Note : I don't own Kung Fu Panda. This story may contain spoiler of KFP 2 and KFP 3. A few references to other inspiring one shot that I've read :-)
THUD….
Not one, but two scrolls landed on Monkey's head.
"Aw man…! Why is it happen to me for the dozenth time today?!" Monkey rubbed his sore head with his palm.
"With all due respect Dragon Warrior, this as close as what we called hoarding". The bug added, his appendages were trying to prevent yet another object to fall on Monkey's head while he was trying to retrieve a large black box from the top of Po's wardrobe.
"Geez… I did ask you guys 'are you sure you want to help me clear up my bedroom' and you both agree almost immediately". The panda grinning smugly. The two Masters in question just bobbing wordless notion at each other contentiously.
"Ahem…." The simian cleared his throat loudly after trying to find suitable excuse.
"Po, the last time we peeked through your room, I don't remember you had about half of these stuffs, I mean… man… it's only just been 6 months ago, and you've collected this much? Man….I can't even see the your bedroom floor!" The bug and monkey tried to dig up Po's numerous array of knick knacks and arrange it in different pile for transport. To say his room was disheveled was certainly an understatement.
Exactly a month from now, two of their cohorts were going to tie the knot and move to the other side of the palace. Today had been picked as an auspicious date for setting up the wedding bed ceremony. Master Shifu and Mr Ping together with Li Shan had agreed to help.
Crane was doing his wedding planner's errands while Viper took Tigress to fit her kwa (wedding dress). Leaving Monkey and Mantis who agreed to assist Po sorting out his bedroom prior to the move - which was proven to be much larger task than they initially anticipated - especially when the bear was not ready to part with any of his belongings.
"They are all treasures, I just have no time to sort and put them in the right place". The monochromatic creature just muttered his lame excuse while expeditiously putting his clothes aside.
Since Po had become Master Oogway's official successor, he had to add one more responsibility to the myriad of things to do. He had to juggle between teaching the Five, teaching the bunnies, attending the various Council Meeting, involved in political mission, scheduling patrol, protecting the valley with the Furious Five, and not to mention supervising palace's day to day admin. Tigress had been trying to aid him and share the burden, assisting the teaching and reading most of his correspondence letters, even then he found hardly enough time to attend to his personal space, hence the morbid unruliness in his room.
"Aren't you not going to throw some of these 'treasure' of yours? I mean, does Tigress knows your new bed chamber going to be occupied with your stuff?" Monkey was certain Tigress would throw some of Po's stuff out of the window right in front of him - and that would have been way too distressing for him to endure.
Po flinched his friend logical rebuttal, but nonetheless still stubbornly riposted. "Well, they are all kind-da…. y'know….hold sentimental value, I can't throw them out just like that." He exhaled deeply while sweeping his glance on the absolute disarrayed of inanimate objects around him and quickly appended, "...but I guess you have a point there, we need to sort out some stuff to be left in the basement." His other two friends just sighed in resignation on the prospect having to sort the colossal number of nonsensical items of fictional importance, but the imploring look on his emerald eyes clearly couldn't be ignored.
"Don't worry big guy, we'll help you, even when it would take weeks to conquer this….". Monkey reassured resolutely while pointing to the pile. The Masters started with the large big box at the corner of the room. It was full of Po's childhood picture. There was one that Mr. Ping bathe him, feed him, even trying to giving him a piggyback - both Masters chuckled with lots of 'awww…' or sometimes snickered with a mocking tone.
Po looked over his shoulder, catching the glimpse of his comrades adoring his childhood picture. "I know…." Po laughed rather proudly "I was really cute wasn't I?" To which he received a few 'ugh' and 'boneheads!' from the two as they landed their incredulous stare on his over-confidence self proclaiming remark.
(** Spoiler KFP3, the first fight between Furious Five + Dragon Warrior vs. Jade Zombie at the roof top**) Until they saw a sketch which looked more like an adult's version of Po and the Kung Fu legend master Porcupine side by side. The legend stood next to the Dragon Warrior planting an unfriendly kick to his face. Then Monkey grinned recalling the very incident of Po - in his usual fanboyish mode trying to get his sketch done while fighting the deceased kung fu legend. Albeit the legendary Master Porcupine was jombified didn't make it any less awesome for Po.
Then they move on and saw : chisel, hammer, wood lubricant, paint and a few stack of unused wood. 'This must be Po's carving kit'. Mantis saw half done carving beneath the pile. It wasn't an action figure - it was more like a sculpture. Mantis picked it up and paid more attention to its detail, it was a younger version of Shifu with a cub in kung fu stance. Shifu's figure was completely done while the cub seemed to be completely carved but still remained unpainted. Mantis took a closer look and realise who it was. It was Tigress as a cub, she was wearing her usual vest, one of her arms forward and her fist touching her Master open palm. Both of figures smiles at each other as they were sparring.
Po turned around and beamed.
"Oh that…? I carved that for Shifu on the day Tigress and I got engaged. Me and Tigress had been working on it. She wants to give it to Shifu on our wedding day. Say…. a bit like going away gift, y'know what I mean. Because she'll be moving out with me. I thought that would remind Shifu of her even when she is no longer living in the Palace."
"Man, that's a great I idea." Monkey took a turn examining the figurines.
Suddenly Monkey remembered the prank both Po and Tigress pulled one night when they were both making, carving action figure sound so…..dirty. He let a small laugh and mumbled to himself 'I am sure no one will forget that one'. (you can read the story here : s/7728872/28/100-Drabbles-Challenge)
In the next minutes or so, an item from Po's carving box caught Mantis' attention. It appeared like a piece of rock. "Hey Big Guy, what's this?" He was sure no one would be able to carve anything unto it as it was crumbly and rather unevenly shaped.
Po turned around and just muttered a nervous "Uh-huh…" and turned his back and pretended not listening to the bug. "Wait is this not, the part of the broken barrack's roof?" He asked. But the panda in question still pretended to be busy.'Why would he be keeping part of the roof?'
"Whatever you think it is, don't throw that away". Po still was not replying the question. Mantis held the object which twice as big as he is as he squeezed his memory of the object.
"Hey, I recognise that!"
Monkey started to laugh… loudly…
"Mantis, do you remember Po's first day training with us, and Shifu made Tigress do a split kick in the air?"
"Is this the rubble from whatever Tigress was kicking? Oh man, Po… did you already lay sight on her even back then? Man… you are impossible. She was ready to kick your butt and you had a crush on her?" The two masters taunted Po to no end.
"Love Chunk eh Dragon Warrior?" They snickered.
Po quickly admitted defeat. "Yeah, back then I do like her…. but not in love with her yet… I guess".
The golden langur's and the bug's face plastered with big winning grin.
"I knew from the start you had a thing with feline, I just don't understand why you pick the most ferocious one". Monkey continued to tease the poor bear. Po just smiled at the comment. He himself couldn't believe his luck : to be able to do kung fu and going on missions with his idols - the Furious Five, and getting the Dragon Warrior title just added the icing on top. But nothing could match the thrill when he knew his favourite heroine, Master Tigress, felt the same way about him as he is towards her.
He could die happy now.
Neither his comrades believed what the universe had revealed in recent years. Although it happened gradually through the year. The feline master who resented Po the most, had steadily grown closer and fallen for the panda. And like the most inexplicable twist on romance novel, two of the most unlikely creatures with such a different background and personality, had met by destiny, decided to be acquaintances, and unknowingly falling in love in the process.
"You had to share your love secret success, buddy". The bug nudged him impishly.
"I bet you've been using the catnip cologne I gave you as winter holiday present". He elbowed the side of panda's head with his appendage.
"Hey I didn't do outrageous thing like that!" He pouted like a little child. "She loved me in her own will!"
The bug and the simian just laughed at the bear response. "Seriously, Po… how did you make Tigress to love you back. I mean… you like her - I can see that coming. But she loves you back? No offence big guy, I don't think Tigress mind about your body size, clumsiness, your look and all, but I really never suspect she is falling for you." The bug questioned his large friend who was still busy retrieving stuff from under his bedroll.
"Attractiveness had nothing to do with figure and size buddy". Po snickered at the bug.
The monkey rebutted sinisterly."You mean the fact that her waist probably a sixth of yours? It would be hard to-"
"She can hug my neck, Monkey, be imaginative!" the panda cut him and defended himself. "She'd had seen my pure awesomeness and thus the rest doesn't matter".
"I guess that's good news for me" Mantis referred to himself. "I always worried about my size." He said nonchalantly.
"Depends what you want to do, Mantis, size can be a problem". The simian purposely emphasised the word 'can'. The bug gave him a stern look. The panda looked amused with his friends' reaction.
"Let me tell you a secret". Po placed his paw over monkey shoulder and gestured at Mantis to hop on closer to him.
"When I realise I was in love with Tigress I went to my dad and asked for his advice." Po paused and think for a second. "He told me 'love is not meant to be kept, but to be given away.' And that moment I realised I should never hold back my feeling for Tigress, no matter how sceptic I am that she will accept a big fat panda".
His comrades astounded with the goose's wisdom but still remain doubtful.
"Po, if the girl you like all sweet, soft spoken, friendly and welcoming I wouldn't have a problem giving my love and such, but man…Tigress was something else, you can't even ask her for a date without ending up in the infirmary. How can you be prepared to give away your love when she is not even willing to accept it let alone return it".
Po smiled at his friend's remarks and sigh wistfully.
"I guess I must be really in love with her. I knew from the start. winning her heart won't be easy…. but the harder you get something, the more you treasure it, isn't that right?" Po turned to his comrades.
Both simian and bug patted Po's shoulder and nodded in agreement before going on to continue their work.
Then they moved the stack of boxes out of the way. On the process, they saw what appeared to be the large Dragon costume.
"Aw man, I missed this…. we had quite an adventure in Gongmen with this fella." Monkey fondly pulled out the costume showing it to his comrades. "Yeah, 6 of us snuggled in that and ran around town like a hopeless lunatic." They all exhaled pensively as the memories back from their deadly mission in Gongmen flooded through their mind. "Po, would you mind if we kept this in my or Mantis room, you still can have it, but we'll do the safekeeping". (**You had to watch KFP2 to understand this)
"Thanks guys. that would be fab. I don't think Tigress will be thrilled to see that in our bedroom".
He chuckled, but quickly silenced when he heard Mantis groan.
"Dude, this is atrocious, why on earth you are keeping this?" The mantis came up with gold fabric which resembles Tigress's qipao except that it was ten times bigger.
Monkey squinted his eyes try to recall where he saw that qipao, no doubt it was looking rather familiar, especially the scent of sandalwood that cling onto its fabric. "Operation Waterlily" muttered the bear who is now red as beetroot.
"Awww man, that vile thing! Oh gosh, you are still keeping it? Dude, are you out of your mind? I already burnt mine as soon as we arrived in the palace!" Monkey stared at the panda in disbelief. "What kind of memories you want to hang on to looking at that? Kissing Crane?" (you can read the story of their mission here : s/4590682/4/Furious)
Mantis nearly threw up, the panda flinched at the recollection. It's indeed true, the operation Waterlily served as an acute reminder of how far a warrior would need to do in order to complete a mission, even when putting one in such a…. distressing position.
"Thank Oogway Crane is not here." The simian gawked at the panda.
"Ok, that one in the basement." Pointed the bear.
Just then Mantis saw another interesting item what resembled a pan, but unlike normal cooking pan, its looked like something imprinted on it's surface. On closer observation, he realised it was Shifu's impression on the bottom of that metal tin. It was very detailed, even the size matched the real thing. How on earth Shifu's ever agreed to have the version of himself as a mould on a pan left Mantis puzzled to know end. 'This panda must have been very persuasive to be able make Shifu agree to do this'.
"Po, don't tell me you intend to make Master Shifu's shaped birthday cake for one of us with this." He pointed. The bear flinted his glance and upon recognising the items laughed boisterously.
"You both were there when this happened, don't you remember?" Both master in question shook their heads. Of course both insect and the langur weren't much aware where that pan come about since both of them were jombified by then. (** KFP 3 spoiler after this) Po expounded that it involved both of his dads hitting jaded version of Master Shifu with Mr. Ping's cooking pan on the brawl with Kai down in Panda village. And he decided to keep the pan as momentos. Upon agreeing that it might be a bit freaky to leave master Shifu's face in his martial chamber, Po agreed to store it down in the basement.
Then his eyes caught a bunch of old spools from underneath his bed.
"Gosh, this has been awhile!" Po felt a bit giddy from excitement. He pick the first scroll and start reading them. Mantis hopped on his shoulder while Monkey jumped on his lap. Inside the scroll consisted a list, which clearly had been written by Po himself. It looked like to-do list, with lots of things already been crossed out.
"What's that? is it a kind of bucket list before you die?" asked the bug quizzically.
"Hey, watcha saying bug". He snarled "This is the list I made on the first day living here, some were my dreams and my accomplishment". Po stated proudly.
Among the crossed list there are things like : meet the Furious Five, ask Master Oogway to sign my belly, ask Master Flying Rhino about his legendary Hammer of Doom, pull a prank with Master Monkey and Mantis, make friend with Master Tigress, and measure how big is Shifu's ear.
Both his comrades just chuckled reading Po's list. They remembered one day Po came into the training hall with a big ink mark on his belly - presumably Oogway's signature and he stubbornly refused to take a bath for nearly a week. They did pull a prank together trying to get Shifu a date which resulting with three of them cleaning the Hall of Heroes for a month.
"How did you managed to make peace with Tigress? I know she kind-da accept you as her comrades after you defeat Tai Lung, but she still remained cold and distant." Monkey knew that Tigress was not going to trust the panda as her friend just because he had trounced someone she couldn't.
Po twiddled his finger sheepishly. It's been 8 years since he beat Tai Lung.
"Oh, I gave her something… I mean-it is technically hers… I never meant to steal it away. And she had accepted me as a friend since." The two master face looked baffled "And what is that something?"
"It's the Dragon Scroll…. you see, you can't find it here. It's in Tigress's bedroom, I gave it to her."
His cohorts left speechless and dumbfounded momentarily. "Y-you gave her the Dragon Scroll, but…. Why?"
"Oh, love that defies all logic….". Monkey said dreamily, but with a little hint of mockery.
"Well, in my mind it was never been mine. I am just a guy who landed in front of her. She had dedicated her whole life working hard for it. So, I was just returning it to the rightful owner". (you can read the story here : s/4768222/1/The-Gift)
Monkey and Mantis were again left bemused. The panda might look like a big kid, often making a fool of himself, goofy, sloppy and loud at times, but lurking behind that frivolous veneer was a certain maturity and wisdom beyond his age. It's no wonder he was chosen as the Dragon Warrior.
"Man, that was severely awesome… not any other guy can do that everyday". Mantis patted his shoulder proudly. They continued reading at his list. There are some that still left on the list, like : 'make Tigress laugh' and 'find out who my parents is'.
Po immediately knew what his confidants were going to asked him. He quickly gave them another scroll.
"Here is the more updated one, I made that right after we went to Gongmen and still using it until now".
Both males opened the scroll. The list looked somewhat similar at the beginning, with some addition. This made his comrades smiled.
Crossed list : finding out where I came from, meeting my biological dad, learn to make something else beside noodles and dumpling, defeat Lord Shen with awesomeness, achieve inner peace, find other pandas, throw Tigress a surprise birthday party, goes on boys only mission with Crane, Monkey and Mantis, arrange Crane to go on a date with Viper, mastering Chi, have my first kiss with the girl I love.
"Dude, I had to say, this is an excellent list." Mantis retorted while reading his list.
"I didn't know that matchmaking Viper and Crane was your idea, no wonder you keep teasing them."
The panda gave a big goofy grin. "I knew Crane have a crush with her, but never dare to ask her out, so I decide I must do something to help".
"So I take it you've kissed Tigress". Monkey elbowed the panda.
"Uh-huh… in fact she kissed me first, I was just returning the gesture" he managed to prevent himself from blushing remembering the event under the peach tree.
"Seriously? and you said you didn't use the catnip cologne Mantis gave you?"
"HEY!" Po mentally berated himself of being too honest.
The two of of laughed, and quickly get back working on the pile while Mantis still musing the rest of the item on Po's list.
Under uncrossed list : be a kung fu master, get married, persuade my panda dad to move to the valley, take Shifu on vacation, learn to use Chi to heal others in the battle/mission, learn table manners, be a father.
Mantis pointed at the last item on the list and nudged Monkey with his thingy. The simian retorted "That big guy love kids, I saw that coming." Po alerted as he heard his name was mentioned.
"Uhm-…. about that". He mentally cursed himself for showing the list to his comrades. He rubbed the back of his head while finding the least embarrassing words to say."I wrote it down after I came back from the Panda Village."
"I wouldn't blame you Dude, being around so many cute pandas does rub a thing or two, even on Tigress. I mean…man…looked at her and Lei lei." the bug now rolling up the scroll, placed it inside the canister and disposed it absently inside a large wooden green box.
"But I am sure another few months after your wedding you might be able to cross that one out". Both Monkey and Mantis scoffed while Po could feel his face heats up.
"I take it Shifu had told you to read scroll 69″. Mantis joked. "But if you don't, I tell ya Brother, that neither Panda or Tiger laid eggs…nor comes from radish crate or carried by a stork."
The panda cringed feeling his privacy being invaded. 'I somewhat glad I am moving out'.