Chapter 23

Po dumped his bag effortlessly, letting his weight smack the ground as he tipped over the side of the boat, and onto the dock in exhaustion. Three days... three days since he had been on the move. No rest, no pit-stops... OK, maybe one or two snack stops, but other then that he trekked alone, eating and walking at the one time... something he didn't need to do since the boys were babies. He got no rest on the boat; he was constantly pacing back and forth, waiting patiently for a letter from Monkey and Viper.

One came, and to his relief, he got a notice that everything was checked off the list... barring the few things he needed to get. They were on the way, and would see him in Gongmen city, by one of their famous restaurants.

Through his vicious panting, his right paw snaked its way to his chest, patting the rising and falling surface to take its time when his voice failed to do so. Breathe... breathe... a soothing voice sang in his head, but he kept gulping in the air greedily, and coughing. Seriously, take a gentle breath! Your gonna pass out...

He eventually got there; to both his destination, and his normal breathing level...

Gongmen City. He hadn't stepped foot in here since the battle... he never had a reason to come back here. The only thing out of place was the absence of Shen's ancestral home that once stuck out like a sore thumb. Po took another deep breath; this time, to calm his nerves, and avoiding eye contact to the water. The sunrise must of been beautiful... but looking out into the water brought back dark memories...

His paw snaked its way into the flap of his bag, and he fished out a small picture. Sitting it on his lap, his eyes hardened at the content; Tigress and himself cradling their cubs for the first time. His mind was fueled with images of the boys, the age where they were at now, gazing down at the face of a baby he couldn't see...

Picking up his bag again, he slung it over his shoulder, letting out the air once more. "We can do this," he told himself bravely. "Just two more things... then you can stick by Tigress' side for all eternity..."

And with that, he made his move, straight for the markets.

"How is she?" Sapphire poked her head through the door when Crane spoke. Tai Lung turned around, a bowl of lukewarm noodle soup cradled in his arms. Tigro and Lotus just left, more upset than what their faces said when they came in. Tigress' eyes followed Shifu's command and have remained closed, the rising and falling in her chest was the only indication that she was still there.

"Fine..." Tai Lung rubbed his left temple irritably. "But she hasn't woken up." Sapphire's eyes laced the ground, and she excused herself. Crane glanced at her as the door slid shut, which left the two men to their own devices. Crane slide closer, by at a comfortable distance away from Tai Lung.

"Have you eaten anything?" The snow leopard asked, passing the bowl to him. Crane nodded, and caught the vessel.

"I figured this is hers?" The cat nodded, and they were soon swallowed up in silence. "You look like crap." Crane said, his voice not wobbling. Tai Lung couldn't say anything in defense; the bruise Sapphire left on his face were even more noticeable now that it went from violet to a a sickening black. That, plus his blood soaked eyes and ruffled fur in various places, really did make him look like crap. Crane took a closer look, and the leopard allowed him observe him. "Have you slept?"

"No... why are you so alarmed?" Tai Lung sighed heavily, holding his head while Crane dumped the bowl aside, and by the time the bird turned to face him again his elbows sat on his knees, with his arms collected on top of each other, eyes lacing with the floor...

"You look just like Sapphire when you do that." Tai Lung's ears picked up on his daughter's name, and looked at Crane inquisitively. "I can see where she gets some of her characteristics..."

Tai Lung chuckled stiffly, shaking his head with a small smile, bring his paw up to rub his eye with the heel of his palm.. "Nah... she's every inch of her mother..." Crane gave a choked 'hm', almost like he wanted to say something, but another source within him lassoed the words before they could roll out of his tongue. Tai Lung took no notice and turned to watched Tigress.

She was still sound asleep, and seeing her this way was almost therapeutic. Crane continued to find the words to say in the sweltering silence, and Tai Lung's paw found itself settling on Tigress' forehead, with his fingers tracing the stripes just over her eyes. Her stillness made his bones heavy, and his eyes weren't far from following suit. Instead, he fought the urge and glanced at the bump. Another little boy? Or their first baby girl perhaps? Whichever, there was no movement, which worried him slightly... however, he confided into Mrs Sun, in her husband's absence, about this. Her response was somewhat comforting; the baby was at rest, with the mother, but alive and kicking when she was awake.

"What happened all those years ago?" Crane finally asked, stopping Tai Lung mid inhale. The snow cat frowned, eyes shut... "I mean..." why didn't Shifu ever find out about Sapphire?" He's sight was then fixated by a spot on the wall once his eyes reopened.

His paw gently pulled away, and he turned around on the stool, immediately locking eyes with the curious avian. "Luna." He said quietly.

"Who?"

"Sapphire's mother..." Tai Lung's voice pulled the words long and thinly. Crane's mouthed 'oh' in voicelessly while he continued to speak. "She visited on a regular basis. We... had Sapphire during my non-consensual stay in Chor Gom," he raised his eyebrows, and Crane coughed awkwardly, but motioned for him to continue. "I barely saw Luna during that time, so I had my suspicions when she told me she was pregnant with my child... I just didn't believe her. I couldn't.

Crane looked a little confused. "Why didn't you believe at first? Was it the dates, timing, or..."

Tai Lung pulled a face, as if to praise Crane for saying the right words, yet also correct him. "We... had Sapphire nine years into my stay in that place," he raised his eyebrows, and Crane coughed awkwardly. "Soon enough I had all the evidence I needed. Sapphire was just there... this, tiny little body that could fit in a single paw." He held up his left paw, the elbow balancing on his knee. "About the size of my fist... and it was the first name... her name, that came into my head when I saw those eyes open... I told Shifu about me being in prison when she was born..."

"But does Sapphire know that?"

"I haven't had the chance to tell her... about anything. There's a reason why I didn't try hard enough reunite with her. She'd never believe such a story."

"But that story is the truth?"

Tai Lung straightened his back, and narrowed his eyes, making Crane slightly uncomfortable. "Would you believe that I didn't abandon her."

Crane's left wing wrapped around his head, when the frustration of trying to comprehend Tai Lung's words resulted in a headache. "What do you mean? Of course you did!"

"No I didn't." Anger began to swell up in his words. "I remained in prison. If you don't believe me, how is she meant to?"

Crane backed away slightly raising himself into his battle stance, eyes fixated on the now growling leopard unsheathing his claws as he stood, before looking at Tigress with worry stabbing at his heart. Tai Lung did the same, before taking in a deep breath, and miraculously calm so quickly. We don't need to do this, his eyes said without the aid of words. With that, the cat sat back down, his paws wrapping around each other as if to plea, and observed Crane with a disgruntled gaze. "Luna took her to that orphanage, don't you see?" He said quietly.

Crane's beak slightly parted, hoisting his eyes into narrowed slits. "What kind of impulse would cause-"

"I've come to a theory." Tai Lung pointed out the window after briefly glancing outside, motioning Crane to move closer. Crane did so, and saw Sapphire and Jun sitting by the steps, in depths with a conversation neither of the males could hear the contents. "When Luna came that night, she pleaded with me to escape... to run away, so we could elope, and raise Sapphire somewhere safe, together. I turned it down, knowing that their lives would be at risk if I tried to leave. I was a dangerous face everyone was aware of... afraid of. I was convinced that Shifu would come and appeal for my release..." his fists closed up tightly. "Only then, I would tell him about Sapphire... but he never came..."

Crane's breath took a pause without his will, and he felt sick as unwanted vision played in his head. As his wing shakily moved up to his trembling beak as the feline continued.

"Luna left her there, and I never saw her again. I still don't know about her whereabouts... and Sapphire is the only thing I have left of her. I can't lose her... and I need her to know that the moment I got out of prison, fought you and the five, and fought Po... I wanted to achieve what I thought I needed to get them back. The status... the force, all things dangerous... the pain I caused... for what? For her." He looked down at his paws furiously, and scanned the room for something to look at, something to break... the volume in his voice growing disturbingly softer as he focused on Tigress. "They brought me back to senses."

"Tigress and Po?" Crane asked lowly.

Tai Lung said nothing at first, and moved back to the cot, where he knelt by Tigress', and held her head in one paw gently. "Yes... knowing they had my back, no matter what, lifted a lot of worries off my shoulders... but the twins had their part in this."

"How?" It was kind of silly to ask, but Crane couldn't help it.

"The simplicity of having children has its impacts. Seeing them grow, made me realize what I had lost with Sapphire. I held her once..." he held one finger up, which shook with the weight of emphasis. "Once... I held those two many a time. I never helped her walk, never taught her how to talk, never heard her first word... I was there to hear them talk, and watched them learn the steps..."

Crane lost his attention on the words that came out of the leopard's mouth... it was his tone. His voice was cracking, twisting, and bending out of its normal shape, almost simultaneous to Tigress when Tigro and Lotus were bed ridden with the River Fever. Crane found it within himself to start moving towards the cot too, once Tai Lung's voice faded for a while, and he leaned forward, closer to the sleeping tiger.

"And to know the exact moment Po had me in the Wushi Finger Hold, that I failed her..." He whispered, suppressing his sobs. "And she knows I was around those two the whole duration they've lived. I saw it..."

"Last time I saw them was last year... surely they haven't grown since then?" He leaned in their direction, arms wide. "Come on! Show me how strong you are! If you can take me down, you're definitely Tigro and Lotus!" Abruptly, they ran for him, and pounced on their prey. He caught them under each arm, and stood up. Laughter filled the air as he pulled them into a hug, much to Sapphire's shock. That's what he thought it was... at least.

Twisting his head, Crane saw something that shook him; tears were spilling out of Tai Lung's eyes. "I saw the pain, and no one else did." He was vulnerable now; his paws twisted around his face, fat tears streaming down his face, his shoulders shaking. Crane's heart was breaking at this sight, not just for sympathy, but with fear. Never had he seen someone was out of balanced so... emotional, and like a normal being that lived down in the Valley. Awkwardly all the same, he placed a light wing on Tai Lung's back, and delivered gentle pats and small ounces of air driving though every identical hair on the surrounding, untouched areas.

Through the occasional shush coming from Crane's beak, Tai Lung suddenly felt something lightly touch his paws. Pulling his eyes out of the palms, the swollen orbs downcasted to Tigress. Her eyes were open, her smile was small but bright, and her paws linked with his soggy ones as she tried to sit up. He sniffed tearfully, and scooped up her top half, allowing her to wrap her arms around his shoulders, one paw settled on the back of his head as he cradled her. Crane took a step back, watching the scene in silence. Knowing to leave them be, he turned to go, but he stopped dead.

Shang was looking in from the entrance. A scroll in paw, his face melted into one of sadness, and he moved back down the hall. Without rising suspicion, Crane followed, softly calling out to him. Upon entry, the Hall of Heroes seemed dead; until both of them, from different distances, Shifu and Woo were meditating from the reflection pool.

"Master Shifu." Shang said, moving in towards the red panda as Crane hid behind a pillar. Giving a few seconds to take a deep breath, Crane lurked behind the pillar, and watched from afar.

Shifu stood almost immediately, and watched Shang close in. "Is everything alright with Tigress?" He asked.

"That demon is looking after her isn't he?" Woo glared at the ceiling at the thought.

"She's awake... and yes, he's sitting with her, but Crane's there."

"That's favorable..." Woo rocked on his heels, before clearing his throat. "So... have you told her the news?"

"No..." Shang's back was to Crane, but the stiffness in his shoulders played the picture of Shang wringing his paws around each other... or something he was holding. "I... can't."

"Can't wait?" The gazelle urged.

"I can't be her brother after this." Crane was about to gasp, but his wings stopped him from making any noise. Instead, a dull clank hit the ground at Shang's feet.

A scroll. A bundle of words that must of determined the question they've been asking all this time. Shifu miraculously seemed calm about the news, yet sympathetic"and why is that?" He asked gently.

Shang look up at the ceiling, shaking his head, while Crane started creeping away, suddenly feeling almost dirty for listening to the conversation...

"She already has one."

Woo! Finally done!

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Ciao!

Chapter 24 coming soon!