Living Again

Chapter 1

Seeing her, for the first time, my heart flutters. Xi is gorgeous, and her compassion limitless. Me? I'm just a rebellious, uncivil teenager, with a knack for collateral damage. So my heart stops when she asks me for a first date. I stutter and pace about, lost in the helpless ramblings of my broad yet still developing mind. But when I look into her eyes, I see someone like me. Someone who brings out the best inside of me. Someone who completes me. And so I eloquently agree.

That went well, didn't it?

I was 15 then, and she was 14.

10 years have passed since then, and our relationship is like a peach tree flower that has blossomed almost all the way. A part of the flower bud still remains young and green, though. I want to solidify our love. Set it in stone. But I fear. I fear that it will shatter. I am afraid that stone will crack, and all I will have left is a pebble. A pebble that shows nothing but a bittersweet romance in a fantasy. I am afraid of the changes that the future might make. I just want to turn my face away from the fears and burdens that come with the attachments of true love. I just wish to hide my anxieties behind my veil of youth and adventure.

For the past year, I have taken up a spot in a kung fu recreational club. We spar for fun and for building up communal bonds, but we also use our training to prepare our minds, our bodies and our spirits for our own individual life missions. I just want to live a happy and fulfilling life, bringing joy and prosperity to my tribe. And maybe fall in love…

For all my mature outlooks on life, Xi is definitely more sophisticated and nuanced when it comes to finding your own niche in society.

She's had enough of waiting. One day she knocks, and practically drags me out to my family's backyard.

"Are we in this together or not?" she harrumphs, opening a box with a jade necklace inside.

My breath is trapped, sealed behind my tight, thin lips.

I could very likely screw this up. I might be too bellicose. Too blunt. Too prideful and insufferable. But when I look into her green orbs again, my heart softens. My spirit is released. She sees that I'm worth something. That my life contains untapped, powerful potential. She believes that to be the same for everybody. But I'm a special case. She really does believe that we are meant for each other. That we balance each other. She is the Yin to my Yang. And that is all that is needed for the walls of doubt inside my head to crumble. I gently clasp her paw within both of mine, and I look at her face to face.

My answer is, "Yes. I truly love you. Forever with all my heart. You are the candlelight for my soul."

A week later, we say our vows in front of the tribe, and the knot is eternally bound.

Our hearts beat as one from then on.

"He's beautiful," I whisper into her ear.

I hold my little son, our little Lotus, in my arms as Xi gradually recuperates from the difficulties of childbirth. She handled the whole thing well. She dealt with this with much more grace and finesse than I do in my training and farm work. She laughs. She laughs even though she's still in pain. Physical burdens are nothing compared to the shining light of her love.

Both of our parents are there to congratulate us. 9 months of labour, care, and tenderness brought to fruition. The wind chimes, a gift from my mother, blow happily in the light breeze. I feel alive, and at peace. I disagree with the belief that you can only feel peace once you've lived a complete life. You choose what to make of your situations in life. We all have the choice of whether to stand tall and explore, or sit and let the seasons pass by. As long as we accept what life brings, we will turn out alright. Fear not for the future. Weep not for the past. Lotus wiggles contently in my arms. I bounce him playfully, a bright fatherly grin on my face.

I begin wondering about the possibility of fate's cruelty when I take up my rake and start fighting against the invaders.

Pandas are a peaceful people. These aggressors have no need to spill blood. But the lives of my tribe are bleeding out onto the ground. I can feel countless souls being ripped from their bodies into oblivion. That is my incentive to toss myself into the ranks of the wolves. I can hear several of my friends' cries, born of grief and pain, as their families fall. I can see several panda cubs running, terrified looks plastered on their faces. My friends valiantly fight against the soldiers in pursuit, but they are slaughtered.

Their sacrifices were in vain too. The soldiers catch the children, and mutilate them. Beheadings, hacking off of limbs, stabbings… unspeakable things. My parents and their friends have already fallen. Age is no factor. Not even the kids and the elderly are spared. My coat of fur and the rake that I brandish are now stained with dried blood and soot. I can feel multiple light cuts across my skin. I have stepped into the spirit realm of the condemned. The wolves are killing and burning. They are merciless demons having their sadistic, savage fun.

I find that my heart has lead me to what remains of my family. Xi and Lotus. I find Xi grappling with two wolves. She managed to flip one and crush his head, but the other gets her pinned. I get there in time to rip the bastard's back open with my rake. With quick, trembling hands I help her stand.

I turn to my son. The sight of more wolves bearing down on him fuels my wrath. Stepping in front of my helpless son, I swing my rake and make contact. The pack goes flying back, their leader rasping out grueling screams as chunks of cheek and eye scatter about. Serves them right.

Xi has picked up our son, and was about to rejoin my side. I can't let her do that. I scream at her to run somewhere, anywhere that is safe, and keep our son and herself alive. She complies without hesitation. She was always the most practical of the girls that I knew in my life. But I flush out all the memories as I face the raging fires. The fires of both the flames and the attackers. I charge once more into battle, kicking and punching and swinging. In the midst of the hazy reds and the terrifying blacks, I make out the shape of an albino peacock. Lord Shen. I connect the dots and waste no time in leading an assault on him.

With deadly grace and swiftness he takes out more of my fellow pandas. From one fatal strike to the next, he's just a waterfall, flowing and blasting with full force. I get his attention and I lead him away. For all his lethality in combat, he lacks a level head.

The rope bridge is one of the ways out of here. The peacock and I clash with everything that we've got. Steel against Wood. Fear against Resolve. Hate against Love. Shen somersaults and twists. I block and retaliate, the latter happening less often. He's a deadly storm. And I'm a mountain. Boards are smashed, ropes are cut. Balance becomes key. I forget that when I try to entangle him in the snares, but he just radiates howling laughs that chill my bones as he cuts the bridge in half and glides away. I fall to oblivion, shocked into silence. The abyss becomes a monster of its own accord. It morphs into a dark spirit, swallowing me whole, strangling and crushing me in the endless ebony blackness.

I finally feel a flash of soaking cold, and I slip away from the world of the living.

Welcome all, to my first Kung Fu Panda story.

I've always wanted to do a story that focused on Li's life.

I won't really take into account the events of the third movie, aside from a few names, because I thought the third movie was a letdown. Apologies to those who do like it.

Feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Transformers 0 over the moon and out!