Part II

After a quick breakfast they started walking again. Despite Po's complaints, Tigress noticed that he ate very little, especially compared with what the normally jovial panda regularly inhaled. Tigress didn't talk about it, though – she feared somehow that speaking to Po would only make him cry again. She just kept a careful watch on her travel mate as they went along to somewhere unknown. At least Tigress didn't know where they were going. Po said he didn't also, but he never stopped walking as though he had the destination set in his mind, Tigress close behind him.

Meanwhile Po was doing everything he could to ignore the pain. He almost understood why it was there, where it came from, like he was listening to voices trying to tell him something, a million strained voices all screaming the same thing in a billion languages, from ancient, dead languages not heard for many thousands of years to dialects that would not arise for hundreds more years, but there was another voice, one louder and clearer who spoke, 'Not yet. Don't give in. Keep going.' And he obeyed that voice.

Po ignored lunch, as did Tigress. They rested a bit in the afternoon, and then started walking again until close to midnight.

"We'll rest here tonight. You sleep. If I need you, I call you," Po commanded as he stopped the hike.

"Wake me up on the second turn, Po, you need to get some sleep as well," offered Tigress, intentions pure, though the outcome was not what she had expected.

"NO!" Po screeched, fear and fury altering his features so much that Tigress could feel his gaze without being able to fully see his face in the dark of the night, deep green orbs boring into her soul like the icy fingers of terror that seemed to constrict her throat.

"Tigress, listen, please," Po continued after a moment of tense silence, his voice changing to a patient tone and Tigress could not tell if he was crying again or not. "If you're coming with me, you'll have to trust me. I don't need sleep. I can't dream. At least for now. If I need you, I call you. That's the end of it, Tigress. Please," He finished, noticing that his companion was already drawing breath to protest.

Tigress finally acquiesced and prepared to sleep. Though she heard no screams, she had an unusually troubled slumber, but all the images were gone by the morning as the sun touched her face and she opened her eyes to see Po sitting beside her in exactly the same spot he was when she went to sleep.

"You're awake? Good," Po turned to face her and Tigress wanted to say something, anything, but couldn't find any words. The panda's eyes were changed – the former green sparkle was barely recognizable below a shade of deep red that covered almost all of his eyeballs. It looked like he spent all night crying while she was sleeping. Still he got up, ignoring her expression of shock, and encouraged her to do the same.

"C'mon, we are close now, Tigress. We'll be there today before nightfall," Po coaxed, hefting his knapsack onto his shoulder.

"Where, exactly?" Tigress asked before she could contain herself. She looked to the east where the sun was rising. "It seems we left the Valley and now we are making a large curve, but where to?"

"I think I know now," Po spoke, more to himself than her, as he looked north. "The Pool of Sacred Tears."

"This is not the way to the Pool, I've been there before," Tigress replied, a bit confused.

"Not the way we usually take, no. But it's the way someone took a long time ago. And the way we must take now." Po replied. Tigress was more than a bit confused.

"Are you… what exactly are you talking about, Po?" she queried, completely lost.

"I asked something from you last night, right?" Po replied, now looking directly to Tigress, his eyes getting redder and swelling with tears again.

An invisible hand squeezed her heart as she apologized, "I'm sorry, Po, I didn't mean to…"

"No, it's not that… look, Tigress, I need you to trust me. Really. It doesn't matter how odd or scary or weird things get, as long as you're here you might be able to help me. But I need you to trust me. Can you do that? No more disobeying, no matter how good you are at it," Tigress noticed that Po was trying to smile, though she didn't actually see a smile on his face.

"Yes, Master," Tigress agreed, after a moment of hesitation. She knew she couldn't back out now. She was in his hands and vice-versa, so to speak.

"Good, Tigress. Thank you very much. And it was Oogway," Po said offhand.

"What?" Tigress questioned, confusion returning to her face.

"You asked me what I was talking about. Well, before the shortcut with the bridges through the mountains was constructed, Oogway used this path to reach the Pool. That was before the Pool was named," explained Po as his gaze drifted about the forest.

Po was right. It wouldn't take much to reach the Pool, though why he hadn't taken the shortcut was beyond Tigress… it was tiring, but way faster than this route. Could it be solely because Master Oogway used it before? Why? Po's expression had eased when he spoke the name of the now departed tortoise Master, she noticed that.

Po started walking again without any further words. Tigress followed him also silent for a while. Finally, she hesitantly broke the silence, "Po, maybe you could… if you want… tell me more about what's going on."

Po didn't reply, didn't even look at her, and just kept walking.

"I know you asked me to trust you meaning I shouldn't ask any questions…" she continued.

"Yeah, like, twice," Po said, matter-of-factly.

"But you were also the one who begged us to treat you like a friend and stop calling you Master when we are alone at the Palace," Tigress continued, undeterred by his rude comment.

"Yup, and you were the only one who didn't do it," Po tried replying in what he thought was a cheerful tone to indicate he wasn't really upset, but his voice sounded distant and sad somehow.

"Yes, because back then I couldn't," explained Tigress, her voice nearly cracking in exasperation.

"And why can you now?" Po turned to ask the question while staring at Tigress. His eyes were red and she noticed a dry path of tears across his cheeks.

"Because…" That was a good question. Tigress knew she had an answer, but she had to put her mind at ease in order to give one to the panda whose actions were scaring her so much "Because I never believed you could do what you did, become the Dragon Warrior and defeat Tai Lung. And when you did that I knew what to expect from you as a Master: authority. But instead you wanted friendship, and that took longer for me, I think. But I'm asking you to talk to me because I'm worried about a friend, not a Master, and I think I could help you as a friend. If you're not going to answer my questions then you should at least know this much." There was nothing hesitant about her tone; it was firm and strong, yet still filled with the respect and pride that shone in every word she spoke.

To Tigress, Po seemed to regain his emerald eyes again while listening to her, but only for a moment. Maybe it was just her imagination. She wondered if it would help to say more, to say that, after all this time, he brought happiness not only to the Palace but to herself in a way she never had, that he could make her smile or even laugh like no one did, that he was the kindest, bravest soul she'd ever met. But Po spoke first, after gazing at her for what felt like hours with Tigress staring unblinkingly at him in turn.

"I've been having some dreams lately, and I'm kinda being guided by them. But I really don't want to talk about them, okay, Tigress, please? I think they are only meant for me," Po murmured sleepily.

"Lately as in a week ago?" Tigress asked immediately after his response, her eyes widening a bit.

"Yes, how'd you know?" Po's eyes also widened and he took a step back, like he was afraid of something.

"I didn't it's just… about a week ago I started to wake up in the middle of the night because of screams only I could hear," Tigress admitted her inner kitten fidgeting nervously.

"What?" Po's expression changed to surprise and concern.

"I heard someone screaming, like someone was really in pain. It was so loud that I was surprised to discover I was the only one hearing it. None of the others at the Palace woke up. And it… happened more than once," Tigress stopped looking at Po, but that was because she was trying to make sense of all of it and her mind was going back and forth, faster than she could accompany it.

"It was me," Po breathed, patting his own chest. "Tigress, you… you heard me. You heard my soul asking for help! That's why you're here!" And for a moment, though he wasn't smiling, the panda looked genuinely happy.

"Po I…" Tigress tried to find something to say, but before she did Po waved his hands in front of her, signaling for her to be quiet.

"No, Tigress. Let me speak. I'm sorry, okay? You are here for a reason and I should've known it from the start. I should've realized it. I'm sorry I gave you a hard time about disobeying me. I asked for your help and you came. Thank you." He held Tigress's paws firmly and looked deep into her eyes before saying 'Thank you' again.

He then turned his back on her and started walking like nothing had happened, and didn't say another word about the matter. Tigress followed him also silent, not because she didn't have anything to say but because she just couldn't put it all into words. She knew he was right about everything that was said.

Too quickly the morning has passed and the voices were overwhelming him. And he knew exactly where they were coming from.

He could feel the voice of Tigress, filled with fear and doubts. It was close, so it was easy to hear. Miles away he could hear a baby crying of hunger. A lover's heart breaking, because it was abandoned. A body filled with open scars and broken bones – it was thrown over the edge of a precipice by its owner in an act of pure despair – drawing its last breath before dying. They were far, but it wasn't that much difficult. Pain: he was a magnet for it.

He could identify where the voices of pain were coming from, one by one, or he could let it all flow through him in one giant rush, erasing his senses, making him feel like he was going to die. At least he asked for it. But death did not come, only pain.

But still there was another voice there.

'Be strong. Trust yourself. Trust the world around you. Go on.' And he obeyed. It wasn't easy but he did.

Near the sunset they were approaching the Pool of Sacred Tears. Po stopped when he noticed a butterfly flying in front of him, delicate wings beating lazily in the breeze.

"The butterfly!" He cried, pointing at it so Tigress could see.

"Yes, Po. It's… it's lovely," she answered, not understanding what had Po so excited, but not wanting to ruin his sudden good vibes. And, if she was honest with herself, it was a beautiful butterfly; it had an orange hue with yellow stripes and dots on it, and when the sun touched the rhythm of its wings it gleamed, like a little beating heart made of gold.

"There was a butterfly like this when Master Oogway came here for the first time!" Po shouted, his voice becoming louder with confidence.

"What? Po how can you know…" Tigress began but stopped. I must trust him, she thought. And though it was a very strange thing, she decided not to argue with the panda, trusting that he was right about it.

After the butterfly continued on its journey Po started to walk again just to stop a few minutes later.

"What now, Master?" asked Tigress.

"It's not there anymore. Look," Po pointed. And he was right. The Pool was dry. The familiar rocky formations were all there, but the lake was not. Where it once stood, there was an empty dry hole on the ground.

"Po, what's happening? How can this be?" Tigress asked without taking her eyes out of the image in front of her.

"It's dry. It's totally dry. Maybe because…" Po started, but didn't finish the last sentence because he dropped on his knees and screamed.

The voices were there. All of them shouting unutterable words of hatred and agony. The pain was unbearable-

Po?

-he felt the orphans crying for their parents and the ones who lost their children. He felt the ones who lost their lovers, the ones who lost their own blood, the ones who numbed reality by addiction to a substance; he tasted opium and ashes in his mouth. He felt the children of war. He felt his head bleeding, his skull cracked-

Po, get up. Master, get up!

-there it was. Everywhere. Unfulfilled desires. The destruction of body, mind, soul. Everyone had a story to tell, and all stories ended in tragedy. And all would die in the end, after a lifetime of misery and suffering.

PO!

He felt a warmness spreading through his face and opened his eyes to realize that Tigress had just slapped him and was shaking his body as hard as she could. Her voice was reaching him, telling him she was there, asking him if there was anything she could do.

But there was another voice. It said Go! Now! And Po obeyed once more. It was like crawling through broken glass and razor blades while having his body on fire. Nothing could ever hurt like that, nothing should. Tigress noticed his intention – get to the place where the Pool once was – and helped him there as best as she could.

When they got there, both exhausted, Po began to cry. And this time Tigress worried more than before, for they were tears of blood that streaked his face and hit the greedily thirsty ground.