Love and Legend

"Master Lion, you must understand that the rules are here for the safety of others," Said Master Ox. I sighed. Master Croc, Master Ox, Master Ram, Master Chao, Master Rhino, and other masters were there. I instantly knew that it would be a hard task once I saw most of the people with long hard faces. It WAS intimidating at first but then I realized who I was fighting for. Not only for Po but for the same people I was going to be talking to! I breathed.

"Master Ox, I understand that the rule is there for safety reasons, but the reasons for the law themselves are baseless IF the person knows how to do Kung Fu well," I replied. "Two masters are better than one."

"That maybe," Master Chao answered. He was much slimmer in person than I thought. "But the fact is that the person in danger would have to be able to get themselves out of the traps set for them."

"And the right person for the Dragon Warrior would be able to know Po long enough to evade and get out any situation. Plus, Po is the Dragon Warrior and is able to do anything," I replied.

"Master Lion," Master Rhino started, "The council cannot concede to changes in its code of laws just for earthly pleasures. We must think of others first. Also, relationships such as that would just distract the Dragon Warrior."

"On the contrary, it would be the very concern of the loved one that would persuade him to train better and become more," I replied, pointing to Po. He, the Furious Five, and Krystal were sitting on the side. Master Shifu was right next to me.

"I'm sorry, Master Lion," said a somber Master Ox, "Until you provide us with some better basis, we cannot say anything about this rule." Shifu and I regrouped. I could see in my peripheral that Po was in distress about the situation.

"What do we do now? Shall we present the other argument we made?" Shifu asked. I growled lowly.

"No, I'm going to lay it plain," I replied gruffly. I came back to the semicircle of masters.

"I assume that you have another argument to present us, Master Lion," asked Master Chao. He already knew I wouldn't go down easily.

"Master Ram, do you have a girlfriend," I asked.

"Ugh! Um! My personal life is not a matter of this court decision-"

"Master Chao, how many times have you had your eyes on a lady?"

"In my years I have grown...fond of some women. But-"

"Master Ox, what about you? And Master Croc and all of you! You've 'fallen in love' at least a dozen times in your lifetime. Some of you have gone through with it. Great Master Viper has a wife, Master Shifu had a girlfriend. How can you say that relationships are distractions when you yourselves have gone into this distraction! And yet you want Po not to do it, simply because he is the Dragon Warrior! Look at me. I'm the Lion Warrior and I'm married." Though that's under different circumstances, I thought to myself. "You're saying that a master shouldn't be attached to any earthly pleasures, and I agree. But the problem is this: It. Can. Never. Be. Done!"

"Why do you say that?" Master Chao asked.

"Because any master who is dedicated to protecting the people of China can not detach from earthly connections because their prime duty is to the people of China and the earth. And if that person is specially picked by the universe, he has even a greater duty to the world," I finished with this. "You all have experienced some kind of love. Now, I don't know if it was good or bad, but I know that at some point, you liked it. And what happened? You got either closer to that person or you knew more about that person. Some of you have married and, at least, one time in your life, your family was in danger. And what happened? You secured their safety. This isn't a matter of attachment. This isn't a matter of safety. This is a matter of happiness, joy, and love! When I saw you masters come in, not one of you had a smile on your face. You, the masters, who have probably achieved earthly detachment, are supposed to be happy. Why aren't you smiling? I'm not saying that your faces mean that you're not happy, but still." The council talked to each other for a while. I waited impatiently.

"We, the council have made our decision," said Master Chao. I looked at a worried Po. "We have...considered the proposal that Master Lion has given and have come to the decision that the Dragon Warrior shall be able to marry a fellow Kung Fu master AND keep his title." I sighed in relief as I heard the others cheering.

"To ease the concern of the council," I said, "I will bring some of the 'legends' that I know to the Jade Palace to make it safer." I didn't know how I was possibly going to do that, but I was willing to do anything to seal this deal.

"That would help," Master Ram said. "And Dragon Warrior, I hope you find the person just right for you." Po smiled as he bowed.

"I'm surprised that you were able to find all the masters AND get them to come here so quickly," I whispered to Shifu as the masters went away.

"They...weren't doing anything important to be honest," Shifu replied. "And I know Po is very happy." I looked over to the panda who was surrounded by his celebrating friends. Yet, I could sense a different emotion in Po than happiness. It almost seemed like...doubt.

I walked with Master Tigress to the Training Hall where Po was sadly sitting on the sideway looking at the dirt below him as his feet lazily swung back and forth. We quietly walked over behind him and I startled him by tapping him. "AAAHH!"

"Sorry," I apologized. "We were just wondering why you looked sad."

"Sad? Me? No no. I was just...training my...eyes to stare at something for a long time," He lied. Tigress shook her head.

"Wow, your lies are worst IN person than just seeing them from afar," I remarked. Po sighed as we sat down next to him; Tigress on the left and me on the right. "What's wrong? I fought for you to get a girlfriend and now you seem like I put a curse on you. You should be walking on coals of fire dancing and hollering!"

"I think Lion is saying you shouldn't be sad. Why are you," Tigress asked.

"How?"

"How what," I asked.

"How am I going to find a female Kung Fu master that will like to be with me," Po replied.

"Hey, if Krystal can go for me, there's hope for anyone," I commented. Po AND Tigress looked at me with un-flattered faces.

"You know that's completely different from what I'm in," Po remarked.

"I know," I replied, smiling. "Cheer up! You're the Dragon Warrior and a guy with a golden heart. Grow up a little and I'm sure that you'll find someone." Po stood up.

"Yeah, you're right. I am awesome," Po said getting encouraged.

"No one ever said that," I muttered, "But you are an extraordinary person." He wore a cocky smile on his face as we got up. "Now, the next morning is your turn training. We got over one hurdle today, but you still have your training."

"Aw, but I thought I would get a break after today," Po complained.

"Po, today IS your break," I replied. "Tomorrow morning." I left the two alone in the Training Hall.

"You better shape up if you want a female mate to come," Tigress smirked. I could still hear them through the walls.

"Oh come on, Tigress. I know you've been falling for me," Po said cockily. I heard Tigress throw a hard punch into his gut.

"Dream on, panda," Tigress sighed. I shook my head as I went to the room where Krystal attacked me with a hug.

"Okay, what did I do?"

"You helped Po that's what! I'm so proud of you," Krystal said. She let me go and smirked at me smugly. "That was pretty interesting to get the masters involved."

"They were being ridiculous," I defended. "They didn't have to do it, why should Po?" Krystal just continued to smile.

"Now what?" I huffed.

"I don't know. First, I have to get Po to be a little...less reckless and rash. Sure he has a good heart, but still. Then I have to make Tigress lower her guard a little bit. And you're going to help me with that," I smiled widely at her surprised face.

"How?"

"You and Tigress have been talking for a while and I think you can help influence her to at least look at Po with some interest."

"I don't know if I can do that."

"I know it would be hard so I'm thinking that this will take some time. LONG time," I sighed. She playfully pushed the corners of my lips into a smile.

"Hey, cheer up! It's not that bad. Plus, if you get the 'legends' together, this place will get very interesting very quickly." I nodded. That would be interesting. Then I remembered.

"That maybe a little bad. Not all the legends have good backstories," I replied. "But not all the legends might be true, though. It is just Demi's raffle of what is legendary and what isn't."

"But what if the ones that are bad come true," Krystal asked. I sighed.

"Then come what may," I said grimly.

The next day, I was having Po do push-ups...with me sitting on top of him. A one hundred eighty pound lion would be a little troublesome to lift, but Po seemed to be working along with it. Then Tigress and Krystal came out to the courtyard. Po greeted them cockily.

"Hey, girls." Krystal giggled while Tigress rolled her eyes. I hit Po's head with a stick I had. "OW!"

"No talking. You train," I said getting off his back while he continued his exercise. "What's up," I asked Krystal and Tigress.

"Nothing, we were just wondering what you have Po doing," Krystal wondered.

"It doesn't seem too different from what Master Shifu usually has him doing," Tigress mentioned.

"Master Shifu weighs less than me," I pointed out. Tigress nodded in agreement.

"But it doesn't really matter," Po smirked as he finished his exercises. "With my bodacious strength, anything is possible." Krystal smirked, Tigress pinched the top of her nose, and I growled.

"Dang it, Po," I growled upset. "You're just like-" I stopped right there, but everyone in the room had their eyes on me.

"Like who," Po questioned, looking me straight in the eye. I guess he was expecting me to say something insulting about him. However, I simply said.

"You're just like your brother," I muttered lowly. Krystal and Tigress looked at Po, who was confused.

"But...I don't have a brother," he replied.

"Not in blood, but in character you do. He's one of the legends, and I don't think it is a story I want to tell you," I said as I was about to go out. Po's heavy. I say that because he tackled me to the ground to stop me. "Po, get off of me!"

"Sorry, I just really want to know about my brother," Po said. I could also see that Krystal had tackled me too. I lifted them up off of me with my super strength.

"Please," they looked at me with big wide cute eyes; Krystal's was cuter than Po's naturally. I shook my head.

"No, it wouldn't be good." I turned to go out, but Tigress had stopped me.

"Please Lion, could we hear the story? To be honest, I want to know about Po's brother as well," She said. I laughed shortly.

"You're going to have to be a lot...softer to move me," I replied as I passed her. She stopped me again

"Please," She said with a closed mouth smile, gentle eyes, and hands together. Now I know the mythical 'Tigress smile' so many fanfic writers talk about. It does break a person. I growled lowly.

"Fine," I mumbled. "You might as well get the whole-" Before I could finish, Crane, Viper, Mantis, and Monkey were with Krystal and Po behind me. "O...kay." They all sat down in front of me. "Now come close to me my little children," I said like an old storyteller, "As I tell you this tale. Now, which one of you knows about the Wuxi Finger Hold?"

"Oo, Ooo, pick me," Po raised his hand. I couldn't help but smile.

"Yes, Po."

"It was created by Master Wuxi in the third dynasty and affects the opponent's chi. It then spreads that chi into a golden ring of energy," Po said proudly. Okay, before that, I didn't know about that.

"Kung Fu geek," Monkey muttered.

"Ah, but do you know what happens to the person? Where do they go? What happens to them," I asked him. He couldn't answer that. "You see, my friends, it is believed that Tai-lung survived the Wuxi Finger Hold. They say he and his chi were transported and reconstructed in a different place. It is rumored that Wuxi Finger Hold sends a person to the place he or she is needed. So Tai-Lung was transported to the place near the giant Himalayan mountains, on the other side of them. It was said he fell from the sky, in the same way, Po fell from the sky though the fall did have a hard landing." Heh, seems cats don't always land on their feet, I joked in my head. "So in this place, not far from where the mighty lesser lions roam."

"Lesser lions," Krystal asked.

"These lions don't look like me. They have a shorter mane," I explained. "Anyways, one such lion was crossing Tai-Lung's injured place. His name was Nelon and he was on his way back to his house when he ran over Tai-Lung, literally."

"I wish we could see that," Tigress murmured. I thought about it.

"Why not," I said. I clapped my hands together and made a bluish gas spread around them. The next thing they saw was Tai-Lung on his back and underneath a cart. The Lion Warriors could also do visual demonstrations.

"OW!" Tai-Lung shouted.

"Sorry," Nelon replied. "I didn't see you there. What are you doing on the ground, sir?"

"Grunting in pain that's what," Tai-Lung shot back.

"Though he wasn't the kindest person," I continued, "Nelon still had compassion on him and gently took him back to his household and cared for him." The demonstration showed all of this as I narrated. "Nelon and his wife nursed Tai-Lung back to health. What Tai-Lung didn't know about Nelon was that he was one of the Master Swordsmen."

"The who," Krystal asked.

"The Master Swordsmen, or the League of Master Swordsmen, were a deadly group of four swordsmen that were legendary. They say that most of them are feline," Crane explained, "I think one was a lion, one a tiger, a mountain lion, and another a...a snow leopard." Crane started to realize something, but I continued with the story.

"Anyways, under Nelon's guidance, Tai-Lung was trained in the ways of the swordsmen. Nelon noticed the gift Tai-Lung had: his ambitious tendency. Tai-Lung had changed in that he was a little less...mean, but it wasn't enough to get rid of his anger and hatred for what happened to him. So Nelon told him a story of a prince...who became a slave for his people." The demonstration cloud showed the lion and the snow leopard sitting at a table, talking, but you couldn't hear them. "And then he said to Tai-Lung."

"This...panda of whom you speak of, he must have been teased, hurt, and laughed at, much like the prince. And yet, by your description, he prevented you from laying waste to YOUR village, destroying YOUR own father, and didn't know if he was going to live to see another day. Meanwhile, you, having everything and did nothing to protect the people, but just to get a scroll which was blank, what does that say about you? To be the greatest warrior, swallow your pride, admit you were wrong and go back to helping, protecting, and serving the people. That's the only way you'll ever be happy. Let go of your futile hate and go to work."

"A hard thing to swallow, but Tai-Lung started looking at his life. It had already been two years since he was 'skadooshed' out of China. Maybe it was time to let this hatred go. So finally, he left all the things from his past behind and assumed a new name, Tai-gee." Tigress suppressed a laugh in the back, but everyone looked at her.

"Nothing. It's just...Master Shifu once told me that he would call Tai-Lung that name to get his attention sometimes. He always hated the name. I just find it ironic he chose that name," Tigress explained.

"I think it was because of humility," I replied. "Anyways, with that, Nelon and Tai-gee traveled the known world protecting the people. Now, some say that Tai-gee has come to China. If he did, then he looks completely different. Tai-gee now has black pants, plain purple vest, bandaged arms and feet, black gloves, black cape, a gray metal mask which you can only see his eyes and mouth, and a black straw hat. Basically, you can't tell if he's a snow leopard or not." The bluish demonstration disappeared around them and they were back to the Training Hall.

"Wow, that was amazing," Viper said.

"Hardly," I heard Tigress murmur.

"But why is he my brother," Po asked.

"It's said, though I don't know if this is true, that as a way to become a true warrior, Tai-gee would try to be like Po within the short time that Tai-gee got to know him. It's also said that since Tai-gee was born in the year of the dragon, that Po and Tai-gee are the sons of dragons. But Tai-gee is like Po in many ways. "

"So...he has a gut," Mantis asked, making everyone snicker and laugh, except Po.

"No, he's...energetic and carefree like Po. Again, who knows if this is a reality or not. Tai-gee may not be alive. It's all a legend," I finished as everyone clapped, except Tigress, who had the hardest face I've seen her with yet.

"That was an awesome story," Monkey said.

"It would be interesting if it were true," Crane added.

"Of course, if that's true, then Po didn't really do away with Peng's uncle," Mantis mentioned.

"That's right," Po replied joyfully.

"It's only a legend," I stated with a smile. As they trickled out of the Training Hall, I looked at Tigress, who had her back towards me and arms crossed. "There's also another legend about you and Shifu, Tigress."

"And what about that," she asked roughly.

"That after Tai-gee was imprisoned, Master Shifu didn't show much...appreciation or pride as he once did," I said. She remained quiet. "If that's so, it's a good thing." She whipped around, looked me angrily in the eye, and growled, showing her sharp teeth.

"Why," She growled out. I calmly replied, though a little scared at the reaction.

"Because I don't think the world could handle another Tai-Lung, especially in the form of a tiger." Tigress turned away from me and turned her back towards me again. I knew she was upset at the fact that Tai-lung, this criminal that caused all this hurt, including causing her master to not appreciate others, namely her, could just drop out of the sky somewhere, make a turnaround, and be declared a hero. "You know, there are a number of things that masters shouldn't do. One of them is to keep anger and hatred. If they do that, it won't affect the people they hate. Only the people they love will be hurt." I saw Tigress's ears droop down. Her whole body slouched from her usual erect and proud stance. "And I know Po, who has the greatest reason to hold on to that hatred, has let it go and is the Dragon Warrior," I added. She sighed. I smiled as I rested my hand on her shoulder. "Come on, why don't we see where Krystal is and get some noodles." She nodded.

"Thank you," She whispered quietly.

That was the main reason I didn't want to tell that story. But it was better to tell it and battle to a better state than to have never told it at all. It's like I always say. Every story must be told. After all of this, I wrote the experience down in my book.

to be continued.