"Po..."

Tigress didn't even notice that she was standing in his room for the first time as her gaze landed upon the Dragon Warrior and his still form that lay sprawled out on the floor. He was terribly still, and not even shivering if he did indeed have some sort of cold. But she had a bad feeling that it wasn't just a cold.

"Asweep?" Lei Lei asked from her spot in 'Stripey Baby's' arms. It was all Tigress could do to agree with the little panda; it seemed like Po was sleeping, but she knew better. He was still breathing, much to her relief, but it wasn't like last time when he had come to right away after Bao ran to get help.

"Taking a nap," she told Lei Lei gently so as not to frighten her even further after what they had seen at the palace.

Kai had told Shifu and the Five that it didn't matter if he found Po or not, so they would be safe here—especially since he had no idea where Po was in the first place. But how did he know that something was wrong with the panda?

"I don't know what happened...we just found him like this," Li explained with worry etched into his tone as he stood beside Tigress, keeping a close eye on his son. He'd known that something wasn't right when Po had fainted for the first time in the palace, as was the reason that Shifu decided to ban Chi. He should have kept a better eye on him!

Mr. Ping gestured to the floor next to Po, and Tigress was surprised to see Oogway's staff snapped in half.

"We found this next to him, too," Mr. Ping told her as he tried not to panic. But not panicking was hard when his son was sick with who knows what!

What happened in here, Po? Tigress wondered, searching his room for more possible clues that could explain what took place the night before. Kai hadn't been here, she knew that much.

"He was fine last night!" Mr. Ping sobbed. "Now he's...wait, what's she doing?"

It took Tigress a minute to realize that Lei Lei had left her arms. She scanned the room quickly to see where she might have gone, and soon found her sitting behind Po. Her paw was glowing, and she was reaching her arm out to rest it on the fainted panda.

"Lei Lei, wait!" Tigress tried calling her back, but the little cub had already placed her paw on Po's stomach with her eyes closed as she concentrated on making him wake up from his nap. It wasn't a strong kind of glow, but it was strong enough to shock Po awake. Tigress sighed in relief along with Li and Mr. Ping as Po opened his eyes, but only slightly as he came to his senses.

"...What's going on?" he asked weakly. Now he felt awful, like he was about to throw up as if he and his dad had gone careening through the Hall of Heroes again, or when he'd first rolled down the hills at the Panda Village. Catching sight of Tigress, he managed a small smile, but frowned slightly when he caught wind that something wasn't right.

Tigress knew she couldn't tell him yet. He would try to get up and fight, and he was certainly in no condition to do such a thing, especially not with what she had witnessed at the palace. But Po could already tell that something was up, and she knew she couldn't keep it from him for long.

"It's Kai. He's back," she told him reluctantly.

If Po wasn't awake before, he definitely was now. Green eyes widened in shock. "What? But that's impossible! I skadoosh'd him in the Spirit Realm! Well, more like Chi-dooshed..."

Tigress shook her head in exasperation. "We don't know how, but he's back. And he has some kind of a new power that we've never seen before. But that's just it—I think he's mastered Chi again somehow, but without the 'aid' of other masters. He can do Chi without stealing it, Po."

That was new. Po cringed as he attempted moving to get up, as Tigress suspected he would. She placed her paws on his shoulders to keep him from doing so. "You're in no condition to fight."

"But what about the others?" Po couldn't just stand by while his master and friends were in danger! He had to do something! "Master Shifu, Crane, Mantis, Viper, Monkey...my family?" his eyes widened in horror at the thought that they were in the hands of that monster. He never should have brought them to the Jade Palace in the first place!

"He's holding them prisoner at the palace...he just wants to keep them from getting to you."

"...Why?" Po whispered. But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. If he really was sick, as he was beginning to think that yes, he was, Kai would want to keep everyone from getting to him because they had played such a huge part in the Spirit Realm—Kai was holding them prisoner because he knew that together, they would be able to cure whatever sickness was sapping his Chi.

Sapping his Chi...

Events of the night before flooded his mind when he couldn't get his Chi to work. Grunting, he attempted to lift a paw. A wave of dizziness almost overtook him, but he held his ground as he concentrated on making something happen to comfort himself that his Chi wasn't truly...not working. It couldn't be gone.

"Po," Tigress warned, "I think Chi really is the cause of all this."

Master Shifu's ban on Chi didn't matter—he had to make sure.

His Chi hadn't been working normally ever since he had returned from the Spirit Realm after his fight with Kai.

It had stopped working altogether when he'd tried to use it on Master Oogway's staff, and it still wasn't working no matter how much he concentrated and focused now, just barely managing to sit up and place his paws over the broken staff. Li and Mr. Ping stood close by, watching with heavy hearts as their son attempted to fix the staff, but to no avail. It hadn't moved an inch and remained snapped in half.

"Po...what happened in the Spirit Realm?" Tigress suddenly questioned when the thought came to her. "...During your fight with Kai?"

I think he's mastered Chi again somehow, she had told him earlier, he can do Chi without stealing it from others, Po.

I skadoosh'd him in the Spirit Realm! Well, more like Chi-dooshed...

Tired green eyes widened further in shock and horror at his sudden realization, and Tigress had to stop him from falling backwards.

You want my Chi so bad...then take it.

Po could only think of one thing to say as heat seared his paws once more and he had to stop himself from crying out in pain as blackness threatened to pull him under again.

"...I am SUCH an idiot."