The Christmas Spirit

Chapter 4: What should we do?

Po slowly closed the door to his room and started to walk away, but he stopped when he saw Shifu in front of him; he felt regret for realizing why Ichi didn't want to celebrate, everyone else felt the same way after he told them. Shifu asked, "How is he?"

"He's alright, but I wish there was something we could do," Po sighed. "I know, we can make him cut onions!"

"That's not the kind of crying we're looking for panda, we need the real thing." Shifu said, annoyed

Shifu opened the door to see Ichi sleeping, he was sound asleep holding his stuffed toy Teddie in his hands; seeing him blush made Po chuckle at how cute his little brother was, he even said, "He's so cute when he sleeps!"

"Let's leave him alone, he deserves a good sleep for today." Shifu said, smiling

The two closed the door and left Ichi to sleep, when the went to the training grounds they found everyone there; they were all worried since there was only three days left til christmas, and Ichi still didn't want to celebrate. Mantis was the first to ask, "Anyone got any ideas?"

"Not one." Monkey sighed

"What should we do Master?" Tigress asked

"I don't know, Ichi never shows much of emotions, and it wouldn't feel right to just ask him to let it out." Shifu answered

"Besides, with his power he might unleash the flames of rage on the whole valley," Mantis said, but that only gave him a glare from everyone. "I'm just kidding!"

While everyone was talking Ichi was still sound asleep in his room, deep in his mind he was found in a room; there was nothing but a chair and an piano, Ichi just stood in the chair waiting for something to happen. He then opened his eyes to see the piano playing a song from the blues, it was Kage who then said, "So, are you just gonna sleep for the rest of the day?"

"Maybe, I really don't feel like getting up," Ichi answered. "I never took you for a guy who liked the blues."

"I dable, so why don't you express your feelings and have fun with the others," Kage asked. "I can tell that Shifu wants us to join in, he's worried."

"I know, but... I'm worried that it'll happen again."

"Again?"

"To lose all my memories, just like last time," Ichi explained. "All these good memories, what if they go away like with my parents. I know I can control my powers now, but what if I lose control again? I could burn the palace along with everyone in it, and what really worries me is that in the end I'll forget about it. All the memories I have, all the people I grown to love... they'll all be gone in the flames I would create."

Kage could sympathize with what Ichi said, after all he was him; he sighed softly and said, "You shouldn't worry about something as big as that."

"What should we do?" Ichi asked

"Hell if I know, I'm you after all."

Kage stopped his playing and the two just sat in silence, no one talked cause they both felt unsure about what to do; after realizing something Ichi said, "Hey, what time is it anyway?"

"I don't know."

When Ichi woke up he found Po sleeping next to him, he could figure out that it was already night time; he kept quiet and snuck outside from the dormitory, he thought it be nice to just sit on the thousand steps and get some air. The valley was quiet, the snow fell gently and the moon was full. Ichi couldn't help but think of how beautiful it was, "It's a beautiful night isn't it?"

Ichi nearly jumped out of his fur when he realized that Shifu was behind him, when he sat next to him he said, "What are you doing here?"

"I should ask you that, shouldn't you be asleep?" Shifu asked

"I think I slept enough, you're right though, tonight is beautiul."

The two just watched as the snow fell on their faces, Shifu wanted to say something but he felt unsure of what to say; he knew that trying to get Ichi to celebrate was hard but he just had to try, that's when an idea popped into his head, he smiled and said, "Tell me Ichi, what would you like?"

"I told you, I'm not celebrating." Ichi answered

"That's not what I meant, what would you like to do tomorrow," Shifu corrected. "When morning comes we'll have two days left, then after that is christmas eve. I thought we could have some fun till then, so what would you like to do tomorrow?"

Ichi was a little confused, he had no idea what Shifu was up to, he shurgged his shoulders and said, "I don't know."

"Come now, isn't there anything you wanted to do before?" Shifu asked

"Well... I always wanted to hang out with you." Ichi answered

"With me?"

"Yeah, you never had time so I never asked," Ichi sighed. "We only hung out once, I wanted to do it again."

Shifu felt even more guilt, he placed a hand on his son's shoulder and said, "Ok then, tomorrow we can spend time together. Is there anything else you wanted to do?"

"Don't tell anyone, but I always wanted to ice skate," Ichi answered. "I also want to try melon bread."

"Melon bread?" Shifu asked

"Yeah, it's this crunchy bread with a creamy filling," Ichi explained. "It's so good I want to try it!"

"You never tried it, and yet you know about it?"

"I read alot about it in the bookstore, I so want to try it!" Ichi said, smiling

Shifu just chuckled at his son's enthusiasm, all that for something so simple; he smiled and said, "Alright then, tomorrow will just be us, doing what you want to do. But you better get back to sleep or I'll change my mind."

"Yes sir, thanks dad!" Ichi said, hugging him

Shifu couldn't believe it, Ichi actually hugged him; he felt so happy inside that he couldn't wait for morning to come, an entire day of father and son bonding felt like a dream come true, "I hope doing this will help him."

To be continued

Will Shifu give Ichi his christmas spirit? Chapter 5 coming soon.