Conclusion

"Well, "friend", why don't we go to my father's shop to get something to eat. You've obviously been traveling a lot," I said, hearing the leopard's stomach growl.

"Oh, yes, please. Thank you, very kindly," He said bowing lowly. He started walking in front of us. Tigress whispered to me.

"I don't trust him."

"Tell me something that's new," I remarked.

"He's an Arabian leopard and you seem to know a bit of Arabic," Tigress pointed out. That was new. New that she knew.

"What the? How do you know that?" I asked amazed.

"You said the meaning of his name," Tigress pointed out. (A/N It's actually Sabiq or Sahbeeq for phonetics, but Google translate ain't perfect).

"Oh, I did," I realized as we started walking behind Sabeeq.

"How do you know his language?"

"Hehehe," I chuckled nervously, "Uh... an Arabian gazelle had a crush on me one time. I was visiting some relatives over on the west side of China."

"Hmm," Tigress rose her eyebrow with a humorous smirk. The white-ish black-spotted leopard entered the shop with my panda dad and Mr. Ping talking and laughing together.

"And then I said, it's your fault that the machine's not working because you put your slipper in there!" Li Shan retold. Mr. Ping laughed and honked as the Arabian leopard watched on in silent amazement.

"Hey, you!" My goose dad exclaimed, quite harshly. "You want to buy something or what?"

"Oh, sorry. I'm just watching," Sabeeq replied.

"Dads, this is Sabeeq. He's new to the place," I explained. The two fatherly figures looked at me and then at the leopard. He looked excitedly at them with child-like wonder. I wondered whether they could see me in him. They both smiled.

"We're more than happy to have you in the Valley of Peace," Li-Shan replied.

"Just make sure you're a paying customer when you come in here."

"Dad," I said to Mr. Ping. Sabeeq placed a single shard of silver in front of the goose.

"Will this do?" He asked unsurely. Mr. Ping's eyes burst open as he squawked around the corner and wrapped his wing around the leopard.

"Please, come! Relax and enjoy yourself while I prepare you a nice plate of food. PO! We have a nicely paying customer here. Could you be a dear son and help me cook?" the goose asked. I rolled my eyes but smiled. I liked cooking with my dad, plus it would give me some time to figure out what Sabeeq was doing here.

"Sabeeq," Tigress said directly as she sat to his right while Li-Shan was on his left, "Why were you measuring the people here? Have you never seen animals like us?"

"Never, well, not in great amounts," He said with his native accent. "It's amazing to see so many pandas, tigers, and so many different kinds of birds, bunnies, and ducks. I live in a very isolated place of the nomadic lands of Arabia."

"So you're very well traveled," Tigress noted.

"Yes, though my range of knowledge is only limited to Western China, where I learned most of my Mandarin," Sabeeq explained. That would explain it. There is a major difference between western and eastern- where the Jade Palace was- Chinese. Western is more traditional while Eastern was more simplified. (I don't believe this is exactly true, but it would make sense). There's also a difference in dialects, like Mandrian and Cantonese. "I still have a lot to learn."

"Why are you traveling so much?" I asked, from behind the kitchen counter.

"I've been wanting to do an expedition of China for the longest, and I finally got permission to come here. My parents are very strict about going outside of the tribe. They think I'll get killed," Sabeeq replied, with a bit of a rebellious glint. He was stubborn, that much was apparent.

"You nearly did," Tigress pointed out very frankly. Sabeeq sat there, narrowing his eyes at her for the comment. "Anyone with that much money on their person is sure to get robbed."

"Or worse," Li-Shan replied, with a surprising amount of seriousness. The leopard quickly understood his mistake, gulping at the idea.

"But you're used to that, right?" I asked. The Arabian life wasn't easy. In fact, it was much harder than anyone's life. Constantly on the move, with unpredictable, harsh, and hot weather changes, food situations, tribal fighting, and a place known for raids every day, you could be a hardened warrior by the age of 5.

"Well, kind of," Sabeeq replied, nervously scratching the back of his head. "I'm actually kind of a... royalty," He whispered.

"That explains the money," Tigress noted.

"Oh, I never got your names," Sabeeq pointed out.

"I'm Po. And that's Tigress," I explained. "Where have you been so far, Sabeeq?"

"So many places!" He exclaimed. "I even managed to visit the emperor's palace." That got me intrigued. "Though, I did have to sneak in to do it."

"You what?" Tigress said, raising her eyebrow.

"Well, I kind of didn't mean to... I mean,... the emperor apparently had a lot of female and male snow leopards."

"Oh dear," I muttered, knowing where this was going.

"I DO resemble a snow cloud leopard and they mistook me for one of the eunuchs. They were very... surprised when they found out I wasn't." Sabeeq replied.

"Wait, how did they-"

"We don't need to know how they found out, Po," Tigress quickly stopped me. My panda dad laughed.

"You sound just as accident-prone as my son," He bellowed.

"Dad," I sighed in embarrassment.

"Well, my studies have led me this far," Sabeeq replied. "I'm sorry for my disturbance, though. I didn't mean to be so rude."

"It's okay. Not much happens here, save the occasional bandit, warlord, and crazy alchemist," I replied. "OH! Do you have notes about your own kind and people? I've never been that far outside the Chinese border."

"You've been outside China?" Tigress asked.

"Silverware," I muttered, pointing to the goose.

"Well, kind of, but I can definitely give you some details," The Arabian leopard replied. Tigress's eyes lit up with an idea.

"Po is, kind of, the Jade Palace chronicler. Maybe some of his stories can help you a bit," Tigress suggested. The small cat's hazel eyes beamed with joy and excitement. I could have sworn his pupils turned into stars.

"You can?!"

"Most people get excited that I'm the Dragon Warrior," I noted to Tigress, who just smiled at my slight disappointment. Then again, Sabeeq probably doesn't know what the title is or what I've done. "But yes, I've been keeping a record of some of the things that have happened around here."

"Where do you live so we can go over notes?!" Sabeeq joyously asked. I pointed up to the cloudy mountains where the Jade Palace still stood. "You live up there? WAIT! You said you were the Dragon Warrior!?"

"Oh, now he catches on," I muttered, making Tigress chuckle. "Yes, I am the Dragon Warrior."

"But why are you here in a dusty old noodle shop?" Sabeeq innocently asked. Mr. Ping whacked a wooden spoon in front of him.

"Because this place is the best place to get NOODLES! Don't let anyone tell you differently, got it!" The goose quacked.

"Yes, sir!" Sabeeq quickly replied, not really understanding everything Mr. Ping just said.

"You'll have to excuse Mr. Ping. He's a bit...eccentric," Li-Shan smiled.

"That's eccentric? What's crazy?" Sabeeq asked.

"Trying to make noddles in your mouth by putting in dry noodles and boiling hot water at the same time?" Tigress smirked at my sour-looking face.

"Who's the idiot that did that?" Sabeeq muttered.

"He's wiser. Let's leave it at that," I grumbled, still glaring at a smug looking Tiger. I finally made Sabeeq's dish and threw off my apron. "Now, let's get you up to the Jade Palace. It'll give us a chance to test out the new elevator."

"Elevator?" Sabeeq questioned as I and Tigress walked him to the base of the mountain. There stood a catapult, rigged up to shoot pandas up the Jade Palace to avoid the steps. I didn't need it, but it was still fun to use. I remember the time Tigress and I used it and we accidentally flung ourselves to the very north side of the Valley of Peace. On the bright side, I got to meet Nao, Butoh, and the kids. "Amazing!"

"Come on, this thing can support you... I hope," I said, climbing into the thing. Tigress jumped in. Normally she takes the stairs, but she likes hearing me laugh when we do this together. That and she loves to see the scared look on newcomers.

FLING!

"WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!" Sabeeq screamed in absolute terror as we flew through the air. He clutched onto me as we softly landed on the padded ground we set up for the landing point. "That... was... AWESOME!"

"I know right!" I shouted with equal excitement. Tigress only smiled at our similarities. "Now, let's give you a tour and show you my scrolls."

"I would love that!" Sabeeq said amazed. Tigress couldn't stop smiling as the Arabian leopard ran over all the Jade Palace wonders and furiously wrote them in his journals. He even recorded the Furious Five and Master Shifu in detail. We finally got to my journals, and Sabeeq was absolutely absorbed with the information.

"He looks like you, you know," Tigress whispered to me, happily. I chuckled.

"Are you saying I've slimmed down?"

"Well, yes, but that excitement is something I see in you all the time," Tigress replied.

"Hmm," I hummed.

"Wow, these things are amazing," Sabeeq exclaimed. He noticed something between stories. A suggestion that there was another scroll. "Master Po? What about this star student that you had?" My eyes widened and then I scratched my head nervously.

"Well um... that... that's in safe storage."

"May I see it?"

"No," Tigress answered directly.

"Wh...why not?" Sabeeq asked innocently, "Did something... bad happen to him?"

"Her."

"Oh, um..."

"Nothing bad happened to her," Tigress finally smiled. "It's just... a very personal story that I don't feel Po likes sharing with strangers."

"Yeah, sure that's it," I finally caught up with her level.

"Oh," Sabeeq said, visibly upset at the mention of his alien status. Tigress picked up on this better than I did.

"Something wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just... ever since I've come here... I... I feel so out of place. Understandably so, but... Ah, never mind. I'm just being pathetic."

"I know a thing or two about being out of place," I said to the Arabian leopard, resting my hand on his shoulder. "You're right, things are new and constantly traveling doesn't really give time to make great friends."

"(Or potential others)," Sabeeq muttered in his native language. I knew what he said, but I didn't call him out on it.

"But," Tigress came to the front of him, "You are welcomed here. The story about the star pupil will... come with time, but... you'll find out eventually. Just be patient."

"Okay," Sabeeq replied with a corny smile. He was like a little feline me.

Time went on and Sabeeq eventually stayed with us for a month. But then... things became difficult. Sabeeq sat in his room, devastated by the news he just received. His family and friends were killed in a bandit raid. His tribe was still strong, but... he was truly alone this time. "Hardship seems to follow me everywhere I go," He sighed in his room. I stood just outside of his room with Tigress and a little panda girl.

"Master Tigress, is Sabeeq going to be okay?" Lei-Lei asked, worried.

"Why don't you go and comfort him, Lei-Lei?" Tigress encouraged her. The giddy but sometimes shy girl went up to the Arabian leopard and offered him her prized Tigress figure, the one that I made. Sabeeq knew how much that meant to her and what kind of sacrifice she was making. He knew because one time he accidentally took it and figured out that Lei-Lei had been training with Tigress for a while. Well, long enough for a swift roundhouse kick to his... um... anyways.

"Lei-Lei, I couldn't-"

"Take it," She, surprisingly very directly, ordered.

"That's your offspring, right there," I said to Tigress, who just smiled.

"Thank you, Lei-Lei," Sabeeq replied as she left. We finally stepped in. "My people are used to hardship all the time. Countless raids and attacks, but..." Tigress and I sat next to him. "I understand that you two have been through this as well."

"Orphanhood is hard to accept, especially by the circumstances you've endured," Tigress sighed. I struggled to say something. Finally, I thought of something.

"Your home doesn't have to be a tent," I replied with a smile. "And your family doesn't have to be related." Sabeeq's eyes looked at me, welling up with tears as he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly. "You're always family here."

"Thank you," Sabeeq sighed, wiping his tears away. We stayed there silently for a while. Then Sabeeq looked at each of us and asked a question. It was surprising that he could think about that in this situation, but... I guess we try to find distractions where we can. "Master Tigress and Master Po, what is your relationship to each other."

"Huh?" I asked.

"What do you mean, Sabeeq?"

"I mean, I've seen you two very close to each other and..." He trailed off. I blushed a bit while Tigress smiled and continued.

"Well, we are dating, Sabeeq."

"When are you two getting married?" Sabeeq asked. I stood up and sighed, looking at the room, trying to find an answer.

"Um... well, we haven't discussed that yet," Tigress replied. I could feel her eyes on me, wondering why I was reacting the way I was. "We're sorry for what you've gone through, Sabeeq. We'll leave you alone if you would like."

"Thank you, I appreciate it. I need some time to think," Sabeeq smiled. Tigress directed me out the door and out to the barracks' entryway. She turned me around and looked at me with a questioning glare.

"What?" I asked nervously.

"What was that reaction for? Why did you seem so... pained about Sabeeq's question?" Tigress asked. I sighed, playing with the trinket in my pocket.

"I was... debating something, but... I think I need to do this."

"What?" I got on one knee, presenting the little box with the sparkling ring inside. Tigress's face was priceless. Her mouth was wide open, her eyes as well as I said.

"Tigress, will you marry me?" she laughed.

"Yes, you cheeky panda," She smiled, helping me up and kissing me. Then a questioning look at me made me sweat. "Why now?"

"For us... and Sabeeq. Today shouldn't be a day for sadness, especially for you."

"Why today-" She stopped short when she realized today was the day she came to the Jade Palace from the orphanage.

"And it will give Sabeeq something to replace the bad memory."

"I hope so," Tigress sighed, hugging me. "I love you, Po."

"I love you, too, Tigress."

Though that tragic day was remarkably hard for you, it became a day of joy. At first, I thought it would be irrationally idiotic to do it that day. But when your face lit up at the thought, I didn't regret it. Now you are with your wife in Western China. Lei-Lei says hi and her husband, Lin, also says hi. Lei-Lei also hopes that you have her Tigress doll still. She wants to give it to her children one day. Lily, our daughter, with Bao, her husband, also wish you greetings. The former members of the Furious Five extend their welcome and hope to see you when you come back next week. Tigress is very worried about you as always, hoping that you are eating well and keeping yourself out of trouble. I hope to see you soon and these letters will give you a solstice for your questions. And I should thank you. None have been so interested in my life and history as you have. Thank you, Sabeeq, for reading and caring for the history of my life. Po's history, I guess. I hope to see you soon.

May the universe guide you well.

The End