A Better World?
Chapter 12- China's Savior?
The Present
The Dragon Warrior picked himself up off the ground clutching his head, "I guess it must of worked I can feel Crane's presence is stronger here, I can follow it to find him and then finish him".
Po looked around at his surroundings, the forest looked pretty much the same compared to his world.
"Ok time to get going", Po set off in the direction of the Valley.
xxxxx
When Po arrived in the valley he noticed something was bothering him but he couldn't quite put his finger on it and then it hit him, "It's not silent, I can hear the streets bustling, why is nobody inside?, don't they know how dangerous it is out here?".
As Po walked the streets he didn't know how to act, as he rounded a corner he bumped into a small rabbit.
"Hey watch where you're-" he looked up finally noticing who he had bumped into.
"Oh hey Po, how's it going?".
Po looked quizzically at him "Fine, I guess?".
The rabbit ignored Po's peculiar reaction and walked off.
"This place is crazy, why was he so happy to see me?, what have I gotten myself into here Tigress?, I should of just left Crane to die here".
He carried on walking until something caught his eye, he turned, what he saw made him gasp in shock.
"Dragon Warrior Noodles & Tofu, someone's taken over dad's restaurant and changed it", Po scowled hatefully at the shop and made his way inside.
The place was empty, Po noticed that the hatch was closed, he walked over to the door and opened it.
"Hello?" he called out.
"Po?, Po is that you?" said Mr Ping from upstairs.
Po's heart skipped a beat "It can't be, Dad's alive?".
Mr Ping walked down the stairs to greet Po only to be tackled by him.
"Dad!, I've missed you so much", Po hugged his adoptive father tightly.
Mr Ping was naturally confused, "Po I'm flattered, but I only saw you a few days ago, is something wrong?".
Po put him down, he felt like crying from happiness "No Dad, nothing's wrong, it just...feels like years since we spoke".
"Ok I'm obviously in the past because Dad's still alive, I'll hang out with Dad for a bit then find Crane and leave, as much as I want to I can't stay here too long, I might say something that changes time".
Mr Ping beamed "Oh Po, you know if you want to see me I'm just a short walk away".
Mr Ping's became concerned "Actually Po there is something I want to ask you".
Po thought he'd been rumbled, Mr Ping looked at his face before asking "Where did you get that scar and you look much older, what's happened to you?".
Po gulped, he'd forgotten about his appearance.
"Ummm this is just some Kung Fu training, we are learning about blending in with a crowd and I thought looking different might help so Viper helped me to look like this".
Mr Ping sighed in relief, "I'm glad to hear it, so do you want some soup?".
Po smiled "Yes please", he knew he shouldn't stay for long but...
For the next hour they just talked about whatever was on their minds, it was the first truly happy memory Po had acquired in over two years.
Eventually he decided to leave, Po helped Mr Ping clear away the dishes from their meal.
Po stood at the doorway of the restaurant, he knelt down and hugged his father.
"Goodbye Dad, it was great to hang out with you again after so long, see you soon hopefully".
Mr Ping was bemused by Po's choice of language but decided to ignore it.
"Goodbye Po".
As Po walked to the Thousand Steps he thought to himself.
"Talking to Dad has made me realize even more that what I'm doing is the right thing to do, killing scum is worth it for keeping Dad alive and it just makes me wish that I had started doing it years ago, if I had he wouldn't have died"
xxxxx
The Present...still , Tigress has just told Po that she loves him
"You what?" asked Po, he couldn't believe, no he refused to believe that this was really happening to him.
"I love you, okay? I've loved you since the battle with Shen, but I didn't realize it until recently" said Tigress blushing heavily.
They just looked at each other for a while, Tigress thought that Po was being rude by not answering her but he was just having a hard time digesting it.
She turned away from Po heartbroken that he hadn't reciprocated her feelings.
After a while of awkward silence she started to hear Po chuckling to himself.
Tigress turned on him angrily "How dare you!, I pour my heart to you and you just stand there and laugh".
Po stopped laughing instantly and looked at Tigress's face, she looked devastated and he realized that she'd got the wrong idea.
Po moved closer to her "No Tigress, you don't understand".
Tigress pushed him away "Understand what, that you've just been leading me along the whole time".
"No Tigress that isn't it", but Tigress refused to listen.
She turned away from Po and started to walk out of the hall, Po ran up to her and grabbed her arm.
Po moved around her so he was standing on front of her, "Tigress, please just listen to me".
"Leave me alone, Dragon Warrior," Tigress seethed coldly, while holding back the incoming tears.
Po knew he couldn't reason with her so he just did what his heart told him to do.
He immediately embraced her in a bear hug, squeezing her to the point where she could not move a muscle.
Tigress was caught completely by surprise "Let go of me this ins-".
Po cut her off by embracing her in a passionate kiss, for that extensive moment, it felt like their souls were connected, like everything around them blackened into the nothingness; the only thing that was left was their love, and it burned brightly, like a thousand suns.
Po eventually broke the kiss and was happy to see that Tigress looked disappointed at the sudden loss of contact.
Po looked deeply in her eyes "Tigress, I'm laughing because I'm giddy with happiness, I never thought in a million years that the most beautiful girl in all of China could ever love a fat panda like me".
"I love you Tigress, I always have".
Tigress felt a wondrous wave of joy warm her body and she smiled at Po, he loosened his grip around the striped feline, and gently placed her on the ground.
Tigress raised an eyebrow at him "Really Po, you didn't know, I couldn't have made it anymore obvious, do you think I would of acted like I did in the Wu Dan mountains with anyone else?".
Po looked embarrassed "Yeah I guess I should've seen that", he chuckled again "So I guess I really did end up teaching you to feel didn't I?".
Tigress shook her head while smirking "Always the comedian Po?".
"Ok then Tigress a serious question".
Po walked up to her looking uncertain, Tigress looked at him concerned "What is it Po?".
"So are you my girlfriend now are what?".
Po looked away out of embarrassment and started to ramble "N-not that you have to decide now it's j-just that I want something to make it official".
What Po didn't see because of his panic was Tigress's expression
Tigress was smiling uncontrollably and her heart started doing somersaults in her chest, "Girlfriend does have a nice ring to it".
Tigress walked over to him and pulled him into a loving embrace, she purred into his shoulder which calmed him.
"It doesn't matter Po, what's important is that we know".
Po nodded "So do you want to tell everyone?".
Tigress shook her head "Maybe we should leave it for a while, you wouldn't want them to talk would you?, not to mention Master Shifu may get more strict with us".
Po gulped nervously, he hadn't thought of Shifu, "Oh man I hope he's not too bad" Po thought.
Po's stomach started to rumble, Tigress chuckled "C'mon Po lets get something to eat".
Po grinned like an idiot "Cool, I found out Tigress loves me, we're together and now we're getting something to eat, how can this day get any better?".
On their way out Po thought of something.
"Hey Tigress".
"Yeah Po", Po smirked confidently.
"Do you want some Secret Ingredient Soup?, c'mon since we're together can you just have it this once y'know for me?".
Tigress sighed "Ok then fine, if it will make you happy".
"And now she's having the soup, wow I am on a roll" Po thought happily.
They walked out of the hall hand in hand.
xxxxx
Crane sat in the cell contemplating, he sat up sharply when he felt a dark presence.
"Oh no" thought Crane.
"He's here, The Dragon Warrior is here".
Crane leapt up and started to call for help "Help! somebody, he's on his way here, we have to stop him, he'll kill us all".
Crane started to give up hope before he heard someones footsteps, Crane started to panic just on the off chance that the visitor wasn't friendly.
To his relief it was Master Shifu, Shifu walked up to the door of the cell.
"Crane are you Ok in there?" Shifu asked politely, Crane huffed irritably at Shifu's tone.
"Why would you care?, you threw me in here and now I'm a sitting duck when The Dragon Warrior shows up" Crane yelled angrily.
Shifu cast a stern gaze at him, Crane's anger wilted at Shifu's expression, "Even though it's been years since he's pulled that face at me, it can still have the same effect of shutting anyone up".
"Crane, do you really think that I would put you in there completely defenseless after what you've told me? Shifu asked with an eyebrow raised.
Crane's beak creaked open in shock, "So you actually believe me then?".
Shifu chuckled "Of course I do, no-one could have made up such an outlandish story, not even Po, I put you in here so I could use you as bait against your world's Po".
Crane blanched "WHAT!", he began to get angry again "You can't do that, he's powerful and experienced enough to kill us all, do you really think he's going to fall for something like this?".
Shifu nodded "Of course, even though he's evil he is after all still Po", Shifu sat down and began to patiently wait for the bear to fall into the trap.
xxxxx
The Dragon Warrior stood at the bottom of the Thousand Steps, he had bought a straw hat to cover his face so no- one else would recognize him and a cape so he could look more imposing.
"Ok it feels like he's in the palace", Po closed his eyes so he could focus and pinpoint Crane's location to a more exact spot.
"Bingo!" Po yelled, "So he's in a cell, ha! Shifu and the others must not have believed him and then threw him in there, I just have to get in and out without being spotted".
Po started to make his way up the stairs.