The Way Back
Chapter 2- The Hearts Desire
1 hour after Po's "death"- The Present
Crane met up with the others to compare notes and to see if they had managed to recover anything.
He showed them the stone he had recently dug up and they gasped in awe of it's otherwordly glow.
"D'ya think that Shifu would want this used to rebuild the palace?" asked Crane hopefully.
Mantis shrugged "I don't know, keep it thought just in case, you never know it might come in handy if we ever need a weapon".
Viper hissed angrily "Would you really feel comfortable about using the weapon that cost Po his life? Because I certainly wouldn't".
Crane put his wing on her which calmed her down instantly, "He's just being pragmatic Viper, it is a powerful weapon and it does have a potential use but that isn't our call it's Shifu's, and I know we're all hurting from Po's death but remember no matter how bad we feel Tigress almost certainly feels worse, so we need to give her all the help she needs so she can mourn properly".
They all nodded, "And Mr Ping needs us too" said Monkey.
Crane nodded.
xxxxx
Shifu walked into the noodle shop with a heavy heart, he knew that the next hour talking to Mr Ping would be difficult which is why he had spared Tigress this particular emotional hurdle.
He saw that the restaurant was empty, cutlery and dishes were strewn about the place because had left in a hurry after hearing the palace be destroyed, the door to the restaurant was open at an angle.
Shifu made his way over and pushed it open slightly "Mr Ping...are you here?" he called out softly.
His voice full of concern and apprehension came from upstairs "Is that you Master Shifu? I'm up here hiding like Po told me to do if the village was ever attacked".
Shifu appreciated Po's forward thinking but the thought of his student made him nervous.
Shifu walked up the stairs and went into Po's room, he noticed it was covered in posters of the Furious Five, in particular Tigress, he sighed inwardly and wondered where Tigress was and if she was okay.
Mr Ping was sat on Po's bed nervously fiddling about with the edges of his apron, when he saw Shifu he lowered himself off the bed and made his way towards him.
"Master Shifu the whole village was in a panic, we saw the palace get destroyed, what happened? Is my son alright?", Mr Ping put his wings together in a gesture of hope.
"I won't tell him who attacked us, I want to spare him as much pain as possible so not telling him his son becomes a vicious killer in the future may be a start", Shifu took a deep breath and told Mr Ping what had happened without revealing the identity of the person responsible or Po's fate.
When Mr Ping had finished digesting the information he spoke, "So some awful brute from the future using a powerful alcehmical artifact attacked you all in the palace?" Shifu nodded.
"So that explains what happened to the palace, but is my son alright?" he asked desperately.
Shifu looked at him sadly before answering "Mr Ping...I'm sorry but Po gave his life to save Tigress, he was caught in a explosion produced by the artifact".
He saw Mr Ping's expression crumble before his very eyes, Mr Ping fell the floor and started to sob loudly.
Shifu had never felt so low, he had broken a father's heart. "This is my fault, if I had been stronger then Po wouldn't of had to give his life, now I've lost him and Tigress" he thought shamefully.
He placed a paw on Mr Ping's shoulder "I'm sorry Mr Ping".
"I know you don't want to hear this now, but I can take care of all the funeral details if it would ease your pain".
Mr Ping shook his head furiously "No! He was my son, I'll do it, just tell me one thing Shifu".
Shifu nodded "Anything Mr Ping".
"Did Po tell Tigress of his feelings for her before he died?".
Shifu smiled warmly "Yes he did and she returned them".
Mr Ping managed a weak smile "I'm glad, that's all he talked about when he came back from Gongmen, at least he went happy", at the thought of Po's death he started to cry again.
Shifu decided to stay with him for a while for emotional support.
xxxxx
Tigress hit the dummies as hard as she could turning them into dust.
While on her way to the remains of the palace to help her friends she decided to throw herself into training so she could try and ease her pain.
Every time she thought of Po she trained harder so she could only concentrate on the physical pain.
She carried on doing this until there wasn't any training apparatus left, she observed the results of her destruction, huffed irritably and left to go to her room.
When she got to the sleeping quarters she couldn't help but turn around and look at Po's room which was opposite to hers, she felt sadness wash over her and felt a deep loneliness.
Without anything left in the training hall to vent her pain out on she decided to sleep it off, she went to go into her room but stole one more glance at Po's room.
With a sigh she closed her own door and went into Po's room, she could smell his scent all over the room, she closed her eyes and could almost hear him talking to her as if he was standing right beside her.
She opened her eyes hopefully but was bitterly disappointed at the lack of the real thing, she laid on Po's bed and curled up to sleep.
She imagined that she was in Po's warm embrace which made it easier for her to go to sleep rapidly and peacefully.
xxxxx
Shifu walked out of the entrance to the noodle shop, he had waited for Mr Ping to calm down until he had felt comfortable enough to leave him.
He was so deep in thought that he nearly walked straight into Crane.
"What is it Master Crane? Did you find anything?" he said forcefully, Shifu decided to get straight to the point so he could have a chance to be alone.
Crane opened his wing to reveal the stone, "I found this in the rubble, do you think it can be used to raise the palace back up?".
Shifu looked at the stone with disgust, "How could he even think about using that abhorrent weapon after it took Po away from us?".
Crane noticed his displeasure "I'm sorry Master, it was just a thought, I will dispose of it immediately".
Crane began to walk away until he was stopped by Master Shifu grabbing his shoulder.
"No Crane that is a sound idea...it is just that...well I wouldn't feel comfortable with creating something by using a device that has taken away from so many people and that's not including us".
Shifu sighed "But I will do it, and then it shall be disposed of".
Crane handed it to him and he walked off.
Shifu rolled the stone about in his hand, "I can feel the stone's power coursing through me, I can't waste anytime, I'll bring the palace back, I lied to Crane I don't think it can be destroyed so I'm just going to have to seal it somewhere and take it's location to my grave".
Shifu began the walk up to the palace's remains, he sighed inwardly "And then we need to start preparing for Po's funeral, I'll have one of the five stay with Mr Ping, perhaps Viper she is a people person after all. I hope Tigress is doing OK but knowing her she'll probably want to be alone for a while, I'll grant her that but she will go to Po's funeral".
The story is going to skip forward a bit now, for Tigress and the five at least. Unless of course people want to see the funeral.