The day they fully recovered, Po took Tigress by the paw, and together they descended into the basement where Master Shifu was watching the eggs. When he first saw them, Po had initially thought they looked like jewels. As he looked at them now, he realised that they were more like glowing blue egg shaped embers, filled with incredible life. He wondered how Su and her dark side were faring, and if they would wake up soon.

Shifu was meditating in front of the eggs, and his ear twitched as his two students reached the bottom of the stairs and approached him. "So you've recovered. I'm glad."

"Yeah." Po flexed his muscles. "Looking at me now, you wouldn't think that I'd been punched in the chest by a demon rhino!"

Shifu chuckled at that, but then he noticed that they were holding paws.

"Master Shifu, there's something we need to talk to you about." Tigress said, squeezing Po's paw. Po squeezed back, needing the support just as much as she did.

"Go on." Shifu said.

Po sensed that the red panda looked troubled. Perhaps he was still feeling raw from the events that had led to Su and Nuwa turning into pretty glowing eggs. If that was the case, Shifu was not in the mood for twaddle. So Po cut right to the chase. "Master Shifu, I kissed Tigress in the Himalayas. Then I kissed her again in the tunnels."

Tigress's eyes went wide as saucers and she elbowed him in the gut. "Po!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Po cringed and rubbed his stomach, mentally kicking himself for his thoughtlessness. The pair fell silent as they waited for Shifu's response.

The red panda's ears had gone wonky as he stared at them with an unreadable blank expression. "Po, is that your way of telling me that you wish to court Tigress?"

"Yes." Po replied in a tiny voice. Tigress looked between the two pandas, visibly anxious. "If... you'll let me."

Shifu stood up. His response was shorter and better than what Po and Tigress had ever imagined. "After everything you have been through. Everything that you've done for her. How could I refuse?"


Hei Nuwang finally found Izumi in a deep cave at the base of the mountain. The bobtail had bandaged her fresh wounds to the best of her ability, but she still looked like hell. Hei Nuwang grimaced at the sight of her. If only Izumi was a Child of Nuwa like she was...

Izumi, on the other hand, was staring at Hei Nuwang like she was a stranger. "My Lady, what did Ember do to you?"

She wasn't talking about the wound in Hei Nuwang's stomach. The former panther looked at her bare forearm, where most of the black had bled away to reveal pure white fur with black stripes. "When she stabbed me with the dagger, it not only blocked my chi but undid the alterations I made on myself to increase my power. The experiments had turned my fur completely black as a side effect."

Izumi looked a little flushed. "Why didn't you tell us you used to be a tiger?"

"Because I never thought I would change back!" Hei Nuwang snapped. Pained and exhausted, she sat down on a rock outside the cave mouth. She would not say it out loud, but she doubted that she would ever fully recover from this. Yujin had truly gotten back at her.

For a long time, the two cats sat in silence as Hei Nuwang worked to get her temper under control. When she was calm again, she looked to her mortal subordinate. "And you're sure that he'll meet up with us again?"

Izumi scowled as she was reminded of the creepy red-eyed panda. "I'm not sure. I tried to stop him, but he insisted that I stay here to aid your recovery."

Hei Nuwang was irritated, but there was nothing she could do and she knew it. She held an arm out to Izumi. "Then we'd better start recovering. Let's get the hell out of here before the soldiers find us."

"I hope they do. I need some stress release." All the same, Izumi pocketed her deadly knives and supported the wounded demi-god. They started making slowly and steady progress into the forest below the mountain.

"And Izumi?" Hei Nuwang eventually spoke, feeling that the bobtail needed some support of her own. How strange that a mortal of all people was the only person she could truly call a friend. "Don't worry about the snake. There will be other opportunities."

Izumi nodded, a warm smile returning to her face as she went back to her favourite pastime of imagining all the creative ways she could murder the woman who ruined her beauty. Putting thoughts of revenge on Yujin and Po to one side for now, Hei Nuwang started getting some ideas of her own. Izumi was mortal, a member of the race Hei Nuwang despised, and despite her deadly skills could be easily broken.

But like death itself, that could be easily corrected...


At the end of a long and satisfying day, Viper and Crane were having dinner in the hut the mountain village had provided for them. The food was modest, prepared by Viper herself, but the tall candles gave off a much-welcomed romantic atmosphere. Unfortunately Viper wasn't in a romantic mood.

"Okay, the candles are halfway down and you're still not smiling. What's wrong?" Crane eventually asked. "Are you thinking about Mengxiang?"

When they'd inquired about the embittered pheasant, the villagers revealed that she had indeed returned to the village to ensure that her people had not been harmed by Hei Nuwang's invasion, only to depart some time before Viper and Crane's arrival. She'd given no hint as to her whereabouts.

Viper, who had been staring at her dumplings in silence for some time, looked up sharply. "Nothing's wrong, honey. I just don't feel happy being so far away from Su. I want to be there when she wakes up."

"Me too." Crane replied, before his frown deepened. "Viper, you know we're leaving first thing tomorrow. There's something else going on."

Viper sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry, but I don't want to talk about it yet."

I don't want to talk about how I watched a little girl die right in front of me, and how she would have stayed dead if it weren't for Yujin and the creature.

The candles grew shorter. Crane watched Viper stare at her plate, sympathetic to whatever was making her melancholy, before his face suddenly brightened. "I get it. I'm not hungry either. Let's go."

Viper looked up again, not yet understanding what he was saying. "Su's going to wake up any day now, right? Let's go!"

Viper was instantly beaming. They would have to say their goodbyes to the villagers first of course, but the people had made it clear that they were welcome anytime. "Next time we come back, let's bring our friends with us."

"Yeah, and let's pray that taking Po to the birthplace of the Jade Tortoise won't kill him."

The happy couple laughed as they doused the candles and strode out into the night.


"... and then the second I set the spark- BOOM, HEADSHOT!" Mantis finished with a dramatic flare inspired by Po's own unique style of storytelling.

"Woooaaahhh..." Murmured the awed members of the Dragon Warrior Fan Club, as Monkey and Mei Ling watched with amused smiles from the corner. Since that morning Po had been regaling his young admirers with tales of his exploits in the prison, the Imperial City and the Palace of the Body, excluding the parts Xian had forbidden from revealing to the public. By late afternoon he'd had to depart for a date with Tigress, leaving Mantis to entertain the kids with the events of his own struggles against the Children of Nuwa.

Rubbing an itch on his fully healed arm, the little pig called Pong stood up. "Did he die?"

"He was made of amethyst. He was never really alive." Mantis crossed his arms. 'But yeah, he did."

The kids muttered excitedly amongst each other. Pong, however, hadn't taken his attention off Mantis. "Master Mantis, when can we go and see Su?"

Mantis's mood dampened and he shook his head. "Sorry kid, but you can't know where she is. Emperor's orders." Pong's face fell. Mantis's heart went out to the boy, who was surely still feeling responsible for Su disappearing in the first place. "Ah come on, kid. Keep your up. You're gonna have to wait 'till she comes to see you."

Pong's eyes widened with hope. "She will?"

"Yeah, you have my word on it. Now sit back down or I won't tell you about the time I flipped an elephant bandit!"

Pong jumped down so hard he bruised his butt.


Mr. Ping shifted the piece on the board, defeating Li Shan for the seventeenth time. Or was it the eighteenth?

"Aw, rats!" Li Shan groaned with a smile on his face. "I'll beat you yet, you old bird!"

Mr. Ping made a tent with his feathered fingers, his smile looking much more evil. "Good luck with that."

Li Shan jokingly returned the wicked look, welcoming the challenge the goose gave him. That was when Haoxin de Nushi waddled up to them. "Evening boys! Pingy, dear, you said you wanted to see me?"

Mr. Ping's smile went from evil to heavenly. "Li, would you mind giving the princess your seat?"

Li Shan gave a baffled look that was very like the son they shared. Mr. Ping tilted his eyes upwards, silently urging the big panda to look up. Li Shan saw the red lanterns and put two and two together. He grinned like an idiot, gave Mr. Ping an encouraging double thumbs up, got off his chair and retreated to view the scene from the kitchen.

Haoxin sat down and admired the red lanterns. "What a lovely atmosphere. So romantic, you old charmer."

"I hoped it would be." Mr. Ping tugged at a crease on his shiny red and white robe he had put on just for this. "I wanted it to be just perfect for what I'm about to ask..."

Sixty seconds later, Haoxin threw her arms around Mr. Ping and gave her answer.


Tigress and Po learned of Mr. Ping and Haoxin's engagement when Li Shan burst in while they were lounging by the Peach Tree and excitedly told them the news. They were still talking about it ten minutes after Li Shan hugged them both and rushed off to tell their friends.

"I just don't understand what's got the Dragon Warrior with the platinum soul so worried." Tigress spoke, laughing at the look on Po's face.

"I'm not worried, Tigress!" Po blushed. "It's just... you do realise that this means that me and dad will be joining the royal family."

"Oh, I do realise." Tigress's laugh reduced itself to a throaty chuckle. "After everything you've done for the Emperor and his family, do you really believe they'll have a problem with that? Besides..." She slid her paw over his and squeezed gently. "This also means that your father can finally achieve his dream of expanding his business outside the Valley."

Po grinned as he realised this, curled an arm around Tigress's shoulders and let her rest against his cuddly body. "You're right. Now I'm really, really happy for him. Now if you don't mind, I'd very much like to get back to what we were doing before my dad so elegantly interrupted."

"Me too." Tigress made the first move, wondering why she had ever been afraid to do this. She knew this peace couldn't last. Yujin was still missing, Hei Nuwang was never found, and then there was the red-eyed panda that Master Shifu had warned them about.

But for now, there was peace. There was nothing to stop them from kissing, the kiss growing deeper and warmer by the second.

Po's back slipped from the Peach Tree trunk and they lay on the dirt floor, arms wrapped around each other like a tangled bed sheet. They were still kissing when the moon rose and Master Shifu quietly planted a red lantern so they wouldn't end their date in darkness.


In the luxurious room the Jade Palace masters had provided for him, Emperor Xian thought of Yujin.

The sun was crimson and steadily sinking behind the outer wall. Xian was sitting on the large bed, legs crossed inside his robes, rotating the elephant sculpture in his paws. It was a work of art. Every part of the body was anatomically accurate. The elephant's eyes looked almost alive. The result of hundreds of years of practice.

The moment his choice was made, Xian started writing a letter. It filled the entire scroll, for he had something to say to every member of his family, from Haoxin de Nushi to the sweet little Zhan. In the letter, he explained what he was going to do after speaking with Su and making sure everything in the Imperial City had returned to normal. He apologised to his family and friends. He finished the letter by telling them that he had no choice. He had to find Yujin. He would do whatever it took, even if it meant abdicating.

As he rolled up the scroll and set down the ink brush, he looked out the window and saw Po and Tigress strolling in the palace garden. He couldn't recall the last time he had seen either of them ever looking so happy. Again he thought of Yujin, and how he used to take walks like this with her before the birth of their son. Xian tucked the scroll into his robes, deciding to wait until he returned to the Imperial City before giving it to his family.

A short time later, as he lay asleep in his bed, Xian received a message from the universe. His wife had been travelling in the Spirit Realm, but went missing...


The Masked Man removed his mask and looked at himself in the polished silver shield. He took in his own features, the features he had not born since his death in that fateful battle. He used to have a name, but had given it up the moment he was reborn. Hei Nuwang had wanted to name him, but he'd refused. He wasn't worthy of a name. He'd lost his worth a long time ago, and he'd lost it again several weeks ago, just when he thought that nothing else could stand in his way.

He was no longer that person, he thought. This is his wound. Those were his crimes. Not mine. If only the girl hadn't returned my true face. No, not true. False. Old. But I still have the mask.

As the Masked Man bid farewell to his old self for the last time, he felt that familiar fear, saw it in his reflection. His hiding place wouldn't be safe for much longer. He had to leave before the imperial soldiers found him.

Or something worse.


The night Nuwa and Su awoke, Shifu had been meditating beside them. He didn't know if he'd been meditating deeper than usual, or some kind of spell had come over him, but he didn't realise that something had changed until he felt cold water soaking his crossed legs. Immediately alert, he opened his eyes and looked down. There was a thick trail of luminous blue water stretching past him, leading up the stairs. Shifu leapt to his feet and spun round to check on the eggs.

The egg on his left was no more, reduced to a puddle of blue water from where the trail had started. Shifu's ears twitched, but all was silent. Whatever had been gestating inside the egg had gone.

He almost rushed up to the stairs to see if he could catch up to the reborn being, when he saw what had happened to the egg on his right.

Standing in a similar puddle of water was a crytal-like statue roughly his size. It looked like- Shifu's heart leapt- it was Su. Her icy form was frozen in mid-leap, somehow balanced on one little foot with no sign of toppling over.

Shifu's heart pounded with excitement. It was time.

Before he could do anything, the ice being started to glow with pure chi. He held his hand over his eyes, peeking through the fingers at the wondrous sight. It was like watching Oogway's ascension in reverse. While the tortoise had gradually dissolved into brilliant light as the peach petals consumed him, Su's translucent smooth body turned black and white and started to form fur. As if being guided by invisible hands, she lifted from the puddle, her naked form tilting forward as she slowly descended to the floor. Shifu took a step forward but didn't dare interrupt what was happening. Su reached the floor and curled her arms and legs inward, eyes closed as the light faded and her rebirth was complete.

For several seconds, Shifu stared at the little girl as she slept in the blue puddle. His instincts told him that it was now safe to touch her. He knelt before the girl and unclasped his robe, draping it over the girl as she started to stir. Her eyes still shut, she tried to push up on her arms. Shifu embraced the child and lifted her slightly, letting her rest against his chest.

"Welcome back, little one." He whispered.

Su murmured unintelligibly. Her fur was bone dry despite her brief slumber in the puddle. Shifu rubbed her arms gently, trying to help her waken fully. Eventually she opened her eyes and he gasped slightly. Su's brilliant dark blue eyes, the eyes she had inherited from the Mother of Mortals herself, had changed. The darker blue flecks were now a mixture of emerald green and ember orange. The traces of the two warriors who had contributed to her resurrection. Shifu how no idea how Su's parents would react when they saw them.

Su's strange multi-coloured eyes flickered, taking in the basement she had woken in before focusing on Shifu. "Oogway?"

"No." Shifu said softly. "It's Shifu."

Su blinked, and then smiled. "Oh. Sorry. I had a funny dream."

Shifu quietly sighed in relief upon hearing that Su had spent her time in the egg dreaming. The thought that she had been dead inside until the moment she awoke had been torture.

"Oh really?" He asked casually, as if Su had been merely sleeping until now. "Tell me about this dream."

Shifu listened quietly as she told him about the grieving dragon who found a kindred spirit in a tortoise from another land. He trembled slightly as he learned the true story behind the Pool of Sacred Tears' name, as well as a deep anxiety that had manifested itself soon after he had heard Su's dying words.

"Oogway... why did you... kill me..."

"Shifu? Where're my mommy and daddy?"

"They went to bed, sweetheart." An hour before Su awoke, he had convinced Su's parents to get some rest and come back in the morning. "Would you like me to take you to them?"

With an unexpected burst of energy the little panda leapt to her feet, holding the robe around her naked body. "Yes, please!"

As she started for the stairs, Shifu made to follow. A smile started to form. Su had returned to them. A broken family was about to be made whole again. She had so much to look forward to, not including reuniting with the fan club and receiving the Emperor's gratitude. But then a far more troubling thought came to mind. "Wait."

Su stopped and turned to look at him, puzzled. One corner of the robe trailed on the floor like a long tail. "What's wrong?"

Shifu paced a couple of steps to each side, sliding his hands into his sleeves as he thought on how best to approach her. Eventually he stopped pacing. "A long time ago, when I was your age, I had no mother. But I did have a father just like you do now. He was nothing like your father. He got us into trouble more times than I could count, before finally abandoning me at the Jade Palace when I was a little older than you. Just like that, I had nobody. Then Master Oogway came along and took me in." Su listened as quietly as he had when she had told him about the day she met Oogway, her expression sad. "You probably know how things went from there. He practically raised me. I've never said this to anyone, but Oogway was more than just a teacher. I loved him like he was my true father."

"Shifu..." Su's eyes got teary.

Shifu pressed on, hating himself for what he was about to say. But he had to know. "Su, Hei Nuwang said some things about Oogway. She claimed that he did some terrible things... including causing your death." He pulled his arms out the sleeves and let them hang loosely by his hips. "Look, I know you've been remembering things from your past life. Do you remember what really happened?"

Su looked away, rubbing her eyes and gritting her teeth. "I'm sorry." She whimpered. "I'm trying too... but it hurts too much!"

Shifu rushed forward and hugged her, now deeply regretting his words. "I'm sorry, I should've kept my mouth shut."

"Don't be sorry!" Su sniffled, holding the robe tight around her. "I want to remember and tell you, but it's... it's a really bad memory. I'm sorry, but I'm not ready."

"Then swear to me. Swear to me that everything Hei Nuwang said about Oogway was a lie."

"... I swear."

"... Thank you."


And that's a wrap! :)

There's one last fantasy epic in the works, but in the meantime, look out for a tie-in short story that will answer several questions from the main story. Also, I have plans to branch out into a new fandom with two or three new stories that will hopefully be as well received as the Kung Fu Panda series.

The name of the Tie-In will be "The Man with Two Masks", and I haven't yet named my other stories. In the meantime, Cheerio!