Chapter Six- Life For a Life

"You're insane." Po said. "I can't do that!"

"Po, it's the only way." Destiny said. "I can't think of anything else that would work. All you have to do is create a distraction and Shifu and I will do the rest." Po glanced at his master. Shifu smiled encouragingly.

"Are you sure?" Po asked.

"It'll work Po." Shifu said. "You just have to believe it. Show Dai what the Dragon Warrior can do."

"I can't do anything." Po said sadly. "I can't do anything right. You died, I just barely beat Tai Lung, and now, I'm about to die by the hands of a dragon!"

"Po, have faith." Destiny said. "We believe in you." Shifu nodded. Po sighed.

"I'm still not sure." He said.

Shifu groaned. "How about this: do it, or I'll sentence you to dish cleaning duty for the rest of your life."

Po froze. "You're dead, you can't do that."

"Grandmaster Tigress can." Destiny said. Po groaned.

"Fine, I'll do it." He said. Destiny smiled and she and Shifu ran off. Po stopped Shifu.

"Master, I….uh….." Po started.

"What is it?" Shifu asked. Po sighed.

"I'm sorry." Po said. "I could've done something to save you and I didn't do it."

"Po, it was fate." Shifu said, placing a paw on his panda student's shoulder. "Think about it this way: you saw me again, so I won't be gone forever. I'll visit when I can." Po smiled. Shifu joined Destiny and Po took a deep breath.

"It's time to feel the thunder." Po said. He jumped out from behind the table…..

……and Dai was right in front of him. Po gulped, spun around, and ran for his life.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed. "Mommy!"

Across the courtyard, Destiny rolled her eyes.

"Our hero." She said sarcastically.

"Well, at least he's staying alive." Shifu said.

"To this day, I still wonder why I made him the Dragon Warrior." Destiny said.

"Let's hurry." Shifu said. Destiny nodded and they got to work. Shifu made a fireball in his hands and held it out. Destiny hovered her hands over the flames and chanted a spell.

Meanwhile, Po was desperately trying to dodge Dai before he ate him. Dai kept coming until he was tackled by something. Po stopped running and looked behind him, his mouth agape.

Destiny had used the fire Shifu made to become a Chinese dragon made completely of fire.

Po noticed out of the corner of his eye that Shifu was still holding the fireball in his paws and was using what strength he had to keep it alive. Po turned back to Destiny as she and Dai battled like wild animals. Destiny burned Dai every time Dai tried to hurt her. Dai would try and bite Destiny, but he kept burning his mouth. Then, Dai roared to the sky loudly. It was so loud that the Five woke up. Everyone looked to the sky as large, black clouds gathered. Then, there was a heavy downpour of rain. The fire in Shifu's hands went out, and so did the fire dragon surrounding Destiny. Dai attacked Destiny as it continued to rain.

Shifu ran forward, despite being weak. He leaped up towards Dai's face. Unfortunately, Dai saw him coming. Everyone on the ground watched with horror as Dai opened his mouth and snapped it shut. Shifu was now stuck inside the black dragon's mouth. Dai smiled, and then swallowed.

But then he frowned.

And he started gagging.

Then Dai started making all sorts of weird noises. He made a weird sound with his nose, as though it was plugged up. Then, an amazing sight was laid before the warriors and Destiny.

They saw Shifu in Dai's eyeball.

Shifu scurried upwards and there were lights seen. Dai screamed, holding his head. The Five, Po, and Destiny watched with shock and horror as columns of fire shot out thru Dai's eyes, mouth, nostrils, mouth, and the top of his head. Then, Dai fell to the ground, dead. It seemed like a long minute before Tigress ventured towards the dead dragon.

Then, there was a large explosion of bright light. Everyone but Destiny shielded their eyes. When the light died, Po and the Five noticed a big change.

The courtyard had been changed back to the way they saw it when they had come. But it looked, better. The columns seemed fuller and with a lot less cracks. The one Destiny crashed into was fully repaired. The stone table had a wave design on the sides. Narrisa was back, standing side-by-side with her sister. Both of them were smiling.

"Where's Shifu?" Viper asked, noticing her master's ghost wasn't there.

"Relax." Narrisa said. "The old-"

"Don't call him a rat." Destiny said. "Lest you want people yelling at you."

"Fine." Narrisa said. "Shifu is fine."

"He is at home, resting from his battles from Tai Lung and Dai." Destiny said.

"What?" Po asked. The Five stuttered.

"Remember what I said?" Narrisa asked. "To bring someone back to life, someone else must die; life and death must stay in balance."

"But who died?" Crane asked.

"Shifu killed Dai." Narrisa said. "He was mortal; I am immortal, so that's why I'm alive."

"So, Shifu's alive?" Monkey asked.

"You bet." Destiny said. "But please, it will be dark when you get home, so let him rest."

"Absolutely." Tigress said, bowing to the two immortals. The others copied before running off back to the boat. Destiny smiled. Narrisa rolled her eyes.

"I can't believe I fell for Dai." Narrisa said. "We've been going out for three hundred years, and he was just after my powers."

"The point is, Shifu saved your life." Destiny said.

"I'll never thank him personally." Narrisa said. "You thank him for me."

"Oh shut up!" Destiny said. "You're glad he's back." Narrisa smiled.

"Yeah, I am." She admitted.

The two sisters laughed.

*****

After a way too slow boat ride and a quick sprint to the Jade Palace, the Five and Po quietly sneaked to Shifu's room. Tigress opened the door quietly and they peered in. It took all the willpower Shifu's students had to not cheer so loudly.

Shifu was asleep on his bed. His scratch marks and burns were completely gone, and everyone could see the heavy rise and fall of Shifu's chest has he slept heavily. Tigress motioned everyone away and led them to the bunkhouse.

"At least he's alive." Tigress said.

"Yeah." Mantis yawned. "But let's go to bed. I'm bushed." Everyone agreed and went to bed.

*****

The next morning, everyone slept in. When they all did wake up, they were surprised and a bit scared. Shifu wasn't anywhere in his room and not in the kitchen. He wasn't even at the Sacred Peach Tree. Everyone got really worried, thinking something bad happened to their master. But when they went to train, they were very relieved.

Master Shifu was on the training equipment. He started out on the Seven Talon Rings, swinging around and jumping thru them before dropping down to the Seven Swinging Clubs of Instant Oblivion. He dodged every one of the clubs before standing his ground and breaking three at once. Shifu jumped to the Jade Tortoise of Wisdom. He deflected two of the three arrows shot at him. The third he caught and tossed it aside. He sped thru the Gauntlet of Wooden Warriors, dodging and blocking before leaping to the Field of Fiery Death. Shifu dodged all the flames, but Po guessed it was because of his fire bending powers. For the finale, Shifu leaped high up, thru the roof (note that there really isn't a roof except for beams that makes squares open to the sky), into the air, and landed softly inside the Jade Tortoise of Wisdom. He landed dead center, and he didn't make the bowl move an inch. Shifu sighed and jumped out of the bowl, walking to the Adversary and promptly kicking it thru the wall. The Five and Po clapped. Their master turned to them and smiled broadly. His students walked to him and bowed in respect.

"Students." Shifu said. "I'm eternally grateful."

"Well, you were the one who defeated Dai." Mantis said.

"Yeah, that fire bending stuff was amazing!" Po said, reducing himself to his fan boyish instincts. "Can you show us how you do that?"

"I'm afraid not." Shifu said. His students look confused. "I gave my fire bending abilities back to Destiny, to hold onto until I need them."

"But you could use it to-" Monkey started.

"I don't want to use it yet." Shifu said. "I don't feel responsible enough for that. Nor do I feel like I'm trained to use it."

"But those moves!" Crane said.

"That was impressive." Tigress said.

"But I didn't find out I had those powers until I was five." Shifu said. "I wanted to get rid of them, but I couldn't. So Destiny just held onto them for me until I wanted them. Otherwise, Destiny will hold onto them and use them for herself."

"It was still cool." Po said.

"I guess I could've used them in my battle with Tai Lung." Shifu said. "Maybe then this mess wouldn't have happened."

"What mess?" Viper asked.

"You know; what happened after I died." Shifu said. "Tigress never left my side, Po almost murdered himself, and if I had never suggested going to Destiny and Narrisa, you all wouldn't have gotten hurt by Dai."

"We'd do anything for you, Master." Po said. Shifu smiled.

"Well, how about this: to pay you all back for saving me, you can have the rest of the day off." Shifu said. The Five and Po broke out into wide smiles. Then, Po smirked.

"I hear Narrisa say that you set her tail on fire." He teased.

"I was young and out of control!" Shifu protested. "It's not my fault."

"Sure it's not." Po said, turning and walking out the door. "Then I guess it wouldn't be your fault either if I kicked your butt in a sparring match." Po turned and smirked. The Five smiled, looking towards their master. Shifu smiled evilly.

"You're on."

A/N: Finished! Whew. What a story. Hope you all enjoyed!