Six months had passed since tigress had given birth to her twins. Tigress and po had taken time off to spend with their cubs.
"Mummy!" Athena called, running out of the palace on all fours. She slipped and landed right in her lap, and tigress smiled at her.
"Yes?" she asked, and Athena grinned.
"I'm bored. Papa is cooking dinner, and Apollo is playing with mantis and monkey. Granddad is busy, and viper doesn't feel good. There's nothing for me to do!" she complained, and tigress smiled fondly at her cub.
"Would you like to meditate with me?" she asked, and Athena grinned and nodded. She sat up in her mother's arms, and her mother took her hands in hers.
"Close your eyes, and open your mind" she said softly, and Athena squeezd her eyes shut. tigress laughed lightly.
"Gently. Meditation is about relaxation and inner peace. You can't force it." she said, and they closed their eyes. Tigress let her mind open, and relaxation seep into her. 30 minutes later, po was carrying out bowls for them to eat in the gardens.
"Papa, when do I get to learn to cook?" Apollo asked, and po smiled.
"When you're older. I know Yéye would love for you to learn to cook." He said, and Apollo nodded.
"When do we get to learn kung foo?" Athena asked, and tigress smiled.
"Soon. It won't be every day like I did. We'll take it slow, start with the basics." She said, taking a bite of her rice.
"How come Yéye doesn't come visit papa?" Athena asked.
"He's very busy. He does so much down at the shop, that he doesn't have a lot of time to visit." He said, and she nodded. They ate together, having casual conversation until shifu showed up.
"Master" po said, getting up and bowing to him. Apollo and Athena did the same, along with tigress.
"Tigress, po, I need you. Viper will watch them." he said, and walked back into the palace. Viper slithered outside, and po and tigress followed shifu. Once inside, he shut the door, and turned to face them.
"An urgent message has come from the palace of Beijing. They have been attacked, their village torn to shreds, and few made it out alive. I need you both to go with monkey, crane, viper and mantis to help if we can." He said, and tigress instantly shook her head.
"No. I can't. I'm sorry shifu, po and I can not go." She said, and left the room. Shifu stood there, stunned.
"I… why can't she go?" he asked, and po sighed.
"We just had our children Master, you can't expect us to just be able to up and leave. They need to be taken care of." he said, and shifu nodded.
"I would stay behind, to care for them." he said, and po sighed.
"Let me talk to tigress, and see what she says." He said, and turned to leave.
"Po… just because you have children, does not mean you get to turn your back on china. They need us" he said, and po glared.
"Yes master, but my cubs need me also." He said, and left the room. He went back to their room, where tigress was crying.
"Damn emotions…" she said, and po pulled her into a big hug.
"Shifu said he would stay and watch them while we went off" he said, and she shook her head.
"No. Absoulty not. I love him, I really do, but I can not leave my children alone, making them worry if we are ever coming home. I will not let that happen to them po." She said, and he nodded.
"What do we do? We… we don't have a lot of options tigress." He said, and she nodded.
"I know… can we leave? Start our own lives?" she asked, and po sighed.
"I… I don't know how I feel about that. We have responsibility, and we have our duty to china. We knew that before we had the cubs, before we got married. There is no turning back time." He said, and she nodded.
"I can't leave them po. I refuse." She said, and he nodded.
"Ok. I don't want to leave either…" he said, and she nodded. There was a knock on the door.
"Come in" tigress called, and Apollo and Athena came in.
"Mummy… you aren't going away are you?" Athena asked, tears in her eyes. Tigress opened her arms, and they both ran to them.
"No princess, I'm not." She said, and Apollo looked at po.
"Papa… you aren't leaving either?" he asked, and po smiled and kissed the top of his head.
"Not if I can help it. Your mother and i… we have responcibilitys to china, to the world. We love you both so much, but we can't give up being hero's. China needs us" he said, and he nodded.
"Come, would you like to sleep with us tonight?" tigress asked, and they both nodded. They climbed into bed, and snuggled up close to their parents.
"dormir bem meus filhotes. Nós te amamos" po whispered to his sleeping cubs.
End bit! OH MY GOODNESS. Found inspiration, it's all coming back to me now. :D