Haven't done a one-shot in like...ever! In this one...Max is turning 8! This one is a dedication to Nightfuryx. Hope ya like!
Max's Birthday
by: Terrell James
It was a beautiful morning in the Valley of Peace and in Mako's house, some sunlight rays shone on a young tiger cub's face and he lets out a soft groan and slowly opens his tired hazel-green eyes and he lets out a small yawn and scratches his back several times before getting himself out of bed. Then, he goes around the hallway and gets himself a little surprise when all of his brothers and sisters stood there in the kitchen, shouting, "Happy birthday, Max!"
Max lets out a smile and figures that they might remember the young white tiger cub's birthday and he said, "Aw, thanks guys! You remembered!"
Mako comes up to Max and he goes down on his level and said, "How does it feel to be eight years old?"
"Pretty good, I guess." Max replied.
Cody walks over to him and he takes a glance at Max and said, "Yeah, you've really grown compared to last year. Are you getting taller?"
Max had no idea how to answer that question and replied, "I don't know. Am I?"
Samurai then takes Max towards the height scale on the wall and as Max stood there, he takes out a pencil and draws a line beneath his head and adds in a number of his height and said, "Whoa...you've grown like 4 inches. That's like two more than last year."
Mako was blown away by Max's growth and said, "You're getting to be a big tiger, huh?"
Tsunami brought in several plates of breakfast for Max, filled with pancakes, rice porridge, dumplings and his favorite...rainbow kiwis. When Max saw the kiwis come in, he really wanted to eat it first and when all of them were set on the table, everything Max wanted is right in front of him and he said, "Thanks, Tsunami!"
"All the best for our birthday bro!" Tsunami said, patting Max's head.
Max immediately ate up his birthday breakfast and all Max could do is let his taste buds start off his day with ultimate joy and while he was eating, most of his sibs and Mako headed to the living room and Cody asked, "So...what do we do for Max's birthday party?"
"I pulled some strings at the Jade Palace and convinced my nephew to have it there, thinking that it's gonna be just a 'birthday dinner' when all we're really doing is setting up a big birthday bash here." Mako replied.
"How did the masters react?" asked Phoenix.
Mako took a little glance at Max real quick and then turned back to the kids and replied, "Shifu got the okay. The Five are gonna help with the decorations and all you guys are gonna do is keep this a secret from Max."
Cheyenne clears her throat and asked, "Isn't Arizona gonna do something for Max? They've been like brothers for a year now."
"Arizona is clearly stressed on what to get Max for his birthday and he said that he wanted to make it really special." Mako replied.
Samurai thought this over and then, he snaps his finger for an idea and he said, "I think maybe I can help him out with what Max might like for his birthday."
Dakota chuckled softly at Samurai's thought and he asked, "How are you gonna do that?"
"Simple. You just gotta think like an 8 year old, like they would want toys, games or other cool stuff." Samurai replied.
"I don't know, Sam. Arizona says he really wants to try and find the 'perfect gift' for Max by himself." Cody added.
Samurai scoffs at Cody's skeptical doubts and said, "Cody, Cody, Cody...have I taught you nothing? Focusing more anxiety brings more anxiety for Arizona and I want to help him assist so that he won't feel stressed anymore."
Mako looks at Samurai and he said, "That's an excellent idea. Now, I'm gonna have to get off work a little early today and head straight to the Jade Palace to help pitch in for the party, so I'm hoping you guys can come too."
"We will, dad." Tsunami said.
Later that morning...
Arizona heads from store to store, trying to find something special for Max for his eight birthday, but he proves that finding the right gift would be very difficult for him as anything wouldn't pique his interest. The young wolf lets out a slight whine and groan in frustration that he doesn't know which gift he finds good enough for Max.
Then, he heads to a little toy store and tries to find something that Max would really like and as he searched in every section, the stress starts building him up immensely and frustration began to rise up, but is quickly eased when he sees Samurai coming in. He catches up to him and he said, "Hey, Sammy."
"Oh, hey Arizona. Find anything?" asked Samurai.
Arizona lets out a heavy sigh and he replied, "Not at all. I don't know exactly what to get Max for his birthday and I'm seriously freaking out."
Samurai could tell that he wants something special for his tiger brother and he looks at Arizona and asked, "Did you tell him what he likes?"
"I kinda did...but then I forgot what it was. He did mention something about like...teddie bears or action figures." Arizona replied.
Samurai snapped his fingers and said, "That's it! Most eight year olds love action figures...so why not give him one?"
"But where do I find one?" asked Arizona.
Samurai glares at Arizona for asking that question and they actually know that they're in a toy store and he said, "In case you've forgotten..."
Then, it hit Arizona to realize that the one place where action figures would be is in a toy store and he said, "Got it."
"So, let's start searching."
For several minutes, Arizona and Samurai have been searching from section to section to find the best gift for Max and while they got some action figures, Arizona still needed to search for something that's special to Max; to make sure their brotherhood bond is much stronger and as he was looking around, he completely sees something that sets his eyes on...a friendship necklace that resembles yin and yang.
One look at it and Arizona was blown away by it and he said, "Yes...this is it!"
Samurai came over and finds Arizona on one section of the toy store and he asked, "Find anything?"
Arizona then shows him a friendship necklace with a resemblance to yin and yang and Samurai was amazed by how it looks and he said, "Now that's a cool birthday gift."
"This is exactly what I need to give to Max. I assure you that this is one birthday gift he'll treasure...for our friendship."
Later in the day, at the Jade Palace
Everyone pitched in to help out decorate the entire Jade Palace for Max's birthday and most of the Five brought in some party decorations and other various stuff and as Po looks up, he puts on a clown mask and shows them to everyone and he asked, "How do I look?"
Musaki was the first one to react to Po's mask and he said, "Like a rainbow dufus."
Po takes off the mask and he said, "Come on, Lil' Saki. Kids love clowns."
"Some would like it a lot more if they're not traumatized by your mask."
Mako, Cody, Phoenix and Tsunami set up every ounce of decorations and a banner that reads 'Happy birthday, Max' while getting assistance from Crane, Tigress and Viper and Cody said, "We really appreciate you guys for letting us have this party here."
"It's our pleasure. I can't believe Max is growing up." Viper said, happily.
Mako reflects on the first dat he met Max and he said, "Yeah...I can still recall the day I first met him when he just stole my heart. This six-year old white tiger who was all alone and scared in this one dark room with nothing but some rags. Yeah, he's come a long way ever since we've opened our home to him."
"I thought you said he's been here with you for a year and now it's two?" asked Tigress, confusedly.
Tsunami clicks his tongue and replied, "No...what my dad meant was that Max turned seven a couple of weeks after we took him home with us and at that time my dad met him, he was still six. So don't get it confused."
"Oh, I understand." Tigress said.
"So where is Max, anyway?" asked Crane.
"Samurai's hanging with him for a while along with Crash, Bang, Logan and Tae Kwan Do. They'll come in the palace later on today." Phoenix replied.
Musaki chimes in on the conversation and he asked, "Has anyone seen Arizona lately?"
"Oh, he must still be freaked out trying to find something special for Max to give him as a birthday present." Monkey replied.
Musaki was surprised that Arizona is still struggling to find the right birthday gift for him and he asked, "He's still stressed out over this? How long's it gonna take to find the right one?"
Just then, Arizona burst the doors open and walks inside with a few bags on his hand and Samurai follows him from behind and Arizona said, "We're back."
Mako looks over at Samurai and asked, "What took you two so long?"
"Arizona and I have been hanging with Max for a while and Max is looking forward to have Arizona for this 'birthday dinner' at the Jade Palace." Samurai replied.
Arizona took a deep breath and he said, "It was not easy, but I actually found a great gift for Max."
Musaki went over to him and he said, "Finally! What did you get him?"
Arizona show Musaki the gift; a friendship necklaces that resembles yin and yang and he recalls a certain time that Max likes the entire yin and yang motif and he said, "I think Max will like this."
"Yep, as long as I have one...we'll be friends forever. It just shows the brotherhood we have for each other and how deep it'll run." Arizona added.
"This will be a birthday Max will never forget." Musaki said.
Later that evening
Arizona walks over towards the Valley of Peace, heading his way over to Mako's house to pick up Max and when he got there, he sees Max already waiting for Arizona to come in and he said, "Hey, little guy. You ready?"
Max nodded his head in excitement and he hops on Arizona's back, not realizing how heavy Max had gotten and Arizona said, "You're getting bigger, aren't ya?"
"Sorta." Max replied.
Crash, Tae Kwan Do, Logan and Bang followed Arizona from behind as they made their way onto the Jade Palace and as they walked towards the steps, Arizona sets Max down for a second and he said, "We'll be right in for a second. Wait here, okay?"
"Sure."
Suddenly, Arizona came in the doors and they saw the entire palace decked with mounds of decorations and lots of people were around and Musaki looks over and said, "Hey, Zona. Where's the birthday tiger?"
"He's here."
Musaki then turns to everyone else an exclaims, "Max is here!"
Not long after, everyone immediately hid underneath a few places so they can jump up and surprise Max for his eight birthday and Arizona comes out of there and sees Max standing in front of the doors and he asked, "Can I come in now?"
"Yeah, follow me." Arizona replied.
As soon as Max steps in towards the palace, he could sense that it was getting dark and after Arizona shed a little light on the palace...
"SURPRISE!"
Max could not believe his eyes when he sees that many people coming out and the entire palace was covered with confetti, streamers and other various party stuff for his birthday and he was completely floored and surprised that this was really happening.
"Happy birthday, Max!"
Max's face lit up and he walked over towards everyone and he said, "You guys did all this for me?"
Musaki went over to his cousin and he said, "Yeah, we did. So are ya surprised?"
"Very surprised!" Max exclaimed.
Shifu then walks over to Max and he said, "How does it feel to be the age of eight, young Max?"
"It feels really great."
Shifu patted his head and lets out a slight chuckle and said, "You're turning into a very big cub."
Not long after, they brought in the cake while every started singing happy birthday and after that, Max blew out all the candles and everyone cheered for him and Po asked, "What'd ya wish for?"
Musaki elbowed Po on the shoulder and said, "Don't tell him that. Otherwise it wouldn't come true."
Max giggled a little bit and he replied, "It's okay. I already got my wish anyway."
Just then, everyone brought in gifts for Max and most of them include toys, action figures, some kung-fu posters and also more clothes and just then, Arizona comes over and he said, "This is a little something I wanted to give you."
He then pulls out a yin and yang friendship necklace with the letter 'M' engraved in the middle and Max takes a look at it and he could tell that this is probably the best birthday gift he's even gotten...that's given by his wolf brother. Arizona looks up at him and said, "As long as you wear that, it'll show that the friendship between the two of us and the brotherhood we have will grow stronger than ever."
Max looks up at Arizona and he gives him a huge hug and he then said, "Thanks, Zona...but you already gave me your present."
"I did? What's that?" asked Arizona, confusedly.
"Just seeing you happy and for being at my party. It makes it all the more special." Max replied.
It completely warmed up Arizona's heart to know that his wolf brother on his birthday is the best present he's gotten and he received another hug from him and Arizona whispered, "All the best for my little tiger brother. Happy birthday, Max."
"Thank you, Arizona." Max said, happily.
Wasn't that awesome? Hope you guys like it and I got a new story that I'm gonna post right now, so AniUniverse says...Enjoy!