So, I was planning on updating something else today, but I went to go see KFP3 again (still an awesome movie, by the way). I got so into it this time, I really wanted to put another chapter out while I was still amped up after the movie. Unfortunately, it didn't exactly happen that way, but I think I'm still amped enough to get through this.
"What?!"
Po winced, knowing that the Five were most likely not going to like his decision, but it still hurt anyway to see their reactions.
"How could you just leave us like this?" asked Viper, her expression showing just how hurt she was at this new revelation.
"Yeah Po, we've told you a million times that what happened that day wasn't your fault! Why can't you realize that?" asked Mantis, getting back to his feet after being blown away by the panda's decision.
"I do realize that, Mantis! Believe me, I do. This isn't about whether them getting hurt was my fault or not, though."
"Then what is it?" asked Tigress, curious to see what reasoning Po had.
"It's me, okay?" yelled Po, shocking everyone else into silence.
"What do you mean, Po?" asked Viper, confused as she wondered what he was talking about.
Po sighed, closing his eyes for a few moments before returning his focus to the Five in front of him.
"Look, even with all of the hard times that I've had ever since I started living here at the Jade Palace, like with taking on Tai Lung…all of the difficult training…heck, even trying to prove myself to you guys, this has been the most awesome times I've ever had in my life."
"Don't you realize what you'd be leaving behind, though? What about us, huh? You're one of the best friends that we've ever had. Isn't that right, guys?" asked Crane.
There were some murmurs of assent from the others, including Tigress, albeit reluctantly.
As for Po, though, he couldn't help but smile as he shook his head in amusement.
"You guys are great. I don't know if I've said this to you guys in a while or not, but I seriously love you guys."
Practically every member of the Furious Five looked down at their currently untouched meals, realizing that at this point there was probably no chance that they were going to change his mind. Still, the five of them were all conditioned never to give up in the face of long odds, so as they looked at each other, trying to see if anyone else would have had an idea to convince Po to stay, Po continued to explain his reasoning behind leaving.
"Now, I like being who I am…just a normal panda with a goose for a dad, who happens to be a kung fu master. I want to be more than that, though. I want to be a Dragon Warrior that you guys can be proud of…that Master Shifu can be proud of…even Master Oogway as well! And I can't be that if I'm going to make those stupid mistakes like I did that day and end up getting people hurt."
"Like your dad." said Tigress.
Po face fell, as he was forced to remember what he went through with his dad injured and nearly dying.
"I don't want to get anyone else hurt. And I can only do that by stopping myself from treating everything like it's an action movie."
"Well, why don't you just do it now? It shouldn't be that hard."
"You don't understand, Mantis! When you've grown up in this kind of world, where your village is protected at pretty much all times of the day by a team of kick-butt martial arts masters, you tend to think the world of them, especially at the age that I was. All you want to do is be just like them and live out those kinds of dreams."
Po fell silent, watching the diminutive kung-fu master as he realized that the panda did in fact have a point.
"Isn't there anything that we can do to convince you to stay?" asked Viper, her expression hovering between acceptance and denial as she tried to figure out something that could get Po to stay.
"Wait, what about Master Shifu? I'm sure he has a way." said Crane as he looked towards Viper.
"I think that you'll have to look someplace else."
Everyone's heads whipped around towards the door to reveal Master Shifu himself standing in the doorway. The Furious Five immediately got up from their seats and bowed to the red panda, remaining standing as he walked towards the table.
"What do you mean, Master Shifu, when you said that we'd have to look someplace else?" asked Tigress.
Shifu paused for a few seconds, taking a bite out of one of the dumplings on the table and swallowing it before answering.
"The Dragon Warrior has already confided in me recently about his desire to leave the Valley. While it is true that I wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of losing a capable hand like Po here, I could understand him wanting to become a better kung-fu master who knows right from wrong. Besides, you five are more than capable of handling things while he's gone."
Each of the Five expressions darkened as they realized that their one chance at getting Po to stay was on the Dragon Warrior's side. However, Monkey soon noticed something odd with what Shifu said, and felt that he needed to point it out.
"Forgive me for asking, Master Shifu, but 'while he's gone'? What do you mean by that?"
"Well, I'm not staying away forever! I'm…just staying away until I know that I can efficiently protect the valley without the risk of getting innocent people hurt." said Po.
"But that's impossible! There's no way to completely remove innocent people from this kind of equation!" said Crane.
"That is true that it's completely impossible for innocents to remain out of danger one hundred percent of the time, Master Crane. However, it is possible to remove them from this equation you speak of most of the time. Am I right?" asked Master Shifu as he turned towards Po.
"Yeah, that was my idea. Besides, I don't think I'd ever get to that kind of heights, at least for a very long time. I'd miss you guys too much as well."
Po sighed as he watched the downcast looks of the Furious Five, realizing exactly what he was doing to them by leaving.
"I'm sorry to dump all of this on you at once, you guys, but I think it's for the best, at least for the safety of the Valley and all of China."
The room soon fell silent again as the Furious Five registered what exactly was happening in front of them.
"W-what about your dad? What's he going to think?" asked Monkey.
Po paused, realizing that he forgot about that factor. Sighing, he looked off into the distance wistfully for a few moments before turning back towards Monkey.
"I'd love to, but I think that my dad would probably come with me even if I tried to tell him not to. The fact that he's still injured just makes it worse!"
Monkey fell silent, unable to look at Po as he thought about what the panda said.
"So…isn't there anything we can do to get you to stay?" asked Viper once again, now mostly sure of the answer despite really wanting to hear it from the panda's mouth.
Instead of speaking, Po simply shook his head, confirming Viper's suspicions as much as she didn't want to believe it.
"Well, if that is what you wish, I'm not going to stop you. I do have one thing that I wish to say, though."
Tigress walked over to where Po stood and gave him a hug, surprising everyone else in the room with a display of affection that they haven't ever really seen out of her.
"Be safe, Po. We shall await your return, whenever that may be."
Po, caught off guard by the sudden hug, just stood there awkwardly, looking at the others in the room with mild confusion on his face. To his surprise, though, the rest of the Five joined Tigress in the embrace of Po.
"We're gonna miss you, buddy." said Crane, sniffling as he wrapped his wings around the panda.
Po listened as the others gave their own form of a goodbye to him, a tear falling from his eye as he realized just how much he was going to miss these guys.
When Po was finally released from the Five's embrace, Po turned towards Master Shifu, who greeted Po with a bow.
"As much as I have sometimes…wondered what Master Oogway was thinking when he chose you as the Dragon Warrior that day…"
Shifu immediately suppressed a shiver, remembering what he considered as one of the worst days of his life.
"I have eventually realized that, while you still have a ways to go before you realize your full potential, you have proven to all of us that Oogway wasn't completely mad when he chose you."
"Uh…thanks?" said Po, slightly confused.
Master Shifu gave a small smile before continuing on.
"Either way, it has been an honor to be your teacher. I'm not going to lie, it has been tough. But it has also been an interesting experience as well."
Po paused, staring at Master Shifu as he tried not to tear up. Eventually, though, he allowed a choked sob to come through before he quickly bowed himself.
"Thank you, Master Shifu."
"And I must let it be known to you that the Jade Palace will always remain open to you, no matter the circumstances. Consider it my gift to you, Dragon Warrior."
This new gift made it even tougher for Po to keep himself together. A few more tears managed to fall before Po finally was forced to excuse himself so that the others wouldn't see him cry.
As he ran into the student quarters and began collecting everything he wanted to take with him on his journey, he was desperately trying to keep himself together, but the longer he took, the tougher it was for him to remain composed.
"Don't cry, Po. You're tougher than this. You're a kung-fu master, and you're gonna be so much better after this!" he said to himself as he packed his bedroll.
Po paused for a moment as he looked at his action figures standing on a shelf nearby. He picked up the Tigress action figure, moving it around in his hand as he wondered what to do with it.
After giving it some thought, Po soon realized that if he was going to grow up like he said he would, he would need to get rid of these things so, as much as he was going to miss his figures, he shoved them off of the shelf with a yell, the figures all landing inside a garbage can.
"I'm sorry, you guys." Po said quietly before continuing to pack.
Eventually, Po was ready to finally go. The Dragon Warrior put on a large green vest that he purchased recently from down in the village to use as his traveling clothes.
After hefting his pack on to his back, Po grabbed a straw hat that he had also purchased during the same trip. He thought about putting it on for a few moments before deciding to wait until before he left.
Once he was sufficiently ready, Po sighed, taking a look around his room and realizing that it was probably going to be years before he was going to see this room again.
Sighing, Po turned his head away before shutting the door to his room, officially closing the chapter on his life.
As Po walked back towards where everyone else was, he reflected on the time he spent inside the Jade Palace. He clearly remembered the battle with Tai Lung, but all of the training sessions, all of the time he got to spend with the Five and Shifu…those memories flooded into his consciousness.
Po was about to head back into the main hall to rejoin the others for the final time, only to be surprised to find them all on the steps heading into the palace, watching as Po walked towards them.
"Well…I guess this is goodbye."
"Not forever, though. Right?" asked Viper.
"Right. I don't know how long, but I promise I shall return to the Valley someday."
Everyone soon fell silent, before everyone immediately bowed to Po.
"We'll miss you, Po." said Monkey as he returned to attention.
"Yeah, it's never going to be the same without you." said Mantis.
"Thanks guys. I'm gonna miss you, too."
Po placed his straw hat on top of his head before bowing to everyone else. After a few seconds, Po straightened up once more and began heading down the Thousand Steps, waving goodbye to everyone for as long as he could manage.
Eventually, though, Shifu and the Furious Five disappeared from Po's view, and he faced forwards, ready to begin a new era.
Reaching back into his pack, Po grabbed a walking stick, placing it on the ground once he finally reached the bottom of the steps.
As Po walked through the marketplace, with only the light *clack* of his walking stick on the stone preventing the marketplace from being completely silent, Po paused in front of his dad's noodle shop.
With how late it was, Po assumed that his dad must have been sleeping, no doubt nearly recovered from the arrow in his side and ready to resume work. Po hoped that his dad wouldn't be too mad that he didn't tell him about him leaving, but he knew it was for his own safety.
"I'm sorry, dad." he said quietly, another tear falling from his face before he turned away from the noodle shop, heading through the gateway out of the Valley as he finally began his journey to find himself.