Quote of the Chapter:

"I love being immersed in nature, going to places in the world that are pristine and untouched by man. It's almost a religious experience when you go to a place like the Amazon, and there's no civilization for thousands of miles."

-Leonardo DiCaprio

Chapter 20

Arrival

Nearly 7 Months Later at Ping & Shan's Noodle Shop

"There's no need to worry Master Tigress, believe me when I say that if you're having Pandas then it will be easy." Li Shan spoke to the female Tiger who sat in a chair next to him. Tigress had now been married to Po for nearly 6 months now and at this point she was 4 and a half months pregnant. (Basically 9 months because Tiger gestation only usually lasts about 4-5 months) She had first found out about this when she started to feel symptoms such as fatigue, slight nausea and also would feel hungry much more frequently than before. Po had noticed these symptoms very early on and recommended that she see the village doctor, a kind elder female Boar named Mrs Zhu. Tigress had obliged and visited Mrs Zhu, and at the end of her checkup with the elder female Boar, Mrs Zhu had concluded that she was pregnant. Tigress hadn't even thought it was possible for this to happen, what with Po being of a different species however despite this, she had been absolutely overjoyed at the news and told Po that very day. Po had been so happy upon hearing the news that he began to tell everyone of the news including the rest of the Furious Five, his two Fathers and his adoptive son Hao. However when he had told Shifu the news, the Red Panda had not reacted the way that he thought he would and unfortunately for Po, he had received quite a beating that day.

Now Tigress was nearing the end of her gestation and had gained nearly 30 pounds as a result. And though it would seem like a lot of weight, luckily for her it wasn't very noticeable as the weight was well distributed from her torso to her abdomen. However, during this time she had to wear slightly larger clothes to accommodate for this which annoyed her as she always preferred to wear her training clothes. Today she wore a very beautiful blue robe which was similar to her traditional golden rode with red lotus leaves. And as she sat at a table with her husband and father-in-law she could feel the Cub or Cub's kicking, her cubs had been doing this much more often as of late, and she had initially been worried by this, however Mrs Zhu had reassured her that this was normal for her as Tiger Cubs do this quite often near the end of gestation. Although she knew she was pregnant, she still didn't know whether it was only one Cub, she also didn't know what gender it or they would be. However she had already come up with at least 6 possible names for every possible outcome, 3 female names and 3 male names each of which Po had approved of. Tigress then replied to Li Shan with a question "wait, what do you mean 'if I'm having Pandas then it will be easy'?" Li Shan chuckled as he replied "well, for one thing, Panda cubs are absolutely tiny when they're born! Heck! Po was only about 4 and a half ounces when he was born! And that was heavy for a Panda Cub!" Li Shan responded as he began to chuckle, almost perfectly remembering the day his son was born. Tigress was surprised by this and she then raised an eyebrow and asked "really? What else was Po like when he was a Cub?" She then looked over at her husband with an expression that seemed mischievous and curious. At this Po looked embarrassed as he said to his father "uhh, okay Dad, I think that's enough with the stories for now-" But before he could finish, he was interrupted by Li Shan who said "oh sure! He was just the most adorable thing in the universe! When he was first born, like all other Panda newborns, Po was pink, furless, and completely blind!" At this Tigress seemed to adore the story about her husband's childhood, and then Li Shan continued "however one thing you should know if you are going to have Pandas is that when they're newborns they squeal and vocalize a lot...And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. Though Po actually was generally more quiet than most Pandas, but when Po's mother would ever let go of him, well let's just say you wouldn't hear the end of it..." Tigress' expression then changed from being engrossed, to being a bit nervous. This didn't go unnoticed by Li Shan though and he reassured her "but don't worry Master Tigress, as long as you keep them nice and warm and feed them regularly, they wont cause you much trouble. Oh! And a word of advice if your Cub or Cubs are indeed Pandas, a great way to keep them warm is to carry them in your mouth." Tigress nearly cringed at this and responded "what!? Carry them in my mouth!? What if I accidentally bite them?" She asked thinking that the large Panda had lost his mind. "Oh no, I'm serious. Trust me, it keeps them very warm and it's not as hard as you think, Po's mother often did this and he didn't complain much." Tigress didn't seem convinced by this and she replied "but Po's mother was a Panda, wasn't she? I'm clearly not a Panda..." Li Shan then responded "oh I know, but you don't just have to do that to keep them warm, you can keep them tucked in your arms or you can wrap them up in some sort of blanket, but I would mostly recommend a natural way." Tigress crossed her arms as she replied "And that's assuming that they're Pandas, but thank you for the advice Li." Li nodded and replied looking into the kitchen "your welcome, just make sure to show us it or them when they're born! I'll bet Ping will love to see his new grandchildren!" Po then commented sarcastically "because it will mean that he can get some more help in the shop..."

(If any of you are wondering how I know so much about Panda Cubs, I used to work at the Toronto Zoo as a Giant Panda Caretaker, and during my time there, the female Panda that was called Er Shun had twin Cubs which I helped to raise.)

Both Tigress and Li Shan laughed at this comment and then the three of them heard a voice coming from the kitchen "hey Mom! Dad! Look what I made!" The three looked over to the origin of the voice and noticed Hao running out of the kitchen still wearing a white apron over top of his training clothes and holding out what looked to be a fresh bowl of noodle soup on a platter. Hao had also grown quite a bit over the months, and he was now nearly a half a foot taller than when Tigress adopted him. Po then called to him "watch out Hao! Don't spill it!" Just as Po said this, Hao then accidentally took a misstep and dropped the bowl. But before the Bowl crashed into the ground, Po lunged over and slid, catching the bowl with one hand and saving almost the entire soup. "Woops, sorry Dad..." Hao said looking ashamed with himself. Po chuckled as he got up and he replied "it's alright Hao, just remember to be patient next time." Hao responded back "okay Dad. Hey Mom! I made your favorite meal!" Hao said to his mother as Po handed the bowl of soup back to him. "Did you? Well let's see it!" Tigress replied to her Cub with a smile. Hao then set the bowl of soup before his mother and had an expression that said 'so?' Tigress looked at the bowl of soup before her and she said "it looks great! But does it taste good?" She said this as she took the spoon before her and tried a sip of the soup and her taste buds were immediately satisfied. "I toned down the spices a bit because of 'you know what'." Hao commented as his mother tried the bowl of noodle soup that he had made for her. "It tastes great Hao, thank you very much! It looks like your training is paying off!" Hearing his mother compliment him, Hao shot his hands up in the air as he said "Yes! Thanks Mom!" Tigress smiled at her son's positive attitude as she nodded, then she took her spoon and kept eating the soup as she was quite hungry at the present moment.

Once Tigress had finished her soup, her and Hao began on their way back to the Jade Palace and said their goodbyes to Mr Ping and Li Shan. "How are you feeling?" Po asked as they left the noodle shop. "I feel fine Po, certainly much better after I had Hao's soup." She responded looking down to the Cub who looked very happy to hear her say this. The three then headed up the 1000 stairs with Po and Tigress holding hands while watching Hao scale the stairs running ahead of them. Po then said "do you need me to carry you?" Tigress replied "I can manage it Po, Mrs Zhu said to stay active until the Cub or Cubs are born." As she said this, she felt the Panda kiss her on the cheek and he said "even when you're pregnant, nothing can stop you from being strong and determined..." Tigress smiled at this and she replied "but you love that about me, don't you?" Po chuckled as he responded "indeed I do..." Po then scooped up the female Tiger in his arms and kissed her on the lips to which she kissed him back until he let her down. "Ewww, why do you always have to kiss!?" Said Hao as he cringed from a couple of steps up. Hao's Parents just looked at each other and laughed.

About Half an Hour later at the Top of the 1000 Steps

The three had finally reached the top of the stairs having been slowed down slightly because of Tigress, however none of them seemed bothered by this as each of them understood her situation. However shortly after arriving at the top of the stairs Hao and Po were slowed down again as they looked back and saw Tigress who had stopped and was kneeling and seemed like she was in some form of discomfort. Po ran back and asked her "are you alright?" Tigress didn't look up at him, but she replied "I don't know, everything feels tight for some reason, I think it's happening Po..." Po seemed to have a worried expression at this and he responded "what do you mean? What's happening?" He had a feeling that he knew what her response would be. "I think the Cubs are coming..." She replied to him now looking up at him. Po's expression went from one of worry to one of determination and he then called to Hao "Hao, go get the rest of the five as well as Shifu and bring them to the village hospital as quickly as you can." Hao then nodded his head and ran off to the Palace. Po then looked at his wife and he said "alright come on, I'll carry you there, just hang in there." Tigress quickly tried to interject "Po I'm fi-" But before she could argue with the Panda, Po picked her up bride style and began to head back down the stairs towards the village hospital. He didn't reply to her and merely directed all of his focus to getting her to the hospital as quickly as he could.

As Po carried her down the 1000 steps towards the village, Tigress had originally wanted to refuse Po's help and thought she could make it to the hospital on her own, however now as he carried her, she felt more relaxed. Sure she could still feel the contractions of her Cubs, but being in her husbands arms made her feel warm and comfortable, not to mention that it probably wouldn't be such a great idea for her to walk when she was this close to giving birth. While Po carried her down the stairs she just looked at his determined and focused face dreamily as she thought 'however many there are, they will be lucky to have a protective and loving father.'

Nearly 4 Hours Later in the Village Hospital

Po paced back and forth restlessly as he waited outside of the delivery room where Tigress had been in for the last 4 hours. To say he was distraught would have been an understatement, he was downright impatient. He couldn't stand that the midwives and the doula had requested that Tigress be left alone during the birth of the Cubs. As he paced back and forth, he growled slightly at the thought that he couldn't be with his own wife when their first Cub or Cubs were born. "Po, brother, you need to sit down, Tigress will be fine." Viper tried to reason with the unruly Panda. Po then threw his arms up in the air and said "but what if she won't be fine!? What if something's wrong and they can't help her!?" Po suggested as he worried himself even more. Viper responded "she'll be fine Po, right now you have to be patient and trust in them as well as trust in Tigress." Po wanted to argue with Viper's opinion but when he was just about to interject, he felt someone hug his leg and say "Dad, Viper's right! You should sit down with us and wait." As Po looked down at his adoptive son, Po instantly lost most of his worry and he replied "okay Hao, I guess you're right, patience is the best option." Po then went to sit down on a chair next to the rest of the Furious Five and he picked up the White Tiger Cub and placed Hao on his lap deciding to patiently wait for the outcome. Viper then smiled as she said "wow Hao, I don't remember you being so patient before, you must be learning quite a lot when working in the restaurant with your grandfather." Hao looked at Viper and nodded saying "oh ya! Grandpa teaches me a lot about patience! But it's mostly Dad who teaches me how to be more patient! Right Dad?" This made Po blush as he thought about how impatient he had just been, however he was the one telling his own son to be patient. "Uhh, yes Hao, but it seems that you're the more patient of the two of us." All the other Furious Five laughed at this and Mantis said "well, I'm sure all of us knew that Po can sometimes be a hypocrite." They all laughed at this, even Po decided to have a sense of humour and laughed at himself.

Then Crane started "I wonder what gender the Cub or Cubs will be-" Mantis who was standing on the arm of a chair then interrupted the avian and said "forget the gender man! I wonder whether they will be Panda-like or Tiger-like!" Crane did not look happy with the insect and he cleared his throat and continued "-ahem- As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted..." Crane said this while looking right at Mantis. "Po, do you have any names picked out for them?" Po nodded at this and replied "yes, we have, Tigress have come up with 6 names, 3 male names and 3 female names just in case." Viper then said "really? Which ones do you think you'll prioritize the most?" Po then replied "well, to be honest, I'm going to let Tigress pick the names, she will have gone through a lot so..." Mantis then spoke again and said "man, you guys are all so lucky, you actually have a chance to name your children, I won't..." Everyone laughed at this as they all knew that Mantis would lose his head before he would get the chance to name his children. Hao however did not understand what the insect meant by this and he asked "wait, what do you mean 'you won't get to name your children'?" Po then looked down at his son who still sat on his lap and he replied to the Cub "well Hao, let's just say that Mantis won't see much after he finds a girl..." Then Mantis looked like he was going to explain what he meant in more detail, however before he had the chance, Po put a finger over the insect's mouth with a facial expression that read 'not with Hao around.' Then Monkey spoke out "hey Mantis, I'm willing to bet 50 Almond Cookies that they'll be Tiger-like!" Mantis smirked at this and he replied "you still owe me from the last bet, so your on! If they're Panda-like then you owe me 50 almond cookies!" Hao was curious as to what the two were talking about and he whispered to his father "hey Dad? What are they talking about almond cookies?" Po looked down and chuckled slightly as he whispered to his son "well Hao, they're gambling on whether the Cub or Cubs will look like Pandas, or if they will look like Tigers." Just then Po heard Mantis say to Monkey "I'm just worried, I mean, what if they are missing a finger? Or what if they have more fingers than they're supposed to? That's worse isn't it?" Po had to covered Hao's ears so the Cub wouldn't hear the insect's inappropriate comments and Viper snapped at him "Mantis! Do you have any sense at all!?" At this the insect replied "What? I was just sayi-" "Mantis! Just stop, please!" Po also angrily snapped at Mantis.

But just then, everyone in the room heard a loud roaring sound come from the delivery room. Po knew exactly what it was that made that sound, he got Hao off of his lap and he went to rush over to the doors, but he was stopped by Viper who wrapped her tail around his arm and said "I know you want to help her brother, but you have to trust them." Po then pulled his arm out of Viper's grasp and he yelled "Let me go Viper! I need to help her!" Just a second after Po said this, another loud roar was heard from the delivery room. Po couldn't wait anymore, so he ran towards the door to the delivery room and looked like he was about to pound it open, but just before he did so, the doors were opened by Mrs Zhu.

"Congratulations Dragon Warrior, it's twins..."

Po's eyes then lit up and his mood immediately went from one of extreme worry to one of pure excitement. Po then saw the other midwives leaving the room as well, he then looked like he was about to say something to the elderly docter, however no words seemed to come out. Mrs Zhu smiled as she said "you can go in now if you'd like Dragon Warrior." Po didn't even respond to the female Boar and upon hearing this he walked into the room, not wasting any time at all. When he entered the room, he saw his wife lying down sideways on a soft and comfortable bed with her back against him and a blanket over top of her back. Just then, Tigress turned her head around and saw the Panda who stood behind her, his face bewildered in shock. She didn't say anything at all, but she had one of the happiest facial expressions that Po had ever seen, then as she finally spoke in a slow and quite manner "Po...Come..." Po did what he was told and he quietly walked up to his wife who still lied down on the bed on her side. But once he got close to her, he could hear a faint noise that sounded like a sucking sound of some sort. He then walked around the side of the bed and when he got around to the other side of the bed, he saw the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life, the blanket that covered Tigress' back was exposed at her abdomen, and at her abdomen lie 2 small Tiger Cubs. They were both nestled up next to Tigress' abdomen and noises that sounded like sucking were coming from both of them. They were feeding. They both had very wet fur and were only around 7 inches long, they looked almost exactly like any Tiger would with somewhat defined black stripes with orange and white fur color, however when Po took a better look at the Cubs heads he noticed that there were unusual black patches of fur around their eyes, they had inherited their father's black fur patches on their eyes. Po's eyes began to tear up and his jaw opened slightly "they're...they're beautiful..." The Panda whispered as his eyes began to drop tears as if they were rain clouds. Tigress just looked at her husband who was now shaking and tearing up greatly, she didn't say anything and just starred into his jade green eyes. Po just kept tearing and he now also looked into his wife's amber eyes "I...I love you so much..." Po said emotionally as he nestled his head up against Tigress' and kissed her on her cheek.

Just then, Tigress felt one of the Cubs move around, she turned her head around and noticed that one of the cubs wasn't suckling anymore and was attempting to bury itself underneath the other Cub which had been feeding beside it. Right now, the Cubs were blind and so the Cub struggled to find it's way, so Tigress leaned over and picked up the Cub and brought it next to her head. As she did this, the Cub had made sounds that sounded like a hybrid between a scream and a grunt. But then Tigress took the Cub and began to lick it. As Po watched the entire thing unfold he was mesmerized as he saw how Tigress licked the Cub to keep its fur clean and to strengthen the bond between mother and Cub. This also seemed to quiet the Cub down as it allowed Tigress to lick its fur in all areas, and as Tigress did this Po silently asked "it's a male?" At this Tigress nodded and whispered "yes, this is Genji." Po smiled and thought to himself 'that was the first male name we came up with.' Once Tigress had finished licking the Cup, she placed him back where he could feed on her milk quietly. And he did just so, immediately returning to feeding once again. Po then whispered to his wife "and the other one?" Tigress looked at Po and said "female." Po's eyes widened, he had not considered that the twins could be of different gender and this surprised him. Tigress then continued "her name is Mariko." And as she said this, the female Cub ironically moved it's head for several seconds and then immediately went back to feeding. Tigress and Po both looked at each other and just smiled at how adorable their Cubs were. Tigress then quietly said "she was the first to come, and she hasn't made hardly any noise, she just feeds..." Po looked at the female Cub and thought 'Mariko, that was the first female name we came up with too...' But just as Tigress said this, the male Cub began to move again making sounds as it did so, this time trying to move the female Cub out of the way slightly to get more space to feed. Tigress looked at the male Cub and once again whispered to Po "he was the second to come, and he's a lot more rowdy and competitive than his sister, he's tried to move her away nearly 3 times already..." Po still wasn't worried by any of this, all that mattered to him right now was that 2 new members had now been added to their family. And now, the sound of the Cubs feeding was almost hypnotic to him and his eyelids began to close slightly, so he went to the other side of the bed and got on the bed right behind his wife. He then lied down in the same position as Tigress right behind her and he wrapped his left arm around her chest and closing his eyes as he quietly said "Thank you..." Tigress had allowed the Panda to lie down behind her as she felt his presence comforting and she turned her head around and asked "for what?"

"For being perfect."

A/N: Thank you all very much for reading all the way to the end! I absolutely loved writing my first fanfic and I appreciate everyone who helped by favoriting, following and most importantly reviewing. I plan to start writing a spinoff story right away which will explain some new events with another Character and I plan to start writing a sequel to this story after that, so stay tuned for those!

One more thing: I'm sure many people know how in real life, the Giant Panda is an endangered species classified as 'vulnerable' under the conservation status. Now with just over 1900 individuals worldwide. And it's not just the Giant Panda...Other animals like Bengal and Siberian Tigers, Red Pandas and even Komodo Dragons are all endangered due to many reasons in the present day. It is vital to the earth that these species be preserved in order to keep biodiversity, and therefore I will include a link in this note to help the cause of wildlife Conservation.

The website is World Wildlife Fund or (WWF)

WWF is a non profit organization created in 1961 directed towards the preservation of endangered species, saving forests and many other important causes.

I would urge everyone to make a small donation to the cause, either to adopt an animal, or to donate monthly.

Remember, any donation no matter how small helps.

Also,

The Kung Fu Panda films were not only made for pure entertainment, they were also made to bring attention to the cause of wildlife preservation as the Giant Panda is the international mascot of this cause.

Again, thank you for reading, and take care.

-Ace_Risk