Author's Note: Hey everyone! How are you all? Back with another chapter! One quick thing, to those that have noticed, yes, I have deleted 'The tale of panda boy'. It was brought to my attention that the story in its current form could potentially violate one of the rules so, because I felt amending it would ruin the one-shot, I thought it would be better to delete it just to be safe. The story is still available on AO3 if you're interested. Anyways, more furious five and Po time!
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN KFP (What a shame)
Enjoy.
Questions Left Unanswered
Bustling customers, complementary clanks of cutlery hitting bowls, bubbling broth boiling in saucepans; These sounds only mean one thing within Dragon warrior noodles and tofu. Lunch rush. This soundscape of hungry customers ravenously clearing their bowls for more is accentuated by the irresistible aroma beckoning their nostrils, making their stomachs beg for more of Mr. Ping's wonderous cooking. This time, however, it is not only the eccentric goose slaving away in the kitchen this time. Luckily for the villagers his very son, the dragon warrior, graces them with his presence as he gets to work with his proud dad.
"Order up!" Li-Shan hollers out to the crowded tables as he heads out of the kitchen, balancing many bowls and plates on his arms. Granted, he has nowhere near the level of grace that his precious Lotus has, but he has proven his ability to provide service with a smile time and time again to his goose friend. The panda chief makes his way over to a table near the very front, housing the awaiting furious five. Not that they had to wait particularly long. After all, being saviours of the valley certainly has its privileges, especially when you're friends with one of the valley's best chefs.
Each master thanks the panda as he places their order in front of them, who merely gives a goofy smile in response. I guess it really does run in the family. As this bemused thought runs through Tigress' mind, she notices Po's father place down a small piece of paper next to her meal, folded multiple times. Before she can even give him a questioning glance, Li-Shan hurries his way back to the kitchen as more orders pile up.
With an intrigued hum, Tigress unfolds the piece of paper only to have her heart flutter a tiny bit at its contents. "Love you lots. – Po" Amber irises smile with a gentle warmth as the tiger master places the note in her pocket.
A wide smile occupies Viper's face as she observes the tiger's reaction to the paper. Probably another note from her loving panda. Such a romantic. Ahh! They're so cute together! She can't help but to think this as she begins to dig into her food like the rest of her comrades. As they all have their meal, Monkey swipes a bit of food from Mantis' plate with a cheeky grin on his face. Of course, his insect buddy retaliates which commences a sort of mini food battle to see who can steal the most off the other's plate. Viper chuckles lightly at the two whilst Tigress rolls her eyes, somewhat bemused by their childish behaviour. The only one who doesn't react is Crane, his eyes firmly planted towards the table in rumination. Something that his serpent friend notices almost immediately, "Something on your mind, Crane?"
Her motherly voice snaps the avian master out of his thoughts for a brief moment before he takes a glance at Tigress. When they had returned to the inn last night, she had informed them of all of the information she was able to collect from the Zhanshi clan village, yet one piece had stuck out in their minds the most. The slabs of marble. Could it really be true? Does Oogway's relationship with the Zhanshi clan go deeper than they realise? Those questions had practically plagued the bird's mind the entire night, especially considering the implications of such a revelation. "Yeah, I've just been wondering about those tablets Tigress found yesterday." Tigress places her chopsticks down as Crane continues, giving him her full attention. "Are you absolutely sure that it was Oogway in those illustrations?"
Amber eyes now gaze down to her spicy noodle broth, seeing the very image in question within its steamy waters. "I can't say I'm absolutely sure, but considering what story those tablets were telling, I have little reason to doubt it."
A question now popping in his mind, Mantis stops fidgeting with his best buddy. "But if Oogway was with the Zhanshi clan before, then why wouldn't he tell us?" Crane nods along to his insect comrade's suggestion as Tigress puts a paw under her chin in contemplation.
"I think it's more interesting that the Zhanshi clan wouldn't be more vocal about it." Viper chimes in, "Most villages would dedicate more than a few tablets in Oogway's honour."
Monkey snorts in response as he quickly swipes a dumpling off his insect friend's plate, "Um, Viper, in case you haven't noticed, they lived in a cavern in the outskirts of the village. Sounds like they wanted to keep some things a secret."
Ignoring her primate brother's sarcastic tone, Viper furrows her eyebrows at him, "Okay, and why would they feel the need to hide something? Why would they feel the need to hide themselves?" Several glances are exchanged around the table, this very question having stumped all five of them for the past few months. Even Shifu couldn't find an answer within the archives, for any mention of the Zhanshi clan was in either an extremely ambiguous myth or nothing at all.
With no real answer to this question, Tigress goes back to eating her spicy noodles as she informs her comrades, "There wasn't any mention of Oogway or any potential secrets in any of the scrolls I took with me. I'll be heading back there tomorrow to get a better look at those tablets."
"Why not today?" Crane inquires as Mantis notices Monkey swipe another dumpling off his plate, prompting another mini food battle.
Tigress' smile heats up in a loving flame, a glint of timidity present in her eyes as she thinks back to the note she has in her pocket. "Po and I are going to spend the day together."
Crane can't help but to smile at his feline friend's tender whisper. To think that two years ago she had wanted to boot him down the thousand steps. Part of him still finds it hard to believe that the two had managed to make this work. Yet here they are, two warriors with a bond as pure as they come. "Well, if that's the case, do you mind if I tag along?"
Abruptly ending his food fight with his insect comrade, Monkey shoots Crane a peculiar but cheeky glance, "Woah, buddy. I'm pretty sure they'd want to spend that time alone." He goes to pick up another dumpling from his plate only to find it empty with a smug grin on Mantis' face.
Rolling his eyes, the avian master sighs, "I meant for tomorrow, when she heads back to the village."
A light chuckle escapes Tigress' maw as she gives a spare dumpling to her primate brother. Po has a tendency of overestimating her appetite, so she'd prefer the food wouldn't go to waste. Besides, he could consider it a reward for genuinely being funny for once. "I think that would be great. I could use a second opinion." Nearly finished with her spicy noodles, the tiger master looks over to towards the kitchen only to find a pile of customers blocking her view. Concern creases her countenance, "Quite a rush today."
Taking a quick peak at the line, Mantis lets out an impressed whistle, "Yeah, I don't envy Po."
Viper gives Tigress a reassuring smile as she finishes off another one of her bean buns, "I'm sure he and his fathers have it covered." Though she does appreciate her sister's well-meaning words, the tiger master has other reasons for concern. His training to hone his 'fizzle technique', his conversation with Shifu. Clearly something is getting to him, and she's going to find out what.
Whilst the five have been having their conversation, Li-Shan enters the kitchen to see his son and Mr. Ping cooking up a storm with either the goose or panda bolting to the front every few minutes to take more orders. He walks over to Po, who rapidly chops through more vegetables for whatever meal he is preparing next, and puts a paw on his shoulder, "Hope you're not too cooped up in here, son."
Jade irises remain focused on the spring onions becoming progressively smaller and smaller, "Dad, y'know it's never a problem to help you guys." Taking up the spring onions in his paws, he dumps them into the boiling broth next to him before leaning closer to his panda dad, "By the way, did you um…" He trails off, bashfully fiddling his fingers together.
A small smile crawls onto Li-Shan's face at his son's timid action. He lightly nudges him with his elbow, "No worries, son. She got it." Po lets out a sigh of relief, "Real cute of you."
"Dad." Po quietly whines as his panda dad chuckles to himself.
"I'm just messing around. How are you two doing by the way?" A tender question leaves Li-Shan's maw, "I heard about the whole… Zhanshi clan visit." Truth is, this is not his only worry. Right when Po had come down to the restaurant, he had noticed something off about his lotus. Something about his usual goofy smile wasn't sitting quite right. His eyes felt like they were depleted of his usually high energy. Gods forbid their relationship is causing this. No, that's the last thing he would ever want to happen to his son.
"Well, Tigress found some pretty cool stuff while she was there but…" Worry soon melts its way into Po's eyes as he thinks about his tiger's experiences within the cavern turned cemetery, "she's had a tough time with her memories. So… I kinda um…" If he were capable of blushing, then his face would probably be as red as a tomato. "Well, we wanted to uh… chill a bit… up at the peach tree. Just to ease her mind a bit."
A gentle, loving smile takes hold of his face as he daydreams about what they'll be doing up there. He never understands why it feels so embarrassing to tell his fathers what him and Tigress are up to, after all, there's nothing implicitly naughty about hanging out by the peach tree. Li-Shan smiles back at his son, noticing those off-putting signs from earlier are now gone. Thank the Gods, it must be something else then.
Just as he is about to open his mouth to ask, a tray filled with a bowl of dumplings and a cup of oolong tea is thrusted in front of his face. "This needs to go out to table 4," Mr. Ping then shoves another 3 plates onto his arms, "And these need to go to tables 5, 7, and 9, in that order. Now go, go!" The goose chef practically shoos him over to the kitchen door, only stopping when the panda chief motions him to wait for a moment. Aged jade eyes shift over towards the dragon warrior, who has gone back to chopping more vegetables. Noticing his son's more slouched posture, Mr. Ping looks back towards Li-Shan whose eyes mirror his own concern. Both of them had noticed how deflated Po had been lately, but hopefully they'll be able to brighten him up somewhat. With a tender nod, Mr. Ping pats his panda friend on the back as he heads out to the tables, leaving the goose and panda master alone.
Mr. Ping heads over to his son, setting out a new sheet of dough out onto the table. "How is everything, son?" He cuts out a piece and begins to knead the dough with his feathers, his son soon joining in as he finishes chopping up his last batch of vegetables.
"I told you dad, I'm good." Though a smile is present on the panda's face, something about Po's tone seems… off. Mr. Ping resists the urge to grumble at this thought. That's probably the most frustrating thing about this situation. He is off. Not clearly upset or scared but… off. Usually, he'd be more vocal in his frustration, in fact, he'd usually be more vocal in a lot of things. Whatever is bothering him must be something else if he's going to such an effort to hide it.
Letting out a sigh, the goose chef keeps his eyes on the blank dough beneath him, morphing and meshing into different, abstract shapes in his feathers. "Training went well?" Before long, the dough in his feathers soon becomes almost a bowl-like shape, yet it is missing something.
"Yep." Ping's eyebrows furrow at the answer, his eyes briefly shifting towards Po's paws as he too makes a small bowl-like shape.
"Anything… eventful?" He takes an assortment of vegetable pieces in his wing and places it in the middle of the bowl-shaped dough, folding the dough over it before pinching it at the top.
Po mirrors his father's actions as he responds with a simple, "Nope." There it is again. His voice sounds drained yet not from fatigue, but from something else. Truth be told, the panda has barely been listening to his father. Instead, he has gotten lost in an ever-growing tree of thoughts, with each branch longer than the last. Thoughts about his 'Dragon strike', the voice of the universe coursing through his head, his role as Oogway's successor; This has been the only thing wandering through his mind as he automatically crafts a dumpling with his paws.
Brown irises snap themselves away from the completed dumpling in Ping's wing, shifting towards the dragon warrior's lost eyes. "Son, what's wrong?" This gentle question snaps Po out of his rumination immediately.
"What do you mean? I-I'm fine." Part of the panda master wants to cringe at that stutter, if it wasn't obvious enough already that something has been plaguing him.
"Po." Jade looks into brown, feeling the silent message of comfort and care being delivered by his father's gaze. "This isn't like you. To be so quiet." He gives him a warm smile before asking again, "Now what's gotten you so moody, hm?"
Resisting the urge to chuckle at his kooky dad, Po looks down towards his paws and considers whether to answer him or not. His thoughts are soon bulldozed by a flash of one memory in particular. The day he had found out the secret ingredient to his dad's noodle soup. The day he had truly become the dragon warrior. If was able to help then, surely, he could help now.
His mind made up, the dragon warrior looks to his goose dad who only gives him a reassuring smile, urging him to answer. "Well… I guess it's… um… y'know how I've been named as Oogway's successor?" Pride beams in Mr. Ping's eyes as he nods, "I guess… I guess the whole title just has me a bit… worried."
Shooting him a quizzical expression, the goose chef inquires, "How come? I thought you loved doing Kung Fu?"
"What? Dad, of course I love Kung Fu." The panda's usual energetic tone peaks its head out of the murky depths of his anxiety, "Heck, I'd keep fighting bad guys to the day I die... No, that doesn't worry me."
"Hmph, that makes one of us." Po chuckles as his dad crosses his wings and pouts, his paternal instincts always making him dread the idea of his dear boy dying in some horrid battle.
"No… No, it's just…" Oogway's successor sighs as those pesky thoughts begin to cross his mind again, "I'm not Oogway… Y'know? He's been able to teach so many people, do so many things… He's saved China more times than I can count… I mean, how could I ever live up to that? What if I screw up everything and ruin his legacy?" He is stopped short by Mr. Ping gently placing his wing atop his paw, a caring glint in his eyes.
"Po, do you really think 'the great Oogway' has never messed up?" The goose chef places his noodle hat down on the table as he continues, "Chances are he has failed much more than he has succeeded. And that's natural. You shouldn't be worried about doing things perfectly. Heck, even I've messed up the noodle soup on my first few tries."
Unfortunately, the goose's advice only brings out another sigh from the dragon warrior, "Yeah, but it isn't the same, dad. If you make a mistake here, then the worst that could happen is someone's order is messed up or something. If I make a mistake…" Horrid possibilities drown his mind as he briefly pauses, "Then all of China could be destroyed, or I create another bad guy that wants to rule over everything. It's just… Too much." Despondence coats Po's eyes as he goes back to making more dumplings, with his father following his actions with pity worn on his face. They stay in silence for a few moments, the goose desperately wanting to say something to comfort his poor son, yet nothing comes to his mind.
He can barely imagine the pressure of being dragon warrior let alone having to live up to the very founder of kung fu himself. In spite of all his smiles and excited cheers, Po has the weight of China squarely on his shoulders. Actually, not squarely on him. With this thought, Mr. Ping finally speaks, "You don't have to do all of this on your own. You still have Tigress, your friends. Even Shifu can help guide you through it. And… yes, Li-Shan and I may have no idea about Kung Fu stuff, but we'll still help in whatever way we can. Okay, son?"
A soft smile grows on Po's face as he completes yet another dumpling, his energy returning to his eyes as he turns to his father. "Yeah, dad. Thanks." Returning his panda son's smile in kind, Mr. Ping returns to preparing more of his customer's orders whilst Po inspects the dumpling he has just finished preparing. His father was right, just because he is Oogway's successor, doesn't mean that he has to continue that legacy on his own. His friends would always be there to help out. As he turns over the dumpling in his paw, he notices something that doesn't work in that statement.
Always.
No, they won't always be there. Neither will he. But if the title of Oogway's successor isn't just a title, if it really does make him more like Oogway… Jade irises deflate once more, the panda not even daring to finish that dreaded thought. He barely even notices the tear in the dumpling's dough, revealing the vegetables inside.
Honestly, I think that might be some of the most dialogue I've written in one chapter (Then again, I haven't properly checked back on Fragile Hearts in a while, so correct me if I'm wrong.) This chapter was strangely frustrating to write for some reason, don't know why. As for what I said in the last chapter, the fic I was referencing in the first chapter was "The Empress" by Starless Echoes and Redwall4ever22. I would 100% recommend reading both parts of this fic because it is heartbreakingly amazing. Now with fair warning, it is pretty dark in places and will pretty much leave you as an emotional wreck, but it does it in the best way possible. As for how it is a reference, well, it is referencing a particular scene when a 'certain' pale goat is disguised with imperial robes at night. Anyways, I hope you've enjoyed the chapter and until next time :)