A Smile with Sad Eyes
Chapter 1
It was evening in the Valley of Peace, and the nursery school was just letting out. A small army of tiny rabbits, ducks and pigs flooded out of the building, dissipating as each one ran towards their respective parents, and amidst this array of greetings, there emerged a small, very round anomaly.
A young, adorably chubby female panda ran out of the nursery, and looked around with an eager smile, that quickly turned into puzzlement. Her father was nowhere to be seen.
"Xiao!". The panda turned around. Her uncle, Master Monkey, was sat smiling on the rooftop of the building opposite the schoolyard. She giggled and ran to the bottom of the building, watched by some of the other kids with envious eyes.
"Hey Uncle Monkey! Where's Daddy?"
"Your father had some training to finish, so I offered to pick you up instead!"
"Oh" Xiao, short for Xiaoling, was a little disappointed. Daddy used to pick her up from school all the time, carrying her on his shoulders and usually ducking into Grandpa's noodle shop for quick snack, about 3 bowls of noodles each. Now he was always training, kinda like… Still, it wasn't too bad. Especially on days when Uncle Monkey got to pick her up from school. Monkey swung down by his tail, scooped her up before fans swamped him, and put her on his back.
"Oof! You've been visiting your grandpa a lot lately haven't you?" Monkey said.
"Huh?"
"Nothing. Ok, hold on tight!" Xiao wrapped her arms around his neck and hung down his back like a cape, looking over his shoulder.
"Go! Go! Go!" Both of them laughing, Monkey darted off, leaping and swinging and somersaulting over the buildings, making overly dramatic "hi-YA!" noises with each leap for her amusement. Xiao was laughing and whooping and screaming with joy. This was why she loved it when Uncle Monkey picked her up from school.
Eventually, they landed at the entrance of the Jade Palace, where her uncles, Mantis and Crane, and aunt Viper greeted them.
"Hey Xiao! How was school?" Xiao slid off Monkey's back, dizzy from the ride home, and stumbled around giggling.
"That was fun! Again!"
"Monkey, did you take her over the rooftops again?"
"Maybe…" Viper sighed.
"Xiao. Xiao!" She felt Aunt Viper's tail turn her around to face her, and she tried to focus on her face. "Hey, eyes here! How was school?"
"Boring! Why do I have to keep going? It's not fair! I wanna learn kung fu!" She tried to do a spinning kick, but because she was still a little dizzy she fell over.
"You sound like me when I was your age." Mantis said, grinning.
Viper offered her tail and helped Xiao up.
"Because Xiao, even the Dragon Warrior had to go to school."
"Hmph!" Xiao pouted.
"Xiao, education is an import…"
"Is daddy in the training hall?" Viper sighed again. Xiao was clearly learning concentration from her father.
"Yes…"
They watched Xiao charge off. Despite her roundness, she was fast.
Xiao opened the door to the training hall and found her dad with Grandpa Shifu. Dad was showing him how to make the green lights come out of their hands again. Dad called it "chi".
"Daddy!" Po turned and beamed brightly at her. Shifu sighed at the prospect of another generation's worth of interruptions to look forward to.
"Hey! There's my favourite little dumpling!" Xiao leapt into his arms for a hug and giggled as he began tickling her. "How was your day?"
"Boring! Teacher never talks about anything fun! It's always numbers and how to make words!" Po laughed.
"Now Xiao, I know teachers are old and boring and cranky… no offence" he added, directed at Shifu. "But they're trying to make you into the best you you can be!"
"But numbers are dumb! I wanna be a Kung Fu master! I wanna kick butt!" At this she threw out a punch. "I don't need to know that 5+3 is 7!"
"Xaio," Shifu interjected. "Like I once told your father, "If you only do what you can do, you will never be more than you are now." If you don't try new things you will never grow as person."
"So if I don't know numbers I won't grow up and I'll be small forever like Uncle Mantis?!" She let out a gasp of realisation "Is Uncle Mantis really dumb?!" Shifu slapped his head in his hand.
"Xiao," Po said, laughing. "Kung Fu isn't just about kicking butt. It requires a strong mind as well! If you have a strong mind, you'll be able to kick butt even harder! You want that?"
"Yeah!" Xiao pumped a fist in the air.
"So, try to think of school as additional training, because that's what it's for! Strengthening your mind! Now, I have to finish training with Master Shifu, so why don't you go "train" your mind on those numbers?"
"Okay dad! I'll start right now! You'll see! I'm gonna kick those numbers' butts! I'm gonna be a numbers master!" She exited the training hall. Po smiled after her, and Shifu watched his former student with pride.
"Nicely put."
"Yeah well, Tigress said she wanted her to have a good education…" His expression grew solemn and reflective. Shifu sighed, and moved to his side, staring after Xiao as she plodded down the steps.
"I know it's hard Po, but you are doing a fantastic job raising that little girl."
Po put his smile back on.
"Thanks Shifu."
"Has she… asked about Tigress yet?"
"I think she wants to, but no."
"You're going to have to talk about it eventually. It's probably best that you start thinking about what to say." Po stared at the spot where Xiao had been.
"I know…" He shifted back to his casual, enthusiastic demeanour "Right, let's get back to it! Your chi isn't going to master itself." Shifu watched him, concerned and deeply pained.