Relationship Problems

Unfortunately, Tigress figured out how Zan would enter into her personal life two days after Viper and Crane left. A sleepy Zan had his head on the desk in one of the rooms in the Hall of Heroes. Shifu gently shook him away. Zan jumped into a stance. "I will get you, bean bag," Zan exclaimed.

"What," Shifu said laughing. Zan realized what was going on. He settled down into his desk again. "You had a late night?"

"Yes, Master Shifu," Zan yawned. "Mr. Ping needed some late night shipment." He scratched the back of his head. He grumbled a bit. "Master Shifu, can you check the back of my head. There's a single feather sticking out that I just can't seem to get down." The red panda looked at the duckling's head. Sure enough there was a small feather sticking out on the back of his head. Shifu shrugged.

"You must be growing up and going through some changes. Now, seeing that you're a little sleepy, I guess we can stop early since there's no rush. I will be meditating if you need me," Shifu said as they both exited the room. Zan ran out to the barracks to see Mantis with Po.

"Hello Zan, how was the late night shipment," Po asked. Zan grabbed a cup of water and drank it in one gulp.

"Hard Uncle Po" he muttered. "But I did see one person there. Sue." Mantis's head shot up and over at the duck. Sue was Mantis's (and Monkey's) previous girlfriend.

"Why did you see Sue," Mantis asked.

"She was with some rich guy that was visiting. I don't understand why you and Monkey fought over her, Master Mantis," Zan said quite honestly.

"Zan," Po rebuffed.

"No, Po, he has a right to ask," Mantis interrupted. "To answer your question Zan, she was very charming and beautiful. And then...things happened." Mantis had said this in a very constrained anger.

"But why? Ruby told me that she only goes out with guys with money. She's seen Sue with every rich man in the valley. She even said that you knew her Uncle Po." Po grew nervous. Mantis looked straight at him. "Actually, that's something I wanted to ask you. Ruby said that she was a 'gold digger'. What's that?" Po sighed.

"I'll tell you later, Zan. Why don't you go down the mountain and play with your friends for a while," Po offered up. Zan shrugged and went away. The bug's eyes were still on Po.

"You KNEW about this," Mantis exclaimed.

"Would you have listen," Po countered. "Sue's been a gold digger ever since I knew her when we were kids. And even if I had told you and Monkey, you wouldn't have listened. Plus, I was already having my relationship problems." Po huffed a sigh. "Look, this woman didn't love the both of you and caused you two to distrust each other. You two have got to look past this."

"Like someone I know," Mantis muttered as he hopped out of the kitchen. Po grumbled lowly.

"Are you practicing your voice exercises," Tigress mentioned as she walked in. Po fell silent. "What's wrong with Mantis? He seemed in a rush."

"He's always in a rush. It's one of the reasons why he can't get a date," Po joked, making a light chuckling air around them. They fell silent again. "So, your little duckling is getting more and more challenging by the minute." Tigress narrowed her eyes at him.

"How so," she asked.

"You know that girl that's been playing Monkey and Mantis? Well, he saw her and told Mantis everything about her. What I'm saying is, he seems to be just what we need," Po replied.

"What do you mean," Tigress asked again. Po sighed as he stood up and approached her.

"Tigress, this place has been a mess. Everyone either has friendship problems or relationship problems. You know I haven't been myself and you know you've been more aggravated than ever. You're the leader of the Furious Five and I'm the person who tries the best to keep it together. As a result, the Furious Five nearly fell apart." He saw her teeth snarling a bit. He blushed a bit. "I'm not saying it's your fault. I'm saying that because of our relationships going awry we've been distracted." He sighed again. "Maybe you were right. Relationships are just a distraction." Tigress looked at the ground sadly. They both did. "Let's agree to not let relationships block our way again."

"Agreed," Tigress smiled. "And let's not bring up the past again," She snarled at the thought. Po blushed again. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing. Just a random heat flash," Po replied.

"Well, how did it go," Ruby asked. Zan smiled from ear to ear.

"You were right. Telling him the truth was the thing he needed. Now, I just need to settle things with Master Po and Master Tigress."

"I would wait a while," Vick warned. "It seems to me that they're trying to do all of this for you." Zan thought about it while Ruby rolled her eyes.

"Since when did you get so smart," Ruby mocked.

"Hey, I'm eleven and I'm older than most of you. O's the only one that's older than me by a day. So of course I'm wiser," Vick said confidently. Zan smirked a cocky smile.

"Says the guy that wanted to kidnap the prince for ransom forgetting all obstacles," Zan smugly said. Everyone, except Vick, who sulked, laughed.

"Haha, he got you, Vick," Ruby said.

"But I agree with him," Ai spoke up. "What you've told us about Master Tigress and Master Po would seem to me that they are trying to be friends for now." Zan pouted. She was right. He knew it, but he didn't want to accept it. "Give it a while before you mention anything. I'm sure everyone else in the palace feels the same way."

"Or," Zan said to himself, "Everyone outside the palace."

"What do you mean," Vick asked, hearing him talk.

"Let's say a person were to meet the former partners of Po and Tigress to see what could happen if they saw each other," Zan said out loud. Everyone looked at each other.

"That's worse than any plan I've ever heard from Vick," Ruby remarked.

"It's bad," Aang and Zang said.

"But, it might work," O said. Zan wrapped his winged arm around the ox.

"See, O's with me," Zan smiled. Ruby rolled her eyes.

"And what are you thinking of doing to Song and Qiang," she asked.

"Well, first they'll have to come back from their homes. Which will be awhile," Zan muttered.

"Until then," O said standing up. "It's time we got back to work."

Two weeks had gone by very fast. With the return of Master Viper and Master Crane, the palace didn't seem so empty. "How was it," Zan asked when they came back.

"It was great, Zan," Crane said as he came in. When Viper came in, she wrapped around Zan's body and hugged him tightly.

"Oh, it's so good to see you again Zan," She said happily. "Thanks to your friend, I went home and now my parents aren't going to split up."

"That's great, but could you show your thanks by NOT squeezing me to death," Zan wheezed out. Viper released her grip on him. Shifu walked in.

"It's good to see that you two have faced your problems. Monkey and Mantis did the same in your absence," Shifu smiled.

"You mean Zan told them the truth about Sue," Crane guessed. Shifu nodded. "Figures, you're becoming a great leader, Zan," Crane said ruffling his head feathers. Then Crane noticed the white band with a Chinese symbol meaning "air" on it. "When did you get this?"

"Oh, Master Tigress gave it to me when I finished the air part of the Training Hall. She says I have a special gift with it," Zan said proudly. Crane and Viper looked over to Shifu. "Why do you guys look towards him when I say something doubtful?" They all laughed.

"We didn't mean to offend you, Master Zan," Crane said bowing. Viper giggled. "But is this true Master Shifu?"

"Zan does have a unique ability of aerodynamics. All of us were having a hard time catching up with him when he was flying around the Training Hall, but now that you're here Master Crane, we may finally have the answer to whether he has that ability."

"I could tell you that right off the bat," Crane said looking at Zan more closely. "His wing feathers are changing. Has he been molting a lot?" Shifu nodded. "I thought so. His wing feathers seem to have sharper edges and are less fluffy like mine. Weird, ducks don't usually have feathers like that. These feathers are made for speed. That's why he's faster."

"Wow," Zan marveled at his wings. "I'm incredible." He shouted in a victorious warrior pose. Everyone laughed. Little did they know, Zan was changing in great strides.

to be continued.