Very new story I came up with and it's about Musaki turning 18. This ain't gonna be a one-shot, tough. All the hopes and fears Musaki will come through before he turns the big 1-8. Enjoy!

Step to Adulthood

by: Terrell James

Chapter 1: Anticipation

Another afternoon at the Jade Palace and Po walks around the barracks to catch up with the other masters and as he went into the kitchen, he sees the Five and the Hazards sitting around waiting for Po and Tigress quickly said, "We've been waiting."

"Hey, sorry I'm late. I just wanted to figure out something awesome for Lil' Saki's birthday." Po replied.

"Um...he's turning 18, right? So...he's not really little anymore." Ryo said, trying to make sense of it.

Skyler rolled her eyes at Ryo's 'logistical' comment on that and she told him, "Wow...I wonder how mature you really are."

"More mature than you'll ever know, Sky." Ryo said, batting his eyebrows.

Viper takes a deep breathe of exhale as she pictures Musaki being 18 years old and it was like she couldn't believe that he's growing up so fast and she said, "I still can't believe that Musaki's gonna be an adult. It seems like a long time ago when he was just 13, still figuring out the world in our eyes."

"Yeah, it has been a long time, hasn't it?" asked Crane.

"5 years doesn't count as a long time." Mantis added.

Tigress got super surprised as to how long it has been since Musaki was in this palace and asked, "Doesn't seem like a long time to me."

Takami looked at everyone as most of the masters began reminiscing the times when Musaki first lived in the Jade Palace 5 years ago and wanted to make some sense of it and asked, "Can you guys tell me about this whole thing?"

"Okay...before we met you guys, Musaki first came to live with us in the Jade Palace after spending 10 years at the orphanage. He was so shy and very timid towards us...but when it came to his kung-fu skills...all of that went away and he took us all down to test his strengths and he's unlike any other panda we've ever known." Viper explained.

"Oh, yeah...I remember that! One part I remember is when he beat Tigress on the first day." Monkey said.

Tigress growled at Monkey for remembering that moment and she said, "I still felt humiliated after that."

"Why? No one was laughing at you." Po said.

"On the inside, Po. Having a child win a sparring match is embarassing enough as it is." Tigress said.

Kiba dropped his jaw in shock after hearing that and he said, "Musaki beat you? Where was I then?"

"Wanna ask that again, Kiba?" Tigress growled angrily.

"Anywho...through those years, Musaki has grown, developed and matured into a bright and strong young man with talent and a heart of gold. It's hard to believe that he's 18 now...after coming such a long way." Viper said.

Takami got most of those answers and he said, "Sounds like a great milestone."

"But the thing about Lil' Saki is that he's so humble and good-natured about everything, almost like he's an inspiration to everyone around us and he never makes a big deal about being a warrior or if someone dubs him as a legend. He's just like any other person." Po answered.

Shifu then comes into the kitchen and sees the others sitting there and he said, "I see you're talking about Musaki's 18th birthday, I'm assuming."

"Actually, we were just talking about how far he's come from age 13 to now being 18." Mantis answered.

Shifu nods in agreement and he said to them, "Anyway, we're all gonna pull of the best 18th birthday he'll never forget here in the palace and it has to be effortlessly."

"Master...Musaki told me that we don't need to make this into a big deal for his 18th birthday. All he needs is just a simple party; a few friends and family, nothing too extravagant. We don't need to have an almost overdone party like last year...when a few people I know tried to compete to gain Musaki's approval for a birthday gift." Viper said, glaring at the masters over the last part.

Po, Tigress, Monkey, Mantis and Crane sputtered and scoffed at that comment aimed at the fact that they went above and beyond to see what gift Musaki would love on his 17th birthday and Mantis said, "What's the chance of not going through that again?"

"Zero chance...because it has to be special, something he wants to remember." Viper answered.

"We're still upset that you gave him that samurai sword last year. It's like...you completely blindsided us for some reason." Monkey spat out.

"Like I said, not a competion." Viper added.

The Hazards were speechless at this while they were debating and Shifu walks by the Hazards and asked, "I trust that you won't do the same on Musaki's birthday?"

"We won't do any of that." Takami replied.

Awesome kick-off, right? Stick around for more!