13

Some while later, in the Jade Palace prison barracks...

"Are you sure this is a good idea Shifu?" Woo followed Shifu down the black, gloomy steps, with a shake in every step he took. "He could have lifted the technique while we were out of his peripheral, and has a plan to kill us?"

"Woo please," Shifu rubbed his temples in annoyance. "I need to focus..."

"Yes..." The Gazelle was so close to him he could hug him from behind. "Focus on the well being of the Valley!? What will they ever think the situation...?"

"They'll be afraid," Shifu spopke softly as his foot touched the floor of the cell corridor. String right down to the very end, a single light gave salvation to the dimly lit area. Shifu also had a torch, but it only shed light a foot or so ahead of him. "We must tackle the dispute professionally, and as subtlety as-"

"And the girl?" Shifu stopped moving. He almost forgot about Sapphire. He never had such a speculation in his head, due to previous... beliefs of Tai-Lung's death. Sapphire did bare any of Tai-Lung's physical characteristics; he didn't have blue eyes, and she had a petite and dainty figure, not like the broad, buff like one he had throughout his life, which only improved by his training. However, her socialization skills were similar to his; she was out-going, social butterfly, and although her eyes didn't share his color, they shared the way that they would pull you in without her mouth having to move. From what Shifu had seen, that was how Tai-lung began courting girls... one possibly being Sapphire's mother. "What will we do with her?"

Shifu shook his head and looked over his shoulder, frowning at Woo's choice of words. "What about her?"

"She is a villain's daughter, must she still be around here?" Woo almost clattered his teeth together so hard they had the opportunity to chip and break. "She could be a thr-"

Shifu spun round so quickly he made Woo jump back up a step or two. "Just because of who fathered her is of dark blood, doesn't mean she is one to follow suite." He hissed. "I will not have you talk of her to anyone with a bad tongue."

Woo blinked at him in astonishment for a few seconds, before inhaling through the nose, narrowing his glance. "Don't protect the dark souls Shifu. Betrayal isn't taken kindly by anyone; especially the Master's Council."

Shifu rose his staff, and twisted it in such a way that the tip was barely touching Woo's chest. "Is that a threat, Super Attendant Woo?"

"Not at all..." Using one finger, the Gazelle gently moved the staff to the left. Her eyes remained in a narrowed glare. "Just a cautious warning, for the sake of your reputation, and the Jade Palace. Just because she is a spawn of someone who was once your son, doesn't mean your precious 'granddaughter' will be welcomed to the Valley with open arms." And with that, he ascended up the steps, his hoofs echoing through the hall. The red panda didn't move, his ears only twitched when he was sure Woo was gone. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, and turned on his heel, and walked down the corridor, each of his own footsteps bouncing off the walls. Nearing the wretched cell, he held the torch higher, and when he stood in front of it, ready to spew accusations he believed to be true, he took his time to stare at the snow leopard;

There he mediated on the bench inside the cell, legs wrapped into a lotus position, and his thumbs and forefinger touching each other, like holding a pinch of salt, with the back of his paws resting on his legs. His eyes were closed, and he didn't flinch at Shifu's presence. Or at least, he didn't feel Shifu's presence.

Right off the bat, the panda didn't hesitate to sigh and say; 'Why did you come back?'

The Snow Leopard opened his eyes slowly, and looked at him intently. "I have already told you." He replied. "I'm here for redemption, and reconnect with my daughter."

"But she doesn't see you as her father..." Shifu's gazed moved up and down Tai-Lung, trying to dig beneath the layers and find the real truth. Revenge must be written on his person somewhere...

"I don't blame her, I wasn't there." Tai-Lung's back pressed against the wall, sighing softly. "I was in prison."

"How are you her father?"

Tai-Lung raised a brow in slight surprise. "How else do you become a parent?" He asked, before scratching the back of his neck. "Unless you like the idea of Master Crane's cousin the Stork coming..." Shifu glared at him. "OK, OK," he raised his paws up in defense, "she was born nine years into my imprisonment. Her mother she..." Tai-Lung's eyes moved around the cell space he was provided, trying to find the words to talk. "You get the picture."

Shifu coughed awkwardly, and nodded stiffly. "And... who is Sapphire's Mother?"

"I'm not sure if you remember her, but I courted her before Oogway denied my so-called 'destiny'." He air-quoted the last word, as the way the word rolled off his tongue didn't do his statement justice. "Her name was Luna Lao."

"Luna..." Shifu's eyes enlarged at a sudden memory; a memory of a young, beautiful snow leopard with large blue eyes, and a crescent moon charm roped around her neck. Another memory, one being the same girl talking to Tigress, who was, back then, small, shy, and new to the Palace. He remembered how determined Luna was to make Tigress feel involved, and even offered to take her out to the village when Shifu and Tai-Lung were talking to Oogway... and kept her safe when Tai-Lung laid waste to the Valley. "I haven't seen her since..."

"Yes," Tai-lung smiled. "She decided it was better for her to leave the Valley... because she didn't want to be judged for loving me, despite my state. She visited me regularly... and before she told me about Sapphire, she asked me what would become of us."

"But you were in the immobilization turtle shell." Shifu cut in. "How did you-"

"I wasn't always..." Suddenly, he pulled out a locket, stood up, and walked over to the bars. Shifu leapt back defensively, his guard never dropping since he entered the barracks. Holding it out by the chain, letting the trinket sway side to side, lightly tapping off the bars, Shifu quickly swiped it out of his paws and examined it. It was circular, and the type you could open. He did so, and inside was a picture of Luna, cradling her swollen stomach, and a picture of a baby, obviously Sapphire, being held by a buff figure. His beefy arms were holding her against him protectively, like he never wanted to let go. "They put me in that when she disappeared."

"I can't be him... I can't be him... I can't be him..."

Sapphire sat against the wall at the foot of her bed in the Suite, a gentle hold of her throat that tried to soothe the pain from vomiting was failing. There was a gloom within the usual glowing room, and she was all alone. Po and Tigress were nowhere to be seen, and now was the perfect time for her brain to replay the events that took place earlier.

"Why on earth is he still alive? How? And what does he mean by being 'welcomed'? You never pulled the hold on him! You let him escape, and he brought... this!" He gestured at Sapphire, who glared at him offensively. "Into... the world!"

Her head rose up towards the ceiling, the tears fighting for their release. She held her head in her paws, feeling her claws lightly latch onto the sides of her head.

"He's been around since I was closing in on my pregnancy with Tigro and Little Lotus."

"Do you realize what could've happened? He could've killed you on the spot."

"He could've harmed the children!"

"Yet I didn't."

Some of the information Tigress shared she had already known from the night before, but what scared her the most was Shifu's reaction. He didn't cry out, point the staff and condemn her; he didn't banish her from the Valley or threaten to throw her into the dungeon with Tai Lung! He was... calm, about her part of the status quo, and that was terrifying.

"The village is not to know Tai Lung is alive..." he looked at Sapphire again, whom, in turn, nearly collapsed with the level of anxiety on her shoulders. Taking a sharp inhale through the nose, he finished off his sentence reluctantly. "Or about his... presence, in the Valley."

Although his remark to cover up what he could've said about her was easier to see than a needle in a hay stack, anything could have gone through his head. If she could hide from him as much as possible... maybe, just maybe, she can find the right words to say. She would tell him she knew nothing about Tai Lung up until her adoption, and had no intention to destroy his reputation, or the Palace. That she held no grudge against him for never finding her, and take her in... maybe her rejection to come to the palace as a Kung Fu student ran through his head, and said enough? However, her mind sprouted several ideas of what Shifu could have addressed her, before changing it to focus on the main subject; Tai Lung, while his mind was else where; on her.

Sapphire's thoughts were quickly interrupted when the doors of the Suite creaked open, and she immediately sprang to her feet, fearing it was Shifu...

It was Tigress; the sunlight fell against her back, shifting her silhouette to outstretch with the rays' strength. The tiger's arms were extended, her paws were pressed against the door, and her eyes immediately fell to the young Snow Leopard, who in turn, glared at her, and sat down on the edge of her bed, her posture slouched far enough for her forearms to rest on her legs, paws hanging in the air.

Tigress didn't dare to move from her place until Sapphire's gaze down-cast to floor sometime later. "Sapphire." She whispered quietly, walking towards her slowly. Silence. "Please... " she found space on the bed to sit by her, but Sapphire didn't move. Tentatively, Tigress reached out to hold her paw.

"No." Sapphire stood up and backed away from Tigress, eyes fueled with fury. "Don't- touch me." She hissed, her voice close to cracking up. "Just... don't" she turned away.

Tigress raised her paws to the same level as her head in defense. "Alright then... lets just talk..."

"About what?" Sapphire folded her arms quickly, her head rotating over her shoulder to see her. "About how betrayed I feel? I trusted my life in your paws. I felt I could get close to you... after everything you did to help us in Bao Gu.. and I let myself to be close to you..." She turned to punch the wall, the room shaking slightly. "What a fool I am!"

Irritated, Tigress moved so swiftly, Sapphire didn't have time to move away. The feline held a tight grip on her wrist, which made her look into the gaze of the frustrated, ticked off, expectant mother forcefully. "I had you in heart, Sapphire." Tigress spoke so low Sapphire had trouble trying to see the realness in the words. "Tai-Lung may have been a bad person, and did bad things in the past, but deep down there is a important reason he's still alive."

"How can you speak good of him if he had tried to kill you in the past?" Sapphire was close to screaming now. "He strangled you and tried to take you down with a whole bridge!"

"He saved my sons."

"Oh whoopdeedoo!" Sapphire tore Tigress' paw off her, and pushed her away. "He did one good deed and suddenly he's a saint!?"

Tigress caught herself by grabbing hold of one of the bed posts, and straightened herself up. "Listen to me," glaring at Sapphire, she continued to talk, her temper beginning to boil over. "He may not have been the purest, but he's here for you. Not for Shifu, but for you. He's here to make a relationship with you that was lost."

"And you helped him? Your actions were pointless Master Tigress. He's still a threat to the Valley whether you like it or not... and a threat to your family." Sapphire turned to face the wall, trying to calm herself down. Tigress was also trying to calm down, for the baby's sake. "I know about his past, I knew the outcome..." she scoffed. "I don't know what was going through your head thinking this little reunion was going to be a good thing for anyone. It's just exposed me."

"You're not exposed."

"Yes I am. What will the others think of me now? Seeing that they have the truth hiding within the Palace cells?" Her eyes moved to the coins that sat in a bowl by the little shrine. The water's surface was still and undisturbed. "You're sinking, Master Tigress..." She whispered after a while.

Tigress' brows knitted together, trying to make head or tail of the girl's words. "Sinking?"

"Yes, sinking from your job." Tigress' demeanor was fixed into a more firm build, yet her eyes showed she was slightly taken aback by Sapphire's remark. But there was more. "To protect your home, the people who live here... letting that vermin, that poison, loose... you can't even keep him away from the ones you swear to protect. A Master thinks about the benefit of her people, not how to find a place for the enemy. What kind of Master does that..."

"A Kung Fu Master is more than just fighting evil physically Sapphire. We-"

Sapphire didn't seem to care, let alone listen. Instead, she cut her off. "What kind of mother does that?" Tigress' words immediately disappeared off her tongue. The air grew silent and still, until Tigress' ears picked up the sound of Tigro, Lotus, and Chang laughing and calling out to one another in the distance, somewhere beyond the open door. Her boys...

When Sapphire turned around, Tigress was just switching her gaze from the outside to the floor, her paw slowly touching her stomach, eyes slightly wide. "You realize your mistake now, Tigress?" She spoke softly, but also mockingly. Her eyes darkened in triumph as she took a step forth, letting her stand right under Tigress' nose, shoulders squared, paws on her hips, looking up at her, while the Tiger's gaze was fixated straight ahead. "A real mother would protect and keep a high guard for her children... not let a monster loose around them, thinking he's a decent man." And with that, she left, roughly brushing past the Tiger Master, and disappearing down the steps. Blinking once or twice, Tigress turned and watched her leave in total silence, before wordlessly drifting towards her bed, and sat down on the side, staring off into space, both paws sitting on either side of her stomach.

She remained that way she was when Po came to find her, telling her the boys were home from school. At first he was concerned when she didn't answer him calling her name, but until he placed a paw on her shoulder, she looked up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks.

And there you go! I give thee chapter 13!

I was feeling productive, so I managed to get this done now. I have a job interview tomorrow, so I'm trying to tire myself out in any possible way so I can sleep properly.

Anyways, please review!

Chapter 14 coming soon (I'm 872 words in!), Ciao!