We haven't got to the masters yet, so we go to Musaki's uncle for advice.

Chapter 4: Visit and Advice

As Musaki takes a little walk around the valley for some fresh air, he started thinking about everything Ichi said about his decision to go or stay and although he's excited to turn 18, he's still thinking about if he's ready for independence and he was thinking about getting some answers on his own and he heads straight to Mako's house and as he got inside, he sees Max, Kovu and Borko sitting on the porch, playing some mahjong and he said, "Hey, guys."

Max looks up and sees Musaki standing there and he said, "Hey, Musaki! How are ya?"

"Pretty good. How about you guys?" asked Musaki.

"I'm about to beat Max at mahjong." Kovu replied.

Max scoffed and responded, "You wish! I'm about to beat you!"

Musaki chuckled at this and he asked Max, "Is your dad here?"

"Yeah, he's inside."

"Thanks." Musaki said, as he brought himself in the house and soon enough, Mako comes by the living room and he couldn't be any happier to see Musaki.

"Hey, how's my almost adult nephew?" Mako said, greeting him with a hug.

Musaki hugs back and he said, "A little excited and nervous, I guess."

Soon enough, most of his cousins were completely happy to see him come by and they gave him a hug to congratulate turning 18 soon and Cody said, "Saki, I am so happy to see that you're gonna turn into a man."

"Yeah, who would've thought that you'd be old fast?" asked Tsunami.

Musaki glared at Tsunami for spitting out 'old' into that and he said, "Just because I'm almost 18 doesn't make me old."

"Dad's old and that doesn't bother him." Samurai added.

Mako scoffed at this and he doesn't like to hear the term 'old' right in front of him and he said, "Sam...I'm not that old. I'm still younger."

Most of them totally deny that part and they know he looks the part of an old guy and Mako looks up at Musaki and asked, "So what brings you here?"

"Can I talk to you in private?" asked Musaki.

Mako nods his head as he takes Musaki to Mako and Reiko's bedroom and they both sat down on the bed and Mako asked, "So...what did you want to talk about?"

"First of all, I'm really looking forward to turn 18 in a week from now. It's hard to believe that I'm gonna grow out of being a kid." Musaki added.

"Yeha, who would've thought? I remember you were this little and I would always give you piggyback rides whenever you'd visit my house. Of course, you were only two...so you might not remember." Mako added.

Musaki thought it was best not to recall that moment because it's barely there in his memory and then he looks up at Mako and asked, "Also...the reason why I came is to ask what's it like to be 18?"

"Being 18...it's the age where you're coming out of the kid phase and you're on the road to being a grown-up; like moving out of your parents' house and taking on some independence. And you just have to figure out the world on your own without anyone telling you, showing you or anything. But it's not all bad; there are some good experiences that you can learn for yourself. Musaki, you're only a kid once and here's my advice; don't try to grow up too fast. Just enjoy right now and live like it's every moment." Mako stated.

Musaki began thinking about all of Mako's words and he knows that he will definitely use them soon and he said, "I'll keep in mind."

Mako patted Musaki's shoulder and said, "You'll be fine."

Then, Musaki turned to him and said, "That independence thing...I got a letter from Zeke, wishing me a happy birthday and he said that he's gonna come over so we can celebrate it together and he said his birthday wish is that I can live in Shanghai Secluded Valley. I'm really cool with it, but I'm not sure if I want to go yet."

That was the reason why Musaki came over and Mako seemed kinda surprised that it came so sudden and he asked, "Did he really?"

"Yeah. I don't know if I'm ready to leave the Valley of Peace yet. I know I wanna leave as I get older, but I thought it would be like when I'm 21 or whatever. But it's getting harder for me. I don't wanna hurt Zeke's feelings if I don't go to Shanghai, but I don't wanna hurt the masters if I move out." Musaki explained.

Mako saw the worry in Musaki's eyes and he sat down with him and he asked, "Have you considered talking to them?"

"I don't know if I should. If I tell them now, it would turn out to be a big argument and a huge rift that I made, but if I tell them later...they'll suspect I'm hiding something." Musaki replied.

"Saki...you know you really should tell them and maybe they can help you out." Mako added.

"You sure?" Musaki asked, a little hesitant.

"They're your family. They'll probably understand." Mako said, smiling.

Okay, now we'll get to the master's reaction on the next chapter!