Ten months ago, in the Valley of Peace, a sweaty and disheveled Crane had emerged from the training hall and came face to face with a very welcome guest.
It had been an exhausting day. Monkey, Tigress, Crane and Po had been forced to practice with the Tri Bo Yao… more specifically, Monkey, Tigress and Crane had to make Po master the Tri Bo Yao for the entire day before Shifu returned from a day-long trip and found out he had forgotten to practice again. Three days ago someone, not Crane, had left a boiling cauldron full of dirty clothes lying around in the kitchen, on the stove of all places. No-one could really blame Shifu for mistaking it for soup and before anyone could warn him he had tried an entire ladleful. What came after had not been pretty. No-one knew who was responsible, for no-one was brave enough to come forward. And after three days of scrubbing floors and enduring Shifu's death glares, they still had yet to get back into his good books.
Anyway, after having his body bruised by a stray Tri Bo Yao for the umpteenth time, Crane had decided to take a break, and stepped out of the training hall.
He stopped dead.
For a moment, he stared at the mountain cat he hadn't seen in years. Then he grinned.
"Mei Ling!"
Mei Ling laughed as he literally lunged at her, wrapping his wings around her.
"Hey, watch it!" She chuckled. "I've got a toddler strapped to my back, here!"
"Oh, sorry!" Crane released her as quickly as he had hugged her, and that was when he noticed the small happy face peering over Mei Ling's shoulder.
"No way… is that Kuo?!"
The child giggled.
"He's so big now! That can't be the same baby!"
"It can and it is." Mei Ling replied. "Oh, and it's good to see you too."
"Let me get a proper look at him…"
Mei Ling obliged, removing Kuo from her back and holding him in her arms. Crane looked at the cub, and the cub stared back.
"Is it me, or does he not seem to recognize me?" Crane asked, more than a little puzzled.
"He probably doesn't remember you with your head feathers on." Mei Ling smirked. Then she leaned her head forward towards her son. "Kuo, sweetie, don't you recognize your uncle Crane?"
Suddenly the child's eyes widened and he pointed a tiny finger at the spot between Crane's eyes.
"Baldy!" He cried.
The look on Crane's face made Kuo and Mei Ling burst out laughing.
The door opened behind them, and out stepped Po, Tigress and Monkey, all looking equally worn out. It was a hot summer's days, and they were all feeling the heat.
Po was the first to react, with a gasp.
"No way! Master Mei Ling, best of best in the famed Lee Da Kung Fu Academy who was the only one who recognized Crane's talent and encouraged him to join the Kung Fu tryouts and get inducted into the school?!"
"Po, what are you doing?!" Crane was mortified. "Of course it's Mei Ling, you've met her before!"
'Last time I met her, I never got a chance to freak out!" Po replied. "Now let me fini-"
Tigress slapped a paw over his mouth.
"Oh no you don't." she said sternly. "You have a fifteen minute break and I want you to spend that time studying Tri Bo Yao techniques. Good to see you, Mei Ling."
The next five minutes consisted of pleasant greetings from the rest of the Five. At one point they had all frozen stiff at the sound of an 'ahem' that sounded scarily like Shifu's, which turned out to be Zeng with a bad cold. The scare had been enough for Tigress and the others to literally drag Po to the hall of warriors to spend the next ten minutes studying, with the promise to properly welcome Mei Ling later this evening, leaving only Crane remaining.
"So, Mei Ling, what brings you here?" Crane asked.
Mei Ling adjusted her grip on Kuo. Now that the others had gone and things had quieted down, he was beginning to fall asleep.
"What do you think? To meet up with an old friend I haven't seen since 'the incident'." She replied. Was it Crane's imagination, or did a shadow cross her face just now? "Anyway, I thought there were five of you."
"Oh, you mean Viper and Mantis." Crane said. Viper was the only member of the Five who had never met Mei Ling. "They're in the barracks. I'm not sure what they're doing. Do you want to meet them?"
"Of course I do. And afterwards, can I talk to you in your room? In private?"
"Uh… sure."
In the barracks, Crane tapped on Viper's door. There was a small clatter, and then the door opened.
"Hey, Viper, Mantis! You'll never guess whoooooooh my god!"
"Oh shut up!" Viper was bearing what appeared to be three-dozen acupuncture needles running down her body. Mantis, who had opened the door, was still holding six needles. "Mantis, you've got five seconds to get all this stuff off me!"
"Viper, are you alright?" Crane asked, for the snake looked very pained. She couldn't even seem to turn her head fully to look at them.
Mantis looked sheepish.
"As it turns out, it's just as hard to find nerve points on a snake as it is on a panda." He said. "Sorry, I've just gotta-" He suddenly realized Mei Ling was there. "Woah! Mei Ling! What are you doing here?"
"Who's Mei Ling?" Viper asked. Mantis quickly hopped back to her and removed the needles, allowing her to see Mei Ling for the first time. She blinked.
"Viper, this is Mei Ling." Crane said. "I used to talk a lot about her, remember? She's an old friend from the academy I used to train in."
"An old… friend?" For some reason, Viper wasn't smiling.
"Yeah, and this little guy's her son."
Viper's eyes fell on Kuo, and the change in demeanor was instantaneous.
"Oh he's so CUTE!"
She slithered over to get a better look at the child.
"You just wanna eat him up!" She tickled Kuo's chin with her tail, and the cub laughed. He must have taken an instant liking to her, for he started reaching out towards Viper's flower headpieces, trying to grab them. "So this is little Kuo! To be honest, I thought Crane was making it up when he said that your were married."
"Well actually…" Mei Ling started, but stopped when Kuo started tugging at his mother's vest, giving tiny little whimpers. "Oh, looks like he's hungry. You don't mind if I go in the kitchen, do you?"
Viper shook her head.
"Not at all. Crane does a wonderful vegetable stir fry, I think Kuo would love it."
"Alright, then." Mei Ling turned to Crane. "Shall we?"
In the kitchen, Crane finished his cooking and set the bowl down on the table Mei Ling had sat Kuo upon.
"We should probably wait until it cools down enough for him to eat." Crane said. "So, what'd you want to talk about?"
Mei Ling stroked the fur on Kuo's cheeks, the smile on her face not entirely sincere.
"You don't mind if I cut right to the chase, do you?" She asked. "I have to return to the academy as soon as possible and I can't afford to give a full explanation."
Crane shook his head.
"Good. Look, in a few days I'm being sent on a mission. I'll be gone for a few months, maybe even longer than that. And this mission is so dangerous that there is a big chance that it will be my last."
Crane stared at her.
"What sort of mission is this?"
"Top secret, and you can't tell anyone. The only reason I'm telling you anything is because you deserve an explanation for what I'm about to ask of you."
Crane waited for her to continue.
"Kuo's going to be looked after by a nanny while I'm gone, but there isn't really anyone at the academy that I can really call a guardian."
Crane stiffened as he realized where she was going with this.
"Crane… we've known each other for years. I even put on a freaky mask and scared two gorillas to death for you. I know I left this a little late, but… Crane… just in case this mission ends… badly… could you be his godfather?"
Crane's reply was instant and not something he had expected himself to say.
"Yes…" Mei Ling smiled slightly in relief. "But not right away."
"What?" Her smile faded. "Why not right away?"
"I can't take him in just off the bat if something happens, because I'd be too busy doing everything I can to make sure it doesn't come to that."
Kuo crawled across the table to sniff the stir fry.
"I had a feeling you'd say that." Mei Ling said, the smile back on her face and wider than ever. "You know, Kuo's actually adopted."
"Really?"
"Yes. But that doesn't stop me from loving him any less." Mei Ling picked Kuo up, picked up a piece of stir fry with chopsticks, and began feeding him. The cub held out his paws, trying to take the bits of stir fry off the chopsticks before she could get it into his mouth. "Thank you, Crane. It's good to know that he'll be looked after if something happens."
"Why would you think something would happen?" Crane asked. Even after Crane had joined the academy as a student and shown off his natural talents, Mei Ling had always been the best of the best.
"I can't tell you that." Mei Ling's ears flattened.
"Oh. Yeah. The mission's classified."
"Swear to me you won't tell anyone that I mentioned a mission. Not even Master Shifu, though I think he might be in on it."
"Okay. I swear."
Mei Ling lifted Kuo off the table and held him close as he nibbled the last of the meal. There was relief in her eyes, but there was fear and sadness too.
"Okay." She replied. "I'm sorry I have to go."
"Awww…" Kuo pouted.
Crane looked equally dismayed.
"Already? You just got here!"
"Crane, I had to beg to postpone the mission until I could speak with you." Mei Ling said. "Besides, a hot girl like me would just distract you."
"Excuse me?"
Mei Ling smirked.
"Come on, when you came to visit and told me about your new friends… I saw the look on your face when you were talking about-'
"I don't have a crush on Viper."
"How did you know I was going to say Viper?"
Crane fell silent, mortified. Mei Ling burst out laughing. Kuo sucked his thumb, not caring about their conversation.
"Wow, I didn't even have to trick you, that time!" She chuckled. "Look, if you're really having trouble telling her how you feel, why don't you try giving her a little gift first?"
"A gift?"
"Yeah, a gift. Make sure it's a color she likes."
Crane paused to think.
"Well, I know she loves the color purple... why is Kuo making that face?"
In seconds there was a foul smelling odor emanating from Kuo. Mei Ling sighed, lifted him tentatively off her lap, and set him back down on the table.
"At least he didn't do it on the journey." She muttered. "Crane, be a pal and get some new pants out my bag, will you?"
Crane returned as Mei Ling placed her adopted son on the kitchen bench. Both of them were grimacing.
Mei Ling reached for Kuo's soiled pants.
"Okay, on three… one… two… three…"
"PULL! One… two… three… PULL!"
"Hey, keep your voice down!" Viper snapped at Mantis. "Remember what happened last time?"
"Oi! It wasn't my fault Crane was buried alive under five feet of snow!"
"I never said it was. But I have a feeling that someone caused that avalanche!"
"By someone you mean me!"
"No, by someone I mean someone! Use your ears!"
"Ear! Not ears! Ear!"
"Uh, guys, still stuck in a hole, here…"
"Zip it, Crane!" Both Mantis and Viper snapped at once.
With one last tug, Viper and Mantis succeeded in pulling Crane out from beneath the snow. It had taken hours to dig a tunnel stretching from the buried cave to the surface, and hours more to drag Crane through it without hurting his wing further. But they managed.
'Wait, what about the bagpacks?" Mantis asked.
"Forget them." Viper said. "We've eaten most the food and we've got our safety sticks. Let's get going before another avalanche tries to kill us." Her expression was softer as she turned to Crane. "You'll be alright walking, won't you?"
Crane nodded. His wing hurt, but it was bearable.
The three warriors started trudging through the snow in the direction of the fortress, sticks poking the snow in front of them to reveal any hidden crevasses.
When he thought the others weren't looking, Crane felt his pants with his good wing. The amethyst choker felt hard but warm against his feathered hip.
A color she likes, just as Mei Ling said. Mei Ling, if this works you'd better make it back so I can thank your butt off.
Tink!
Po's eyes snapped open.
He lifted his head slightly, careful not to disturb the sleeping injured woman beside him.
He had definitely heard something.
Po quietly got up, tried to figure out where the sound had come from.
The cave was empty. The early morning light shone through the entrance.
Then Po heard the sound again. It was dull and faint, as if he was hearing it through a wall.
Or a floor.
Po looked down at the stone floor beneath his feet, where the concealed trapdoor that lead to Shambhala was currently sealed.
Po glanced at Tigress. She had barely stirred. Apparently being wounded and weak made you a heavy sleeper. Po frowned, suddenly afraid for her safety. He quickly picked up the ladle and stuck the end into the hole in the floor, releasing the trapdoor.
It was nearly impossible to see what was in the pit.
Po set down the ladle and got out his little knife instead. With his other paw he picked up a small pebble.
Apprehensive, Po tossed the pebble into the darkness.
There was a tiny tap that was probably the sound of the pebble bouncing and a-
"OW!"
Po dropped the knife. He knew that voice!
He looked at Tigress. Unbelievably she still hadn't awoken. Po leapt down into the hole.
When he reached the bottom, his jaw dropped.
Several feet in front of him, a figure had both hands pressed over his eye, teeth clenched in agony.
"What the hell?!" The figure groaned.
"Monkey?" Po spoke softly.
Monkey froze. He lowered his hands. Both eyes widened at the sight of the panda.
"Po?!"
"Monkey…"
Po was about to smile. But then he thought of Tigress up above, ailing from several massive gashes in her side.
"MONKEY I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"