"Look at how much you've grown!" said Mantis delightedly. The red mantis walked in a circle to show herself off.

"Who's your friend, Mantis?" Monkey said teasingly. He suspected she was another one of his ex-girlfriends.

"This is Hun-ch'ung, Hao's kid cousin and my best friend growing up," he introduced her.

"'Sup!" she waved a pincer (claw-dealy) as she grinned.

"What are you doing here?" Mantis turned to her.

"After you left home, I went back to Shou village where I was born. Tyan is my friend, so I tagged along."

The rest of the day, Crane and Mantis showed Tyan and Hun-ch'ung around the village. Po, in the meantime, tried to think of a way to put off Hou-Yi's retirement from archery. He would offer to shoot against the crane, but archery was not one of his strong suits. Perhaps Hou-Yi could shoot against one of the Five or Shifu. When Crane brought Tyan to the Jade Palace, Po invited her and her family to dinner.

That night, Po suggested to Hou-Yi and the Five his idea. The old crane pondered it, "It might be worth doing, but I still think I'll retire. I don't know when I'll ever be back in the Valley of Peace for more matches, and I'm sure you guys aren't going to be allowed to leave just for a competition with me." Tigress and Monkey agreed to shoot at the tournament the next day.

Mantis and Hun-ch'ung clearly had not been listening; they were whispering and snickering to each other. "What's so funny?" asked Hou-Yi's wife Tyandi, who had been the announcer earlier that day.

"Sorry, it's an inside joke," chuckled Mantis.

"How did you guys meet?" asked Viper.

"Well, I'm about six years older than Hun-ch'ung, so I didn't pay her much attention when she first came to the village."

The red mantis interrupted, "My dad was dead and my mom had just gone to jail for stealing food, so I had to live with Cousin Hao and her parents."

Mantis nodded, "One day some kids were grouped around a wall, and I heard a girl crying, so I hopped over and they were beating Hun-ch'ung with twigs. So I beat them up and they ran crying for their mommies!" He and Hun-ch'ung laughed at the memory. "And after that, we started doing practically everything together."

"So why didn't you propose to her instead of Hao?" teased Monkey.

The red mantis threw one of her chopsticks at the monkey, "Because I was a kid, fuzzbrain!"

"Was?" Tigress whispered to Viper, causing the snake to smile.

"May I confess something to you, Dragon Warrior?" Tyandi suddenly asked. Po shrugged, nodding his head as Shif entered the room. "From what Syaudi told us, I thought he and his daughter were the last pandas in China." Her family and Hun-ch'ung nodded.

Po stared wide-eyed a moment, then burst out, "WHAT!? PANDAS!? WHERE, WHEN, HOW'D THEY ESCAPE SHEN!?"

"Po!" Shifu's call was not loud but stern.

Po hopped up and down in his seat, "But I've never seen another panda before!"

Hou-Yi nodded, "We understand, Po. Several years before Shen's attack, Syaudi and a girl named Chwun Yu went to Japan to study the samurai's code of bushido. One day they received a message that the pandas' village had been attacked, and when they came home they found no survivors. They traveled until they came to Shou Village. Chwun Yu is gone now, but she and Syaudi had a daughter named Chwun Hwa."

Po glanced sadly at the table a moment before he looked up again, "Do you think I could meet them sometime? Just to see other pandas, that would be so awesome!"

Hou-Yi grinned, "Sure, when we get home, we'll talk to Syaudi and Chwun Hwa about them coming to the Valley of Peace."