It's been two weeks... how are you guys hehe *guilty laugh*
Anyway, pay VERY close attention to this chapter, I drop a lot of hints and subtext, also the scene changes can et confusing.

Ying sat cross-legged on the floor of Fan's bedroom, looking at their plan with a critical eye. It was almost flawless.

Almost.

She slid a slither of a newspaper cutting across the floor, closer to a hastily scribbled sticky note. It didn't quite make sense. Not enough for her to form an effective plan anyway. The straggled pieces of string messily connecting together her theories and possible plans looked… alright. Just alright. And alright wasn't enough to make the plan work.

The door opened behind her and Fan walked in with Cong. "What have you come up with?" He asked, holding an almond cookie in his hand.

She didn't respond and simply stared at the mess.

Cong peered over, spilling the papers in shadow. "It looks alright." He said cheerfully.

Sighing, Ying crumpled up one of her sticky notes. "It's just alright," She tossed the paper ball to one side. "and alright isn't good enough."

Cong set the jar he'd been carrying on Fan's dresser and picked up the paper. "Yes it is," He said gently, kneeling next to her and smoothing it out carefully. "'Possibly has knowledge about the Master's Council'," he read aloud, then looked at her with obvious impression. "it's a good theory, keep it."

Before she could stop him, he stuck it back to the newspaper clipping it was previously next to.

"You shouldn't listen to Shifu," Fan had lain on his bed in relaxation and reached forward to pat her on the shoulder. "if the plan is alright then alright is enough, and besides, we're good at what we do."

She made a sceptical face at his confidence. Sure, they'd achieved a lot, more than what the Council ever expected them to. They exceeded expectations, albeit very low ones. It was evident that Shifu did not have a high opinion of their skills, subsequently the Council didn't demand much. Which, Ying supposed, was better than being held to an impossibly high standard. But still, the Furious Five had made some of the most monumental mistakes of the last couple centuries, their achievements could hold no pride in light of their stupidity.

Cong offered her the jar with a smile, as if sensing the stress taking place in her mind. "Don't worry Ying, have a cookie."

Ying took one but didn't eat it, and instead held it delicately between her fingertips. "I feel like Shifu is worried about this mission."

"Well we've never been to Malaysia so of course he'd be –"

"But not in that way," She interrupted Cong quickly. "in that email he sent us he seemed really worried – like he honestly didn't know what he was talking about."

Fan and Cong exchanged a look at this, though spoke no words to explain their behaviour. Ying almost glared at them, now she knew how it felt to be Po.

"We actually talked about this the other day," Fan started, looking at Cong carefully. "about how Shifu had no idea who this guy is."

Cong nodded along. "Yeah, he's given us almost no information…"

"But still – " She protested.

"Don't beat yourself up about the plan, Ying, this isn't an easy one." Fan insisted, swiping a cookie and taking a bite.

After a moment of pause in which they stared down at her plan Cong spoke with a hint of bitterness. "You know I wish that Shifu was honest with us and said straight out: 'Oh by the way, I have no idea who this guy is and no clues on how to find him, good luck!'" Cong make huge quotation marks in the air and put on a highly faked voice before slumping down with a scowl. "He honestly irritates me sometimes…"

Ying shrugged. "That's just the way Shifu is, you know that."

"Ying come on!" Cong started, taking on the tone he always did when they approached the sensitive topic. "You need to stop making excuses for him."

Fan sighed loudly, then sat up and clapped his hands together with finality. "Enough of Shifu, I'll get the other two in and show them your plan."

The moment he left the room Cong turned to Ying with urgency.

"Has he been acting weird lately?"

She blinked, genuinely confused. "Who?"

"Fan! He's been acting weird, don't you think?"

She paused, wondering if he'd gone crazy. "…no?"

He slapped a hand to his forehead in disappointment. "You're not telling me you don't see it Ying."

"I really don't."

"Dude you're blind!"

She rolled her eyes and gave him a half-hearted scowl. "This is why I feel like a third wheel with you guys."

He nudged her playfully. "But wouldn't you rather be our third wheel than Yu and Jia's?"

"I'd rather not be a third wheel at all."

Cong snickered and pointed downstairs. "Well you've got Po now, and very early this morning I heard two people stumble in through the front door." He smirked as if finding out a huge secret of hers. "How was it last night?" He asked nonchalantly.

"It was fine." She said curtly. "Po is better than you because he doesn't flirt with anyone who comes our way."

Cong dipped his head down and laughed. "I provide you with entertainment, Ying, don't complain."

The door slammed open. Fan and Yu ran in with a rush of excitement and planted themselves down on Fan's bed, with Jia unwillingly following.

"Ooh I can't wait to go to Malaysia!" Yu said excitedly. "What's the plan Ying?"

"Are we still taking the plane?" Jia butted in tiredly.

"Yes." Ying answered with no sympathy.

"Ying has decided that we start with the jail, go under cover and see what we can find." Fan said, pointing to one of the sticky notes she'd scribbled on.

"But it might not work…" She muttered self-deprecatingly.

"But it will work." Cong said firmly. "Either we use Jia as a distraction and sneak in or Fan goes undercover as a guard and finds us some records."

"Why me?" Jia frowned at him. "Shouldn't it be you since you're the only one who has experience with the police?"

Cong grinned. "Okay, yes, I obviously have the best street cred," He said flamboyantly. "but you used to be a cleaner, so couldn't you just do like a fake interview or something?"

Jia was a mixture of shock and annoyance. "Ugh, as if I would ever –"

"That's it!" Ying gasped, a mental lightbulb pinging above her head.

Jia's face fell and he looked at her with seriousness. "You're not seriously going to make me do an interview?" He said slowly.

She said nothing and opened her laptop, typing furiously.

Fan kneeled next to her, looking at another sticky note. "Pudu prison, is it?"

She nodded, the name Shifu had emailed to them fresh in her mind. It took Google a while to find it, hidden as it was. The high-security prison had a simple email for contacting purposes, and nothing else. She clicked on it and entered one of the emails they used for going undercover.

Sir/Mrs at Pudu prison,

I would like to apply for a job as a cleaner in the prison. I have approximately four years of experience as a cleaner in Chinese business centre and also at the Jade Palace Museum. I have recently moved to Kuala Lumpur and am looking for employment to fulfil my previous role. My resume is attached and it would be great if I could come for an interview next week on the 25th.

Regards, Chao Eng-ee

Ying turned the laptop towards Jia, who read it with tiredness. "So, Mr Eng-ee will hopefully be having an interview with the employers of Pudu prison next week." She said proudly. "And when he does have the interview, a member of the Furious Five will sneak in and look through the files of the prison and find information on the escaped killer."

Cong, Fan and Yu congratulated her while Jia sighed loudly. "We could have at least drawn straws…"

Their celebration was cut short by the opening of the front door.

It was already dark, the night intruding prematurely upon the last stretch of daylight. The Palace had closed on time, the doors shutting with finality at six in the evening as they always did. Everything was as it should be, with the orderly fashion adhered to he had no complaints. There was only a small worry that they weren't prepared for their upcoming task. The hidden house had three lit windows, inviting the warmth left from the earth. Because warmth surrounded them. Inexplicably.

Shifu entered the house with a gruff call towards his students. "Everyone get down here!"

There was a sudden commotion as his students scrambled down the stairs haphazardly, with no sight of the intruder. At this he almost smiled, it seemed Ying had finally done something right.

"You all know that your plane leaves in the next four days," He started, and they schooled their features to stone, ready to listen to his lecture. "I hope you have a plan." He eyed Ying at this and she glanced at Fan Hai uncomfortably.

The oldest and the youngest of his students got along surprisingly well, so much that Shifu was always taken aback at their odd friendship. They were, on the surface, very different people. But he'd heard some of their conversations at times, and they often joked they had the same "energy". Whatever that meant.

"She does," Said Fan Hai confidently. "we're all set master, you don't have to worry."

Shifu merely grunted, not being able to believe they were truly ready.

"Master, do you have any other information about this killer?" Yu Ting piped up.

He refined from getting annoyed at her, had she not read the emails he sent? "No, Yu Ting, I sent you everything I know."

"Right, okay…" She muttered, face falling slightly as if he'd shot her down with a hard reprimand.

It was not that Shifu meant to, he really didn't, but he always seemed to put a damper on his students. No matter how much fun they were having or how good their moods were, his presence managed to squash down whatever light was in their souls and the warmth they inexplicably held. Yes he could be less harsh, but that wasn't much of an option. They needed him like this, whether they liked it or not.

He started to make his way to the kitchen, the others following him like sheep. "So, Ying," He asked airily, taking the teapot and putting a spoonful of tea leaves in it. "what did you do to make that intruder leave?"

He poured the boiled water from the kettle and watched it start to turn the colour of the leaves, steeping slowly in the silence.

Why wasn't she answering? "Ying?" He repeated, turning and looking at her.

Ying looked as if she'd seen a ghost. Her face depicted sudden realisation and, if he was correct, fear. This was unbeknownst to the others too, as they stared at her in varying states of disbelief, confusion and shock.

"… what?" Fan Hai finally spoke up.

"Yeah what – what is he talking about?" Wu Cong looked between Shifu and Ying with wide eyes.

"What?" Ying said nonchalantly.

"Ying?" Yu Ting frowned at her.

"What is he talking about?" Jia questioned.

Ying opened and closed her mouth a few times, no sound coming out. Shifu ran a hand over his face, great, fantastic, this was exactly what he needed.

"I – I didn't –" Ying stuttered, looking younger than her years.

She said nothing else, and slowly started to step towards the exit, looking at the floor with big, panicked eyes.

Shifu may have been tough, but he knew tact. "Everyone else leave," He barked. "Ying, take a seat."

The others walked out, shooting glances at them over their shoulders, taking the warmth with them.

Shifu set the teapot and two cups on the table. If he was going to lecture Ying then the least he could do was give her a cup of jasmine. She sat down as if the chair was on fire, not looking at all like the hardened kung fu master she was supposed to be. He took a seat and pushed one of the cups towards her, she made no move to take it.

Hearing some scuffling and muted whispers, he sighed heavily. "I said leave!" He shouted once again towards the closed door.

Annoyed mutters and a few muffled curse words accompanied the footsteps echoing through the house. Shifu wasn't sure on who exactly broke the no swearing rule but made a mental note to punish them later.

Once completely sure they were upstairs, he looked at Ying. "So I assume the intruder is still here." He stated.

"Yes master."

"I'm disappointed in you."

"I know master."

"Did you even try to get rid of him?"

"Yes master."

Shifu raised an eyebrow at her. "What did you do then?" He demanded, leaning back and crossing his arms over.

Ying didn't say anything.

"For god's sake Ying!" He snapped at her, the anger coming out in her disobedience.

She still didn't say anything, staring at him passively without even flinching.

"You must do what I say! This intruder should not be here and he should have been gone by now! I thought you of all people would want him gone first!" He couldn't help yelling at her, it was her own fault anyway for not doing what she was supposed to.

"But why do we need to get rid of him?" She retorted with as much ferocity as he had.

"Isn't it obvious?!"

"No!" She stood up, pushing her chair away. "We can keep him! Train him! He's got nothing else!" Her sudden exclamation was like a slap in the face, he couldn't remember the last time she'd spoken to him like that.

"How would you know if that's true!" He yelled back, hitting his hand on the table for emphasis. "God Ying you can't do this! You have to obey me!" He ran a hand through his greying hair, frustrated beyond belief.

"You're always making me come up with my own plans! Why is this any different?!" The bitterness in her tone only served to fuel Shifu's already out of control anger.

"You're too young to understand things like this!"

"I'm a spy! This is what you trained me for!"

Her final angry shout at him resonated round the room. In a fit of reckless rage, she swept her arm over the table, shattering their two cups and spilling the tea. Swiftly, she made to leave the room, but Shifu was quicker.

He ran towards her and grabbed her wrist with one hand, trying to pull her back. But he'd forgotten how strong she was.

"Get off me!" She screamed, struggling against his grip.

"You've been far too disobedient!" He yelled back at her.

Ying finally managed to break free, kicking him in the stomach painfully and swearing as she did, then ran out the kitchen in desperation.

"YING!" Shifu roared after her retreating back. "YING GET BACK HERE!"

The front door closed with a slam that made the walls shake and Shifu stepped back in defeat, breathing hard. That had gone down far worse than he thought it would. The guilt hit him like a train as he sat back down, remembering what he'd said to her. Shifu never meant to be as harsh as he was, but it was for her own good.

On their run back up the stairs, they bumped into Po, who was standing in front of Jia's bedroom door.

"Oh don't tell me you've eavesdropped again." Jia muttered at the look on Po's face.

"You're going away in four days?" He asked, ignoring Jia.

Yu stepped closer to him, a friendlier presence. "You knew that already though, the plane to Malaysia was the thing that gave us away in the first place." She said gently, then bid a silent goodnight and went to her room, followed by Jia to his own.

Despite the other two going to bed, Po's curiousity and need for answers was not quenched. "Yes but – but you guys hadn't mentioned it at all so I thought it was… shelved." Po said nervously, fiddling with the loose threads on his shirt.

"Well we have been planning, we just hadn't included you in that due to the whole secrecy thing." Fan said, retreating into his own room.

"But what's going to happen to me?!" Po asked desperately, following him.

Fan grimaced apologetically. "You'll have to stay here, it's too dangerous for you to come with us."

"Do you know what Shifu will do to me?!" The worry was obvious in his voice.

Cong clapped a hand comfortingly to his shoulder. "You'll be fine man, Shifu hasn't actually done anything to you yet anyway and I bet there's a reason for that."

Po's eyebrows furrowed and he sighed. "There's nothing I can do about it then." He said, sounding as if he was deflating.

Fan grimaced. "I promise, we're rooting for you."

The nod Po gave was hopeless and mournful, reflecting the dark atmosphere the house always had when Shifu came over.

"Exactly! Ying never got rid of you even when she was told to!" Cong said optimistically.

"Yeah, yeah… thanks guys." It was the first genuine, grateful smile they'd ever seen from Po as he walked out. "I'm gonna head to bed, see you in the morning."

The door closed with a quiet snap, and Cong turned back to Fan.

"I like him." He said.

"He's growing on me too." Fan agreed, an air of fondness in his voice. He retreated to sit back on his bed and looked down at the array of strings and sticky notes.

Downstairs, an angry scream echoed through the house. And finally, a loud slam that could only belong to the front door. Fan and Cong had managed to block out most of the shouting, but this was something they couldn't ignore.

Fan continued to stare at the sticky notes. "Do you think we should go after Ying?" He said passively.

Cong sat down next to him and shook his head. "No, she won't go anywhere, so just give her some time and she'll come back before the morning."

"I don't trust that she won't do anything stupid." Fan rolled his eyes like an older sibling.

"Oh shush, we've all done stupid shit recently, I've been waiting for her to have her moment anyway."

Fan tutted. "Not helping." He said through gritted teeth.

"Relax," Cong emphasised, impossibly calm. "she won't do anything as bad as knocking someone out with a bo staff."

In spite of the situation, Fan stifled a laugh at Cong. They'd all made a few good jokes of Cong's stupidity with the staff, and he was sure it would become a running gag between them due to the sheer hilarity of it.

"Also what you said about Shifu keeping Po for a reason…"

"Oh I was just thinking out loud." Cong said quickly, waving away Fan's lingering question.

Fan looked at him carefully, sudden intent behind his words. "Yeah but you might be onto something here."

"That Shifu has a legitimate reason to keep him?"

"Yes!"

"Well he was visiting Oogway…" Cong said thoughtfully. "do you think he has something to do with it?"

Fan blinked at him a few times before jumping up with bravado. "Yes! That's it! It could only be Oogway!"

"Am I…" Cong started to grin. "… a secret genius?"

"Of course you are mate!"

The moment Yu heard the door slam she knew it was Ying. Her and Shifu's shouting match was pretty audible from her bedroom. And she still couldn't quite believe it.

She told Jia she was going to bed, but took a leaf out of Ying's book and crept down the stairs. Shifu was still in the kitchen, sipping tea, she assumed. The accompanying tell-tale sound of the front door opening made her wince as she edged herself out into the cold night air.

Yu didn't quite know where Ying would be, but she had a niggling feeling she wouldn't be hard to find. Though it probably wasn't the best idea to go after her. If she went out then that surely meant she'd want to be left alone. Yu gritted her teeth, this is the right thing to do, it's the right thing to do. The mantra did nothing as self-doubt overcame her.

Seeing the shape of a head in the greenery surrounding their house, the mantra quietened. She sat down next to Ying, not too close, but close enough for comfortable conversation.

"You could have told us, you know? About Shifu asking you to get rid of Po." She said softly.

Ying sighed. "I – I guess I could have said something."

"You can trust us Ying."

"I know." She sighed. "It's just that you guys were warming up to him and I didn't want to be a bitch and say I wanted to get rid of him."

"But we would have understood! It's Shifu, he's harsh, we get that." Yu said, a little firmer. "And by the sounds of it – I think you want him around."

Ying groaned and let her head fall into her hands. "God what is this, therapy?" The sarcastic comment did nothing to qualm the heavy tension.

"Ying." Yu repeated.

"I don't know," she muttered through her fingers. "he's got nothing else outside that job at his dad's restaurant, no friends, no career, no future." She rubbed her eyes harshly, suddenly seeming tired. "And we can train him with enough time – but –"

Ying faltered, looking out into the distance. "But… what?" Yu prompted gently.

"Shifu will ruin him." She whispered, turning to Yu with desperation.

In all honesty, Yu didn't know how to respond to that. It was unsaid knowledge between the five of them that Shifu was cruel, even if it was necessary. And it bothered them, it always did and she was sure it always would. Breaking from the confines of his rules was only an option if they left their jobs, left the system, and never spoke a word of it. Yu shuddered at the thought, the future was uncertain and it was unpleasant to dwell on it.

She slung her arm round Ying's shoulder, pulling her close in the midst of their unspoken fate.

Within the next four days many sticky notes had gone to use and Fan's bedroom floor was untouchable. Numerous very loose plans were made with the many possible "what ifs" of the situation and the outcomes. They were prepared. Slightly.

Shifu had not made another appearance since and no one mentioned the angry red ring around Ying's wrist.

The Jade Palace had closed for its daily cleaning and restoration of artifacts, and the tourists gathered at the bottom of the Thousand steps, forlorn to have missed the viewing. Cong had put the usual sign up with great enjoyment, far too happy to not work and go on a dangerous mission. Even Po had helped out with the closing, cleaning the floors with Jia and locking up with Fan. Yu had been put in charge of fetching the spy gear that was otherwise confiscated and hidden away by Shifu (when they were younger they made a habit of playing around with the gadgets and since then Shifu didn't trust them to not do anything stupid), packing them safely in a suitcase specifically designed to not show metal in the airport baggage scanners. Truth be told neither of them really understood how it worked, only that it had been used for years by the Master's council, the previous generation of spies.

The days sped by and in the blink of an eye, they were standing in the hallway holding suitcases of their bare essentials and minimal hand luggage.

"Passports?"

"Yep."

"Masks?"

"In the bag."

"Ear-piece?"

"Yes."

"Suit?"

"Over here."

"Bandages, medicine, anti-bac?"

"Fan's got them."

"Okay, what idiot wrote gin on here?" Ying brandished the list to them, hand on her hip and frowning.

"Jia." Cong said almost immediately.

"It was obviously Cong." Jia rolled his eyes.

"Are we ready to go then?" Yu asked brightly.

"Ahem."

They turned round, and it was Po, standing on the stairs and looking more than lost.

"So you're… actually leaving." He said, almost numbly.

"Well, we have to," Yu walked closer to him, trying to comfort him in any way. "we've had this planned for a while now."

Po nodded slowly. "Yeah, the plane to Malaysia…" he admitted, and seemed a little guilty at their faces. "I just had to piece it together really, the fact that there were only five employees, you were going to Malaysia, it was all secretive and 'complicated' and I saw Ying doing kung fu." At the word 'complicated' he made quotation marks in the air, still apparently put off by their use of the word.

After a moment of tense silence Jia broke it with a mutter. "We really are terrible spies…"

"Are you kidding me? You guys are the Furious Five!" Po exclaimed, reverting back to the fanboy they met the week before. "The world is dying to know who you are! And I don't care what Shifu says, I think you guys are seriously awesome."

They couldn't help but grin.

"Hey, thanks Po." Cong clapped him on the shoulder in a brotherly manner.

"Yeah this has been tough for you, but you've been pretty good with it." Fan gave him a friendly smile. "You took Cong's terrible apology like a bro as well!"

"My apology was not –" Cong started.

"I don't even mind!" Po said excitedly. "Your fighting with the bo staff was so cool! I don't care I got knocked out!"

Jia frowned, but smiled in spite of himself. "You definitely took it better than I would have."

"Yeah you probably would have whined all week –" Cong jabbed at him.

"I do not whine – !" Jia started to protest.

"OKAY," Ying interrupted them loudly, opening the front door. "let's finish up our goodbyes and then we really have to leave."

"But what do I do when you're gone?!" Po asked worriedly.

"I guess wait until Shifu inevitably storms in here," Ying shrugged. "But before then, just do what you want, the house is yours."

"We trust you not to do anything with it." Yu chimed in, but still looking at him pointedly.

Jia picked up his suitcase with ease and faced him with finality. "So Po, I guess this is goodbye." he said, albeit a little awkwardly.

"…forever?"

Jia took a moment of thought, then spoke cleanly. "I hope not."

"I hope not too." Po started to smile. "Goodbye Jia."

"Goodbye Po." Jia tipped his grey baseball hat to him, and went out the open door with his suitcase.

Cong was next. "Have a good one!" He said cheerily.

"Yeah, you too."

He gave a friendly wave and stepped out with his suitcase.

"You're a good guy Po, it was nice knowing you." Fan patted him on the shoulder.

"Thanks for the er – acupuncture."

Fan took his suitcase out the door. "Anytime!" He called back.

"Bye sweetie, and don't worry, you'll be fine." Yu said, and embraced him in a hug.

It was brief, and Po tensed slightly without any warning, but she didn't regret giving it. Taking her suitcase she followed the others.

Ying, who'd been holding the door open for them, started to close it, only to leave it ajar enough for her to poke her head through.

"Goodbye Po, this won't be our last meeting, I guarantee it."

He blinked owlishly at her. "How are you so sure?"

"I have my ways."

"Like what?"

"Like me wanting you to stay."

He went silent for a moment until a soft oh fell from his lips.

She smiled and winked. "See you in a week."

Then shut the door, and walked with the others towards the car.

Zheng, in fact, did not give him good news.

He disturbed his meditation to give him the very news that almost gave him a heart attack. Shifu could feel his left eye twitching as Zheng stammered through the terrible bad news. Fear he'd never admit that gripped his soul and the very peace he'd tried so hard to obtain. The bad news proved the possibility to be true, the very thing he feared the most happening. But he had no time to dwell or gather himself, the fate of his students walked dangerously on a tightrope of pure luck. Their training couldn't save them, he never taught them everything.

That was what caused him to march back to the house. To stop them, put an end to this madness once and for all. Because he knew if they left, they'd be walking to their deaths.

His anxious mind did nothing to quell his fear and he was sure this one minute aged him by ten years. Various horrific situations played out in his head like a gory montage of death and destruction, and he had to try hard not to let his lungs stop working.

His hands were shaking so much he could hardly unlock the front door, and finally slammed it open with a few choice swear words and threw aside the keys, relishing in relief of letting some anger out. It was almost seven at night, so he headed straight upstairs to their rooms.

"Students! There is something I must tell you!" The butterflies in his stomach meant his voice came out a little harsher than intended. "The mission is cancelled!"

Except, there was no response. Not even movement of footsteps. Only the light breeze wafting against the walls of the house.

He knocked on Fan Hai's door, the closest one.

No response.

The desperation only grew, and Shifu knocked on the next one.

Again, no response.

He kicked the rest open and almost pulled his hair out when they were all empty. Where were they?!

"Ying?! Jia?!" He called out their names, but still there was nothing.

Inner peace – oh what was he doing? The mantra couldn't help him, his inner peace was thwarted the moment he realised what Oogway had seen for years.

Running down the stairs so fast he almost tripped, he saw a glimmer of light. It came from the kitchen. He rushed in as fast as humanly possible, emitting a shocked sound from the person sitting there.

"Where are they?! The Five!" Shifu almost shouted, he tried not to raise his voice, but the worry, the worry was too much.

Po gripped at the table in vain. "I – I –" He stammered, looking scared out of his mind.

Shifu stepped closer to him. "Where are my students!"

"They… they left." Po said in a small voice. "For Malaysia."

The break I took was pretty necessary since I had uni applications and exams so that was all incredibly time-consuming.

1) The last scene in this chapter is a follow-on to the second-to-last scene in chapter 7, the eagle-eyed of you probably would have caught it.
2) When I wrote the email to the prison I copy and pasted some of my emails to various employers haha. And I'm also aware that one does not ask for an interview date, but let's pretend that's how it works here, k?
3) I like the idea of Cong, Ying and Fan being a little devil trio haha
4) I know I've made Shifu very morally grey here, moreso than he is in canon, but this story is definitely a darker take on each of the characters. I'd like to know what you think of the direction I've taken him in, especially his inner-monologue :)
5) You may have noticed that I choose certain themes to work with in each chapter. The theme for this one is "doubt", which is something I think we can all relate to :D
6) This chapter didn't have as much random comedy moments as I'd usually put in, but I wrote it in this way simply to get the plot moving.

Alright! I'm having to prepare a portfolio for my uni applications, so I'm spending most of my time in college staring at a macintosh computer wanting to cry... and while I really do try and work towards a schedule, I just don't have the time to get updates out. And believe me, I've calculated when I'll be able to finish this fic if I stick to schedule and so far it's looking like a long fic haha. But don't worry! I would never abandon this! If there's a wait between an update just know that I am furiously typing away somewhere and it will get out soon :) if you have any questions/concerns/need writing updates then feel free to leave a comment or message me on tumblr (same name!).

That being said, thank you for your patience!