AN: This one took a bit, but I think I'm finally satisfied. The next few days in-story are probably gonna be kept simple; just fun, character-based antics and interactions with our favorite BFFs as they learn to enjoy pandahood.
LBT Fan: Mei's gonna be the best teacher ever!
Ppp: Nice catch! There's gonna be some more ship teasing in the future, I'm sure.
Movie-Brat: What a coincidence! He just sounds like an interesting guy, what can I say?
Johnny Spectre: Well, 4*Town probably won't play a super major role in the fic (they're a big name band, they're probably performing elsewhere), but I might be able to throw a scene or two with them in at some point.
Ckelly2430: Thanks! It always felt like an interesting concept to me and I'm glad to do it justice. The besties will defo have to develop a bit to master their pandas.
Galeem Crusher: Interesting theory. I can't spoil whether they'll keep their pandas or seal them away, though!
Chapter 4: First Day of Training
If I'm to teach my besties how to control their pandas, I should probs start somewhere peaceful. Now where is the real question…
Of course! The temple. Since it's my day off and mom's busy, the temple's closed for today! It's so tranquil, it'll be perfect! Mei, you're a genius!
And so that train of thought led Mei and her friends to gather in the courtyard inside her family temple. The gate was locked as to prevent unwanted guests from interrupting them.
"Alright, besties. Wait here," Mei gestured to the middle of the temple grounds. "I'll be back in a sec!" Before anyone could question her, she dashed into the temple's gift shop and began rummaging around in the drawers.
"Uhh, Mei?" Miriam called out. "We're not tourists, dudette. You don't have to do the whole 'tour guide' thing here..."
"Just gimmie a sec… found it!" Mei stepped back into view, now wearing Ming's emerald green business blazer. "Ta-da!"
After a moment to take in just what they were looking at, the four burst into good-natured laughter at the bizarre sight of Mei wearing her mom's ill-fitting jacket.
Tyler broke the ice first, between bouts of laughter. "What the heck are you wearing? Is that your mom's coat?!"
"Hey, if I'm gonna be your teacher, I should totally look the part. And who's more professional than mom?"
Miriam chuckled at that and gave a mock salute, to which Priya and Abby followed up with their own. "Alright, Mrs. Lee."
"Ehhh… just call me Mei." Mei awkwardly rubbed the back of her head. "It feels weird when you guys call me the same thing you call mom. Now, I figured today we could start small. Today, I'm gonna show you the story of Sun Yee's blessing!"
"Alright! History lesson!" Abby fist pumped.
"Yup!" Mei looked contemplative for a moment. "Back when I first transformed at school, mom and dad took me here to teach me about Sun Yee's blessing. Now," She gestured to the middle temple where Sun Yee's shrine was located. "ready to meet your new ancestor?"
"Girl, I was born ready."
Mei's friends gazed in awe within the shrine. While it certainly wasn't the first time any of them visited period (having come to greet – or in Tyler's case, mock – Mei during a few of her shifts way before the panda incident), it was the first time any of them got to see it this close, without the usual crowd of visitors blocking the view.
"Wow." Miriam muttered, glancing up at the lanterns dotting the ceiling. "This place looks so nice up close."
"So, this is the great Sun Yee." Priya spoke, admiring the poster in the middle of the room. "Wonder if she'd love werewolves anywhere as much as she loves pandas."
"I can't believe I'm getting to explore this shrine as a panda!" Abby jumped in excitement, causing the floor to shake and the lanterns to wobble worryingly.
"Alright, chill, guys. This place is sacred ground and-TYLER, LOOK OUT!" Mei hastily yelled.
"Whoa!" On command, Tyler's basketball-tuned reflexes kicked in and he leapt to the side as a lantern crashed where he was a second ago. The shock caused his tail to poof out again, and he rubbed the back of his head as he blushed in embarrassment. "Uhhh… thanks, panda girl. I guess I owe ya one."
"I'll hold you to that, fluff-head!" Mei winked over at Tyler (ignoring Priya and Abby's knowing chuckles) before turning to the picture in the centre of the room. Recalling her mom's steps, she rolled up her ancestor's portrait and retrieved a box from behind the wall, from which she took out a scroll.
"Found it!" Scroll in hand, she gestured for her friends to join her at the table. "Now, mom said I'm not supposed to show this to anyone outside my family…" The four sighed in disappointment. "…but for you guys, I'm gonna make an exception."
"Sweet."
"Unroll it already! I'm so full of anticipation that I'm gonna explode!"
Mei did so, and the group looked on in amazement at the artwork on display.
"Wow, Mei." Miriam noted, carefully gripping some of the paper for a closer look. "This thing's really long."
"Yup! Sun Yee's got a pretty interesting story to tell." Mei pointed to the first image of horseman gathered on a clifftop. "As mom told me, Sun Yee lived during wartime. These guys here are the men from her village who left for the war. And the people down here…" She gestured to the smaller figures behind them. "…are Sun Yee and her daughters."
"Weird. Their hair's not all red like yours, Mei." Priya noted.
"Right, Priya." Mei turned to the next picture, of Sun Yee and her daughters praying to a red moon with a feral red panda. "As you all probably guessed from all the panda imagery around here, she really, really loved red pandas. She basically asked the gods to turn her into one!"
"So in a way, she did to us what the gods did to her all those years ago?" Miriam responded. "That's so cool! It's like she's come full circle!"
"She has nice taste…" Abby butted in.
"She did seem pretty happy when I kept the panda." Mei noted. Wonder how long she's waited for someone to make that request.
"Anyways, this part's pretty wild." She pointed to the next shot, of Sun Yee standing protectively in front of her daughters. "Since it was wartime, Sun Yee wanted a way to protect her daughters, and on the next red moon…"
Mei flipped to the next picture, of a giant red panda Sun Yee attacking enemy soldiers. "…THE GODS GRANTED HER WISH! Suddenly, she's a red panda strong enough to fight armies and bandits single-handedly!"
"Wow… She's so huge." Priya noted in awe.
"So much fluff…" Abby was practically drooling at the idea of hugging a building-sized panda.
"Wait a sec." Tyler mumbled, now very pale. "You just said the panda was strong enough to fight entire armies?"
"Uh, yeah." Mei nodded before the realization sunk in for her friends a second later. "I… oh."
"I just got mauled by a freaking war machine…" He blurted out in shock, staggering as if he was a step away from fainting on the spot. Mei stepped back in case he panda-ed out again, but thankfully only his ears and tail came out. "I thought your mom was being hyperbolic…"
"I'm sorry, Tyler." Mei mumbled, guiltily. "For hurting you."
"It's okay, I kind of had that coming…" He mumbled again. "But still, a freaking war machine."
"Look on the bright side, Ty." Priya interjected, nudging him on the shoulder. "You survived what those armies couldn't."
"Yeah! You're super tough, Ty!" Miriam added.
"MEGA TOUGH!" Abby stomped her foot to empathise it, hastily halting when the temple shook worryingly again.
"Abby, quit it." Miriam scolded. "You were saying, Mei?"
"Right!" She gestured to the final image, of a smaller panda Sun Yee embracing her daughters. "As the wars raged on, Sun Yee passed the panda onto her daughters when they got old enough for it."
"Wait, only daughters? Wouldn't it make more sense to give it to all her descendants?" Priya noted.
Mei shrugged. "Y'know, I have no idea. I thought it was a limitation of the gods, but Tyler's got a panda. Heck, just yesterday I didn't even know Sun Yee could grant her blessing the way it did to you guys."
"You sure you're not secretly a girl, Tyler?" Abby glanced around, as if trying to check Tyler for girliness.
"I'm sure." Tyler muttered, embarrassed.
"Wait a sec." Miriam noted. "Wasn't Sun Yee, like, way bigger in the last pic?"
"Now that I think about it, yeah!" Mei realised something didn't quite add up; why was Sun Yee so huge there when she's so small here. "In the last pic, she was mom's size, and here she's a lot smaller, like me!"
"Artistic license?" Priya shrugged.
"Or maybe it's a super secret panda power!" Abby yelled.
"Remind me to ask mom later… Anyways, her daughters passed it onto their daughters, and those daughters onto theirs, and so on. The panda blessing's still being passed on to this day, as you probably guess from my totes adorable parts here." She gestured to her panda ears and tail. "And now it's part of you guys too. You're honorary Lees now!"
"Aw, Mei… You seriously consider all of us part of your family?" Miriam's heart raced as her ears popped out. "That's so sweet of you!" Without thinking, she raced to embrace her BFF in a hug, which said BFF happily returned in full panda form.
"Yup!" Mei reached for Priya, Abby and Tyler to join in too, which they all accepted – even Tyler. "After everything that's happened this past month, you guys deserved to see everything the panda has to offer! Even you, jerkface."
"Shut it, momma's girl." Tyler mumbled, his face deep in Mei's fur.
"This truly does warm my cold heart." Priya mumbled.
"I love you guys…" Abby mumbled.
Once the group parted, Mei turned to address everyone. "This is why I brought you all here; you guys all deserve to know the full history of the panda form and what it was originally meant for. It's cute and cuddly, but it's also crazy strong. Even knowing its awesome destructive strength, are you guys up to the task of learning to control it?"
The four raced to embrace her again with a resounding "Yes!"
"Girl, you proved the panda can be more than just a destructive monster." Miriam noted. "I'm down."
"Sure, whatever. It's still kind of weird," Tyler dodged a glare from Mei. "but it kind of lessens the blow when it's a cute strong thing."
"KA-POW!" Abby stomped the ground. "Let's get to training already!"
Outside the temple, Mei ordered her friends to sit down on the ground. She had retrieved a whiteboard and now stood in front of the middle temple with authority. She was gonna be the best teacher ever, dangit!
"Now, besties. What's our first lesson for today?"
Priya raised her hand. "Shapeshifting body parts? I've got a few cool ideas…"
"FLYING THROUGH THE AIR LIKE GIANT FLUFFY CANNONBALLS OF CUTENESS?!" Abby yelled excitedly, pounding her paws together to accentuate it.
"I dunno." Tyler threw up his hands. "This weird panda stuff's all new to me."
"Emotional control? I don't know everything about the panda, but I know it involves being calm, right?"
"One point to Mir!" Mei wrote 'CONTROL' (in pink marker, natch) on the whiteboard as Miriam smiled. "Since you guys're all new to pandahood, we gotta start with the basics. Now, from what I know, and Abby can verify," Abby awkwardly waved with her giant panda paw. "any strong emotion will make the panda come out. Happiness, anger, fear, embarrassment, you name it…"
Tyler scoffed. "Pfft. You mean we can't express anything anymore without turning into a giant furball?" He rolled his eyes. "Big deal. I'll just keep it in like a man."
"NO!" Mei suddenly yelled, now in full panda form.
"Gah!" Tyler fell to the ground and immediately panda-ed out of shock, which then caused Miriam and Priya to do the same in a domino effect. "Why the heck not?!"
Mei quickly reverted to her human form, now deathly serious. "I mean it. Never, ever try to repress the panda. It's an extension of your soul, and it hates being held back. I tried to hold it back when I first learned about it. It… it didn't go well."
"Aw, Mei…" Miriam's heart shattered at that, remembering the sad state of her BFF's room that fateful day; claw marks littering the walls, a total lack of furniture, and a rather dishevelled, miserable Mei right in the middle. Priya and Abby looked similarly sympathetic at the state of their friend.
"Besides…" Mei pointed to the giant sign showing the money needed to rebuild the stadium, to which her friends shuddered upon remembering that fateful day. "It didn't go so well for mom either."
"Alright, I get it, dork!" Tyler yelled, now feeling a bit awkward. "Don't hold back the weird panda thing, got it."
Mei immediately smiled again; her sadness gone. "But it'll be a lot easier for you guys since you've got the best teacher ever: me!" She gestured to herself as her four 'students' laughed. "Now, since strong emotions will always make the panda come out, if you want to stay yourself or revert back, you gotta calm down and find your zen."
Mei scribbled 'ZEN' (plus a couple stars for flavour) on the board. "Whenever I panda out, I go to my happy-
Priya immediately poofed back to her human form. "-place. Wow, that was… super quick, Priya."
The Indian girl looked a bit bashful at that, with Miriam, Abby and Tyler looking on in confusion as to how she changed back so fast.
"Yeah, Priya. What's your secret?" Tyler inquired.
Priya merely shrugged in response. "What can I say? I'm just naturally chill."
"Nice work." Miriam and Abby clapped. Mei gave her a thumbs up before continuing. "Anyways, when I need to turn back, I think of the things that make me calm and happy. Like you guys!"
"I get it!" Miriam put her hands over her chest. "It's our love, right? So, we just think of each other, and we won't go all panda?"
"Yup! You all remember that, it's super important! Now, I want you all to close your eyes, imagine your happy place, and relax."
Priya awkwardly raised her hand. "Do I have to do it too?"
"Yeah, you should totally do it too, Priya. Even someone as cool as you could always be… cooler."
"This whole thing feels so sappy…" Tyler muttered under his breath.
"Well, if you'd like to stay a giant blue panda forever…" Mei smirked at him. "I mean, you do look pretty cute and fluffy…"
"S-shut up." Tyler hastily mumbled, as a blush illuminated his fur. Though he didn't want to admit it, his former nemesis had a point, and he closed his eyes with the rest of the group.
Though she didn't know it, Miriam's happy place was actually a lot like Mei's, just light green instead of pink.
So this is my happy place? It's kinda nice…
As Mei and the besties cuddled her, Miriam smiled. She knew her friends would always be there for her, just as she was for them.
Mei snuggled deeper into her neck. "Mir, you're the greatest BFF I could ever have…"
Miriam chuckled at that. "Thanks, Mei. You too."
And then dream Mei kissed her on the cheek. Miriam quickly recoiled as a blush overtook her cheeks, and with it, her panda ears popped out.
I… I… what…?
"Mei? What the heck?!"
"I love you, Mir." Dream Mei immediately enveloped Miriam in a hug again, much to her confusion and dawning shock. "As more than your BFF…"
OMG.
Priya didn't know how it was possible, but she felt even more chill within her mind than she did normally. The skyscape was a chill yellow matching her hair, and her ears, acutely trained to sense vampires in the vicinity, caught a sitar playing faintly in the background.
Glancing around, she found herself dressed entirely in black; a reflection of what she'd wear if her parents weren't painfully strict. Her besties all huddled around her, looking just as chill as she did in their similarly dark outfits.
Priya was completely at peace with herself, and she couldn't be calmer.
That is, until Meg, with grace akin to a horror movie monster, sat down next to her. Instantly, Priya found her heart welling up with that forbidden feeling again: love.
Oh no.
Abby's happy place was a chaotic mess of colors and rainbows, with giant boba cups and teddy bears everywhere.
The Korean girl looked on with stars in her eyes at the chaos unfolding before her, before Mei, Miriam, Priya and Tyler all cuddled her in their panda forms. Her first instinct was to squee over her friends fluffiness, but then she remembered that she was supposed to be chill. For one single, fleeting moment, Abby felt… calm, like she might poof back.
That is, until as an army of Tae Youngs surrounded her from every angle. It took less than a second for her to fangirl out.
"TAEYOUNG!"
In his head, Tyler tried to think of the things that made him feel 'zen': 4*Town music, basketball, and his newfound besties. Somehow, Mei's logic held true, and he was starting to feel tranquil.
"Huh, guess panda girl was on to something after all…" As he clutched his trusty basketball in his hands, he felt the girls hugging him. Normally, his sense of masculinity would be deeply offended, but in the comfort of his mind, where no one would mock him, he welcomed it.
It wasn't to last, however. As Mei turned her head to him, Tyler felt his heart uncontrollably flutter.
"What's the matter, Ty? Never seen a cute girl before?"
"You? Cute? Please." Tyler mumbled, flustered.
"Oh? Well, if I'm not cute, you won't mind if I do this!" She kissed him on the cheek before he could blink.
Try as he might, Tyler couldn't form words. Though he loathed to admit it, his nemesis was right: she was kind of cute.
Dammit.
Mei grinned in satisfaction as her panda-fied friends all poofed back, one-by-one, content with the knowledge that her methods were paying off. I'm totally the best teacher ever.
Poof!
Mei's smile became a frown as all four of them poofed back into pandas, one after the other.
As the four opened their eyes, they were greeted with Mei tapping her whiteboard (which now included a very intricately drawn red panda). "Okay, guys, I've got good news and bad news. The good news: you all actually changed back for a bit." The four smiled at that.
"The bad news: you then panda-ed out again. Abby, you barely lasted a sec – how the heck did you manage that?!"
"[I dunno?]" Abby shrugged, slumping. "Can't I just stay big and fluffy forever?!"
"You can't stay a panda forever, Abby." Mei scolded. "Though the panda is pretty cute and fluffy, there are times where you just gotta be you, without all that fur."
"But the panda is meeeeee… and anyways, when I'm with you guys, I feel like I wanna EXPLODE! POW!" She pounded her paws to empathise her point.
To distract herself from the strange feelings gripping her chest whenever she looked at Mei, Miriam offered Abby her hand, which the pink panda happily took. "It's okay, Abby. We'll keep working on it together."
"Yeah, Abby. I know we can do this." Priya noted.
"Hey, Priya?" Mei inquired. "This is just a guess, but I'm pretty sure you've got the complete opposite thing to Abby."
"Really? How so?"
"Whenever you panda out, you can only do so for a few secs before you go back to normal. I'm glad you've got that natural chill, but you gotta find whatever it is that let you panda out that time and let it drive you!"
Priya thought of Meg, but quickly banished the thought before she could turn again. "I guess."
"And Mir, Ty?" Mei turned to her remaining besties. "You both did pretty well calming down. What happened?"
Miriam responded first. "I dunno, Mei. I mean, I'm usually pretty chill, but it's like the panda… I don't know how to describe it." She shrugged as Mei raised an eyebrow. "Does the panda ever make you feel things you wouldn't before?"
"I don't think so, Mir. I dunno about the specifics, but I'm pretty sure the panda just takes what was already there and brings it to the front."
"So, in the bathroom. You always felt that way about your mom…?"
"Kinda. It just took the panda to get me to admit it."
"WHAT?!" Tyler yelled, now very horrified as the pieces clicked into place. "You mean I…" He trailed off, unable to figure out how to complete his train of thought without incriminating himself.
"You what, Tyler?" Priya piped in, curious.
"Yeah, Ty! Spill it!" Abby also interjected.
"Guys, drop it." Miriam raised her paws, sensing Tyler's reluctance. "Tyler's got his secrets, and I guess I do too. It's cool."
"Right! Neither of you have to spill anything you don't want to." Mei noted. "But you gotta accept those feelings within yourself. Don't repress them! Trust me, I know!"
As Mei rambled on, Tyler and Miriam were both thankful that they were still in panda form and wouldn't have to worry about panda-ing out in front of her. Though they didn't realise it, they both thought the same thing.
I'm in love with Mei?!
For the next few hours, the 4*Townies continued to practice transforming and reverting within the privacy of the Lee temple.
However, it wasn't going anywhere near as smoothly as Mei hoped; though her friends were all gradually improving, their rate was significantly less than her own: Priya still couldn't maintain the form for more than a couple minutes (with effort) while Abby couldn't even last a minute before panda-ing out again.
Tyler was still on edge but managed to find the strength to change back so long as he didn't think about Mei. How could he find that momma's girl of all people cute when just a month ago, she was little more than an overachieving nerd to him? Damn mystical panda stuff…
Miriam, by comparison, managed to do pretty well at switching between both her forms, simply thinking of her friends to calm down and contemplating her newfound attraction to her BFF to panda out again. In retrospect, Miriam realised that Mei was unknowingly right about her feelings; she had in fact crushed on her BFF even before either of them got red pandas. But Mei likes boys… She'd never go for a girl like me… right?
Ultimately, as the sun began to set on the temple, the telltale smell of dumplings reached Mei's enhanced panda senses, and she decided to call it for the day. She chapped her marker on the board to draw their attention.
"Time! Nice work, besties!" Miriam, Priya, Abby and Tyler cheered at that.
"Mir, you did super well at managing your zen." Miriam nervously laughed at that, which Mei brushed off as her bestie simply rolling with it.
"Priya, you got the zen but you gotta let the panda out more." Priya nodded.
"Abby, you gotta calm down just a bit more." Abby moaned in Korean at that, still in her panda form.
"Tyler, you're kinda all over the place, but otherwise you're doing pretty well." Tyler shrugged; Mei noted that he seemed to be avoiding her gaze for some weird reason? Does he…? Nah, he probably doesn't…
She turned to address the entire group. "Now, none of you are quite in control of the panda, but that's okay! We've still got a while before the red moon, so I just know you'll all master it eventually as long as we work together!"
"Right!" Abby screamed. "We're gonna burn all of Toronto to the ground at this rate!"
"Here lies our old hometown, crushed under a cascade of fluffiness." Priya solemnly noted, at which point the entire group burst into laughter.
Once the laughter subsided, Tyler rubbed his neck, now very unsure of himself. "So, I guess I gotta head home now."
"I guess so." Miriam spoke, a lot of her confidence leaving her as she got up to leave for the gate, the others following her.
"Wait!" Sensing her friends' uncertainty, Mei rushed to block the gate with her massive panda gut. "Just gimmie a moment to talk with mom. Maybe you guys can stay for dinner, and maybe even stay the night, just until you get more used to your pandas."
"You mean…" Priya noted.
"A SLEEPOVER?!" Abby excitedly yelled, now very excited. "We can watch movies, do each others' nails, discuss the wonder that is 4*Town… It's gonna be great!"
"But your mom's never let us sleep over at your place before, Mei." Miriam added. "And I did kind of yell at her earlier today."
"Pfft, it'll be fine." Mei brushed it off. "I mean, she's trying to be more open to you guys now, and this is kind of a special occasion."
"A sleepover? With you dorks? No way." Tyler shook his head. "Boys don't go to girls' slumber parties." The four girls turned to him, giving him their best puppy dog eyes and pleas. "Nuh-uh, no way."
"Please, Ty?" Mei spoke, carefully. "I don't want you to spend your first night as a panda alone."
Miriam added to that, knowing full well the sad state Mei was in the day she learned about her curse. "Yeah, Ty. We're 4*Townies, now and forever."
After a moment of contemplation, he saw the seriousness in the two's eyes and conceded. "Fine, dorks. Whatever."
"YAY! Slumber party, here we come!"
AN: Yeah, I wanted to do a chapter about Mei teaching her friends about Sun Yee and her blessing; the nature of it is implied to have been kept a secret by the other Lee family members (considering the story's kept in a secret box), but since her friends are now pandas themselves, they might as well know the truth. Plus, Mei would probably love the practice for if she ever officially takes over running the temple. And yeah, expect there to be a pretty good reason revealed later on as to why the nature of Sun Yee's blessing was kept a secret from the public.
Not that things are gonna come easy to our four friends. Priya can't get emotional enough to transform (except around Meg, which will come back later), Abby's so energetic she can't calm down long enough, and both Miriam and Tyler are, unbeknownst to each other or Mei herself, crushing on Mei now that the newfound panda within them is forcing them to address their hidden feelings.
Also, I figured a slumber party would be a fun thing to write in the future, and with her friends being pandas, I can totally see Mei not wanting her friends to suffer their first night alone and scared like she did.