Chapter 7: Ping Leads Shu's Farewell Ceremony

Shu Ai, the Lion of the Valley, was dead, defeated at the paws of his friend and rival, Tai Lung. Shu had compared him to the mighty warriors, Lu Bu and Guan Yu.
Ping would never forget the rampage of Tai Lung. He had lost the most important individual in the world: Shu Ai, his older brother. He now stays in Shu's room and rarely comes out. He would usually go to the exit of the orphanage and stay there for a period amount of time, as if waiting for Shu to come back.
Five days have passed since the rampage and everyone was rebuilding what was destroyed. The orphanage, however, was waiting. They had sent Fei and a few other faculty members to investigate the Valley to see if they could find Shu's body.

It was safe now as word was spreading that Tai Lung was defeated by Shifu and Oogway at the Palace. It was also rumored that the warrior was to be sent to prison for his actions. This made Fei's job easier.

Ping had stayed at the entrance even before Fei and everyone else was awake. He looked at the horizon and whatever he could see.
"Brother… Please come back…" He said to no one. His eyes showed that he had cried the night before and also showed signs that he tried to hold back the tears.

During the time from Shu's departure to the Ceremony to today, Ping had attempted and failed to go out to look for Shu. He soon gave up and instead stayed at the entrance. He also never was happy and always looked sad.

Shu Ai and Ping have always been close ever since the day they met. Ping was only three and Shu recently failed his job application for a teacher at twelve. Shu was in a class Ping was in, taking notes from a senior teacher. Shu looked at the class occasionally and laid his eyes upon Ping who was looking at him. He smiled at Ping who replied with a shy grin.
When the teacher asked a question that no one volunteered to answer, Shu nodded to Ping who volunteered and got the answer right. He got every answer right ever since that day.
Ping and Shu soon started to stay with each other, Ping telling Shu about life there while Shu raising his confidence. Soon, Shu visited Ping every night to greet him and to help him with any problem he had. Shu has never missed a night ever since the day he visited Ping in his room.
Shu had also been with Ping whenever he got an physical injuries. When Ping would cry about this, Shu made him smile. When Ping would worry about the pain of the treatments, Shu distracted him so the pain would be ignored.

Ping missed those times when they were together. Both believed that nothing would separate them. Now, Shu would never be there to say good night or to cheer him up. He wanted to blame Tai Lung for taking his brother, yet he knew he could not take this powerful warrior. Ping looked down at the ground, wanting Shu to come back.

Ping looked up when Fei and the group started to come back. He hoped it was good news.
Fei instead looked at Ping sadly before going in to tell the news. Ping already knew that they didn't find Shu's body by the look of Fei's face. He stood up and rushed to Shu's room, locking himself in.

"Did you find anything?" A co-worker asked Fei.
"No. We didn't find his body. We can assume that he was moved," Fei assumed that someone moved Shu's body. There was no sign of a body but there was a sign of a struggle. Fei explained about scratches on various walls and on the ground. Shu and Tai Lung had battled before Shu's untimely death.
"Who would move Shu's body?"
"We don't know, we can assume that no one wanted to see Shu as it would cause grief if they did," Fei answered honestly.
They had asked various individuals, from civilians to workers to security. No one found or saw Shu's body. Some of them were surprised that Shu was dead while others cried at this and ran off.

"What do we do now?" Fei asked, wondering.
"The next best thing: a farewell ceremony," was the answer which got agreement from everyone.
"Who will lead?" Fei asked.
"Ping," was the answer.

As the faculty and kids sadly prepared the ceremony that would take place from late afternoon to late night, Fei and a few of Ping's friends attempted to get Ping out of Shu's room and have him lead.
It took them a long time to get Ping to leave and for him to agree to lead.
"Why me…?" ping asked innocently and sadly, not making eye contact with anybody as he followed them to the central area of the orphanage where the ceremony would be held.
"You know Shu best. Also, you're his brother, you're perfect to leas," Fei was bad at explain.
"I guess… brother would want it… And he wouldn't want to see me sad..," Ping was using logic Shu taught him.

Everyone was ready for the ceremony and Ping knew exactly what to say. This was painful for him, but he needed to be strong for everyone and for Shu.
Ping took the center of attention to begin, although he was not as used to the attention as Shu was.
"W-we are gath-gathered here this day… to bid farewell to a fr-friend…" Ping was holding in his sadness and no one blamed him. Most were silent and sad inside while soft sobs from others were heard.
"A friend… Shu Ai," Tears flowed from his sad eyes as he mentioned his beloved brother's name.
"We all k-know how Shu he-helped us all… How he removed our sadness with his constant sm-smile…" This was just an introduction to Ping's main saying.
"I have de-dedicated a s-song fo-for our… fare…farewell…" Ping did not want to say goodbye to his brother.
He looked up at the sky which was now beginning to become night.
"This is for you, Brother…" Ping thought, dedicating it for him.

Ping sighed as he looked down and closed his eyes, beginning to sing his lyrics:
"Here we watched a seed grow, see the petals that want to bloom,
He was fed with the sun's warmth and the moon's knowledge,
This was to be a beautiful flower that would see all of life,"
Sobs were becoming more plentiful as Ping continued his soft song:
"The flower grew and continues to grow, never takes but always gives,
Petals not in full bloom and how many deeds can be counted? Far to many to name,
Yet the flower was cut down before its prime, it never took but it always gave,
What am I trying to say in this short tale?
Good-b…good-bye and thank you,
You moved mountains and set us free,"
Ping hesitated at saying good-bye but managed it. He had not noticed that more tears started to flow from his eyes and from everyone present. The moon was starting to show and shone its light on Ping. He was able to end his song painfully and sadly.

"Brother… Good Night and I love you… always…" Ping looked up once more as he thought, hoping his Brother would hear.