Po sat in his room. He was leaning forwards, his fingers tapping against each other. But, to say the least, Po was still nervous. He had only been a Kung Fu student for about two years, maybe a little more, yet here he was; about to enter the finals of the greatest Kung Fu Tournament in all of China!

Suddenly the door to Po's room was opened and Mr. Ping entered.

"Oh, Po, my boy, I'm so proud of you right now," Mr. Ping said happily. The old goose looked just like he was about to cry and with a smile, Po got up and his father caught him in a hug. "I bet you're so nervous right now."

"I am," Po said, trying to sound at least a little bit confident, but the tension he felt in his stomach made it come out as a whisper that only his father could hear.

"Don't worry, son," Mr. Ping said happily, looking up at his son as he broke free from the hug. "I will be on the front row, just cheering for you… and the others as well, of course."

"I know," Po said happily, almost feeling like crying himself.

"And all of China will know the outcome… How the Dragon Warrior will… Win." At this Mr. Ping simply lost it. Unable to hold back his tears of joy, the old goose grabbed Po in a hug again.

"Dad, don't cry," Po said, smiling. "I'll cry too!"

Mr. Ping pulled back and sniffed a few times. "I'm sorry, son. I'm just so proud."

"I know," Po said, smiling. "I'm proud to be your son as well."

It knocked on the door. "Dragon Warrior?"

"Come in," Po said and the door to his room opened. Po was surprised to see Shui enter.

"Shui, I haven't seen you for days!" Po said happily. "How are ya'?"

"Well, I'm fine," Shui said scratching the back of his head. "I just got back."

"Got back? From where?"

"Home," Shui replied. "My dad thought it'd be dangerous for me to stay here…"

"Your dad?" Po asked curiously.

"Yeah, Master Zihao," Shui replied. Po suddenly did remember the otter address the older otter as 'father' the day that Yuan appeared, but the in the confusion, Po hadn't spared it much thought.

"Oh, alright," Po said. "So… you got permission to come back, I guess?"

Shui nodded with a smile. "Yeah! Besides, the party tonight will be huge! They need extra staff to take care of it all!"

"Wait, so you're not coming to see the tournament?" Po asked surprised.

"I will, but not all of it, unfortunately," Shui said. "I will finish my duties as fast as I can – promise!"

"Awesome!" Po said happily. "It's going to be so great! And if we win… Oh, that'd be so cool!"

"Yeah, totally," Shui said happily. "I just came to wish you good luck, so… Yeah, good luck, Dragon Warrior!"

"Are you prepared?" Shifu asked calmly upon entering.

Tigress nodded. "I have been ready for this day ever since we got here."

Shifu simply nodded and watched his student for a few seconds. He then walked over to look out of the window of her room, his arms behind his back. "Tigress?"

"Yes, Master?" Tigress asked, feeling somewhat nervous, not knowing what to expect. Maybe it was about Jinshu. And if it was, what did Shifu want to say? Nonetheless, it sounded like it was important.

"I want you to know…" Shifu stopped for a moment. He then turned around to face his student. "That I'm proud of you."

Tigress was left speechless. Never had Shifu directly said this. And the way he said it… He sounded so fatherly – so… caring! It was a new thing to her… And it really did touch her… deeply. Without answering, Tigress just bowed to Shifu at first.

"I have always been," Shifu said. He then looked out of the window again. "I was especially proud of you when you told me about you and Jinshu."

"But I defied you, Master," Tigress said, very surprised by what Shifu had just said.

Shifu shook his head and turned towards Tigress. "No, you simply made a decision on your own. A Master would expect his student to be obedient at all times, but it still makes me proud to see that you have not become entirely thoughtless."

Shifu stopped for a moment and watched Tigress' surprised face for a moment. "I…"

"You have defied me once before," Shifu said calmly. Tigress lowered her ears slightly, remembering. It was back when Tai Lung had escaped prison… She had thought that she and the others would be enough to stop the snow leopard… But she had made a horrible mistake. "But this time, you did it for Jinshu."

"Master, you're mistaken," Tigress said, looking down. Shifu just tilted his head slightly, his ears perking up a bit. "I did it for myself – so that I could be with him…"

"No, you didn't," Shifu said. Now it was Tigress who looked confused. "You did it because you love him. And as it seems right now, even your old Master can't change that."

Without thinking for a moment, Tigress picked Shifu up and hugged him. Shifu was taken by surprise – literally – but eventually he hugged her back with his small arms… at least tried.

"Honored spectators! It is truly a great honor to welcome you all to the finals of the Rising phoenix Tournament!" Master Chao stopped shortly and the crowd went completely crazy. Po and his friends, including Jinshu and the others, stood in the center of the arena behind Shifu and Junjie, facing the Council.

Po was incredibly psyched and pumped; he could barely stand still. Looking over at his friends, Po could tell that they were pretty tense as well. Mantis was moving his claws restlessly; Monkey's tail was restlessly swaying from side to side; Tigress had her fists clenched and Po could tell how tense her muscles were.

But as Po looked around, he could also tell that the Six were tense and most likely also nervous – especially Jinshu and Gorilla seemed nervous.

Master Chao turned to the contestants. "You all have reason to be proud of yourselves and your teammates. You have all made it this far and whether you have lost or won your fights, you all are all champions."

Shifu, Junjie and the twelve students all bowed to the council and the crowd went wild again – Po could even hear his father's cheering amongst the others, or was that just his imagination? Either way, it just made him even more excited.

Master Chao sat back down and Master Ai Long got up. "Today is the day of coincidences – each and every battle today will be entirely random."

"The contestants for the individual battles will be chosen by the draw of two names," Master Zihao explained as Master Ai Long sat back down. Master Zihao held up two bowls, which two palace workers soon filled with small wooden bricks. Po noticed that none of them were Shui, unfortunately. Po just hoped that the otter would come and see them.

Master Zihao placed the bowls on the edge of the tribune, on which they were secured, so that they wouldn't fall off. Master Chao got up once again, and Po was surprised at how quiet the arena got – it was as if the crowd was holding their breath, preparing to cheer again when the time came. This time came soon enough.

Master Chao looked down at the contestants, then around the crowd for a moment. Then he put his hands in the air in a relaxed manner and spoke. "Now, let the finals begin!"

A/N: And so the finals begin. ;) This is a somewhat short chapter, but there's a reason for that; the next few chapters will be nothing but highly detailed fights. ;) Also, if there's someone you'd like to see fight each other, you can request it - unlike the rest of the tournament rounds, these fights will not be planned beforehand and I will also do it randomly. :)