- Clocks

(Shifu)

It's cloudy outside, and we haven't seen the blue sky in three years. There's a thick layer of condensed fog above the village, making it difficult to visually observe. There's hardly anyone in the streets; there used to be dozens. Buildings are destroyed, some are still barely standing. And it is hard to believe that this could have been so much worse than it is.

I snap myself out of my ominous trance and glance back to the front of the noodle shop. It reads 'Mr. Ping's' on the archway above the front entrance. I sigh to myself and walk back inside the formerly esteemed eatery.

As I continue to walk through, I notice a few people eating at the tables. There's never really this many people eating here anymore, but it's not as if concerns me to wonder about it.

I finally manage to drag myself to the back of the shop and push the door open. Inside the kitchen, I see a few figures working somewhat lazily. There's of course Mr. Ping, but then there are the others. My former students.

Viper and Mantis. They were both chopping vegetables, Viper slicing and Mantis skinning them for her. Their faces are gloomy, and distant. Ping is not as enthusiastic as he use to be. Not since the incident that occurred those three long years ago has he shown a smile.

I remembered when Mr. Ping offered us to work for him after the incident, and he still seemed somewhat joyful. But then again, he hadn't heard the whole story of what happened that day. Any of us in that condition would have been the same as he was when he found out what happened. I still feel incredibly sorry for him.

Remembering that I was there to see someone, I acknowledge their presence with a calm wave and climb up the stairs to the second floor. I peak my head over the top to examine the room roughly. Not a single thing has changed about it.

Posters of kung fu masters nailed to the walls, throwing stars embedded into the cracking drywall, action figures of the furious five set untouched on the dresser. It is as it was when I last left it.

I step onto the wooden floorboards which squeak slightly. On the bed near the closed window was someone that I needed to see. She is still sleeping soundly, and her breathing appears to be normal, thank goodness. Her pink robes look clean, so she must have gotten up sometime earlier to change her cloths. At least she is moving. I step forward some more and the floor squeaks again, causing her to wake from her slumber. I quickly pick up the pace of my steps and kneel down beside her.

Her fox figure is facing me while she lies on her side. Her amber eyes flicker open and look at me squinted. She manages to crack a weak smile at me, which crushes me a little inside to see her try so hard to give me the impression that she's happy to see me.

"Shifu..." she calls to me weakly.

"How are you feeling, Mei Ling?" I ask her quietly. She swallows roughly and looks back at me with those beautiful yellow spectacles again.

"I'm doing better than before." It's a lie, obviously. But I don't want to deny her and call her out on it. She wouldn't have the energy for that anyway.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm okay, Foofy." There's that ridiculous name she calls me again. At this point, it doesn't bother me much. It's actually nice to hear, it reminds me of better times, when we were young.

"Okay," I respond with my paw on the side of the bed, still knelt down.

"How are the others?" she asks faintly, her voice slightly cracking.

"Viper and Mantis are downstairs with Ping, and the other three are off at...his grave." It pained me still to say that. Over three years and reminding myself of him hurts still. Mei Ling must have noticed the pained look on my face.

"He was a great student, Shifu," she tells me as I grip the side of the bed even harder. Then I remember what I was gripping onto. I force a small smile.

"You know...this was his bed...before he ever came to the palace," my voice manages to creak out. I close my eyes, trying to forget what took place on that fateful day, but I can't. I suddenly feel a warmth upon my face. It's the fox I came to check on, pressing her sweet lips on the side of my face. She pulls away and lays back down.

"He did what he had to do, and you should be proud of him," she whispered to me as she began to slowly drift back into a slumber. My smile grows a little bit wider. I rest my hand on her face lightly.

"I am."

I don't want to take my eyes off her, but I pull myself to do so. I began to walk out of the room back to the stairs. I take a final look to at her over my shoulder. She's fallen fast asleep again, her breathing still appears to be regular, and she doesn't seem to have been moving around too much. I manage to crack a small smile as I descend back down to the kitchen.

Mei Ling came to the Jade Palace again about six months before all this started. She had come back looking for refuge from the Imperial Army and thought that I would provide her a hiding place. At first I wanted nothing to do with it, and why wouldn't I? After the stunt she pulled the time she came before, I should have wanted nothing to do with her. But she still somehow managed persuade me into letting her stay in the spare like she had last time. I guess whenever I look into her enchanting yellow eyes, she can fold me to her will. But maybe it wasn't just her. Perhaps I wanted her to stay there with us. With me. I knew she was a thief and a liar, but a part of me knew that there was that innocent part buried deep inside herself.

After the army gave up their search for her, she promised that she would leave the palace in a day's time. I should have been okay with her leaving, but again I managed to let my soft spot for her get to me. The next night, she was all set to leave. Her bags were packed, and I checked to make sure there weren't any of the palace valuables in them. She was about to walk out the front gates, but I stopped her. I asked her to stay for a while longer, to which she jumped at the offer. I don't know what got into me, but I guess she just has the power to make me say anything.

The days became weeks, and the weeks became months. Before I knew it, things were back to how they were when we were but young students. Though she still had the habit of thievery every once in a while, I was able to convince her that she didn't need to steal and that all she needed was something else to consume that need. And I guess I turned out to be that filler.

She's been sick for three months now, I'm running out of options. I've tried most of the known remedies and even some healing techniques to help cure her of this illness she has, but nothing has been successful yet. I just hope she can pull through.

I reach the bottom of the stairs to have Viper look at me with a glint of worry in her eyes. I turned my attention to her with my hands in front of myself, trying my best to keep a straight face.

"How is she doing, Master?" she asked me, slithering closer to me. I walk past her and to the front table where I pick up where she left off.

"She says she's doing fine, but it's hard to tell anymore," I answer, chopping the freshly skinned beats.

"Well, I'm sure she's fine like she says she is."

"I hope so, Viper."

Viper is another person I'm grateful for in a world like this. She has always been concerned about others and almost never about herself. Everyday, she will ask everybody if there's anything she can help them with or if anything was wrong. She's always been the mother hen out of the group of us. Even through all this despair and sadness, she still manages to find a way to be the kind, caring serpent she is.

I wish I could say the same for the rest of us.

(Tigress)

I never thought that the day would come. Yet, I'm standing over his resting place right now.

Crane and Monkey look worse than I do. Their faces were long as a mile, and they couldn't hold back a few tears. But it's not like I can say that I don't look similar.

We've already lain flowers on his headstone, they're lotus's. We stand there, still trying to erase the memory of his death, but it's a perfect imprint inside our heads. We must've all been thinking the same thing; "Why couldn't it have been me?"

It's a stupid question to ask, though. We all knew why it had to be him. He was the only one that could have saved us from that monster. Yet, he still lost to the monster. It was in his death that all our hope had gone, as did our friend.

"I'm...going to go back to the shop," Crane managed to squeak out of his beak. Me and Monkey both looked at him for a moment and saw his condition. He looked as if he couldn't stay there anymore. He just needed to get away from it. We all needed to get away from this place.

"Here, I'm coming with you," Monkey said as he and Crane turned around and walked away. They left me there alone, maybe they knew I needed a moment by myself. If they did, I'm grateful for them.

Why did Po have to do it? Why did he insist on risking, and ultimately giving his life for an already doomed land? I told him, and practically screamed at him not to leave us. But, it's not like he's followed any of my orders before, so why would he start then? At least if he hadn't gone to fight him, he would at least be suffering with us, not leaving us alone like this. Maybe that's a selfish way of picturing it, but that's how it feels to me. Like he left us to hurt alone. I know that isn't true, but it's the only logical conclusion I can come up with.

I press my paw against the dirt that lay on top of his grave. The soil is cold and rough, like the way I treated him when we first met. If I had a chance, one chance at all to speak to him one more time, I'd tell him that I was sorry. For everything I ever said about him. I truly did treat him like nothing when he came to the palace, and all because my stupid pride and jealousy insisted on speaking for me.

But the truth is...I miss him. Too much to describe. I grew fond of his kind nature, his caring personality, and even his goofy smile that he would strut around with for the entire day.

I take another look at his headstone that I've already read a thousand times. Here lies the Dragon Warrior, Po. He shall never be forgotten. Rest in Peace.

I do something that no one has ever seen me do before; I give the tombstone a gentle kiss.

It is days like this that make me eager for death to arrive. I can't wait to see my friend again.