The Tales of the Dragon Warrior

Keeping Up With The Zhanshi's and Other Assorted Personal Issues

After heading back to the barracks and helping Tai-lung wipe the makeup off his face, Jade crawled into bed with Baihe and cuddled up to his warm body. It was ironic how warm and comforting he was, given that he was a literal snake in the movie franchise. As Jade breathed in the comforting scent that lingered on Baihe's person, she felt herself begin to drift off to sleep. And she hadn't even drunk Guan's special tea! Talk about progress. As she felt her consciousness leave her, however, Jade was hit with a single sentence that made her peace of mind leave her.

"You know we're gonna have to tell Master Shifu about our relationship and your relationship with the others, right?", Baihe whispered in her ear, and Jade groaned as she buried her face further in his chest.

"But why though? It's not Shifu's problem who I date.", Jade whined hopelessly. Baihe sighed indulgently at her and began to gently stroke her hair.

"Because Master Shifu is Laofu's father, and believe it or not he might want to know who his son is dating. Also you're the Dragon Warrior, and you're dating every member of the Furious Five.", Baihe explained. Jade could get the first part, but the last but she didn't understand.

"So?", she questioned, looking up at her lover with tired green eyes. Baihe chuckled at her cute expression and started to stroke her cheek instead of her hair.

"So, nothing similar to this has happened before. We all got along fine on and off the battlefield before this, but now we need to figure out how romance fits into everything. If we're not careful, it could mess up the synergy of our team, and add in the fact that Tai-lung will also be joining us as a fellow kung fu master... well, it's something Shifu at least deserves a head's up about. And regular training starts back up again tomorrow, so you can't put off talking to him like you did with us.", Baihe elaborated. Jade winced slightly when he brought up her actions regarding Baihe and the others' confessions, and sighed in resignation when she heard his logic. He had a point... okay several points, but that didn't mean she had to be happy about it.

"Fine. We can tell Shifu at training tomorrow. Now let me sleep.", Jade said, and Baihe's smile widened slightly in triumph.

"Thank you, sweetie.", he said, before leaning down to peck Jade on the lips. Jade blushed, still not used to casual acts of romantic affection, and it wasn't helping that he used that pet name that made her melt even before they got together.

"Yeah yeah.", she grumbled, burying her face back in Baihe's chest.

Really though, Baihe did have a point about the synergy thing. She and the Five may not have really had the chance to fight together in an actual fight against a hostile opponent, but they had trained and sparred together enough that they knew each other's moves and fighting patterns, so well that Jade could even predict some of their moves and knew what moves to do herself to provide support. But she didn't know Tai-lung's fighting style like that, and moreover, she didn't know if the others could fight with him well either. Laofu would probably do well with him, they had grown up and trained together, but she and the rest of the Five? That remained to be seen.

'Oh well.', Jade thought as she finally let sleep claim her.

'I guess I'll find out at training tomorrow. Here's to hoping everything doesn't go horribly wrong.'

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Spoiler alert, it didn't.

Jade, the Five and Tai-lung all made their way to training at a leisurely pace after eating breakfast. During the walk to the training hall, the kung fu masters all casually conversed as if they had been friends for years, including Tai-lung. Jade tried to make sure the white haired man wasn't left out and made a conscious effort to include him in every little thing she and the others did. She did this because she was worried that, since she had just entered a relationship with the Five, she would subconsciously shove Tai-lung aside in favor of spending time with her new lovers, which was the last thing the already emotionally damaged Tai-lung needed. The Five noticed Jade's actions as well, but said nothing about it because they agreed with her sentiment.