Po's Garden
Don't own KFP
When Po was little, there was a little flower garden that he use to like a lot. It was on the left side of the Jade Palace mountain. He discovered it when he was alone exploring. The garden had a massive amount of flowers, lilies, daisies, roses, and all kinds of other flowers. The flowers would only bloom in the spring so Po would always love coming there during the springtime. It would look like a boiling pot of different colors. In return, Po cared for the garden while he was little. Of course, Mr. Ping didn't think twice when he came all dirtied. He would just think that's what boys do. However, Po was digging up the good ground from the bamboo forest and putting it in the garden during the winter time. He would also uproot any weeds that came during the summertime. Though he loved to eat it, the bamboo that grew near the garden was especially annoying to uproot. But Po would always go in secret. He didn't want too many people knowing about it. The area was good in soil and minerals, so some farmer may want to use it for crops. So he kept it a secret for the majority of his life. However, he put a little X made out of metal sticks to mark the spot.
That all changed, however, when he was chosen to be Dragon Warrior. He loved the fact he was an awesome warrior, but certain times his mind would wander to the days of the garden. He often wondered what had become of it. Because he was the Dragon Warrior, it took a lot of time away from him. Plus, he had to still help his dad with the shop. After defeating Tai-lung, Shen, and Kai, he wondered if the garden was even recognizable. The weeds probably choked out the flowers, or the place was taken by some farmer or person. In fact, he was sitting in his room thinking about it when Crane walked in. "Po, what are you doing staring at the wall?"
'WHatAHTA!" Po exclaimed surprised. "Crane! Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"Sorry, why are you staring at the wall anyway? Trying to beat Master Shifu's stare record," Crane guessed. Crane was amazed at how they even got started on that. Po simply challenged Master Shifu to a staring contest and Shifu won. Ever since then they would see Po practicing for a rematch. However, they didn't want to tell him yet that Master Shifu sleeps with his eyes open! Where the fun in that?
"I don't understand," Po said, frustrated. "How is he able to do that?!"
"Years of practice," Crane softly smiled.
"But that's not what I'm thinking about," Po calmed down. Crane was surprised that wasn't the issue. Usually, Po is pretty predictable and easy to read, other than when he's fighting.
"What is it then?" Crane asked.
"When I was a kid," Po started, "there was this secret garden that I knew about. It was absolutely beautiful. I just wish I could figure out what happened to it."
"Why not go to it now," Crane suggested.
"I never have enough time. And after Kai, who knows when the next bad guy will show its ugly head?"
"I'm sure you'll find out," Crane assured as he left the room. But the news of Po's garden soon spread through the Jade Palace. It seemed as though as there was some treasure to it, as Monkey hypothesized.
"What would Po have to hide that would be considered valuable," Tigress asked.
"A favorite action figure, emergency money, his private dairy, I don't know. The possibilities are endless," Monkey replied.
"What happened to the garden," Viper asked.
"Po doesn't know. How about we search for it," Crane suggested.
"That's a great idea. Then we could probably spruce it up before Po sees it," Viper said excitedly.
"I don't think that's the best idea," Tigress said. "Po did say it was secret. He obviously wants it to be private to him."
"Come on, Tigress. He doesn't have to know. Plus, I'm sure he would be happy to find it," Viper ensured. That's what they thought, anyway.
For the whole week, they couldn't find it. They knew it was marked by the two metal sticks that Po put there, but they couldn't find it. It wasn't until they were fighting some bandits in the village.
"RETREAT!" The leader wolf bandit shouted. The frightened bandits scrambled away like little children. The Furious Five and Po followed them through the forest and trees. The bandits led them to an open plain with a charred grounds with a purplish hue. It was here that they finished them off. The bandits got away but didn't return.
"Come on, guys, this place is a dump," Monkey remarked. Po was about to go with them, but he saw something that brought him to his knees.
"No," He whispered.
"What's wrong," Tigress asked, looking behind her. There was a metal x sticking out of the ground.
"Oh no," Crane gasped. This was Po's garden. "What happened?"
"Now wonder we didn't find it. This is as deep into the bandits territory as anyone has been," Monkey observed. "They burned it to the ground." Po scooped up some dirt.
"It's not burned," Po said.
"How do you know," Viper asked.
"If it were burned we would see some sprouts coming up. This place was poisoned. The ground can't support any life in it. Why would they do this?"
"So that no one can farm here. I've seen them do it before. That's how they pick on some villagers," Tigress said. Po sighed. "I'm sorry, Po."
"It's okay. I half expected it to be used for some farming or something. I just... didn't think anyone would purposely poison it," Po replied. "It was so beautiful, too." That day, Po was sad for the rest of the day. He just stayed in his room for most of the time. Then Master Shifu came in with some food.
"You haven't eaten much, and I know that you eat when you're upset," Shifu stated. Po ate some of it, but couldn't stomach more.
"Master Shifu, is it bad that I care so much about this garden?"
"No, in fact, if you weren't upset about it, I would be concerned. It's okay for the Dragon Warrior to be attached to things like nature. I'm sorry this happened to you."
"Yeah." Po slowly bounced back but he was still a little sad about the garden. His sadness was replaced by curiosity when he started noticing Tigress. Tigress would ask to go out every other day and returned back in the middle of the night. When Po had to wash the clothes, he noticed that Tigress's clothes would always be dirty, dirtier than his. Po tried to ask Tigress about it but she would either be gone or she wouldn't answer him. He tried following her once but couldn't keep track of her. You would be surprised how easy it was to lose an adult tiger. Finally, she just suddenly stopped. Her clothes weren't dirty, she wouldn't be gone most of the day, and she was around Po. Po found it very strange.
It was until spring that Tigress came to Po's room. "I have something to show you," Tigress said.
"Um... if it's a Kung Fu move, why don't you show it to me on the practice dummy," Po said, remembering the last time she showed him 'something'. Tigress shook her head.
"Not that, it's not a Kung Fu move. It's a surprise," Tigress replied. Po's eyebrow rose up. "Are you coming or not?" She didn't leave room for argument. So Po followed her to a place near the Jade Palace grounds. It was on the right side. There he saw a wide open plain amidst the feet of the mountains marked by a sign named 'The Jade Palace Garden'. There he saw more flowers and lilies and roses than with his other garden.
"Tigress, what is this place," Po asked.
"I knew you were upset about the garden being destroyed, so I got some information about gardening and figured out how to get flowers to grow here. The hardest thing was to get the soil just right. And I made sure it was protected and private," Tigress said confidently.
"Why did you do this for me," Po asked.
"I hate to see you upset, Po. I thought that maybe having something like this would help you. I hope it's okay. I know it's not the same as-" Po interrupted her with a hug.
"It's perfect. Thank you," Po smiled. Tigress slowly hugged back. Po looked at the ground. "You even manage to grow my favorite flower!" He said excitedly.
"What," She asked as he picked it up.
"The Tiger Lily," Po smiled. He presented the flower to her. "Take it."
"Oh I couldn't Po," she hesitated at first.
"No, please." So Tigress did. The orange flower was certainly beautiful.
"Thank you, Po," Tigress said.
"No, thank you," Po replied. He became nervous. "You know, um... it gets pretty um quiet around here. This could be our secret garden." Tigress blushed a little.
"Um sure. If that's okay with you," Tigress replied.
"Of course," Po quickly said. Tigress smiled, just a hint. So Po's garden became Po and Tigress's garden. And it stayed that way especially after they married each other.
The End