'm aware of the fact that you're a dickbag," she shot back. "S'that good enough?"
"What did I do this time?"
"You're yelling at me for not being excited enough about going out withya, afterya had to talk me into it in the first place! And the whole reasonya had to talk me into it is 'cause of how you broke my heart to pieces and spat on it."
Shifu turned away from her, struck by what she'd said. Lin didn't seem to realize that she'd told him anything of any import, but this was the first time she'd ever mentioned anything about a broken heart. He couldn't help the shame and guilt that washed over him. When he finally looked back at her, she was watching him with her brow furrowed in confusion. "I hadn't- you'd never told me-" He paused, doubting the wisdom of saying anything. But he needed to find out if it would ever be possible for her to forgive him. "You just said I broke your heart."
She snorted. "Sure, take everything I say seriously," she said. "Not like I ever exaggerate or anything."
He couldn't quite believe her. If Lin had so much trouble trusting him now that she needed to be talked into a simple date, then perhaps he had broken her heart. "Lin, I'm sorry."
"Shut up," she snapped.
"I am," he insisted. "And I love you, very much. I shouldn't have yelled at you, either. You are right. You have no reason to be excited about spending time with me after the way I behaved. But I'm glad that you're giving me a chance." He slid himself toward her and took her hand in his, hoping that he could soften her heart of stone with a little romance. "Perhaps while you're giving me that chance, I could arrange a candlelit dinner."
She didn't yank her hand out of his, but she leaned away from him. "What is it with you and candles?"
He sighed at her unmoved response. "You are the most complex person I have ever known."
Lin furrowed her brow at him, her lip curling up a bit like it tended to do when she thought he'd said something stupid. "I'm not complex, you're just an anti-social nerd."
"I don't know why I bother to say anything aloud to you, ever." He pinched the bridge of his nose, willing himself to plow through her defenses. "What about a moonlit stroll?"
"Is this just a lighting issue, then?" she asked, as obtuse as ever.
"No! I am trying to think up something romantic. What about..." He was already grasping at straws and he had only suggested two activities so far. "I don't know. What is it that people do now? A bath full of rose petals?"
She raised her eyebrows at him. "That actually sounds pretty good. I mean, I don't think baths are traditional for a date, but I like taking baths."
"Since when?"
She yanked her hand out of his grasp and hit him upside the head. "Yeah, that's romantic, accusing me of not bathing!"
He rubbed at the spot where she'd hit, then he reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist. "So you'd like to take a bath with me, then?"
"I like how that's whatya took away from this," she replied with a snort. She sounded amused, so that was a good sign. "Whereya gonna find rose petals in the middle of winter?"
He smiled at that. "I can manage."
She smiled back. "Canya manage expensive wine?"
He should have expected as much. "Of course. And I'll make sure to get you your own bottle like you enjoy."
"Strong stuff," she added.
"Yes, I know," Shifu said with a sigh. "But I will only do all this under one condition. I want you to go out with me somewhere normal, like people on a real date do, first."
"Uuuuugh," Lin whined in response, leaning her head back to grumble at the ceiling in one of her usual shows of dramatics.
Shifu took that opportunity to grab her and kiss her neck, which he assumed from her screeching laugh had been appreciated. He was starting to get so used to all her different screeches that he could actually tell them apart, now. He continued kissing her neck as he lowered her onto her back, then trailed kisses down her chest to her stomach. He knew he had her exactly where he wanted her when he stopped there and she responded by trying to push his head down. "Rude!"
Lin shrugged, a smug grin on her face.
"Are you going out with me?" he asked pointedly.
She sighed dramatically in response.
"It's a yes or no question. I could stay here all night." To be honest, he truly could. Lin had the softest, most comfortable stomach. He could easily use it as a pillow without hesitation.
"Fine! Yes!"
"That's more like it."
Lin kicked her feet in the air like a child having a tantrum. "Get down there, already!"
"You need to learn some patience," he criticized, but he knew better than to keep her waiting. It wasn't as though he didn't enjoy himself, too.
"I hate to admit it, but you're starting to actually get good in bed," Lin said, then punctuated the statement by crawling into his bed and wrapping herself up in his blankets. "I think I'm done reading for tonight."
"I had inferred that."
"Those ears make great handles," she added, and he blushed at the statement. "Lookit you! Literally blushing when I bring up oral sex immediately after eating my peach. Nerd."
"I'm going to need to change the subject, now. Also, please never use that metaphor again." Considering that he would always connect peaches to Master Oogway, it was an uncomfortable turn of phrase for him to hear.
"Yeah, yeah," Lin grumbled with a playful smile. "You gotta get more reading materials up here, since we're changing the subject. I ain't reading another one of Tai Lung's super weird stories, and ifya think I'm gonna read anything about kung fu you got another thing coming."
"Very well," Shifu agreed as he joined her in bed. "It suddenly occurs to me that I never asked... What do you like to read these days?"
"Mostly non-fiction," Lin answered. "Or maybe an epic. Something similar, at least. But more often than not, non-fiction."
"What do you mean by 'non-fiction?'" he asked, surprised by her answer.
She shrugged. "Most stuff, really. Scientific papers, manifestos on government and society, mathematical theories, military strategy, art theory and history. Stuff like that."
Shifu blinked as she listed the examples, surprised at the wide range of subjects. "You really do put a lot of effort into being a know-it-all, don't you?"
She punched him in the arm, and he smiled back at her. "Whatever. You could stand to brush up on your theoretical astrophysics once in a while, too."
"What in the world does that cover?"
"More like what in existence. It's the kinda stuff where scientists postulate on what the universe is made of, how it works, whether there're other universes. And, if there are multiple universes, then is there anything between 'em, and if so, what that might be. Or not be. 'Cause I guess if you're talking about what's outside existence as we know it, it'd be defined by non -existence." She paused, her gaze suddenly distant, as if she'd been reminded of something. "Nothingness," she said thoughtfully. "Ceasing to exist. Everything broken down, until it's nothing. I bet that'd be painful."
"Lin, you're losing me," he warned.
"Oh, right." She shrugged her odd musing off as if it were totally run-of-the-mill. "Anyway, the point is you should read more non-fiction."
"I do," he argued. "I read about the history and application of kung fu."
"Ugh."
"I can see how you would be alarmed and shocked by my interest in kung fu, what with me being the Grand Master of kung fu and all."
"It wouldn't hurtya to get a hobby, yknow." Lin sat up in bed to stretch, and Shifu watched her. Sitting there wrapped in his blankets, bathed in the soft light of their dying lantern, she looked more beautiful to him than ever.
He didn't dare reach out and touch her, for fear of ruining the moment, but he couldn't hold himself back from speaking. "You're lovely," he told her, and she looked down at him as if he were crazy.
"Yeah, whatever," was her response.
He should have known better than to try to romance her. "I mean it," he argued. "You're so beautiful, Lin. I don't tell you enough."
"I don't especially care," she replied stubbornly. "Though it's pretty amusing to hear you spouting all this crap when there was once a time whenya doubted my ability to seduce a person."
"You have erased those doubts with an efficiency that only you could achieve."
"You're starting to get on my nerves with all this sappy shit." She used a pillow to hit him over the head. "Stop it."
"I'm simply complimenting you," Shifu argued, snatching the pillow from her hands to prevent more smothering hits. Not that she didn't have plenty of others left in her arsenal.
"If you're gonna compliment me, at least make it about my pussy," Lin said with a huff. "You don't ever got anything nice to say about my cunt!"
"Oh my gods," he groaned, then buried his face in the pillow to hide his blush from her. Did she have to be so vulgar all the time?
"I usually get very positive reviews about my twat," she continued.
He lifted the pillow from his face so he could speak. "How many different words for your private parts are you planning to use?"
"However many it takes to turn your entire body red," she replied with a laugh. Of course.
He felt as though he might have a fever, he was blushing so much. "Just those three, I think."
"Compliment my clam," she ordered.
Shifu furrowed his brow, somewhat confused by the command. "You were serious about that?"
"Yeah!"
"It is very pretty?" he guessed. "Uhm. Like a... Brown flower? I don't know what I am supposed to say."
"Weak." Lin smacked his arm for his troubles. "Try again."
This was ridiculous and embarrassing, but if he said so he risked starting a fight. So he tried. "You... Taste like noodles? Yum." And failed.
Lin glared at him. "I'm about five seconds away from smotheringya."
"Well, stop eating so many noodles if it bothers you that much!"
"I work at a noodle restaurant!"
"Alright, I am officially ending this," he said as firmly as possible. "Every part of you is lovely, there. I am leaving it at that, and we will never have this discussion again for as long as we live. Am I making myself clear?"
"Whatever," Lin grumbled. Then she grinned at him and started stroking the top of his head. "Kinda like it whenya get bossy like that, though."
"Right," he accepted with a sigh. "But don't yank on my ears."
"No promises."
He couldn't say he'd expected any less. But as he fell asleep beside her, he couldn't help feeling overcome with a sense of hope. He had enjoyed his evening with her more than he could say. And they were going to have an official date. She was going to give him a chance.
That hope was somewhat tempered when he awoke at dawn to Lin climbing over him in order to leave.
"Lin?" he asked groggily as she got out of bed and haphazardly pulled on a shirt.
"I'm going for my morning constitutional," she said.
"Wait, I'll come with you. We can talk." He didn't want her to leave without a proper goodbye, and he wanted to make plans for their date before she changed her mind. And make sure she hadn't already changed her mind.
Her lip curled up at the suggestion, though. For a moment he felt a sinking in his stomach as he suspected she had yet again decided he wasn't worth her time, until she asked, "You wanna talk to me while I take a shit?"
Shifu blinked back at her, reeling from the emotional rollercoaster that this short interaction had been. "That... Is not what I thought 'morning constitutional' meant."
"Yeah, what else would it mean?" Lin asked flippantly.
"Most people use the phrase in reference to a walk."
"Ew," she replied nasally. "Who would ever choose to take a walk this early in the morning? Or ever?"
"It astounds me that you are able to maintain your physique," he said flatly.
"Maintain my physique?" she repeated with a snort. "What'm I, a body builder?"
"No I simply meant to-"
"Stop," Lin interrupted him. "I'm gonna shit in about five seconds, so I gotta be over a chamber pot by then." She left him with that mental image as a parting gift.
He took a moment to remind himself that Lin's penchant for scatalogical oversharing was only a minor annoyance, and she had plenty of good qualities as well. And he'd missed her.
"Shifu!" Lin called from down the hall. "C'mere!"
"What happened?" He jumped out of bed and began dressing, worried that Lin had somehow gotten hurt and needed his assistance. It was a good thing her voice carried so effectively. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah!" she shouted back. "You gotta see the size of this poop! It's sticking right outta the chamber pot!"
Shifu stopped dead, one leg already in his pants, and glared at the doorway. This was the woman he loved. This was the woman he had elected to ask for a date, in public. He was going to do everything in his power to win her back. "Absolutely not!" But he had to draw the line somewhere.
Notes:
You may have noticed that updates are starting to slow a little! That's because I've made it through chapters that were already mostly written, and am now working without a net. Luckily for us, I have an outline! I constantly change it, but it's there!
Here are the translations of the Italian used in this chapter:
Buon sangue non mente. = Good blood doesn't lie. (It's a phrase equivalent to "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.")
Piango e piango, sempre. Un giorno o l'altro, morirò del mio pianto. = I cry and I cry, all the time. One day or another, I'll die from my crying.
È così ficcanaso. = He's so nosy.
Non essere così cattiva! Tiene solo. = Don't be so mean! He just cares.
Stronzate = Bullshit
Ora sta diventando irritabile. = Now he's getting testy.
Apologies if anything is inaccurate, I haven't spoken Italian in over a decade and had to use Reverso for most of this! Thanks again to everyone for reading and reviewing.
Chapter 30: We Should Look for Someone to Eat and Drink with Before Looking for Something to Eat and Drink
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 30: We Should Look for Someone to Eat and Drink with Before Looking for Something to Eat and Drink
Nothing was going to ruin this day for Shifu. Lin had agreed to go on a date with him, and there was no bringing him down from that particular high. Not even the sight of Tai Lung throwing a boulder at Po in the training hall's courtyard. He leaped in front of the boulder before it could reach the panda and concentrated his chi into a focused strike to smash the thing to dust before it could do any damage.
"What are you doing?" he demanded, preparing himself for the possibility of a fight.
"You're ruining the panda's training," Tai Lung complained. "Get out of the way!"
Shifu narrowed his eyes at Tai Lung, but since he didn't seem to be on the verge of another rampage he turned to Po. "Training?"
"Yeah, Tai Lung says I gotta ground myself and use my core- check it out!" Po spread his stance to demonstrate a perfect starting form for Dragon style, an excited grin on his face as he punched the air. "If I can smash those rocks like ya just did without gettin' knocked back, I pass! Yeah!"
"Pass?"
"It's a pop quiz," Tai Lung said, motioning to the side with one hand. "Now move."
Although Shifu did not like his son speaking to him in such a way, he still stepped aside to watch this test unfold. Could Tai Lung have truly taken his assignment to teach Po seriously?
Judging from the way Po grounded himself and smashed each boulder Tai Lung lobbed his way with a seemingly effortless punch, he had.
"You moved a hair," Tai Lung announced once they'd finished. "Fail." Alright, so maybe he hadn't taken things that seriously.
"Aw, man!" Po still looked elated, though. "I'm gettin' close, right? I'm doin' good?"
"Sure," Tai Lung accepted with a nod. "For a half-dead slug."
"Yeah! Or, uh, nah? Nah, I'll log that as a yeah. Yeah."
Shifu observed this interaction, brow furrowed, perplexed by their dynamic. Though he knew Tai Lung and Po were capable of working together thanks to their days helping Lin fix up her little house, he'd had no idea they had progressed to... Whatever this was. Were they joking together? He was having a hard time telling. "You have shown excellent progress, Po."
"Don't compliment him," Tai Lung ordered. "It doesn't help. Not that I've tried."
"Man, after I get this down we gotta spar," Po said as if he wasn't even remotely insulted by Tai Lung's attitude. "I mean, in a friendly match. It'd be so awesome!"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Shifu cut in. The thought of the two of them sparring still made him nervous. "And Tai Lung, it is commendable that you have helped Po along so well."
"Hah!" Tai Lung's sarcastic laugh was not exactly the response he'd been looking for. "Well, since I've finally lived up to your exacting standards, perhaps it's time the panda and I stopped this for the day."
"It's only lunchtime," he pointed out, narrowing his eyes at his son. "And it isn't like you to want to cut out early."
"Yes, so unlike me." Tai Lung rolled his eyes, just like Lin often did.
"We could give my dad and Lin some help with the lunch rush," Po added. "It's been pretty busy down at the restaurant lately. Hey, I'll see if everyone wants to come on down for noodles!" He'd run into the training hall before they could stop him, and returned shortly with the Furious Five in tow. "Let's get some lunch! You guys comin'?"
Shifu glanced at Tai Lung, who looked about as annoyed as he felt. "What, you don't look forward to waiting tables?"
"I will gladly help my mentor whenever she needs me," Tai Lung ground out, then followed the panda.
Shifu caught up with Tai Lung. Truth be told, he'd wanted to try to get his son alone to see if maybe he could glean some more information about these mysterious visions Lin had told him of. But Tai Lung was still as ornery and close-lipped as when he'd first arrived, at least toward Shifu, so that outcome was unlikely. He still thought it would be productive to spend some quality time together.
He cleared his throat for Tai Lung's attention, an effort which failed. "Tai Lung."
With a heavy sigh, his son spared him the barest of glances. "What?"
"How have your lessons with Lin been coming along?"
Tai Lung snorted. "Of course that old bit of dandruff is the first thing you'd ask me about." He raised a single disapproving eyebrow. "I would ask you the same thing, but I don't want to know the answer."
Shifu took a moment to understand what Tai Lung meant, then turned red at the implication. "Excuse me, I am still your father and it is inappropriate to speak to me that way!"
Po and the Furious Five had gotten a few paces ahead of them, but the panda still shot them a concerned look over his shoulder. "Hey, you good back there?"
"Fine and dandy, panda," Tai Lung answered, waving him off.
Shifu boggled at how amicable that exchange had been. He still was not used to Tai Lung and Po interacting like friends. "Alright, fine." He gathered himself and resolved to not let his son deflect his attempts at conversation. "What about your etiquette lessons?"
Tai Lung rolled his eyes. "I don't do those anymore. Not after that first disaster. Did you know how much of a little tyrant Lin's spawn was before you arranged that, or was that just a handy little coincidence?"
Shifu rubbed at his forehead, a headache coming on. "So you refuse to participate in etiquette lessons, and you will not tell me what Lin is teaching you. And I am supposed to trust you are trying to reform?"
"Sorry my conversational skills aren't in tip-top shape," Tai Lung replied sarcastically. "I spent the last twenty years in solitary confinement."
"That isn't what I meant and you know it!" Shifu paused and breathed deeply through his nose. Lin had certainly been teaching Tai Lung, though it seemed he'd only learned how to emulate her attitude. He continued more calmly, despite his anger. "You must show me that you are putting in the work to reform yourself. I have given you an incredible amount of leeway because I thought spending time in town and with Lin would help you. But if that is not the case, then I will be happy to tighten your leash."
Tai Lung snorted skeptically. "Sure."
"That's not a joke."
"I know it's not a joke," he replied, his tone casual. "I also don't believe you have any real power over me. But do not worry yourself, old man."
"So you feel you are ready to repent?"
"No, I just don't think you should worry yourself."
Shifu's eye twitched in his aggravation, but they had reached the noodle shop, so Po dragged Tai Lung away before he could lecture his son. That was probably for the best. Helping Mr. Ping run the restaurant would give Tai Lung something humbling to do and in the meantime, he could calm his nerves.
Well, not quite. Lin was currently waiting tables.
He opted to take a table apart from his students and allow them to socialize without him. And he wanted some distance in case Lin said something vulgar to him, not that her voice wouldn't carry. But at least he could hide his blush more effectively.
"A'right, whaddaya want?" Lin greeted him, leaning against his table with a pad of paper in hand. She was also loudly chewing something with her mouth half-open.
"Top-notch customer service as always, I see." He probably shouldn't have taken his frustration with Tai Lung out on Lin, but she only retaliated with a half-hearted slap to his ear.
"We're crowded today," she warned him. To be fair, she wasn't lying about the crowd there for the lunch rush.
"Of course, my apologies. But I wanted to discuss-"
"One secret ingredient soup, one tea," Lin interrupted him, writing his nonexistent order down. She walked away before he could protest.
Shifu sighed to himself but didn't pursue her. He could wait until Lin wasn't so busy with work to speak with her about their supposed date. He waited for his meal and watched the goings-on of the noodle shop. His students sat together, chatting happily, joking and laughing. Even Tigress seemed to be having a lovely time, relaxed and smiling with them. Po had opted to help his father in the kitchen, while Tai Lung had been put on dish duty. And, unfortunately for Ping's customers, Lin waited tables with an iron fist. Which wasn't something he'd thought one could do with an iron fist, but she managed it. He didn't get to speak to her again when she served his lunch, because she practically tossed his noodles and tea on the table without even stopping, so he ate slowly and continued to wait for her.
Eventually, the crowd thinned, service slowed, and his patience paid off.
"This's what I wanna do for the date," Lin announced, slapping a flier down on the table in front of him.
Shifu pulled it closer and squinted down at the colorful text. "The Pink Lily? Scream Violence?"
Lin leaned against the table while she watched him read. "Need glasses?"
"No," he huffed.
"Too bad, I got a thing for 'em."
Shifu blushed at that. "Perhaps you could tell me what this flier is about so I know what in the hell is going on. Or maybe I do need glasses."
Lin laughed at his joke, and he smiled unabashedly at having made her laugh. "The Pink Lily is the name of a bar, and Scream Violence is a band. They're playing at the bar. That's what this flier's all about. And me explaining it kinda negates the purpose of the flier."
"No offense," he began, which caused the smile to drop from her face, "but doesn't this event sound like its target demographic is... About thirty years younger than us?"
Lin snatched up the flier and shoved it into her shirt. "Fine, I'll go with An Zhi."
He narrowed his eyes as he tried to remember if this was one of the patrons who flirted with her. "Who is An Zhi?"
"Seriously?" Lin took his soup and his tea even though he wasn't finished with either. "She's my friend! You met her last week. Y'know what? Screw this date. I'm gonna ask An Zhi to go picking with me and then to the show."
"I was sick!" he called out to her retreating back as she stomped back to the kitchen. Of course, she ignored him. With a sigh, he walked up to the counter and waited for her to finally look up from her cutting board at him. Sure, she only did so to give him a dirty look, but that was good enough. "I'm sorry. I promise I only forgot because I was sick. I care about your life and what is important to you, and I will accompany you to see this screaming band that is very clearly for drunk people in their twenties."
Mr. Ping glanced over his shoulder from where he was stirring a pot of broth and pursed his beak. "You can't stand at the counter if you aren't going to order anything."
"I'd also like a bean bun, please," Shifu added.
Lin snorted at the interaction and grabbed the bun in question, but he slid it back toward her.
"Consider it a peace offering."
"Okay, fine, I'll takeya to the show," Lin accepted, and if he wasn't mistaken she sounded amused. "But you gotta give it a chance beforeya start complaining likeya like to do."
He took a chance on joking with her again. "You know me. I hate everything except kung fu and you."
"Hah! Don't I know it."
He relaxed at her laugh. "So... What is picking, exactly?"
Lin raised her eyebrows at him. "It's what it sounds like."
Shifu had no idea what it was supposed to sound like, so he simply nodded. In all likelihood, she was simply referring to foraging. "I see. And you want to do this on our date, too?"
She stopped chopping her vegetables entirely to grin widely at him. "Y'know what? Yeah. Yeah, I do! We're gonna go to the pit."
"The pit?"
"Yeah, the pit. So in this order what I wanna do is: pick at the pit, eat, go to the bar to listen to loud music and fight, take a bath. Thinkya can commit to that?"
"Everything except the fighting," he accepted with a nod.
She rolled her eyes at him, but she was still smiling. "Fine, good enough. Now lemme work."
He decided to join his students at the long table they'd been occupying. Po and Tai Lung had finally been given a chance to eat their lunches, so he opted to squeeze onto the bench next to his son, who proceeded to ignore him entirely.
"So," Viper said from across the table, nodding encouragingly at him. "You have a date?"
"What- how did you hear that?"
"Don't worry about that." She waved his concern off with her tail. "I just wanted to wish you good luck, Master. You'll win her back in no time!"
He blushed brightly, embarrassed by her good-natured support. It was bad enough that his students had been privy to his love life these past few weeks, he didn't need them acknowledging that fact by cheering him on. "It- It's nothing," he stuttered out, wishing fervently that someone would say something interesting enough to distract Viper.
Unfortunately, this topic seemed to grab Tai Lung's attention, too. "A date," he said with a scoff. "You had better not act like an ass this time."
"Don't worry," Viper reassured him. "Master Shifu's got this!"
"I am not worried," Tai Lung said, glaring directly at Shifu. "I am issuing a warning."
"Okaaaaay," Po butt in, preventing Shifu from giving the scolding that had been on the tip of his tongue. "Let's not get too intense, here. I mean, it's just one date."
"Did I hear you say date?" Monkey asked, leaning toward them. "Who's going on a date?"
Shifu opened his mouth to tell Monkey that it was not his business but did not get the chance.
"Shifu's takin' Lin out," Po answered.
"What?" Mantis had now entered the conversation because of course every last one of his students needed to discuss his private business. "Why? She's already putting out!"
Crane shushed him with a wing, and Viper hissed at him.
"Is this really that interesting?" Tigress asked flatly.
"No, it is not," Shifu answered, standing up. He turned to walk away, but Lin intercepted him.
"C'mon, let's get outta here while there's still time," she said urgently, glancing over her shoulder at Mr. Ping. She paused to lean around Shifu and address his students, though. "For the record, he's the one putting out." With that, she grabbed his sleeve and dragged him out of the restaurant.
"What is going on?" Shifu asked, though he allowed himself to be led around by his sleeve. He liked that she was comfortable enough with him now to do something like this.
"I traded Po and Tai Lung for some time off for our date," she replied, though she didn't slow down and let go of him until they'd gotten a few blocks away from the restaurant. "I thought it'd be best to get outta there before they found out."
"You do realize my students have actual kung fu training they need to attend to, don't you?" he asked flatly, but she snorted in laughter at him.
"Okay, sure," she said skeptically. "You gonna cancel our date and run back there to relieve 'em?"
"...No," he admitted reluctantly.
She gave his cheek a condescending pinch. "You're kinda cute when you're desperate."
"I'll take that as a compliment," he grumbled, though he knew it wasn't. "And where, exactly, are we headed?"
"I toldya, to the pit. I could spend all day in the pit."
"Is there an actual name for this place?" he asked, but he could only get a shrug out of her. "What exactly is in this pit? Is it far? Is it safe?" He should have asked these questions earlier.
"Relax," Lin said, which was a sure sign she wouldn't be explaining anything to him any time soon. She led him South out of town, in the same direction as her house. "This part'a the day's all in my hands, just like your sex life."
He grunted at her vulgar joke, narrowing his eyes at her. "I must admit, this was not what I had in mind when I asked you to let me take you out."
"Okay, okay, you can decide where we eat," she conceded. "But ifya pick noodles, I'm out."
That joke did make him laugh. "That is a fair stipulation. I must admit, I've had my fill of noodles, as well."
"You can't even imagine," Lin said with the same tone as someone describing traumatic torture. "Every day, every meal- and Ping never gets sick of 'em. Never. And the smell gets everywhere."
"I'm aware."
Lin laughed and punched his arm. "Hey! But yeah, you'd know." She gave him one of her soft smiles, and he knew that look on her face immediately.
"We agreed, no sleeping together," he reminded her.
"Someone's full of himself!"
"No, I just know you," he said with a huff, which she rolled her eyes at. They finally made it out of the village to the fields and copses of woods that made up the rest of the valley. While normally Lin would have continued on South to reach her home on the lake, now she veered West. They passed through some conifers and overgrown underbrush that pulled at and stuck to his clothing, crossed over an idyllic babbling brook, and past some bedrock rising from the ground to three times their height.
Finally, they reached a field with only the barest patches of grass, in the middle of which was... A pit. A literal hole in the ground. Leaning over the edge, Shifu could see that "the pit" was a large, deep dirt hole that had been dug up and left untended, then used as a dumping ground for various types of trash. He could see some sad, scraggly bushes attempting to grow at the bottom of the pit, but he doubted that the picking Lin had mentioned was referring to those.
"...This is literally a pit."
"That's right!" Lin said jovially.
"It is filled with garbage." Shifu turned in a full circle, observing their surroundings in an effort to find something that might explain why Lin would want to bring him there, but to no avail.
"Correction: free stuff." She slid down the slope of loose dirt to the bottom of the pit, beckoning for him to follow.
"Like what?" he called down, still unconvinced.
"Like my bed! And my sheets, a knife, plenty of bottles, some coals that still had life in 'em... A whole cake, weirdly? And one time half a joint! That was the day you said I smelled and I gaveya a spanking for it."
"Stop!" He didn't want to think about intimacy while they were literally at a garbage pit, especially when her bedding had come from said pit. "There is no reason to be here. If you need something, purchase it like a normal person!"
Lin gave him her usual stink-eye, complete with a curled lip. "Just get down here already!"
"Very well," he agreed reluctantly, then jumped into the pit to join her. "Why is there even a pit here?"
"Dunno," she said, stooping down to pull some kind of metal rod from the dirt. "This could come in handy."
"For what?"
"Putting up your butt," she replied without missing a beat.
"Put it back." He was in no mood to make jokes like that, considering how blindsided he'd been by this entire escapade. "This is not what people do on dates, by the way. A literal garbage pit is not an appropriate destination for a date."
Lin rested the rod on her shoulder while she plunged her arm into a pile of garbage that seemed to be mainly made up of rags, food scraps, and sharp bits of wood. "How would you know?" she asked petulantly, then pulled out a mostly burned-down candle and tossed it to him. "Maybe we just need mood lighting."
"So you brought me to a garbage pit to make fun of me." He dropped the candle stub in the dirt and pulled her away from the dangerous pile of trash before she tore her arm open in it. "Lin, if you are this bad off, then at least let me lend you some money."
Lin shrugged him off, curling her lip at him in yet another one of her withering glares. "Can'tya enjoy anything?"
"What?"
"Sorry, I shoulda been more clear. I'm accusing you of lacking a general sense of enjoyment and also of not allowing others to experience enjoyment in your presence." She stuck the metal pole in the dirt and leaned an elbow on it. "So what's so wrong with this, huh?"
"Are you really getting on my case for not liking a dirty hole in the ground filled with trash?" he asked incredulously.
"You promised me you'd keep an open mind," she argued.
"That was before I knew how open my mind would need to be," he grumbled, gesturing to a pile of rotten brown mush beside him that he could only assume had once been a melon.
"Okay, fine," Lin snapped. "Go home." She walked off to the other side of the pit and ignored him, using her pole to sift through dirt and trash.
He knew immediately he was going to have to apologize. It was a bit ridiculous to him that he would need to apologize for pointing out that there was nothing redeemable about a large hole in the ground full of garbage, but apparently, Lin disagreed. And... He could have been a bit more sensitive about the issue. He walked up beside Lin just as she freed a large, crumpled pile of torn cloth from the dirt and threw it over her arm. "I owe you an apology for overreacting. I did not realize you genuinely liked this... Place."
Lin glanced sideways at him, then held out the metal rod.
Shifu took it, hoping this was a peace offering. "What else did you find?"
"Raw canvas," Lin said, and rewarded his apology with a small smile. "It's in pretty good condition, just gotta clean it up. Bet I could get a few paintings outta this, at least."
"Really?" The canvas in question looked beyond saving to him. "It isn't stained?"
"Oh, it's stained," Lin confirmed. "Doesn't mean it can't be painted." She gestured to the metal pole she'd refused to give up. "I could use that for my punt, or to hang a lantern, or maybe make it into a shovel."
"And you would rather do this than shop? Even if you have the money?"
"Sometimes, yeah. It's just fun. And it helps get this place cleaned up a little. S'not like people can just keep dumping shit in here forever with no consequences." She emphasized her point by yanking a ceramic statue of a baby bunny out from underneath a large pile of broken tiles. The statue was hollow and missing one side of its head. "See, I could use this to start seeds!"
He recoiled at the sight of the thing. "Eugh, it's creepy."
"Good! It can scare off thieves." Lin placed it beside her and laid out the piece of old canvas.
"Well, if anyone would know what frightens a thief it would be you." He watched as Lin folded the canvas in some intricate way to turn it into a bag, then started filling it with the broken tiles. "What do you need broken tiles for, now?"
"They're great art supplies," she replied as if it should have already been obvious. "I can make a mosaic with 'em."
"Oh." He probably should have realized that, considering what she'd already told him about the canvas.
"Aren'tya gonna grab anything for yourself?" She asked, then hefted the bag of tiles up and tied it to the end of the metal pole he held for her. "We could see if there're more candles, or..." She trailed off, biting her lip as she apparently tried with all her might to think of something else to list.
"Do you seriously have this much trouble thinking of something I like other than candles?" he asked incredulously. He probably should have been offended, but in reality, he couldn't help but feel smug after all the times she'd accused him of knowing nothing about her.
"It's not like that!" Lin protested, blushing lightly. "I just- you like fancy stuff, mostly."
"That is how you think of me? Fancy?"
She huffed and turned away from him, feigning interest in some dirty rags to avoid his gaze. "You were too fancy for this place. Andya acted like my old neighborhood in Shanghai was practically diseased. Plus you live in a palace."
"Right. All of that." He was forced to admit to himself, looking back on their interactions, that he maybe wasn't as down to earth as he had once been. "But I am a kung fu master, and we take a vow of poverty- I wear burlap. I don't even technically make money!"
"You don't?" She glanced over her shoulder at him, her eyebrows raised.
"No. Traditionally, the kung fu masters of the Jade Palace live there as monks would live in a temple. We receive no salary, but our needs are provided for. And the Jade Palace itself runs off the donations from those wishing to express their gratitude to us."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously. All kung fu masters of the Jade Palace must disavow material wealth before they can move in."
Lin smiled at him, then quickly tried to hide it by coughing into her fist. Could she possibly be... Impressed by him? For once? "That's interesting," she said airily, then picked up her bunny statue. "You can have this thing. Now c'mon, let's go."
"I absolutely do not want that weird creepy dead bunny," he replied, which made her laugh. "I will find something for myself... Next time." He winced at the promise that he would return to the pit with her.
"Oh, so you think I'm gonna go out withya again?" she teased. The fact that she was teasing him was a very good sign for their future.
"I never said I would come back here with you," he said with a grin, then took a chance and picked her up to carry her back out of the pit. She rewarded him with a kiss, short and sweet. He would carry her around all day and night if it meant just one more soft kiss.
Lin always preferred to walk on her own feet, though. "Okay!" She hopped out of his arms, rather than bothering to wait for him. "Let's drop this shit off at my place. Then, time for food."
"You're hungry already?" He didn't think it had been that long since lunch. The sun was sinking low already, but that tended to happen early in the winter.
"I could eat." She winked at him, and he couldn't help but blush at her innuendo.
It couldn't hurt to flirt back a little bit, considering that this was a date. "I could, t-too." Ideally, he would be able to do so without stuttering.
"You're killing me, here," she complained with a heavy sigh, speeding up to walk ahead of him.
"What? What did I say?" He thought he'd been doing well, so far.
"That little stutter really did it for me," she called over her shoulder. "But someone doesn't think we should bang today!"
"O-oh." Shifu didn't think he would ever get used to Lin being so forward. "So," he continued, desperately trying to think of a change of subject, "your house. How- How is it? I mean, are you settling in well?" That hadn't been as bad as it could have been.
"Yeah!" Lin slowed down to walk beside him again. "So I finished painting, pretty much. I need more art for inside, and more pillows, but... Who cares? It's mine! And I can furnish it over time."
"You are very invested in that house."
"Yeah. I think it's the love of my life."
He swallowed his hurt at her joke. That comment had not been even remotely about him, and there was no reason for him to take it personally. Besides, he should feel happy for Lin, who hadn't had a real home for so much of her life. "That's good. I am glad you have found your place."
Lin looked up at him with watery eyes, then turned away. "Jeez. This's all getting a little too mushy for me."
"That's fair." He took her hand in his, pleased when she didn't pull away, and held it the whole way back to her little house on the lake.
"Hey," she said as they crossed the lake on her punt. "You wanna come inside, see how it's going?"
"Of course," he accepted. It was an innocent enough invitation, but he knew how important it was to Lin.
When they reached the island, she had him deposit their findings from the pit outside before leading him into her many-hued home. Shifu had expected the inside to be just as much a multi-color explosion of paint as the outside, but was surprised to find that Lin had painted her walls with a relatively calming ocean theme. They were surrounded by deep blue-green waves painted all the way up the walls, lightening to a seafoam color close to the ceiling and interspersed with occasional beams of warm teal light. If it weren't for the wood floors, it would feel like they were underwater. "Wow."
"You like it?" Lin waggled her eyebrows at him.
"It's amazing. I did not think you were going to paint something so atmospheric in here." He turned in a full circle to admire her work, at a loss for words. "Wow."
"Yeah, I heardya the first time." She grabbed hold of his collar and pulled him into a deep kiss, cradling his head with her other hand. She kissed him for a long time, holding him against her while she explored his mouth with her tongue, and he shamelessly let her. "Okay, I gotta stop," she said when she finally pulled away. "Sinceya don't wanna bang."
"That's wise," Shifu agreed shakily, fixing his rumpled clothing.
"I'm kinda dragging, to be honest. And since we're not gonna get nasty... How's about a nap?" It was so utterly Lin to ask for a nap in the middle of a date that he simply accepted her request.
"Alright, but I'm not getting into that hammock with you."
Po squinted at himself in the Moon Pool, trying to tame a bit of fur that kept sticking up on top of his head. He should probably just buy a mirror, but why spend money on one when water was free? He grimaced at himself to get a better look at his teeth, too. If Tigress wanted to kiss him, she'd do it without warning. That was kind of her style. Not that he minded.
"What are you doing?"
"Ah!" Po jumped at the voice behind him and would have fallen in the Moon Pool, too, if it weren't for the strong hands that grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Hey, Tigress."
She shook her head at him, though she looked more amused than scolding. "Still not aware of your surroundings, I see."
"Yeah, guess I need more trainin' on that front," he agreed with a grin. "So, uh, should we get down to practice?"
Tigress nodded in agreement and led the way to the library. He still felt a little nervous around her. To be honest, while he'd hoped that Tigress's kisses would actually lead to something, now that he had a chance to date her he was terrified of screwing it up. Though so far they hadn't discussed anything approaching a traditional date. They mostly still practiced nerve strikes and sat in the library talking for long stretches with an occasional kiss goodnight. Those felt like dates to him, though.
Po didn't have much time to dwell on his nerves, though. As soon as he entered the library he could hear voices bickering, and from the way Tigress strode forward he had a feeling that minding their own business would not be an option. Still, he thought he should try. "Uh, maybe we should just go?" he suggested as he followed Tigress through the shelves of scrolls, but she ignored him.
They found Tai Lung and Gia at the back of the library, stuck in some kind of tug-of-war over a scroll and arguing. "I will have you know that this is none of your business!" Tai Lung growled at Gia.
"Every scroll here is my business!" Gia screeched back. "I work here!"
"What is going on?" Tigress asked loudly, interrupting them.
Gia froze at the sound of her voice, though Tai Lung remained unconcerned enough to tear the scroll out of her hands and let out a villainously triumphant laugh.
"My apologies, Master Tigress," Gia said quietly, red in the face, and bowed.
Tigress wedged herself between Gia and Tai Lung, glaring fiercely at the snow leopard. "You leave her alone!"
Tai Lung rolled his eyes. "Wow. Such heroics."
Po decided this was the time for him to step in, considering that Tigress seemed too worked up to de-escalate anything. "Hey, whoa," he said, giving Tigress a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Whatever kinda disagreement's goin' on, I'm sure we can all resolve it without, y'know, punches."
"There is nothing to resolve," Tai Lung said with an indignant sniff. "I required this scroll, and now I have it." He tried to walk away, but Tigress sped in front of him to block his path.
"It looks to me like you owe an apology to Gia," she said harshly. "It is her job to preserve these scrolls, and they are not to leave the scroll library without the proper permissions. You are the one trying to break the Jade Palace's rules."
"Trying and succeeding," he said, then tucked the scroll into his belt.
"Uh, maybe ya should put the scroll back?" Po tried to suggest, but that earned him a scoff from Tai Lung. "Hey, it's not like ya can't come back to see it whenever!"
"Enough!" Gia shouted, silencing all of them, even Tai Lung. She looked teary-eyed, though she was holding herself together better than usual. "I will provide Tai Lung the permission required to take the scroll."
"What?" Tigress asked incredulously.
Gia's glared was wholly unexpected, and honestly just as scary as Lin's. "It is my decision to make. And I would rather end this than continue arguing all night." Then she fixed that glare on Tai Lung. "I must add the condition that you receive permission from my mother to keep that in your custody. If you do not, there will be consequences."
Tai Lung snorted, but he still looked wary as he pushed past them to leave.
"We should go, too," Po concluded, nudging Tigress.
"Yes," Gia agreed. "You should."
When they got outside, he paused on the Jade Palace steps to check on Tigress. Her brow was furrowed in concern, which she often did when she thought she'd messed something up. "Hey, you okay?"
"I'm fine," she said, which he noticed was her default answer.
"Fine?" he prodded.
"I shouldn't have stepped in without Gia's permission," she said with a heavy sigh. "She has told me she prefers to fight her own battles, and she doesn't like being treated like a child. I've done both tonight."
"Hey, don't beat yourself up." Po took her hand and squeezed it. "You just did what kung fu masters do, which is try to stand up for other people. And even if ya messed that up, it's not the end of the world. Just give it some time and apologize. Right?"
"Right," she agreed reluctantly.
"What if we did somethin' to get your mind off it?" he suggested.
"Like... What?" Tigress sounded more hesitant than he'd expected, considering that she was the one always doing the kissing.
"Okay, you're probably gonna think this's kinda dorky, but... What if we had a little campout?" He smiled encouraging at her while she frowned at him.
"But we live here."
"Yeah, it's like a backyard campout! Didn't ya ever do one growin' up? Where ya build a little blanket fort outside and eat snacks and stuff..." He trailed off at her blank look. "Wow. Never?"
"I don't see why that surprises you," she said. "You've met Shifu."
"Yeah, good point. So, wanna try it?"
She sighed and glanced over her shoulder at the Jade Palace, then back at him. "Okay. Let's try it. What... Should we bring?"
"Uh, well I can grab the brazier from my room and any snacks," he offered. "And you can grab what we need for a little fort. And then we pick a spot!" He realized then that he wasn't entirely sure where they could go that would guarantee privacy the way the scroll library had. "Oh, right. A spot."
Tigress started walking toward the barracks in her usual purposeful stride. "Let's go up to the peach tree. No one will be there until dawn, so it should be fine."
"Sure, sure." He resisted the urge to take hold of her hand again once he'd caught up with her. Tigress had said before that there was a taboo about teammates dating, and that meant keeping their relationship under wraps for the time being.
They gathered their supplies and set up a passable tent at outcropping beneath the peach tree, Po's brazier in front of them to warm them and their cookies and tea. Po still felt a little nervous they might get walked in on, but he had to admit, the view couldn't be beat.
"This is nice," Tigress said once they'd settled in. "I see the appeal. What else do you usually do with one of these yard campouts?"
"Uh, tell stories and play games I guess." Po shrugged. "Your choice."
"I don't have many stories you don't already know." Tigress sipped at her green tea as she thought. "What about the story of the Disappearing Blade of Wan Xiu Ying?"
"Ohhhh, that's a good one," Po replied excitedly, bouncing in place at just the thought of it. "When ya tracked down Wan Xiu Ying and learned the secret of the Disappearing Blade was actually an optical illusion? So cool! I still get goosebumps from that one!"
She nudged him with her shoulder to get his attention. "I'd rather tell something you don't already know."
"Right, right." Po wondered if he should have just pretended not to know that one. It would have been awesome to hear Tigress tell it.
Tigress gazed thoughtfully at the stars for a bit longer, then nodded decisively. "I know. What about the story of how I met Shifu?"
Po couldn't help himself from gasping dramatically at the possibility of hearing Tigress's very own origin story as a kung fu master. "Really?" he breathed. "Are ya sure?"
"Yes. I trust you." She looked away as she sipped at her tea, then cleared her throat. "I was orphaned young, before I remembered my birth parents. I ended up at Bao Gu orphanage, but... Others found me intimidating. I had more teeth and claws than they were used to, and I found it difficult to control my strength. I had to spend most of my time alone in my room because I had trouble even handling everyday objects without breaking them. When I was seven, the sheep running the orphanage called Master Shifu in to try to control me. I overheard her call me... A monster."
Po winced at that, upset by the thought that anyone would treat a child that way, but especially because it had happened to Tigress. Still, he didn't interrupt.
"Master Shifu told me that wasn't true. He knew I was just a little girl. And he taught me to control my strength with games of dominoes. After many weeks, I could finally play with the other children. Adults were still wary of me, but... Master Shifu took me home to the Jade Palace with him. That's how I ended up here."
He couldn't help tearing up at the story, imagining a young Tigress all alone until Master Shifu came into her life and showed her some compassion. "That's so sweet," he choked out. "Ugh, I just wanna hug ya!"
"You can hug me," she said with a chuckle, and Po wrapped her in his arms and gave her a tight squeeze. "You're funny."
"Heh. Thanks."
Tigress pulled away from him and looked into his eyes, which he thought was pretty romantic until she turned away with that furrowed brow again.
"What is it?" He reached for her, then decided against it and rested his hands in his lap.
"Po, I have very strong feelings for you."
"Oh!"
"And that scares me."
"Oh."
"So I'd like to take this slow, if that's alright with you."
"Oh, yeah. Yeah! I mean, slow works for me, too, 'cause I only ever had one girlfriend- not that I think you're my girlfriend already!" He paused to catch his breath after that moment of panic, but Tigress seemed to understand him. "But like, we were thirteen and our whole relationship was pretty much sittin' next to each other in class and writin' fan stories about kung fu. I'd write about you and she'd write about Viper and we'd collaborate and write these cool stories, but she'd always want there to be romance... And yeah, she dumped me for another girl and I guess I shoulda seen that comin'. Then my class made fun'a me the rest of the year, sayin' I turned her gay. Kids're so mean sometimes! Anyway, she dated Viper last year so I guess it worked out okay for her."
Tigress stared at him. "Don't ever tell this story to Viper."
"Never have, never will," he assured her.
"So..." Unexpectedly, she blushed a little. "What did you write about me that was so cool?"
"Oh, y'know, the usual stuff. You fightin' assassins and demons and bein' awesome. And maybe, sometimes, meetin' a super cool, slightly younger panda warrior who earns your respect on the battlefield and off." Po paused to flex an arm, not that there was any visible difference when he did. "That sorta thing."
Tigress smiled at him. "How prophetic of you."
He blushed brightly and grinned back. "So ya think I'm super cool, huh?"
"For someone who writes fan stories," she added.
"Hey!" He protested laughingly, tossing a cookie crumb at her. "I'm hangin' out with a mean kid, huh?"
"The meanest," she confirmed with a nod.
"That's okay. I can take it." Po leaned back on his hands to look up at the stars and took a chance on resting his arm against Tigress's back. When she leaned into him, he could hardly believe his luck. This was turning out to be a much better night than any nerve strike lessons could have been, and not just because he usually ended up hurt by the end of those.
"Po," Tigress said, breaking the companionable silence between them. For a moment Po thought she was about to say something else deeply serious. Instead, she nodded toward the cookies. "Pass a cookie?"
He couldn't help smiling as he handed her one. Tigress had never tried one of his cookies before. "I thought ya didn't eat sweets."
"Don't tattle on me," she teased, nudging him with her shoulder.
"Hey, you can trust me." He crossed his heart with one finger, still amazed that she was acting playful. Miracles really did happen. "So, what else should we do?"
"I like to just... Look at the stars. Is that too boring?"
"Nah. I like anything long as I'm with you."
Tigress kissed him, and they stayed out way too late stargazing. Po hadn't had a lot of experience with first dates, but he felt confident he could say this was the best one in history.
Lin looked around the restaurant Shifu had led her to, her brow furrowed. The interior was dark wood finished in a glossy lacquer, the low tables lit by softly glowing lanterns and separated for privacy with intricately painted screens in various botanicals. Even the cushions they sat on were plush, thick brocade. "So." The place was so quiet she felt like she was going to get in trouble for talking. "This's... Something."
"The food is supposed to be good," he replied nervously. "And it isn't noodles."
"Yeah, it's got that going for it." She tapped her fingers on the table while she examined the plum blossoms painted on the screen beside them. They were okay.
"You're thinking this place is too fancy, aren't you?" he asked flatly.
"Well, it's not exactly somewhere I'd go immediately following a trip to go garbage picking," she said just as a waitress stepped around the screen.
The pig cleared her throat, glancing between the two of them before settling on Shifu. "Good evening, I'm Cuifen and I'll be your server tonight. May I start you off with something to drink?"
"Yes," Shifu said quickly, then nodded to Lin. "Whatever you like."
"Uh. Got any pine liquor?"
The waitress blinked down at her like she'd just asked for fairy dust. "I'm afraid not. We have a lovely pear infusion-"
"Good, yeah, that's the one," Lin accepted before she had to listen to an entire list of high-end drinks that probably all tasted the same.
The waitress nodded to them and left without another word, sensing the tension.
"So where're the menus, anyway?" If she was going to eat at a snooty restaurant, she might as well take full advantage.
"Oh, uhm, it's a fixed menu," Shifu replied. "There's no need to order."
"So we don't get to pick?"
"It's a chef's tasting sort of event," he grumbled, his ears turning red. "I thought you would like that, since you're passionate about cooking."
Lin couldn't help but find that considerate, even if the ambiance of the restaurant wasn't exactly her thing. "That's nice of you," she said, and his shoulders relaxed as the tension drained from his body. "I do like that idea. I just, y'know, don't really go to places like this. It's new." Even Al hadn't taken her to restaurants like this, and he was a diplomat. She bit her tongue to interrupt her train of thought. This was not the time to be remembering Al.
"I have never been here," Shifu admitted. "After you agreed to this date, I asked Zeng to look into some places for me."
She laughed at that. "You jerk! He's got better things to do with his time."
"Then you won't like how I managed to guarantee there would be a hot bath waiting for you at the end of our evening," he said sheepishly.
"Jeez!" Lin would have lectured him on abuse of power, but their drinks arrived. Their tiny, tiny drinks. She peered at the drizzle of alcohol in the bottom of a glass smaller than a teacup. "Uh. This's it?"
"My apologies," Shifu quickly said to the waitress. "Could you please bring a few more of these for the table?"
She huffed in annoyance, then downed her expensive cocktail. It tasted like pure sugar. "I wasn't trying to be rude or anything, I was just surprised."
"I know." He nudged his drink toward her, and she took it and finished that one off in a single gulp too. "I should warn you that a tasting menu is typically made up of smaller portions."
"I work in a restaurant, I know what a tasting menu is," she snapped.
"Sorry." He coughed awkwardly into his fist and they fell into an uncomfortable silence.
Eventually, the waitress returned with some food and more drinks. Garlic soup dumplings with a black vinegar and sesame oil emulsion were their first course, according to her. "Dumplings" was a generous term, since there was only one dumpling on the plate. But Lin had known to expect that, despite what Shifu thought. She ate hers in a single bite, and it was good, but anyone who'd lived in Shanghai was difficult to impress with a soup dumpling outside the region, and she was no exception. "Pretty good," she commented, then downed another sugary pear-something drink.
"Delicious," Shifu replied tightly.
They made it through a small cube of fried tofu smothered in mushroom sauce, celery stir-fried with lily bulb, a "palate cleansing" sip of broth, a single slice of oil boiled lotus root, and a spoonful of fried rice with delicately shredded cabbage without more than a few words between them. And, naturally, a fresh drink with each course. This was another reason Lin had been hesitant to go on a real date with Shifu- she'd had a feeling they would eventually run out of things to say and bicker. It wasn't exactly new for them.
"So," Shifu said as the waitress placed some lemon shaved ice in front of them. "Are... You still annoyed?"
"A little." She stabbed her spoon into her shaved ice and slurped it down. This was probably the best executed out of all the courses, which was a little sad, honestly. "Just 'cause I don't like fancy stuff or don't have access to it doesn't mean I'm totally ignorant."
"I know. Or, I should have. Would you like some of my shaved ice?" He seemed to be big on peace offerings today.
"Some? What 'some'? There's barely enough here for one person to take a bite." She did, however, lick his spoon for him. It was only fair. "Jeez, tasting menus are annoying. I bet they're charging a fortune, too."
Shifu remained predictably silent, though his ear twitched a bit.
"I liked the shaved ice. And... I guess the tofu was pretty good, too. But maybe next time I should pick the place."
"I tried," he grumbled, then dropped an obscene amount of money on the table. "Let's just go."
"Didya tip?" She had to ask. She couldn't work as a server and not.
"Generously," he snapped. "You weren't much more pleasant as a customer than you are as a waitress."
"Well sorry for having an opinion on food!" Lin pushed past him so she could stomp out of the restaurant first, suppressing a belch as she did. It would ruin her exit, though she wasn't too pleased that their meal had left her hungry and given her gas immediately. But then she felt guilty, though not for yelling at Shifu. He always deserved it. She knew that when he'd criticized the way she'd acted to their waitress he'd been kind of... Right. With a sigh, she went back into the restaurant to apologize to the woman and give her an extra tip. It was only right.
When she exited the restaurant a second time, Shifu was waiting for her out on the street. He looked annoyed, though no more than usual. "It was nice of you to apologize," he said tightly.
"Yeah, I know." She knew that reply would get to him, and judging by his twitchy face she was right. "C'mon, it just wasn't-"
"Your kind of place?" he interrupted. "You mentioned that. More than necessary."
"Did I... Hurt your feelings?" She realized the answer to that question as she asked it.
He huffed, crossing his arms. "For someone with such fragile emotions, you can be very dense."
"Sorry. I didn't mean to criticize, I just... I was being a jackass. Sorry." Lin was surprised to find that having hurt his feelings, even in a minor way, tugged at her heart so much. She did her best to repress the feeling. "Areya okay?"
Shifu let out a long breath as if he'd been holding it. "I am. Though seeing you admit that you were wrong still shakes me to my core."
"You are so snotty!" she teased with a snort, then headed toward the bar. At this point, they'd be able to make it there just in time for the show. And maybe, if she was lucky, the bar would also be serving some food. "C'mere, walk with me."
Shifu caught up to her and she reached down to grab at his butt, just to make sure he lightened up a little bit. "Hey! Keep your hands to yourself in public!"
"You and your aversion to public displays of affection." There weren't that many villagers walking the street with them after dark, but many of them were couples walking arm in arm. "Nobody cares but you, y'know."
He caught her hand as she reached for his butt again and held it firmly between them. "I am fine with public displays, so long as they aren't too vulgar."
"Everything's vulgar to you," Lin complained, though not with any real levity. She would always find his uptight attitude funny. She might as well let him know that she appreciated it. "Whenya get like this, it just makes me wanna tear your clothes off and-"
"Please don't finish," Shifu interrupted.
"That's what she said."
"Augh!"
Lin laughed at his disgusted grimace. "Anyway, that ended with 'suck your dick,' in case you were wondering."
"You have an illness."
"Wanna inject me with the cure?"
He leaned away from her, wrinkling his nose. "Good gods." He didn't let go of her hand, though.
They reached The Pink Lily after walking a few blocks Southwest through the village, in a neighborhood mostly made up of shops and small restaurants. Lanterns painted with the bar's namesake were strung up along the building's eaves, giving off a soft pink glow. The door was also painted pink, though this shade was a deeper, brighter pink closer to a red. A muscular sow stood beside the door, taking coins from patrons paying the cover charge. The rest of the bar was relatively non-descript, fitting in well with the buildings around it.
Shifu let go of Lin's hand to pay the cover charge for both of them, and the bouncer raised one of her bold eyebrows at him. With a shrug, she let them in. "I hope it doesn't get around that I've been seen going out to a bar," Shifu fretted.
She sincerely doubted that was why the bouncer had given him such a skeptical look, but she decided to keep that to herself. She had a feeling he wouldn't take it very well if she told him why he was the only man in the bar. "I'll grab a table, you buy the drinks."
"What are you drinking?"
"Whatever comes in the biggest mug. And if they got snacks, I wouldn't be opposed to that either." She nudged Shifu toward the bar and found a table for two close to the corner that hadn't been claimed yet. It was a bit far from where the band was setting up, but considering their name was Scream Violence, she didn't think Shifu would appreciate being too close.
She turned her attention away from the band at the sound of a scraping chair, surprised that Shifu had managed to get their drinks so quickly. However, he wasn't the one joining her at the table.
"Bold move, bringing a man here," An Zhi commented, leaning her elbows on the table. "Is it a date?"
"Hi to you, too," Lin said with a snort of laughter. "And yeah, it's a date. What, you jealous?"
"Definitely not." She glanced toward the band, a frown briefly crossing her face. "I didn't realize you were a fan of Scream Violence."
"Never heard of 'em before in my life," Lin admitted. "But I saw the flier and I knew I had to see what it was all about. You a fan?"
"A little." An Zhi blushed pink. "I might as well tell you now... I used to date the lead singer."
Lin immediately turned in her seat to get a better look at the women at the back of the room. There were two geese in the band, one tuning an erhu and the other a zither, a pig setting up a series of drums and cymbals, one rabbit with a flute, a ewe with a suona horn, and a red fox who looked around their age tuning a ruan. "It's the fox," Lin concluded.
"How did you guess that so quickly?" An Zhi asked, her nose twitching in annoyance.
"I just figured you got a thing for canines," she said with a shrug, and the fact that An Zhi said nothing confirmed that suspicion. "How long'd you two date?"
"A couple of years in our twenties." An Zhi leaned her face on her hand as she watched her ex prepare for the show. "She wanted to leave the Valley of Peace to perform on the road, and I wanted to stay, so... We broke up. I've seen her around a few times in the past year or so, but we haven't spoken yet."
"Man, we got so much in common it's starting to freak me out."
"Like a doppelganger from an alternate universe?" she asked.
"You know about alternate universes! See, this's why we're friends." Lin raised her eyebrows when the fox caught sight of An Zhi and did a double-take. She had a feeling that particular romance was about to get rekindled. "I think she recognizes you."
"No. You think?" An Zhi blushed even more deeply when the fox waved to her. "Um. I'd better say hi. Don't want to be... Rude... Or something..." She let her excuse trail off as she stumbled out of her chair and headed toward the stage area. Even if things hadn't worked out when they'd tried to date, Lin still thought the little rabbit was pretty cute when she was nervous.
"Well, that was interesting." Shifu dropped down into the freshly vacated seat across from her and offered her a massive mug overflowing with something frothy. "The women here are more aggressive than I'm used to. Well, besides you."
Lin winked at him and took a long swig of her drink, some kind of beer by the taste of it. Now, this was much more her speed than that weird sugary pear concoction she'd had with dinner. "They don't serve food?"
"I am afraid not. Apparently, that is common knowledge, because a lot of people laughed when I asked if there was anything to eat here."
She kept her mouth firmly shut. "Mmhm."
Shifu had a much smaller drink that he was sipping at reservedly, and he looked askance at the band. "Why are the performers wearing torn clothing?"
"It's an aesthetic, I'm guessing," Lin said with a shrug. "I mean, it makes a statement with all the piercings. I've never seen 'em before, so I couldn't really tellya anyway."
"Of course."
"Hey!" The fox leading the band suddenly shouted out over the crowd and strummed a few chords on her ruan. "Everyone shut your yaps! It's time for some music!" One of the geese on erhu tugged on her sleeve and whispered something into her ear. "Oh, yeah, almost forgot. We're Scream Violence!" She let out an ear-piercing scream that made Shifu wince before the band launched into a raucous song about going underground.
Lin loved them immediately.
"I had hoped their name would not be so literal," Shifu shouted over the music, and Lin just laughed at him.
Women were pushing tables and chairs aside to make a dance floor and jumping around to the music while scream-singing along to the song's chorus. Lin got up to join them and paused to nod toward Shifu, but he only shook his head and hunkered down in his seat. He at least waved her away as a sign that he would be fine on his own, so she plunged into the crowd to dance. It was more like jumping in place with the occasional thrash, considering how packed the homemade dance floor had become. She danced through four songs before stumbling back to the table to catch her breath.
Shifu gave her a warm smile that made her stomach jump a little, a feeling that she decided to ignore. Instead, she buried her face in her mug and drank while she listened to the rest of the band's first set.
"Alright, we're not fucking off all night, so don't go anywhere!" was how the singer announced their break, which made Lin laugh.
"I think we are now even for that restaurant you hated," Shifu said, rubbing at his ears. "I may have suffered permanent damage to my hearing."
"At leastya can't eavesdrop on me anymore," Lin teased. "By the way, I saw a friend of mine here."
"Oh? Who?"
Lin gestured toward An Zhi, who was already on her way to their table with the fox who'd been playing ruan and singing lead vocals. Shan was taller than all three of them, so standard size for a fox, and wore several earrings in both her ears. Her eyes, heavily lined, were such a dark shade of brown they almost looked black. Lin could definitely see the appeal. Hell, she'd hit on the woman if she wasn't in the middle of a date with someone else.
"Hey!" An Zhi greeted, her tone a little too bouncy to be natural. "So this is Shan, I thought you'd get along together. Uhm, Shan, this's my friend Lin and-"
"Yeah, Shifu, the one and only man in this bar," Shan interrupted with a laugh, raising the drink she had carried over with her and nodding.
"Hey," Lin said, joining in with that laugh.
"Hello," Shifu greeted hesitantly, a brief look of panic crossing his face as he scanned the room in the belated realization that he was, indeed, the only man there. "Uhm, so... Where did your band come up with such an interesting name?"
"That's an interesting story, actually," Shan said with a thoughtful sip of her drink. "So Scream Team turned into Team Violence turned into In the Violent Hole, then Screaming Hole, then Scream Violence. Actually, we started out as The Cleaning Ladies, 'cause that's how we met. We all cleaned the Jade Palace!" She pointed to Shifu with a cackle. "This one inspired that last song, 'Oh Bondage, Up Yours.'"
"Really?" Lin asked, grinning at Shifu's blush. "I love that song!"
"Thanks! Yeah, he's not the greatest boss."
"Oh, hell no."
"I'm right here," Shifu butt in, his ear twitching. "And I don't even remember you."
"Yeah, that tracks," Shan said.
"Kinda proves her point," Lin agreed.
"Anyway, I better get back to the band." Shan gave An Zhi a nudge and a smile before leaving them.
Lin noticed the way An Zhi watched her go, all moony-eyed and pink-cheeked. That was most definitely the face of someone who hadn't gotten over her ex. "So, you gonna ask her out?"
An Zhi blushed and flapped her hands in what she could only guess was distress. "What? No! I mean, we dated such a long time ago- and we haven't talked in years! She's probably taken. I would guess. Do you think?"
"Ask her out," Lin said with a laugh. "This's the first time you talked in years, but she still came over here withya even though her weird ex-boss is sitting here. Obviously, she likesya."
"I don't know." An Zhi glanced longingly across the bar at Shan, then slapped the table. "I should leave! This is a date. I mean, maybe next time pick somewhere other than a lesbian bar to bring a man on a date, but anyway, I'll go."
"Bye now." Lin waved at An Zhi's back, shaking her head. When she turned to Shifu, she was unsurprised to find him glaring at her. "What?"
"This is a lesbian bar?" he asked in a scandalized whisper-shout.
"It's called The Pink Lily and you're literally the only man here. What'd you think?" She finished off her drink and slid her empty mug toward him. "Buy me another?"
"You dated An Zhi, didn't you?" Of course, he couldn't just let it go.
"One date," Lin corrected, ignoring his eye twitch. "She asked me out, we talked at her tea shop for a while, Viper intruded and brought you up, so the whole night turned into a natural disaster. So we decided to be friends. Just friends. Is that okay, or would you like me to sever ties forever and ever?"
"I sense the slightest bit of sarcasm in that offer," he grumbled, then snatched her empty mug from the table and made a beeline for the bar. When he returned, he had a large mug of beer for himself, too, which he proceeded to down sullenly.
"You're being a baby," Lin pointed out.
"Forgive me for not being prepared to encounter your other dates tonight."
Lin leaned on the table, watching him fume. "Date. Singular." She was waiting for him to realize how horribly he was behaving, but he just kept sulking. "Y'know what? I don't gotta deal with whatever jealousy-fueled tantrum situation you got going on, 'cause- and I cannot stress this enough- we are not a couple. I'm out." She stood up and walked away, ignoring him calling her name. She should have known better than to agree to this date. If she were being honest with herself, she should have known better than to keep sleeping with him at all.
She made it out to the street before he caught up with her.
"Lin! You didn't have to leave-"
"I really, really did," she interrupted.
"I'm sorry for getting jealous."
"No you're not!" she snapped. "And anyway, I'm not mad you got jealous, I'm mad you didn't act like an adult about it! People feel jealousy! It's not a reason to act like a total ass!"
"I'm sorry for that, too, then!" Shifu shouted back.
"Oh, go try to paint my fart!"
"I don't- what is that supposed to even mean? Wait, never mind!" Shifu rubbed at his forehead, his brow furrowed in some kind of anguished thought. "I am trying, alright? This is all new to me! I've never-" He stopped there, turning bright red as he let out an embarrassed cough. "I've never gone on a real date. With anyone else."
"Oh my God," Lin grumbled, dragging her hands over her face. Of course. This was so quintessentially Shifu that she should have planned their evening around it. "This's why I toldya to date other people! I don't wanna be your experiment!"
"You aren't an experiment, you're just the only woman I've ever loved!" He looked practically purple after that confession, which sapped most of the fight from Lin.
She couldn't stay mad when he was so painfully embarrassed and out of his element. She wanted to, and she hated that she couldn't stay mad, but that didn't change how she felt. And it didn't change the fact that this day together had been rocky at best. "Shifu, this's also why I went outta my way so many times to establish boundaries. 'Cause I know you're not experienced. But that's not an excuse. You disregard what I say 'causeya don't believe me or you think I don't know what I'm talking about. And thenya act like a complete shithead. I know you got your flaws, but I'm tired of being the one to put up with the consequences of those flaws, and I'm tired of being your self-improvement dummy. It's exhausting. So act right, or leave me alone. Those're your choices."
"I am not used to you chastising me so thoroughly," he grumbled, but he at least looked contrite. "I didn't realize I was putting that much on you. And I know this whole process is about getting your forgiveness, but you have flaws, too. Like not being considerate toward the feelings of others. Such as me. So there."
"I already apologized for the restaurant."
"Not just the restaurant," he corrected her. "All the time."
Lin rolled her eyes at the criticism. Not that she didn't already know about this habit- Yan-Yan had told her as much in Shanghai, and many people before then. "I know. I try not to do that, but it's especially hard with you, 'cause of how mad I still am. And not that I think you got the high ground 'cause of this, but I'm sorry about all the times I did that to you while we were together, and I'm sorry that I took my feelings about seeing Gia again out on you. I mean, you still deserved to get shit for not telling me about her, but I was acting out."
"Oh." He looked stunned. "Thank you for your apology."
"Look, communication works," she said sarcastically. "Who woulda ever guessed?"
"That was... So much communication," Shifu agreed. "You do not normally do that. Do you? You told me that I had hurt you, but this feels like some kind of counseling session."
"Oh, shut up!"
"Really! I think I've learned quite a bit from you-"
Lin interrupted him with a kiss. She couldn't listen to this anymore, mostly because she sensed he was probably going to expect her to act more like they were a couple now. "We're still not a couple," she reminded him firmly when she pulled away.
"You're still going to give me a chance, though," he said with a goofy smile.
"I only kissedya to shut you up," Lin grumbled.
"No," Shifu protested. "I've been kissed to shut me up before, and this was not that."
"Okay, I got some follow-up questions for that, but those'll hafta wait. I wanna go back inside and see the rest of the show." When they got back into the Pink Lily, the band was already playing their next set and half the crowd was up jumping and dancing, so their table was still empty. "Wanna dance?" Lin shouted over her shoulder.
Shifu shook his head, eyeing the dancing women with what she could only assume was horror.
Her laughter was drowned out by the music, which was just as well. They kept devolving into fights, so she wasn't sure how well openly mocking him in a lesbian bar for a second time would go. She managed to order new drinks without having to speak and sat at the table with him while she watched the crowd. She wanted to dance, sure, but she had a feeling that Shifu would need to work up to it. And she didn't want to go off on her own just yet, because she was starting to get just a bit buzzed and she tended to misbehave when she mixed lots of liquor and beautiful women.
The band began playing a slow song and Lin eyed the makeshift dance floor before almost immediately giving in to temptation. "Okay, don't make fun'a me," she said, downing her drink. "But I like slow dancing. So, you wanna?"
"Slow dance?" He asked, a look of terror crossing his face before he turned and coughed to try to hide it. "Well, if you want to."
"Yeah!" She took his hand and dragged him away from the table, relieved that there were already some couples swaying around the bar. At least that would make Shifu less self-conscious. "Just so y'know, I like to slow dance real close," she warned him before wrapping one arm around his shoulders to pull him up against her. Maybe it wasn't a "proper" way to dance, but they wouldn't be the only ones in the bar cozied up so close.
Shifu followed her lead in silence, nervously shuffling his feet and swaying like that stupid dummy in the training hall. He clearly had no idea was he was doing, but it was sweet of him to try.
She banished that thought from her mind. She was entering dangerous territory as it was with this date, she didn't need to take it seriously, too.
Shifu seemed to relax soon enough, holding her with his hand resting comfortably on her back, rubbing a gentle rhythm with his thumb. He cleared his throat, then leaned in close and said lowly into her ear, "I have a very important question to ask you."
"Uhuh," Lin replied distractedly while she tried to figure out how he had suddenly gotten even remotely smooth.
"What is a germ-free adolescent?" He asked, echoing the chorus of the current song.
Lin laughed into his shoulder, equally surprised by his joke. "Not me."
"Well, I have a bit of a thing for dirty old ladies."
It wasn't a line that should have worked on her, but it did. Maybe because he was admitting, on some level, that he liked her flaws. Or maybe it was just because she loved his voice. She had let a lot slide because of that voice. "Since when d'you know how to flirt?" She had to ask. It was driving her crazy.
"I may have had a little help," he admitted sheepishly, then lowered his voice even more, as if he thought anyone might overhear him. "I read some of Tai Lung's stories."
Lin pulled back from their embrace to stare at him in disbelief. "No. Really?"
Shifu was red as a beet already and crossing into purple territory. "Yes, really."
She didn't know what was more strange: that Shifu had read erotica or that there had been anything useful to glean from it.
"I skipped the inappropriate parts, of course." That was at least a little closer to normal.
"Those parts're the only reason to read 'em in the first place," Lin pointed out with a grin.
"I did not feel it was warranted," he replied, returning her smile but still blushing. "I trust you for instruction in that area."
"Goddamn." She was starting to doubt her grip on reality. Was this a fever dream?
"Does that mean I'm doing well?" He was still trying to sound smooth, but his voice broke a bit in a show of his usual insecurity. So maybe this was real, after all.
And she liked it. She liked him trying to put the moves on her with confidence and cracking like this. She liked his blush and his awkward sway-dancing. She even liked that he'd studied for their date like it was some sort of test. "Yeah." Lin had never been very good at self-control, so while she had promised herself she wouldn't fall for any sweet talk tonight, she still ended up yanking Shifu into a dark corner and kissing him like she was trying to climb him.
Shifu managed to squirm away from her, and apparently, he'd forgotten to breathe- again. "Oh-my-gods," he gasped, coughing.
With a sigh, Lin patted on his back and waited for him to catch his breath. "You gonna be okay if I go dance some more?"
He nodded, so she left him to dance to the rest of the songs, which were all fast and furious with scream-sung lyrics. She had worked up a significant sweat by the time the band stopped for the night, so it was a good thing she still had a bath to look forward to.
"Now we're fucking off forever!" Shan screamed at the end of their set. "Come and get some, groupies!"
"She's charming," Shifu commented flatly when Lin joined him back at the table.
"I'm surprisedya don't remember her," Lin replied, stealing his drink from him to finish it off. "She's your type."
"That's not true in the least," he argued stiffly.
"Uhuh." She was more than a little skeptical about that. "Well, she's gay anyway, so it's not like you're her type. You're lucky I only turned out half-gay."
"Hah hah."
"Oh, lighten up. I know that's not how it works." She probably shouldn't have had so much to drink, considering how little she'd eaten for dinner. "C'mon, what's got your panties in a bunch, now?"
"Nothing," he said, then rubbed at his ears like he'd been doing half the night. "My ears just hurt. It's not exactly a stellar idea for me to come to events like this."
"Right, your super hearing powers or whatever." She should have maybe had half the amount of drinks she'd had tonight. Those pear thingies had packed more of a wallop than she'd realized. "Well, why don't we head out for the bath? I bet that'll makeya feel a little better."
"That sounds fantastic." He shot out of his seat and headed outside, weaving slightly as he walked. He must not have been kidding about that ear pain. Or maybe he'd also had too much to drink.
Lin grabbed his arm once they got outside and held onto him to help him out a little. "God, I'm hungry."
"Me, too," he admitted. "I should have packed a travel snack."
She laughed at his joke, then kissed him for good measure. "Let's take a bath and raid the kitchen," she suggested. "I got all night."
"I made sure there would be food available to us in the bathhouse," he said with a smug smile that she couldn't let go without a little ribbing.
"Wow, that was so smart of Zeng to think ahead."
Shifu bristled, like he was actually offended. "Excuse you, it was my idea."
Not that offending someone had ever stopped Lin before. "I'll ask Zeng and see what he says."
"Keep up that snotty attitude and I will eat all the snacks myself," he threatened.
"I'd like to seeya try!" She reached behind him to goose him again, knowing he'd jump up in the air like a skittish virgin- and she was right. "Once I getya naked, there ain't gonna much resistance left."
"What makes you think that?" He had been blushing so much that night that it was almost his default state.
"Experience." She couldn't resist that red face, so she wrapped an arm around his shoulder and gave him a few kisses as they walked. He must have had more to drink than she'd realized, because he let the public displays of affection go without argument this time around.
She teased him all the way up the mountain, but when they got to the bathhouse and she got a load of all the wine, tea, and fruit waiting for them, that quieted her.
"I hope this is alright." Shifu sounded weirdly nervous, but she didn't comment.
"Uhuh," Lin answered before uncorking a bottle of wine and chugging it. She loved chugging expensive wine, especially when snobby people got all offended about how she should savor it. But she was glad Shifu didn't make any comments.
"How are you feeling?" he asked after she finished off the bottle. "That is a lot to drink in one night."
"I feel like getting naked and getting in a hot bath!" She might have gotten just a little drunk, but she deserved to cut loose a little bit on a date. Besides, she'd been pretty dry since the first night of the New Year. For her, anyway. "Wanna join me?" She shoved a few orange slices in her mouth, then started to strip.
"I'll hang back a moment, if that's alright with you." He stayed seated beside the bath, picking at the fruit and sipping slowly at some tea.
"Okay!" Lin jumped into the bath and submerged her head, pleased at the hot water. Nothing relaxed her aches and pains like a good bath. When she came up for air, she laughed at the sight of Shifu huffing and trying to brush off the water she'd splashed on him with her jump.
"Don't mind me," he muttered.
"Y'know, even when you're trying to loosen up you're still uptight." She leaned back and relaxed in the bath, stretching out her legs and flexing her toes. "It's very amusing to me."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "I've noticed."
"Oh, don't get so bent outta shape. It's cute."
"It is?"
Lin snorted, then closed her eyes. "Don't read too much into that. I've been drinking."
"Sure," he accepted skeptically, but she let that one go because she was enjoying her bath time so much. They sat quietly for a long time, until Shifu predictably broke the silence. "You are not falling asleep, are you? It's dangerous to sleep in the bath."
"I'm awake." Lin cracked her eyes open to look at him. He'd gotten through almost all the fruit on his own. "I just like a good soak."
"So I see." He set his tea down and moved to kneel behind her. "Perhaps we should make an effort to keep you awake."
"Sure, maybe you could shampoo me," Lin suggested.
"Are you sure?" Shifu asked, his tone unexpectedly mischievous. "What if I... Felt you?"
"You've felt me plenty of times already and I never had a problem with it," she replied with a cackle. She might as well lean into the joke.
He placed his hands gently on her shoulders and leaned in close to her ear like he'd done at the bar. "All in your service," he said softly.
Lin couldn't stop herself from cackling even more at that. "That's so cheesy!"
"I am trying something new," Shifu said with an annoyed huff. "Give me a break!"
"Aw, c'mon, don't be mad!" She did her best to stop laughing, but she was still wheezing a little. "I liked it! I liked all the charmya turned on tonight. And I like it when you're awkward, too." She realized belatedly that she'd said way too much, but she was still feeling fuzzy-headed from drinking a little too much.
"Thank you," he replied affectionately, and his hands left her shoulders as he stepped away.
Lin wet her head again and enjoyed the warm water while she waited.
"I want to try something." Shifu was behind her again, and he placed a hand on her back this time. "Could you scoot forward?"
Lin snorted. "Scoot? Romantic." But she still did what he'd asked.
He lowered himself into the bath behind her and pulled her into his lap. "You can lean back, now."
She was kind of enjoying how bossy he was getting, so she leaned her back against his chest and rested her head on his shoulder. "So now what?"
"Nothing," he said, wrapping his arms around her. "I have gotten you to cuddle with me. My objective is complete."
"Hey!"
"You're not getting away from me." He kissed her neck and shoulder, so she guessed it wasn't so bad being forcibly cuddled. Then he stopped and let out the happiest sigh she'd ever heard from him. "This is nice."
"Yeah, it is," Lin agreed, closing her eyes again as she began to relax.
"Lin, I know we may fight and misunderstand each other more than perhaps is normal, but... I think we can make it. If we try. And I want to try. I want to spend the rest of my life trying with you. I don't mean to put pressure on you or ask you for anything- I only wanted to tell you how I feel. Just because." He awkwardly cleared his throat after that heartfelt speech, and she could feel the heat coming off his face. Even when he was trying to be romantic, he was still himself. That charmed her more than anything else.
Lin forced herself out of Shifu's arms to get out of the bath and grabbed a towel. "That's sweet. It is." She shook herself out and scrubbed at her face to dry it. To say she had entered a state of panic would be an understatement. She felt like she'd been doused in ice water and punched in the chest, though she did her best to hide it.
"But it bothered you," Shifu observed. "I did not mean to-"
"Nah, I just gotta use the chamber pot, is all," she lied. "Too much to drink."
"Right."
"I'm gonna be a while," she added. She didn't know how convincingly she was lying, but she wasn't about to tell him the truth. That he was getting to her.
"Should I wait for you?" From the shrewd way Shifu was watching her, she doubted he'd bought the lie. Well, he shouldn't have spouted so much empty, sappy bullshit in the first place, or even asked her to go out with him like this. She shouldn't have said yes. She shouldn't have let any of this happen.
Lin shook herself off one more time and threw on a robe on her way out the door. "Don't, it's a big'un. Just get some sleep."
"Oh, ew!"
She left on that note, and she knew that it was probably obvious to him that she wasn't going even remotely in the direction of the chamber pots. She was going home. She was going home to try to forget this night had ever happened, that she had ever fallen for any of Shifu's stupid inept moves, that she had ever felt anything other than repelled by him.
Because Lin knew the truth of things. She knew that she would never be able to let go of the past. It had been stupid to think she could. The more she tried to move on, the harder she clung. She couldn't move on from Al. She couldn't move on from Shifu's mistakes. She couldn't even move on from her past in Shanghai. It was all right there with her, weighing her down and keeping her from being happy. And it was all her own damn fault, too.
When she got home, she went through her things to find every bottle of wine she had stashed in the house and lined them up like shots. If she was going to feel this pain, then she sure as hell wasn't going to be sober for it. Even tipsy wouldn't do the trick. She crawled into bed with her last bottle, closed her eyes, and- something yanked it out of her hands.
"Hey!"
"That's enough for one night." Tai Lung pulled her blankets over her and patted her awkwardly on the head. "Go to sleep before you start vomiting."
"Where'dya come from?" She squinted at him in the dark, but he didn't quite come into focus. "I gotta lotta questions 'bout this. Whole. Thing. Ugh." It was too late to sleep before vomit. Good thing Tai Lung had those kung fu reflexes ready to grab her chamber pot and catch the spew.
"This is my life now," he said with a put-upon sigh, then used a dirty handkerchief to wipe her mouth. "I'm making some of this cashew-whatever tea you have here. Drink some to wash down that sick, then get some sleep. And try to aim better if you vomit again." He set the chamber pot down beside her, and she wrinkled her nose at the smell.
She'd had worse, though.
And none of it was as bad as the pit in her stomach, making her want to cry. Well, she was crying now. She couldn't remember why, though.
"Down the hatch," Tai Lung ordered, then held a cup of something hot up to her face.
"Ick," Lin complained but drank deeply. She'd gotten thirsty from all that vomiting. And she was upset about something, but she couldn't quite remember what. "I'ma sleep," she mumbled, then pulled a pillow over her head and closed her eyes. She could think about all this later. Right now, she just wanted to rest. To feel nothing and think nothing, and drift off to a dreamless sleep. That sounded good to her.
Notes:
I had actually intended this chapter to include a lot more, but the date night theme kind of ate it alive, so I embraced it. Huzzah!
Okay, so there are a number of notes and references for this chapter. Bear with me, here! The title for this chapter is an Italian proverb. "The pit" was inspired by Parks and Recreation, as was Shan's list of the band's previous names. "I've been kissed to shut me up before" is a quote from Frasier. "Try to paint my fart" is a Persian insult, basically used to tell someone to piss off.
Oh Bondage, Up Yours! / Germ-Free Adolescent / Age by X-Ray Spex are the songs referenced in this chapter as played by the fictional band Scream Violence. Wuhan Calling: How Punk Rock Changed China's Youth is a great short documentary that inspired the band, along with my desire to hear more punk music played with traditional instruments.
Thanks again to everyone for reading and reviewing! I hope I can continue on with this fairly steady clip and get this beast of a fic finished soon. In the meantime, your feedback gives me life.
Chapter 31: Rice is Born in Water and Must Die in Wine
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 31: Rice is Born in Water and Must Die in Wine
Yan-Yan sighed, rubbing at her tired eyes. All four of her granddaughters had finally gotten to sleep for the evening, not that it hadn't been an epic struggle. She hoped her daughter appreciated the help because she didn't know how much longer she'd be able to keep up with the little darlings. And with another one on the way... Well, they'd cross that bridge when they came to it.
She couldn't sleep after everything that had happened, so she grabbed a bottle of wine from the liquor cabinet, along with some cups, and headed into Chen's studio. As she'd expected, he was awake, sitting on his massive desk and staring at a painting he'd pulled from storage. Yan-Yan stood behind him, squinting at the painting in the low light of a single lantern. It was a portrait, depicting a beautiful brown-furred rat strolling through a garden of peonies. She wore a lush red hanfu patterned in white peonies, though the flowers of her dress were small and delicate enough not to clash with the ones painted in the garden.
Chen abruptly rolled the painting up and set it aside. "Whatsamatter?" he asked shortly.
Yan-Yan set the smaller cup down on his desk and filled it with wine. "I just needed a drink with someone."
"Hmph," he grunted, then downed the wine she'd poured him.
"What, you think I'm getting too emotional?" She filled her own cup, but sipped at it slowly. She didn't need to get sloppy drunk, she just needed to unwind.
"Pull up a chair," Chen said with a sigh, then sat down on the edge of his desk. "And gimme a refill."
Yan-Yan followed his instructions, though she couldn't say she found it terribly relaxing to try to lounge in one of his stiff wooden chairs. "Promise me we'll get some chair cushions made up soon."
"I promise," he replied placidly, which was a sure sign that he was feeling mopey.
She couldn't blame him. He had always been like a grandfather to her daughters, and he loved her grandchildren as if they were his own family. It must have hurt him deeply to witness Ziying's injury and Yiliang's escape from her husband. "Who was in the painting?" she asked.
Chen hesitated a moment, then sipped at his wine again. "Student of mine."
Yan-Yan eyed the scroll, well-preserved but yellowing around the edges. It was clearly several decades old. "Which one?"
"Ah, c'mon," he grumbled, which answered her question well enough.
"That's the woman," she concluded flatly, frowning at the scroll. "The one you had an affair with." Her stomach churned at the thought. It was the only thing Chen had done that she'd never been able to understand or forgive, and it had happened before she'd even been born. She tried to remind herself that Chen had changed in the years since, and was nothing like her ex-husband. "Why do men do that? Why do they make women commit their whole lives to them and then run around with someone else?"
"Yan-Yan," he warned, glaring at her.
"No, really," she insisted, because she was feeling especially bitter and angry after her family had been hurt. "Tell me."
"How'm I supposed to know all that?" he grumbled, then glanced back down at the scroll. "I only know my own reasons."
Yan-Yan finished her wine and put her cup down with a loud clack. "I want to hear about it."
"Why d'ya wanna hear this shit alluva sudden?"
"It's for myself," she answered. "Catharsis." She rubbed at her eyes again, leaning against the edge of the desk. "You did the same thing my ex did. It was the worst thing anyone's ever done to me, and I just... I don't like knowing you've done that to someone else. I want to hear why. I want to think that maybe- maybe- you had a good reason."
He grunted back at her, his ears going red. "I didn't."
"Then why?" Yan-Yan didn't plan to leave until she had at least some answers.
"Look, it's not that complex a story," Chen said gruffly, but he told her anyway. "I got married when I was in my thirties- geez, back then I felt like I'd waited forever, but now it sounds so damn young. I wanted kids, y'know. A family. I wanted to be able to see 'em grow up, get married, have their own kids. My wife, she was from a good family, and we got along okay. But things kinda got tense when the years went by and there were never any kids. Maybe it was 'cause of me, maybe 'cause of her, but she'd wanted 'em just as badly. We stopped talking, stopped acting married. I shoulda let her go, have her own life and get away from me, but I was a coward. I'm not afraid to admit that. And then I went and acted like a total lowlife and had that affair. The worst part is, I'm not sure if I'd take it back. I was in love."
"Love?" she repeated incredulously.
Chen shrugged. "Yeah. I was also selfish, and ignorant. She was my student, and being with me ruined what small chance she had to become a reputable artist. In the end, she left town to try to make it somewhere no one knew her. So it wasn't just my wife I screwed over."
"Don't mention Meihui to me right now," she snapped.
"I wasn't gonna."
"Good," she said, her throat tightening as she thought about Chen's story. He'd fallen in love with the woman, and his affair had been a romance in his eyes. She couldn't help but wonder if that had been why she'd been so cruelly replaced. "Do- do you think he loves her?" She reached up to wipe away the tears that had formed as she imagined herself in the same position as Chen's ex-wife. Had her own ex, who had never quite fallen for her, fallen in love with Meihui? Had he loved another woman for years behind her back?
"I got no way of knowing that," Chen said. "But I don't think he does."
"How can you tell?"
"'Cause if he did, Meihui wouldn't care more what you think about her than she cares what he thinks." He gave her a gentle poke with his walking stick, and she batted it away.
She didn't know if she believed Chen, but she wanted to. It hurt less to think that her ex-husband was just an ass than it did to think that he'd betrayed her for love. "I'm sorry for getting upset over something that isn't my business," she muttered.
"I don't need an apology," he replied. "It's a reflection on my character."
"I don't know why I obsess over other people's decisions. Maybe because I have such trouble making my own."
"Well, she always had a bit of advice that helped me out," Chen replied, unrolling the scroll again so she could see the brown rat depicted in it.
"What was that?" She expected something flowery and sentimental since they were words from his long-lost forbidden love.
"Quit dicking around," he replied, catching Yan-Yan off-guard.
She couldn't help but laugh. "So that's where you picked up that phrase?" she asked incredulously as she pictured the elegant rat in the painting saying such a thing to Chen.
"It is indeed," he confirmed with a nod. "She was a wise woman, that one. We'd always agreed, to never say... To never say any 'I love you's, or any of that crap. But she'd tell me to quit dicking around with that smile on her face, and it was just as good to me."
Yan-Yan smiled. "That's why you always say it to Lin, isn't it? Because those words are sentimental to you."
"And 'cause she could stand to follow that bit of advice once in a while," he added.
"Chen," Yan-Yan scolded with a poke to the old master's stomach. "You're too hard on her. She's not your student anymore, you know."
"I know," he grumbled.
"I'll bet she'd like hearing from you," she added, since he was feeling so sentimental at the moment. "You should write."
"Ah, geez," Chen huffed, looking away. "What'm I supposed to say, huh?"
She'd had a feeling she would get that response from him. "You're such a baby," she informed him, causing his tail to twitch. "I'm just trying to help you. If you won't make peace, then it'll just be another regret to add to the pile."
"Just 'cause you had your heart-warming reunion with your kids doesn't mean things'll turn out the same for me," Chen snapped. "Drop it."
"Fine," Yan-Yan said with a sigh, watching as he rolled up the painting and set it aside for a blank piece of paper and some ink. "Can I stay and read with you while you paint?"
"Y'know I'll never say no to that," he said, his voice unexpectedly gentle after their argument. Sometimes he surprised her that way.
Yan-Yan doubted she would be needed with her family all asleep for the night. So, she grabbed one of her most flowery romances and settled down in Chen's desk chair to read while he painted mist-covered mountains and delicate tree branches adorned with dewdrops and spring blossoms. Those serene ink paintings were just another way in which Chen could surprise her.
They'd been relaxing together for hours when Chen's ears twitched and he set his brush aside with a frown. They both looked up as Wei-Shan strode into the studio as if he belonged there.
"Where've you been?" Chen asked, arching an eyebrow at him.
"Watching," Wei-Shan answered, which creeped Yan-Yan out to no end. "And now it's time to act. Pack your things." He nodded to Yan-Yan. "Both of you."
"Pack our things?" she repeated, caught off-guard by these sudden and mysterious orders. "Why? For what? Where are we even going?" She turned to Chen, who didn't seem surprised in the least. "What in the actual hell is happening?"
Chen gave her arm a gentle pat, his expression stoic. "We're heading out to the Valley of Peace, I'm guessing."
She didn't think that was even a remote possibility, but Wei-Shan nodded again.
"That's correct," he said, sounding more forceful than she'd ever heard him. "Quan is in need of help. We're going to provide it."
"Help with what?" Yan-Yan still didn't like any of this. "Chen, how's he even know if Lin needs help? How do you know we can believe him?"
Chen sighed and rubbed at his forehead, and when he looked at her he seemed worried. That wasn't like him at all. "It's a kung fu thing. I can't really explain it ifya don't already know a bunch about kung fu. But if he's wrong, what've we got to lose?"
She had already decided to go along with all this the moment she'd seen the worry on Chen's face. "I'll pack all my medical supplies. Can we wait for Meihui? I'll need an assistant with me if I'm patching up anything more major than some scrapes and bruises."
"We can wait," Wei-Shan confirmed. "You'll need her." He took his glasses off and tucked them into his shirt. Without them, he looked intense, menacing, even- like the few paintings she'd seen of him as a young man. Before he'd joined Chen. "I'll keep watch while you ready yourselves," he said, then left without another word.
"He's so weird and creepy," Yan-Yan observed, then turned to Chen. Their entire interaction with Wei-Shan had unnerved her, and she needed some reassurance. She had a feeling he needed a little reassurance of his own, too. "Listen. I don't know what we're expecting, but I'm with you. We're doing this together. Alright?"
Chen patted her arm again, closing his eyes. "Alright," he agreed, and it sounded more like a mantra meant to calm himself. "Am I fetching Meihui?"
"If you don't mind. I've got to try to figure out how to pack my medical supplies efficiently enough to carry them for a two-week walk. Not to mention Yiliang and the girls! I don't like the idea of leaving them here alone when we still don't know if that rotten husband of hers is going to try to pull something." She paused, thinking over her options. She might be a bit of a player now, but she did have someone who'd always been dependable to call on. "I think Li Peng might be up for a favor. Are you alright with him staying here?"
Chen nodded. "It's a good idea. He's big enough to chase off anyone who tries to make trouble for the girls. I'll ask my drinking buddies to drop in from time to time, too."
"Why? They're just a bunch of retired old geezers."
"Retired old kung fu masters," Chen corrected with a smug grin.
"What?"
"It wasn't a relevant detail until now." He hopped off his desk and toward his giant shelving unit. "I'm gonna start packing. Let's try to get everything squared away by tomorrow so we can head out the day after."
"Right," she agreed, still dazed at learning that Chen's drinking group consisted of fellow kung fu masters. She'd always assumed they were fellow artists. She should have known Chen would keep a trick like this up his sleeve, just in case. That had always been his style. "I think I'll start packing those medical supplies now."
Lin woke up with the taste of vomit in her mouth and a murderous hangover. "Goddamn," she muttered as she dragged herself out of bed to get ready for the day. Work wasn't going to be pleasant like this. Once she'd gotten herself relatively together, she shuffled outside to find Tai Lung at the fire pit. Right, Tai Lung had been with her last night. "What, now you're stalking me?"
He shoved a cup of tea into her hands and scoffed. "You truly are full of yourself. How am I supposed to learn from you when you're always pawning your work off onto me to go out drinking?"
"First, learn how to avoid my sneak attacks," she replied, then downed the tea. She could use all the help she could get with this pounding headache. "And anyway, I had a date."
He rolled his eyes. "I'm aware. You need to give up on that big-eared pinched sphincter."
Lin tossed her empty cup back at him before heading to her punt. She couldn't afford to run late today. "Mind your business." She thought Tai Lung would keep arguing with her, or at least follow her, but he stayed behind. It was weird, but she'd already told him he was welcome at her house so she didn't spend too much time worrying about it. When it came to the kid, she had a lot more to focus on than where he decided to spend his days. Not that she had any clue what was going on with those freaky visions. Or rather, her memories.
She wondered if there was something vital she was missing, something she could possibly remember to help them out. Yet when she tried, she always hit the same wall. She remembered that creature appearing to her in the darkness, but nothing beyond that. And even if she could remember, how would it help Tai Lung? What lesson did he have to learn? Was he supposed to just avoid the mistakes she'd made, or was there something deeper at work? She'd hoped to at least have some answers worked out by this point, but she was just as clueless now as she'd been the day she'd rejected Oogway.
To be honest, she was also distracting herself a little too much with Shifu. She'd been focused too much on her own disastrous love life instead of focusing on teaching Tai Lung. One would think that with only one student she'd be able to keep her eyes on the prize, but apparently, she sucked at teaching about visions even more than she did at receiving them.
"I'm here," she groaned up the stairs at Ping when she reached the restaurant, then donned her apron, grabbed a large gulp of water, and got to work.
"You look like you've been tracked in on the bottom of someone's shoe," Ping greeted her when he came downstairs. "Try not to let it affect your tips."
"Last night was a disaster, thanks for asking." She wondered if he was that unintimidated by her, or if he'd just forgotten that she had a giant cleaver at her disposal. "And now I'm hungover."
"So I smell," he replied, waving a wing in front of his beak. "You couldn't have bathed before work?"
"I bathed last night." She probably could have stood to bathe again this morning, but she hadn't had the time. "And you're lucky I didn't take a sick day."
"You're lucky you're still employed," he replied loftily, then got to work on his noodles for the day. "So what was so disastrous about your date? And feel free to leave out all the juicy details."
What could she even say about last night? That Shifu had made her feel too much like they were in a real relationship again, and she'd gotten scared off? That she'd wanted to forgive him, however briefly, but couldn't bring herself to take that leap? That she'd kept remembering Al and that inability to let go of the past had only confused her more? There were so many factors at work for her, all intertwined and jumbled up inside her. She couldn't even name all her feelings. "Magenta."
"What was magenta, now?" Ping asked distractedly. "Not a body part, I hope."
"Nah. It's just this thing someone told me once... When you're feeling a whole buncha shit and it all swirls together into one big, awful feeling that makesya wanna just crawl into bed and never come back out. Call it magenta. That's how last night made me feel, and that's why it sucked."
"So dramatic!" Ping clucked his tongue like a disapproving parent. "You certainly like to complicate your life, hm?"
She couldn't exactly deny that. "Why do I bother tellingya anything?"
"Maybe it's my noodles," he replied. "Could they contain a truth serum?"
"Very funny." She flicked an onion skin at him for that one. "And by the way, I don't like drama, it just seeks me out."
"Sure," he said skeptically. "And I don't like noodles."
Lin was going to spit in his lunch if he kept provoking her. And she would watch him eat it, too. "Keep it up, see what happens."
"Oh no, will you spit in my lunch? Boohoo! You already get fur into everything, anyway!" Ping sure was sharp for someone who spent most of his time obsessing about soup.
"I'll get you yet," she warned. "And your little noodles, too." At least all this banter helped cheer her up a little. Her head still pounded and her throat felt like sandpaper, but she was enjoying her morning with Ping, and that counted for something. She could appreciate their friendship in this moment and worry about what to do next with her life later.
Shifu had known when Lin had walked away from him last night that she wouldn't be returning. Still, he'd stayed up and waited for her in his room. And then, when he'd felt he couldn't sit still a moment longer, he'd gone to the scroll library. He hadn't forgotten what Lin had told him about Tai Lung's strange visions of some sort of ocean creature, and he'd been wondering what, if anything, he could do to help. If he couldn't spend the rest of the night trying to make up for his mistakes with Lin, then he would focus on making up for his mistakes with Tai Lung. And the first thing he had always done when facing a mistake and trying to make it right had been to turn to his master. So, why not turn to the wisdom his master had left behind?
He had worked the way Lin often did, through the night and into the next day, ignoring the morning gong. His students had proven already that they were responsible enough to go on training without him. By lunchtime, he had found what he'd been looking for: amongst Master Oogway's vast accounts of his journeys and adventures across the world, there had been an encounter with something just as strange and unnerving as what Lin had shown him.
Inside the scroll was an illustration of an eye, large and bright in the darkness of the ocean, and a description of what Oogway had thought might be an ocean spirit of some kind. Oogway had sailed the open ocean in search of students and found himself shipwrecked in a storm. This thing, some sort of giant squid, had appeared to him beneath the waves. Oogway had attempted to speak to the creature, but received only one response: "My child has known you, and so you live. Do not return." There was nothing in the scroll about what this mysterious message could mean. And all this had happened hundreds of years ago.
It wasn't much, but it was something.
Shifu tried not to worry about how this incident might be connected to Tai Lung's current visions, or what Lin might have experienced in the past. He still did not have all the facts, and so there was not much he could do to extract any meaning from it all. But he could at least share what he'd found. He wasn't so foolish as to believe he could simply hand the scroll over to Tai Lung and get a positive reaction in turn. He would have to go through Lin. Considering how their date had ended, he had a feeling that it would be just as difficult to speak to Lin today.
He tucked the scroll into his belt, ignoring his exhaustion in favor of completing his task. And, if he could get up the nerve, receiving some answers about what had scared Lin off from him. To be perfectly honest, he had no idea what he'd done wrong. She had left in such a hurry that he must have offended her in some way, but they hadn't fought beforehand. He thought he'd been doing well at their own little version of romance, but clearly, he'd been mistaken. Maybe he'd pushed too hard. Lin had seemed rattled by his intimate confession, but he had told her he loved her so many times before that he hadn't expected much of a reaction. But maybe it had been a case of poor timing.
Shifu would have his chance to ask. He arrived at the restaurant in time for the end of their lunch service, so he had the opportunity to sit close to the kitchen. Lin looked like she'd just been rolled down the mountain after a night of hard drinking, so he did not anticipate any genteel conversation from her. Not that he could expect genteel conversation from her at any other time.
Lin approached his table, and she looked even more haggard up close. Her eyes were bloodshot with dark bags under them, her fur stuck out at odd angles like she hadn't bothered brushing it after sleeping, and her voice sounded more gravelly than ever. "Whaddaya want?"
"Hi," Shifu greeted awkwardly, tapping his fingers on the table. "Um."
"Soup?" Lin suggested.
"Yes, please," he said, relieved that she didn't seem particularly annoyed at him. "And tea. If that's alright."
"That's what we do," she said, then returned to the kitchen before he could work up the courage to address the events of last night. Well, he could wait for her to have a break. And he'd be a little more articulate with some food and tea in him.
He waited for her to return with his order for a chance to speak with her again, and when she did, he pounced. "Lin, when is your next break?"
"Ugh," was her immediate response. He should have known. "Eat your food and pay your bill."
He handed her much more money than he probably should have. "And then you'll have a break?" He wasn't known for giving up in kung fu, so he wouldn't here, either.
"Fine," she said with an unconcerned shrug. "Seeya in the alley."
He did not have a good feeling about this. Still, the two of them needed to have a conversation. He finished off his lunch and left to wait for Lin in the alley beside the noodle restaurant, where she had repeatedly rejected and groped him. They needed a better meeting spot.
Lin exited the restaurant and immediately charged toward him, grabbed his shirt, and shoved him into a stack of empty crates. He braced himself for some kind of punch or slap, but instead, she kissed him fiercely, like she was trying to devour him.
"Mmph!" he tried to protest, but Lin didn't seem about to let up. He resorted to using his superior strength to push her away, surprised at how much she resisted. "Lin, what in the actual hell are you doing?"
"Hooking up withya," she snapped. "That's what we do. Remember?"
"Well I have a say in this, too, and I don't want to get mauled by you in a dirty alleyway!" He stopped himself before he said anything he might regret. He should have seen this behavior coming since Lin generally responded to emotional appeals with either indifference or completely unhinged behavior. Or both.
"Fine! Seeya." She started to walk away from him, but he grabbed her hand to stop her.
"Do you hate me again, is that what this is?" Shifu asked. He hoped she didn't say yes.
"Ugh," was all the answer Lin dignified him with. "I don't got time for all this drama, I got work to do." She yanked her hand from his and tried to leave, but Shifu moved to block the door.
"Wait!"
"Hey, when I say I gotta get back to work I mean it!"
"I have something for you," he pushed on, despite a part of him wanting to just abandon her out of spite for her behavior. But he already knew from experience that it wasn't the right thing to do. And perhaps showing her some support in her efforts with Tai Lung would convince her to stay and talk. At the very least he could get Oogway's scroll to her before she ran off to chop vegetables and scream at innocent villagers. "It is for Tai Lung, actually, but... I thought it should come from you." He pulled the scroll out of his belt and held it out for her. "Please. Regardless of how you feel about me, I would like to help."
Lin eyed the scroll a moment before hesitantly taking it. "What's this, exactly?"
"Oogway wrote many accounts of his life and deeds that are now stored at the Jade Palace. This is one such account, which speaks of his encounter with an ocean spirit. It seemed relevant."
"Oh." She sounded surprised, as if she hadn't expected him to even remember Tai Lung's visions. "Thanks."
"You are welcome. Now, may we please discuss what you are clearly going through? Because you are an absolute mess and I would rather not get attacked in a darkened alley again." He had hoped she would laugh at his sarcastic joke, but he only received a blank stare from her. "Lin. Was it something I did last night? You left in such a hurry... I did not mean to make you feel uncomfortable. With- with all that talk of feelings. I perhaps let myself become too swept up in the moment."
She turned her eyes down to the scroll. "Y'know, a coupla months ago I never thought I'd hearya talk about feelings. It's a pretty big change."
"I... Suppose." He wondered if this was what had bothered her so much. "Do you not like it?"
"I like it," she clarified. "I think you're putting in a lotta effort and it shows. But there's more to this equation than just you."
"You will have to be more specific with me," Shifu said, though he had a feeling he knew what she meant. She still hadn't forgiven him.
"D'you gotta be such a glutton for punishment?" Lin seemed to think he knew what she meant, too. "Jeez. We've had this conversation."
"I know," he admitted. Then, because he couldn't stand feeling like Lin might run from him at any moment and was equally disturbed by her messy appearance, he smoothed her hair down. "I don't want to scare you off. Will you give me a chance to be a little less intense and come see me tonight?"
She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand. "Fine," she grumbled, which he counted as a win. "But I need another bath."
"It will be waiting for you," he promised.
Lin breathed in deeply, and for a split second, she almost looked peaceful before she pulled away from him. "You smell that?"
It was a strange change of subject, but he sniffed at the air just in case she was not, as he suspected, trying to trick him into smelling her flatulence. "Roasted chestnuts?" He hoped that hadn't come from Lin. It would ruin chestnuts for him forever.
"Yeah." Lin glanced down the alleyway, then pushed past him toward the door. "Must be a vendor."
"Would you like some?" He knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't bring up food if she weren't hungry.
"Nah," she answered. "Don't like 'em." Then she slammed the door behind her, leaving him alone in the alleyway.
"Okay. That could have gone worse. And now I am talking to myself." He straightened his clothing out and returned to the restaurant for another pot of tea. He could use something soothing after that conversation. And, as pathetic as it felt, it soothed him to be near Lin, too. As long as she wasn't screaming at him or hitting him, of course.
Even after years of reading romance novels, Tai Lung had never imagined that he would be sneaking out of the barracks at night for a clandestine meeting with a woman. This would have been an exciting new experience for him if the woman he was going to see was anyone but Lin. The irony was not lost on him that most of the milestones he'd expected to reach in a romantic relationship had instead been reached with Lin. Sharing a bed with a woman? Check. Going on an overnight trip with a woman? Check. Being naked with a woman? Check, unfortunately. Though he did secretly think her tattoo was kind of cool.
This was the path he had chosen, though. He no longer yearned for the Dragon Scroll or vengeance against Shifu and the panda. He no longer yearned for much, really, except to get to the bottom of these damn visions and keep Lin safe. If he were to delve deep and be truly honest with himself, what he truly wanted was to keep Lin with him. He would do anything to ensure she did not leave him again, and if that meant fighting Shifu and his students, or whatever that horrifying kraken was, then he'd do it. He'd fight everyone who tried to come between them, everyone who tried to take her from him. That was why he needed to keep an eye on her. Even if the Wu Sisters didn't come for her, something else might happen.
Like last night. Whatever Shifu had done to her, he would not forgive it. Though he might have to answer some questions about showing up at Lin's house in the middle of the night. She had needed him, though, and that had been worth revealing himself. He doubted she'd been sober enough to realize he'd been tailing her, anyway. He approached the art studio, the soft glow of a lantern visible inside, and squared his shoulders. He'd enter as though nothing were out of the ordinary, and perhaps they would simply gloss over last night's events.
"What wereya doing in my house last night?" Lin asked him the moment he walked into the studio, spinning around in her chair to give him an uncharacteristically stern look.
"You're welcome," he replied, crossing his arms. It had been a long shot to hope they'd gloss over last night, anyway. "If it weren't for me, your bed would be filled with vomit right now."
Lin didn't fall so easily for such a simple deflection, not that he'd expected her to. "Answer the question and maybe then you'll get a thanks."
He couldn't tell her he had followed her. He might tend to make some regrettable decisions, but he at least was smart enough to know that revealing that fact would have some seriously negative consequences for him. "I'd had a vision," he lied. "I felt like it couldn't wait, so I went to see you." It was a bit off the cuff, but hopefully the lie had still been believable.
She watched him for a while, studying his face. "You're lying to me."
Drat. He still couldn't manage to get anything more substantial than a white lie or an omission past her. "How do you know that, exactly?"
"Your eyes cross whenya lie," she said. "It's an incredibly goofy tell. And, luckily for me, very obvious. So the real question here is, whaddaya gotta lie about? And what is it that's so bad you'd lie to me about having a vision?"
He pinched the bridge of his nose and did his best to focus. "I am not hiding anything from you."
"That's bullshit!" she shouted.
Well, if she wanted to turn this into a shouting match, he could play, too. "You're awfully demanding for someone who spends half her time lying!"
"Not to you, I don't!"
Any further argument he'd had died in his throat upon hearing that. They stared at each other for a beat, Lin's face still scrunched up hilariously in anger, and him still processing what she'd said. "Is that true?" he finally asked.
"It's true," Lin said grumpily. "And, I mean, it's not like I lie so much in general, anyway. People just assume I do 'cause they don't believe me."
"People like Shifu," he pointed out.
She held up a hand for him to stop. "Let's not get into that. Listen, I wouldn't lie to you when I'm supposed to be guiding you, and there's so much on the line. That'd be about the dumbest move I could make. So just keep that in mind, okay? No lies between us. Just the truth. Canya trust me enough to do the same?"
He gulped at her plea. He wanted to. But those visions had given him so many doubts, he didn't know if he could. "From now on," he said. "Just the truth." That was the most he could promise, though he didn't know if he could commit to it.
"Good. So, why wereya at my house?" Leave it to Lin to never let anything go.
"I followed you." He didn't see any way out of admitting the truth at this point, but maybe he could mitigate the damage a little. "I saw you leaving the Jade Palace, and at first I wasn't going to... But you didn't seem alright." That was partially true. Mostly true. He had followed her much longer than that, but he had reason enough to keep that part to himself. "I knew that so-called date wasn't going to go well."
"Okay. Thanks for checking on me." She didn't seem angry at all, so perhaps he'd been too paranoid. Then she narrowed her eyes at him, and he realized he wasn't going to get away clean. "Something's up withya lately. What's going on?"
"Nothing." He wouldn't reveal to her what he had seen, how thoroughly intertwined she seemed with that ocean spirit- if it even was a spirit. And he certainly couldn't bring up the Wu Sisters, or his habit of tailing her. "I just... Don't like seeing you in danger."
"Danger?" she scoffed. "What danger? What's Shifu gonna do to me?"
"Not physical danger," he clarified. "But Shifu raised me. I know him as well as anyone, and he will not change. You are wasting your time and energy on him-"
"When I should be spending it on you?" she asked, a hard edge to her voice that he didn't appreciate, especially after all he'd done for her.
"You did agree to teach me."
"I did, but that doesn't make your entitled attitude okay." Lin crossed her arms, fixing him with a disapproving glare. "You need to calm right the hell down."
"I am calm!" He could have torn his fur out at that moment, so he wouldn't say he was as calm as he had been before she'd told him to calm down. "Why won't you listen to me?"
"I'm listening to you," she said with a huff. "I just don't like what I'm hearing." Before he could argue with her more, she grabbed a scroll from her desk and shoved it at him. "Don't tell other people how to live their lives. Even ifya mean well, it'll never work out. Now take this before I drop it."
He eyed the scroll warily as he took it, wondering whether he was about to get an eyeful of one of her dirty paintings. "What is this?"
"It's something Oogway wrote about his life," Lin said, then sat heavily down at her desk and turned to watch him. "Read it. I'll wait."
When he unrolled the scroll to see that familiar unnerving eye in the dark, he nearly dropped it. "This- this is-" He paused, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. He had known Lin had seen Oogway in her visions, but he had never heard of this "ocean spirit" encounter described in the scroll. "Have you read it?"
"Yeah," Lin said with a nod.
"What do you think of it?" He wanted to hear from her first, before he made his own conclusions, though those were already forming.
Lin rubbed at her cheek as she thought. "Well, it's not exactly the most thorough account. And we got no way of knowing if that's the same creature from your visions or if, y'know, there're lots of 'em out there."
The thought of more than one of that thing lurking in the sea made him shiver.
"But it sounds like the same one. The last time I had a vision with that kraken or ocean spirit or whatever, it said, 'Do not return to me alone.' That's almost exactly what it said to Oogway. The way it talks... That can't be a coincidence, right?"
"Right," Tai Lung agreed. "It must be the same creature... From hundreds of years ago." That unnerved him more than it should. After all, Oogway had lived to be a thousand years old. Surely there were others capable of living such a long life. And it wasn't as if spirits aged and died like normal people. He supposed the thought of the thing as a spirit or even a god made all these visions even more disturbing. What would something like that want with him and Lin? "Did the scroll trigger any of your memories?"
Lin shook her head.
He'd expected as much, though it was still a disappointment. "I don't think this thing is appearing to us in an attempt to help me repent or help you teach me," he concluded. "I don't think its motives have much to do with what we want at all."
"I hate to say it, but that makes more sense 'an any other explanation I could think of." She tipped her head back to look at the ceiling, her brow furrowed. "But I got those visions from Oogway. Or, well, he always said they were never from him, but he was there, until I closed my mind off to him. I thought they were connected to yours, somehow. And what about those creepy ten versions ofya? There's so much here I just can't piece together. You got any idea?"
Something she had said gave him pause. Lin had closed her mind off to Oogway... She hadn't let him in. And he remembered what that creature had said when it had appeared to him as Lin. Let me in.
"Yo, what's up?"
"I... I think perhaps it is connected somehow." He couldn't be sure, but it seemed to him like closing herself off to Oogway had left room for something else. Something not quite as benevolent. "Do you think that thing started appearing because you can't receive visions from Oogway anymore?"
Lin shrugged. "It doesn't explain why you're the one seeing 'em now, though." She had a point there.
Still, he thought he was onto something. "Perhaps it has something to do with our..." He winced as he said the next part of that sentence aloud. "Personal connection."
"Huh." Lin paused in thought but eventually gave up with a shrug. "I dunno enough about visions to say for sure. Maybe?"
"Why are you my teacher?" he asked with a sigh.
"Hey!" Lin crumpled up a piece of paper and threw it at his head. "At least I'm trying. Jeez!" She seemed unusually offended by his remark, so he didn't push.
He frowned at her for throwing the paper but continued their discussion. "At least we have a little insight now to the nature of that creature. That... Ocean spirit. If only Oogway had known its name, that would have made it far easier to search for more information."
"If it even has a name," Lin pointed out. "There's lots out there that just hasn't been named yet. This could be one of those things."
"Which would not bode well for us," Tai Lung said. "If it has not been named, then it has been rarely encountered at best. Perhaps only by us and Oogway, for all we know. I hate to say it, but a more in-depth search through the archives may be in order."
"Leave that part to me," Lin said with the determination of someone trying to prove herself. "I got connections, after all."
"Yes, that." He did not like the idea of her spending time with her cast-off little brat, but it might have to be a necessary sacrifice.
"Hey," she said with a note of warning in her voice. "I heard that tone. Don't you dare try to get weird and possessive, got it?"
"Possessive?" he repeated with a scoff. "Me? Never."
"Uhuh," she said skeptically.
He felt his hackles raise at her attitude. She had no idea how much he had done for her and continued to do for her, but she thought his actions were possessive? "I have a right to voice my concern. And besides..." He'd had Lin first. "I have my reservations about sharing information on these visions with an outside party."
"I'll try to stay vague," she reasoned. "And y'know, ifya really want help with those archives we could always ask Shifu-"
"No," he interrupted. "Absolutely not." He needed to put his foot down there. Shifu would not get near any of this as long as he had a say. And hopefully, someday soon, Shifu would not get anywhere near either of them.
Lin's face softened and she turned away from him to look back down at her desk, picking up her graphite. "Okay. It's your choice."
"Don't try to guilt me," he warned, but she only shrugged her shoulders. He could tell she'd become upset, and he couldn't help but feel this was all Shifu's fault. Would he ever have anything in his life that old man hadn't interfered with in some way? "We can handle this on our own. Oogway thought so, didn't he?"
She sighed and leaned back in her chair, glancing over her shoulder at him. "I guess. C'mere."
He sat at her desk beside her, surprised when she placed paper and a brush in front of him. "What is this?"
"We've gotten as far as we can with discussion," Lin said as she wet an ink block. "Chen always taught me that Zen ink painting is, first and foremost, meditative. Andya kinda suck at the traditional kind, so I'm gonna teachya to ink paint."
"You cannot be serious." He picked up his brush with two fingers, raising an eyebrow skeptically at her. "Since when does Chen know anything about meditation?"
"He's an ass, but he learned from Oogway," she reasoned. "And he taught me a lot. Now, let's practice brush strokes."
"Wait- we are simply practicing brush strokes? Like children?" He dropped his brush back onto her desk. "I already know how to make a line on a page."
"No, you honestly don't," Lin argued.
"I do!"
"Okay, prove it." She slid her ink toward him and crossed her arms, nodding to his page. "Paint me."
"Very well!" He had seen Lin work enough times to get the idea, he was sure of it. He wet his brush and went about drawing Lin as quickly as he could with the ink. Zen painting was about limiting time and brush strokes, that much he knew, so he kept things simple. And... And drew... Something. It didn't look so much like Lin as it looked like some kind of dented mold spore.
"Hm," Lin hummed as she inspected his work. "Yes, I see now. You are the greatest master artist of all time. I concede to you."
"Very funny!" He crumpled up his drawing and knocked it aside. "I will try again."
Lin grabbed another piece of paper but held it out of his reach. "You'll practice brush strokes. I'll showya how. First, you gotta correct your grip. Hold a brush like you're holding a flower, not a sword."
"What?"
With a sigh, she repositioned his fingers for him. "There, and keep your grip loose. Act like ifya hold the brush just a little bit too tight it'll break. But still hold it securely. Okay?"
He grunted, annoyed that she seemed to think he was so inept that he didn't know how to hold a brush. "I know!"
"Yeah, 'cause I just toldya." She demonstrated her grip for him with her own brush. "Keep your wrist loose, too. Andya don't draw from the wrist, you use your whole arm. Start from the torso, let the movement flow through the shoulder and into the arm." She slashed her brush across her page to draw a single line in her usual bold style. "See? Like this. Keep practicing untilya can draw a straight line like this without even thinking."
Alright, so maybe there were a few basic principles of ink painting he had not yet familiarized himself with. Still, how hard could it be to pick up? "How long does that take?"
She shrugged. "Depends on the person. For me, I wasn't allowed to do anything else until my third week in."
"Three weeks?" he choked out. "Just to learn to draw a line?"
"Give or take," she said. "Now get started. I'll practice withya to warm myself up."
"You still do these drills?" he asked, aghast.
She nodded in response. "Every artist does! Expertise doesn't meanya stop practicing the basics. Besides, it's a great way to break in a new brush. Now, let's get started." She dropped a huge stack of papers in front of him. "Here's a store of my scraps. Fill 'em all up with lines, and pay attention to your form."
"Must I?" He sounded a little whinier than he'd intended, but it wasn't exactly the most exciting lesson he'd ever had.
"I thought I was your teacher," she answered lightly, then started practicing her lines.
"Augh," he grumbled, then got to work with her... Brush drills. There were worse things to be doing with his time, after all. Like spending it with literally anyone else.
Shifu sighed to himself as he dumped out the remains of the now-cold tea he'd made for Lin. It was time to accept that she had stood him up. He paused outside the Jade Palace to look up at the stars, fondly remembering the little lecture she'd given him on the roof of the barracks. It seemed to him like they'd taken one step forward and two steps back since then. And now he'd waited half the night for a woman who wanted nothing to do with him unless he masked his feelings for her. What a disaster his love life had become. He almost missed having no love life at all. Almost. Because those moments when Lin held him, smiled at him, laughed at him... Those were worth everything.
He returned to his room and sat down to meditate. He wouldn't be getting to sleep any time soon, the way he was feeling, and he had been too neglectful of the practice lately. Master Oogway had always taught him that while a calm mind and soul would not necessarily solve all his problems, they certainly wouldn't hurt. He had ignored that advice too often throughout his life. He was reminded of something else Oogway had once said to him: "You are a person of duality, Shifu, as we all are in some way. Though you are outwardly steadfast, there is a storm inside of you. You must pursue calm, moreso than you might think." He understood his master's word now, more than ever.
Lin barged into his room without a word and flopped down onto his bed stomach first. So much for pursuing calm. He knew he would have to get used to her doing so if he wanted her to give him another chance, but her abruptness could still be startling.
"Hello," Shifu greeted, eyeing her as he waited for a response.
She grunted back at him.
He should have seen that coming. She was withdrawing from him because he'd been too insistent on trying to move things forward between them and had scared her off. He wouldn't make that mistake again. "I can make tea. Would you like some?"
She waved him off, her face still buried in pillows.
He approached the bed and stood over her, but she still insisted on ignoring him. "Are you... Trying to sleep?"
"God!" Lin finally deigned to say, lifting her head from the pillows. "Yeah, obviously. Stop keeping me awake!"
"If all you came here to do is sleep, then you will at least leave enough room in my bed for me." He gave her a pointed poke in the side, but she batted his hand away.
"That's rich, coming from Mister 'we shouldn't have sex for no particular reason.'"
"I wasn't talking about sex!"
"Of course you weren't." She sighed forlornly. "I'm so horny. Andya won't even finger me."
"It has been two days, you sex addict!" He was fully aware of how ridiculous this argument was, and yet he was still engaging in it. Because at least Lin was talking to him.
"Two days too many." Lin rolled over onto her back and tugged at his sleeve. "C'mere," she ordered.
"You cannot just order me to please you," Shifu said, huffing in frustration.
"Why not?" She waggled her eyebrows at him. "You like it when I'm bossy."
"In the right context, yes. This is different." He sat down on what little of the bed he could access and tried to judge what might be going on in Lin's head just by looking into her eyes. Unfortunately, he would have to ask. "I would like to talk about what's bothering you."
"Ugh!" Her reply was too predictable to irritate him.
"I am aware that what we have right now does not constitute a relationship. That does not mean I don't need some kind of communication from you."
"Oh my God," Lin grumbled, then pushed past him to climb off the bed and walk out of the room.
It took him a moment to realize she intended on simply leaving him there without any intention of returning. Just like she had on their date. With a heavy sigh, he pushed himself up to chase after her. Because, as irritating as her habit of running away could be, he couldn't keep letting her turn her back on him. He caught up to her in the Hall of Warriors and darted in front of her to block her path. "Lin, if you walk away from every emotionally difficult moment-"
"Whadda you know about my emotions?" she interrupted him harshly.
"I am trying to learn, at least!" he snapped. "Maybe this would go easier if you would let me!"
"I'm not here to teach you how to empathize! All I wanted was sex!" She tried to shoulder past him, but he wouldn't let her. Not this time.
"What is going on?" Gia chose that exact moment to interrupt them, because this night hadn't been difficult enough already. She tentatively stepped toward them from the side hall, where she'd come from the scroll library, her gaze shifting back and forth between them. "Why are you yelling?"
Shifu stepped away from Lin, fully expecting her to take the opportunity to bolt. Still, he didn't want to have this fight in front of Gia.
Lin surprised him by staying put. "We were just arguing like we usually do. No big deal. Right?"
"Right," Shifu agreed, hoping he didn't sound too stilted.
Gia furrowed her brow but still accepted the lie with a nod. "I see. Lin, since you are here, I had hoped to discuss something with you. Is this... A good time?"
With one more sidelong glance at Shifu, Lin shrugged and took a step toward her daughter. "Yeah, sure. I was just about done hanging out with Shifu, anyway."
He winced at that explanation, though he didn't argue. The last thing he wanted was to come between Lin and Gia, especially when they'd been getting along so well. "I will be in my room if you need me, then."
"Wait." Gia cleared her throat, her mouth forming a nervous line as her eyes darted between them again. "I would like to ask you both."
"Oh." Shifu waited for Lin to argue, but she simply shrugged again.
"Master Shifu, I had thought you were my father for most of my life. I even traveled across the world to meet you. And you have been very kind to me since we have met, but you are not who I'd been searching for. But because of this lie, I have been able to meet you, and to meet my mother." She paused at Lin's frown, but neither of them interrupted her. "I want to know about my true father. I think Master Shifu and I should both hear about him. Because whether we ever meet or not, he is the reason the three of us have ended up here together."
Shifu was stunned that Gia had included him in this conversation, though not upset. While he was indeed not her father, he loved Lin, and he had hoped that perhaps someday Lin, Gia, Tigress, and Tai Lung could be his family. "Thank you for that, Gia."
Lin squared her shoulders, and before she even spoke he knew what she would say. "No."
Gia blinked at her, her hopeful expression melting into confusion, and then annoyance. "But perhaps some day soon-"
"No as in never," Lin interrupted her firmly. "We will never have this discussion. I will never tell you. Stop asking. Understand?"
Shifu took a step back. While he was alarmed by how finally Lin had rejected Gia's request, he knew from experience that they would not appreciate his interference. Still, he stayed to make sure he could step in if things became as contentious as they had been when Lin and Gia had first met.
"You- you-" Gia choked out, turning red as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "Sta' zitto! A fanabla!"
"Caccati in mano e prenditi a schiaffi!" Lin yelled back.
Gia went so far as to jab a finger into Lin's chest, so whatever she'd said must have been particularly insulting. "That is uncalled for!"
"Oh, spare me!" Lin batted her hand away with a snort. "Likeya never heard that one!"
"You are spiteful and- and rude!" Gia wiped some of her angry tears away with her hands, shaking her head. "All I wanted to know was who my father was!"
Shifu decided that this was most definitely the time to step in, but before he had the chance, Lin escalated the fight beyond all hope of turning back.
"It doesn't matter who he was!" Lin shouted, her fur frizzing out. "He's dead!"
Gia gasped, covering her mouth with her hands as her eyes widened. "He was dead all this time?" she asked tremulously. "All this time?" Her tone quickly turned angry again, though she was still tearing up. "And you never said anything! I came here to find him, and he was dead! How dare you keep that from me-"
"I dare to do whatever the hell I want!" Lin screamed over her. "And ifya don't like it, too bad!"
"I hate you!" Gia screamed back.
"Big goddamn deal! Go ahead and hate me!"
"I will!"
"Good!"
Shifu didn't know why he thought it would be a good idea to step into the middle of their screaming match at this point, but he did. "Lin-"
"Shut up!" the two of them screamed at him simultaneously, then turned and fled in different directions- Lin out of the Jade Palace and Gia back toward the scroll library.
"Uh." He looked back and forth between the two retreating women. He would have to choose whether to butt out of this particular conflict or go after one of them. And then, if he chose to comfort either Lin or Gia, face the ire of the other. He rubbed at his temples as his head throbbed. This was too complicated a situation for his taste.
Although he thought Lin had once again treated her daughter poorly, he turned toward the doorway to follow after her. After all, one of her complaints about him had been that he was too quick to abandon her when they disagreed, and he wanted to show her he could change. He knew by now that while Lin's anger was legitimate, she also tended to deal with any sort of inner conflict by lashing out senselessly. So he imagined she must be hurting right now, and he would try to keep that in mind when she inevitably turned on him.
Shifu had hesitated so long that by the time he reached Lin, she was about halfway down the stairs into the village. Though he suspected his ease in finding her had something to do with the fact that she was slowed down by her insistence on stomping down on each and every step. "Isn't that hurting your knees?"
"Yes," she snapped over her shoulder, but continued stomping.
"Alright, then." He caught up to her, wondering what he should say. His instinct was to chew her out for once again treating Gia far too harshly. However, his instinct tended to be to treat Lin herself too harshly. He decided to try to approach the subject delicately. "I know you are angry-"
"No shit," Lin growled.
He held in a frustrated sigh. "As I was saying, I know you are angry, but Gia didn't mean to upset you."
"She said she hates me, that sounds pretty intentionally upsetting to me," she replied stubbornly.
"Well, yes, I admit that part was intentional. But she didn't mean to upset you by asking about her father. Anyone in her position would ask the same thing." He sped up to keep in stride with Lin as she stopped stomping and instead descended the stairs as quickly as possible. "Lin, I am trying to help!"
"I don't want your help!" she yelled at him. "No one asked you!"
"I know it isn't my business," he admitted. "You've told me enough times for me to know that. But I want to help, anyway. Isn't it better to stick my nose where it doesn't belong than to let you suffer alone?"
She slowed down at that question. "So nowya think I'm suffering?"
"That's generally the case when you lose your temper this badly." He was heartened when she stopped completely, and he paused to stand beside her, trying to look her in the eye. "What?"
"You don't know me that well," she grumbled sourly, then sat down. "Why'dya come after me instead of running to protect Gia?"
"You need me more." He knew already what she would say to that. "I know it's too little too late. You don't need to say it."
"Then why even bother?" Lin asked.
"Because if I continue doing things that are too little, too late, maybe that will eventually stop being the case. I would rather keep trying and failing than give up on you altogether." He waited for her to say something, but she remained stoic. He sat down beside her and cleared his throat, but that didn't prompt any response either. "I know you don't want to talk about Gia's father. But if you did, by some miracle, decide to tell me, I would listen. And I promise I wouldn't judge you or get angry."
Lin gave him a skeptical sideways glance. "Sure."
"I promised, didn't I? A master of kung fu does not break promises."
"You've broken promises to me," she reminded him. "Can't blame me for being cautious."
"You have a point," he admitted, his regret at his past actions palpable. "And I want to make it up to you. So... Here I am. If you like."
Lin looked at him as if he'd grown another head.
He sighed at her reaction. "I would say you're starting to get insulting, but you have been insulting from the moment we first met."
"Good." She paused for a long time, then said the last thing he would have expected. "Thanks."
"Thanks?" he repeated cautiously. "What for?"
"For picking me," she said, a blush creeping into her cheeks. "It's the bare minimum, and I shouldn't even be thankingya for it. But I am anyway, 'cause at leastya learned. And since you've never been in a real relationship, I'm glad you're learning."
"Oh. Uhm. Don't mention it." He cleared his throat awkwardly, anxious to drop that particular subject. "You should reach out to Gia. Try to make up with her."
Lin let out an irritated groan. She sounded more like the daughter in this situation than Gia. "I'm gonna. We both need some time, first, or it's just gonna blow up in my face." That was at least believable. "And beforeya ask, no. I'm not planning on telling her anything else."
"Nothing?" Shifu asked incredulously. "But he was her father, assuming he even is dead. She should be able to learn something about him, don't you think? If it is so hard to talk about, maybe write a letter."
Lin shook her head. "That's not the only issue," she told him, her demeanor turning uncharacteristically serious. "I'm protecting her. I know I'm doing the right thing."
He couldn't not believe her, the way she spoke. There were very few times when he could tell that Lin was being truly sincere, and this was one of them. "I believe you. But... How do you know you're doing the right thing? Is this another one of your gut feelings?"
"More like life experience." She grimaced, apparently unable to remain stoic for too long. "I don't normally agree with keeping people from knowing things about themselves. It's kinda like taking agency away from 'em. But this's an exception. If she knew the truth, she wouldn't ever be the same again. That's not a decision I wanna make for another person, but I have to."
Shifu felt his heart melt for Lin at such an explanation. Whatever had happened between her and Gia's father, it must have been terrible. "When I found Tai Lung outside the Jade Palace doors, he had nothing. No note, no name, no sign of his origins. And when I looked into Tigress's past, I discovered that her parents had died in the difficult journey getting to the Valley of Peace. No one here knew anything about them, not even their names. It is one of my regrets in raising them, that I haven't been able to tell them where they come from or why their lives had to be so immutably changed."
Lin frowned at him. "That's different. You're different. You loved your parents. Losing 'em hurtya, and you think that'd be the same across the board. Gia's father never even knew she existed for a reason. I hid her for a reason. And... My dad." She paused and gulped. "I hated him so much. I always thought he was about as close as a person could get to a monster. My mom wasn't exactly pleasant, but he was... Different. It never bothered him, not even a little, to hurt another person. It was like a routine for him. And when he got angry, we'd hide. But the thing that I hate the most now about him is how much of him I see in me. If Gia knew what her father was like, she might start thinking about that, too. And I know for a fact that feeling like you're contaminated 'cause your parent was monstrous is one of the worst feelings ever."
He couldn't even begin to know what to say to that. He could only think of more questions. "I can't pretend I can understand that. But... Please. I'm going to go out of my mind, wondering what this man did to you."
"You're worried about me?" She sounded surprised, which stung, but he couldn't expect her to trust him so soon after he'd hurt her.
"More than ever," he answered with complete honesty. When she hesitated, he couldn't keep the flood of questions in any longer. "Why won't you talk about Gia's father?" he pressed. "Why do you always change the subject? What happened?"
Lin stared at him, frowning thoughtfully for a moment. Then, she decided to finally let him in on something from her past. "You really wanna know why I won't tell her about Salvatore?"
"Salva...tore?" he repeated. He'd been wondering for some time if she even knew who Gia's father had been. Putting a name to the man felt a bit like seeing the monster at the end of a play after it had been hidden in shadows the whole time.
"Yeah, Salvatore. That was his name." She crossed her arms, chewing on her lip as she waited for a response; she looked ready for a fight.
He had to admit, hearing that name also made the concept of Lin getting pregnant by another man so much more real to him. "Gods," he grumbled as, against all logic, a wave of discomfort and jealousy overcame him. "I hate that name."
She grinned, but only briefly. "Me too, but I'm a little biased."
He almost dropped the subject right then and there. His curiosity on the matter conflicted with his desire to never hear the details of Lin's past relationship. "So what happened?"
She hesitated, which wasn't a good sign. "Well, the thing is... I maybe, kinda, sorta killed him."
Shifu stared at her, waiting for the proclamation that she had been pulling his leg. None came. "Come again?"
"I may or may not have killed him," she repeated, though it was no less jarring hearing the information a second time. "To be clear, I ain't a hundred percent sure he died. Well, I mean, he most likely died. I think I punctured a lung. It was dark. Plus, y'know, it's not like I stood around and waited for him to take his last breath or anything. It was a knife fight, sorta. Anyway, even if he did survive he'd probably be dead by now, so whatever. I guess."
Shifu continued to wait for some indication that she was playing a prank on him.
"Well say something," she muttered, leaning away from him like he might explode at any minute. "I know you gotta be thinking some pretty harsh stuff right now."
"A few things," he managed to wheeze. It had sunk in that she was telling him the truth, and he was trying his hardest not to scream at the top of his lungs for all to hear. "For starters, why in the hell did you kill the man!?" He failed.
"I had a feeling this was coming," she sighed, cleaning out her ear with a finger.
"Are you insane?" he continued. "You maybe killed a man? You punctured his lung!? You killed the father of your child! The more I say it, the worse it sounds!"
"Yeah, I noticed."
He couldn't believe how blasé her attitude was. She acted as though she were telling him what she ate for lunch. "Well, are you going to let me in on why?"
"Self-defense," she answered.
He snapped his mouth shut. They sat in silence, avoiding each other's gaze while he tried to think up something else to say. He supposed he might as well ask a question as long as she was in a chatty mood. "You compared this man to your father. So... He hit you?" He still couldn't bring himself to look at her.
"Yeah," Lin replied shortly. "And when I tried to leave, he came at me with a knife. Hence the knife fight."
He finally gathered the nerve to look at her again; she at least didn't seem upset.
She reached up and tugged at her ear, the one with the notch in it. "That's how I lost this chunk'a my ear."
"Oh."
"And my first few teeth," she added.
"Oh," he repeated, for lack of a better response.
She frowned again, turning away from him. "You must think I'm an idiot," she said quietly. "I bet you're thinking I'm so stupid for letting something like that happen to me again, after my past. I mean, outta anyone I coulda picked to be with, I went and got with some creep who beat the crap outta me, again." She sounded embarrassed, oddly enough.
"Lin, don't be so hard on yourself." He supposed she could stand to be a little harder on herself for possibly killing the man, but they had somehow managed to brush that particular detail aside for the moment. "People don't always turn out to be the way you'd expect. You couldn't have known. And I don't think you're stupid."
"Nah?" she asked.
"Of course not."
"I sure as hell felt stupid. Still do, I guess." She pulled out her calabash pipe, but after glancing at him she seemed to think better of lighting up some tobacco and instead simply held the pipe in her lap. "After my engagement, I was so sure that... That I'd never be in that kinda situation again. I thought I'd be able to spot a shitstain like that from a mile away. I thought I'd know better, but somehow I just... Didn't. Salvatore was cute, and he was funny, and he was real nice at first, y'know? He was an artist, too, and it was so great to have someone to talk to who really understood what I did. We could talk all night." She glanced up at him and grimaced at his uncomfortable expression. "Oh, don't look at me like that, you asked."
"I did," he admitted; that still didn't make it any easier to listen to her talk about another man in such a way, especially one who'd raised a hand to her. "Go on, then."
"It's not like I loved the guy," she clarified. "I mean, I liked him alright. He was fun. Until he wasn't." She looked back down at the pipe in her lap, tracing the scratches in it with her finger. "I didn't know I was pregnant until after I was long gone. I was alone, and I was scared. I had nowhere to go, no one to turn to, no options. I guess the only upside was that when people see a pregnant lady begging for food they get a little more generous 'an usual. But handouts only lastya so long, and I was trying to get over the border without getting caught. I heard about a remote convent that was difficult to find, and I thought it'd be a good place to go. That's how I ended up in the mountains, and I found those nuns, and... That's where Gia was born. In that convent."
"I see." He placed a hand on her shoulder; he would have tried to comfort her more, but that was probably the most he'd get away with. "Have you ever told anyone about all this before?"
"...Just one person." She shrugged his hand off her shoulder. "But he took that information to his grave, ifya get my drift."
He should have known she'd threaten him at some point or another. "What are you going to do, get a knife and stab me in the lung?"
"Shows how much you know," she said with a snort. "I didn't have a knife, it was a shard of broken glass."
Shifu felt a chill run up his spine as he tried his hardest not to imagine such a violent scene. "So you were definitely just kidding about having killed the one other person you told about this, right?"
"Yeah," she sighed. "I mean, he did take it to his grave. Remember that ex-lover I toldya about who got shot to death?"
"Seeing as you own two guns, this is not making me feel any better."
"Oh, relax!" She punched him in the arm. "See, this's why I don't like tellingya about my past relationships. You gotta blow everything outta proportion."
He furrowed his brow at the implication that he overreacted to the seedy parts of her past. "Yes, I am completely blowing you possibly killing Gia's father out of proportion."
"What, you never killed anyone?"
"Yes, but that is different-"
"Yeah, right!" She scoffed. "Just 'cause the guy who tried to kill me didn't know kung fu you think somehow I was less justified in defending myself, even if that meant I had to kill him first?"
He didn't reply to that; she had a point, but he didn't like thinking of Lin as the type of person who would take someone else's life. He knew from experience what that was like, and how much it became a part of him afterward.
"After that, I got kinda obsessed with getting stronger. But I guess it was an okay way to get my mind off'a stuff. Aside from the part when it got outta hand." She paused, her melancholy gaze fixed on the pipe. "Not that you'd know what it's like, trying to get stronger only because you're so afraid and you don't know what else to do."
He couldn't think of much to say to comfort her. "Lin, you may have killed one man, but you may not have-"
She cut him off with a snort. "Y'think I never killed anyone else? Really?"
Shifu stared at her, blinking; he remembered her mentioning having been to war, but he'd never taken the assertion seriously. He'd become used to her over-inflated tales of adventures she'd likely never had.
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," she said with a sigh. "It's not likeya believe anything I ever say. The only reasonya even believe I had Gia's 'cause she showed up in front of your own eyes."
"Lin, that isn't it, it's just- I don't want to imagine you doing things like that. Maybe you aren't the most gentle woman on the planet, but still... I know you have a kind heart. It is difficult to think of you taking a life." He doubted his response would move Lin. He found it barely coherent, himself. The truth was that he was still trying to process the notion of Lin killing people.
She remained silent for a long time, and he was starting to think that she'd gotten angry at him again. Then, quietly, she said, "I think I did."
"What?" he asked, though he knew what she meant.
"I dunno if I killed Salvatore," she told him. "But I think I did. I think he died. But I'll always wonder, and I'll always wish I hadn't chickened out and run away. I wish I'd made absolutely sure he was dead." She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, as if meditating. "I went a long time without thinking about that night."
"I didn't mean to upset you."
"I wouldn't say I'm upset. Not exactly. It's complicated." She placed her hands on her knees and looked away from him. "I killed a lot more people'n just him, y'know. When I went to war... It was what I had to do. And it wasn't easy to put behind me, either. Not that I succeeded in that."
He understood the feeling all too well. "I'm sorry for bringing it up. We don't have to talk about this any longer, Lin."
She ignored him, though. "Something about it gets inya, whenya kill that many men. Sometimes, it was hard not to be back there on that battlefield, in my head, even years after. Sometimes, I started hitting and couldn't stop. But I can't say much for those times. Don't remember a whole lot." She paused and shook her head. "I used to fight for money. I was real good at it, at first. But I guess it brought me back to the war too much. And back to that night with Salvatore."
Shifu realized for the first time since they'd begun their conversation that Lin was shaking. "You don't need to tell me anything more if you don't want to."
She snorted. "I ain't used to hearing that from you."
He supposed he couldn't blame her.
"Look, the point is that Gia shouldn't ever know." She looked back at him, and he could swear that she had tears in her eyes. "You know her. She's a good girl. I knowya don't agree with me, about how much I've kept from her, how much I told Anna and the other nuns to keep from her. But I only ever wanted to protect her. I owe it to her to protect her, no matter how I feel. D'you know what it'd do to her, if I told her the truth? If I told her that her own father woulda killed me if he had the chance? That even if he's alive, she could never meet him, because that would put her in danger? I... I knew that convent was a good place to leave her. Not just 'cause of Anna, but also 'cause I knew she'd be hidden there. I had to hide her, from her own father, who I may or may not have murdered, anyway. You don't know what it's like, so I don't expectya to understand. But I'm hoping you'll try."
He decided that he didn't care whether she'd take kindly to him touching her or not. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his side, regardless. "What you tell Gia is up to you," he assured her. "I won't say a word."
"Thanks."
"But she's going to keep asking questions, regardless of how vehemently you try to shut her down. You don't need to tell her everything. Not yet. But you need to give her something. I mean, she thought I was her father most of her life, for gods' sakes."
"Hey, that wasn't my doing," Lin argued. "And I know she'll keep asking questions. I been trying to come up with a good lie to tell her."
"Don't lie to her," he said firmly. "It will only cause a rift between you. And telling the truth is the right thing to do."
She frowned at him, but let him continue to hold her. "How would you tell Tigress, then?" she asked.
He blinked at her, taken aback by the question. "I'm sorry?"
"If it were Tigress," she said firmly, determinedly. "I mean if it were Tigress, and this was the story of her parents. Y'know, her birth parents. Say you knew all about it, and she kept asking. How would you tell her?"
He remained silent for a long time, trying to think up a proper answer. "...I don't know."
"That's what I thought." Lin shrugged his arm off her shoulders and leaned away from him. "It's not just her story, either. It's my story, my life. That makes it harder. You talk like it's a matter of telling the truth, as simple as that. But you wouldn't be able to do it, either. Maybe keep that in mind, next time you're getting all huffy that I won't tellya about my life."
He should have known she'd end up scolding him. That seemed to be their entire dynamic, lately. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
She only grunted in response, rubbing at her face with her hands. She was clearly overwhelmed, and rightfully so.
Although things between them were strained at best, Shifu still took the chance of offering his support. "Lin, this must have been a difficult night for you. And I know you were not feeling emotionally prepared for this conversation, either. So come back to the Jade Palace. Let me take care of you for the night. Anything you need, I'm here."
Lin left her face buried in her hands and sniffed loudly.
"Does that mean you accept my offer?"
"Shifu..." She sniffed again and returned her hands to her lap, once more playing with her pipe. "I didn't wanna ask this. I don't even wanna know the answer. But I gotta."
"I promise you I will answer any questions you have honestly." He had a bad feeling when she refused to look at him.
"Are- are you treating me well now 'cause you realized I deserve it? Or 'cause you finally had to face consequences for treating me like shit for so long? If I hadn't left, would you even be half this nice to me?"
He stared at her, his mouth half-open. "You truly think I could be that self-serving?" He felt like a fool, after hearing her ask him such a thing. He'd thought that he could earn Lin's trust back, that they were rebuilding their relationship, when this entire time she hadn't even believed any of his words or actions had been honest.
"I dunno what to think!" she snapped, immediately defensive. "So just answer me! I need to know."
"Let me tell you what I think, first." He had put up with a lot from Lin under the assumption that he was the one who had wronged her, that he deserved her poor treatment and needed to weather it in order to prove himself. This was too far, though. "I think you have already decided what to think, regardless of my answer. You think I am some low-life, biding my time and waiting until I have an excuse to belittle you. Isn't that right?"
"I dunno! I dunno." Lin was in tears, her voice cracking as she spoke. He realized that she had been trying not to cry from the beginning. "I just- I just wanna be happy."
Shifu realized that he had gotten too caught up in his anger, yet again. Lin wasn't acting out of resentment. She truly was too confused and wounded to trust him. And perhaps her past had played a large part in that, but he had, too. He took a moment to reach out his hand for her, to show her that he was trying to understand. "Lin, I'm sorry-"
"Me too," she blubbered, then buried her face in his shoulder and let him hold her while she cried. This was not the turn he had expected their conversation to take, but he gladly comforted her while she finally let herself express the grief and fear dredged up from her past.
By the time she was done, most of the lights in the houses down in the village had gone out for the night, and a chill had set into the air. This was not the first time he had witnessed Lin crying like this, but it still caused his heart to ache for her. "Let's go to bed," he offered, pushing himself to his feet, wincing at his stiff hip.
Lin nodded, tucking her pipe back into her shirt, and let him help her up.
"I want you to stay in bed the entire night this time, regardless of when you wake. You need the rest and the warmth. I'll even bring you some breakfast in bed when I get up. Alright?"
She nodded again, yawning, and leaned against him. "Okay. Thanks."
"Okay."
They made it back up the steps before Lin spoke again. "I hope Gia's okay." Though that sentiment had been unexpected, it shouldn't have been now that Lin had divulged her past. She had gone through a great deal to protect Gia. Of course, she would worry about the girl.
"I could check on her," he offered. "If you're not up to it."
"I dunno," she said with a sigh. "Seems like a bad idea for either of us to go looking for her right now. Maybe tomorrow."
He could see how Gia might not want to hear from either of them, looking back on her argument with Lin and how it had ended. "Alright. Let's all get some rest and hopefully things will be a little less heated in the morning."
Lin snorted skeptically.
"We'll play it by ear."
Once they made it back to his room, he helped Lin get settled into bed. He even fluffed her many pillows for her and tucked her in with a kiss. It felt nice to take care of her in these little ways, though he didn't say so in case that was too much for her.
"Hey." Lin rolled over in bed to face him and gave him a gentle nudge. "You still awake?"
"Yes, I am." He might have trouble sleeping tonight, considering all he had learned about her. He wondered if perhaps Lin wanted to discuss anything else related to her past.
"So now can we have sex?" Or not.
Shifu sighed to himself. "Okay."
Shifu woke slowly to the sound of Lin coughing up her morning phlegm. And spitting it into his handkerchief, while sitting beside him in bed. He cracked his eyes open to glare at her, not that she noticed. "You can throw that away."
"You're so squeamish," Lin said with a snort. "Hand me my teeth."
"Ugh," he complained before the implications of her demand finally dawned on him. "Wait- when did you take them out?"
She waggled her eyebrows at him. "You know when."
He lifted the blankets, grimacing when he found her bridges in the bed. "Please tell me you plan to disinfect these."
"Oh, yeah, sure," she accepted with a shrug, then grabbed the teeth from his hand and shoved them into her mouth regardless.
Shifu sighed to himself, then held out his hand. "Very well, I'll do it."
"Oh, thanks." Of course, Lin had no qualms with yanking her fake teeth from her mouth and dropping them back in his hand. Because Lin was, quite possibly, the grossest woman to have ever lived.
"Don't mention it," he grumbled, holding her wooden teeth between two fingers to minimize the amount of contact he had with them. He ignored Lin laughing at him and left her to perform basic hygiene for her, pointedly withholding the teeth when he returned to bed. "You must promise me you will never let me do that again." He shuddered at the memory of what he'd found in her partial dentures.
"Yeah, yeah." She snatched them from him before putting them back in place. "It's weird not having 'em in. Like my mouth's naked or something."
"Since when does nudity bother you?" he asked and got a playful slap on the arm as an answer. Disgusting habits aside, he did enjoy waking up with Lin in the morning. He kissed her while she was still in a good mood, then leaned back into his pillows with a yawn. "Are you able to stay for a little while?"
"Yeah, I got nowhere pressing to be," she answered, which he could already tell was a setup for a dirty joke. "B'sides under you."
"Har har."
"Actually, I got something I wanted to talk about," she continued, surprising him. Usually, when Lin started making dirty jokes she devolved fairly quickly into hitting on him. "So y'know Tai Lung's visions I was tellingya about?"
Shifu perked up, nodding as he answered. "Yes, of course. What about them?"
"So remember how I said they were, like, my memories?" She sat up in bed, drawing her knees up to rest her arms on them. "How's that possible? Why's Tai Lung having visions that're my memories?"
He rubbed at his chin as he thought. That was indeed a conundrum, but he had studied Oogway's many writings extensively throughout the years, and he vaguely recalled his master having mentioned something like that. "I believe it has to do with a spiritual bond. That's something else Oogway has written about, if you would like me to try to find the scroll for you."
"Yeah, that'd be a big help. Thanks." It was a bit surreal to hear Lin calmly thank him like this.
"You are welcome." He waited for her to make a joke at his expense, but she only yawned. "Are you alright?"
"Eh," she replied with a small shrug. "Feeling kinda sad today."
"Oh." He was used to Lin being direct, but not as much when it came to her moods. "What about?"
"Life in general," she said with an unexpected amount of apathy. "Consider it an existential malaise."
He had no idea what an existential malaise was supposed to be, but he nodded along regardless. "I have an idea that might make you feel a little bit better."
"Is it sex?" she asked, because of course she would.
"No. Good gods." He rubbed at his temples, certain she would give him a migraine before the day's end. "Can't I have some rest between rounds, at least?"
She snorted at his question, though it had been somewhat sincere. "Too bad. I got today off and I wanna spend it screaming."
"You're the worst." He took a moment to try to get his blush under control, but to no avail. "I was trying to ask you on another date." He had been planning to do so ever since she'd left him on their first date, though he'd been waiting for the right moment. Now he realized that, at least when it came to Lin, there was no such thing.
"Andya thought since I ditched the last one, this'd be a good idea?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.
"I thought you could use a break," he said firmly. He was not going to let her derail this conversation with her glib sarcasm. "You are very clearly under an immense amount of stress right now, and I know that I am responsible for at least some of it. I thought I could take you someplace quiet I know of where you could relax without distractions."
Lin stared at him, her eyebrows now even higher. "Wait. You're being... Considerate?"
"Oh good gods," he grumbled. "Forget it."
Lin laughed at his frustration, so at least he had somewhat cheered her up. "Okay, so you wanna show me a quiet place. What's it like?"
He supposed he could let her obtuse question go. "It is nothing fancy. Just a secluded cave where I go to meditate sometimes."
Lin stared at him again.
"What?"
"So... You want me, a single woman whose whereabouts are currently unknown, to follow you alone to a secret murder cave?" She leaned away from him a little. "And that's whatya consider a date?"
"I am not trying to murder you!" Shifu could feel his eye twitching already. "Obviously!"
"Is it obvious, though?" she asked in the snottiest tone possible. "First the awl, and now you got this secret murder cave you're trying to lure me to. You been giving off some pretty murdery vibes lately."
"It is not a murder cave, it's a meditation cave. For meditating!"
She laughed at him again. "Now this's cheering me up. You're so funny whenya get all worked up like this."
"Wow, thank you," he replied sarcastically.
"And I like it when you're funny," she added, stroking his ear. "Puts me in the mood."
"As if that's so special," he said with a huff. "The list of things that do not 'put you in the mood' is shorter."
"Oh, you are hankering for a spanking." Lin climbed into his lap and kissed him, which was not the reaction he'd expected her to have to his taunting. "But first, gimme an orgasm. I'm too horny to wait."
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again, though only briefly. "Only if you agree to come to my very safe and not at all murder-related cave." He knew how to bargain with her at this point.
Lin grinned knowingly at him. "I'm gonna need more convincing 'an that."
Despite his earlier protestations, he wanted to give in to her when she smiled at him like that. He kissed her deeply and pushed her back into her pillows, then flipped her onto her stomach. He guessed from her screeching laugh that she'd appreciated that move, though his ears might ring for a bit. "Well? Are you coming to my cave or not?"
"You can come into my cave," was her predictable reply.
"I'm not touching you again until I get an answer," he warned.
Lin let out a sigh so long and drawn out that he was surprised she didn't need to stop to catch her breath. "Fine! I'll go to your murder cave. First dead body I see, though, I'm out."
"Fair enough. Same to you."
"Hey!" she protested with a laugh. "I might hafta rethink my invitation, now."
"We both know you're not going to do that." He leaned down to kiss her shoulder, smiling at her laughter. He wished he could make her laugh like this all the time. "But let's at least have breakfast, first."
"So this's the murder cave, huh?" Lin stared up at the mouth of the cave they had hiked over an hour to get to, which she'd already complained about multiple times. It had kind of been worth it, though. They had gone deeper into the mountains than she'd ever bothered to before, up to this secluded ledge shrouded in mist and surrounded by a dozen tiny waterfalls. The rocks of the cave were covered in moss, a brilliant green even this late into winter, and inside it was a massive natural pool guarded by an ornately carved stone dragon.
"It is called the Dragon Grotto," Shifu corrected her. "And Master Oogway found this place hundreds of years ago. He used to bring me here for quiet meditation."
"He really had a thing for dragons," Lin observed. "He ever meet one?"
"He did not say." Shifu contemplated the moss-covered dragon statue, leaning on his staff a little more heavily than she suspected he needed to. "It is entirely possible."
Lin decided not to pry. She recognized nostalgia when she saw it... And grief. "Wish you'd warned me it'd be this nice. I coulda brought some watercolors along."
"This trip was not for you to work," he said with an annoyed huff. "You need to relax."
"Don't tell me what I need." He was right, but she still snapped at him on principle.
"I am only trying to help." He placed a hand on her shoulder, his expression serious- well, more serious than usual. "I think it is a good idea for you to dedicate some time to pursuing calm."
"Pursuing calm?" Lin repeated skeptically. "Okay, now you're creeping me out."
"In what way?" he asked, his ear twitching.
"This stuff sounds nothing like you," she pointed out. "Since when d'you know anything about being calm?"
"If all you are going to do is give me a hard time-"
"You can give me a hard time," she interrupted with a waggle of her eyebrows.
Judging from Shifu's flat glare, he wasn't planning to take her up on her offer. "I am trying to do something nice for you. The least you could do is refrain from mocking me for it."
Lin had to admit, he had gone out of his way to take her to someplace really peaceful and beautiful. As much as she disliked the idea of Shifu pitying her, she should probably show some appreciation. "Yeah, yeah. Thanks for the hour-long hike up a mountain."
"Your gratitude is breathtaking," he said sarcastically.
She rolled her eyes at his sarcasm, then grabbed him by the shirt to give him a kiss. "There, better?"
He still had that grumpy frown on his face, but he was blushing now. "Perhaps a little."
"Thought so." She gave him one more kiss before he could keep grousing at her. "You saidya wanted to meditate?"
"Y-yes." Shifu paused to clear his throat. "Yes. I thought meditation in a spiritually significant place would do us both some good."
Lin didn't know how much good meditation would do her at this point, but since Shifu didn't know about her visions she let that sentiment go. At least she could rest somewhere peaceful for the day if nothing else. "Okay. So... How do we do that with all this water around?"
Shifu held out his hand to her. "May I?"
She'd had a feeling he was going to manhandle her at some point, but at least he'd asked permission first. "Yeah, sure," she gave in, taking his hand. He pulled her close enough to pick her up, then jumped to an island of stone in the middle of the cave's pool. Though it was small, there was enough room for them to sit side by side, as long as they were pressed against each other. She wondered how much of that had been contrived. "This dragon's kinda distracting."
"Close your eyes, then," he replied shortly.
She'd forgotten how surly he got when he was trying to meditate. Which was the opposite of the desired effect in her opinion, but she decided not to point that out to him. She lowered her gaze to the water, half-expecting to see that kraken's eye staring back up at her. Thankfully, she only saw her own reflection. No wonder Shifu thought she needed a day off. She looked like hell.
She had a right to look like hell after the past few days she'd had. Especially after she'd talked about Salvatore yesterday. She'd been trying not to think about him at all since Gia had found her, but that was impossible in the end. Gia had his ears. And the same gray fur. It took a lot out of her, sometimes, to look at that girl and not let the memories come rushing back. She'd been stupid to think she could outrun them, though. Just like she'd been stupid all those years ago, to ignore the signs that Salvatore had just been a repeat of the past. All the jealousy, the anger, the possessive attitude... She'd let it all slide because she'd been stupid enough to believe she could trust him. Why? Just because he'd been nice to her, once in a while? Her and her awful decisions.
Lin rubbed at her face and tried to block those thoughts from her mind, but again, that wasn't what meditation was meant for. She had to let those thoughts come and go. She had to try to detach herself from them, as impossible as that felt. She had to try not to let the memory of how it had felt to push something sharp into living flesh consume her. She shouldn't shake or let her heart race. She had to control her breathing.
"Fuck this." She stood up and turned in a full circle to find some way to get across the pool of water, but in the end, she just had to jump in. It only came up to her waist, anyway.
"Lin! What are you doing?"
"Fuck off!" She headed straight for the mouth of the cave, then started the long hike back down the mountain. It wasn't going to be pleasant to make that hike wet from the waist down, but the shock of the cold helped her come back to herself and focus.
"Lin!" Shifu darted in front of her like he often did when she tried to get away from him. "Where are you going? What is happening?"
"Ugh, you're such a quiz master," she grumbled. She tried to push past him, but he got right in front of her again. "Canya not? I'm going home."
"Why?" he asked. "You just swore and leaped up out of nowhere- did something happen? Are you alright?"
Lin hated when he got all nosy and concerned. She hated it because she wanted to believe he meant it. "I don't wanna meditate," she snapped. "I don't wanna sit in your damp murder cave all day! Get outta my way."
Shifu squared his shoulders, his ear twitching. "No. I will not move until you tell me what happened."
"I don't gotta tell you shit. You think you're so enlightened? An enlightened person would know enough not to pry into someone else's past all the time!" She tried to push him out of the way, but he grabbed her hands and held them firmly. "Lemme go!"
"I'm sorry," Shifu said softly, then pulled her closer and held her. "I did not realize this would make you feel worse. I'm sorry."
"Fuck you," she grumbled, because what right did he have to act like he cared? What right did he have to act like he was gentle or kind, after what he'd done to her? "I hate you. I hate you." She hoped that hurt. She couldn't see his face, but she hoped she was the one who'd made him cry, for once.
"I'll take you home," he said, rubbing her back. "And I'll get you something warm to eat. I promise you'll be alright."
"Whatever." She was starting to wind down from her adrenaline spike, and she no longer had the energy to fight with him. She just wanted to go to sleep. She leaned into Shifu and let him pick her up and carry her, because she had no dignity left.
At some point, she did drift off to a shallow sleep, still aware of Shifu's arms around her and his warmth against her. In that sleep, she could only feel relief. There was no past, no future, just this moment. This warmth, this softness, and the sound of his heartbeat. For the short time she slept, she was happy. She could admit that she loved him, because there was nothing else attached to that feeling. She could just feel that comfort alone, like anyone else. Waking life still awaited her, though, and it would erase this bliss. That thought disturbed her enough to wake her up, just as they reached her house. "Shifu," she croaked out, her throat scratchy. "Sorry I freaked out."
He paused to set her down on her feet. "Thank you for apologizing. I tried not to take it too personally, even when you said you hate me."
She winced, then gestured for him to follow her into her house. "I didn't mean that."
"I know."
With a sigh, Lin dropped down into her bed, surprised when Shifu followed her. She'd expected him to leave, to be honest. "Listen. I wantya to know..." She'd been about to tell him about how she'd felt in that dream state, but she stopped herself. Had that even been true? Or just wishful thinking overtaking her brain as she'd slept? "I wantya to know that I'm grateful you've been here for me."
"Of course," Shifu said, pulling a blanket over her. "I love you."
"Yeah, yeah," she said with a huff. "Don't rub it in."
He laughed at her response, then sat up. "I am going to head into town for a bit to buy you some food. Any requests?"
"You don't gotta do that."
"Too bad, I want to."
Lin closed her eyes, but she doubted she'd fall asleep again. "You know me. Anything but noodles."
"Got it, all the noodles I can carry."
"Smartass."
"What can I say? You bring out the best in me." He gently kissed her forehead, and then she heard him leave.
Lin opened her eyes and turned her head to stare at the ocean she'd painted on her walls. Even though she was far from the sea, the thought of it filled her with a sense of belonging she only felt with those waves, that salty air. Something watched her, just out of sight. And the water's rhythm filled her ears, like the slow beating of a vast heart.
Notes:
Phewww! This was a hard chapter to write (not as hard as the next one will be, but oh well). As always, I'll start with the references: Lin talking about feeling magenta was paraphrasing Blanche in the Golden Girls, episode 203 Take Him, He's Mine. "Your eyes cross when you lie" was a nod to Bob's Burgers, specifically the season 2 episode Burgerboss.
As for the Italian phrases, here are some translations (prepare yourselves):
"Sta' zitto! A fanabla!"
... You're a mean old woman! Go to hell!
"Caccati in mano e prenditi a schiaffi!"
... Take a dump in your hand and then slap yourself!
Thanks for reading and reviewing! Now I'm going to take a much needed break to play Stardew Valley like the cool kid I am.
Chapter 32: Good Food Ends with Good Talk (and Good Sex Ends with Deep Sleep)
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 32: Good Food Ends with Good Talk (and Good Sex Ends with Deep Sleep)
Lin woke up, reluctantly, to the sound of a scandalized gasp. "Madonna Santa!"
"What fresh hell is this?" Shifu grumbled beside her, which was followed by a strangled shout that she had only heard once, many years ago, when she'd walked in on him naked.
"Okay, okay, I'm up." She opened her eyes and sat up to get a good look at what was going on around her, squinting in the sunlight. Gia had once again trespassed in her house without so much as knocking, and now was acting shocked about... Something. "Yo."
"Gia, get out!" Shifu said shrilly, holding the blankets all the way up to his neck.
"Shame on you, Master Shifu!" Gia snapped, wagging her finger at him. "Sneaking into my mother's bed at night like some common porco!"
"He's after my virginity," Lin added, because this was one of the funniest things that had ever happened to her. "Always trying to get me to give it up before marriage!"
"I have done no such thing!" Shifu argued, despite the fact she was obviously joking. "I know very well that consent cannot be given under duress!"
"Ew!" Gia shouted, covering her ears. "Tell me no more! Augh! Mi fa cagare!"
"It most certainly does not make you poop!" Shifu shouted back at her as she retreated out of the house, huffing indignantly. "Rude."
Lin laughed so hard for so long that her stomach hurt. She'd had a tough few days, but all that had cheered her up more than she could have expected. She couldn't even be mad at Gia for barging into her house, since the results had been so priceless.
"I'm so glad you were able to get your entertainment for the day," Shifu said sarcastically, his arms crossed as he watched her laugh herself sick. He still let her kiss him, though.
"It ain't my fault you two're so funny," she argued, then grabbed the nearest shirt and shrugged it on. "Anyway... I'm guessing this's a good time to, y'know. Talk to Gia."
His grumpy frown softened at that. "You may as well. Though probably not in my shirt."
She glanced down at herself and snorted at the thought of Gia freaking out even more at the sight of her in Shifu's shirt. The laughs probably wouldn't be worth the trouble, though. "Okay, fine. You just wanna see me naked one more time."
"I've been desensitized by now, actually," he argued, then flopped back down into her bed. "Wake me when you've apologized for being an unholy terror to your daughter."
Lin raised her eyebrows at his behavior. This was new. "Since when d'you sleep in?"
"Since you keep me up all night," he answered with a yawn, then reached up to pat her arm. "Do not worry about me. I will be back to normal soon enough after I take the morning to catch up on all the sleep you've made me lose."
"This's still weird," she pointed out as she searched her floor for some clothes. "You're not exactly known for taking the morning off."
"I'm enlightened now," he grumbled, pulling her blankets up over his head. "Or something. Leave me alone."
"That can't be it," she said skeptically, then gave him a poke with her foot. "You're always the one dragging me outta bed. What's up?"
He let out a long sigh from under the sheets, then poked his head back out to glare at her. "Go talk to your daughter."
"I'm not gonna let this go," she warned him. "And don't call her that."
"My apologies," he said sarcastically. "Go talk to the young woman to whom you inexplicably have no relation whatsoever."
"That's better." Lin left him to sleep, though she still thought it was weird. She put Shifu out of her mind when she saw Gia waiting for her under the cherry tree, contemplating the hammock as if she'd never seen anything like it.
"You wanna try it out?" she asked when she joined Gia.
"No. I was only wondering why you would want to sleep outside in winter."
Lin shrugged one shoulder. "Lotsa fur."
"I came to make up with you," Gia said suddenly, meeting her eyes with a fervor that she'd learned was typical of the kid. "I regret lashing out when we last spoke. I apologize for my harsh words."
Lin let out a heavy sigh, staring at the lake while she tried to decide how to respond to that. "Thanks." She had to suck it up and look the kid in the eye eventually, though. "I'm sorry, too. I shouldn'ta yelled or said that stuff."
Gia nodded and smiled, but didn't say anything else. She seemed to be waiting for more, which Lin had been dreading.
"Okay. Fine." She rubbed at her temples, still on edge. "Ask me about it."
"My... My father, you mean?" she asked hopefully.
Lin nodded.
"Is it true that he is dead?" Of course, Gia would ask that first.
"Yeah, it's true." She had no reason to lie about that, but what she would tell Gia about literally anything else... She still didn't know. She hated that Shifu had gotten into her head about all this truth crap after everything she'd told him. He should have known better than to push all that nonsense on her.
"When did he die? How?" Gia asked, taking a step forward. "And who was he? Were you in love?"
"Before you were born, not getting into that, he was an artist, and no," Lin answered as rapid-fire as possible. "Now stop. That's enough."
Gia crossed her arms, frowning in irritation. "We have barely begun to talk about my father," she complained. "Why are you so against talking about this?"
"It's likeya said. My life's been hard. And... It's hard to talk about stuff like this. For me. I know that's not the most fair thing in the world to you, but I need time. Okay?"
Unsurprisingly, Gia got misty-eyed from her explanation and drew her into a too-tight hug. "I understand. We can take our time."
Lin didn't know if she'd ever be able to tell Gia everything about her father, no matter how much time had passed. But she'd figure that out later. "Sorry I didn't come findya first," she added, yanking herself out of Gia's grasp. "I know it's kinda on me to come apologize, since I'm the... The... Person who is older." She still couldn't call herself Gia's parent. That was one more thing that would have to wait if it even happened at all.
"That is alright," Gia accepted, then took her hands and squeezed. "I had one more thing I wished to discuss."
"Yeah, okay." It couldn't be more awkward than what they'd already gone through.
"May I live with you?"
Lin choked on her own spit in shock at the question, which caused a coughing fit. Alright, so she'd been wrong about the levels of awkwardness they could still reach.
"I am sorry!" Gia shouted over her coughing, slapping her back in the most unhelpful way possible. "I should not have asked. It is too soon, yes?"
"Yes!" Lin choked out, then finished coughing. When she was done, she pulled out her pipe to take a few calming puffs. "What're you asking that for, anyway?"
Gia blushed before answering quietly. "I have been avoiding Master Tigress... For my reasons. And... And things have been lonely. For me."
"Ah, shit." Now she felt bad for the kid. "Okay, how's this: come stay with me for a little bit, just to get a break. Like... A few days. Is that something you'd wanna try?"
She nodded enthusiastically, her tail wagging in her excitement. "Yes! Yes, thank you." She sounded so relieved that Lin felt guilty for not having offered sooner. After all, it couldn't have been easy living in the same building as Tigress after seeing her kiss someone else. And then not being able to tell anyone at the Jade Palace how she'd been feeling, because she'd been too nervous about what they'd think.
Lin didn't think anyone at the Jade Palace would look down on Gia for liking women, but she knew firsthand how hard it could be to believe that anyone was a safe person to tell a thing like that to. "Look, you can grab whatever stuffya need today and stay the next coupla nights. Does that sound good?"
"That sounds wonderful!" Gia clapped loudly, as if applauding their plan.
"Wow. Okay." Lin could tell already she'd end up regretting this, but there was no turning back now. "How's aboutya go get your stuff now? I need a little more time to wake up, anyway."
"Yes! I shall do that!" She was shouting now, too, but at least she was also running toward the punt.
Lin retreated back into her house before she had to listen to any more of that. She would need the break if she was going to have the mental stamina to deal with Gia full time. She watched Shifu toss and turn in her bed for a little bit, debating whether or not she should tell him about that whole interaction. Not won out. She'd rather keep things light, for now.
"Y'know what I like?" Lin asked as she dropped back down into bed with him.
Shifu yawned. "What?"
"Pussy."
"Agh!" His eyes flew open and he sat up with an irritated frown. "Why are you so dirty?"
"That ain't any dirtier than what I do to you," she argued, causing him to blush.
"That's different," he said, huffing. "I don't want to hear about what you're doing with anyone else."
"Ah. I see." Lin decided not to get into the fact that she hadn't slept with anyone else. Although, if they were counting long-distance correspondences, she'd already done a lot with Meihui.
"Is there... Is there anyone you especially like?"
Lin sighed at the question. She didn't know why he wanted to bring this up when he was just going to get upset about it, but she answered honestly anyway. "Yeah."
"O-oh. Oh." Shifu paused to awkwardly clear his throat. "Anyone I know?"
"Nope." She could safely say that it would be a cold day in hell if Shifu ever met Meihui. She waited for him to blow up at her or berate her for liking someone else, but he just sat there and avoided eye contact. She watched him look miserable for only a few seconds before she couldn't stand it anymore. "Why, you want a threesome?"
"Of course not!" he snapped, his ear twitching angrily. "You're foul!"
"Uhuh," she accepted easily. This was more the reaction she'd expected. "So you're against threesomes entirely? Or areya saying you'll only do it if the third person's a woman?"
"Stop that! I am not some depraved pervert!"
"Okay, so any gender's good withya?" She couldn't help but grin when she asked.
He stood up and started jerkily shoving his clothes on as if he were trying to escape her. Which was likely. "I am going to let this slide since I know you are only like this because of early childhood trauma."
Lin laughed at the unexpected jab. "Now look who's being inappropriate! I like it." She waggled her eyebrows at him, but he only turned his back on her and grunted. "Oh, what now?" She knew, though. Shifu was still bothered by the fact that she'd said she liked someone, even though he was the one who'd asked. She should be angry with him for acting like this, but instead she felt surprisingly guilty. "C'mon, you asked if I liked someone. I was just trying to be honest."
"Well, maybe you should have lied instead," he grumbled, his tone accusatory. He didn't say it outright, but from the harsh way he'd spoken he could have ended with, "Like you usually do."
"I can tell you're implying that I'm a liar," Lin pointed out, crossing her arms. "I'm not stupid. I know how to read between the lines."
"Well, you are!" When he turned around to look at her again, his face was red. "You either lie outright or lie by omission all the time! You would have never even told me about Gia if she hadn't come here, you may never even tell her about her own father-"
"That's not your business," she interrupted. "You got no right to judge me about it!" She couldn't believe he was bringing this up when he'd promised he wouldn't judge her. And all because he was, yet again, bent out of shape about her seeing other people.
"What about the things that are my business? How long were you keeping Tai Lung's visions from me? How much are you still not telling me about them?"
"That's his business to tellya about! I only wanna respect his privacy!"
"Do you? Or are you just concerned about your own secrets being revealed?"
"Fine!" she yelled. He'd hit a nerve there, but she still had a right to her own privacy. It was her decision who to tell what about herself. "I admit it! It's both! Is that whatya want? You wanna hear I got secrets? You wanna hear that Tai Lung knows 'em and you don't? How's this, then- I told him about Gia weeks ago, before we even left Shanghai!"
Shifu's mouth opened, but for once nothing came out. He shut it again, his lips thin, and bent down to put his shoes on.
"You're leaving? You're the one who started in with this!" She only had pillows, but she still threw one at his head. He didn't even bother trying to dodge it.
"I never thought you would stoop so low as to use my own son to hurt me," he said. "You know what I've been through with Tai Lung. You know how I feel, and..." He paused, closing his eyes. "You might be having a difficult time, but there's no excuse for that."
Lin watched him leave, but she didn't follow. She was back to feeling guilty, but she had made herself a promise when Shifu had abandoned her that she wouldn't chase after him anymore. She wouldn't constantly beg for his forgiveness, just for being herself. And yes, she had lashed out. But he had, too. They both owed each other apologies for that fight, and she wouldn't take all the blame. Not ever again.
She picked her pillow up from where it had landed and carried it out to the hammock with her to lie down while she waited for Gia. Except she found Shifu in her hammock. "I have so many questions."
He frowned up at her, his arms crossed. "My hip hurts," he said. "And Gia took the punt. You need a second one."
"I'll add it to my grocery list." She rubbed her forehead, embarrassed by what she was about to do. But if Shifu was going to just refuse to leave and steal her hammock, then she might as well get it out of the way. "I crossed a line with that Tai Lung comment. I'm not sorry for anything else, but I am sorry for that."
"Hmph." He looked at probably every possible point in space before finally meeting her eyes. "I owe you an apology as well. I lost my temper due to jealousy and said things I should not have."
"You were jealous?" Lin asked, feigning shock. "I had no idea!"
"Very funny," Shifu said flatly.
"I know I am." She shoved him aside and squeezed into the hammock next to him. "I thoughtya hated this thing."
"It helps my hip," he grumbled.
Lin laughed, relieved that their fight had ended so easily. Still, she felt a bit uneasy about the whole incident. Shifu had deliberately started a fight with her about seeing other people, and then completely switched topics to her personal life and teaching Tai Lung. As much as he was trying to act like their relationship could be different, he still resented her for the same old things. It was enough to make her wonder, if she did forgive him, how long would it be until everything went back to the way it had been? How long until he got sick of her again?
"I should not have brought Gia up like that," Shifu said, interrupting her inner downward spiral. "You are right that it's not my business. I just wanted to say that I am trying to let it go. And as for Tai Lung's training, I know that you and I both want to help him, so I should show you more trust." He ended his appeal with an awkward cough.
She blinked back at him, caught off guard by everything he'd said. He never would have made an attempt to show her he knew what he'd said wrong before. "Uh. Thanks for all that. And I guess I should also say, uh... I shouldn'ta brought up Tai Lung just to lash out. That sucked."
He nodded. "Thank you. But, there is something I need to know."
She braced herself for a deeply invasive question.
"Do you really tell Tai Lung things that you do not tell me?" He sounded embarrassed as he asked. Hopefully, he wouldn't start another fight about the answer.
"Yeah," Lin said quietly. "I do."
"Why?"
"We're closer 'an I am with you," she answered truthfully.
Shifu grimaced at that, but at least he didn't start shouting at her. "I want to be the one you confide in."
"I did. I toldya all about Salvatore, didn't I?"
"You're right."
"Always am." She knew she shouldn't have let Shifu get closer to her or confided in him, but she had anyway. Because she'd needed someone and he was there. Well, not just because he was there. When she felt untethered like that, he was the one she reached for. And if she wanted this to turn into a real relationship, she'd tell him that. She'd tell him that was so much more important than anything else he could be to her. But she didn't. "Grab me my ruan, I wanna play."
"You play an instrument?" he asked skeptically.
"Yeah, you ain't seen my ruan in the house?"
"I have, but I thought that it was just some garbage you dug out of a pit. As are most of your possessions."
"I'll haveya know that I got no recollection whatsoever of how I got my ruan," Lin said with as haughty an attitude as she could manage without laughing. "I was super drunk."
"Of course." He struggled his way out of the hammock and returned with her ruan, then surprised her by getting back into the hammock with her. "Promise me you will not sing anything too vulgar."
"Hm." She knew plenty of songs that weren't vulgar, but she wasn't about to be that emotionally vulnerable with him. "How about The Pit, since we're talking about it?"
"I already know you well enough to turn that down." He reached out and plucked a string on her ruan. "What about something more traditional? Like Ambush from Ten Sides?"
"Ugh," she grumbled, yanking the ruan out of his reach. "Chen loved that one. Not gonna do it."
Shifu tried to argue with her since that was his thing. "It's an important piece of history-"
"Don't care," she interrupted. "My ruan, I pick the song." In the end, though, she just plucked at her strings aimlessly while Shifu slowly dozed off on her shoulder. She tried to keep her playing gentle, but once he started to snore she doubted it made a difference. She let him sleep until her shoulder started to get sore from how heavy his big head was, then nudged him awake. "Hey. Nap time's over."
"Yes," Shifu agreed with a yawn. "I should get to the Jade Palace and resume my normal schedule." He struggled to stand up from the hammock before eventually just giving up and rolling out of it.
"So why wereya so sleepy, huh?" Lin asked as soon as she was done laughing at him.
Shifu glanced around as if he thought someone might overhear, then leaned in closer to her. "You kept me up," he said.
"I know, I know, I like sex too much," she dismissed with a wave of her hand.
"No, not that. You were... Talking in your sleep." He raised one eyebrow at her in that accusatory way he did, like he thought she was hiding something from him. "It was extremely creepy."
Lin stared at him. "That's it?"
"It was strange! Your voice sounded odd!" He paused, narrowing his eyes at her. "Have you had vocal training?"
"What? No." She pushed herself out of the hammock, curious now about what had happened to her overnight. Could this have something to do with Tai Lung's visions? But she'd closed herself off to those. And she hadn't so much as dreamed in weeks.
"You were speaking in..." Shifu rubbed at his chin, grunting while he thought. "Multiple voices, I suppose."
"What'd I say?" Now she was certain this had something to do with the visions. That ocean spirit sounded like a whole damn chorus when it talked.
"I do not know. It was not in any language I could understand."
"Of course not," she grumbled, frustrated. She'd hoped maybe he'd be able to tell her what she'd said, so she could glean something from it. But, as always, she'd hit a wall just when she thought she'd gotten a clue. "Well, whatever."
His ear twitched while he watched her reaction. "I can tell this has something to do with Tai Lung."
"I dunno that for sure! I mean, probably. But, ugh." Lin sighed, leaning against the cherry tree. She turned away from him to look out at the water and try to gather her thoughts. "This's harder 'an you know. And I dunno how much I can tellya without breaking Tai Lung's trust, but... This ocean spirit. Whatever it is. It's like it got into his head through my head or something. I'm probably not making any sense."
Shifu placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. "No, not particularly. I think I would need to know the whole story."
"I'm working on it," she promised. "But Tai Lung's been... He's been weird whenever I bringya up."
"You two talk about me?" The hopefulness in his voice gave her knots in her stomach.
"Yeah. He's not a fan." She didn't look at Shifu, but she could tell from the way his grip loosened on her shoulder that he was disappointed to hear that. "It's really odd, though. The way he talks aboutya, it's like he's an overprotective parent and I'm the kid."
"And I would be?"
"Same thing you always are," she said. "After my ass."
He scoffed at the joke, but didn't respond.
Lin wished she knew what to say or what to do to make everything come together. Months into Tai Lung's rehabilitation and she was more lost now than she'd ever been. Months with Shifu and she was less certain now than she had been at the beginning. The only thing she knew for sure was that she was failing. That much should be obvious to anyone. "Look, don't worry. I'm on it. I know I don't got my shit together, but that's what makes me a great teacher. Tai Lung can just do the opposite of what I do, and he'll be fine. And since he's spiteful and rebellious, that shouldn't be too hard."
"You don't have to deflect with humor." Shifu sounded more tired than ever. "And you shouldn't be so hard on yourself."
Lin shrugged his hand off her shoulder. "You've already been meaner to me than I ever was, so save it."
"There is no need to get defensive."
She finally tore her gaze away from those dark waters to glare at him. "I'm not getting defensive. I'm just getting mad."
Shifu didn't get angry back at her. He just looked sad. "I'm sorry." It still confused her when he did that. "I know how difficult it can be to let go. I still haven't mastered that particular skill."
"It really annoys me whenya act all understanding and enlightened like that," Lin grumbled. "You dunno what you're doing any better'n I do and you've told me so."
"That is true, yes," he admitted with an embarrassed cough. "But I am trying to be supportive toward you. You have done the same for me many times."
"Yeah, yeah." Lin didn't want to think about the way that made her feel, so she changed the subject. "Anyway, I better clean up a little around here. Gia's gonna visit, so I gotta make room."
"Oh, she is? That sounds nice." Shifu followed her into the house, refusing to take the hint. "Would you like some help?"
Well, maybe she could kick him out after he did some cleaning for her. "Yeah, thanks. Make the bed and fluff the pillows, wouldya?"
"Alright," he accepted with a nod. "Where are your clean sheets?"
She laughed at that. "You think I got more'n one set? What'm I, the Emperor?"
"What do you sleep on when you clean these ones, then?"
She shrugged. "Guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it."
A look of horror crossed his face as he stepped back from her bed. "You have never cleaned your sheets?"
Lin rolled her eyes at his dramatics. "Fine, go wash 'em in the lake if it means that much to you."
"I am only touching these because I have already slept in them." He balled up her sheets with the most scrunched-up stink face she'd ever seen before running outside like they were on fire. He could have just not washed them for her, but she wasn't about to point that out. She focused on grabbing all her papers from off the floor and hiding them under her crate table.
Shifu returned much sooner than she'd expected, a grumpy frown still on his face, and yanked something out from her pillows. "Is this underwear?"
"I dunno. Maybe? I never found mine afterya yanked 'em off me last night."
He blushed brightly and shoved the garment back under her pillows. "S-sorry."
"Never said I didn't like it." She loved how twitchy he got when she tried to talk to him about sex.
"Anyway," he announced loudly, clearing his throat. "Let us discuss... Anything else."
"Like?"
"Like... So, how long is Gia going to visit?"
"Not long," Lin said as she gathered up her empty bottles from around the house. "Two or three days, something like that."
"Oh. That's longer than I thought." His words were stilted and uncomfortable- more so than usual, anyway. "You will be able to get along for three days?"
"Probably not." Lin raised her eyebrows at him, but he kept his gaze firmly on her pillows as he fluffed them for her. "Whatsamatter? You worried we won't be able to knock boots?"
"Wha-" That got his attention. "No, of course not! That isn't it at all!"
"Hm." Lin lined her empty bottles up outside the door for some use to be determined later. "But it's something."
Shifu sighed heavily. "Yes." Then he punched a pillow much harder than necessary, causing some down to escape it. "I am not proud of this," he said firmly. "Just to establish that."
"Okay," Lin said with a shrug.
"When I see you and Gia becoming closer, I... Feel jealous." He winced as he spoke, avoiding eye contact.
She stared at him, waiting for some heavy declaration to follow. "S'that all? Jeez, you made it sound like something serious."
Shifu blinked at her, a confused frown crossing his face. "You aren't offended?"
Lin rolled her eyes at that. "You got a real skewed perception of what is and isn't offensive." She could see him bristling, getting ready to argue with her about that, so she pushed forward before he could get going. "Everyone feels jealous sometimes. It's, like, universal. And it has a purpose."
His ear twitched. "It does, now?"
"Yep. Helps pointya in the direction of whatya want for yourself. I like to think of it as the compass of the petty emotions."
"That's... Shockingly enlightened of you."
Lin punched him in the arm. "Shockingly?" she repeated. "Now who's the offensive one?"
"Still you." He tossed the last of her fluffed pillows into the pile and sighed again. "But you have seen for yourself where I stand with my children. Tai Lung can barely stand to be in the same room as me, and Tigress... Well, things are strained between us, lately."
Lin raised her eyebrows at that. "Whaddaya mean, lately?"
"Watch it," Shifu warned, tossing a pillow at her. "How is it that you are able to make peace with Gia when you have such an attitude all the time?"
"Not all the time. Just most of it." Lin punctuated her argument by throwing the pillow right back at him. "And it's easy. Y'see, I do this thing called having a goddamn conversation. Works wonders."
"What helpful advice," he said flatly.
She should have told him how lucky he was she hadn't ordered him to shut up yet. After all, here he was asking for emotional support when she'd spent the better part of two days steeped in trauma. And it wasn't like they were a couple. Instead, she nudged him with her elbow. "I know what'll help."
"What?" He leaned in closer, eager to hear her wisdom.
"Making out with me," she said, waggling her eyebrows.
"Wha-" Shifu sputtered, reeling back. "That's not going to help at all!"
Lin shrugged. "Couldn't hurt."
"Why do I listen to you?"
She grabbed his collar with one hand and yanked him into a kiss. "'Cause I'm always right."
Sleep had been scarce for Tai Lung. Even when he tried to sleep, he woke again almost as soon as he began to dream. But he dreamed the same thing, over and over. He dreamed of Lin teaching him to draw lines with an ink brush in her studio, over and over. She reached out to steady his hand, and that touch filled him with a sense of peace he had never known. Until everything went dark, and that infernal eye opened to watch him. He both dreaded and craved that dream.
He wasn't completely unaware. He knew that this was probably a bad sign. Somehow, that thing had gotten hold of Lin and was asserting its ownership over her. And worse, she had let it. Now what could he possibly do to save her? He had been rendered helpless by some overgrown squid, plagued by these visions. He needed to take control, somehow. Unfortunately, the only thing he could think of was attempting to have another vision.
So, despite the late hour and the cold weather, he found himself trudging out to the Jade Palace's art studio. Lin's studio. He knew it would be empty because he had made it his mission to keep track of where Lin was at all possible times. Sure, the panda had been dismissed from helping him, but it wasn't as if he'd been sleeping anyway. He could handle it. He needed to make sure Lin was safe.
Not that he trusted Shifu with her well-being, but he at least knew when she was with him that she was, most likely, nearby. Tonight was different, though. Tonight Lin had decided to remain home in her tiny house with... Gia. Her discarded offspring. Who, for some reason, was now receiving all the time and attention she had never deserved in the first place. His eye twitched at that thought. She could not protect Lin. She couldn't even understand Lin. But they were on Lin's island in the middle of that dark lake, with clear views on all sides. They at least had a defensible position. Unless the spirit came for her.
Tai Lung would be taking up the spirit's attention tonight, though. And he would always ensure that nothing reached Lin.
He entered the darkened studio and set his lantern on Lin's desk. He knew where she kept her paper and her ink. He knew where she kept her brushes. It was a simple task to set everything up and begin to paint those lines. Straight black lines, one after the other. First dozens, then hundreds. Over and over until he saw nothing but the ink. Gradually, he became aware of a presence beside him, but still he concentrated on the ink. A hand wrapped around his, one he found familiar and warm.
Lin guided his hand with hers as he drew the same vertical line, over and over. The lines began to grow, longer and longer, and as they grew, so did Lin. Soon her hand dwarfed his. And then it covered him entirely, drawing him into the warm, dark sea he had come to know as her mind. He barely had time to adjust to it before a wave of grief slammed into him. It felt so intense that every muscle in his body ached, that he could barely even breathe. If he could have caught his breath, he would have been wailing by now. He had felt Lin's grief in visions before, but nothing could have prepared him for the magnitude of this pain. He felt as though he were dying.
And then something caught his attention. A single, clear note from some sort of musical instrument. And then another. Slowly, they picked up in tempo and formed a song. He closed his eyes, allowing the music to wash over him, and when he opened them again, he was Lin.
She played the old piano in the sitting room, and when the empty house filled with music, it felt just a little less lonely. When she closed her eyes, she could almost believe Al was still with her. Almost. But she could never forget the hole left behind where he should have been. This was the house she had shared with Al, this was his piano, and the notes she played were ones he had written. When she grew too tired to go on, she would sleep in their bed, next to the neglected pillow he had once laid his head on, knowing he would never be with her again.
As these thoughts flooded her head, she hit the keys harder and harder until she wasn't even playing a song anymore, just slamming her hands down onto the piano, her vision blurred with tears. "It's not fair," she screamed to no one. "It's not fair!" No one would hear her. Especially not the one and only person she wanted. She hunched over the piano and sobbed until her throat was so raw she couldn't make sound anymore.
Eventually, as she drifted in and out of consciousness over the keys of Al's old piano, she realized that she couldn't stay in this house. She felt like she was living inside the rotting corpse of her relationship, and the only solution she could think of was to leave. She knew already she could pay off Al's debt by selling everything. She had done the math months ago and tried to get him to run away with her. He'd said they would talk it over again after his trip to Paris. And now... Now there was nothing left to discuss. There was nothing left.
Only the void.
And that cold, bright eye, staring through them in the darkness as their lungs burned and their heart thumped out its last, weak beat.
With a gasp, Tai Lung emerged from his vision, gulping down breaths of air. He felt as though he'd truly drowned in that icy sea. But that was impossible because he had been Lin in that vision- those had been her memories-
He gripped his head and hunched over as it occurred to him that he had just experienced Lin's near-death, complete with the certainty that he would die. So Lin was right. That ocean spirit had saved her, whatever that meant. And these memories were now coming to him for some reason. No. He knew the reason.
It was a claim.
The creature was telling him that Lin belonged to it, not to him. This creature was asserting its territory. It was a threat. Well, he had never taken kindly to threats, supernatural or not.
Lin had, for whatever reason, allowed that creature to take control of her in some way. He could not trust her with what he'd seen to this effect, so how could he trust her at all? But she didn't realize what she had done. She'd clearly forgotten her experience with the ocean spirit, and these visions were those lost memories. If he kept pursuing them, he could find out for certain what had happened to her and find a way to exorcise the thing from her once and for all. Perhaps that had been the purpose of these visions all along.
And yet, he doubted he could achieve that goal while trapped here in the Valley of Peace, constantly watched by Shifu and his team of sycophants. Surely, too, Lin wouldn't be able to connect with this part of her past and rid herself of the spirit with Shifu constantly hovering around her, taking up all of her time and attention. In a way, she had also allowed Shifu to assert his ownership over her. She would deny it vehemently, and yet, who was it that she spent her nights with? Who was it that she continued to run to? Shifu, despite everything. Shifu had earned nothing from her, but Lin continued to give freely.
Tai Lung knew what needed to be done. They would leave the Valley of Peace.
Shifu stifled a yawn as he took a seat at his usual table for lunch at Mr. Ping's. Since taking Gia in, Lin had reverted to her usual treatment of him. As in, she ignored him until either he initiated a conversation or she wanted to sleep with him. And he allowed her to treat him this way because he had been conditioned to accept it at this point. He'd come to realize that if Lin never decided she wanted a real relationship with him, then he would simply cave in to her demands and take what he could get with her. It was pathetic, but... No, there was no exception there. He was just pathetic. He took some comfort in the thought that Lin was just as pathetic, turning into an angry crybaby anytime he tried to bring up emotions.
"I got you something," Lin said, surprising him out of his thoughts. Then she placed a persimmon on the table in front of him.
"A... Persimmon?" He still wondered how he had been too absorbed in thought to hear her coming.
"Yeah," she said. "You ate a whole plate of 'em when you were drunk on that date, so I figured you were a fan."
"Yes," he said quietly. "I am."
"Anyway, it might be slow but I still gotta do my job. You ordering something or just taking up space?"
"Oh, right. Um. Just tea for now, please." Was it pitiful that he felt so touched by Lin's gift of a single persimmon? Probably, but he didn't care. She'd put thought into giving him something. This gesture must have meant she was beginning to forgive him, at least a little bit.
"Just tea?" she asked with an annoyed scoff. "You better friggin' tip."
A very little bit. "Lin-"
"Tip beforeya talk to me again," she interrupted, then walked away. Now she was charging him for a conversation. That seemed about right, honestly. But at least she was willing to talk to him at all. He tried not to focus on how low his standards had become.
"Good afternoon, Master!" Viper slithered into view, waving her tail at him before taking a seat across from him. "I thought I might find you here."
"How kind of you to join me," Shifu said, taken aback by her cheerful attitude. "In lieu of training."
"I thought you could use some company," she replied with such sincerity that she had to be doing it to spite him.
Lin returned with his pot of tea just then, dropping it so haphazardly onto the table that the pot rolled about on the edge of its base a few times before settling. She did the same with two cups. "You're both gonna share 'cause I don't feel like running around right now," she announced before returning to the kitchen.
"I really don't understand why she's still a waitress," Viper mused as she poured them each a cup.
"According to her, she likes this job," Shifu said, unable to mask his skepticism.
"That's... Interesting."
"I can friggin' hearya, asswipes!" Lin yelled from the kitchen.
Shifu had grown so accustomed to her vulgarity and abrasiveness that he simply shook his head at her antics. He addressed Viper instead of engaging with Lin. "Surely you have better things to do than check up on your master."
"No," Viper replied simply. "You'll just have to accept that your students worry about you and want to support you."
He grunted back. Not that he took issue with Viper's declaration. In fact, he found it quite touching. But engaging emotionally with his students, especially to such an extent, remained a foreign concept to him. Much like his relationship with Lin, he would need to get used to it first.
"How is everything between you and Lin?" Viper went on, glancing behind her at the woman in question- who happened to be glaring at them with one of her ridiculous stinkeyes. "Going well?"
"Not an appropriate question," Shifu reminded her half-heartedly. "Not that I could glean enough from Lin to answer it definitively." Though as he spoke, he remembered Viper's previous comments about what would and would not impress Lin, and realized she had been... Right. "She is hot and cold, is what I mean."
Viper nodded sagely. "That's understandable. You lost her trust, and she's still feeling hurt. Regaining that trust will take a lot of time and effort. But I can see she's giving you the chance to make that effort."
"Yes." He paused to drink his tea, embarrassed to discuss such personal things with a young student. "How have you learned so much about relationships?"
"Oh, I had my first girlfriend before I'd even come to the Jade Palace," she said with a giggle. "I've been in lots of relationships! Sadly, I know more about what not to do than anything else."
"That is too bad." He cleared his throat, unsure of what else to say. "Have you been to the Pink Lily? Perhaps you could meet someone there."
Viper laughed so hard at his question that she snorted. "Master! You've been to a lesbian bar?"
He could feel himself blushing as he hid his face behind his cup. "Lin took me there," he grumbled. He thanked the gods that Ping's restaurant was relatively empty, for once.
"I should have known." Viper wiped some tears of mirth from her eyes, then leaned in closer with a wide smile. "But it sounds like things are going well! I'm happy for you."
"She is acting distant again, though."
Lin's hand slammed down onto the table in front of him. He really must have been losing his touch, if he hadn't noticed her approaching. "I'm right here, you flap-jawed trout sniffer."
Shifu tried to understand what had just come out of Lin's mouth, but could not even begin. "...What?"
"Gia keeps yelling at me when I curse," she huffed. "I'm still workshopping some stuff. But she's not here, so eat my dick!"
"That's more like it."
"Lin," Viper interrupted with an undeservedly sweet smile. "Could we have a refill on our tea? Please?"
"Ugh, fine," Lin accepted, grabbing their teapot and giving it a shake while she listened. "I guess it's empty. Anything else, or should I just give up on a decent tip now?"
"Perhaps when you are finished with your shift I could take you on another date," Shifu offered, already knowing he would receive a rejection for his effort. Still, he had to try.
"Remember the whole Gia thing?" Lin curled her lip at him, but only briefly. "I'm spending my free time with her. We're doing the bonding thing or whatever, so I don't got time forya."
"I cannot join you?" he asked.
"No," Lin said bluntly.
"Why not?"
"'Cause it's quality time, just the two of us, jeez! Take a hint and quit being so codependent." Lin swiped his teacup from his hands and stomped away.
"That was harsh," Viper observed, sipping on her tea, which had been spared.
"A bit," Shifu grumbled.
"But fair," she added with a nod.
"In what way?" he asked incredulously.
"You can be a bit clingy," Viper said pointedly.
Before he could argue with that particular observation, Lin returned with their teapot, dropping it onto the table just as haphazardly as she had with their first serving. "Yo." She also paused to roughly elbow Shifu in the side. "You got a minute? I need a word."
He couldn't help the hopeful skip in his heartbeat at that request. Perhaps he was a bit clingy. "For you, I have all the minutes in the universe."
"Ew."
"Too much," Viper agreed with a sage nod.
Shifu threw his hands up in frustration. "It's supposed to be romantic!"
"Okay," Lin said flatly, then grabbed him by the collar and yanked him to his feet. "That's enough outta you." She dragged him into the alleyway and shoved him against the wall, as usual, but didn't kiss him this time.
He'd be lying if he said he wasn't disappointed. "You seem stressed," he pointed out.
Up close, Lin was covered in streaks of flour and bits of noodle dough from the kitchen. It looked suspiciously like she'd fallen into some dough at some point. "Wow, that's so astute ofya," she said with withering sarcasm.
"I suppose that's your way of deflecting."
"I suppose," she agreed.
He decided to drop the subject. When Lin wanted to discuss her emotional state with him, she would. In the meantime, he could at least show her some affection. "Lin." He leaned in closer to her and reached up to brush some flour off her cheek. "May I kiss you?"
"Fuck me, that was hot!"
"Good gods." He massaged his ears as they throbbed from her shouting in them. "Never mind."
Lin pushed him and scoffed, though she seemed more playful than genuinely annoyed. "Jeez, forgive me for having a libido."
"I do," he said with a wince. His ears were still ringing, but at least he'd managed to cheer Lin up a bit. "Shouting about it directly into my ears is somewhat less forgivable, though."
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed the edge of his ear, causing the ringing to be drowned out by the rush of blood to his head. "I like it whenya act all grumpy."
He no longer had anything to complain about. After all, it was rare that Lin hung all over him like this. "That's quite generous of you."
"Yeah," she agreed, then pulled away from him with a wink.
Shifu took a brief moment to mourn that loss of contact. His whole body felt chilled now that he no longer had Lin pressed against him. "I miss you," he admitted reluctantly. "I know you need to make time for Gia, but I feel your absence more now than ever."
"Wow, what're you, writing a poem?" Lin mocked, wrinkling her nose at him. "Calm down! It's barely been two days, you big baby."
He should have known she'd react this way to such an admission of affection. "Never mind," he grumbled. "I no longer miss you."
"Excuse me while I grieve," she replied sarcastically. Then she topped off her unpleasant attitude with a grab at his behind.
"Excuse you, indeed!" Shifu dodged her hand easily, but still. It was the principle of the thing. "You need to learn how to ask permission!"
Lin's answer was a lecherous cackle as she approached him. He had not foreseen his request for a simple kiss getting so out of hand, but he should have expected as much from Lin. She backed him into the wall again and leaned against it with her hands resting on either side of his head, boxing him in. "Hey, I thoughtya liked how I play."
"This is getting far too aggressive to be considered flirting in any way," Shifu pointed out, not that he thought for a second she'd listen to him.
"Then I'll try it your way," Lin conceded, then leaned in even closer to him and lowered her voice. "Can I kissya?"
Alright, so maybe she had been justified in yelling about how enjoyable this was. And she was technically doing as he'd asked. "Very well."
Lin laughed again, then kissed him long and slow. Well, she started to, at least.
"Break it up, you two!" Ping's voice interrupted them, and something poked Shifu in the side. He didn't get too good a look at it, partially from Lin blocking his view and partially from his focus on the effort of trying not to die from mortification.
"Jeez! Calm down!" Lin backed away, guarding her face with one arm while Ping swatted at her with a broom. Shifu supposed that was what had poked him.
"My restaurant, my alley, my rules," Ping honked, then turned the broom threateningly in Shifu's direction. "No more funny business back here! Got it?"
"Um." He had not been prepared for this confrontation. "Yes, sir."
The goose nodded once, decisively, before turning his wrath back on Lin. "And as for you! Your break's over!"
"Gimme just another minute," Lin wheedled. "I'll be right there."
Ping pursed his beak and narrowed his eyes at her. "I'll be counting."
"Holy shit," Lin complained. "You gotta take it down about a hundred notches. I ain't your kid, we just work together."
"Hmph!"
"What, you miss Po or some shit?" Though her question lacked all tact, it still seemed to make the goose misty-eyed.
"Perhaps a little." He sniffed loudly. "He doesn't visit as much as he used to! Do you think he's forgetting about... About noodles?"
"Nah, he wouldn't," Lin placated, and even consoled him with a pat on the wing. "He loves noodles. More'n I do, that's for sure."
"You're right." With a forlorn shake of his head, Ping shuffled back toward the kitchen door. "You're staying late to make up for this extra-long break," he said over his shoulder before disappearing into the restaurant again.
Lin crossed her arms, glaring at the closed door. "What a goddamn noodle tyrant."
As interesting as he found her dynamic with Ping, Shifu did not want to spend what little time he had with Lin discussing her employer. "I suppose I should say goodbye for now."
"Wait," Lin said, surprising him. "I didn't pullya back here just to make out." She could have fooled him. "I actually wanna stop by after my shift tonight."
"At the Jade Palace?" he asked, though he realized as he did that obviously that was what Lin had meant. He'd only succeeded in sounding as dense as that broom of Ping's.
"Yeah. I got a request."
"Oh?" Shifu asked. "Tired of Gia so soon?"
"Yeah, but that's not it. I need your help with something."
"Here," Shifu grunted as he dropped his last armful of scrolls at Lin's feet, where she'd been waiting for him in his bedroom. "This should be everything even remotely spiritual that Master Oogway had ever written. Which Gia could have helped you with."
"But you knew Oogway," Lin argued.
He couldn't contradict her on that. He knew exactly what she meant.
"And she's annoying me," she added with a childish huff. She burrowed deeper into the blankets on his bed, sipping at her cup of tea. Not exactly the way he would expect someone to research spiritual philosophy written by a Zen and Daoist master. "She can't sit still, she's always praying about some shit, she keeps asking me all these invasive questions, and she gets offended so easily! I need a full vacation from her already."
"I have had to live with her since she got here," Shifu said pointedly. "I have no sympathy for you."
She rolled her eyes at him. "Oh, don't pretend you're so imposed on. I knowya like her."
"Same to you."
Lin blushed a little and turned away to sift through Oogway's scrolls. "Yeah, yeah," she grumbled.
He smiled at her begrudging acceptance. It might not be what other people would consider maternal, but he had come to know Lin well over the past few weeks. She cared a great deal for her daughter. "So tell me. What are you looking for in Master Oogway's writings?"
"I'm not sure," Lin said, shrugging one shoulder. "I'll know it when I see it."
"...What?" He felt his eye twitch as his blood pressure spiked at her cavalier answer. "You had me retrieve every single one of Oogway's spiritual writings to browse them?"
She picked up a scroll from the pile and dropped it in his hands. "Here, you can help."
"How in the entire known universe would I be able to find what you're looking for when you will- and I quote- know it when you see it?" Shifu tried not to raise his voice. He truly did. But sometimes Lin provoked him to the point of no return.
Lin grabbed a scroll and flopped back into her pillows as if she were browsing through more of Tai Lung's trashy romance novels. "I'm just gonna ignore that and get to work. Lemme know when you're calm enough to pitch in."
"How?" he insisted. "How would I do that?"
"By reading," she said flatly.
"Will I know it when I see it?"
"You'll know it whenya feel my foot up your ass."
"And your wisdom is just as quotable as Master Oogway's, I see." He opened the scroll she'd forced on him and started reading, well aware that Lin would wear him down eventually no matter how much he resisted.
"I'll write it down so you can study it later," she said flatly, then followed suit with a scroll of her own.
Shifu had expected more banter from Lin, but she proved her diligence by falling silent as she became absorbed in her scroll. He supposed he should do the same. Master Oogway's spiritual writings had always gone a bit over his head, though. He tried to keep an eye out for anything that Lin might find particularly interesting, but nothing really stood out. Of course, all of the scrolls contained great wisdom, but none of it was news to him. He had been raised by Master Oogway, after all. He settled for summarizing each scroll to Lin and letting her decide whether she'd like to peruse it herself. He could not tell if this helped her, and she didn't say, but at least he had something to keep him from feeling entirely useless.
Until he found something notable enough to place in front of her.
Lin stopped reading her current scroll and snatched up the one he'd chosen, understanding without words the significance of the gesture. He found himself feeling rather sentimental over their ability to communicate without speaking, but he forced himself to focus on the task at hand. The scroll spoke of a monk Oogway had met many hundreds of years ago. This monk had the uncanny ability to share their visions with another, but only someone who... Well, in Oogway's words, someone whose spirit vibrated at the same frequency as theirs. The monk had described their visions as "reaching, grasping questions searching for the context needed to answer themselves." Whatever in the world that meant. Still, it sounded like exactly what Lin and Tai Lung had experienced.
"Interesting," Lin commented with a short nod once she'd finished reading, then set the scroll behind her and continued on as if she hadn't just found a massive clue.
Shifu waited for more of a reaction but found none forthcoming. "Lin." He frowned when she ignored him. "Lin. Lin!"
"What? God." She had the nerve to sound annoyed.
"That scroll was a big deal!" he snapped. "Don't you have anything more to say about it?"
"Not yet," she said, glancing sideways at him with her eyes narrowed. "I wanna see what else we find, in case there's a common thread. Obviously." Despite her combative tone, she had a point.
With a sigh, Shifu picked up another scroll and continued to read. Another hour passed by in silence, with no further leads, but at least Lin looked cute curled up in his blankets and concentrating on her work. That was something to enjoy.
"Ouch!"
"What?"
"It's nothing," he said, embarrassed by his outburst. "Just a paper cut on my finger." Perhaps he should have paid less attention to Lin and more attention to his scroll.
"Lemme see," Lin demanded, sliding off the bed to the floor head-first and grabbing his hand in a maneuver that was truly awkward to behold.
"What on earth was that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
She ignored him in favor of inspecting his finger. "You're fine," she concluded, then shoved his finger into her mouth.
"Lin- what-" Shifu sputtered, but he couldn't finish the thought. He'd meant to point out how absurd her behavior was, but as it turned out, having Lin suck on his finger was... Not absurd. It was so not absurd that he found himself in need of a cold soak. "Stop," he choked out. "That's enough!"
"How come?" Lin tossed his hand aside and flopped over on the floor with a yawn. "I need a break. Andya know what my favorite pastime is."
He could feel his face heating up. "No. We are surrounded by Master Oogway's writings. It's too... Too..."
"Creepy?" she offered.
"Yes, let's go with that."
"Then let's go fuck somewhere else. Or clean up the scrolls, I guess. Finding somewhere else to rub fronts sounds easier, though."
"Don't say 'rub fronts.'"
"Too immature?"
"It's abhorrent."
Lin's laugh was so warm and infectious, he almost forgot entirely that she'd used such a terrible turn of phrase. "I should head home anyway. Before Gia comes barging in here and yelling atya for chasing my tail."
"Yes," he agreed reluctantly. "That is depressingly likely."
"I got an idea," she said with a sly smile.
"What now?" He didn't so much as wince when she punched his arm. He was used to such rough treatment.
"There's a field of tall grass on the way to my house."
"So?"
"So walk me home and I'll showya what I got in mind." She waggled her eyebrows at him.
"Ah. You want to have sex there."
"Way to state the obvious! You in or out?"
Lin must have influenced him more than he'd realized, because he snorted in amusement at the double entendre inherent in her question.
"I heard that, you perv!" she accused with a loud cackle.
"Alright, let's go," he agreed since he could imagine such a scene being romantic. Hopefully, he could convince Lin to make it romantic. "But I am not doing anything experimental out in a field."
"Quick and dirty?" she asked, her grin widening.
"Ugh, no! We'll be out under the stars, in the fresh air, surrounded by nature. It's romantic."
"Gross."
He huffed indignantly, though he'd already known she'd react that way. "You have a strange metric for what is and is not gross."
She jumped to her feet and took him by the hand, pulling him up with her. "Quit complaining, it's time to go." She kissed him, long and deep, before pulling away.
"Yes'm," he agreed, following after her dazedly. There were worse ways to be cowed and ordered around. And in this case, he had the distinct advantage of Lin taking his sleeve and leading him by it, which he easily transitioned into hand-holding. Perhaps it was a bit pathetic to get excited by holding a woman's hand, but this was his life.
And though he'd thought he had left physical desire behind long ago in his quest for inner peace, he had fallen under Lin's spell as thoroughly as she'd predicted. She was not the most feminine of women, but Shifu found that the longer he knew Lin the less femininity mattered to him. He had always admired strong women, of course, but Lin's masculine clothing and behavior were uniquely attractive to him. And sometimes he caught himself daydreaming about her muscles like some lust-stricken schoolgirl.
He didn't care. He could spend all day thinking about her and all night pleasing her for the rest of his life. Lin had awakened a fire in him that he'd thought had gone out, and now he only wanted to fan those flames. He would have spent the night with Lin doing anything but sleeping if she had let him.
"Stop for a minute," Lin ordered, yanking on his sleeve. "I wanna showya something." Somehow in the midst of his ruminating, they had made it out to the field of tall grass near Lin's house.
"Is this going to be a sexual act?" Shifu asked warily, and Lin laughed in his face in return. That did nothing to answer his question, but he stopped anyway. "What is it, then?"
"Lie down." She gave his sleeve another tug while she lowered herself to the ground and stretched out on her back. "Go on! It's not a sex thing this time."
He tried to keep the relief out of his voice, unsuccessfully. "Oh. Alright, then."
"You're a bigger snot 'an I am," Lin accused, poking him several times in the side while he laid down on his back as she had.
"Enough of that." He batted her hand away from him. "What am I looking for?"
"Not for," Lin correct. "At. Just look straight up at the sky. It's like... There's nothing else in the whole world but the stars and the grass."
Shifu hadn't expected such a sentimental turn in their conversation, but he did as she'd instructed. She was right. From this angle, his view was dominated by the stars, more prominent than ever without the lights of the village or the Jade Palace around him, framed by the long grass as it swayed gently in the breeze. "It's lovely."
"Yeah," Lin said. "Sure is."
Without any conscious thought, his hand sought out hers beside him and held on firmly to that warm, calloused, familiar comfort. "You're wrong," he said, and he could see her skeptical grin from the corner of his eye. "There is more here than the stars and the grass. There is you." And she burned brighter for him than any star in the sky. But he couldn't tell her that, not unless he wanted to start a fight or chase her away.
Lin surprised him by squeezing his hand. "Thanks."
"What for?"
"I dunno. I guess it just kinda feels likeya finally see me."
His heart skipped at that. Perhaps Lin was starting, just a little bit, to fall for him again. "May I kiss you?"
She cackled at the question. "Y'know the answer's yes!"
"But I like asking." He had to hand it to Lin, kissing under the stars, surrounded by the soft rustling of the wind through the tall grass, was more romantic than he'd known. "May I make love to you?"
"No," Lin answered petulantly.
He raised an eyebrow. "Really?" he asked skeptically.
"Get the wording right," she insisted with an irritated sniff.
He huffed at her insistence, but he knew from experience that this was a hill she was willing to die on. "Very well," he gave in. "May I... Fuck you?" He winced as he said the vulgar word, but Lin seemed to enjoy it.
"Yeah," she agreed breathlessly, wrapping her arms around him. "But be gentle with me."
He nearly died at that order. "Of course," he wheezed out, trying to hide his blush from her by turning away. It didn't work.
"Aw, lookit you getting all flustered," she teased, poking at his cheek. "I knew that'd get t'ya!"
"Stop." Shifu grabbed her hand and kissed it. "Unless you think you can talk and kiss me at the same time."
"An interesting challenge," Lin said with a laugh. "But I'd rather just kiss."
He took her in his arms and did just that. It would have been magical, too, if she had loved him back.
Lin gazed up at the stars, filled with a profound sense of longing at the sight of them. She always had been and always would be. To her, they represented what lay just beyond her reach. That certain something she had traveled the globe in search of. Love, acceptance, adventure- all of them and none of them. Maybe Oogway was right, and all she needed was to find inner peace.
She thought of the scroll Shifu had shown her. "Reaching, grasping questions searching for the context needed to answer themselves," it had said. That sounded like her entire being. But it also described her visions, and that description of sharing visions with someone who vibrated at the same frequency... It all sounded just like her and Tai Lung. Yet knowing that didn't exactly help. So she was sharing her visions, without meaning to? Or was Tai Lung sharing with her? It was confusing. And it still didn't explain the ocean spirit, which now haunted the both of them with its never-ceasing gaze.
"What are you thinking about?" Right, Shifu was still lying next to her in the field.
"Just that scroll. It's weird, and probably right, but I can't figure out how it helps." She had no reason to lie or to keep this a secret. She had gone to Shifu for help, and he had proven more helpful than she could have predicted.
"Oh. I am afraid I do not know, either." He reached out hesitantly to her and paused briefly before stroking her hair. It felt nice. "Perhaps it would help if I had more context. Could you tell me more about what you are going through?"
"No." She couldn't. Not without risking betraying Tai Lung's trust. And even without that concern, she didn't feel up to sharing that information with him.
"Alright. Perhaps you could just... Tell me more about yourself?" he suggested.
She jerked her head away from his hand. "Why d'you gotta be such a quiz master all the time, huh?"
"I want to know everything about you," Shifu said with his usual intensity. Which was a lot. "That is simply how I get when I am deeply in love."
Lin didn't answer right away. She needed time to think about his wording. "Deeply, huh?" It didn't seem likely to her. Not after everything he'd put her through.
"Please don't make a sex joke."
"Okay," she said, relaxing at his request. She wished that had been on her mind. She wished she could spend any amount of time with him without internally spiraling like this. She wanted to tell him that, but in the end, she couldn't figure out the words to say. "I miss this." That was as far as she could get. Because she did miss just being with him, without the weight of all their fights and regrets between them.
Shifu looked at her with that soft, sappy face he got whenever he said stupid shit to her. "I love you."
"Yeah, I noticed."
He was quiet for a bit, then took her hand and squeezed it. "I am sorry that I treated you so terribly that you can no longer trust me. I wonder... Uhm..."
"What?" Lin glanced sideways at him, intrigued. He rarely had follow-up questions when it came to his own flaws.
"Is there anything you would like to say to me?" he asked hesitantly. "Anything that you have left unsaid? I would listen. And I would not get defensive. I already know I am soliciting criticism."
She thought on that, nodding to let him know she was formulating a response. The truth was that she didn't see the point. That, and she didn't remember everything wrong he'd done well enough to tell him off for it. "You spent a lotta time hurting my feelings," she told him honestly. "But it's been long enough that the specific examples are kinda all blending together in my memory. It's hard to pick any of it out."
"Hm," he grunted, sounding embarrassed. "You mean, for instance... When I complained about your cooking?"
"Yeah, that," she said, her memory jogged. "And whenya acted like I was gross and hideous. I know I act confident, and it wouldn'ta hurt coming from a stranger. But from you... It made me feel exactly that. Gross and hideous."
"I am sorry," he said weakly. "I did not realize my words had such an effect on you. And even if they hadn't, it was not right of me to behave that way. I don't know how I could make that up to you."
"With a lotta eating out," she tried to joke, but it fell flat even for her. "Jeez, this's a little too serious for my taste."
"I know."
"Emotions're bullshit."
"I know."
"You just know everything tonight, huh?" She realized that had been too harsh, but she couldn't bring herself to apologize. Not to him.
Shifu didn't answer, but he continued to hold her hand and closed his eyes, breathing deeply.
She watched him as his troubled frown evened out and his expression became more restful. She suspected he was trying to meditate through his annoyance at her, instead of getting into an argument, and the newness of his emotional control surprised her. She also felt like crap, like if even Shifu could keep his shit together, then why couldn't she? How had she gotten left behind, yet again?
And that made her afraid. Eventually, he would get tired of her because that was how this story always played out. It was only a matter of time.
"I wish I wasn't so scared of everything all the time," Lin said, staring up at the stars. "I wish I could enjoy the moment I'm in without worrying about how it's all gonna fall apart. I feel like I could do that more back before..." Before Al had died. But she couldn't say that out loud.
"Before you encountered the ocean spirit?" Shifu asked.
"Yeah." She might as well go with that. She hadn't exactly been emotionally healthy after that life event, either. "Shifu. D'you ever wish you could just walk away from all your baggage? Leave it all behind?"
"All the time."
That was a surprise. "Wait- really?"
"Of course," he said with a huff. "Everyone feels that way. But walking away won't help anything."
"Yeah, I kinda figured that out by now." She closed her eyes for a bit, just to rest them, and they stopped talking. She'd almost fallen asleep by the time Shifu spoke again.
"I have an idea." He stood and held out his hand to her. "Do you trust me?"
Lin raised her eyebrows at him.
"Alright, that was a stupid question," he admitted. It was strange and almost admirable that he so readily admitted that he had no right to expect her trust anymore. Almost. "Do you trust me enough to let me surprise you, just this once?"
"I dunno," Lin said, wincing. "You been really punishing my pussy lately, I think I'm gonna need a break."
"Wha- that's not what I meant!" Shifu turned in a full circle, huffing indignantly the whole way.
"What're you doing?"
"I was trying to hide my face from you, but obviously there is no point to that," he grumbled, blushing all the way up to his ears. It was hilarious, but Lin held back her laughter.
"Okay. Just saying, even I got my limits-"
"Please stop."
She grinned at how uncomfortable she'd made Shifu. I was true, though. He'd been a lot more enthusiastic than usual, lately. "Okay, fine. What's this surprise?"
"It won't be a surprise if I tell you," he said, raising an eyebrow at her. "So? What do you say?"
Lin considered for a bit before finally taking Shifu's hand and letting him help her up.
"I'm going to need to grab you to do this," he warned. "But I promise, I won't hurt you."
"I know." She bit her tongue to keep from pointing out how much he'd hurt her emotionally already. That wasn't what he was talking about. And she wanted to stop bringing it up all the time. She wanted to stop thinking about it all the time. She wanted to believe him when he said he wouldn't hurt her, in every sense. "Promise me one more time, anyway."
He pulled her close, grabbing her by the waist and pausing to kiss her cheek. "I promise I won't hurt you," he repeated. "Whenever you're ready."
She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Okay. I'm ready."
Lin hadn't known what to expect, but Shifu throwing her straight up into the air would have been at the bottom of the list. "What the fuck!" she screamed down at him. Or at least she tried. He'd thrown her so hard that it came out more as a series of garbled, wordless screams as adrenaline flooded her system. But she couldn't stay angry, not with the wind in her face, the feeling of weightlessness as she began to fall, and that view. The stars filled her vision, the valley just a distant shadow beneath them. It was like being up there with them, just for a second. There was something about falling and knowing there was someone ready to catch her that made her feel free, too.
Shifu caught her much more gently than she'd expected, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, still laughing while he held her. "Jeez!"
"I thought you might enjoy that." He laughed one of his deep, rumbling laughs that she hardly ever got to hear. It reminded her of their first kiss. "That was Tai Lung's favorite game when he was small."
"Wow, way to infantilize me." She didn't really mean it, but his new attitude still felt too good to be true.
"It isn't my fault you have the same tastes as a toddler," he replied, sticking his nose in the air.
"Holy shit." Lin had to pause to catch her breath. "First you were spontaneous and fun, now you're joking with me. What the hell is going on?"
"You are not the only one who can be occasionally delightful."
"Yeah, well, you're sure delighting my pussy right now."
He gave her a flat stare in response, his ear twitching.
"What? You're making me horny." She kissed the spot right between his eyes, in that cute circle of golden-red fur. "It's kinda weird."
"How flattering of you to say." His stupid sarcastic comment was attractive to her, too. What was wrong with her, lately? "And in any case, I thought you were in need of a break."
"I can't help it," she admitted.
"Your libido concerns me. Shouldn't it be waning by now?"
"It is. I was much more sexually active at my peak."
"How on Earth did you have time for anything else?" This was probably the most willingly Shifu had ever talked to her about sex, but she didn't want to break the spell by pointing it out.
"I just didn't sleep. Remember the whole insomnia thing? I had to do something with all that free time." She noticed he still hadn't put her down. She guessed she wasn't the only one whose libido was kicking up.
"I am going to try not to think about that," he said evenly. His mustache betrayed him by twitching and showing off his jealousy.
"I'm torn," Lin said. "I gotta get home, but I wanna stay and ride that mustache 'til I'm raw."
"You have all the subtlety of a brick through a window," Shifu criticized, though he sounded amused. That was new.
"Subtlety's for losers," Lin taunted back, snorting loudly and sticking her tongue out.
Shifu raised an eyebrow at her, then kissed her neck just light enough to tickle. He didn't even let up when she shrieked straight into his ear, even though it must have hurt.
She knew she shouldn't be enjoying herself so much, but she couldn't help it. Just like she couldn't help kissing him when he finally gave her a breather, or shoving his face back into her neck so he could give her a hickey like they were a couple of horny teenagers. Being a horny adult was more or less the same, though, except that she actually got laid.
"I should let you get home to Gia," Shifu said reluctantly, his voice muffled by her shoulder.
"Probably," Lin agreed, and still Shifu didn't put her down. "But I guess I can be a little late." She'd barely finished her sentence before he was kissing her again. She liked that Shifu actually admitted to having physical feelings now instead of pretending that sex was some kind of chore he had to be convinced into. She liked that he admitted he felt attracted to her, now. It made everything a lot more enjoyable on her end.
"Alright, now I should definitely let you go," Shifu said twenty minutes later while he was picking dried grass from his fur and clothes. He paused to help Lin up and kiss her one more time. "Shall I walk you to your door?"
Lin snorted in amusement. "You gonna get me a bouquet, too?"
"Despite what you may think, it is not embarrassing to be polite." He helped her get her shirt back into place, then offered his hand. "Shall I at least get you across the lake?"
"Yeah, sure." Lin led him out of the grass field to the edge of the lake, a light visible in her little house's window in the distance. "How'd you go from barely knowing how to hold hands to being a good kisser?" She had to ask while she still had the chance. After all, she'd never been the best teacher.
"I am known for applying myself to my studies," Shifu said way too smugly for someone who had only just recently learned how to find a clitoris.
Lin rolled her eyes at him. "Okay, calm down."
"I am afraid that is impossible with you near me." Of course, he was trying to use a line on her. Because this was her life now. And, shamefully, she liked it. She even felt a thrill when he wrapped his arms around her. Nasty.
"God help me, I'm finding you attractive," she grudgingly admitted.
"That statement is shockingly tame for you," he teased with a slight smile on his face.
"Goddammit." She hated that he was making her feel soft and she hated that she enjoyed being with him. And she especially hated the way her whole body felt like it was on fire when he kissed her.
"Hold on tight," he warned before picking her up and leaping across the lake.
"Shit," she cursed in the air, because she loved getting picked up and carried by him, especially while they careened through the air. What in the hell had happened to her?
"Are you alright?" Shifu asked as soon as they landed on the tiny island's dock. He placed her back on her feet but kept hold of her shoulders. "Should I have given you more warning? I'm sorry."
Lin shrugged his hands off. "I'm fine," she lied. "Just horny." Maybe it wasn't a complete lie, more like a partial omission.
"Still?"
She punched him in the arm for that, and he chuckled at his own little joke. "See if I ever touch your dick again."
"Empty threats," he pointed out, rightfully so.
"Fine, but I'm not moisturizing my hands."
"A truly frightening prospect." He took her hands and kissed each of her palms. "I will miss you."
"Ugh, calm it down with that sappy shit."
"Oh, is that what you want? Because last I checked, the more sappy things I say to you, the less you can keep your hands off me."
"You shut the hell up."
"Make me," he replied with a sly smile.
"You're just trying to get another kiss outta me!" She couldn't believe Shifu was flirting with her like this. Or that she was flirting back.
"I am guilty as charged," he admitted sheepishly.
"Alright, I'm ending this," Lin grumbled, then kissed him goodnight and tried to ignore the moony-eyed look he gave her. "Get outta here!" She pushed him a few times before he finally gave in and left, though not before kissing her one last time.
Lin watched him go, just to make sure he didn't turn around or anything. Then she watched the wind in the trees for a while, just because. Well, she also wanted to put off going into her house for as long as possible. It wasn't that she didn't like spending time with Gia. It was just that she needed her alone time, too. And Gia did not understand alone time.
The door swung open, Gia standing on the other side with a wide smile on her face. "Good evening, Mother!"
"Don't call me that," Lin argued half-heartedly, shuffling past her to get changed for the night. A full day at the restaurant was already tiring in itself, but following that work up with a study session had left her feeling like her brain was made out of Ping's noodle dough.
"Oh! You have dirt and long grass all over you!"
"Don't worry about it," Lin waved off.
"I saw you arrive," Gia added. "You and Master Shifu are cute together."
"Ugh, gag me," Lin replied.
"It is true," Gia said as she set out a cup and poured some wine. "He loves you very much."
"Ugh," she repeated but didn't dignify the comment with any more of a response. She stripped out of her dirty clothes before taking the drink Gia offered.
"Must you be nude?" Gia shielded her eyes as if she had never seen a naked body before.
"Yep."
Gia turned fully away from her, still holding a hand up at the side of her face to block her peripheral vision. "It is not proper."
Lin couldn't let those dramatics go without a little needling. "Neither's what Shifu did to me tonight, but apparently you find that cute."
"Augh!"
She laughed at the girl's disgust before grabbing a blanket from her bed to wrap herself up in. "Lucky for you I'm feeling kinda chilly."
"It is too late," she groaned. "I know too much."
"Yeah, yeah," Lin said, rolling her eyes at the dramatics. "There're worse sights in this world 'an my naked body."
"True, but I would still rather not gaze upon any of them," Gia argued.
Lin suspected she had picked some of that sass up from Shifu but kept her mouth shut on the subject. "So, whaddaya wanna do tonight?"
Gia grabbed a blanket for herself and draped it over her lap. "I would like for us to talk tonight, if that is okay."
Lin had seen this coming, not that she was thrilled about it. "As long as it's not about your father," she accepted with a nod.
Gia twisted her blanket in her hands. "I actually wanted to ask you more about... Women."
Now this was unexpected. Lin had thought Gia didn't want to acknowledge this part of herself. "Go on."
She looked away shyly, shrugging one shoulder. "I simply wondered if you had ever... Been in love. With a woman."
"Multiple times," Lin answered candidly, and Gia snapped her head around, eyes wide.
"Really? How many?"
"Of the six times I fell in love, three were with women. I'm very egalitarian like that."
"You fell in love six times?" Gia asked incredulously.
"Yeah. What about you?"
Gia shook her head and covered her face with her hands. Then, she slowly pulled one hand from her face to hold up two fingers. She was just full of surprises tonight.
"Okay, someone's got hidden layers!" Lin nudged her encouragingly, but she just kept shaking her head. "Fine, you don't gotta tell me any more. But I'll tellya about the ladies I loved, ifya want."
"Yes, please," Gia said quietly, finally uncovering her face.
"Well, I already toldya about Parvati," Lin replied. She paused to refill her tea as she thought back on her past. She'd had her doubts about telling Gia the truth about her and Anna, but it needed to be said. And Gia needed to hear it. "The next woman I fell in love with was Anna."
Gia blinked rapidly, stunned. "Anna? As in my mama, Anna?"
"Yeah. I loved her so much but... She picked God over me. So I had to move on." There had never been a conversation between them to that effect, but there had been a silent understanding. And Lin had always known it would be unfair to even ask Anna to choose.
"Is that why you left me?" Gia asked.
"What? No! Of course not, fuck!" Lin couldn't believe she'd even asked, but they didn't know each other that well yet. "I left for the reasons I already toldya. 'Cause I wasn't fit to be a parent, and I had my own life to live. It had nothing to do with my feelings for Anna. If anything, I stayed longer 'cause of 'em."
"I remember you mentioning that when we had first met," Gia said thoughtfully. "I did not realize- that is, I had thought at first that you had meant something romantic, but then it seemed as though you were speaking of friendship-"
"We were close friends," Lin clarified. "Even though I wanted something romantic. I tried not to let that get in the way of our friendship. But... It hurts, unrequited love. As I'm sureya know."
"Yes." Gia grimaced. "I do."
Lin finished off her tea while she waited to see if Gia had any questions about her and Anna. "Should we do another pot?"
Gia nodded, so Lin started brewing the spicy mango cashew blend An Zhi had made for her. "You and Anna... Were never together at all?"
"No," Lin said. "Doesn't mean our relationship was any less important."
"Hm." Gia sipped at her tea. "And you would not have stayed, even if she had returned your feelings?"
"No," Lin said again. "There was only ever one person I did that for. Al."
"Your fiancee?"
She nodded. "We were together a long time. I woulda stayed with him my whole life, if he hadn't died. He was the one." She hoped Gia didn't probe too much further.
"I see," Gia said, staring intently into her cup. "Not Master Shifu?"
She'd fielded this question so many times she could answer it in her sleep. "I loved Shifu. But Al was the one who understood me and accepted me, just the way I was. He never asked me to be anything different. And he was the only one I ever had that with. Does that make sense?"
"Yes. It does." Gia sighed heavily, her gaze turning inward until she took a sip of her tea and managed to snap out of it. "You said there were six people you had love. Will you tell me?"
"Yeah." Lin stalled a minute with her own tea. "My very first love, back when I was just a teenager, was one of my teachers. Wei-Shan. I was always filled with some kinda angst over him, but eventually, we had to part ways. I mean, that's pretty much the script for young love."
"And he was also young?" she asked skeptically.
"Oh hell, no," Lin replied with a bark of laughter. "He's, what, thirty years older 'an me? Something terrible like that. I still loved him with all my little teenaged heart."
Gia wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Ick."
"Don't knock the age difference 'tilya try it," she said, laughing again. "I always did love that middle-aged spread."
Gia shook her head, sticking her tongue out. "No. Now please tell me about this last person you have not mentioned."
That was gonna bring down the mood. The one she hadn't wanted to mention was... "Sofie." Lin cleared her throat, trying to detach herself from the anxiety that inevitably came with revisiting these memories. "She was one of my most serious relationships. We were together five years, traveling around Europe together. Really, she was following me. She couldn't go back to her hometown, not after they found out she was with another woman. And I thought that was fine, screw 'em, y'know? But it was never fine for her. It wasn't a great or a stable relationship, and eventually, it fell apart."
"How so?"
"I dunno if she even wanted to be with a woman," Lin answered honestly. "She thought I was a man when we first fell in love, and she said the truth didn't matter to her... But it always seemed like it kinda did. And she hated living the kinda life I lived, always on the road. And I was still pretty messed up, after having been to war, so I wasn't always pleasant to be around." She ignored Gia's knowing nod at that part. "But I tried. For her. And in the end, it wasn't enough. She... Got tired of me. That was the breakup I toldya about, when I tried to drown myself in the sea." And then she had met the ocean spirit, which had saved her. But that part wasn't relevant to Gia.
Gia stopped nodding, her eyes widening. Then, she grabbed Lin and pulled her into a tight hug. "I am sorry, Mama," she said quietly.
"Don't call me that." Lin's reply was muffled by Gia's shoulder, but besides turning her head to get some air she didn't struggle against the embrace. It was nice, actually. "I just felt so unlovable. So disposable. It's not something I like to talk about."
"You are not unlovable," Gia said fiercely. "I love you. Li mortacci sua, de suo nonno, de sua madre e dei tre quarti daa palazzina sua!"
Lin laughed at the unexpectedly vulgar insult. It was the last thing she would expect to come from Gia's mouth, which made it all the better. "Thanks." She patted Gia on the back and wriggled out of the girl's grasp, and though she was still grinning over the cursing, there was something else to address. Did she love Gia? Had they grown close enough for her to be able to say those words and mean them? When she dug deep and envisioned what it would be like to remain silent, she had her answer. "I don't feel like your mother. And that might never happen." She took Gia's hands in her to make it clear this was not a rejection. "You might hafta get used to that. But I want to be your friend. And I love you like a friend." It was the most she could do, for now.
Judging by Gia's insistence on crying and hugging her again, it would probably be enough.
Notes:
A/N: Oh my GOD! I DID IT I FINISHED THIS CHAPTER. I'm very proud of myself. Full disclosure, I'm going through a contentious divorce (long story short: abusive marriage, I fled with nothing but some clothes and the pets, my cat died suddenly that exact same day, I am deeply in debt, cue this is fine meme). This means that my time for writing is extremely limited, hence the sudden slowdown. I am getting maybe twenty words a day done. But they're happening! They're getting written! Chapters 33 through 36 are concurrently in progress as we speak, and depending on lengths there might be up to 38 total chapters. We're getting there! Now for the references:
Ambush from Ten Sides is a classical Chinese song about the Battle of Gaixia in 202 BC, written for thepipa (and viewable on youtube!) in 1818- though it may be based on earlier songs from the 17th century.
Gia's Italian:
"Li mortacci sua, de suo nonno, de sua madre e dei tre quarti daa palazzina sua!"
- Fuck her dead relatives, and her grandfather's, and her mother's, and those of the three-quarters of her apartment block!
This is apparently an incredibly insulting thing to say in Italy so probably don't repeat it if you're ever a tourist there.
Okay, I do believe that's it. And since I will probably take forever to get the next chapter up (it's a big'un), I'll say it now: Happy winter holidays! And of course, thank you for reading and reviewing. I would write this even if y'all didn't, but it means a lot to me.
Chapter 33: Not All Donuts Come Out with a Hole
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 33: Not All Donuts Come Out with a Hole
Shifu woke early, before dawn, his heart beating erratically from his excitement. Today was the day Gia had planned to return to the Jade Palace from her stay with Lin. Of course, he fully supported Lin and Gia spending quality time together, but... He had missed Lin. Perhaps she had been right when she had suggested he could get a bit clingy. Still, today was the day she would have more time for him again, and he could hardly wait. Not that he did not cherish his time with his students, but there was only so much of Tai Lung's open disdain for him that he could take without a mental breakdown. At least Lin's open disdain for him was occasionally interrupted by bouts of affection. And though she claimed those bouts of affection were an unexplainable phenomenon, he knew she still cared for him, however unconventionally. All he wanted from Tai Lung was the same thing Lin had given him: a chance to prove he could be better. But Tai Lung remained as closed off to him now as he had been the day he'd arrived in the Valley of Peace.
He decided to put all that out of his mind. He would focus on the positives in his life. He would be seeing Lin today, he was sure of it, and he would spend as much time with her as she would allow. He suspected she'd be accompanying Gia back up the mountain, so he took his time with his morning routine. He doubted they would be getting back to the Jade Palace too soon. And he wanted to be freshly bathed and properly dressed for when he saw Lin again, after their days apart. Well, two days.
He was not codependent.
By late morning, he found he could wait no longer, so he wandered the grounds to check in on all of Lin's usual spots on the grounds. He should have known better, though. It did not matter whether Lin had the morning off, she had a difficult time staying away from the Jade Palace's studio regardless.
Shifu found her there, working diligently as she... Wrote something backwards. "Why are you doing that?" he asked as he approached and watched from a safe distance. He had learned early on not to get too close to Lin while she worked, especially on her art. She was, if possible, even quicker to agitation than at the restaurant.
Lin snorted, sparing him a quick glance. "Artists have this weird habit of making art. Go figure." She wrote her logograms slowly and painstakingly, bent so close to the page her nose nearly touched it. It would seem he was not the only one in denial over needing glasses.
"I mean the way you are writing," he said with an annoyed huff, though he couldn't get that mad when she looked so cute. While in deep concentration, Lin tended to make an adorable little face with her nose scrunched up, biting her lip. It emphasized her left canine tooth, which had been just crooked enough to stick out for as long as he'd known her. "You are writing backwards." He couldn't keep the fondness out of his voice.
"I'm not writing," she corrected shortly. "I'm drawing. It's different, I don't really got time to explain."
"Very well, then. I'll make us some tea and return with it. Would that be alright?"
She grunted and waved him off, which he took as acceptance.
He watched her make that face for a moment more before leaving. It did not take him long to brew a pot of tea and bring it back to the studio with some cups, but by the time he returned she had finished her lettering. In large, thick lines that looked as though they were melting off the page like black blood, she had written a single word. "Haunted."
"That isn't at all concerning." He poured them each a cup of tea and took a seat beside her. It was not lost on him that she had pulled up a chair beside her for him, and he smiled as he sipped his tea.
"I'm expressing my inner angst," Lin said, leaning against his side as she regarded her work. "That's what art's for. That and porn."
"I should have known you would bring up sex." He leaned over the piece, which was stark and simple yet impactful. "What is this one for?"
She shrugged. "I just felt like it." She sipped at her tea with one hand and pushed him away from her artwork with the other. "Careful with the tea, there. I don't do restoration."
"It's very good," he complimented.
"Thanks, it should be. I ain't a master for nothing."
"Very true, my love."
She curled her lip, showing off her cute snaggletoothed fang again. "Don't."
He decided to ignore her reaction. "Your fang is so adorable. Has it always been that way?"
"What, this?" Lin reached up and tapped the tooth. "Nah, I got into it with my mom one time when I was a kid, she knocked my baby tooth straight up into my jaw. The adult tooth came in like this. I guess the baby tooth's still in there?" She gave an unconcerned shrug, then set her "haunted" piece aside and pulled a fresh piece of paper in front of her.
The irony of that action was not lost on him. "I thought it was your father who hit you."
"Mostly," she said. "But my mom did too, if I really pissed her off."
Despite his strong desire to hunt down Lin's parents and torture them to death, he managed to keep his tone in check. "That must have been traumatic for you."
"Well, duh," she said with withering sarcasm.
He watched as she overloaded her brush with ink, then flicked it across her page to create a splatter. She then began writing characters with the side of her brush in steady, confident strokes. She wrote out "determination" before splattering ink around a few more spots. "I like this one."
"It's very you," she said, then slid it toward him. "Here, you can have it ifya want. I'm just doing studies right now, anyway."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Why not?" She finished her tea with a gulp, then leaned back in her chair and sighed heavily.
"Thank you." He paused to refill her tea for her. "I am sorry for prying into your past. I did not mean to."
Lin's eyebrows shot up. "Since when?"
Shifu dipped a finger in his tea and flicked it at her. "I do have some tact, I will have you know."
"Yeah, you just never trot it out for me." She grabbed his knee and gave it a needlessly hard yank. "You're being nicer 'an usual today. Makes me wanna suck your dick dry-"
"Stop," he interrupted, scooting his chair out of her reach. "Why are you like this?"
"Jeez, allya gotta do is just lean back and enjoy it," Lin grumbled with a disgruntled frown. "I was gonna take my teeth out and everything! Now you ain't getting shit from me."
"My heart weeps," he said flatly.
She stuck her tongue out at him. "Keep up the attitude, see if I ever drain those balls again."
He shuddered at her turn of phrase. "I believe I will find a way to go on with my life."
"Get ready to resume your life of celibacy," she warned. "I'm never touching you or your butt again."
"Considering that all I have to do to seduce you is merely exist within your reach, I find all this difficult to believe. And why is my butt a separate entity?"
"It's classified by size," she answered without missing a beat.
"Then what is yours?" He gave her a flat stare, suppressing his amused smile. "A separate planet with its own orbit?"
"Must be, since you get caught in that orbit all the time."
"That much, I cannot deny," he admitted sheepishly. There was no point in hiding his appreciation of Lin's body, not after all the intimate moments they had already shared.
Lin smiled at him, really smiled, the one that lit up a room and crinkled the corners of her eyes. "Good," she said, then turned away from him and sipped at her tea, hiding her face behind her cup.
If he didn't know any better, he'd say she seemed shy. That couldn't be it, though. "I love your smile," he told her gently. "Truly the best smile in the universe."
"Best half a smile, anyway," she said with a snort.
"Best any type of smile," he corrected her. He steeled himself for rejection before reaching out to Lin and turning her face to him, cradling her jaw.
Amazingly, she leaned into his touch with a relaxed sigh. It was so new that he needed a moment to figure out what to do next.
He stroked her cheek with his thumb before kissing her softly. When he tried to pull away, Lin followed him and deepened their kiss. She tried to get out of her chair and climb into his lap without breaking their kiss but was mostly unsuccessful. Still, Shifu enjoyed all the short, breathless kisses that resulted from it. Hell, he enjoyed kissing Lin regardless.
Then, she burped into his mouth.
"Augh!" he sputtered out as he turned his head away, coughing at the sour taste of her belch. "Why?"
Lin laughed loudly in his ear. "Aw, it's not that bad!"
"It was horrific thirty-five years ago and it is horrific now," he groaned, leaning away from her. "And you need some kind of antacid."
"You remember that?" she asked.
"The time you belched horrifically into my mouth and then taught Tai Lung what a grundle was? Yes, of course I remember. That memory will haunt me to my grave."
"Stop saying horrific," she ordered, but she sounded unexpectedly affectionate.
Shifu finally turned his head back to face Lin and forgot to breathe at the sight of her soft smile. That smile was, improbably, for him. "Oh," he managed to work out, then took a moment to catch his breath.
"You're so cute whenya blush like that," she said fondly, stroking his ear. "You sure I can't giveya a blowjob?"
He should have known she would say something vulgar. "Why are you obsessing over that? Of all things?"
Lin shrugged. "I just feel like it. Wait, areya implying it's not fun to give oral? 'Cause last I checked you love giving-"
"Alright, I get your point," he interrupted, his face burning.
"I taughtya well."
"Enough, please!"
"I'll never get tired of your weird hangup over talking about sex." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and resumed making out with him, which he accepted considering her breath no longer smelled of rotten belches. Then again, with Lin attached to him like a barnacle, it would have taken too much effort to remove her even if her breath stunk. And he liked being the person Lin chose to attach herself to, especially when she was in the mood to kiss endlessly. He loved kissing, he would admit, and Lin never left him wanting.
"Heya, Lin, I was wonderin'- bwah! Agh!" Po interrupted them with his usual grace and charm. "Jeez! Warn a guy next time!"
Shifu would have lectured the panda on his lack of manners if he didn't still have Lin in his lap. As it was, all he could manage was an embarrassed shout.
"Whaddaya mean, warn a guy?" Lin asked in a disgruntled whine. "This's my studio! I do what I want here!"
It was technically the Jade Palace's studio, but Shifu was still too mortified to form coherent words.
"Well you coulda locked the door or somethin'," Po grumbled, covering his eyes. "Anyway, I wanted to ask-"
"Panda!" Lin interrupted, yelling in Shifu's ear in the process. "Canya get the fuck out so I can slobber on this dick, already?"
"C'mon," Po groaned, using his hands as blinders while he fled the studio.
Lin huffed indignantly. "Talk about rude. Hey, you ain't hard anymore!"
"And I never will be again," Shifu wheezed out.
Lin rolled her eyes at him, then climbed out of his lap and back into her own seat. "You're so dramatic. It's just Po."
"He is my student!"
"And a cutie," she added. "I wouldn't mind inviting him into the fold, ifya catch my drift." She punctuated her lecherous comment with a loud cackle.
"Congratulations," he grumbled, burying his face in his hands as he tried to erase everything she'd just said from his memory.
"On what?" she asked, puzzled.
"On speaking the worst combination of words that has ever been devised."
Lin cackled at his discomfort, as usual, bumping her shoulder against his. "Okay, calm down there. I didn't say anything you didn't already know." That was true, sadly.
"Very well," he accepted begrudgingly. "At least I have you for the whole day. Believe it or not, I am excited for that, despite your penchant for trying to make me vomit."
"You don't, actually," Lin corrected him. His disappointment must have been visible, because she smiled softly at him and nudged him again. "Aw, don't lookit me like that. I gotta work! Ping wants me on dinner service tonight, so I'm heading down there for the evening. And, like always, I'll be closing up." She paused to roll her eyes. "He always puts me on cleanup, like I can't be trusted with the money!"
Shifu gave her a flat look.
"What? I don't steal from my friends! Well, except when it comes to food."
"More like especially when it comes to food," he said, though he couldn't help laughing at her casual shrug. "You unrepentant mooch."
"I am what I am," she said airily.
"Indeed," he said with a sage nod. "A leopard cannot change its spots."
"Hm," Lin grunted skeptically. "Well, let's hope our resident leopard can."
"Right. Not the best phrasing." He flushed in his chagrin at the poor choice of words, but Lin did not seem to want to linger.
"I got more work to get done," she said, turning her attention back to her desk as she pulled more blank paper toward her and wet her brush again. "Butya can hang around ifya feed me." At least she was being honest with him.
"Very well," he agreed. "Anything in particular?"
She responded with a noncommittal grunt, so he took that to mean lunch was his choice.
"I will be back soon." He couldn't resist giving Lin a kiss on the cheek before leaving, though she waved him away with a disgruntled frown. Her hot and cold moods did not bother him this time, though. He was enjoying their day, despite the interruption, and he wouldn't allow such petty things to ruin it for him.
When he arrived in the kitchen, he found Po already preparing a large lunch, to his surprise. He paused to eye the many bamboo steamers on the stovetop before clearing his throat.
"Ah!" Po jumped a little, dropping his knife. He had been slicing some ginger, from the look and smell of it. "Oh, Shifu! You gave me a scare." He grinned and offered up a slice of ginger.
"Thank you." Shifu supposed he'd need it if Lin planned on continuing to gross him out all day. "To what do we owe the pleasure of this feast?"
Po contemplated the steamers a moment before shrugging. "I dunno. Just felt like cooking. I was kinda restless, and it felt like we'd been eating too much takeout lately. Especially since my dad doesn't give friend and family discounts."
"No, he most definitely does not." Shifu had noticed a marked increase in everyone's spending lately, though he'd attributed it to the New Year and his own decision to relax their daily regimen. It certainly helped their image among the villagers, though he agreed with Po that the restaurant food had gotten to be a bit much.
"I figured we've had plenty of noodles, plus, ya know, Lin'd probably yell at me if I made 'em." He paused to cough awkwardly, and Shifu did not contradict him. That would have absolutely happened. "Anyway, I made steamed vegetables and dumplings for everyone. I hope you're hungry!"
"That sounds delicious, thank you. But I have a favor to ask." Shifu took a moment to retrieve some wine from the cabinet. "Could I take a steamer to go? Lin is in a bit of a mood."
"I noticed," Po replied before grabbing two steamers for him and wrapping them up in a dish towel with plates and chopsticks. "Here, veggies and dumplings to go. And, uh, I promise I'll knock next time."
"That would be excellent." He paused again, thinking of his recent argument with Tigress. If she did choose to spend her time with Po, and things worked out well between them, what would be the harm? Of course, teammates choosing to see each other romantically always ran the risk of a messy breakup, but assuming the two of them went into such a relationship with clear heads... Who was he kidding? Po didn't have any clearer a head than he himself did when it came to women. "Po. Is there anything you would like to discuss with me before I go?"
The panda looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging. "Nah, I don't think so. Tai Lung's been doin' okay, but I think he needs a little more sleep. But don't we all, right?" He chuckled a bit before turning back to his cutting board. "I mean, did you, uh... Have something? You wanted to talk about?"
Shifu could bring up the subject first, but he had seen how well that had gone over with Tigress. And though he knew Po had much less of a temper than Tigress did, he did not want to alienate his daughter further by going behind her back and questioning someone else. "No. Nothing. Enjoy your lunch."
"You, too!" Po waved over his shoulder distractedly as he chopped up garnishes.
Shifu took the wine and the food back to the studio for him and Lin to enjoy together, vowing to put his daughter's love life completely out of his mind. Meddling would only make things worse. And so would ruminating on it.
"I see you have put a great amount of effort into cleaning up for lunch," he said sarcastically. Lin was sitting at her desk, still absolutely covered in brushes, paper, and various inks. Shifu looked around the little studio, but could not spot even a speck of open space on any of the tables. "Well, you've filled this room up quickly."
"I'm in progress," she said, but refused to tell him anything more.
He decided to be diplomatic. "We can have a picnic." He chose a relatively clear spot on the floor and started unpacking the food, using the dish towel as a makeshift picnic blanket.
Lin joined him on the floor, though she didn't look particularly attentive.
"Is something wrong?"
"Huh?" She grabbed a plate and chopsticks and started loading up on dumplings and vegetables. "I was just remembering something."
"What was it?" He passed her the bottle of wine without bothering to drink any.
She started drinking straight from the bottle, as always. They would have to discuss the unhealthy implications of such a habit, someday. "Just reminds me of when I was a kid," she said around a mouthful of the wine.
"You used to have picnics?" He had a mental image of Lin as a child, frolicking through a sunny lemon orchard and enjoying a picnic full of treats.
"Nope," Lin replied. "My sister used to throw any food she didn't like under the table and blame me for it. So, my dad, he'd make me sit under the table and eat it."
"...Off the floor?"
"Yup."
He set his chopsticks down, his appetite destroyed.
"Whatsamatter?" Lin asked, obliviously chewing on a dumpling.
"I'm fine," he ground out. "Just filled with rage."
"What'd I say now?" she complained.
"Not at you, for you," Shifu clarified as gently as he could. "If your father were here right now I would throttle him."
"That'd be great to watch," she said with a snort. "But he's probably dead by now."
"This is not something I would normally say in reference to a person's death, but thank goodness."
"I'll drink to that!" Lin raised the bottle up before continuing to chug from it.
Shifu sighed heavily, well aware that she was trying to deflect. "You'll drink to anything and we both know it."
"Still." She shrugged. "Might as well, right?"
"Of course." He shuffled close to Lin and placed a hand gently on her back, waiting for some sort of emotional reaction, but none came. "You can let your guard down around me," he told her gently. "I will not judge. After all, you were just a little girl, and you were not kept safe by the adults in your life."
"You don't think I know that? I know that!" Lin shrugged his hand off. "Jeez. Maybe I don't like to revisit traumatizing stuff 'cause I know that someone grown shoulda been watching out for me. But they didn't. It was just me, watching out for myself, making my own hard decisions. Even my grandmother couldn't protect me. I thought, for a little while, that maybe if I just kept working Vino's print shop they'd forget about me, but he wouldn't take me back once my parents started looking for husbands. I tried to go back and he just locked the door on me. 'Cause apparently I'd ruin my reputation and wouldn't be able to get married- like that wasn't exactly what I wanted! But he knew that. He was afraid of my dad. Everyone was." She tossed the remainder of her bun down on her plate, frowning bitterly at Shifu. "He taught me an important thing. That there ain't ever gonna be anyone who'll pick me over themselves, no matter what they say."
"I'm sure you don't think that's true."
"You didn't," she said sharply. "There've been people who proved me wrong. But you're not one of 'em."
"Lin, I know you've been through a lot, but don't you believe in destiny? That things happen for a reason?"
"No," she said scathingly. "Maybe it used to be comforting to tell myself that all the times I was hurt made me a better person," she went on. "But it didn't make Tai Lung a better person. So I gotta ask, what's the purpose? Is it karma? Is it part of some grand design? But no matter how much I think on it, I can't kick the gut feeling that there's no purpose, no reason. It's just chaos. Things happen in this world, good and bad, and that's just how it is. The universe doesn't have some grand plan, it just is. We just are. And shit happens for no reason other than to just keep the universe in motion."
"You really think that?"
"I dunno. Maybe, I guess. When I got pregnant, I had to confront the very real possibility of my own death. And when you know you're probably gonna die soon, you kinda gotta finally confront whatya really, truly believe about the afterlife. And I found that, down to my core, I couldn't shake the belief that there was nothing. That death was the end. I would cease to exist in any form, completely."
"Do you still believe that?"
"Yes and no. I believe there's stuff out there I don't understand. I believe it's entirely possible that gods roam the earth in the dark places we can't get to. I believe that places hold onto bits of the things that happened to them, and the energy of people who were once there. And I believe that maybe it's really true that someone like Oogway could still be out there, a ghost who can somehow talk to us again someday. But deep down, I know there's a void out there, too. At night, I look into the blackness between stars, and I can imagine it out there, ready to erase all of us."
He gulped, nervous at the gravity of everything she'd told him. It was a lot to take in, and he was still getting used to this side of Lin, which he'd only glimpsed before. "You're getting unexpectedly dark."
"Sometimes I feel like I'm just a walking piece of that void, a gaping wound in the universe," she said heavily. "And I see that void everywhere, in other people, too. Everyone has it in them and no one, not any one of us, knows how to deal with that. I guess you wouldn't understand."
"No," Shifu admitted. He didn't know what to say to her bizarre monologuing. "Is this... About Tai Lung's visions?"
"It's about everything."
He wrapped his arm around her and held her in the hopes of providing some comfort. "I wish there was something I could do to help," he said, but apparently that had been wrong.
Lin pulled away suddenly and stood up, jerkily packing away her art supplies. "Fuck," she cursed, her voice ragged.
Shifu only watched for a bit in the hopes she would calm down, but she remained agitated. "Is this because you are having an emotion?" he asked, unable to keep the disappointment out of his voice.
"That's so funny," she spat back. "So funny thatya think I only feel one thing at a time."
"I do not think that," he replied evenly, though he wanted to chide her for overreacting. He did not know Lin's mind, and she had been on edge for a long time. He should hold his tongue. "I would appreciate a discussion on what is causing you such distress. Whatever you're feeling, I'd like to hear it."
She glared at him a beat before abandoning her papers and brushes to walk out on him without another word.
"Of course," he grumbled to himself, then followed after her. Chasing after Lin seemed to be a normal part of life with her, so he might as well resign himself to it. "Lin!" He caught up to her, but didn't try to block her path or stop her. He simply fell into pace beside her, hoping she would acknowledge him. "Lin, please talk to me. I cannot read your mind, though I do admit it is a power I sorely wish for."
"You're such an asshole!" she snapped at him, though that was too vague to really tell him anything.
"I am already aware of your opinion of me," he told her as they approached the stairs down into the village. "Now I would like to hear what specifically is on your mind."
Lin made it to the top of the steps before rounding on him, out of breath either from anger or the effort of trying to outpace him. Possibly both. "You're so fulla shit!" she yelled in his face. "Acting like you changed so much in just a few weeks! You wanna pretend you can just stand there and be calm instead of fighting with me? Gimme a damn break!"
"You are angry that I can keep my temper in check when you call me names?" He was well aware that Lin had her doubts about his efforts to behave more civilly and kindly toward her, but this seemed over the top even for her.
"You can't expect me to believe you can go from calling me a fucking whore and kicking me out to- to this- in the blink of an eye! There's no way! So, what? It's an act to get me back? And then what? I'm a whore again and you don't like me anymore? Is that how this's gonna play out?"
"What?" he asked, aghast at the suggestion. "No! Of course not! I am genuinely making an effort for you! I know this is a difficult time for you and your emotions are strong right now-"
She cut him off with a bitter laugh. "Right now?" she repeated, her voice ragged. "Don't you fucking get it? There is no 'right now!' This's how I always am! This is me! This is whatya get! You think you're just gonna coddle me until I'm sweet and calm?"
"That is not what I think!" he snapped. "Stop making assumptions about me!"
"You first! You keep acting like if you're nice enough I'll stop acting like a goddamn mess, there'll be an end to it. There isn't! There's no end to this! I'm just a fucking mess!"
"So what? I am not allowed to treat you well, now? That is ridiculous!" What he didn't tell Lin was that she was scaring him. Her moods had been unstable ever since she had told him about her past with Gia's father, and what she was telling him now made no sense. "You have clearly been feeling worse and worse over time," he pointed out. "You were not always like this-"
"You're an idiot," she interrupted him again, her voice taking on a cold edge he hadn't heard from her since their breakup. "Y'think just 'cause I was at a high point, maybe even stable, for a month or two, that's my default? You really think you know me that well?"
He was at a loss for how to answer that. He hated to admit it, but she was right.
"I can't keep listening to you acting like you're so kind and understanding," she kept going, unconcerned with his lack of response. "It's exhausting. Everything's too exhausting. And I can't pretend that I'm even remotely normal anymore. That's exhausting, too. Just leave me be." She walked away from him, but this time he did intercept her and took her hands in his.
"I do not know what you mean or what you are going through, but you cannot condemn me for trying to be here for you!"
"What I'm going through?" she asked incredulously. "Not a damn thing! I'm just- I'm just fucking broken. Broken old farm trash. I always was and I'm always gonna be. And nothing's ever gonna fix me."
"You are not trash and you are not broken!" he snapped. "So what if you have problems? I still love you! I can still learn more about you and continue to love you!"
"And how long untilya get to the thing?"
"What thing?"
"The thing that makesya stop loving me," she said with heartbreaking sincerity. "That's what always happens. There's always a dealbreaker thing. What'm I supposed to do, then? Whenya stop loving me and I'm left all alone again?"
"Lin," he breathed, shocked that she truly believed this. "Of course that won't happen."
"Yes it will," she argued. "It literally already did."
He could not let this argument end here, just because of his shame. "I was wrong to break your trust. I was wrong to make you feel as though I had stopped loving you. I wish I could change the past. I wish I could go back and stop myself from hurting you, but I cannot. I don't know what else I can say to convince you of that."
"I dunno, either," she said nasally, her eyes watery. "Why couldn't you have been this nice to me before?"
"I'm sorry," he said, possibly for the thousandth time. There was nothing else he could do. "I should have. I'm sorry. All anyone ever does is hurt you, and I have joined them. I know."
Lin just shrugged and looked away. "I gotta go. So. Yeah. Probably better to just leave it here."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
"Okay." There was nothing he could do now but accept her judgment. "May I check on you later?"
"Maybe. I dunno." She sighed and wiped her eyes dry. "Y'know what? I'm fine. I'm always fine. It's fine."
"Lin-"
"I'm going to work," she interrupted him, then walked away without letting him get another word in.
Shifu watched Lin descend the thousand stairs for a bit before heading back to the studio to pack up the leftover food and dirty dishes from their interrupted lunch. He made it as far as the sculpture garden behind the Jade Palace before he felt the need to stop and gather himself. He sighed and sat down in front of the statue of Oogway, at a loss. When he was kind to Lin, she melted down out of some mixture of trauma and self-hatred. But being kind to her was the only way to try to repent for all the things he'd done wrong. What could he do? Simply accept the swinging pendulum of her emotions, no matter how much pain it caused her? Or him?
He gazed up at Oogway's statue, willing its life-like features to move. If only Master Oogway could come back to him, just for one moment of reassurance or advice. Or just to sit with him. He would be happy just to be with his master, even if only for another moment. But he would have to give his own advice, and provide himself with his own comfort.
He loved Lin. That much he knew for sure, and he took solace in that feeling. And Lin... She cared for him. He knew that, too. And no matter what she insisted, it was not simply her default state to be in pain. If she truly could not heal from her past, then being with her as she was would have to be enough. Shifu knew that it could be enough. And he would provide her with the best comfort he could. Those were the things he could control. The rest... He would have to leave up to the universe.
Tigress stretched her shoulders out as she followed Po to the barracks kitchen after their day of training. They had worked hard, despite their master's glaring absence, and she felt Po deserved some help with dinner. Not that she could be of much help, but she could at least hand things to him. She may have also felt like spending time with him, but that was entirely secondary.
"Did Tai Lung seem weird t'ya today?" Po asked over his shoulder as they walked into the kitchen.
"What do you mean, 'today'?"
Po didn't laugh at her sarcasm, just shrugged and began searching the cabinets. "He was kinda quiet." He pulled out a jar of chili oil and frowned at it. "Lin's been in here again. Chili oil doesn't even go in this cabinet!"
Tai Lung had always seemed quiet and sullen to her, but she didn't want to get into a drawn out conversation with Po about the leopard's hidden good side. And she definitely didn't want to talk about Lin. "Do we need chili oil?"
"Nah, you and Shifu don't like it."
"What makes you think I don't like chili oil?" Something about his assertion had struck her, perhaps the suggestion that her tastes were the same as Shifu.
"I dunno," he answered at first with a shrug, but then elaborated after a few long seconds of thought. "You just don't eat spicy food. Like, ever. I figure it was 'cause ya don't like it."
She wasn't sure if she liked spicy food or not. She had not eaten any in years because Shifu didn't like it, and what he said went at the Jade Palace. Even at festivals or while traveling, she chose foods as similar to her usual diet as possible, because she had to consider her health as a kung fu warrior. "I'm not sure," she admitted honestly.
"Oh yeah? We'll have to experiment sometime. But trust me, not with this." He nodded to the chili oil in his hand and shuddered before putting it away. "Lin made this stuff. I made the mistake of trying it once, I thought I was gonna die. I was like, 'yaaaaaaow!' And Mantis and Lin were like, 'Heehee, you can't handle the spice-'"
"Po," Tigress interrupted him evenly. "I was there, too."
"Ah, yeah, right. Everyone was, huh? I kinda blacked out from the spice, sorry I didn't remember." His sheepish grin was apology enough for her. "So anyway, I was thinkin' tonight we could make stuffed tofu, since we got two people on the job. Sound good?"
"Sounds good." She joined Po at his side, ready to work. "What are we stuffing the tofu with?"
"Tofu," Po answered.
She stared at him, waiting for him to indicate this was some sort of joke, but he just smiled back at her. "We're making tofu stuffed tofu," she repeated flatly.
"Yeah!"
"Isn't that just... Tofu?"
"Okay, so, uh- you'll see." He gathered their ingredients, including carrots, dried shiitake mushrooms, garlic, and soy sauce. He instructed her on soaking the mushrooms and cutting the tofu into large cubes, then hollowed out the pieces and mixed the filling with the rest of his ingredients and stir fried it. By the end of the process, the filling had been transformed to more than just tofu. "See? It's a whole thing. Now we use this to stuff our tofu, we fry it, and we serve it with sauce."
"It's very unhealthy," Tigress observed, and Po blushed.
"Uh, yeah, I guess," he admitted sheepishly. "I just wanted to show you a special recipe."
"Oh." She hadn't realized he'd been trying to impress her. "Perhaps I was too harsh. It sounds delicious." She couldn't help the small flutter in her chest at his smile. He was going out of his way to do something special for her, and all he'd needed to make him happy was a simple compliment. "What should I do next?"
"Uh, let's see..." Po guided her through the rest of the recipe, though really she was only in charge of the rice. That suited her fine, since she'd never been much of a cook. In the end, they had a dish fit for a restaurant. Although, watching Po's joy and concentration as he cooked had been its own reward. "Not too shabby, huh?" he asked, nudging her side with an elbow. "I think ya got what it takes to be a chef!"
"I doubt that," she argued with a smile. "I could never catch up to you."
"No, really," he said. "Someday the student's gonna become the master."
She snorted in laughter as his assertion. "I think I'll stick to kung fu." She couldn't resist his warm smile, and no one had joined them in the kitchen yet, so she risked leaning in for a kiss.
A throat cleared behind them and Tigress jumped back while Po made a shocked choking sound.
Gia stood in the kitchen's doorway, though she didn't look surprised by their display of affection. "I should leave you two to your private time. I simply wanted you to know I was not attempting to spy, and I will keep your secret." With that, she turned and fled.
"I need to go after her." Tigress turned to Po, fearing some sort of protest, but he nodded back at her. That was all the encouragement she needed to run after Gia. It didn't take long to catch up to her, on the path leading back toward the Jade Palace.
"Gia, wait." She expected to have to chase after Gia, but the wolf stopped as soon as her name was called. "Oh. Um." Now that they were face to face, Tigress couldn't think of the right words to say. "Where were you?" That had come out far too accusatory, but Gia answered before she could correct herself.
"I have been staying with my mother." Gia sounded stiff, offended.
Tigress knew she was ruining the friendship they had built. What she didn't know was how she had managed to do such a thing. What had she done wrong? She couldn't pinpoint it. "I see. So you... Are you going to live with her?"
"No."
Tigress couldn't keep her relief from showing in her face, and judging by Gia's frown she did not appreciate it.
"I should not have come back yet," Gia said, suddenly turning on her heel and walking away.
Tigress followed after her, determined to somehow fix the rift she'd caused between them. "I'm sorry, Gia. I didn't mean to offend you, I just- I missed you."
"Even with Master Po around to distract you?" Gia asked, an unexpected edge to her voice.
"I- you-" Tigress was too shocked to think of a proper response. Had she really been that neglectful? And was her blossoming relationship with Po so obvious? Gia had clearly not seen anything unexpected when she'd walked in on them in the kitchen. "It was you," she realized aloud. "You're the one who saw us in the scroll library." Of course. She had heard someone that night.
Gia paused as they reached the top of the stairs leading into the village, her shoulders stiff. "Yes," she admitted.
She should have known. This was her own fault for not remaining vigilant enough. "Is that why you've been so distant lately?"
Gia avoided her eyes as she answered. "Now that you have someone courting you, you will no longer need me."
"That's ridiculous!" Tigress burst out, unable to hold in her dismay. "Of course I'll still need you! You're my friend!" She reached out and gripped Gia by the shoulders, but stopped short of begging. "I could never discard our friendship over a man, Gia. You know that, don't you?"
With a quiet sniff, she nodded. She still looked tense, though. Her eyes were still watery and her jaw still clenched. There was something else wrong, something she was not saying.
"Gia?"
Gia nodded again, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. "I think- I think perhaps I returned from my mother's house too soon."
"Oh." Tigress froze, unsure of what to say or do. She couldn't be sure she wouldn't make things even worse.
"I think I should go to meet her at the restaurant," Gia said, stepping out of Tigress's grip.
That snapped her out of her indecision. "Let me at least walk you. Please."
Gia hesitated, worrying at her skirt. "...Very well."
It wasn't an enthusiastic agreement, but it was at least something. And some time together would do them both good. As they began their walk down to the village, though, Tigress wondered if a friendship with her was even worth all the trouble she'd put Gia through. She wasn't the best at things like this. She wasn't even the best at kung fu, the one thing she actually had any aptitude for. She was just... Her. Was that really enough? But then, when she thought of the way Gia looked at her- and the way Po did, too- there were times when she could really believe it was. She could be plenty, for the right people. She just had to remind herself of that.
Tai Lung had waited patiently until Lin was alone, and now his time had finally come. Ping had closed his restaurant for the night, Lin was wiping down tables, and anyone who might be able to stop their escape was up at the Jade Palace with no idea he'd snuck into the village. They could flee the valley under cover of night, no one the wiser until morning. By then, it would be too late to track them or catch up to them.
He leapt down from his vantage point in the shadows of the rooftops, landing deftly in front of Lin.
"Yo." She continued wiping down tables, unconcerned by his appearance.
"I have not come here tonight for a simple visit," Tai Lung informed her, but that didn't so much as distract her from her infernal task. "I've had another vision."
"Oh yeah?" Lin asked, glancing up at him with some interest now. "What was it this time?"
"That doesn't matter," he dismissed. "What matters now is that we fight the ocean spirit's claim."
"Wait, what?" She stopped wiping the table in front of her, though she still clutched the dirty rag. "You're not making any sense." She sounded guarded, as if she didn't trust his judgment.
"The ocean spirit!" He needed to make her understand what he was talking about. "It has made its claim on you, but we can stop it! I know now!"
"Know what, now?"
"I've figured it out," he told her. "I know what we need to do."
"We?" Lin repeated, raising her eyebrows.
"We need to leave." Tai Lung took the dish rag from her hands and tossed it down on the nearest table. "Now, before Shifu and his students realize I'm gone."
She took a step back, her expression still skeptical. "Whaddaya mean, leave?"
"I mean leave. As in the Valley of Peace!" He gestured to the restaurant's exit, waiting for her to take off her ridiculous apron and join him, but she was still looking at him like he'd lost it. "That's what we need to do. We need to leave here together, just the two of us, so nobody can come between us anymore. That's what the visions mean!"
Lin stepped back again. Why was she hesitating? "I don't think that's right."
"We're wasting time! Do you really think Shifu is going to let us go if he knows? Of course not. That is why we must do it now, before we're discovered." He didn't see why she needed so much explaining. Hadn't she been the one always telling him that he could quit this rehabilitation nonsense whenever he wanted? Hadn't she been the one who'd said she would stay by his side? "You told me I could leave if I wanted to. I do. I want us to leave."
She slowly shook her head at him, and he could feel his stomach bottoming out. "I can't leave, especially for no reason. I dunno howya got to this conclusion."
"Don't you see?" he asked desperately. He had to find some way to get her to understand. "Nothing will ever improve unless we get out of here! That thing will haunt us forever if we don't-"
"Go to the sea?" Lin asked.
"Yes! Sure! Let us go to the sea!"
She crossed her arms. "No," she answered firmly. "That's not gonna help, and I don't think you even put any more thought into this than just getting away from Shifu."
"Well, it is a start!" he roared, his patience gone. "I have had enough of your stalling! If you can't understand what needs to be done, then I'll show you!" He reached out for Lin, intending to simply pick her up and carry her out of the valley. She would thank him later for doing what needed to be done. What his hand closed around, though, was a mop.
A mop held by Lin's irritating little spawn, who had come from out of nowhere to push her out of the way. Of course that meddling twit had been waiting for just the right moment to ruin his plans.
Tai Lung snapped the mop in half with a mere clenching of his fist. "You do not want to stand in my way," he snarled at her.
"And what about me?" a voice sounded behind him.
He leaped in the air in time to dodge a kick, back-flipping until he landed on all fours atop one of the restaurant's tables, his tail lashing. Now Tigress was interfering with him, too, because he could not catch a break today. "Of course," he growled. "You have nothing better to do than follow me?"
Tigress glared at him from where she'd positioned herself between him and the girl, her glare even more intense than usual. "You leave Gia alone."
"Gladly," he replied shortly, standing up and stepping off the table. "Are we done now?"
"No." She lowered herself into a defensive stance, her arms raised and ready to block hits. "You will leave here, now, and return to the Jade Palace. Before I lose my temper."
"Ugh." He did not have time for this. "Like you could beat me? You couldn't even defeat me with your teammates doing most of the work!"
Tigress shouted some kind of garbled expletive, then lunged at him. Apparently nothing in his life could ever be simple. He blocked her furious punches with his forearms, though he could feel their force pushing him back in the dirt. She finished off with a jump kick that sent him sliding backwards out of the restaurant, though he kept his balance. She ran at him and leapt toward him with her claws out and ready to swipe, but he had been prepared for this strategy. Or lack thereof.
He dodged to the side, grabbed hold of the tiger's outstretched arm, and slammed her into the ground. He then rotated his hips to deliver an inner shadow kick to her back before she could right herself.
Tigress grunted in pain, collapsed motionless on the ground. Villagers screamed and ran, not that it was anything new to him. Perhaps she had learned better than to cross him, but he somehow doubted that. She pushed herself up, her arms shaking a bit before she launched herself into the air and landed in front of him, thrusting both her palms out to deliver a chi-concentrated hit to his chest. She had displayed more skill than he had expected, and his surprise cost him. He went tumbling backward, landing against the restaurant's wall hard enough to crack it. That pissed him off.
With a growl, he launched himself off the wall and slammed into Tigress before she could dodge or block him. He punched her anywhere he could find an opening- face, chest, stomach. She could block some of his blows, but she couldn't match his speed. Good. He would show her. He would show her that she was no match for him, that he was better. He would show her not to get in his way.
Tigress shoved her palm into his nose, abandoning her defense to land a blow. He heard the crack of his nose breaking more than felt it, and his next swipe hit thin air. Then, her hand darted forward again and she jabbed his shoulder with a flash of blue. Everything seemed to slow for him as his arm stiffened and he realized she had used a nerve strike on him. Shifu hadn't taught her this. Shifu couldn't have taught her nerve strikes in just a few short months. Could he?
That smug look on her face spoke volumes, and he could feel his blood boiling. She thought she could defeat him? Shifu thought he could teach this mediocre excuse for a warrior all his techniques? Shifu thought he could replace Tai Lung. He would prove them wrong.
He lunged at Tigress with a roar, knocking aside her arms when she attempted to block him and grabbing hold of her throat with his good hand. He surged forward, slamming her against a wall and pressing, willing the muscle and bone beneath his hand to give way. He'd take her whole head off. She wouldn't look so smug, then.
"That's enough!" Lin's voice pierced through the fog of his rage, loud and clear in a sharp bark. Lin was here, behind him.
He dropped Tigress and stepped back, blinking. Because Lin had told him to, and he would do anything for her. He watched the tiger cough and wheeze, clutching her neck, before turning to Lin, who looked predictably enraged. First that ridiculous tiger had set off his temper, and now Lin's. He looked forward to the tirade she was about to receive.
"I don't need your interference!" Tigress snapped, her voice still hoarse. "I am a master of kung fu, I can fight my own battles! What did you possibly hope to prove-"
"Shut up," Lin replied coldly, and in her shock Tigress blinked back at her, speechless.
Tai Lung could have told the woman that Lin wouldn't stand for her berating, but it was much more satisfying to see her cowed by the little dog. With a derisive snort, he shook his head at her. "Lin-"
She held up a hand to indicate silence, and with great distress, Tai Lung realized that the anger in her eyes was directed at him. When Lin spoke, her voice shook as he had never heard it. "You're dead to me," was all she said to him, and she spat in the dirt at his feet.
He watched in shock as she turned on her heel and fled.
Then he sat heavily in the dirt, still staring in the spot where she'd been. She couldn't have been serious, could she? But her face had been serious. She'd meant what she'd said. Lin wanted nothing to do with him, after seeing him lose control. No, that wasn't right. He hadn't lost control. He'd been in full control of his faculties, and he could have stopped himself from fighting. But he had chosen not to. He had chosen not to hold back, he had chosen to follow his anger.
No wonder Lin had rejected him so. He deserved every bit of her dismissal and ire. What was worse, she had warned him about this. She had warned him that she wouldn't be allowing him a third chance, and he had still abandoned her teachings for, what? To take out his anger on a woman. In front of Lin, who had spent a lifetime suffering such treatment. His guilt weighed on him, forming a pit in his stomach. How could he ever redeem himself after such a thing? And what would he have left, if not her?
He did not need to be imprisoned to feel that suffocating isolation again. He felt it now, as the realization hit him that he had once more lost everything precious to him. He had no one left to blame but himself, now.
A small hand landed on his shoulder, interrupting his brooding. So be it. He opened his eyes and tensed, ready for another fight, but Shifu was not in a defensive stance. He looked... Sad? Tai Lung rubbed at his forehead as a memory flashed before him, of the Jade Palace torn to pieces and Shifu prone on the floor beneath the Dragon Scroll, apologizing to him. The red panda had the same look on his face now as he'd had then.
"Very well," Tai Lung grumbled, holding out his good hand to be cuffed. "We might as well get this over with."
Shifu blinked at him in surprise before producing pressure point cuffs, obviously of Oogway's design. "I will have to lock you up for the time being, at the very least," he said lowly as he affixed the cuffs. "We must decide your fate from there."
"Shocking," he said sarcastically, but it didn't get a rise as he'd expected. He stood and followed Shifu with no further prompting, trying his best to ignore the frightened and disgusted stares from the villagers as he was marched through the streets like some sort of spectacle. He had been through all this before. It was old hat to him, now. With one notable difference: twenty years ago, he had walked through the village with his eyes fixed forward, unbothered by the people around him. Now, he looked at every face he passed, searching desperately for Lin. She was nowhere to be seen. Eventually, he gave up and lowered his head. Better to stare at the dirt than hold onto the vain hope that she might return and forgive him. After all, he had seen for himself firsthand. Lin did not forgive.
Shifu had run full speed from the Jade Palace the moment he'd heard word from Zeng that Tai Lung had begun another rampage in the village. That Tigress was holding him off, though certainly wouldn't last long. He had left Zeng to fetch Po and leapt from the mountain as he had done when facing a threat in his youth. Though it was hard on his joints these days, he ignored the aches and ran across the rooftops toward the sound of the villagers' screams. And- and Lin's.
His heart in his throat, he leapt down into the street in front of Mr. Ping's restaurant, just in time to see Lin spit in the dirt at Tai Lung's feet. She looked unharmed, thankfully, though shaken. Tigress was supporting herself against a far wall, somewhat worse for wear, but also free of major injuries. He breathed a sigh of relief, though not for long. Tai Lung sat heavily in the dirt, clearly stunned by Lin's harsh rejection, and she fled in the direction of the Jade Palace. Though Shifu was in her path, she only shook her head at him, not even bothering to stop. That did not bode well.
He turned his attention to Tigress, approaching with caution in case Tai Lung sprung to his feet again. "What happened?"
"Master," Tigress rasped out. She must have sustained a hit to her throat. "Tai Lung, he threatened Gia- where is Gia?" Her eyes widened as she scanned the crowd around them.
Shifu did the same, but could not spot the wolf. "I am sure she's alright," he comforted. "Perhaps she ran to the Jade Palace to fetch reinforcements."
Tigress nodded distractedly, her gaze still distant.
He placed a hand on her arm to get her attention. "Tell me what happened next."
"I confronted Tai Lung. We fought, and he- he was still stronger than I was. He could have killed me, but..." She trailed off, furrowing her brow in confusion. "Lin stopped him."
Shifu had to admit, he certainly hadn't seen that coming. "How?"
"She told him to stop," Tigress said, still bewildered. "And he did. He listened."
"I see." Shifu gave her hand a pat as he ruminated on that course of events. Tai Lung had listened to Lin? All she'd had to do was tell him to stop?
Po and the rest of the Furious Five joined them at a full run, clearly ready for a fight, but lost steam at the sight of Tai Lung's defeated form slumped on the ground.
"So... We gonna need these?" Po whispered, holding up a set of pressure cuffs he had clearly swiped from the Hall of Warriors.
"Yes." He could not allow his personal bias to eclipse common sense. Tai Lung had attacked one of his students, and threatened the safety of the village. He had to treat his son as he would any criminal who had done the same. "I will take care of this myself. Tigress, return to the Jade Palace and rest. The rest of you, calm the villagers." He held out his hand for the cuffs.
Po hesitated, but with a reluctant sigh he handed them over and joined his teammates in clearing out onlookers and reassuring those who needed it.
Shifu placed a hand on Tai Lung's shoulder, unable to keep himself from reliving those moments after his son's first rampage. When he had needed to lock his own child away, closing off his heart in the process. He had thought he was done reliving such pain. But, as before, he had failed Tai Lung.
"Very well. We might as well get this over with." Tai Lung willingly held out a hand and allowed Shifu to cuff him. The other must have been injured or immobilized by Tigress.
"I will have to lock you up for the time being, at the very least. We must decide your fate from there." Saying those words felt like torture. Placing those pressure cuffs on Tai Lung, marching him through the village and back up the mountain, knowing that this could truly be the end- it was all torture.
Many hundreds of years ago, before the Valley of Peace had become the relative bastion of safety it was now, Oogway had carved holding cells into the mountain itself for the worst villains who had come to challenge him. It stood empty below the Jade Palace, a darkened cavern kept clean and dry for the time when it would be needed again. A simple corridor and three small cells blocked with thick iron bars awaited Tai Lung, deceptive in their simplicity. Oogway had forged the iron himself, imbuing it with his chi to make it some of the strongest of its kind in existence. Only a master greater than Oogway himself would ever be able to escape such a prison.
It was all too much for Shifu to bear in silence. He needed to speak to Tai Lung, to know that there was something left inside him besides hatred and anger. "Tigress tells me that Lin stopped you," Shifu said as he led Tai Lung to a cell. He must still care for Lin, if her word alone had been enough to stop him.
"Yes," Tai Lung said quietly. "She was... Not pleased."
"Hm." He could only imagine how Lin might have felt, seeing Tai Lung lose control after all the time they'd spent together, especially toward Tigress. "I could see how Lin would dislike seeing you fight a woman, in particular," he admitted.
"You're telling me," he replied, his voice strained. "She said I was dead to her." One look at his son was all it took to realize the misery in his face was genuine.
As angry as Lin would be at him for speaking of her past, Shifu thought it only fair that Tai Lung knew the reason for her cold reaction. "I promised I would not speak of the matter to Gia, but I made no promises about telling you. Lin... Has been with men who raised a hand to her."
"I'm aware of that cousin of hers," he grumbled.
"Yes, him," Shifu confirmed. "Gia's father, as well."
Tai Lung didn't answer, though his shoulders slumped.
Shifu guided him into his cell and locked the door, his heart and hand heavy. There truly was more to Tai Lung than his lingering anger. But he did not know if he would be able to offer another chance at redemption. "I... I am sorry, my son. This is what I must do."
Tai Lung didn't respond. Instead, he sat cross-legged on the floor. He placed his cuffed hands in his lap, open with his palms turned up as Lin often did, and he closed his eyes.
Shifu watched him, stunned by the display. Could Tai Lung truly be meditating on his actions? Could this be the turnaround he had been waiting for? It was too early to tell. And though it might be too little too late, this was still something. It was something worth holding onto, at least.
He left his son to meditate, already planning his next stop. He needed to check in on Lin. He needed to make sure she would be alright. He found her where he'd expected her to be, in her studio, hunched over a blank piece of paper. She was not making art, though. She was just staring down at the paper on her desk, lost in thought.
"Lin." Shifu approached her, but stopped short. He didn't know what he should do. Tai Lung had broken his heart before, and he had deserved it after all he'd done to enable the darkness growing within his son. And while Oogway had shared his pain, he had also shared his responsibility. But he had never had to share that pain with someone who had done everything to try to help Tai Lung, someone innocent and undeserving. He had never had to comfort anyone else over his failings this way.
Lin stood from her desk and reached for him, then stopped herself. Perhaps she felt just as lost.
"You can talk to me," Shifu reassured her. "You can tell me anything. I promise."
Those words seemed to be the permission she'd needed to speak to him. "I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier." That was not what he'd been expecting to hear. "I just thought... Thought I should say that first."
"Lin, I don't care," he said with a heavy sigh. "I just want to make sure you're alright. I want to make everything alright."
"You can't," she said, then held up a hand to stop him when he tried to argue. "You shouldn't hafta, either."
"Maybe not, but I know how difficult it must have been for you to see Tai Lung attack Tigress."
"For me?" she asked incredulously. "They're your kids! I'm the one who should be asking you that!"
"I want to hear from you, first," he insisted. "It will help." He wanted to focus on how someone else felt for a little bit. He wanted to get out of his own head and take care of someone else, and feel like he had done some good, no matter how selfish his motives were.
"You sure?"
He nodded his assent, and she let out a heavy sigh.
"I guess... I dunno what was worse. Seeing Tai Lung act like that after I thought he'd gotten better, that I could trust him now, seeing him look so much like all those shitty men who hit me, or... Seeing myself in him." Lin was trembling as she spoke, her hands balled into tight fists at her side. It was clear that she was attempting to hold back tears.
Shifu wanted to hold her and promise her that everything would turn out alright, but he honestly didn't know if it would. "I don't know if holding you will make you feel better or worse, so... May I?"
She nodded, so he wrapped her tightly in his arms and let her press her face into his shoulder. She didn't cry as he'd expected her to, or even hold him back. She simply leaned into him and went quiet. He couldn't know for sure what was going on in Lin's head, but after spending time truly getting to know her, he suspected this was a response to feeling overwhelmed.
"Would it be alright if I talked, or do you need quiet?" he asked gently. He received a whiny grunt in response, which he interpreted to mean he should keep his mouth shut. After several long minutes of silence together, Lin finally stepped away with a deep breath.
"Okay. I'm done now."
"Okay," Shifu accepted, and then Lin surprised him by taking his hand.
"What do you need, now?" she asked.
"Me?" he echoed, confused by the question.
"Yeah, you. He's your son. I shouldn't even be makingya comfort me like this, so... What can I do? D'you need a squeeze? A cry? What?"
"Holding you was what I needed." He realized it was true as he said it. He had needed to hold onto Lin, to feel there was someone with him who he could hold onto. "So thank you."
She looked away from him to wipe at her eyes. "I'm gonna make some food for us."
"You don't need to do that."
"Yeah, I kinda do," she replied. "For my own sanity."
"Well... Thank you. It's very kind of you to offer to share with me."
"Quit thanking me," she grumbled irritably. "It's weirding me out."
Shifu let that slide without argument, considering the day they had both had, and followed Lin to the barracks kitchen. "Let me help," he offered, because he didn't want her waiting on him after her traumatic experience.
"Fine, fine," she agreed reluctantly, then pulled a giant bowl from one of the lower cabinets and dropped it on the table. "Seed these." It was overflowing with small red shanzha fruit.
"All of these?" he asked dubiously.
"You know a better way to make hot and sour tofu?"
Shifu hesitated a moment, then with a sigh he sat at the table and began seeding fruit. The heavy silence between them as he seeded and Lin gathered and chopped ingredients nearly drove him out of his mind. He needed to say something. Anything. "My mother used to make this for birthdays." It was the first thing that came to mind. The recipe brought up vivid and long-buried memories of his mother standing in the kitchen over mounds of shanzha, breaking them open and seeding them by hand. He had often been enlisted to help, since small fingers were ideal for such a job. This was how he liked to remember her face, smiling and humming while she handed him shanzha, or stirring a pot of shanzha jam and blissfully inhaling the tart scent. He hadn't thought about that in years, not since the last time he'd had sweet and sour tofu. He resisted the urge to tell Lin everything. He settled for a simple, "This was my job when she made it, too."
Lin's guarded expression softened, and she paused in her preparation to lean against the counter. "How'd she make it?"
"Much like this," he said. There was a reason this had brought up memories. "She also used to fry mushrooms with the tofu."
With a nod, Lin rummaged around in the cabinets until she found a bag of dried shiitakes. "It's not fresh, but it'll do."
Now it was his turn to pause, so he could gather himself. Lin hadn't asked about his mother's recipe out of pure curiosity. She'd asked because she wanted to make the dish exactly the way he remembered it. He nearly broke down at the way that gesture pierced his heart. "It was my favorite," he said roughly.
"You never told me all this," Lin observed as she mixed up a batter. "Even when I cooked here. How come?"
"I don't think of it often." He frowned down at the bowl of red fruit. "I... Find it too sad." He expected her to criticize him, to tell him that he was a hypocrite for always prying into her past, but she didn't. He wished she would. It would make him feel more normal.
"So we got onions, wood ear mushrooms, carrots, and apples to throw in the sauce," she finally told him. "How's that sound?"
He hesitated for fear of getting too emotional when he answered. "Good."
"Okay," she said, then resumed cooking as if she hadn't nearly destroyed him with her kindness. Then again, it was entirely possible that she hadn't even noticed.
"Lin, I need you to know that this is one of the kindest things anyone has ever done for me."
She snorted and rolled her eyes. "I just made some fried food, it's not like I saved your life or some shit."
"That isn't how it feels to me." He knew he was pushing his luck by telling this to her, but he needed to say it. He needed her to know how appreciated she was.
"Just finish seeding your fruit," Lin ordered him, but the warmth in her voice spoke volumes to him.
"Of course," he accepted quietly. They worked together in silence, though it was not out of awkwardness. It was a comforting silence, just the two of them taking solace in each other's presence while they distracted themselves with their tasks. Once Shifu had finished seeding shanzha, Lin put him on cleaning duty while she made the jam for her sweet and sour sauce. It was more work than he'd expected to keep up with the mess she made while cooking, but keeping busy was good for him at the moment. Eventually, Lin cooked some rice, fried the tofu and mushrooms, assembled the sauce, and served up three heaping dishes.
"What is this third plate for?" Shifu asked.
"This's forya to bring to Tigress," Lin said, setting the third serving down in front of him. "And invite her to eat with you. Just you two."
He blinked down at the pile of food, then back up at Lin. "I thought... You needed me?"
"I'll be okay on my own for a bit," she said. "That's your daughter. She should come before me."
"Lin. Tigress doesn't need me. She is a kung fu warrior, and arguably more powerful than all of the Furious Five. She is not so easily shaken by battle."
"That wasn't a battle," Lin told him with conviction. "If it was, I wouldn't be so bothered either. It was a man taking his anger out on a woman, regardless of how many fancy kung fu moves they used. And Tigress might be the strongest woman in the whole country, but weak or strong, a man overpowering her just to show he can feels the same. I know that as well as anyone." She nudged the plate toward him. "Take her some food. Offer to sit with her. You're her dad, and you're a safe person for her."
"Our relationship has never been like that," he admitted.
Lin dropped another plate of tofu in front of him, her eyebrows raised. "You love her?"
"What- why would you ask? Of course I do!"
"Then change that."
He paused, surprised by her simple advice. "Lin... That is very wise."
She rolled her eyes at him. "Tch. I know."
Shifu took the two dishes and began to leave, then stopped himself. "You'll be alright without me?"
"Okay, stop." Lin hit him with a kitchen towel. "You're making me feel like I'm the clingy one in the room and we both know that's not the case."
"Alright. Thank you." This all felt surreal in its normalcy, but that, too, was a comfort. "I love you," he told Lin before leaving. He did not need a response. Not now. He'd only wanted her to know, for certain, that she was loved.
He approached Tigress's room, realizing with some alarm that he had not come to visit her in this way since her childhood. Perhaps this whole venture would be too forceful for her. If he gave Tigress some space first-
The door swung open, and Tigress stood on the other side, frowning down at him in confusion. "Master?"
"This is for you," Shifu said, holding out one of the plates to her. "I would like to eat together if... If you would."
Tigress stared down at him a beat before tentatively taking the plate. "This looks delicious. Did you go to a restaurant?"
He blushed. "No. Um... Lin made it."
"I don't want her leftovers." She tried to shove the dish back into his hand, but he refused to take it.
"That's not leftovers! Lin made this hot and sour tofu for you and me to eat together. If that bothers you, I will understand. But it is not as if I am any good at cooking."
"No. You aren't." She glared at the tofu but didn't try to push it off onto him again. She instead retreated into her room, and he took it as an invitation to follow.
Shifu sat with her on the floor, as if they were picnicking. Though her room remained relatively empty, he could see that Tigress kept a low shelf stocked with various kung fu scrolls and... A set of dominoes. "How are you feeling?"
She grunted and took a bite of tofu. "I would feel better if there were something to criticize about this dish."
He couldn't help the frustrated sigh that escaped him. "Is this really the time to talk about Lin?"
"I don't understand why she made this for me. Why she saved me." Tigress picked at her food a bit before setting down her chopsticks. "Do you really love her?"
"Of course I love her," Shifu answered, caught off guard by the question. "I have said it enough times."
"I just wonder what it is about her," Tigress said. "I want to understand... Why she would stick her neck out for me."
"The same reason you would for her," Shifu said with more conviction than he'd intended. "Lin may not do things the same way we do, but at her core she shares the values of a kung fu master. She believes, without doubt, in protecting people. She always has."
Tigress seemed to mull over his reply. "What about Gia? She abandoned her own daughter."
"She did her best." He finally did believe that, without a doubt. He still felt a twinge of shame at how long it had taken. "And that isn't your business in the first place. But if Gia can make peace with her, that should be enough for you."
"Is it enough for you?"
"I admit, I have more of the story than you do. Still, it is. Lin did what she felt would be best for Gia. Not everyone can be a parent." He paused, his ear twitching as he looked away. "I have come to realize that I fall into that category as well. For that, I apologize."
She blinked rapidly as she absorbed what he was saying. "Wait- what?"
He had already confessed so much, and he felt tender and bruised now in the same old ways. But he didn't want to make the same mistakes over and over again. He didn't want to make the people in his life believe he didn't care for them. He had learned, at last, that he could not go on harming the people he loved out of fear. And he had learned that when he needed someone to know his feelings, he must actually put those feelings into words. "Tigress, the distance between us has existed for so long that I have not stopped to question it. But the truth is, that distance exists because I am the one who has kept you at arm's length for all these years. I was selfish, thinking only of my own pain. I do not pay you the attention you deserve, and I believe that is why my relationships with others affect you so deeply. I want to tell you that I am sorry. You have always been my daughter, and I have always loved you."
Tigress stared at him for an uncomfortable length of time before suddenly standing. "I... Need to go now."
"What? But this is your room."
"Don't care," she said over her shoulder as she left.
He wondered, briefly, how he had become so effective at clearing women from a room. At least he could confidently say he had no regrets about his words. He had spoken from the heart, a lesson he had unwittingly learned from Lin.
Shifu returned to the kitchen, but Lin had already gone. He placed his and Tigress' unfinished plates on the counter, staring down at them as the weight of the night's events settled on him. He hated feeling this helpless. He wished he could at least comfort Lin, but she'd run from him.
He pushed himself away from the counter and headed off to the Jade Palace, down the stone stairs to the holding cells, and sat before Tai Lung. They sat together in silence a long time, Tai Lung still meditating as he had been when Shifu had left him, and Shifu watching. There were no windows in the holding cells, but Shifu heard the morning gong ring faintly in the distance. Still, he stayed and watched over his son.
As soon as Shifu left to eat with Tigress, Lin grabbed her plate of sweet and sour tofu and the biggest bottle of wine she could find and headed out. She needed, more than anything right now, to be alone. This entire day had been almost surreal in its awfulness.
She had seen some terrible shit in her time, but very little of it had broken her heart. Not the way her heart had broken when she'd watched Tai Lung choke a woman. And she'd thought... No, she'd been certain he would have never become violent like that again, no matter how much he spiraled. She should have seen the warning signs. She should have realized how bad it was that he'd become possessive over her. She'd just thought it was another case of him being kind of an ass, that she could call him out and he'd calm down. He hadn't. She had watched him hit a woman in the same way her father and Marco and Salvatore had hit her, and she could have blinked and been right back there. How could something hurt so much and make her so numb at the same time? That shouldn't be possible.
She'd been an idiot again. She'd ignored the same old signs again. She felt like such a failure for it all. She had seen this all play out before, she had experience with abuse, with escalation, and she should have noticed. And she was supposed to help Tai Lung get better, not enable that escalation. She'd failed him, she'd failed herself, she'd failed Oogway and Shifu-
"Hey!"
Lin stopped, blinking as she slowly tuned back into her surroundings. She hadn't even made it back to the Jade Palace yet. She turned on the darkened path across the mountain to see Tigress charging up behind her. Great. "Whaddaya want?" she asked. She was too tired to try not to pick a fight.
"What is your problem?" Tigress asked harshly, looming over her.
"Oh my God," Lin grumbled. She'd end this conversation right now with a rude gesture if her hands weren't already full with food and booze. "Go away." She walked away, but Tigress followed her.
"You don't even like me," Tigress said. "And you know I don't like you."
"Observant," she commented, but didn't engage any further.
With an annoyed snort, Tigress continued. "Tai Lung could have killed you, and in a head-to-head fight you'd have no chance at winning against him. Why would you ever even try to intervene? Why did you... Save me?"
Lin raised her eyebrows. "Wow. Just shows how little you actually know me."
"Just tell me!" she snapped. The frustration in her voice was not as satisfying to hear as Lin had hoped.
"It was the right thing to do," Lin said with a withering glare. "So I did it."
"That's it?" Tigress asked.
"That's it," she repeated. Why did she even have to deal with this right now? "Shouldn'tya be with your dad?" She noticed Tigress stopped keeping pace with her at the question, but she didn't stop. She'd done enough emotional labor for one day. Hell, she'd done enough emotional labor for a lifetime. Which was why it annoyed her so much that she couldn't help turning back to tell Tigress, still standing where she'd left her, one more thing. "Fine, don't go back to Shifu. But for the love of fucking God, at least go talk to someone you can actually confide in. Jeez. Ain't it obvious you should be with someone safe right now?"
Tigress recoiled slightly in shock at the order.
"I don't care who it is. Go be with someone you tell everything to. Or be alone if that's better forya. Whatever. But don't come yelling at me like it's gonna do anyone any good. Even I know this shit!" Lin finally walked away and made it to the stairs after that short tirade.
She was so tired of having to tell other people how to deal with themselves, and she didn't even do it that often. She didn't even know how to deal with herself. She wished, briefly, that she hadn't sent Shifu away. Maybe she should go back to be with him. But she couldn't, not yet. She needed to get back to her house, where she felt safe and in control. She felt safe with Shifu, too, though. Why did it hurt so much to admit that, even only to herself?
Lin tore open her wine bottle with her teeth and started drinking it on her walk home. It was gone by the time she'd made it across the lake, so she grabbed a new one as soon as she got into her house. That one disappeared quick, too. She ate her sweet and sour tofu, cold and soggy now, thinking the whole time about Shifu and Tai Lung and how this was apparently such a special dish and how she was such a damn chump, thinking anything could ever change for the better.
She threw the plate across the room, but watching it shatter didn't make her feel any better. So she broke her empty wine bottles next, a hot, tight knot building in her chest until it became a scream. She screamed as she kicked over her crate table, she screamed as she scattered everything under it and broke anything breakable, she screamed as she tore up drawings and letters and little papers. And then she stopped. Because the last thing left to tear apart was her little black book, the one that Rahim had given her.
And inside that book was everything. Every song she had ever written with Al. Everything she had ever felt with him. All of their love, and all of her grief. All of those memories. She set the book aside. She could never destroy anything inside of it. And the sight of it had deflated her, drained her of all her angst and rage. Now she felt empty. She pulled Al's old pipe from her shirt and went about filling and lighting it, then shuffled off to bed amid the destruction she'd caused. Cleaning would be a problem for another day. It all would.
Tigress sat at the large study table in the scroll library. She didn't know why she had come here, except it was the only place she could think of besides the training hall. She had obviously already learned nerve strikes. Gia had long since stopped attending their reading lessons. There was nothing left for her to do here.
But maybe that was why she had come. She did not need to do anything. She could just... Sit. She could sit and try to clear her mind, instead of dwelling on the fear and rage she had felt fighting Tai Lung. Instead of thinking about how she should have been stronger. She needed to be stronger. And Shifu... All the things he had said to her. She didn't know how to feel about them, except for scared. She had wanted to hear those words, yet how could she possibly be a daughter to Shifu? She only knew how to be a student of kung fu. She would only disappoint him again.
"Tigress?" Po's voice rang out into the silence, interrupting her thoughts.
He poked his head around a shelf, wearing an uncharacteristically concerned frown. "Hey."
Tigress nodded in greeting, watching as Po settled into the chair beside her. She had never noticed before how he spilled over the sides of the narrow chairs around the Jade Palace. It must have been so uncomfortable, and yet he never complained.
"How're ya doin'?" Po asked, leaning down a bit to meet her lowered gaze.
"I have no reason to complain," she replied. "I am a kung fu master. Fights happen."
"Huh." He looked puzzled. "So you think complainin' and talkin' about your feelings are the same things?"
"Not always," she corrected herself, blushing at his unwavering attention. She wished he would look away for a little bit. "But often."
"Nah, I gotta disagree," he said, more firmly than she'd expected. "It's not the same. Oogway helped me realize that, y'know. Didn't he ever talk to ya about stuff like that?"
"Yes, but..." But Shifu had always disagreed with Master Oogway. And she had spent her life following Shifu's word above all else. After all, she was dedicated, she was disciplined, and students like her were not supposed to question their masters. That was what Shifu had said... While constantly questioning his own master. "Never mind," she sighed, deflated. "So what am I supposed to tell you? That I was frightened? That I realized too late I couldn't win? That I felt powerless? Weak? Guilty?"
"Uh, yeah," Po accepted. "If it's true, I mean."
"It is."
He hesitated a moment, then place a warm, soft hand over hers. "What d'ya feel guilty about?"
"Starting the fight," she told him honestly. She had intervened out of worry for Gia, but she had hit Tai Lung out of anger from his goading. "I should have known better- I should have controlled myself. I struck first. I have no one to blame but myself."
"Tigress, no. Don't do that. Tai Lung coulda stopped at any time. It's not your fault. You didn't deserve this." He reached up to gently touch her neck, but she couldn't help but recoil. "Sorry. Sorry."
"Don't be," she rushed to tell him. "I trust you. I trust you to always be gentle... With me." Her face heated up at the insinuation in her words and she looked away while Po awkwardly cleared his throat. She was well aware that he was inexperienced in relationships, especially the physical aspect, so she had left making the first move to him on that front. But sometimes she wondered if she should... Nudge him along. A little. "Maybe tonight-"
"Yep," Po interrupted her quickly, his voice unnaturally high-pitched. "We should hang out, in here, tonight, yeah yeah yeah-"
"Don't babble," she warned him, and he stopped. "It's alright, Po. I'm sorry I embarrassed you." She couldn't help but find it endearing.
"I wouldn't say no to kissin'," he added. "Just, uh... Whatever you feel up to. I know today was a lot."
"It was," Tigress accepted. To be honest, her feelings on the day were so jumbled and confused, she wished she could take Po back to her room just to forget about them for a little while. But she would be doing that for entirely the wrong reasons, and he deserved better from her. "Kissing is a good start," she concluded. "Then perhaps we can play some dominoes."
"Sounds dreamy," he replied fondly.
"Don't daydream on me, now," she ordered, leaning into him. "I need you here with me." That was more true now than it ever had been before. And she found that she liked that feeling, because she knew he wasn't going anywhere.
Notes:
A/N: Hey! I know this was an incredibly heavy chapter. Which is why I struggled so much to write it! There wasn't much room for jokes in this one, but I tried to get a few in there in the beginning anyway. Anyway I truly don't remember if there were any references in this chapter, but I don't think so. I do owe a special thanks though to Epon_Aruim for the feedback while writing this one, though. Thank you! And thanks to everyone reading, reviewing, and leaving likes/kudos. See you next time for more angst!
Chapter 34: Chapter 34: If You are Looking for a Fly in Your Food, It Means That You are Full
Summary:
Lots of talking and fallout. You know, the usual.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 34: If You are Looking for a Fly in Your Food, It Means That You are Full
Lin cracked her eyes open, her head pounding and her mouth dry, groaning at the bright light streaming in from her windows and directly onto her face. Then she sat up, blinking at her surroundings. Last she'd seen, she'd destroyed everything in her house. Now it looked cleaner than it had been in days. And... Did she smell eggs cooking?
She changed her clothes and shuffled outside to the firepit, raising her eyebrows at the sight of Gia crouched in front of it, frying eggs on a beat up old pan Lin had convinced Ping to let her have. "What're you doing back here?" she asked, her voice still raspy from the early hour.
"I came back to check on you," Gia said evenly. "And I did not want to be at the Jade Palace." She slid the eggs onto a plate before handing them to Lin. "Mangia. You need your strength."
"Yeah, yeah," she accepted with a yawn. "And how're you , after all that shit yesterday?"
"I am... Okay."
"Yeah?"
Gia nodded. "Yes."
"Good." Lin smacked her upside the head, ignoring her whiny shout. "What the hell's wrong withya? You coulda been killed , picking a fight with Tai Lung like that!"
"I was protecting you!" Gia argued.
Lin snorted skeptically. "I don't need protecting. And anyway, I doubt you're stronger 'an me. But... Thanks." She hesitated, wondering if it was even a good idea to get sentimental with the girl, before giving in and grabbing her hand. "It's more important to me that you're safe. Always. Okay?"
Tears started flowing from Gia's eyes as if on cue. "Th-thank you," she blubbered out.
"Jeez," Lin grumbled, dropping her hand to focus on eating breakfast. "Can we not make it a whole dramatic thing?"
"O-okay," Gia accepted tremulously. "But you should know, I will always try to protect you. I simply cannot stop myself."
"And I'll always get pissed about it," Lin replied, then finished off her eggs. She didn't want to think about Tai Lung anymore, not if she could help it. She couldn't handle the intensity of the grief that welled up in her when she did, so she turned away from it. Like always. "I got a day off today. Was gonna spend it drinking, but since you're here, uh... I dunno. We could... Hang out for a little bit? I guess?"
Gia stared at her.
"What?"
"You do not wish to talk about yesterday?" she asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "Because that must have been very difficult for you."
"Anyway, I'm gonna go jump in the lake now to avoid this conversation," Lin answered with complete honesty, then ran away.
"Wait!"
She ignored Gia's call and jumped into the lake, as promised. Sadly, Gia was waiting for her on the dock when she resurfaced. Maybe she should try to swim away, but considering Gia could make it across the lake without a problem, that probably wouldn't work out in her favor.
"And what did that accomplish?" Gia asked her in the same tone of voice as an overbearing mother. "All you have done was get yourself wet."
"I needed a bath, anyway." That much was true, at least.
Gia wrinkled her nose. "You bathe in this lake?"
"Yeah, why not? It's here, ain't it?" Lin splashed her, grinning at the way she yelped and jumped back. "You grew up in the Alps! A little cold water ain't gonna hurtya."
"I have come to prefer to stay warm and dry in the winter," she replied stiffly, then held out a hand to help Lin out of the water.
She might as well accept the help, since she wasn't going to escape the kid any time soon. "Fine, fine." She let Gia haul her up onto the dock and lead her back to the campfire, laughing at her embarrassed shout when she stripped to let her clothes dry. "Y'know, I'm still kinda hungry."
Gia shook her head. "There is nothing left to eat. You only had three eggs."
"Yeah, this one lady gives me her eggs as a tip. And I get to keep 'em all 'cause it freaks Ping out to eat 'em."
"...I will not comment."
Lin scoffed at the snotty reply. "You sound just like Shifu right now. It's creepy."
"Ehi! Is this such a bad thing?"
She didn't answer that. She didn't want to talk about it now. Or ever, ideally. "So. You sure you're okay?" She might as well turn the emotional questioning around on Gia.
"Te l'ho detto prima," Gia replied.
"So you're not."
"I did not say that!"
Lin tried that thing Shifu liked to do, just glaring until she got an answer. She was surprised by how quickly it worked.
Gia stared into the fire for a bit before raising one shoulder in a helpless shrug. "I was scared for Tigress. But her father came to check on her and you... You left. And no one remembered me."
She hadn't seen Gia since she'd grabbed her and dragged her back into Ping's kitchen while Tai Lung fought Tigress. She probably should have checked on Gia after that, but... She hadn't exactly had a clear mind. "That's not true. I mean... I suck, that's why I didn't raise you. But I'm sure everyone else remembered to check onya."
"It is alright," Gia said. "I am used to being alone."
"Jeez. That sounds familiar."
"It does?"
"It sounds like me," Lin admitted. "I was always used to being alone. But that doesn't make it any less shitty. I'm sorry."
Gia looked like she might cry, her eyes were so watery, but she managed to keep it together. "Thank you for your apology." She stared into the fire for a bit and they just sat together in comfortable silence. Then she ruined it. "So, when are you going to marry Master Shifu?"
"I'm jumping into the lake again."
"Ehi!" Gia reached out to stop her, and Lin snorted out a laugh at her behavior.
"Fine, fine. But... I don't really feel like talking right now," Lin admitted.
Gia nodded. "That is fair. I will finish cleaning up inside, then."
"It's not done yet?" She narrowed her eyes at Gia. "It looked pretty clean to me."
"I have not yet swept or mopped." Gia stood up and brushed off her skirt before leaving Lin alone to try to mop her floor without a mop.
Lin decided not to investigate that. Instead, she figured she really would jump back into the lake. She hadn't admitted it out loud, but she felt wound up, anxious, and on the verge of tears. The water would calm her. She thought so, anyway.
And when she slid into the icy cold water, she knew she was right. It wasn't quite the ocean, but it still felt like she'd been holding her breath until that moment. She sighed heavily as she floated. If swimming in the sea felt like going home, then this lake, it felt like visiting an old friend. Not quite home. But close. She closed her eyes and let herself sink, down into that dark lake, like a heavy blanket swaddling her. Nothing to bother her, just the darkness of the water and the sound of its rhythm... Until she heard a voice. Voices. Distant, but recognizable. She knew what she would see if she opened her eyes, and it was the last thing she wanted to face right now.
Lin broke the surface of the water, squinting in the sunlight while she groped around for the edge of the dock. A hand landed in hers and pulled her up with surprising ease.
"It's me," Shifu warned her before pushing the wet fur from her eyes.
"I shoulda known." She didn't tease him with a stalking joke like she usually did when he showed up. She just didn't have it in her. "What're you doing here?"
"I wanted to check on you." He placed a dry towel around her shoulders before climbing the steps to the island.
Lin followed after him, joining him at the fire to warm herself. "Wait-- where the hell'd you get this towel?"
"Not from the pit, I'm afraid." Despite his cheeky reply, he still seemed somber. Not that she could blame him. "I brought you some from the Jade Palace. I was tired of watching you dry yourself off with dirty laundry."
"You do what? " Gia asked with obvious disgust as she exited the house and joined them.
"It's gotta get washed one way or another," Lin said defensively. "Two birds with one stone, right?"
"That does not clean your clothes," Shifu and Gia told her in perfect unison.
Lin snorted in amusement at their embarrassed frowns. "Okay, okay. I got towels now, problem solved."
Shifu awkwardly cleared his throat. "Gia, I am glad you're here as well. I had wanted to find you and ask how you were after... Everything."
Gia blinked down at him in surprise, then turned away. "I am fine."
Lin knew that wasn't entirely true, but she kept her mouth shut. It was up to Gia to disclose her feelings, and if she didn't want to, then Lin had no right to make her.
"Are you certain?" Shifu, of course, pushed.
Gia picked a stick up off the ground and used it to stoke the fire for a bit. "I am not great. But I will survive."
"She won't leave me alone," Lin added. "Reminds me of you."
"I am glad you two have each other," Shifu said warmly, then patted Gia's hand. "I apologize for not checking in with you sooner, Gia. I admit that I did not have as clear a head as I should have yesterday. You must have been frightened."
Gia finally dropped the poker face and sniffed loudly. "Th-thank you," she said hoarsely, wiping at her eyes.
"Ah, geez," Lin huffed. "Lookit whatya did now."
"What-- I did not do anything!" Shifu argued indignantly.
"You got her all emotional, now I'm gonna be mopping up tears all day."
"With what, your dirty laundry?"
Gia cleared her throat to interrupt them. "I am not crying that much."
Shifu tried to cover up his embarrassed blush by coughing into his fist. Not that it helped. "Gia, perhaps Lin and I could have some time alone?"
"Very well," Gia agreed, then shocked and dismayed Lin by pulling her into a tight hug. She was stronger than she looked. "I am going to be at Mr. Ping's if you need me."
"Wait-- what?" Lin did not expect that.
Instead of explaining why she was going to the restaurant, Gia just waved at Lin and took the punt across the lake.
"Great, now the punt's gone."
"I will bring it back for you when I leave." Shifu sounded way too calm, considering... Everything.
"I should really build a second punt," Lin said. "For when you're too old to kung fu jump across." She realized only after the words had left her mouth that she'd essentially admitted to wanting Shifu around long-term. Judging by his red face, he'd caught onto it as well. Lin looked away and faked a cough. "Anyway, I guessya wanna bang now." Breezing past that awkward moment was probably her best bet.
"What?" Shifu choked out. "No! I mean--" He paused to take a deep breath.
"Lin, I am worried about you."
"Me?" she asked. "I keep tellingya, he's your son--"
"And I am doing my best to make peace with him," Shifu interrupted sternly. "But you seem focused only on ignoring what has happened. Speaking of which, I still do not know exactly what happened."
"So what, you're gonna make me rehash all this shit? Like that'll help?"
His tone turned gentle, and he reached out for her. "No. I just don't want you keeping anything bottled up."
Lin jerked away from his touch and headed toward the house. "Whatever," she grumbled. She didn't need him hovering around her like she was some fragile little damsel in distress. She'd dealt with this kind of violence on her own her whole life, she didn't need his help this time.
Shifu followed her inside. Of course. He always followed her these days. "Is that it?" he interrogated her. "You are just going to shut down and pretend nothing has happened?"
"What's it to you what I do or not? It ain't like we're a couple." Lin didn't have anywhere left to go to avoid him, so she rounded on him instead. "You don't got any right to come at me with this shit!"
"So you can take care of me without a second thought, but the moment I try to check on you I am crossing a line? That makes no sense!"
"You're not checking on me, you're trying to pump me for information-- no matter how I feel about it! Nothing's changed!" Lin stopped when she realized she'd started yelling. She shouldn't even care this much that Shifu hadn't changed. It wasn't like she'd believed any of his bullshit. It wasn't like she was getting her hopes up.
Shifu was silent a while, his fists clenched. She expected him to snap at her, but instead he let out a frustrated sigh. "You are right. I should not have pushed you."
"Oh my God," Lin grumbled, rubbing at her forehead. "I cannot with your whole back-tracking, 'I'm a good boy now' routine."
"What?" he snapped, his eye twitching. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah! I can't fucking stand it! What, you want a goddamn trophy for making the slightest effort?"
"That is not what I'm trying to do!" he argued. "I am trying to admit to my mistakes and make things right! I don't want a trophy or even acknowledgment-- I just want you to believe me!"
"That's a crock of shit and you know it!"
"No it isn't! Am I even the one you are angry at right now?"
She hated him for asking that. Of course she was lashing out, that much was obvious. It didn't suddenly make him right about everything, though. "One of many," she answered coldly. "I will never stop being angry at you." She didn't want to stop fighting with him. She didn't want to turn away from this conflict only to come face to face with the betrayal she'd been drowning out. If she kept fighting, she wouldn't have time to cry again. And she was still so angry at Shifu-- it was easy to focus on him. "When're you gonna get it through your thick skull? I'm never gonna forgive you. I'll never believe you can change. I'll never trust you. How many times do I gotta scream it atya?"
Shifu didn't answer her.
In hindsight, she might have gone too far. Like someone cornered in a cage match, she'd attacked blindly, going for the kill. And now she watched the aftermath.
He stared down at the ground, his shoulders sloping as the fight drained from him. "Oh," he finally said. He sounded as heartbroken as she felt.
Lin didn't know what to say, now, as regret settled in her chest. He had just thrown his son in jail for the second time, and here she was berating him. She'd been trying to hurt him, no matter how much she'd promised herself she wouldn't just one night ago. "Maybe I'm the one who can't change," she realized. "Maybe I'm the real problem. That's it, isn't it? It's always just been me." It had been her every single time. Every relationship that had ended, fallen apart, never gotten off the ground. Even with Al, she'd broken his heart over and over again in the time they'd been together. Why should she have ever blamed Shifu, when the common denominator was her?
"Lin, no--"
"Don't reassure me," she interrupted. "Don't be nice to me. I've already done everything I'm capable of."
Unexpectedly, Shifu looked even angrier than before. "That isn't true!" he shouted. "And I am sick and tired of listening to you berate and underestimate yourself as if it is fact! I don't know when or why you chose to believe that any cruelty you experience is your fault, but it isn't! And all the awful, hurtful, abusive things people have said about you are not true. People who treat you that way are never right about you." He paused, closing his eyes tightly as a pained expression crossed his face. " I was wrong about you. I was one of those people who told you that you are the problem, and I was wrong. Please. I know I have said terrible things to you, but I cannot stand to hear you repeat them as though-- as though you believe them."
Lin huffed indignantly at his plea. "You got a lotta nerve acting likeya got so much influence over me. You really think you've ever said a single damn thing I ain't already heard a million times before?"
"I'm sorry," he said hoarsely, like he might cry at any second.
"Jeez." She hated this. Why had she ever agreed to be alone with him? "I might literally gnaw off my own leg to get away from this conversation."
Shifu let out a cough that turned into a weak laugh. "I noticed."
Lin had a feeling she wasn't going to get him to leave her alone any time soon. So she figured she might as well lay in bed while they continued with... Whatever was happening. "I know I'm not perfect, y'know. I know I'm a monumental fuck-up. You don't gotta pretend otherwise."
"I am not pretending," he argued. "People make mistakes. You are not worse than everyone else for being just like them."
"Huh." She wouldn't pretend she'd never heard the "people make mistakes" sentiment before, but that addition was new. "I don't wanna talk about myself anymore."
"You never did to begin with."
"And yet here we are."
Shifu hesitantly took a seat beside her. "I only wanted you to tell me how you're feeling."
"Shitty," she answered. "And I'm sorry. I shouldn'ta gone outta my way to upset you like that."
"Hm. I forgive you." He sidled closer to her, and she gave in to her impulse for comfort and yanked him down to lay beside her. "May I hold you?"
"That's the idea." Lin didn't have the energy to pretend to be reluctant. She barely had the energy to keep herself awake while she pressed her face into his shoulder. She breathed in his scent, woody and fresh for the most part, but always a little bit dusty. Like he'd just been cleaning out a closet, or working with old paper. Sometimes he smelled a bit like candle smoke, too, but not today. "You smell nice."
"Uhm. Thank you?"
"And about Tai Lung."
"Hm," he grunted, his hold on her tightening.
"He wanted me to leave the valley with him." She hated that she had to talk about this. She hated that she even had to think about it. "He thought it was something we needed to do, the both of us. I think, maybe... He'd gotten obsessed with me and I didn't realize." She hated admitting that, too. Just another huge mistake she'd made. Another way she'd let Oogway and Tai Lung down. "When I said no, he tried to, uh... Kidnap me, I guess?"
"Oh my gods." She couldn't see Shifu's face, but he sounded horrified.
"It wasn't that bad." She didn't know why she was making excuses for him.
"Yes, it was," he said, then took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I should not have spoken harshly to you."
"Okay, calm down, I'm not that sensitive."
"Certainly," he agreed skeptically. He had a lot of attitude for someone who was trying so hard to suck up to her. "Back to the subject of Tai Lung--" He paused when she winced. "Do you need a moment?"
"I'm fine."
"Is that when Gia and Tigress found you?"
"Yeah. You pretty much know the rest." She was practically croaking, her throat ached so badly from trying to hold in her distress. She expected one of Shifu's long-winded speeches about how he wanted to protect her now, or at least something, but he didn't respond at all.
Eventually, he got up and left. That was unexpected, to say the least, but Lin couldn't say she blamed him. What was there left to say, anyway?
She pulled her blankets over herself and settled in for some moping. That was how she'd been planning to spend her day, so she might as well stick to it.
Shifu returned, suprising her again, and handed her a cup of tea. "Here. It isn't much, but I thought it might help."
"Oh. Thanks." Lin drank deeply, letting the tea warm her before setting it aside. "C'mere, sit with me again."
"If you insist." He moved some pillows aside for himself and wrapped an arm around her. "Anything else?"
"That'll be all for now," she replied with a snort. She didn't like how intently he was watching her-- like he was trying to memorize her or something. "What?"
"Nothing."
"Sure." Lin rubbed at her eyes as she thought about everything that had happened between them in the last two days. And everything that had happened with Tai Lung. And just everything in general. It all felt like it was piling on top of her and suffocating her. "So you're making peace with Tai Lung?" She needed to talk in order to distract herself.
"Yes," Shifu said reluctantly. "I know you and Tigress were both terribly hurt by him, but I could not help think that perhaps... Perhaps I am responsible for this rampage as well--"
"You're not responsible," Lin interrupted, maybe more harshly than necessary. "He's an adult who makes his own choices."
"I know." Shifu said, pausing to give her a little squeeze. "I raised him, though. I must take some responsibility for how he has turned out. And part of that was my distance. I want to try to be there for him now. I hope you understand."
She understood. "He's your kid."
"Yes," he said with a nod. "I know this must sound naive to you, but I want to find a way to fix all this. And despite Tai Lung's egregious actions, I still hold out hope for him."
"It does sound naive," Lin agreed. "That's why I like it." She reveled in the small smile she'd elicited from him. "Since when aren't you the cynical one in the room?"
"Only since recently," he said. "But I doubt you will find this the case across the board."
"Good, I think it might break my heart ifya stopped being a sandy little asshole."
His smile widened a bit. "I promise, for you I will remain mostly curmudgeonly with only the occasional departure into inner peace."
"Thanks, that helps."
"Good. I never want to disappoint you again." He paused to kiss her temple, just to be a sap. "I love you."
'I love you, too,' was on the tip of her tongue, but she just couldn't bring herself to believe it enough to say it out loud.
Shifu rose from bed and began his day by stretching out and cracking his sore back. Then, as he had been doing for the past two days, he retrieved tea and rice from the kitchen to serve to Tai Lung for breakfast. He sat before his son's cell and waited for... Something. Anything. After two days of silence, he had lowered his expectations accordingly. Though that silence was not necessarily discouraging. They had been meditating... Together? Quite possibly together. He could not yet tell. He had attempted to speak with Tai Lung as well, but had so far received no response.
Still, he continued to serve Tai Lung meals, untouched as far as he could tell, and sit with him. He continued to wait.
And finally, at nightfall, his waiting paid off. Tai Lung spoke.
"Old man."
Shifu didn't even argue with the way he'd been addressed. He was just relieved that his son had finally said something. He took a moment to gather himself, so as not to seem so eager that he became off-putting. "Yes?"
"I have one request," Tai Lung said, his tone even. "There is a scroll in my room. I would like to have it with me."
Shifu considered refusing, but he couldn't. With a curt nod, he left in search of the scroll in question. It did not take long to find, since there was little else in Tai Lung's room in the barracks. But when Shifu picked up the scroll, held it in his hands and looked at those familiar stains, traced the well-worn edges of the paper, his heart felt heavier than ever. This was Lin's one self-portrait. The ink sketch of her and Tai Lung, as they had been when she'd first arrived at the Jade Palace as a young woman. The one he had cried over when Tai Lung had been imprisoned, yearning for the boy his son had once been. It belonged in the library, but Tai Lung must have taken it at some point. He couldn't begrudge such a theft.
Giving the scroll to Tai Lung earned him a nod of acknowledgment, which was... Something. More than he had expected, at least.
There was something about the flickering light of the sconces that made all this feel a little more surreal, more distant. It gave him the courage to try for more. "Why did you want this scroll?"
Tai Lung glared at him, jaw clenched, refusing to answer.
Shifu sighed and sat down again, prepared to spend the night if he had to. He would not let this tiny crumb of hope go to waste. He wondered what Lin might do to try to get Tai Lung to talk. Perhaps a story would help. "I remember when Lin first came to the Jade Palace. You were enamored with her, glued to her side whenever I gave you a moment. And she would teach you the absolute worst things. I remember the first time I heard you use a curse word was only days after she'd arrived." He'd been livid back then, but now it seemed funny to him. "You were such a cute child. My little boy. I still struggle not to see you that way."
That last statement earned a skeptical snort.
He raised an eyebrow, but tried to keep his voice neutral. "You disagree with something I said?"
Tai Lung's glower wavered so slightly that Shifu almost missed it. "Little boy, you say? That's rich."
"It is how I feel. You are my son," he insisted.
"Oh, am I now? Last I checked, you were only willing to admit that after I kicked your pathetic butt."
Shifu winced, but didn't deny the accusation. "I owe you an apology for that, and for so much more. I molded you into what I thought you should have been, at any cost. And when you did not live up to that image, I turned my back on you. I never should have allowed you to be locked away, alone, for all those years."
"So you would have let me go?" Tai Lung asked with a disbelieving scoff. "Sure."
"No, you had to pay for your crimes. But seeking justice is not the same as torturing a perpetrator in the name of it. Giving you no chance to atone, not even a word from your own family, after raising you... It was wrong." Shifu watched his son's face for any sign at all that he was getting through to him, some twitch of softness.
Tai Lung only grunted noncommitally in return.
He felt his shoulders droop in defeat. "I wonder what our lives would have been like if I had not pushed this fate onto you."
Tai Lung blinked, looked away, then cleared his throat. That comment seemed to have bothered him. "Pushed it onto me?"
"You were a child. All you wanted was to be with me, and to play. To you, kung fu was a game you played with your father. And, selfishly, I pursued your talent so relentlessly that I turned it into the only way you could be with me."
"You think I learned kung fu just to be around you? Lin was right, you truly are full of yourself."
"Small children want to be with their families. It is natural for them. You are our family, Tai Lung, Master Oogway's and mine. And we are yours."
Tai Lung's scoff was loud and drawn out this time. "That spiteful old turtle? He's the one who designed my cage! Who built that prison just for me! And what did you do in all that time, when I was first kept down here awaiting my fate? I'm guessing you gladly helped him with all that, like a good little student ."
"No," Shifu denied. It was time to tell someone the truth of that time in his life. Keeping this from Tai Lung, of all people, would not do anyone any good. "For lack of a better description, I stayed in my room and cried."
Tai Lung's eyebrows shot up, but no snarky comment followed.
"I mourned you, my son, as if you were dead. Instead of trying to be with you, or fighting for you, I simply accepted that I would never see you again. I closed off my heart to my love for you, or for anyone else. And when I emerged, I was filled with anger and sorrow, which I held onto with an iron grip."
"Until the panda."
"Until Po," he confirmed with a nod. "Thanks to Po, I was able to open my heart again-- to Lin, to Tigress, to you. I would not have had the courage or compassion to give you another chance if it had not been for the lessons I learned from him."
"Right, the panda turned you into the perfect, enlightened, Nirvana-bound monk I see before me."
"I am not saying he fixed me instantaneously. That is work I must do myself. But he began my journey. I have continued to resist this change, and made terrible mistakes, but I will never give up. I will keep trying my hardest to be better. And that is all I or Lin ask of you."
"Don't speak about Lin to me," Tai Lung growled, raising one fist to bang menacingly on his bars. "You don't know what she wants! You don't know anything about her!"
Shifu remained steady, despite the concern he felt at such anger. "Does my relationship with her truly bother you so much?"
"What relationship?" he asked. "You have none to speak of, as far as I know."
"You are correct," Shifu accepted with a nod. "But we have history. And I am working to earn her forgiveness. That seems to be a sore subject for you."
"Because you do not deserve forgiveness," Tai Lung said lowly, bitterly.
Shifu couldn't hide his reaction. He winced, his heart aching at his son's harsh words.
"You aren't even good enough to lick her shoes," Tai Lung continued heatedly. "Someone who's always trying to make other people's lives better, who can manage to smile about at least one thing, even when everything else is going wrong, someone who will accept and support other people, even when they hurt her-- do you really think you could ever deserve a person like that?"
"No," he admitted quietly. "No, I don't. But I will try to, anyway."
"Hmph," Tai Lung grunted in return.
Shifu was not so easily chased away. He remained, although Tai Lung had gone back to ignoring him. He would accept that for now. It wasn't as if he had anywhere more pressing to be. Well, except for checking up on his students. He had decided to trust them to retrieve him should they need him for anything, though he still worried about Tigress. Since Tai Lung's attack, she had been acting even more quiet and reserved than usual. He had thought that his apology to her would begin some healing between them, but he seemed to have made things worse. As always, he could only keep trying.
Hours passed in silence between them. Shifu had started to wonder after the passage of time when Zeng arrived with a meal for Tai Lung. He watched the snow leopard eat rice and tofu, stone-faced, thinking back to all the meals he'd shared with his son over the past weeks. They hadn't exactly been on good terms, but Tai Lung had interacted with Po and the five, had occasionally even cracked a joke. It was the time of day when he felt most like there might be some redemption to be had for his son.
"How is it?" He had nothing to lose from trying to make conversation.
Tai Lung surprised him with a noncommital grunt.
"Yes, it is a bland meal," he agreed, carefully watching for any sign of a response. "But this is not exactly a vacation for you."
Tai Lung put his bowl down with a loud clack and tossed his chopsticks into it. "Are you going to ruin my meal by rambling on like this all night?"
Shifu resisted the urge to smile in victory. "If I need to in order to get a response from you."
"A response to what effect?" He reached out and banged on the bars in front of him. "You've got what you want, I'm locked up again. Go gloat elsewhere!"
"I am not gloating!" Shifu paused to breathe and control his tone. Shouting would not do either of them any good. "I do not want you to be locked up. That was never what I wanted."
"Could have fooled me," Tai Lung replied flippantly.
"I am sorry for that. But I promise you, it isn't the truth. I would give anything to have you redeem yourself, to have you back." He paused, still not accustomed to this level of vulnerability. "I know I only have myself to blame. But I want to try."
His son scoffed. "I can tell. You'd give anything? How about giving me a moment of peace?"
"I gave you as much space as you desired, despite the amount you snuck out of the Jade Palace." Shifu was pleased to see Tai Lung raise an eyebrow in surprise. "You thought I never knew? You have never been slealthy enough to evade these." He gestured to his ears, which earned a snort. "I gave you space because... Because Lin trusted you." That last bit hurt to say, given their current circumstances, and it looked to him like it hurt Tai Lung to hear it.
"That's over now," he said curtly, then returned to his meal.
Shifu supposed now was the best opening he would get to extend the offer he'd been holding back. He knew that revealing what he'd learned of Tai Lung's visions with Lin would betray a certain trust, but that tie had been severed already. "I would like to help you," he said simply, waiting.
Tai Lung ignored him, eating tofu as benignly as if he were free on the street.
"Tai Lung." Shifu stood up to stand over him, arms crossed. "There is no such thing as a burden you bear alone."
"...What?"
"No matter your burden, no matter how much you try to bear it alone, there will be others bearing it with you. Those who care for you will worry. They'll want to help. You shouldn't ignore that." He waited for a response, but when Tai Lung remained silent he dropped his arms to his sides in a gesture of surrender. "Lin does the exact same thing," he pointed out. "She tries to bear everything alone, because she thinks that others will hate her for needing help. Hell, she thinks everyone hates her, regardless."
"What are you trying to say?" Tai Lung finally asked.
"I'm saying I know about your visions!" He snapped. "You should have come to me. Lin should have told me sooner. But I suppose that's partly my own fault, too. In any case, I am trying to tell you what I think these visions mean."
"I suppose I have no choice but to listen," Tai Lung grumbled, gesturing to the cell around him.
"Yes, that is correct." Shifu sat down in front of him, folding his arms into his sleeves. "But first, I would like to hear about all these visions from you . Not secondhand from Lin. And I would like details, since I have yet to hear any."
"Oh good," Tai Lung said sarcastically. "Story time."
"If you would be so kind," he replied with a nod, then sat back down.
What he heard next... Disturbed him. No, that would be an understatement. He had not felt so unsettled over anything since Master Oogway's vision of Tai Lung's escape from Chor Ghom. Stories of darkness, of an unfathomable void, ten versions of his son with their back perpetually turned, and strange memories that had belonged to Lin, all overseen by a mysterious creature they could only guess was some sort of ocean spirit. That eye that Lin had drawn for him, always staring. And that vision when Lin has spoken as the spirit-- he tried to keep his shock hidden, but it was probably still written all over his face. "I had not heard much of this," he admitted once Tai Lung's tale was done.
"I know," Tai Lung said casually. "I didn't tell Lin."
"Wait-- you did not tell Lin?" Shifu paused to rub at his temples. It would seem Lin and Po were not the only ones capable of giving him stress headaches. "That was the entire point of her guiding you!"
Tai Lung caused him further pain by shrugging. "Oh well."
"I hate this," Shifu grumbled to himself, then took a few calming breaths. "Why would you not tell Lin?"
"Because I could not be sure she wasn't under the control of that thing ," he answered defensively. He did not need to clarify which thing. Shifu understood.
"You truly think she could be?"
"Let me in," Tai Lung quoted, now much more serious. "And she said yes. That doesn't sound promising to me."
Shifu hated to admit it, even to himself, but he agreed. And Lin... Sometimes did not behave normally. "This could explain a few things."
"Like?"
"Like... Lin does not sleep normally. I am sure you must have noticed by now. But she... Speaks in tongues in her sleep. Sometimes she sits straight up, just staring, but she won't respond. Sometimes she--"
"Sleepwalks?" Tai Lung interruped knowingly.
"Yes." He hated to think this might have something to do with that haunting creature.
"I suspect I've begun to exhibit such behavior as well," Tai Lung admitted to him. "Which is why I have limited my sleep as much as possible. And I also needed to use that time to watch over Lin. For obvious reasons."
Shifu could feel the blood rushing to his head as he realized the implications of that. "Wait, did you see--"
"Don't even finish that sentence!" Tai Lung interrupted with a gag. "Of course not! Augh!"
Shifu let out a sigh of relief. At least that was one way in which he would not be scarred tonight. "I see. Thank you for that bit of privacy."
"You think I'd want to see your-- ugh -- nighttime activities together? Disgusting!"
"Yes, I get it."
"I'd sooner gouge my own eyes out!"
"I get it!" Shifu snapped. "We can stop talking about it!"
Tai Lung shuddered one last time. "Fair enough."
He took a moment to cleanse his mind of that diversion before getting the conversation back on track. "So you believe that you and Lin are somehow connected by this... Ocean spirit?"
"Perhaps," Tai Lung said. "Or perhaps the connection only lies between Lin and the spirit, and I was dragged into it. The whole thing started on a trip about teaching me to meditate in freezing ocean water. The old woman had one of her own visions, I suppose-- and she mentioned something about rejecting them. That was when it started for me."
"Lin was having visions?" Shifu asked, shocked at this new information. "On her own? In Shanghai?"
"Good gods, she doesn't tell you a single damn thing, does she?"
"No, she doesn't!" Shifu shouted, unable to control his volume at this revelation. "What kinds of visions?"
"I'm not telling you," Tai Lung snapped. "Go ask Lin!"
He was not about to do that, considering how sensitive Lin was about him asking personal questions. Especially when she was still so fragile from Tai Lung's attack. "I cannot. She is in no condition to answer me."
Tai Lung fell silent, his whole body seeming to droop at the reminder of what he'd done.
"I'm sorry to bring it up."
"No, you should. I understand the damage I have caused." Tai Lung stood and turned his back on Shifu, his shoulders still rounded. "To be clear, I only spoke to you in the slim chance that you could help Lin. I've told you all I know. You can leave now."
Shifu wished he could go to his son, at the very least place a comforting hand on his back. But he could not coddle Tai Lung, not when he had caused his own sorrow. "Very well. Goodnight, Tai Lung." He left the cells, only to walk straight to the scroll library. It was time to take another look through Oogway's wisdom.
Shifu woke slowly from his short and fitful sleep to the sound of flapping. "Zeng, must you always fly so loudly?" He stood up to crack his back. Falling asleep at a table in the scroll library had not been ideal, but at least he'd made decent progress on his research. Of course, he still had no idea how he would explain all this to Lin.
"Master Shifu!" Zeng landed in front of him from a hybrid of running and flying he took to when particularly anxious. "You have a visitor!"
"Who is it?"
"I, uhm..." Zeng puckered his beak and gulped. "I forgot to ask."
Shifu patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I know how to make my own introductions by now. Maybe take a break to calm down?"
"Yeah, maybe," the goose agreed, feathers shedding from him as he collapsed into the chair Shifu had just been occupying.
"And see if you can get Gia to organize those scrolls with you," Shifu added as he left, ignoring Zeng's consternated frown.
He was surprised to see a tiger standing at the Moon Pool, wearing a fine green kurta with a sandy yellow trim and pants. Though, as he approached, the man looked a little worse for wear-- his fur had clearly not been tended to in days, and the hem of his pants were dirty from walking. He must have traveled quite far, and at a blistering pace.
As he approached, the towering Bengal tiger startled and turned to stare down at him in shock, not that it was anything new. Shifu had become used to people's surprise at his small size after hearing his reputation.
"Yes?" he asked irritably. If this was another suitor for Tigress he was not in the mood.
The man cleared his throat, still eyeing him with great interest. "My apologies, it is just that... You seem familiar. In any case, I can only assume that you are Master Shifu, yes?"
"That would be correct." His patience was wearing thin with the stranger. "And you would be?"
"Call me Rahim," the tiger replied with a proper bow and salute. "I am a diplomat from Bombay, you see. I am here on behalf of the East India Trading Company in order to meet with you. Surely you received my request?"
Shifu felt some of the blood drain from his face. In the midst of all his drama with Lin he had completely forgotten the letter requesting a meeting with him. He was mortified at how rudely he'd treated the man. "Ah, yes, of course," he quickly covered up, though he suspected he wasn't fooling the diplomat. "You have arrived... Earlier than I expected." He and Master Oogway had received a number of requests for diplomatic meetings over the years, and it had become so rote to him that he'd let the event slip his mind entirely. Though now that he thought of it, this fellow seemed a bit earlier than he remembered discussing in their correspondence.
"No worries," Rahim accepted with a level of grace and tact that Shifu had become unaccustomed to. "If it pleases you, Master Shifu, I would very much like to discuss our business privately."
"Certainly," he accepted, relieved that he hadn't angered the man. "Right this way." He decided to lead Rahim to his room, since he could prepare tea for the clearly weary man as they spoke. Luckily, he had a staff on hand to clean up whenever Lin made a mess of his room, so it was pristine when they arrived.
Rahim studied a piece of Lin's artwork, her lettering of the word "determination," while Shifu prepared tea on the brazier. His interest seemed unusual for someone who had traveled all this way to discuss urgent business with him.
"That is an excellent piece, isn't it?" He hoped he could at least use this as an opportunity to break the ice.
"Yes," Rahim agreed. "She is a skilled artist."
Shifu nodded along before realizing what he had just heard. "How did you know the artist was a woman?" He had a sinking feeling about this.
"Because I know her," Rahim said calmly, just as Lin burst through the door while shouting "I'm horny!" at the top of her lungs and simultaneously pulling off her pants.
Rahim nodded toward the teapot, unfazed. "Is that almost ready?"
"Get outta the way, Rahim," Lin snapped, pushing past him to climb over the table and into Shifu's lap.
"Lin," Shifu tried to protest, but she had already turned to look over her shoulder.
"What the hell're you doing here?" she asked the tiger, as if he were the one interrupting her conversation.
With a heavy sigh, Shifu picked her up out of his lap and placed her on the cushion beside him. "Put your pants back on."
"Why?" She picked at her teeth with one of her nails, sitting with her legs spread wide open. "He's seen me naked, he knows what I look like."
Rahim said something to her in a language Shifu could not recognize, and though what Lin said back to him sounded like that same language, he could tell that her statement had contained a long string of curses. He nearly had a heart attack, but rather than get offended, the tiger laughed. "I could say the same about you," he teased.
Shifu didn't know whether to be relieved or wary that they'd switched back to Mandarin. "How do you two know each other?"
"We are old friends," Rahim answered, though that could mean a variety of things.
Lin was never one to mince words, though. "Yeah, and we used to fuck for a while," she added. "Until he pissed me off and I slept with all his female relatives."
"What exactly did I ever do to you, aside from offer you my home and my support?" he asked with an indignant sniff.
"You told your brother not to bang me!"
"Well, I believe that was justified!"
"He was hot! I wanted a go at him!"
"He's my brother!"
Shifu cleared his throat to get their attention. He sorely wished this part of the conversation had also been in a language he could not understand. "I would very much like this to end, now."
"My sincerest apologies, Master Shifu," Rahim said sheepishly, bowing his head.
"Oh, so you're nice to him? " Lin nagged. "I ain't seen or heard fromya in over a year!"
"I sent you a letter, it isn't my fault you refused to read it!"
"Your letters're dumb and boring! Learn to write!"
Shifu interrupted their argument again, this time by taking the teapot off the brazier and slamming it down in the middle of the table. "And you say you are a diplomat?" he asked Rahim.
With a frustrated sigh, he gestured to Lin with an upturned palm. "And how do you suggest I use diplomacy with that? "
"Don't call me ' that ,' you underwear streak!"
They devolved into arguing in a foreign language, which Shifu didn't bother to try to stop this time. At least he didn't have to understand what they were saying. Instead, he poured three cups of tea and passed them out while he waited for them to stop yelling insults at each other. And, as he sipped his tea, he watched as Lin started to grin and laugh, and then so too did Rahim. They still sounded like they were insulting each other, but they were clearly enjoying themselves in the process. Then, he watched on in shock and, quite frankly, jealousy as Lin climbed back over the table and into Rahim's waiting arms.
"What is going on?" he finally asked. He did not appreciate the sight of Lin embracing another man while half-naked.
"We ain't seen each other in over a year," Lin whined over her shoulder. "You got a problem with me hugging my friends, now?"
Shifu sipped at his tea and refused to answer. Because this was not quite a comparable circumstance to a friendly hug, but he doubted that argument would go over well with her. So he just watched her cozy up to her ex while pantsless. It was fine. He was fine.
Lin finally climbed out of Rahim's lap to sit inappropriately close to him. Which was also fine. With her legs still wide open.
He cleared his throat and nodded to her. "Lin, perhaps you should at least sit with your legs closed?"
"You don't wanna see my slit, don't look," she replied, then leaned across the table to take his tea from him.
With a sigh, Shifu started drinking from her abandoned cup.
"I am glad you are both here together," Rahim said, as if that exchange had never happened. If he'd known Lin a long time, though, it made sense that she no longer shocked him. "I am here on urgent business, and I had wanted you to hear this, too, Lin."
"What's so urgent?" Lin asked with a snort. "You got another cousin for me to bang?"
"No," he answered witheringly, then paused to clear his throat. "The Valley of Peace is in danger. You , specifically, are in danger."
Lin shrugged. "What else's new?"
"Lin!" Shifu scolded. He could not abide by her flippant attitude when her safety was in question. "Rahim has traveled a long way here to warn us of this! You need to take him seriously." Of course, that only earned him a glare from her.
"I'll thankya not to scold me like a child in fronta my friend. Or ever."
He pinched the bridge of his nose but nodded in agreement. He didn't think this was the time to nitpick such things, but it would move the conversation along more quickly to simply give in.
"I agree with Shifu," Rahim said evenly. "This is not a threat to be taken lightly. It isn't some incompetent drunkard with a grudge we are discussing, here. There is a company of British soldiers on their way here as we speak."
"What's that gotta do with me?" Lin asked.
"They are joined by a chow chow with a deep grudge against you. One Captain Zhengsheng of the Imperial Army."
Lin just stared blankly up at Rahim.
"Captain Zhengsheng ," the tiger repeated with emphasis. "Am I saying that right?"
"I dunno," Lin finally said. "Never heard of him."
Shifu resisted the urge to slam his own head into the table. Of course Lin had no recollection of someone who had literally been so maligned by her that he had tracked her down to the Valley of Peace. "Is there anything else we should worry about?"
"Yes," Rahim answered with a calm sip of his tea. "About ninety-nine wolf bandits."
" What? " Shifu gripped his head and squinted his eyes closed, willing himself not to completely lose his mind. "When-- how -- the only troop of bandits that large would be--"
"Guotin's," Lin answered for him.
Shifu's eyes snapped open and he stared at Lin, his ear twitching. "What?" he asked again.
She ignored him in favor of elbowing Rahim's side. "Well, go on and get the idiot," she ordered.
Rahim muttered something to her in yet another foreign language, which earned him a rude gesture in return, before leaving them in the room alone.
"How do you know Guotin, Bandit King of the North, scourge of the borderlands, and notorious abductor of Lady Lotus Blossom?" Shifu asked as soon as the door shut.
"He saved me one time," Lin answered, avoiding his gaze and instead looking into her teacup. "When I was engaged and my ex tried to-- y'know. And the bandits burned the camp? That was Guotin. One of 'em, anyway. That was when we met."
Shifu had approximately five thousand followup questions, but unfortunately no time in which to ask them. Rahim returned with the one-eyed bandit in question-- along with a second wolf bandit and all three of the Wu Sisters. "I give up," he sighed as they all crowded around the table, the three snow leopards flanking him, while Rahim and Guotin sat on either side of Lin. The younger wolf bandit, who he did not recognize, chose to stand near the door with a stony expression on his face that made more sense than anything else in the room.
"Hey, sweet cheeks," Guotin greeted Lin, slinging an arm around her shoulders.
"You're gonna need to calm that shit right down," Lin replied, thankfully shrugging his arm off. "And explain exactly what this whole circus act's about."
"Circus act?" Wu Bai repeated indignantly. "This is the thanks we get for trying to do the right thing! And not even a kiss hello from our favorite kung fu master."
"I will not be doing that," Shifu informed her stiffly, shuffling as far away from her as possible without bumping into another Wu Sister. So, not far at all.
"Really?" Lin asked, her eyebrows raised. "I'd watch it."
"Lin!"
"Could we perhaps make even the slightest attempt to stay on track?" the young wolf at the doorway finally spoke. "Or would some of us find that too challenging?"
"I shoulda burned down your tent when I had the chance," Lin muttered.
"Lin!" Shifu scolded again, still red from her previous comment. Then he turned his attention to the stranger. "And who might you be, exactly?"
"Boqin," he answered unhelpfully.
"My second-in-command," Guotin added with an unwarranted amount of pride. Then he paused and scratched his chin. "Huh. I guess he's my only-in-command, now."
"I cannot believe you commanded one hundred men." Shifu knew that wasn't the most productive thing to say, but he couldn't hold it in.
"That's what I said," Boqin agreed. "But stranger things have happened."
"Hey! I'm the one who promotedya!" Guotin whined.
"In any case, we are here because Captain Zhengsheng managed to bribe all of our compatriots into joining him and the East India Trading company."
"Which is here in the first place to attack the Valley of Peace in a show of force," Rahim said. "So they may pressure the Emperor into allowing the international trade of opium."
"And the Captain joined them because it was an easy way to get to this one," Wu Zhin finished flatly, pointing at Lin.
Lin furrowed her brow and looked around the room for a moment. "Really? Me?"
"Yes, you."
They all paused as they waited for some details about why this Captain was so bent on vengeance against Lin, but she shrugged. "Don't know him."
Several groans of frustration filled the room.
"Wait," Shifu said as he remembered a morning that now felt like a lifetime ago. "A captain of the Imperial Army-- a chow-chow-- Lin, could this be that same Captain whose house you burnt down? The one who attacked us at that inn on the way to Shanghai?"
"Maybe," she said maddeningly. "Dunno. Can't really picture him."
"I might kill her, even without the money," Bai grumbled.
"Wait-- money? " Shifu turned to Zhin, the known leader of the Wu Sisters.
She sighed heavily, glaring at Bai before coming clean. "Captain Zhengsheng hired us to assassinate your friend, here. However, he never paid in full, so we canceled the contract."
"He also tried to kill us," Wu Qiang added. "Which I thought was a deal-breaker, whether he paid us or not."
"Huh," Lin said, tapping on the table as she thought. "This guy really hates me. Too bad I never met him."
"You have clearly met him!" Shifu snapped before regaining his composure.
"Don't worry, sweetie," Guotin reassured Lin in a tone of voice that was too flirtatious for Shifu's taste. "I won't let him getya."
Lin rolled her eyes at him. "Okay," she agreed skeptically, then turned to Rahim. "What're we looking at with this invasion force, numbers wise?"
"About two-hundred," the tiger said grimly. "With muskets."
"That complicates things," Shifu admitted. He and his students could easily take on two hundred warriors with swords or spears, even with arrows-- but muskets made for a much more dangerous foe. He had been up against guns and cannons before, and sadly many of his comrades had fallen to them. "We should evacuate the village, to be safe."
"They don't got a militia?" Lin asked, her eyebrows shooting up. "With all the attacks you get here?"
"We do not get attacked that often!" he snapped. "And for your information, the whole point of kung fu masters living in this valley is to protect these people! They have never needed a militia!"
"Yeah, I'm sure making an entire population totally dependent on you was for the best," she shot back.
"These are not violent people! They came here in search of peace! That is why it is called The Valley of Peace! "
"Oy, this's gonna be a lotta work," she sighed, as if what he'd said hadn't even registered with her. "I'm gonna need lunch before we get into this."
" We are not getting into anything," Shifu ground out from between clenched teeth. " You are to stay out of this, for your own protection, because you are a known target of this attack!"
"Aww, ain't that cute?" Guotin interrupted their bickering, placing a hand over his heart. "He's worried aboutya, sweetie."
"That's because we're fucking," Lin snapped, which caused an awkward silence that she tore through with her usual abandon. "And I ain't staying outta shit . I've been to war before, and I'll go to war again to help protect this valley. It's my home, too! You don't like it, then lock me up with Tai Lung!"
Shifu found that he could not argue with her passion. He hadn't realized Lin had come to care so deeply for the Valley of Peace, or regard it as her home.
"Wait," Guotin said, ruining the moment. "Seriously? There's no way this old timer's better in bed 'an me."
Shifu nearly choked at that realization, but he managed to keep his composure. Barely.
"Quit digressing," Lin ordered, thankfully remaining on task. "Listen, Shifu, I think we should form a militia. Sure, you could evacuate the village, but then what if we all die? What happens to those evacuees?"
"I..." Shifu hated to think about that scenario, but Lin did have a point. "There are other kung fu masters who could come here to aid them."
Lin looked at him like a stern teacher trying to impart an important lesson on their student. "Oh yeah? So you're telling me you and your students ain't the most powerful warriors in the country?"
He sighed heavily. "We are," he admitted.
"So how would they succeed where you failed?"
"How would a civilian militia succeed where we failed?" he asked in return.
"They'd have a chance at surviving on their own, at least," she replied sternly. "I know peace is supposed to be a way of life for these people, but I also know these people. They don't wanna lose their homes without a fight. They don't wanna feel helpless when you're not around to save 'em. The best thing we can do for everyone who lives here is give them the tools they need to save themselves. 'Cause one day, that might be their only option."
The whole room had quieted and listened as Lin spoke, and even without knowing her past it was clear that she was speaking from experience.
"That was real moving, sweetie," Guotin finally said. He sounded unexpectedly choked up. Boqin rolled his eyes behind his boss's back.
"Alright, we will instate and train a militia with what little time we have," Shifu agreed heavily. He had no reason to argue further with Lin.
"Guotin and Boqin got experience in training civilians to fight, and Rahim's diplomatic experience'll be helpful," Lin reasoned. "The three of 'em and me can take that on while you all prepare for battle."
"That is amenable," Shifu agreed. "And you three--" He turned to look at the Wu Sisters, who now seemed much more serious about their talk. "You will debrief my students on the situation. We can decide a training schedule from there."
"That sounds like as good a plan as any," Zhin agreed on behalf of her comrades.
"How much time do we have?"
Their guests all looked at each other, each one with a depressingly uncertain frown. "About a week," Boqin finally informed them. "Give or take a day or two. We made good time here, but we weren't far ahead of those troops to begin with."
Shifu nodded grimly at the intel. Only a week's time to prepare his students to go up against soldiers with muskets. And he still needed to decide what to do with Tai Lung, who remained imprisoned beneath the Jade Palace. Not to mention Lin insisted on being part of this battle, and given her reckless nature he was already worried for her safety. "I think I need some more tea."
Lin seemed to sense his worry. "I left wine under your bed if you'd rather have that."
He decided not to question her version of comforting him. "I think I will save that for later."
"Break for lunch," Lin said with the forceful voice she used while waitressing. "Reconvene here in the evening."
"That long?" He didn't like the idea of letting known criminals wander about the valley unsupervised for hours at a time.
"Ample time to process and brainstorm," Lin replied, slapping her hand down on the table. "And time for us to talk. Now the rest ofya, get out before I makeya." That did not sound good. At all.
"Aww, we don't get to visit?" Guotin asked, leaning over Lin with a leering smile. Luckily, Boqin yanked him to his feet and ushered him out of the room.
"Please tell your students not to arrest us," Qiang said brightly before she and her sisters left as well.
Rahim glanced between Shifu and Lin, but made no move to give them alone time as Lin had requested. He asked Lin something in that foreign language they spoke together, and she looked thoughtful a moment before shaking her head. With that, he stood and bowed to Shifu. "Master Shifu. It was an interesting experience to meet you." He gave Shifu a long, meaningful glare before leaving. Yet another bad sign.
Shifu awkwardly cleared his throat. "You wanted to talk?"
"'Talk' was code for 'have sex,'" Lin replied with a shrug.
"What-- now? "
"Now," she said forcefully before climbing over the table to pin him down. "I need to blow off steam. Don't you?"
He normally liked it when Lin pinned him down and had her way with him, but this was a little too sudden. "I need some time, I think." He sat up, steadying Lin with a hand on her back to avoid knocking her over. "I am frightened for you, Lin. Someone who wants you dead badly enough to join a battalion of enemy soldiers is on their way here as we speak. And you can be..." He paused, wincing as he tried to think of a phrasing that wouldn't cause Lin to scream in his face. "...A tad reckless."
"Tch," Lin replied irritably, but stayed in his lap. "I can handle it."
"Aren't you frightened?" he pushed. "At all?"
With a long sigh, Lin finally nodded. "I mean, duh . But the kindsa people I piss off like this, they're the kind who need someone standing up to 'em. And I'm the one who pisses 'em off, so I'm the one who does the standing up. This time's no different. D'you understand?"
"I do," he admitted reluctantly. "But I still worry about you."
She surprised him by smiling softly at him. "I know."
Shifu hid his blush by pulling Lin into a tight embrace and burying his face in her shoulder, but he had a feeling that wouldn't work on her.
"Oh, Shifu," she said softly, kissing his temple. "I really crapped the bed on this one, huh?"
He snorted into her shoulder at her inelegant wording before leaning back to look her in the eye. "I don't care. I'll do everything I can to help you. And even though you don't want me handling anything for you, I will at least have your back."
"That's perfect," she accepted, then kissed him so sweetly he thought his heart might explode.
"I love you so much," he told her as soon as they parted. "You are the love of my life, and even if you never say it back I am going to tell you every single day."
Lin looked at him with her nose wrinkled ever so slightly in that way she did when she wanted to say something but was holding back. He waited for her, but instead of speaking she ducked her head to look down between them.
"Lin?"
"I'm just wondering when you're gonna get hard," she finally said, though she lacked her usual gusto when saying something crass to him.
"Never," he answered, but she didn't even bother bantering with him. He supposed this serious mood that has overtaken her was as good an opportunity as any to bring up what Tai Lung had told him. "I have something important to speak to you about."
"Jeez, even after all that?" she asked.
"Tai Lung told me about his visions. All of them."
Lin stared at him.
"Did you hear me?"
"Yeah, I heard," she snapped. "I thought I askedya not to bring that up with him."
"What does it matter?" Shifu asked, frustrated that she was focusing on entirely the wrong aspect of this news. "He is already imprisoned!"
Lin recoiled at his harsh words, but he stopped her before she could get up.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly, taking her hands in his. "It is a difficult thing for both of us. But I needed to ask him about those visions. And I need to tell you that... That he was not truthful with you."
Her eyes looked watery at that confession. "What?"
Shifu almost backtracked, she sounded so heartbroken. But she needed to know the truth. "Tai Lung hid some of his visions from you."
"I... I thought we didn't have any secrets. Not when it was just us two." She sniffed wetly and looked away.
He felt a little awkward hearing Lin talk about his son this way, but he had known they were close. "Uhm. I don't know what to say. I know you are hurt."
"Whatever," Lin grumbled with another sniff. "It's not like it matters now."
"It does matter. All of it matters!" He wished he could articulate more clearly, because he didn't seem to be getting through to her. "You could not have understood the meaning of those visions if you didn't have the whole story. I do . We could--"
"No," Lin interrupted with a level of finality that surprised him.
"But--"
"I don't wanna hear it," she said.
"This was your whole life up until a few days ago!"
"And now it's not! And if there's anything left to know, I wanna hear from Tai Lung, not from you!"
He grabbed hold of Lin's hands to stop her from yet another attempt to get up an walk away from him. "Are you planning to speak to Tai Lung, then?" After how she'd reacted to his attack on Tigress, he hadn't expected this. As surprised as he was, he couldn't mask the hopefulness in his voice.
Lin paused, avoiding his gaze, then finally nodded. "Eventually. I guess."
Shifu kissed her, well aware how far physical affection went toward comforting her. "I will be here for you when you are ready."
"Jeez," she grumbled, blushing. "Fine. Whatever."
He suppressed a smile at her response. He had noticed that such stilted replies were Lin's default reaction when he did something right.
"I will be happy to discuss those visions with you when you are ready, as well," he added, which earned him an eye roll.
"Calm down," she said, then yanked on his mustache until he kissed her again. "Okay, I'm done talking about this. I'm hungry and I still ain't got laid, so which're we doing? Eating in or eating out?"
"Ew."
Lin laughed in his face at his reaction, and he finally relaxed. He had been worried that she would spiral downwards at the mention of Tai Lung, so this recovery was a good sign. "I believe you mentioned it was time for lunch."
"Man, you're too good at turning me down for sex," she complained. "It's likeya don't wanna or something!"
"Imagine such an outlandish state of being," he replied sarcastically, which earned him another laugh.
"Okay, okay, I get it."
"Perhaps you should spend some time with your... Friend." He winced as he spoke. He and Lin had very different definitions of that word, but he would trust her. Or try to.
Of course, Lin picked up on his hesitance and pounced on it immediately. "What's that about? You don't like Rahim?"
"I have nothing against Rahim," he said evenly. This was an incredibly awkward conversation to have with Lin in his lap pantsless, but now she refused to move. "It is just... Well, he is quite attractive. And you've... Been with him."
"So?"
"So, I know we are not exclusive, but..." He trailed off, blushing. He knew he sounded like an insecure boy, but he had still brought this up. "But I worry, sometimes, that you will choose someone else over me."
Lin scoffed at him, which he should have expected. "Rahim is a fluorescent moron," she replied. "And definitely on my list of shame bangs, never to be repeated. Not that you'd believe me."
"I believe you!" he protested, though he had to admit he sounded strained. "It is just... Really? I find that hard to believe, considering how good-looking he is."
"Then you fuck him, ifya think he's so hot," she snapped.
"I am straight."
"Sure," she said flatly.
"I am!"
"Straight as the Yangtze."
"I am not going to have this argument with you." He rubbed at his temples in an attempt to ward off one of Lin's signature headaches. "I like women. I am not going to sleep with your ex. Even if I did have some distant, purely hypothetical attraction to men--" He paused to glare at Lin for her skeptical snort-- "I would never sleep with your ex. That is weird."
"Not even a threesome?" Of course Lin would ask that.
"What happened to 'never to be repeated'?" He asked in return.
Lin had the nerve to shrug. "A threesome's different. I can just pawn him off onto you and watchya get dicked down. Which, by the way, is on my wish list--"
"I'm done," he announced loudly. The last thing he needed to listen to right now was one of her perverted fantasies.
Lin laughed at him so hard that she fell back onto the table, and he didn't bother stopping her. She hadn't been quite so quick to laughter lately, and seeing her like this was a relief. Her laugh filled the whole room, and likely echoed across the mountain.
"I've missed that laugh," Shifu told her, reaching out to take her hand.
"Yeah, well. If I don't laugh, I'll cry. And I'm sick of crying all the time."
He felt that sentiment deep in his bones, especially after Tai Lung's second betrayal. "Do you need to talk?"
"Nah," Lin answered. "I don't wanna talk. Or think. That's why I wanted sex." At least she was being honest.
"I don't support your use of sex to avoid your emotions," he replied. "And so you are not going to get any from me."
"Rahim it is, then."
"Wha--"
"I'm just teasing you!"
With an irritated grunt, Shifu helped her sit back up. "That kind of teasing only works for people who are monogamous with each other," he pointed out.
Lin at least had the good manners to look uncomfortable. "Okay, okay," she grumbled. "I get it. Not that I thinkya got any moral high ground whatsoever."
"And while we are on the subject-- Guotin? Really? "
"Hey, he's a sweet guy!"
"Sweet?" he repeated incredulously. "He is a murderous bandit!"
"Yep, and he murdered this pussy. We done yet?"
"Ew! And no!"
Lin let out an annoyed snort. "What else is there to say?"
"Plenty! For instance, when did you even have time to get together with Guotin , of all people?"
"Since when's that any of your business?" she asked scathingly.
He opened his mouth to argue with her, then paused when the realization hit him that she was right.
"B'sides, it's not likeya ever told me about any of your relationships!" she added. "You know way more about me 'an I know about you, so what makesya think you can keep demanding this shit?"
"You are right," he conceded before she could get going into a full-blown rant.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yes."
"Okay then," Lin said awkwardly, clearly unprepared for their conversation to not end in a fight.
He knew this offer would probably come back to bite him in the butt, yet he felt like it was the right thing to do if he wanted to earn Lin's trust back. "Would you like me to tell you? About my other relationships, that is." He could barely get the words out, he was so embarrassed simply by asking. He hoped this was not what he had subjected Lin to when he had asked her similar questions.
Lin raised her eyebrows at his offer. "Yeah," she accepted. "But later. I should probably have lunch with Rahim, and I'm guessing this'll be a pretty long conversation."
"Yes." He paused to cover his discomfort with a cough. It most definitely did not work.
"I'm not gonna judge," she said, more gently than he would have expected. "Everybody's got a past, y'know?"
"Mine is a bit, um... Questionable." He hated admitting that, but he hoped Lin would understand.
She gave him a skeptical smile. "Okay," she said, as though she thought he was exaggerating. Knowing how much their definitions of "questionable" differed, she probably thought he meant something totally benign. "Then again, you coming after me when we first met was most definitely questionable."
"Yes, yes, I remember."
"Extremely pervy."
"I know."
"Problematic on every level--"
"I get it!" Shifu interrupted.
Lin giggled and kissed him. "I like it whenya get annoyed. Want a quickie?"
"No." Shifu kissed her back, suppressing an amused smile. "Go have lunch."
"Yes, Dad ."
"Don't call me that."
"What about Daddy?"
"Get the hell out of here."
Lin kissed him one more time before slinging her pants over her shoulder and running off. He watched her go, pleased to see her mood improving, though the weight of Tai Lung's second betrayal and their upcoming battle hung heavy over him. Right now, though, he found himself preoccupied with whether or not Lin would ever put her pants back on.
Lin left Shifu to his angst and set out in search of lunch. Not that she didn't care about his angst. But she couldn't even deal with her own angst right now, let alone someone else's. And her feelings for Shifu had been getting more confusing the more he tried to be nice to her. She was starting to think it would be best to just shut that whole thing down.
She found Rahim talking to Guotin outside of the Jade Palace, and narrowed her eyes at the scene. "I can't believe you two're friends," she said skeptically as she approached.
"I know, right?" Guotin agreed.
"We're not friends," Rahim said at the same time.
"Hey, you used to say the same thing!" Guotin elbowed her and laughed good-naturedly. That was one of the things Lin liked about Guotin-- it wasn't that he didn't know when he was being insulted, it was that he didn't care . "So what're we eating for lunch? Sweet potatoes?"
"Wolf meat," Lin answered, then punched him in the stomach.
He doubled over and wheezed out, "Good one."
"How did I anticipate a total lack of change on your part?" Rahim asked flatly, though he didn't seem concerned for Guotin.
"You're just annoyed 'cause you're too wimpy for roughhousing."
"Yeah," Guotin wheezed in agreement.
"Oh?" Rahim asked casually. "Do you roughhouse with Shifu?"
Lin punched him in the stomach, too. "There, nowya match." She wasn't about to let him get away with a comment like that.
"Hate--" Rahim coughed out as he crumpled to the ground, "--you." He topped it off with some melodramatic gagging.
"Wow, that was worse 'an me," Guotin commented as he straightened up and stretched out his back. "You gonna be okay, buddy?"
"Hate you, too," Rahim grumbled.
"What a big, delicate baby you are." Lin gave him a pat on the head, which he only endured because he was too busy clutching his stomach and groaning to swat her away. "Anyway, go have lunch with your lady friends, Guotin. Rahim and I got some private business to discuss."
"You are my lady friend," he argued.
"Not anymore." She poked him in the spot she'd punched as a warning. "I ain't coming back for seconds."
Guotin waggled his eyebrows at her. "You mean thirds ."
She poked a little harder. "Watch it. Now get."
Of course, Guotin had always like to push a little further than he should. So it didn't surprised her when he asked, "What's Shifu got that I don't, huh?"
"A less whiny voice." She wasn't about to have a discussion about her love life with him, especially when her stomach was starting to grumble.
"That's harsh," Guotin complained, but finally backed off. "A'right, I'll head out, then. One last kiss for the road?"
"In your dreams, bonehead."
"And what sweet dreams they'll surely be," he flirted, then blew her a kiss before leaving. She couldn't lie, she did always like his sweet-talking.
"That man has a brain condition," Rahim commented from the ground.
"And you're about to ifya don't get up," Lin threatened, hovering her foot over the tiger's head.
"Har har," Rahim said sarcastically, then pushed her foot out of the way to stand up. "Your unpleasant demeanor won't deter me."
"From?"
"Asking how you are."
"Ew."
"I had expected such a response." He straightened out his clothes and fussed with his whiskers, despite the fact that neither would help out his appearance much without a bath and some laundry.
"C'mon, let's get some eats, it's on me." She might as well take advantage of Ping's employee discount (as in, not having to tip as long as she served herself). And as sick as she was of noodles at this point, they were still the best noodles in the world.
"It's on you?" Rahim asked incredulously. "As in, you will pay with your own money? For me? "
"Keep it up ifya wanna get another gut punch."
He flinched at just the mention of a punch, which she couldn't help but laugh at. "Violent abuse, such a hilarious topic for all involved."
"Only when you're the target," she teased, which he took with nothing more than an annoyed grimace.
"Let's perhaps discuss something other than causing me bodily injury," he offered. "Tell me more about the Valley of Peace. What is there to do and see here?"
"Well, we're about to eat at the best restaurant here, where I happen to work."
"Ah, I see, you are only treating me because you get a discount."
"Shut up and listen." She poked him in the side, which caused another massive flinch.
She spent the rest of their trip down to Ping's talking up the Valley to him, pointing out vendors and shops she liked along the way. It was the tail end of the lunch rush by the time they arrived, but they still got lucky with a table.
Lin placed a bowl of noodles in front of Rahim, then sat down with her own lunch at their corner table, aware of the stares the bengal tiger was attracting with his foreign clothes, large stature, and general orange-ness. She did her best to ignore them, just this once, instead of screaming at them to stop being rude to her friend.
"Okay, before we discuss anything else," he rushed out before she could say anything, and she knew exactly what was coming, "I just want to say that I consider myself a very understanding and accepting individual."
"You are," she lied, waiting for the hammer to fall.
"But this is creepy, even for you." And there it was. "The resemblance is uncanny!"
Lin rubbed at her forehead, aware of how it looked. "Al was the one who looked like him , not the other way around," she explained. "Shifu came first. B'sides, it's how I met Al in the first place."
Rahim's eyebrows shot up. "What?"
"I mistook him for Shifu," Lin said. "'Cause it was night and it was dark. So I chased him down. That's how we met."
"Why did I not know this part of the story?"
"I didn't want anyone to know, that's why."
"Because it's gross," Rahim concluded with a rounded nod, his head moving side-to-side. "Yes, I see now. You're disgusting."
"Oh, shut the hell up," Lin snapped, then threw a bean bun at his head. She must have gotten used to kung fu masters, because she was a little surprised when he failed to dodge.
Rahim picked up the bean bun from where it had bounced off his forehead and landed on the table, sniffing it. "In all seriousness, once I became accustomed to the resemblance, it was not quite so close. But you most definitely have a type." Instead of returning the bun to her, he ate it in one bite. This was their rule: anything edible she threw at him was forfeit. It was how they had gotten through a fair number of heated arguments. Eventually, Rahim got too full to keep fighting with her, and she got too hungry to keep giving up her meal.
"Yeah, yeah," Lin accepted with a wave of her hand. "I know. I like 'em chubby with big ears, so sue me."
"The personality was a bit jarring," he added. "The man is like a hemorrhoid wrapped in a thorn bush and then set aflame."
"Hey, that's a good analogy," she complimented. "I gotta remember that."
Rahim finally tried a spoonful of his noodle soup, his eyes widening as he tasted it. "Hey, this is delicious!"
"Yeah, yeah, the soup's great," she dismissed. "So what're you doing here, anyway?"
"I came to rescue you from the giant head with legs," he replied without missing a beat. "You know you can always go back to having sex with me, right?"
"I know that's not the real reason you're here," she huffed, crossing her arms. "And I got him trained way better'n you ever were by now."
"Ew," he commented with a wrinkled nose before taking another sip of soup. "Well, I am here for the reasons I stated in our little meeting. You don't believe me?"
"It's not likeya to drop everything and cross a continent just to help someone out," Lin said, watching him carefully for a reaction. "I can't help wondering if there's something else."
Rahim stared down into his soup, refusing to meet her gaze.
"Well?"
"I felt I owed it to you," he finally said, then squared his shoulders. He seemed to shake off whatever melancholy had overtaken him just then, instead speaking to her as casually as usual. "I wanted to do the right thing for once. Because of you, and because of Al."
"Hm," she grunted, unsure how to feel about that. "So, what, you wouldn't bother if it weren't for Al?"
"That isn't it," he argued. "It was a motivation, but I still would have come. For you."
She couldn't help herself. The joke was right there. "It wouldn't be the first time you've come for me-- hey!" She ducked out of the way when he splashed some noodle broth at her. "You're just a crepe-skinned snowflake, aren'tya?"
"I am not crepe-skinned," he said with a glare. "I happen to have quite youthful skin, as you well know."
Lin rolled her eyes at him.
Rahim let out an annoyed snort, but busied himself with his soup instead of arguing with her. "So tell me, how serious are things with your old flame?"
"We're not in a real relationship," she replied without hesitation. "He's an asshole and I hate him."
"Oh, I see."
She didn't like the smug note in his voice. "You see what? "
"Nothing," he said lightly. "This is just very like you, that is all."
"Hey!" she snapped, annoyed by his know-it-all attitude. "It's not like I didn't try! He's the one who threw me out for having a kid!"
Rahim chewed on his noodles a bit, regarding her coolly. Then, he swallowed. "You're too old to get pregnant."
"I know that, you rube." She wished she had another bean bun to toss at his head. "I meant, I had a kid years ago and she came looking for me, so Shifu found out about it and had a goddamn tantrum."
"Huh." He set his spoon down. "You have a child?"
"She's grown now," Lin dismissed. "And it's not like I raised her. But yeah, I technically have a child in the sense that I birthed her."
"Huh," he repeated, then picked his spoon back up. "You have a child. An adult child."
"I get it, you're surprised," she grumbled. "Anyway, you'll probably meet Gia at some point soon. She hangs around me a lot."
Rahim played with his noodles as if he were only half-listening, but Lin knew him well enough to know that was not the case. "Gia? That's what you named the kid?"
"What, you don't like it?"
"I thought you had a sister named Gia."
"She was the good one," she reminded him. "B'sides, Gia's a name in China, too-- I mean, it's spelled differently in roman characters, but who the hell reads roman characters around here? Anyway, I figured it covered the bases in case she wanted to come here."
He furrowed his brow at her. "So you knew she might show up here, yet you're still surprised that she... Showed up here?"
"I wasn't expecting her to show up here! I wasn't even expecting me to show up here until a few years ago!"
"Alright, I surrender," Rahim said, pushing his lunch aside. "No need to yell at me."
Lin crossed her arms and glared at him.
"Don't sulk. It's unbecoming on a woman your age."
"Eat my ass."
"I'll take a rain check." He tried to place a couple of yuan on the table, but Lin waved him off.
"I toldya I work here, I'll just have it taken outta my pay," she said. "I oweya one for dragging your big orange butt all the way here, anyway."
"And now, thanks to your generous gift of noodles, we are even," he said sarcastically.
"Shut up and follow me." If they were going to do this catching up thing properly, then she might as well show him her house.
"Where to?"
"Shut up and I'll showya." Lin led him out of the restaurant and through town, past the pines, through the field of tall grass, to the lake. "Get on the punt."
"This feels suspiciously like an execution," he grumbled, dropping down to all fours to shakily board the punt. "What is that shack out on the lake? Is that where you dump the bodies?"
"Not anymore," Lin said, then pushed them off before Rahim had a chance to second-guess their trip. "I live there."
"You live there," he repeated flatly.
"Yeah! Shut up, you'll see."
"Help!" he shouted across the lake, earning him a jab with her pole. "And, once more, I am a victim of kidnapping."
"You're a victim of stupidity, more like." When they reached the rocky island, Lin dragged him up to her little yard and gestured to everything around them. "Take it in!"
"Never."
"I own this house, Rahim," she said, dropping into her hammock. "I own it! Didya ever think, in a million years, I'd ever get to have my own house? 'Cause I sure never did. I never thought I would."
He watched her, smiling at the pride in her eyes. "I never thought so, either."
She punched him in the arm, then laughed as tears formed in her eyes.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she replied nasally, wiping at her face. "It's just, I never thought I'd feel this way about a thing . It's just a pile of wood. I never thought I could love an object so much. I kinda understand, now, why Al fought so hard to keep that dusty old house of his."
"Perhaps it isn't the house itself that you are so enamored of," he suggested, "but what it represents to you. You have achieved a dream, one of independence, which you spent so long striving for. You've reached a goal that you'd thought unattainable. It is only natural to want to cling to it, with all your might."
"Man, you really got a way with words."
"I like to think so, yes."
She couldn't believe she'd gotten so worked up over showing him her house. But she deserved to get excited for it. She deserved to be proud. "Wanna see the inside?"
"Ideally, yes," he replied. "Before the frostbite sets in, at the very least."
"You're such a wimp." She led him inside and lit her brazier so he wouldn't get too chilled.
Rahim paused inside the house, his eyes narrowing. "There's so much hair all over the place," he said, the judgment coming off of him in waves. "Agh, your pillows are covered in it! Don't you ever clean?"
"I make other people do that for me," Lin dismissed.
"Of course." He poked at her crate table with his foot, leaning away from it when the contents inside rattled.
"You're such a delicate little asshole."
"I am not delicate, I simply have normal standards of living." He glanced at her bed and shuddered. "The mural is nice, I will give you that."
"You can stay with me, ifya want," Lin offered. "Sinceya let me stay with you."
"Oh, goodie," Rahim said flatly.
"Fine, sleep in the street."
"I assume I would be welcome at the Jade Palace."
"Ehhhh." Lin waved her hand in the air to indicate there was a possiblity that wouldn't hold true. "Shifu knows we've banged. He's not exactly emotionally stable about that kinda thing."
"Fantastic."
"We can be roomies again!"
"I would have preferred the execution."
Lin punched him in the butt, which elicited a yowl that Rahim would be furious about anyone but her hearing.
"Don't touch me, you troglodite!" he snapped, clutching at his butt like he was about to poop himself. "This is why I can't stand living with you!"
She laughed, happy to see he still reacted to her jabs the same as always. Then, she grabbed a bottle of wine from inside her little crate and waved it in his face. "You sure about that?"
"Never mind, all is forgiven," he replied calmly, snatching the bottle from her hands.
"That's what I thought." Lin laid out a couple of pillows to sit on, snorting when Rahim insisted on brushing his off first. "So I'm guessing you're gonna pry some more. Ifya share that wine, I'll letya."
"Very well." He drank some first, then handed the bottle to her. "Tell me more about this non-relationship with Shifu. You were together, and then you broke up?"
"He abandoned me," she corrected, taking a long swig of wine. "It was all very dramatic. I ended up getting my job at the restaurant and staying with my boss for a while."
"Yikes."
"I agree!" She slammed the bottle down on the table, annoyed at the memory of it all. "And then he acted like nothing ever happened!"
"Double yikes."
"Yeah!" Then she started to feel a little bad, like she didn't want Rahim to hate Shifu. But she did want him on her side. Just not... Against Shifu. She drank some more wine to deal with that internal conflict. "I mean, he eventually figured it out. That he was a shitstain. Now he's trying to be nice and get me back and stuff."
"And it is clearly not working, even a little bit," Rahim said sarcastically.
"Shut up, you! You've been in the Valley for five minutes, you don't know my life."
"Uhuh." He nudged her with his foot. "So, do you really still sleep with him, then?"
Lin let out a long sigh. "Yeah," she admitted. "We make, I dunno... What's the opposite of sweet love?"
"Salty indifference," he answered decisively.
"Yeah, that."
"I've made a lot of salty indifference in my life, and my hookups and I have never once looked at each other the way you two do." Rahim punctuated his smug judgment with a pull from her wine bottle. "I have seen what you're like when you are in love. This is it."
"Fuck you." Lin stole the bottle from his hand and finished it off. "You don't get to decide my feelings!"
"No, I do not. I am only observing."
"I swear to God, ifya pull out your diplomat voice right now I'll slap your balls so hard they fly into the sun and get incinerated."
"That is not physically possible and you know it."
"Wanna find out?" she threatened, but he only shrugged back at her.
"I want to find out what is going on here. With you. There seems to be much you have yet to tell me."
" I have yet to tell you? " she repeated mockingly.
"Stop deflecting and get to the juicy bits," he replied. "And get more wine while you're at it."
"Don't boss me around!" Lin snapped, but she still pulled another bottle out of her table for them. "And I'm only tellingya all this 'cause we're friends, andya came all this way for me, apparently."
"Apparently."
She grunted back at him, started on the new bottle of wine, and dove into the story of the last few months of her life. It was a lot to tell, after all, and their time wasn't exactly unlimited. Rahim nodded blandly and asked the occasional leading question, but for the most part didn't react especially strongly to anything. Not that she told him the whole story-- getting into the details of the visions Tai Lung had been seeing was a bit much. But he'd already known about her attempted suicide, and most of her past, so not much was news to him. He still seemed a little weird out by her having had a kid, but she couldn't blame him there. She was still weirded out by it, and she'd already had decades to get over it.
"I see," Rahim said when the tale was done. The sun had begun to set by then, and she knew they would have to return to the Jade Palace soon. But she still waited for his input, which she knew could sometimes come at an excruciatingly slow pace. "You encountered some sort of ocean spirit."
"Yep."
"And you had visions from a deceased kung fu master."
"That's correct."
"And this man you were helping to reform, he betrayed you."
"Yeah, that just happened."
"And you are in love with the large-headed marmoset."
"I dunno," Lin replied, frowning. "I can't figure out how I feel."
"I was not asking. I was telling."
"Sounds to me like you're asking for my fist up your ass."
"You are disgustingly in love with that man, and it is plain as day to everyone around you. Or at least it is to me, and no one else should count anyway." Rahim topped off his offensive statement with a dainty sip of wine, the smug asshole.
Lin crossed her arms and glared at Rahim, but he was too used to her to back down. "Fine," she grumbled. "Fine! Fine! What'm I supposed to do, huh? Just forget all the messed up shit he put me through? Forget about all the shit on my plate? And then what? What about when Al's birthday or our anniversary rolls around, and I fall apart over another man who isn't even here? What then?"
"Lin," Rahim said. "Your grief and your rage are not all that matter in this situation. You must make the effort to look beyond them."
"Rahim."
"Yes?"
"Blow me." She yanked the wine from his hand and stood up. "Now get off your lazy ass, it's time to go back."
"Were we not meant to brainstorm or strategize or some such before reconvening?" he asked with way too much attitude for someone who had repeatedly failed to even bring up the topic, let alone stay on it.
Lin scoffed and gave him a nudge to get him moving. "Yeah, but you're too invested in my love life to do that, so here we are."
"Guilty as charged," he accepted easily before following her.
"You're drunk, aren'tya?" She wasn't used to being the one to make that accusation. Which was probably an indication of a deeper problem in her life, but she wasn't about to address that anytime soon.
"Perhaps a touch," he slurred.
"Lightweight."
"I have been through quite a lot since we have last crossed paths, so I will thank you to shelve the attitude."
"I got so much to say about that phrasing. But first, why dontchya even us out and tell me your story while we walk?" She could use some time to stop focusing so much on her own problems.
Notes:
A/N: I did it! I finished this chapter! OMG! It's been quite a year. My workplace unionized (wooo!) and I helped with organizing, became a shop steward, and am now on the negotiations committee for next year's contract. So yeah, workplace organizing has become my main, most time-consuming hobby hehehe. I still managed to find time to write slowly and painstakingly. Yay! Maybe I should just write shorter chapters.
Anyway, the title for this chapter is a South African proverb. I honestly cannot recall any other references, but if you spot one you will be granted one wish. What's up next? Good stuff! No spoilers! It will almost definitely not get posted until 2023! See you then, thanks for all the views and comments.
Chapter 35: The Belly is the Giver of Genius
Notes:
Content warning: Hi all! I'm here at the beginning of a chapter once again to warn you that this installment will contain discussion of suicide/suicidal ideation. Please take care of yourself and don't read if it's too triggering for you!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Shifu hadn't expected news of an approaching invasion and the temporary amnesty he was extending to their less law-abiding guests to go over well. Yet somehow he still found himself surprised by the stress headache he formed as his students all began shouting at him at once. The barracks kitchen had better acoustics than he'd anticipated.
"Wait, what? Really? No way. No way! " was Po's reaction, and honestly the most inoffensive of all of them.
"Master, you cannot sincerely expect us to trust the Wu Sisters -- or any bandits whatsoever!" Tigress questioning his judgment was nothing new to him at this point, but it still stung.
"This is insane! How the hell're we supposed to do this?" Mantis seemed to be reading his mind.
"I can't deal with all this shouting!" Crane shouted.
"I just refilled my almond cookies! I'm not sharing with a bunch of criminals!" Monkey's priorities needed addressing, which was... Not surprising, honestly.
Viper shocked him most of all, though. "If you think I'm sharing the barracks with Wu Qiang of all people, after what she did, you've got another thing coming!" All eyes turned to her at that proclamation. "What? I can have exes!"
"Enough!" Shifu managed to get some quiet from the group for a few precious moments as he glared at them. "These are extenuating circumstances. And regardless of any personal feelings-- which we'll discuss later, Viper-- we must do everything in our power to protect the citizens of this valley. Right now, we need all the help we can get, and our guests have offered that help. I accepted because we cannot afford to turn it down. Our opponents will be well armed, and they will be ready and willing to fight to the death." He paused, his eye twitching, as the five outlaws in question all filed into the kitchen together.
While there were no seats left at the table, Guotin had no qualms about heading straight to the stove to open up Po's pot of noodles and give it a sniff. "We get lunch, too, right?"
Tigress slammed her fist into the table, glaring daggers at the wolf. "You are lucky you haven't been locked up yet."
Shifu held up his hand for calm before any squabbling could break out. "We are going to have to work together," he reminded her. "If you cannot be friendly, I understand. But at least try to maintain some composure."
"I don't mind so much," Guotin said, ever dedicated to being as unhelpful as possible. "I like it when women're mean to me."
Tigress looked ready to kill, but Po's hand on her shoulder seemed to calm her.
"Shall we discuss our opponents?" Wu Zhin jumped in, sensing the opportunity. "We've had some professional dealings with one in particular who worries me. And yes , Qiang, you can have some noodles."
"Oh, good," Qiang said with a relieved sigh.
"Ah, yes." Shifu relaxed a bit now that Po had decided to show some hospitality by getting up to serve their unusual guests. "Captain Zhengsheng. I had not gotten to that part yet."
"Captain?" Crane asked, perking up at the term. "As in...?"
"Captain of the Imperial Army," Bai answered. "He's a real piece of work! Didn't even pay us-- big fluffy pain in my-- oh, why thank you! " She interrupted her tirade to dig into Po's noodles and didn't bother to come up for air.
Tigress narrowed her eyes. "Why did a Captain of the Imperial Army try to hire you?"
"To kill that little dog Shifu's dating," Zhin answered matter-of-factly, before Shifu could jump in to deflect.
His students all nodded knowingly as they chorused such choice phrases as "Ohhhh, okay," and, "That makes sense, now."
"Her name is Lin ," Shifu snapped.
"And they're not dating," Guotin added, probably just to piss him off. Which, admittedly, worked.
Boqin finally spoke, having not touched his noodles yet. "We have two hundred soldiers with muskets on their way, I think that bears a bit more worry than you all are expressing."
"Yes, well--" Shifu stopped himself when Gia walked in. Because of course Gia would enter the kitchen and find it filled with outlaws before he'd had a chance to warn her. That was simply the way the universe worked.
"Oh!" Gia paused in the doorway, perking up at the sight of their guests, then smiled and clapped her hands. "Hello again, my friends! Have you come for a visit? Oh, of course you have. My apologies! This place is a mess!"
When the Wu Sisters surrounded Gia and began chatting, Shifu thought he might have a heart attack.
"Hey, girlie, since when've you known the Wu Sisters?" Guotin asked.
"My name is Gia," she replied with an indignant sniff. "And your directions were terrible."
"Uhuh. Sure."
"They're usually pretty bad," Boqin agreed offhandedly.
Now Shifu knew he would have a heart attack. "You all know Gia?" he asked, horrified.
"We met during my travels," Gia said cheerfully, clearly ignoring his twitching eye. "They were all quite kind to me." Well, at least there was that.
"I see," he accepted with an irritated sigh. "Alright, let us start from the top."
He paused to fill Gia in, with some unhelpful interruptions from their entire group, including Po stopping to make sure she had enough noodles. Then he held up his hands once more for silence. " Now . We are going to spend the week training and strategizing with the Wu Sisters--"
"And me," Boqin interjected.
"Aw, no rallying the militia with me?" Guotin asked in a disappointed whine.
"I'm not a people person."
"And him," Shifu agreed. He was too frazzled to have any objections at this point. "Guotin will be helping Lin form a village militia in case the worst happens. But we are going to make sure it does not."
"Excellent," Gia interjected, surprising him. He'd thought she would simply... Listen in quietly. "What will my role be? Shall I join you on the battlefield?" He thought he might drop dead from shock at the question.
"I-- you-- no!" Shifu sputtered. "Of course not!"
Gia's offended frown was all he needed to know her opinion on that response.
"Gia, our opponents have muskets," Tigress said before they could begin arguing. "I know that you have skill in hand-to-hand combat, but this is an entirely different prospect. It might be best if you joined the village militia instead."
Thankfully, the small wolf looked like she was thinking over the suggestion. Then she turned to Shifu again. "Will my mother be on the battlefield with you?"
He could lie, but he'd be easily found out. "Yes," he sighed.
"Then I will be there as well," Gia predictably decided.
"But you could die!" Tigress argued, and it was her turn to face Gia's disapproving frown.
"I am an adult, and I will decide for myself what risk I am willing to take," she said firmly.
"Damn," Guotin suddenly interrupted. "You got some rock hard lady balls, huh?"
Shifu thought he might scream, but Gia seemed improbably flattered.
"Thank you," she said with a nod to the bandit. "Master Shifu, I apologize for my interruption. Please, do not allow me to derail you any longer."
"This isn't over," he warned before addressing his students again. "Are there any questions about how we will be handling this threat?"
After a long silence, Po raised his hand.
"You don't have to raise your hand, panda."
"Oh, uh, yeah. Okay." Po cleared his throat loudly and awkwardly. "So, like, I know that Master Sable developed a famous qi technique for deflecting ammunition-- do we got anything like that?"
"Master Sable never shared that technique." Despite their dire circumstances, Shifu found himself impressed as ever by Po's expansive kung fu knowledge. "But I suppose we have a week to try to figure it out."
"Cool," he said nervously.
"Cool," Shifu repeated sarcastically, his eye twitching at the stress of it all. "I believe we've discussed all we can. It is time you all began the day's training." His students and the outlaws cleared the kitchen-- most of the outlaws. Gia had stayed behind, and to his annoyance, so had Guotin.
"Hey! Gia." The soft smile Guotin gave her made Shifu want to throw him off the side of the mountain. "Hope I didn't getya too lost."
"It could have been worse," Gia said. She seemed oblivious to the moon-eyed way Guotin was looking at her, thankfully. "But you should invest in a better map."
"Yeah, for sure," he agreed.
"Did you need something?" Shifu asked with his most withering glare.
"Yeah, I could use a tea, since you're offering," Guotin answered, then patted Shifu on the head.
He almost tore that hand clean off. But then Gia patted his head as well, so he restrained himself. "I would prefer not to receive head pats like a small child."
"My apologies, Master Shifu," Gia said. "I could not resist."
He rubbed at his temples, but let it go. It was more important right now to get Guotin away from her. He considered the use of subtlety as a tactic. He also considered murder. "Guotin, if you so much as blink in the general direction of Lin's daughter, I will personally choke you with your own eye patch. Do you understand?"
The ridiculous wolf just stared at him.
"That was very rude," Gia scolded him. "I am able to take care of myself."
"It is what Lin would want me to say."
"I suppose you are right."
"Lin's daughter? " Guotin practically choked out.
"You know my mother?" Gia asked back.
"They're old friends," Shifu answered quickly, then ushered Gia out of the kitchen. "Now go, join my students in the training hall. I insist you polish your skills if you mean to fight with us."
"But--"
"And don't forget to stretch," he added. Then he rounded on Guotin and poked him hard in the chest. "I will follow through on that threat if I have to."
"Okay, I get it!" Guotin threw his hands up in surrender. "You don't gotta get all violent about it. But what if Lin says it's okay?"
Shifu punched the wolf in the stomach before walking away. He had better things to do than listen to Guotin act like a pervert.
Tigress couldn't say she approved of Gia joining their training session, let alone joining the battle against the British soldiers. But she approved of training with outlaws even less, and no one was about to listen to her protests. Which was why she had obliterated the volley of wooden crocodile soldiers in the training hall in record time without so much as breaking a sweat. Still, the sight of Gia practicing combat with a qiang against the Wu Sisters practically gave her heart palpitations. She supposed the best way to deal with her concern would be to... Talk it out. Unfortunately.
She paused her training and approached the four women, her guard up considering the history she had with the Wu Sisters. But when Gia saw her and paused, they respectfully stepped away. Not so far away that they couldn't eavesdrop, she noticed with some annoyance, but she let it go.
"Yes?" Gia asked, holding her spear alongside her the way Tigress had seen so many warriors do before.
Tigress hesitated, unsure of what to say. "Gia..." She knew it would only be a matter of time before she put her foot in her mouth. "I'm sorry we haven't talked much lately. How are you?"
"I am the one who should ask you that," Gia replied with more tenderness than she had expected. "Your fight with Tai Lung was harrowing."
"I'm a kung fu master, I can handle myself." The answer came automatically, she was so used to giving it by now.
"I know that, but I am still asking. Are you alright?"
Tigress blinked down at her, surprised and touched by the question. "I-- I'm fine. Thank you."
"I do not believe you," Gia replied bluntly. "But I hope you will at least tell the truth to Po."
Tigress awkwardly cleared her throat. "About that--"
"It is none of my business," Gia interrupted her. "As long as you are happy, I am happy for you."
"Oh. I, uhm... Thank you." She didn't know how true that was, considering Gia's uncomfortable expression, but she appreciated the sentiment. "But really. I want to know how you are. You must have been frightened."
"Yes," Gia confirmed with a short nod. "But let us not linger on unpleasant discussions."
"Right." It was so hard to get a read on Gia these days. Tigress felt as though she were in a battle against a superior foe, unable to find her proper footing. "I wanted to ask you... Are you sure about joining us for this battle?"
"I am," she said with that firm sureness that still surprised Tigress.
"I know you have experience from your travels, but surely you have not been on a battlefield before," she forged on, determined to make her point. "This will be dangerous, even for those of us who have seen dozens of battles."
Gia nodded thoughtfully. "I appreciate your concern, my friend. But I will fight."
"But Gia, you are not a kung fu master--"
"And still I will fight," she interrupted, a hard edge to her voice. "I trained among the mountains with the Shaolin Monks of Henan province, and I saw battle among them."
"Wait-- you what? "
"Whoa!" Po managed to appear beside them, practically vibrating with excitement. "Shaolin warrior monks? For real? That's so awesome! Okay, we're takin' a break and you are tellin' me all about that--"
"I cannot," Gia interrupted. "I must train. And in any case, I do not discuss those years of my life."
" Years? " Tigress asked incredulously, but Gia only nodded politely before returning to the Wu Sisters for more sparring. "Years," she repeated to herself. What else about Gia did she not know?
"That is severely cool," Po commented beside her.
"Yes," she agreed. "It is."
Po seemed to sense that she was feeling off, because before she had a chance to think about it, she was catching a staff he had thrown to her. "How's about we do some weapons training of our own?" he asked, grabbing a pair of nunchucks which he twirled impressively around his shoulders before accidentally hitting himself between the eyes. "Agh! Ow! That smarts. Oof."
Tigress smiled at his antics. "Alright, there?"
"Yeah, I'm good," he said, rubbing at the spot he'd hit. Then he returned to fighting form. "Okay, come at me."
She surged forward with her staff, forgetting her friendship drama in favor of focusing all her energy on kung fu. It was the practice that had taught her to control her strength, to calm her temper, and to clear her mind. Even if she couldn't always successfully meditate, she could achieve this feeling of zen when she trained her body. And knowing she did so to protect others spurred her on even more. Kung fu might not fix her problems, but it made them feel smaller-- if only for a little while.
Lin sat in her studio, mixing up some magenta for a print. Measuring the correct amounts of red, yellow, and blue pigment, following her recipe for a smooth and saturated ink-- it felt a lot like cooking. It was both rote and absorbing, the perfect task for a late night. Everything was warm and comfortable. Until a feeling came over her.
Something was watching.
She stopped. She didn't want to look. Her heart started to race, thinking of what might be lurking just beyond view. But when she turned around, nothing was there. Her studio was just like always. Except that something was watching.
She stood from her chair, the floorboards creaking loudly. Her gaze fell on the closed door and stayed there, fixated. She knew she shouldn't open that door, but she walked toward it all the same. She knew she wouldn't want to see the other side. She knew this was a bad idea. She couldn't stop herself. She opened the door.
And there, in the inky darkness, a large, unblinking eye. Watching.
Lin woke up with a start, gasping for air. She hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath in her sleep, but that must have been what happened. She rubbed her chest a little to soothe the burning sensation from going so long without breathing. That dream had been a vision-- or maybe not. Maybe it was a haunting.
"Why did I agree to stay in this hellscape with you?" Rahim whined from across the room.
"I dunno," Lin said. "To spite me?" The painted waves on her wall undulated in the dark, their eerie movement drawing her eyes. They always moved at night now. She crawled out of bed, spurred on by them, to Rahim's side of the house. With little effort, she pushed him aside to open the small crawl space in her wall that she used as a closet and retrieve all her black paint and brushes.
"Oh no," he complained as she started to paint the old floorboards. "Now what?"
"Go sleep in the hammock if you're so bothered," she brushed off.
"No! It's freezing out! Can't your project wait until morning?"
"You don't get it," she said. Not that she'd explain.
"Stop painting the floor and get back to bed," Rahim said, throwing a pillow at her that went so wide she could have believed he'd missed on purpose. But Rahim had embarrassingly poor aim.
"Or what?" she asked combatively.
"Or-- or--" He paused to stew in frustrated silence. Rahim was a diplomat, used to masking his feelings and offering compromise. Fighting with her had never been part of his skill set. But unlike Al, who had almost always resorted to giving in and sulking, Rahim made the effort to fight back. "I will wrestle that paintbrush out of your hands and make you sleep in the hammock, inshAllah."
Lin sucked on her teeth at him. "Well, is it?"
"Is it what?"
"God's will?"
"That's it!" The tiger had several heads of height on her and much longer limbs, so when he lunged at her, he got hold of the paintbrush with ease.
However, Lin would always be stronger.
After an embarrassingly short struggle, Rahim gave up trying to pry the brush from her hand and collapsed dramatically on the floor. "I just want to sleep."
"So sleep! All's I'm doing is painting." And she wasn't planning on stopping until she'd finished.
"While you paint over my sleeping body," he added.
"Under. The point's to paint the floor, not your ass."
"Why?" he asked. "Why are you painting the floor?"
She ignored him and focused on her task.
"I asked you a question," Rahim nagged. "It does not have to be a secret."
"'Cause I can't reach the ceiling right now," Lin answered. It was the truth, in a way. She'd be painting both, but she didn't have a proper ladder for reaching the ceiling just yet.
Rahim narrowed his eyes at her. "So there really is some big secret behind this random paint job? Of course. Why would there not be?"
"It's not that it's a big secret." Lin had no idea how to even begin explaining to him all the mystical visions and ocean spirit hauntings. Rahim was not even close to a believer in anything he couldn't see, except for Allah-- and even then, he'd only prayed a handful of times since she'd met him. "It's just hard to explain," she admitted. "And I'm not sure yet what it all means."
He stared at her flatly.
"It's true."
"Uhuh," he said skeptically, then grabbed his blanket and rolled over. "And it requires you to paint your floor in the middle of the night?"
She didn't know what else to say but the truth. "Yeah. It does." She couldn't explain why she was doing exactly what she was doing, and with such fervor. There was simply a deep, instinctual need driving her forward. She couldn't deny that need any more than she could deny the need to eat or to sleep. A knot of excitement bunched itself up in her stomach and chest, setting her nerves on end, like she might explode right out of her skin if she didn't paint the floor and ceiling to complete her ocean mural. She needed to encase herself in those cold waters again.
He didn't answer her. He'd known her long enough to know how serious she was. Then he gathered his blanket and pillow and crossed the room to settle into her bed. "Since you're not going to use it."
"Fine," Lin said, rolling her eyes. "Don't drool on my pillows."
"I don't drool in my sleep, but it would probably be an improvement to their hygiene."
"The puddleya wake up in every morning begs to differ."
"I do not wake up in a puddle," he said with an indignant sniff. "Ugh. These sheets smell like sex."
"Probably 'cause they're covered in cum," Lin replied.
" That's it! " He leapt out of the bed like he'd landed on a bed of spikes. "I'm sleeping out on the hammock!"
"That's covered in cum, too," Lin called after his retreating back with a laugh. Then she returned to her work. She worked through the rest of the night, putting down layer after layer of black paint until it shone inky and dark. She was almost finished.
"Let's go." Lin emerged in the early morning light and gave the hammock a shove.
"No," Rahim groaned pathetically.
"We got lots to do," she reminded him. "And I need a ladder if I'm gonna finish painting."
"Ew," he replied, but he still flailed his way out of the hammock to follow her back into town and up to the Jade Palace.
They didn't discuss her sudden urge to paint or the incoming attack on the valley. They didn't talk at all, which was suspiciously out of character for Rahim. Lin didn't want to prod, though. She knew that it would only be a matter of time before they talked in earnest about the past, a heavy stone that would always hang between them. She wanted a little more time first. So she sent him on to the barracks to speak with Guotin while she split off to the Jade Palace to rummage around in the store rooms for a ladder.
She should have known she'd run straight into Shifu, but she still stupidly believed she might be able to one day sneak past him. He was inspecting the weapons in the Hall of Warriors when she walked in, likely trying to pick things out for the upcoming battle. When he saw her, he started.
"You look... Um." Shifu paused, a pink tinge on his ears. "Fine. You look fine. Forget I said anything."
"You can say I look like hell," Lin said, suppressing a yawn. "I know it's just an observation."
"Well, yes. You do." Shifu pulled out his handkerchief and started trying to wipe paint off her cheeks and forehead like a fussy mother.
She was too tired to argue, so she just closed her eyes and thought of it as a face massage. It actually did feel kind of nice.
"What even happened?" he asked as he moved on to her hands.
Lin opened her eyes to watch him. No wonder Tai Lung acted like such a pampered brat. The thought surprised her and brought with it the ache of remembering his betrayal, so she pushed it aside to focus on the moment. "I hadta paint my house."
"Your house is already painted," he said, furrowing his big eyebrows.
"The floor," she clarified. "I need a ladder for the ceiling. Where's the ladders? I'll just take one of yours."
"Wait-- why are you painting your floor and your ceiling?"
"Ocean spirit stuff," she admitted.
"What?" Shifu finally stopped trying to clean her off and stared at her in alarm. "What kind of 'stuff,' exactly?"
"A dream," she said, though her uncertainty seeped into her voice. "Anyway, now I gotta finish the ocean painting. It's whatever." She kept her answer perfunctory and then brushed it aside as quickly as possible in the hopes that Shifu wouldn't focus too closely on it. She'd thought he would ask one or two questions and then give up. But she wasn't that lucky, and Shifu wasn't that obtuse. Not at the moment, anyway.
"It is not 'whatever,' it is deeply concerning!" he argued. He always had to argue with her over this stuff, didn't he? "I thought you wanted my help with all these visions. Why must you finish the ocean painting?"
"'Cause I gotta get it done before this whole big battle thing," Lin tried to explain. "Then it'll... It'll... Be done." She thought she might sound a little too unhinged if she brought up the clawing need that set her nerves on fire, even as they spoke.
"You don't have any idea what is going to happen when you finish that painting, do you?" he asked flatly, his ear twitching.
She shrugged.
Shifu threw his arms up in frustration. "Why did I expect anything else?" he asked the sky before looking back at her. "Do not finish that painting without me," he ordered.
"Excuse me? You don't tell me what to do."
"This does not have to be a fight," he snapped. "I simply want to be there for you in case something dangerous happens! Is that so wrong?"
"Yeah!" Lin argued. Nothing gave her a second wind as effectively as Shifu annoying her with his overprotectiveness. "This's my business, and it's up to me whatya know and whenya know it! So back off!"
"If you would just take a moment to explain what is going on, I could support you!" he yelled. "And while we are on the subject, a private matter that puts you in danger should become the business of the people who care for you!"
"I'm not having this argument withya right now," Lin shouted back. "I ain't tellingya shit and you ain't stepping foot in that house 'til I say so!"
Shifu looked like a vein in his temple might burst at any moment, which about summed up how she felt. "I do not understand why you won't talk to me about this!"
"Cause it was my suicide attempt!" Lin snapped back, then went quiet. She hadn't wanted to tell him that. But she'd lost her temper, and she was exhausted, and now it was out there. Shifu knew. And he would pity her, or hate her, or probably both.
The throbbing vein immediately calmed as Shifu quieted and stared at her with wide eyes. He cleared his throat, then took her hand. "I am so glad you're still here," he said quietly, then hugged her.
This was unexpected. "Are we still fighting?"
"No." He let out a suspiciously wet sniffle.
"Are you crying?"
"A little bit."
"Oh my God," she grumbled at his emotional reaction, then hugged him back. "S'this really necessary?" She felt relief mingling with her annoyance. While she wasn't exactly in need of a comforting hug and was in no mood to give one, his shock and grief unwound something in her that had been poised and ready to flee. He didn't pity her. He wasn't angry. He was only sad and afraid.
"Yes." With one last tight squeeze, Shifu let her go. He took a moment to dab at his eyes with his dirty handkerchief like a little old lady. It left behind smudges of black paint, but now was not the time to point that out. "I wish you would have felt safe telling me that."
"That's your own fault." Lin was getting tired of saying that. And to be honest, she felt like she had expended all the anger that had once been behind it.
"I know. But I am trying. You can tell me anything, I promise you."
"Doubtful." She wanted to believe him so much that she almost did.
"I mean it," Shifu insisted. "I know I have judged you harshly in the past. But I have realized that it is not my right, and no way to earn your trust."
Lin crossed her arms as she listened to him. He sounded so sincere-- but then, he always did. Unless he was turning on the sarcasm, which she could have used as a distraction right about now. "You really mean that?"
"I would rather die than betray you again."
"Calm down."
"Right. Sorry."
She didn't know what possessed her to test that claim, but the worst of it was over anyway. "It was just a really bad time for me. And I, uh... I didn't swim the English Channel. I mean, I couldn't have. I don't think."
Shifu stared at her. "What?" he asked, bewildered. "What does this have to do with anything?"
Lin sighed and rubbed her forehead. She'd hoped her implication would have been explanation enough. "'Cause I swam out into the open ocean. That was it. Same incident. I don't remember much, just the ocean spirit or kraken or whatever it was, and then... I was on land again. That's how I got to England."
"Oh." Shifu said, then seemed to finally grasp what she'd said and jolted a bit, as if she'd startled him. " Oh. I didn't realize."
She truly suspected this was the most awkward conversation of her entire life. "Well, anyway, I failed that attempt. And I'm glad I did. So let's not have any pity parties or big emotional scenes anymore, okay?"
"For you, I will make the attempt." Shifu's sarcastic reply was unexpectedly grounding, not that she'd ever tell him so. It didn't take long for him to get back to being serious and mushy. "If you ever would like to talk in more detail about this, you know I am willing to listen."
"I bet you're willing to listen to a lotta stuff with ears that size," Lin teased him, but got no reaction out of him for her trouble. "Okay, okay. Fine. But right now, I don't wanna talk about this for another goddamn second. I'd rather treat my hemorrhoids with chili oil."
"I... What? Ew!" He paused to rub his forehead, as if that would erase the mental image. "Why would you say that?"
"Partly for comedic effect, partly 'cause it's true." If she were given only those two choices, anyway.
Shifu shuddered and grimaced. "Just because it is gross does not mean it is funny."
"False."
"Humor is meant for the audience, is it not?"
"Not when I'm the only one I wanna amuse."
"That sounds about right for you," he said flatly. "Though I feel you're simply trying to derail this entire conversation."
"Well, duh ," Lin replied. "I wasn't exactly hiding it." She suppressed a laugh at Shifu's annoyed grunt and twitchy ear. Even after all these years, getting on his nerves was still the best part of hanging around with him.
"You irritate me to no end," he grumbled. It had been so long since he'd admitted that out loud that she couldn't even remember the last time.
"Damn, I missed hearing that." Even though no one could read her mind, least of all Shifu, she was still embarrassed by the overwhelming amount of affection she felt toward him at that moment.
"You did?" He quickly forgot his irritation, brow furrowed, then shook his head. "Never mind that," he dismissed. "I want to go back to discussing this business of painting your house."
"Nothing's gonna happen when it's finished," Lin said, only half sure that was true. At its most mundane, completing the ocean mural would probably lead to a meditative vision. Or maybe the recovery of a lost memory.
"Perhaps, but better safe than sorry. Even if you do not want me there, I think it would be wise to enlist someone to back you up."
"Hell no. If I didn't want you knowing about the whole attempted suicide backstory, what makesya think I'd want anyone else finding out?"
"I understand that, but haven't you told anyone else?"
"Yeah, but--" Lin stopped there. She'd told Tai Lung, but he was no longer someone she could rely on. He might not even be redeemable anymore.
"But?"
"But it was Tai Lung," she said with a sigh.
"Oh." Shifu looked even more upset than she felt at the turn the conversation had taken. "I see."
"I used to tell him everything, pretty much." She figured that was pretty obvious by now, but she didn't know what else to say. "Figured trust would help and all. I guess it didn't. Anyway, we don't gotta talk about him."
"I know everything happening right now is difficult for you to discuss, but we are going to have to address Tai Lung eventually." He paused to squeeze his eyes shut and take a deep breath. "Let us focus on our most immediate issue. If there is no one else who knows the details of your past as I do, then I will accompany you when you complete your painting. Just in case. Please."
"Kinda hard to maintain an air of authority when you're begging like that, huh?"
"Lin."
"Alright, alright, fine," she conceded. "You can watch me paint, jeez."
"I know you are not quite ready to trust me again, but I promise you that you can rely on me. Just this once, at least."
"I said okay! Quit it!"
"Very well."
She jabbed a finger at him. "And you're carrying the ladder."
"Thank you for that honor," he said with a snort, then set off down the hall. "It will be this way."
"I'll wait for you here, servant," she said flippantly.
"Lin," he warned her in that clenched-asshole voice he got when she annoyed him.
With a roll of her eyes, she followed. Shifu led her to a room on the other side of the hall from his, one she had gotten used to ignoring. It was piled up with old boxes, shelves of disused scrolls, tools, and various odds and ends that had been left there to be forgotten.
"What's with all the scrolls?" Lin asked as Shifu extracted a ladder from the mess. "I thought there was a library."
"They--" He paused, his eyes darting to them and then back to her. "They are nothing. Don't--"
"Yoink," Lin announced when she grabbed one from the top of the pile. It had remained untouched for so long that it stiffly resisted when she unrolled it. She had honestly expected to find a stash of old dirty pictures or inventory lists, not the family portrait that greeted her. Shifu and Oogway with a baby Tai Lung, verdant peach blossoms adorning the borders. She let the portrait snap closed again and placed it back in the pile with the others. "Are these all family pictures?"
Shifu looked guilty. "Yes."
"Sorry I looked." She turned her back on him and returned to the main hall. She didn't want to see his face when she said this. "I told him he was dead to me." She couldn't keep the regret from seeping into her voice.
"I know." Shifu placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know why you said it. It's alright to feel the way you do."
"It doesn't feel alright to me." She finally looked at him, holding that stupid ladder for her, looking more concerned than hurt. "It's never gonna feel alright to me. I needya to understand that."
"I understand it more than you think." If there was a word for the heaviness and exhaustion in his voice, she sure as hell didn't know it.
Lin's jaw clenched, and she breathed deeply through her nose before she managed to force out the words she needed to say. The words she should have said a lot sooner, but she hadn't been ready to yet. Up until now, she had been pushing it all away for another time, unwilling to feel the emotions that would follow. "I need to see him."
"What?" Shifu looked alarmed, but he didn't deny her request. "Are you certain?"
"Yeah."
"Would you like me with you?"
Her resolve softened at his offer of support, so all she could do was shake her head. If she spoke, she might cry.
"Very well. Let me show you the way." Shifu set the ladder down and led her to a part of the Jade Palace she had never seen before, a chamber behind the thousand scrolls of kung fu, which led deep into the mountain. After descending what felt like the thousand stairs into the valley and then some, they reached a windowless stone hall carved into the mountain itself, lined with cells. Shifu took a lantern from the wall and handed it to her, then gestured to the cells. "He is the only one here. Are you certain you would not like me to stay?"
Lin nodded. She felt like her throat had closed up at just the idea of talking.
"Alright. I'll be upstairs, and if you shout I will be able to hear." He squeezed her shoulder, and then he left.
She must have stood there for only a minute, but it felt like hours. She didn't even know if she could bear to look in the cell in front of her and see Tai Lung in there. Her voice felt thick, like paste in her throat. "Hey."
"Hello?" The sad, confused reply came to her from the dark.
Lin finally looked up. Tai Lung sat in the cell before her, legs crossed in a meditative pose. Yet he looked tense, ready to run-- not that he could. She didn't know what else to say. They sat in that tense silence, both either unable or unwilling to be the first to break it.
This had been a terrible idea. Lin didn't even know for sure what she was looking for. Remorse? Apologies? Closure? It all swirled together into some indistinct miasma inside her. It hurt in a way that reached her physically, her heart spreading its ache through every one of her muscles until she couldn't stand it anymore. She started to leave, but paused when she heard the sharp inhale of breath.
"I'm sorry," Tai Lung suddenly called out behind her, his voice desperate and raw. "I'm sorry."
She couldn't bring herself to listen to any more. She'd thought she would be ready, but maybe that time would never come. She scrambled up the stairs, out of the suffocating dungeon and away from those miserable pleas.
Everything felt like too much and not enough. Too much light, not enough air, too much noise, not enough ground beneath her feet. Everything ached and pulsed, her blood a river crashing through her, and nothing to hold her down.
"Are you going to be alright?" Shifu needed to work on not lurking and sneaking up on her.
"Yeah," Lin answered shortly, because what other choice did she have? Not being alright in the end had never been an option for her. She had to be alright, because the one time she hadn't been, it had almost killed her.
"I do not believe you, but very well." Shifu pulled her into a hug, holding her tight. It still surprised her that he showed affection so easily now. It surprised her that she liked it so much.
There were too many things that caught her off-guard these days. Too many unknowns, too much grief, too much of everything. And still her nerves were on fire, her muscles tight, demanding more than ever that the mural be completed. But maybe that was what she needed right now. Maybe it was less a supernatural imperative and more her mind's own way of giving her relief. Something to busy her, focus her, and let her forget for a little while all the troubles that had followed her to China.
Lin pulled away from the hug and started walking, wiping the tears from her face with her sleeve. "Don't forget the ladder."
Shifu followed after Lin as she painted, cleaning up the little house like her own personal maid.
"What're you even doing?"
"It is easiest to clean while working," he lectured.
"Not with paint," she argued.
"Perhaps I also need something to keep me busy at the moment," he admitted.
"Fair enough." Lin returned to painting her ceiling, all else forgotten until this task could be completed. Right now, this was her highest priority. The reason why would come along soon enough. Three coats of black adorned her floor, but the ceiling received only a base coat of black before she painted on two sheer coats. First an earthy green, and then a deep phthalo blue. After hours of work, her ocean was finally done. She dismounted the ladder with a groan, stretching and cracking her back.
"Hm. Nothing happened," Shifu said, his shoulders sagging in relief.
Lin watched the waves sway, carrying her away to that night, down beneath the ocean's weight. And there, deep within them, the spirit watched. "Yeah, I guess not."
"Would you like me to stay?"
"Nah. You can head out, I got it from here."
Shifu hesitated, watching her closely. "Are you certain?"
"Yeah," she said, though she knew she sounded distant. "Why you gotta act so protective, huh? I said it's fine."
"It is just that..." He paused, turning to look at the spirit, though she could tell he couldn't see it. "I feel like something horrible is lurking just around the corner, and I'm helpless to stop you from turning that corner and walking straight into it, even though I can see it clear as day. It's like one of those nightmares in which I lose my voice, or I am running too slowly."
"Wow."
"What?"
"You told me what you're feeling. In detail ."
"So? Is that so unusual?"
Lin nodded.
"I am sorry for that," Shifu said, then took her hands in his and kissed them. "Promise me that you will fetch me if you need backup?"
"Promise," Lin lied.
"Alright."
Lin watched him go and waited until she was sure he was well out of earshot. Then she turned on the spirit. " What? " she screamed at it. "What? Just tell me what the hellya want!"
It continued to stare, silent, unblinking, unreactive. It was almost as if it were... Frozen in time. Could that be possible? Was she looking at the past? If so, it would figure. She was just being forced to stare straight into the one thing she never wanted to so much as glance back at again.
Well, if she had to stare at the past, she could at least stare at a part of it that was a little gentler in nature. She lifted her crate table and pulled out her old notebook. She turned the pages slowly, reading through all those old songs she had written with Al. Most of them love songs, of course. Stupid.
Lin hated how much Al had been on her mind lately. From the scent of roasted chestnuts in the air reminding her of how he had first shared them with her, to Rahim turning up out of the blue and dredging up the past. Her memories haunted her relentlessly, no matter how much wine she tried to drown them in. She turned the notebook to a page where the spine had been cracked. And she looked.
"Oh, Al." She touched the portrait, drawn long ago, the paper faded and the ink smudged. But still, it was Al. Just as she remembered him. "You were my whole heart. What am I supposed to do without you?" She'd been asking that question for so long that she was starting to think she'd never stop. She thought this would end up the way it always had, with her ugly crying until her throat was raw, but for once in her life, she had no tears left. It had been almost four years. Al wouldn't be coming back. She wouldn't ever see him again, except in her own memory. And she had to find a way to be at least a little bit alright with that.
She didn't even know where to start. But for the first time, she wanted to try. Really try, not just forget and act like it never happened until she crumbled again. She had no idea how, though. She glanced up at the ocean spirit, still in those dark depths. "Got any ideas?" she asked it. Of course, it didn't answer. "Figures." She grabbed Al's old calabash pipe and smoked it as she looked at the portrait, really remembering. On purpose, this time.
And yes, her heart hurt remembering those good days with him. But she also smiled at the memory of his silliness. How they would tease each other. All the fun they'd had bar hopping and making music and dancing together. All the times they had played in the snow in winter and lounged around fanning each other in summer. His smile, his laugh, waking up in the mornings curled around each other. It ached, but it made her happy. Nostalgic.
Maybe this was healing. No less painful, but easier to appreciate all the good she'd had. But still, she could only handle so much at a time. She closed the notebook and put it away before that ache became overwhelming. She missed Al so much, even all these years later. Lin couldn't help remembering the last time she had ever held him, not knowing she'd never get another chance. She had done so much wrong, strung him along for so many years, caused so much pain. She had so many regrets. And here she was, doing the same thing over again to Shifu, like she couldn't even help it. But she could help it, couldn't she? She stood and walked outside to get some fresh air, stretch her legs, try to clear her head.
And still, the ocean spirit watched.
So she kept walking. She knew what needed to be done.
Shifu had thought when he'd left Lin behind at her little house that he would not be seeing her again for some time. So he busied himself training with his students and discussing various strategies to fight against an enemy armed with guns. They would likely need to make use of some guerilla warfare techniques rather than facing their opponent head-on as usual. And of course, having scouts would prove valuable-- due to their speed and skill, he chose Crane to scout for them on the battleground from the sky, and Viper to scout from the ground. The Wu Sisters and Boqin were already proving themselves valuable allies with their intel on the armaments and techniques of Zhengsheng and the ninety-nine wolf bandits. Their fighting styles blended well with the Furious Five's. That would make things easier on the battlefield.
When they had all exhausted themselves with training, he made quick work of excusing himself. With all that had happened these last days, he would prefer a simple dinner alone in his room, perhaps with some soothing oolong tea.
He nearly jumped out of his skin when he walked into his room to find Lin there waiting for him. Just as she had when she'd been painting, she looked a bit dazed and glassy-eyed. He knew this wasn't the effect of alcohol, and he worried for her. "Lin? Didn't you want to be alone?"
"Yeah," she said shortly, with no elaboration on why she had made the trek straight back to the Jade Palace.
"Alright, then." He waited for something, but she only kept staring past him, as though there were someone standing just behind him. He could not help but look, just to be sure. Of course, they were alone. "I should make us some tea," he concluded.
"No," Lin said, holding a hand up. "I'm not staying long."
"Oh." He stepped around her. "At least allow me to change into some clean clothes, then." He darted deeper into his room, shutting the door to the sitting area where Lin still stood. She didn't move a single muscle the whole time he spent changing. It unnerved him. When he joined her, she looked at him with a little more focus, her expression a blend of sadness and affection that he had unfortunately become accustomed to. "Are you certain you wouldn't like to sit for a while?"
Lin shook her head. "There's so much we keep putting off talking about," she blurted. "I don't wanna put it off anymore."
"Ah. I see." He stepped closer to her and placed a hand on her shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. "I know it is still difficult for you to discuss Tai Lung."
"That's not-- I mean-- yeah, okay, it is." She paused, clenching her jaw.
Shifu decided to take that as a sign to gently move the conversation forward. "I know I thanked you for protecting Tigress, but I do not think I ever thanked you for everything you did for Tai Lung."
"Don't thank me," Lin said with a sigh. She sounded as ragged as he felt. "I'm Tai Lung's teacher, and it was partly my job to keep him in line. He failed because I failed."
He knew exactly how she felt in that moment. He had blamed himself for Tai Lung's rampage in the same way while also grieving the loss of his son. "When I said the same thing to you, you told me I was not to blame for an adult's decisions. That goes for you, as well. Tai Lung attacked Tigress because he chose to do so. That is not your fault."
"Then why's it feel like it is?" Her eyes were watery, but when he offered her his handkerchief, she didn't take it. "I came here to tellya the truth. That I screwed everything up. You dunno how bad I messed up. I didn't wanna tellya 'cause I knew how mad you'd be."
"I am not angry with you." He took Lin's hand in his, prepared for her to shrink away. He was relieved when she didn't. "I am guessing when you say you messed up, it has to do with those visions. But I promise you, I won't get angry, no matter what it is you have to tell me."
"They were my visions first," she said, and how he managed to remain stoic, he did not know. "My memories. And Oogway came to me in those visions. He said Tai Lung wasn't open to him or something. And I tried, but I couldn't handle it. Every vision was horrible. They opened all these old wounds, and I just... Couldn't. I ran away. I'm sorry. It was my responsibility, and I ruined everything--"
"Stop," he ordered, and wrapped her in a tight embrace. "Please don't be so hard on yourself. You did your best. I know you must have, because you always do. You should have never had to bear that burden alone." He could tell from the way she shook that Lin was crying now. It pained him to think that she had been too afraid to tell him the truth all this time, that she had gone through something so clearly difficult alone, and that through it all she had blamed herself. It also pained him, in that selfish part of his heart, that if he had been more trustworthy, he could have shared in this small piece of his master's return.
"You're not mad about Oogway?"
"No. If he chose to appear to you, it was for a reason. I wish he had come to me as well, but that has nothing to do with you. Alright?" He realized as she cried harder that this was a release for her. As stubbornly as Lin held onto her secrets, she had needed to share this with him. "I'm so sorry. I'd never meant to make you afraid of me." In the end, he had to admit that this was what lay at the center of their problems. Lin, at least in some capacity, feared him. And every time he'd taken his anger out on her, he had justified that fear. "I'm sorry it took me so long to realize. I'm sorry for being such a fool."
She didn't seem to be able to respond, so he waited for her. "I was scared for you," she finally said with a pathetic sniff, and Shifu almost cried himself at that. She buried her face in his shoulder to cry more, and he gladly let her soak his shirt.
"Lin, you do not need to worry about me," he reassured her. "I am the Grand Master of kung fu for a reason."
She pulled away from him and swiped at her face with her sleeve. "You don't get it," she said nasally. "I can't expectya to understand. You're the one people always rely on, the one always protecting everyone else. I wanted to protect you. And I would. I woulda got in Tai Lung's way for anyone, but you're the one I was really scared of losing."
"Oh, Lin." He pulled her into another embrace, touched by the sentiment. Maybe this was it-- the moment she forgave him once and for all. "I feel the same way for you. I never want to see you hurt again, especially by me. And I don't ever want to make you cry again, except out of happiness." He hated the circumstances of this emotional moment. He hated that this openness had come at the expense of his son's freedom. But at least it eased his grief a little bit, finally getting to see Lin's soft-hearted center that she'd kept buried under so many defensive layers.
"I don't wanna hurt you again, either. That's why-- that's why-- fuck, this's so hard." She paused to continue crying, which for her involved a lot of gasping for air and loud sobbing. He gave her time to calm herself, and his handkerchief, which she took this time. "I can't do this anymore."
"You-- what?" Shifu coughed out, stunned.
"Look, there's this big battle on the horizon, Tai Lung's in jail, my friend's essentially homeless-- we both got a lot on our plates and that all has to come first. And our thing that's just supposed to be sex, it's getting..." She paused and let out a frustrated sigh. "Complicated."
"It's not that complicated," he argued. "I love you! That's simple enough!"
"But I don't know how I feel!" Lin shouted. She stopped again and looked away. "It's not right for me to stringya along when I know perfectly well thatya want more'n I can give. It's hurting you. I'm hurting you. And yeah, before I was so angry that I didn't give a crap, but I'm not angry anymore, and I can't keep doing this shit to you. Whatever happened between us, however you hurt me in the past, you still don't deserve to be treated the way I'm treating you. So no more. I'm ending it."
"Don't I get a say?" He asked desperately. "Don't I get to ask you to stay? I am an adult, dammit! And I can handle a little pain!"
"It's not little," Lin told him gently. "I know that, 'cause I've been where you are. And it's hurting me, too. Not in a little way, either. Please, just... Forget about me, okay?"
"Never. You're too important to me." He tried to keep his voice steady, but it was starting to sink in that Lin was serious about this. "Please," he begged one more time.
She used her sleeve to wipe her eyes. "I'm sorry. I dunno what else to say. I dunno what else to do."
"I don't, either," he admitted. "We are both bad at this sort of thing."
"I'm gonna miss you," Lin said, her voice hoarse.
"Lin, if you're going to miss me and you care enough about me that this is making you cry--"
"Don't," she interrupted nasally.
"You do care for me, don't you?" he asked. "Please, at least tell me that."
"Yuhuh," she said with a loud sniff. "But I need more time to figure things out. I can't expect you to wait around for me. And I can't just dangle the possibility that maybe when I finally do figure things out I'll want a relationship in front ofya like a carrot. It's not right."
"I don't care." Shifu took his handkerchief back from Lin and used it to help her wipe away some of her once more copious tears. He could feel his own eyes stinging, too, but he did his best to keep himself together. "I don't care what's right. I care about being with you."
"You're a kung fu master! Your whole life's literally about caring what's right!"
"This is different!"
"Is it?" She pushed his handkerchief away and took a step back. "You need to think of yourself the same way you'd think of anyone else. You'd want what's right for another person. Want it for yourself, too. Recognize that you're as worth protecting as anyone else. That's what I think, anyway."
He stared at her as her words hit him. She'd never said anything like that to him before. The only person who had ever spoken to him that way had been Oogway. It was nice to be reminded of Oogway, even in such a painful moment. Lin had a point, too. "I know you're right. But that doesn't change how I feel."
"I figured." Lin shrugged, and it seemed more an expression of helplessness than carelessness. "I'll still seeya around. I'm still gonna fight. But this's what's best for us both right now. So... Yeah. Seeya." With one last sniff, she left him.
So, he did what he had planned to do. He made himself some oolong tea. Despite his heart tearing itself apart, there was still one thread of hope he held onto. Lin had done this because she cared for him. She had done it because she wanted to do the right thing for him . And that thought comforted him more than any amount of tea. There was still hope.
Notes:
A/N: This chapter was a doozy for me! I think most of these end ones will be, since at a certain point I kind of stopped thinking I'd get to the end, haha. Anyway, sorry for once more falling off the face of the earth-- I broke my hand and then as soon as it healed enough to type I used my power to move 6k miles away and it's been an ADJUSTMENT. Like, I keep forgetting I'm in the middle of the ocean, but... I sure am!!! Wow!
Anyway, there are two references of note here: the title of the chapter is a quote from Lin Yutang, whose many food-related quotes pop up fairly often around here. And the line "never make you cry except from happiness" is from one of the greatest movies ever made, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar. You may recognize it from earlier in the fic as well if you are a more frequent reader than I am a chapter poster. See you all next time, and as always, thank you for reading and commenting!
Chapter 36: To eat is human, to digest, divine.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Lin had made a commitment to face her trauma and move on from her past. That didn't make it easy or intuitive. She had been ignoring the past, putting it away in a box and locking it up tight. Now that she had opened that box, she felt like her heart might explode at any given moment. Obviously that was a sign that she had definitely been doing things wrong, but still. This sucked.
"So. Lin."
She lifted her aching head the bare minimum needed to glare at Rahim. She could use a drink, but she was making the attempt to process these emotions without alcohol, which felt like a worse and worse decision with each passing moment. "What?"
"Do you remember how we had volunteered to raise a militia?" he asked with feigned calm.
"Right. That." Of course she remembered. It was one of the many hundreds of things on her mind right now.
"I've got a suggestion on that front."
"Yeah?"
"What if we did literally anything to get started?"
"My face hurts," she said, just to be obtuse. She had known where Rahim was taking the conversation the moment he'd spoken. If she'd had the energy, she would have cut to the chase instead of indulging his little performance.
"An excellent reason to stay in bed instead of helping all your friends stay alive," Rahim said with one of his rounded nods. "Forget I ever said anything. Get your rest, we'll just wing it."
There were so many sarcastic responses that came to mind, but she was just too tired for them. She knew Rahim was right. She knew she had to get up and do what needed getting done. But here she was, watching the waves roll by. And, if she looked at the right angle, she could also watch the ocean spirit loom over her if she really wanted to. Which she did not.
"Hello? Are you in one of your trances or whatnot?" Rahim walked over to her and waved a big hand in her face.
"They're visions, and no."
"Let's discuss strategy, then," he decided, which... Sure. Why not. "First I think we should find out where the hell Guotin is. He did volunteer to help us."
"Uhuh."
"Our next step should be organizing some sort of community meeting, no?"
"Yeah."
"And then we can bring everyone here so you can give us a rousing speech while you lie in bed. Is that about where this is going?" He picked up one of her pillows and dropped it on her face. "You could at least attempt to sit up."
"Could I, though?"
"Ugh!" Rahim finally snapped. "I cannot talk to you when you get depressed like this! What do you need? Food? Drink? Music? Just tell me!"
"Time," she answered. All that could help her now was time. Time and effort.
"Very well, I'll return once this battle is all over and most of us are dead." He walked out of the house, not that he would go very far. Rahim had never done well on water craft of any kind, and her punt was no exception. They both knew any attempt to use it unsupervised would only result in him falling into the lake. And while Rahim was a decent swimmer, he had never much cared for cold water.
"Okay," Lin grunted to herself. "Here we go. I'm getting up. I'm going." She pushed herself halfway up, then fell back down. "I can't, it's impossible. Who made gravity so strong? What is this, Jupiter?" She paused, then turned her head to look at the ocean spirit. "Oh, haha. Yeah, I get it. It's the bottom of the ocean, right?" That would make sense, wouldn't it? "You're a dick."
The ocean spirit did not react.
"This's just my life now, I guess," she said with a sigh, then rolled over and put all her strength into standing up. It really did feel like the weight of the whole ocean was on top of her. She still managed to get one foot in front of the other, though. Just like always.
And if she was going to try, really try to move forward, she would have to talk to someone. Rahim was as good a listener as any. She walked out to her little yard, snorting at the sight of the large tiger attempting awkwardly to get into her hammock and falling straight onto his butt. "Need some help?"
"Not from you, you sad and belligerent lump," he replied, rubbing his behind as he stood. "I give up."
"Siddown by the fire pit, I'll get a fire going." She made quick work of it before joining him, sitting side by side as they watched the flames together. She might as well dive right in. "I miss Al."
"Me too," he answered, tossing a twig into the fire. "All the time."
"I know. Still feels less lonely to hear it from someone else, though." She wasn't exactly sure where to go from here. "We did a shitty job at moving on, didn't we?"
"Oh, definitely," he confirmed.
An awkward silence fell over them. Lin didn't know what to really say anymore. She wished Rahim would come up with something, since words were supposed to be his job and all. He should be an expert at getting around uncomfortable silences. But this wasn't work, it was just them.
"Do you still have that song book?" he suddenly asked.
Lin could tell where this was headed. "I don't feel like singing."
"What about playing that ruan of yours? I'd like to hear one of the songs the two of you wrote together. That's all."
She couldn't say no to such a pathetic request. And when she got her ruan and started playing, she realized it wasn't such a pathetic request after all. Or maybe she was equally pathetic. She just... Loved this song. This song she and Al had written together about how much they loved each other, without words. She missed Al's piano. That was the instrument this music was best with, but all she had was her ruan, so she played it the best she could. She even made it through the whole thing without crying, though Rahim didn't. For once, she didn't make fun of him. She did what he'd want and pretended he wasn't crying at all. "I'm gonna make some tea," she announced before busying herself with the task. It helped.
When they were both back at the fire with cups of hot tea in their hands, she felt... Better might not be the exact right word. But less tied up in her own grief.
Rahim took a sip and then choked dramatically. "Augh! What is this, medicine?"
"It's pine," she replied with a snort. "And it's delicious."
"I hate your palate," he replied, glaring down into his cup. Then he took another sip, grimacing and snorting as he did.
"Why're you still drinking it ifya hate it so much?"
"I am cold."
"Wimp."
"Says the one who shaved her entire body immediately upon arriving at my house in Bombay," he replied haughtily.
"Fine, you got me," Lin admitted, rolling her eyes. She had adapted. Eventually.
"So." Rahim finally spared her his dramatics and set his tea down in his lap. "Tell me, what has triggered this latest bout of melancholy?"
Of course he would ask. He was always going to ask, he'd just waited until he had her defenses down. Well, if he wanted to know so much, then he was going to have to sit around for the full story.
Lin found herself telling Rahim everything she had left out last time, all the details of what had happened in her lessons with Tai Lung, with Shifu-- all of it . It was like she'd been gagging on all the things she'd been keeping to herself, and now she was finally vomiting it all out. When she was done, Rahim set his tea down and nodded.
"You're an idiot," he concluded.
"What?" she snapped, ready to knock his block off.
"There was no reason to keep any of these secrets from Shifu. He is literally the only one in this entire valley who could actually be of some help to you. Thus, you are an idiot."
" You're an idiot!"
"No, you're an idiot!"
"No, you!" Lin wished she had something sharp and heavy to throw at him. Instead, she settled for reaching up to poke him in the armpit, where he was ticklish.
"Don't touch me," Rahim wheezed out as he dove to the ground to escape her.
"I'm under enough stress as it is, I don't need your dumbass bullshit making it worse." She didn't know why she'd bothered sharing all that to begin with. She knew Rahim would take the opportunity to criticize her with the last thing she'd currently want to hear.
"Both my ass and my bullshit are extremely smart, actually," he corrected from the ground. "And you should listen to them."
"Wow, thanks," Lin said sarcastically. She hadn't been expecting sage advice from Rahim, exactly, but he could have at least said something encouraging.
"Now, as for you romantic life--"
"Don't," she interrupted. There were only so many of Rahim's opinions she could take in a day.
Unfortunately for her, Rahim didn't care about that. "Why did you dump that uptight little rodent?"
"Red panda."
"Whatever," he dismissed. "You said you broke up with him, yes? Why was that?"
"We weren't in a relationship," Lin corrected, but Rahim was clearly uninterested in that detail.
"What happened?" Rahim asked.
"Nothing," Lin said.
"I know you want to tell me. So tell me."
"You're gonna say something snotty about it."
"Yes. Yes I will."
"I dumped Shifu," Lin grumbled, "'cause I couldn't commit."
"And the pattern continues," he said, predictably enough. "Shocking."
She fished a pillow from her hammock and buried her head in it so she wouldn't have to listen to his know-it-all commentary about her love life despite never having had one of his own. Of course, she couldn't make it more than a few minutes without poking the hornet's nest. "D'you think--"
"Can't hear you, too muffled," he interrupted.
With a groan, Lin lifted her head from her pillow to glare at him. He was drinking her wine. How he even got it without her noticing, she had no idea. "Hey! That's mine!"
"I'm thirsty," he replied petulantly. "And I gave up everything I owned to come help you, so I get to drink your wine."
"You're such a baby!"
"Just ask your question!"
"Fine!" She threw the pillow at his head. "D'you think I dunno how to love?"
He pulled the pillow off his face and pointedly finished off the bottle of wine before answering. "I think you may have a little trouble in that area."
"So yes."
"That isn't what I said," he replied with a roll of his eyes that she didn't appreciate.
And she wasn't in a forgiving mood at the moment. "You implied it, you nerd!"
"I'm not a nerd!" He threw the pillow back at her, but missed pathetically. "You take that back, crybaby!"
"Yeah, I'll take it back-- straight back to your mom's pussy!"
"Oh, ew! Eww! "
Lin cackled at his reaction. Nothing improved her mood quite like a gross-out moment, and Rahim was a good target for them. "I still regret not getting around to her--"
"Enough! Truce!" He covered his ears and for reasons she could not understand, tightly shut his eyes. "You stop that this instant!"
"Nyah, nyah, I banged your sister!"
" In-law. "
"Same difference," Lin said smugly. "Man, she was wild . Your brother's got a thing or two to learn, lemme tellya."
"Stop it! You do know how to love, you just suck at it!"
The silence that descended between them was too uncomfortable for words. Lin stared up at the cloudless sky, worrying at a hole forming in the knee of her pants. "Jeez, thanks for your honesty," she finally said. She had been trying to sound pithy and sarcastic, but it fell flat.
"I did not mean to imply there's anything wrong with you," Rahim added. He sounded placating, and she hated it. "You simply refuse to face the difficult parts of love. And you have trouble letting go. Those are not things you are , they are things you do, and you can fix that."
"And why should I, huh?" Lin snapped at him. "Why should I bother fixing anything when all anyone ever does is hurt me?"
"I never said you should. I said you could . If you wanted to."
"Well, I don't!"
"Alright, then."
"Okay!" Lin slapped her thighs as she stood up, then yanked some paper and graphite from her shirt to write down a quick note. She was done talking about all this shit. She was done thinking about it. She was ready to get off her ass and do something.
"Ew, do you always keep paper and sticks in your clothes?" Rahim asked with a wrinkled nose, then recoiled when Lin forced the noted into his hand.
"It's time to get serious," she told him. "We've got a militia to raise."
"That is what I've been telling you--"
"Look at me in my eyes, Rahim!"
Rahim shut up with a huff, then nodded to her to continue.
"I gotta get to work in the studio." If she was going to gather a militia, she'd need something to actually spread the message. And some one . "I needya to bring this note to Ping at the noodle restaurant. You remember the noodle restaurant, right?"
"The one at which you work and which is also on your way to your studio?" Rahim asked petulantly, holding her note pinched between one finger and his thumb like he thought it was contagious.
"I can't stop in there, Ping'll rope me into a shift." Lin gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Luckily, you've got absolutely no aptitude for cooking or serving whatsoever."
"Glad to be of help," he said with heavy sarcasm.
"Now get your big butt off the ground, we gotta hustle."
"That is what I've been saying ," he grumbled as he followed her lead.
Lin had a plan, now, and people to help her out with it. Sort of. She had an outline. A starting point, really. But she'd always been good at improvising her way through things, and now was no different.
--
It took Lin until after the dinner rush to finish her first printing of calls to arms in the form of posters. It might not seem like much, but people responded to bright colors and flashy messages. She'd also used her experience drawing Po to her advantage and thrown him on there in a flying jump kick, so people would think it had something to do with the Dragon Warrior. Sometimes a little false advertising was acceptable for a good cause.
She plastered as many walls as she could on her way to Ping's while still reserving some posters for the actual restaurant. When she arrived, she was not disappointed. "Well, well!" Judging from the crowd still packing the tables, Ping had come through and gathered every business owner he knew in the village-- and then some. She waved to An Zhi and Rahim as she rushed up to the counter to stow her glue, half of which was permanently stuck in her fur by now, and let Ping know she'd arrived. "I really oweya one," she told the goose.
"Yes, you do!" Ping agreed. "Half of these people are my competition-- and of course they're not ordering anything!"
"Here," Lin said, tossing all the coins she had on her into the tip jar. "Anyway, let's get started, shall we?" Before Ping could protest, Lin climbed up onto the restaurant's counter and commanded attention the best way she knew how: by getting loud. "Yo!"
The din of voices tapered off as the crowd's attention turned to her.
Lin held up one of her posters as a visual aid, which caused a lot of skeptical murmuring, but forged on ahead anyway. "Who here's tired of having to get your asses saved by kung fu masters every other week?"
"I really like the kung fu masters!" a dorky sounding voice shouted from the back of the crowd.
Okay, maybe she'd taken too aggressive a bent to start out with. "Yeah, we all do! Right?" She might as well agree with the crowd to get some buy-in. "Who here loves the Dragon Warrior?"
That got a round of cheers for her, thankfully.
"Awesome! Who here wants to be more like the Dragon Warrior?"
That one got crickets. "Hey, can the crickets in the crowd not do that? Really not the mood." Now there was silence. "Okay, fine. I'm done with the whole rabble-rousing schtick here. I'm just gonna tell the truth. There's an army on its way to the Valley of Peace, and they ain't exactly here for our namesake."
There was murmuring in the crowd again, this time worried.
"The kung fu masters will protect us!" the dork yelled, and the crickets chorused their consent.
She'd have to talk to Ping about those crickets. "No, they won't," she snapped, frustrated already by this whole situation.
"Why?" Mrs. Wu, the pig from next door asked. "Are they mad at us?"
"No, they're not mad at you!" Lin had definitely gotten rusty at this. "They're gonna try, okay? But this army's got some nasty weapons, and they outnumber the kung fu masters. So what're you gonna do if they get through that line, and invade the village?" She paused for dramatic effect, but she should have known the crowd would take her question literally.
"Die?" Mrs. Wu asked.
"Cower!" Ai Guo, the former owner of her house, shouted out.
"Cower and die!" the dork from the back helpfully supplied.
"No!" Lin replied in her customer service scream, which usually left dine-and-dashers immobilized. Now it rendered the crowd cowering below her, so maybe she should just capitalize on that. "You're gonna fight 'em, or else I'll kick each of your asses so hard your asshole's gonna become an outie! You got that?"
The chorus of agreement was terrified but unanimous.
"Who here wants an inverted asshole?" she shouted, which was met with silence. "Good! Now, who here wants to make a militia and fight for their homes instead?" The cheers were less than enthusiastic. "You cheer better'n that right now or I'm coming down there!" she threatened, which earned much louder and more enthusiastic cheers in response. "Now we're talking! Everyone, take a poster and spread the word! Ping's is our meeting spot. And if you're not gonna order shit, at least leave a tip!"
Ping nudged her leg with a ladle. "Get off the counter, already!"
Lin listened to him and climbed down to start handing out posters, only mildly surprised to see An Zhi and Rahim approach her together. "So you two met, huh?"
"Yes, and An Zhi is quite an enchanting woman who made the exact right decision to dump you like a hot rock on the first date," Rahim said.
An Zhi laughed uncomfortably. "Oh, let's not revisit all that."
Lin handed her a poster, then enrolled her and Rahim in helping to hand them all out while Ping walked through the lines of people advertising a militia coupon for ten percent off noodles that he must have just made up that day.
Of course, it wasn't until they had finally handed out the last poster that Guotin finally arrived. "Where the hell've you been?" Lin wasn't in the mood to let him charm his way out of this one.
"Doing my job, I'll have you know," Guotin said with a playful wink-- or maybe with only one eye it still counted as a blink-- before blowing out a shrill whistle. This prompted another wave of citizens of the valley to march through Ping's door, all of them ready to take a poster. As a group, they looked about as rough around the edges as Guotin did, some of them with similar eye patches, some of them sporting questionable choices in facial hair, many of them tattooed. "I got every criminal, delinquent, punk, and otherwise shady character in this village together for the cause. They're gonna tell everyone they know, who's gonna all tell everyone they know, and so on. So, how's that one, eh?"
"Not bad," Lin admitted, raising her eyebrows when the goat who ran the apothecary stepped up.
"What?" he asked as he took a poster. "I run an apothecary, I like drugs, you do the math."
She turned to An Zhi to comment only to find that she had that shaky nervous look she got when Tai Lung first started walking around the valley.
And of course, Guotin's attention went directly to An Zhi, too. "Well, hello there young lady. Mighty fine night tonight, isn't it?"
"I'm gay," the rabbit said in response, which came out more as a yelp, then awkwardly shuffled behind Rahim.
"You're gonna hafta get over that whole cowardly thing ifya wanna be a militia leader," Lin told her.
"I love being treated like furniture," Rahim added, which she ignored.
Despite An Zhi's disappearing act and Guotin's general inability to stay on task, they still managed to hand out all the posters and all the order slips Lin had written last-minute details on when they ran out of the posters prematurely. Once the last of those were handed out, Lin managed to get Guotin and Rahim's attention, and even coaxed An Zhi out from hiding. "That was a good first night, but it's a long road ahead."
"I'll say," Ping added, pushing into their circle. "What a mess that lot left behind! We'll be cleaning up half the night."
Lin sighed. "I can't stay for cleaning, I gotta make more prints. In fact, I gotta take the rest of the week off for this."
Ping let out a panicked honk at her refusal. "I can't run the restaurant alone with these kinds of crowds!"
"Then take Guotin," she decided. "He needs to get to know the people of the village better, anyway."
"So does the tiger," Ping pointed out. "And he's a lot better looking."
"He's shit with a knife, though."
"I'll attest to that," Guotin added. "Wait, what'm I saying? I don't wanna stay here all night cleaning."
"Well, you're gonna," Lin demanded, glaring back and forth between him and Ping. "It's the only way these people-- the non-criminal ones, anyway-- are gonna trustya. And Rahim's such shit he'll need the help anyway."
"Sorry, what?" Rahim asked.
"Well, I suppose two helpers are better than one," Ping accepted grudgingly.
"Guess I gotta do what the pretty lady says," Guotin agreed.
"Good! An Zhi, I wantya spreading the word through the Pink Lily, too, and you're gonna be on poster plastering duty."
"Can do," An Zhi accepted with a nod.
"Rahim, you're our liaison with the Jade Palace--"
"But you're already going up all those stairs for the printmaking," Rahim whined.
"Shut up and do it! And you're gonna help host all these village meetings we're advertising. I wantya planning agendas, writing talking points, all the secretary crap."
"Diplomat crap," he corrected. "And yes, that is amenable to me."
"And Ping, advertise this shit like crazy," she said to the goose. "For me. Please."
"Oh, you know I'm on board," Ping said easily. "Anything to help my Po protect the valley! And this will be great for business, too." With that, he threw a cleaning rag each at Guotin and Rahim, then retreated to the kitchen.
"That's our meeting. I'll be taking questions never." Lin broke away as well to head to the Jade Palace before she got roped into helping with cleanup after all. As it had since she'd finished painting, the ocean spirit hung heavy over her, orbiting her like her own personal moon.
--
Shifu spent his week running between training with his students, ensuring that their less law-abiding guests weren't up to anything, checking in with Rahim about the progress the militia had been making, and visiting Tai Lung.
He found now that he no longer felt the need to hold back from his son. Perhaps it was the personal growth he had gone through recently, or perhaps it was the shock and sadness of having to jail Tai Lung for the second time. But despite Tai Lung's relative silence, Shifu told him everything. At this point Tai Lung probably knew more about the upcoming invasion and their plans to fight it than anyone else in the valley.
Every day Shifu elected to bring lunch to Tai Lung and talked the snow leopard's ear off while he sat and quietly ate. Sometimes Tai Lung would reward him with a grunt or a raised eyebrow, or maybe a single sarcastic remark, but that was all.
As for Lin, as far as Shifu knew she hadn't been back to see Tai Lung again. She had instead thrown herself wholly into her work with the villagers, printing posters and pamphlets, arranging nightly meetings at Ping's which grew in attendance each time, and teaming up with Guotin to teach people how to make weapons from every day objects and use them against opponents. He didn't much care for that last activity, though he acknowledged its necessity. What he truly did not care for was how often he saw Lin traversing the grounds with Guotin, arms filled with whatever new print she had concocted, joking and laughing and, infuriatingly enough, flirting. Rahim was often with them too, sometimes even An Zhi as well, but that had never stopped Guotin.
Shifu had always clashed with Lin over her casual attitude toward sex when they were together, but now that she was very likely putting that attitude to work on someone else he felt absolutely feral. He might commit lupicide before this was all over. He didn't know how long he could continue watching Lin spend all of her time with her multiple exes.
Sadly, his only hope to reach Lin did not involve murder of any kind. Instead, it involved reading. Shifu had officially made his way through the entirety of the scroll library and found absolutely no new information to help Lin with her or Tai Lung's visions. None of Master Oogway's writings had mentioned the ocean spirit beyond that initial vague scroll he'd already found. He had always imagined his master as someone who'd had many dealings and grand adventures with spirits, but he found himself proven wrong. Oogway had encountered spirits, of course, but few and far between, and he'd been left as perplexed by them as anyone else.
Now Shifu sat at a study table in the scroll library with no clue how to move forward. Tai Lung had entrusted him with the details of all those visions so that he could be of some use, and yet he found himself as lost as ever. He only hoped that what they had discussed, about Lin possibly being possessed by the ocean spirit, was yet another wrong lead.
At the sound of footsteps he began clearing his scrolls from the table. He didn't want to try to explain his research to one of his students.
"Master Shifu? What brings you to the library at such a late hour?" But it was Gia who joined him at the table, sitting beside him as easily as she would a friend. He did appreciate that ease.
"It is nothing," he said as he rolled up and organized his scrolls. "Simply some research into my master's writings."
"Ah." Gia nodded solemnly. "Master Oogway?"
"Yes." He realized he hadn't spoken of Oogway to Gia much in the time they'd known each other. "He was very wise, and very kind. You would have liked him."
"Would he have liked me?"
"Of course! He would have loved you. You're Lin's daughter after all, and Lin was a good friend of his." He let himself imagine, however briefly, a world in which Oogway was still alive to meet Gia and teach her his wisdom. Shifu would have liked to see that.
"That is nice of you to say." Gia peered at the scrolls beside him, and he could tell she knew exactly which ones they were. "Did you find any wisdom which helped you tonight?"
He could lie and say that he had indeed, and that everything would be alright. But he was too tired to lie, and Gia too keen an observer despite her naive demeanor. "I did not. I am afraid that Master Oogway's wisdom is out of my reach at the moment."
"Perhaps it is not Master Oogway's wisdom that you need right now," Gia said thoughtfully. "Perhaps it is your own wisdom that you need."
Shifu hummed as he mulled over her words. "You have more faith in me than I deserve, I think."
She placed a hand on his shoulder. "But now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."
"Is that... from something?"
Gia let out a disappointed sigh and nodded. "Yes," she said in a tone he suspected he was supposed to find meaningful.
He racked his brain in search of that meaning and came up empty. "...Thank you?"
She let go of him and let her head sink onto the table. "The Bible," she said flatly.
"Oh! That religious text of yours which you're always talking about, of course." He realized that may have been a bit diminishing to say. "I mean, uhm, yes, I remember. It is a very meaningful religious quote of great importance in..."
"Philippians 2:12," she provided.
"Yes, that. What an excellent chapter. So wise."
Gia sighed again.
"I have forgotten more than you've told me, I think," he admitted with some guilt. "My apologies, Gia."
"That is alright. My missionary days are long over." Gia lifted her head from the table and began to gather his scrolls.
"You do not have to clean up after me." Shifu leapt to his feet to help her, but Gia simply snatched the scrolls from his grasp-- which should have been more difficult for her than it was.
"It is my job," Gia reminded him. "And I would like to ensure these are returned properly, since certain scrolls have gone missing from the collection."
"One scroll," Shifu corrected, fully aware of which one she meant. "And it will find its way back eventually, I'm sure."
"I'm sure," Gia repeated skeptically before squeezing his shoulder and disappearing into the stacks.
Shifu knew Gia was right. He had to rely on his own wisdom, not Master Oogway's. After all, he was a spiritual leader in his own right now. Certainly he'd always excelled far more at the physical aspects of kung fu, even the mental ones, but now was his time. He'd lived a long life and gained wisdom from every moment of it. Hadn't he?
He had never felt particularly wise. And thinking now of all the lessons he'd learned in his time with Lin, he still couldn't understand how he could possibly guide her or Tai Lung. He wasn't sure if he'd even learned that much. After all, Lin had broken things off with him for good, and here he was, still obsessing over her. Still just as in love as ever. Moreso, even. Because Lin had put him first, had protected him, even if it meant admitting that she had been the one hurting him. How could he not love her for that?
And then he knew. He realized exactly what he needed to say, and who he needed to say it to.
Shifu was stepping into Tai Lung's cell before he had even finished his thought. There was no time to waste in matters such as this.
"What?" Tai Lung asked irritably from his seat on the floor, meditating cross-legged.
"You spend all your time here in meditation," Shifu observed. "Have you had any further visions?"
"You know I haven't." Tai Lung finally opened his eyes to look at Shifu, his face still in its usual scowl. "Goodnight, now."
Shifu sat down with him, willing himself to go on instead of losing his nerve. "Tai Lung, I have hurt you throughout your life with my rigidity and my obsession."
"I know," he said, sounding bored. "You're repeating yourself."
"You have hurt me as well," he went on, "with your indifference and your pride. We have both hurt each other in unimaginable ways. And yet we do not walk away from each other, though it would protect us from further pain. Why do you think that is?"
"You won't let me. You've literally locked me in a cell."
"Before that!"
Tai Lung sighed. "What is this about?"
"The visions," Shifu said, which got his attention. "Those visions were about Lin's pain. And when you inherited them, they became about yours. That wasn't all, though-- those visions were also about love, and about family. Love and family, they can bring us some of the most intense pain in our lives, yet also the most intense joy. I thought-- I thought stepping away from that, locking you away in Chor Ghom, staying distant from Tigress-- would save that pain. But it didn't work . There are times when relationships, even familial ones, must end. But not when there is truly love and a desire to change."
Tai Lung, improbably, paid rapt attention.
"Lin thinks walking away from you will save her further pain. She is wrong. You have hurt her, but you have shown a true desire to change. If she never knows that, she will never be able to separate herself from the pain of your transgression. She has dealt with her pain this way all her life. She simply walks away, locks it up in a box, and ignores it. You have that in common. That, I think, is the source of this spiritual bond between you two." Shifu risked taking Tai Lung's hands in his. "I am here to tell you to stop. You must face these things. You must face me without any snark or sarcasm. And you must face Lin as well."
"I see." Tai Lung didn't move, didn't look away, instead staring intensely at him. "Shifu. I think you're on to something."
"Right?" Shifu asked, momentarily overtaken by his own excitement at actually figuring out a spiritual problem. He coughed in an attempt to cover up his lapse. "I mean, yes. Yes, of course. Please, Tai Lung. Talk to me."
He shook his head, closing his eyes tightly. "You-- you want to listen to what I have to say? Now? What good will it do?"
Shifu didn't answer. He wanted to give Tai Lung the space to make this decision on his own.
"What good did any of it ever do?" Tai Lung opened his eyes, his normally intense gaze now pained. "You trained me and trained me, my whole life. I slept, ate, and breathed kung fu. I was kung fu, and for what? For what? "
"The vision of the ten versions of you, Tai Lung," Shifu said as he realized it. "Those-- those were the ten tenets of kung fu, weren't they?"
"If they were, it was fitting!" Tai Lung's voice rose, but not in anger. It sounded more like a wail of anguish. "Kung fu turned its back on me, Oogway turned his back on me, you turned your back on me! You were supposed to want me, when no one else did! Is that not why you adopted me? Raised me as your son? Because you wanted me? Or did you only want me when I was good , when I did everything right, according to your plan?"
Shifu didn't answer, because he knew that was not what his son wanted. His son wanted to be heard right now.
"You abandoned me! You abandoned me like my biological parents did! What was the point, then, of adopting me, if you were only going to abandon me? What did any of it mean? Why would you do that?" Tai Lung hung his head for a moment, trying and failing to conceal a sniff. "You were supposed to love me unconditionally. Even if I hated kung fu. Even if I did terrible things. Your job was to love me. I know that I am to blame for so much pain, that I committed crimes and I let darkness consume me. I know that my decisions, the violence that I enacted, the destruction I caused, were all my responsibility. But you're my father."
Shifu couldn't hold back any long. He lunged forward and held Tai Lung, as best he could. His son might be three or four times his size now, but he was still his little boy. "You're right," he said. "I'm sorry. And I forgive you for the things you've done. I hope some day that you can forgive me as well."
"Perhaps," Tai Lung accepted quietly. Then, hesitantly, he gave Shifu a single pat on the back.
After a moment, Shifu was able to get himself back under control and let go of his son. While it had been hard to hear what Tai Lung had said, it had also been a relief. Finally, finally , Tai Lung had sincerely voiced the resentment he'd let fester for so long. And Shifu could now try to make amends. It was a start. "I love you," he told Tai Lung. "I know that I have not yet earned your love or your forgiveness, but I will try. And my first peace offering to you is this: I will see to it that your sentence for attacking Tigress is rehabilitative, rather than simply punitive. My second peace offering: you can quit kung fu. If you would like." That last one had hurt, but it was important.
"Oh, thank you so much for your permission," Tai Lung said sarcastically, but behind that sarcasm there was relief as well.
There was once a time when Shifu had looked at Tai Lung and seen only a perfect little boy. And then, for a time, when he could only see his own failures. Now, he could finally see Tai Lung for the man that he was: messy, complicated, perhaps a little too dark and too violent, but trying. And it was the trying that gave him hope. "I expect you'll give a proper apology to Tigress and Gia, when the time comes."
"Ugh," Tai Lung said immediately, then cleared his throat. "That was a reflex. Yes, I will. I do owe it to them. But first... Lin."
"Yes." Shifu knew that neither Tai Lung nor Lin could truly heal unless they properly spoke. "I will send her here as soon as possible--"
"No. She'll come on her own time."
He supposed Tai Lung was right. "Very well, then. Shall we meditate together?"
"No," Tai Lung rejected. "Lin was right, you are clingy."
Shifu pinched the bridge of his nose, but nodded. "Very well. I shall go." They had made progress, at least. And while his heart still ached at the distance between him and his son, that ache was now healing. "I promise I won't give up on you again."
"Okay, you can end the dramatics now," Tai Lung said with a roll of his eyes, but he looked, if possible, content.
Shifu had done all he could. Now, the rest was in Lin's hands.
--
Lin had never really minded giving speeches before. When she was younger it had given her a thrill, seeing a crowd respond to her words. There had been times, like during the Shanghai riots, when she'd gotten way too zealous for her own or for anyone's good. She could admit that now that she was older. Now a speech in front of a crowd left her feeling a little more cynical. Even when she believed in something, she hated that people needed to hear the right words in exactly the right way just to care. It still gave her satisfaction to whip up a crowd, though.
She wasn't nervous. She wouldn't just wing it this time, she had written down some pretty good stuff and even gotten input from Rahim. But she still needed to center herself with some meditation before speaking in front of the crowd at Ping's, which left her back in Po's old room-- her old room, too. It felt strange to acknowledge that, though not in a bad way, no matter how depressing her life had been then. She had been cared for by friends, and made new ones in the process. She hadn't been alone. Not that she was alone now.
Meditating could be a bit difficult with the ocean spirit hovering over her. But she ignored the spirit and focused on herself. Sometimes-- often, in fact-- eldritch horror was just a thing that happened in the background of one's daily life, and didn't necessarily warrant the discontinuation of said daily life. It was like her grandmother used to say, "just 'cause you're upset don't mean the chores disappear." She had shit to do whether a giant ocean spirit haunted her or not, and no one else was going to do it for her.
When she descended the stairs to the restaurant, she nearly fell over at the sight of the crowd gathering, already so large it spilled into the street. It looked like the entire village had shown up, and while that was the goal, she hadn't kept her hopes up.
Lin stood in front of that crowd, this time standing on a chair instead of Ping's counter ("I make my noodles on that counter!" he'd scolded her). She looked at the faces, both hopeful and frightened, that turned to her and listened to the villagers fall silent to listen. And she realized that everything she had written down was utter crap. These villagers needed something that resonated with them , not generic crap she could have said to anyone. She needed to write a speech tailored to a crowd she was already standing in front of in total silence. She nearly panicked, until she looked up and made eye contact with the ghostly ocean spirit, and realized... She'd already given that speech. She'd already said exactly the thing she needed to say. Now it was time to say it to a crowd, instead of just one person.
"I know half ofya are only here 'cause you're afraid of me and the other half just wanted the food," Lin started, which wasn't the most promising introduction. It did get a small chuckle from the crowd, though. "Anyway. You're here to protect your home. For a long time, I didn't have one of those. Even when I did have a home, I always lost it somehow. I'm not gonna let that happen here, and I expect you all feel the same way." She could hear some murmurs of agreement, so she continued. "There're lotsa sayings about homes, like home is where the heart is, or you're home wherever the people you love are. Maybe so, but a home is also about yourself, isn't it? It's about feeling safe and happy and powerful where you are. You're important.
"Look around at all the people gathered here. Maybe you see familiar faces-- friends, family, and loved ones you believe are worth protecting. And maybe you don't. Maybe, like me, you're pretty new here. Maybe you grew up here, butya never fit in that well. So fight for yourselves! Fight for your own safety, your own happiness! The kung fu masters up on that mountain, they believe you're worth protecting. I believe you're worth protecting. Now it's time for you to believe it, too." Lin paused, and the crowd waited in rapt silence for her next move. "That's the end of the speech, dummies! Go train!" She rolled her eyes as Shan led the crowd in a cheer that started off a bit confused, but eventually rose to a fevered pitch.
Any other time in her life, she would have stayed to soak in the crowd's excitement and admiration, but not now. She invited Guotin to her spot to help organize people, then slipped out of the restaurant through the kitchen's side door and down the alley. Away from the restaurant, the town seemed empty, as if it were only a stage or a model. Lanterns were lit, shudders were open to take advantage of the first warm night in months, but no villagers meandered about in the streets or shook laundry out in the windows.
The ocean spirit remained at the edges of her vision, but it had turned its gaze from her. Now that unwavering eye stared insistently, unerringly at the Jade Palace. Lin knew there was only one person it could be watching.
"I must commend you, Lin." Rahim appeared beside her, having walked up when she'd been absorbed in her observation of the ocean spirit. "Your speech worked. As did your prints."
"Yeah, well, we did it all together." Lin paused, then took another look at the ocean spirit. "I guess... That's important."
"Are you alright? It isn't like you to give me credit for things. Also you're staring at nothing."
"I'm all good," she brushed off.
He stared at her intently, like he was waiting for something, but Lin felt herself pulled by the ocean spirit, unable to pay attention.
She started to walk away, to where the ocean spirit was guiding her.
"Listen to me," Rahim said, following after her.
Lin managed to get her head straight long enough to respond. "That's terrible advice. You're an idiot."
Rahim grabbed her shoulder and pulled her to a stop with him. "Fine. I'm an idiot. But listen to this one thing I have to say: you need to move on." He paused, and the silence between them felt heavy, like the weight of the ocean. "You've been in pain for years, and I can't see any way to help you except to tell that Freeman-- Al-- he would hate this."
Lin felt her trance break at the mention of Al, like she was waking from a dream. "Al?" She asked, only now just catching up to what Rahim had been saying.
"Yes, Al! And yes, I know how hard it is to lose him. I miss him all the damn time. At least twice a day I still think of something I want to tell him about, and then remember I can't. I know it's even harder for you. But you can't spend the rest of your days wasting away, mourning the life you should have had! You have to live the life you ended up with, because there's no going back. I'm only saying this because I care--"
"You're right," Lin interrupted, which was met with shocked silence.
Rahim stared at her, then looked around him like he expected for someone to come tell him he was being pranked. "I'm right," he repeated skeptically.
"I miss Al. I'm grieving all the time. And it's been destroying my life. But there's been plenty else going on, too." Lin resisted the urge to look at the ocean spirit again. "It's not just about Al. It's about... Everything. I need to face my past."
"Uhm. Yes." Rahim leaned down and squinted at her. "This isn't like you at all. Are you high?" He sniffed the air around her.
"I'm not high," Lin snapped, pushing his face away from her. "I can have epiphanies just like anyone else!"
"Okay, okay, I believe you." Rahim smiled at her, genuine affection in his eyes. "I believe we can be alright, in the end."
"Me, too," Lin agreed, and they clasped hands for a brief moment. She didn't know what was going to happen to her when she faced the ocean spirit, but she had to believe she could be alright. It was the only way to keep going.
And still the ocean spirit followed, its unblinking eye always watching. She knew, as she had always known, she couldn't get rid of it alone. She hadn't wanted to face that fact. She'd avoid it forever if she could. She'd live with a weird, ghostly giant squid following her around forever. But she had to face it, just as she had faced Al. Nothing could be harder than facing Al, but this... It came close.
She had to do it.
Lin began the long walk up the mountain, and into its belly.
--
Tai Lung had been spending a lot of time meditating these days. It was all he could think to do. Lin no longer wanted anything to do with him. The panda either, it would seem. The only one who visited him, day in and day out, was Shifu. For some reason, the old man seemed to have retained an unprecedented amount of faith in him. Or maybe it was pity. That was the more likely option, if he were being honest with himself.
He'd had time to be honest with himself about a number of matters. He no longer could see the point of the life he had been leading. He couldn't even remember what he'd once thought the point had been. He suspected that he'd only been trying to hold onto it so tightly because letting go meant facing what came next. And he didn't know what that was. Lin would likely advise him to start with what he wanted-- that, too, remained a mystery to him. He only knew what he didn't want.
He didn't want to live in the Valley of Peace. He didn't want to remain at the Jade Palace. He didn't want to pursue Kung fu. But mostly, he didn't want Lin to hate him.
Whether Lin forgave him or not, though, he still regretted his actions. This sense of remorse had risen up in him on occasion in Chor Ghom, only to be swiftly tamped down by fury and a misplaced sense of entitlement. He had been the one in the right. He had only been trying to claim what should have been his. None of it would have happened if Shifu would just defend him to Oogway. Those thoughts had all been justifications in his mind for unjustifiable deeds.
Well, he had no excuses this time. He had done something egregious, something not easily forgiven-- if it could be forgiven at all. He did not know if he even wanted forgiveness. He likely didn't deserve forgiveness. Perhaps there was nothing to be done, and he was a lost cause. He did not pretend to have any answers.
Despite the fact he had received no further visions, he settled in to meditate in the hopes of receiving some clarity. Deep breathing, allowing thoughts to pass him by-- and very loud, stomping footsteps.
He opened his eyes, already knowing that Lin would be in front of him. And though they did not share the same knowing looks or smiles they once had, he still felt a flood of relief at the sight of her. "You came back."
Lin unlocked his cell and stepped inside. "No matter what, I will always come back." And she held out her hand.
Tai Lung knew, deep in his heart, that something was looming ahead of them, awaiting the moment he took her hand. His fur was standing on end, the air heavy around them. He hesitated only a moment before taking her small hand in his.
"I understand you," Lin told him. "I know you in a way you can't deny. I see what's in your head."
"See," he repeated from the vision, his mouth dry. "Understand." He knew, then, what those words had meant. "I see you. I understand, too." He envisioned that small girl on the beach, the air sweet and salty, wishing she could swim away. He envisioned that woman in the cold and the dark, facing an unknowable beast, and accepting a debt that she could not possibly fathom. He envisioned the woman in front of him now, and all the ways in which she felt empty, invisible, lost.
"You sound weird," she said, narrowing her eyes at him.
He envisioned her shrouded in grief, stooped with it, swallowed whole. "It's those damn visions." He rubbed at his forehead, trying to shake this feeling. He saw her young and vibrant, him only a child, and all the ways in which she'd been unprepared to allow him into her heart. And he saw himself, loving her fiercely, hopelessly, with the abandon with which only a naive child could love.
"Something's happening," she observed, then placed a hand on his arm. "I got your arm," she told him. "I'm here, now. You are, too."
As absurd as he found the whole display, it helped. He felt something foreign inside him, worming its way through his body like the tentacles of that monster or god or both until it spilled from his mouth in the form of words. "I loved you."
"Yeah, I was there," she accepted.
His arms wrapped around her like they were someone else's, like he was only watching, and he held her for a long time. When he let her go, he finally felt a little bit like himself again. "These damn visions," he repeated, hoping it would serve as an excuse.
"Uhuh," Lin said skeptically, but didn't contradict him. Then, she took his hands in hers again. "It's time, now."
He breathed deeply and closed his eyes, putting his faith in her. He could feel the ocean spirit watching him, looming over his shoulder like a ghost in that dark tomb of a sea. He didn't let it distract him. He focused on Lin. He focused on them .
And then, there they were.
One person, one body, at the windblown shoreline as the sun sank into the waves. Watching, numb. They had never been enough for anyone, yet had always also been too much. No one ever stayed, everyone always grew sick of them, and in the end they were always alone. They were so tired.
They walked into the sea, and they began to swim. They swam for hours, until the night became so black that it was indistinguishable from the inky waters.
They were so tired.
They stopped, they floated and looked into the black sky, and they closed their eyes to rest, knowing they would not wake up again. They weren't frightened. They were relieved.
The next thing they were aware of was a rhythm, like the heartbeat of a great beast. They opened their eyes to nothingness, and then, that eye. That haunting dinner plate eye with its greenish glow, looking into them and through them.
It spoke, not in a single voice, but in many voices. "Interesting little creature," it said slowly, laboriously. It sounded as if those voices were both coming from within them and surrounding them, leaving them immersed in their otherworldly resonance.
They couldn't speak. They couldn't breathe. They couldn't move. They were frightened, but paralyzed.
"You have reached the end of this short life," the creature informed them. "That shell has died. Yet you remain. You do not wish to start anew?"
They didn't know what the creature meant. If they were awake for this, wouldn't that count as being alive?
The creature moved one massive tentacle toward them, and though it brushed them gently, its suckers still lacerated flesh. But, they could breathe, now. They breathed in icy, viscous water, and somehow they didn't choke.
"Fragile mortal shell," the creature commented.
"W-what?" They could speak now, too, though it was muffled. "What are you?"
"Immortal," the thing said, as if that explained all they needed to know. "What you are is more interesting. I like things that are interesting."
"I don't get it."
"And you will not. Little creatures are very interesting, so fleeting and so remaining. You die and you remain. You remain and remain. You remember so much, and you forget so much more. You do not remember the all. You do not remember the one. But I do. That knowledge now exists only here, beneath the weight of this ocean. And there, among the stars. But you do not wish for those memories. You wish... To continue this mortal life." The creature floated closer, inspecting them more deeply. "And yet you have brought another to see me. What does your other wish of my power?"
They didn't understand at first. Other? But then they realized that they were two, not one. The creature helped them remember. Still, they couldn't answer. "I'm not sure."
"Then I will decide for you. Other, if you wish for my power, I will enable you to see. I will enable you to know."
"There's a price," they concluded.
"Energy does not appear. It does not disappear. It only changes. It remains and remains." The creature seemed to be confirming that there was indeed a price. "You will not see or understand without something of mine."
"Tell me," they demanded.
"Our time grows short. I grow weary."
They stubbornly waited out the creature. If they were already dead, then they had nothing to lose.
Finally, the creature told them. "Let me in."
"No!" Tai Lung was suddenly aware of himself, separate from Lin, separate from this experience, only an observer now.
"Tell me more," Lin insisted.
"You will have a part of me," the creature, the ocean god perhaps, said. "It will carry you until it cannot. Then you must return it to the ocean."
Lin, as was in her character, refused to accept this outright. "But what are you? If I'm gonna take this deal, I gotta know."
The creature hesitated, its stare betraying no emotion.
"Are you the ocean? Like a god or something?"
"The ocean is me. This form is me. But I am neither."
"Oh my God," Lin complained. "I hate this cryptic shit. Just leave me dead if you're gonna talk like this."
The creature fell silent again, and Tai Lung thought she might have offended it, but it didn't let her go either.
"Okay, fine," Lin finally conceded. "Tell me all the cryptic shit."
The creature obliged. "In the beginning, there was one. One was content to be. One knew nothing else. But One thought many things. One conceived of many things and knew many things. Soon, one began to know alone. So One became All, so it could know together. That was the creation of All."
"All?"
"It is what little creatures call the universe. That is where I come from. It is what I was before I came to this ocean, and it is what I will be when this ocean is long dead. And when All is dead, I will inhabit the nothingness."
Lin looked frightened at all this information, but she set her jaw and squared her shoulders. "So what will I be after this?"
"What you were before you came to inhabit this ocean," the creature answered. "And what you will be when it is long dead."
She balled her hands into fists, looking both determined and torn.
"It is time," the creature said. "Let me in."
"Yes," she answered, and its tentacles engulfed her.
Tai Lung had a sense of both returning to his cell with Lin, yet remaining with the creature. It wasn't looking through them anymore, but at them, in a space that was both his cell and the ocean. He realized then that this entire time, in every vision he'd ever had, the creature had been looking at this very moment. The realization made his head hurt. He glanced at Lin, who was looking back at the creature casually, like this was all normal and expected.
"I remember now."
"You sought out this memory," it warned her. "And it will not be the last. Or the first. No mortal is meant to step outside its own moment." Its tentacles encircled them once more. "But you have remembered. You remember. You will." And then, it was gone.
They sat in silence for a long time, Tai Lung contemplating what all of that could have meant.
Finally, Lin stood up. "Well, that happened."
Tai Lung stared at her, his mouth agape at her casual attitude. "You cannot be serious!"
"What else'm I supposed to say?" she asked him with a shrug. "We both saw all that. It happened. It was weird , but there's nothing we can do about it now. And now we know what all those visions were. Just... A memory."
"They were more than a memory," he reminded her. "You-- what even are you after that?"
"What are you after that?" she asked back.
"I said no." He watched her, waiting for an answer, but she rolled her eyes at him.
"We got more important things to worry about."
"More important than that immortal being and its cryptic warnings?" Tai Lung asked incredulously.
"Yeah! Like, for instance, the goddamn battle we gotta fight! Y'know, the dangerous one that could get everybody in this whole damn valley killed."
"I cannot believe you're worrying about some simple battle when we've come so far with these visions! After all this time, we finally have some answers and you won't even spend a few minutes trying to make heads or tails of them? Isn't this supposed to help rehabilitate me or something?"
"Enough, now," Lin snapped. "The visions are over. We're done. It's time for you to decide who you're gonna be."
" Excuse me?"
"You can't keep relying on other people or mystical visions to tellya these things," Lin continued firmly. "It's been up to you this whole time to figure 'em out for yourself. You saw those visions 'cause of me . We both know that now. We did all that together 'cause I couldn't handle it on my own. And it wasn't the answers that mattered so much as the doing . Ifya can't figure that out after all this, then stop trying. Just keep doing. Flounder through life with no idea like everyone else. But do it while at least knowing, a little bit, whether you're gonna try to be better for yourself and the people aroundya or not." With that, she stood up and left him.
And she left the cell door open.
Notes:
Aaaahhhhh I'm back! I know all my hiatuses are unplanned, but I had a depressive episode, went back to school, moved another 5k miles, and now... I bought a house (I feel exactly the way Lin does, as I knew I would). Funnily enough, it was learning about writing poetry that got me back to the fic! So yay!
References: The ocean god's "remains and remains" line is from 1000xResist because it's one of my biggest influences in the past year and I couldn't resist the quote! And, as always, the apothecary goat is a shoutout to Nievelion's character Ning Guo. The chapter title is a Mark Twain quote. I think that's all the Easter eggs for this chapter.
Huge thanks to everyone who's stuck with the fic for this long. I appreciate you! And I WILL finish no matter what!
Ananthecat (Guest) on Chapter 13 Mon 24 May 2021 12:19AM UTC
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just_creation_here on Chapter 13 Fri 05 Jul 2024 04:37AM UTC
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Jade_Maverick on Chapter 20 Mon 09 May 2022 06:36PM UTC
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just_creation_here on Chapter 28 Sat 13 Jul 2024 05:00PM UTC
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Epon_Aruim on Chapter 32 Wed 10 Nov 2021 04:31AM UTC
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indignantpup on Chapter 33 Sat 05 Mar 2022 03:55AM UTC
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mariegoos on Chapter 33 Tue 15 Mar 2022 01:15AM UTC
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indignantpup on Chapter 33 Tue 15 Mar 2022 03:13AM UTC
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Epon_Aruim on Chapter 33 Thu 17 Mar 2022 09:36AM UTC
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Jade_Maverick on Chapter 33 Thu 12 May 2022 05:31PM UTC
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Epon_Aruim on Chapter 34 Mon 28 Nov 2022 04:34AM UTC
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mariegoos (Guest) on Chapter 34 Mon 28 Nov 2022 09:25PM UTC
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Joilie (Guest) on Chapter 34 Sun 26 Feb 2023 05:14AM UTC
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Epon_Aruim on Chapter 35 Mon 23 Oct 2023 09:15AM UTC
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mariegoos on Chapter 35 Mon 23 Oct 2023 08:59PM UTC
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M4RKENZ on Chapter 35 Mon 23 Oct 2023 10:12PM UTC
Last Edited Mon 23 Oct 2023 10:15PM UTC
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mariegoos on Chapter 35 Mon 23 Oct 2023 10:15PM UTC
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M4RKENZ on Chapter 35 Mon 23 Oct 2023 10:44PM UTC
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Yuping one (Guest) on Chapter 35 Sat 16 Mar 2024 04:37PM UTC
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indignantpup on Chapter 36 Fri 25 Jul 2025 09:58AM UTC
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Gi_Hi on Chapter 36 Sat 09 Aug 2025 12:19PM UTC
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