Family

I went into the Training Hall the next day and found Po mercilessly punching a bag of sand; not that punch dummy that kicked his butt. "Um... Po?"

"Yeah," He grunted as he continued punching.

"Are you okay? You're punching pretty hard," I said.

"I. AM. FINE!" He exclaimed as he punched the bag right through the other wall. He was breathing heavily.

"Um... Okay. So why are you a little upset," I asked calmly though the fact he just punched the bag through a wall of solid wood was scaring me.

"I told you. I'm fine," Po replied.

"Po, come on, what's up," I asked. Po gave a great sigh.

"Tigress just told me something that was personal," Po replied.

"What?"

"I can't tell you," Po sighed. I had to guess.

"Was it the incident?" Po's head snapped up at me with shock and surprise.

"How do you know about it," Po asked. "I thought she only told me and Shifu."

"I was the first to hear from her," I explained. Then Po glared at me with a hateful look.

"Did you write about this?"

"No! No, I would never write about that. Nor have I. This was as shocking to you as to me." Po calmed down a bit. "But why are you upset? Usually, you're more sympathetic than angry."

"I guess I'm angry because I couldn't help her." I sighed.

"You didn't know her. You didn't know anything about it. This isn't your fault," I said.

"I know, but I just wish I could help," Po said looking down at the ground. I laid my hand on his shoulder.

"Don't be upset, Po. You heard her and listened. That's one step to helping a friend," I said with a smile. Po forced a smile. "I'll be at the house if you need me." I disappeared but I didn't leave the room. I turned invisible as Po went back to his punches. This time with the punch dummy. He was pretty good with it until he went for a kick, which Tigress caught.

"Tigress?!" Po said surprised and exclaimed. "Can you let my foot go, please?"

"Not until you tell me why you're mad," Tigress said. Po was starting to lose his balance.

"I can tell you better if you'll let my foot go."

"Talk Po." Unfortunately, he fell down, but he took Tigress with him. Now she was on top of him with their faces close together. I could see both of them blushing, but Tigress was quicker to recover. She pinned Po down by the hands. "Now, tell me what's bothering you."

"Don't you think that this is a little... awkward position to be talking?"

"I've been in worse. Now tell me." Po sighed.

"I was just thinking about what you told me earlier today. I guess I was blaming myself for what happened. But-"

"You couldn't have done anything. You didn't even know I was in danger," Tigress said comfortingly. They stayed quiet for a while before Po chuckled a bit. Tigress looked at him confused.

"I just remember this dream where you were in my room, and I... don't hurt me. I kissed you," Po shrunk. Tigress smugly smiled.

"That wasn't a dream," Tigress said to a shocked and blushing panda, "You did kiss me in real life."

"I'm sorry," he squeaked. Tigress laughed at his reaction. They were quiet for the most part. Then, as their faces were getting closer to each other, Tigress closed the gap and kissed Po on the lips. Po's big eyes immediately shut. But when they pulled apart, Tigress became shy and embarrassed again.

"Now I'm sorry," She said jumping off of Po. Po slowly stood up.

"Don't be. I um... let's just say you were making it even," Po suggested.

"Yeah, even," Tigress said shyly, "I... um... I have to go." I teleported to the house and wrote down EVERYTHING! I decided that when Krystal came in I wouldn't let her see it. It would be a surprise.

"Why are you writing so... aggressively," Krystal said, appearing out of nowhere.

"AHHAHAH!" I exclaimed, shutting the book. This made her suspicious.

"What are you writing," She asked, trying to get the book. I pulled it away from her.

"Ah, it's a surprise for you," I smiled. She seemed excited by that news. "But no peeking," I said, putting it on a high roof beam she couldn't reach. She pouted a bit. Then I pulled out a new blank scroll.

"What are you writing now," Krystal asked.

"Oh, I was just thinking about some other stories to write about," I answered.

"Really, you're going to write a story while in a situation like this," Krystal asked.

"Hey, every story must be told," I said.

"Wow, you must really like people reading your ideas," Krystal smirked.

"Oh, I don't write because I want excellent reviews," I clarified. "I write because the story I have must be told. I want to be remembered for a lot of good things, but I primarily want to be remembered. These stories help people see what I imagine, what I think, what I dream. But I mainly do this because every story should have an ending, whether good or bad. And every story must be told so that others may learn, criticize, enjoy, condemn, and be inspired to make other stories. I do this not only to boost creativity in my world but because I can't draw well, this is an avenue that I can present my ideas and dreams."

"Wow," Krystal simply said.

"Yeah, I know. 'Good speech.'"

"No, really. That's really something else. I never saw it like that," Krystal said. I smiled.

"Open your mind, you'll learn a lot better that way," I smirked. Krystal rolled her eyes with a smile on her face.

"What are you writing now?"

"I'm actually just writing down some ideas for when I get back home. Unicorn, Mwanga Nyeupe meaning white light from Swahili, Sawfia meaning mystical Arabic, Leviathan, Dragon, what else," I thought out loud. "I'm just writing out ideas about this next story."

"What is it about," she asked. Before I could answer, there was a knock on the door. It was Lu.

"Master Lu, what is it," I asked.

"Come, Master Tai-gee and Master Nelon have returned with two people," Lu said.

"Who," Krystal asked. But I already know who. I rushed to the Hall of Heroes, where Tigress was standing there with her eyes wide out and her hand over her mouth. Facing her were two tigers a male and female, both in high-quality robes. The female was a bit shorter than Tigress, about an inch or two. The other one was about an inch taller than Tigress. Both were old.

"My little Lily," the woman cried. She ran up to Tigress and hugged her tightly. I could see Tigress's tears well-up. The male also went up to her and hugged her. Tigress then hugged them back tightly. Po came in beside me.

"What's happening," Po asked.

"This is Tigress's true parents," I explained. Po's jaw dropped.

"How did you find them," Tigress asked through the tears. Tai-gee shrugged.

"Lion sent me on the mission. He wanted it to be a surprise for you," Tai-gee explained. Tigress looked at me.

"You're welcome," I smiled. "But just make sure Tigra is away from me because I don't want to be torn to pieces." She ignored the commented and continued hugging her family. Po was about to run up to them but I stopped him. "Give them time to catch up," I whispered to him. "You have some training to do."

"Aw," He whined. So we went to the Training Hall, where I had him running on the tumblers, trying to keep his balance.

"Come on, don't tell me that the Dragon Warrior's ran out of breath," I teased. "Use that cosmic energy you guys talk about."

"I'm (pant) trying," He said out of breath. I sensed someone behind me but ignored it for the most part. It seemed like a big feline figure, so I guessed it was Tai-gee or Nelon. "I can't keep up."

"Slow down a bit," Said the figure behind me, "Then continue running at the pace you were." That didn't sound like Tai-gee or Nelon. I turned around to see Qiang, Tigress's father behind me. I bowed out of respect. So Po did what Qiang asked of him, and he was able to run longer. It's a complex science reason as to why it worked. Once Po was off the tumblers, rather fell off the tumblers, he wobbled to the walkway where Qiang and I were standing. "Not bad for a panda. You're actually more in shape than most pandas I've seen," Qiang observed.

"Thanks," Po wheezed. "I work out."

"Now," I muttered. "I thought you would be with your daughter."

"I was, but I also wanted to meet the Dragon Warrior. It is an honor to meet you. I didn't expect anyone to be such a legendary master like yourself," Qiang said. I was afraid Po would be prideful, but he wasn't.

"I'm just the guy that fell in front of Oogway when he pointed," Po humbly said.

"Well, it proved to be a great choice," Qiang said. Po smiled. "I actually know what it's like to be you in a sense."

"Really," I asked. Po glared at me. "I mean tell us."

"I... actually use to be the weakest person in the litter of tigers when I was born. My brothers and sisters usually picked on me. I was introverted, didn't talk much, and was usually at the mercy of who ever picked on me." Po was confused.

"That can't be true. Tigress has a massive amount of strength. I always thought she got that from you," Po replied.

"She did," Qiang answered. "I use to work in the blacksmith industry at a very young age. For a lot of the jobs, I thought I was too weak. But my manager was surprised at how much I could carry. One day, when I was being picked on again, one of the bullies challenged me to hit him. So I did, harder than I expected. It turns out that I had a lot of strength, but because I was shorter than everyone else, I didn't think I had it in me. I just didn't know my own strength." Qiang placed his hand on Po's shoulder. "Just like me, you don't know what you're capable of. Everyone is given unimaginable talents and gifts, you just have to find it and use it to the best of your ability." With that, he left us. I turned to see Po's excited 'about to pee' face.

"The original Midnight Stranger touched my shoulder. I will never bathe again," Po said in a bouncy mood.

"You bathe?"

"Hey!" I laughed. "Come on, I want to try again."

"Really," I asked, "You just came off of that thing huffing and puffing."

"Yeah, I'm sure." So we continued training for the rest of the day. Po's progress was actually increasing faster than normal. What Qiang said really got to him. Qiang and Po had started to grow a very interesting friendship.

to be continued.