Guys, let me tell you something so we are understood from the beginning.

I REALLY dislike heartache stories. They just string my heart the wrong way and make me feel bad after reading them. I don't like stories with heartache in them. I don't like emotional stress and emotional roller coasters. I would avoid those stories completely if I had the choice.

I dislike the idea of this story, even thinking about this for too long makes me feel depressed, but it has been on my head for almost three years now, and I finally started to write it. Don't expect this story to be updated regularly, as I have many other projects which I would very much work in place of this story. I'm only writing it because it has been on my head for a while, and I decided to post the first chapter before any of the trailers of KFP4 start being released, but I like this story way less than any other of my stories.

Still, I'll try working on it, because, even though I have a personal dislike for this type of painful heartstringing stories, I felt like I needed to post this.

Anyway, let me know what you guys think...

The Valley of Peace was a nice place to live. However, this didn't mean that it was perfect. Even a peaceful place like that, where acceptance and friendship were encouraged above all else, there were those who were not so keen on accepting.

"Look at his silly ear!" One of the kids, a pig, said as they pointed at the bunny. This bunny was black with white on his muzzle and on the tip of his ears. One of those ears was flopped down, draping itself over his face. Apparently, the bunny was unable to get the ear straight, as he kept using his hand to move it away from his face as the other kids laughed at him because of it.

"He's got a silly ear!"

"It's a lazy ear!"

"Maybe his ear is like that because he is trying to hide his silly face!"

"Then shouldn't the other ear be down on his face too?"

"I-it's not my fault!" The bunny said to them. "My ear has been like that since I was a baby! Mama said it is because my uncle held me by it when I fell, and now I can't get it up anymore."

The kids, however, didn't minded his explanation, and continued to make fun of the bunny for his ear. Meanwhile, the bunny could only pull his other ear over his face, using both to hide it as the other kids continued to mock him, and he was just hoping that something would come and distract them from him.

That was when another kid came, yelling at the others:

"Guys, guys! The Dragon Warrior is back! He is coming this way!"

This was what it took for the kids to forget all about the bunny, as now they had something much more interesting to focus on now. The bunny continued with his ears draped over his face as they all went to see the Dragon Warrior. He stood like that for nearly a minute, before he finally worked the courage to pull his ears apart and look, and he saw that all of the kids had left were now on the other end of the street.

They were all gathered around a panda carrying a yin-yang staff with a straw hat on his head. The panda removed the hat as he looked around at them, talking to the kids as they all asked him to autograph things.

The panda of green eyes gladly did all of that, as he took a feather on his hand and used it to sign scrolls, dolls, comic books, clothes, even faces, anything that the kids all put on his line of sight.

The bunny looked on the way of the panda, taking in that he was the Dragon Warrior that he heard about so much since he moved into the Valley of Peace.

He looked to be so... cool.

Too cool to pay attention to a poor, limp-eared dumb bunny like him.

The bunny continued to look the panda's way, when the panda looked at him. The bunny locked eyes with the panda, before he hastily looked away and started walking back home.

He was just going to leave, but he was stopped by the panda himself, who broke free from the crowd of children surrounding him and went straight to the bunny, calling him. Well, he called "bunny boy", because he didn't knew his name, so the bunny didn't knew if the panda was talking to him or not, until the black and white ursine had arrived to him.

"You alright, kid?" The panda asked, looking at the bunny. "I mean, I saw you from far and you looked like you wanted to join your friends, but couldn't for some reason..."

The bunny looked at the Dragon Warrior, before looking down. The panda, clearly noticing that something was bothering the bunny, asked him if he wanted to join the others, but the bunny shook his head.

"What, did something happen?" The Dragon Warrior asked the bunny, seeing how he was acting. And how he was using his hand to move his ear was flopped over his face. "Something happened to your ear?"

The panda regretted asking that nearly immediately, for it seemed to make the bunny even more upset. He was quickly apologizing, with the bunny telling him how his ear didn't stood straight because of what happened when he was a baby with his uncle.

"Ouch." The panda asked, "Did... did it hurt?"

The bunny shrugged, saying that he didn't remembered because it was just a baby, but that his Mama told him that he cried a lot, and that she never forgave his uncle Yao for that. The panda nodded, and soon he was saying:

"Hey, wanna eat something? My dad's restaurant is a few blocks away, and he is preparing a feast to welcome back from my last mission. The bunny was surprised, and he eventually accepted.

It was his first time at the Dragon Warrior's Noodles & Tofu, and he could see that the place was popular by the number of animals in there, all of them ordering food. And all of them were celebrating when the panda arrived, and once more the ursine was giving autographs to a lot of people before he was finally able to sit in a table and have some food for himself and the bunny.

As they waited for the food, the bunny looked around, and quickly saw why it was the Dragon Warrior's Noodles & Tofu. Everywhere he looked, he could see posters of the familiar panda that was sitting by his side, and children all over the tables playing with toys made at his image. As the food arrived and they started eating, after the panda had a good hug from his goose dad, they talked.

"They were mocking me..." The bunny said, "They were laughing at me because of my ear..."

The panda could notice that the bunny was sad about it. And soon, he was doing what he did best when there was a sad child around him: try his best to make them happy and get them to smile.

"You know, when I was your age... wait, how old are you?"

"I'm seven."

"Right. When I was your age, the other children used to laugh at me too. They laughed because I was big and round. Seriously, they used to call me 'the black and white furry dumpling'."

"Really?" The bunny said, looking up to the panda, who nodded at him. The bunny could hardly believe that someone as cool as him would have ever been picked on by the kids.

"Hey, I wasn't always the Dragon Warrior." The panda said to the bunny, "I used to be just a chubby kid, believe it or not. And I was not that popular either... actually, before I became the Dragon Warrior, I didn't had any friends..."

The bunny looked up at him, and he could tell that remembering that made the panda sad. The bunny reached for him and rubbed his arm. The Dragon Warrior looked down at him, and he smiled.

"But, that is past." The Dragon Warrior said to him, "You can't let your past define you. Just like you can't let something like a floppy ear or a big belly define you." He patted his stomach as he said that, his belly jiggling as he did it, and growling slightly. The panda then recomposed himself.

"You got to believe in yourself." The panda said to him, "You got to have faith in your own skills and believe that you are worthy of greatness. That's how you go for great things! That was how this panda who speaks to you now has moved from being the 'furry dumpling' to being the Great Dumpling of Justice!"

When the panda was saying that, he was making a dramatic pose, and everyone in the restaurant applauded him as he did so. The bunny, on the other hand, felt it was so silly that he could not help but giggle.

"So, that is it." The panda said, as he sat by his side once more. "If you ever have doubt about anything, just remember that: you can do anything you want, and your past doesn't need to define you. All you need to do is believe you can. Got it?"

The bunny looked at him, and he nodded, saying that he got it, and the Dragon Warrior looked happy for hearing that.

Soon, they received something special from Mr. Ping, a small panda toy that was a gift for those who ordered the Dragon Warrior Special. Those were a great success, as it was clear by the children who had those on their hands and were playing with them.

"Just a moment..." The panda said and took the toy and had his feather in hand and...

"Oh, sorry. Just realized I never asked your name." The panda said, as if apologetically.

"It's Xing." The bunny said, and the panda nodded as he started writing on the toy.

"Mine is Po. And this..." he said, as he gave the bunny the toy, now signed. "Is for you."

Xing happily took the toy, which was now signed by the Dragon Warrior himself. The Chinese ideograms forming the phrase "NEVER GIVE UP, TO XING FROM PO".

"Thank you!" Xing said, looking up at Po. "Thank you so much!"

He hugged him, and Po put an arm around the bunny boy in a hug, as the seven-years-old Xing continued to smile brightly as he hugged the panda.

"Xing, you got a perfect score!" The bunny mother said as she looked at the scroll her son brought back from school alongside her husband. "Darling, I'm so proud of you! Congratulations!"

She was very happy for her soon. However, she would have been happy if the twelve-years-old rabbit could give an actual smile, instead of the weak little smile that he gave as he looked at his mother with his ear still flopped over his face.

She wanted him to be happier, so she told him that, to celebrate, the whole family would go out to eat, and that they could go anywhere he wanted in the Valley of Peace.

She was, however, not prepared to where her son asked to go.

"Xing, honey..." She said as she looked at her husband, who shared of her worried expression. "Are you sure you want to go there?"

She was genuinely asking, but Xing said it was where he wanted to go, and his parents had no choice but to concede. Soon, the whole small family of rabbits (I mean, really small, they only had two children!) went on their way. The little one, Lu Li, a five-years-old energetic ball of fluff, was all about eating out, not noticing how apprehensive her parents were of going there.

Xing, on his end, mostly looked down as he followed his parents and little sister to their destiny. He eventually ventured to look up and around.

The Valley of Peace. This had been his home for half-a-decade already. It was amazing how it still looked the same, even though so much had changed.

Even though something very important was no longer what it used to be.

On their way to the restaurant where they would eat, they passed by a small hill. Xing ventured to look to the top of the hill and surely, it was right there. On the same place it had been for the past five years.

The tombstone was still there, square and made of unremarkable rock, on the very top of the hill, with words engraved in it.

HERE LIES THE DRAGON WARRIOR

Xing looked at the rock, his expression becoming even sadder, before he resumed walking before his family noticed he had stayed behind and came ask him what happened. He really didn't want to have to answer to those kinds of questions now...

The family of bunnies continued their way across the village, until they arrived on the place where they would eat. It was hard to miss, for it had a big gate, and the words: PING'S NOODLES AND TOFU on the top.

Right beneath it, hang a plank that read: NO REPTILES ALLOWED

Xing's family entered, and they quickly saw that the place was full of people. It was always full of people. After all, this place was said to have the best food on the Valley of Peace, so it was always bustling with costumers. It was pretty big, as it had taken on the two vacant residences one the sides, with the walls being tore down to turn it all into a single terrain, meaning that the area of the restaurant was huge, allowing it to house all of the people who came here for the great food, which was served by a number of waiters who brought orders back and forth.

Yes, the place was certainly very popular with the residents of the Valley of Peace. Even though it was completely vacant of any decoration. No posters on the walls. No banners hanging here or there. No flags on cords. Nothing.

It also didn't give toys as gifts with the meals. However, the food was so good that it was not a problem.

Soon, the bunnies managed to find a vacant table, as a pair of goats had just finished their meal and left after paying for the food. The servants were cleaning the table and then offering it to the bunnies, who all took seats and got comfortable, as the waitress who was serving them, a water deer, offered them the menu.

"Take your time to choose." She told them. "Meanwhile, I can bring you some of our Long Jing tea. It is very popular."

The bunnies all nodded, saying it would be great. That was when Xing said:

"Uhh, excuse me?" The doe looked at him. "You know if he will be coming here?"

"I'm sorry, 'he'?" She asked.

"Will he come and serve one of the tables?" Xing asked, "Or will he just stay on the kitchen?"

The doe blinked, and then realization hit her.

"Oh... you mean him." She said, looking down and seeming awkward suddenly. "Well, he never serves tables. Actually, he never even comes out of the kitchen... He is not keen on dealing with people... not anymore."

"Oh..." Xing said. "Okay..."

With this, the doe went, as she had been called by a pig sitting alone on a table who was being quite loud, leaving the bunnies to choose their food. Xing's mother and father decided that they would share a plate of fried tofu with mushrooms, and Lu Li wanted so bad to try one of the deserts, but their mother said that she would have to eat her vegetables first. Meanwhile, Xing looked at the menu.

There were a lot of options in there, but...

"Have you chosen your orders?" The doe said, coming back to talk to them, and she took in their orders. That was when Xing said:

"Do you... have a Dragon Warrior special?"

The doe flinched as she heard that, and some of the people on the nearby tables stopped talking and looked on Xing's way. The bunny, however, was oblivious to those people, and even to the looks on the faces of his own parents, as he continued to look at the doe.

"W-we don't have it on the menu." She said, sounding awkward.

"You had five years ago." Xing said, and the doe said that she knew they did, but it was not on the menu anymore.

"Maybe you could make it?" Xing offered. "You could go to the kitchen and ask him to make it."

The doe looked even more apprehensive.

"I... don't think that's a good idea..."

"Maybe he still remembers how to do it." Xing said, looking at the doe. "Maybe if you tell him someone is asking for it..."

"Little boy..." The doe said, interrupting Xing, as she spoke in the gentlest way possible. "I know you might want this, but... asking him for something like that is not a good idea." She looked at the bunny as she spoke that. "Believe me."

Xing looked at her, and then he looked down, and just asked for a bowl of noodles, which the doe noted down and then went to the kitchen to deliver the order to their chef and boss.

"Xing... honey..." His mother told to him, but Xing didn't answer, he just continued to look down sadly. Even when the food arrived and all of them ate, Xing was looking sad as he silently ate his noodles.

"Why is everyone sad?" Little Lu Li asked as she saw how everyone in there looked sad, both her parents and her big brother. None of them answered. Xing because he didn't feel like doing it, and her parents because they didn't know how they could even explain what was going on to their daughter.

"What do you mean you cannot serve me!?" Said a loud voice, causing the family of bunnies to look on the way of the voice, and they saw that the doe who served them a few minutes ago was talking to the pig who had been loud.

"What, am I not good enough for you!?" The pig demanded, as he shook the cup on his hand around, spilling some of its content on the table and even on the ground. The blush on his face and the way his speech was slurring made it clear that he had been drinking.

That, and the three bottles of rice wine on his table, two of them already empty.

"Sir, I have other patrons on the restaurant." The doe said to him. "I cannot serve only you, I have to attend to the other clients."

"Oh, fuck those guys!" The pig said, "I can pay way more than any of those losers! I told you, didn't I? I had a lot of luck on yesterday's games! I have plenty of money!"

"Look, someone else can wait on you, sir." The doe said. "We have six different waiters and waitresses besides me. I'm sure one of them can."

"No no no!" The pig said, waving his finger. "It has to be you."

"But, why me, sir?" The doe said, feeling quite uncomfortable that they were starting to attract the attention of the whole establishment. She was about to get even more uncomfortable.

"Why, because you are the cutest thing in here, sweetheart." The pig said, leaning over to look closer at her. "I am a man of good taste. I only have the best food to eat, and I want it served by the prettiest things..."

The doe yelped as she felt a hand on her buttocks, groping her. She slapped it away, before slapping the pig's face.

"Hey!" The pig said, as he didn't like being slapped, so he next grabbed he doe's wrist.

"I see, you are a feisty one, aren't you?" The pig said to her, as he pulled her close as he held her wrist. "Well, I know how to deal with feisty whores."

"Let me go!" The doe said, trying to pull her wrist free of the pig's grasp, but he was surprisingly strong. "You can't do this! Stop!"

"Oh, I can't?" The pig snorted at her. "Don't you know I have money, whore!? I can do anything I want, because I am the one with the power here! And you whore will just do exactly as I say, got it!?"

"Let me go!" The doe demanded. Now they had the attention of everyone on the restaurant. Even their chef, who was on the kitchen working on the orders, heard the commotion going on outside, as well as what the pig said.

And he didn't like what he heard one bit.

"Let me go! You are hurting me!"

"Oh, am I? Good!" The pig growled at her. "Maybe now you will learn your lesson and do as you are told, bitch!"

"I am a doe, you idiot!" She said, slapping him once more. That really ticked the pig off.

"Why you little-!" He said, pulling his hand back and ready to hit her. However, he never could.

A cleaver came down, sinking itself on the stone table with the same ease it would on wood. This caused the pig to let go in surprise, and even the doe jumped back in surprise, as they both looked at the cleaver, which was being held by a hand made of wood and metal, which was connected to an arm covered in black fur.

Po! Xing immediately thought as he saw the familiar panda. He could still recognize him. Meanwhile, the panda continued to stand where he was.

Po was still as big as a panda should be, and he still had the same black and white fur. However, now, instead of those tattered shorts that he wore five years ago, Po now wore dark-grey pants and a jacket of the same color, open on the front and allowing everyone to see the X-shaped scar on his chest. And it was not the only scar they could see, as the panda had another scar on his face, running over his left eye, which was now milky white. However, even though this eye was blind, it still glared at the pig with the same hatred as the healthy green eye.

"So..." Po growled at the pig, his voice dripping with contempt. "Harassing my staff, aren't you?"

Before the pig could formulate an answer, Po's other hand shot forward, his fingers entering the pig's nostrils and hooking at them.

The pig squealed in surprise as he felt those hard, cold fingers entering his nose, and he immediately went to grab that hand which, just like the other, was made of wood and metal. He squealed even louder when Po started to, quite literally, drag him across the restaurant by the nose, dragging him over the table (causing everything in it to fall to the ground) and taking the pig all the way out as the pig continued to squeal in pain.

"I am a paying costumer!" The pig squealed, before he was forcefully tossed out on the street.

"This is a restaurant!" Po said to the suine, who was now holding his nose in pain. "If you want a place where you will be served by pretty women and where you can grope them for an additional charge, go to the Red-Light Village! There are three courtesan houses there that will be happy to take your fucking money!"

The pig was still recovering, but he had it in him to glare at the panda.

"W-who do you think you are, fatso!?"

"The owner of this restaurant, that's who I think I am!" Po said, to him with a hard expression on his scar-marked face. "What means I have all the right to deny service and throw fuckers like you out of here if I want to!"

"Bah! Owner of a restaurant! That is the only thing you got going on for you now!" The pig said to the panda, his voice still slurring with his drunkness. "You are nothing more than that anymore! You are not the Dragon Warrior! All you are is the owner of this stupid restaurant left to you by that stupid dead goose!"

Every single person on the restaurant, and even the people on the other side of the street, all jumped back in surprise with a sound that was similar to that of a small explosion.

The pig had recoiled, and he was looking forward with wide eyes, looking at the small crater that the panda had opened before him with a punch to the ground.

He could have admired how finely that prosthetic hand was made, as a swing from it caused a huge crack on the marble in front of the restaurant, but the mechanical hand itself didn't had a single scratch or dent, as it uncurled its fingers the same way a real hand would.

"You fucking piece of shit..." Po growled, his voice dangerously low.

"Leave now... while you still can..." Po said, each word trembling with barely-contained rage. "If you ever come here again to bother my staff, or talk smack about my dad..."

Po's head, which was lowered until that point, rose so he could glare at the pig.

"I will fuck up your legs so bad you will never walk again!"

The pig looked at the panda in terror. It was not the way he spoke that threat that was so terrifying. Nor was the look of absolute hatred on his eyes.

What was the most terrifying was that, as he said those words to the pig, there was blood leaking from his nose.

"AAHHHHH!" The pig screamed in panic as he got up and ran down the street. "SOME HELP! HE IS GOING TO KILL ME!"

Everyone who was walking down the street looked at the pig go, before they turned their eyes to the panda. Po was still in a crouching position, his mechanical hand still near the cracked floor, while the panda breathed heavily, before letting out a sigh and straightening himself.

With a hard expression, Po wiped the blood that came out of his nose on the fur of his arm, before turning around and walking back into the restaurant.

Everyone on the restaurant, both the staff and the patrons, was staring the panda. Po, on his end, walked back to the table, and looked at the doe.

"You okay?" He asked, and the doe nodded, saying she was fine. Po nodded.

"Good."

He then reached for the handle of the cleaver and pulled. However, the blade had sunk deep into the rock, and the panda had to struggle to pull it off. Then, with a grunt, Po pulled the blade really hard, and it split in half.

Part of the blade remained on the table, leaving a broken cleaver on the panda's hand.

Po looked at it for a few seconds...

"FUCK!" The panda yelled, throwing the broken cleaver on the ground. The useless blade clanked on the stone floor, while everyone on the restaurant flinched.

For a few moments, the panda stayed in there, with an angry expression as he breathed heavily through his nose, until he took a deep breath through his nostril and let a sigh through his mouth, the tension on his body relaxing.

"Clean this." Po said, gesturing to the things that were spread on the floor after he dragged the pig away. The doe nodded, saying she would do it, while the panda, with a stony expression, walked back inside, leaving the restaurant reeling from what just happened.

The panda came back out two minutes later.

"Guo!" Po said, causing one of the waiters, a bull, to look his way. "I'm going out, you take over the kitchen."

"O-oh!" The bull said, "Right, boss!"

"Wait, you are leaving?" The doe asked to the panda as the bull went to the kitchen to take over the cooking.

"I have to buy a new cleaver." Po said, as he adjusted the fat bag of coins on his waist. "I'll be back in twenty minutes. Until then, I want you guys to keep this place running. Okay, Jia?"

The red deer doe, Jia, got up from the floor from which she had been cleaning the broken bowls and bottles as she looked at the panda.

"Keep taking the orders, make sure the food comes in, don't let anyone go without paying..." Po said to her, counting the most important things. "And, whatever happens, don't let any scaly inside my restaurant, got it?"

Jia made a face as she heard the last one, but she nodded at Po, as she said:

"Yes, Mister Ping."

Po nodded, and made his way out of the restaurant, leaving the doe and the rest of the staff to manage everything on his absence. As he did, a lot of people looked at him depart, some of them whispering among themselves.

One of them, in particular, had his eyes on the panda as he made his way out of the restaurant.

It was now or never.

"I gotta go out for a moment!" Xing said, leaving the table and rushing after the panda, despite his parents calling his name.

"Po!" Xing said, as he rushed after the panda, who was walking down the street. "Po!"

The panda did not turn to look at him, and only continued walking down the street. As he did, he attracted a lot of eyes. Many people were looking at the panda, a lot of them seeming surprised for seeing him out on the streets.

Can you blame them? It had been around two years since Po last left the restaurant...

"Hey, Po!" Someone said, "Hey, dude! How have you been?"

"Fine." Po answered quickly and politely, without even turning his head to look at the person as he continued his way.

Other people talked to him, but Po answered to them politely and quickly as he continued his way across the village.

"Hey, Po! I got some fresh apples that are just great! Wanna try them?"

"No, thank you."

"Hey, Po! Want a picture of you? I can make a drawing of you on the house!"

"I don't have time."

"Hey, Po. Wanna see some new comic books? Those are of the adventures of Master Bao, this one is super thrilling."

"I don't read comic books anymore. You know that." Po looked at the goat as he said that, before continuing his way. As he walked, all the people who talked to him were left sad, as they all failed to get the panda to smile.

Po just wouldn't smile anymore, no matter what they tried...

All the while, Xing continued to follow the panda. It was hard to keep up with him, as the panda didn't slow down, and he was walking as if he was in a rush to get what he needed to do as quickly as possible.

As if being out on the village was an unpleasant experience that he wanted to get over with as fast as he could.

"Po, wait! Po!" He called out, but the panda continued forward, as if he could not hear him.

"Please, no!"

"Shut up, wooly!"

Po stopped on his tracks, and looked to the side, where the noise was coming from. He looked in the dark alley in between two constructions and saw three animals in there.

Two of them were wolves, both holding knives, as they were towering over another, smaller animal. The sheep was cowering in fear as he looked at the big carnivores threatening him with blades.

"P-please, don't do this." The sheep begged.

"Oh, don't worry, we won't do anything." One of the wolves said. "As long as you give us all of your money."

"B-but this is all my money from this month. Without it I won't be able to pay for food."

"Not our problem! Now give the money you-" The wolf was saying, but he stopped as he noticed the panda.

The other two looked where he was looking, and they all looked at the panda, who was looking at them with a stony expression for a moment.

Then, Po turned his head forward and kept walking, as if he did not just saw an innocent person being robbed.

As if it was not his problem to begin with.

Once he was gone, the wolves went back to threatening the sheep to give them his money, as if nothing had happened. The poor sheep eventually had no choice but to give all his money to the two canines, who laughed to each other as they went away carrying the purse full of coins, leaving the sheep to slump to the ground in despair.

Xing looked at the sheep, wishing to do something but knowing he could do nothing. Then he went back to chasing after the panda.

Po made his way to the barracks that were selling utensils, all on the other side of the village, and soon he was walking through them as he looked for cooking material. He passed by some of the barracks, but all of them had either used or poor-quality equipment. Like rusted pans and edge-less knives.

One of them, however, has cooking equipment of the highest quality, including a very fine selection of knives and cleavers, all of them looking to be great.

"Can I help you with anything, my good sir?" Said the prickelnackle who owned the stand as the panda stopped to look at the equipment.

Po looked long and hard at the lizard who owned the stand... and walked to the next one without saying a word.

The reptile, on his end, was a bit disconcerted by this, as well as by the cold glare the panda gave him before going to the stand right next to his', which had good material, but clearly inferior to his own. Xing passed by the lizard, giving him a look as the reptile gave him a friendly smile and a polite "good afternoon", what the bunny returned before walking to the panda, who was busy checking for cleavers.

Now that the bunny was near the panda, he could say... he could say... what?

What could he say to Po?

What could he speak to him that he had not already spoken many times in the past five years, only for the panda to dismiss him again?

What could he say to get Po to listen this time?

What could be say for Po to finally stop being angry and forgive everyone.

To forgive him?

"Excellent choice, my friend." The goat said as the panda paid for the cleaver he just got. "It is a quality cleaver, it can cut even through a log, if you have enough strength on your... hand?"

The goat was looking at the panda's mechanical hands. Po completely ignored him. He just placed the cleaver on his belt and tossed two coins at the vendor for the cleaver, and he was about to walk back the way he came when...

"Okay now!" Said a buffalo with a hammer, accompanied by two rhinos. "Nobody tries anything!" he swung his hammer and smashed on a random stand, causing a lot of animal to panic and flee, some of them screaming.

Po looked at them annoyed.

"Seriously?" The panda said, as he watched as the three burly animals were now threatening the stand owners for their money. "Ugh, now I'll have to take the other way around..."

The panda said as he turned, getting ready to go all the way around the village so he could go back to his restaurant.

"H-hey, you can't do that!" Said the pricklenackle who owned the cooking utensil stand. "That is not your money! People worked hard for it!"

"And what is it to you, bag of scales?" Said one of the rhinos, as he pointed the tip of his axe to him.

"Y-you can't-" the lizard tried to say, only to be roughly grabbed by the collar and pulled out of his stand.

"Oh, I'm sorry, what was that?" The rhino asked. "Where you saying that we can't do something? Was that it?"

"And, what is it that we cannot do, pal?" Said the other rhino, as he joined his twin. "Maybe something like... this!?"

He swung his mace, demolishing the lizard's stand in one swing.

"Or maybe, this?" He said, as he started to hit the scattered utensils, breaking and running them beyond any hope of repair, while the lizard could to nothing more than to watch his livelihood being ruined before his eyes and not being able to do anything to stop it, all the while the two rhinos laughed at him.

Po had stopped and looked over his shoulder for a while as they did that. There was no expression on his stony face, as he just looked, before turning his head back forward and resuming walking. He had to go back to his restaurant.

"Now, quit screwing around and give us money." Po could hear, but he didn't bother to look back. He did, however, stop dead on his tracks when he heard...

"Dad!"

Po turned around just in time to see a much smaller pricklenackle, one that couldn't be older than seven, running in direction to the rhinos and the adult lizard.

"Dad!"

"Bo!" The adult said, "Bo, stay back!"

"Dad!" The little lizard said, still trying to run to them, but being stopped by the other villagers, "What are you doing with my dad!? Leave him alone!"

"Bo, is okay!" The lizard said, "Go back inside! It is all okay!"

"Let go of him!" The lizard boy said.

"Listen to your dad, kid!" One of the rhinos said, sneering at the small boy. "Beat it, before we get mad at you."

"Leave my dad alone!"

"Bo, go back home! It will be okay! I promise!"

"No! Leave him alone! Dad! Daddy!"

The boy continued trying to squirm away from the villagers who tried to steer him away from the scene, while the bandits continued to threaten the lizard. The boy continued to cry out for his dad.

All the while, Po watched, and so did Xing. The bunny looked up at the panda, and he saw that his expression had changed. His stony front seemed like it had cracked, as the panda looked at the scene before him with a growing expression of anguish, as he continued to hear the boy's cries for his dad.

Cries that sounded a lot like his own...

Xing watched as the panda tensed, putting a foot forward, as if he was getting ready to lunge forward...

Then, a green blur snaked its way into the scene and wrapped itself around the rhino's arm. The pachyderm cried out as the green rope squeezed his wrist hard enough to make him let go of the lizard, and then it wrapped the last of its length around his neck and forced the pachyderm to start punching himself.

The lizard, who was looking in shock, was then told by the rope:

"Run!"

He did, while the snake continued causing the rhino to punch himself.

"Daddy!" The small lizard said as he hugged his father, and Viper continued to deal with that rhino. She had to wrap herself from him fast to escape the swing the other rhino was doing at her, and which ended up hitting the other rhino square in the jaw, sending him down.

Viper hissed at them as the rhinos and Bull all came to her with weapons on their hands, but that was when shadows befell them and then rest of the Furious Five arrived.

The villagers all cheered for them as they demolished those criminals, handing them their tails in silver platters as they showed amazing kung fu moves that everyone loved, especially the children.

Po, on his hand, only looked at them. His stony expression was back on his face, as he put his foot back, the tension leaving him as he only looked at the five of them doing their kung fu. And he was a lot less excited about it than he would have been five years ago, what Xing noticed as he looked up at the panda.

The battle, if you could call that, was over in less than two minutes, and the three criminals were all on the ground, groaning in pain, and the villagers were all cheering the Furious Five. Then Viper looked over, and her eyes widened when she met the face of a familiar panda.

"Po?" She asked, as the panda looked at her coldly, before turning away. "Po, wait!"

Viper started slithering after him, and the others soon noticed where she was going. And who she was going after...

"Po!" She called, but the panda continued walking on, not turning around to look at her, but walking even faster, as if to get away from her.

"Hey, Po!"

"Po! Wait for us!"

The voices of the other five were after him, and the panda was about to sprint running, when two of them stopped in front of him. Monkey's acrobatics and Crane's wings made easy for them to catch up with the panda, who stopped on his tracks as they got on his way. His expression got heavy, as he frowned as the five surrounded him. He looked like he was ready to fight them.

"Hey, calm down, man!" Crane said, "We just want to talk..."

Po looked at them, one by one, and saw their expressions as they looked back at him. The panda then scoffed.

"Do you often chase and corner a person when you just want to talk?" The panda asked them, sounding annoyed. "Not very polite of you."

The Five said nothing about that. They only looked down, as if ashamed. Even Tigress, who would normally not take this kind of disrespect from anyone, could do nothing more than to look down in apparent shame.

"So, what is it that you want to talk with me?" Po asked, crossing his arms as he looked at them.

"We just want to catch up..." Viper said, looking up at the panda. "You know, talk about things, see how you are doing. We haven't had a proper talk ever since... you know..."

Po said nothing to this. In fact, he didn't even look at Viper as she spoke.

"So?" The panda said, sounding impatient as he looked at the other four as if he was still waiting for their answer. As if he didn't even hear Viper's words.

The snake lowered her head. She had forgotten that now Po refused to even address her...

The other four shared looks, before Tigress spoke:

"We... just want to ask you how you are doing. And if you are doing okay..."

Po looked at all of them coldly.

"That's it?" Po said, making it sound that they interrupted him in the middle of something important for some stupid reason. The panda then sighed and said:

"Business is doing well. We got a lot of loyal customers and we make a goof profit. I added two new recipes to the menu this week, and I'm thinking of maybe hiring two helpers for the kitchen. That's it, I presume. If you want more information, you can ask anyone else in the Valley."

Po was very quick when describing this, as if he wanted to end the conversation as fast as possible. The Five could only looked at him as he seemed to want to get away from them soon.

"Right..." Monkey said, "And, you plan to take down that plank anytime soon? The one that says that reptiles-"

"No." Po said drily before Monkey could finish the question. "I decide who can or cannot come into my restaurant."

The Five flinched at the hard words that Po said. Especially Viper.

This was so unlike the Po they knew. So unlike that kind and sweet panda who used to be their friend. It was so unsettling...

"And... what about..." Mantis said awkwardly, pointing at Po's chest. At the scar he had in there.

"It still tingles when I bathe and aches when it's going to rain." Po said once more. "Is this all you had to ask of me? If it was, then you will have to excuse me, because I need to go back to my restaurant."

Po was turning around to leave, when Tigress spoke:

"Po, wait!"

The panda stopped and looked at her. She looked at him for a few moments, before saying:

"You... you think you can maybe... come home?"

Po looked at her for a moment.

"If by 'home', you mean the Jade Palace, then I don't plan to." Po said, "That place is for kung fu masters. And I'm not one."

"You are our friend!" Monkey said to him. "You are practically family!"

"We miss you dude!" Mantis said, "We miss you going around smiling, making us laugh and cooking those great noodles for us!"

"You could at least come to make a visit." Crane suggested, "It would be great to have you back. We made a few renovations on the training hall, you could look for yourself. Bet you would love it.

"Po..." Viper said, her expression as sad as her voice, "Please, come back..."

"Po, please..." Tigress said, looking at him. "It's been five years..."

"I know." Po said, looking at them all coldly. "Now, if you excuse me..." Po said, turning around and going to leave, when another animal came his way. This time, it was a pheasant wearing red and golden clothing.

"Oh, what now!?" Po grunted, looking at the bird, who stood before him as he landed from a flight, before bowing to him.

"Master Po..." The bird said as he bowed to the panda. "My name is Liu Gun, and I am here in name of the Emperor..."

Po growled. He already knew what this was about.

"Forget it." The panda said, but the bird continued, as he pulled something out of his clothes and offered it to the panda.

"I have come to deliver to the masters of the Valley of Peace an invitation to the annual Great Kung Fu Summit." He said, offering the scroll to Po. "And you are invited as well."

Po could only look coldly at the bowing bird.

"The Emperor would very much appreciate if you graced us with your presence." The pheasant said, as he kept his head bowed. "There will be numerous events for the entertainment of all guests, and there will be fine food made by the best chefs in the province. We are sure they will be very enjoyable for you."

"I'm not going." Po said drily. "I told you on the four past times, and I'm saying it again. So you can just turn around and go back to the Emperor and tell him to leave me alone."

As Po said that, he walked past the messenger, who looked up to look at him. Po just wanted to go back to his restaurant now, a lot of people were looking his way. Too many people with their eyes on him...

"Master Po, please." The pheasant pleaded. "Your presence would be a great honor for the Summit, and for the Emperor. He has prepared an honored sit for you. He can also prepare a chariot to pick you and take you all the way to the palace so you won't have to walk, if you desire to."

Po continued walking. How he wished that bird would just take the hint and leave.

"He is doing it all for you." The pheasant said, "Your comfort and convenience are a priority to him."

Po stopped on his tracks, his mechanical hands clenched into fists.

"Oh, are they!?" The panda said, sounding outraged. "Well, that's certainly news to me!"

The panda turned around, his face a mask of anger.

"That motherfucker certainly didn't seemed to care at all about my comfort nor my convenience when he ordered his scaly mascots to cut off my fucking hands!" Po yelled at the pheasant, causing him to recoil.

"He didn't seemed to care about that when he ordered them to lock my up on that cell and feed me with minimal water and rations!" Po said to the pheasant. "And he certainly seemed not to be worried about any of that when he passed out those public announcements saying to everyone that my Dragon Warrior title was removed and that I was just a dangerous criminal that no one should associate with or trust!"

The pheasant was recoiling seriously, and then Po turned to the Five.

"And you! You got a lot of nerve!" Po yelled at them, causing them all to flinch. "Coming here and inviting me to come to the Jade Palace, saying it is my 'home' and that I'm 'a friend' and 'family' when you were the ones who kicked me out and said you would kill me if I ever set foot there again!"

They all looked down at this, shame clear on their faces.

"I told you all already!" Po said at them. "Don't you dare to come to me acting all buddy-buddy! You made it very clear that we were never friends! Let alone family! When I said I didn't want to speak to any of you ever again, I meant it! So, next time you see me on the street and want to talk to me, just don't! Okay?"

The five were all looking down at this, and Po then turned to the pheasant.

"Go back to the emperor and tell him to stop sending me those invites." Po said to him coldly. "I'm not going to go. I'm not taking part on a celebration of kung fu never again. I don't want to have anything with kung fu ever again."

With this last affirmation, filled with bitterness, Po turned around and walked away, leaving the other animals to look at him as he departed, all of them with sadness on their faces. Even some of them villagers around looked sad, and many of them whispered among themselves as the panda passed.

"Dad, they broke everything..." The little lizard said, as he and his dad checked the damage the bad guys had done to the materials. "The pans... the knives... you said they needed to be sold. What do we do now?"

The lizard father looked at his son.

"I... I don't know. We will work something out." He said, and he hugged his son.

Po, who had stopped right by their side, looked at them for a few moments. Then, he removed the bag of coins from his belt and just tossed it on the ground.

The lizard blinked, looking at the bag, and at the amount of gold coins that was spilling out of it as it fell to the side. He then looked at the panda, who looked back at him with indifference, before turning his head away and continuing to walk, leaving behind a baffled lizard and son.

And Xing was, once more, hot on the panda's heels.

He was going back to the restaurant now. He would go back in the kitchen and would not come out anymore.

He had to talk to him. It was now or never.

"Po!" Xing said, as the panda continued to walk forward.

"Po, please!" Xing said, "" I am sorry!"

The panda stopped as he heard that.

"Seriously, Xing?" Po said, his voice devoid of any emotion. "This is why you have been following me all over the village?"

"Yes!" Xing said, "Po, I'm sorry! I'm sorry for everything that happened! I'm sorry for believing those lies they told about you! I'm sorry for joining the kids when they picked on you and threw things at you I..."

Xing stopped, and he looked at the panda, who still had his back turned to him, before he lowered his head and said, in a voice full of guilt:

"I'm sorry for your eye..."

Po was silent for a few moments, before he spoke:

"Xing, you have apologized to me many times on the past five years."

There was no emotion whatsoever on his voice. Not anger, nor anything else.

"And I'll keep apologizing!" Xing said to him. "I'll keep apologizing to you every day for the rest of my life until you forgive me! Until you stop being angry and go back to being the panda you once were."

Po looked down, and then his voice came again, this time strained:

"That panda... is dead."

"Po..." Xing started, but the panda cut him.

"Xing, just let it go, okay?" The ursine said, not turning to look at the bunny. "You already know how his will go, so don't bother. Believe me, this will save us both a lot of time."

"But I-"

"Let. It. Go." Po said, the way he spoke it causing Xing to flinch. After a brief silence, the panda sighed.

"There is no use, Xing." Po said, his voice denoting sadness. "No matter how much you or anyone else apologizes to me, no matter how many gifts you try to give me, it won't fix the past. It won't erase what happened. Nothing ever will."

The panda looked up, at the sky.

"I am not the same Po you once knew." He said, "And I know I'll never be again. And trying to hope for me to be him again will only cause you to end up disappointed. Just like I did."

Po finally turned to Xing, looking at him with his one good eye, while the blind one followed suit.

"I'm saying this for both our sakes. Just let it go, okay?" Po said, this time as gently as he could manage. "Just forget about it and move on with your life. Xing, please, just grow up."

The panda looked at the bunny with a sadness on his face. It had been five years since Xing first met Po but, looking at his face now, the panda seemed to have aged at least fifteen.

"I did. It took me a lot of time and a lot of pain, but I finally did."

Xing looked at the panda. At his hero. And then, he simply looked down.

"I'm sorry..." He said quietly, as a single tear ran down his face. Po continued to look at him for a few moments, before sighing.

"Let's go back to the restaurant." Po said, turning away. "Your parents must be worried with you by now."

So, without saying another word, with his head down and a sad expression on his face, Xing walked after the panda back to the restaurant.