A/N: Hi readers! This is the long awaited sequel to my first fanfic: Dark-Bright. If you have not yet read my first fic, I recommend you read it before this as there are many spoilers and not to mention, it would be hard to understand. With all that out of the way, our story begins nearly 5 years after the events of Dark-Bright.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kung Fu Panda

Kung Fu Panda: Dark-Bright 2

Written by: Ace_Risk

Chapter 1

Daddy's Little Girl

The Valley of Peace, for nearly centuries this beautiful region of China had remained one of the most prosperous locations in the country, as the name implied. Of course there were setbacks, with the occasional bandit raids, the fury of a maniacal Snow Leopard, the wrath of a powerful demon, and also the odd psychotic spirit Warrior intent on revenge. The most recent event being the threat of invasion by a tyrant named Akuma, however, even this great threat had ultimately been driven away from the valley. Throughout the centuries, no evil entity had ever managed to conquer the valley of peace and this trend would continue…

Or would it?

On the Top of Jade Mountain, in the Jade Palace Student Barracks

A quiet and peaceful morning brought the rays of the sun from the east of the Valley of Peace. They shun through the high peaks of the Himalayan mountains and began to fill the land with light signifying the arrival of a new day.

High atop Jade Mountain rested the Jade Palace; a large extravagant temple which was the home of the renowned Kung Fu Masters of the Valley of Peace. Ever since it's construction hundreds of years ago, this building had held many memories and had endless pours of knowledge behind its walls.

The day began very quietly, with only the sound of the wind and some stray leaves blowing across the mountains, however, that was about to change…

"WAKE UP DADDY! IT'S BIG BROTHER'S BIRTHDAY TODAY! WE CAN'T BE LATE!"

Shouted an excited and youthful Cub. Their voice was full of enthusiasm and innocence and it had the right effect. For Po opened his eyes and looked up to see a cheerful female Tiger Cub standing over top of him and trying to get his attention. "Ugghh...Five more minutes Mariko..." The Panda groaned as he rolled over to try and get more sleep.

But he wouldn't get off so easily, for the cub continued, "Aw come on Daddy! I want to surprise Big Brother today since it's his tenth birthday! Remember!?" At this Po looked to the other side of his bed at his wife who was also awoken by the excited Cub, "What does one have to do to sleep peacefully..." Po said sarcastically with a hint of annoyance in his voice. Tigress looked back at him and replied, "Well, you did promise her you would take her to the noodle shop to surprise Hao early in the morning. Don't act like you didn't bring this on yourself Po." They then heard the Cub beg, "Please Daddy?" Po looked up at his daughter's adorable jade green eyes and couldn't resist her cuteness, so he gave in and sighed as he replied, "Alright sweetheart."

"YAY! Let's go right now! I don't want to get there too late!" Mariko said as she got off the bed and began to run out the door towards her room. Po chuckled and he looked over at his wife who also had a smile on her face, "She takes after her father." Tigress said as she stared into Po's Jade eyes. "I love you." He said, and then he kissed her on the cheek and got out of bed. He walked over towards his dresser and took out his outfit for the day; an elegant green Chinese tunic with a pair of black slacks and his signature golden dragon cloak. He placed the garments on and left the room to go follow his daughter.

As he strolled down the hallway of the student barracks, Po passed by all the rooms which housed his best friends; the furious five. They most likely were still asleep or at the most waking up as it was very early in the morning. As he passed by the rooms, he heard chatter coming from Master Crane's room. He peeked in and saw his daughter talking to the avian as well as Master Viper. Mariko was wearing a beautiful pink Chinese vest with silver trim and black slacks which she had inherited from her mother. The vest however, had been gifted to her by her aunt and godmother; Master Viper. It was then that the three noticed Po watching them, "Oh! Good morning Po!" Both Viper and Crane said simultaneously to the Panda. "Good morning Crane, good morning Viper." He replied respectfully as he entered the room.

"Alright Mariko, are you ready to go?" He asked his daughter. "I'm ready Daddy! But can auntie Viper and Master Crane come too?" She asked in an innocent tone of voice. Po shrugged his shoulders and answered, "I don't see why not." Po answered with a smile. "Yay! Thanks Daddy!" The Cub said while jumping out of excitement. She then continued, "What are we waiting for!? Let's go!" She then ran out of the room behind her father towards the exit. Po folded his arms and shook his head at his daughters adorable behavior.

"She's a true sweetheart Po, you and Tigress should be proud." Viper said as she slithered up towards the Panda with Crane following right behind her. Po looked down at the snake and replied, "Thank you Viper, she's learned so much from you and Crane, and I am grateful for that." The Snake nodded and responded, "She really takes after you, you know." Po also nodded and finished, "I know."

"Hey Mamma! Do you know where Genji is? I haven't seen him all morning!" The female Cub asked as she entered her parent's room again. "I don't know sweetheart, try the training hall." Tigress replied to her daughter as she too began to rise from bed. Mariko then took off saying, "Okay, thanks Mamma!" And then she left towards the training hall. Tigress shook her head and thought, 'She has so much of her father in her.'

Mariko made her way over to the training hall where sure enough, there were loud sounds emanating from the building. She opened the doors and heard the sounds more clearly, they were the sounds of another Tiger Cub striking a wooden training dummy. It was her twin brother; Genji. He wore a similar vest to hers, only it was colored black instead. And he looked like your average Tiger cub, with defined black stripes and orange and white fur colors, however, he also had distinguished black fur patches which surrounded his eyes, much like she did. This was something that they had each inherited from their father. A cross-breed between Panda and Tiger had never been heard of in the entire country, nay, the world. So these two Cubs were definitely what one would call 'exotic'.

As Mariko watched her brother strike the wooden figure, she noticed how every time he hit the object it emitted splinters and shards of wood as it's structure weakened. She tried to get his attention, "Hey Genji!" But Genji seemed to ignore her, paying no attention to her whatsoever. She then tried again, but louder this time, "HEY GENJI!" This seemed to get his attention as he glanced over in her direction. Besides his larger stature, his eyes were one of the only visible differences between the two, his were a type of amber color like his mother's, while hers were jade green like her father's. Another thing that was different about the two, was how Mariko always neatly styled her fur, while Genji's fur was much more messy and always seemed to droop down.

"What!" He snapped in an annoyed tone as he looked at his older sister (by only 2 minutes). She seemed startled by his aggressive behavior and she took a small step back in fear. She then replied in a nervous tone, "I-I was j-just asking if you want to come down to celebrate Hao's birthday." She stuttered. Genji turned up his nose and answered in a cold and snarky tone, "No."

"But-" She tried before he interrupted her.

"Leave me alone! I'm busy training!"

Upon saying this, Genji emitted a loud growl which scarred his sister and made her shudder from fear. She then took the hint and left the training hall, closing the doors behind her.

As she closed the doors, Mariko began to hear the sounds of her brother hitting the wooden training dummy return. She looked back at the building with a sad face on and then she proceeded to return to the student barracks.

'She's gonna waste her time celebrating the birthday of someone who isn't even really related to us, while I'm going to train to beat and surpass her! And when I defeat her, Mom and Dad will finally be proud of me!' Genji thought to himself as he began to strike the wooden dummy with all of his might.

Mariko returned to the student barracks and walked towards the dinning room where she heard voices talking. When she arrived at the dinning room, she peeked inside and saw both her parents, and all the furious five seated and eating breakfast at the dining table. She then entered and was greeted by Mantis and Monkey who each said simultaneously, "Look who it is! Good morning Mariko!" She looked towards them and replied, "Good morning Master Monkey! Good morning master Mantis!"

The Cub then found a seat next to her mother and waited to be served a bowl of noodle soup which Po was preparing. As she sat down, Mariko heard Crane ask, "So Mariko! Are you excited about your big brother turning ten today?" To this Mariko nodded and replied enthusiastically, "You bet! I've even made him a present that I'm going to give him as a surprise!" All the Masters looked at each other with smiles and Monkey asked her, "What kind of present?"

Mariko's face lit up and she quickly got up from her seat and rushed off towards her room, then she swiftly got back carrying something in her paws. It was a wooden soup ladle. "I spent the last year carving this for big brother! I hope he'll like it!" She explained to everyone as she showed them all the ladle which she had hand carved over the last year. Normally, children would make mistakes when making such projects, but not Mariko, she had excellent artistic talent and a great attention to detail. The Ladle looked like it had been carved by a professional, it was perfectly sanded and smooth, and it had been carved out of wood from a small branch of the peach tree of heavenly wisdom. On it were multiple chiseled Chinese characters that read, '大哥哥'(Big Brother)

"I made most of the thing myself, but Master Crane helped me to inscribe the characters!" At this, Master Crane nodded in satisfaction at being able to help the Cub. All the Masters seemed impressed by the Cub's job on the ladle. "It looks excellent Mariko! I'm sure Hao will love it!" Viper said generously, to which everyone else agreed.

"Order up!"

Po said as he placed the 7 bowls of noodle soup on the table, everyone grabbed a bowl and began to dig in to the delicious noodle soup which the Panda had just cooked. Everyone began to thank the Panda for his excellent food.

After a couple of minutes everyone had nearly finished their meals, everyone except Mariko. She stared at a wall and twirled her spoon in the still warm soup, it would seem like she was lost in thought, and she was. "Is everything alright sweetheart?" Tigress asked her daughter as she noticed she wasn't finishing her meal. This seemed to snap the female Tiger Cub out of her daze and she shook her head and asked, "Mamma, I asked Genji if he wanted to come to celebrate Hao's birthday with the rest of us, but he didn't want to. Why doesn't he want to?" Tigress looked over to Po with a worried expression to which he returned, she then answered, "I don't know sweetheart, but why don't you and the others head down to the village. I will go talk to Genji."

So Mariko got up from her chair and went to leave the dinning room but before she could she heard her mother say, "AFTER you finish eating your soup!" The Cub obeyed her mother and got back on her chair to finish her soup with the rest of the Masters.

After Mariko finished her meal, her, her father, and the rest of the Furious Five departed towards the noodle shop in the village. Leaving Tigress behind who was now headed towards the training hall to talk to her youngest son.

Tigress opened the doors of the training hall to find that Genji was still inside, and still training hard. Right now he was busy doing all sorts of strength conditioning training exercises such as push ups and pull ups. And though he was only a five year old Cub, he was incredibly strong for his size and age, he was perhaps even stronger than his mother was at that age.

"Genji..." Tigress said as she watched the Cub train. Upon hearing his mother's voice, Genji turned to face her. It was obvious to Tigress that he was sweating, and from the look on the Cub's face she could tell that he was physically tired. He was breathing hard and he was bleeding from several areas on each of his paws, he was trying to pass his limits again…

"Yes, Mother?" He asked as he caught his breath. Tigress had an expression of pure worry about her, seeing her son like this was not a happy sight for say. "Genji, why are you training when everyone, your father, and even your sister are going to have fun celebrating Hao's birthday?" She asked as she approached the Cub and knelt down beside him. The Cub fell silent at the question and instead folded his arms in a way that made him look aggravated. This didn't help to ease Tigress' mood, "What's wrong?" She asked with an obvious amount of worry in her voice.

"Nothing's wrong Mom." Genji stated while not looking his mother in the eye, and with very little emotion in his voice. "I know something's bothering you sweetie, it's alright, you can tell me." Tigress said reassuringly to her distraught son while reaching out and holding his bloody paws. She noticed that there were many wooden splinters and sharp shards of metal lodged in his paws which were causing the bleeding. 'He's been hitting those training dummies again hasn't he.' She thought to herself.

But instead of a straight answer, the Cub broke out crying and sobbing into his Mom's neck, to which she was not expecting. But she did her best to comfort him, wrapping her arms around him and embracing him like the loving mother she was. As he whimpered and cried into her neck fur, Tigress tried to calm the Cub down, "Shh, its okay sweetie." She said in a comforting tone as she embraced the emotional Cub.

"Why is Mariko always better than me at everything! Why does she always beat me!? Why am I inferior!?" The Cub began to rant as he continued to cry into his mother's neck, his voice was muffled since his face was pressed against his mother's neck, but she could still hear him just fine. But she wasn't happy with what the Cub was saying. She continued to embrace him and rock him from side to side slowly to calm him down. And it eventually worked, as Genji began to settle down and come back to reality.

"Is this what's been bothering you Genji?" Tigress asked her son as she pressed her paws against his cheeks and looked him in the eyes. He stayed silent but he nodded in approval with the remnants of tears in his eyes. Tigress frowned but replied with a tone which sounded hopeful, "Genji...A wise person once said, 'Comparison is the thief of joy'." The Cub raised an eyebrow and snapped, "What's that supposed to mean?" Tigress now began to smile as she explained to her son, "It means you shouldn't compare yourself to your sister, or anyone else. You are yourself, and there are plenty of things you can do that others cannot. And I love you for you, Genji." She said and then embraced her son in another warm and tender hug.

"But...Mariko is smarter than me! She's more creative than me...And she's even a better fighter than me!" Genji continued to rant as he hung his head in shame. Tigress would have none of this though and she lifted her son's chin with her paw and told him, "That's just how you're perceiving it, in reality, you are just as smart and creative as anyone else, if not more." "You really think so Mom?" He asked genuinely. To which Tigress nodded and finished, "Yes, I do. Now come on, let's go get those splinters removed and patched up. I think you've had enough training for the day." And with this, Tigress took her Son towards the Palace infirmary to get the Cub's hands bandaged up.

At the Bottom of the 1000 Stairs

"Daddy...Why does Genji not like me sometimes?" Mariko asked her father who carried her on his shoulders towards the noodle shop. Po looked up at the Cub and sighed as he answered, "Mariko, neither I nor your Mother have told you this, but your brother has always been extremely competitive. Especially towards you. You may not remember, but when you were both born, he constantly fought to get fed more often than you. He's always been that way." Mariko frowned at the answer her father gave. But Po continued, "I just want you to know that it is not your fault that he feels that way."

Mariko still frowned, as she thought about reasons why her younger brother despised her. It wasn't like she had done anything to upset him? Was it?

But before she could pursue anymore thoughts, Po noticed her glum expression and said, "Hey, cheer up kiddo! We're almost at the noodle shop! And I'm sure Hao wouldn't want to see his sister in such a mood." Then a smile formed on the female Cub's face as she replied, "Right! I want Big Brother to be as happy as possible on his birthday!" Po also smiled as he replied, "That's the spirit!"

The rest of the Furious Five had also been following along, but none had said anything until Mantis remarked, "There's that smell I love!" As they neared the noodle shop where the fragrance of Hao's noodle soup came from. As the seven approached the noodle shop, they peeked inside to see that it was nearly empty, with no customers at all. This was a rarity as Mr Ping would almost never close his shop, he would usually never turn down customers. But when they looked inside the shop, the noticed that Hao, Mr Ping, Lee Shan and Master Shifu were all seated at a table whilst playing a game of Mahjong. They then proceeded to enter the shop through the round door.

Mariko also noticed both her Grandfathers and her big brother at the table so she got off her father's back and excitedly exclaimed, "Grandpa Ping! Grandpa Shifu! Grandpa Shan!" The three turned their heads and Mr Ping, Lee, and Shifu began to chuckle as their granddaughter ran up and hugged them. Since the two were both relatively small animals, she was able to hug them both at the same. Then Lee got off his chair and also brought the Cub into a hug. "It's so good to see you again Grandpa Ping! And you too Grandpa Shan!" She remarked as the elder Panda let her down. The two both chuckled at their granddaughter's excitement upon seeing them again, they both replied in unison, "Look at you! You've really grown since the last time you were here!" Mariko nodded her head and said, "Have I? I guess it's been a while since I've been down at the shop."

Just then, she noticed her big brother Hao walk out from behind the grandfathers and wave as he said, "Hi there Mari!" This was his nickname which he used to address his younger sister, and she didn't mind it at all. "Big Brother!" She happily said as she ran up to hug her White Tiger brother. Hao began to laugh as his younger sister embraced him. He had grown quite a lot over the last five years, and he was much taller than her so he had to bend down a bit to be at eye level with her. She then released him and asked, "Hey, can you close your eyes for a second? And also hold out your paws?" Hao looked down at his sister and he did as she asked. Mariko then took the ladle which she had kept on her small back pack and placed it in her brothers paws. "Okay, you can open your eyes now!" She excitedly announced.

Upon opening his eyes, Hao saw a brilliant hand carved wooden soup ladle with engravings reading 'big brother'. The young white Tiger's face lit up with joy, and he began to hug his sister again saying, "Thanks so much Mari! This is exactly what I wanted! Did you make this all by yourself?" She nodded, "Mmhhmm!" Hao then set his sister down and said, "This was so thoughtful of you Mari, I will always treasure it." This greatly satisfied the female Cub as she continued, "I'm glad you like it Big Brother!"

Shortly after the heartfelt reunion, Shifu, Ping and Hao each invited Mariko to play Mahjong with them, of course being the enthusiastic child she was, she gladly accepted. Although since she had never played Mahjong before, it was not quite as easy as she would have thought, but nonetheless, she enjoyed herself all the same as the other Masters watched happily while chatting about various subjects.

After the games of Mahjong, Po excused himself from the setting and took Mariko out of the shop with him to be alone for a moment. He then told her, "Mariko, I just want you to know, that was one of the most generous things I've ever seen you do for someone else. And I am very proud of you." The female Cub just rubbed the back of her head and humbly replied, "Thanks Daddy! I'd do anything to make Big Brother happy!" Po looked down at his daughter and he thought to himself, 'How was I this fortunate to receive this blessing?' He then continued, "You've matured a lot lately, which is why I'd like to take you on a trip." The young cub's eyes lit up from this and she asked, "A trip? To where?" Po began to smile knowing that what he'd say next would surprise the Cub,

"To the Emperor's Palace."

A/N: Alright, so maybe I published this chapter a little earlier than expected...But what the heck! I have had this idea in my head for months now and I finally get to let it out! The next chapter will be out shortly! If you enjoyed this chapter and would like to read more, Favorite, and Follow the story! And if you'd like to post some feedback,

Review!

Thanks.

-Ace_Risk