My Own Destiny
By corset-rebellion-follower
Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda
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Chapter 1- A Secret World
My name is Angel, and I'm thirteen years old. I live with my mom and dad in the Valley of Peace (which is basically in the middle of nowhere) at the Jade Palace.
Yeah, I know what you're thinking. "The Jade Palace? Wow! That's one lucky girl!" And yeah, I am pretty lucky, but living in the Jade Palace isn't all that different from living anywhere else. Except for the fact that everyone spends most of their day studying the art of kung fu.
My mom is Master Tigress of the Furious Five, and my dad is the great Master Shifu, master of the Five and of the Dragon Warrior. And being the offspring of two amazing kung fu masters, everyone expects me to be the greatest warrior who ever lived. And I am really good at kung fu. But it's not my life's passion like it is my parents.
My real life… well, my true love and passion in this world is music. I love music so much, I would explode if music disappeared from the world. But it's not like I go around every day with earbuds plugged into an iPod and dancing around, spontaneously bursting into song like in a musical. Life in a musical, that's the life for me! I would love to just fall into The Sound of Music, or Aïda, or even High School Musical. But those are just my deranged fantasies.
I can't even enjoy music outside my room. If my parents found out that I was dedicating my life to something other than kung fu, I would be dead before I could ask what was going on. They don't even know I have an iPod, which Po secretly gave me for my birthday. I have to hide it in a chest that has a lock. I wear the key around my neck for safe-keeping.
My parents so want me to be a master like they are. My dad is always calling me "his little prodigy" and "The future of kung fu". I don't even want to think about imagining the disappointment that the both my parents would feel if I gave up kung fu.
So I saved up the meager allowance I get each month (One of my father's stupid proverbs; he says that money is unnecessary and just a distraction. But if he would enter this century, he'd see that money is essential) to buy this journal, to write about all the music stuff I want.
I get away with some at school, but not much. I write for my school's newspaper, writing music reviews on all the latest hits and CDs. I told my parents that I was writing an illustration guide on kung fu so they wouldn't get suspicious. So this will be my secret book. Where I can write anything I want about music.
"Angel?"
I snapped my new journal shut and shoved it under my bed. "Come in!" I said, putting away my pen and quickly rubbing the ink off my hands. My father came in through the paper-covered doors.
"There you are. You're late for training," he chided softly.
"I'm sorry, Dad. I'm just working on my illustrations for the newspaper," I lied. I don't like lying, but if I don't want my journal confiscated, especially after writing all that evidence down, I had to.
"Do you need any help? Forms can be tricky to draw, " he offered, coming towards the desk.
"No!" I blocked his view of it. One notice that there were no drawings, and I would be ruined. "I mean… we need to get back to training, don't we? I'm already late," I reminded him.
He smiled proudly. "You're right. Let's go, we don't want to keep your mother waiting any longer." I let go of the breath I was holding as I walked behind him. At least my secret would be safe for now. The training hall was filled with battle cries and yelling, as it normally was. Most of it was coming from Po, our resident Dragon Warrior, who was practicing on one of the wooden warriors. I ran over to him immediately.
"Someone call a doctor! Po's actually training!" I yelled. Po stopped battling with his wooden opponent and laughed.
"Yeah, I must be dying. So what's my favorite godchild doing today?" he asked, picking me up and putting me on his shoulder.
I laughed. "First of all, I'm your only godchild, so I'd have to be your favorite unless you start hating me. Second, I'm not six anymore. You can put me down now." He pouted.
"But we used to have so much fun together. What happened to the love, Angel?" he asked. I giggled.
"Panda! Put her down!" Shifu ordered.
Po quickly took me off his shoulder and placed me on the ground. "Sorry, Master Shifu." He bowed clumsily, which made me giggle again.
"We were just messing around Dad, no need to get upset," I insisted.
"You're late for training as it is today, Angel. I can't have my prodigy getting distracted." He kissed my forehead. Told you he did that. You thought I was kidding, didn't you?
I rolled my eyes. "I'm not getting distracted, Dad. It's called having fun, remember?" I asked sarcastically.
Dad was not amused.
"He remembers. But sometimes his memory gets a little fuzzy." My mom padded over and leaned down to kiss me on the cheek. Why is it that my parents always want to kiss me, but I've gone thirteen years and I've never had a boy be interested in me?
"You need to focus more on your training. After all, I won't be around forever," he said with a small chuckle.
"I don't think that Angel could get more into her training if she did kung fu in her sleep. Give the girl a break," Mantis said, hopping over. At least someone was on my side—sort of.
"Besides, Dad, you're not that old," I said. There was more than one audible snort.
My dad scowled. "Nonetheless, it's time to get to your training. Come." I followed my father to where we would practice forms and moves. On the way, I picked up a bit of conversation between Monkey and Crane.
"Poor thing, she works so hard on training, plus she has school," Monkey whispered.
"Next thing you know Shifu will make her start learning the bamboo flute. If he's not careful, she'll pretty much become his clone, or worse. We definitely don't want her to end up like Tai Lung," Crane added. My heart stopped a little.
I had coaxed the stories of Tai Lung out of Viper and Crane one night. How he betrayed my father and nearly destroyed the entire Valley of Peace. And when Viper had left, Crane had secretly told me that for a while, my mom and dad thought that I was going to be a snow leopard instead of a red panda… tiger… thing.
Tai Lung had… do I really have to say it?
But what I did know was that I didn't want to be a Tai Lung and I didn't want to be a clone of my dad. And in that instant, my secret music world became even more essential to my survival. Not to the daughter of Master Shifu and Master Tigress, or as a student of kung fu, but to an individual who had her own personality and made her own decisions.
And she was already beginning to slip away, every time I entered that training hall and have to lie about myself.
A/N: I FINALLY got the idea for the threequel! I am so proud of myself! I may not update as quickly as with Big or Little Ears? or A Reminder because I'm working on my other Kung Fu Panda story, Year of the Goose, at the same time. Plus, I have drama/art camp next week. But I will update as fast as I can! I promise! Thanks to NigaleCross for reviewing my Shifu/Tigress drabble, Orange and Red, and for pushing me to get on with the threequel. For that, NigaleCross, this chapter is dedicated to you. Holla!