The day following the defeat of Lord Shen, the masters of the Valley of Peace began to load onto the boat in order to head home. They were all injured from the cannon blast, but they were in much better condition to travel after a night of resting. Po, who was the least injured due to Tigress pushing him out of the way of the cannon, carried all of the supplies onto the boat for the journey across the sea. Shifu was also one of the least injured, but he was preoccupied helping the masters get settled on the boat since their injuries were worse. Monkey was carrying a sore Mantis on his shoulder and limped along with a sprained ankle while bearing scratch marks and burns from the cannon. Viper coiled around Tigress' shoulders with remnants of burns and splinters that were in her side while Tigress winced during her trek to the boat from a few broken ribs. The doctor who had examined her the night before had said that they weren't piercing her insides which was good, but she wouldn't be able to do kung fu until they had fully healed. Until then, she had to take it extremely easy. Crane was also slightly burned, but he has more damage to his wing which had already gotten injured earlier during the fight with Shen in the tower.

Po loaded up the last of the supplies as Ox and Croc lined up at the boat to wish them the best. They apologized for not going with them to fight Shen earlier on when Po has made efforts to free them from Gongmen Jail. The masters shrugged it off, telling them that they knew that the Gongmen City masters were merely trying to protect their people.

"But the important thing is that you guys totally came to help, right?" Po said as the others impatiently waited to get on the boat so as to sit down.

"I suppose," Master Ox answered, slightly embarrassed. He then shook his head and smiled. "Thank you, again for helping to take down Shen."

"It was no problem," Shifu assured him. "I'm just glad that this fight is over and that Gongmen City is safe again."

"And all of China along with it," Master Croc added with a grin. Looking at the limping masters, he then said, "I suppose you're anxious to get on the boat and rest your wounds some more."

"We'd appreciate it," Mantis told him, drooping over Monkey's shoulder limply. While he didn't exactly have any injuries, the soreness that he had the day before had taken a tole and had given him a lack of energy as well as a small migraine.

"Well, in that case," Ox said. "Farewell my friends."
The masters bowed goodbye and headed onto the boat. Po stopped briefly to hug the Soothsayer who had just walked up to the Gongmen City masters. He didn't know where she had been for the past couple of hours, but she had been the one to help him discover who he was. "Thanks, goat lady," the Dragon Warrior told her, giving her a firm hug before starting to board the boat. "I'll never forget you."

"And I you, young warrior," the Soothsayer replied gently, smiling as she watched him get onto the boat.

Everyone in Gongmen City waved as they watched the masters depart back to their home, the masters of Gongmen City heading back to start rebuilding the tower that Shen had destroyed the day before. The masters of the Valley of Peace watched the city grow smaller and smaller as their boat started to take them home. When they were a good distance away, they retreated to the small quarters underneath the boat where some of them would go to nurse their burns and various other minor injuries. Shifu, who wasn't in much need of medical attention, stayed with Po who was leaning against the bows of the boat with a sigh.

"How are you doing, panda?" he inquired.

"Better than ever," Po told him with a smile. He then sighed and said, "I just have one other thing to do."

"And what is that, may I ask?"

"Well, see," Po began. "Before we set out to come and kick Shen's butt, I was having flashbacks of my real mom and I found out that I was adopted."

Shifu thought about Mr. Ping, the old goose, and Po finding out he was adopted and gave the Dragon Warrior a weird look. "So, you're saying you had no idea you were adopted by a goose?"

"Well, I may have had suspicions, but not really."

"You're father is a goose."

"Yeah, so?"

Shifu tried to understand how on earth Po could possibly have been that oblivious to the fact that he was adopted, but he was soon sidetracked when Po said, "Didn't you ever tell Tai Lung he was adopted?"

The grandmaster was a bit startled by this question, but remembering having to tell his former son about his history, he answered, "Yes, I did. And...no, he didn't really suspect much about that either, I suppose." Shifu thought about that for a second and then said, "So, I'm assuming you and your father were going through something then?"
"Oh, yeah," Po answered, glad that he didn't upset Shifu with the question. "So, you know, I had a lot of questions, and my dad couldn't answer them all, and...I guess I was just having some trouble figuring out who I was after all of that and I might have worried him a bit, so...I have some catching up to do with him when we get back."

Master Shifu nodded. "Understandable," he told him.

Po was tempted to ask about Tai Lung's adjustment to his adoption, but he thought better of it and asked instead, "How are your burns?"

"They're fine," Shifu assured him. "Nothing major. I just got a few small scortch marks on my side, but other than that, I couldn't be better."

"Well, that's good."

Po's stomach growled, and the master remembered that they didn't eat that morning since they had wanted to get on the boat as early as possible.

"Me too," Shifu told him. "Lets go grab some food."

The two walked over to the boat quarters, Po saying, "I hope there's somewhere to cook some noodles."

"I think there's a kettle," Shifu told him. "But we don't have a place to actually cook, so you're out of luck there, I believe."

Po let out an unhappy aw, before the two entered the quarters. The five were just finishing up applying the medicine to their injuries and were starting to relax.

"So," Po said, walking over to the stockpile of food. "Since there's no stove, who wants fruit salad?"

"Anything sounds good at this point!" Crane told him as Viper bandaged his wing.

"Then fruit salad it is!" The Dragon Warrior exclaimed, grabbing a bunch of fruit and two big bowls. He proceeded to take a peeler and started to peel the fruit, putting the peels in one bowl and the fuit itself in another. Tigress, who was laying down to rest her ribcage, watched him have some trouble putting the apples, peaches, pears, pineapples, and grapes into the bowl as the boat would shift on the waves, causing the bowl to go sliding around the deck. Every once in a while, Po would have to put the fruit down and go chasing after the bowl, and then put the bowl down and go chasing after the runaway fruit. After watching the others become too preoccupied with laughing at Po's hilarious problem, she got up and held the moving bowls in place as Po got the last of the fleeing fruit.

"Aw, come on, Tigress," Monkey called over. "That was funny!"

"Well, I'd like to eat sometime soon," the master answered as Po sat down finally.

"Hey, it's fine," Po assured her. "I got this."

Tigress looked at him and then down at the bowl, and then gave him an inquiring look.

"Okay," Po admitted, "I was having some trouble. "But you need to rest."

"By rest, that means sitting down," Tigress told him firmly. "And what am I doing now?"

"Sitting down?" Po asked sheepishly.

"Exactly."

Knowing that Tigress wasn't about to give in, Po let her sit there and hold the bowls while he finally continued to make breakfast. Po figured that since she wouldn't be able to do kung fu for quite some time, she would most likely be trying to do something productive, and this was one of those ways. So, he didn't argue. After a few minutes, the fruit salad was ready and the masters were able to dig into a nice breakfast. It wasn't dumplings or pan-fried noodles, but it was delicious just the same. Afterwards, the masters rested on the boat, Po finally able to sleep and not dream about his parents abandoning him since he now knew how much they had actually loved him. The boat continued to drift back towards the Valley of Peace and as day turned into night, the masters finally relaxed enought to drift off to sleep.

As Po settled in for the night, he heard his friends and master fall asleep, their gentle snores filling the quarters. He tried to fall asleep, but his eyes glazed off to the side, spotting Tigress struggling to sleep with the pain in her chest but having little luck. Po frowned. She was the one enduring the most pain because she has been the one to push him out of the way of the cannon seconds before it fired. Po gave a little sigh and got up, walking over to his friend and sitting next to her. He hesitated for a second before gently saying, "Tigress?"

The tiger master looked up in surprise, sitting up with some difficulty. "Po," she said, wincing in pain. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Po promised. "I just...I just wanted to thank you and say I'm sorry."

Tigress did a double-take. "Apologize?" she asked. "What on earth for?"

"Well," the Dragon Warrior began. "You pushed me out of the way of Shen's cannon, which I am grateful for, don't get me wrong. But..." His face transitioned into one of sadness. "You're badly wounded."

Tigress gave him a small smile. "Po," she said quietly. "You had a villain to fight. We couldn't afford you dying." With a sad frown, she added, "Besides, you're my friend, and after nearly losing you in the firework factory and being helpless to save you, I would push you out of harm's way again in a heartbeat."

"Really?" Po asked with a smile.

"Of course," Tigress told him. "We're a team. We stick together."

She went to go lay down, the pain from her ribs making her moan.

"Take it easy," Po warned gently, watching her lower herself onto the floor.

"I am," Tigress replied, managing to lay back down and settle into a painless sleeping position. As she closed her eyes, she added, "Good night, Po."

"Good night, Tigress," Po answered. He then walked back over to his end of the quarters and finally drifted off into a semi-peaceful sleep. Tomorrow, when they docked the harbor, they would head back to the valley, and then Po would go talk to his dad and finally ease his mind after months of being gone.