Chapter 5:
In Gongmen City
Gongmen palace towered over them- the replica of the prestigious building that once had been completed for a long time, but none of the three males had willingly stepped foot in it since the defeat of Lord Shen. Tigress was here with AJ on her temporary arrest. Shifu, Po's dads and the boys came to visit them... Po had been in Gongmen city when retrieving the ingredients for Tigress' antidote, but he avoided the gates for as long as possible.
Now Crane was just over the walls, probably waiting for them.
Po stood before the gate, bag over his shoulder, his eyes steadily watching every level, every window. Frames of memories shifted across his eyes, reliving the site of Master Rhino's hammer. Shen's army had put it upon themselves to embed it into the ground before they captured Po and the Five way back when...
That was a long time ago. "You okay there Po?" Monkey patted the back of his arm comfortingly.
"Yeah... it's just weird walking in here without cuffs."
"Cuffs?" Tai Lung stood on the other side, side-eying the two males, with a discombobulated look worn heavily on his face as the two twisted their heads to glance in his direction. "What happened the last time?" He wasn't sure he even wanted to know.
Monkey scratched the back of his neck, chuckling slightly. "Battle with Lord Shen."
"We had the same handcuffs you had when you were arrested..." Po paused for a moment. "The first time."
Tai Lung nodded slowly, shuddering slightly at the thought of those bloody handcuffs; but he was trying to engage in the conversation where possible- since sharing the news about Nuwa's pregnancy on the boat, he had reminded Po and Monkey that they were on a mission on Tigress' behalf, so he wanted to remain as focused as he could- it was bad enough that he was away from home. Monkey had asked why Tigress had sent him away at such a vulnerable time for Nuwa, but Tai Lung shrugged it off and pretended that Tigress didn't know about it yet, how he felt at the time Tigress asking him to go, that it was important to attend... and that Nuwa insisted that he should go. She wasn't showing yet, so what was the risk?
When he was asked why he didn't tell Tigress about the news, his excuse was that he didn't want to let her down by not showing up to... well, whatever they were here for. They definitely sensed that he didn't want to discuss it any further... at least for now, because once they touched down in the harbour, they hadn't said anything else.
The grand doors opened as soon as they were in view of the watch tower, and as they entered the palace grounds, they noticed a tall figure standing on the platform near the palace. Ascending up the steps, Po grinned as he and Monkey started running. Tai Lung strolled behind them, smiling softly as the figure moved towards them, wrapping his wings around their shoulders.
"Craniac! You're looking great!"
Crane laughed- he had his signature hat still, but it was black with a red feather stuck out of the top. He had black pants with a red sash over his chest to match. "I'm so happy you guys are here... a lot to catch up on! How is everyone at home?"
They then turned to see Tai Lung closing in on them before Po or Monkey could reply, bowing his head respectfully. "Master Crane-" but the formalities came to a very quick end when Crane welcomed him into a hug. Tai Lung laughed as the bird pulled away. "It's been a while."
"It has! I haven't seen you since the wedding!" A wing settled on his shoulder. "How's Nuwa, and the kids?"
Po's face lit up immediately as he looked at Tai Lung excitedly. "Aw, man! Wait til you hear-"
"She's fine." The panda's sentence was very quickly cut short. Both Tai Lung and Monkey eyed Po dangerously, who immediately gulped and grinned sheepishly.
Crane caught on right away and took a second or two to take in their expression. "Uh... wait til..." his face lit up, and Tai Lung internally groaned. Crane began pulling Po by the elbow with one wing, before motioning the other two to follow with the other. Before any of them could answer, Crane guided them along, grinning at Po. "I see Tigress told you!"
Now it was Tai Lung and Monkey's turn to look confused. "About...?" The bird motioned them along, telling them that it was news he had been dying to share, but Tigress insisted that it was worth the wait. Po thought for a moment before his face lit up in realisation, and responded on Crane's behalf with an optimistic- "you'll have to see for yourself."
As they neared the doors, they opened to reveal a pack of grey blurs that matched them. "Wolves!" Po said frantically, almost screaming. Monkey was ready to get into a battle stance, with Po and Tai Lung not far behind him, but these wolves didn't look dangerous once they had a proper look. They were clean, fur-brushed and well-kept. There was no war gear. No symbol of the sun. They were just... normal.
"May I take your bags?" One of them- a young female with big blue eyes, offered Po. A little shocked, he handed over his bag, and she walked ahead with it, making sure to bow at them first. The same happened to Monkey and Tai Lung's satchels. Crane dismissed them as more wolves made their way into the courtyard with cleaning and gardening supplies.
"What-"
"These are some of my sponsored students; a lot of them have been travelling with various packs, stealing, raiding and... attacking a lot of innocent people." Crane made sure to whisper the last part of the sentence. "They came here willingly, knowing what they were doing was wrong, but they needed a sign that they could change. Of course," Crane motioned towards Tai Lung. "Here is the sign. They've been very excited to meet you."
"Likewise," Tai Lung was laughing now, looking around to see these apprentices whispering and pointing at him, each of them looking a mix of excitement, yet some uncertainty. They knew this day would come... maybe, despite hearing all about his villainy-turned-heroism, they were having anxiety too. Hopefully, he could help them through those worries in their meetings.
"Master Crane," another wolf- another young female, this time with dark green eyes and a white ear stopped them in the grand foyer of the palace. Monkey and Tai Lung looked around in awe, while Po tried counting how many flights of stairs they had to climb, a sense of dread growing in his chest at the thought. "Her ladyship has sent me to tell you that lunch is ready." She spoke gently into a bow.
Now Tai Lung and Monkey were really confused, while Po was grinning like crazy. Who was her ladyship?
AJ wandered over to the school after the ceremony was complete. Her mother told her to go there to collect any work she may have missed while they were away- her teacher would have still been there with her class, who had to go back and finish one more lesson before they went home. The lesson itself wasn't given much thought- the main thing on AJ's agenda was to figure out what was going on with Zia...
Dinner was a lot quieter without Po there, but that silence in his absence was quickly filled when Grandpa Li and Grandpa Ping were in attendance. Tonight, Mr Ping and Li Zhan prepared dinner at the house. It had been a busy day, but Mr Ping had persuaded Tigress that he would look after them for dinner, seeing as she was back to back with meetings, which always got busier when both Tai Lung and Po were away. It was an unspoken agreement between Mr Ping, Li Zhan, their son and daughter-in-law once she went into office; a treat day if you will, where she nor Po had to worry about cooking dinner after a trying day.
As AJ showed up at the schoolhouse, her classmates were pouring out the door, cheering that they got to go home thirty minutes early. She kept an eye out for Zia, but there was no sign of her. She hurried inside and got the work she was missing (which wasn't all that much) and it was when began to walk out did she then see Zia. Talking to Mia and Chen, giggling, yet her eyes wandered from one space, then to the girls, and off again. Mia demanded she paid attention, to which Zia apologised for, but soon enough she was doing it again.
Tigress and her children bundled through the door not long after sundown. Tigro and Lotus, religiously, poked their heads into the kitchen to greet two out of three grandfathers briefly before they ran up the stairs to dump their school satchels in their room. AJ remained at the bottom of the stairs, watching her brothers disappear behind the wall as Tigress went into the kitchen, sitting at the already set table. A gentle sigh escaped the older feline's lips as AJ's eyes blinked and looked in her direction before she left her bag by the stairs, not ready to go upstairs yet. "Long day?" Mr Ping brought her over a cup of tea as Li stirred the pot on the stove.
AJ suddenly felt a little stumped- she didn't want to talk to Zia with the other two there, because they wouldn't be able to have a proper conversation without them butting in with what they believed to be the truth.
Her mother nodded slowly as AJ moved closer to her, biting her lip slightly. Her exchange with Zia hadn't sat right with her all day, and it left a funny feeling in her tummy. A sickly feeling, with her heart beating slightly faster in her chest, a little louder in her ears... which made her head hurt too.
Chen quickly notices her, and elbowed Mia, who suddenly stopped talking to look and see who it was. Rolling her eyes, she muttered something and the two of them giggled. Zia glanced at her, before looking at the ground, one wing across her chest to hold onto the other wing, like she was giving herself a hug. Frowning slightly, AJ waited until she saw Zia whispering something back to them before they encouraged her with smirks to go. The little duck then walked towards her, and AJ could feel her heart beating fast.
"Yes," was all her Mom said at first, before she sighed again, but into a smile this time. "Main thing today was to open the children's hospital, which was a success." Li cheered quietly from the stove, which made AJ smile a little, which only felt more strained when Mr Ping waddled over to her, hanging one wing across her shoulders.
"Couldn't be done without this amazing girl!" He praised, before hugging her. Tigress smiled. "You did great today AJ!"
"Thanks, Grandpa..." Her smile faded away a little when he moved back towards Li, saying that he was stirring too quickly. "Though, I don't think I did much..."
"You helped your mother out, didn't you?" She nodded, although unsure how she did so, bar cutting the ribbon and standing for portraits. "Then there you go! You did great!" Surely her Mom was able to cut the ribbon by herself. He then went on about how Mei Mei made the children look dapper for the occasion, just as Tigro and Lotus returned to their sight, rubbing their paws excitedly at the thought of their grandpa's noodle soup. Lotus sauntered past his little sister, while Tigro noticed something was up. "Everything okay?" He asked.
"Can you tell me what's going on please?" AJ could hear her voice say in an echo. She remembers Zia eyes on the ground, not meeting hers, only briefly. "Why did you say that earlier? What does it mean?"
There was a beat.
"Mhmm." AJ suddenly felt worse for lying; it made her tummy do a cartwheel, but Tigro didn't say anything else. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders before getting distracted by hearing a knock at the door and went to get it- it was Master Shifu and Chang. Soon the house was a flurry of voices, a buzzing energy that just got louder and louder until AJ's head was spinning. She sat down at the table, trying not to hold her head in her paw, on her Mom's left side near the head of the table, alongside her brothers. Shifu sat at the other end, with Chang, Mr Ping and Li Zhan on the other side. The bowl set in front of her was piping hot, but there were tofu cubes on another plate. Everyone was adding them to the noodle soup, or eating them dry and plain. Given the sickly feeling in her belly, AJ opted for the dry tofu, taking teeny tiny bites at a time, chewing down to almost nothing but gloopy mush, before trying to swallow.
"Since your mom became Head of the Council, you've been gone."
"But you knew I was coming back..." Maybe she had forgotten?
The other occupants at the table began to converse, retracing their steps at today's main event. Tigro and Lotus had the same greeting from their classmates as AJ did and had left together to laze in the afternoon sun just on the outskirts of the Valley, about ten or so of them. Chang recalled a joke one of them made, which gained a chuckle from the males, and a slight head shake from Tigress before she fixed her gaze on AJ, who had her head propped up by one paw, frowning softly as she stirred her soup round and round the bowl with her spoon, watching the noodles conform and twist into a swirl of deliciousness... that she had yet to touch. "AJ?" She said softly, not noticed by the others. Her little girl paused mid-motion and glanced up at her. "Are you alright?"
Zia shrugged. "A few months is a long time..."
AJ remembers scrunching her nose. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings... but I wouldn't have thought of you being friends with them after they bullied you before..." There were other kids in the kids who were a lot nicer than those two. They only ever tried being friends with her to make the other kids even more scared of them, but AJ knew well what their intentions were, and expressed that she wouldn't be friends with a bully. Zia was supposed to be on the same page as her.
"I had no other choice... besides." Zia paused to scan her up and down. "I know something about you that you never told me. Best friends aren't supposed to keep secrets..."
AJ's lips twitched slightly, before resuming her stirring. "Yeah." Tigress, not buying her words, reached towards her daughter's cheek, which practically sat in her palm as soon as they made contact. Only then did AJ's eyes focus on her again, still heavy-looking. "I'm just... tired." Mr Ping and Li glanced at her, before shifting their gaze to Tigress worriedly. Shifu remained focused on his granddaughter, eyes slightly narrowed. "Can I go to bed?" She asked quietly.
"What secret?"
"The one about you."
With another soft tilt, further than before, Tigress nodded. "I'll put your dinner away and you can have it later."
"Thank you Mama..." she watched Tigress pick up her plate, the smell pulling away from her a lot slower than the plate was moving. "Can you tuck me in?" She added.
"Of course." Tigress then excused herself, taking AJ by the paw and guiding her out of the room everyone else at the table gradually started talking again, but AJ paid no attention. Even if she wanted to, their voices only faded away to mumbles as she and her mother ascended up the stairs. She didn't say anything until she got inside her room...
"Mama?" Her voice came out hoarse, as she had her back to her mother.
"Yes?" Her mother's voice sounded worried.
AJ's arms wrapped around her body tightly, as if to suddenly catch a chill. She was hunching over slightly as she finally turned to her, eyes glistening with tears as her mother kneeled down to her level, paws on her shoulders. "I don't feel good..."
"What is it AJ?" Tigress cradled her daughter's cheeks gently. They were neither hot nor cold. She checked her forehead by placing the paw of her paw against it. "Baby, what's wrong?"
"Did I..." she stifled a sob. "Did I nearly kill you? When I was in your belly?"
Tigress felt her heart drop, but she remained as poised as she could, AJ saw her eyes dilate. "What?"
"That's what Zia said..." Finally, her sobs overcame her, and she collapsed into her mother's arms. "I'm sorry Mama."
Tigress wasn't sure how long exactly it took to calm AJ down, but when she was finally asleep, Tigress crept back down the stairs. One thing she did know as she peered her head into the kitchen was that the sun had begun to set, was that she had missed the rest of dinner. Everyone was gone- the table was cleared. Her plate, with half of her meal untouched, was covered by a wooden lid on the counter.
She heard Tigro and Lotus sparring outside, with Chang critiquing them from the sidelines, while their grandfather Li cheered them on. There was mumbling elsewhere in the house, but she couldn't pinpoint its location, but wherever it was, Shifu and Mr. Ping were there. She wouldn't disturb them yet. Sighing, she melted into her chair at the kitchen table, holding her head in her paws. Everything AJ had said came out so quickly, so hysterically, that she couldn't give her daughter a definite answer. Through the crying, all she managed to do was soothe her into believing that she was genuinely unwell. She had indeed been sick from crying so hard, but all the children had a basin under their beds for emergencies. But Tigress always imagined tummy bugs or the winter flu as those emergencies, not one of her children rocking in her arms, asking why she nearly killed her Mama...
Who on earth would tell AJ such a thing? She got up, suddenly enraged at the thought someone would say something so horrible to her daughter... but who?
Zia apparently, but Tigress almost refused to believe it. Zia wouldn't say such awful things... would she?
She made herself a cup of tea to calm her nerves; she had been highly strung lately with work, but how could she use such a pathetic excuse to not notice her daughter was hurting?
"Tigress?" The feline nearly jumped, spinning her head around to see Mr Ping and Shifu in the doorway between the kitchen and lounge room. Mr Ping laughed, despite Tigress feeling immediate relief it was only them. "I didn't think a little old man like myself would frighten you!" He nudged Shifu as he spoke, but the red panda knew right away something was wrong.
"Is everything alright?" He asked with a furrowed brow as Tigress turned back around towards the counter.
Tigress sighed as she pulled two extra cups out from the cupboard next to her. "I got her settled." She brought the drinks to the table, as Shifu and Mr Ping took a seat each.
"I heard her getting sick?" The red panda prompted, to which Tigress confirmed his thoughts were a nod. "Was it something she ate-"
"My noodles would never make my grandbaby ill!" Mr. Ping retorted, looking horrified.
Tigress raised a paw to stop the goose from standing his ground any further. "It wasn't your food Mr. Ping. She just got really upset..." Propping her head over her closed paws, she looked at them both worriedly. "Has she talked to either of you lately?"
"About what dear?" Mr Ping asked, suddenly very calm. He picked up his cup as he spoke, and finished his question with a dainty sip. Shifu left his cup untouched and watched her carefully.
"About when she was born." They looked at one another, confused. "Anything at all?"
The goose thought about it for a moment, before speaking again. "She has asked me what her name would've been if she was born a boy, and Li has told her about how excited and happy we all were when she was born. I think it was recent enough that Li and I told her how similar she was to Po as a baby. She loves hearing about the dumpling story from her 100th day..." he would've continued if Shifu didn't rudely butt in.
"What's the matter Tigress?" He urged gently.
Tigress' glared at the table, before holding her head in her paws again. "Someone told her about how ill I was when I was pregnant with her..." She felt a lump forming in her throat at the memory, "and said that she nearly killed me."
Mr Ping's beak was encased in his wings, eyes wide in horror. Shifu's ears flattened against his head. "Who would tell her such a thing?!" Mr Ping asked in horror. Almost helplessly, Tigress breathed out 'Zia' to which even Shifu had a double take. "ZIA?!" They both said in disbelief, to which Tigress nodded.
"She was inconsolable up here..."
"My poor granddaughter..." Mr Ping was close to sobbing too but stopped himself when he saw Li, Tigro, Lotus, and Chang enter the kitchen, looking a little worried.
"We heard Zia's name... is everything okay?" Chang's concern was practically etched into his furrowed brows. Shifu took it upon himself to retell them what Tigress had just shared, which brought on a look of horror on Li and Chang's faces... but Lotus and Tigro seemed to remain neutral. The most shown from either of them was Lotus' raised brow and Tigro scratching the back of his neck. "You sure Zia said it?" Chang was in denial. "It's not like her to say something so mean to AJ, let alone anyone else..."
Li and Ping couldn't help but nod in agreement- they often conversed with Zia's father- he was a lovely man, working day and night to provide for his daughter. He was always around to help out at events or to do anything that was asked of him. He is such a kind man, never said a bad word about anyone... surely Zia would be raised the same way?
"But it's true though."
The statement cut through the air like a sharp knife through cloth. Before anyone could react, Tigress' head was raised and fixed in the direction of the source- Tigro. She didn't look angry- at least not yet. There was very little that surprised, or shocked Tigress, and this was one of them. For a moment, her mouth was partly agape, as if giving herself a moment to register what her son had just said. "What did you say?" Her words came out almost too softly, and it frightened Chang.
Tigro repeated himself, in the same tone, only this time he took a chance to pause between his words. "But it's true." Meanwhile, Lotus folded his arms, shrugging.
Tigress sighed, while Shifu shook his head. "Unbelievable..." the red panda muttered.
He didn't realise that his grandsons could understand what he said. "Look I didn't mean anything by it, it's just..." Tigro rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly with his paw, as he and his brother exchanged uncomfortable glances. "I never said anything to her, and neither did Lotus if that's what you're worried about..." Tigress instantly felt relief. "We don't like to think about it, let alone talk about it... but I remember you being so ill before AJ was born, and if it weren't for the antidote, you would've died."
Chang and Lotus grimaced a little at the thought like it were a wound that was still fresh. "Besides... why didn't you tell her? She would've found out eventually, right? So why sugarcoat it?"
Tigress shook her head. "It would've been easier to talk about when she was older, not at seven years old." Tigro went to retaliate, but then he realised that she had a point. "There's a time and a place for everything. Your father and I felt that it would've been right to tell her when she was older."
Li folded his arms. "Besides, she never told you about being ill after giving birth to the two of you until you were old enough, and you two were fine."
Lotus rolled his eyes. "Of course, we're to blame for it happening in the first place. Thanks, Grandpa." Li soon realised his words, but a wing had already connected with his cheek viciously, and he yelped in pain, while Shifu facepalmed.
"That's not what he meant." Their mother finally said, before sighing. "What happened to me, I never blamed you, nor do I blame your sister. I was just one of the unlucky ones." Rolling her eyes up towards the ceiling, where her daughter was now sleeping, for however long peacefully. "It's sooner than I want it to be, but it needs to be discussed, and soon."