Now the kung-fu masters look at the family dynamics of the Bushido-Akio clan and there's gonna be a little Tigress/Musaki bonding moment to air out their issues.
Chapter 13: Relative Dynamics
Sometime later, everyone of Musaki's relatives have been to Oak Sung's place just to attend a little family gathering after the funeral and when the kung-fu masters came along, they never saw anything like it. All thoughts were completely floating around their heads thinking that they attended this gathering just to support Musaki's family during this family tragedy. As they came in, mostly everyone felt completely awestruck to have the most respect kung-fu masters of China to attend for they felt as if they're a part of it as well.
Just then, Shin Hai walks in front of the masters with confusing and surprised looks on their faces wondering why everyone else is bowing for them and Viper asked, "How come they're welcoming us?"
Shin Hai lets out a soft chuckle and he replied, "Ever since you brought Xing-Fu back here last year after nearly 14 years of not seeing him, we felt like we owe you our lives and our gratitude. When you guys took him in, it just made us think that he's well taken care of already and you all turned him to the young panda he is today. We all never lost hope knowing that one day he'll come back to us and it's what we've ever wished for. We welcome you all to Shanghai Secluded Valley not only as our important guests, but as an immediate part of the Bushido-Akio clan."
Shifu felt the most honored to hear those words coming out of Shin Hai and he said, "Musaki is a part of us that would never be complete. He was not born normal, but he was born a warrior."
"That's what his father always told him...he can't be a warrior on the outside if he's not one on the inside."
Those kind of words struck most of the masters to the core that though Musaki could be an aspiring warrior, he's automatically a warrior...from deep inside. Shifu then turns to Shin Hai and he told him, "Fathers always know how to describe their own young."
"Yes, they do."
Soon enough, Musaki was hanging with Manny and Shao for a while, just talking about everything and for Manny, he felt like he could talk to Musaki about anything now that he's able to open up about everything. Since getting to know his half-cousin really well, he felt as if he can be just his cousin. Manny then tells Musaki, "So...the kung-fu warriors, do you guys do kung-fu a lot?"
"Yep. We train almost everyday." Musaki replied.
"So...is that all you guys do? Like training all day?" asked Shao.
"Well...not really. I mean, we do train a lot, but sometimes we do chores, we have holidays off sometimes and we celebrate traditional events that have been going on for hundreds of years." Musaki explained.
Shao widened his eyes at that and he said, "Wow...you must be really lucky."
Musaki chuckles softly and he said, "What's luck go to do with it? I'm just grateful for everything that's been happening in my life for the past couple of years and I would never take anything for granted, not even kung-fu. To me, it's a really special gift that I had since I was only two and I don't know why I'm so gifted, but I'm just glad I have it because I love it so much."
Manny then asks Musaki, "Do you guys ever have some sort of spats with each other?"
Musaki hesitated to answer that question knowing fully intact that there are a lots of spats, but not too intense in the palace and he replied, "Little bit. We're kinda dysfunctional and stuff, which are some parts I try not to get too much involved in and sometimes the only times I get into a spat is with me and Tigress and my most fear is that it might turn violent because her temper is quick. I mean, she kinda takes things literally when I joke and stuff and even the little things that isn't a big deal turns into a huge ordeal for her. All I can say is that she's sorta her own worst enemy, but she's everyone's worst enemy."
"How so?" asked Shao.
"Well...she worries too much about what other people think of her and she sorta pushes them away for whatever reason because she doesn't want to 'hurt' anyone...which is sorta questionable." Musaki replied.
"Sounds like you know this from experience." Manny added.
Musaki lets out a huge sigh and he said, "Yeah, it didn't start off as well when I first came here because she was a little bit envious of me and as the years went by...things sorta changed and some remained the same. It kinda makes it hard for me to just try to talk to her about any problems I have because I know that she might not care or if she'll totally lose it if I might say something and then she might totally take words into my mouth and twist them so it's easier to go to someone else about my problems rather than her because they're that easier to listen and understand; like Viper, Monkey, Crane, Po and Shifu...but mostly Shifu because I pretty much go to him the most."
Musaki was unaware that Tigress overheard everything he said and it sorta gave her a slap in the face to know that she might actually push Musaki away from her as everyone else, but what really hit her hard was when he said that turns to Shifu the most when it comes to his problems instead of her. She never really thought how Musaki felt about it and the more she thought about it, the more sorrowful she seemed. She then makes her way back to the house, feeling like Musaki didn't really like to be around her that much.
Soon enough, all three boys came inside the house and suddenly, Musaki sees Arizona walking his way and sure enough, he introduced him to Shao and meets Manny again and then after Arizona met Shao, he started telling him everything about Musaki and mentioning that Musaki saved Arizona intrigued Shao into thinking that Musaki is definitely a good person and a really selfless one at that, which made Musaki feel a lot happier than usual.
Later on, Musaki steps outside to get some fresh air as he watched the night stars, seeing how beautiful they look and it also reminds him of his parents looking down on him from those stars and he knows for a fact that they're there to guide him and watch him over no matter what.
Suddenly, one orange striped paw went on his shoulder and when Musaki turned around, he sees that it was Tigress standing next to him. He lets out a heavy sigh thinking this might be one of those conflicting moments that he had to endure back at the Jade Palace and he was definitely nervous to see what she might want. He didn't know if she was sad or angry about something but by the look on her face, it was like a mixture of both, something that really made him feel scared deep inside.
An awkward stare comes in full force and Musaki slowly backed away for a bit, thinking that she might claw him for no reason and Musaki wanted to break the silence a little and asked, "What did I do wrong?"
Tigress just stared at him, but not in a way that she would normally do...like she would care less and everything. It was a stare of growing concern and she asked, "Am I really that bad to you?"
Musaki looked confused for a minute and asked, "What do you mean?"
Tigress lets out a huge sigh and she told him, "I know I'm not that easy to deal with...especially because of how I am. Did I really mistreat you the way I did?"
"Sorta." Musaki replied, with hesitation.
"How come you said that I'm everyone's worst enemy?" asked Tigress.
Suddenly it all hit him...Tigress overheard everything Musaki said to Manny and Shao about the dynamics back at the Jade Palace and he didn't know that she actually heard him at the time and he didn't know how to answer that because he didn't know if he would get yelled at or being punched in the face for it and he nervously asked, "Where'd you hear that?"
"From you."
Musaki scratched the back of his head in nervousness and he replied, "Well, when you get mad over little things or even when things are total accidents, you kinda want to just fight anyone to make them think they deserve it. Whether it's jokes, accidents or even comments that isn't that serious, you pretty much intimidate anyone to think that maybe they do deserve to get beaten up. I've often heard most of the members of the Five say that they do respect you, but they also fear you."
The comment hit Tigress like a bag of bricks to hear that most of the members of the Five fear her and she never really heard them express it that way before and she asked, "Why would they fear me?"
"You know how you get when you get mad? You sorta...want to give anyone that gets on your nerves what they deserve...a trip to the graveyard." Musaki replied, in a hesitating tone.
She had her answer. She knew right then and there that her temper became the solid reason why the Five both respect her but also fear her at the same time. She then said, "I'm a monster, am I?"
"They didn't say that exactly...not yet, anyway. But I kinda don't like it when you're mad because it makes me feel like you do want to hurt me on purpose and through the four years I lived with you guys, there was lots of sadness and fear when it involves you. That's sorta the reason why I would turn to anyone else instead of you when I feel that way because it might add to my unhappiness." Musaki admitted.
Perhaps that was it...Tigress felt unhappy in her life that she was gonna do the same thing to anyone else and she didn't really want that because she didn't want to be abandoned again and to see that Musaki has been afraid of her the whole time, she felt somewhat surprised to hear this coming from him and she didn't know how to respond to that. She then came to Musaki and just said to him, "You kept this for 4 years?"
"Since the first year." Musaki replied.
With that, Tigress wrapped her arms around him and just gave him a deep hug because she felt really sorry for him after hearing Musaki admit the truth about her and she told him, "I didn't mean to make you unhappy and if I had done so, then I'm really sorry. And I'm sorry if I had been jealous of you the whole time."
"Why would you be jealous of me?" asked Musaki.
"When I look at your relatives, I see that everyone has that strong bond that's not broken and how in tragedy, everyone still smiles about it and that they have each other. I never knew what that feels like." Tigress added.
Musaki then told her, "We have two choices in situations like this; either let this tragedy take power over us and feel miserable or we can stand strong and remember that we can overcome anything if we have each other. We always choose the latter part simply because in the Bushido-Akio family, we all stand together through hardship, tragedy and struggles and we still have a smile on our face. As long as we have each other, nothing else matters."
Tigress was a little surprised to hear something come out of Musaki...which made her wonder that has he grown to be...wise? At such a young age? Her jaw hung open after hearing those kinds of words come out of Musaki's mouth, thinking that it might've been on Oogway's scroll and it wasn't long until Musaki saw the thought in her eyes and he said, "It's the Bushido-Akio philosophy motto."
Just then, Manny, Shao and Arizona came out and sees Tigress and Musaki standing outside and Shao looks over and he asked, "So...you guys like brother and sister?"
Tigress looks at Musaki with confusion and Musaki replied, "Somewhat. But...yeah."
Shao then went up to Musaki and he said, "Your friend Arizona told me what you brought him to the Jade Palace to have a pretty awesome life away from a life of oppression and rough times. My dad was right about you...you are a great warrior."
Musaki then looks at Arizona for a bit and he feels completely honored to hear something like that and he asked, "You said that about me?"
Arizona nodded his head and he just smiled at him and said, "You're the reason I'm still safe and sound and made me the person I am now. Above anything...you're my salvation."
"I am?" asked Musaki.
"Yeah, you just saved my life and I wish that I can do the same thing for someone else as you've done for me." Arizona replied.
Just then, Arizona comes in to give Musaki a hug and Musaki definitely felt his heart melting of warmness and happiness bursting out of him and he said, "Thanks, Arizona. I feel really appreciated."
"I'd do anything for you and I know you'd do the same for me." Musaki added.
Suddenly, Manny comes in and he looked at Musaki really misty-eyed and he said, "I never thought that someone I would know in a week would become a great friend...even though we're related. It's gonna be hard to move on after this whole tragedy with my parents...but I know that because of you, my parents will always be there for me."
Musaki nodded his head and then told him, "Just keep them in your heart."
Manny quickly went up to Musaki and hugged him tightly, like he was never gonna let him go and Musaki realized that Manny had that attachment to his half-cousin like never before and that he was glad to come into his life for the first time. With that, Manny whispered, "I will."
Seconds later, Oak Sung comes out and he said, "We're about to head over to your parent's statue for our ceremonial candlelight vigil honoring the lives of Manny's parents."
Tigress seemed really curious about this ceremonial vigil and she asked, "What's this about?"
Shao then answered, "Whenever someone in the Bushido-Akio clan or some villagers pass away, we hold a candlelight vigil to honor the loss of those people and bring comfort to their family."
That made Tigress seem interested to see this and as soon as they headed inside, mostly everyone went over to the streets of Shanghai Secluded Valley for this candlelight vigil.
When they got to Musaki's parent's statues, everyone surrounded around there, holding candles to honor Manny's parents and Oak Sung was holding one candle and he said, "We are gathered here tonight to bid a final farwell to Manny's parents; Kumiko and Xiao-Li. Though they are gone, their spirits will live on forever during this candlelight vigil. Just like the burial of both Bao Yi and Sakamoto; Xing-Fu's parents; we will always remember them in the years to come."
Just then, Shin Hai comes out playing the flute as everyone takes a minute of silence and raises up the candles through the sky to keep these people in their minds and hearts. For most of the kung-fu masters, it was one moment they will most likely remember and when Tigress looked at Musaki, she could tell that family is very important to him...and so is this event.
And after that, everyone started bowing in respect for the deceased family members and most of the villagers are hoping to go back to normality as soon as possible.
So...how was that? One more chapter left!