Featured Characters: Mai Chi and Kwai Chang

Warnings: None

Warnings: Some Violence (Mild compared to others)

Story Line: A short story about the begining of a family line stretching across time.

Copyright (c) 1998 by Alisa Joaquin
All rights reserved.

Disclaimer: Kung Fu: The Legend Continues is a creation by Michael Sloan and distributed by Warner Brothers. This piece of fiction is based on KF:TLC. No copyright infringement is intended or implied. This work is available to the public for reading. Permission for reproducing this story in another form must be aquired from the author. (If you ask nicely, I may grant it, but all rights revert back to the author after one year.)

(I give permission to archive.)

Kwai Chang sat beside Mai Chi. Several days had passed since she had been injured from the fighting. The old apothecary had disappeared and Kwai Chang Caine and his son Peter were also gone.

Kwai Chang looked down at his forearms. The brands were clearly marked. He could not believe it had been that easy to defeat those that would do them harm. He liked this new skill and knowledge he acquired. Even more so, since the taking of the brands, he was aware of so much more. It was as if he had been elevated to another plain and the universe had been opened to him. A feeling of great responsibility came to him and he realized he would need to make sure that other monks seeking this new way of life would be worthy to know of its mysteries. For as he meditated on these things, he felt whispers as the back of his mind of dark purposes. Kwai Chang examined them and realized they came from his own mind and heart. So, this new found knowledge also had dangers. He was going to have to choose very carefully. Kwai Chang examined his own heart and found both light and dark. Soon he found that a balance of the two was called for, and when he reached it, he felt the chi energy of his being shine and Kwai Chang began to know what it truly meant to be enlightened.

Slowly Mai Chi came awake. Kwai Chang leaned in close and took her hand.

"Peter?" Mai Chi looked into soft gentle eyes but they were not the eyes that she expected.

"Oh, Mai Chi. I am glad to see you are finally awake. I was so worried."

"Where is Peter?"

"He has returned with his father to his own world."

"He tried to tell me that he did not belong here. I did not believe him. Why could he not stay?"

"He had a duty to perform; to teach us to protect ourselves."

"I do not understand why he had to leave."

Kwai Chang debated with himself on whether to reveal the full truth. To know that Kwai Chang Caine and his son were descendants from a distant time in the future did give him comfort, but to reveal it to others may either make him seem like a fool or it could cause great harm in other ways not yet realized. It was a difficult choice but Kwai Chang chose what he thought was what they would have wanted him to choose.

"Peter could not stay, but he wanted me to say he would always keep your memory in his heart."

"I will miss him."

"As will I. He is a very special young man, just like his father." A sadness came into Kwai Chang's eyes that did not go unnoticed.

"You felt a kinship with them."

"Yes."

Mai Chi reached up and cupped Kwai Chang's cheek and realized if it had not been for Peter . . . She could not, did not want to finish the thought. Suddenly, Mai Chi pulled Kwai Chang closer to her and kissed him. Surprise shown on his face, but then he, too, felt something for Mai Chi. She had stood by his side and helped to defend the village and the Temple. In her heart, she was a great fighter. She held a strength of spirit and conviction that at times was lacking in himself. Though he was committed to the Shaolin way of life, that life could be at times quite lonely. To have someone like Mai Chi to turn to when his spirit needed nurturing, gave him comfort. There was also other needs he realized that all monks had and he was no exception. Far too long he had denied himself and in so doing, realized he could be doing more harm than good. Then the words of Caine came to him. Words that spoke a truth that Kwai Chang could not deny.

"The principles of Shaolin will live on. Kung fu will now live on. The two will forever be united in every one of your descendants. . . .Because I am one of them. I am Kwai Chang Caine."

Kwai Chang then knew the need he sought; the need for family. In order so that Kwai Chang Caine and his son were to live, Kwai Chang had to fulfill the duty to begin that line. And he knew just the person that could help him. This time, it was Mai Chi's turn to act surprised when Kwai Chang returned the kiss. It was a beginning. One that Kwai Chang hoped would bear fruit.

End