This was not how they expected their day to go. No one had expected this in the slightest. The only ones who were not too affected by it are Po and Fung, mostly because they have no idea what's going on. But as for the rest, they we're just worried that Shifu and Tigress wouldn't give a sign that they were going to move out of their statue-like positions.
Peng was just completely confused...and a bit worried. "Um...are your friends alright?"
"Lemme check." Mr. Ping stated as he walked behind Shifu with a wondering look in his eye. "Shifu, it's time to get out of shock mode, now." He raised his frying pan above his head...
PANG!
"AGH! WHAT IN BLAZING...GRRRR!" Shifu groaned as he nursed the new lump on his head, as he glared at Mr. Ping. "Was that really necessary?!"
"Maybe." The goose shrugged. The red panda continued to glare angrily, as well as nursing the bruise on his head.
With Shifu taken care of, Po was allowed to handle Tigress. He walked up to her and gripped her by the shoulder. "Tigress? TIGRESS!"
"H-Huh? What?" Tigress blinked and shook her head rapidly. When she reopened her eyes and gazed at Peng again, realizing that he was very much real. "Everyone...can we speak by ourselves for a little bit?" She gripped Po's paw and Fung's paw, leading them away and out of Peng's sight. The others also followed the tiger, curiously.
Viper was the last to leave, but at least turned to Peng for notification. "Er...excuse our rudeness. We're...uh...we have to group huddle for a little bit."
"Oh, no trouble at all." Peng waved. Viper nodded and slithered back to the others.
Tigress eventually stopped everyone at one spot, while they waited for Fenghuang, Crane, and Zeng to return to them. When the three avians came flying and landed right next to them, she nodded. "Okay...this is a very surprising turn of events for me. How could this boy possibly-"
Tigress was cut off by Po bring his paw back into his almond cookie stash. "Hm...they're definitely delicious. Not as good as Monkey's, though." The primate's face flashed with pride at this. When Tigress gave Po a blank stare, he stopped eating, closed the jar, and set it to the side. All in an awkward manner. "Eh...sorry. Go ahead."
Tigress nodded and returned her gaze to everyone. "That boy...looks a lot like my brother Tai Lung." She didn't want to have to reveal this sort of information so soon. But she was trusting her newfound friends to not be too harsh with their judgement. She got it out of the open, now she'll see the results for herself.
The younger adults were immensely shocked, while the ones who already knew(Mr. Ping, Shifu, Mrs. Yoon, Taotie, Fenghuang, Zeng)stayed quiet for the most part.
"Wait...you're Tai Lung's little sister?" Monkey pointed. He looked to the side slightly. "And I thought my brother was well-known..."
"Wow...you're not kidding." Mantis gaped in surprise.
"On my gosh...Tigress I...I dunno what to say to this. Except...wow." Viper rambled slightly, trying to ease her head. Song was simply too surprised to say anything, as well as Crane, who's beak dropped when she announced the news. Bian Zao actually looked pretty surprised, which was a surprise in itself.
"Woah. Mind...blown." Fung stated, removing his helmet to scratch his head. "Guess she wasn't ready to tell us just yet when we were kids, huh Po?" The croc turned to Po, who was blank-faced the moment Tigress announced who her brother was. And to everyone's shock, he picked up his cookies and began eating them again, much to Fung's aggravation. "Are you even listening?!"
"Of course I am. I just don't have much to say about it. Well...I kinda do." He said while munching on his cookies. "Peng is on the friend list. Peng looks a lot like Tai Lung, who is Tigress's big bro. So in a sense, this is a very important encounter for her, so I'm gonna let her handle it on her own."
"No Po. Not on her own." Shifu shook his head. "I will have to play an active role in this. I don't know if this is just a coincidence, a twist of fate, or my hopes are being placed far too high. But regardless, I will take the risk and attempt to learn all about Peng. Its the only way to see if this really is a chance being presented to us."
Viper tilted her head. "So...how are you going to deal with this surprising turn of events?"
"With the truth." Tigress stated, straightforward and to the point. "We're going to tell Peng the truth about me and Father. We won't lead him on, we won't try to deceive, and we will not wait for someone else to try and dissuade our progress. I need to tell him why we reacted the way we did."
"You see? Tigress has this covered." Po said, munching on more of his cookies. "If she wants us to be a part of it, then we will. If she doesn't want us interfering, then we won't. Either way, I trust her to do what she needs to do."
The others we're astounded my the amount of trust that Po puts into Tigress. It's as if on instinct, he knew that this was extremely important to her, even before he knew why. And he was so casual about it too. Fung seem to share the same sentiment, as he had no problem with this whatsoever. Shifu seemed to approve of this and he nodded.
"Alright. Me and Tigress shall go and speak to Peng. Everyone else is free to do what they wish, just don't get into trouble you can't get yourself out of." Shifu stated. "Understand...Monkey?"
"Y-Yes, yes! I do!"
"Good. We'll see you soon."
"Alright then, Master!" Po waved. He then sniffed the air. "Ooooh...delectable smell incoming!"
Mr. Ping also sniffed. "It's...dumplings. And they smell so well-done! I must learn their techniques!"
"Must move towards the awesome smell..." they said at the exact same time as they followed the smell, as if they were in a trance. The others just watched them in fascination before fanning out.
"Hey, Big Ears. Try not to screw up this time." Fenghuang warned in Shifu's ear, before flying off. Shifu shivered in slight paranoia, before shaking it off and moving on.
Song was walking in her own path as she opened up her parasol and allowed its shadow to loom over her. Her eyes were glued to the ground as she thought over what Tigress said. "Tai-Lung...is her foster brother?" She said quietly. She clenched her parasol tightly when she says this. "Now I know a major reason why earning her trust is so difficult..."
(Meanwhile)
Peng was still confused as he saw that Shifu and Tigress were coming back to meet him. Both of their faces have changed since they stepped away for a moment. He was a bit concerned, before Tigress broke their silence.
"Peng. Do you have a place to live?" Tigress said.
Peng nodded. "Yes. Well...I don't exactly live in my own home...I kinda share a house with someone."
"Who would that be?"
Peng rubbed his neck slightly, as well as spouting a small blush. "My...my girlfriend."
There was a small pause in their conversation, before both Tigress and Shifu gaped at the news, utterly shocked.
He's already in a relationship?!
"I...I can see that you both are surprised by this. To be honest, I was pretty surprised myself at this kind of thing happening. It was just..." Peng rubbed his neck. "You'll just have to meet her to see what I mean. Then we can both tell the story."
Tigress was still a bit shocked that Peng was revealing something like this so easily. He didn't seem too against the fact that he was inviting strangers to his home. That is, unless he knows something they are not initially aware of, besides the whole girlfriend thing...
They approached a medium sized house that had two pots made from pottery, and they both carried a plant within them, along with the design of two dancing snow leopards on each one. Peng knocked on the front door, and then waited for a bit. After a bit of waiting, the door finally opened for them.
A female snow leopard was seen before them, wearing a blue spotted dress as well as gloves on her paws. She raised an eyebrow. "Eh...? Peng, I didn't know you'd be bringing guests over."
"Neither did I." Peng chuckled awkwardly, rubbing his neck. "I kinda just ran into them a couple moments ago when they visited this place. Said that they wanted to talk."
"You mean to tell me that a group of strangers randomly met you, said that they wanted to talk to you, and you just accepted them? Not only that, but you invite them into our house?"
Peng sweatdropped. "Uh...yes...?"
"Ugh...Peng. You're naivety knows no bounds." Said snow leopardess walks up to Peng and kissed his cheek. "You're lucky you're cute and that you're a very nice person. Otherwise I'd just smack you."
"You'd do it anyway if you truly felt like it."
"True." She shrugged. "Well, nothing we can do about it know. They might as well come in." She gestured for them as she walked back inside the house, with Peng following close behind. Shifu and Tigress eventually entered the house as well.
The house's insides was a bit more casual that it's depicted to be. There was nothing too extravagant about it, it was like any regular house. Many of the necessities, and doesn't stand out too much for a lot of people to notice.
"So then, new guests. My name is Lian, Peng's sweet, tough as nails...'company'. What do you wanna talk to Peng about?" She says as she sits down next to Peng and hugged his arm. His face ignited in a blush when he felt his arm pressed to her chest. The reason why was obvious. Like Mei Ling, she didn't look like she was a fan of wearing wraps. Tigress guessed that the both of them were around 17 years old.
"Uh...Lian. That's a bit close..."
"I don't know what you mean." She said with a bright smile. She totally knew what he meant, but she pretended to be oblivious. He was that easy and that fun to mess with..
"U-Um...anyway...what did you two want to talk about?" Peng asked while trying to keep his blushing under control. It was unbelievably difficult.
Shifu shook off his initial shock in order to stay focused. "This is extremely important. It's about a man known as Tai Lung."
Peng and Lian's eyes widened considerably at the statement, eyed one another for a couple moments, then nodded as they got a hit more serious. Even Lian's playful expression dropped and she released Peng's arms. With their minds now properly set, they turned their attention back to the duo in front of them.
"So...the time has come. Just like Master Oogway said." Peng said with utmost seriousness. He already caught on to Shifu's surprise the moment he said that. "Yes. Two years ago, Oogway approached me on his journey across China and told me everything. About Uncle Tai Lung, about you, and about my Aunt."
Aunt...? Tigress thought.
"Oogway mentioned that Tai Lung had a little tiger sister he left behind 17 years ago. So Tai Lung went rogue around the time Peng was born." Lian said. Tigress's eyes widened at this information. "Since there's a female tiger in front of me with the great Master Shifu, I can assume that you are that little sister? Which would also make you Peng's aunt. Or Foster Aunt, to be a bit more precise."
"Foster Aunt...?" Tigress blinked as she slowly turned her gaze to Peng. "Foster or not, it doesn't matter to me. I'm just so surprised...that I have a nephew. And he just had to look so much like my big brother..."
Peng rubbed his neck. "Yeah, well-"
GLOMP!
Peng's eyes widened as Tigress suddenly catches him in a tight embrace. Her eyes were closed tightly as her arms pulled him closer to her. "It's so sudden...so random...I didn't even consider this a possibility." Tigress murmured, bring her head closer to his. "But...you have no idea...just how happy I am to meet you...Peng."
Lian blinked at the scene before her, and a smile slowly graced her lips. "Hmhmhm~"
Tigress... Shifu thought quietly as he watches Tigress hug Peng tightly. Whether she knew it or not, this was something she needed. When she finally released the teen from her grasp, he found it safe to continue. "If you know so much about us, how come you acted clueless?"
"Master Oogway never really said much about what either of you looked like...he was probably trying to be mysterious." Peng shrugged. "Hey...did he ever manage to get back to the Valley Of Peace?"
There it was again. The feeling of failure impacting Shifu's heart has returned with a vengeance. His eyes saddened considerably, and his ears pressed to his head. "Both Master Oogway and the Valley Of Peace are no more. It's been such a tragic turn of events for us..."
"Oh no..." Peng's face also saddened, as well as Lian's. "That was what he meant...when he came to meet me. He said he didn't have much time left, and that everything was going to change in response to a tragic event. The Valley's destruction must have been that event."
"But even he didn't realize exactly what it was until he passed away unexpectedly early, so it was far too late to prevent it." Lian stated. "Am I right...?"
"Somewhere around those lines...yes." Shifu sighed. "What exactly did Oogway do when he met you?"
"Like I said, he had explained to me who my uncle was and about his sister." Peng said, looking at Tigress. "But when you stopped Tai Lung's rampage and stopped him from further damaging Master Shifu, he said you've drastically changed everything that would happen afterwards. Just like Po drastically changed everything by meeting Master Fenghuang when he was a cub."
Tigress was now very interested. "He told you about Po?"
"You bet he did." Lian nodded. "Oogway was really specific about you and Po. That the two of you would be helping Peng grow just by being around him. Obviously, as his girlfriend, I needed to know for myself if this was true. But he did have a point. If you were able to stop Tai Lung fury as well as orevent him from killing his own father, and this 'Po' was able to befriend Fenghuang, who was said to be one of the most cynical Kung Fu Masters in history, in under a week, you two had to be serious business."
Shifu sighed. "Serious business? Tigress, maybe. Po...well..."
"Well what?"
"You see..." Shifu rubbed his neck. "How Po thinks...cannot be explained with words. You just have to be around him to even try to understand how he functions. Only his father seems to know the entire time on what Po nay be thinking. Food and friends are the only ones we can predict. Everything else is random chance."
"Wow. I...didn't expect an explanation like that." Lian's eyes shifted back to Tigress, as she gazed at the scarf around her neck. "You wear that scarf all the time?"
"Hm. Indeed I do. It's the first Winter Festival present I've ever gotten, and it was from Po. Then we've split apart for 15 years in order to be strong enough to defend myself and another friend of mine. When we met again just under a couple months ago, we recognized one another instantly."
INSTANTLY? They're that close? Lian thought, as she smiled. That's so sweet...
"So, um, Peng. If it isn't too much trouble to ask, how did you and Lian meet during your interactions with Oogway?"
Peng smiled. "It was because of Oogway that we even met at all. We both needed a bit of guidance. I was constantly thinking that there was something being kept from me, that I needed somebody's help to find my balance." Peng grasped onto Lian's paw, lightly squeezing. She smiled and returned the gentle squeeze. "I don't know if Oogway did it on purpose or not, but he's the reason why we met..."
(Flashback: 2 years ago)
"Peng, this is amazing craftsmanship, like always!" One goose said cheerfully as the 15 year old snow leopard handed him a life black pot he created through his pottery skills.
"Thank you! It's always a pleasure to create these." Peng smiled.
Peng was well-known around the village for two reasons, and both of them were very related. First, he was raised here. Two cloaked figures left him in front of the village elder's house 15 years ago, and then ran off without any explanation. Soon after that, messenger scrolls revealed that those two we're assassinated for unknown reasons a couple hours after that.
Those were Peng's parents. But at the time, no one could have known that. No one but one person...
So during all these years, many people have done their share in taking care of the young Peng to the best of their ability. They helped him grow into the kind person he was now, a kind helpful teen with a natural prodigy in Kung Fu. It came as a shock to all of them, including Peng himself. But he didn't make a big deal about it. In fact, it helped him quite a bit with his pottery skills. Growing up around people who have a passion for pottery can do that to people. As he grew up, the villagers grew more and more fond of him with each passing day. Pretty soon, he became a very well-known figure around the village, despite not really doing anything special aside from his Kung-Fu skills. Overall, he's had a relatively peaceful life in the village of pottery.
Until he met one man...or tortoise...
Peng was cleaning up his space as he waved goodbye to the villagers. It was then that he noticed one pass right by, then lowered his straw hat a little as a bit of a breeze blew by them.. "Dear me, it's getting quite windy." The elderly voice said.
"Are you alright, sir?" Peng asked worriedly. He could tell that the person was a tortoise because he could see the shell. What he didn't know was who that shell belonged to. Without his knowing, the tortoise put on a sneaky smile.
"Oh, I'll be quite alright, young one. I thank you for your concern, though." He bowed before walking by.
Peng felt a bit...odd when the tortoise crossed his path. For a couple seconds, he could have sworn he sensed something so powerful that he shook violently in fear. And seconds after that, it instantly went away, and a sense of peace and friendliness replaced it without difficulty. What...what the heck was that...? No. A better question...WHO the heck was that..? His eyes trailed over to wear the tortoise walked, and he narrowed his eyes in curiosity. For some reason...I'm interested in finding out. With his decision finalized, Peng got on all fours and leapt upwards to follow the mysterious figure.
The tortoise's smile widened under the shadow under his hat. He chooses to follow...
Peng followed the person from the rooftops, keeping a close eye on him and where he was going. He didn't want to feel creepy, but his curiosity was pushing for him to figure out what he was doing here. He didn't know why he felt this way, but he felt like he needed to do this.
He had been first plowing the person silently for a long time, and he was close to just calling it a day. He noticed that he wasn't even in the village anymore. Whaterer had happened, he had barely noticed, and was beginning to regret his decision in doing this.
Wait a minute... Peng's focus sharpened when he noticed the figure stop in place, then his eyes widened when he sees rather hostile boars approaching him. He's not moving. Why won't he run?! Gah, doesn't matter, I have to do something! Peng jumped down from the tree he was clinging to, and jumped down onto one of the boars heads and onto the ground.
"What the...where'd this little punk come from?!" One of them said.
"Sir, are you okay?" Peng said to the cloaked tortoise, who's smile only continued to widen.
Hmhmhmhmhm. I've found my answer pretty quickly. "Oh, I'm fine. It's just that I was enjoying a rather leisurely walk, when it's suddenly interrupted by a group of bandits. But fortunately, it's not completely troublesome."
"You two are NOT going to just sit there and ignore us!" The boars continued. They began to the charge at them as Peng readied to defend them both. The tortoise's eyes began glowing golden, and a small shining shockwave impacted the entire area. After a moment, all of the bandits foamed in the mouth, their eyes whited out, and they fell to the ground, utterly unconscious.
"Well that was rude. I was still speaking." The tortoise said with a mischievous chuckle.
Peng was completely frozen in place as he tried to process what had just happened. A wave of Chi had covered the area and it knocked out those bandits with no issues at all. And yet somehow he was still standing, unlike the hostile boars. He eyed the tortoise cautiously, now realizing that he was not following someone who was helpless. This person was very powerful.
"Now if I may continue, it's not completely troublesome. Because now I have finally met you face-to-face. We have to talk..." The tortoise finally lifted his straw hat up, revealing his face to the turn. "Peng."
Peng's eyes widened. "Grand Master...Oogway?!" Peng almost felt like slapping himself for not figuring it out sooner. Unless Oogway was just that skilled at disgusing himself that he couldn't even guess his identity. Either was, this was a very big thing for him, since he wanted to speak to Peng privately. "What...what could you want to speak to me with...?"
"There is something private that I would like to discuss with you. We can do so at my little camp nearby." Oogway said casually as he turned and lead the way. Peng was utterly confused, but he followed him anyway.
Oogway's camp wasn't much, because he didn't carry around a lot of stuff. He had a small fire going on, as well as having tea having been prepared beforehand. Oogway took a seat on a log close by, and handed Peng a cup of tea. It was then and there they they've begun to chat in deeper details.
Oogway was no lier. He would not hold any information he was about to share back. It was a bit recklesa, he had to admit that for a fact. But there was no way he was going to risk allowing someone to twist the truth and corrupt Peng's judgement to suit their own selfish purposes. The moment he had gone into deep meditation and discovered Peng's existence, he knew that the teen would be labeled a target by unforeseen forces. He had to make sure the snow leopard knew exactly what could and could not happen.
When he had finished explaining, he patiently waited for Peng's response to it all. He wasn't surprised to see that the snow leopard was stunned by the entire explanation. Peng managed to get over his shock for the moment, and grasp his head.
"This...this is so much to take in. I mean..." Peng couldn't find the proper words in order to try and describe his feelings. His uncle was under intense corruption due to his need for power, but was partially brought to his senses by his little sister. After that specific turn of events, he went missing and hasn't been heard from ever since. It was quite an unfortunate time to be Peng's parents. Overly paranoid hostile bandits saw this as an opportunity to eliminate Tai Lung's bloodline. Like Tai Lung's parents before him, there was a high chance Peng's parents were eliminated simply for being related to him. Which was a major reason why they decided to simply leave Peng behind rather than have him die alongside him.
This unforunate pattern tended to repeat itself multiple times throughout history. He knows because he's witnessed most of them in his extended lifetime. He gave Peng most of the information he needed, but it was up to him to decide what he would do with it.
Peng finally found the strength to speak again. "And...all of this is true?"
"I have no reason to deceive you, Peng. Everything I said was the full truth. If you doubt my words, I have other ways to assure you that it's the truth."
"No. I believe you. It's just...hard to think about." Peng sighed while rubbing his head. "I mean...if it happened to Uncle...it can happen to me too."
"What Tai Lung did was his own choice. I'm here to make sure that you did not suffer from those choices. Because someone else already has." Oogway's eyes lowered, thinking back to Shifu and Tigress. "Tai Lung had a balance in order to try to sway him from his corruption...but it unfortunately didn't prevent what happened. But it would change the outcome of events years later." Oogway regards this description to Tigress's relationship with Tai Lung. She was able to curb his corruption so he still had goodness within him, but it wasn't enough to stop him from running away. "Peng. In order to prevent this same fate from afflicting you, you have to find your own balance. And it can be in the form of anything. Your own balance, a certain object, an activity of sorts, or even with a person."
"A...person?"
"Someone who can take your mind off things if you feel as if the world is too much for you to handle alone." Oogway elaborated a bit. He showed a bit of regret when he remembered that Shifu lost this type of balance when he drove Mei Ling away because she was a thief and he was honor-bound to be locked in conflict with her. It lead to quite a heart-wrenching breakup.
"Master Oogway...where am I supposed to find someone like that?"
Oogway paused, taking on a blank 'I'm lost' face. "...I dunno."
...
...
...
Peng blinked in surprise. "...You...you don't know?"
"I find that reaction amusing every time." Oogway chuckled, as he sipped his green tea. "Peng. I am a wise tortoise due to all my years of experience I have of the world. But even I do not know everything. Many make the mistake of thinking that I do." Once again, his mind shifted to Shifu. "I know you can find your sense of balance, Peng."
The teen stared at the ground, twiddling his thumbs. "Well...I have a pretty good knack for making pottery. And I have lots of fun doing it."
"See? You already have something."
"Yeah. I guess you're right." Peng smiled. His ears flicked for a moment when he hears something close by. "What...it sounds like...a fight?"
"Oh dear. I hope it wasn't those bandits from before. It seems like I haven't knocked them out for a long enough time."
"I'll take care of this. I won't forget what you told me!"
"I'm sure you won't." Oogway waved as Peng leapt from tree to tree towards the sounds of the scuffle. Oogway sipped his tea and smiled. "Such a nice boy..."
Peng kept rushing towards the sound, wondering what could be happening. He stopped when he realized that the bandits he saw from before were definitely standing back up...and were currently being beaten back down.
By a girl.
"What the heck? Is this just a really bad day for us, or something?!" They groaned as they fell one after another with little effort.
Said girl dusted off her paws. "You tell me. You're the ones who were trying to jump a girl. No shame at all..." She was just walking by, minding her own business. But then she sees a couple guys regaining consciousness and trying to attack her...you see how well that worked out for them.
Peng sees the events happen with a gaping mouth. She defeating them all with almost no care in the world. Looks like he didn't need to come here after all. He turned around and begun to leave-"
"Hold it." Peng froze up. "Don't think I didn't see you. Get back here." Peng sighed in slight defeat as he turned around and approached the girl before him. She placed her paws on her hips. He took the moment to realize that she was at least a couple centimeters taller than he was. "Alright, spill it. Why were you watching me just now." Peng didn't respond for the first couple of moments, which prompted her to lean in closer. "Well?"
Peng managed to get out of his trance, shaking his head. "I just got here because I thought that the bandits we're causing somebody trouble, and that someone needed help. But seeing you knock them back into the ground like this...I was worried for nothing."
"Oh." She backed up a bit. "Sorry, I got a bit too forward there. Anyway, the name's Lian."
"And I'm Peng. It's quite nice to meet you, Lian."
"Hm. Likewise. So Peng...what are you doing out here?" She asked curiously.
"To be honest...I don't really know. I was just following someone, and I ended up all the way out here. Master Oogway was the one I was following, and he said he wanted to speak with me."
"MASTER OOGWAY WANTED TO SPEAK WITH YOU?!" Lian shouted in surprise. "Whatever for?"
Peng rubbed his neck. "Um...it's quite a long story."
"I'm not going anywhere." Lian said simply.
The two of them sat on a log near the village, as Peng began explaining everything Oogway told him to Lian. It would seem that he had been holding in quite an amount of fear when he was told all of these details. Talking about it with someone seemed to significantly calm him down on a mental level. We he finished speaking, Peng waited for her response.
Lian was quite calm throughout the entire explanation, and she nodded. "Alright. So you're saying to me that you need something to keep you level-headed because you'are afraid of turning into your kinda crazy uncle?" Peng nodded awkwardly. Lian sighed as she stood up, stretching her arms. "Alright, I'm staying with you."
"W-What?! That easily?!"
"Seems to me that you could use a friend who's around your age. And how old are you? Fifteen?" Peng nodded shyly. "Thought so. I'm fifteen as well. So in order to help you work things out, I'm gonna stay by your side."
Peng blinked in surprise. "W-What...? Why would you do something like that for me?"
"Because someone has to." Lian grabbed his paw and smiled. "A problem like yours isn't gonna be solved just by sitting around. You have to be active, and I have plenty of that for the both of us. So let's get back to your home. I'm your new roommate!"
"H-Hey!" Peng blushed as Lian only laughed cheerfully, running off with him back towards his village. Oogway was watching the entire thing from a safe distance. He tilted his hat down as he turned around and walked to the village. He didn't really tel all he needed to know, so he would have to catch up and make sure that he does.
"Hooh...I wish these old bones would help me move faster in everyday life as well as battle. They're so picky sometimes." He chuckled silently.
(Flashback End)
Tigress blinked. "Wow...so Lian served as your positive reinforcement?"
"He just needed an emotional crutch because the information was just a bit too much for him at the time." Lian nodded. "I didn't think it would get any farther than that...but then this happened." She pointed to them holding hands. "Through his natural talent in Kung Fu, his naivety, his kindness, and his adorableness...I kinda fell for him...a bunch."
"Is that so...?" Shifu raised an eyebrow.
"It's true! He's kind, he's a bit naive, he's BADASS, and he's ADORABLE! You don't find a lot of those types of guys."
"Come on, Lian. Cut it out." Peng smiled with a shy blush.
"Oh quit being so modest and take some credit for once." Lian pouted, hugging him close to her. "I almost forgot about him being humble. He has loads if that."Tigress blinked at what Lian said about Peng.
Kind...naive...humble...skilled...and adorable...Po is all four of those things in his own unique way. Tigress blinked again. That kinda came out of nowhere...
"Welp, if we're all done with the whole explaining phase, I'm gonna go change into my gear." Lian said as she sat up and stretched a bit. "I'll follow you guys in a bit." She says before heading off to her own room.
"It's still weird that I've met my Foster Aunt today." Peng said, gazing at Tigress. "It's weird because you're not that much older than me. We're only like, five years apart. I could pass off as your little brother!"
Tigress had to admit, that is pretty strange. Strange enough to chuckle at. "Yeah. Little brother. That is a bit strange." She said a bit playfully. Shifu said nothing as he merely graced a small smile appreciating the bonding they were already going through.
Am I absolutely sure that this is not the work of the heavens? Because they seemed to be giving me another chance. A better chance than my son. Through his nephew... He nodded quietly to himself. Right. Its like Fenghuang said. I don't want to mess this up like I did last time. I'm going to do this right...
Unbeknownst to them, this won't be as easy as they thought it would be. Because of an honest mistake of a passing civilian. An innocent messenger who didn't know any better. A passing goat who wasn't trying to cause any trouble, but unintentionally did so anyway.
Tai Lung has a nephew...? This is highly important news! He took out a scroll and begun writing down the details. I gotta get this to Master Kweng!
(Meanwhile)
Fenghuang raised an eyebrow and looked around for a couple moments. Crane and Zeng noticed this, and turned towards her. "Fenghuang...is there something wrong?"
"I dunno. But my bristling feathers are warning me of trouble. And cranky old people."
"...Ooookay...?"
Fenghuang shrugged. "Meh. It's probably nothing." She sighed. At least I hope it is. We don't need serious trouble so close to our destination...