A/N - So, everyone here is saying what they think of the new KFP: Legends of Awesomeness show, so I guess I'll give my opinion. I think it's a lazy, mediocre show with plothole-ridden writing, completely incorrect characterization, utter disregard for the canon (seeing as how it contradicts the movies in pretty much every episode), and very poor quality animation. I know a lot of people like it, but seriously, I don't understand why. At ALL.

A Great Escape
Chapter 13: Expectations

The cold air was stinging his cheeks; a winter wind was effortlessly slipping sharp, icy fangs between his feathers and into his skin. Yet still Shen kept running, traversing the night-darkened streets of Gongmen City, though he didn't know why. He wondered if he was being chased by someone, and instantly knew that he wasn't. He had to get to something else, some unknown destination – and he was running out of time.

Then a shadow dropped down in front of him, a swirling figure of gray, white, and dark burgundy. It raised a silver dagger that gleamed so brightly that it was impossible to look upon; it was like a flash of lightning gripped in his adversary's hand. Shen hissed, for he knew this figure and he knew that weapon. He had seen both of them before. He shifted into a fighting stance.

The figure lunged towards him, driving the dagger in the direction of his chest, but he intercepted this move and grabbed his offender's arm. They struggled for a moment in a frozen fight, Shen attempting to pry the blade from its dangerous wielder, the figure pulling and tugging and trying to shake him off. Finally, it raised its arm, striking him backwards. He tumbled into the street, but unhurt, he jumped up again immediately. He unfolded his train as he advanced on his attacker, the display of brilliant white feathers rippling in the night air like a distress flag.

The figure straightened up and narrowed its eyes at him. The face was recognizable now, and Shen realized that he was looking at Lady Xuilan. Even though he'd thought her more of a nuisance than a danger, and even though he had been told that she'd left the city, he wasn't the least bit surprised to see her. "Get out of my way," he commanded, knowing full well that getting rid of her wouldn't be that easy.

"Not until I'm finished with you," she responded tartly.

"Let's make this quick, then." He shifted his feet and raised his wings, but without even a tiny knife on him to serve as a weapon, he felt naked and vulnerable. "I have somewhere I need to be."

"You're not going anywhere!" snarled Xuilan, and before he could react, she lunged towards him. The moment before she struck, the world seemed to stall into slow motion, and as she hurtled in the air towards him, Shen was no longer sure if he was looking at her at all…

…or if he was looking at himself.

…

That moment of unreality shattered the illusion, and before Shen knew it, the dream had slid from his mind like a reluctant slime monster. He found himself in his bed, in the guest room of the dormitory, entangled in blankets and filled with a jarring sense of dread.

He sat up, shivering in the unusually cool temperatures of the room, and stared off into space thoughtfully. His mind was still heavy with sleep, but in a way that was good, because it enabled him to roll over ideas that may not have occurred to him if he was fully alert. For the second time, he'd had a dream about being attacked by Lady Xuilan. The soothsayer had always taught him that it was unwise to ignore recurring dreams, not because they would necessarily reveal the future, but because they revealed one's most innermost worries; he puzzled over why two variants of a very specific attack had been the incarnation of his troubles.

His life was far from stress-free at the moment, but he was very familiar with the dreams he had during times of stress, and this wasn't one of them. Seeing himself doing terrible things was normal, but being in a face-off against a shady opponent was not. And why was he fighting Lady Xuilan, who was suddenly so much more hostile than annoying? Why had they been in the streets of Gongmen City, in the middle of the night, with her armed and him unarmed? What had he been running towards before encountering her?

Shen frowned as his brain inched towards being fully awake. Something didn't add up here. His other dream had been twisted and dark and nonsensical, the way a dream was supposed to be. This one was oddly detailed and specific, as if it was an event that had happened in the past…or was going to happen.

"Shen?"

The peacock started, his head snapping around quickly, as if he was expecting Lady Xuilan to be standing behind him with a dagger. Fortunately, all he saw was Xun, who was also sitting up in bed.

"You're awake?" asked Shen quietly, surprised. Xun was a very heavy sleeper, and Shen was pretty sure that he hadn't been noisy after waking up from that dream.

"I wasn't really asleep," Xun answered. He cleared his throat.

Shen remembered that they weren't actually on speaking terms right now and raised his chin a bit. "I didn't realize you were talking to me again," he remarked dryly.

"Well, I didn't realize you were…" Xun trailed off and remained quiet for several seconds. At last, his ears folded back, and he smirked slightly. "All right, I've got nothing."

Shen didn't smile.

The two of them sat unmoving for several minutes, holding each other's gaze without flinching. Finally, they both recited in unintentional unison, "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" repeated Xun. "What are you sorry for?"

"I have no idea," admitted Shen. "I just figured that's what you wanted me to say."

Xun snickered. "Well, unnecessary apology accepted. And I'm sorry for trying to butt into your not-love life. It's just…friends don't let friends royally screw up, you know?"

Shen sighed. "I've royally screwed up worse than this, Xun. I'll always appreciate your help, but sometimes there's nothing you can do."

They were silent for a while after that, since Shen had sunken back into his own thoughts and Xun couldn't think of anything else to say. It was a strange moment for both of them, since they both had the sense that their childhoods were very far away and altogether out of reach, when usually just being together was enough to make them feel like little kids again. And yet now Shen was facing probably the most responsibility he'd ever had to deal with. He had a legitimate job to do that might determine the safety of an entire city, and he was getting entangled in a very complicated relationship with a woman he hardly knew. Such matters were very new to him. No wonder he was having funny dreams.

"Shen, are you okay?" asked Xun.

Shen exhaled slowly. "I'm not sure." He tried for a smile. "Then again, I'm always in an odd mood during the middle of the night. Why don't you try asking me when my brain is fully on?"

Xun snorted. "Your brain is never fully on."

And with that, the atmosphere of seriousness went out the window. Shen snatched up his pillow and hurled it at Xun; the wolf, unprepared, tumbled backwards slightly. Then he gathered up his own pillow and tossed both of them at his friend. Shen deflected the harmless projectiles, and they both burst into a fit of rather loud guffaws.

Someone tapped on the other side of their bedroom wall – probably the soothsayer telling them to shut up.

"All right, get back to bed, bird brain," Xun grinned, reclaiming his pillow. "We don't want our nanny to come in here and switch us, do we?"

"Of course not." Shen flopped down on his bed roll, rearranging his blankets into a semblance of order. He shivered again. "Is it just me, or is it cold in here?"

"It's a little chilly. But, you know, it's almost winter." Xun reclined lazily, clearly kept warm enough by his thick fur. "Good night, ugly chicken."

Shen rolled his eyes. "Good night, Xun."

…

Somehow, they both managed to fall back to sleep, and they felt rather refreshed upon waking. They spent the morning in the fireworks factory, supervising the smelting of metals and the casting of molds. Halfway through the day, Shen excused himself and told Xun to take the helm.

Xun, predictably, scoffed. "Are you seriously going to see your not-fiancée again? You came here to make cannons, not romance some chick!"

"I'm not doing anything that requires my input," Shen insisted. "Besides, my relationship with Lanying is none of your business, remember?"

In truth, Shen wanted to see what Lanying thought of him now that she'd had a while to chew over his history. Would she realize that there were some uncontrollable factors behind his horrible actions? Did she think that his attempts to make things right in recent years were acts of genuine guilt and remorse? Or did she believe that he was simply much better at head games than he'd ever let on, and was planning to do something horrible with Gongmen City…and with her?

He went back to the dormitory, went through his usual routine of freshening up and changing into his silk dress robe, and left before his nanny had the opportunity to stop him and hint at the future of his romantic life.

Shen had seen the Xifengs' house only once before, on the day that he'd found Lanying upset from her rejection letter, but it wasn't very hard to find again. It was an average two-story structure, notable for its lack of a shop on the downstairs level, that had a few fancy garnishes designed to make onlookers thing that its inhabitants were important but was overall just…plain. There was no garden outside, just a couple of potted plants on the steps that looked far from carefully kept. The exterior of the building was free of cracks and abrasions, but the paint was faded and unspectacular. Maybe his standards were just unusually high, since he'd been raised in a palace and now lived in another palace, but he was fairly certain that Jie and Yue had enough time to put a little more effort into their house's appearance.

Nevertheless, he briskly strode up and knocked on the door. It was answered by a somewhat frazzled-looking Jie.

"Oh, Master Shen!" exclaimed the Java green peacock. He cleared his throat hurriedly. "We, er, weren't expecting you…"

"I mentioned to Lanying that I was coming," explained Shen, not adding that he hadn't told her that he'd be visiting so soon. He hoped that he didn't sound too tippy. He and Jie looked at each other awkwardly for an uncomfortable moment, and Shen realized that he really didn't know all that much about Lanying's father. Yue usually dominated the conversation so well that Jie was able to remain more or less inconspicuous.

Jie's flamboyant crest flattened a bit. "Shall I get my daughter, then?"

"If you'd be so kind, sir," answered Shen mildly.

"It's no trouble. Please, come in…"

Shen stepped into what must have been the sitting room. Like the outside of the house, it was mundane and unspectacular. Some of the pieces of furniture were elegant, but the stacks of clutter here and there drained away any regal appearance the room may have been going for.

"Lanying will be in her room," said Jie, leading Shen up the stairs. "She's probably working on one of her little projects…oh, but did you say she was expecting you?"

"She's probably not expecting me," answered Shen honestly, following his host to the room on the upper story of the house. The door looked heavy and foreboding, as if it had been absorbing its occupant's brooding attitude over the years. Only a "keep out" sign would have made Lanying's desire for privacy more obvious.

Jie nodded at him to go ahead, and Shen shuffled forward and rapped on the door tentatively. After a second or so, Lanying tugged it open. When she saw who was standing there, her face blanched.

"Oh – M-Master Shen!" she sputtered. Her wings immediately moved to brush off her clothes – a fruitless motion, since both her hands and her eggshell-colored robe were smeared with various paint stains. "I'm so sorry, I'm not…" She lowered her eyes, embarrassed. "If I'd realized you meant you were coming today, then I would have made myself more presentable…"

"It's fine," Shen assured her, smiling slightly. Oddly enough, he thought that this look suited her much better than her forced finery. Sure, she was covered in paint and dressed in exceedingly threadbare clothing, but now he was seeing her in her element. She looked brighter than before, her eyes and posture filled with more vitality. "You look like you've been painting."

"I have. There's not much else to do when one is trapped in the house all the time…" She glanced pointedly at her father, but Jie was already heading back down the stairs.

"I'd like to see some of these paintings," said Shen. "If you don't mind, that is."

Lanying seemed very uncertain; she probably wasn't used to showing her artwork to an audience. But she opened her bedroom door wider, allowing Shen to pass through. He wasn't sure what he expected to find in her room, but it certainly wasn't the scene that awaited him.

The walls were layered with open scrolls – some small and mostly hidden, some enormous and demanding the attention of any onlookers. Every scroll displayed some sort of painting, the subjects of which varied from elaborate landscapes to abstract close-ups of plants. One of the biggest pieces in the room was a detailed rendition of Gongmen City, with the Tower of the Sacred Flame miraculously rebuilt and gleaming on the horizon. Shen noticed that a few of the deepest-buried scrolls seemed to depict Lanying herself in a variety of activities, but he couldn't see them very well.

There was a leaning tower of crates stacked in one corner, every one of which was filled with more carefully rolled scrolls. A set of shelves along one wall held a vast collection of paints and brushes. And the dresser top displayed a variety of found objects, little things that Lanying must have picked up in various places because she thought them beautiful.

Shen blinked, gazing around the room with widened eyes. There was almost too much to see. "You've done all of these?" he asked, amazed.

"Yes," answered Lanying. "It's taken me years to make this many pictures."

He shook his head in amazement, continuing to drink in the rich atmosphere of colors around him…which is when he caught sight of one scroll propped up on an easel that she must have been working on before he showed up. His breath hitched. "I-is that…"

Lanying opened her beak, then shut it. She turned away quickly.

Wordlessly, Shen moved towards the painting on the easel. It was a portrait of him, and even though it was less than half-finished, he was stunned by how accurate it was. He hadn't exactly been modeling for a picture, so this was something that Lanying must have figured out from memory. He wasn't sure if he should be disturbed or flattered that she was painting him.

"I-I hope you don't mind," said Lanying shamefacedly. "I needed a new subject, and, well…you just happened to be the first thing to come to mind."

"Why would you choose me?" Shen looked down at his white feathers. "I can't be all that interesting to paint."

"More interesting than you'd think. You have no idea how hard it can be to differentiate colors…everything starts blending together into mush, and soon you can't tell what you were painting in the first place. But you have such contrast." She tilted her head as she examined him with an artist's keen eye. "Black and red against white…it's a good combination, very striking to the eye."

While Shen tried to think of an appropriate response to that, she strode over to him and her scroll, continuing her artistic lecture.

"And not only that, but you have a certain depth to you. A depth of the soul. I've always wanted to try conveying that sort of thing through my artwork, but I've never had an appropriate subject to try it with…" She cleared her throat. "Well, anyway, I hope you don't mind."

He stared at the unfinished portrait for a moment longer. "I suppose this means you're not angry with me anymore," he finally said.

She sighed. "Oh, don't mind me. I'm just a crazy spinster who doesn't know what she wants, apparently. And who can't get anyone to take her art seriously."

"I'm taking it seriously." He nodded appreciatively at the paintings on her walls. "I think it's all very good, actually."

"You do?" She tried to make the question sound offhand, but she sounded pleased.

"Oh, yes. I'm sure that when we go back to the Valley of Peace, you could find work as a portrait artist or something similar…"

"The Valley of Peace?" Lanying's eyes narrowed. "We, as in, both of us? Going there?"

"Oh, well, of course, that's where I live," Shen flailed. "And since you and I are, well, you know…" All right, this was his chance to tell her what was really going on. The words seemed suspended on his tongue; all he had to do was say "Actually, Lanying, there's something I have to tell you. We're not actually going to get married. You see, I felt bad for you when I heard about your panic attacks, so what I want to do is take you back to the Valley of Peace so you can find work while we keep up the pretense of being engaged for a while…"

That was what he should have said, but he didn't. He knew how it would sound, and he knew how she'd react. She'd think that he pitied her because she was a cripple and that was all that he'd ever done, that he didn't really care about her and was just trying to throw her a bone, and that would be the end of their brief good relations. Now he knew more about her and he didn't want to hurt her feelings, so he'd wait…just until he could think of a more tactful way to say it, he promised himself.

She breathed out. "No, I understand. You're only here temporarily, and once we're married, I'm expected to live with you…"

"Er, yes." He rubbed the back of his neck a bit. "Sorry to take you away from your home like this…"

"No, no, it's fine." She shook her head dismissively. "I'm a bit surprised, but…I don't feel any great attachment to Gongmen City."

Shen suddenly found himself unable to look at her. His eyes were dragged back the huge painting of Gongmen City and the Tower of the Sacred Flame…it was almost like she'd captured the image of an uncanny ghost tower that he'd been thinking of since his arrival here and placed it into her painting, solidifying his irrational fear.

Or maybe he was just confused and stressed by his situation, and this was why he was having weird dreams in the first place.

But all he said was, "Neither do I, Lanying…neither do I."

A/N - This will be the last update for a while (maybe until after Christmas) because I have various other projects to work on, including a holiday-themed KFP story and an article for another site. Oh, and since my review count has dropped off the face of a cliff the past few chapters: don't think that I won't stop posting this here if no one reviews, because I will.