Chapter 4:

Before he left, Nuwa only told him a handful of things. "I'll be fine, don't worry about me," she told him over dinner the night before. "I won't tell Sapphire without you, we can tell her together when you get back, if that's what you want." It was, he told her, while she helped him pack a bag. "But you can tell Po and Monkey if you really want to." She said when they woke up. "Don't let the thought eat you alive..."

Even after Tai Lung left the Valley with Po and Monkey that morning, the snow leopard was still just as clueless as ever about what Tigress said to him at the door of his home.

"This is going to help you both. I can promise you that."

How? He should be back home, sitting down with his wife, and talking through this whole mess with her. Not heading to Gongmen City for pointless meetings- well, not that they were actually pointless, but nothing was more important to him right now. It wasn't sitting right with him that he had up and left her at this vulnerable time. But when Tigress said that Nuwa would be safe, he knew to trust her. He trusted no one else, apart from the Furious Five of course, to protect Nuwa. She wasn't going to be exposed to danger, Tigress would be there for her, he always knew that... and whatever she had up her sleeve, he knew he had to trust her on this too... he had no other choice. Anyway, she was safe for now; they just found out, and she wasn't showing any signs yet. Not even a bloodhound would be able to tell.

Tai Lung closed his eyes for a moment to steady his breath- when he reopened them he took in the open body of water once again; he had yet to see the sunrise. But it was too late to tell him not to let the thought eat him alive- he hadn't slept a wink, and the same happened last night.

He could feel his eyelids growing heavy when she spoke to him. Her voice faded away, and soon she was curled up next to him, her breathing soft on his neck. But his time was spent staring up at the ceiling in the dark, while she slept soundlessly beside him.

It was a whole new day since then, since the news of Nuwa's pregnancy. Now, as if to know he wasn't going to sleep, he just meditated or reviewed scrolls to take his mind off everything. He wasn't provided with any information about the meetings he was made go to, so his mind had no limits as to what it could be about. Was it a greater threat?

Definitely not, he thought quickly, almost at instant ease. If it was serious enough, surely something would have been said. What he did know was that he had to meet some of Crane's newest apprentices that he has taken under his wing. He's done so before.

Dawn was within their reach, and they weren't too far away from Gongmen City. Po was behind him, rummaging through his backpack to find the breakfast he packed for them, and Monkey was hanging upside down from the sail of the boat by his tail, eyes closed. He was humming softly, as the water softly spoke to them with every bob the ship made, with his body swaying with every move...

He had to say something.

"Nuwa's pregnant." He said casually.

"WHAT!?" Monkey's whole body jumped, high enough to move from the sail, and fell. He had a split second to shriek a 'woah!' before the top of his head was kissing the ground heavily before the rest of his body hit it with a comedic thud. Po turned his head so quickly Tai Lung was briefly worried that it would roll right off his shoulders. However, the primate was up on his feet almost immediately and bounded towards the leopard. Cradling his head with one hand, his opposite arm was around the spotted cat's shoulders, grinning like mad.

"You're serious?!" Po gasped. Tai Lung could only nod, before the two whooped and cheered, to which he couldn't help but grin at their excitement. "Congratulations man! This is huge news!" He babbled on more, to which both Tai Lung and Monkey laughed at, but as he went on, Tai Lung could feel his smile retracting to a flat line. His heart hanging a little heavier. "How long have you known?"

"Only since yesterday."

"Does Sapphire know yet?"

He shook his head slowly, not noticing Monkey glancing at him. Po talked more, prompting more questions, but Monkey didn't say anything else. The primate did move away to give him some space. Po must have sensed something too because as Monkey retreated inside of the boat to grab something to eat, Tai Lung turned away and looked across the water once more. He had settled himself down at the nose of the boat, until he felt something sit behind him. Twisting his head over his shoulder, he found Po eating a peach with one paw, and holding one out to him with the other. Tai Lung thanked him and took it, but before he could take a bite, Po spoke again.

"You okay bud?"

The fuzz on the outside of the peach was barely brushing against his teeth. Frowning heavier, he pulled it away and sat it down beside him. "I'm not sure how I feel." He said finally. Po nodded slowly.

"The shock will fizzle out eventually." Tai Lung nodded slowly. "If you're worried about anything, you can talk to me. But you got nothing to worry about bud! You're gonna be an amazing dad! You already are, Sapphire's been one lucky kid..."

Tai Lung sighed. "Is she?"

Po tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't get to raise her. When I came back into her life she was an adult by then. She went through a lot before I came into the picture, and for a long time after I have remained there. This kid is going to be different to her; I get to be there... and I have no idea what to do. I've only ever been the parent of a young adult. Not a baby, or a toddler, or a child..." he didn't even want to think about the teenage years. "I don't know if I'm ready..."

Po's fingers found each other in a ball on his lap, smiling a little. "You remind me of Tigress." Tai Lung gave him a look as if to ask 'How so?' "Just a little." He added.

"Care to elaborate?"

"I'm surprised nothing has been said before..." he glanced to the side awkwardly, checking to see if Monkey was anywhere to be found. When the coast was clear, he leaned in and whispered. "Anytime the topic of kids came up she would change the conversation. My goose dad would mention the word 'babies', it was like she never heard it and... well," he leaned in and whispered, "she didn't seem excited when we first found out about the boys."

Tai Lung shook his head. "No way." He said in disbelief.

"Yes, way!" Po chuckled slightly, his tone still calm. "You wouldn't think it now."

"No, I wouldn't." To be frank, it seemed completely ludicrous. Master Tigress not wanting children? Maybe a long time ago... but look at her now- one nearly a tween, and the other two now teenagers, almost adults... and she couldn't have loved them more.

"Well, she was just like you. The night we found out, she didn't feel like she was going to be a good parent. She won't admit it to anyone else, but she was scared. Anyone could have seen it. At that moment, it was all she could think about; that she was going to fail as a mom."

Tai Lung looked down at his lap, before picking up the peach Po gave him a few moments ago. "But once we sat and talked about it, she knew she was gonna be okay." He reached down for it, moulding his fingers around its shape before a series of gentle pats landed on Tai Lung's shoulder.

From inside the boat, a tentative hand pulled back the curtain far enough to gaze through it. Monkey watched on silently, unbeknownst to the other two animals, mouth slightly agape. "I don't know if she ever felt ready... maybe she didn't want to have kids at one point. It was something we were never really discussed. We should have because... well, it was a sensitive topic for us. but mostly for her. Being orphans and all... but once she knew she had my support, as her partner, and the others to be there for her as her friends and family, it made things a little bit easier. The first few days we didn't get to enjoy the news for long, with Chang being so ill."

Tai Lung was aware of how sick Chang was when he was a baby. Even now Monkey made sure he was wrapped up in the wintertime. Poor Chang was nearly trapped in the layers of fabric but knew that his dad's heart was in the right place.

"Once we knew he was going to be okay, we got to enjoy our little surprise until we came back home. We told everyone then, so my goose dad was there. All this before we met my panda dad."

Both men chuckled.

"What about you?" It was Tai Lung's turn to prompt the question. Maybe he needed to hear it from a male's perspective. "Finding out, helping her through the pregnancy and such."

Po laughed. "I like how you left out the labour part." He continued on before Tai Lung could add anything else. "I'll be honest. I was over the moon. the doctor told us and... it felt like my heart skipped a beat." It probably did. "Once the others knew, the Valley found out, and we got our well wishes and unsolicited advice..."

"Did you ever worry?"

Po nodded quickly, brows arched to emphasize his point. "Absolutely. When Tigress went into labour I was terrified. I never went through anything like this before, what was I supposed to do to help her? I had to nurse my paw after because she nearly broke it through the contractions." Po laughed fondly at the memory. "Tigro came first quickly enough... then we found out there was a second one." Tai Lung laughed as the panda held his head in his paws. "I nearly passed out."

"I can imagine..."

"But the one thing that help us was knowing that I wasn't the only one going through it... I had Monkey also being a dad for the first time too.

Po finished off the conversation by telling him the usual cliche- he had nothing to worry about. Tai Lung just smiled gently and nodded along, before the doubt crept back into his mind. Soon enough, Po's voice faded into a blur, and Tai Lung was back looking out across the water, where he could now see the faint outline of Gongmen city, as it was becoming bathed in the sunlight.

It'll be okay. He heard Nuwa say. Everything will be okay...

Back Home...

AJ stood in her mother's old dorm room, watching herself pensively in the mirror. Her dark red tunic had long sleeves that dropped over her black paws, and she wasn't sure if she liked the feeling. "Mama?" She called.

The door opened, to reveal Tigress, smiling. "What do you think?" She asked.

"Are the sleeves supposed to be this long?" A nod from her mother answered her question, but it only made the frown heavier on her face. "Can they be shortened?"

"How short?" Said another voice. Tigress glanced over her shoulder to find Mei Mei, with measuring tape lapped around her neck, and sewing scissors in one paw. She wasn't peeking inside the room. To show respect to AJ's privacy, and that she only called her mother, the female panda had her back to the thin wall, looking up towards the ceiling. Not in annoyance, it was more so to show that she wasn't looking anywhere else.

"Up to the elbow would be fine..." Tigress looked back to her daughter, who was twisting her upper body this way and that. "I really like the design though."

Mei Mei took that as an invitation to come back in. She had spent some time working on this cherry blossom blouse, which was originally promised for AJ's birthday two weeks previous. However, that was pushed back by Mei Mei having her baby girl, Lily (who was currently sleeping in the corner of the dorm room). She was still recovering when the big day rolled around. AJ, as precious as she was, said she would rather wait so Mei Mei could properly rest.

"Glad to hear it!" Mei Mei had both sleeves trimmed before AJ could blink, stepping back to admire her handiwork. "Beautiful..."

AJ looked back at the mirror, smiling softly before looking back at Mei Mei. "Thank you... I love it!"

"Just in time for the grand opening of the kids hospital too! You'll be the prettiest panger there!" AJ just giggled and suggested that maybe she would be the only panger there. "No! Your brothers will be there too." Mei Mei would have said more, but she heard sniffling. Maternal instincts kicked in and she immediately looked a Lily, to find her sleeping soundly. Only when she turned around she saw Tigro and Lotus at the door- Lotus was the source of the sound, while Tigro looked hurt.

"Why can't we be the prettiest pangers there?" He sounded heartbroken. But before Mei Mei could correct herself, she was soon swatting at them as they grinned at her just as quickly. "Just joking!" They both laughed but stepped back to stay out of her reach.

"Enough joking around." Tigress said sternly. "We need to get going." She knelt down beside AJ, who was looking at herself in the mirror again as she dusted off her tunic in various places. "You ready?"

AJ nodded firmly, but smiled. "Yes Mama."

The grand opening of the hospital went smoothly. AJ stood proudly alongside her brothers, Chang and Zao as Tigress was positioned in front of them, but to the right-hand side so they were in view of the audience that was drawn into her speech.

Their grandfathers were there too; Mr Ping and Li Zhan were serving food to the attendees (which was pretty much the whole village), while Shifu conversed with Master Ox and Croc, who were cordially invited. They were now standing alongside Uncle Shang and Auntie Jasmine and Auntie Nuwa on Tigress' left. Sapphire was there too, but Sapphire chose to stand in the crowd near Ox and Croc, while Nuwa stood in during Uncle Tai Lung's absence. The event was scheduled for the afternoon, so the kids from her school were able to be there too. A lot of them waved at her or ran over to her as soon as they saw her walk in, but she had to apologise and promise she would speak to them after the grand opening. The words, the pauses, the quotations were all a fuzz now, but AJ knew that it was nearly time for the crowd to applaud her mother, and then she could loosen up and have some fun.

Since Tigress became Head of the Master's Council, even though HQ was moved to the valley, the Ping family had to travel quite a lot, so there were times that AJ had to be home-schooled, or transferred to another school this whole time. Although she made friends easily wherever she went, she missed her hometown. She missed her regular teachers, and her classmates dearly, especially Zia, her best friend. They wrote to each other frequently, and now she was feet away from her... beside Mia and Chen, surprisingly.

Mia was a pink pig with whitened spots speckled along the left side of her face, and beady black eyes, typically dressed in dark purple. Meanwhile, Chen (a black and brown duck with green eyes), was dressed in dark green or grey (sometimes both).

To put it briefly, Mia and Chen were not AJ's friends, neither were they her enemies.

They were mainly known as the class bullies who knew not to give her a hard time but felt that they had the pass to bother everyone else. AJ has always been nice to them, and vice versa, but she has called them out from time to time, mostly in Zia's defence; Zia was also duck, but she was snow white with brown wings and brown eyes and liked to be dressed in bright colours, no matter what time of year. For whatever reason she was their prime target, but only when AJ wasn't around, which was something she often worried about when they were away. Zia was kind to everyone, but she often couldn't stand up for herself, nor did she have many other friends apart from AJ. So to see her standing with them, whispering and laughing before the speeches began, was alien.

The crowd was clapping and cheering now, so AJ was brought back to reality, clapping alongside Tigro and Lotus as Tigress turned to the green ribbon that was laced in front of the entrance to the children's hospital. Tigress invited her over with a tilt of her head, and together they cut the ribbon, which made the crowd cheer louder. It also acted as a cue for her classmates to come over, chattering excitedly. Her mother dismissed her with a smile, while Zao quickly joined her side.

"It's been so weird not having you in class." One of them said.

"Mrs Song called on you to answer a question when you had to go the Gongmen with your mom. She completely forgot you were gone!" Another chortled, which gained a chuckle from AJ, Zao and some of their other classmates.

"It's good to be back. I like visiting these different places with Mama, but I miss being in class with everyone..."

She heard a snickering behind her. She turned her head slightly, to find Zia, Mia and Chen in a huddle, whispering again. No one else seemed to have heard it, apart from Zao, who raised a suspicious eyebrow to her. AJ just shrugged, and excused herself from the group, before turning to smile at Zia. The little duck straightened up when she saw her giving them her undivided attention, and waved timidly when AJ waved first. Chen scoffed and whispered something to Mia, before they giggled together. AJ's brows furrowed as they group broke apart behind her, dissolving into the crowd to find their parents, or walking into the building to get a view of the wards. So she moved in closer, with Zao close behind her. "Hey Zia!" She said brightly.

"You're talking to her now are you?" Mia sneered, to which AJ was a little taken aback.

"She wasn't talking to you," Zao replied for her smoothly, arms folded.

Chen rolled her eyes at him. "And she wasn't speaking to you," Chen said, before looking back at Mia and Zia. "Let's go."

Mia and Chen flounced off, but Zia hung back for a moment. Or at least, long enough for AJ to scrunch her nose at and ask; "what was that about?" An innocent question you may think.

Zia, however, looked at the ground and said. "She's right though." AJ's mouth opened enough to show her top teeth, brows knitting closer together. Zia opened her beak as if to say something else, she decided to turn away and followed Mia and Chen when they called for her to hurry up, and disappeared into the crowd. AJ just stood and watched her go, feeling her heart hanging a little heavier than before.

Zao's ear flattened across his head as he placed a paw on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah..." Her bi-coloured eyes flickered as she noticed her Grandpa Li coming towards them. "I'm just a little confused." She replied. Just before he closed in on them, she looked at Zao and whispered. "I don't know what I did wrong..."

It's about time I got this chapter out there. Been working, travelling... no excuse, but an explanation. I'll get the next chapter out asap.