Chapter 34 - In The Same Boat

i](In this chapter, we find out just how busted cubby Shifu really got.)[/i]

Wu Lian sighed as Shifu came running up the steps clutching onto his face.
Oh dear, what did he do this time? The female red panda walked up to him. “...! Shifu-!? You-your face! My g-od-! Wha-what happened?”
Shifu shook his head and clutched his bloody face. “Never mind...just get me a towel.”
Wu Lian nodded and ran to get a towel.
Gasp. “SHIFII!! What happened to your face?! It's covered in blood!!” Ming Yang shrieked as he ran up to her friend and hugged him.
The cub sighed. “Long story..”
Ming Yang rubbed his head. “Okay Shifi, Wu Lian put the cloth on his head.”
The red panda obeyed. “I'm not letting up until you tell me what happened!”
Shifu narrowed his eyes. “ArghhhHHH! I got into a fight, okay-?!”
Wu Lian seemed very interested now. “Ouu, really? With who?” She pressed.
The cub sighed. “With that brat Akimi!”
Wu Lian chuckled. “Figures..Master Oogway is not going to be pleased.”
Shifu gave a bitter laugh. “Trust me, he wasn't.”
Wu Lian laughed. “Hahaha! He already knows?”
“Yup........I am so going to be punished!”
The female red panda laughed and wagged his melon buns in his face. “Kiss your buns good-bye!”
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
“Hahaha!”
“Shifu, I want to speak with you.” Came a stern voice.
Shifu's ears fell flat against his head. “Oh, no..” He groaned.
Oogway sighed and glared at the cub. “How is your face?”
“........Bloody..”
Oogway sighed once more. “I suspected that much. Come, let's go clean up that face with some medicine.”
Immediately Shifu latched onto the palace's door. “No! Nonononono!! It will hurt!!”
The old tortoise grimaced. “Shifu, I am not in the mood.”
The cub feared that, seeing the look on Oogway's face. “But-”
“Come.”
“But I-”
“NOW.”
“O-okay!” Shifu squeaked and hurried towards the bathhouse.
Wu Lian and Ming Yang patted his shoulders sympathetically and mouthed “good luck.”
Oogway opened the doors to the bathhouse and opened up one of the cabinets. “Found some.” He dampened a cloth and cleaned out the gash with water and soap.
“...........I'm guessing you're mad at me, huh?”
“No, not mad...just disappointed.”
“Isn't that the same thing though?”
“No, not really.” Oogway gently patted some medicine on the cub's face. He began whimpering and tearing up.
“Owowow! Waa! It hurts!!”
The old tortoise scratched between Shifu's ears. A gesture that always calmed and relaxed the red panda immediately.
“....” Shifu smiled, his ears went down lightly, indicating he was enjoying the ear rub. “Mm..”
Oogway's mouth twitched slightly, he found it quite adorable the way Shifu immediately calmed like a baby being rocked in a cradle. “Hmmhmm!” His face immediately turned serious again, he cleared his throat. “Shifu, do you know why I am upset?”
“Is it because I reacted in anger and started fighting Akmi?”
“Yes.”
“...........................Sorry..”
“Shifu, you know that a warrior must always keep calm, under control.”
“She called you a stupid turtle that moves as slow as molasses!”
“I do not care what she called me. For two reasons, one: she is grieving, so her head is probably very messed up right now, mixed emotions. Two: simply because she threw some insults did not give you the right to lose self control and try to kill her, and I know that you know that young man.” Oogway said sternly.
Shifu wrinkled his nose slightly. Young man? That was a new one. “......I guess, I'm sorry master. I guess I just got a little angry....” He sighed. “How long do I lose my buns for this time?”
Oogway laughed. “You will not be punished.”
Shifu was ready to jump for joy. “Great! I didn't think I could handle losing my buns aga-”
“If you apologize.”
And Shifu's mood was shot.
“Hey, umm....Akimi?”
The Shiba Inu turned towards him, she got down on all fours. “Get out of here squirrel boy!!” She snarled.
Shifu took a deep breath and tried to ignore that rude comment. “I wish I could, oh how I wish, but my master is making me apologize.”
Akimi's face softened slightly at that, and the sight of the poor cub's face covered with bloody bandages. He did deserve it...he smashed my pumpkins! Akimi's anger quickly built again. “Get lost!”
“Not until I talk to you!!” Shifu yelled and sat down on one of her seating logs. “Can you just come here for a second?”
“............” Regarding him with cool eyes, Akimi took a seat at the far end of the log. “What do you want?”
“To apologize. I realized that I was really mean..I should never have destroyed your pumpkins or hurt you.”
The Shiba Inu wasn't buying it. “You know your master isn't here, you don't need to fake apology..if he comes I'll just tell him you came and said sorry, it will save us both the time and torture.”
“Look..” Shifu said with a sigh. “I know what you're going through.”
“I'm so sure! Have you lost your family to a typhoon?”
“No, I lost my mother to a lethal illness, my father to a blood thirsty villian two weeks later, and my cousin also died at the vilian's hands......she was stabbed to death.”
Akimi's eyes were wide. “Whoa, are you serious?”
“......Yeah..”
“........I'm sorry..”
Shifu frowned. “What?”
The Shiba Inu sighed. “I'm sorry.” She repeated. “About everything. I should never have said those things, should never have slashed your face, and I'm sorry about what happened to your folks. You're right, that is just as bad as what I'm going through.”
The cub just stared at her, before cracking a smile. “Haha! Oh the irony!”
“What do you mean?”
“I come here to apologize, and you beat me to it.”
The Shiba Inu smiled slightly. “I guess it is...”
Shifu looked at her, she looked at him, then they both burst out laughing.
“Well, it's good to see you two have made up.” Came a wise voice from beyond the bushes, Oogway stepped into the pumpkin patch, he was smiling. “Shifu, you will not be punished.”
“Yay!” The cub squealed.
The old tortoise turned towards the cub. “Now, I wish to speak with Akimi alone.”
“Okay!” The cub chirped and disappeared through the bushes.
Oogway studied Akimi's face, he could see her grief, anger and pain. The old tortoise's face turned sympathetic. “Poor dear..” He murmured and came towards the log. “Mind if I sit here?”
Akimi nodded. “Sure, go ahead.”
“I sense great pain in you young one.”
The pup's eyes immediately flooded and she started sobbing.
Oogway laid a hand on her head and stroked her fur calmly. “I know how you feel Akimi.” Oogway said sadly as he sat down on the log beside her. “I've lost ones I love too..”
Akimi looked up at him. “Really? Who?”
Oogway smiled. “Close family members of my own...” He sighed sadly, pain piercing his heart.
“................So I guess you and I are on the same boat then, huh?”
“Indeed.” The old tortoise smiled at her. “When Shifu became my pupil. He was grieving over the loss of his parents...my students. So I told him if we grieve together, and get through it together that it would be much easier.” He looked hopeful. “Perhaps, you and I could get through it together? It is what your mother wished...”
“............”
“What do you say, will you be my student?”
“................” The Shiba Inu fiddled with her fingers for a moment, before smiling. A real genuine happy smile. “I'd like that..”
Oogway grinned. “Good, let's go tell the others the news, shall we?”
The Shiba Inu wiped her eyes and nodded. “Okay..!”

(Daaaawwwwwww! Oogway is always able to make things better! Hehe! Looks like Shifu and Akimi are finally on good terms..)

Preview of the next chappie!

The rain pelted the trees hard, Oogway was thankful he had a shell. A certain little Shiba Inu had tried to sneak out through the storm to get one of her most precious possesions: her watering can. The old tortoise refused her to go out in such dangerous weather, so he had went himself to find the watering can.
“Nnn...” Came a whimper from underneath the bushes.
Oogway frowned. What was that? He peered underneath the bushes and gasped. A young raccoon was laying limply on her side. Her purple dress was stained with blood.

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