A grandfather's words of wisdom given to his grandson.

Chapter 13: A Grandfather's Advice

As the sun begins to set, Musaki was sitting on the roof of his grandparent's roof, playing his flute, just because he felt like it and that he had nothing else better to do. But for this occasion is to calm his nerves before the big week he's got ahead of him.

Not long after, he sees his grandfather making his way to the house and he was totally surprised that his grandfather heard him play the flute and Oak Sung asked, "Trying to calm your nerves, Xing-Fu?"

Musaki had no idea how to respond to that after he found out his grandfather saw and hear him play the flute and he asked, "How can you tell?"

As Musaki got down on the roof and into the ground, all his grandfather could do is let out a slight chuckle and say, "Grandfathers know."

Musaki sighed heavily and his grandfather was right; Musaki was definitely nervous about the competition coming up as a finalist. He looked at him and his grandfather could see the worry coming in his face and he said, "Come, let us head inside and talk."

As soon as they went in, Musaki entered his grandparent's room and both of them sat down on the floor together and Musaki noticed his grandfather crossing his legs and closing his eyes almost as if he's in a transic state of mind.

"What are you doing?" asked Musaki.

"Take off your sandals, Xing-Fu." his grandfather said.

Musaki didn't know where this was going, but managed to do what he said as he took off his sandals and then, he asked, "Now what?"

"Cross your legs, close your eyes, take a deep breath and clear your mind." his grandfather replied.

Musaki blinked a few times and he did what his grandfather said as he tried to clear his thoughts on anything and then Oak Sung said, "Now...forget about every ounce of stress and let your flow take over to find tranquility."

As Musaki cleared his thoughts, he began concentrating and in his mind, he began thinking about how he's gonna do well in the competition as he sees visions of himself garnering victory all the while staying completely focused and keeping his head straight towards the goal. Within a space of 10 minutes, Musaki definitely felt like he was in the zone as he opened his eyes and stared at his grandfather for a while and Oak Sung asked, "Do you feel any stress now?"

And to his surprise, his worries started to fade and he replied, "Not anymore."

Oak Sung stood up and he said, "As long as you maintain yourself and keep your focus ahead of the challenge, you will face it head-on. And I know you can do it, Xing-Fu."

Suddenly, Musaki completely understood what it meant; not to focus on pleasing others, but to take whatever challenge he's set to do and just accomplish it no matter what. And with some help from his grandfather, it worked really well. He chuckled softly and asked, "How long have you known Oogway?"

"Many years before you or your father were born. We grew to become very good friends and his wisdom always seems to have an effect on me. If I can teach whatever he does to everyone, I think I have succeeded, just by touching people's lives...the way you and your father did." Oak Sung replied.

Musaki got himself up and he said, "I have to tell you something, grandpa."

Oak Sung faced Musaki and said, "Anything, my grandson."

Musaki didn't quite know how to put it into words and then he said, "It's kinda personal for me. I just want to be the best person, but I'm always scared that I might fail and disappoint everyone in this competition. I do want to be a great kung-fu master though. But what do I do in order to stay true to myself instead of what other people might think of me as?"

His grandfather looked into his grandson's blue eyes and he said, "Just stay the way you are. And do not worry about what people might think of you or expect you to be. You are a warrior to me and that's all I will be proud of. Be the best Musaki you know you can be. And I know your father would want you to be anything you want to be more than anything in the world..but always stay true to who you are."

It lifted up Musaki's confidence levels after hearing this and he said, "I think it'll help me out."

Just then, Musaki shows his grandfather some of the scrolls Po, Shifu, Arizona and the Five have written as he goes through every scroll, he was captivated by some of Tigress' words she set in and he turned to him and said, "Sounds like she must be feeling troubled."

Musaki sighed heavily and told him, "I would always forgive her no matter what she did or say. But why would she think that I might push her away because she hurts my feelings?"

Oak Sung puts his hand on his grandson's shoulder and said, "Pride and fear can sometimes lead to a path of self-destruction. The minute someone rejects you your whole life damages a person's self-worth, self-confidence and self-esteem. They're afraid of rejection because they don't want to get themselves hurt and consider emotions as a weakness when in actuality, those thoughts they set in will only hurt themselves more. If they're used to being hurt before instead of someone being kind to them, they'll only do the same thing others have done in the past; shove them to the side based on their carelessness. If it's not being taken care of properly, then it'll lead to several tragic things; lack of motivation, lack of friendships and ultimately...suicide. The latter part is a possibility but is very unknown. I'm guess that Tigress was a little bit fearful that after she mistreated you that she doesn't deserve to be loved or forgiven, but rather being pushed away or unforgiven."

Some parts of the puzzle fit in pretty quickly and that in his mind, Tigress isn't really as tough as he thought she was. Instead, it was a warrior who feels a tremendous amount of hurt and low self-esteem that was hidden underneath the surface to put on that mask to act as if nothing was coming out. And he was used to having Po do all that for her, but the fact that he was helping her out too adds to the surprise factor. He sighed heavily and he said, "There is no instructions on how to be kind, forgiving and compassionate. You just have to feel it."

"Correct, Xing-Fu." Oak Sung added.

"I know I want to help her, but I'm just not so sure if she's willing to comply because when things are hard outside of kung-fu, all she wants to do is just quit because in her mind, she thinks she's wasting her time when really she's afraid that she'll never be good enough and that's just not true. Not everyone does it well on anything the first time and you may never know how unless you try." Musaki added.

"All I can say is help her in whatever possible and do it with love." Oak Sung added.

Musaki nodded his head in agreement and Oak Sung continued on saying, "Other than that, everyone else is really rooting for you...especially that Arizona whippersnapper."

Musaki chuckled softly and said, "Whippersnapper..."

Then, Musaki looks at the necklace his grandparents gave him and as he opens it, he sees him and his parents alongside and that really made him feel happy and when he looked at his grandfather, he said, "Thanks for the gift, grandpa. It really means a lot to me."

"As long as you wear it, you can feel your parent's presence deep in your heart. And always remember, do not lose sight of who you are as a warrior when you're a finalist in this competition. It comes from within you and once you grasp it, only then you will unlock the true potential of being a warrior on the inside rather than the outside." Oak Sung said.

Musaki nodded his head and gives his grandfather a hug and whispered, "I'll remember that. I promise."

Later on, Musaki heads out to get some air and he seeks Taji and Liu Shang walking by along with Shao, Cody, Phoenix, Samurai and Tsunami in a nearby village and as he caught up with them, they could see they're having a little party for the finalists at a noodle shop and as they went in, he sat down with them and of course, Shao looked up and sees Musaki there and said, "What up, finalist?"

Musaki smiled at them and said, "Now I'm doing great. Heard you guys are having a little party."

Taji chuckled softly and said, "Yeah, those who are in the finalists are having a party in their honor of making it. So it's you, me, Jaa, Liu, Mojag and Kang-Dae."

Just the, they all got bowls of soups whereas for Musaki, Liu Shang and Taji, it read 'congrats on being a finalist.' Looking at it, Musaki picked up a spoon and tried it out for the first time. His taste buds exploded into excitement and he said, "This is so much cooler! Not as cool at the Dragon Warrior's, but you know..."

"Po still cooks?" asked Phoenix.

Musaki nodded his head very quickly and Cody said, "Dude, you have got to invite us at the Jade Palace for dinner sometime!"

"Yeah, I don't think Po would feed up to a hundred some-odd people in one kitchen. In some certain events where there is a big dinner, they have this big table for the Winter Feast or whatever event they do. It's all done so elegant-like." Musaki added.

"Samurai sucks at being elegant." Tsunami added.

Samurai snorts at that comment and he glares at Tsunami and said, "Well at least I don't burp after each meal."

Tsunami groans as he rolled his eyes at Samurai and said, "It's acid reflux, Sam."

Liu Shang looks up at Musaki as he watched his cousins bicker and asked, "Are they always like that?"

"Only at home." Musaki replied.

"So...are you excited about the final round?" asked Taji, joyfully.

Musaki chuckled softly and said, "It's gonna be great competing against you guys and we're gonna knock them dead."

Liu Shang nodded his head in agreement and he said, "I'm with ya."

Taji, Musaki and Liu Shang put their paws together and raised them up in the air while shouting, "Final showdown!"

This is it! The finalist showdown is on!