The afternoon sun rose high over the Jade Palace as the masters finished up a training session that consisted of teamwork, shields with hidden knives, and flying around in the air. It had been almost six months since they had defeated Tai Lung and put him back into Chorh Gom, this time with double the guard than what had been there originally. They were all surprised that Tigress hadn't mentioned his arrival the previous night; it seemed very out of character for her. However, they gave her a small pass considering the fact that the person she had seen was presumed DEAD. Tigress was grateful for the understanding as she has gotten chewed out by Shifu for her slip in protocol. (Though after some harsh punishments and cleaning assignments, he apologized a few days later for overreacting to her rare lapse in judgment).

The masters finished their training and stood in front of Shifu who gave them their daily critique on the exercise. 

"That was much better than yesterday," Shifu informed them. "However, I still see some areas for improvement."   He turned to each person as he gave them his critique. "Crane, your grounded gliding needs to be more smooth. I know you don't want to scrape your wing, but if you're afraid to make the attempt, you'll never learn. Mantis, I want better precision on those targets, so take a break from strength practice and focus on that. Viper, land with a little more grace, please. I know I have sensitive ears, but some noises are pretty obvious. Po, a little less bounce and a lot more bolt. I know you can do it; I just need you to focus on your kung fu and not your girlfriend." 

The masters snicked and Po turned a dark shade of red. "I'm trying!" he protested. "I just...I've never had a girlfriend before, so I'm excited." 

"Well, if there's a moment of danger, I hope your focus is on the problem and not how pretty she is." 

"Oh, I'm sure that'll be the last thing on his mind," Tigress assured the grandmaster. 

"The same critique goes to you too, Tigress." 

"What?!" 

"I know relationships are new to you and I'm glad you're happy, but I'd appreciate it if you would find a balance between that and kung fu so that we don't have anymore moments of spar-flirting." 

"Aw, come on, Master Shifu," Monkey joked. "How else are we supposed to beat them?!"

"You're not off the hook either," Shifu interjected. 

Monkey almost immediately closed his mouth and mentally slapped himself. He forgot Shifu hadn't critiqued him yet. Maybe that was on purpose?"

"I noticed today that your swings were slower than normal. I expect those to be corrected when I return." 

"Yes, mast-wait, return?"

"Yes. That's the announcement I mentioned earlier this morning. I'll be taking the next few weeks to travel up to the north of China. I have some business to attend to." 

""What kind of business?" Po asked, his face lighting up with curiosity. 

"I've been requested to discuss certain plans relating to the future of the Jade Palace, as well as discuss the perception of character with a man who I find quite volatile, unfortunately. 

"Sounds scary." 

"I'll be fine. There will be plenty of witnesses in case the discussion goes awry. I just hope he's perceptive enough to keep his cool." 

Viper smirked. "That's a little ironic," she noted. 

"Indeed," Shifu agreed. "Which is why I hope all goes well. I'll be packing for the rest of the day so I can leave tomorrow morning. I trust you will have all improved by the time I get back."

"Yes, master," the students answered in unison. 

"Good. Well, training dismissed. I'll see you all at dinner." 

The masters promptly walked out of the training hall and went to do their favorite afternoon activities. Viper, however, was deep in thought. It was true that there were people who lived up north, but those were all villagers living on isolated mountain plains. She didn't expect Tigress to be zoned in on that detail as the master had been walking around on cloud nine for the past few days. Something else was happening and she was determined to find out what it was. Viper decided to patiently wait a while before she even thought about approaching Shifu. She had lunch with her friends, went down to the village to buy a new hat she had been admiring, and arranged a bouquet of flowers to put on the kitchen table. By then it was late in the afternoon and enough time had passed to talk to the grandmaster. She pondered over what exactly she would say if someone asked. If Shifu had something else going, perhaps something private, she didn't want to embarrass him by calling him out on it in front of her friends. She didn't have to worry about the matter much though as an opportunity soon presented itself. 

As she came into the kitchen with the bouquet in a vase she had found, she was greeted by Mantis preparing a tray of green tea. When he noticed her, he smiled and waved. 

"Those are pretty, Vi," he noted. "Where'd you get them?"

"There's a really pretty wild flower field by the river," Viper told him as she put the vase on the table. "I thought I'd brighten up the place." 

"Honestly, I'm still waiting for Tigress to start throwing flower bouquets everywhere. She can deny it all she wants, but she's been goo-goo eyed and walking in dreamland more often than Po when we're all fighting. 

Viper giggled. "She's definitely full of surprises. I'll give her that." 

Mantis carefully put the large pot of tea onto the tray, only for some to leak out and scald his back. Viper quickly grabbed a cup of ice water and dunked her screaming friend in it, helping to relieve some of the pain. While Mantis soothed his burn, Viper offered to take the tray to Shifu and was soon on her way to the Sacred Hall of Warriors. She managed to take the tray to the top and carefully slithered over to Shifu's room, not wanting to spill the tea on herself. She finally made it to the door and knocked, Shifu inviting her inside with a surprised look on his face. Viper saw a large bag on his bed with a pair of nunchucks nearly hidden under some clothes. 

"This is a surprise, Viper," he admitted. "I was expecting Mantis." 

"Mantis injured himself," Viper explained. She shut the door behind her and laid the tea tray on top of a chest. "I figured since I wanted to ask you a question, I'd take it myself." 

"Well I've never been averse to questions. Fire away."

"I want to know what you're really doing." 

Shifu blinked. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I spoke the truth." 

"You gave the impression that you're meeting someone important up north, but the only people up there are villagers."    She slithered over to his bag. "Plus, you seem to be carrying an awful lot of weapons for a sit-down discussion," she added. She lifted off some clothes and pulled out the nunchucks she had seen. "There's some nunchucks...pressure-point needles....Is this a cross-bow wrist band?!" 

Shifu sighed. "I did speak the truth earlier," he told the master. "But I don't know the outcome, so I wanted to keep it quiet. Alright?"

"I understand." 

Shifu put the weapons back into his bag. "The head guard at Chorh-Gom wrote to me several times because Tai Lung wants to speak to me," he explained. "He claims that there was a misunderstanding when he came back and he wants to apologize and talk to me about something." 

"Oh, I see," Viper said. "And you're finally going?"

"Yes. I figured I might as well see what he wants. Regardless of what he's done...." Shifu stopped. It was silent for a while before he sighed and hastily added, "Not that it matters anymore.I'll still be keeping my head for the worst outcome."

Viper reached over and wrapped her tail around him in a hug as he closed the bag. "I'd be hopeful too if I had a kid who said a bad deed was all a misunderstanding," she told him. 

Shifu sighed again. "I know," he acknowledged. "But Tai Lung...I thought I knew him pretty well. But he's such a wildcard!I honestly never know what to expect from him!" 

Viper squeezed him again and put a head on his shoulders. "You'll figure it out," she assured him. "You always do."   She gave him a kiss on the cheek and Shifu stroked the top of her head. "Do you need help packing?" she asked. 

"No, I pretty much have all I need," Shifu said. "But I could do with some pleasant conversation." 

Viper smiled. "I could too," she agreed. 

They then moved over to the other side of the room where they began to talk and share the pot of tea. 

THE END

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