"I am the Prince"

Five months had passed. Zan and his friends had been getting more and more close to each other. Vick and O, now twelve, were enjoying the benefits of being older, but they still had a lot to learn. Aang and Zang were hitting their growth spurt, though it would probably go only two inches. Ruby, Ai, and Zan were the only ones that seemed not to be changing that much. Zan, however, had developed a special face for whenever he either knew something or was planning something. The left side of his beak would curl up and his eyelids would settle at half-lidded. His left eyebrow would rise up and if he had teeth, they would be showing. This became his signature cocky smile. "Zan's learning and knowledge is growing," Master Shifu would say. Everyone agreed.

There is one problem, though. Zan has yet to tell his friends about him being a prince. Originally, Zan promised O that he would tell them after things in the palace had settled down. O knew he wouldn't make good on this promise because things were already going well at the palace. He knew that Zan needed to tell them soon. The longer he waited, the more they would be attached to him, and the more they were attached to him, the more telling them the truth will hurt. "You need to tell them," He would always say. Zan would look around nervously and whisper back.

"I will." O would always shake his head. Things at the palace were greatly improving. Mantis and Monkey realized that they had both been played and returned to being friends. Crane and Viper returned to their normal selves as well. Po and Tigress...were another story. They were definitely in the friend zone, but it didn't seem like they liked it. They would always pass each other awkwardly and when Po would do something wrong, Tigress would always defend him. They tried not to spend much time with each other but that was proving hard with Zan constantly putting them in situations where they had to talk to each other. This one time he faked a sickness just to get them in the same room. It didn't work. When they were in one room, the whole room was quiet, waiting either for Tigress to go or Po to say something. It was always an awkward arena. "I still can't get them to confess," Zan huffed in frustration one day as O poured him some juice after the day's work. "Thanks O."

"Why do you want to get them to confess so badly," Ruby asked.

"Because, Ruby, it's just an awkward thing. I believe they may have...feelings for each other."

"What do you mean 'feelings'," Vick mocked with a smile.

"Hey, Tigress has feelings too, alright," Zan said offended.

"Alright, alright, geez," Vick soothed, "No need to blow up. But what makes you certain that they would like each other?"

"Reasons. There are many rumors going around the palace," Zan sighed sipping his juice.

"Speaking of palace, when are we going to meet this prince," O asked smugly. Zan glared at him.

"I don't know," Zan replied simply. That was usual. O would do something like that just to get on Zan's nerves. Ai had noticed it and started to ask about it.

"Why do you two do that," Ai asked. "You mention something about the prince and you seem like he's picking on you, Zan." O looked at Zan's worried and nervous face.

"Nothing really," Zan recovered.

"No, something's wrong," Vick said. "You're hiding something. What is it?"

"Guys, it's just something we do," O said trying to cover up for Zan. It didn't work.

"What are you hiding," Ai asked looking Zan straight in the eye. "We shouldn't keep secrets from each other." Zan broke.

"Fine," Zan sighed. He paused for a full minute. "I am the prince." Everyone gasped. "I didn't want to tell you guys because I thought that you would treat me differently. And-"

"You lied to us!" Vick exclaimed outraged.

"I can't believe it. Why would you do that? We thought you trusted us," Aang and Zang shouted. Ai just ran away in tears. Zan tried to stop her, but O prevented him as they all left him.

"I told you you should have done it sooner," O sighed. Zan sulked all the way home and to his bed. Tigress walked pass him and saw him down. She came in.

"What's wrong, Zan. Couldn't defeat the bean bag again," She joked. Zan shook his head. Tigress could tell this was serious. "What's the matter?"

"I...told my friends I was the prince," Zan said slowly. Tigress's eyes grew wider. Out of all the things, she wasn't expecting that. "They didn't take it very well. I should have just told them from the start." He took off his headband and threw it across the room in anger. It didn't go far just a couple of inches. Tigress picked up the headband and sat next to him.

"You had to do what you had to do," Tigress said not really looking his direction. Zan looked at her to see her staring in space. "As prince you will learn that you'll have to make tough decisions. In retrospect, you had a right not to tell them, especially since you're new here and your town is in polit- Er...in a mess. Your safety was at risk. But on the other hand, you should have told them sooner rather later when they got to know you more." Zan sighed.

"What should I've done Aunty Tigress," Zan asked. Tigress looked at the duckling and smiled.

"What you did is in the past and can never be fixed, but what you do in the present is all up to you," Tigress said giving him back his headband. She walked out of the room, leaving Zan to his thoughts. He looked at the headband, tightened his grip on it, and tied it back on his head. He made his cocky smile. He had an idea.

"Why did you want all of us to come here today, O? It's not a work day," Vick asked. Vick, Ruby, Zang, Aang, and O were all at Mr. Ping's shop.

"Because I have someone to show you," O said as he step out to let Zan come in. Everyone, except Ruby, grew scowls.

"What is HE doing here," Vick growled. Zan raised his wing up.

"Before you say anything, let me do a play that you'll enjoy," Zan replied standing still for a moment, "Hey everyone I'm Zan, the prince that you want to kidnap and hold for ransom and the guy responsible for getting O a place to stay and eat. Now that you know let's be friends. Oh look, some evil bandits. Why are they here? Oh, what's that Aang? You and the others were so excited about me being the prince that you blabbered to everyone? Super! That means the bandits are here to really kidnap me and hold me for ransom or worse kill me. YAY!"

"That totally sounds like you," Zang laughed.

"Hush," Vick grumbled.

"Hm hm hm, look at us strolling through the valley while I'm in a sack miles from home, probably never going to see my parents, friends, and family ever again. Aw shucks I should have never told them about me being a prince. Oh what's that Mr. Bandit? You caught the others as well. Well that's just-"

"Okay, okay, we get it," Vick interrupted. "We're sorry for overreacting. We should have let you explain."

"I didn't tell you because your safety was at risk. Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner but...I was afraid you wouldn't like me or treat me like normal," Zan said with his head down. Ruby placed her hand on his shoulder, smiling.

"We understand," Ruby said. Zan looked around.

"Where's Ai?"

"She's by the Gardner's Lake. The one that we dug up the bones," Vick said. Zan became serious.

"I'll be back," Zan said. With one swoop of his wings, he was up and practically zoomed away.

Ai was kicking her clawed feet in the lake's clear water. She felt terribly lonely. "Need some company?" She turned around to see Zan right behind her. "Ai I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I was just trying to protect you. Plus, I didn't think you would like me if you learned that I was-" He was interrupted when she hugged him tightly.

"I wasn't mad," Ai replied. "I was just hurt that you didn't trust us."

"Ai, I was new. What did you expect," Zan asked trying to be understanding. "Listen, I know I should have told you sooner but I was worried." Ai released him.

"Don't be," She said smirking. "Prince-y" Zan winced at the nickname. Ai giggled. "Come on, let's go get the others. I hear Mr. Kia is showing us something in his metal shop." She dragged Zan by the arm to the metal shop.

to be continued.