Takes place the evening of Tai Lung's defeat.
"Um, guys? I hate to be the one to bring this up, but what are we gonna do with…y'know, with…"
The others turned around. Po had stopped in the middle of the path and was scratching the back of his neck with a grimace.
"With what, Dragon Warrior," said Tigress. Po glanced up at her.
"…With, well, Oogway's body," he whispered. Tigress's eyes went wide and Monkey's jaw dropped. Po rolled his head, throwing his arms out to the side.
"Look, I know nobody wants to think about it, but we've got to have a burial or cremation or something! Shouldn't there be a funeral? Oogway's like, super famous all over China, we actually have to tell people about this. We don't even know where…"
Tigress held up a paw and he quieted. She looked around at the others, all of whom were bearing the same saddened expression.
"We will discuss this with Shifu, Panda. As Grandmaster and Oogway's friend, he will be the one to bear these responsibilities."
"We gotta help him out," Po protested. Tigress nodded.
"And we will. But this has to be handled delicately."
With a look she and the others continued up the mountain path. Po stayed where he was, looking across the expanse of mountains and fields that was the Valley of Peace. If he really thought about it, the grounds felt a little emptier; a little louder, and faster, and busier. The sense of calm that Oogway had projected was missing.
Soft footfalls alerted him to the return of one of his new-found friends; Master Monkey had noticed his absence and was climbing back down the stairs, a comforting smile on his face. Po smiled back, and started to climb again. Monkey walked a little ahead of him, occasionally perching on rocks or tree branches until Po caught up.
"Did you talk to Oogway," he said suddenly. Po nodded.
"Yeah. I was, ah…not really confident about the whole Dragon Warrior thing. I thought he was gonna get mad at me for eating some of the peaches, or Sacred Peaches or whatever – "
Monkey made a brief choking noise.
" – But he was actually really cool. He told me that I was worrying too much, and I should take advantage of the opportunity I had, and stuff." He chuckled slightly at the memory of the thousand-year-old tortoise, enlightened sage of China, saying '…Don't noodles…'
"He had a good sense of humor, didn't he?"
Monkey nodded, slowly hopping over the rocks.
"He was a very kind person, even to those who did not deserve it."
Po looked at him curiously and he grimaced.
"I met him about fifteen years ago, in my village," Monkey said quietly. "I…wasn't the nicest person back then. I was holding in a lot of hurt and much anger, and I took it out on everyone else. Oogway was asked to send me away."
"What, you? But you're, like, super cool."
Monkey laughed. "I thought I was cool then, too, but I was really mean. Every time a warrior was summoned to get rid of me, I sent them running – " He then turned to Po and grinned. "-Without their pants."
Po cracked up, leaning one arm against a tree to steady himself.
"Oh my gosh…seriously?"
"Mm-hmm. They'd try to beat me in a fight, and I'd grab their belts. Shrieked like children every time."
"Eh heh…that's actually pretty funny."
Monkey still grinned, but it was fading.
"Not all of the time. I would prank all the villagers, make them fall down; sometimes I stole from the market stalls. I didn't think anybody could beat me until Oogway came along."
"Ohhhh," said Po, nodding with wide eyes. "Oogway didn't wear pants!"
"Yep. And he was so fast! I tripped him, and he just flipped through the air and knocked me into a post!"
They turned onto the path that led to the barracks, the rest of the Five already entering the building ahead of them.
"The post began to fall, and I thought that I was going to be crushed…"
Monkey was the one who paused on the stairs this time, staring at his hands. Po stopped and turned around, quietly sitting down on a boulder beside him.
"He pulled me out of the way just in time. He had come to get rid of me, but he still saved me when I was in danger. I didn't understand why, but he said that he knew I wasn't a bad person, just a hurt one. We talked for a long time after that. He told me that I should use my talents for good, and I did."
Monkey looked up at Po, with a soft smile under watery eyes.
"It felt better," he murmured. Po quietly reached around and pulled him under his arm, where he stayed, silent, for several minutes. Po honestly couldn't tell whether Monkey was crying or not, though he certainly was. A person can change a lot of things, affect a lot of people in eighty to ninety years. How much could they do in one thousand?
How lonely did it get…?
Monkey gave a little shake, and hopped down from the boulder.
"So," he said, his voice a little heavy but steady. "Any plans for dinner?"
Po followed him as he began to climb the stairs again.
"I'm starting to think you guys just keep me around for the food," he teased. Monkey aimed a backwards kick at him, which he blocked with a laugh.
"Whatever gave you that idea, Po? So is it mushroom vegetable soup tonight, or stir-fry with rice?"
Po punched at Monkey's back, making him jump on top of a branch. He poked Po in the nose with his tail and scampered up the stairs when Po chased him, laughter banishing the ghosts from their minds.
Shifu arrived for dinner near nightfall, just as Po was cleaning up and readying to leave for his dad's. Po greeted him with a bowl of mushroom stir-fry on rice and quietly watched as he limped over to his seat. Shifu began to eat, but stopped when he noticed the watchful eyes of the other five at the table. Six, as Po sat down between Tigress and Crane. Shifu sighed.
"Is there something you wanted to talk to me about, students?"
Po opened his mouth, then shut it when Crane kicked him under the table.
"I'm sorry, Master, but we were wondering what will be done in…in response to Grandmaster Oogway's passing," said Viper. Shifu's ears lowered, and he looked at the peach staff he had propped against the table.
"Ah."
Po leaned forward a little bit.
"Do you know what he preferred? You know, between, um, burial and cremation?"
"There will be neither," Shifu said tensely. "I will send out messages about Master Oogway's parting in the morning. Let that be it."
"Wait a minute, so we're just going to leave him…wherever he is?"
"There is no 'wherever he is', Panda. There is nothing remaining."
"Well that was fast," Mantis muttered; Viper shoved him off the table.
"Master, if you could perhaps explain," said Tigress. Po nodded.
"Yeah, how isn't there any…I mean, what do you mean no remains?"
"I mean that there are no remains because Oogway ascended to the heavens on a cloud of peach petals," Shifu said, with an agitated gesture in the direction of the peach tree.
"Uh, if you're still feeling a little off, I got my needles in my room-"
"Mantis-"
"He doesn't look drunk…"
"Po!"
Shifu knocked the peach staff against the floor, quieting everyone.
"I am not ill and I have not been drinking, Panda," he said. "Do not ask me to explain how it happened, because I do not know." He exhaled heavily, and sank back in his seat. "We were talking by the peach tree, and he simply said that it was his time. The wind began to blow, the flowers on the tree started to fly off, and as he walked away he simply seemed to turn into peach petals. That is all I know."
Po narrowed his eyes at Shifu.
"He fell off the cliff, didn't he," he said. Shifu stood up in his chair, eyes flashing with anger.
"He did not fall off the cliff, Po! I cannot explain what I have seen, but it happened. The Sacred Peach Tree is bare, and there is no body."
"So…really? Peach petals?" Shifu nodded, brows raised. Po's eyes widened and he clutched at his head, bouncing a little bit.
"That is sooo cool!"
"Therefore…" said Shifu, grimacing at the Dragon Warrior's fanboy moment. "There will be no need for a funeral. I doubt Oogway would have wanted one anyway. I will gather the Palace messengers tomorrow morning and send messages to the schools and temples where Oogway was known, and tell them of the events that have happened here."
He eased himself down from his chair, grabbing his bowl and the peach staff as he did so.
"Now, if there are no further queries, I am going to meditate."
"But-"
"Goodnight, Panda!"
Po and the others stared at the empty door for several seconds, before a voice popped beneath them.
"Well," said Mantis from under the table. "I guess it wouldn't have been Oogway if it had made sense, huh?"
A/N: I just wanted to know how the Five and Po would react to the whole 'ascending on a cloud of peach petals' thing, because I doubt that was a regular occurrence. What would they have done with Oogway's body otherwise? Or would there even have been a body? He could have just kicked it and tumbled off the cliff, which I'm sure would have been a horrible morning surprise for anybody walking down around the foot of the mountain. And Oogway was really well-known, obviously, and well-loved. The movie kind of wrote it off as 'oh, well, now he's gone, pooh pooh pee doo', but I think if it were not aimed at kids there would be a bigger hullabaloo, like Dumbledore's funeral or something. He's not on an isolated planet somewhere, he can't just do a Yoda and fade out without anybody making a fuss.