AN: Hello everyone, I hope everything is going well with you guys :) Life is good and busy as always. Thanks for spending your time reading the story again! Always greatly appreciated.

The evening was eerily uneventful after Master Shifu had left. It was unusual considering the fact that the guards enjoyed tormenting Tai Lung whenever they were bored; times when they had no more topics to discuss about, after or before their meals, or when he was trying to fall asleep or rest. However, he was always able to sense hostility, the rhino's presences and he was also able to tell when they were awake or asleep by the sound of their breaths. Yesterday was unusual because they were definitely awake and he was able to feel their observant, cold gazes.

Additionally, it was unnatural to be able to sleep without a kick slamming across his face while he tattered body demanded for rest. Yet last night, nobody disturbed him, not even once, and this morning, he wasn't forced awake in a horrendous method. It was a first to have a peaceful night of sleep and he woke up in the best of moods, to the extent of being bound in chains and the restraining tortoise shell.

When he slowly opened his golden eyes, he saw Commander Vachir sitting on a piece of stool and patiently waiting for him to wake up while reading a piece of news paper. His black ears twitched at the loud, snapping sounds of the news paper being flipped through until the large rhinoceros noticed him. The two men looked fairly awkward as they stared at each other as this was the one moment they were behaving civil towards another.

Tai Lung thought of yesterday and then stared at his right paw that was chained to the ground. He slowly said, "Thanks for yesterday."

The rhino wrapped up his grey news paper and crossed his arms as he replied, "You were different yesterday... and you kept your words."

The snow leopard replied, "Yesterday was special and although I am the worst criminal in history, I am a man of my words."

Commander Vachir's black lips remained thinned and coldly confessed, "If you said that to me even a second before your father came to visit, I would never have believe those words."

Father, that word still stung greatly as Tai Lung still felt and recalled his betrayal. That word caused enough turmoil to make him clam up and close his eyes in order to control his unwinding emotions. Nevertheless, the guard continued, "And you showed that you still had a grain of compassion for someone. You even cried!"

Tai Lung ground his teeth as he expected some form of mockery against his masculinity, however the man's eyes softened as he stared at the criminal. The commander clicked his tongue instead of spitting out jeers and surprisingly, a plate of warm food that had not been tempered with was brought nicely before him. It was a simple breakfast, but it was once again, the best so far as his other meals were often ruined by the guards urinating all over his meal- which lead to a day of starvation or the prepared food was thrown or kicked at him. He carefully eyed as surroundings to watch out for other guards coming along and kicking the plate into his face, but today was a day where he could enjoy a hot broth of egg soup, clean rice, and a seared fish.

He leisurely enjoyed the meal as he expected this kind of treatment to not last for a long time and for the second time, he curtly said, "Thanks."

Vachir nodded in acknowledgement and spoke out his thoughts, "To be honest, I always thought of you as nothing but a self-centered, arrogant, good-for-nothing scum like any other criminals. But now, I truly am trying to understand you after I witnessed your actions yesterday. Yesterday was simply far too bizarre... When you and Master Shifu asked your right arm to be unlocked, I thought to myself: there is no way that's happening on my watch. But you sincerely pled for the one chance so that you may write a letter... and I was stunned and your eyes became much softer. My instinct told me that I could trust you this one time. That's when I realized that you still had a small humane aspect in yourself and if you have that tiny sliver of goodness in you, it tells me that you had a good nature beforehand. So what got you so screwed up?"

Tai Lung still did not trust the rhino who sat before him, but the man earned himself some truth so he started with, "Commander Vachir, I may be the most notorious criminal as of yet in China right now, but I am also only seventeen years old. But before I became what I am today, I was basically a prince of Kung Fu with a celebrity status and I earned them with my honed skills. But it wasn't just that, there was also the fact that my father is Master Shifu while my godfather is Master Oogway and they are also my teachers for the martial arts."

Commander Vachir replied, "Yes, I've heard of your name when you were around eleven years old."

The snow leopard remembered the days when he was a young lad, it was the marking age when he became a Kung Fu Master- the youngest Fung Fu Master. Then he asked, "Why do you think that everyone knew of my name when I was so young?"

The commander answered, "Because you were seen as a prodigy. The youngest Kung Fu Master!"

Tai Lung raised his head as much as he possibly could and winced at the pain branching across his body and darkly asked, "How do you think I reached that title?"

He kept his head raised until he saw confusion spread across the rhino's wrinkly face and he couldn't help, but sneer at the expected reaction. Afterwards, he answered his own question, "Most children go out and play with their friends, get muddy, get their clothes ripped from running around, and they go to parties, restaurants, festivals, and other places. My childhood consisted of training and it started the moment I was able to walk. I sparred with the two best Kung Fu Masters and they never held back so I always got my ass kicked and my face wiped across the floor. I trained everyday without a break from dawn till dusk and when I was resting, I was taught scrolls and the great history of Kung Fu. My lifestyle got me to break my bones and tear and pull my muscles. Commander Vachir, do you know how difficult it is to break a child's bone? It's very hard because the bone is growing and much more flexible than an adult's, however I broken several of them. Bruises, cuts, tearing of my muscles, and such were considered normal. This was all done because the man, you call my father, made me train to that extent each day and he promised me that I was the fated Dragon Warrior."

A frown was sown on Vachir's face as he compared his childhood to Tai Lung's. The man concluded, "So you couldn't meet up to the expectations? You succumbed to the pressure?"

Tai Lung sneered coldly and angrily growled, "Don't put on the same level as the others. My life is not so damn clichéd. I never failed to meet my father's expectations or mine in my life. I always went beyond everyone's expectations. I completed the thousand scrolls of Kung Fu by age eleven and marked highest in the national qualification as a Master, won countless competitions across the country, volunteered much of my time to the needy, and trained several pupils already. I met every requirement and had no fault in my abilities as a Kung Fu Master or as a man. And I've told and honing my skills and investing my life into achieving my destiny as the Dragon Warrior."

There was a ferocious gleam glowing in his darkened gold eyes and the anger itself caused his tail to snap around, his fur to stand, and his claws to dig into the loose soil. The rhino watched him become unsettled and held his breath because he could feel the spark of tension pulsing in the damp air. Tai Lung inhaled a great amount of air and slowly exhaled as he asked a question that he has failed to answer for a long time, "So why did my own family who aspired me to fulfill my destiny, deny me of my very destiny?"

Even the rhino seemed stunned and unable to reply. Then the snow leopard lowered his head and faintly whispered, "How the hell was I was supposed to fulfill my promise to Tigress without using force when that's all I know?"

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review for me. :) Please.