The Way Back

Chapter 11- How Far We've Come

I'm sorry for taking so long, I just decided to take a break.

"Are you ready Po?" said Tigress, they were standing outside of Dragon Warrior Noodles & Tofu (Mr Ping hadn't changed the name so he could honour his son's legacy).

Po nodded, he had to admit he was both excited and nervous. Po honestly didn't know if Mr Ping could handle such a shock.

Tigress gripped his paw tightly shaking him out of his thoughts, "Are you sure that you want me to come in with you Po? He is after all your father".

Po bit his lip "Yeah Tigress, I do want you there...for support in case things turn physical" Po joked.

His attempt at covering his anxiety wasn't lost on the tiger master. Tigress sensed his apprehension, she cupped his face in her paw "Don't be nervous Po, you know Mr Ping will be fine...at least he won't have a reaction like mine".

Po chuckled nervously "Oh I don't know you haven't seen him when he's angry, he can get pretty violent", Po shuddered when he recalled Mr Ping's reaction to a customer insulting his 'Secret Ingredient Soup'.

Tigress smiled "I think I have an idea" she remembered him throwing that meat cleaver at her yesterday, she looked over and saw the mark on the entrance where it had impacted.

Po took a deep breath and he walked inside closely followed by Tigress.

He opened the door hesitantly and crept inside, it was silent. "He must still be asleep" Po whispered almost hopefully.

Tigress rubbed his shoulder "Do you want me to get him?".

Po nodded "Yeah it might scare him if he woke up and saw my face".

Tigress padded upstairs softly and knocked on his door...no response, she slowly opened the door and went to wake him up.

While she did that Po looked around the kitchen, nothing much had changed but Po noticed a thin layer of dust coating everything. "Hmmm Dad must not be looking after the place, I knew he would be cut up but to neglect the restaurant means I came at the right time".

xxxxx

Tigress saw Mr Ping's sleeping form in the middle of his bed, he was snoring softly and he was wearing a sad expression on his face, it was obvious that he was dreaming about his son.

"It's okay Mr Ping, soon we'll both be able to sleep well again", Tigress carefully walked over to him and shook him softly to wake him up.

"Mr Ping...Mr Ping wake up" she said quietly.

The goose began to stir, he opened his eyes slowly. "Tigress...what is it?" he asked groggily.

Tigress smiled warmly at him "Mr Ping I've met someone who's missed you very much", Mr Ping looked at her oddly "It's not Shifu is it, because I'm not going to play any more Majong with him he is such a sore loser".

Tigress looked oddly at him for a second before shaking her head, "No it isn't Shifu, just come downstairs and see for yourself...just prepare yourself though" while she wouldn't say it Tigress also didn't know if Mr Ping would be able to handle the shock of seeing Po.

Mr Ping sat up slowly, Tigress excused herself and went back downstairs to Po who was currently twiddling his thumbs nervously while standing rigidly in the corner.

When he saw Tigress he relaxed a bit, "He's just coming down now Po, are you ready?" Tigress took her place next to Po.

Po gulped "As ready as I'll ever be I guess", Tigress took his paw into her own"Remember Po whatever happens I'll always be here for you so don't be afraid" she cooed softly.

Po nodded silently, it was a simple gesture but she knew how much her words had meant to him.

After a minute of silence they heard Mr Ping's door creak open, he started to make his way slowly down the stairs. Tigress felt Po's paw start to shake and grip her's tightly, if she hadn't trained with the ironwood trees it might of hurt her.

Mr Ping's face arrived at the bottom of the staircase, he looked around the room until his eyes fell upon Tigress who nodded at him, Mr Ping's eyes saw that she was holding onto something large and black.

He followed it until he saw what it was connected to, a large familiar looking panda was staring straight at him.

The goose gasped in disbelief, "P-Po?" he murmured hopefully.

The panda suddenly let go of Tigress's paw and rushed over to embrace his father, Tigress watched the scene with a warm smile on her face.

"Dad it's me...I'm home" Po said on the verge of happy tears, Mr Ping didn't say anything, "Dad?" Po asked in a concerned voice.

He pulled away to reveal that Mr Ping was lifeless, he hurriedly put him on the ground.

Tigress saw something was wrong and hurried over to assist, "Dad! Dad speak to me" Po said frantically, he couldn't have come so far just to lose his dad.

Tigress examined Mr Ping methodically, she found a pulse...a normal one at that.

Tigress chuckled, Po turned on her worriedly "What is it? What's wrong with him? Why are you laughing?".

She placed a paw on his shoulder, "Calm down Po, he's just fainted, obviously from the shock of seeing you...after all he did bury you only a couple of days ago".

Po sighed "Yeah I guess, so what should we do?".

Tigress looked the goose over again "He'll wake up in a minute or two, let's get him upstairs and put him in his bed".

Po nodded and picked Mr Ping up, he quickly took him upstairs closely followed by Tigress, Po set him down gently on the bed almost as if he were handling glass, he then sat down on the floor next to the bed patiently waiting for Mr Ping to regain consciousness.

Tigress sat on the opposite side of the bed, "Well that could've gone better...I knew he would have a huge reaction but I didn't expect him to faint, this is going to be the second time he wakes up in less than forty five seconds" she reflected.

They waited in silence for a minute and a half, eventually Mr Ping started to stir. Po was immediately at his side just in case he had a more violent reaction.

"Dad?" Po said softly "Are you okay?", Mr Ping's eyes opened slowly. "Po? Is it really you?".

Po smiled uncontrollably "Yes Dad it is", Mr Ping suddenly started to cry wildly.

Po immediately tried to comfort his father, "Dad whats wrong?".

Mr Ping slapped Po in the face with his wing, Tigress gasped and sat up to help, however she was stopped by Po who held his hand up to her.

Po looked away from Mr Ping shamefully, "I'm sorry Dad but I ha-" Mr Ping hit him again.

"Do you know what you put me and that lovely young lady through" Mr Ping seethed, when he referred to Tigress he gestured at her with his wing.

Po grimaced while rubbing his cheek thoughtfully "Well considering that my face now hurts along with what Tigress did earlier...I'm gonna say yes".

Mr Ping's anger faded at the realization that his wish for the return of Po had actually come true.

Mr Ping hugged his son, "It's good to have you back son...just don't do it again".

Po hugged him back "I'm sorry Dad, I'll try not to let it happen again".

Tigress watched the scene happily, she was glad that Mr Ping and her had finally gotten their panda back. "Okay now we just need to find the others and Shifu then we can try to get back to normal".

Mr Ping led the two back down into the kitchen "Do you want me to make the both of you some noodles to celebrate?".

Po shook his head "No thanks Dad I need to find the rest of the five first and then I'll come back down".

Him and Tigress went to leave, "Wait Tigress!" yelled Mr Ping.

She turned around carefully, she was expecting another meat cleaver...she was glad when none flew at her.

The goose walked slowly over to her "Can I have a word with you privately?" he asked.

Tigress nodded "Sure", she looked at Po "Start making your way up I'll be just a second".

Po nodded to show his acknowledgement, waved goodbye to Mr Ping and left to start the dreaded walk up the Thousand Steps.

Tigress closed the door behind her, Mr Ping looked into her eyes. "Thank you Tigress" he said simply.

She was naturally confused "What for Mr Ping? You helped me remember?", he nodded. "Yes I did help you but you also helped me. By allowing me to help someone move on it also let me try and move past my own grief".

Tigress smiled and knelt down to hug the old goose, Mr Ping was taken by surprise at her rare show of affection. He patted her on the back gently.

She then suddenly left without a word, she didn't need to say anything, Mr Ping had gathered all of her thoughts through her physical attempt at emotion.

Tigress quickly ran to catch up to Po, when she neared the steps she noticed that he was sitting at the bottom clearly waiting for her.

He smiled when he noticed her, "So what did my Dad want?" it had never seen Tigress and Mr Ping talk to each other so the topic of their conversation was naturally peaking Po's childish curiosity.

Tigress smirked "Nothing really", she brushed past Po and started to walk to the palace. She would tell Po eventually but she looked forward to watching Po's desperate attempts to get the truth out of her.

Po scrambled to keep pace with her, "Wow Tigress you're really being mean, c'mon slow down a bit".

She stuck her tongue out at him, Po blinked in surprise at her playfulness . "You've got a lot of training to catch up on panda, so you might as well make a start with these steps" she teased.

Tigress dashed off on all fours, she obviously wanted Po to chase her. Po chuckled and shook his head in bemusement.

"COME BACK HERE TIGRESS!" He yelled after her.

xxxxx

Po had eventually got to the top, when he got there he was surprised to find Tigress laid on the floor panting heavily. He wasn't to know that she rarely actually walked up the entire flight of stairs, she mostly just leaped up them which explained why she was not used to the sudden exhaustion.

Po collapsed next to her "What's wrong kitty out of breath", Tigress suddenly sat up and glared at him.

"What did you just call me?" she hissed, Po gulped nervously and backed up against the palace wall.

"N-nothing Tigress honestly Tigress" he stammered, Po closed his eyes and waited for the pain...which never came. He felt two soft arms wrap around his neck and pull him into a rough kiss.

Tigress pulled away and smirked mischievously at him, "You're lucky I missed you so much otherwise you'd be in a world of pain". Po giggled nervously "So I'm off the hook".

Tigress put her mouth next to his ear "I wouldn't bet on it panda" her breath in his ear made him shudder in delight. "You will pay for that comment later and trust me when I say it will not be subtle" she breathed softly.

She looked into his eyes devilishly, Po gazed back with love filled eyes. He had never seen her so playful or mischievous...and he was loving every second of it.

Po softly pushed her away "Focus Tigress, remember why we came up here".

She nodded glumly and led him to the training hall, Po took her paw and walked next to her.

As they approached the hall they couldn't hear any sounds coming from the inside. This made Po instantly suspicious and worried he looked at Tigress with a concerned expression and ran over to the entrance to let himself in.

The hall was completely empty, Tigress frowned "Where is everyone? They usually trian at this hour".

Po dashed away to check the barracks, Tigress followed him.

Po entered the barracks and started to frantically check everyone's rooms, they were all empty.

Tigress caught up to him, she put a paw on his shoulder "Calm down Po" she said soothingly.

He glanced at her and nodded appreciatively.

"Let's go into the kitchen and get something to eat, they might have gone on a mission".

Po took a deep breath and made his way into the kitchen.

"SURPRISE!", Po jumped back in fright and landed awkwardly on Tigress.

The five and Shifu were standing in the kitchen, they had clearly been waiting there for them.

Po got up off of Tigress and helped her up, "WELCOME BACK PO!" the five yelled.

The Dragon Warrior was suddenly floored again by the masters all trying to jug him at once.

Shifu chuckled at the sight of five fully grown adults acting like children and Tigress standing in shock at the side.

After a while everyone had gotten a hold of their selves.

Everyone took a seat at the table, Tigress was sat next to Po clutching onto his paw.

Mantis asked the question that was on everyone's lips, "So Po...how'd you do it?".

Po chuckled at his much missed blunt approach, he took a deep breath and began to tell everyone of his exploits of the past two years.

When he talked about the Wu-Ban Nector Shifu took note of it, "Hmmm that's strange I've never heard of that before, I wonder if it's an object exclusive to that world...but I don't understand why if it existed why did The Dragon Warrior use a Sacred Blood Stone instead?

When Po had finished a silence fell over the room, everyone was trying to let that information sink in.

Shifu broke the awkward silence "It is good to have you back Po".

Po was shocked at his master's show of affection.

"Wow I didn't realize that I had such an affect on you guys, first Shifu is actually nice to me, my Dad stopped looking after the shop and Tigress wants t-". Tigress swiftly cut him off by squeezing his paw painfully tightly and glaring at him.

Mantis and Monkey picked up on what he was going to say, they both stealthily sidled up to Tigress. "Is that true Master Tigress?" said Monkey coyly, "Would we have heard the little pitter patter of pangers?" said Mantis most unwisely.

If looks could kill.

Viper and Crane smirked and rolled their eyes, Shifu sighed irritably although he was secretly pleased that they were all united once more.

Po started to chuckle in happiness, he turned to Crane when he remembered something. "Say Crane" he said, "Yeah Po?".

"Nice work with Viper, I was saying for years that you two should hook up".

Crane shook his head and laughed at his friends buffoonery "No you haven't Po" he admonished.

"...But if I had then you might of done it sooner".

The evening was full of friendship and love.

xxxxx

Everyone was asleep now but Tigress and Po didn't want to be separated, they had been apart too long.

They were sitting next to each other in the Hall of Heroes gazing into the Moon Pool, Po's box was positioned next to him. He wanted to show Tigress something.

"Hey Tigress" he said whilst looking into the pool, "Yes Po" she replied while also continuing to look at his reflection.

"You know that I thought about you a lot when I was gone right?" he put his hand on her back.

She purred at his touch "I'd like to think you did", she smirked at him.

"W-well I'd like t-to show you how much" he said nervously. Tigress gasped "No he can't really want to? Not right now! I honestly thought he'd never ask".

She sighed when she saw him reach for the box, she was slightly relieved that her expectations weren't met.

Po pushed the box in front of her and opened it, Tigress peeked inside and gasped. Inside were hundreds of letters and notes addressed to her.

Tigress's heart melted at the sight of them, she picked one up at random and read it aloud.

Dear Tigress

I know that you won't ever get this letter, but by writing it I feel like I'm close to you. I hope you can forgive me for breaking your heart by sacrificing myself, maybe that's what this place is, maybe it's the personal hell that I've been allotted for hurting you, or maybe it's a dream that I can't wake up from, or maybe I've just taken my evil counterparts place here. All I know is that it's a strange place, there's so much fear and uncertainty and people are scared of me, it's quite understandable though, I caused so much pain and suffering here.

I've met the Viper, Monkey and Mantis of this world and I've told them of Crane's sacrifice, I'm going to make things right between us all and make this place peaceful again while I find a way back.

I don't know how to get back to you, but no matter what, no matter how long it takes me , I promise you, I will find a way, we'll be together soon Tigress.

Don't ever give up hope, I know I won't.

All of my love now and forever, Po

Po blushed in embarrassment, "They're not that great b-but it's the thought that co-". Tigress cut him off with a soft kiss, Po could feel his cheeks getting wet, but he wasn't crying...Tigress was.

She pulled away and looked deeply in his eyes "They're perfect" she said simply.

They stayed that way for the rest of the night, Tigress reading what Po had written and rewarding him for the more...romantic ones.

It was perfect.

Okay Author's note.

I want to thank pandafan91 with help for the last three chapters, he basically co-wrote chapter 10 with me and was a huge help with chapter 9. If nobody has checked his stuff out yet you should do...because it's awesome, he is defiantly the best current writer on the site.

Now the big one. Do any of you want a sequel to this? I've left it open to a sequel but if nobody wants one I've given the story enough of a conclusion for it not to need one.

I won't say what the sequel would be about just in case nobody wants it, because then I could make it it's own thing.

Thanks for following me all the way through since the very first chapter of A Better World? It really means a lot.