A / N: Alright so I literally just typed this entire begining and the web page closed aaand this site has no auto-save. So I'm sad ;o; BUT IN OTHER NEWS! CHAPTER III! Huzzah! So Good new or bad news first (Remember, there is no good or bad, just news) so, first thing's first! This chapter is shorter than I wanted. I intended on making it longer but I was on a roll with it that I ended up getting to the content that I had written for later and I didn't want to do that. SO I split it up. No, it's not a part I and II, I've made it into two different chapters. Great thing is: Chapter IV is basically finished, so I have no excuse for a late update. ALSO: Note that the crest I refer to in this chapter at the feathers on the back of Shen's head. So you know. If you didn't know already. AND I used 'train', lol. So hopefully it doesn't read weird. Do you guys actually read this part? XD

D i s c l a i m e r: Any recognizable characters do not belong to me, nor does Kung Fu Panda, Kung Fu Panda 2 or any related works save for this fic of course. I'm just playin' with the characters and I'll put them back when I'm done :)

R e v i e w s: A n o n. . .A N O N! I can't reply to y ou y'know . And I gotta try to reply to everyone ;P
Comrade: We do meet! AGAIN! Lulz. Oh wow...seriously? XD Well...not an idiot I'm sure, just not thinking outside the box :]
Charlie B. Barkin: (Have I ever told you how much I used to LOVE watching All Dogs Go to Heaven when I was a kid?) Anyway, T it is then. I might as well now that I realize that I'll have to change it eventually, so thanks for the note. And yes! Shen can be persistant, buuuuut he's just a hungry birdie :3 Crane is nice, but some of the others are too :] And Po's not so stupid...he's just...smart...in a not so...smart way...yeah XD
WiseScholar: 'Excellent'? No way ^^; You did? You must be in my head O_o But I had to include the noodles eventually because, I have to agree, I wanna try them too :D Ah, thank you! And It's just me taking my time because I'm trying to keep everyone in character. if I didn't...well...my story would have been a boring one shot. And yes, Crane is glad to see a change in Shen :]
Dizzy: No way. I'm sure you've read better, lol ^^; I aim for well written, so I'll take that compliment. Oh wow...thanks...I guess? No judging books by their cover man, no bueno :p So I'm glad I could prove that wrong and surprise you. I see what you mean and yes, he has softened. I mean...how can anyone be around Po and not be changed for the better, I mean look at Tigress in the second film, she's changed a lot. So yes, Crane has changed and as for being too nice...well...maybe there's a reason for that. I ain't just fic writtin' here :p Dig a bit deeper.
Masha: Я рад, что тебе нравится это! Ах, Кран улыбается, потому что он видит мягкую сторону Шен :D Может быть? Мы увидим скоро ;] Было бы сделать Шэнь так счастлив, если Po покончил с собой! Фигура Шен действие гениально! Я собираюсь работать, что в моем фик! Спасибо! И ... главе 3 находится здесь! Наслаждайтесь. Russian is very neat! I enjoyed using Google translator to reply to you! X]
Battleshiplid: A little slow? Well...I'm not gonna argue, keeping everyone in character makes it happen, lol, so it is slow BUT the ball is rolling, and that's good enough for me. I'm glad you're enjoying it though :D And Update soon? Well here ya go! Enjoy.

Again, reviewing means a lot guys, so thanks again to EVERYONE. You've all been a BIG help.. .. ..
Again, again, I still hope everyone is in character!
(As a side note I've realized that I haven't recognized the peeps that are being sneaky and favoriting! Well guess what! I SEE YOU GUIZ! Har har. So thank you.)

This fic does contain some SPOILERS.
Un-beta-ed.

Enjoi~

[Ch. III]
1847

The duration of his time spent walking was focused almost completely on the experience he had back in the kitchen on the palace grounds. The noodles he had eaten were...amazing to say the least. No that he admitted this to anyone, but then again he didn't really have to say anything as the warriors around him were vocal enough as to his reaction. The primate was the loudest, second only to Po himself. Speaking of the Dragon Warrior...

"...and then, and then I was like 'Aiyah!' and then he was all 'you talkin' to me', and I was like" the panda's voice trailed off, "hey Shen, are you paying attention?"

The albino peacock turned his head from the steep cliff on his left, from the idea that he could easily push the warrior over and watch as he died for good, and he brought his eyes forward. Po was walking backwards this whole time and telling him, very animatedly, about his battles in the past. Of course he was not paying attention. He was too wrapped up in the fact that the warrior brought him this far after he woke up from recovery and he still wasn't fully healed.

"Where are we going Panda?" Shen was willing to see what the other wanted to show him, but he was not prepared or estatic about this taking any longer than it needed to.

"Oh! We're almost there," Po assured with a nod as he turned and continued walking.

By 'almost' Po meant longer than Shen had originally thought. When they finally did arrive they came to a lush area that was littered with rocks. A few steps a head of them sat a small lake.

Curious, Shen walked over to the water and peered over the edge to see his refelction.

"The Pool of Sacred Tears. Master Shifu says that this is where Kung Fu was born," Po said softly as he came to the bird's side and looked into the water with a small smile.

There was a moment of silence before Shen spoke. "This...is what you wanted to show me?"

He wasn't grateful. Why would he be? He just walked over a thousand feet up a mountain to get to a dirty pool of water. What a waste of time.

Ruby eyes glared into the pool, at Po's refelcetion before he turned and began walking away.

"W-wait!"

Po quickly turned, but Shen didn't stop walking and the panda's brows pulled together. His paws clenched before he spoke again.

"At least here me out Shen!"

This stopped the peacock.

Po was just a stupid panda in his eyes but for a second he sensed genuine frustration, no, no...perserverance. It was interesting. Interesting enough that he turned his head to see the creature.

Green eyes were bright with determination and his stance was firm.

Yes, this was interesting.

"Very well, Panda. I've seen your little puddle...what more do you want?"

"Oh yeah!" The tubby warrior quickly dropped his stance and shifted into another. He moved his paws with such fluidity before they stopped and he smiled.

"It's a technique to find inner peace, Shifu says he took years to master it, but I think you'll get it quick," Po explained, his smile still plastered on his face...as if his smile alone would get the peacock to agree with him.

"...I do not need this." He did. "It will be a waste...a dead end!"

Shen's tail feathers twitched and he instantly remembered the ship. Before he was...crushed. The panda had essentially attempted to tell him then what he was trying to tell now.

"No Shen," Po seemed hurt by the albino birds exclaimation, "it's not a waste!" The warrior was not yelling but empasizing how important this technique was, not only to him but the creature before him as well. "You asked me before how I did it," Po paused, as if he was collecting his thoughts, "how I...was able to beat you."

Ruby eyes grew a bit more interested as the bird turned to fully face the other. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he was still curious. If he could use the panda's skill against him, then he would change his own destiny.

"I...I forgave you Shen," Po finally said, "for everything. I forgive you."

The peacock's eyes widened slightly in surprise.

Po...forgave him. For destroying an entire village. Making him an orphan. Making him alone and without his family.

He was...forgiven.

His beak parted and the Dragon Warrior strained to hear him, "I..." Shen paused, his crest wilted and he spoke up as his gaze dropped to the ground, "I didn-"

"Po!"

Shen's heart nearly popped and his eyes grew wide and unfocused. What was he about to say?

"Theives are raiding the Artist's village," the tiger informed from her perch on a nearby rock.

The panda narrowed his eyes and grinned, "danger!" With a look of surprise to Shen, Po hurried over to him, which caused said peacock to bring his attention back to now and for a second he thought he would be attacked but the warrior quickly bowed and spoke, "thank you for your time Lord Shen." He then proceeded toward the female tiger, "C'mon Tigress, woohoo!"

However, Tigress didn't move when the Dragon Warrior passed her, but kept her burning eyes on Shen a moment longer before she lept from the rock.

Then the two were gone.

Lord Shen stood in place for several moments longer before he shook his head and walked back to the sacred pool where he sat down on the cool grass. He wasn't in much of a rush to go back to the palace, not only that but he needed to rest. His legs were sore, but his wings were a but better than they were the previous day and he knew he would be feeling perfectly healthy in a matter of days. Yes, Then he would make his move.

Clangs and the sound of wind being cut echoed through the Palace Arena.

Shen knew that he needed to rest his body but he didn't want to think about what the panda had told him at the Pool of Sacred Tears. His way of doing that, was through training and while much of his form relied on his throwing knives and spear, he was still able to work on his close combat technique. He was so used to his weapons though that without them he was rather rusty, but he still had some moves remembered and he executed them flawlessly.

What did the panda know? He wasn't right. Forgiveness was not so powerful. Where would he be had he forgiven anyone for anything? No where! He would be exiled still and alone had he forgiven anyone. There was nothing more for him. Nothing left but to take back his home, his city and all of China!

Suddenly, the albino bird stopped. Panting, he looked at his shadow cast before him in the glow of the evening sun. His tail feathers were flared up, a normal and vital component to his combat style...but his feathers were thin. Every single time he flaired his train it was a solid fan of feathers but now...no, Shen didn't dare look back at them, he could see in his shadow that his final battle must have caused such damage.

No matter...his tail feathers would grow back in time. Until then though...

The shadow being cast by the fanned out train disappeared and Shen sighed.

He suddenly thought of the Soothsayer. That old goat would tell him his future, tell him what he wanted to know and lie all at the same time. She wasn't here though, she promised to always stay with him, but she had abandoned him...just like his parents left him, alone.

He wondered though, if she forsaw her own release. The goat was not a captive to him because he knew she was willing to stay. If she knew so much, he was sure she knew he was here now, yet she did not come?

Scarlett eyes scanned the Arena looking from someone he knew wasn't there.

"Hey Shen, you okay there?"

It was the panda. He and the others had returned, but he did not turn to look at them.

"Shen?" The female snake's voice was soft, speaking less than what she had meant.

"I'm quite alright," he replied as he turned to face them.

Crane seemed to be the only one to notice that he had not verbally lashed out to anyone and for this he smiled, catching Shen's eye. Unfortunately, before the peacock could glare at the stupid bird, the Dragon Warrior spoke up.

"Aw! You should have been there Shen! It was awesome! First we came into the villiage and then, BAM! We-"

"Yes, yes, that's very nice," the white bird said, voice thick with sarcasm but his head cocked with interest and his eyes grew wide in mock anticipation.

"It was nice! We saved the vill-"

"I don't care, Panda," Shen noted with a small smile when the bear's enthusiasm dimmed.

"But-"

"Come on Po," Tigress said, giving the peacock a glare as she led the larger creature away.

Monkey and Mantis followed behind them but the female snake looked up to Crane and the two exchanged a glance before the crane nodded.

"Lord Shen," the female gave a nod before she too left.

Great.

"It was a pretty fun battle," Crane tried.

"What do I care?"

Oh right. Shen was the 'bad guy', he didn't care about anything good. Still, Po believed there was good in him and that if he can follow the right road, that he would be able to find happiness.

"I'm going into the Valley for vegetables for dinner...did you want to come with me?"

Crane was sure that Shen did not like being stuck on the palace grounds. Yes, there was a lot of ground to see and Crane was sure that even he hadn't seen it all, but he also knew that to Shen they were still the enemy. Being in enemy territory could be uncomfortable. He knew that if he were to take Shen out of the palace that he would see, in time, that he wasn't a prisoner, but like Shifu said, a guest.

The taller bird tilted his head and his hat shifted a bit. He wasn't going to say anything more in the fear that pressuring the other would only make them take steps back in the progress they've been making over the last two days. He waited a bit before Shen blinked and nodded.

"Yes, I could use a new robe," Shen said more to himself the crane.

Crane still didn't see what was wrong with the robe that Po had picked, but if the peacock wanted a new robe, then Crane wasn't complaining so long as he came with him. That itself was progress because, after all, he could have said 'no'.