The Tales of the Dragon Warrior

Love is Like Soup, Breaking Chains and Traumatizing Shifu

A few days after the incident with Vashir, Jade had stopped suffering from the venom's side effects and was safely able to go about her usual business... not that she did that all that safely to begin with, but at least she wasn't in danger of randomly keeling over at any second any more.

Currently, Jade was alone in the barracks kitchen, trying to make herself a snack. The Five and Tai-lung were out doing other things, so for the first time in a while, she was completely alone. Jade hummed the tune of some early 2000's song she couldn't remember as she stole some of Hou's almond cookies from his secret jar in the back of the pantry. While she was doing this, she didn't notice Tai-lung walking into the kitchen. When the man saw her, he smiled and leaned against the doorway with crossed arms, content simply watching the girl go about her business.

Tai-lung had come to a startling realization over the last few days Jade had spent in recovery; that realization was that he was in love with the Dragon Warrior. It shouldn't have been as shocking as it was, though. The signs that he was developing feelings were there; the fact that he thought Jade was cute when he first met her, the warm feelings he got in his chest when she was around, the way he paid more attention than almost anyone else, all of those things were hints that he was catching feelings. But spending five years locked inside a mountain didn't really help one's emotional intuition, so Tai-lung had just figured out what he was feeling. And being locked away didn't help his social skills either, so now, he was aware of his feelings, but at a complete loss for how to tell Jade about them and (hopefully) not get rejected.

He could go the Laofu route and just kiss her, but he didn't want to freak her out like his brother and his friends ended up doing when they chose that option. So he was going to have to take a different approach.

'But what should that approach be?', Tai-lung thought as he continued to watch Jade, who was still unaware of his presence.

Should he write her a letter? No, he was shit at writing. What about a grand gesture? No, that would just get the same reaction as the Laofu method. Maybe he could be subtle about it and just drop some hints? No, Jade was as dense as a brick wall when it came to love and wouldn't catch on. Tai-lung scowled as he realized he was out of ideas.

'Great, now I've got even less of an idea of what I should do. Maybe I should get some advice. I mean, there's got to be someone who knows how to tell someone you love them in the right way.', Tai-lung thought. Then he gasped and smiled as he realized who that 'someone' was.

'I know, I'll ask Father! He's been around for a long time, surely he knows how to handle this!', Tai-lung exclaimed mentally. It was a flawless plan. His father, while he didn't know everything, was extremely wise. He definitely knew what Tai-lung had to do to confess to Jade!

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"I'm sorry my son, but I have no idea what you should do.", Shifu said without turning around to face his child as he continued carving a small statue of a red panda out of wood. He had some rare freetime, and he was using it to relax and further his hobbies by the Moon Pool. Tai-lung gaped at Shifu in bewilderment.

"But Father, you're a wise master with decades of experience! You've gotta know something about love!", Tai-lung said imploringly. Shifu sighed tiredly, put down his half-carved figurine and knife, and turned around to look at his son.

"I am a wise master with decades of experience in kung fu. Love is an entirely different story. If I was wise in the ways of love, you and Laofu would have had a mother. So, sorry to say, but I can't help you. Go ask your brother if you need advice.", Shifu elaborated, before turning back around and resuming his task. Tai-lung scowled at his father's useless response and marched off to find his brother.