Jackie Chan Adventures: J: Enesis

CHAPTER SIX

The winds of temporal change swayed Jackie to the left and right once again. He again couldn't properly adjust and received some mild shocks as he stirred ever so slightly from his rest.

Observing him in his present were young Jade and Paco, who were checking his pulse on his arms

"How is he?" asked El Toro.

"His pulse is jumping higher than a vanilla midget" said Jade.

"Jade, mind your place, our crop of talent deserve more respect than that" said Paco.

Jade looked at him sheepishly, "Gee Paco, I'm sorry, guess I'm letting Jackie's condition really dictate my moods. Same gesture to you El Toro"

"Think nothing of it. I am honoured you are actually well versed in professional wrestling terminology...even if it comes from the negative corners of our business" complimented El Toro.

"All the flashy moves you guys do, all the flashy moves Jackie does, and it doesn't seem to be helping him combat this experience at all...I hope his inner spirits are taking his inner demons to task" Jade remarked.

Within the mists of time, Jackie's journey subsided and he found himself back at the beach on the outskirts of the main village in the Dragon Valleys. A tall cylinder-shaped hut now stood overlooking the Warf where he had last seen Shendu and Jade make out.

He could spot Shendu a few meters away from the hut sun-bathing, soaking up the energies of the friendly solar giant he likened himself to. From out of the hut emerged Jade, dressed in a purple and black velvet dress, barefoot, cradling in her arms a small infant Dragon being.

"Your son" Jackie observed.

"Let priorities slip from your mind in the midst of a romance and what you get out of those months is that" Jade admitted.

"How could you allow it to go this far?" Jackie asked, scratching his head in befuddlement

"War teaches us all the wrong things...it doesn't teach you to listen, only to act on instinct. I was lucky enough to have you holding my hand whenever I dived into battle, but here, I was on my own, with a lifetime of choices that never exposed my heart fully to the sensations I was indulging in now. In those eleven months I questioned everything, I even wondered if I would ever truly want to come home...I wanted to stay with my inner and outer Demons. I was angry initially with myself, then with you for teaching me to see so many positives in life, then I forgave. Starting with you, and then...I forgave him. I forgave Shendu. For all he had yet to do wrong. And I let him take me as his rightful prize"

"There was always a dark ember of your soul in there Jade, we saw it awakened when you became Queen of the Shadow-Khan" Jackie commented.

Jackie and Jade observed the two lovers as they again demonstrated the strength of their bond with another expression of love as their lips came together. The baby Dragon began to cry.

Jade shushed him, rocking him gently; Shendu got up and gave the child a tickle on the tummy, and gave him a puff of smoke from his nostrils that the baby inhaled through his own. It seemed to sooth him.

"Little Drago shouldn't grow to be an avid smoker" Jade said as she stroked the scales on the back of her child's head.

As soon as the name was dropped, Jackie shook his head.

"...Oh Jade"

"My fire ignites his own. In that sense our bond will never break."

"Yeah, well, you can bring light to the tyke's life for a few more minutes, I need to set a reminder for myself"

Jade handed Drago over to Shendu and went back into the hut, sat down, and pulled out a small object from a drawer that Jackie recognized as the Orchant.

"That's the weird mirror thingy that took me on this time travail in the first place" Jackie said

"Yep. We developed it ourselves back when we had Shendu in custody" Jade replied.

"Oh really? He didn't just create it out of the kindness of his heart?" Jackie remarked sarcastically.

Jade looked at him tensely. Jackie's face continued to sink into itself. He placed a palm to his features and breathed deep.

"He did didn't he? At some point, he correctly deduced you would go back in time and become his bride"

"Maybe...I don't know, he may have always known. We shared more than our bodies and minds with one another, we shared our Chi. He could have easily picked up on my scent when we first met from my side of things...but whatever, it's time travel right? It's a chore"

The two watched as the Jade of this timeline looked into the mirror and began to make an entry.

"Jackie...if you..." she began, but she put the mirror down.

"No" she said, "No, I've got to make sure the right person hears this so things need not get too out of hand, or too into the Dark Hand" she said

She picked the mirror up and resumed.

"Shendu...if you're watching this..." she said, when suddenly the sound of a tense struggle alerted her to something going on outside.

She darted out of the hut to find Shendu shackled in chains of warm golden radiant energy. Drago was now in the arms of a figure she had not seen in almost a year, a figure she had let slip from her mind like so many priorities in the desire for some personal time, personal release, from her burdens.

"I trust the irony of sharing fire in an area surrounded by water has not been lost on you" the impish figure spoke.

"DaoLong Wong!" Jade replied in alarmp˞V���d