After a long time, alone, with Whisper and Peter, Anne heard a noise from behind their group. They pulled away from each other and drew their weapons, ready to attack whatever came for them. Anne saw Whisper gripping her spear, Wolfslayer, with white knuckles, and knew that if the thing coming was hostile, it wouldn't stand a chance. Whisper would tear it apart with her bare hands.

The clattering grew louder, and Anne tensed, ready to fight. Peter's arm was wrapped around her shoulder protectively, the other gripping Soulstrike with his finger on the trigger. A shadow grew on the wall, and then Lenny appeared around the corner. He saw them and gasped, then ran towards Anne and gave her a massive hug. "ANNE! You're alright!"

Anne was stunned, but then she was hugging him back with unbelievable ferocity. She felt more tears coming down her cheeks, but these were happy tears. When he pulled away, Lenny did the same thing with Peter and Whisper. Peter was grinning like crazy, and I remembered how Lenny had made a quick bond with Peter back at the Underground Circus. When he hugged Whisper, she didn't hug back, but I detected a hint of a smile on her face.

"Where is everyone? Did they make it out?" Peter demanded, grabbing Lenny's shoulders. Lenny nodded and beckoned to us. "We're all outside. We didn't want to stay in here, what with all of the dead Corrupt bodies." He grimaced. "There was an old man in here that sorta looked like Ringmaster Oogway. I dunno why, but Oogway got all upset when he saw him and took him outside to find a good place to bury him. Maybe they're related?"

Shifu, I thought painfully, my heart twisting. The old man that had led us to the weapons and our family. Oogway's brother. I had nearly forgotten that he was dead, killed by the Corrupt. Hearing Lenny talk about him like some foreign traveler just made the loss more painful. And he wasn't stopping talking...

Lenny chattered on about Shifu, but stopped when he noticed that we weren't saying anything. He turned back to face us, confused. "Uh, you guys okay? I started talking about the dead old man, and you all just... froze." Hearing him say that made me stiffen, and I wasn't the only one. Peter was tensed up as well, his well-defined muscles hard as rock, and Whisper was a statue. Lenny cocked his head. "Did you guys... know that old man?" he said hesitantly.

I felt tears welling up in my eyes, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Whisper moving forward towards Lenny. She stopped in front of him, locking eyes with him. I saw his expression change from confusion to nervousness. Then, swift as lightning, Whisper's fist shot out and she punched him in the jaw.

Lenny fell hard, shouting in pain. He clutched his jaw, where what looked like a painful bruise was forming. He stared up at Whisper in shock. "What was that for?!" he cried. Whisper snarled, sounding undeniably wolflike. "You don't get to talk about him," she said, her voice trembling with rage. "You didn't know him. You don't get to talk about him." She brushed off her knuckles, then continued walking towards the door. Lenny looked at us, but I avoided his gaze and followed Whisper, with Peter by my side.

We walked through the old warehouse, and a smell met my nose. I looked down and nearly vomited. The Corrupt agents we had killed in battle were already decaying, even though it had to have been only a few hours. I looked up and saw the door, then bolted towards it, leaping delicately over the bodies. I swore that if I touched even one of them, I would lose it. Luckily, my years of tightrope experience had made me quite agile, and I made it outside into fresh air without incident.

I gulped in the cold, fresh air. It may have been cloudy and gray outside, with a frigid wind chilling me to the bone, but I didn't care. It was fresh air. After spending hours underground, in a burning metal base, the cold wind was the best thing I had ever seen. I heard Whisper and Peter come up on either side of me, and I smiled in contentment.

"I promised she'd see the sky."

I turned and looked at Whisper, not sure what she had said. "What did you say?" I asked. Whisper was looking up at the cloudy sky, and tears were again falling from behind her mask. "I said I promised that she'd see the sky. While we were running and I was carrying her. She said that she hadn't been to the surface in years, that it wasn't safe for her. She said she missed the sky. So I promised her that I'd get her out from underground. I promised that she'd see the sky."

Whisper's hands were shaking, and I realized that she was talking about Hannah. I felt another twist in my heart, another part of me that died at the mention of the name of another lost. I took Whisper's hand, and she squeezed mine. "She made her choice. The best we can do is keep living for her," I said softly. Whisper nodded, then hugged me tight.

I heard voices, and I looked up to see the Underground Circus- our family- walking towards us. A whole range of emotions painted their faces- from joy to fear to heartbreak to hope. I met eyes with Ringmaster Oogway, and I saw that his face was tearstained. I cocked my head slightly, mouthing, "Shifu?" He nodded, then came up to us and embraced us in a huge hug.

"Oh, my children. My broken, bloodstained, beautiful children," he said, his voice raspy. He stroked my curly hair, calming me. I breathed in the smell of soft old leather, a smell specific to Ringmaster Oogway. "We have much to talk about. But first, the Corrupt, are they gone?" he said softly.

I was about to nod, but a clattering from the alleyway stopped me. We all turned towards it, then we readied ourselves to fight. Void Reaper was in my hands in an instant, and Whisper and Peter had their Void Crystal weapons at the ready. Everyone had some sort of weapon. Lenny and Julia had picked up pieces of pipe from the alleyway, and everyone else had a rock or shard of metal ready.

The clattering came closer, and I was struck by the memory of Shifu's first appearance- how he had clattered his way towards us, his cane never quiet. I almost lowered my sword, but I shook off my hesitation. Shifu is dead, I thought firmly. Then someone appeared around the corner of the alleyway.

It was the Corrupt agent- the one that had explained how Corrupt was first created. He staggered forward, his clothes singed and smoking. He coughed violently, but continued his slow trek forward. Then, once he reached me, he grabbed my hand. "Anne... sweetie... Anne..." he said, breathing heavily. I backed away, but he held my hand tightly. "What do you want?" I demanded, trying harder to pull my hand away from him.

He bowed his head. "Please... forgive me... "he said softly. "For what? Trying to kill us?" I said incredulously. But the man shook his head. "For leaving you..." I shook my head wildly, trying to decipher what he was saying. "What are you saying? Who the heck are you?" I demanded.

The man lifted his head, and I met his tearfilled eyes. I realized with a jolt that I had seen those eyes before.

They were my eyes- the exact same color as mine.

"Anne, I am..." he said softly. "I'm your father."