Chapter 4

Jade Palace…

Po's life in the Jade Palace proved to be some of the most thrilling ever. He spent most of his morning training kung fu, watching Tai Lung perform each step and then mimicking them, adding a few touches to help it flow easier. Shifu expressed a great deal of amusement in the ease of the panda's training and often enough saying how gifted he was. Following that, Po began a set of chores that Oogway gave him. The list itself was not very long, though the effort in fulfilling each task proved to be more of a handful, from carrying bucket loads of water up and down the thousand steps, to dusting the top of shelves without the use of a step ladder. After a few days, his body began to adjust with the added benefit of muscle bulk and increase stamina along with his kung fu skill.

His trips back home were also some of the best time as well as he got to spend them with his father, showing off his kung fu skills while at the same time learning a few more cooking recipes. The shop was showing great progress in profit, Ping saying that things should be back to normal soon and he could return home for good. However this raised a problem in the back of Po's mind, in his heart, he wanted to be with his dad in the shop, another part of him desired to live the role of a kung fu warrior and one day be seen as a true Master and not just some panda.

Tai Lung proved to be a lot fun, despite his tough as nail outward appearance, Po could see there was something deep inside of the snow leopard, a playful grin that seemed to rise to the surface each time they were together, whether it was during training or sharing a meal. Tai Lung would often spend hours on end talking about the legendry Dragon Scroll held high above the Moon Pool in the gaping jaw of the gold serpentine dragon statue, said to grant those who read upon the scroll all the secrets of kung fu and endless power, and although Po felt deeply impressed and spellbound by the sight of the scroll, he knew it was not something meant for him to gaze upon, and so, Po mainly focused on his daily chores and training, awaiting the day he would return to his simple life in the valley.

It had been roughly two month since Po came to live in the Jade Palace, and after a long morning of training, Po found himself hard at work at another of his favorite past time, cooking.

Perched atop a small stool, Po took several deep breaths before chopping a number of unions, carrots and radishes. He couldn't stop from giggling at how quickly his hand move, his training in kung fu aiding to sharpen his reflects. Once done, Po tipped the cutting board over, adding them to a pot of boiling noodles, then reached up to grab a few spices to enhance the flavor, unknown to the young panda, Po did not need to stretch as far as he normally would have. Having grown several inches in the past few weeks, it would not be long before he would no longer have need of the stool to get around the kitchen.

As the soup shimmered, thoughts of home drifted through his mind. Would his father be making his latest batch of his Secret Ingredient Soup? Would the town folk mention him as anything other than the lonesome panda, or worse, Fatso? Po patted a hand against his stomach, though he still carried a good a deal of weight it was off by the steady development of ab muscle.

"If I were to keep this training up," Po whispered to himself, "it won't be long until they won't be able to call me Fatso ever again."

"And who calls you that?"

Po glanced over his shoulder, a grin forming at the sight of Tai Lung, standing before the door way. "Hi Tai Lung," Po said in an attempt to avoid Tai Lung question staying clear of the snow leopard's eyes. "You're just in time for lunch. Have a seat."

"Sorry," Tai Lung said, his gaze firmly locked on Po, "as much as it pains me to miss out on your soup, I'm mainly waiting for Shifu. Now, who's been calling you Fatso?"

"Curse your ears," Po snapped, his head hung low, "it was a while ago, shortly before coming to live here."

"Go on," Tai Lung said with a wave of his hand.

"You're not going to let this matter drop are you?"

A cruel playful smile formed on Tai Lung's face. "Nope."

Po released a low sigh then filled two bowls and sat down at the table. "Like I said this happened before coming here, back then a lot of villagers often made fun of me because of my weight. They called me Fatso, Tubby, or Wide-bottom. It got even worse sometime when I'd be eating a meal in my father's shop and some of the villagers would say, 'There's that panda, better keep a close eye on your bowl'. It got so bad at time, often enough I just stayed up in my room until they all left."

"I'm sorry to hear that Po," Tai Lung said, "you would think some of Oogway's teaching of acceptance would rub off on the villagers, but with being the only panda in China tend to make things difficult for people to act accordingly."

"It's alright; it doesn't bother me as much anymore."

"And why is that?"

"I have an uncle who drops by every so often and during his last visit be caught me crying after being hounded by another bout of teasing and well after I explained, he told me something. Titles don't make you what you are, so long as you stay true to what you are in your heart then nothing else matters."

Tai Lung released a playful chuckle. "So tell me Po," he asked, "what do you see in your heart?"

"Well that's easy," Po said, his tone calm, though even to him, his voice sounded hollow, "once Dad gets the shop back on its feet, I'm going to go home and cook noodles."

Tai Lung's grin faded to be replaced with a stern expression. "You don't mean that, do you?"

"Uh…what?"

"Po," Tai Lung said, "with your skills in kung fu, even after such a short time, you could easily become a true master."

"What me," Po stammered, "no way!" But even as he sought to deny the possibility, a part of him was thrilled by the idea. "There no way I can become a Master, I'm just a panda."

Tai Lung released a steady growl, his eyes narrow as he said, "And I thought you said titles didn't matter."

Po leaned back in his chair, looking rather ashamed to have his own words thrown back at him. "Tai…"

"Oh there you are."

Po glanced over to the door, and quickly stood at the sight of Shifu, "Greeting Master Shifu," Po said with a solemn bow, "I have bit of extra soup if you want some."

"Oh no," Shifu said, though smile as he sniffed the air, "maybe later, though for right now, I have some important business with Tai Lung in the Great Hall."

"Can I come?" Po asked.

"Afraid not," Shifu said, his stern and cold, something Po had come to expect from his teacher, "this matter is for Masters," he paused, a smile forming about his face and went on in a more cheerful tone, "beside I thought you were going to visit your father today."

A smile formed on Po's face. As much as he enjoyed his time here, he loved being with his father that much more. "Thank you Master Shifu."

With that he rushed out of the kitchen, though on the way out he heard Shifu's voice. "Come mu son, time to embrace your destiny."

Dad's noodle shop was rather busy by the time Po entered the dining hall; more so than normal which he took as a good sign that profit was on the raise. He received the usual greeting of a solemn wave from the local villagers and before he knew it, his dad was upon him with a loving hug.

"Po," Ping said in a frantic state, "I'm so glad you're here."

"Ah come on Dad," Po replied with a chuckle, "you saw me yesterday."

"Yes," Ping said pulling the panda toward the kitchen door, "but yesterday, I wasn't so busy. Now come along," he paused to wrap an apron around his son, "I have four orders ready for tables, eight, three and twelve, with another six on the way." Ping then handed Po a large tray loaded with bowls of soup and dumpling, then began to push him back into the dining hall.

"Table twelve?" Po whispered, "wow, Dad really must be getting busy again if he needed to add on more tables."

After several hours of waiting on tables, the crowd began to thin as the villagers went back to their daily lives. As Po busied himself with cleaning the dining hall, he glanced up toward the Jade Palace, his thoughts turning to Tai Lung. Normally by this time of day, he'd be hard at work mastering his skills or reading those fancy scrolls in the Great Hall. If he were lucky, he might catch him before he left for his nightly patrol.

"Po, kindly give me a hand with these bags."

Po turned and quickly went off to help his father, took hold one of the bags and effortlessly placed it about his shoulder.

"My word Po," Ping said, a look of surprise covering the goose's face. "You've grown quite strong these past few months."

"Maybe," Po said admiring his own physical strength, "but I'm nowhere near as strong as Tai Lung. Boy if he were here, he'd be able to carry all the bags here without so much as breaking a sweat."

"You really hold him at such a high praise," Ping commented making his way up the stairs to the storage room.

"I can't help it Dad," Po said while following his father, "he's the best…" he paused so as to lower his voice to that of a soft whisper, "…I would give anything to be just like him."

As they reached the second floor, Ping opened a nearby door, having to step aside to allow Po to slip past. Upon entering it, the young panda gently placed the bag about the ground and began to look about the room. A room that at one point not too long ago was once his. Not much had changed since the last time he came up here. To the right of the door stood a wall length group of shelves, loaded with a number of pots, pans and fine dishes, used only during festivals or birthday. Directly across from them stood a number of barrels and packs filled with an assortment of grain and fruit, and in the middle of it was a large bed with a wooden end table along its side. Making his way toward the bed, Po brushed a hand along its smooth surface to reveal not so much as a layer of dust along the thick cloth. A glint of light flashed before him and looked up to see the sun's rays reflecting off a small picture frame. Looking closer, a smile began to form as he realized it was a very curd drawing of him and his father, both with cheerful expression, his dad wearing that goofy hat with a black pot of noodle in between them. As his smile turned into a faint chuckle, he could feel a tear rolling down his cheek, to think his father held on to this all this time—though short as it had been. He turned back to face his father, but Ping had already left causing Po to chuckle knowing him, the old goose was already hard at work at trying to pay off his debt so they could be together again.

Hanging the picture back along the wall, Po went back for another load of supplies, though paused as he took note of Tai Lung out in the dining hall.

"Hey there buddy," Po said in a surprise voice, "didn't expect to see you here."

"Neither did I," Tai Lung said in a solemn tone, "I've just got a lot on my mind and just needed someplace quiet to think."

"Well you best be quick about it," Ping said stepping up to the counter, his voice firm though there was a slight cringe in his expression as the snow leopard released a low growl. "I mean…to say…that the dinner rush will be coming in soon and this place tends to be rather noisy then. Heck it gets so bad, even I can't hear myself think."

"Don't worry about my dad," Po said in a playful manner taking a seat beside his friend. "So what's on your mind?"

"It's about the Dragon Scroll."

"Really?" Po said with a wide grin. "So can you tell me what it was like after you read it, or is it some ultra huge mega big kung fu secret?"

Tai Lung raised his head to face Po, yet his gaze was rooted far beyond the young panda, to a point not so long ago where he nearly allowed his emotion to get the best of his.