Musaki hides his journey from the Five, Po and Shifu for a personal reason. What's the reason? That's what the chapter is for.
Chapter 4: Hidden Plan
Shifu looks at the others and asked, "What are they doing here?"
Musaki knew that he brought them in for a reason and he's to keep that reason to himself and plans to avoid his signature 'I know what you're up to' look and told him, "Well, I just want to...show them the Hall of Warriors. My cousins told me that they want to see it in person."
"You have...the most...awesome stuff...in this place." Samurai said, trying to catch his breath.
"Thank you, Samurai."
Samurai was freaked out and he looked at Musaki and told him, laughing excitedly, "Master Shifu knows my name, dude!"
"Yes, we get it."
"We were...just about to leave now. Sorry if we, uh...came in a bad time." Mako said.
"No need. I think it's a great thing that Musaki has invited you here to see what this palace looks like." Shifu said, with a smile.
"Well, it's an honor to have met you. Of course, I am Musaki's uncle, Mako and you've met my kids before. We were invited to your Christmas celebration. In case you forgot, here they are again-Cody, Tsunami, Samurai, Zoey, Phoenix, Luna, Madison, Jared, Dakota, Diego, Tai Moon, Travis Li, Maverick Ling, Ryan, Mikey, Cyrus Ming, Genki, Megan, Cheyenne, Miles, Austin, Spike Li, Zak, Chloe, Chad, Crash, Bang, Logan and Tae Kwon Do."
Shifu remembered most of them and he was surprised that Mako has 29 kids. He looked at Mako and asked, "How did you manage to get 29 kids?"
"Well, see 20 of 29 kids I have are adopted and 9 are my biological kids."
"Where are most of them adopted from?"
"Vietnam, Japan, Hong Kong and some other areas in China."
"That's a lot."
"Trust me, it's not easy raising 29 kids, but my oldest helps me out and my daughter Zoey helps out more."
"Must be nice."
"We were just amazed at this place and the one place I like is that little pool you guys have." Jared said.
Shifu turned to Jared and said, "That is our Moon Pool. It's the one place where you can answer the most difficult question. Just ask and it will give you the answer."
"Looks like we'll use it well." Mako said.
"Anyways, we'll leave right now." Cody said.
"I'm gonna hang out with them, if you don't mind." Musaki said.
"Just be back before dinner." Shifu said.
"Sure thing."
All of them departed out of the palace and Shifu looked at Musaki thinking that he's up to something, so he made this suspicious look on his face and plans to find out what they were doing there. Meanwhile, Mako and Musaki went into Mako's huge living room and he seemed amazed by the size of the room and asked, "How'd you make it huge?"
"When we got this, I put in some renovation to it, because the first I walked in, it was this small living room and I felt that it needs room for 30 people, so I took in some changes and made the house a lot bigger so we won't have any small spaces."
"Okay, I could visit here."
"When you get tired of the Jade Palace, I have a room waiting for you."
"I'll never get sick of it."
"I know, but I'm still saving it...just in case."
Musaki chuckles and said, "Okay."
"So, what are you planning on finding your family history?"
"Well, I thought that maybe you guys can come with me and sorta see what this Secluded Valley is like and how my family looks like and everything."
"We can do that. I've been to Secluded Valley a couple of times before I saw you again and got to see family and everything. They might get a shock to see that you're still alive."
"Yeah, I bet."
"You think Shifu and the Five and maybe the Dragon Warrior might go with?" asked Megan.
Musaki was definitely unsure about that and replied, "I'm not sure if they would be up for it. Besides, if I asked them, they would say 'no'. But I think they might be cool with it."
"Are you planning to be sneaky?" asked Tai Moon.
"Somewhat, but yes."
"Well, can you at least tell me what time you're planning to go?" asked Mako.
"I usually do my yoga like an hour before early sunrise and also when the gong rings, so I might be done as soon as the sun slowly starts to rise. After this, they might not know I'm gone...unless they find out where I am."
"I just got one question-how come you can't tell them?" asked Cody.
"Well, to be honest, they're-just slightly-a little bit overprotective of me. Shifu's definitely the most overprotective next to Mantis and Crane, because they're kinda scared of thinking I might get hurt or something. I understand their concern-don't get me wrong-,but there are some times that you have to make this journey on your own."
"You wanna know why they do that?" asked Mako.
"Why's that?"
"Like us, they pretty much care for you."
"I know they do and I appreciate that. I would tell them, but I'm not sure how their reaction would be."
"I'm sure that they'll be okay with it, but I'd feel a lot better if you told them where you're going."
Musaki knew that this would be a deep task for him to take on such a personal goal for him. He sighed heavily and then looked at Mako and asked, "Okay, I'll do it."
Mako smiled and said, "That's my Little Musaki."
He patted him on the head and rubbed his head, which made Musaki laugh a little. Mako smiles and said, "Everytime I hear that laugh, it reminds me of your dad."
"Everything you say about Musaki reminds you of Uncle Sakamoto." Cody said, smiling.
"Whatever."
"Anyways, have you guys ever been to Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop before?" asked Musaki.
"We've passed there, but never actually been inside before." Zoey said.
"You should like it."
"Where is it?"
"Not too far from here. About a couple of buildings from here and you'll find a sign that says, 'Dragon Warrior's Noodles and Tofu'."
All of them were in deep shock as they mistakenly thought that Po owns half of the noodle shop. Mako was shocked and asked, "Po runs the noodle shop too?"
"No, his father dedicated it to him after being the Dragon Warrior as well as fulfilling his dream of making tofu in his shop, which made it a reality. So, in honor of making that dream come true, they're serving both noodles and tofu, which is Mr. Ping's dream, anyway and Po made it come true just for him."
"Ohhhh, I was gonna say 'Po owns it too?'" Cody said, laughing in relief.
"Don't worry. I'm buying." Musaki said.
"Don't bother. It's on me." Mako said.
Couple of minutes later, they headed inside the noodle shop and all of them were completely amazed with how the atmosphere is. Musaki sees Mr. Ping in the kitchen and greets him there and he said, "Hey, Mr. Ping."
Mr. Ping looks over and sees Musaki standing there and he greets him back and said, "How are you doing?"
"Pretty good."
"What can I get you?"
"The usual."
"Same here, all 30 of us. Musaki's paying his own, but I'm paying for myself and my kids as well." Mako said.
Mr. Ping was surprised to see Mako and all of his kids for the first time ever. His beak dropped when he saw how many kids he brought in. Musaki chuckles and said, "This is my Uncle Mako and these are my cousins."
"I did not know you have an uncle and a cousin." Mr. Ping said.
"Well, here they are now."
"Okay...Musaki, you don't have to worry about paying for yours. It's on the house. As for your uncle...that'll be 25 yuan."
"25 yuan? Really?" asked Mako.
"Pretty much. You have to pay at least full price."
"Well, can 35 yuan be enough?"
"Yes it is. 30 noodles coming up!"
Minutes later, Musaki got his own free noodles while the rest had their bowls as well and Mr. Ping looked at Mako and his kids and became very surprised that Musaki has family members. He looked at Musaki and asked, "How did he get to be your uncle? You never told me you had an uncle."
"Well, I didn't know either. One day I was fighting this huge gorilla that threw me off the edge of the mountain and the next, I was saved my my own uncle-that I never knew I had. And when I saw my cousins for the first time, it was surprising to me as well to know that I had that many cousins. After everything that happened, we've gotten a chance to actually know each other this past year, because they have a home in the Valley of Peace now and they live closer to the palace, so it's nice to have that kind of family after my parents died."
"Well, that's sweet. How did he get to be your uncle, by the way?"
Musaki chuckles softly and said, "My dad is his brother."
"I got it now."
"How'd you enjoy your on the house noodles?"
"Pretty good."
After that, Musaki went back to the palace as they said 'good night' to Mako and his cousins as he journeys back to the palace. Mako looks at Musaki and said, "Think about what I said, okay?"
"I will!"
Musaki sighed heavily and as the sun almost starts to set, he went back to the palace a few minutes early before dinner even started and as he came back in, he went to the Student Barracks and went to his dorm to get a chance to relax a little, because he knew there was a huge task ahead of him, emotionally and personally.
Minutes pass by and Musaki's awoken by the smell of noodles coming from the hall. Although he had noodles in the shop, he didn't want anyone else to know that he already ate some at Mr. Ping's noodle shop.
There was a knock on the door and in comes Monkey. He said, "Time for dinner, Saki."
"All right. I'll be there in a minute."
Monkey left and Musaki got himself up to head for the kitchen, but he's starting to feel nervous about his personal journey and that he might ask them to take part of it. As he left the room, he starts to second guess himself, but decides not to and plans to tell them about his past.
Will Musaki explain his personal journey? Why am I asking this question? Check it out for yourselves!
