Dusk was creeping over the city and the candles the ancient had lit shed an eerie light over the terrace. Peter Caine sat on the floor in a half lotus position, his arms with their still tender burns resting on his legs.

Eyes closed, he waited for Lo Si to begin tending his wounds.

Images of his father sitting at a campfire flashed through his mind and he listened to the disembodied soothing melody of a flute. A faint smile crossed his lips. Instinctively he knew that he had received a projection of what his father was doing at that very moment. At least, he now knew his father was well.

Everything had changed so suddenly for Peter. Receiving the brands of tiger and dragon and accepting the full responsibility of a Shaolin, not being a cop any more, his father leaving without feeling abandoned and feeling for the first time in his life his strength and confidence in his abilities.

Peter felt a soft breeze ripple through the leaves of the plants and opened his eyes to see Lo Si approach. The Ancient bent down and carefully began to apply an ointment to the wounds.

The old man had told him that he was so proud of him and that he felt slightly younger. Through this event he remembered the time when his burns freshly marked his own flesh.

The younger man intensely watched Lo Si's face, as if he tried to memorize every wrinkle and line. He was so fond of this man, whom he cared for like a grandfather, but still there were questions unanswered.

Lo Si seemed to know what Peter was thinking. He smiled a little as he turned round to take the medicine back to the shelves of the apothecary.

The young Caine collected all his courage and addressed the older man at his return "Lo Si, I would like to ask you something. It might be that I don't get an answer. But perhaps taking the brands has given me enough creditability for you to honor me with one."

Lo Si stopped in front of Peter and folded his hands in front of his belly. "So?"

Permission granted, the long withheld questions erupted from his mouth: "Forgive me for asking so bluntly. Were you at first temple? Were you ever known by the name Ping Hai?"

The old man seemed to be taken aback. Without bothering to answer he turned on his heels and went back inside the apartment where he began to rummage through different drawers.

'Great!' Peter thought. 'There's an old man that I dearly care for and I managed to screw everything up again...' He closed his eyes, tried to relax his feet and leaned his head against the brick wall.

Then he heard soft footsteps coming nearer. He barely opened his eyes to find out, what Lo Si was up to. The old man positioned a small bamboo table besides him, and then padded off to return with a scroll which he laid on top of it. On his next trip he brought a tray with cups of tea with him. The scent of herbs filled the air.

"Peter!" Lo Si's voice called him softly. "Have some tea with me! It will help you to regain your strength. The night is young and the story I'm going to tell you will enlighten you!"

After taking some careful sips of hot tea the Ancient began:

"As you might have guessed, I am related to the apothecary of the first temple. But no, I am not him. Almost all the men of my family who were honored with the title of a Shambala master lived to a great age - but not a thousand years! However, our line shares one special ability: when we meditate we are able to see through the eyes of our ancestors. And so I was able to look through his eyes and watch over you, over Mei Chi, and later over her family - and her son."

This got Peter's attention. "Her son? Lo Si, she was unconscious when we left and I wasn't sure. I thought something had changed in her aura...." He stuttered "Was she...is he...was he my child?"

The old man patted his arm in sympathy. "Yes, he was."

A surge of pain rippled through Peter's nerves. His heart ached for the loss of his son. Having endured a time without a father himself he knew how much the little boy had suffered, because he had to abandon him in time.

Immediately he felt his fathers presence. "Father! I've lost my son! Mei Chi was his mother, I didn't know him! He has been gone for a very long time and it pains me like death! How much worse must it have been for you!" Caine sent him courage, understanding and sympathy.

"I had a son!" Peter exclaimed. "What was his name Lo Si, could you see him?"

The Ancient took Peter's hands in his and tried to slow his breath.

"Yes, I could - and to fully understand, you will have to see him, too. However, first let me tell you this: The apothecary was able to arrange a marriage for Mei Chi shortly after she conceived your son. He was a rich man who could protect her. But he had no taste for the female touch. He was confronted with a predicament: his aversion to the female sex was at odds with the expectation of his family for him to marry and present an heir. Their union served both their purposes. They lived their lives in total ignorance of each other, but Mei Chi and her son had everything a man of that time could provide." Lo Si squeezed Peter's hands. "And she never stopped loving you!"

The young man gathered his strength and calmed down. Under the guidance of the Ancient he focused on the light of a candle. They united their chi's and Peter felt Lo Si tugging him gently through time. "You will not be able to take your body with you, but perhaps you can at least speak to her!" he heard the old man's voice whisper gently.

Peter watched Mei Chi through her grandfather's eyes. She was awaking from her coma, grieving over her loss, almost despairing and yearning for death, until she realized that the moon had waxed, waned and grown full again without her normal womanly cycle occurring.

When she realized that she carried Peter's child, she gathered all her remaining strength and clung to life. No matter what happened to her, she would protect this proof of his love!

Her wise grandfather provided a solution for her dilemma. At first she wouldn't give in, sheltering a tender hope in her heart that Peter would return. But her grandfather made it very clear that this was a delusion and that Peter would have expected her to protect their child.

Chinese society despised bastards and the only chance for a lone mother might be to give up her child. Something Mei Chi would never do. So she grudgingly agreed to marry the man her grandfather had chosen for her.

Then time rapidly passed by and they watched Mei Chi giving birth to a son. She could only admit in her heart, that his father was Peter.

He was presented to the family of her husband as its heir and was raised as such. As his birth was written down into the lineage of the family, Mei Chi decided to write secretly her own. The baby was sleeping in it's cradle as she wrote: "Mei Chi and Peter Caine, loving, but not married because of fate, had a son, in honour of his great-grandfather named Wang Ho."

Peter knew that he was watching everything through the eyes of the old apothecary, but as he saw his son, his spirit drifted aloft and he knelt by him.

Lost in thought he said "He is so tiny and so beautiful, Mei Chi!"

Mei Chi screamed in terror only to press her hands immediately across her mouth, so that the noise would not reach the ears of nosy servants.

"Peter!" she whispered and tried to reach him with an outstretched hand. "Is that you my love?" He took a step towards her and looked into her loving eyes "I am here, my love, but we don't have much time. I am so proud of you. I crossed the river of time to tell you this. You will always be in my heart and my soul." He bent to kiss her, but being merely a spirit he didn't feel a physical sensation.

It seemed like hundreds of tiny exploding stars caressed softly their lips, engulfing them in the light of their united souls. The moment seemed to continue forever, until Peter's heart remembered the heartache he felt about the old loss of his father and the loss of his son not so long ago.
He addressed the grandfather, Mei Chi still in his spiritual embrace. "I want him to know that I love him, and that I am proud of him - that he will be part of my heart, wherever I go. Help me, please?"

The old man went to the table, where the paper Mei Chi was working at, still lay.
"Come here, Peter! Now try to take the brush. I will help you!"

As Peter tried to take it, his fingers became solid, and with the help of the old man he wrote a short letter to his son. Lo Si guided his hand writing Chinese, but he signed it in his usual hand. The last ounce of strength he saved to caress Mei Chi's and the baby's faces one last time. Finally his hand became starlight again and with a last whispered "I love you both!" Peter was guided by the Ancient back through time.

On their way through the ages Peter saw the faces of their descendants. First babies, than men or women, having families of their own, passing away in the tides of the centuries until, at last, they caught a glimpse of his father's temple.

The swirling sensation ended and they were sitting exhausted on the terrace. Caine's Apartment shone in brilliant moonlight.

Lo Si groaned and flexed his fingers. He watched carefully as Peter wiped away the tears he had shed on this journey. Tears for the loss of Mei Chi and his son.

With the picture of the temple vivid in his memory, Peter looked closely at Lo Si.

The old man sighed, "Your father pointed out that you might ask me about being Ping Hai before he left. It gave me some time to prepare myself." He paused slightly and gathered some inner strength before he addressed Peter.

"As you might have guessed I was Ping Hai at the temple. I know how much pain I caused you and your father. I am awfully sorry! However, knowing your enemies and your vital part in preserving the future I had to do what I did."

Peter sighed deeply, letting out the breath he wasn't even aware he had been holding. "But why did you separate my father and me?" asked Peter, impatient again, hoping his luck would hold and he would get more answers. "And how could you know that I was the one to save the first temple?"

"Because of this" Lo Si said and handed him a small piece of paper. It was old and worn, with words in Chinese and a signature which hadn't faded through the centuries. It read: "Peter Caine". Peter caressed the piece of paper he had written as it seemed, only minutes before.

The Ancient continued: "It is a prized family heirloom. As the temple was destroyed I had to make your enemies believe that you were dead. It was the proof, you see, you had to return in time, or the Shaolin would never exist! You had to be strong! You would have been too easy to spot at your father's side and he was very protective of you. Perhaps you would not have gained as much fury and strength as was needed."

Peter started to protest and defend his father but then stopped. Lo Si was right. His father's overprotection had driven him more than once out of his mind.

"Super-Pop!" he thought with a soft chuckle imagining his father. Caine senior's chi reached out and mentally scolded him.

His father also let him know that he understood Lo Si's line of reasoning. He had forgiven him long time ago. Kwai Chang Caine had also encouraged the Ancient to keep the proofs of his line of reasoning stowed away in this apartment. He knew Peter would return to this place to gather his strength.

"As to the question of my age..." the Ancient continued, "I will not answer that! It would ruin my chances with the ladies!" Peters face spread into a wide grin. Well, Lo Si was a charmer, for sure...

The old weathered hands took another scroll of very old paper from the small bamboo table and unfurled it. He pointed at the last paragraphs, showing Peter the names listing his ancestry.

"Here is my name!" Lo Si said. "And these are the names of my loved ones. As you can see, and I really regret to say it, I am neither your great-grandfather nor a more distant relative of this generation"

Peter was somehow a little bit disappointed. He had felt quite comfortable with the notion of being someway related to this dear old man. Even if this relationship would be a far related branch of the family. But to his astonishment, Lo Si didn't seem to be finished.

"See Peter, " Lo Si said and further unrolled the old scroll, this time pointing to the top.

"This is the written history of my family, written and preserved over the centuries."
His fingers pointed at some names and dates. "This is were we came to America, the Chinese revolution, and further back in time..." he pointed to the very top of the scroll. "These are the names of the ancestors all members of my family descend from, highly regarded and always honored. "

Peter felt both his father and the Ancient enveloping him with their chi. He bent forward to read the names: "Mei Chi and Peter Caine, loving, but not married because of fate, had a son, in honour of his great-grandfather named Wang Ho"

Peters mind struggled to catch the meaning as Lo Si, still sitting next to him, bowed.

Then, measuring the millennium of time with one elegant gesture he said: "Well Peter, as a matter of fact I am not your ancestor. As a matter of fact, you are mine!"

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