The following morning, the masters and some of the girls sleeping on the second floor of the barracks were woken up to a very loud yelp of pain from Madame Zhou. Upon going to inspect, they discovered that she had twisted her ankle getting out of her bed, which had caused her to break into a series of frustrated laughs and rambles.

"I sometimes forget my age," she told Xiao-Niao as the young buffalo helped her into bed and asked Snow Leopard to grab some ice. "I love to brag about being spry at my age, but I suppose being hip with the kids is too much to ask for."

"To be fair, we did a lot of walking yesterday," Po told her, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "I'm exhausted."

"Well that's expected. But I suppose you're right."

She winced as her foot was propped up with a couple of pillows. Some of the girls and the masters left the room and headed to the kitchen upon seeing that Madame Zhou was perfectly fine. Viper, who was a little more awake and definitely more of the mothering type, suggested, "Why don't we take today to just relax? Mantis is good with acupuncture, so maybe we can do a little spa type of day."

"Uh," Mantis said, having caught the idea half-way down the stairs. He made his way back up and said, "That depends on Shifu, and we all know he's not into giving us days off from training unless absolutely necessary."

Tigress, who was also half-way down the stairs, came up behind him and weighed on the idea by reminding the master that they also had to deal with Ming during the day.

"Since we also have our favorite spoiled brat showing up later this week," she stated flatly, suppressing a yawn. "And Superintendent Wu and Ming grating on everybody's nerves, I'm sure convincing him to rotate out masters to "meditate" or "practice first aid training" won't be difficult....."

"You and Leopard are not morning people, I've noticed," Ordai told her from next to Madame Zhou's door.

Tigress frowned and visibly rolled her eyes before trekking back down the stairs. Mantis however thought the comment over and decided that it might be worth a shot and walked down after the master. Po said he'd go and make breakfast since he was up already and he walked after his friends with the rest of the girls in tow. Xiao-Niao told Madame Zhou she'd be back in a little bit and to try not to move her foot before following behind in the rear. Everyone eventually made their way to the kitchen where they indeed found out that convincing Master Shifu to give them a day off would not be difficult. The civilian who had his chi frozen was now recovering, and since Shifu, being grandmaster, had to deal with Superintendent Wu and all imperial presentation matters, Master Tigress would be sent to the Red Pass to interrogate him and discover what had happened. (Which Shifu reiterated his hope that it was a misunderstanding and nothing too serious). Because of the preoccupation, he allowed Mantis and Viper to "examine" the girls for any further potential injuries, which would naturally of course allow Mantis to brush up on his acupuncture skills and any other first aid techniques, as Mantis had suggested. Monkey and Crane would then assist Shifu and take breaks every so often to "run errands" in the village, which Monkey and Crane were more than happy to do.

Po then made breakfast for everyone, upon which Xiao-Niao took a bowl and some tea and went across the Jade Palace grounds to give some to Madame Zhou. Afterwards, Shifu and Tigress left the table to tend to the matter of the inured civilian while Monkey and Crane reluctantly went to meet Superintendent Woo and Mantis and Viper left to set up massage and spa stations in the barracks for everyone. Viper's room was set up so that she could give everyone a nice back massage complete with relaxing hot stones and Mantis had an acupuncture station and first aid center set up in his room. The rooms didn't take very long to set up and upon being completed, Viper and Mantis set up a schedule with each of the girls: to rest from the hike, Viper would help relax everyone's muscles, after which Mantis would give them an acupuncture session to help heal any torn or ripped ligaments and put their body back into balance. Lam and a few of the other girls were very eager to get right into it, and so it would up that Lam went first with Ordai right after her, followed by Destiny, Jai-Rong, and Xiao Niao. (Though she was more interested in helping Madame Zhou with her ankle and waited as long as possible for her turn). Kay was a little reluctant to have a spa session, but Leopard managed to convince her by adding some relaxing flowers to the room to calm her nerves, afterwards she had to calm herself down to do it. As it turned out, she was not a fan of needles, something Shifu used to tease her about while he was learning acupuncture from Master Oogway since he always approached her first when asking for a test dummy.

Madame Zhou, after hearing the story, couldn't help but laugh over it and made a comment about Shifu being really hip with the ladies back in the day.

"Shifu was not "hip" with girls," Snow Leopard told her firmly. "He stayed invested in kung fu, and then just in Tai Lung. That was the most he really did."

"Really? From the way you two talk and reminisce, I would have assumed you two had history. Or at least he and that Fenghuang woman who used to be a part of your old group."

Exactly!" Lu-Shi exclaimed, having waited a while to go just so that she could chat more with Po and the rest of the group. "And Fenghuang was so cool! I used to ship them all the time!"

Snow Leopard gave her a weird look but then sighed. "I keep forgetting fans like to imagine things," she said.

"Well it's a cute idea."

"Well...." Snow Leopard started. She paused for a moment before sighing again and continuing her thought with: "I think I can speak among friends?"

"Oh?" Madame Zhou asked curiously.

"It's not about Shifu," Leopard forewarned her sternly. "Before Fenghuang went...you know...dark...there was a villain we fought that she actually really liked. I think he was a clouded leopard of some sorts...it was hard to tell since his markings were very strange...but Fenghuang used to fantasize about him a lot. Even with us and Oogway warning her. And Daiymo Irichisuke didn't exactly help anything since he did a lot of equal flirting and stringing her along."

"He was a warlord?!" Po exclaimed. "Like, with what happened to the first five?"

"Yeah, that seems to be our Achilles heel when you think about it I suppose," Snow Leopard laughed, though it was quick to dissolve into a sad sigh. "Some muscular warlord always weasels his way into the picture and there goes our group."

"Well, we don't have any warlords bugging us, so I think the Five are pretty safe," Po told her with an assuring nudge of the shoulder.

"So what happened with Fenghuang and her mysterious warlord love?" Madame Zhou asked curiously.

"Takeshiiro, as Fenghuang always called him," Snow Leopard growled. "Told her one day that she could never get to his level and tried to attack her, which I guess was his plan. She was okay, unfortunately, and we helped her before he could do any serious damage...physically...but she wasn't the same after that. She was determined from that day to be the best of the best, and after we kicked Daiymo Irichisuke back to Japan, she starting training even harder than before until...well...her heart changed for the worst."

A sad silence fell over the group sitting upstairs in Madame Zhou's room.

"Poor Fenghuang," Tai Lin said quietly.

"I guess that explains some of her behavior when it comes to certain fighting styles," Po reflected.

"What ever happened to the warlord?" Tai Lin asked irritably. "It sounds like he got away with it."

"Not exactly," Snow Leopard told her. "Oogway got a report from a Japanese samurai some years after I got married. He was found by Imperial soldiers and in the scuffle to get him, a fire started and he didn't make it out. That should have been a comfort I guess, but that still doesn't change what happened."

"Well, of course not," Madame Zhou told her, reaching over as best she could to pat Snow Leopard, though she only managed to poke her shoulder from her position on the bed. "His behavior is inexcusable and it made deep wounds that can't be easily fixed."

"What ever did happen to Fenghuang?" Lu-Shi asked. "The last I heard of her, she flew away and never came back, but it sounds like she's been back and forth lately."

"Who wants to go next?" Jai-Rong interrupted, coming into the group and stretching her muscles out.

Seeing the nervous look on Snow Leopard's face, Tai Lin offered to go next and got up and walked down the stairs, rubbing her back shoulder on the way down. Jai-Rong then sat down among the group and asked what they were talking about.

"I was just asking what happened to Fenghuang from the old Furious Five," Lu-Shi said. "Master Snow Leopard was telling us she had a tragic romance with a Japanese warlord."

Leopard rolled her eyes. "If you could call it that," she grumbled.

"Fenghuang's attacked the Jade Palace before, but only because she thought Oogway was dead and that I wouldn't hurt her because I was the strongest person in the Jade Palace," Po explained. "Which she was wrong about because I wouldn't hurt my friends, no matter how scared of some curse they got!"

"Shifu must have told them before you came along," Leopard speculated. "If they had that level of fear. Not that there's really a curse, but the fact that it keeps happening is still unsettling."

"I've never heard of this curse," Madame Zhou said, propping herself up on her bed with peaked curiosity. "What is it?"

"Back when the first Furious Five first formed," Destiny told her before Leopard could even open her mouth. (She had just come up some minutes earlier before Jai-Rong). "A warlord from a distant land came to take over the world so he could have a grand kingdom expanding all four corners of the earth. He seduced the strongest member of the Furious Five, wanting her to be his Empress, and she turned her back on her team to join him in his evil conquest. When it failed, she cursed her friends to never have a completely unified group as punishment for their lack of support, and ever since then, the strongest member of each Furious Five group has always gone evil and broken the group apart with some horrific act of treachery and darkness!"

"That's the dramatized retelling of it," Snow Leopard corrected once Destiny was finished. "But sadly there is some truth in it. We don't know why, but the strongest member of every new Furious Five group for some reason or other decides one day to turn their heart to the dark side of kung fu and betray their loyalty to justice and to their team."

"And how many Furious Fives have there been before Shifu's group of students?" Madame Zhou inquired. "And yours?"

"Before our group of Five," Snow Leopard explained. "There were two other Furious Fives. So Shifu's current students makes the fourth group."

"Yeah, but no one's going dark," Po said quickly. "All my friends are good people who wouldn't dare turn their back on anyone."

"And they're very sweet," Destiny added. "Plus, maybe you broke the curse Po!"

"Me?"

"Sure! Fenghuang said you were the strongest of the group. Maybe because you were the Dragon Warrior, your presence under such a test broke the curse and thus your friends are freed forever!"

Snow Leopard laughed and rolled her eyes, but she squeezed Destiny's shoulder and said, "You know, what Destiny? I'll accept that. It'll at least give a more pleasant palate in comparison to older memories."

Destiny quietly fist pumped and mouthed "Yes!" though she was interrupted when a sudden and loud "YOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" came from downstairs.

"That sounded like it hurt," Lu-Shi winced.

"That sounded like Tai Lin," Snow Leopard observed.

There was quiet before Tai Lin's voice was heard yelling just as loud, "WELL THEN MAYBE NEXT TIME TRY NOT TO KILL ME YOU JERK!!!!!!!"

Ordai sighed. "Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike that woman?" she asked.

"Yes," Jai-Rong groaned. "Frequently."

At the end of the day, everybody in the Jade Palace was mentally exhausted. Shifu, Monkey, and Crane were exhausted from the demands from Superintendent Woo and Ming, Po's group was exhausted from Tai Lin's sudden surge in negative snappiness which took Po and a few others by surprise, and Mantis and Viper were exhausted from dealing with the chatter, negativity, and strange conversations they had with a few of the girls they treated. Viper, who was not used to being yelled at by Tai Lin since she was normally so calm and collected, did some consulting with Mantis after he had finished with Kay. They both agreed that they needed to talk to Tai Lin before she said something she regretted. Viper could tell that something was up since the snow leopard's back muscles were so badly knotted and stiff that she couldn't even touch them without causing the woman tremendous pain, which to Viper told her she was experiencing a high level of stress. Since she had stormed out before even going over to Mantis, they both decided that they would call her back in to "finish the session" and then confront her out of earshot of everyone to get to the root of the problem. Tai Lin had decided after having her shoulders pushed into several painful spots, to storm over to the kitchen and make herself some tea, which also caused Kay to follow after her. Kay had told Mantis that she had notice that Tai Lin had been under severe distress, but she refused to speak about it and got noticeably nervous and panicked when asked too many questions, which only motivated the two masters to figure out what was happening so Tai Lin could calm down. This would take some real convincing as it turned out since Tai Lin didn't trust Mantis to not injure her with acupuncture needles. However, once both masters promised to take it easy on her sore muscles, Tai Lin was finally convinced to come back into the barracks to try again. Since by this point it was nearly dinner time, there would be less noise and no one to disturb them. Po's group told the three that they would see them at dinner time and left them to go into Mantis' room to do their spa session. However, once Tai Lin had sat down on the floor, Mantis and Viper locked the door and immediately began to confront her.

"Did you just lock me in?!' Tai Lin snapped.

"Tai Lin, what's going on?" Viper asked seriously.

"What do you mean? I'm fine?!"

"Having a massage hurts a little bit, but it shouldn't hurt that bad unless you have a high level of stress. So what's stressing you out?"

Tai Lin gave them a look that could kill. "And what makes you think I'd tell you people anything?!' she snapped. "Since when did my personal life become your business?!"

"Uh, since you started dating our best friend," Mantis pointed out. "Look, I don't know what you've been having all kinds of mood swings, but you're clearly hiding something and you're not about to hide it from Po. Kay said you seem nervous lately and you keep distracting people so they don't ask too many personal questions."

"Oh, I'll kill her the little snoop!" Tai Lin snarled, but before she could even get up, Mantis plopped an acupuncture needle into her shoulder which caused her to scream, but immediately sit down and slump against the wall.

"Okay, that's bad if even the needles are giving you that much pain," he observed.

Tai Lin weakly yanked the needle out of her arm and threw it viciously onto the floor. Mantis and Viper were prepared to start a fight to get her to calm down and talk, but much to their surprise, Tai Lin simply broke down in tears. Viper slithered over to pat her arm.

"Tai Lin," she said gently. "What's going on?"

Tai Lin wiped her eyes the best she could, but it didn't help her much with calming down.

"I'll get some tea," Mantis offered.

"No-" Tai Lin sobbed. "I don't...don't tell Po."

"Tell Po what?" Viper asked.

Tai Lin took a few shaky breaths to try and calm down. "The man who...his chi was frozen...that's my ex."

Mantis and Viper looked surprised. "Your ex?!" they repeated.

Tai Lin frowned angrily. "My stalker ex....." she elaborated.

Seeing the look on the two warriors' faces, she sighed and started to explain what exactly had happened a few days earlier while she had been doing the scavenger hunt with Po and the other girls.

Tai Lin glanced down at the list she held in her paws and tried to think of where exactly she could find it. It was actually quite pretty out here in the woods, away from the noise and the bustle of the valley. She looked forward to settling down with Po. From the way he described his life at the Tsung village, it'd probably be just as peaceful. And best of all, there's be no danger of someone snatching her away from such a secluded place. It sounded exactly like the medicine she needed from all the drama from the past several years.

A slight rustling noise grabbed Tai in's attention, which caused her to stop and look around, but she saw no one there. Okay, now I know I'm going crazy, she thought. He hasn't seen me since that brief glimpse we had at the café, and from the look on his face, that was an accident. I'm all the way out here surrounded by masters and guards. There's no way he can get way with anything. Tai Lin took a deep breath to try and steady herself, but suddenly she felt herself be grabbed from behind and a familiar hand which she did not care for suddenly covered her mouth.

"My love!" he cried excitedly.

Tai Lin felt a wave of panic go through her, but remembering what Po had taught her, she twisted her left arm as much as she could until she could hear the man start to cry out in pain, upon which she snapped her other arm free and spun his behind his back and pinned him to the ground. Thank goodness for kung fu!

"How on earth did you get this close to me when there are guards everywhere, Xiaobo?!" Tai Lin snapped angrily.

"I thought you'd be happy, my love" the snow leopard said, trying to speak despite having his face smushed into the ground. "Being alone for so long without anyone to take care of you like you deserve. Those kind guards were so understanding, when they learned about our circumstances. Everyone here is a firm believer of true love and I couldn't let you be sullen any longer than you already were, my love."

"I...am not...your love! How did you even find me?!"

"I thought you'd miss me, Xi-Yi. I know you're still in denial, but you succeed in only making my love for you grow stronger by the day!"

"You're a disgusting piece of trash is what you are now how did you find me?!"

"I followed my lover's instincts! I asked a few people, who were very glad to help me find and surprise you, my beating heart, and then I found you being sullenly dragged to this contest to marry that brute."

"That "brute" is a very nice man who actually treats me like a person and not something to just take home and make a wife because she looks perfect for you."

"But you are perfect! My perfect compliment! All our children will have your eyes and my charm-"

"I sincerely hope not-"

"And I'll kiss you and snuggle you and keep all evil men away from you so that they know you are my one true love and I'd never let any unworthy person taint you with their vile behavior."

"The only vile person I've met so far out of all the guys I've dated is you. And this kind of talk isn't doing you any favors, Xiaobo." She winced, secretly being glad that Po didn't go by his full name. Or even just Xiao.

"I know you're nervous, my heart, but I know all brides are nervous on their wedding day. I know once we're man and wife-"

"That is never going to happen as long as I have something to say about it!" Tai Lin snapped. "And if you even think about spreading anymore rumors or telling anymore falsehoods about us being a couple or me being an indecisive runaway bride, I'll break this arm! I've learned a few things since I've been on the road."

"Now Xi-Yi, my beating heart-"

"QUIT CALLING ME THAT!!!!!"

Tai Lin let go of his arm, but then gave the man a swift kick to the gut where he keeled over on the ground with a wheezing gasp. "Now listen carefully, Mr. Uiah! WE are not a thing. WE have never been an item. I dated you one night because I admit to being flattered that a stranger took notice of me, but you have more than proven to be the last person I would ever willingly choose to marry. I never agreed to be your fiancée or to marry you! In fact, I told you no more times than I can count! I am in love with someone else and it will never be you! Now go away and leave me alone!!!!!"

Xiaobo stood up quickly and grabbed Tai Lin's arm, telling her that he wouldn't give up on their love even if she had. In a panic, Tai Lin barely managed to twist her arm away and pulled back her other arm and quickly socked Xiaobo in the stomach as she remember Tai Lung showing her. Just as before, Xiaobo crumpled to the ground in a paralyzed state, and a terrified Tai Lin took off through the forest to head back to the safety of the group, completely forgetting to grab her basket which she had dropped in the scuffle.

"That was you?!' Mantis and Viper exclaimed in shock.

"I was acting in self-defense," Tai Lin sighed.

"Oh no, we weren't saying that was bad," Viper assured her. "But you pulled that off so flawlessly- Shifu swore Tai Lung did it."

"Well then, either he's really good at teaching or I'm good at learning," Tai Lin replied with a weak smile. She sighed and slumped back against the wall.

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" Mantis asked her. "You do realize we're in a kung fu temple surrounded by guards, right?"

"And yet he still managed to sneak up on me and nearly drag me away from the group," Tai Lin grumbled. "The only reason I got away was because of those kung fu moves Po's been teaching me."

"And it sounds like he convinced the guards of whatever sob story he gave them," Viper added as a way of showing sympathy for Tai Lin's plight.

Tai Lin groaned. "He's always done that, ever since I left home years ago," she told the two masters. "Any guy I happen to date he'll tell nothing but lies to and they either believe him and dump me or decide they don't want to deal with a stalker of mine and leave me to deal with him by myself. And he's pulled similar stuff to what Master Crane pulls on you, Master Viper. I know how to deal with him by myself. No one ever wants to help me or even believes me. Heck, I've had people tell me that I led him on and that it's my fault he follows me everywhere! There was no way I was risking that here!"

"That's disgusting!" Viper said.

"Yeah, trust us, that's not how people here think," Mantis promised. "The second Shifu realized Crane wouldn't stop harassing Viper, he put guards on his tail. We wouldn't have minded doing the same for you." He walked over to put some acupuncture needles in Tai Lin's arm, which thankfully were now going in much smoother than before. "But I understand where you're coming from," he promised. "I guess if you're used to people not helping you, that's a pretty natural first response."

Tai Lin sighed. "Thanks," she said.

Mantis put in some more needles, before looking at her and asking, "He calls you Xi-Yi?"

Tai Lin groaned. "It's a nickname he gave me," she said. "My actual name is Xiao-Yang, little sun. I changed it after the second time he found me. I thought it'd help reduce the odds of him finding me."

"Your name is cute," Viper commented.

"Thanks. When I changed it, I tried to keep it similar to what my parents named me. My mom was from somewhere more south where the sun's out a lot more and there are more plains, and my dad was from somewhere more forested. Hence the change."

"That's pretty cool."

"Definitely, but let's not change the subject," Mantis said, to Tai Lin's obvious irritation, though she knew he was right. "Xiaobo? Right? he's being treated by Tigress and other masters at Red Cliff, which means he might give them the same sob story. Which would be bad for you."

"Yeah, like Tigress would fall for it," Viper laughed. "She's not easy to fool."

"As I've heard," Tai Lin said nervously. "I'm surprised she hasn't confronted me about anything."

"Tigress is usually pretty good about not being scary or interrogating," Mantis promised. "But you really should tell Po. Whatever he says, trust is an important part of building a relationship with someone and you shouldn't be afraid to tell him the truth."

Tai Lin didn't look too convinced by this idea. "I don't know," she said. "Very few of my friends believed me let alone had the ability to help. And every boyfriend I've had wasn't interested in dealing with Xiaobo."

Viper sighed. "Tai Lin," she said. "The best thing you can do is get some help. I know you've probably heard that before and your experiences make that advice seem useless to you, but trust me. I know a thing or two about stalker exes, and having an extra set of full aware eyes makes a big difference."

"I'M NOT A STALKER!" came a familiar voice from the room next door.

"CRANE!!!!!!! DO YOU MIND?!!!!" Viper snapped.

They heard Crane flee the room and immediately leave the barracks. Tai Lin just sighed. "I am so sorry you have to deal with that," she told the master.

"Well, at least you got the chance to hide from your ex for a while," Viper responded. Groaned. "I have to live with mine......"