Hello and welcome to my next great story! I watched Kung Fu Panda 2, and was furious that they killed Lord Shen in the end so I'm writing my alternate version to it. It won't be dead on with the movie, and I'l lprolly change some parts, but I will have fun with it! Tehehe! :) Like all the rest of my works, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!

Disclaimer: I am perfectly aware that peahens don't really have a fan tail like the males, I just thought it would be more fun to change it for the story. Thank you.

Shen Again

Chapter 1

Before it All

All before Lord Shen got the idea in his head that his parents hated him; before he thought that he had to use violence to gain China, before he fought Po, he was just a young peacock with a simple plan of life ahead of him. Shen was next in line for the peacock throne and his parents had wonderful plans for him. If we were to jump back in time, I could tell you what turned him into a villain. In fact, I will.

"Shen!" My mother called up the staircase and into my room.

"Coming!" I replied. I was working on a special firework for the Lantern Festival tomorrow. My father, and grandfather, taught me everything they knew about the art of crafting fireworks; the metals, and powders you needed for certain colors, the special way you pack it for your design, etc… Hopefully my creation would explode to look like a peacock's fanned out tail, and fade into the sun I used as my own personal seal.

"This will be perfect! Mom and dad are going to love this!" I mumbled to myself. Carefully, I tucked everything into my closet. Then I walked by the mirror my mother had placed in my room and smoothed my white and red feathers, adjusted my white silk robe, and stepped out into the hall.

"Prince Shen!" A kind, melodic voice called from behind me. I turned around to see Lien-Hua (means: lotus flower) soaring down the hall after me. She was a pretty peahen, not brown and tan like many of the other hens in the city, but her feathers were lotus-flower pink and on her fan-feathers the designs were white like my feathers. She was a maid to my mother, not a royal by any stretch of her bloodlines, but we had known each other since we were just hatchlings.

"Lien! What are you doing here? I thought you had time off to go home to your family." I exclaimed. It's not that I wasn't happy to see her, quite the opposite actually, but she really deserved a day to rest. Lien always worked her feathers off doing everything she was instructed to; mending, cleaning, helping my mother with things in the court. Anything that crossed her path she finished to the absolute best of her ability, sometimes beyond.

"I go home tomorrow morning. Your mother needs me to keep you focused on getting ready for the festival. You know how your attention span is." She said, but I only heard the sound of far off bells. Every time she talked it was like listening to a sitar strum in the evening. Lien's voice was so melodic and strong; I couldn't help but feel a pounding in my chest when she walked beside me.

"Right. I knew that. I just wanted to make sure you did." I replied lamely running my wing over my head and rubbing the back of my neck out of humiliation. Lien only batted her crystalline blue eyes and giggled through her wing in the way she always does when I screw up so severely.

"Well, if I'm not mistaken the queen called you to the throne room. I believe both your parents are there waiting for you." Lien took a step forward and I mimicked her, staying two steps ahead, as was the proper etiquette.

We entered the throne room and my mom was settled next to my father who was in his glorious throne. It was made out of solid gold and painted lapis blue like his feathers. My mother's feathers were tan and accented in red; and my father's plumage was lapis blue, as I said, accented with green and white. He was a beloved king and his queen was considered the kind, loving power behind the throne.

"Ah Shen! There you are." My father stood and wrapped a wing around me. Lien stayed back in the hallway to keep out of the conversation. "I just wanted to make sure that you had started on your lantern." Our tradition was to make a new lantern each year to represent what we'd been through that got us to where we were in life. I had completely forgotten about it because of the firework.

But was I going to tell my father that? Heck no! "Of course father. I'm nearly finished." I lied. I heard Lien cough, and turned around to see her shaking from hidden laughter.

"No need to lie, my son." My mother said in her strong, wise voice. "I haven't started on mine yet either." My beak hit my chest. "What about you Lien?" She called to the peahen who was still shaking in the hallway. At being summoned she stepped in, fanned her tail, and bowed low in respect.

"Nearly finished my queen. I was going to finish it tonight when I got home." She explained.

"How about you go get it, and take Shen with you to get one. Meet us back here in, let's say, an hour. We'll finish them together." My mother decided.

"Thank you majesty!" Lien smiled. "Shall we go Prince Shen?" She asked respectfully.

"Of course." I held out my wing, and she placed hers on top of mine. Together we walked out to the gardens. But as we walked by the pond I paused.

"What is it, my prince?" She asked. Lien was still using her most maid-like demeanor because my parents could still see us.

"I nearly forgot something." I grinned sweetly, and soared over the water. I circled once searching the lotus flowers for the perfect one. I spied it hidden in a bunch of late bloomers, and plucked it with my talons. Carefully, I landed back at Lien's side and tucked its stem into the feathers on left side of her face. "There. Spectacular."

She brushed her wing across the petals and smiled. "Thank you, my prince." She said quietly. I saw a rosy blush warm her, already light pink, cheeks. "We should get going." Lien brought us back to reality and took off. I followed after momentarily gawking at her silhouette.

"Look at them out there." Li-Hua (jade flower) sighed wrapping her wing around her husband's waist. "So young, so innocent."

"They need to realize their boundaries." Peng (fabulous bird) hissed.

"Oh shush!" The queen gently smacked his lapis wing. "Love is love, no matter what the boundaries are."

"But we can't let them get too far! Shen has to realize that he is a prince, and she is a peasant." The king disagreed.

"Love has no boundaries Peng! Remember us?" Li-Hua asked. The king and queen had met at a festival in Singapore, as they had both had run away from home because they hated the royal life. They met each other thinking that they were both commoners. Yet when they got married and found out that they were both in line for their throne and originally betrothed to each other. Obviously, in the end, they united their kingdoms, and now ruled all of China.

Peng sighed. "My darling, this is different. We learned that we can't run from our destinies; they've already been planned for us. We have to plan a destiny for our son. A peasant isn't part of it."

"It is if he loves her, and that is that." Li-Hua concluded the conversation, and left her husband to think it over.

But he didn't need time. He had already planned a ball for Shen to meet royal hens to wed. "I'm sorry my love, but this is for his own good." Peng murmured. Then he turned and walked down to the grand hall where he was meeting musicians for the ball.