Fung had not been on the Valley of Peace in a long time.
He used to come in there with frequency back on the day, but after his last arrest, he didn't really make it back to the Valley of Peace, as he left a life of crime behind. This was the first time he set foot there in years.
And the villagers showed that they remembered him clearly.
The glares, the mothers pulling their children close, the people walking across the street and slamming the doors and windows of their houses at him and hiding their wallets and valuables as they rushed past were more than enough proof to the former leader of the Croc Bandits that the people of the Valley of Peace remembered him very clearly.
This certainly made the croc wish he had stayed in the inn, but he promised he would meet Peng and the Constellations on Ping's for them to have lunch.
And who was in there if not Po himself, surrounded by his fans. And the panda remembered him as well, and he was much more receptive to him than the others, as he went to Fung and pulled him into a hug as if he was an old friend he had not seen in years, rather than a guy who often caused him problems by stealing from the people of his valley with his old gang.
It certainly warmed Fung heart that the panda was so nice to him, and it also made him feel even worse for all the problems that he caused to the panda in the past. Including the last one...
"Hey dad!" Po said, to what both a goose and an older panda answered. "Get Fung anything he wants of the menu on me, okay?" He told to his goose father, and the bird said he would, while Fung went to have a seat with his snow leopard boss and with five other pandas, one of them being Li Shan, Po's other father.
"Nice to meet you." Fung said as he shook Li's hand, and the panda said back that he heard some about him, and that he "didn't seemed so evil and dangerous". Fung seriously took it as a compliment.
Meanwhile, Po was still surrounded by his fans, all of which were quite eager to hear more stories of his past achievements and adventures while the panda gave them autographs.
A type of stories that were quite popular among the people were the ones of Po's adventure to destroy the Tianshang Weapons five years ago.
For they all knew how powerful the Tianshang Weapons were, and how Po had been the one to save the world from being taken by the two evil weasels who had stolen said weapons. Also, there was the fact that, since most of them never left China on their entire lives, they were all eager to hear the stories that Po had to share about the faraway lands that had customs and sights that were so different from those of China, not to mention the many different species that he met on his way across the world.
Po, happy as he was for having his fans around him, certainly didn't minded sharing those stories with them. They did bring him back all kinds of memories, both good and bad.
"Yeah, India was truly a beautiful place." Po said as a bunny asked him about it. "It was out first stop right after we left China. I saw how they make marriages in there and tasted their food, it is super spicy. So different from what we have here. Everything out there is different, and seeing that was cool, but it also made me miss my home, and made me want to come back... even if everyone in here hated me..."
This statement caused a lot of people to look at the panda, all of them noticing how his smile faltered.
"We didn't hate you, Po!" The bunny who had asked the question about India said to the panda, causing Po to look at her. She was looking back at him with her big eyes. "We never hated you! We never believed on the stories of your having become bad! Promise!"
Po looked at her, and then he looked at the rest of the people in there. The citizens of the Valley of Peace. The people who knew him better than anyone else in China. They all smiled at him, and Po could not help but smile back.
Years ago, Po left he Valley with his goose dad because he had wanted to set a new restaurant on another part, and maybe open a franchise all over China. He left someone to look after his original restaurant in there as he and Po moved to the countryside.
As a result, Po had not been around the Valley to know how the people of place where he grew up were reacting to the news.
Po had just assumed that they were reacting the same way everyone else: by hating on the panda, considering him a loser and a disgrace, and that they would be ready to throw rotten food at him and chase him away the second he dared to try and return to the Valley.
However, as Po would only find out after his return, that was not the case at all.
The people of the Valley of Peace never lost the respect they had for him, and never stopped having him in high regard.
Not Master Shifu. Not the Five. And not the villages.
They did agree that Po screwed up, that he should have been more careful, and that destroying an entire village by accident was easily one of the panda's worst screw-ups. But still, they knew Po for long enough to know that he would never do it on purpose, like the rumors going around the country were saying.
And they didn't believe that the panda deserved to have his Dragon Master title stripped from him. Not after all the great things he did for their country and its people.
Po, who believed that no one in China other than his dad had been on his side, was deeply moved for knowing that the people of the Valley of Peace never lost faith in him. That they never stopped believing him to be a good guy and, in some occasions, even spoke on his behalf when someone else, usually a traveler or merchant passing by the valley, badmouthed the panda.
To know that he truly did had their respect and admiration even at his lowest really meant a lot for Po.
It still did to this very day. Which was why Po apologized to the guys for going into that direction, and he tried to focus on the better, happier aspects of his travel. Like how, right after going to India, they followed the weasels all the way to Greece because they were following a misinterpreted clue of the location of the next Tianshang Weapon, and they arrived right on time for this great race they called "Great Olympian Marathon", and in which Po took part.
"I started vomiting when we were halfway through, but I still did my best. And I arrived in third! They gave me this medal made of bronze for it!" Po said proudly. "After this we followed them across Rome, and them to Arabia, and we found a magic rug that could fly! It sounds crazy but I swear it is true! We used it to follow the weasels to Egypt. They bury their dead in very fancy sarcophaguses... or is t sarcophagusis? Anyway, they bury them on them all wrapped in bandages to preserve them, I saw them doing it, it was creepy, but so cool!"
Po would happily narrate his adventures across the world for all his fans. From his meeting with a tribe of cannibals back on the New World to walks through the forests of the Netherlands as they got lost in a storm while trying to make their way back to England for the final stage of their adventure.
"Where you destroyed the Tianshang Weapons and defeated the weasels, right?" One of the younger ones asked, and Po looked at her, and told her that, while he could, if he had time to come up with a plan, he was not the one to do it.
"It was Blade who did it." Po said to them. "She was the one who had the last Tianshang Weapon. It was one of the two wheels. Her brother had re-forged it into a sword and he kept it with himself to use as a last resort in case someone ever tried to get the weapons together again. It was the only thing that could destroy the Tianshang Weapons, and only someone who was related to Alfred could use it because he used a little bit of his own blood on the forge while it was turned into a sword. Only Blade could have done it. All I did was help her by giving her an opening."
As Po said that, he unconsciously passed a hand by his chest. Right on the scar hidden beneath his shirt.
"It was a team effort." Po said finally. "Blade and I made a pretty great team back then."
"Do you miss her?" One of the other kids asked, and Po looked at them, and he nodded.
"Well, of course I do. I mean, she was a big friend of mine. And we saved each one's lives more times than I can count." He then added:
"I'd like to see her again one of these days..."
Everyone looked at the panda, who then shook it off and asked if they would like to hear anything else about his travels, because he did have a lot of tales to tell them. Soon people were asking some of their favorites, like about the fires that he stopped on the Netherlands, and some were asking more questions about the flying rug.
As Po happily narrated his tales to the people, others were looking at him from a distance. Among them was Yu Mei, who smiled as she saw Po, one of the people she was in charge of looking after, interacting so much with the people of the Valley. She liked seeing it, and she particularly liked when Po showed just the right amount of weakness to remember the people that he was just an ordinary guy who knew how to fight, not some perfect, infallible idol.
If people had been more aware of that five years ago, she knew for a fact they would not have turned on Po as easily as they did.
That was why she loved those times of parties, it was Po's chance to interact with the people and remind them that he was just another guy, not a god or anything. That he could still sympathize and empathize with them. This certainly would help him garner their sympathy back and keep the people on his side.
As for the other people looking at Po from a distance...
"Do you guys really believe on that 'flying rug' stuff?" Fung asked to the table. "I mean, it sounds kind of unbelievable."
"Not compared to the stuff we have seen since we became the Constellations, believe me." Nu Hai said, and the other three pandas of the table agreed. Well, four, if you count Li, even though he had moved out of the table to have a word with Ping about something.
"Did you guys notice how Po's smile gets a little bigger when he speaks about this 'Blade'?" Jing asked, looking at the panda. "I bet they had a fling!"
"Jing!"
"What? Is a valid guess!" The second female of the Constellations said to her peers.
"You know, only because they were a boy and a girl, doesn't necessarily meant they dated." Fan Tong said, "Maybe they were just friends."
"Yeah, I like to think Po is smart enough not to waste a chance, if you know what I mean."
Oh, he knew what she meant. So did the others on the table. Fan Tong blushed at Jing's commentaries, while the other two pandas could not help but share a look and shake their heads. Hey did not really enjoy that, as she got older, Jing also gained this "pervy" quality to go along with also being a psycho. She certainly was the kind who would make those innuendos with enough frequency to make their shy friend Fan Tong uncomfortable around her.
Fung and Peng, on their end, could only chuckle at this. All the while, they could not help but think that they had noticed that Po did had a certain look on his eyes as he talked about this Blade friend of his'.
It was the type of look that someone would have for a person who was... well, let's just say "more than a mere friend".
I wonder what Tigress thinks about it...Peng caught himself wondering.
"Excuse me?" Said a voice nearby, which caused the animals on the table to turn to look at who was the one who talked to them. They saw a golden pheasant in there, looking at the six of them with a serious expression. He then said, in a formal voice:
"I am looking for the crocodile named Fung. Is that you, by any chance?"
The croc looked at him, seeing how serious he was being.
"That depends... what is this about?"
"I have a message on the name of Fung the crocodile." The pheasant said, pulling a scroll from the bag he was carrying. Fung blinked, and then he confirmed it was him.
The pheasant gave him the scroll, before bowing and then flying off without saying another word.
Fung unfurled the scroll and started readying from it, just as two other people made it into the restaurant.
"Yoh, Po!" Said Monkey as he lifted a hand. Po soon was catching sight of his simian friend, as well as the familiar green dot on his shoulder that was Mantis.
"Hey, guys!" Po waved back, and he was soon inviting them to come and sit with him. The two did, and Po was soon asking his fans if he could talk with his friends a little bit. Luckily, everyone was more than receptive to the panda's request, and they all gave their Dragon Master the space he so much needed.
"Sorry about earlier, dude." Mantis said to the panda. "I didn't thought you would still be sensitive about it after five years..."
The bug seemed sincere about it. That much Po could easily tell. That was why he smiled at Mantis and said that it was everything okay. The panda really did mean it.
"Well, that was an important thing that happened." Po told them. "It did finally made me realize that I needed to be more careful, it made me remember what was so important about being the Dragon Master, and it reminded me that everyone deserves a chance to atone for their mistakes. Like Fung did."
"Wait, Fung? You mean, the croc bandit?"
"Yup, he is here." Po said, "Over there with Peng and the others. Yoh, guys!"
Soon Po and his two friends were coming to see the other guys. Monkey and Mantis were certainly eager to meet the famous Constellations, once they never actually had a chance to get to know Po's four students. And they were also happy for seeing Peng again, although they were a bit unsettled on how his looks now reminded them of another snow leopard who nearly killed them many years ago.
And, of course, there was Fung... who was sitting on his chair, with an unfurled scroll on his hands and a thousand-yard stare on his face.
"Fung?" Po asked, "Fung, dude? You okay?"
"Yoh, former crocodile bandit!" Mantis said, hopping from Monkey's shoulder and landing on the table, looking at the reptile. "What's with the face? Who died?"
Fung took three seconds to answer:
"My mother."
Mantis eyes widened as he heard that.
"Oh..."
The others were immediately asking Fung if it was true, what the crocodile confirmed it was. It was all in the scroll he just received from the messenger.
Fung's mother had passed away due to an illness contracted on her old age.
"Fung, I'm so sorry!" Po said to the croc, who continued to look into the distance. Then, his eyes started watering, his lip quivering, and weak sobs started to escape his throat.
Then, it all broke into a full-blown ugly crying as he hugged the panda and wept like a baby at the news. Some people turned their heads to look, a lot of them wanting to know what this was about, while Po continued to hug and comfort the sobbing croc.
"Was it sudden?" Nu Hai asked. "For how long she'd been sick?"
"I-I d-don't know..." Fung said between sobs, as he wiped his tears away. "I-I don't know when she got sick... I... I have not talked to mom in a few years... after I decided to straighten up, I kind of moved away from the region, and we lost contact. She used to send me letters, but they stopped a while ago. I figure out she had just decided to enjoy having her neet of a son finally moving out of the basement... and it wasn't even today it happened, it was three weeks ago! They already had the funeral and everything, and I didn't even knew about it!"
Fung once more broke in crying. Once more, he was comforted by the panda, as well as by the people around him, all of them telling him that it was okay.
"And now I gotta go to her old house..." Fung said, sniffling. "Something to do with some inheritance she left for me..."
"Oh, an inheritance?" Jing said, "Well, so I guess it is not all bad news, huh?"
The people around looked at the female panda with varying expressions, with the most present one being varying degrees of disgust.
"I don't care about any inheritance!" Fung said, "I want my mom!"
And he once more broke into sobs, only for both Po and Peng to comfort him.
Neither of them knew Fung's mom personally (well, Po technically did, but he didn't really remember the experience), but they knew, from what Fung told both, that she was a very sweet woman. And Po knew that she made the best honeycakes he ever tasted (this was still one of the few things that Po ever managed to remember from his time with amnesia).
"I don't even know why we drifted away..." Fung said after he finally calmed down after several minutes of crying, his eyes bloodshot at this stage, while Po and Peng had their hands on his shoulders. "This is the first letter I got from her in years..." He said, gesturing to the piece of paper that came inside of the scroll. "It speaks about this inheritance, and how I need to go to the old house to get this thing she left for me..."
Po and Peng both shared a look.
"Does it says what it is?" One of them asked, and the croc shook his head.
"Maybe you should go there." Po said to the croc, causing Fung to look at him. "I mean, if your mother sent you a letter saying that she wanted you to go and have it, then it must be something important. Maybe a family heirloom she wanted you to have. Or maybe it is another letter that she wanted to have sent you but never got the chance to Who knows?"
Fung looked at the panda, and then at Peng, who nodded in agreement with the panda.
"Yeah... m-maybe you're right..." Fung spoke, sniffling. "But... I don't... I don't really want to go there... into that empty house... all alone."
"You won't have to." Peng said, "I will go with you."
Fung looked at him with surprise.
"Hey, we are friends." Peng said to him nonchalantly. "If you need someone by your side as you do it, then I will do it with you. I mean, how far is that house from here? We should not take more than one or two days. I certainly don't mind doing it along with you."
"You should do it, Fung." Po said, patting his shoulder. "Go see what is it that your mother left for you. Then you can come back and we all can celebrate the Winter Festival together. If you feel like it, that is."
Fung looked at the panda, and then back at the snow leopard. They were both smiling in a friendly way to him, and the croc could not help but be moved at the two. One was the person who he so many times caused problems to and who he nearly ruined on the last mishap he caused as a criminal, and that now was acting like they had been besties for years, showing just how kind and forgiving he truly was. The other was the only person who had been willing to hire him and his crew despite knowing their past, and who totally supported their plans to turn over a new leaf and start anew as honest people.
For the two to have his back in a moment like that really made the croc feel like start sobbing all over again.
"Thanks, guys..." Was all the croc could say, before he once more broke down in tears, barely caring if now the entire restaurant was staring at him as the two mammals comforted him.
"Thank you for the information." The bear in armor said to the bunnies with whom she talked, who wished her a good day as her and her deer companion were continuing their path.
It has been a few days since Luthera and Collin arrived in China, and they were still trying their best to follow the trail of the weasels. However, it proved to be a challenge, as it seems that the criminals they were going after knew someone was on their tail and were doing their best to cover their tracks.
However, they knew a place where they were probably going: this so called "Valley of Peace".
"You really never been there?" Collin asked, and Luthera shook her head.
"I never went to that part of China last time I was here. Back then I was only worried about following the Dumonds. I wonder what they want from that place..."
They continued their way across the land, now that they knew where to go. Still, it should take them a good day of travel to get there. However, that would not be taking even half as long as they thought, for that was when they heard two cries coming from above them, and two figures landed close to them coming from the sky.
"Wandering Blade!" one of the figures, the male one, said "It has been a long time!"
"Falcon Twins!" Luthera said to the two of them, as she quickly recognized the two kung fu masters who she knew from five years ago.
Hard to forget them when they spent a good few months chasing after her and Po after they left China and traveled the world.
"Fancy seeing you here in China." Falcon Sister said as she approached the bear, "You came here to visit?"
"I am here in an official mission for the Queen." Luthera said to the two of them. "And, what are you doing here? I heard you two lived in a village in the mountains on the far northwest of the country."
"We are on our way to the Valley of Peace." Falcon Brother said, "We have been invited for the annual Winter Banquet on the Jade Palace."
"You are going to the Valley of Peace?" Collin said, "So are we!"
"You said there is a banquet in there?"
"Yes." Falcon Sister said. "Every year, during winter, the Jade Palace, one of the greatest kung fu temples of China, hosts a great banquet with invited masters from all the provinces, and we happen to have been invited this year. So, you are on your way to the Valley of Peace too? You hoping to see the Dragon Master?"
"What!?" Luthera said, "Po will be there? He has been invited to this banquet too?"
"Well, he will probably not be on the banquet, but he will certainly be on the Valley of Peace." Falcon Brother said. "It's where he lives, after all."
"What!?" Both Luthera and Collin said in surprise.
"You didn't know?" Falcon Sister asked, "His father has a restaurant in there."
"But his restaurant is in the countryside, on the opposite direction!" Luthera said, suddenly alarmed. "I was there before!"
"That's the second restaurant." Falcon Brother said. "The Dragon Master moved there with his father for a while, but he lived on the Valley of Peace during nearly all his life. And they went back to live in there after he returned from England, and he has been there ever since."
Luthera and Collin shared a look as they absorbed this information and, all of a sudden, the weasels' intent was much clearer.
"They are after revenge."
"We have to get there!" Luthera said, and then she turned at the Falcon Twins, looking at the two and asking them if they could give them a lift. Of course, the two avian said that they could.
Soon, the four of them had taken flight, with Falcon Sister carrying Luthera with her talons, while her brother did the same for Collin.
"So, the weasels are going to the Valley of Peace hoping to get revenge on the Dragon Master?" Falcon Brother asked. "But, if they want revenge, why didn't they come after you first?" He directed this question to Luthera. "I mean, you were a lot closer."
"We can ask the weasels that after we caught them!" Luther had an urgency on her voice. "Now, please, fly faster! We have to get there soon! Po might be in danger!"
And so, the two falcons started flapping their wings faster, aiming to take the two knights to the Valley of Peace as quickly as possible.
They completely failed to notice two figures chasing after them from the ground, even as one of those two called for one of them in particular.
Those two figures were rendered upset, as they really wanted to follow the two knights. However, it seemed that luck was on their side, for there was a goat nearby who had been listening to the interaction of the four and then heard the problem of the two little ones.
"Yup, they are definitely going to the Valley of Peace." The goat spoke to the two little animals. "I am on my way there too. I gotta deliver a bunch of vegetables for their Winter Festival feast. I can drop you both there. It will take a while to arrive, but we will get there in time for everything. Come on, hop in!"
And the two small figures did, and they were soon making their way on the back of a vegetable chariot to the Valley of Peace, one of them leaning against a box full of radishes...