A week had passed since the fiasco by the training hall. Aden kept to himself for the most part, and he especially made sure to keep his distance from the others while they trained. Tigress was the only person he was truly hesitant to interact with, but the risk of another confrontation wasn't worth it in his mind. His room in the student barracks became his sole source of comfort in the days that followed the event, which is where Aden resided currently.

His mind was spinning. The amount of questions he had exponentially exploded after everything that had transpired. Where did he learn to fight? Did always know how to fight? How was he able to beat a kung fu master? Why couldn't he channel this ability on his home world? How does he channel the ability now? Was it instinct?

His inner musings were brought to halt when he heard a rap at the door. He sat up from his bed and called out for whoever was there to enter. The door slid open to reveal Po, who asked if he'd like to to meditate by the peach tree. Seeing as he had nothing better to do, Aden took Po up on his offer.

The walk to the peach tree was done in silence. Even after arriving, they both sat quietly for a few minutes before Po couldn't hold back any longer and began bombarding him with questions about Master Oogway's spirit. Aden was a little hesitant to divulge the conversation between him and the grandmaster at first, but after seeing the panda's eyes light up with an earnest interest, he recited the interaction with as much detail as he could remember.

"I can't believe the universe brought you here!" Po jovially spoke. "That makes you one of the coolest people in existence!"

Aden chuckled. "I wouldn't go that far, but it probably puts me somewhere on the coolness spectrum."

"Don't sell yourself so short. You were ripped from your own home to fulfill an awesome destiny in a brand new world!"

"Yeah, I guess," Aden frowned. "I just wish I could've said goodbye."

Po sighed empathetically. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

Aden looked at Po with a quizzical gaze.

"I never knew my biological parents," Po spoke somberly.

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Aden consoled.

"Ahh, don't worry about it, I still have a dad. He's a goose that runs a noodle shop down in the valley, and he's the best dad I could've asked for. Besides, family isn't always about where you're from; it's about who you're with."

Aden sat quietly for a few moments reflecting on Po's comment before growing a beautifully sincere smile.

"Thanks, Po."

"Anytime brotato," Po responded, tucking his hands behind his head, closing his eyes, and leaning back against the peach tree.

"Sorry to interrupt your little date," the voice of Mantis came from the steps. "But, Master Shifu wants to see Aden in the Hall of Warriors."

Po and Aden curiously glanced at each other before standing up and following Mantis down the steps. The group made idle conversation until they came upon the main entrance to the Hall of Warriors. All three of them walked in to find Master Shifu anxiously pacing back and forth while the remainder of the furious furious five talked amongst themselves. Upon seeing the group enter, Master Shifu turned his head towards them and stopped pacing. The remaining bodies already inside the room also stopped conversing to watch Aden, Po, and Mantis approach Master Shifu.

The room was eerily quiet, which caused Aden to grow apprehensive as he made his way over to Shifu. He attempted to hide his nervousness, but everyone could read him clear as day. It didn't help that Tigress was boring holes into him with her scowl and piercing, narrowed eyes.

"Thank you for coming," Master Shifu began.

Aden nodded in return.

"You said you spoke with Master Oogway, correct?"

Aden nodded again.

Shifu turned his head towards Crane and gave a nod of his own as a signal for him to approach. Crane spun around, picked a large wooden object up off the ground, and began walking towards them. As Crane neared the group while holding the object in his winged arms, Aden noticed the shape resembled a an instrument the was very familiar with.

Once Crane had reached Shifu, Aden raised his brow as he gazed at the stringed musical instrument up close. Shifu grabbed the neck of the instrument and held it out in front of Aden.

"Do you know what this is?" Master Shifu questioned, gesturing towards the instrument.

Aden took a quick glance around the room, noticing all eyes were on him. He couldn't help but wonder if this was some sort of joke. When he got not indication from the others in the room that this was a trick question, he rested his eyes back on Shifu and gave his answer.

"Umm… A guitar?" He said with an almost questioning tone.

Master Shifu's eyes widened at his response.

"This is crazy," Shifu responded, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You actually recognize what this is? Can you play it?" Shifu eagerly requested, motioning for Aden to take the guitar.

Aden complied and grabbed the instrument from Shifu without saying another word. Before playing, he took the time to angle the instrument in various positions to inspect the craftsmanship. It was apparent that whoever made it had never done it before. The wood was too thick, which made it feel much heavier and slightly uncomfortable to hold. It also had a darker brown color than a typical guitar. There was a slight bend in the neck but nothing drastic enough to inhibit the instrument's playability. The tuning knobs were surprisingly well placed and after giving them a quick turn, he realized they worked fairly well too. He gently ran a few fingers down the strings and found they were much thinner than normal. That probably was the case because guitars don't exist in this world, and it was much easier to use strings from from an instrument that already existed rather than manufacture entirely new ones.

Nobody in the room made a peep as he inspected the guitar. At first, they were hesitant to believe he could actually play, as it looked like he was stalling for time. However, watching the way he intently analyzed each component of it marginally eased their skepticism.

Once he finished looking it over, he rotated the guitar until he held it in a relatively comfortable playing position. It felt a bit awkward in his hands, but he felt confident in his ability to play. He moved his hands into position and let the back of his fingers graze across all 6 strings, only to have a cacophonous noise resonate throughout the hall. Everyone in the room winced at the sound except Tigress, who's suspicion intensified.

"H-hold on," Aden spoke nervously, as he quickly muted the strings to stop the ugly chord.

He took a few moments to adjust the tuning knobs and pluck various strings until he recognized a standard guitar tuning. It wasn't perfect by any means, but it was enough to get by. He looked up and found everybody staring at him with somewhat dubious looks, although Tigress still held a very stern and mistrustful gaze.

Aden uncomfortably cleared his throat. "Alright… Here I go."

Aden moved his hands into position and let his fingers brush against the strings once more. This time, a welcoming chord reverberated across the room. He briefly glanced around again and noticed some of the dubious looks from before had transformed into expectant ones. He looked back down at the guitar, repositioned his hand on the fretboard, and strummed once more, letting another pleasant chord ring. Then, another. Then, another. He soon found his strumming hand playing more complex rhythms while his other hand glided up and down the neck. He closed his eyes, as his heart took over playing.

He felt alive. He felt free. It didn't matter what world he lived on. Music exists beyond what one can see. Music drives the passion that defines his life. Music resonates with the heart, and the heart desires one thing: love.

Aden strummed one final, powerful chord, as a shockwave of golden light shot out in front of him, passing through everyone and everything in the room. He stood there for a moment- with his eyes still closed and slightly labored breath-cherishing the resonance of the last chord, as it slowly faded out of existence. Silence overtook the Hall of Warriors, as nobody moved a muscle.

"WAH-HA-HA-HO!" Po howled, causing Aden to shoot his eyes open. "That was the most amazeballs thing I've ever seen!"

Aden's eyes drifted around the room to see a variety wide eyes, mouths agape, and astonished postures from everyone. Even Tigress's expression assumed a more disbelieving one rather than her typical scowl.

"You were all like ba-na-na-na-da-na-na-na! And did you see the golden light explosion at the end?!" Po's mouth ran wild with excitement as he exaggerated Aden's strumming on an air guitar.

"It's true..." Shifu muttered incredulously.

"What?" Aden raised his brow as he turned his head towards him.

Shifu didn't answer. Instead, he turned, walked towards a long table at the back of the room, picked up a scroll, and studiously read it over. Shortly after finishing the scroll, he walked back, and held it up to Aden without saying word.

Aden grasped the scroll while eyeing Master Shifu with a questioning gaze. He unraveled the yellowed paper and meticulously eyed its contents. It was a children's story about a creature who showed up in a world vastly unfamiliar to it. The creature was scared and lonely, so it decided to go look for friends. It walked through the forest until it came to a clearing with a quaint, little home in the middle of it. It walked up to the door and gave a polite knock. The door opened to reveal a family of a mother, father, and beautiful daughter bunny. Upon seeing the strange creature, they all got scared and slammed the door in its face. Feeling dejected, the creature returned to the forest to be alone. It was then that the creature got an idea. It chopped down a tree and spent days whittling a magical instrument. Upon finishing, the instrument gained a golden aura and sprouted heavenly strings on which he could strum a bewitching tune. The creature took the instrument back to the quaint home, sat down in the grass, and began to play a song. Soon enough, the family of bunnies came out and watched him play. They all became captivated with the beautiful music and decided to befriend the creature. They family was very kind to their newfound friend, even though his appearance was alien to them. Over time, they learned that the magical tune the creature played could do wondrous things. It made their crops grow, it could repair broken furniture, and it even resolved arguments between each other! The creature lived with the family for many happy years, and the creature and daughter fell deeply in love with each other. One day, the creature accidentally broke his magical instrument. He was so scared that his new family wouldn't like him anymore without it, so he ran away. He was all alone again in the forest with no one to call family. All of a sudden, he heard a voice calling out him. It was his lover frantically looking for him. She found him sitting alone in the forest and told him how worried she was when he never came home. He told her about the broken instrument and feared her reaction, but she didn't care about the guitar. She only wanted him. They shared a loving kiss, walked back towards their home, and lived happily ever after.

He finished reading and took the time to look over the scroll. Along the edges were black and white drawings portraying what was occurring in the story adjacent to the text it was referring to. Oddly enough, the creature depicted in ink bore a resemblance to a human. It was bipedal, had toes and fingers, and had an overall similar figure. Even the head was drawn as a black oval with 2 ear-like structures on the side of it. What truly blew his mind though was the instrument. There was no doubt in his mind that it was a guitar. It was drawn multiple times throughout the story being held at many different angles. On top of all that, at the very bottom of the scroll was a highly detailed and ornate depiction of the instrument, which was probably used as a guide to build the instrument for him.

Aden blinked a few times with a blank expression and eventually gave a perplexed look at Shifu. "I don't understand... This is a children's fable. The fact that I share some resemblance with the creature is just some sort a weird coincidence."

"And the guitar?" Shifu asked with an almost smug tone.

"That's just an accident."

Master Shifu's smile grew wide. "There are no-"

"ACCIDENTS!" Po boisterously interrupted. "Woo! The Jade Palace is getting a new warrior!"


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I'm pretty disappointed that nobody has taken me up on my offer to bear their children.

- Carter