Cost of Forgiveness
Mr. Ping was serving up noodles when a familiar set of warriors stood at the door. The goose bore a wide smile as Po, Tigress, and Master Shifu entered. "Ahh! It's good to see you three. Ah, is Po treating you well, Master Tigress."
"Dad," Po groaned.
"He's doing well, Mr. Ping," Tigress smiled with a slight bow. "The usual, please."
"Of course, dear, of course," Mr. Ping replied getting the money from Shifu. But the goose felt something off with the bag. "This is too much."
"What?"
"You paid too much," Mr. Ping repeated.
"I know," Master Shifu replied solemnly. "I... I wanted to give back for... other reasons."
Po and Tigress looked at each other confused. The goose stared at the red panda with no discernable emotion. He suddenly looked at the bigger warriors with a smile. "Eh, why don't you two wait outside? I think Master Shifu and I need to talk."
"Oh... okay," Po stuttered. Panda and tiger walked out, glancing at each other worriedly. They went to the door were Po nosily peaked inside.
"It's rude to eavesdrop."
"Please, you and Tai Lung eavesdrop on half of Master Shifu's conversations with me."
"How do you know that?"
"Lucky guess," Po smirked, peaking back inside.
The white goose motioned Master Shifu into the kitchen where Li Shan stood, visibly confused. Mr. Ping crossed his wings, slightly glaring at the red panda while Master Shifu hung his head. "Let me guess, this is for what happened to Po?" Shifu nodded. The goose gazed at the bag of yuan with a disdain no one had seen before. He lightly twirled it in his wing. "So... you think you can pay for what you did to my boy through money?"
"That's... that's not what I wanted to do. I... I just wanted to say... to show that I'm sorry and I want to... beg your forgiveness."
"No."
"Ping," Li Shan grumbled.
"What, you expect me to say, 'Oh sure toss me some extra money for nearly causing my son to end his life!?'" The bird tossed the yuan to the floor, scattering the metal coinage. "No! It's going to take a lot more than that to get my forgiveness!"
"I know. I wasn't trying to buy your forgiveness, Mr. Ping," Shifu said humbly. "I just wanted to know how I can make this better."
Mr. Ping was silent. He honestly thought about it before shaking his head. "You can't turn back time and fix someone's life. You should already know that with the snow leopard."
"I know," The red panda said heavily. "I know." He picked up the coins and put some of the yuan on the table. "This is for Tigress and Po. I'm not hungry." He could see the goose's glare didn't change. Shifu walked out of the shop, greeting Tigress and Po with a pretended smile, but one look at their concerned faces told him they knew.
"Don't worry, Master Shifu, I'll get my dad to-"
"That's not enough Po," The master said, "What I did had a grave effect on you. I don't know how to restore that. I don't know if I'll ever be forgiven for my actions. Maybe I shouldn't." He trundled away, leaving Tigress and Po at the entrance.
"We have to make this better," Po declared.
"Do we?"
"Not you too."
"I'm serious Po," Tigress said firmly. "I won't deny that I had a hand in your suffering. We all did. But... as much as it pains me to say it, Master Shifu did have a direct responsibility that he ignored because... of assumptions." Tigress stared into the ground. "We all hurt you."
A hand rested on her shoulder and her eyes met the panda's smile. "You all made a mistake that you've been making up for. And I appreciate that. I think my dad realizes that too. But... I guess for Master Shifu it's different. My dad has always had a grudge against the masters."
"He's been antagonistic towards Master Shifu and Master Oogway?" Tigress asked. Po nodded. "Why Oogway?"
"He took his son away from him," Po smiled. "Go talk with Master Shifu. I'll talk with my dad."
The feline nodded and headed after her foster father. Po straighten up and took a deep breath. "Alright Po, just have to convince your stubborn dad to forgive someone. Should be easy right? Right?" He muttered, deeply unsure. He walked back into the shop and entered the kitchen where a glaring goose tended the oven. "Uh... dad?"
"Forgiveness isn't always easy to get, Po."
"Wh-What-"
"Po, I've known you more than Li Shan has and he's your panda Dad! I know you heard us."
"Come on, Dad. It's-"
"I could've lost you!" Mr. Ping shouted, pointing a wooden spoon at the panda. Po could see small tears trickling down his face. "And... I just... I just wish I did more, so you never had to deal with those feelings."
"Dad," Po reached out and hugged him. "You didn't know. There was no way for you to know. It wasn't because of you, Dad. I just... it was hard growing up being the only panda around."
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Dad. It's not your fault," Po smiled, releasing him. But his smile soon vanished. "And it's not Shifu's either."
"Pah. That we disagree on."
"Why don't you hate the Furious Five, then? Or Tigress? They all said and did hurtful things."
"Yes, but they didn't actively TRY to punch you down ten thousand stairs! They didn't try to change you into someone you're not! They didn't try to control you!"
"OOoookkay, now I'm starting to realize I'm on the losing side of this argument," Po sighed.
"And I can tell with my own eyes that Tigress has treated you better than the others. You told me yourself that she took a cannon for you! The others disliked you because you took the title from them. And they made up for their actions by protecting you and giving you help. I forgive jealousy, but Shifu has no excuse for treating you like that. He's a teacher! He supposed to make warriors, no matter who they are. Shifu has no excuse for treating you the way he did just because you didn't fit his mold of what a warrior should be!"*
"Hmm, I guess he doesn't," Po sighed. Mr. Ping firmly nodded and went back to cutting vegetables. "But didn't you tell me that hate weighs us down? That we forgive because we need it more than the other person? So we can move on?
The bird sighed and stopped cutting. "You're getting too wise for your own good, Po."
"You raised me right," Po smiled, resting a hand on the bird's shoulder. With that, he left the kitchen.
"Wait," Mr. Ping begrudgingly grumbled and brought three bowls. "For you, Master Tigress, AND Master Shifu."
"It's a start," Po smiled.
Meanwhile, Shifu sat in the Hall of Heroes, attempting to meditate. His eyes drifted up to the golden dragon above. He gave a great sigh, rubbing his eyes.
Then his ear twitched. "Hm?"
"Master Shifu? May I... speak freely?"
"You may, Tigress," Shifu replied. The tiger walked up to the red panda and sat down crisscrossed.
"Why are you trying to atone for this?"
"I had no legitimate reason to treat Po the way I did. It's because of my... illusion of control that I made Tai Lung the way he is. That I... hurt you and Po. I've always had this struggle with wanting control. Maybe it has something to do with my father leaving me. It's just that... after realizing what Po went through," Shifu looked at the Moon Pool's steady reflection, "I saw the monster I was."
"Master Shifu."
"Tigress, I am truly sorry for trying to make you and everyone something or someone that you're not. I... wasn't as patient with you as I should've been. I'm sorry. But regardless of what we know about Po and the Peach Tree... I should've been atoning a long time ago," Shifu sighed. "I'll have to work a lot harder to get Mr. Ping's forgiveness."
"I don't think that's wise, Master."
The red panda turned his eyes to Tigress, narrowing them a bit. Her breath slightly hitched. Whenever she spoke her mind to Shifu, it felt a little dangerous. "What do you mean?" He asked.
"Shouldn't you atone because you realize you did something wrong? You said it yourself. You're trying to restore what was broken. A house can't be built securely in a day. And... if I may... it's not Mr. Ping's job to forgive you. It's your responsibility to atone for what you did."
"And if he doesn't accept my atonement?"
"Then you still work to restore what was broken. Like with Tai Lung... and Po," Tigress smiled; she hid a small sadness behind it. She didn't include herself for some reason. Maybe because she knew she was in a different section than the first son and the son that he grew to love?
Shifu stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder, "I don't think you're exempt from my abusive control. I know I wasn't the best... father for you, but... I hope I can work to make things a little better," He smiled. "But you're right. I think I'll get to it, then."
Time passed over the village. Periodically, Shifu would volunteer to help with fixes around the shop, served plates, and protect the shop from bandits when the others were gone. But the stern glare from the goose never wavered. "I never asked for your help," Mr. Ping muttered one time.
"I know, but it's never too late to do the right thing," Mr. Shifu said humbly.
"It almost was," Mr. Ping answered. Shifu bowed his head. The goose sighed and turned back to his work. "Do whatever you feel is right." As the red panda would go away, Li Shan would come out to Mr. Ping's side, noticing the bird's mood. He'd ask what was wrong. Mr. Ping would stop what he was doing and say, "I'm desperately trying not to become the monster I'm condemning. But it's becoming harder the longer I hold on to this."
"Hold on to what?" Li Shan asked. The bird wouldn't say.
Even Tai Lung noticed something between Shifu and Mr. Ping whenever he would accompany Tigress and Po down the mountain. "Did something happen?" He asked.
"They're... working through things," Po sighed.
One particular day, Shifu, Tigress, and Po came to the shop, but the three could see that the goose was pensively staring at the kitchen counter. "Dad, what's wrong?"
"Hm? Nothing. Here's your usual," He said, pushing the bowls forward.
"Actually, I wanted the-"
"Why don't we sit down and eat, huh?" Po interrupted Tigress, quickly snatched up the bowls, and sat at a table nearby. Tigress rolled her eyes and sat next to him.
"Master Shifu," Mr. Ping stopped the red panda and came out of the kitchen. The bird took a deep breath. "There's a saying among birds: guilt and hatred weigh our wings down." Shifu bowed his head, thinking another onslaught of righteous rage would spew out.
Suddenly, the bird hugged him, stunning the red panda into silence. "I forgive you." Shifu trembled at the words. His hands slowly wrapped around the goose. Forgiveness. Shifu could feel aches and pains around his chest suddenly lifting. He never thought it would be this good. To be forgiven. "Please take care of my son."
In a brief moment, he could hear his master's words saying something similar to him. The red panda sniffled and hugged the goose tighter, shutting his tear-filled eyes. "I'll... I'll try."
Tigress and Po watched from afar. The tiger was surprised to see Po not smiling. "What's wrong? Your father and Master Shifu have reconciled."
"Yeah, because of me. And they were fighting because of me."
"Po," Tigress grabbed his hand across the table. "We care about you. Being with you has made us see that we care what you do and what you go through."
"I don't want to hurt people, Tigress."
"Life is painful, Po. But it's less painful when we let people help us," The feline smiled in a way that Po could only say was pure kindness. "Please let us help you."
Po chuckled a bit, wiping his eye to make sure no tear dropped. "I'll... I'll try."
Continued...
*A/N: He REEEAAALLY does not when you think about it. I mean, I get jealousy for Tigress and the others, and I get entitlement for Tai Lung, but why did Shifu treat Po the way he did? His job is just to teach. Icould excuse it if Po was cocky, rude, overly arrogant so Shifu grew to have teacher expectation bias, but it doesn't make sense when you think about it. I guess maybe that illusion of control thing Oogway said was really the main problem, but still.
A/N: Funny enough the reason why this chapter exists is because another chapter further down the line with a completely different scenario, but this needed to happen in order to justify that. Writing is weird.