The Yang to His Yin ࿊ ☾𖤓 ( A Lord Shen X Female Reader: Kung Fu Panda 2)

🎼 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚞𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙻𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚂𝚑𝚎𝚗 🎼

———————————————————————————
(A/N's Note): Hello friends and welcome to the next chapter of this story! I know this one has been a bit of a wait for it... however I think it will very much be worth it! I do hope you all enjoy this one! Not much longer to go till we reach the end! Ahhh! Also thank you for 2.8k reads so far! I hope we can reach 3K before the end of this story! But for now, please do like this chapter! A~ xoxo
———————————————————————————

The night was heavy with silence, except for the constant sound of Shen's pacing in the hallway. Y/N had tried to ignore it for hours, turning over and over in her old bed, hoping the dull rhythm would eventually lull her to sleep. But the relentless footsteps, the occasional soft brush of his feathers as he moved, gnawed at her nerves. She squeezed her eyes shut, gripping her pillow, hoping it would all just stop. But it didn't. With a frustrated sigh, Y/N threw off her blanket and stormed out of her room, sliding the door open with a loud slam.

There he was. Shen, pacing back and forth like a restless ghost haunting the halls of his own ancestral home. His silver and white feathers shimmered faintly under the dim light of the moon filtering through the windows.

"What are you doing?" Y/N asked, her voice a sharp whisper as she stood in the doorway. "It's the middle of the night. You should be resting."

Shen didn't stop pacing. His crimson eyes flicked toward her, cold and detached. "I could ask the same of you."

Y/N scoffed, crossing her arms as she leaned against the doorframe. "I'm awake because you're pacing around like a madman. Seriously, Shen, get some sleep. This isn't doing you any good."

Shen rolled his eyes, his feathers ruffling in annoyance as he turned away from her. "I don't need your advice, Y/N. I'm fine."

"Clearly," she muttered under her breath, though loud enough for him to hear. She pushed off the doorframe, following him as he made his way into the kitchen. "You're not fine. You've been pacing for weeks now, refusing to rest, refusing to talk about anything important. You can't keep running from this."

Shen stopped in front of the counter, his feathers fumbling with the tea set as he attempted to make some tea. Y/N could see his movements were tense, almost mechanical. The weight of everything unspoken between them hung thick in the air. She moved closer, her gaze softening despite her frustration.

"Shen, just stop for a second," she pleaded. "We need to talk about this—about us—about everything."

He didn't respond, his feathers twitching as he continued to busy himself with the tea. But then, without warning, the teapot clattered to the ground. Y/N yelped and moved back to avoid getting hit by any of the shards with her hands in the air as Shen stood still for a moment, staring at the shattered pieces on the floor, before he finally snapped.

"I can't do this anymore!" His voice echoed through the kitchen, raw and full of anguish. He turned to face her, his chest heaving with emotion. "I can't stand hearing you so upset, so...distant! I tried to stay away. I tried to give you time. But I—" His voice broke, and for a moment, he looked utterly lost. "I couldn't stay away, Y/N. I love you. I've always loved you."

Y/N stood frozen, her breath catching in her throat as his words washed over her. She had never seen Shen like this—so vulnerable, so raw. His outburst was like a dam breaking, all the emotions he had bottled up spilling out at once.

"I didn't want you to be hurt," Shen continued, his voice quieter now, almost a whisper. "Seeing you after my...'death'...it broke me. I wanted to come back sooner, but every time I tried, I couldn't. I didn't know how. I was a coward."