The night seemed way too short when I woke up, but I stretched, got up, and went to meet my students before the gong sounded, as always. The morning was warm and I was sorry to leave the climate and go inside.

Bong! The gong rang loudly. "Good morning Master," the all chorused, quickly exiting their rooms.

Trying to scent around them, I listened. "Panda! Panda!" I called. Storming to his room, I opened the doors, I yelled, "Wake up!" Hearing nothing, I grinned and chuckled, "Hmhmhm, he's quit." Satisfied, I left the bedrooms with my students behind me.

In a slightly better mood, but still worried about Tai Lung, I walked the Furious Five to another part of the palace outside for training. Grinning triumphantly, I focused on enjoying the nature around me.

What do we do now Master? With the panda gone, who will be the Dragon Warrior?" Viper curiously asked.

"All we can do is resume our training and trust that, in time, the true Dragon Warrior will be revealed," I replied. This worried me too though, for the true hero must be found before Tai Lung returned. What if Oogway went to get the panda back instead of naming Tigress as the chosen one? Turning at a sudden grunting noise, I shoved open the door.

Dismayed, I found a groaning panda, still here, trying to do the splits with each leg rested on two elevated, heavily woven ropes.

"What are you doing here?" I yelled angrily. How could he not have left after yesterday? I was sure I had gotten rid of him. Then, I realized that he scented of Oogway. Master must have given him a sort of…pep talk. Why? Did he want us all to be doomed and the village blown to smithereens?

"Aaagh! Good morning Master. Ah, just thought I'd warm up," he groaned, stretching, as if trying to convince me.

Obviously, he misunderstood my question. Flattening my ears, I curtly growled, "You're stuck." Oh well, at least I could embarrass him further before getting him to quit.

"Stuck, aha, what, stuck? Nah, this is just my…yeah, I'm stuck," he sadly admitted.

Glaring at him, I motioned to Crane. "Help him," I growled. As much as I wanted to leave him there, it would be a lot easier for me to get him to leave if I allowed him to be physically able to leave. I did feel a little sorry for him though. He had probably been there most of the night.

"Oh dear," Crane interrupted my thoughts, moving to the struggling panda. Grabbing on to him, he struggled with his wings to pull him off.

"Maybe on three. One, two…three," he yelped as he was unceremoniously dumped on the ground. I could tell Crane was disgusted, but much too polite to word it. "Thank you," the panda added, only making Crane's temper and humiliation worse.

"Don't mention it," my student said sharply, turning away.

"No, really. I appreciate it," he idiotically continued to persist the matter; unaware that it was bad enough to have Crane annoyed. He was usually very calm and mild tempered about most things. I suspected that he spent a lot of his free time with Oogway.

"Ever," he elaborated.

"You actually thought that you could learn to do a full split in one night?" I snarled at his foolishness. Throwing a couple ceramic practice plates into the air, I snapped, "It takes years to develop one's flexibility! And years longer to apply it in combat." As Tigress moved into a ready crouch, I snapped my fingers at her.

Leaping high into the air, she did a perfect split, destroying the two plats in a furious and efficient blow. Landing neatly, she turned her back on him and walked over to me, giving him a huff of contempt. Rubble rained down on his head as he gaped at her, not even moving when a large chunk of broken ceramic hit him on the head. Carefully, he leaned down and picked it up.

"Put that down!" I snarled, flattening my ears. How dare he make something my daughter had touched into a sort of prize? Angrily, I snapped, "The only souvenirs we collect here are bloody knuckles and broken bones!"

"Yeah. Hahaha. Excellent," he chuckled, throwing the shrapnel over his shoulder. He apparently either forgot or disregarded his experiences yesterday if he was so enthusiastic for today.

"Let's begin," I grinned. Waking down to the courtyard with them, I snapped my fingers. Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey arranged themselves in a line beside me. Viper prepared to fight the panda, smelling of curled up mischief.

I could tell also, that he clearly underestimated her and she would definitely use that to her advantage. "Are you ready?" she asked, and though it sounded like she was asking him, I got the feeling she was asking her friend if they were ready to see her beat the heck out of the guy.

"I was born ready," the panda teased. Before he could even move, Viper spun him into the air, slammed a sharp tail tip into his stomach, and crashed her tail down on his head, throwing him against the ground with obvious amusement.

"I'm sorry, brother, I thought you said you were ready," Viper mockingly teased him and I chuckled. Certainly that had to annoy or embarrass him.

Instead, I got the exact opposite of annoyance…more enthusiasm. He could become famous with his dangerously high levels of enthusiasm. "That was awesome! Let's go again!" he shouted happily, clapping his hands. Viper was even shocked at that, and turned to me, in confusion as to what she should do now.

Clenching my teeth, I snapped my fingers to Monkey, motioning to the rack of bamboo combat poles, standing at the side of the courtyard. He took one as the panda did. Not knowing how to use it, he only stood in mild bewilderment as Monkey limbered up, slammed him several times, and paused as the panda said, "Oh," after his yelps of pain. Just as he understood what he was supposed to do with his pole, Monkey knocked him flat on his back.

Crane was next, taking to his favorite spot, the Jade Tortoise. The disgusting panda took awhile and a little help from the others to balance on the rim. Eventually, he took a step forward, immediately fell into it, and began to roll around the inside, laughing the whole time.

Mantis was even smaller than me, and I don't underestimate his power, but even he beat up the huge panda with extreme ease. The Furious Five beat him up for the rest of the day, and the sun took a long time to finally fall, making the day colder. I wasn't cruel enough to use Tigress against him, and she seemed annoyed at that fact. Even I came nearly to the point of exploding. Why wouldn't he just give up? Mantis defeated him, for about the seventh time, and I waited impatiently. Slammed to the ground, he punched a fist into his palm, not with respect, but asking for more.

"I've been taking it easy on you panda, but no more. Your next opponent will be me," I grinned. Tigress seemed surprised that if I wasn't letting her fight him, that I would, but I wanted to get rid of him without tearing him to shreds. Plus, this would amuse me to personally beat him up. His excitement suddenly spiked and I knew he wanted to get back at me. He seriously underestimated me.

"All right. Yeah, let's go," he enthusiastically said, standing up. The Furious Five smelled nervous and I knew they had good reason for it. I never fought with all my skill and strength, especially when training my students. My power was too great to do this without causing many deaths, and so, I wasn't going to fight the panda like that. Although, I certainly wasn't going to go easy on him.

"Step forth," I ordered him, limping closer and closing my eyes momentarily. As he took a step eagerly, I grabbed him, flipping him over and over my head as fast as I could. Wow, he was heavy!

"Aaagh!" he yelped in surprise as I made him dizzy.

"Your true path to victory is finding your opponent's weakness and make him suffer for it," I snarled. Throwing him down hard against the stone floor, I cracked the joints in his knuckles, twisting his opposite ear up so he could face me, but pinning him to the ground with a foot on his neck.

"Oh yeah," he laughed. How could he ignore and embrace his own pain like that?

"To take his strength," I added, flipping him harshly farther away. "And use it against him," I snarled. Dragging him to his feet, I leaped into the air and battered him in the face with several, furious, painful, midair kicks. Still in the air, I grabbed him and swung him far off. "Until he finally falls," I excepted, sliding him closer and leaping on his back, twisting his nose upwards. "Or quits," I hinted.

"But a real warrior never quits," he protested, before assuring me, "Don't worry Master, I will never quit!" Silently snarling with fury at his impertinence, I flipped the panda out from under my feet. Leaning all my strength on my right leg, I flung him high into the air by his nose. Leaping up to meet him, I gave him a tremendous kick with the same leg. He yelped in pain and surprise as my blow sent him through the doors to the Jade Palace, and down the mountain steps.

Limping off to hide in the undergrowth near their bedrooms, I decide to stay there for a while. Surely, they would absolutely hate the panda now. Before dinner, Tigress usually trained before coming to join the others to rest for the night. I waited as the others neared, and after a very long time, they eventually came, helping the panda!

Scenting their emotions, I knew Tigress was not here yet. Viper was sympathetic, Mantis amused, Monkey resigned, and Crane somewhat sympathetic. They seemed to have been more drawn to him because of how I'd beaten him up.

"Ow!" he was wincing. "I thought you said acupuncture would make me feel better," he protested.

Jumping to the roof to listen, I grinned. Mantis had actually studied this technique, and because of his size, he was pretty good.

"Trust me, it will. It's just not easy finding the right pressure points under all this…" he started, searching for the word, or most likely refraining from saying one.

"Fat?" the panda snorted.

"Fur. I was going to say fur," Mantis defiantly corrected him.

"Sure you were," he skeptically muttered.

"Who am I to judge a warrior based on his size? Look at me…I'm over here," Mantis sighed, sticking him with another acupuncture needle.

"Ow!" he squealed. What a baby.

"Maybe you should take a look at this again," Viper chided Mantis. Chuckling, I guessed she probable had drawn a map of him.

"Oh, okay," Mantis said.

"Stop! Stop! Yow!" the panda yelped, disturbing Monkey ad Crane. "I know Master Shifu is trying to inspire me and all, but if I didn't know any better, I'd say he was trying to get rid of me," he nervously laughed. He was actually pretty. Smart sometimes. H knew I was trying to get rid of him, but he was sensing the others' reactions to see if they had been trying too.

"I know he can seem kind of heartless, but you know, he wasn't always like that," Mantis started.

"According to legend, there was once a time when Master Shifu actually used to smile," Viper finished, and I flinched. I never knew they really disliked me so much. Tai Lung had hardened me to train them so they wouldn't be anything like him. I realized though, that even being strict as I could be, it had some consequences. I was trying to help them, though. Couldn't they see that? Tigress's paw steps began to head down the hall and I relaxed. She would hopefully break this up.

"No!" the panda exclaimed unbelievingly. How would I get rid of him now if he knew about Tai Lung?

"Yes," Viper confirmed. Pausing a moment, she added with a little sigh, "But that was before." She lowered her voice and I could feel the panda's curiosity. Frequently, I wished Tigress would interrupt them so that he wouldn't sympathize with Tai Lung and I, and be even more determined not to leave. Yawning, I waited.

"Before what?" he curiously whispered to them. Well…that was expected.

"Before Tai Lung," Tigress answered, slamming the doors open to everyone's shock. Surely she wouldn't tell the panda! She still hated him, I could tell. There was also some other emotion there…sadness. Why?

"Oh yeah. We're not really supposed to talk about him," Crane put in. I'd never told Monkey, Crane, Viper, or Mantis so much about Tai Lung. Tigress was clever enough to ask Oogway after I hadn't told her more about my student. I'd never told them more because Tai Lung bought me such mixed feelings. I could never explain to them how much I loved him, was proud of him, wanted him…yet I was ashamed of him, sympathized with part of what he did, and couldn't understand his actions.

"Well, if he's going to stay here, he should know," Tigress calmly replied. I sighed and resigned myself to waiting and listening. The others were very curious and Tigress seemed to have an alternative reason for telling the panda rather than satisfying his inquisitiveness.

"Guys, guys, I know about Tai Lung. He was a student, the first ever to master the Thousand Scrolls of Kung Fu, and then he turned bad, and now he's in jail…" he trailed off as Tigress padded towards him, icy cold and furious. Crane and Monkey crept to the door to make sure she didn't kill him, and because they wanted to hear the story too.

"He wasn't just a student. Shifu found him as a cub and he raised him as a son," she began. As her melodious voice continued, I founded myself unconsciously bringing up memories. I remembered finding him as a cub, and bringing him inside. The soft kid had turned into a bundle of mischief, but I always could bring myself to forgive him.

"And when the boy showed talent in Kung Fu, Shifu trained him. He believed him. He told him he was destined for greatness," Tigress continued sadly. Recalling other memories, I thought of when he defeated the dummy perfectly on the first time, training with the always eager to please cub, but never realizing I was making it his obsession.

"It was never enough for Tai Lung, Tigress mewed, voice shaking. "He wanted the Dragon Scroll, but Oogway saw darkness in his heart and refused. Outraged, Tai Lung laid waste to the valley," she continued, voice hardening with anger. I flinched as I realized that she hated Tai Lung so openly without having met him because of the pain he'd brought me. Though the others seemed to dislike me, she had always continued to love me…as Tai Lung had. It seemed the more I tried to keep her from becoming him, she grew more like him. My daughter was becoming my son.

"He tried to take the Dragon Scroll by force. And Shifu had to destroy what he created," she mewed, trying mot to cry with sadness and fury. So long ago, but so clear, I remembered trying to stop him from ruining his life. I'd had a bad cold, so been unable to scent or hear as well, making me unable to fight. I had never guessed I'd need to. Leaping at his snarl, I never expected him to fight back.

"But how could he?" Tigress asked to nobody I particular, seeming sympathetic. Tai Lung broke my leg as I hesitated from hurting him. He'd hurt me too, in a way that would never recover. What he could never fix now, was how he'd broken my heart.

"Shifu loved Tai Lung like he had never loved anyone before," Tigress mewed in a voice shaking with a sorrow that pierced me like claws. "Or since," she whimpered. I wanted to tell her about Ming Yue, though none of them ever knew of her. I loved Tigress as much as I would a daughter, but I doubted I could ever convince her of that. Since she was a young cub, I always considered her almost perfect moves with sadness and anger. I wanted her to be so much unlike my son, that I drove her into seeking refuge in anger. I never told her of my love for her and all these years, she thought I didn't like her. Still, she had thought of me as a father for so long.

"And now, he has a chance to make things right," she snarled and I flinched. Even she thought Tai Lung's actions were my entire fault. "To train the true Dragon Warrior. And he's stuck with you, a big fat panda who treats it like a joke," she spat angrily. So that's what she'd been up to…

"Doi!" he yelped and I growled.

"Okay, that's it!" she screeched, ready to deal him a blow for his impertinence. How dare he joke about this?

"Wait! Wait! My fault! I accidentally tweaked his facial nerves," Mantis explained and I almost laughed. The panda fell over and I heard the rattle of many acupuncture needles. "And may have also stopped his hart," he nervously added. Well, I could tell he didn't. I needed to empty my mind of that stupid panda and Tai Lung's journey here.

Leaving, I limped to an unoccupied room to meditate. Sitting slowly amongst a circle of candles I'd lit, I rested on the hard wooden platform. I just needed some time to think right now.

"Inner peace, inner peace," I sighed, emptying my mind slowly and difficulty. Flapflapflap. Twitching my ears automatically, I decided to ignore the sound and try again. "Inner…in-in-in-inner peace," I sighed, partially turning as the flapflapflap noise grew louder. Flicking my ears, I begged them to stop flicking, and flattened them. Turning, I yelled, "Would whoever is making that flapping sound quiet down?" Trying to ignore it, I flicked my ears a couple times until it stopped. "Inn-err," I loudly tried, distracted and exasperated.

"Honk!" a feathery duck slammed into the ground. Rolling my eyes, I swung around and to my feet. This had better be important.

"Oh, Zeng," I said, recognized his voice, "Excellent, I could use some good mews right now."

"Uh…ah…" he began.

"Did Commander Vouchir give you a hard time?" I asked with an inward smirk. H e was so pompous and fun to annoy. Tai Lung was secure there and the rhino was proud of it.

"Well, you know how I'm m-malting," he began and I arched an eyebrow.

"What is it Zeng?" I sighed.

"You know that shell on his back…h-he used one of my feathers and escaped," he murmured. Escaped! No, that was impossible!

"He escaped!" I roared. Oogway's vision had come true after all, including his advise that I had caused Tai Lung's escape now in trying to avoid it.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry," he stammered.

"It's not your fault," I growled, angry at myself and pushing my ears flat against my head.

"He escaped the night you sent me," he helpfully offered.

"He'll be here any moment then," I murmured, shaking a little. That panda would never be able to stop him from destroying the village again!

No…I think he is still a little weak and will try to train. Also, I sent notes to some of the villages in-between. When he arrives, it will probably be at least a week before he arrives," he told me at my worried expression.

"Thank you," I sighed. "Tell me, Zeng, did anyone die in his attacks?" I murmured.

"No, sir. Everyone was accounted for, though Commander Vouchir was furious," he replied in a confused tone, but decided not to press the matter.

"Tai Lung has made many wrong mistakes in his life, but a long time ago, I made him promise not to kill anyone. So far, he's kept to his word," I muttered, addressing nobody in particular.

"I'm not sure if it was his intent not to kill when he escaped," Zeng contrasted ruefully, "He certainly didn't go easy on them."

"I suppose," I sighed, lost in thought. Tai Lung would be here eventually and I wondered if I must try to stop him. How could I do that though? I couldn't manage it the first time.

"H-he also had a message for you. I don't know much about Tai Lung, but I assume his words mean more for you than me," he said. Despite his nervousness and stutter, he was rather observant and I wondered what Tai Lung could possibly want to say to me.

"What?" I asked.

"The true Dragon Warrior is coming home," he shivered. "Isn't that panda the Dragon Warrior?" he hesitantly asked.

"What do you know about Tai Lung?" I sighed.

"Only that he has immense power to be kept in a prison like that and that once, he nearly destroyed the village," he replied.

"It was because he wanted the Dragon Scroll and Oogway wouldn't let him have it," I told him. The villagers were so ashamed of my son that they hardly ever talked of him. "I must find Oogway," I said abruptly, hurrying away before the curious duck could ask more about it.

Following the tortoise's scent trail, my fear of Tai Lung's revenge grew and I ran! Panting, I climbed the stone steps to the top of one of the mountains that held the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom.

"Master! Master! I have…it's very bad news," I exhaustedly exclaimed, flattening my ears. With the coming of my student, I felt well beyond my age.

"Ah, Shifu. There is just news. There is no good of bad," he chuckled, completely unaware of the situation. Annoyed, I glared at him. This was no chuckling matter!

"Master, your vision. Your vision was right. Tai Lung has broken out of prison! He's on his way!" I yelled. My master had to realize the danger of this. Instead of getting scared or worried, he paused and calmly stood where he was.

"That is bad news," he affirmed before adding, "If you do not believe that the Dragon Warrior can stop him." So could he! He didn't have to use the fat panda to cover his mistake in not choosing Tigress!

"The panda? Master, that panda is not the Dragon Warrior! He wasn't even meant to be here…it was an accident," I protested desperately. How could he just dismiss this as if it were nothing?

"There are no accidents," he, as usual, calmly reprimanded me with one of his ancient sayings.

"Yes, I know," I sighed unhappily, ears drooping, "You've said that already. Twice."

"Well, that was no accident either," he chuckled and I became thoroughly depressed by his words of wisdom.

"Thrice," dejectedly corrected myself, holding up three fingers before dropping my arm and shaking my head sadly.

"My old friend, the panda will never fulfill his destiny, nor you yours, until you let go of the illusion of control," he said softly. How was it an illusion? I was that tubby panda's master!

"Illusion?" I asked with confusion.

"Yes, look at this tree Shifu," he said and I refrained from answering that. I couldn't. I got the point. "I cannot make it blossom when it suits me, nor make it bear fruit before its time," he explained. Growing frustrated of his metaphors, I decided to play alone.

"Bit there are some things we can control," I added, slamming my foot harshly into the tree. "I can control when the fruit will fall," I growled before letting out a sudden, "Mph!" in surprise as one of the dropping peaches hit me on the head. I glared and flattened my ears in annoyance and embarrassment as Oogway laughed. "And I can control," I continued throwing a peach into the air and leaping to split it, "Where to plant the seed." Hitting the ground with a, "Hiya!" I forced a deep pit in the ground and caught the seed. "That is no illusion Master!" I exclaimed angrily, throwing the seed in the hole and pacing wearily. I flattened my ears as he approached. He was going to try to contradict me somehow.

"Ah, yes, but no matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach," he replied. In a way, I knew what he was trying to say. I could do things, but I couldn't change destiny. Tired of the metaphor though, I turned to him.

"But a peach cannot defeat Tai Lung!" I protested. I needed his help, not more confusing words.

"Maybe, it can. If you are willing to guide it, to nurture it, to believe in it," he told me softly, covering the seed with dirt. Sadly, I remembered that I'd believed in Tai Lung, but he had let me down. How would it be possible not to fail with this panda?

"But how? How? I need your help Master," I pleaded. H seemed to know destiny's way and would not show me. I understood, but I still needed help do deal with this problem.

"No, you just need to believe. Promise me Shifu, promise me you will believe," he softly asked, coming slightly closer. I couldn't believe…and I couldn't promise that, but I also trusted my master and knew he would not ask me unless it was important.

Pausing, I gave a little stutter before answering, "I-I will…try." I very rarely lied and he knew I would keep to my word.

"Mmmm, good," he sighed, withdrawing. "My time has come. You must continue your journey without me," he said, placing his staff in my hands. Momentarily confused, I realized he was leaving. No! How could that be? Why would my old master and best friend not tell me something like this? A little part in the back of my head answered me. He didn't want me to suffer the pain of knowledge.

"What-what-what-what are you…?" I stuttered. Now? "Wait, Master! You can't leave me!" I protested. He was plodding away from me and I felt my heart break yet again. He had been with me so long and I never expected this pain of loss, especially now. He couldn't just walk away form all of his life, and me. My master…

Plodding away, he ignored me and I wished for him to say something. Hopefully, I waited as he began to speak. Would he choose to stay? "You must believe," he simply sighed and I felt a pang of anguish so great I wanted to follow him, away from this world of pain, betrayal, and loss.

"Master!" I cried one last time. A warm wind began to blow, cascading peach petals around me and I knew. He would not change his mind, not now. I could only stand in frozen

agony as he walked away. Then, his presence in the world simply vanished. He was just gone and that was all there was to it. Staring blankly off the mountain, I tightly gripped his staff, nearly oblivious to the now cold air around me.

Dismayed and hollow, I finally limped down the mountain to the kitchen. Despite any consequences, I had to keep my promise with Oogway. It was nearly dinnertime and I had to find the Furious Five and the panda. Somehow, I had to teach him to defeat Tai Lung. Otherwise, everything was for nothing. All would be lost forever.

Silently padding down the hallways, I sadly stayed behind the wall with the door in it. I decided I would enter with my devastating news at the right time. Stiffening, I realized I could smell soup. Had the panda made it?

"It is said that the Dragon Warrior can survive for months at a time on nothing but the dew of a single ginkgo leaf and the energy of the universe," Tigress coldly and unhumorously accused him, and I listened as the others awkwardly sipped their soup.

"I guess my body doesn't know it's the Dragon Warrior yet," the panda said with slight amusement. "I'm going to need a lot more than dew, and uh, universe juice," he added, slurping up his soup. I could smell they all had noodles in them too. To my confusion, the Furious Five, except calm Tigress, began to giggle.

"What?" the panda asked. That was exactly what I wanted to know too.

"Nothing…Master Shifu," Mantis laughed and I nearly growled in annoyance. They obviously couldn't see me, otherwise they wouldn't act so humorous, so they were obviously making fun of me.

"You'll never be the Dragon Warrior unless you lose five hundred pounds and brush your teeth," the panda growled in a low voice, clacking his chopsticks as he slid out of his chair to stand on the ground. To my annoyance, the others began to laugh even harder. This is what I get for my troubles?

"What's that noise you're making? Laughter? I've never heard of it!" He growled in his low voice, acting surprised. I almost snarled, but again, refrained. That stupid panda…

"Work hard, panda, and maybe someday…you will have ears like mine," he gleefully announced, sliding a couple bowls across the table and causing hi audience to burst into hysterical laughter with the image he put on. Grim faced, I stepped into the doorway and waited. Though Tigress wasn't laughing, I could feel her silent snorts of barely concealed laughter.

"That's good," Mantis laughed. They all broke off into stone like silence as they all saw me. Apparently, the panda must have his back turned to me.

"Ears," he elaborated, "It's not working for you? I thought they were pretty good."

"It's Shifu," Monkey warned him in a low voice. Yeah, like I couldn't hear that?

"Of course it's Shifu. What do you think I'm doing?" he laughed, assuming Monkey had been joking. They must have been gesturing discreetly at me, as he decided to turn around now. "Oh, Master Shifu!" h e yelped, sticking the bowls to his fur. "Ah!" he gasped. As I turned to him, he slurped a noodle into his mouth. Was he still imitating me? Seething, I stiffened as the others burst into laughter again, unable to contain themselves.

Furious, I burst into angry yelling, "You think this is funny? Tai Lung has escaped from prison and you're acting like children!" This wasn't really the way I expected to tell them, but he was so annoying.

"What?" the panda gasped as my words sunk in.

"He is coming for the Dragon Scroll and you are the only one who can stop him," I continued. Pausing, he stood in shock, and the bowls clattered to the floor, breaking the silence.

"Hahaha. And here I am saying you got ns sense of humor," he chuckled. He thought it was a joke? I glared at him until his laughter faded away. "I'm gonna…stop Tai Lung? What? You're serious? And I have to…uh…nuh…M-Master Oogway will stop him. He did it once. He'll do it again!" he stammered hopefully.

"Oogway cannot!" I snapped, before drooping my ears and fingering his staff, "Not anymore."

"Huh?" the Furious Five simultaneously gasped in dismay and bewilderment.

"Our only hope is the Dragon Warrior," I quietly admitted.

"The panda?" Tigress hissed in disbelief.

"Yes, the panda!" I snapped back. Who the heck did she think I meant? Anyway, I didn't like this situation any more than she did.

"Master, please! Let us stop Tai Lung! This is what you've trained us for," she protested angrily.

"No! It is not your destiny to defeat Tai Lung! It is his!" I snarled, pointing with the staff. That was when I realized he wasn't there. "Where'd he go?" I asked in confusion.

"He…sort of ran away," Viper nervously giggled. Crossly, I hurriedly limped down the hallway. Only Tigress followed.

"Master, he can't defeat Tai Lung. You know that," she sighed and I glared at her.

"Whether he can or not doesn't matter. I promised Oogway," I simply said. She understood, but growled angrily.

"But if he can't, who will?" she meowed sharply, and I didn't answer. If he couldn't, it would be up to me. Tigress sensed my pause and thoughts, and stopped, icy fear coming off of her in waves. "N-n-no, you can't! This time, he might kill you!" she protested.

"Tigress, at this point, which do you think would be easier for me?" I asked sadly. Her hurt and anger overwhelmed me until I realized what it implied.

"Don't we mean anything to you?" she whimpered.

"It is for you that I'm doing this," I growled coldly. Leaving her standing behind, I left to find the panda. I didn't know where she went, but I knew I'd hurt her.

The panda was screaming and lumbering away, down the steps. Jumping off a boulder, I launched myself down to land with a booming noise right in front of him. I put a hand out to stop him as he yelped and skidded to a halt.

"You cannot leave! A true warrior never quits!" I growled, throwing his own words back at him.

"Watch me!" he snapped, feigning different directions before racing to my right. Swinging Oogway's staff around, I swung him back in front. "Come on, how am I supposed to beat Tai Lung? I can't even beat you to the stairs!" he protested.

"You will beat him because you are the Dragon Warrior," I insisted, prodding him with the staff.

"Ow! You don't believe that! Oh!" he yelped as I shoved his accusing finger away. "You never believed that! From the first moment I got here, you've been trying to get rid of me!" he shouted, advancing.

"Yes, I was," I admitted, tripping him and advancing closer. "But now I ask you to trust in your master as I have come to trust in mine," I growled.

"You're not my master," he said; voice hardening and suddenly icy calm, "And I'm not the Dragon Warrior!" Slapping the tip of the staff way, he sat up.

"Then, why didn't you quit? You knew I was trying to get rid of you, yet you stayed," I accused.

"Yeah, I stayed. I stayed because every time you threw a brick at my head, or said I smelled, it hurt! But it could never hurt more than every day of my life just being me. I stayed because I thought if anyone could change me, could make me not me, it was you…the greatest Kung Fu teacher in all of China!" he admitted, standing up again. I knew how he felt being different. It was like when I was growing up so long ago. I couldn't let all of them down.

"But I can change you! I can turn you into the Dragon Warrior, and I will!" I protested.

"Come on! Tai Lung is on his way here right now. And even if it take him a hundred years to get here, how are you going to change this into the Dragon Warrior? Huh?" he demanded. I-I had no idea. Tai Lung was likely to be here very soon and he was the closest ever to being the Dragon Warrior. "How?" he asked and I turned up at him. "How?" he asked again. I couldn't answer. "How?" he sharply snapped.

"I don't know!" I yelled, breathing hard in anger and confusion. Closing my eyes momentarily, I sighed. "I don't know," I replied in a more defeated tome.

"That's what I thought," he muttered. Turning, I walked past him to rest. No longer caring what happened, I simply went to my room to rest.

I welcomed the sleep…sinking into calm infinity, escaping the world and its troubles I was caught in.