To his dorms

Po had long learned not to question Shifu. I mean, it was not a lesson that he took to heart, but he learned to trust the small master and to follow his instructions... when he felt like it.

Shifu had told Po to follow him, and the panda was doing what he was told. So, there he was, walking right behind the small master, who limped ahead of him using his cane to help support himself, and had a serious expression on his face, and was unusually silent.

On their way, they met with Zheng, one of the servants of the Jade Palace. That goose worked mostly as a messenger, but he did a little of everything, and he seemed like he was doing something right now, as he crossed the path of the small master, seeing him and the panda following him.

“Oh! Master Shifu! Dragon Warrior! Hello, how are you?” Zheng asked, looking at the two of them. Shifu looked at him for a few moments, and he then nodded.

“We both are fine, Zheng.”

“Oh, that’s good to know.” Zheng said, looking at the panda. “I heard that the Dragon Warrior was feeling sick today.”

“Y-yeah...” Po said, rubbing the back of his head. “I-I am feeling better now. Kinda.”

“But, the Dragon Warrior is still not feeling fully well, so he still cannot engage in training with the Five Furious.” Shifu said, causing Zheng to look at him. “So, I have decided to use a different training for him. Instead of training his body, I’ll be giving him a different type of lesson. I’m teaching him meditation techniques and mental exercises to improve his spirituality and his concentration.”

Zheng looked at him, before he laughed, as if he had just heard a joke. However, the laughter died down when he saw that neither Shifu nor Po were laughing.

“Wait, you are serious?” Zheng asked, and Shifu nodded.

“Yes, I am.” Shifu said, looking at Zheng dead in the eye. “I am taking Po to my private chambers for meditation and focus training, and I need you to tell everyone, including the Five, that for the rest of the day that area of the Jade Palace is off limits. Do you hear me? No one is to come anywhere near my bedroom. I don’t want any disturbance while Po and I are meditating.”

Shifu could be intimidating when he wanted. Not only from his anger, but his seriousness could be even scarier than his fury. Zheng looked at him, and nodded a “yes, master Shifu”, before he scurried away, and Po was sure that Zheng would pass Shifu’s message to everyone, from the other servants to Tigress and the others. With this taken care of, Shifu continued to guide Po to his private dorm.

Po had been in the Jade Palace for a significant amount of time. However, there were still parts of the Palace where he’d never been before. Among them, was Shifu’s chambers. Sure, as the leader of the Jade Palace after Oogway’s passing, Shifu had the right to a few luxuries, including his own private chambers, separated from the students’ dorms. Po assumed that they were better than those of the others, but he could only guess, once he had never been in there before, and neither did some of the Five. Shifu prized his privacy, it seemed.

Now, for the first time, Po could see first hand Shifu’s chambers. And he saw that they were way better than the other dorms.

Not only it was much fancier and much more expensive-looking than the dorms were Po and the Five slept, but it also had much better furniture. It had a few very fancy chests, very beautiful closets, and a bed that was so big that Po and the Five could all lay in there and sleep with no problem.

“So... this is your bedroom...” Po said looking how opulent that bedroom was. “Fancy.”

“It is mostly as Oogway left.” Shifu said, “Of course, there was... less furniture...” He said, and he seemed a bit bashful. Po eyed him, and he shrugged.

“So... are we beginning this now?” Po said, and Shifu looked back at him.

“Huh, so you want to go straight to business, right?” Shifu asked, and Po nodded.

“Sure, I mean, if we are going to do this meditation stuff, then why not start right now? So, we both sit and start focusing on a white light?”

“What? Meditation?” Shifu said, looking at him confusedly, and Po looked back at him with the same confusion.

“Yeah, meditating. Wasn’t it what you told Zheng?” Po said, “By the way, I am not sure if meditating will help me with my heat, but you are the master. So, it is some ancient meditation technique that stops the heat?”

Shifu looked at him for a few moments, before he smacked his own face.

“Oh, Po...” Shifu said, before looking at him. “We are not doing any meditation.”

Po blinked.

“But, you said Zheng...”

“I had to say him that.” Shifu said, looking back at the panda. “I told him that so he will tell it to the others, and we will be fully alone in here. The point is dealing with your heat in secret, ain’t that right?”

Po stared at Shifu with wide eyes.

“You... lied to Zheng?” Po said, sounding like he was in disbelief.

“It was not a lie.” Shifu said, looking back at the panda. “It was an intentional misdirection to avoid sensitive information of reaching unwanted ears.”

“You lied to Zheng!” Po said, pointing at the red panda. “You actually lied to Zheng and made him pass the lie to the rest of the Jade Palace!”

Shifu looked at Po, before sighing.

“Well, sorry for assuming that it was important to keep everything as under wraps as possible.” Shifu said, looking back at the panda. “After all, matters involving heat are very personal, especially for someone as famous and respected as you, Dragon Warrior.”

Po was still reeling for knowing that Shifu was capable at lying at someone’s face like that. However, he recovered, as he remembered that there was a more pressing issue to attend to: the issue of his heat.

“Okay...” Po said, looking at his master. “But... if we are not here to meditate, what are we going to do?”