"I asked you to make a decision."
"I know."
"You failed to make that decision."
"I know."
"There may not be enough room for all of them here."
"I know, I know, but come on!" Po argued lightly, trying not to be too cross with his master. But this was exactly why Po had kept his plan hidden from Shifu up until the last moment; he'd been afraid that he would say no. "Choosing between the Five and them was like trying to choose between...dumplings and noodles! But with everyone helping, we could make the Jade Palace even bigger than it was before!"
"I don't know about that Po," Shifu countered sternly, "what about their village? Now that the pandas are here, it's not entirely a secret anymore."
Oh. He hadn't thought about that. The village was supposed to be a secret. It wasn't like anyone knew where exactly it was located, but now that the pandas were out of the bag, the Valley was going to start asking questions, and it was going to be newly opened up to any bandits who would possibly take an interest.
But Po was firm with his decision to bring his family and his (panda) dad had agreed, seeing that he'd been in on the plan, too. Tigress had told him to do what he felt was right, and he had. They would be safe here with him and the Five and have so much to explore after being hidden away for so long!
"Just...think about it? Please?" he asked with a hopeful smile.
Shifu sighed in defeat at the puppy-dog eyes that the Dragon Warrior was giving him.
"...I guess it would be cruel to make them go all the way back when they just got here."
"Yes!" Po cheered, fist bumping the air.
"I didn't say yes."
Po's face fell.
"...But I will think about it," Shifu said with a small grin. Po grinned back.
The Jade Palace was almost complete, and it was (finally) starting to look back to normal, back to its former glory.
Upon first glance at the damaged palace when he'd first arrived, Po had been heartbroken to see everything destroyed and so banged up; Kai had really done a number on the place, especially the statue of Master Oogway. It had been one of the first things that Shifu wanted to be repaired. Po was just glad that his master and friends were back to normal too, having been turned into frightening, green 'Jombies' as he and Monkey had named them. He didn't want to know what Tigress had to endure when she'd witnessed their descent.
It was good to be back home though, and Po was glad that Shifu had decided to give the pandas a chance to stay, especially since they had been such a big help with repairs. If all went well, their stay even had a high chance of becoming permanent, and the village becoming more like a vacation home. How awesome would that be?! The best of both worlds finally coming together.
Now it was just the Hall of Heroes that needed to be finished up, and Po couldn't wait for it to be completely restored. He'd taken all of the pandas on a tour of the newly renovated Jade Palace, but they had become worn out pretty quickly, especially since the long travel back. Soon it was just him and a single, excited panda cub in the hall while the others took a well-deserved rest before dinner at his father's refurbished restaurant, which had also taken a beating thanks to Kai.
The only downside was the fact that nearly all of the sacred artifacts were damaged beyond repair.
"Some things just can't be replaced," Po explained sadly as he watched Bao hold the broken object gently in his paws, what used to be the Urn of Whispering Warriors (leaving out the fact that Li and himself had taken a part in their destruction; Kai had only made the damage even more irreversible.)
But Bao had a determined look on his face, as if he wanted to prove the Dragon Warrior wrong somehow. Po was definitely surprised when the little cub closed his eyes and began concentrating on the object. A golden glow suddenly emerged from his outstretched paw, and Po's mouth hung open in complete shock when the vase began...putting itself back together?!
"Woah..." Po breathed, watching his student with pride when the urn's broken glass pieced itself back together until it was all fixed, as if it had never been broken in the first place. "That was severely cool!" All the times he'd shown the cubs his own power of Chi must have paid off, but he never imagined that it could do something like that.
Bao's face brightened, handing the urn to Po so that the Dragon Warrior could put it back where it belonged.
Po stared down at his paws in disbelief. "I had no idea that Chi could fix inanimate objects." Could have been useful to know before they started rebuilding the Jade Palace. But then again, Chi was still very new to all of them, so how could they have known?
"Why don't you try it, Po?!" Bao exclaimed, excited that he'd discovered something new before anyone else had.
The Dragon Warrior nodded enthusiastically, moving over to his artifact of choice: Master Flying Rhino's Armor that was currently lying in a broken heap on the hall ground. Just like all the times before when he'd shown the panda cubs at the village, he relaxed and closed his eyes. He reached out a paw over Master Rhino's armor, imagining the pieces going back together. But it was harder to concentrate than before. He felt...funny and slow.
"Po? Are you okay?" Bao asked worriedly as he watched the panda begin to lose his breath and struggle to stay standing. Why did he look so dizzy?
"I'm...fine," Po managed to get out. Reaching his arm forward, he tried to relax again as he focused on the object. A glow managed to emerge from his outstretched paw, but considering how many times Bao had seen Po's Chi before and knew what it was supposed to look like...it looked...stranger than normal. Dull and not as bright.
Bao knew that he had to run and get help when Po finally fainted to the floor next to the damaged armor.
Back in the empty Panda Village, a single petal fell from the flower that the Dragon Warrior had brought back to life. The ground shook with an incredible, earthquake-like force soon after.