Hi, so here is the next chapter. As I said, it starts in the middle of the Kung Fu Panda 2 movie. I would like to add that the period between Shen's exile and his return was about 20 years instead of 30, since according to Kung Fu Panda 3 Po is almost 20/21 years old.

"Tai Lung was a dangerous villain who would stop at nothing to get the power and respect he felt entitled to. Shen's issues are even deeper: he won't be satisfied until all of China bows before him." (Melissa Cobb, Producer - The Art of Kung Fu Panda 2, page 51)

2. Old Feelings Come Back

(~ 20 years after Shen's banishment)

The sun hung low over the village near Gongmen City. Lady Ai, known as Nara for many years, was just bringing a basket of dirty laundry outside. There she threw the dirty clothes into a washing tub and rubbed them clean in the soapy water.

After a while, she pulled her wings out of the water and looked at the feathers. She sighed deeply. Her color had faded again and the turquoise of her royal plumage shimmered under the soapy water. But there was no longer any sign of the sublime dignity. Her feathers were completely disheveled and some of the tips had broken off from all the work. Not to mention her clothes, which were neither made of silk nor fine yarn.

The peahen sighed heavily and rubbed her back. For almost 18 years she worked like a housewife, which she was not used to at first.

Her gaze wandered up to the sky. She had such a strange feeling today. Some restlessness built up inside her. She didn't know what it was. It was actually a day like any other since they had given up their life in the palace. And yet it was somehow different from the others.

Liang, also called Makkuro, looked at the sky. There were some clouds and the afternoon sun lit the sky. No sign of rain or storm, and yet he was restless. Until now, he only had this nervousness when he sensed a threat, but his instincts did not report any enemies to him.

Finally, the former ruler shook his head at himself. He was in the forest to search for some firewood. However, the wind had shaken not many branches from the trees. The former lord's gaze wandered up to the branches. Then a thought occurred to him. He looked around hastily. No one was around except him. He turned, ran a few steps forward, then he turned back, took a run, flapped his wings hard, and swung himself onto the treetops. His wings cut through the foliage and with a few cutting wing movements he cut off a few branches here and there, which sailed down to the ground.

Then the Gongmen ruler dropped again and landed back on the grass with a skillful, elegant leap. He looked at his work with a smile.

"I can still do it."

His kung fu art was not rusty after all these years. With a smile, he picked up one branch after another.

Suddenly, a bang from afar made him startle. The peacock looked around hastily, but there was nothing to be seen. He got up with a tense posture. He had never heard such a sound before. Even the birds had interrupted their chirping.

When there were no more other loud noises, the lord shrugged. Maybe it was just a firecracker that had ignited incorrectly.

He went back to gathering wood, wrapped them up in a sheet, tied them together, and made his way back to the village.

The peacock was almost near the village when he heard loud voices. The former lord quickened his pace until he reached the first houses. He looked around in surprise. People were very excited and were talking wildly. Some even ran into their houses and took out a few things.

The lord looked around for the village elder. The old sheep was talking to a few villagers who were arguing wildly.

Liang joined them on the spur of the moment.

"What's going on?" he asked. "Why is everyone so overanxious?"

"Oh, Makkuro!" the old sheep cried in consternation. "A calamity has befallen us!"

The lord raised his eyebrows. He had never seen the village elder so churned up. "A calamity? What kind of calamity?"

"Lord Shen ... he ... he's back!"

The former lord dropped the wood.

"He has a cannon!" A goose screamed hysterically as it ran by. "It shreds everything that comes in its way!"

"Yes," a ram goat confirmed. "And… he killed Master Thundering Rhino with it! He executed him!"

"Better we evacuate the village before he blows us up with it, too!"

"Just don't rush into anything. Let's better reconsider. Don't panic!"

The village elder was so busy reassuring his neighbors that he no longer paid any attention to the peacock.

Liang had to lean against the wall of a house. All strength to stand on his feet had drained from him. After taking a few strong breaths, he ran in the direction of his house.

Lady Ai was mending a shirt when her husband pushed the door open without knocking. The peahen looked up, startled, when the peacock stared at her in shock.

"Ai," he uttered breathlessly. "He is here."

The peahen dropped the needle and thread. Suddenly, she was no longer able to think. It took a few seconds for her to regain the ability to move her beak. "Where?"

Her question came almost mechanically. It was like being thrown into a trance state.

Liang didn't feel different. He was still completely unable to form a clear thought, too, but finally he managed to breathe in for an answer. "In Gongmen City. He arrived today."

Ai jumped up, but before she could run through the door, her husband held her back. "Ai, listen to me! What I'm telling you now will hurt you, but I have to tell you."

The former lady of Gongmen City looked at him in horror. "Is something wrong with him? Has something happened to him?!"

Liang avoided her gaze. As much as he was excited to hear from his son again, it was an extremely dire occasion.

"He killed Master Thundering Rhino."

It was difficult for him to pronounce this sentence.

Ai, on the other hand, stared at him in shock. "Killed?"

Liang couldn't find the strength to answer any more and just nodded.

Ai's legs failed. The lord noticed how she buckled and he pushed her to a chair quickly. Once there, he set her down. As soon as she was seated, Ai propped her face on her wings. She was having a hard time taking what her husband had said.

Her son had killed again. Much worse. He had murdered. It hadn't been an accident. Shen had always borne a grudge against the great kung fu master. Secretly, she had always hoped his anger would eventually subside. Instead, her son seemed to have only nourished his hate in the exile.

Liang watched her in silence. At first, it looked like she was about to burst into tears, but then, after a few hard, deep breaths, she pulled the wings off her face and stood up resolutely. "I want to see him!"

The peacock held her and Ai feared that he would forbid it. But the old lord just looked at her. Finally, he nodded. He was determined to find out more immediately, too.

"Yes, we will. I will find out where he is."

Minutes passed. Minutes that seemed like hours to Ai. To distract herself, she had retired to the kitchen and cut vegetables. At least it made more sense than just sitting around until her husband came back, who had mingled with the villagers again.

The peahen stared dumbly at the radish, which she was slicing slowly with a knife. But her thoughts only revolved around her son.

Her son.

She hadn't seen him in so many years. Years that had been empty and desolate, as if they were nothing but air. She would never have thought that her life would be so pointless if her husband had not been with her. All these years, she had imagined what it would be like if her son stood in front of her again. She had imagined all scenes, even dreams that had brought her joy and sorrow at the same time. She always had suppressed the fact that he had wiped out an entire village. Whenever she woke up, she imagined that it had never happened. He was her son, whom she had carried in her wings after he was born. So small and weak... He could never have hurt anyone. He was so innocent. So fragile. For her, he was always the little white chick until the last minute before he confessed his massacre... That shouldn't be true! She kept suppressing it every day. And now the kung fu master...

Ai broke off. She put the knife aside and propped herself up on the kitchen table. She stared at the countertop for a while, then she noticed how her vision blurred and the hot tears trickled from her eyes. She narrowed her eyes and let the salty water flow down her face.

"Shen," she sobbed softly. "Shen! Why? Why? Why did you do that?!"

She raised her head with a jerk. Someone had pushed open the front door. The peahen recognized her husband's steps on the wooden floor. Quickly, she wiped her face. Liang shouldn't see her tears. Hastily, she abandoned everything and hurried over to him. She looked at him expectantly. "And?"

"I heard that he requisitioned the fireworks factory," Liang said. "The people also said, that he had taken a whole pack of wolves into town with him."

Ai swallowed hard. The wolf pack. He was still allied with them.

The lord folded the wings behind his back. "The best thing would be that we look around there tonight before the wolves spread to every corner of the city."

Ai's eyes widened. But she could see from her husband's eyes that he was serious. Inwardly, her heart sank. She was afraid of being caught sneaking around town, but the thought of seeing her son overcame it all again.

"I agree," she said finally. "I'll make us something to eat beforehand."

She turned back to the kitchen. Liang smiled. It was amazing how she had learned to cook so well over the years.

It was pitch dark in town before midnight, except for a few lanterns. Lord Liang couldn't risk being spotted and was glad that Gongmen City hadn't changed much after all these years. He was born and raised here and knew every corner. The only thing that surprised him was that there were no people on the streets. The news of Shen's arrival seemed to terrify the city. Especially after Shen had brutally demonstrated his devastating power to the master with his cannon. In addition, a wolf patrolled every few streets, which made it difficult for the parents to get ahead quickly. Neither of them wanted to imagine what would happen when the others found out that they were still alive and not dead. More than that, how would Shen react if he, or at least one of his men, saw them?

These and those thoughts ran through the peacock's head over and over until they reached the big building. Fortunately, there weren't many houses here and most of the apartments in the vicinity had been cleared by the wolves. Nobody should spy on the secrets that were produced in the factory. And above all, nobody was given the opportunity to sabotage the facility.

The pair of peafowls had almost reached the factory building until the peahen stopped walking when her husband put a wing on her shoulder.

"Ai?" He looked intently at her. "Please remember, he is not a little child anymore. He is an adult man now, and has to take responsibility for what he does."

Ai felt a lump forming in her throat, but she nodded.

Suddenly, the peafowls raised their heads.

"I want all of this to be done by tomorrow morning!" a voice cried not far away.

"Master Shen, our people are already doing what they can!" another deep, rough voice assured.

"I've been waiting for it for so many years! I will not tolerate a delay!"

Quickly, Liang pulled his wife behind a couple of wooden boxes and looked over at the huge gate that was open only a crack. Inside the gigantic building, people worked and toiled hard.

Liang raised his head a little and sniffed. Besides hot metal, he clearly smelled gunpowder.

Suddenly, shadows appeared in the gap between the doors. Someone pushed the gate open and stepped out of the building.

Ai's wing clawed her husband's clothes when she saw another figure emerged next to the wolf. Even if he had been disguised, they would have recognized his white form among millions of others. Ai thought, her heart would skip and she felt like in one of her dreams. Liang also stared aghast.

Their son lived!

He was standing just a few yards away from them, brandishing his lance sword in front of a large one-eyed wolf.

Liang narrowed his eyes. It was the same sword that he always carried with him. Even then, when he had banished him from the city, it had been his constant companion like a doll for a child.

The white peacock was talking about something to the wolf. Both parents hardly listened. Their eyes were fixed only on him, as if they wanted to scan every change of his body.

"He's gotten stronger," Liang thought afflicted and his face filled with deep sadness. And Ai was eaten away by longing, too.

The blood, the anger, the grief - all of this was completely forgotten for a moment.

"No, Ai! Don't!" Quickly, Liang grabbed his wife before she could storm forward. She wanted to run to the white peacock and hug him, but her husband would not allow that and dragged her behind a stack of barrels.

"Ai, that's too dangerous."

"But this is my son!"

Liang clasped her wings and gave her a stern look. "He doesn't know that we're still alive! He thinks we're dead. If he finds out now... consider what happened back then."

"But that was so long ago. He's probably forgiven us a long time ago."

"Certainly not for the lie that we all - and especially him - have faked. No, Ai. We mustn't risk anything. If he was able to kill Master Thundering Rhino, how high will be the probability that he will hurt us?"

Ai's voice failed. "But we are his parents..."

She felt his grips tighten around her. Memories flashed before the lord's inner eyes that he had never forgotten.

"You are no longer my son! Leave my city and never come back! I never want to see you here again!"- "I hate you!"

Liang blinked hard. Then he looked down. "I don't think, he thinks the same."

He pressed her head on his long neck until a loud imperious voice tore them from her inner conflict.

"Let your people hurry to get the remaining materials!" Lord Shen ordered. The harshness in his voice made the parents tremble. He had given such harsh calls on their last conversation, too. His attitude in his life seemed even more petrified.

Liang felt Ai begin to shiver, but it wasn't the coolness of the night. They were frightened when a shadow ran away. But the wolf leader didn't notice them, he was only focused on carrying out the command of his master.

Reluctantly, the peacock father and mother looked around the corner of the barrels. Their son was still standing in the gate, performing a few elegant agile combat exercises with his lance sword. If it weren't for such a dangerous instrument, it could have been compared to a dance. The white peacock and his weapon formed a unit. Even more than Liang remembered back then. Shen seemed to have improved his martial arts tremendously over the years. It was no longer a comparison to when he had failed the kung fu exam...

Suddenly, the white peacock stopped. Had he noticed them or had he felt their looks? The white warlord's eyes wandered in their direction. Both ducked their heads quickly. They listened with bated breath.

A metallic clink of footsteps approached their hiding place.

"He's coming!" Liang hissed. "Hide quickly!"

The hearts of both were thumping like mad. Shen wasn't allowed to see them.

Liang found a cart. First, he pushed his wife under it, then he crawled after her. There they huddled close together and pressed themselves as best they could on the floor.

They heard him coming. The clink of iron on the stone floor grew closer to them with every step. Slowly and deliberately. Suddenly, they fell silent. It went quiet. Extremely quiet.

The parents held their breath.

Suddenly, something jumped in front of them. Ai pressed her wing to her beak, not to scream out loudly. The white peacock was now directly in front of the wooden wagon, but he didn't seem to have seen the pair of peafowls. Instead, he looked in all directions and swung his lance sword in every direction.

Liang hugged his wife closer to him. The sword flashed in the lantern light, and the mere sight of its sheer sharpness gave rise to sheer fear.

Shen continued to spin on his own axis. The pair of peafowls under the cart could only see his feet, the hem of his white robe and his long tail feathers. Only now they realized that his feet had covered with iron armor, equipped with long metal claws.

Liang was shocked when his wife stretched out her wing to her son.

She hadn't seen him for so many years, almost 20 years, and now he was only a few inches in front of her. Her finger feathertips almost touched his long feathers. She only wanted to touch him just once. Once only, after so many years.

At the last second, Liang grabbed her wing and pushed it away. Ai shrank back in shock, completely stunned by what she had almost done. Suddenly, something jumped past them. The white peacock whirled around and aimed the sword at the jumping thing. He paused in surprise when he saw a small frog on the stone tiles. The frog croaked briefly, then it hopped away hurriedly.

The white lord withdrew his sword, then he smirked. "Ridiculous."

Then he retired to the factory building and closed the gate.

For a while, the couple paused under the wooden wagon without moving. Then Ai couldn't control herself anymore and buried her face in Liang's shirt, sobbing.

Neither of them spoke a word on the way home. Only when they entered their hut again and were surrounded by the familiar walls, that they had lived in for over 18 years, their tension eased a little. The whole excitement had drained them extremely, but they didn't feel like sleeping and decided to have something to eat.

Ai was least of all hungry. Aimlessly, she poked in the rice with her chopsticks, mentally going through all the possibilities and scenarios that would have happened if Shen had caught them. Her longing to hug and kiss him eroded her mind. After all, she just couldn't hold back a question anymore. "Liang? What should we do now?"

Liang didn't look up, he just glanced over at her, then he stared blankly at his bowl again. "It depends on what he does."

"What do you think he will do now?" Ai wanted to hear an answer to this question. "And if he does something, what should we do?"

But Liang evaded her question. "We will wait and look now and then," he said instead. "The villagers are very talkative. Then we don't always have to go near the city."

Ai might have asked him more questions, but she had to realize that it was impossible to set clear goals now. Finally, she stood up and put away her bowl. She had lost her appetite.

Liang sighed. Then he stood up too and followed her into the kitchen. There his wife was busy pouring water into a basin to wash out the bowl.

Ai sucked in a sharp breath when Liang put his wings on her shoulders and began massaging them. "Ai, things will turn out well."

The peahen began to tremble again, nervously scrubbing the bowl. "I... I just can't stand it if something bad happens to him. I couldn't in the past, and neither today."

She let the bowl sink into the wash water. The lord turned her around and looked in her face. "Ai – We will make it."

Ai pressed her beak lips together. Then she flung her wings around his neck and began to cry. Liang didn't blame her for that. He hugged her tightly and let her cry.

"It'll come out all right," he breathed.

At least he hoped so.

To be continued…