Going back and forth here. It begins with Shifu 'mourning' over Ichi then receives a letter from him and tells him that Musaki, Ichi and Arizona are heading back home and guess where they're going home in? Kinda clever of me that Shifu thinking Ichi was dead when he's actually on his way back. Anyways...enjoy!
Chapter 13: Coming Back Home
Sunrise at the Valley of Peace and at the Jade Palace, Shifu stood there in the Sacred Peach Tree, with much sorrow inside of himself feeling as if he failed being a good father to Ichi and Musaki, but mostly Ichi. He held onto Oogway's staff with a heavy heart and an even heavier burden inside of him, thinking that it would've been better if he would've said his reasons and he had a gut feeling that either one them might've been dead and that added to the guilt he was in.
He closed his eyes for a few minutes and when he opened them, tears were starting to come out of his eyes and he let out a heavy sigh and whispered, "Oh, Ichi...I'm so sorry. I wish you were still here. I know you're doing what's best for my old friend...but I just don't want to feel that pain of losing you again. I've lost you so many times, I often fear that one day..."
The guilt kept choking at him and with the thought of Ichi being hurt or worse, he just broke down crying uncontrollably and he felt as if he failed to protect him. He looked up at the sky and said, "I'm so sorry, Ichi. I know you can forgive me, but I can't forgive myself."
Shifu was unaware that Master Tigress overheard the entire conversation and she knew that Ichi and Musaki would be hurt or something like that. She could share her guilt with her father after the way she treated both of them and she walks away, leaving Shifu alone to mourn over the loss of their 'death'.
"I wonder where are you now?" asked Shifu.
Just then, Shifu sees a messenger bird fly up to the Sacred Peach Tree and he stood in front of the grandmaster and said, "A message from Pagoda Island by a Kageichi."
Just the name completely alarmed him and when he received the scroll from him, he opened up the letter and reads his words. As soon as he read them, he felt a sense of relief that Ichi's okay and that Huang di is finally cured. He looked at the messenger and told him, "Your son cured our emperor. He's actually hoping that you'll be very proud of him and we will be forever grateful in his debt."
"Is he coming home?" Shifu asked.
"Yes, he will."
Shifu bowed to him and he said, "Thank you. Tell Huang di I said hello...and that I'm glad he's feeling better."
"Will do, Shifu."
The bird flies away, leaving Shifu a sense of hope that now he knows Ichi is still alive and that his guilty slowly started to fade away and whispered, "Thank you, Ichi."
At Pagoda Island, Ichi and Kuro were walking along with Musaki and Arizona as they were talking about manga comics and Musaki could almost catch up with it, but Arizona kinda got lost in it and didn't know what to expect. And suddenly when they reached the conversation about who had bigger boobs, that made Musaki really uneasy at times.
Musaki shuddered at that thought of it and he asked, "Why are we all of a sudden talking about boobs?"
Kuro and Ichi turned to Musaki and Kuro explained, "Well, we always talk about who looks good in our mangas."
"It's pretty much a comic fan thing." Ichi replied.
That made Musaki a little uncomfortable with it and he said, "I think I can live until I'm my grandfather's age without that image in my head. How long have you heard about this stuff?"
"When I was like four, I guess."
That shocked Musaki and Arizona to know that Ichi has been reading stuff like this at age four, like he learned it immediately and Arizona asked, "I thought you weren't hearing things like that until you're older."
"When I was growing up, listening to people talking about sex didn't seem to faze me at all. After killing my parents, I'm not at all disturbed about anything." Ichi explained.
"Okay..." Musaki said, nervously.
(A/N): Just wanted Musaki and Arizona to hear about their interest in manga comics. Sorry everyone. Reading one of Wonder Panda Tan-Tan's fics inspired me to put that in where Musaki has a very uncomfortable yet disturbing moment. Now that I got that out of my system...
Just then, they all reached to the kingdom and when Huang di came out, he sees all of them and they greeted him with a slight bow and they bowed back as well. He turned to Musaki and Arizona and asked, "How do you like our kingdom?"
"Honestly, it's like a really cool place to go, almost like a vacation spot." Musaki answered.
Arizona scratched the back of his head and he replied, "Yeah, it's very...chill and cool-like vibey."
The emperor chuckled softly and then, he turned his attention to Ichi as he patted his head and he said, "I'm pretty sure Shifu is very proud of you for doing this for me."
That comment made Ichi feel a little unsure about it as he grew silent and his ears perked down a little, knowing fully intent about Shifu's oppositions in the first place and he looked at the emperor and said, "I hope so. I mean...I almost didn't go."
"What do you mean?"
Ichi sighed heavily, scratched the back of his head and he said, "Well, after explaining it to Shifu, he seemed concerned about you and when I told him I wanna do this, he kinda...opposed to it. I wasn't really sure why, but I kinda know that he's looking out for me and doesn't want to see me die. Now that you're cured, I'm kinda scared about what might happen if I come back to the Jade Palace knowing that I defied his orders for a good reason."
The emperor smiled at Ichi and he said, "I'm sure my old friend would be proud of you right now. Sometimes following your heart and doing what is right is better than sticking to the old rules."
That made Ichi smile a little bit and he was feeling anxious, but hopeful that Shifu feels the same way. Huang di went in and hugged Ichi tightly and he said, "I can honestly say that you're like a son to me and Shifu's lucky to be your father."
"So am I." Ichi added.
Musaki came behind Ichi, patted his head and he said, "Thanks for letting us stay here. I gotta say, it's kinda nice being here."
Huang di chuckled softly and he said, "Glad you like Pagoda Island."
Ichi looks at both Musaki and Arizona and asked, "What do you guys think? Should we head back home?"
They looked at each other and then looked at Ichi and Musaki said, "I guess."
"I suppose." Arizona shrugged.
Kuro looks at Ichi and she smiled at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek and said, "Thanks for curing my dad. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have a friend like you."
Ichi sighed heavily and he said, "You gave me something I never thought I would have; strength and the courage to believe in myself."
"This is why I like you; because you're a very strong person inside and out."
Just then, the emperor brought in something to take Ichi, Musaki and Arizona home and he called out his traveling dragon and when they saw it for the first time, they were awestruck and amazed that he had one of those.
"Whoa..." was all they could say.
"Is it safe?" asked Ichi.
"Absoultely." Emperor Huang di answered.
They were a little reluctant to get on the dragon, but Kuro assured them that it's no harm and as they got on, they could definitely feel like it's gonna be thrilling. The dragon turned around and he said, "The name's Ring. Hopefully, you guys will be safe during the flight back to the Valley of Peace."
Everyone grabbed each other as they were getting ready to fly out and one-by-one, all of the citizens of Pagoda Island looked over to see them heading home and Ichi looked at everyone and he said, "Bye, everyone!"
Musaki and Arizona waved at them as well and everyone cheered for them and Kuro said, "Bye, Ichi!"
"I'll see you later!" Ichi said, with a smile.
"Good luck, boys!" Emperor Huang di added.
"We will!" they all said.
"Say hi to Shifu for us!"
"Will do!"
Ring got himself ready and he builds some momentum and shortly after, he spread out his wings and starts flying through the sky as they set off on the ride home while everyone else waved goodbye to them and after they left, Kuro had Ichi on her mind and she said, "I always knew I could count on you, Kageichi."
The emperor puts his hand on Kuro's shoulder and he said, "That's a good friend, Kuro. A very good friend."
Didn't expect a dragon to be a ride home, huh? Well, next chapter...they made it home!