Author's Note: Hey there! Doing a quick update for this one-shot collection before getting back onto clouded minds. Not much to say for this one other than, it takes place shortly after KFP 2 and, if you've read 'the cracks in an iron soul', it has a neat little surprise in there for you. Let's get on with it now, shall we?

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN KFP!

Enjoy.

Mirror

III

Jade irises stare into a sheet of gold, glowing amidst the splendour of the rising sun. A panda stares back from the dragon scroll's mirror. Alone. Loose petals from the peach tree of heavenly wisdom caress said panda's despondent reflection, providing whatever small comfort it can. All it does is rip Po's eyes away from the glowing mirror, his gaze now focused on the vast, lively valley below. His home. Or at least, it felt like it was before.

Though he doesn't see the miniscule figures of the valley's citizens, he imagines their faces down below, brimming with happiness. He can imagine the geese, pigs, sheep, animals of all sorts wandering the streets. Anything but a panda. Despondence creases his brow further, knowing with absolute certainty that this would never change.

A soft breeze ruffles his fur, cuddling his form in reassurance. To no avail. He remembers being the odd on out years ago. Being so out of place as the only panda in the entire village. A fat, lowly panda. The blob that would often stare back at him in those days tries to replace the panda in the dragon scroll, but Po manages to ignore its demeaning stare. He knows now that this isn't who he is, yet in this realisation, a sad, inescapable truth had presented itself. His head turns to face the meagre panda plush leaning against the peach tree, its scorch marks bringing a pang of pain into his heart, mirroring the scars that his mind had hidden away from him.

Scars that bear a horrific crimson eye.

It had been two weeks since their mission in Gongmen, yet those memories haunt him still. Memories of panicked screams and roaring fires. Memories of suffocating smoke and his infantile fear. Memories of his mother and her loving touch, her tears that knew this was the last time she would ever see him.

Yet it is not the memories themselves that strangle his heart, engulfing his mind in a horrifying implication. It's the aftermath of it. A single fact that freezes his soul in its unforgiving truth.

They're all gone.

Not just his panda family, but all the pandas within the village. Within what would have been his home. He is the last one left. The only one in the valley of peace. Upon realising this, a chilling loneliness had crept up on him, whispering this truth in his ear night after sleepless night. Dream after dream had been conjured, that harsh truth deforming those dreams of his panda kind into unbearable nightmares. He truly is the last panda left. His eyes gaze back at his reflection, glistening with tears he refuses to shed. He needs to see the panda clearly, to hope that maybe his face won't be the only panda he'll ever see. Maybe he will meet more, their faces chubbier or chiselled or different in some way. It can't just be him, right? This hope dissipates as tears begin to fall upon his reflection, warping the panda into an unidentifiable mosaic of loneliness. A blob smothered in a lonely sense of longing.

Bitter tears form trenches on his cheeks, driving the unfairness of it all closer to his soul. That he will never get to feel what it was like to be with his kind, that he will never understand who they were, how they lived. More tears fill in these trenches, forming rivers of a possibility, a life that could never be. A life where he isn't the only one.

Yet, even in the silence of his lonesome despondence, it deafens Po to the sound of soft footsteps approaching behind him. It shields him from the kind amber eyes that gaze on him with empathy. It tries to blind him to the scroll rolled out in front of him until he notices the illustrations inscribed on it. Pandas of every size, weight and demeanour all look upon him, bringing a welcome fuzziness to his heart. A hopeful thought to his mind. To see so many of them within a single scroll, that there are enough to warrant their own scroll. A small smile fills his face, at the sight. At the very thought that tries to banish his plight. There must be more out there. There must be more people like him.

He opens his mouth to thank Tigress only for her to wrap her arms around his chest, shutting him up immediately. Though he wonders about her reaction, her eagerness to help him, his question is soon answered as he feels her head rub against his back. Comforting him in a gentle, caring warmth seldom seen from the stoic tiger. The only tiger he has ever known. It is with this that a realisation forms in his mind. Not a single word is uttered between them as Tigress holds him tighter, the sun smiling upon them both. Instead, a grateful smile fills Po's face as he caresses her paws, his heart touched by her embrace's reassuring message.

He isn't the only one.

Honestly, I feel like these two really are kindred spirits. Like, they have so much in common that it makes too much sense that they would be so close. Especially after what happened in Gongmen. I hope dreamworks (at some point) expands on them, cuz their dynamic is genuinely great. I hope you've enjoyed this short one, and until next time :)