Chapter 5

Morning

The rest of the night went without a hitch. No wolves, no talk of wolves, no problems whatsoever. I was mortified by my actions that evening and I made it up to everyone buy letting them be the first through the doors to the palace, and later Shen and I showed them another secret room.

We had built a small sun room at the top of the tower and you could almost see the whole province from there. The floor we had covered in rugs and a few loveseats and pillows were scattered around. "This place has more secrets than The Vase of Secrets; said to contain the secrets of every Kung Fu master ever!" Po had exclaimed when we reached the top.

"We like to keep things interesting." I said as Shen and I shared a look. We were both proud that we had helped rebuild our own city, and our own place with its own secrets.

"You always told me that you have to keep me on my toes." Tigress replied from her seat next to Po.

"And you do a good job of it." Shifu complimented. Then the elder red panda left to go look around the city. He had no need to be around his students on this night, and frankly didn't want to be around the mush-fest that would undoubtedly start soon.

"We hope you'll enjoy your time here." Shen told them squeezing me closer to his body. "But if you'll excuse us, I would like to spend a little time with my darling fiancé." He kissed the top of my head.

"Aw. You two are adorable." Viper hissed curled up next to Monkey.

"We try." I cooed and lead the snowy peacock to the balcony. "Hey, Crane, Mantis; you could go out and mingle with the masses. Who knows, you could meet someone." I told the bachelors because I knew they would rather die than stay in the room with the couples.

They hesitated and Shen added, "I would start in the Great Hall." I half laughed and rolled my eyes at him.

"Good luck boys!" I called and took off out the balcony, and to the very top of the Tower. Shen followed suit and settled next to me on the little platform. We sat there for a moment in the full moonlit night. Shen's feathers glowed in an almost ghostly way as I rested my head in the crook of his neck.

Shen inhaled and spoke, breaking the serine silence. "Do you ever wish that we could have been sitting here, like this, twenty-three years ago?"

"Of course I do," I sighed, "But that is not what our destinies meant for us." I didn't move my head but snuggled closer to him. "No matter what has happened, you're here now. I'm here now, and I always will be." I looked up at him and turned his beak to face me. "Always."

"Promise?" He murmured and leaned down to kiss me. I felt so happy right there, right now. I didn't want to think about my missing family right then, I just wanted to be with Shen and be happy. Thinking about my family would have to wait until morning.

"Promise." I breathed as the kiss broke. "Oh and look what I found." I reached into my robe and retrieved a pair of folded paper lanterns, and a clumsily put together firework. On one of the lanterns was a pair of peafowl who were flying opposite directions and had their necks craned back to gaze at each other. On the other was my and Shen's personal seals painted to look like fireworks. Shen's big brown eyes got wide as he took the baubles from my wings.

"These are our lanterns! And my firework! How did you find these?" He stood and propped the little firework up on firing stand.

"I snuck into the palace about fifteen years ago and snagged them. They haven't left my position since then." I pulled out two little candles as well and lit the lanterns.

"I can't believe you kept these!" He chortled. "You know, I made this for that lantern festival." He turned to me and his face warmed in the glow of the lanterns. He handed me a lighting stick with a little flame at the end. "I was going to bring you up to this very spot all those years ago and let you light this very creation." Shen beamed and lead me over to the fuse.

"I would be honored to light a piece of your handiwork." I touched the flame to the fuse and it sputtered then flared. Stepping back into Shen's wings I covered my ears and watched as the rocket shot a few sparks and zoomed into the night sky. It exploded into the shape of a peacock's fanned tail, and glittered for a while until it faded into Shen's old seal.

"That was spectacular!" I told him as other fireworks followed and twinkled in the black sky.

"Not as spectacular as you." Shen pulled me close to him and squeezed me like he would never let go. "I love you so much, my beautiful lotus." He crooned in my ear.

"And I you, my dear wonderful Shen. And I you."

Morning came far too soon. The sun came peeking over the mountain tops to warm my feathers and interrupt a peaceful dream. I felt the steady rise and fall of Shen's chest as my mind crept back into reality. I was still tucked under his wing where we had fallen asleep on the roof of the Tower of Sacred Flame the night before. Blinking open my eyes I looked out over the waking Gongmen City. The sun was crawling into all of the shadowy nooks and crannies, and our people were opening their shops and restaurants with humble smiles.

I looked up at Shen, who was still out cold. He had a serine smile on his face and his crest was folded against his head. A few gibberish words floated through his beak as I nuzzled my head up under his chin. "Ten more minutes…" He grumbled in a barely audible tone.

"Shen," I crooned gently.

"Hmmm?"

"Wake up. We stayed out all night."

"We did?" When he opened his reddish-amber eyes I could still see the haze of sleep in his mind.

"We really did." I smiled up at the snowy peacock.

"There's no one I'd rather be here with." We shared a kiss and he rubbed my shoulder affectionately as we watched the sun rise above the mountain peaks.

"This is exactly where I want to be for the rest of my life." I sighed contentedly.

"I couldn't agree more." Shen was going to say more but Bo soared up to us and cut him off.

"Your highness'" She nodded to us.

"Mornin' Bo." I was still a touch lethargic as I returned her gesture.

"Your friends from the Valley of Peace are awake and waiting for you."

"We'll meet them in their suite. Thanks." Shen told her.

"You made sure they were fed?" I asked standing up.

"I tried, but Po insisted on cooking. I can't believe that you didn't smell it!" The little sugar glider rubbed her small, furry tummy hungrily.

"Go on, try some. We'll be down in a moment." I shooed her off the roof and she gladly soared down to the fifth tier. "Po's cooking is to die for. Come on, let's go change into something more casual and you can see what I mean." I took his wing and we glided down to our room, changed into simpler work robes, and walked to the Jade Palace mural. Together we jumped and kicked the tile with a flare of our tails and a few elaborate maneuvers.

"Showoff." Shen teased as the doors slid apart. I stuck my tongue out at him and rolled my eyes.

"Good morning all!" I said as we strutted in.

"Good morning!" They chorused.

"I see you smelled my cooking." Po teased and handed Shen and I a bowl of his famous noodle soup. "Your agent definitely did."

"And it is to die for!" She mumbled joyously from her seat just outside Po's door. She dunked her head back in the broth and surfaced with a few stray noodles on her head.

"That's a wonderful look for you Bo." I snickered as I sat down. Her little tan cheeks blushed and she slurped up the noodles. "So how was the festival for you guys?" Both couples shared a look and smiled.

"What about you boys?" Shen elbowed Crane in a friendly way.

"Ha, well, we did go out and mingle, but Mantis had some sort of mental break down when we walked into a restaurant." He laughed as Mantis shot him look of daggers.

"She was going to eat my head! I had to get out of there!" The insect defended.

"She was flirting with you, not eating you!"

"And if I had stayed any longer I wouldn't be here right now!"

"I'm sure you would have been fine." Viper giggled as Mantis retreated to his room.

"And what about you, Crane?" I turned to him.

"Oh nothing. I just wandered around, and admired the city…" He stuttered. "It was a beautiful firework show." The last words just fell out of his beak, as he had run out of things to say.

"He met a girl!" Mantis called through his door.

"Mantis!" Crane yelled at him.

"What? You picked on me so I pick on you!" He came through his eight inch door and sat down contentedly.

"Well come on," Po insisted, "Tell us about it!"

"It was nothing really…We just talked and walked around." Crane was blushing brick red. The last time I had seen him like this was my last night at the Jade Palace when I had…kissed him…but that was another story. I started blushing started fanning my face with my wing.

"Uh huh." Mantis mumbled, and then perked up. "They sat on the pier and watched the fireworks."

"Ok that's it! I'm outta here." And with that Crane took off through the balcony.

"Oh good job." Monkey snapped at the little master.

"What? He brought that on himself."

"I'll go talk to him." Shen stood.

"Oh no you won't." I stood next to him and set my bowl down. "This is a woman's matter. You stay here and figure out how we're going to catch those wolves. I'll be back soon." I kissed him quickly and took off after Master Crane. He flew incredibly fast, but I was able to follow him because of the Jetstream he left behind. He ducked into a little almond tree thicket, and I followed silently behind him.