Cut the crap, let's get straight to the story.

Oh and yes, I don't own Po... I mean... Kung Fu Panda.

Recovery

Golden rays of sunlight poured in through the windows of the barracks, shining onto the lone jade saucer that sat on the wooden table in the corner of the tiger master's room. She had already awoken a long time ago and was busy doing her morning stretches to pass some time before the morning gong rang. Her agile form bent backwards as she arched her back, popping a few sore joints in her spine. She hadn't had much sleep last night. Two hours is all she got, the rest of the night she spent staring at the ceiling as her thoughts wouldn't let her sleep. Guilt swarmed her mind as she recollected the events prior to yesterday. Before she could continue this train of thought, a loud thunderous metallic boom of the morning gong interrupted her, and out of pure muscle memory, the feline nimbly leapt out of her room sliding the rice paper door out of the way.

"Good morning, Master!" Five voices chorused in unison.

Master Shifu stood in his usual place across the hallway, and after giving a brief addressal to his students and informing them of the breakfast Po had already cooked, he left the five to their morning routines.

Instantly, the Five felt something off. There was a voice missing from their morning greeting, and surprisingly enough, Master hadn't seemed to acknowledge it. That voice, belonged to none other than their newest addition to the Jade Palace, and now also the newest protector of China, Po, the Dragon Warrior.

Neither warrior said a word, as Crane silently slid the door to Po's room open, only to find nothing inside. The bed mattress didn't even have wrinkles, he never came back to sleep after last night's dinner. The Five exchanged worried glances at each other, and decided to head to breakfast.

-O-O-O-

"He really is good."

Tigress softly remarked, her voice barely above a whisper. The Tofu stir fry graced her taste buds with an explosion of flavour. She'd started eating his food since yesterday night, and she genuinely loved it. The others gave small hums of approval, and mumbled a few words of their own praise and went back to silently eating their breakfast.

Everyone had a hint of a frown on their muzzles, regret burrowing it's way deep into their hearts and minds. After the Dragon Warrior proved himself yesterday by doing what all five of them couldn't do even together, the weight of their realisations finally started to settle in. None of them had treated him justly, and he hadn't deserved the cold shoulder they all gave him the whole week prior. Now guilt and regret tore away at their insides, and there was no way to make amends as well.

They hadn't seen the Panda master since dinner last night, he might as well have left the valley after performing his duty. He had every right to do so, who would want to live in such company anyway? They had treated him like absolute trash, disrespected him, and hadn't even bothered to assist him when he went to face off the devil himself. They had no idea where he'd disappeared, but Shifu seemed pretty unfazed, so it at least wasn't as severe as the famed warrior leaving the valley… yet.

Training went by quite dully as everyone performed their monotone routines around the course, barely paying any attention to their form or their training in general, for that matter. Lunch went by as well, with the panda preparing another delicious meal for the residents of the jade palace, but again, he himself was nowhere to be found. Once again, the five went back to training, this time sparring on the grounds outside of the training hall under Grandmaster Shifu's observation. The wise old red panda himself had seemed rather sombre and concerned the whole day, but didn't comment on anything other than tutoring his students.

By the time it was sunset, Tigress had had enough. She couldn't take it anymore and decided to go find the panda. After checking in all the places where he'd most likely have been, but to no avail, she decided to straight up go and ask Master Shifu.

The old red panda was meditating in the hall of heroes near the moon pool, sitting atop one footed on the peachwood staff like the late grandmaster used to.

"Master Tigress?" Shifu raised an ear and acknowledged the feline who had crept in silently and was waiting patiently, sitting cross legged on the floor.

She slowly got up, and for the first time in her life, she felt the slightest twinge of nervousness in asking something of her master and foster father.

"Master, I haven't seen Po all day, none of us have. Where is he?"

The look on the grandmaster's face remained outwardly neutral, but a sombre expression reflected in his eyes.

"Ah yes, the dragon warrior… he…"

Just the slightest hesitance that Mater Shifu showed and the look on his face was enough to make Tigress break her usually collected character, she had a gut feeling something might have gone horribly wrong.

"Is he alright?" The striped master blurted out of nowhere, her voice laced with concern that even her own father had never seen before, he wanted to raise an eyebrow at her, but there were more pressing matters to deal with, so he just gave her a sceptical look and continued.

"He… he has been expecting you. At the palace gates."

Tigress felt her heart drop into her stomach when she heard the words 'palace gates'. That could not mean anything good, at least as far as she was concerned. Without wasting another moment, she bowed respectfully and left her master to resume his meditation.

The massive doors of the hall of heroes closed behind her with a thundering boom, almost as loud as her heartbeat. On pure, feral instinct she dropped onto all fours and bolted for the gates. She couldn't afford to waste a single second. The cold breeze tore at her face as she raced along the dirt path, leaving a gust of wind in her wake.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she barely saw the large gate fading into view. She slid to a stop and raised herself to her feet, walking towards her destination as calmly as she could. Blood roared in her ears, adrenaline coursed through her veins, she couldn't recall the last time she was this concerned over any matter. In fact, she'd maintained better composure a few nights ago when she'd willed herself to face Tai Lung alone.

To her relief, the panda had not left… not yet, at least. She saw him leaning against the wooden pillar, looking over the valley and as usual, unaware of her presence. She cleared her throat to get his attention.

"Master Po…" She began, her voice came out differently that it usually does. It wasn't stern and commanding as it had always been, especially when addressed towards him.

"Please, cut out the formalities, master Tigress. It's just Po to you."

Tigress was a little taken aback by the change in his demeanour. He still had his back turned to her, and his tone was neutral. He always used to be nervous around her and the poor fellow couldn't muster a single sentence without stuttering. She'd be lying if she said she didn't find it all… mildly amusing. Now, he just seemed… far off. As if she was talking to a shell.

He slowly turned around to acknowledge the tiger master, shooting her a melancholic smile. She inwardly gasped when she saw his eyes. His jade irises were surrounded with red, and up until now, he had been damn good at hiding his emotions. Now, he had just dropped the act, and she could see how broken he really was. He looked terrible to be honest, as if he hadn't had four nights of sleep, which was most possibly the case. It was as if the flame that made him so full of life was snuffed out from his soul.

Tigress' ears flattened themselves on her skull. She placed her fist in her palm and bowed to him as he did the same. Suddenly, being unable to control her emotions, she once more blurted out,

"Are you okay?"

Po looked shocked. The same master who wanted him nothing short of dead was enquiring for his wellbeing? While being genuine at that? He looked like he wanted to laugh at the sheer absurdity of the situation. He gave a low chuckle, it came out darker than he'd meant it to be. Almost twisted, in its own sense.

"No." He replied to her surprise, meeting her gaze with his.

Another wave of guilt washed over her as his words replayed themselves in her mind. How could she be so insensitive? So naïve to even ask him that? Of course, the man wasn't okay, he had been proclaimed saviour of the universe, been berated by his heroes and idols, and had faced the mortal incarnation of death itself all in under a week's time. It was a miracle he was even alive after that torment.

She opened her mouth to speak, but he beat her to the punch.

"But it doesn't mean I won't be. Everything's not alright, but it will be. It will just take time." He calmy interjected.

The tiger master was unnerved at the serene way in which he spoke. He was a lot more intimidating when he wasn't fooling around. Her ears perked up at the sound of wings flapping above her, seconds later Crane landed beside her with Mantis on his hat. She looked down to see Viper slither from underneath the gap between her feet, finishing with Monkey jumping in beside Crane, they'd all come for her. For Po.

Po bowed again, "The furious Five."

All of them winced at the genuine respect that laced its way through his words. They knew they didn't deserve any of it. To their dismay, the childlike fascination and enthusiasm with which he used to speak about them or to them was missing as well. Crane, despite being the most shy and awkward one of the group, was the first to speak.

"Dragon warrior…"

"Please. Just Po." He repeated, a little more sternly this time.

Crane swallowed hard,

"Uhm, yes. Po… I wanted to say that I wasn't really the kindest to you when you first came here…"

Monkey picked up the lead from there,

"Neither was I…"

"Nor I…" Mantis added,

"But," Po cut them out. "You all were kind enough to make sure I felt at home."

Now everyone swallowed, they saw his kind soft eyes harden like cold steel. Just his stare was enough to make the most powerful masters in China squirm uncomfortably.

"Be it by reminding me about how I landed in a "ball of fire"…" He threw his arms up to the sky dramatically, nonchalantly looking at Crane as he did so. "Or about how when I walked, the very ground shook?" His gaze shifted to Crane's hat, upon which mantis was perched. He couldn't dare to lift up his head and look him in the eye. "I mean, it's true. I couldn't even touch my toes, right?" His words had an edge sharper than the sword of heroes.

His voice then dropped an octave lower, it almost sounded gravelly.

"…or even see my toes."

All them hung their heads low with shame. Viper looked up at him with shining azure eyes, tears threatening to escape from within.

"You…" Her voice cracked, "You heard all of that?"

"I did." He simply replied. His gaze immediately softened as it fell upon the reptilian master.

"You don't need to feel sorry for me. Especially not you, master Viper." He said, managing to crack a ghost of a smile as she met his gaze. "You were the only one who was willing to give me a chance. You have been nothing but at the very least, patient with me. Heck," He paused to draw in a breath. "You even called me 'brother'."

Viper was the reason Po managed to cling on to that narrow strand of hope. Just the fact that at least one of his childhood heroes was willing to give him a chance to prove himself meant the world to him. He reckoned she had no idea how much she had helped him in his lowest point of his life. Had she not shown her compassion, he'd have probably quit. She was also kind enough to help mantis with his acupuncture, God knows without which how many injuries he would have had to sustain.

Viper didn't trust herself with words right now, so she managed to give him a weak nod of appreciation and a small smile.

"Po."

The rest looked up to the source of another female voice. It was none other than Tigress. It was the first time she'd called him by his name.

"If anyone should be…" She swallowed her pride, and lowered her head, "…apologising, it should be me."

He looked outwardly unfazed, only motioning her to go on. But on the inside, he was bewildered. He was a Kung Fu fanatic, which meant that he'd read everything about everyone associated with the ancient art. That included the Furious Five. So, he knew it as a fact that Master Tigress NEVER apologised to anyone. Not once in her life had she ever stooped to a level so low. And for her to do that just for a mere son of a noodle maker made his respect for her shoot even higher up that it was before.

"I was your harshest critic."

"You were."

"And, it wouldn't be an understatement if I said I made life hell for you."

"You did."

"Please, Po…" she snarled through gritted teeth. "You know this is difficult for me. You're not helping here."

"I know." He stood his ground.

She didn't backfire. It was justified of him to acknowledge her. It was however, very queer to see him stand his ground so fiercely. He used to shy away immediately back then. That fight with Tai Lung had indeed changed him a lot.

"I told you, you didn't belong here…" She closed her eyes and waited for him to bite back, he didn't. "…amongst a few other remarks that were… uncalled for, and I…"

The rest of the five collectively took in a sharp intake of air, was Tigress, their leader, really about to do this?

"I…"

Po patiently waited for her.

"I'm sorry."

It sounded almost wrong to hear an apology roll off the feline master's tongue. The team had to struggle to keep their jaws shut. After a painful few moments of silence, a small smile crept up the panda's muzzle.

"Apology accepted, Master Tigress."

After so long, the Five heard the slightest hint of happiness in his voice. Tigress was unconvinced though, her head shot up to look at him, befuddled by how easily he accepted her.

"What?"

"Yeah. Good job by the way, I know it wasn't easy for ya'." The terminology made Viper smile, it felt like fragment by fragment, he was returning.

Tigress was stunned, to say the least. How could he forgive her so quickly like that? She wanted him to lash out, verbally, physically, anything. Anything that would give her the atonement she thought she deserved. And yet here he was, with half a stupid smile and that stupid golden heart of his, already moving on with the past and forgiving her. No wonder he was chosen to be the Dragon Warrior, he possessed the ability that none of them did. The ability of acceptance, of compassion. And only Oogway was wise enough to see that in him.

Tigress managed to give a confused nod. The others having similar expressions plastered to their faces.

The Panda sauntered forward towards the steps and took a seat on the first one, looking over her shoulder and jerking his head ahead, motioning them to join him. Tigress was the first to move forward. Had the others not been so occupied by their own thoughts, they would've found it strange. The only one who noticed was Viper. The rest followed suit and one by one, took a seat on the steps along with him.

Tigress chose to sit directly beside him, at a respectable distance of course. With Crane taking his other flank. Monkey plopped down next to the three with Mantis on his shoulder while Viper coiled herself beside the ape master. The clouds were getting darker, and though it looked like a storm would be on its way, Po had a feeling that his storm was finally coming to an end.

The six of them sat there on the steps, looking out over the valley. They could see the massive crater that Po had created in his fight with Tai Lung from all the way from up there, along with the rest of the destruction the duelling duo had caused.

Suddenly, Po spoke up.

"Did either of you ever try to think of it from my perspective?"

They were drawn from their thoughts at the sudden question. Tigress was the only one who caught up though, the others were rather confused as to where he was getting at.

"Think what?" Came a voice that apparently had no source. It was Mantis, barely visible on Monkey's shoulder.

"The whole ordeal."

He paused to let his gaze idly fall upon the small building that was his humble abode. His father's noodle shop.

"A common citizen, someone who had been the son of a noodle loving goose father, suddenly becoming a protector of the universe out of nowhere?"

They hadn't. Once again to their utter disdain, they hadn't. Each of them was so full of themselves and what they had lost that they simply had forgotten to see the situation from the eyes of Po, who was a commoner, unlike them.

"I never trained at the Lee Da academy of martial arts for five years,"

Crane's head perked up at the mention of his former place,

"Nor did I make a living as a bounty hunter, beating up thugs for a living."

Mantis scratched the back of his neck, unsure of what to say.

"And I definitely didn't spend my whole life at the jade palace since my childhood training in the awesomeness of Kung Fu." He looked over to Tigress, who managed to crack a reserved smile at his choice of words.

He didn't seem like he was berating them, nor did his comments hold any venom. He was simply recounting his experiences, and the Five were listening in, as attentively as they could.

"So you could imagine the pure horror when I had to face…" He shut his eyes to stop them from betraying him. All the voices, all those painful memories flashed in front of them as he recollected his one week at his dream palace. He shook his head and once again regained composure,

"Tai Lung himself. The rumored chosen one, who had not only mastered the thousand scrolls of Kung Fu, but had laid waste to the entire valley a decade ago. A criminal, who had the blood of multiple innocents on his hands."

A shiver ran down their spines when he put it into words for them. They had been complete fools to have overlooked this fact.

"And imagine my surprise when I hear on my second night with you folks, that he had escaped Chor Ghom, a prison so grueling and brutal, not even the worst can survive. And he killed more than half of the rhino contingent stationed to guard him. Trained military personnel were like cannon fodder for him!"

Without meaning to, a little bit of his fanboyish self, made a cameo through his melancholic exterior. He couldn't help it, it was ingrained deep into his blood.

"And I… a big, fat, Panda…"

He didn't catch Tigress wincing at those words. They were her exact same choice when she'd first spoken to him.

"…had to stop him. With nothing less than week at maximum for preparation. I had signed my death warrant without having the slightest intention to even involve myself."

Po felt a feathery wing gently being laid upon his shoulder. He looked over to find Crane with a sympathetic look on his face.

"Sometimes, we get so consumed by our own problems, we forget to see what the others are going through. Be it ten times worse than our own."

That was the thing with Po. Sometimes, his stupidity would be unbelievable, and then there were times like these where he seemed like a completely different person. Rational. Mature. Wise.

They all silently agreed with him, being awed by the dynamic personality he could possess. This was their first time meeting this side of Po. It wasn't Po Ping, the chef speaking. It was Po Ping, the Dragon Warrior. The protector of China.

Meanwhile, Master Shifu wandered around to the arena near the gates. He had been wondering where all of his pupils had gone off to after Tigress had approached him, he had his answer now. A smile unknowingly crept up his muzzle, as an old memory flashed past his mind.

A memory of times far simpler than those now, when the Furious Five was a name of a hilariously uncoordinated yet lethal teenagers. When they used to sit on the steps chattering and laughing amongst themselves after a gruelling day of training.

Po truly had the ability to bring people together-no, he had the ability to bring a family together.

He silently turned on his heel and left the group alone.

"Promise me." He said, looking at each of them.

The five stayed silent, listening to what their new friend had to say.

"Promise me that the next time an unexpected…" He paused to think of a suitable word, "…"ally" comes along, you all will give him a chance to prove himself."

Tigress, being the leader of the five decided to speak for them, but before she could get a single word out, Po awkwardly amended,

"Or… her. Whatever. You get what I'm saying."

That was the old Po they knew. The awkward, fumbling lovable goof. The melancholic personality and stoic demeanor really didn't suit him, who was the embodiment of life itself. It felt good to see that albeit slowly, he was recovering and coming back.

"We promise, Po." She said firmly. She had enough regret tormenting this poor soul, she was not going to allow herself to commit such an act anytime in the near, or far future for that matter.

"Thank you." He gave a small smile of appreciation. "All of you."

The six of them then sat there in comfortable silence of each other's company, watching as the sun set behind the Wu Dan ranges, painting the valley in beautiful hues of orange and red. They watched as the veil of serene darkness that came with the night draped over the valley, with the celestial drama in the skies starting to unfold as the stars painted the cosmos.

"I'm tired, I think I'm gonna go make dinner and hit the hay." Monkey spoke up, breaking the silence after a long while. He used to make their meals most of the times before Po arrived if the palace servants were off duty.

The rest, except their leader and the dragon warrior gave nods with droopy eyelids as well.

"You guys go ahead, I'll come after a while." Po said.

"Are you sure?" Viper said with a concerned look etched on her face, she had a feeling he was going to spend the whole night sitting outside… again.

"I'm positive, master Viper." Po's smile grew just a hint wider at how Viper was worried for his well-being, that was something he would like to get used to.

"I'm staying too." Another voice, who had been silent along the exchange spoke up. It was none other than Tigress.

Viper immediately gave her sister-in-arms a quizzical look. Again, this went unnoticed by the rest of the Five, who were too drowsy to register what the feline master had just said. All they knew and cared about was that she wasn't coming with them, and they weren't going to question her actions further.

Viper discreetly motioned her head towards the Ursine, silently requesting Tigress to look after Po. Tigress simply nodded in return.

Finally convinced, Viper bid farewell to both masters as she retired with the rest towards their barracks to turn in for the night.

The two sat in comfortable silence on the steps, looking at the valley which was enveloped by the warm orange glows that spilled out of the humble abodes of its citizens.

"You stayed back." He said, unable to retain his curiosity. "Why?"

She raised an ear to acknowledge him. Her amber orbs glowed in the night, but they didn't look as intimidating and malicious as they did on his first night at the jade palace. In fact, he would go as far as saying that they looked beautiful, but he'd have to be crazy to straight up say that to the tiger master.

"Because I… wanted to." She simply replied.

"What?" Came his dumbfounded reply.

She didn't repeat, but just continued to let her gaze drift idly over the valley, shooting him a quick sideways glance before resuming.

"Are you…" He gulped. This was a dangerous move. He knew her fiery temper, he'd witnessed it first-hand. Besides, she had just acknowledged him as a Kung Fu master yesterday, so he wouldn't even dare to call the two of them as stable acquaintances, let alone friends. And, saying something like this, or rather, asking something like this might get him thrown down the stairs… again.

But he went on with it any way,

"Are you trying to make it up to me?"

Suddenly, both her ears perked up and her glowing orbs momentarily widened, shifting sideways to look away from him as she sat stupefied.

"How was he able to read me so easily? No one has ever before." She thought to herself, as she tried to come up with a response.

After a minute of awkward silence, she simply said,

"Yes."

Po cracked another small smile. He was touched that his favorite childhood hero was willing to go so far for him. To accept him, as one of their own. Maybe, it won't take as long to recover as he had initially thought.

"Thank you, I really appreciate that, you know." The panda voiced sincerely. "But, you don't need to. Living with you guys in the Jade Palace as a Kung Fu master and Dragon Warrior in itself is a dream for me, its more than enough."

"I know, but I still won't leave your side. You have a lot of new responsibilities and things to learn. I'll help."

Po's eyes lit up at her words.,

"You will?" He beamed.

"I will."

"Awesome."

-O-O-O-

The days turned into weeks, and the entire Jade Palace changed with Po. Dinners used to be a mere ritual of getting daily protein intake, now they were gatherings. An anticipated part of the day where everyone could sit around a table and share jokes or laugh at their mishaps during the day. Training, which was a monotone routine became as wild and unpredictable as Po's nature, with his shenanigans keeping them entertained throughout. They would take long walks in the village on certain evenings, chattering away until the sun set. Master Shifu found peace as well, and after years of being emotionally closed off, he too, was finally starting to loosen up.

The five would each offer Po some time if their day, be it by involving him with their special trainings or their leisure activities. And day by day, Po's smile grew brighter, just like the Jade Palace. Viper would teach him about herbs and medicine in the evenings, while Crane occasionally taught him calligraphy. Po was a natural artist, and Crane was pretty impressed to see the intricate details the panda had managed to paint on his hand-made action figures. Viper too, was astonished at his tremendous ability to remember vast amounts of knowledge with little effort. His encyclopedic knowledge of the ancient art of Kung Fu was proof enough, but at the rate which he was studying medicine, he might as well become a qualified healer of the Jade Palace.

Tigress was supportive in her own way. After a busy day of training, the two used to meditate long hours into the night under the Peach Tree. She taught him the mysteries of Tai Chi and breath control, and he was ever ecstatic to learn. She would always volunteer to help with new moves and forms, and would never loose her patience despite how may times he failed. She stayed true to her word, and with her help, Po felt that he could actually be someone who was worth bestowing the Dragon Warrior title upon.

In the end, despite being at the lowest in his life, he recovered. And all it took, was a little patience and understanding from the right people, who turned out to be the legendary protectors of China, the Furious Five, whom now he proudly called his friends, and the tutelage of a wise old master, who also happened to be the greatest teacher of Kung Fu in all of China.

I know, kind of a generic/awkward ending, don't chew me over it. I didn't know how to end it better. Anyway, what did you think? How was the story? Reviews are extremely appreciated, it helps a lot. So even if you want to critic it, please do let me know. That's it for now.

Lightning out.