Chapter 21
…On the path back to the Valley of Peace…
Po and Crane took their time returning home; mainly so that they could recover from their ordeal in the bandit camp. They had reframed from informing the people of the village as to what Yumao was doing involved with the bandits as it would tarnish the black crane's name. Upon their return to Shining Jewel they merely stated that the bandits had been dealt a crushing blow and should no longer cause further problems.
Duncan, took it upon himself to take charge in Yumao's disappearance, and the first thing he did, though all be it a little over the top, was to remove all of the perfume stand and ordered that every able body villager head out to the fields and work on collecting for the upcoming summer harvest.
Po and Crane found it rather amusing to watch as the number of avians who griped and whined about getting their clothes dirty. Before leaving though they told the snout pig they would inform their master in the Jade Palace and promised that farmers from their home village would be arriving shortly to help smooth everything.
The two of them made camp at the half way point between Shinning Jewel and the Valley of Peace, and though Crane offered to take the first watch, Po found himself unable to fall to sleep as his mind kept flashing back to his time with Isaac. Their time together had been short, but in the span of a few years he had grown to love the gray avian as a brother and it just tore him up inside at how easy it was for Shen to take him away and left him, along with so many other things he cared about. Because of those feeling he had been so cruel toward Crane in the beginning, and none of it had really been his fault, merely caught up in the years of hardship and anger that had been building up with the panda. Releasing a low sigh, Po gazed into the fire, their warm embers dancing in the sky. "Crane," he said, "I'm sorry."
"You already said that Po," Crane said in a cheerful voice, "and I've forgiven you."
"No, not just about that," Po muttered lowering his gaze, "I'm sorry about a lot of things, things I've said and done, but also for the things I haven't told you. Things that I was afraid to tell you because of how you might regard me as a friend and partner." Po then began to explain the depths of his past and his resentment against Shen, what he took from him and his kin, and what he eventually lost because of that hatred. He could see a look of grief form on the avian's face as he mention how the peacock killed his mother when he was still just an infant and how his relentless hunting them they had forced them to live in hiding, never allowed to stay in one place for very long. Crane had comment on how that was why he always wore the over and straw hat to hide his face whenever he left on missions to which Po merely nodded in reply.
Po held nothing back, knowing that any unanswered question could be seen as a level of mistrust. Even went as far to reveal the fact that he was married, which brought about a sudden shock from Crane.
"Wait; hold on, your married?"
"Well I was for a short time," Po said, the onset of tears forming along his eyes.
"Do you still love this panda?"
"Yes."
"Then how can you possibly be in a relationship with Tigress?" Crane asked spreading his wings about. "It just seems so creepy."
"Well I thought the same thing at first, but I just couldn't help myself. The way she smile and purrs just drive me crazy."
"Okay, now I know you're pulling my tail feathers," Crane said with a slight chuckle, "I've known Tigress a good deal and she had never purred."
"Believe it," Po said with a smile on his face, though sighed as he returned his attention back to the fire. "But sometimes, I have to wonder if we were always meant to be together."
"What do you mean?"
"Well it's something that happen after I came home after…" he paused to released another heavy sigh as flashes of the mangled peacock formed in his mind, "...after I allowed my anger to get the best of me, and well when I got there I found the village completely destroyed with the dead pandas laid about the ground. All I could do was run to my house, frantic that my wife was among the dead, but there was no sign of her. I was so lost without her that I just sat there next to my bed staring into space, and as my breathing grew shallow I saw something, a group of warriors, and one of them was female tiger," he paused as he saw a look of realization dawning on the avian's face, "yeah weird I know, back then I didn't even know who Tigress was but I guess fate decide for us to be together."
Crane released his own sigh as he said, "The same can be said for fate decided you being the Dragon Warrior."
Po found himself chuckling at the idea.
"Do you think your wife might still be out there?" Crane asked after a moment of silence.
"I don't know," Po said in a low voice, "I want to believe that, but it's been so long since that day with still no sign of them. I figure the best way to keep them alive is to remember all the good times we shared."
Crane nodded, and turned his gaze skyward. "Well it's getting late, so how about we get some rest and get back to the valley." With that, Crane shifted his stance to a rested position, though before closing his eyes, he turned to face the panda and said with a smile, "Goodnight, Xiong."
Po groan, face palming himself. "Please Crane just called me Po, and if you tell Tigress that I was married, you're going straight to top of my revenge list." Though his statement sounded harsh, both he and Crane found themselves laughing.
The two of them reached the edge of the Valley of Peace by midday the following morning. Upon Po's requested they broke for a quick rest and so that Po could slip into his oversize robe and large straw hat. Following that they made their way down the narrow path and as they rounded the next corner, they were surprised to see Monkey and Viper coming down from the other direction, with Mantis sitting on top of Monkey's back.
"Hey Po," Monkey shouted, waving his arms about in greeting.
"Hey guys," Po replied, though grunted as Crane jabbed a wing against his stomach, followed with adding, "and sister."
Viper released a faint chuckle as they approach eyeing the two masters. "Well it looks as though you two are getting along much better," she said in a loving voice. "So what finally broke the ice?"
"When I was forced to rely on Crane for more than just watching my back," Po answered.
"So, Viper how's your Dad?" Crane asked eyeing the snake.
"Fine thank you," Viper said falling in line beside the avian, "the Ribbon dance was wonderful this year. I even managed to talk my father into joining in."
Crane chuckled. "I would have liked to have seen that."
"Well our trip proved to be a complete shore fest," Monkey said, tilting his head to the side and released several deep yawns.
"Yeah," Mantis chimed in, "all we did was listen to the rhino's talk about how cold it was going get for the rams at the prison. And the food they had for the trip was completely awful," he paused to jump to Po's shoulder and began to rub one of his pinchers against the panda's cheek, "Po, big guy, you've got to make an heaping helping of your noodle soup when we get to the back to palace."
"You got it little buddy," Po said giving the small bug a gentle fist/pincher punch.
As the kung fu masters made their way down the market street, Po spotted Tigress leaning against the arch way to Mr. Ping's shop, quickly excusing himself, the panda left the group to stand beside her, though as he did, he was stunned to see Tai Lung along with the two female snow leopards he came upon just before he and Crane went on their mission, what truly caught his attention was that Tai Lung was laughing, slapping a palm against the table, with a small group of villagers clustered about Tai Lung completely enjoying the snow leopard's company.
"I take it things are a lot better for Tai Lung," Po asked in a calm voice.
"Indeed."
Both Tigress and Po turned to face the red panda approaching them. "Though, it did take an attack on the valley for the people to fully welcome him back."
"Wait what," Po snapped, looking shocked, having to bring his hands up to keep his hat from flying loose in his panic state, and quickly took hold of Tigress by the waist crying out with, "Tigress are you alright?"
"First off," Tigress said pushing Po back, "I am warrior too so I can take care of myself and second, you're squeezing me too hard. My ribs still hurt from where Temutai attacked me," she paused to lower her voice to a whisper, "and the way he tossed me like that didn't help either. It was a good thing my brother was there to catch me."
Shifu arched an eye brow and shifted his gaze up toward Tigress saying, "I thought you were unconscious during the whole fight, between Tai Lung and Temutai."
"Well you see…" Tigress began though paused as a faint shade of red began to show about her face.
"Do you mean to tell me that you were awake the whole time," Shifu snapped, "and could have helped Tai Lung at any time!"
"Yes Master," Tigress admitted lowering her head in shame.
Po turned on the red panda, a cross looked on his face, though before he could say anything in her defense, Shifu turned away from the two of them saying, "Well I will allow it this one time, seeing how everything turned out for the best and the people are more open around Tai Lung. Oh and Po I will need for you and Crane to inform me on your mission upon your return to the Hall of Heroes."
Po and Tigress turned to face one another, a faint smile forming on their faces. They were about to hug each other when they heard a voice from behind, "Hey Po, are you coming? We're all still hungry for some noodle soup."
A look of fret took shape on Tigress's face. She could only imagine Po wanting to walk all over the avian after a comment like that, but to her complete surprise she looked up upon hearing Po speak in a cheerful tone, "Sure thing buddy, we'll be along shortly, I just want to say hi to Tai Lung and his family."
"Buddy?" Tigress whispered.
"Alright Po, see you later." Crane replied before turning to follow the others.
Tigress couldn't help but smile as she stroked Po cheek drawing his attention. "Well I see you're mission was a success in more ways than one. Now come along, you're going to like my niece."
With that Tigress and Po came to join the snow leopard family, cheering and joyfully raising a cup to their ever present friendship and protection of the Valley of Peace.