This is a collaboration work between crackersme (AO) and me, this story based on a Chinese drama 'Six Weeks' starred by Adrian Phang.
KFP belongs to Dreamworks
"As you grow older, you'll find the only things you regret are the things you didn't do."– Zachary Scott
"Life is short, don't waste time worrying about what people think of you Hold on to the ones that care, in the end they will be the only ones there." - Unknown
THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE AREN'T THINGS
"It's just a scratch. Right, Dad?"
Li Shan's frown looked plastered to his face. He didn't answer, just kept dabbing carefully at the gash on Po's upper arm. Every inch of his washcloth was stained red by now. Po was bleeding a lot more than he expected to for such a shallow wound.
"C'mon, don't be mad at me," he said. "These things happen, it's part of my job. And it doesn't even hurt anymore." It stopped hurting a while ago, even before Po and his team arrived back in the Valley. That didn't matter to Li Shan—the second he caught sight of the bloody strip of cloth around Po's left arm (a makeshift bandage donated from Tigress' bindings), he snapped into healer-mode.
Po insisted that he could wait to see the physician up at the Palace. He might've been able to convince one dad to let him go, but not both at the same time. When Mr. Ping saw his injury, he essentially dragged Po into his old bedroom, sat his son down and left to make some food.
Li Shan finished cleaning the wound and let the washcloth drop to the floor. Po waited, expecting his dad to reach for some gauze or paste or whatever else he had in the little healing kit he'd laid out on the bed. But for a few long moments, the old panda just stared at Po's arm.
"Dad?"
Li Shan jumped, as if the low murmur Po used to get his attention had really startled him. "Sorry, Son, I was just thinking… when did you say that rogue sliced you?"
Po shrugged. "Only about an hour ago." That crafty jerk in the mask ran for it right after he daggered Po. By now, Masky was probably miles away. Po decided it was mostly his fault the guy escaped. If he hadn't cried out in pain, he wouldn't have distracted Tigress, and she would've tackled the rogue before he could slip past her.
Oh well. Po and the Five were sure to take him down next time, if he was foolish enough to come terrorise the Valley citizens again. "Why, what does 'when' matter?" Po asked.
Li Shan leaned forward to inspect the wound for the hundredth time that evening. "It's a little too soon for anything to show up but… looks like an infection is setting in."
"Oh great," Po said. He looked down at the wound himself. His dad had a point—the flesh around the wound was looking a little more purple than it needed to.
This would be fun to deal with. He shook his head, tempted to just ask for a chi healing right now. But Shifu told everyone not to use chi for non-life-threatening injuries. He said it was wise to not rely on the supernatural all the time, to remember pain and the limits of the body. If a warrior lost sight of those things, they'd quickly become shortsighted and reckless, Shifu said.
Well… Shifu wasn't here. By now though, the Five probably already told him about Po's wound when they left him behind to go make their report. It was, after all, a novelty that someone could actually get the drop on Po. He sighed. "Yeah, okay, well I'll have medicines if you can gimme 'em, Dad. And I promise I'll remember to take them."
He held his paw out expectantly. But Li Shan still didn't do much more than stare at his son's arm.
"Da~ad," Po sang. "Thanks for helping me out. But y'know I've been really busy with kung fu duties lately, there's still some stuff I gotta sort out before bedtime, so if you could gimme what I need, I'll get going."
Po tried to stand up, but his dad grabbed his good arm and guided him back down again. Li Shan's face broke out into worry.
"Wait just a moment, please, Son." He looked around himself and checked his pockets. "I just want to check something…"
After a few moments, he pulled a scroll from his kit and unravelled it. It rolled out across Po's lap, showing him pictures of various not-very-interesting-looking roots and leaves.
Li Shan skimmed down the scroll, muttering to himself for a few moments. When he came to a certain section, he froze, staring at what was on the page with wide eyes.
"What's the matter?" Po asked. He shifted over so he could read over Li Shan's shoulder.
The section was titled, Slow-Acting and Lethal Poisons.
"What…?" Po said. He laughed. "I haven't been poisoned! I think I'd know if I—"
Li Shan grabbed his bad arm and dragged it close to himself, so he could compare Po's wound to the one drawn on the page. "No," Li Shan murmured. "No, no, no…"
"Dad, it's fine." Po pulled his arm back. "I feel totally normal, and anyway, when would I have—"
"A poison-tipped blade," Li Shan said. His face turned pale.
Po thought carefully. He did remember the others thinking it was weird that the rogue had attacked the houses farthest away from the village centre, as if he was deliberately trying to draw the heroes out. And he hadn't stolen anything. And when they fought him, he didn't pay much attention to the Five. His focus had been on Po.
He shook his head. "It's fine. So what if I'm poisoned? We can all heal here, remember?" He held out his injury to his dad. "Just gimme a little glow and I'll be a-okay."
Li Shan took a slightly shaky breath and cupped his paws together. Golden light soon filled the room, and the old panda quickly pressed his shining palms to Po's arm.
The chi felt good, nice and soothing. At first. After a few seconds, Po's wound began to prickle. The prickle grew into an itch, and then actual pain.
Chi never felt like that. Po held out for as long as he could. When his arm felt like it was burning, he recoiled and yelled, "Wait, wait, hold up!"
Li Shan took his paws away and looked at Po in terror. "No… it didn't work!" he cried.
Po looked down to see that he was right. If anything, the wound looked worse now.
They spent the next few moments just looking at each other, trying to figure out what this meant, when the sound of padded feet smacked against the floorboards just outside the door.
Mr. Ping stuck his scowling face around the doorway of Po's room. "What's going on up here, why are you two yelling?" When he caught sight of the pandas' faces, his expression softened and he waddled farther into the room. "What's wrong?"
Li Shan stammered a little as he said, "Maybe it didn't work because I did something wrong. Dad, use your chi on Po's wound."
Mr. Ping blinked a few times, then scampered to his son's side.
He glowed up, brought his wings to Po's arm, and this time Po could barely stand a few seconds of chi before he backed away, shaking his head. "That really doesn't feel like it's working!"
Mr. Ping looked back and forth between the pandas. "Somebody tell me now, what's going on?"
Li Shan's face screwed up. He didn't look at the other two, and instead rested his eyes on his herbs scroll. Mr. Ping picked it up and found the spot Li Shan was fixed on.
He turned aghast as he read. "Does… has Po been poisoned? With this?"
"With what?" Po said and came to Mr. Ping's side. He saw a picture of a very ugly purple plant, like beetroot but not appetising in any way. It was over the description that began with Muracan, or the Violet Heartbreak.
Mr. Ping was slightly ahead of Po in reading, and suddenly turned to Li Shan. "This is lethal? How lethal?"
Po looked up, but Li Shan still couldn't look him in the eyes. "It… the toxin of this plant will stop the heart after, at most, a week."
"Seven days…?" Mr. Ping said weakly. He turned to Po and leapt on his belly, giving him the tightest hug he could. "Tell me there's some kind of antidote for it, Li!"
Tears formed in the old panda's eyes. "This… is one of the few poisons with no known antidote."
"No!" Mr. Ping wailed.
"No," Po said calmly. "I can't die from getting poisoned. I've gotta be here, I have to protect the Valley, and China. I'm way too busy for this. Goodnight, Dads, I'm going back to the Palace."
He got up and walked a few paces to the doorway before Li Shan stopped him. Po turned back and found the tears had escaped Li Shan's eyes and were rolling down his cheeks.
"Son, please understand. You need to lay down and rest. If you're up, the poison will spread through your body faster. Please…"
"Dad, I can't stay," Po said gently, as if he wasn't the invalid here. "Tigress, she'll still be up. So I can't keep her waiting… I can't…" Tears suddenly burned the back of his eyes. "Can't just die like this."
Mr. Ping straightened up. "You're right, Son. You won't die. We'll find an antidote for you, or else we'll invent one ourselves. Isn't that right, Dad?"
"…That's right," Li Shan said, his voice thick. He pulled Po into a hug, and Mr. Ping jumped up to join in.
"Thank you," Po muttered into a collection of shoulder fur and feathers. "You're the best dads in the world. And I understand, about not being up, but I really need to go to Tigress, okay?"
His parents let him wriggle out of their arms. He was crossing the threshold of his room when he had a thought, and looked back.
"Dads, would you do me a favour?"
"Anything, Son," they said in unison.
"I don't wanna tell anyone about this. They'll all… freak out."
Their mouths fell open. "No one?" Li Shan asked. "Not even your teacher or your friends?"
Po shook his head. "Please. If… the worst happens—"
"Which it won't," Mr. Ping said boldly.
"But if it does," Po said. "I don't wanna spend my last week… with everyone just… sad over me. You get it?"
The dads looked at each other, then turned to him and nodded. "We can understand that," Li Shan said, "but you do need to tell Tigress."
"I can't," Po said quietly.
"She's your wife, Po," Mr. Ping told him.
Po felt a sudden wave of irritation. Yes, she was his wife. He knew that. And he also knew what this would do to her if she found out. Because he knew her better than anyone. She was his number one, always and forever, and he was hers.
He felt like yelling, but that wouldn't be kind or helpful, or make him feel better. So he said again, "I can't." He picked up the wrappings Tigress gave him, and left before his parents could drag him back into their arms. He was a responsible adult now. He had a wife to go back to. And two children, he and Tigress recently adopted Bao and Lei Lei. He had a family to be there for, for as long as he could.
xxxxx
Po didn't actually go home right away. Maybe it was stupid, but he needed to walk for a little bit, to clear his head. He rewrapped his wound as he scaled the Palace mountain, and when he was near the top, he watched the sun set over the village. He should've paid more attention to sunsets, he should've watched each one, and each sunrise too. Lazy lie-ins weren't worth missing beauty like this.
It was the dead of night by the time he did come home—far too late to do any work, but he was past caring about that. He looked over the house, properly considering it for the first time in a long while.
It was a lovely little thing, and it still felt new with its fancy wood polish and unweathered roof. It stood down the path from the Palace dojo and the students' barracks, just close enough for convenience but far enough away for privacy. Po and Tigress had only been living together here a little while, and it was already the best sanctuary Po had ever found.
Tigress had left a lantern on for him. Po needed to remember to thank her for that. It was a little gesture, but something he really needed at that moment.
It was difficult, he found, to go in. He didn't know if he wanted Tigress to be awake still or already asleep—to see her eyes or listen to her slumbering. Either one would bring him a little peace, he decided.
Po turned out the light, stuck his head in Bao and Lei Lei's rooms to check on them, then went to Tigress. She was halfway between asleep and awake, curled up on their bed with her eyes closed. Po heard a hum of acknowledgement when he sat down beside her.
"How's your arm?" Tigress murmured, in a tone that sounded more like muscle memory than conscious thought.
Po tugged his feet up and laid himself down beside her. He shuffled until he could curl his arms around her and snuggle up against her back.
"Po?" she said, sounding more awake.
"What? Oh…"
He almost blurted out the truth, just on reflex. He had never told a lie in his marital bed. But he had never told an ugly truth either.
"It's fine. Li'l bit itchy, but fine."
Tigress nodded, the fur on the back of her head brushing Po's cheek. "I'm glad."
He barely heard her. He didn't realise he hadn't said anything back, like normal, until Tigress said, "Po?" again.
"Yeah?" he said, impressed with himself. His voice was very level, considering the rush of thoughts in his head.
"Is something bothering you?"
He had been trying hard to keep his emotions down, but her simple words unlocked them in a heartbeat. He was suddenly terrified. Not of death or dying. Warriors didn't have the same understanding of those things that regular people did. But in a week or less, he might be gone forever. He might leave his kids without a father.
He might make Tigress a widow. And she was strong. She had been alone before. She could survive without him, and she would. That didn't mean she didn't need him.
How could he just leave her?
"I'm fine, honey," he forced himself to say. "Just tired."
Tigress hummed in empathy—exhaustion was certainly something she knew as well as he did, or better. "Then rest easy. Goodnight, my panda."
She fell asleep very quickly, which was normal when Po was holding her in his arms. He was glad she didn't turn around and look at him. Maybe he could lie with his tongue, but he couldn't lie with his eyes. Tigress would've forced the truth out of him, and then he wouldn't have this one little moment of peace.
However short-lived it was.