20 Father and Son

[Tai Lung's POV]

His face scrunched up to display a stern and serious expression as he opened his eyes. 

His eyes shook and I could see his emotions bubbling up in their depth, yet his expression remained hard and stoic.

"You've aged, Shifu." I said as I carefully observed his white hair and the wrinkles on his face. It has been 20 years but his face seemed to age twice that.

"I can't say the same. You look exactly as you did that day." Shifu said, his voice was laced with too many emotions and a poorly disguised aloofness. I couldn't figure out what he was feeling.

"Indeed. Whatever Oogway did to keep me at bay had stopped my body from moving and even ageing." I said with a chuckle.

"Speaking of which, I heard Oogway had passed. Did you cry for him? Or did you remain stoic like when they took me away?" 

"What do you want Tai Lung?"

"What do you mean Master?" I asked and spread my hand, "I am home."

"This is not your home and I am not your master." He said in a stern voice, seemingly void of emotion but that was because he was feeling too much that he didn't know which emotion to respond to.

Why would you say that? I know you don't mean it.

"Really? Is that how it's going to be?" I asked.

"That is how it must be." He said and got into a stance.

Responsibility and duty. They were chains that held him back from showing his true self. 

Oogway gave him a huge responsibility on his shoulders and he had a duty as the master of the Jade Palace. 

He couldn't even show his true feelings and was wearing a mask.

'That's how it must be huh?' Don't worry, I will break those chains of yours Shifu. I will force your real feelings out.

After all, it is the real Shifu that I wanted to talk to. Not this old Red Panda bound by duty. Not the master of the Jade Palace.

I want to see my father.

"So be it." I said and took to the sky. A modern Snow Leopard can jump as high as 20 feet in the air, now imagine how high I could jump.

I spun in the sky and quickly descended like a meteorite with a hammer kick. Shifu was nimble and had seen my attack coming from miles away.

*BOOOM!!*

The steps cracked and were completely demolished under my kick. I stomped on the ground as a huge boulder was forced off the ground. I gave a sidekick and sent the boulder flying towards Shifu.

"Haaa!!" Shifu yelled and with a Chi-infused attack, he broke the boulder 10 times his size with a green flash.

I knew he was going to do that because behind him was the Jade Palace. Shifu would rather die than see the Jade Palace destroyed. Therefore, instead of easily dodging with his speed, he decided to break the boulder.

I used the rubble as a cover and I suddenly appeared in front of him. I held back most of my strength and launched a kick at him. He managed to block my kick but the force behind my attack sent him flying inside the Jade Palace. His small body broke the closed door in the process.

*BOOOM!!*

"Everything I did was to make you proud!!" I screamed while runninrunning on all fours toward him. I punched at him but he was so fast that he literally disappeared from my eyes and hit me on my abdomen.

I took a step back but no damage. My hide was thick enough to ignore every attack his small body could throw at me. He specializes in speed and knowledge, after all, he was not suited to fight someone like me.

Shifu utilized his insane speed to get behind me and aimed for the back of my neck but I already anticipated his move. I quickly turned around and grabbed his leg before slamming him on the floor.  A web-like crack formed as he gritted his teeth in pain.

He was weaker than me and was way out of his prime. Fighting me was suicide. I knew that and he knew even better.

"Yet you betrayed me!!" I screamed as I felt real anger briefly bubble up inside me. I let my claws free and swiped at him but he moved away. My claws leave a slashing wound on the marble floor.

Shifu collected his breath and took out a dagger from one of the collection in the Jade Palace. Then we blurred from our position, and we met in a clash of claws and blade. A spark of friction dictated a draw so we moved again only to meet at a different place

I tried my best to keep up with Shifu's speed as he used the pillars of the Palace as a foothold to shoot from one place to another.

We continued our calsh as we ended in a draw each time. Not because we were equal in strength but because both of us were holding back. We did not even aim at each other but at our weapons.

Actions speak louder than words, especially for people like us who dedicate ourselves to Kung Fu.

His eyes shook when he realised that I was not aggressive. My attacks held no real anger much less the dark hatred that he was hoping for.

He looked at me, his eyes round and pitiful. He showed an opening in his realization and my trained body took that opening by instinct as I kicked him in his stomach like a football.

His small body was sent crashing through the roof as he flew into the dark, thundering sky. I landed on the ground and with a leap that destroyed the marble floor like glass I shot up like a missile.

When I reached Shifu, I slammed him with a powerful punch that synced with the thunder. A huge shockwave silences the sky as Shifu's small body flew higher.

I kicked the air as hard as I could and the shockwave propelled me upwards again. We were both shooing up the sky and when we finally ran out of momentum, I positioned myself above Shifu and kicked him down from the sky.

His body quickly fell from the sky and he crashed through the roof of the Jade Palace and hit the marble floor.

I propelled myself and fell down twice as fast to the Jade Palace. The air whipped around me as I let out a roar and pulled back my arm to deliver the finishing blow. 

"Hyaaaarh!!!" I yelled as Shifu lay on the marble floor, closing his eyes and a smile on his face.

He accepted his death.

*BOOOOOOOM!!!!!*

A shockwave shook the entire foundation of the Jade Palace and the shockwave tore the outer part of the pillars. 

A huge crater of five feet was carved out of the marble floor as my fist was plated firmly right beside Shifu's head.

"Haaa...haaa...haaa..." I caught my breath as he looked up at me. His eyes were that of confusion and they were shaking.

"You leave me to rot in jail for 20 years." I accused him as his jaw trembled, too stunned to speak. 

He had lost, his duty as the master of the Jade Palace was fulfilled so now he allowed his real feelings to show on his face.

The once stoic mask made way for raw emotions as his face morphed into that of sadness and regret.

I saw my father.

And he was heartbroken.

"I- I have always been proud of you," Shifu said in a heartbreaking voice of whisper.

"I loved you too much to see what you were becoming. Truly, I am sorry." He said and as his heavy voice filled the empty space of the Jade Palace, I felt my heart break.

"No. I don't want your apology. Not for that reason." I said as I looked into his eyes. I allowed my vulnerability to surface but only briefly.

"You gave up on me." I declared as his eyes went wide. I let the silence help him process my words.

After a while, his eyes went wide and his pupils dilated as they gaze upon me. Giant droplets of tears started pouring out of his eyes.

He realized.

I pulled my hand out of the crater and stood up, tall and powerful as I took a step back.

I allowed him to finally look at me after all these years. It was his first time seeing me again.

People see what they want to see instead of the real thing sometimes. That was the case for Shifu who only saw me as a villain and a mistake after what Oogway told him.

But now, he finally saw me.

He saw not only someone with darkness in his heart, not someone who had gone down the wrong path, and not his mistake.

He saw me, Tai Lung. In all that I am.

I was more than just a mistake, more than a villain, more than a dark obsession.

He saw his son.

"When Oogway said he saw darkness in me, I was hoping you'd tell him he was wrong. I thought at least you would take my side and try to save me from whatever it was that Oogway saw but you did nothing."

"At this point, I am not angry nor do I hate you for your actions. But your inaction has hurt me to this day. You stopped believing in me the moment Oogway told you otherwise, does it ever occur to you that I might just need someone to talk to? Someone to teach me? Someone to show me better?" I said as he lowered his head, closing his eyes as tears continued streaming down his cheek.

"You had no faith in me. You believed everything Oogway tells you and you thought I was beyond saving, that you have made a mistake and that's it. Instead of helping me, you abandoned me to a dungeon and let silence and isolation teach me."

"The reason why that cuts me so deep is because I thought of you as a father," I said and my voice became a little shaky, losing its firmness. "What father gives up on his own son?"

That was what had hurt me to this day. I was not like how I used to be, I have gained knowledge and wisdom of a different life. I was capable of analysing the situation as it was, from an outsiders perspective.

He was not wrong.

But I was also his son as much as I was an outsider. And from a son's perspective, I felt my heart bleed at his betrayal.

It was not only my dream but Shifu's that I become the Dragon Warrior. I wanted to be the Dragon Warrior, the hero who saves the world and a source of pride for my father.

And he was always so proud of me, telling me how great I was. He promised me that I was destined to do great things, he pushed me to my limits and I did the same.

Yet when Oogway rejected me, he was not there to console me or explain things to me. As my proud chest fell and my ambition was denied, he did not stay with me and followed Oogway.

It was a dream we both shared, yet when that was broken, he left me on a sinking ship, abandoning me to make do with the broken pieces of a dissolving dream.

I looked at him for guidance and direction when Oogway named me a villain, but he turned his back on me.

'It's the end, Tai Lung. It was my mistake. You can't be saved.' He never believed in me.

My father gave me up for a prophecy.

And that kills me.

.

.

.

He did not belive Po to be the Dragon Warrior since the beginning but be never gave up and in the end, he was able to change.

'You believed in Po.' I wanted to say.

"No..No." Shifu whispered as he put his head on the ground.

Why did you give up on me? Even when I was locked away in the depths of Choch Gom Prison, I waited for him.

My wrath disappeared after the first week of my imprisonment as I waited, waited and waited. Years passed yet he never came.

I thought for sure he'd forgotten me, like a distant dream, a blurry nightmare.

I thought, what kind of father forgets his own son? Only after 20 years and meeting him again did I realise the answer.

I looked at his fragile body. He was small and had red and white furs. My arms came into view as I looked at both myself and him.

The difference was clear. We are nothing alike.

"I realized, I was not your son." The moment those words left my lips, I felt tears fall down from one eye.

I let my feelings go. It was calming.

My heart aches but the end promises rest and respite. 

I closed my eyes and felt all of the emotions in my heart. I did not reject them nor did I run away. I embraced them and the moment for all it's worth.

Somewhere, someway. we went wrong as a father and son. Although I said all of that to him, I knew he was not the only one who had done wrong.

I did as well.

And what I have now is the product of our actions.

A broken son and a broken father.

The silence silences.

..

..

..

That was until Shifu spoke up. For all his weakness and inaction, he decided to speak up at the last moment.

"You will always be my son." He said as he slowly stood up and limped towards me. His eyes were sad and wet.

"From the moment I found you and even to this day. You are my son." He said and looked up at me, a brittle smile made its way on his aged face.

"I realize now, that I was never worthy to be your father. I got a better son than I could ever hope for." He said, "Perhaps you no longer see me as your father but for all my worth, you will always be my son."

He closed his eyes as tears streamed down his face. He opened his arm for a hug.

"I am sorry it took me this long but, welcome home."

I crouched down and took his hug. I felt that warm embrace made me a little bit better, it heals.

We stayed like that for a long time until Shifu eventually passed out in my arms. All of the stress and worrying about me had made him weary, and our fight and the emotional outburst were the final straw.

I gently laid him down on the ground with a smile on my face.

I felt a lot lighter than I did coming home.

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[IMAGE!!]

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