(A.N.) I've had some more time lately since I finished Rag Doll and although I still see Po as a monk, xD I managed to write something new. (And now I have the hots for my OCs.) I'm currently working on a sequel to the Army of Black and White, but the story line is so fucked up, that I probably will never publish it. xD So don't raise your hopes too high. But if I could publish the Army 2, this story would be a nice pre-prologue to it...
I don't own any of KFP characters or locations, I own only the OCs.
The warriors got up very early, but it was already getting dark. The snow was thick, and it was literally everywhere. They were dressed in their warmest clothes, but they were shivering with cold anyway. Tigress was struggling through the snow ahead, the thick robe on her back was hiding something very big around her neck. She looked strange when she was walking up the hidden path, talking as if to herself "Ggghhh! Not so tightly!" from time to time.
Monkey was walking close to her, clutching the folds of his jacket on his chest. Fortunately, he had a really warm hood on his head. Po was right behind them, carrying his heavy backpack, as the mentioned warriors, but he was also carrying his goose father on his shoulder too. It wasn't so difficult, for he didn't even feel the bird's weight. Crane was trying to fly around them to keep warm, although he couldn't stop shivering too. Master Shifu was walking up the freshly made path as the last one. He was completely wrapped in his warmest dark red robes, creamy scarves and his hood was almost covering his face. The hood was pressing his ears to his head and he almost couldn't hear the others' talks, but he was trying hard to walk forth anyway.
"Really, Shifu, don't you want me to carry you?" Po asked amusedly for the third time that day.
Shifu rolled his eyes between the scarf and the edge of his hood. "Nhhh!" He couldn't talk because of the scarves, so he loosened them a bit. "I'd rather keep my dignity!"
"Well, it would make the march much more comfortable to you." Po joked. "And warmer."
"Grrrff!.." Shifu replied annoyed, wrapping the scarves around his neck and face again. Of course, it would be more comfortable! But not in their presence!
"Po, aren't you cold?" Mr. Ping asked after a short while of enjoying the fast travel on his son's back. The panda was moving forward fast, with enthusiasm. Po didn't even know what was making him feel so great. That travel, or the approaching holidays? Or the fact that in a moment, he would see his second father?
"Just a bit!" He answered.
"I can't wait to get there." Monkey said. "I hope they have something warm to eat, otherwise I'll break into their pantry."
"We'll break into there." Mantis corrected him from under Monkey's hood. "We!"
The day was getting dark very fast and they had to hurry not to stay in the middle of nowhere for the next night. The way was very difficult, but the smell of the snow was exciting, and the awareness of the others' presence was comforting to every one of them.
Suddenly, they heard Crane's shout the had been waiting for so impatiently, when the bird suddenly stopped and landed on one of the bigger stones somewhere before them. "It's here!"
They ran up towards him although they were tired, and looked down at the valley covered with violet shadow of the mountains around. There was a lot of snow, too. And it was cold there, of course, but the lanterns lighting the houses, huts, bridges and paths made the village look warm and magical. They ran towards the main path and the pandas in the village, although surprised, recognized the travelers and greeted them; they tried to keep their self-control, but the horde of the children playing in the snow 'attacked' the warriors with their hugs, laugh and talking to them chaotically, immediately recognizing Master Po, Master Tigress, Master Monkey, Master Crane, Master Red Panda and they only weren't sure where the other warriors were.
Although dusk had fallen, Po saw a lone figure cross one of the bridges and the person continued to walk down the path towards the Hill. Po grabbed Mr. Ping gently, he helped the goose jump on the ground and took off his backpack, throwing it onto the soft snow.
Master Heng saw that the day was about to end. He started making his way towards the palace, thinking of Po and his goose dad. The winter was very hard. Such a travel would be very hard to the Furious Five, Shifu and Mr. Ping. He would understand if they gave up the idea of the visit in winter... well, they would spend the holidays in their home, but anyway, he felt lonely when another day almost had passed and it seemed that they wouldn't arrive.
"Father!"
He sighed, making a small cloud of steam before his face and saddened when he heard someone call their parent. How long did he have to wait for something like that again? Maybe Po would never come back. It would only bring back his bad memories...
"Hey, Dad!"
But in the next second, he realised that he knew that voice. He turned to that person and saw a young panda running towards him. Po?...
Po stopped for a moment as if he wasn't sure that the big panda dressed in warm light creamy and black clothes and a long dark green cape was that one particular panda he had missed so much.
The master looked at the smiling panda standing there. Although it was already dark, and the younger bear was dressed in warm clothes, he knew that he was looking in those green eyes. His face slowly brightened in a smile too.
They had arrived. They really were there. And he didn't have to wait anymore.
Po ran up to him again and threw his arms around his father, bumping into him so hard that he almost knocked over the bigger panda with his tight embrace. The master felt his heartbeat quicken in happiness, he returned the embrace, and looked down at his son surprised.
"It's... you?"
Po lifted his head and looked the other panda in the eyes, grinning like never before. "My name is PO!"
"Ahh yes, Po..." His father joked. "Now at least you behave like a panda."
The younger warrior chuckled, tightening the embrace and they heard someone approach them.
"Happy Holidays, Master." Mr. Ping said, probably smiling in the dark, standing in the middle of the group of the warriors, who greeted him, smiling too, but also shuddering because of the temperature.
Master Heng looked around them when Po finally stopped holding him in his bear embrace, he couldn't help but smile, especially when he saw Shifu bow a bit, because the red panda looked like a tiny ninja with his face covered with the hood and scarves and he couldn't talk. "Happy Holidays to you all... I can't believe that you're here. It's so.. cold!"
"You wanted to see us, so now you will have to tolerate us all for the next few days." Po threatened, yanking his father suddenly by the arm towards the palace. "Speaking of cold, we must drink something h..."
"Po, your backpack!" Monkey shouted from behind as the others followed the pandas. Po caught his backpack thrown at him by Monkey and put it on and finally, they all started making their way towards the palace hill.
Soon, they approached the Hill and Tai Lung, who was dressed in his dark brown clothes, was standing there, and looking at the travelers; once he saw Tigress, he sent her a strange grin, trying not to burst out laughing. "...Nice scarf." he commented when he saw the thick thing wrapped around her neck.
"I'm not a scarf."
Although she returned the smile, he heard that muffled voice coming... not from the feline's mouth, for sure. Tai Lung's smile fell; his face was priceless when he saw Viper's head peeking out of the folds of the feline's robes on her chest.
Chen opened the door when he heard someone outside and when he and Ming left the warm house, their master spoke. "I almost forgot!" He said, indicating the students. "I'd like to introduce Master Chen and his wife, Master M-"
Suddenly, a deafening screech of two hysteric fangirls hit their ears.
"Miiiing!"
"Viper! Oh my goosh, it's yoouu!" Ming shouted surprised, and the speed of the snake escaping Tigress's robes and swooshing into the house left the warriors with their fur ruffled.
"And so she left me... for a married girl." Crane sighed, entering the palace with Mr. Ping, Master Shifu, Monkey and Mantis.
"I know this pain, bro." Chen patted Crane's wings comfortingly as they made their way inside.
"I'd greet you with our traditional bear hug, but I'd rather not get any bloody 'decorations' on my face." Tai Lung confessed, still staring at Tigress when it got a bit quieter in front of the Tea Palace and she was putting her heavy backpack on the snow.
"Why do you think I'd do that to you?" The feline asked, trying to hide her smile in the scarves and fastening her robe again.
"And wouldn't you?"
"You must check yourself."
Well, she got what she had asked for. However, she was surprised when Tai just approached her and wrapped his arms around her neck and she just couldn't help but return the embrace. Tigress immediately felt some pleasant energy emanating from Tai's body, which made her tremble a bit. She had a theory that either panda hugs were indeed something special... or she just felt so wonderful with that one particular panda.
All of a sudden, someone patted Po's shoulder when he was looking surprised at Tai Lung and Tigress. It wasn't his father, so he turned and... flinched scared when he saw a dark wolf standing right beside him.. and his face was hidden behind a dark scarf too. "Deshi?!" he spoke stunned breathlessly and he had to clutch his heart for a moment to calm down when he saw the wolf's yellow eyes. Deshi only chuckled when he saw Po's reaction.
"So you remember me." He said, loosening his scarf.
Po managed to see in the light from the lanterns hanging from the edge of the roof that the wolf was a bit bigger than when he had met him and his fur was now black, soft and shiny, which was surely caused by better food he could finally get, living in the village. "Wow, you look... great." Po said sincerely, barely recognizing the neurotic, a little malnourished teenager he had known in the body of that young man, although only a few months had passed since their last meeting.
"I always look great..." The wolf said with a mysterious grin. "...unlike you." He added meaningfully.
Po's smile fell, if he had been smiling a moment before... he couldn't believe it. He misheard him. That canine couldn't be such insolent. A look of anger started to get visible on the panda's face, which made Deshi shake with laughter.
"You... little... bug!"
Po started to take off his backpack hastily, and seeing that, the wolf started to feel unsure, and step back, although he still couldn't stop his laughter. "Oops!" Deshi saw the panda warrior grab a big handful of the snow in his paws. "It was a joke, man!" He managed to say before he saw Po's snowball flying at him. He tried to run away, but the snowball hit the back of his head and the icy cold snowflakes fell under his shirt. "Master, he's trying to kill me!" He cried for help, shuddering, laughing like crazy and trying vainly to run away, falling on the snow again and again when Po was throwing another icy cold projectiles at him.
"That was well-deserved." Master Heng commented with a nonchalant smile, hiding his hands in the folds of his robes and made his way into the house.
Tigress was hit in the arm with one of the stray snowballs, which disturbed one particular awkward, but pleasant moment between her and Tai Lung. They looked at the other warriors confused when suddenly, they all heard Monkey's voice as he left the building. "Snowball fight!"
Chen and Ming ran out of the house and joined the others excitedly too, turning the hill before the Tea Palace into a regular battlefield, where snowballs were flying between the warriors, crashing against them, and the warriors laughed so hard that once they fell on the snow, they couldn't even stand up.
Po ducked his head when he saw Ming's snowball flying at him. She missed, but when he looked at her again, he saw something like consternation in her expression. Actually, not only in hers, for the warriors stopped throwing snowballs and started to get up. Disoriented a little, Po turned and got to his feet too, and saw a really big female panda crushing Ming's snowball in her paw and looking down at him. She was dressed in warm clothes and a dark cape and after a short moment of awkward silence, he recognized Master Zhú. Her look was so powerful that he had a feeling as if she was reading his thoughts.
"Good evening, Dragon Warrior." She said with a strange, cold smile to the smaller panda. "What a significant meeting..."
The others suddenly got more serious and started to brush the snow off their clothes, while Po still couldn't stop looking into her brown-green eyes, although for some reasons, a cold chill ran down his spine too, and all he wanted to do now was to run away.
After the 'battle', they all were drinking hot tea, trying to warm themselves by the fireplace in the main hall on the ground floor. Ming, Chen, Tai and Deshi were talking and laughing with Monkey, Mantis and Tigress while Zhú was talking with Ming's and Chen's parents, Mr. Ping and Shifu, because Crane and Viper had of course better things to do, for example embracing each other, whispering, smiling and kissing, not paying any attention to what was happening around. Po and Master Heng were in the kitchen and the older panda was now preparing ingredients on the table to bake a cake, but that scene was something too unreal to Po.
"I didn't know this side of you." Po admitted quite impressed, playing with the flour on the table top.
"You thought that I always wore the green robe or led the pandas to battle every week?" The father asked with a smile, pouring some flour and sugar into a bowl.
That question made Po laugh a little. It didn't get the others' attention, because it was loud in the main hall anyway. "Actually, I was going to ask you about Master Zhú." He confessed curious, because her sudden appearance there was rather surprising to him. "Is there something between you and her?"
Master Heng stopped smiling for a moment, he poured some rice milk and oil to the bowl and looked at his son surprised. "She's quite... like a younger sister to me, and she always spends holidays with us when our students return to the village for Winter Festival." He explained, mixing the ingredients in the bowl.
The younger panda looked around to make sure that no one was eavesdropping. "Do you like her?"
"Of course, I love my students."
"No.. do you like-like her?" Po asked once again very carefully, with a big, meaningful grin.
"Po!" The master put the bowl on the table, looking at his son scandalized, trying not to speak too loudly. "I told you, she's like a sister to me!"
"OK, just asking!" Po whispered loudly while the older panda stopped mixing the ingredients and took a handful of crushed hazelnuts to pour them into the bowl. Po sighed, looking away. "She's creepy."
"She can be cold sometimes, but she's a noble and very generous panda." The father explained. "It's not her fault that she's not as cute as Ming or Misumi."
"But if there really was someone, you would tell me, wouldn't you?.." Po began again, trying to make his dad smile, but instead of smiling, the other panda just stopped whatever he was doing and stared into the table. Po immediately stopped talking, realising that he had touched a very wrong topic. "Dad, sorry." He apologized. "Is everything alright?"
"I doubt... that I could ever love any other woman more than I loved your mother.." The older master stated, as if talking was something very difficult to him suddenly.
Po decided that it would be better to pretend that he didn't see that and leaned his back against the table. "I'm just trying to say that if you ever met someone really worthy of your feelings, I'd be glad to meet her." He explained casually, shrugging.
"Really?.." He heard Heng's unsure question behind his back. "Wouldn't you be jealous? Wouldn't you think that I'm betraying your mother?" The father asked again, feeling utterly touched and surprised.
"No." Po replied, turning to the other panda. "Dad, even you can't suffer forever. I owe you this freedom. You accepted me entirely the first day when we met, remember?"
He did remember that. The old master smiled slightly, returning to what he had been doing a moment before. "Thank you." He whispered. He knew that soon they would have to go to the others. "Po..." He said to his son, when Po was pouring some tea for himself into a wooden cup found on the countertop. "When I woke up the first day when you were not here anymore, I thought you had been a dream. Then I saw the stuffed panda on my night table. It was the best moment in my life."
Po sent him a beaming smile after taking a sip of the tea when suddenly Ming entered the kitchen loudly. "Geez, and they say that girls talk too much. We're hungry!"
They sat at the long table in the big main room and after a long while when they were eating and talking, someone mentioned that the old team of Masters Jaguar, Boar, Eagle, Sheep, Rat and Cobra were now at the Jade Palace again... Master Zhú then started asking Shifu, Mr. Ping and the others a lot of questions about the outer world. Curious and bold, as always... By some accident, Po had sat right beside her at the table and he couldn't say that he was very pleased about that. He really felt strange in her presence, especially when she was so close. Next, when the pandas were telling the others about Ming and Chen's wedding and Crane and Viper told them about their plans to get married in the spring, she was completely silent for a longer moment, until suddenly, she asked Po a question.
"Are you sure that you don't want to stay with us?"
Po looked at her a bit unbelievingly, while she was waiting for his reply with a strange smile. "I thought we already talked about that last time." He mentioned. "I love this village, but I won't leave the Valley of Peace."
She seemed to accept that answer, but didn't say anything anymore.
Later, when Ming's and Chen's parents had gone home and the pandas were organizing some places to sleep for the guests in the rooms upstairs, Zhú approached Po's father after the dinner to talk with him in private. She was already dressed in her warm cape.
"Master, I'm very sorry, but I can't stay overnight again. You need more free rooms."
The older panda saddened when her words surprised him; although he knew that they had very little room for everyone, he had been hoping that she wouldn't leave them so early. "And where will you go?"
"Well, I'm not homeless..." She said, looking away to avoid further explanations.
"Zhú, you shouldn't stay alone for holidays."
"I don't like Winter Festivals too much." She confessed finally and turned her face to the door; she knew that whenever he called her by name, he was very, very serious.
"Since when?"
She turned to him once again and sent him THAT look. He knew that look well. He suddenly realised what that talk was really about. "I'm sorry, it was a stupid question."
"Good night, Master." She said, bowing slightly and just left the house.
He watched the door close behind the other panda, who apparently would rather keep her feelings to herself. He wanted to tell her something... that she wasn't the only one in that difficult situation. But then he remembered that actually, they weren't in the same situation anymore.
Some things were just unfixable. Everyone had their own loneliness. Their own hell. And their own end of the world.
Meanwhile, Po, Ming, Chen and Tai Lung were having their own small meeting in one of the rooms, to talk about their own 'internal panda affairs', especially since Po wanted to know something more about that Master Zhú.
"...and Po, you were baking a cake with your father today, which reminded me of something what had happened about... I don't know? Five years ago? On one Winter Festival evening here." Ming said visibly amused, which made Chen lean his forehead against his forearms and he started laughing, as he was sitting against a wall in the room. He knew what Ming was going to tell Po about now.
"Oh God, stop." Tai Lung pleaded facepalming, but his panda friends were really going to tell Po everything.
"Po has the biggest right to know about that." Chen joked, finally lifting his head off his arms.
Po started to worry and feel unsure, and seeing that, Tai Lung helped him to understand. "Read: they have some stupid theory." He translated.
"Zhú was here as every year and we were eating dinner." Ming began. "In one moment, we wanted to eat the cake. She said that she didn't like sweets, but your father said that he himself had baked that cake and offered her a piece, and she looked... gosh, I don't know how to describe that."
Chen hid his face in his arms, howling with laughter again, although Po wasn't sure why.
"She was blushing so much that I couldn't believe my eyes." Ming said finally and started giggling again. "I kicked Chen's leg under the table, and gave him a sign with my eyes, because I had to make sure that it wasn't just my imagination. He saw that too!"
"I thought I would start crying from laughter." He admitted.
When Ming caught her breath, she continued. "She took a piece of the cake and when she started to eat, she looked as if it was the first cake in her whole life. Regret that you couldn't see her face!"
"And that delight in her eyes!" Chen added.
"Read: Zhú had a crush." Tai Lung said to Po, rolling his eyes. "Or it's just their overinterpretation."
"It was like Cupid's arrow right through her heart," Ming said, hitting her chest with her open paw meaningfully. "I swear, if I were able to see auras, the whole room would have been red from the floor to the ceiling. I could hear her heartbeat from the other side of the hall." Ming said, wiping away her tears of laughter.
"The strangest thing is, your father didn't notice anything." Chen wondered. "I was really worried about his vision."
"I still don't understand one thing.." Po said unsurely, looking around the other pandas. "Why is that so funny to you?"
"Because you don't know her!" The panda girl almost shouted, starting to laugh again. "She's the most strict teacher in the academy. A real sharp blade. I admit, she can teach, but just imagine the most stern teacher in your school being in love."
Well, it's not very difficult... Po thought, trying to smile.
"You see," Ming said, sniffling. "Your father and Zhú are like sugar and salt."
"White, and able to seriously damage your teeth." Tai Lung 'guessed', making Chen and Po burst into laughter.
"No." Ming said, although she loved Tai's wit. "They look the same, but they are so different. Don't get me wrong, Po. Your dad is sweet. She's kind of.. scary."
Different?... Po thought to himself. Like Yin and Yang?...
"Round two. FIGHT!" Mantis announced when Monkey and Deshi were standing in front of each other in the main hall.
The simian and the wolf stiffened and started to look into each other's eyes tenaciously, dead serious looks on their faces. Shifu and Mr. Ping had gone to their rooms to rest a little bit, for the long travel had tired them, so only Crane, Viper, Tigress and Mantis were watching the fight. The tension was killing them.
Monkey and Deshi didn't move a muscle. The moment was getting longer and longer... Suddenly, a grin started to get visible on the wolf's face and in the next second, he doubled up with laughter, not able to stop his reaction anymore. "I can't, his look is hilarious!" He managed to say, rolling on the floor, and laughing uncontrollably.
"Another stare fight won by me." Monkey stated, high-fiving with the Five, when he finally could smile while Deshi still couldn't get up. "A pity that you don't use money."
Master Heng saw that Po and his students weren't in the main hall, so he made his way upstairs to look for them. He hoped that Chen hadn't convinced Po to take part in another drinking contest.
"...I just can't imagine Zhú in any relationship!" Ming was still trying to explain to Po why that whole situation with one of their teachers was so funny to them. "She's completely cold. Dead! She's like a block of stone!"
Ming and her husband couldn't stop laughing, rolling on the floor, that made even Tai Lung shake with laughter a bit, although he was trying to stop himself. Then the door suddenly flew open, the pandas flinched frightened by that sound and they saw Master Heng enter the room... and he wasn't smiling at all.
The younger pandas' smiles fell immediately when they saw the master's glare. The room fell completely quiet as they got to their feet, even Po, and Ming felt really stupid. "Master, we were just talking..." She started unsurely, scratching the side of her head when they realised that they didn't know how much Master Heng had actually heard.
"Joking." Chen corrected her very quietly, while Po and Tai Lung remained silent.
"Talking?.." The master spoke, and they instantly understood how serious he was when they heard his tone. "You weren't talking. You were ridiculing her."
Ming lowered her eyes and they all felt fear spreading in their bodies.
"I expect to see you all before the shrine... in two minutes." Po's father said, glaring at the girl.
"Master," Ming remarked, trying to save Po's skin. "Po wasn't laugh-"
"Are you going to argue with me?"
"No." The girl replied, lowering her eyes again.
"Two minutes." Heng repeated after a short moment of unpleasant silence, when she had nothing to say anymore. Then he turned and left the room, slamming the door behind him, which made them flinch in pain.
They remained there with very unsure looks on their faces.
"Oops..." Chen suddenly felt that he needed to loosen his robe around his neck.
Ming sat down on one of the beds and ran her paws over her face and head. "Uhm.. sorry, Po." She said to the panda. "Don't worry about that. It's my fault."
"He's pissed off." Tai Lung said when he saw that Po looked very disoriented and insecure.
"What does it mean?" Po asked, looking around the other warriors, not sure why his father wanted to talk with him too. He had never seen him being such furious before.
"Well.. last time when he was really pissed off, he paid Shan a visit." Tai Lung explained, grinning nervously. "We all know how it ended."
After a short while, Po, Chen, Tai Lung and Ming put on their warmer robes and gathered before the shrine on the nearest hill. It wasn't even so dark there, considering the snow lying everywhere, reflecting the mild light from the lanterns in the village and around the palace. It was really cold, but they feared the meeting with their master so much that they barely felt the frost. Because there were many footprints, they didn't assume that Po's father was there, so they still waited for their master, until suddenly they heard someone exit the shrine. They were surprised by his sudden appearance and quickly stood in a row as Master Heng, displeased as hell, walked up and started to speak, pacing back and forth in front of them.
"It's late so I won't keep you long." He began coldly. "You all remember the time when you were thirteen years old. I believe it was a quite happy year to you all, since most of you spent that time in the Hideout."
Ming and Chen smiled slightly, trying not to show it, for smiling wasn't too appropriate in that situation. They remembered that year when they had met: they and many other young pandas were starting their education at the academy and during the official meeting with the older students, the teachers and the Grand Master, Chen accidentally set Ming's dress on fire. The others didn't know if they should rather panic, help them or laugh. Nothing terrible happened, but Ming's shrieks and run with her dress in flames, while Chen was trying to extinguish them, turned that day into the most hilarious day of their life.
Tai Lung remembered well that year when he had been thirteen; one day he got into a fight with one of the older boys at school. Although the other one was more experienced, Tai didn't give up, and though the fight was very hard to him, he won without using any tricks, without cheating, and after he overpowered his opponent by pressing a point on his wrist, he noticed that Master Heng was standing there among many other pandas watching them. Tai immediately let go of the other panda's hand, but the master, instead of being angry, looked rather impressed.
Po wasn't sure what that time had looked like in his life; he probably was helping his father at the restaurant or learning at home, gazing from time to time up at the Jade Palace hidden in the clouds, and dreaming of becoming some legendary warrior. Those times hadn't been so bad, too. Po wondered why his father was talking about that now. He felt anxious as Master Heng started to continue.
"...When Zhú was thirteen, her village was attacked by a certain. White. Bird." He said the last words without any unnecessary respect.
The students remained silent, staring at the snow before their feet, unsure why the master had mentioned the genocide.
"...A group of his wolves killed her father before her very eyes. Trying to save her, her mother dragged her into their house, but the wolves broke into there and managed to separate them. They tied Zhú to the stair handrail and forced her to watch them rape and kill her mother." The master turned to the girl. "Why aren't you laughing now, Ming?"
Po's heart stopped for a moment. He felt as if someone had knocked him out with something blunt. He took another breath with effort.
"Because it's not funny." The girl's quiet answer sounded somewhere to Po's right.
Tai and Chen realised that they had completely forgotten that Zhú was over ten years older than them, so she remembered the genocide well. But they had never wondered before why she didn't have any family.
"...They didn't do the same to her just because they had heard some other wolf howl outside. They ran out of the house to help their boss so suddenly that they forgot that they were supposed to kill her too." Po's father continued.
Master Heng stopped for a moment, regretting that he hadn't forced the boss to howl earlier, maybe Zhú's parents would be alive now. Well, he couldn't have known...
"The next day, when I returned to the village to look for any survivors, I found her. The wolves had left her there unable to move with her wrists bound behind her back. She was still looking at her mother's body..." He finished. The students weren't feeling good.
He turned to the girl again. "Wouldn't you be cold? Or dead like a block of stone if something like that happened to your own family?"
Ming didn't answer. She heard in his tone how much and why her attitude had been disappointing to him. She had nothing else to say, and even if she had, talking with clenched throat would be difficult anyway. They all felt like crying.
"I'm just reminding you that there is always some story hidden behind someone's strange behavior. Always." Master Heng repeated and sighed, letting the emotions leave him.
"Anyway, I wish you good night." He said and walked away, leaving the young warriors before the shrine.
They didn't feel like laughing anymore.
After that short lesson, when they were walking away from there slowly, they weren't talking. Po thought that probably, almost every family in that village had a similar story in their past. Beaten, hurt, violated, killed. He somehow had never wanted to think of it... He knew that it was hard to call the Hideout a paradise, although the valley was wonderfully beautiful.
But now, he also realised that there was surely some unique bond between Zhú and his father after he found her in that house...
Ming ran up to the older panda walking away alone from the hill. When she caught him up, she didn't try to stop him. "Master, I'm sorry." She said, panting a bit, trying to see in his eyes if he was still angry.
"For what?" He asked, looking into her deep blue eyes a bit surprised. "You weren't laughing at me."
"For disappointing you." She said quietly, but honestly. "You aren't often disappointed in me, but when you are, I can see it."
Master Heng sighed, smiling sadly, but eventually, he didn't say anything. He just ruffled the fur on her head, making her smile a bit and put his arm around her shoulder.
"I think we all should try to meditate for a while before going to sleep tonight." He said, and they made their way toward the palace.
It was late in the evening, but some pandas in the palace were still far from being sleepy. Because Zhú had left them earlier, Master Heng could sleep in his own room. They decided that Po and Mr. Ping would sleep in Tai's room, Chen, Deshi, Tai Lung and Monkey would stay in Deshi's room, Ming, Viper, Crane and Mantis got Ming's room, while Shifu and Tigress got Chen's old room.
Po felt that he needed to relax a bit after that difficult talk with Master Heng and when the others were busy or asleep, he lay down under a warm blanket on the bamboo divan beside the fireplace in the main hall.
Shifu, who was lying on Po's chest, put his nose into the fur on his neck and snuggled up to him, savouring the warmth of the giant panda's body. Po grinned when something funny came to his mind and he pulled the blanket on the red panda's back closer to his neck. "I can't let you feel cold again, Master." He said and put his paws on Shifu's back and stroked him, enjoying his lover's body and their closeness. When Po's paw slid towards his tail, and his fingers sank in the long fur, Shifu sighed with pleasure against the fur on the other panda's neck and lifted his head. He pressed his lips to Po's in a soft kiss. Po replied unhurriedly, smiling slightly. His heartbeat quickened. Mmm... I'm in Heaven again... He thought, enjoying the touch of the red panda's warm lips caressing his own and feeling their energies hitting each other.
When they broke their kiss, Shifu stroked the giant panda's cheek. He looked as if something was worrying him. "Tell me, Po, do your wounds still hurt?"
They had talked about their old injuries a lot after their return to the Valley of Peace and Po didn't want to talk about them in such a way anymore. "Uh-huh." He confirmed sadly. For some reasons, he was in a better mood than he probably should be. He tried not to grin like an idiot when he saw Shifu's worried expression. "But only when you poke me with your..."
A look of embarrassment mixed with hilarity appeared on the red panda's face and he burst into laughter, muffling it in the giant panda's neck; it tickled Po so much that he couldn't stop his laughter too, trying not to wake up the whole palace.
"...knee!" He finished, knowing what Shifu had thought of. "With your knee!"
"I'll poke you more as a punishment." The red panda threatened amusedly and started to kiss Po more greedily this time, not letting him breathe, and poking his old wounds with his... knee of course. What did you think, Dear Reader?
Suddenly, they heard someone enter the main hall quietly. Po's eyes flew open, his heart leaped in fear and without thinking, he pushed the red panda under the blanket. After a second... Po's panda father appeared there out of the dark and sat down beside his son. "I see you can't sleep either." He said worriedly, holding something folded in his hands.
"Mr... Master... uhm.. Dad, what are you doing here?" Po asked with panic visible in his eyes, pulling the blanket closer under his chin and praying that Shifu would not move.
"I live here." The master eyed him confused. "I forgot to give you something today." He explained, looking at the robes he was holding. The robe lying on the top was yellow, with red and green ornaments on the ends of the sleeves and with a golden dragon embroidered on the back.
Po stared at him in utter shock and looked around discreetly, wondering how to help Shifu escape this embarrassing situation. Meanwhile, Master Heng noticed the end of the red panda's fluffy tail peeking from under the blanket beside Po's stomach. He had to use all his will not to burst out laughing. "Maybe I'm not good at giving presents, but I got these robes from Misumi's family."
"From... Misumi's family?" Po thought aloud with a really stupid expression, feeling Shifu's claws stick into his right side a little. He couldn't breathe. Po was sure.
"Haven't you noticed that she's the best dressed panda here? She and her parents sew clothes for almost everyone in the village." Master Heng explained, pretending that he didn't know about the red panda probably choking now between the blanket and Po's hot belly. "Well, actually.. for everyone. Where did you think we got our robes?" Heng asked and an idea for a cruel joke came to his mind.
Po grinned and giggled nervously when the older panda reached his hand towards him and suddenly, he put his paw on his chest, grabbing the edge of the blanket. "You should try it on."
"Dad, dad, dad!" Po stopped him quickly, catching his paw and pressing the blanket to his chest again. "Maybe not now? Later, OK?..."
Master Heng pretended that he was surprised. OK, now you're crossing the line. Shifu is going to have a heart attack. He thought, trying not to smile. "Later." He nodded understandingly. "Alright. I'll leave the robes here." He said, putting the robes on the divan and standing up.
"Thanks, Dad." Po managed to say before his father left the room, giving Po signs that he understood and that it was OK.
When it seemed that the master wasn't there, the panda breathed a deep sigh of relief, laying his head on the backrest.
"Gosh, it was a close call!" Shifu said, putting his head out from under the blanket, catching fresh air fast. He laid his head on Po's chest again, trying to calm down. The giant panda started to shake with laughter quietly, trying to muffle his voice with his paw.
"Po, you've thrown him out of his own... main hall." Shifu realised.
"He didn't complain." Po said, kissing the red panda on the head and stroking his back comfortingly, but Shifu got off him and took a look at the robes.
"They're nice." The red panda said, unfolding the clothes. "You should really try them on. Especially this one." He threw the yellow robe at Po. When Po took it off his face, he saw that the red panda was smiling slyly and leering at him so intensely that he felt even more excited and hot than before. "I can't wait to take it off you."
A few minutes later, when Po was trying on his new robes before going to bed, Shifu brewed some grain coffee and looking out the window in the kitchen, he noticed Po's father. Master Heng was standing alone on the hill before the palace, gazing at the village sleeping in the dark, only a few of the lanterns were still burning there. Shifu felt guilty that Po had had to ask him to leave. Little did he know that the giant panda master was thinking of something entirely different now. Shifu put on his warm clothes and took two cups.
When he opened the front door quietly, Master Heng turned to him, hearing the sound in the complete silence. Shifu walked up to the master and handed him one of the cups of hot grain coffee, which the other panda accepted with quiet "Thank you." The red panda looked at the village too. The silence between them was getting longer, but none of them seemed to mind it.
Shifu cleared his throat finally. "I won't believe that you stand before your palace to look at the village every night, even in winter. So.. what is on your mind?" He asked quietly, after taking a few sips of the coffee.
The bigger panda looked down at him and chuckled a bit at Shifu's stubbornness ahead of time. He took a sip of the coffee too, wondering how to explain his problems to him. He sighed and walked up to the bench, where Shifu followed him. There wasn't any snow on the bench, since someone had taken the snow off it during the snowball fight, so they sat down.
"You see..." Master Heng began, not sure if he even could describe his feelings.
Master Shifu shook his head when déjà vu hit his mind and he had a strong feeling as if he was talking with Po. The other master mistook it for negation, so he continued.
"Have you ever had a feeling as if something was wrong... but you don't know what?" The giant panda asked finally, looking attentively the smaller one in the eyes.
Shifu looked away at the village, warming his paws with the hot cup. "For twenty years... when my son was in Chorh-Gom. But I knew what was wrong." He confessed honestly. Really, was he confiding in someone? Yet a year before, he thought he would never do something like that. "Tell me something more about your feelings." Shifu offered when the giant panda sighed sadly.
"I go to the academy and I feel as if everyone was staring at me. I've never felt anything like that before. They act normally, but... I feel some strange energies flying around the pandas there. Something is wrong... As if something bad was going to happen."
Shifu took a sip, wondering what that could mean. Honestly, he had never experienced anything like that... or he just didn't remember? "Maybe it's because of the emotions. Many things have happened in your life lately. You got back your son... two times." Shifu added to make the giant panda chuckle a bit. "You had to risk your pandas' lives for the first and I hope the last time. You suddenly found out that you weren't the last of your family."
Master Heng stared into space unconvinced, thinking of something very intensely.
"Is it because of me?..." Shifu asked, feeling his ears fall on his head. His heart was breaking when he was waiting for the reply for a long moment. Of course it's because of you. He thought to himself, looking away at the snow.
"No, I don't think so." Master Heng stated finally. "I don't feel anything strange in your presence. Besides... even if I wanted Po to have a wife now, it would only hurt him and make him run away from me, don't you think?" He asked, glancing at the red panda again. He took a few sips of the coffee and continued. "I met Po when he was already in love with you, when he was already an adult man who was mature and courageous enough to risk his live for some innocent pandas and their children he didn't even know, although he could have let Tai Lung pretend that he was the real Warrior of Black and White. Po understands the true meaning of his life well." The giant panda explained calmly. "I'm not going to force him to make different decisions."
Shifu's ears fell again, for he felt awful and his heart was breaking after Master Heng's confession. He really didn't want to be someone unremovable, someone forcing everybody to tolerate him. He hoped that at least Po's dad felt better now.
"Do your students know?..." The bigger panda asked.
"Yes."
Master Heng looked at him as if he was afraid to hear something painful. "How did they react?"
"Thanks to Po's painful experiences, not very bad.. but Tigress didn't take the news well." Shifu confessed quietly, looking down at the snow. "She almost left the Jade Palace. Po had some talk with her in private and eventually, she decided to stay." The giant panda remained silent, listening to him, so Shifu asked. "What about your students?"
"Ming, Chen, Tai and Deshi don't know." Po's father answered. "Po will tell them himself if he wants to." The giant panda looked at the other master again, he knew that Shifu was feeling colder, for the red panda's hands were trembling when he was drinking up his coffee.
"Please, don't ignore your strange feelings." Shifu said, referring to Heng's fears. "Something clearly causes them."
"Don't worry about them..." Heng sighed and shook his head slightly. "Maybe you're right and it's because of the emotions. Maybe I just didn't know earlier that side of my students." He stood up and smiled amusedly a bit. "Don't pretend that you don't feel the frost. Let's go inside." He offered and they went into the warm house still lighted by some lanterns.
...
From a distance, Master Zhú was watching the two pandas enter the Tea Palace. She seemed not to feel the cold heavy air when she was standing on the same hill, hidden amongst the dark of the night, under the branches of the nearest weeping willow. She looked darkly at the windows of the upper floor, where a candle was burning in one of the rooms.
Too bad that you don't want to stay with us, Po. Too bad...
(A.N.) Yep, I love playing with symbolism in my stories.