Tigress and Po took a while to head back to the training hall since Li was a bit slow and still out of breath from his arduous climb up the stairs. Mr. Ping, clearly not happy with seeing the panda there, didn't say much to him. Li was very talkative however and he kept making various comments about how nice the layout of the Jade Palace was on top of asking almost a thousand questions. (Which annoyed Mr. Ping thoroughly.

"What do you do for a hobby?" Li asked as the four went up the slope, beginning to huff a bit from the walk. "Eating? Flute making? Oh, and what's your favorite color, Po? And your favorite food?! I'll have to cook you something one of these days!"

"You can ask those questions later!" Mr. Ping snapped. "My son has an important task to do!"

"Is that why you were just up here offering to stay the night and cook?" Po asked the old goose.

"And what's more important than bonding with your father?" Mr. Ping asked expertly.

"Perfect!" Li exclaimed happily. "I could spend the night too! Then we can all bond with him!"

"Um, actually dad...and dad..." Po began, but the two had already began a heated argument which he didn't want to bother getting into. The Dragon Warrior turned to Tigress with a sheepish look. "It looks like our plans to hang out might have been cancelled," he told her.

Tigress smiled at him. "It's fine," she assured him. "It can wait until tomorrow. It's not like your dads are staying for a week."

Po let out a happy sigh of relief. "You're right," he said. "I guess once we get this whole thing sorted out, I'll be okay."

The four reached the training hall upon which Tigress and Po began to enter it. Po turned to Li and Mr. Ping and said, "Can you two wait here a moment?"

"Of course," the two answered in unison.

Po ducked into the training hall, spotting Tigress walking over to Master Shifu who was impatiently tapping his foot.

"There you are," he said with a groan. "That took particularly long."

"And it kind of might take longer," Po told him slowly. "I...have a slight problem."

Shifu eyed him. "And what exactly would that problem be?" he asked.

"It's about my dad."

Shifu sighed. "What does your father want this time?" he asked.

Po winced, trying to think of an answer for that. "Um..." he stammered. "Which one?"

Shifu looked at him funny and was about to ask what Po meant when the training hall doors flew open and Li poked his head inside.

"Hey!" Mr. Ping could be heard yelling. "My son is busy in there! Get your big fat head out here and fight me like a goose!"

"I'm just checking on things," Li assured the old goose, turning back to look at Po. He waved. "Hi, son! How's it going?"

"Fine," Po replied. "Um...give me a second."

Li shrugged and shut the door. Po turned to give Shifu a look that meant, Now you get it?

"Was that your real dad?" Mantis asked his friend.

"Yep," Po told him.

"I'm afraid I can't quite see the problem, Po," Shifu admitted. "You'll have to elaborate."

"I have two dads who want to talk to me," the Dragon Warrior explained. "Dad wants to hang out later, Li...my other dad...wants to learn about me and talk to me now and I don't know what to do with them! We're in the middle of training but I don't want to just...leave them hanging."

Master Shifu glanced at the door with a small sigh. "I'll take care of this," he promised, heading over to the training hall doors.

The red panda opened the doors to reveal Mr. Ping watching Li Shan carefully as the panda poked and prodded a weapon rack placed outside. He cleared his throat, getting the attention of the two dads.

"Oh, Shifu! Thank goodness!" Mr. Ping exclaimed. "Can you please tell this guy that he can't be up here right now?!"

"Mr. Ping, you come up here frequently to visit Po as well," Shifu pointed out.

"We're practically family! I have every right!"

"Daaaaaad!" Po yelled, hearing Monkey and Mantis start snickering.

"Friends aren't necessarily family, Mr. Ping. Well, they can be, but that's not what I came out here to discuss."

The red panda turned to Li who was happily standing off to the other side of him. "So," he said simply. "You're Po's biological father?"

"Yes I am," Li answered happily. "And you must be his master."

"That I am. Do mind explaining how exactly you know Po is your son?"

"Well, the timing is perfect," Li explained. "He's the same age as my son, he reminds me a bit of my late wife...."

"And, sadly," Mr. Ping piped up reluctantly. "He does seem to share some of your personality."

Po eyed him. "Really?" he asked.

"Well, neither of you realized you were related when you were talking in the noodle shop. I think everyone knew besides you two."

"Hey!" Po exclaimed. "You knew?! And you didn't tell me?!"

"You went right up to the Jade Palace!" Mr. Ping protested. "I didn't get a chance to mention it!"

"Does this help in any way?" Li asked Shifu.

"A little, thank you." The grandmaster cleared his throat. "Listen," he continued. "I understand you're both interested in bonding with Po, but at the moment, we're in the middle of training, so if you wouldn't mind waiting in the courtyard or by the door with no interruptions, it would be well appreciated."

"I'd like to see some of your kung fu, Po, if you don't mind," Li replied with a smile.

Mr. Ping grumbled at the thought, but said, "I'll go and prepare some dinner."

"Dad, we just ate lunch!" Po exclaimed in surprise.

"I didn't say right this second; I want to set myself up in your room first so that we can talk later."

"That's fine," Shifu told him. "Just don't make a mess."

The old goose walked out of the training arena, leaving Li to watch the action. Master Shifu walked back inside with Po to continue the training session. Po stood with his friends while Shifu walked over to the other end of the training hall, placing his staff in the middle of the Blushing Spikes of Impending Demise and calling out, "You must work together to get the tea cup to me. And no cutting around the outside of the training hall, Po."

"I know!" Po yelled.

The masters got into position, awaiting Shifu's order to start.

"Begin."

The masters almost immediately dived into the training hall, Tigress staying behind to pour the tea into the tea cup that was to be transported across the training hall. When it was ready, she quickly, but carefully went across the Seven Swinging Clubs of Instant Oblivion, careful to not drop it on the way over. As she made it across the equipment, she heard, "Tigress, look out!"

A swinging club from the Earthen Spikes of Eternity came flying at the master's face, but she quickly shielded the tea and smashed the club to pieces. Another spiked club came at her, but the master leaped onto it and rode the chain over to where Crane and Mantis were awaiting the cup. The master expertly slipped it to her foot where she passed it to the two without having to let go of the chain. Mantis caught the tea cup and Crane went sailing through the rest of the clubs and through the seven talon rings, careful to not knock Mantis off.

"Incoming!" the bug called out as they spotted Monkey up ahead. The primate grabbed the cup with his tail and made his way through the rest of the talon rings where he approached the Slicing Blades of Fear. Monkey quickly passed the cup to his mouth and jumped ahead, narrowly avoiding being sliced in half. He then swung down to hand the tea cup to Viper who got a firm hold on it. She slithered away from the incoming arrows, yelling, "Come on! We're almost there!"

"Over here!" Po called from the Gauntlet of Wooden Warriors.

Viper slithered over to him where the Dragon Warrior intercepted the tea and walked across the gauntlets to Shifu. He leaped across the training arena and managed to land on one of the spike heads, grabbing a hold of one to avoid falling over. Struggling to hold himself up, Po shakily handed the cup to Master Shifu who sipped it to taste.

"Perfect," the grandmaster told him.

Po gasped happily. "Really?!" he exclaimed, hoping that nailing it on the first try would get them out of training early.

"No," Shifu told him sternly, making him frown. "Again!"

Po finally lost his balance on the spikes and toppled to the ground, fortunately not injuring himself in the process. He groaned and stood up, saying, "What happened? Too hot? Not enough tea?"

"There's wood shavings in here," Shifu replied flatly.

"Tigreeeees!!!!!" Po cried in exasperation.

The master rolled her eyes. "Sorry, Dragon Warrior," she answered. "But I refuse to go back on bed rest because I couldn't dodge a piece of the training equipment."

"We don't have time to chat, you two!" Shifu called over. "Again!"

Monkey snickered as the masters returned to the front of the training hall to do the exercise all over again.

Later that evening, Mr. Ping was cooking dinner for the masters which allowed Po some extra time to get to know Li and vice versa. Tigress and Shifu could tell that Mr. Ping wasn't entirely happy with Li being around Po, but they hoped that with time, the old goose wouldn't be so overprotective. During the preparation of dinner, Li explained to Po that he had first realized he was alive through a vision he had received over a year earlier. Upon learning Po (or Lei-Feng as he kept accidentally calling him from time to time) was still alive, Li was determined to find him. He packed up his stuff and said goodbye to his village and headed out into the unknown. He was a bit cautious going out since he was unaware of the location of Lord Shen, but various reports from the different locations he had visited soon put his mind at ease. Po was shocked and amazed that there were more pandas who survived Lord Shen's attack and on top of that, they had made an entirely new village from whoever was left. He asked Li a lot of questions, including what the village was like, what his dad did, and so on. In turn, he amazed his dad with stories on how he became a kung fu master and took on villains, including the very peacock who had attempted to destroy his entire species. Li was just glad that Shen didn't live since he didn't know if he could deal with another attack on his people.

"I have to ask you, Lei-...Po," Li said curiously. "How on earth did you survive? I already told you my tale. I found it quite strange...sad, but strange...that your mother isn't alive, but yet here you are."

"Po said that she sacrificed her life for his," Mr. Ping explained over by the counter.

"Yeah, she put me in a radish basket and led Shen in the other direction," Po added sadly. He smiled. "But then I was carried here to the Valley of Peace and that's how dad found me."

"Yep," Mr. Ping concurred. "And he ate all of the radishes in there, the poor, hungry little thing."

The goose walked over to the table with several bowls and served everyone dinner. "But I took him in and raised him and now here he is: the Dragon Warrior and noodle master all in one!"

"Aw, come on, dad," Po told him with a grin. "We both know who the real noodle master is."

"Broth runs through your veins, Po. You're a noodle master right alongside me. And any future kids you may have."

"Daaaaad!!!!!!!"

"I know! I'm sorry."

Mr. Ping sat down besides Li and said, "So...what brought you to the valley then? Reports?"

Li laughed. "I wish," he admitted. "Unfortunately, I never had such luck in that manner. I just so happened to get hungry and I decided to look for the nearest village. Yours was the closest."

Mr. Ping nodded. "I see..." he said slowly, eating his soup.

Li gulped his soup down with a loud slurp and wiped his mouth. "Are there any leftovers?" he asked.

"There's plenty of soup in the pot," the old goose told him.

Li got up from the table and went over to the pot for seconds. Po watched him and quietly ate his own large bowl of soup. He tried not to get seconds since he wanted to save food for everyone else (which was a hard habit to break out of); especially now that there was another panda in the room who probably ate more than he did.

"This soup is fantastic!' Li exclaimed, slurping down his second helping.

"Well, of course...."

Li finished the second helping and got up for a third. As he sat down, Master Shifu said, "Mr. Shan...I know you enjoy that soup, but could you kindly not slurp at the table?"

Li laughed. "Why?" he asked. "I don't see the harm. Especially when it's too good to eat so slowly." He slurped down the third bowl and let out a semi-loud belch. "My compliments to the chef," he added.

"Thank you," Mr. Ping said with a subtle head bow. "Oh, Po, I'm staying the night by the way."

Po almost choked on his soup. "Staying the night?" he repeated.

"Well, of course! I told you I wanted to spend more time with you, remember?"

"Right. I forgot."

"I'm afraid your time for bonding Mr. Ping...and Mr. Shan will have to be cut short," Shifu told the two dads. "We have training early tomorrow morning and I'd like everyone to have a good night's sleep. I'll show you two to your rooms after dinner if you'd like."

Mr. Ping sighed. "Oh, alright," he grumbled. "But I'll need some help with the dishes." He looked across the table. "Tigress," he asked. "Are you doing anything later?"

Tigress froze, her spoon half-way to her mouth. "Uh..." she stammered, trying to think of an excuse to not do dishes. (Not that she minded the task, but she didn't want Monkey or Mantis cracking any jokes on it later).

"Perfect!" Mr. Ping exclaimed happily when she didn't answer right away. "You can help me!"

"I could help you dad," Po offered, seeing Tigress looking a bit uncomfortable.

"It's fine, Po. Li will probably be pestering you later anyway, so I'm probably better staying out of it."

"Dad..."

"It's fine, Po. I'll be okay."

Everyone soon finished up dinner and began to leave the table, Li following Shifu out of the kitchen in order to find his room. Mr. Ping went to clear the table and do the dishes, but Po stepped in and offered to do them for him, not wanting his dad to "accidentally" leak an embarrassing story about him. Mr. Ping soon relented and allowed Po to handle the task of the dishes. When he left the kitchen, Tigress said, "Is something wrong, Dragon Warrior?"

"What?" Po asked. "Nah. It's just...dad has a tendency to say things I ask him to not say.... And they're always embarrassing...."

Tigress chuckled. "I get it," she replied with a grin. "You don't want me learning any of your secrets."

"If I want to tell you about the time I was daydreaming and made out with the mop," Po told her. "I'll tell you myself. That's my business."

"You made out with a mop?"

"I was thirteen!"

The panda went to wave his arms in exasperation, but accidentally splashed Tigress with sudsy water from the cup he held in his hand.

"AH!" Tigress exclaimed when the water hit her shirt.

"Sorry!" Po apologized, quickly going back to rinse the cup.

Trying not to grin, Tigress reached over and splashed Po back with the water in the sink.

"Hey!" he yelled. "I didn't splash you on purpose!"

"You still got my shirt wet," Tigress answered with a small smirk.

Po grinned and filled up the cup he had with more water.

"Po, don't you dar-AHHHH!"

The Dragon Warrior held back a laugh at seeing Tigress soaked with soap water. The master grabbed a bowl and dipped it in the sink. "That's it, Mighty Dragon Warrior," she joked. "Vengeance will be mine!"

"You'll have to get me first, Master Tigress!"

Po went to run, but Tigress expertly threw the water at him which soaked his back.

"You shall not be getting away with that!" he exclaimed with a smirk, going in for another round.

While the two wound up getting into a sudsy water fight, Mr. Ping was busy watching them for any signs of budding romance or possible hints at a future date. As he happily watched the two play around with the water, a cough from behind startled him and made him turn away from his watch-spot.

"Mr. Ping," Shifu said sternly. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing," Mr. Ping replied with a smile. "Just watching young love at play."

Shifu was a bit confused by this statement until he remembered who was in the kitchen. "Tigress and Po are not romantically involved," he reminded him. "And you need to stay out of it."

"If you would just tell me what you knew..."

"That's not my place to say and neither is it yours."

"Isn't that a father's job?" Mr. Ping asked him with a look. "To meddle in their children's affairs even when they think it isn't necessary?"

"If they're doing something illegal or wrong, then yes," Shifu admitted. "But this is different."

Mr. Ping slapped a wing to his head. "Are you blind?!" he exclaimed quietly so that Po and Tigress didn't overhear. "Look at them! They train together, eat together, fight together, laugh together, come up with silly and ridicules plans together, share private moments, share stories, talk to each other deeply about things, they help each other when the other needs it, they understand each other, Po loves Tigress and Tigress...well, I can't say much about her, but she's been showing subtle quirks around Po lately so I know something's up. I mean, how much more obvious can you get?!"

"I'm not blind, Mr. Ping," Shifu told him. "I just know when to mind my own business."

Mr. Ping narrowed his eyes at him. "There's something you're not telling me..." he said. "Something that might just help those two."

"Yes, there is," Shifu finally admitted. "But that's not my place to say."

"Does she like him?"

"That's not my place to say."

"Oh come on! You have to tell me something! Please Shifu!!!!!!"

"I'm not at liberty to freely speak about what is confided in me."

"Why, what did Tigress say? Does she love Po? Does she at least think he's a nice guy? Or handsome? Or a great friend? You have to-"

A loud crash from the kitchen got the attention of the two fathers and they quickly looked through the slightly open door to see Po on top of Tigress, their noses and foreheads touching and some dishes broken on the floor. On top of Po, but not squishing them so much that they were obstructed from view, was the kitchen table which seemed to be knocked over. The chairs were knocked to the floor as well, laying on their side while Po tried to get out from under the over-turned table. Though far away, the blush on both of their cheeks could be easily identified although Shifu figured that, under the circumstances, neither would take too much notice.

Mr. Ping winced. "Should we help them?" he asked, seeing Po struggle to get the table off.

Shifu shook his head with a very small grin on his face. "I'm sure they can take care of themselves," he told him. "Though at this rate, those dishes may take a while to get done."

Mr. Ping watched him exit the kitchen, following close behind with a smirk. "Oh, so you have noticed...." he said.

"Of course I have; I'm not oblivious to their behavior." The master chuckled lightly. "And they wonder why Monkey and Mantis are always joking about the matter......"

After finally getting the table off, cleaning the dishes, and mopping the water off the floor, Tigress went to retreat to the training hall while Po opted to go to his room and relax. Between meeting his biological dad, seeing his adopted father get jealous over his real one being there, and now accidentally landing on top of Tigress during a water fight, he needed a break. The Dragon Warrior retreated to his room and flopped down on his bed. He felt a surge of drowsiness wash over him and he began to snuggle and get ready to fall asleep. However, a short knock on the door frame snapped him from his sleepy state and made him sit up. Shifu stood in the doorway with a look that meant, You're not going to like what I'm about to say....

"Hey, Shifu," Po said. "What's up?"

"Well firstly, should I inquire about why there are wet footprints around the Jade Palace grounds or should I just leave that up to my imagination?"

Po felt hot blood rush to his face as he thought about the water fight in the kitchen. Shifu didn't need to know about that. "Um...imagination, please," he said quickly.

Shifu sighed. "Very well," he answered. "Now to what I have to say...your fathers both want to spend time with you and are absolutely insistent on the matter. So...they've requested to spend the night in your room. Alas, I can't do anything about it."

"Oh man...." Po groaned, flopping back down on his bed. "I don't know if I can deal with that right now...."

"I'm afraid you'll have to," Shifu told him.

"Son?!" came Mr. Ping's voice from upstairs. Loud creaking accompanied soft footsteps down the stairs and within a minute, both Mr. Ping and Li appeared in the doorway. "Ah, there you are!" Mr. Ping exclaimed happily. "We're going to all sleep in here with you! Won't that be fun?!"

Po forced a smile and nodded as his dads cam into the room.

"This will be fun!" Li exclaimed as Po hopped out of bed and Mr. Ping slipped into it. "We'll stay up late and tell stories, have midnight snacks, tell stories, maybe pull some pranks..."

"You like pranks?" Po asked.

"Well, everyone needs to have some fun now and then," Li told him.

Po chuckled. "You should go talk to Monkey then," he suggested. "He's the master at prank-pulling."

"This is very true," Mr. Ping commented from the bed. "He once made Po kiss his Tigress action figure while he was sleeping."

"DAAAAD!!!!"

Li laughed. "A friend of mine did that to me!" he exclaimed. "Except I made out with a radish in my sleep. But, we can discuss pranks with Monkey another day! I want to talk the night away!"

"I'd love to get to know you better dad," Po told him with a sad smile. "But I do have training in the morning. I need my rest."

"Ah, yes, of course," Li acknowledged. "In that case, I'll see you in the morning." He looked around the room. "Don't you have blankets in here?" he asked.

Po glanced at the green blanket he had once used as a cape. "Not really, he admitted. "But you can use this blanket over here. Dad just found it today."

"Perfect."

Po handed Li the blanket and the old panda snuggled uncomfortably on the floor wrapped in it. "Good night, Lei-Feng. I mean, good night, Po."

"Good night, Po," Mr. Ping called over from the bed.

Po blew out the candle. "Goodnight, dad," he answered with a yawn. "And good night dad."

Po wasn't sure what time it was, but he remembered being woken out of a sound sleep with his arms being tugged and pulled about. The panda woke up with a start, only to see Mr. Ping hugging and tugging on his left arm and Li hugging and gently pulling on the right. Po groaned and tried to pull them off, but with both arms occupied, it served as a harder problem than anticipated.

"Dad..." he whispered, trying to wake them up. "Dad?"

Mr. Ping pulled harder on his arm and Li went from gripping Po's arm to squeezing him altogether. Po squirmed to get free, but to no avail.

"Dad!" he said a little louder. "Dad?! Come on guys!"

More squirming. Nothing.

Po groaned and flopped down on the ground. How am I supposed to go to sleep if I'm being used for sleep-time tug of war?!

As if his thoughts were being read, the panda saw the door open and Tigress peeked into the room. "Po?" she asked. "Is everything okay in here?"

"Um..." Po said, glancing at his dads. "I could use some help getting them off of me."

Tigress chuckled when she fully opened the door and saw the two clinging to Po. She walked over to the three, looking at Mr. Ping before spying Po's panda doll on the floor. She quietly picked it up and nudged it into Mr. Ping's arms where he grabbed the toy and turned to the other side of the bed with it. With his other arm free, Po tried yanking Li off, but the panda scootched closer to him, wrapping him in a tight hug with both of his arms pinned. The Dragon Warrior glanced up at Tigress. "Try a noodle bowl," he suggested, gesturing his head towards his stack of bowls.

Tigress did as she was told, grabbing a bowl and holding it under Li's nose. Sure enough, the panda smelled the aroma and rolled over to get the bowl, releasing Po who quickly stood up and moved closer to the door to avoid getting grabbed again. Tigress put the bowl away and carefully stepped around Li so that she didn't get grabbed next.

"Thanks," Po said gratefully.

"No problem, Po," the master replied with a smile. "You know, if it's too cramped, you could bunk in someone else's room. Unless that might turn into a problem...."

"Possibly," the panda admitted, standing up. "But I need my sleep, so I think I can snooze somewhere else for the night."

"Any particular spot?" Tigress asked him.

"um..." Po answered sheepishly. "If it's not too awkward or too much trouble...maybe your room?"

"My room?" Tigress asked in surprise.

"Well, I don't want to wake anyone up and you're right across the hallway so I don't have to worry about creaking floorboards."

Tigress thought about that for a moment. "I don't see the harm, I suppose," he finally said. "But you should probably duck out before everyone wakes up. For the sake of avoiding Monkey or Mantis."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

Tigress walked out of the room, Po adding, "Just let me grab my...oh, wait...never mind. Dad has my blanket."

"You can borrow my baby blanket," Tigress told him slowly, seeing how he would react. "I mean, it's probably too small, but it's a blanket."

"Are you sure?" Po asked her, following her to her room and closing the doors behind him.

"I never use it. I don't see the harm."

The master went to her trunk and fumbled around in the dark until she finally pulled out a medium sized blanket. Po couldn't tell what color it was since it was dark in the room, but it felt comfortable and it was just big enough for him.

"Thanks, Tigress," he said with a smile.

"You're welcome," Tigress answered, closing the trunk.

Po gave her a gentle hug when she stood back up, Tigress almost immediately sinking into his arms with a happy smile. Neither of them said anything for a moment until Tigress broke the hug with the intention of heading off to bed.

"You better not snore," she warned playfully.

Po rolled his eyes. "That's dad," he assured her. "Although if I do, please kick me."

"With pleasure," Tigress joked. She then settled on her bed and Po on the floor and the two finally went to sleep in preparation for the next day.

Hey guys! I just wanted to apologize real quick on my recent tardiness for my chapters. I've been really busy lately and on top of it, I've had almost no energy for writing. So for you guys who have noticed that I haven't posted anything in...what, a week? Two weeks? I'm really sorry about that. I'm trying to readjust to moving into a new house and getting a new job and all that boring and fancy stuff so please just bear with me. I'm really trying to get these done on time. (It's 2:24 in the morning here. I just noticed that. Ugh! I need to stop going to bed so freaking late! I have stuff to do early in the morning!!!!)