A/N*

This is it! Last chapter for my introduction into KFP. Hope you all liked it! Not my best work but i got some really cool ideas for the future! Until then, R&R!

Chapter 9

A burning hope

To anyone but the kung fu masters and what little villagers remained to help slow the fire, the scene would have been traumatizing. A wall of fire, roughly two maybe three stories tall, separated the valley of peace from the raging forest fire. The fire had acted like a flood and when dammed by the trench; the fire went the only place left, up. The wall of fire hand began to curve towards the village, like a giant wave about to collapse back down to the ocean. There would be no water when this fire wave collapsed.

Tigress rotated 360 degrees horizontally as she landed from a spink kick. A tree was threatening to come crashing down and level the house just behind her. The tree spun like a top and flew off into the distance. Tigress sighed as she reexamined her surrounding. A building just off towards her left and behind Mantis was on fire. A toppling tree the culprit. A handful of villagers had created a fire brigade and were dumping buckets of water on the house. She saw crane fly by overhead and with a large swoop of his wing created a large gust of wind the extinguished the building and pushed the fire back a foot from the trench.

Like a raging bull, the fire came slamming back against the trench. The fire never gained a strong foothold though and was continuously pushed back across the trench. To any bystander it would look like some exotic dance as the fire pushed in and the masters retreated only for them to push forward and the fire withdraw.

The endurance needed to sustain the stalemate was taking a heavy toll on the masters. Mantis was panting and could hardly keep a decent pace. Viper had slight burn marks along her scales and her ribbon was all but ashes. Crane had burned marks all across his body and his beak was burned badly at the tip. Monkeys fur was missing in some part and his face was completely black from the ash. They all had looks of wear and tear on the faces as they continued the fight. Master Shifu was by far in the best of shape. The only sign of wear on him was the sweat accumulating on his forehead. As for the tear, his green master robe was blackened and his fear was matted down.

Her eyes looked down to her far right and landed on Po. The giant Panda was really struggling with the endurance. He was hunched over with his hands on his knees as he gasped for air. The wind had shifted towards him awhile ago so all the smoke, heat, and fire were now bearing upon him. Pos arms were still badly burned and you could clearly tell he was in a great deal of pain. Tigress wanted to run over to him and get him out of here. His face was twisted into concentration as he removed his hands from his knees. The flames were touching the building now and where crossing the trench in various places at once.

Po stood up as tall as he could. His eyes closed as he concentrated on what he was about to do. It would take a lot of focus and most of his chi, but he would would delay the fire. He didn't know why he was going to do it. His logical side said it would only weaken him and get him killed, the hopeful side told him that this could save his home. A swirl of peach petals brushed against him as Po breathed in the fruity aroma. He sighed in content and placed his hands together and entered a meditative like trance. He brought his right foot forward slightly before slowly and precisely moving it in an arc on the ground so it rested directly behind his left foot. Tigress eyes widen slightly at the sight. She had only seen him enter this stance once, during the battle with shen. Pos arms moved from right to left, reciting the steps used to redirect water. This time however, there was no water on Pos arms. Tigress examined Po closely as he began to move faster and faster in his movements. She didn't understand what he was doing, but it was creating a knot in her stomach. Whatever it was, she didn't like it.

Thats when she notice the glowing. Slowly but surely a small part of Pos body had been glowing, but it didn't remain still, it zigged and zagged as his arms continued to move. The glowing was almost like a dot. 'Like a water drop...' Tigress thought as she noticed the glowing dot was taking the same path that the water droplet would normally take. Unlike water though, the dot continued to grow and grow until it consumed Po in the holy glow. The others had noticed too by now and had stopped to stare at the Panda. Po was glowing brightly and his arms were just a blur as he continued his movements. Po suddenly twirled and spun up into the air, soaring past the clouds as the group continued to gawk at him. Master Shifu nearly instantly recognized what the panda was doing but before he could say a word Po came crashing back down and impacted the earth violently with his fist sending out a violent shock wave towards the fire. Surprisingly none went towards the village which showed extreme precision and practice with this move. The ground shook and rose rapidly and quickly before stopping just as fast. The entire event lasted less than a few seconds. From the outskirts of the village towards the second trench and all the way to the foot of the mountain the fire was out. The fire that threatened the Jade Palace though was still alive and had by now reached the peach tree of heavenly wisdom. The fire latched onto the sacred tree like a leach. The cackling of the wood burning was heart wrenching to anyone who heard.

Tigress ran up to the crater Po had created. She knelt down beside the still body of her beloved panda. "Po." She said softly shaking him lightly. When he didn't respond she tried more forcefully. "Po, wake up! Come on you stupid panda wake up!" She shook him harder and gazed at his face, expecting his eyes to open and reveal his jade green orbs. "Po..." Tears collected on her eyes as the sickening thought of Po being dead began to spread throughout her body. The thought spread like a virus and she began shaking. Whatever self control she had was sleeping, and when the first tear left her eye she lost it. Tears freely flowed down her face staining her vibrant orange. A few tear drops splashed on Po's face as the Tiger master openly wept. Mr. Ping waddled up to stand next to Tigress and stared down at his son. The look of grief on his face was one only a father could possibly have.

Mr. Ping looked from his son to the Tigress who by now had buried her face in her paws in a futile attempt to stop the tears from falling. He placed a comforting wing on her shoulder. She glanced over at him and it only worsened her sorrow. "I'm so sorry...I was suppose to protect him...I was suppose to be strong for him. I'm a failure as a kung fu master. If i can't protect the man I love how could I protect china anything else?" Mr. Ping smiled a knowing smile and wrapped her in a hug.

A loud crack of lightening interrupted their moment as everyone looked towards the sky. The sky was dark and full of clouds. A few drops of water escaped and landed near the masters. It started slowly before picking up pace as the sky unleashed a storm its been holding back for months. A low moan caught the groups attention as the redirected their eyes towards the crater. A familiar panda head popped out of the hole. "Uggghhh...never going to do that again...ever..." He looked over to see a wide eyed Tigress kneeling beside him. A uncontrollable smile appeared on his face at the sight of her. "Hey Tigress...what I miss?"

"Po..." Tigress looked like she couldn't believe her eyes. Po smiled and nodded his head yes. "Your alive!" She yelled before flinging her arms around him in a hug. Tears of joy fell from her face as she cried into his chest. The rain now soaking everyone outside.

Up at the Jade Palace the fire had retreated from the peach tree and slowly withered away by the relentless downpour. The other Kung Fu masters dog piled po in a massive group hug. "Man we got lucky on this. I love the rain!" Mantis yelled playing in the rain and splashing a few puddles towards his comrades. His comrades quickly took part and began splashing each other and playing in the ran. Finally enjoying themselves after the past few stressful hours. "Ya! The only thing that could ruin this is a flood!" Po said still playing and not noticing everyone else stop their splashing. Finally noticing them all staring towards the forest Po stopped playing and looked also. A low wall of water was presiding towards them. "Aw come on!" Mantis yelled flinging his head back in exasperation. Cranes jaw was slanted open in shock. Viper sighed heavily and looked rather sad. Master Shifu glared furiously at Po as if he caused the flood.

Tigress heaved a heavy sigh and looked towards Po. "For once could you keep the giant mouth of yours quiet." Po smiled sheepishly and twiddled his thumbs. "If I did that you wouldn't love me then now would you?" Tigress glared at Po before smiling. "Probably not."

"Well. Less chat more action! Lets go!"

And with that, our kung fu masters went off to battle nature once again.

THE END