With the defeat of Lord Shen, the Master's Council of Gongmen City reconvened their stewardship and began immediate work to repair the damages caused by Shen's folly.

The heroes of China had hardly set foot back on dry land when the ferocious Master Croc and Master Storming Ox began to call to arms volunteers to help clear the debris from the harbour. Most of it had sunk along with Shen's body, dragged down by the immense weight of the weapons, but boards of wood and meshes of sail still floated amongst the waters. Small fishing boats were quickly being manned to begin the clean-up but before they joined the citizens on their boats, the two Masters both turned and bowed low to the saviours of the city.

The Dragon Warrior, the Furious Five, and Master Shifu of the Jade Palace, were all climbing up the stone steps from the cold harbour water – all soaked to the bone, smeared with black marks of gunpowder, and smelling of faint smoke. Despite their collective ruffled fur and tired eyes, all carried a sense of satisfaction within their hearts for the outcome of their mission: Shen and his terrible weapons were gone, and the art of Kung Fu was safe.

"We cannot ever thank you enough for the great service you have done to Gongmen City, or to China." Said Master Ox, his low voice rolling like soft thunder. "And I am sorry that we no longer have a pagoda to offer you lodgings in."

Mantis cringed and rubbed his pincers together anxiously. "Yeah…that was kind of our fault. I hope you guys had insurance."

"There is no one else to blame for the damages other than Shen – and he has paid the price for his misdemeanours. The Warrior of Black and White has fulfilled his destiny and brought justice and balance to Gongmen City." The Soothsayer approached the group at a leisurely pace, leaning heavily on her own cane. She met Po's eyes and smiled warmly. "After so many years."

"Years?" Monkey repeated with slight confusion. "Shen only appeared a few days ago."

The Soothsayer said nothing, and neither did Po. He only nodded gently, sharing a private understanding with the old goat.

"Nevertheless," began Master Croc. "Please, allow us to extend the offer of hospitality at Gongmen City. I am sure you will find no shortage of inns that would be honoured to house the saviours of the city. Please, stay here as long as you need to rest and recover, and if we are able to find the means, we would also like to hold a feast tonight in the Dragon Warrior's honour."

"A feast?" Po perked up considerably. He patted his large stomach, making it quiver. "Now that sounds like a great idea – only – do we have to wait until tonight because I am starving-"

"Panda." Shifu interrupted and quirked a long eyebrow at Po as a warning to mind his manners. He stepped forward and bowed in return. "We would be honoured to rest here until we are ready to travel back to the Jade Palace – and a feast would be much appreciated, as the Dragon Warrior has already conveyed. Thank you, Masters."

"Thank you Master Shifu," Replied Ox. "Without your persuasion, I believe Croc and I would still be in Gongmen Jail. Thank you for stopping us from making a terrible mistake."

"It was one made with the best of intentions – but, I believe, your people still need you."

Citizens had been gathering on the stone steps with nets, ready to cast off into the harbour. They watched with expectation and patience for their leaders to begin. Masters Croc and Ox both bowed one final time before parting ways to begin their duties, once again rightfully in charge of Gongmen City.

It was not long before they found a suitable inn that was willing to board the group of seven for no immediate charge. The owner and keeper – a goose with dark feathers – was more than generous; he personally showed each of the Masters to their rooms, thanking them every few seconds for saving the city, and even offered them all a free all-you-can-eat breakfast - much to the enthusiasm of Po, Mantis, and Monkey.

"You know, you shouldn't take advantage – you're going to eat all of his food stock at this rate." Tigress warned.

They had gathered together in the inn's lounge – a room with comfortable furniture, a roaring fire, and boarded off from the public so the group could meet in peace. Shifu told them the tale of how he had travelled all night in order to make it to the city on time, and thus excused himself to rest privately in his own room. The rest of the Five had also taken their leave, their bellies full and eyes heavy with fatigue; only Tigress remained behind. Po, meanwhile, ate his way through three courses and was accruing a towering pile of empty dishes. He was currently licking the sauce off of a plate when Tigress made her warning with a pointed look and raised, striped eyebrow.

Po stopped, wiped his lips, and set the plate amongst the rest of its set. "I know but I can't help it. I'll pay him back for it all once we get back to the Jade Palace. You sure you're not gonna finish that stir fry?"

Tigress slid the bowl towards him. "Go ahead." She held back a smirk, amused at the panda's ferocious appetite. "I am sure your body is going to need all the nutrition it can get."

"Oh yeah?" Po asked with mild curiosity, too invested with stuffing the rest of Tigress's tofu stir fry into his mouth to be truly concerned with Tigress's observation. "How come?"

"To repair your body after taking that hit from Shen's weapon in the factory. There's no way that wok was a suitable enough shield, especially if Master Rhino's hammer could not stop it. You should go see a doctor too - who knows what kind of damage was done internally?"

Suddenly, Po stopped chewing and looked guiltily at the empty bowl before him. "Actually, I've already seen a doctor – kind of, anyway."

"You have?" Tigress's eyes widened. "Who?"

"The goat lady who looks like a man-"

"The Soothsayer?"

"Yeah – her! Anyway, she found me floating in the water outside the city unconscious and fished me out. She healed me until I was ready to come back and face Shen." Po explained, fiddling with his chopsticks nervously. Tigress could tell that there was more to the story that Po was holding from her, but did not press the issue. Po would open up eventually; he always came to her sooner or later.

"And you feel perfectly fine? Nothing broken, nothing bleeding-"

"Nope, I'm all good! She fed me some stuff that tasted totally gross but it made me feel better in no time." Po explained, pushing away the empty dishes. "But what about you – do you need to see a doctor? You took a hit too in the harbour – and you looked really hurt in the water…"

"I'm fine, Po." Tigress reassured but looked away. The memory was coming back to her clearly now – she was lying on a piece of debris, in pain, and panting heavily. Her ribs were surely broken and all her energy had left her, making her completely immobilized. All of a sudden, something warm and soft took her paw – it was the first feeling Tigress had in her paws for years. Through the haze of agony, she looked up and saw Po. How he did it, Tigress did not know. Perhaps it was some special power the Dragon Warrior had, to heal her damaged nerves…but Tigress had not felt a thing since. Her paws were as numb as ever.

How was that even possible?

"I know what broken ribs feel like. I don't need a doctor to tell me how to fix them." She continued, clearing her throat a little as her breath hitched at the memory. "I promise I'll take things easy until I feel better."

Suddenly, the feeling returned – something warm and soft had touched her paw. Tigress blinked and looked up in amazement. Po had reached out and laid his paw on hers, applying a slight squeeze. He met her eyes and stared deeply into them. "Do you super-kung-fu-warrior promise?" He asked, fully serious.

It was too difficult for Tigress not to smile. She gave in and felt the shock in her face melt away into sincere adoration. She replied in a quiet voice, "With extra awesomeness on top."

Po was appeased. He nodded his head and withdrew his paw, much to Tigress's dismay. "You know," He began, his eyes shifting to the pile of empty crockery he had accumulated. "You're gonna need to eat as well to fuel all that healing your ribs are doing…and I just ate the last of your stir fry…maybe we should go for a second breakfast? Somewhere else, if you're so worried I'll eat the innkeeper out of an inn."

"I couldn't swallow another bite, Po."

"We'll take a picnic then, somewhere nice for lunch. There's…" He seemed to falter and his eyes misted over, but he washed away his hesitation with a gulp. "Actually, there's a place I want to show you. It's not really a…picnic kind-of place but…I want to see it again before we leave the city tomorrow."

"What kind of place is it?" A concerned frown formed on Tigress's face.

"It's…where the Soothsayer found me…after I was hit by the weapon." Po answered her question in a small voice, one that reminded Tigress of their time in Gongmen Jail together…when Po had first mentioned his birth parents. He did not look at her and only continued to stare at the empty plates. "It's actually a pretty important place."

Po turned his head when he felt Tigress's paw slip over his. Her amber eyes were shining brightly and she gave the panda a reassuring, gentle smile that expelled the grief from his heart.

"Then let's go."

Po's destination was a ruined village, overgrown with green moss and vines. Tigress suspected it to be an old farming village, guessing by the sculpting of the land that suggested that they were once used as paddy fields. It was a beautiful place, Tigress thought as the pair approached with a lunch packed inside Po's travel bag, with lush grass and weeping willow trees basking in the warm summer sun - but it was all a scene spoilt by the clear signs that a disaster had happened here. Wooden huts had decayed over many years of neglect and had been reduced to nothing more than shells of their former selves. Many bore black scarring from fire, crumbling into charred remains. Bamboo shoots shot up between the floorboards, their lush green leaves of summer brimming with life that struck contrast against the unsettling emptiness that haunted the abandoned homes. The noon sun shone over the village, washing it in gold, yet there seemed to be shadows lurking in the very corner of Tigress's eyes, no matter which way she turned her head and looked.

"Po…" Tigress gasped, turning in a small circle, her alert eyes taking in every detail. For some reason, she was her on her guard. Her fur stood on end and her muscles tensed, preparing for a fight that Tigress could sense but not see. "What is this place?"

"This…is where I was born."

Tigress's ears perked and her jaw dropped in surprise. She turned only to see Po was now cradling a small soft toy in his large paws. He had set his travel bag down against a rock and had wandered closer to the ruined houses. He looked up at her and smiled sadly, his jade eyes shimmering with withheld tears. The toy, Tigress noticed on further inspection, was a small panda replica.

"How are you so sure?" She asked gently.

Po looked away. "Because I remembered being here. I…told you that my dad told me that he wasn't really my biological dad? It was because I remembered something when we were fighting the bandits in the musician's village. I remembered my mom…and I asked him…"

"That's why you hesitated fighting that wolf." Puzzle pieces were slowing falling to place in Tigress's mind. She took a small step forward towards the panda. The village seemed to morph around him – she imagined it now full of life, full of pandas just as large and animated as Po. Had he crawled over the ground they stood on as a baby? That small toy – was it his own, twenty five years ago? "And…why you hesitated stopping Shen in the palace? Because you remembered that he was there when…"

"He killed them."

Tigress's heart almost stopped. Her words of comfort she was building to reassure her friend, the questions she had to ask, all seemed to catch in her throat and choke her. Her body fell still as her mind filled in the blanks in Po's story. Her eyes widened and fell on the charred remains of the village, realising the atrocities that must have taken place there – and how easily the same fate could have befallen Po.

"Po…"

"Yeah…the Soothsayer made a prophecy that a warrior of black and white would stop Shen…so when I was just a baby, he came here and killed every panda he could find. He killed my parents, he killed them all…except for me."

A little baby panda, orphaned. The thought alone tugged at Tigress's heartstrings. Children had always been a soft spot for her – they reminded her of herself as a child, how isolated she was at the orphanage, and how she never wanted to see another child so alone in the world. And Po – her best friend – for a brief moment in time – was just that.

"How did you survive?" Tigress asked softly, her words barely any louder than whisper. She almost began to wonder how many other panda children did not but stopped herself, for she knew the answer would be too painful even to imagine.

"My mom hid me in a box of radishes, and led the wolves away from me. She didn't come back and… then I ended up being sent to my dad's restaurant. That's how he found me – in a box of radishes, out behind back of the restaurant."

"And he took you in."

"Yeah, he took me in and…raised me as his son." Po sniffed, fondly caressing the soft toy dwarfed in his giant paws.

Tigress gave a heavy sigh. "Oh, Po…I'm so sorry."

To her surprise, Po shrugged his shoulders. "It's okay – I mean, it sucks. It sucks really bad but – there's nothing I can do about it. I've just got to let it go. It's not what has happened that's important, it's…it's what I chose to do now, you know? Like Oogway said to me once: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but-"

"Today is a gift." Tears were beginning to pool in Tigress's own eyes now, but still she found herself smiling in spite of everything.

Po looked up and a bittersweet smile grew on his own face as well. "Oogway told you that too?"

"All the time." She chuckled, but her breath hitched. "And he was right. We can't change the past, and we can't change our fate. All we can do is…live in the moment. Po, I – I have to tell you something."

"And I have something to tell you too." Po said with equal sincerity, taking a step forward to begin closing the gap between himself and the tiger. Their eyes locked on each other. "I've been thinking ever since…about how I guess this means that I'm the last panda. This whole village was wiped out so…I'm all alone-"

"No!" Tigress interrupted, a determined frown forming on her face. She moved swiftly forward with three long strides and laid her paws on Po's shoulders, gazing into his cool green eyes with a blazing fire burning in her own. "You are not alone: you have Mr Ping, you have the rest of the Five, Master Shifu, Kung Fu – and you have me. You will never be alone, Po. I won't let you. Even if everyone else faded away, I promise that I will still be there – I – I super-kung-fu-warrior promise…with extra awesomeness on top."

The panda said nothing; he only closed his eyes and leaned into Tigress's arms, pulling her in with his own. Tigress returned the hug and wrapped her arms around Po as tightly as she could. Her head rested on his shoulder, her cheek nestling into the fold of his neck. She closed her own eyes, feeling the warmth radiate from his body against hers and the soft panda fur beneath the tips of her claws. It was the most amazing feeling in the world and yet - Tigress could still not understand how it was possible.

Po sniffled in her ear. "Thanks, Tigress…" He croaked in a voice heavy with sorrow. "It means a lot…you mean a lot."

"I'm always here for you, Po-"

"No – that's not what I meant…"

Suddenly, he was drawing away. His paws slid around her back, down her arms and into her own. She gripped them tightly, refusing to let them go, afraid that Po would pull even further away from her. He didn't; he was so close that his breath was tickling her whiskers.

"What I wanted to tell you…about right now…is…you mean so much to me, Tigress. Like – so, so much. I never really realised it before – I mean, I always knew that you were the reason I fell in love with Kung Fu, and that you were my favourite of the Five from the start – but when I started to think about who I choose to be now and who I want to be in the future, I thought of…you. I thought of my dad, of Shifu and Kung Fu…and of you. The most important things in my life."

Po's courage was beginning to waver, and Tigress could see it in how he suddenly broke their eye contact and looked at the ground. Her mouth had gone dry, as dry as the desert they crossed to get to Gongmen City, and yet her heart was beating faster than it ever had before.

"You make me want to be a better person, Tigress." Po continued with a deep breath, as heartfelt as ever. "You're important to me – and not just as a Kung Fu Master, or an idol, or a teacher, or a teammate – you're my best friend and…more. It's just that when I think of today and even tomorrow, no matter who we have to fight next or how far we have to travel to get there – I just know that I want to face it with you. Because if I do, then it'll be fine. I might be the last panda, but as long as I have you near me…I won't feel alone. It's – it doesn't make sense, I know, but-"

"Po, I understand completely."

"You do?" Po looked up suddenly, his brows raised as high as they would go.

Tigress had a coy but very real smile on her face. "Yes – I do. When I saw you get struck by that weapon's missile, I-I was distraught. I thought I had lost you and it felt like I had lost everything. But when I saw you again, saw that you were safe and alive – it was the greatest relief I have ever known. I know that you may think me as hardcore but the truth is, I do feel things, Po. I feel angry when I see you hurt. I feel upset when you are upset. And when you are safe and near to me, I feel as though I can do anything – Po, you make me feel."

She held up her open paw. "I told you that I have been training with those ironwood trees since I was five and I have not felt a single thing in my paws in so long. Yet whenever you touch my paw - I feel. I can feel your paw, your fur, the pressure when you squeeze – I can feel it all."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"…Seriously? You can feel my paw but you can't feel like – Monkey's?"

"Well...Monkey has never held my paw before but-"

"What about Viper – oh wait, she doesn't even have arms, yet alone paws-"

"But, Po, I can't even feel textures anymore-"

"But you can feel me? Woah – no way!" Po gasped in amazement, and looked at his own paws with wide eyes as they held Tigress's. "Maybe I have some kind of magic healing touch-"

"But it only works when you are holding my paw."

"Huh? Oh - maybe I'll just have to hold it more and… it will fix in time? Unless you don't want to – I mean, it's really cool – the no-functioning-nerve-endings-thing you have-"

"I don't know, Po. What I'm trying to say is that no one is able to make me feel like you do. Shifu is my Master, the Five are my friends – but you, Po?" Tigress sighed and shook her head. "You are something special to me. A mystery."

"A mystery? Does…does that mean I'm your future?"

Tigress inched closer so her nose was nearly touching the panda's. "Perhaps…if you would like to be, one day?"

Po leaned in. The tips of their noses touched. "Absolutely! But…not soon? Not…today?"

"I-I'm not sure…all I know, Po, is that I care for you very, very much. You mean a lot to me, Dragon Warrior. More than I ever could have expected to…and I doubt that it's going to go away any time soon."

The both leaned in closer.

"I'll be here," Po mumbled, his breath warm on her face. "Whenever you're ready."

"And I will be here for you – always."

Their foreheads touched together. As they stared into each other's eyes, they both breathed in as one. It was not as intimate as a kiss, but it had the same effect – both felt their hearts slow to find a shared rhythm, and the whole world around them seemed brighter. Tigress had not felt so alive in many years.

"And Po?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm honoured that you would share all this with me – your past," Tigress looked around at the ruins they stood amongst, the remnants of the happy and humble life Po could have had but was not meant to be. She gripped his paw even tighter. "And your future."

"I couldn't go another day without saying something." Po said with a little shake of his head. "It's been eating me up ever since I realised that I…I love you, Tigress. I was afraid that maybe it was too late to tell you...when I saw you in that water…"

Tigress nodded. "I had feared the same…that I realised too late…"

"But we didn't."

"No," Tigress smiled blissfully. "We did not."

She moved her paw up to caress his face. Po leaned into her touch, and raised his own paw to press hers closer against his fur. He closed his eyes and their foreheads came together once more. Tigress too closed her and breathed, her tail twisting with happiness as she could feel the breeze toy with her fur and hear it rustle the tree leaves. Before, she had been so on her guard and anxious about the ruined village, and yet now she could not imagine a place where she had ever felt so calm. Not even meditating under the Sacred Peach Tree had brought her so much peace.

Their peace was interrupted by a growl. Tigress's eyes snapped open and her ears twitched instinctively before she realised that the growl had come from Po's stomach.

"Uh…" Po said awkwardly, blushing underneath his layers of fur.

Tigress only chuckled and withdrew. "You're hungry. Come on, we should eat."

"Sure…do you want to go closer to the river? If you find this place too…depressing…"

"I'll go wherever you want to, Po. This place has special meaning to you – if you want to stay here, then so will I. Only…"

Po, who had turned to pick up his travel bag from where he had set it down, stopped and looked up at her with curiosity. To his surprise, Tigress smirked and raised a striped eyebrow. She placed her hands on her hips and gave Po a squinted look. "Was I really your favourite member of the Five? Even before we met?" She asked with a growing smile, flashing her glinting teeth.

Po swallowed as his (empty) stomach plummeted. "Don't tell Monkey – I once told him he was my favourite because he was eating his almond cookies and wouldn't share. If he finds out – yeesh – I'll never get to taste those cookies again!"

Tigress laughed – a true, light, and joyful laugh that made Po's heart leap. "I won't tell Monkey." She said. "But how come I'm the reason you fell in love with Kung Fu?"

"Uh…it's a pretty long story."

"Well, we have a lot of time ahead of us."

"Yeah, but it's…it's kind of embarrassing…" Po shrugged as he adjusted the straps of his travel pack on his shoulders, shying away from Tigress's stare. He turned his voice into a mumble, hoping Tigress would miss his words. "I'm not sure if you'd ever eat my cooking again if I told you."

Her ears were too sharp; she caught what he said, pursed her lips, and folded her arms in response. "Po – what did you do?"

"Nothing! Well – something, but…I'll save it for another picnic." The panda looked so eager and excited at the thought of spending time with her, that Tigress couldn't help but allow her wariness to drop. "Like you said – we've got a lot of time together ahead."

Tigress smiled.

"Yes," She said softly. "We do."