Chang, Benjirou, Lin Lin, Taplo, Sumi, Fei, Gao Jing (c) me!

All other characters (c) Dreamworks Animation

Chapter 25: Epilogue

Shifu was shaken out of his exhaustion when the Jade Palace servants summoned the groan of the grand opening doors. They all bowed their heads to him, silently wondering how the Grandmaster got in such a frazzled state to walk into the Hall of Warriors with a half-torn tunic, ruffled fur, and the Sword of Heroes in his careful grasp.

The red panda limped a bit down the great hall. He had earned the few tears in his robe from the many battles of the week and he felt slightly fatigued now and then from his near brush with death... But it simply felt so accomplishing to finally rest the Sword of Heroes back in its proper place atop the pedestal, unharmed and in one piece.

It stung a little to shakily kneel before his father's painting as he'd done so many times before, but it wasn't as evident as the weight he felt lift off his shoulders as he gazed up upon Captain Koto's image.

My good father... Your memory shall remain here for the descendants of kung fu for generations to know... My students and their students to come will remember your name and the name of the Chen bloodline... I hope that I have done honor in the eyes of Master Oogway and our forefathers...

Something then welled up in his chest, bringing a weightlessness of emotion with a voice that fell on his ears alone.

You've done so much more, my son...

"Shifu?"

The Grandmaster's ears perked up at the voice, tilting themselves towards the palace doors. A feminine figure rushed in, stunning him with the first hug she'd given him in sixty years - much to her own surprise as well as his.

"...Lin Lin," he smiled, returning the embrace tightly.

"Taplo told me what happened...about Benji taking Chang... Are you all right?"

"I'm fine... I'm home," the Grandmaster gave a relieved grin.

"Did you clean those cuts? Chen Juo Shifu, shame on you!" the elder raccoon scolded him, taking his arm to escort him to his room for medical attention. "Master Oogway would've killed you, you know..."

Oh, yes... He was home all right. Ever so gently, the he let his old friend help him back to the masters' quarters.

"So... Li-hua tells me she's interested in learning kung fu from you when she's a little older..."

Shifu and the Five adjusted back to the normal run of their training pretty quickly, out-of-the-ordinary adventure not withstanding. Poor Po, however, still seemed to be reeling from the week...as well as waiting on bated breath for any news from his father.

On one particular morning not long after they had sent Chang off, Shifu had stormed in on the snoozing bear for the occasional reprimand on missing the morning gong. Ordering the panda into the hallway, he pulled a double-take when he noticed something nailed into the wall over Po's bedmat.

To anyone else, the flint medallion was the symbol of an evil and savage organization of warriors and nothing more. But to Po, Chang's medallion was a reminder of - in the end - how much his dad had really sacrificed for him throughout his life. Every scratch and scrape and imperfection in the rock represented the trials and hardships he encountered, and the dull matte gray of the flint was a reflection of the years of wear and tear the old panda had lent himself to suffering for the sake of protecting a little cub only big enough to sit in his paw. Po had doubtless been sleeping in for staying up all night, gazing up at the medallion and worrying about the absence of a report from his father.

Sensing this, Shifu - ever a pro at keeping the young mind occupied on work and work alone - demanded higher performance from the portly panda. The chaotic events of the past week, as testing as they were, had still set them back in their training regime.

It was during one of these intensive sessions in the training hall that Shifu realized he wasn't one to talk. For a long period of time, he hadn't so much as walked for being carried by his students across Dazhong. But how was a master to train his students on a device, such as the obstacle course before him, that he himself was too out of practice to conquer?

On several occasions in his youth, he had attempted to conquer the lengthy course when he'd been sick for a few days before, in hopes that the extra grueling work might catch him up on what training he'd missed. Nine times out of ten, however, this usually earned him another bump on the head, a lecture from Oogway, a few more days in bed, or a combination of any of these curses. But it had been nearly two weeks since the doctor had deemed him in the "recovery" stage, wasn't that enough?

Only one way to find out...

After staring at the opposite wall for a moment, he laid down his staff and stood with his heels together. He closed his eyes and let out a deep, cleansing breath, sliding one foot back and crouching into a ready stance. His ears twitched for a moment, attuning to the rhythm of the swinging clubs and the roll of the logs beneath them. The aging cobalt eyes flashed open, bidding the legs to launch him headfirst into the first obstacle.

In seconds, the Grandmaster was twisting and cartwheeling across the snake logs like he controlled them, making his students gasp when he leaned just out of the way of a swinging club. With a single windmill kick he was up again, landing weightlessly on the rim of the Jade Tortoise and spinning into a sweep kick at Crane. The avian was quick to act, grabbing his master's leg in a foot and rolling with his movement when Shifu kicked away in a handstand.

The old red panda backflipped and leapt on all fours into the mass of spinning adversaries, diving narrowly through two spiked arms and lighting into the dummies with explosive force.

Po and the Five were now perched along all sides of the course, watching their master plow through the course like an ox. They then all dove out of the way when Shifu made a flying leap for the sand dummy and kicked it up from its base, round-housing it straight for Po. The Dragon Warrior was quick enough to relish back and lunge forward, smacking the dummy with the full force of his belly right back towards his master. And in typical soccer all-star fashion, Shifu leapt into a backflip, kicking the dummy over his own head and landing on his back with a grunt.

CRASH!

All heads turned swiftly towards the front of the kwoon where the dummy had been sent flying, eyes setting directly on the gaping hole that now graced the wall. Shifu stood and quickly assumed his usual pose of his hands quietly behind his back, but with the look on his face, he was looking more like a five year-old that had just been caught next to the shattered remains of the family vase.

"...Welcome back, Master," Po tried to hide an amused grin, saluting him.

Days passed, it had now been nearly a week after Chang had been sent off to sea. For all the vigorous training he was being run through, Po was getting increasingly anxious for any news from the ship. This was especially noticeable in the extra quantities of food Po would gulp down, even between meals when he'd raid the kitchen cupboards with his upset-so-hungry kung fu. And this time, Shifu couldn't blame it on his own ignorance.

But at long last - one night during dinner - a messenger wearily entered the kitchen. "Masters," she bowed her head. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I have a message for the Dragon Warrior. From your father, sir, or so I was told."

"Which one?" Mantis chirped, instantly met by a smack from Viper's tail. "Oww! Hey, it was an innocent question!"

"It-It's from a Kuang Chang..." the messenger clarified. "It was relayed to me from a messenger from the river."

Po instantly pushed his chair back, almost pinning Monkey and Viper between the table and wall with his belly as he got up and rushed over to the goose to retrieve the message. Unlike the carefully embellished scroll cases of the palace, this one was just a humble little tube of hollowed-out bamboo, with a much more easily opened cap.

Quickly unrolling and scanning over the letter, Po finally got to breathe out the worried weight of the past week. "Well, at least we know Dad's alive and well." He sat back down at the table as everyone leaned in to read the scroll with him.

"So what does it say?" Crane questioned, only getting a loud crunching noise in response.

"...Po, stop that!" Shifu barked at the panda, making a mental note to remind Benjirou to not send any more of his letters in bamboo casing.

To Po, my son,

Captain Benjirou says we'll be docking in Taiwan within about two days. I'm sorry it took so long to get back to you... We came across rough waters and almost had to turn back for the Valley. Not to mention that I've been sleeping...a lot. I haven't so much as sat up in bed all this time - I'm actually having this letter being transcribed by the doctor for me, as I tell him what to write - but I'm actually enjoying it. I can smell the sea... The captain says that it's good for the soul and body, and I've never believed it until now. Even if being banned to bed and staring at the ceiling all day probably attributes a little more to that, albeit making one a bit nauseous out here. It's also really given me a chance to think. I shut out my life as Kuang Chang so much for the past twenty years that I had thought I'd forgotten everything about it. But I find that so much is coming back to me when I'm asleep, or just laying there and listening to the ocean.

I wish we'd had more time to talk before I left...and that what times we had together weren't so incredibly awkward, involved running for our lives, or just plain messed up. Please write back when you can. I have so many stories I want to tell you, about your mother and the rest of the family. And I want to hear about you and Mr. Tzu Ping and the Five. And how on Earth you came to be the Dragon Warrior... Still haven't heard that story...

I've talked to Captain Benjirou about what to expect in Taiwan... There's apparently a demand for sorghum farmers nowadays. And if I'm lucky, perhaps I can find work as a hired hand once I'm done with this surgery. When your uncle and I were young, Shifu was adamant about us getting an actual job and forbid us from just being lay-around freeloaders that trained every now and then. Every now and then meaning ten hours out the day...so I've had a little bit of experience in the farming business.

Whatever happens to me, son, we will see each other again... Shifu mentioned your capping ceremony is in a few months. I'm not sure how I'm going to do it, but you have my word that I'll be there. Even if I have to disguise myself as an Egyptian camel, I'll find a way. I really am so proud of you, son. And I've missed you... Not just since I've left, but all these past years that I've completely lost myself... Thank you, Po. You saved my life in a way that I couldn't have done myself, and when I didn't deserve it. And I could never say this before...

I love you, Po. And it is the greatest honor of my life to have you for my son. I will let you know if and when I get settled in Kaohsiung, and I look forward to the day we can see each other again. Take care of yourself... Your mother and I are so proud of you.

Love,

Dad

From where he now stood on the snow-powdered heights of Peach Tree Hill, amidst the piling snow and ice, Shifu laid his paw on the barren peach tree and gazed upon its branches. He looked out across the valley, where a low-lying cloud was starting to gently shake snowflakes out upon the village and was blowing a crisp breeze up the mountain. The Grandmaster closed his eyes for a peaceful moment, attention immediately drawn by a dash of color out the corner of his vision when he opened them again.

He turned to look at the tiny peach tree sapling poking out from the snow, strengthened by the anchoring twig Lin Lin had planted for it not long before. The trace of color had come from a tiny pink flower bud nestled comfortably on one of the twigs - the birth of its very first flower.

The End

Wow... So the very beginning of June 2008 is when I first began developing the story for Origins, it was about a year in development before I posted the first chapter in April 2009. And here we are in August 2011, finally done! Thank you all so much for your constant support and feedback! I love you all!

And I'm sorry this took a while. I had a moment of "story senioritis", I guess. I had some discouragement after the sequel came out (IT WAS AMAZING), there was a bit of a vacuum with me trying to figure out classes, I've started a volunteer job, I've had to somehow move my dorm room back to my actual room at home, and a big part of me just had a hard time picturing a schedule where I don't have to work on Origins. But it's done!

And I'm not exactly sure what project I'll have after this... I've kinda thought about trying my hand at a comic, but I know I have a few trades and prizes to complete first. And maybe a story with a whole new set of characters, who knows. What do you guys think?

Later that evening, Po approached Zeng with a return letter to his father. Just before the goose could take off, however, in came Shifu with a scroll of his own. "To Diaw Yu Village, please," he informed the goose.

"Yes, Master Shifu," Zeng bowed his head before gathering both scrolls in a rucksack and taking to the skies.

"...What was that letter?" Po looked at his master.

Shifu glanced at him mysteriously. "Strictly business, Dragon Warrior," he smiled a bit.

Days later, the ever hard-working Zeng reached a tiny fishing village towards the western coast of China. The land was split in little inlets and a broad river cutting right through the center, where fishing junks and nets were scattered about and humble little huts lined the shores.

The gentle sea blue eyes of an aging female panda peeked up over her clothesline, spotting Zeng from afar. Upon noticing the weary goose was approaching her, she laid down the basket in her arms - only to have the messenger tumble right into it and render himself trapped under a pile of bed linens.

"Message from the Jade Palace for Kuang Sumi!"

After she had dug the poor goose out and insisted that he go rest himself at the local tea house, she walked wearily up the front steps of her little hut and opened the scroll. Her eyes needed only to scan across the first few words of the script before she caught her breath.

"G-Gao Jing!"

Another panda, one about Po's age, hurried over to the house yet stopped just short of the front stairs. He and his mother had discussed this many times before - he was never to enter the house while his clothes still smelt of fish. He lowered the net of his most recent catch and looked up as his mother ran out to the stairs with the letter in hand. "What is it, Mama? Are you okay?"

"Message from the Valley of Peace!" Sumi rushed out to meet her son, only to immediately step back again. "Gracious, darling, you smell like sushi."

"What, from Master Oogway?" Gao disregarded the all-to-familiar comment on that one little disconcerting quirk of his job.

"I-It's from Master Shifu... He says that Ju-long is defeated..."

"...Ju-long... The...ones you said killed Dad and Po and Uncle Chang before I was even...born...?"

"Yes, and..." she read further into the letter, faltering. "And he says that he wishes for us to return to the Valley of Peace to meet...the Dragon Warrior!"

Gao Jing nearly choked on a sip from his canteen. "Wha...? When did Master Oogway choose the Dragon Warrior?"

"I think the better question, son..." Sumi glanced up, "...is why would the Dragon Warrior want to meet us?"