The red faded and split into a dozen colours. The colours formed textures and became stone, gold and silk. Po made out a golden throne draped in shimmering red cloth. His head limply turned, letting him see massive jade dragons. He knew this place. He tried to remember, but the pain was fading away, and he could feel himself fading away with it. His eyes slid shut, and he had no strength to open them.

His legs and butt gently landed on a cold stone floor. Strong arms held him in a firm embrace. He heard the footsteps of someone approaching. Someone big.

"Mistress?" He said. Po knew that voice, too. "That panda... what happened?"

"No time. I don't have enough power to save him by myself... Tenzin, hurry!"

The large, familiar person took off. Po felt something comfortably hot close around his weakening heart, filling it with just enough strength to keep beating. The large person returned quickly. Some icky tasting liquid was coaxed down his throat. Almost immediately Po felt himself falling asleep.

Warm fingers touched his forehead. "Mistress, what are you doing?"

"He has suffered terribly because of us. His home is destroyed. The people he loves are still in danger. He deserves to know why."


Yujin stepped onto the stone bridge where her sisters had been waiting for the last couple of hours. Mengxiang the pheasant looked as calm as she could manage. Hei Nuwang, on the other hand, was gazing at the village below with pure contempt. Out of the three of them, she had been the one most opposed to letting Oogway take over the leadership of the Valley of Peace, but it wasn't as if any of them were up to the task. Mengxiang was too fraught with grief, and Hei Nuwang's insistence on hating all mortals was becoming disturbing. As for Yujin, she had her place in Shambhala.

That was twenty years ago, weeks after Nuwa's death. Today the three of them had come to check on the valley's recovery. More accurately Yujin had come to check. Hei Nuwang and Mengxiang had only come along at her insistence, and Yujin couldn't blame them. They were still in pain over their loss. They all were. But in the end, Hei Nuwang's curses and insults towards the mortals took a toll on Yujin's patience, and she'd forced them to stay on the bridge while she visited Oogway alone. The reunion, fortunately, had been a joyful one. The tortoise had embraced her with a wide smile as he delivered nothing but good news. They'd talked over sweet tea and almond cookies, and Oogway had even taught her how to play dominoes. Yujin walked out the Jade Palace feeling happier than she'd had in years.

However, Yujin's good mood wavered as she reached her sisters, and their expressions made it quite clear how they felt about her and Oogway's friendship.

Yujin's apprehension was concealed within her helmet as she addressed her sisters. "I've just spoken to Master Oogway. The village is close to complete recovery after the massacre."

"Unbelievable." Hei Nuwang growled. "How can you even give him the time of day after what happened?"

Yujin sighed inwardly. "Your grudge is unjustified. He helped save us, in the end."

"Not all of us." Mengxiang said, giving her the same cold look. Yujin felt herself trembling. For twenty years she'd endured their restrained hostility, for it wasn't just Oogway they resented. To them, Hei Nuwang especially, standing by Oogway's side even after the tragedy was unforgivable.

"None of this would have happened if he hadn't gotten involved with her." Hei Nuwang snarled. "I knew he was trouble right from the start."

Yujin bit her lip. Seeing Oogway again, experiencing first hand the love and friendship she hadn't experienced since the tragedy, and then coming back to Hei Nuwang and Mengxiang's icy bitterness was more than she could bear. "Oh. He was the trouble."

Hei Nuwang glared at her. "I do not appreciate your tone!"

Yujin raised a shaking fist. "You know Oogway did everything he could to save her, and yet you still use him as a blasted scapegoat!"

"Well, it just wasn't good enough! He and his precious kung fu are weak! Weak, just like every other mortal who was so pathetic and helpless that mother had to give her life to save their worthless hides!"

Yujin saw the agreement in Mengxiang's eyes. That did it. She was done. With both of them. "You're a coward!"

Mengxiang gaped. Hei Nuwang was stunned. "You dare..."

"You are wrong about Oogway, and you're too great a coward to admit it! Continue wallowing in your prejudices if it makes you feel better, but I will have no part of it! Goodbye, sister!"


A particularly fierce wave of pain wracked Po's body, but the strange potion still had a strong enough hold that he couldn't open his eyes. He felt the same pair of strong arms holding his body, and heard footsteps beneath. He was being carried. A door opened and closed. The strong arms lowered him onto a soft, cushiony surface.

"The Heart of Shambhala, in the room where he saw my former self. I will be waiting for him there."


Nine hundred years later, Yujin knocked on the doors of the Jade Palace. When they opened, Yujin once again felt Oogway's warm embrace. "Yujin." This time his smile had wrinkles, but his arms were as strong as ever. "Your every visit brings me joy." He led her to the kitchen of the student barracks, and personally poured the tea and served the cookies. In one of the only two places in China she felt truly safe, Yujin removed her helmet and set it on the table. "So, are you here to check on the valley again, or are we just catching up?"

"Both." Yujin said. "I saw the scroll. No luck find the Dragon Warrior, I take it?"

"Time is like a river, my dear." Oogway said. Yujin stifled a chortle at the last two words, for she was older than he was. "You can alter its path, but you can't control the speed of the current."

"When it brings the Dragon Warrior, I want you to inform me at once when it does." Yujin said, smiling. She sipped the tea and savoured the taste. "I'd very much like to meet them."

The door started to open. Oogway's smile grew even wider. "Speaking of meetings..." When the door opened completely, Yujin found herself facing a middle aged red panda with damp fur and a loosely tied bathrobe. The red panda blinked when he saw her. His face reddened as he pulled the robe over his chest and tightened the belt.

"Master." He spoke evenly. "You didn't inform me that we had a guest."

Oogway chuckled. Yujin wondered if he'd intended to have Shifu walk in on them with his chest bared. So far as she knew the tortoise had not lost his unusual sense of humour. "Shifu, this is Yujin. Her mother and I were very close friends." He walked over to Shifu and put a clawed hand on his shoulder. "Yujin, this is Master Shifu. He began teaching here in my place not long after your last visit."

"Afternoon." Yujin gave Shifu a nod, which he returned with a bow. "A teacher, huh? I suppose you have success story or two to tell."

Shifu slid his hands in his sleeves and smile proudly. "Several, actually. There is one in particular I have no doubt will become Dragon Warrior one day."

A shadow crossed Oogway's face. Yujin chose not to comment. "Dragon Warrior... now that would be a success."

"Shifu, would you mind going to check on Tai Lung for a few minutes? Yujin and I have something private to discuss."

"Yes, Master." Shifu bowed again and left.

Yujin reheated her tea before taking another sip. She waited for what Oogway had to say. Oogway slipped his hand into hers. "You see, Yujin, I've been thinking... every time you come to see me, I can sense a great loneliness inside you, especially after you became estranged from your sisters. Why don't you stay for a while and become a student? You would have a chance to make some true friends, and be free from the burdens that force you to hide beneath that mask."

Yujin looked at the mask, then back at Oogway. "But Oogway... I would outlive any friends I make."

"To anyone else that would be an issue." Oogway said. "But you are a Child of Nuwa. A mystical being with the power to travel to and from the Spirit Realm as she pleases. When your friends pass on, there is nothing to stop you from paying a visit."

It took Yujin the rest of the night to think this through. The next morning, her choice was made.


On Yujin's request, Oogway kept her helmet safely hidden in the Jade Palace's vault. She also discarded her specially tailored dress in favour of a more practical pants and vest. The last thing she discarded was the name she carried when doing her duties as Dragon Empress; Ember. As of now she was simply Yujin, a kung fu student of the Jade Palace, and a surprisingly talented one at that. She herself had not expected to perform so well in the eight weeks since she started. Meditation was a cakewalk, and she excelled in wielding dual blades of all kinds. As for Tai Lung, Shifu had not been exaggerating. The snow leopard surpassed her in almost every way, except for chi manipulation. Yujin didn't mind, though. It wasn't a competition. Still, his swelled head was beginning to drive her up the wall.

That was why she was immensely looking forward to meeting the two new students that would be arriving today. All Shifu had told her was that they were an eagle and a tiger like herself. That and the tiger was the future ruler of China. Oogway had assured her that they were both good people, and that was good enough for her.

She stood beside Shifu, Oogway and Tai Lung in front of the palace doors, waiting for the royal procession to reach the top of the steps. When they did, she saw the eagle first. Immediately she sensed grief, so intense and painful that it made her heart ache. Just as she was starting to wonder what had caused young Eagle Jr. such sorrow, she saw the prince, looking very self-conscious sitting inside his luxurious red and gold palanquin, surrounded by stone faced guards. With eyes the colour of tea, he saw Yujin and turned bright red. Yujin had been expecting that reaction. Anyone who wasn't Oogway or Shifu had the exact same reaction if they ever saw her without her helmet. There was a reason that legend told of the Dragon Empress's fearsome helmet hiding a beauty without equal, even if Yujin considered 'without equal' to be a little far fetched.

A pig in armour stepped forward. "Now presenting his royal highness, Prince Xian."

Xian slowly climbed out the palanquin, and with Eagle Jr. nervously bowed before Oogway. Yujin decided that she liked these two.


Accepting Oogway's offer to be made a student had been the best decision Yujin had ever made. If she hadn't agreed, she would never have met Xian. She would never have eventually fallen for him. Xian's father would never have discovered her true identity and agreed to their marriage.

And she never would have become the first Child of Nuwa to conceive a child.

This child, this little ball of orange and white fur dreaming in her arms, was truly a beauty without equal. Yujin had fallen in love the moment she set eyes on the baby, and since then the two had become inseparable. Except of course for those times when they both had to sleep. Speaking of which, it was a full moon when Yujin crossed the bedroom and lowered her little bundle of joy into the crib. Yujin covered the baby in a thin red blanket and turned to leave for her own chambers. Xian wouldn't be back for at least a couple more hours. With one last look at her second love, Yujin started walking towards the door.

Mengxiang strode into the room, her face grim. She shut the door behind her and scowled at Yujin.

Yujin grimaced. She knew exactly what Mengxiang was upset about. The Empress stepped in front of her crib, though her child was too young to understand anything the pheasant said.

"Yujin." Mengxiang said.

"Mengxiang. Long time no see." Yujin replied coldly. The last time they'd spoken, Mengxiang had not reacted well to Yujin's engagement to a mortal.

"When I heard about your pregnancy, I didn't believe it at first." Mengxiang eyed the crib, and her scowl deepened. "I didn't want to believe that you would do something like this."

"Do what? Start a family? I don't see anything wrong with that."

"How many times have I told you, Yujin? Think before you act!" Mengxiang hissed, pointing a feathered finger. "First you marry a mortal, and then you conceive this... this..."

The flames on the candles pulsed and grew along with Yujin's anger. "I would finish that sentence carefully."

Mengxiang blinked and swallowed. "Yujin. We're your sisters. We're your true family. These people took our mother's life. How could you choose them over us?"

Yujin turned away and leaned over the crib. The sight of her sleeping baby kept her from losing her temper. "You don't want me to answer that."

When she looked at Mengxiang again, the pheasant looked wounded. "Yujin, I'm only thinking about what's best for you. Come back to us. Forget about these people."

"No." Yujin said as loudly as she dared. "As far as I'm concerned, this is none of your business and there is nothing you can say that will convince me to abandon my family. Now leave."

Mengxiang opened her mouth, but her voice failed her. She shook her head in disbelief and left.

Yujin sank into the chair next to the crib, suddenly too tired to go to her chambers. She folded her arms on the edge of the crib, rested her head upon them, and that was where she slept until Xian came home.


Yujin made it through three corridors before stopping at a fork, heaving from the almost unbearable agony. She hadn't believed it possible that she could hate Hei Nuwang more than she did before, but being stabbed again and again for the sole purpose of making her suffer had proved Yujin wrong. At least she'd denied Hei Nuwang the satisfaction of hearing her screams.

Unlike last time.

The corridor branching to the left was blocked by debris from the ceiling. The corridor to the right was clear, but Yujin did not move to make her escape. Instead she collapsed against the wall next to the blockade, unable to think about anything but the panda.

He'd defeated her. Then he'd finally given in and told her what he remembered. And then he'd saved her. Even after everything she'd done to him, Po Ping had saved her from being tortured and killed. Somehow she doubted that he would have acted differently had Tigress not been involved. Did he know about Yujin healing his father even though she had been unable to get any information from the dying goose? He couldn't have. She'd never told him.

With a gloved paw pressed to the stab wounds on her torso, Yujin looked back to the corridor she had just wandered through. She dug her fingers into the wall as she imagined the things Hei Nuwang would do to him for ruining her chance at killing her hated sister. True, Po was the Dragon Warrior, but he had no experience engaging in hand-to-hand combat with a Child of Nuwa who put revenge before honour.

Yujin's legs gave out and she slid down the wall to the floor, cursing her wounds. If it weren't for the dagger, she would still have more than enough power to-

"YUJIN!"

Yujin's heart leapt into her throat.

Xian?

On the other side of the blockade, Xian stared at her with wide, tea coloured eyes. His clothes were torn and there was a cut on his cheek. He barely looked any different than he did the last time they were this close.

"Xian." Yujin spoke his name before she could stop herself. Her painful wounds were making it harder and harder to be cold.

"Yujin!" Xian's eyes glistened. He squeezed an arm through a gap between the fallen beams, reaching for her. "I can't believe it... Haoxin and Mr. Ping were right! You're alive!"

Tired, Yujin leant sideways to rest her upper body on a fallen beam. She was close enough that Xian could touch her forearm. On the outside, she showed no sign that she had noticed his touch. Inside, she was weeping. She couldn't describe how thankful she was that Tenzin had whisked her away before Xian could see the burns nearly thirty years ago.

"Yujin, are you okay?" Xian was trying to push a beam to the side. A guttural growl left his throat when he saw where Hei Nuwang had stabbed her. "Did she do this to you?!" Yujin did not respond. Xian snarled and doubled his efforts to clear the blockade. "Hang in there. We'll get you to someone, a doctor!"

"No." Yujin looked up, stopping Xian dead. "Haoxin. Mr. Ping. They need you."

"Yujin, I am not leaving you here!" Xian yelled. "Not again! Not after the last time!"

Yujin shook her head. Xian couldn't have known what was going to happen when he left Yujin and their baby to help his father.

Slowly, she held out her hand. Xian stopped pushing at the beam. He stared at her for a few seconds before taking it and squeezing. "Yujin, I'm here for you. I love you. I've never stopped loving you."

At first, Yujin did not answer. Instead she focused on the chi she was steadily drawing from his body. She didn't need much, just enough to do what needed to be done. Xian did not press for an answer, appearing to realise that she was tired. He frowned and looked at their hands, but did not draw away.

When Yujin had taken enough, she scanned for Po's chi. He was still in the throne room, still alive. Hei Nuwang wasn't done.

There may still be time.

Yujin stopped drawing chi from her husband. She felt her wounds close and the strength return to her legs. She heard the sounds of two clay gorillas bounding down the corridor with the intent to capture.

"Yujin?" Xian spoke fearfully when he took heard the sounds.

Yujin pulled her hand away just as the first gorilla reached her. She grabbed its arm when it swung and smashed it into the wall. Clay shards rained down as she whirled round and decapitated the second in one punch. Flexing her fingers, Yujin turned to Xian.

"I love you too. But this is far from over."

"Yujin!" Xian cried, but Yujin had already took off back the way she'd come. With a portion of Xian's chi she had just enough power to take Po to the Palace of the Mind once she reached him... so long as she was not too late.


The second part of this chapter will be coming soon. R&R, thanks!