Tigress was definitely onto him more than the others at this point.

Po had tried to be subtle about it, to the best of his ability. But he didn't know how much longer he could manage it, with a month already having gone by. Out of everyone, he knew that she was paying attention to his actions and words the most, ever since he committed to his decision to personally rehabilitate Fenghuang.

At least it wasn't Shifu. If Shifu began to catch in, he'd figure it out need instantly. His big ears are always listening, even when they don't try to. If he were to hear a single whisper of the owl's name, everything would be undone in an instant, and that was the last time hint he wanted me needed on his conscience.

It helped less that they already knew he was onto something, they just didn't know what. Po really needed to figure out a way to throw the suspicion off, preferably without lying. They'll see right through that in nearly an instant at this point. None of his friends were as naïve as he was. They'd definitely figure it out.

Not to mention, he had a ticking clock to worry about, in the form of a time tree. That in of itself was enough for Fenghuang to give more of an effort, but she's going to have to be more genuine in her efforts. Her path of atonement won't be true unless she genuinely acknowledged that she has been in the wrong for years, and to seek to make amends for the harm she's caused.

...Which means she'd have to face the Five, eventually.

Darn.

"What am I going to do about all this?" Po sighed as he laid back on his hammock. "We're making progress, but it's not fast enough. We're already down s month, yet we've only just gotten her to give hugs. Huge aren't going to be enough to make this work. I wish it were, though." He turned over and laid on his front, looking out the window. "There's gotta be a way for this to work. I'm going to have to step up my efforts somehow. Think, Po. Think." Po lightly looked up, only for his eyes to widen as an idea came of him. "Hah! That's it! It's really likely to be a huge mistake, but it'll also be a huge step forward!"

It might also render him the recipient of a huge beatdown, if he wasn't careful with how he arranged and worded things. But he also wouldn't lie. A tricky predicament indeed. He believed he could do it though, if he just played things carefully.

...Oh who was he kidding, there was no way this wasn't going to go wrong somehow.

"Alright, now I gotta begin writing those letters. Hopefully they'll receive them."

This will go well.

Of course it's gonna go well.

His plans always goes well!

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!"

This did not go well.

Oh no, in fact it went rather horribly.

They weren't supposed to meet yet.

Po was currently trying to calm the clearly infuriated Fenghuang, who couldn't stop hooting over how monumentally stupid he was. In which case, she wasn't exactly wrong about that. Po doesn't have the strongest cases of demonstrating his intelligence. But that was neither here or there, even if it was embarrassing to look back on.

And now he had to deal with the fact that Masters Elephant, Snow Leopard, and Rooster were now standing before Fenghuang, and the quartet looked like they were about to break into a huge brawl at any second, thanks to Fenghuang's temper.

They weren't supposed to meet yet. He was planning to slowly break the ice on both parties so they wouldn't be unreasonably angry with each other when they eventually met again face to face. Now, instead of breaking the ice, everyone's crashed right into it and we're now slipping away on the pieces while crashing into even more chunks of ice.

Oh, this didn't go well at all.

And it was going to get even worse if he didn't step in immediately.

"Okay, guys. Let's take a moment to take a deep breath and relax. No need to trade fists unnecessarily."

"Oh, I do think it's necessary in this instance, Dragon Warrior." Master Rooster narrowed his eyes towards Fenghuang, who was glaring back with squinted eyes.

"This is a terrible idea." Master Elephant sighed.

"You run the risk of wasting our time with something impossible " Master Snow Leopard folded her arms and huffed. "You haven't even told Shifu about this, have you? Have you even told your friends?"

"No, and I'd rather not do so until I have this entire thing sorted out." Po replied uneasily. "I just want Fenghuang to have a chance. She was nearly robbed if it fire we and I didn't really feel like that was fair, so I reached my paw out to her and decided to help however I can "

"Your heart's far bigger than your gut, Dragon Warrior. It's really unfortunate it goes as far as reaching out to her of all people." Master Rooster huffed towards Fenghuang. "With what you've described to us, her getting sent to oblivion might have done us all a favor."

"Hey! Come on, that's a bit far, isn't it?"

"You've experienced for yourself how threatening she is towards you and your friends, yet you still insist on standing up for her?" Master Snow Leopard raised an eyebrow. "You genuine confuse me, Dragon Warrior Po."

"I'm just saying that's a bit too far! Yeah she did all those things, but it didn't stick! They were able to be undone!"

"That doesn't change the fact that she did indeed do those things! No one else may remember them, but the both of you do! Are you prepared to suffer the burden of trying to defend someone who did these things so callously?"

Po lightly opened his mouth, then closed it, clenching his fists. Fenghuang briefly looked at the struggling panda, and for some odd reason, felt something clutching at her chest, roughly enough where she had a difficult time breathing. She passed it by with a sigh, and stepped in front of him.

"Look, don't go passing blame on the panda. Too much."

"Gee, thanks."

"Blame his own stupid heart for making the decision he did. It would be a lot easier for everyone if he just let me die, but he didn't. Hate to say it, but I can't really ignore something like that, nor can I let you talk too badly about him. That job's gonna remain solely mine."

"Gee, thanks."

"It's not everyday you have to take life advice from a heavyset bear of all things."

"Seriously, you're gonna have a go at my weight? And you call me immature?" Po grumbled while folding his arms.

Fenghuang ignored him as she gazed at the previous members of the Five, including herself. "Now then, with this little get together, we're going to talk about my little situation in a bit more detail. Like the one big happy family that we used to be."

"That sounds all fine and dandy, Fenghuang. But I believe we're missing a few people in that regard." Master Snow Leopard pointed out while folding her arms as well.

"Nope. The previous generation of the Furious Five is in full attendance." Fenghuang denied.

"Eh?" Po blinked, in a tiny bit of panic.

"Panda. Allow me to ask you a question." Fenghuang turned towards Po with a raised eyebrow. "How many times have you tried keeping secrets from your merry band of friends?"

Po raised a hand, then lightly scratched his head. "Too many to count..."

"Hm. And with all of those experiences building up, do you really think they'd be stupid enough to not eventually get proactive and get involved even further?"

"...Uh..."

"They know you well enough to know when you're being a moron and hiding something. They also know that you're a horrible liar. Know what that all adds up to?"

Po took a deep breath, then pinched his nose and hung his head. "They can see and here us from wherever they are, can they?""

Fenghuang turned her head all the way around, and she could see Shifu standing on a rooftop a few feet away. "Yup."

"Oh, Shifu! It's been a while! How've you been!" Master Snow Leopard waved cheerily. "Those kids haven't been causing you any trouble, have they?"

"Kids?! I take slight offense to that!"

"I mean, they are older than we are."

"That's pretty rude either way."

"Rude, but not wrong. Sucks, but that's how it is."

Po groaned, his paws fully covering his face as he could hear the rest of the Five coming into attendance. He didn't need his eyes to see or sense that Tigress was staring right at him with a rather blank and slightly irritated glare. Shifu cleared his throat as he descended next to his comrades.

"If I had known you all were coming, I would have prepared a bit more in advance." Shifu sighed as he walked up to Fenghuang, who stared at him with a roll of her eyes. "Alright, Po. What have you gotten yourself into this time, that requires you to regularly interact with Fenghuang?"

Almost as if the universe provided him an answer, Fenghuang groaned as she nearly fell over, her wings being the only things keeping her from collapsing. Po rushed to pick her up...and was surprised to see his paws briefly fading through her. Everyone's eyes widened as she looked akin to a phantom for the briefest of moments. By the time she became more transparent again, she was breathing heavily, sweat running down her feathers. Po once again attempted to help her up, and managed to succeed this time. As she was helped to her feet. She stared back at Shifu with a knowing look.

"Long story short, I'm literally on borrowed time."

"What does this have to do with Po?"

"He's the one who got me that time in the first place."

Shifu turned towards Po, who smiled and waved awkwardly. "Heyyyy. How's it going? Ya see, I was just on my way to come get you! Isn't this a fun little reunion?!""

Shifu shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, causing Po to deflate a little. It was wroth a shot, at least. "Panda, explain yourself and this situation. In full."

"Yes, Master..."

This one will reach completion, mark my words...