77 days and counting...

Tigress darted out of the rubble caused by Kai and managed to get back outside just as the rest of the roof collapsed even farther.

"Tigress!" Viper called down from the stairs. "Thank goodness you're okay!"

Tigress walked over to her, the orb clutched tightly to her chest. "I just had to grab this," she told her friend. "It might help us find Po and I didn't want it to get damaged."

"How's the lower level?"

"There's some debris and loose rocks, but everything's perfectly intact, thank goodness."

Viper smiled. "Glad to hear it," she said. The serpent and the tiger master walked down the stairs, Tigress noticing that the arena was now deserted. Viper, seeing her look of concern, added, "Everyone's gone to see Scorpion for medical attention. Monkey offered to get everyone back in here to help out with clean-up."

Tigress let out a sigh of relief. "Good," she commented. "How's Master Shifu?"

"Not sure yet. That pendent did something, but I don't know what. Hopefully Scorpion can help out a bit."

The girls headed down the Thousand Steps where they observed the heavy debris that lay around the valley. The part closer to the bridge and the end of the Valley of Peace was barely scratched, but there was still some impressive damage done by Kai's destruction of the Sacred Hall of Warriors. They walked through the rubble until they finally approached Scorpion's medical building which had some damage done to the side of the wall but nothing else other than that. The two headed inside where they found Scorpion and Mr. Ping tending to some of the villagers. Upon seeing them, Scorpion let out a, "Oh, girls! Thank goodness! I was a little worried when Monkey said you were going inside of a collapsed building!"

"Thankfully, the temple wasn't horribly damaged," Tigress told her, not mentioning it being unstable and collapsing on the spot. (Mainly to avoid causing worry). "The lower levels were perfectly intact minus some loose ceiling rocks."

"I'm glad to hear that. Pingy, can you hand me that ointment in the blue jar?"

Mr. Ping grabbed a small blue jar from off the top shelf of the room and handed it to his girlfriend who took to wrapping Mei-Ling's arm along with it. Mei-Ling hardly noticed as she was busy watching over Master Shifu who laid still and quiet in one of the hospital beds.

"Is he alright?" Tigress asked, glancing at her master.

"I can't say," Scorpion admitted. "He's still breathing, but Mei-Ling over here and Monkey mentioned some green pendent that this bull was using and unfortunately, I've never heard of such a weapon."

"Neither have we," Tigress replied. "We know it helps him turn masters into jade-like statues, but that's about the end of it."

"Is Monkey still getting everyone back in?" Viper asked.

"Yes, he should be back soon," Mr. Ping assured her. "I think everyone went pretty far away to avoid getting clobbered. Not that I would know...."

"You still owe me a night for almost killing yourself," Scorpion scolded him, hurrying over to fill one of her basins with water.

"I know, I know," Mr. Ping apologized. "I didn't mean to scare anyone! I just wasn't about to let some mind-controlled master take over my shop!"

Tigress resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the noodle maker's stubbornness. "I'm afraid we have bigger problems besides Kai almost completely destroying the valley," she told the two.

"And him controlling Crane!" Viper said bitterly. "And Mantis."

"Please don't tell me he runs a noodle empire," Mr. Ping said worriedly.

"He does nothing of the sort, Mr. Ping, I promise," Tigress replied. "But he does possess a powerful pendent. And he told us that he's going to use it to destroy Po!"

Mr. Ping froze, the basin he held in his wings slipping down to the floor and breaking. "P-po?" he stammered. "Is in DANGER?!"

"Kai only came here to fight Po," Viper confirmed. "He wanted to fight and destroy him so that he could control China."

"He's going to try and destroy me son?!" Mr. Ping wailed. "He can't!!! That's my son! My little Po!!!!"

"The chances of Kai finding him are slim," Viper assured the old goose. "The only one who knows where the panda village is, is Li."

"That may be true," Tigress admitted. "But I don't know if I want to take that chance."

"Best...not...to..." came the weak voice of Master Shifu from the bed.

Mei-Ling, who was right by him, was quick to engulf him in a relieved hug with Viper and Tigress popping over as well.

"Master Shifu!" Tigress exclaimed happily. "You're alright!"

"I'll...be...fine...." Shifu told her weakly, struggling just to speak.

"You had me worried, Fufi!" Mei-Ling cried worriedly. "There was this green light coming out of you and I didn't know what it was doing to you!"

"Consid...considering...that I'm... awake..." Shifu replied reassuringly. "It just...means that my...kung fu...hasn't been stolen."

"Stolen kung fu?" Mr. Ping asked from close by. "He can do that?!"

"That pendent...that he was...wearing...." Shifu said. "Possesses...powerful...abilities. It can drain...the kung fu powers...of a master...upon their defeat. Once their power...has been taken...the pendent can...transform them...into mind-controlled...soldiers...who obey every command...of whomever owns the...pendent."

"Which in this case is Kai," Viper finished.

"Exactly."

"But Po is safe with his father," Mr. Ping said sadly. "This Kai person won't find him for at least a month or so."

"Not...exactly...." Master Shifu corrected. "Kai mentioned...something about making...three trips. The first one...was to here. Another one...may be to Po. I don't know...where he's going next...but I'm assuming...it's to find out...where Po is."

"So what are you saying?" Viper asked. "That Kai has some way of tracking Po?!"

"It's more...than likely."

Monkey suddenly came through the door, calling out, "Tigress, I got everyone evacuated back in. But there's almost no room since Kai practically demolished the village with the temple shards. What do you want me to do?"

"Monkey!" Shifu called out weakly. "Wait a...moment!"

Monkey glanced over at Master Shifu. "Oh, good! He's up!" he exclaimed happily, walking over.

The grandmaster turned to Tigress, eyeing the artifact she held carefully in her paws. "Oh thank...goodness," he said. "You retrieved...the Locator Orb."

"I thought it might come in handy," Tigress told him.

"It definitely...will. You'll need it...to find Po."

Mr. Ping walked over to see the fancy orb that Tigress held in her paws. "What does it do?" he asked.

"The Locator Orb...can find anyone at anytime...if you think about them...while holding the orb. However...it only works if...the person holding...it has a strong love...connection to that...person."

"As in fatherly love or true love or love of true friends?" Mr. Ping asked.

"Yes, but it must...be strong."

Mr. Ping turned to Tigress. "Allow me," he said. "If Po's in danger, I'm going with you to help him!"

"Mr. Ping..." Tigress said nervously. "I don't know if that would be a good idea. Going to warn Po will be dangerous."

"He's my son! I don't care if I have to chow-wa-punch-kick someone; I'm going to save my son!"

"It may be in...your best interest...to let him," Shifu admitted to the master. "The orb will only...work if he's hold...hold...ing it. And one bond can...only power the orb...for two days."

"Two days?!!" Monkey exclaimed. "But Li said that the panda village was four days away."

"Then you'd...better...hurry!"

"Should one of us at least stay here to help the valley?" Viper asked, looking out the window at the concerned citizens.

"Mei-Ling...and Scorpion will help...out. As will I once...I get back.. the strength to...at least...get out of bed."

"Work on being able to sit up first, Shifu," Mei-Ling told him gently, tucking him into the bed. "Then we can work on getting you back on your feet."

Mr. Ping offered out his wings to the orb where Tigress gently handed it to him. The old goose thought hard about Po before a gentle blue glow ignited and Po could be seen hanging out with Li and some other pandas the masters didn't know.

Mr. Ping looked at the image of Po sadly. "Oh, son..." he sniffled. Holding the orb close to his chest, he added gently, "Don't worry, Po! Daddy's coming!"

The orb then gently changed to a picture of the Thread of Hope, confusing Mr. Ping. "Why did it show me this old bridge?" he asked.

"That's...the first...spot...you...must go...to...." Master Shifu answered, starting to grow drowsy from the strength of simply talking.

Mei-Ling watched him start to doze off and said quietly, "You go back to sleep, Fufi. You'll need your strength for later."

Once Shifu fell asleep, Tigress said just as quietly, "We'll be back as soon as we can."

"Be careful," Mei-Ling told her. "And good luck."

The masters bowed and then quickly left the medical center, Mr. Ping running along with the orb that would lead them to Po.

Back at the panda village, an unsuspecting Po was busy visiting the different elders who resided in the panda village. He and his dad had been doing visits for a day or so and while Po did feel a little more comfortable around them, he still felt a little out of place for not knowing as much as everyone else in the village. The two were currently leaving from the home of a nice woman who enjoyed pinching Po's cheeks and called him adorable every time he did something. But she didn't seem to mind Po's first time ignorance about the various customs in the valley which was something the Dragon Warrior appreciated. The two walked for a while until they came to the secluded house that belonged to Li. After walking up the long bridge to reach it, the two pandas entered the house where Li put the picnic basket used for that afternoon's lunch on the table.

"I like Mrs. Ren," Po noted, sitting down on one of the chairs. "Although I think my cheeks could use a break."

Li laughed. "She does that to a lot of people," he assured his son. "She still does it to me."

Po smiled and let out a bittersweet sigh. "This is a really nice place, dad," he said sadly. "I just wish that I went through some of those rites of passage so that I wasn't such an outsider."

"Things happen, son," Li told him, sitting down in the chair beside him and putting a paw on his shoulder. "I wish you could have had an Emblem too and attended your first moon dance at 13. And your mother had the entire Ascending Ceremony planned out by the time you were two weeks old."

Po laughed. "What did she have in mind?" he asked.

"There was a river by the house that she wanted to do the ceremony at and she wanted all friends and family to be there guiding you down while you rode in a river boat. Then everyone would gather at the end where your fiancée would be waiting for you."

"A fiancée?" Po asked with a grin. "Wait, she planned on me getting ready to be married by the time I was 21?"

"Of course she did," Li told him happily. "We were all planning on it! Which actually reminds me; there's someone else I want to introduce you to!"

As he got up and headed over to the door , Po called out nervously, "Um..who exactly?"

"You'll see when we get there!"

Po was slightly confused, but he got up anyway and followed his dad out the door. The two went back down the bridge and walked along the grassy area of the village where they passed houses and pandas and several ponds with young pandas swimming around with bamboo floaties. After about five minutes or so, the clearing diminished to a small river cutting through the village. Within the waters was a sturdy bridge that zig-zagged to a small house just overlooking the cliff. Li lead on and directed Po to the front door of the house.

"Who are we visiting?" Po asked again.

"One moment," Li promised. The two reached the door and Li knocked on it loudly. "Mei-Mei?!" he called out. "Are you home?!"

"Let yourself in!" came a loud voice from somewhere in the house. "I'm preparing for tonight's dance! I'll be there in a second!"

Li opened the door and entered the house, Po following close behind him. The house was somewhat small but yet spacious at the exact same time. The small hallway that Po stood in had dance ribbons and fans lined up along the walls which led to a small kitchen way at the end.

"Mei-Mei?" Po asked his dad.

"Give her a moment," Li said. "She does a lot of ribbon dancing, so she's probably practicing."

"Hey, that's cool!" Po exclaimed with a smile. "Viper does ribbon dancing."

Li eyed him. "Viper?" he asked.

"Yeah, she's one of the masters at the Jade Palace."

"Really? I've never heard of a ribbon dancing kung fu master."

"Well, before I became Dragon Warrior, I'm sure no one had ever heard of a kung fu panda, so I guess that makes us even."

Footsteps from a wide set of stairs to the far left were heard and soon a tall panda with a long pink kimono was seen.

"Hello, Li!" she exclaimed happily. She glanced at Po with a happy gasp. "Is this Lei-Feng?!" she squeaked.

"I go by Po, actually," Po corrected.

"Po! That's even cuter!"

Seeing Po's confused look, Li laughed and gestured to the panda, saying, "Lei- F-Po, this is your fiancée, Mei-Mei."

Po felt a wave of confusion and panic wash over him. "Wait, my what?!" he exclaimed. However, he didn't have much time to ask questions as Mei-Mei came barreling over to engulf him in a suffocating hug.

"AHHHH!" Po yelled as the ribbon dancer knocked him to the ground, her arms firmly locked around Po's neck.

"I knew you would find us, Lei- Feng! Po!" Mei-Mei cried happily. "I knew we were fate!!!!!"

"Did you guys set me up with her after we got here?" Po choked out, trying to get some air. "Mei-Mei, can you get off of me for a second so that I can breathe!"

"I'll never let you out of my sights!" Mei-Mei exclaimed happily, hugging Po even tighter.

"You two have been betrothed to each other since you were babies," Li explained to Po. "She was the fiancée your mother wanted to meet you at the Ascending Ceremony."

"Oh."

Mei-Mei gave Po one final squeeze before saying, "Li came over here yesterday while you were hanging with the Yars. He told me what you said about still being single and a kung fu master and right there and then I knew everything was fate! The universe couldn't have matched us up more perfectly!"

"What does...kung fu...have to do with us...being betrothed?" Po wheezed.

"Well, Shen attacked the village and killed our parents and many other villagers. You got separated from us, but yet on top of being single, you also defeated the person who tried to kill us. And now you're here!!!!!"

"Oh," Po stated. He blinked. "Wait," he added. "Your parents were killed too?"

"Well," Mei-Mei admitted sadly, getting up and helping Po to his feet. "It was only my dad. But my mom passed away just two years ago, so...yeah, they're both dead."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that," Po said sympathetically.

"And I'm sorry about your mother. She gave up a lot to save you."

A sad moment of silence passed over the room, lingering for what seemed to be the longest time.

"Hi, mama!"

A startled Po nearly jumped twenty feet in the air at the sound of the little voice behind him. Mei-Mei smiled widely and spread her arms out. "Bao, you're back early!" she exclaimed as the little panda ran into her arms. "Did you finish your mahjong game?"

"Yep," Bao answered, adjusting his little red hat. "Kerai won."

"Well, maybe you'll win next time."

As the two hugged and snuggled, Po glanced at his dad and whispered, "Who's that?"

"Bao," Li explained. "His parents died when he was a baby, so Mei-Mei offered to raise him herself."

Po smiled. "Well, that's nice of her," he commented.

Mei-Mei and Bao stopped talking and looked at Po. "Who's the new guy?" Bao asked politely.

"Remember how I told you about the panda I was supposed to marry a few years ago?" Mei-Mei asked him. "That's him."

Bao gasped happily. "BABA!" exclaimed gleefully, scampering out of Mei-Mei's arms and over to Po. He hopped into the Dragon's Warrior's arms where he was picked up and cautiously cradled against the panda's chest.

"You okay, son?" Li asked, seeing the look of concern on Po's face.

"Huh?" Po asked. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine! It's just...this is kind of happening a little too fast for me...."

"Too fast?"

"I've only been here for a week and now suddenly you tell me that I'm getting married?"

"We weren't going to get married immediately," Mei-Mei assured him. "We'd get to know each other a little bit, have some dinner, you'd attend some of my ribbon dances. we'd go on date after date and share our first kiss, then we'd become inseparable, and then we'd get married!"

"That does sound reasonable," Po admitted. "But I wish you had told me that beforehand, dad."

"I know, I'm sorry. But I was so caught up in you getting adjusted here that I forgot."

"Hey, baba," Bao told Po. "Do you want to see my rock collection?"

"Uh, sure," Po said, letting him down. Bao took his paw and began to lead him up the stairs. "By the way," the Dragon Warrior added. "How old are you?"

"Eight."

Bao led Po up the stairs where a large hallway was revealed with four different rooms. He took the master down the hall to the first door on the right, revealing a nicely furnished room with small boxes lined up around it.

"This is nice," Po told him.

"Thanks! Mama decorated it."

"Did she?"

"Sure did," came Mei-Mei from behind Po. She hugged him and added, "When we're done here, I'm going to show you our room...."

She let a small giggle, causing Po to swallow nervously.

But what if I don't want to marry you?

Two days following the introduction of Mei-Mei, the remaining Furious Five, along with Mr. Ping, were busy tracking down their friend by means of the Locator Orb. They had gone a long way in an effort to find Po, including trekking across the Thread of Hope, passing by several rice fields, scaling ravines and small mountains, and continually walking with no sleep and little food. After doing all of this for two days, everyone was exhausted and insisted upon sitting down. Everyone except Mr. Ping and Tigress that is.

"Can't we just take one small nap?" Monkey begged, lagging behind with Viper sleepily draped across his shoulders.

"This is our last day to find Po," Tigress answered flatly. "If we don't find Po now, we'll lose whatever power is left in the orb and then we'll never find him!"

"And we can't let that horrible Kai kill him!" Mr. Ping cried. "I don't want to lose my son!!!"

"I understand," Viper called over. "But if we're going to have the ability to reach them, we need at least some energy in our bodies."

"But...!" Mr. Ping protested. "What about Po?"

"Just ten minutes!" Monkey begged. "Please?!"

Tigress sighed in defeat. "As much as I hate to admit it," she told Mr. Ping. "They're right. We do need to get some sleep sometime. Otherwise we'll be walking targets between now and sometime in the future."

Mr. Ping looked desperately at the orb, but finally agreed to one night of sleep, knowing that the orb was about ready to fade away. The group spotted a cave nearby and ventured over to get comfortable for the night. Monkey and Viper, the most exhausted of the group, almost immediately fell asleep. Tigress offered to guard the entrance in case Kai got ahead of them, leaving Mr. Ping to try and fall asleep....

"PO!!!!"

Tigress woke up with a start, a wave of alarm creeping into her chest. A quick glance at Mr. Ping waking up in terror however soon put her mind at ease. The master groaned and stood up to walk over to the old goose who, out of worry, grabbed the Locator Orb to see Po. (Who appeared to be sleeping at the moment).

"You alright, Mr. Ping?" Tigress asked him gently.

Mr. Ping let out a sad sigh. "I had this horrible dream," he admitted. "I was minding my own business at the noodle shop serving all the customers along with Po and Scorpion...or I think she was there, anyway...and suddenly, this dark figure comes along and stabs Po right in the chest! And there's my son, laying on the floor not breathing!!!!"

Tigress sat down next to him and put a gentle paw on his shoulder. "It's alright, Mr. Ping," she promised. "Po will be okay. You'll see."

"I know, but I can't help but worry! That's my job!"

"I know. But right now, you need your sleep if you're going to have the energ-"

Mr. Ping let out a terrified gasp and a, "Son!!!!!! No, don't leave!!!!!!"

The master quickly looked in the direction Mr. Ping was looking at and saw, much to her alarm, the image of Po fading away.

The orb was out of energy.

"Son!!!!" Mr. Ping wailed. "No!!!! We haven't found you yet!!!!"

But the orb took no pity on Mr. Ping as the last of its energy ran out and left nothing behind but a regular, old orb in the old goose's wings. Tigress felt alarm creep into her chest. Now how were they going to find Po?! They were halfway there!

"What do we do now?!" Mr. Ping cried. "This was the only way to find him!"

"I...I don't know," Tigress admitted sadly. "Unless you can make the orb work again?"

"I think it used all of my energy," Mr. Ping reminded her. "I can't use it again, I don't think!"

Tigress sighed. "No, you can't," she admitted.

Mr. Ping clutched the orb to his chest with a whimper. "I'll find you, Po!" he said with a choking tone. "I promise."

Tigress watched him for a moment, worry filling every inch of her body as she thought about how they were going to find Po. The orb had no energy, they didn't know where Li lived since it was hidden, and they were running out of time what with Kai lurking about hunting Po down. The master looked at the orb with a sad look.

"Mr. Ping," she asked quietly. "Can I see the Locator Orb for a moment?"

The noodle maker sniffled, but handed Tigress the artifact so that she could look at it. The master sighed and leaned against the wall, absentmindedly staring into the center of the ball. The image of Po was long gone and left nothing but an empty hole within her.

I'm going to find you, Po Ping, the master promised, trying to not think about what would happen if Kai got to him first. I won't let him hurt you!!! I won't let you die! I love you!!!

Tigress clutched the Locator Orb tightly to her chest, thinking about Po sleeping peacefully in whatever room he was in. She wished at the moment that she was right there warning him about the impending danger. Or that he was there with her assuring her that Kai would never harm him. Or even better, she wished that had told him her feelings prior to him leaving as now, when a rampaging bull with a powerful pendent was lurking about, was probably the worst time to bring up such a topic.

A sudden pink glow interrupted the master's thoughts and Tigress looked down to see the sleeping figure of Po forming within the orb.

"The Locator Orb can find anyone at anytime if you think about them while holding the orb. However it only works if the person holding it has a strong love connection to that person."

Tigress felt a small wave of panic wash over her. On the one hand, she was glad she got the orb to work. On the other hand, she wasn't really ready to let people know that she had fallen for Po just yet. She debated over what to do until a happy squawk from Mr. Ping got her attention.

"You made it work!!!" he cried happily. "Now we can find Po!"

"Yes, but we won't have much time," Tigress reminded him. "Two days."

"I know, I know." The noodle maker went to wake up Viper and Monkey, but stopped for a second to look at the master with a happy grin. Tigress already knew what was coming. "You made the orb work..." he commented. "Does that mean you like Po?"

"We're good friends," Tigress told him quickly. "Just because I gave the orb energy doesn't mean that I love him."

Mr. Ping eyed her and went to wake up the other two masters. Knowing that Viper and Monkey knew what each of the orb colors meant, Tigress quickly stood up and went to duck out of the cave, listening to Mr. Ping ecstatically inform the sleepy masters that she had gotten the orb to recharge and they had to head out immediately.

"She made it work?" came Monkey's voice as he and Viper followed Mr. Ping outside. "What color is the glow?"

"Pink," the goose answered before Tigress could cut in.

Monkey looked at Tigress with a smirk, Tigress involuntarily shielding the orb from sight in slight embarrassment. "You like him?!" he exclaimed happily.

"Um..." the master stammered.

"You do?!" Mr. Ping said in slight surprise. "You just told me you thought of Po as a friend."

"I do!" Tigress lied.

"The orb's glowing pink!!!!" Monkey exclaimed.

"Aaaand...that's a surprise to you?" Viper asked, slithering over to Tigress.

She began to walk forward with Tigress quickly walking behind her.

"Not really," Mr. Ping admitted, following after them.

"Wait," Tigress said with slight shock. "You...knew?"

"It became pretty obvious after Po left to visit the village with his dad," Viper told her.

Tigress felt a faint blush creep onto her cheeks as Monkey snickered and said, "When we free Mantis, he owes me thirty yuan."

"Monkey..." Viper warned.....

A little over a day later, the group headed into the mountains where the orb changed to a picture of a small archway nestled in between two rocks on the mountain.

"Is that it?" Mr. Ping asked hopefully for the twentieth time.

"It might be..." Viper said. "Li said the village was hidden where no one would find it. And there's a random archway in the mountains, so it could be."

"Well we haven't gotten there yet," Tigress warned, still cradling the orb. "So don't jump to conclusions just yet."

Monkey eyed the way she carried the artifact and grinned. "I should tell Po about how you made the orb work," he joked.

Tigress gave him a look. "Don't you dare!" she snarled.

"Why not? I thought you liked him!"

"It's none of your business! Or his!"

Monkey shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said.

The four continued to hike up the mountain until Mr. Ping saw the archway up ahead in the far distance. "I see it!" the old goose exclaimed happily, running up ahead.

"Mr. Ping, wait up!" Monkey yelled, dashing after him. Viper and Tigress went after them, moving quickly up the mountain slope until the archway came clearly into view. Seeing the wooden doors in front of them, Viper turned to Tigress and asked, "Are we here?"

Tigress looked at the orb which glowed brightly with Po clearly eating breakfast with his father. "I think so," she said. "There's no other location showing up."

Mr. Ping knocked on the door. "Hello?" he called out.

No answer.

"Maybe we can just walk in," Monkey suggested.

"I don't know about that," Viper warned. "There's always guards at the gate."

Mr. Ping eyed the gate but then slowly pushed it open to see inside. The masters followed him inside, almost immediately hearing horns go off and some voices yelling, "Everyone hide for your lives!!!!!!!"

Any pandas in sight from the viewpoint of the gate almost immediately vanished, dodging into their homes and vanishing from sight. The group looked around, hoping to talk to someone and say it was a misunderstanding, but by that point, everyone had vanished.

"Well..." Tigress said, still clutching the orb tightly. "This day just keeps getting better, doesn't it? "