"Good morning," Monkey greeted him with a nod, as if he didn't know that tomorrow was their master's birthday and that they didn't have anything planned as far as Po knew.

"Hey, guys, we have a problem-" Po placed the scroll on the table and got all of his fellow students' attention. "You all DO know that tomorrow is Master Shifu's birthday, right?"

Po was half-expecting them to say know and be as shocked as he was last night as he was lying on his bed in angst, but he was complacently amused that they had followed-up with their own retort back to him.

"Yeah…of course!" Monkey exclaimed, smiling and letting out a short laugh. "You'd REALLY think we'd forget our master's birthday?"
"I…."

"I mean, COME ON, how stupid do you think we are?" Mantis choked out, laughter coming out at the end of his question.

Po shook his head in denial as Tigress placed her hand on his shoulder, in comfort from their friend's words. I must have really been a terrible student to forget it..

"Sorry, I just.." Po shook his head again and blinked, meeting all of their gazes. "We have to plan something, right?"

"I already have come up with an idea," Monkey chimed in, "I talked to Mei Lang and Piao and they said that they would plan something with us over at Mei Lang's house this afternoon."
"I can ask my dad." Po suggested. "Maybe he can help us with something." Mr. Ping owns the noodle shop, for one, and he's good at planning parties…somewhat. I mean, if he does do large catering for the valley then he should be able to help a few students plan a party with their friends for their master.

"Good idea."

Crane shot Viper a pleased glance as Po shot Monkey a glance as their gazes met.

"Let's try our best today," Monkey said, "and hopefully we can get away to Mei Lang's house for a moment this afternoon."

"Let's hope." Tigress's tail smoothly brushed over the ground. "And can we all promise to try to make Master Shifu's birthday the best as possible, as his students?"

Amongst the others, mutters of agreement spread throughout the five other students.

Po nodded, happy that he had the greatest friends who understood the depth of the day.

"Of course," Po smiled, "That's the plan."

"Good morning, Master Shifu!" Shifu's six students ran into the Training Hall and lined up before their master, bowing before placing their fist in their palm as was the traditional master-student bow for the Shaolin. After the student's morning meditation, they went to the Training Hall for the usual Wing Chun practice.

Shifu dipped his head. "Good morning, my students," Shifu greeted them, his voice a calming tone as it was rather quiet in the openness of the Training Hall. "Good to see you all are here rather early."

Po sighed and suddenly felt rather starved when his master spoke those few words.

Right….Po blinked in understanding. We skipped breakfast to head to mediation before this class, didn't we?

Po inwardly facepalmed himself, for now he was feeling quite hungry and had two classes before they would get a break for a while. Even a break from their master for a while to sneak away to Mei Lang's house was a rarity! I mean, they got little breaks here and there to catch their breath and let Shifu prepare for the next class, but even if that would hardly still be enough.

Oh, consequences, I suppose. Po heaved a sigh as he just stayed in an obedient position towards his master, trying not to show his apparent annoyance and agony for not eating before the class.

As Shifu began going over some of the things about Wing Chun he had gone over previously, the students tried their hardest to perform their master's commands straight to the letter-for multiple reasons. They were all grasping for the time when they could meet Mei Lang and others at her house to discuss the plan for Master Shifu's birthday. Class after class had passed, and it seemed as if Shifu would never let them have a long enough break that they could go to Mei Lang's house.

But, of course, fate sometimes is a good thing to have on your side….

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