The Last Hope

37. The Half Niece

"Phew, finally! We're there." Exhausted, Po leaned against a large tree. Not far from him lay Dr. Wu's property. The panda looked soberly at the partially burned down house. Only charred skeletons of the roof remained and the walls of the house were covered with black soot. Po, who had still different memories of the house, rubbed his forehead sadly. "Oh dear. It's a miracle there's anything left."
He turned to where behind him stood several wooden carts pulled by a couple of strong oxen. Almost everyone had come with him. Including Yin-Yu, the little peachicks, Sheng, Xia, Shen, Ān-Mā, Ling, Xiang, Liu and even the Furious Five and King Wang. But of course Mr. Ping, Pong and his family were also there to look after their daughter's well-being. Even Dao had insisted on his coming, despite his injuries. He just couldn't wait and also wanted to know what had happened to his niece or half-niece. For this, he even put up with the long journey to Gongmen City.
Po was glad that Shifu let him, the Dragon Warrior, and the others go with him. It was only with difficulty that Shifu and the whole Kung Fu Association could be persuaded that they could travel to Gongmen City to inquire directly about the well-being of the sick little peachick. Whereby Po had to beg on his knees in front of Master Shifu.
Po's gaze wandered to Ān-Mā. "And you were really in there?"
The old goat sighed. "It's a miracle we got out alive," Ān-Mā replied.
At that moment, Zedong jumped out of his cart and landed right next to Po. "It looks more like dad blew something up." He laughed at the joke, but Po's ears dropped. "You might not be entirely wrong there," he murmured.
"Were you serious, panda?" Shen's voice behind him gave him a wince.
Po spun around and grinned shamefacedly at Shen. "It was just such a déjà vu."
Shen narrowed his eyes. Then he also climbed down from the cart that had been taking them all the way from the Valley of Peace to the edge of Gongmen City. Then he took his son in his wings, lifted him up and tapped his beak admonishingly, but with a smile. "Never say that in public," he whispered in Zedong's ear. "Just tell me."
Zedong sighed cheerfully. "Okay, dad."
Liu also got out of the wooden cart and worriedly looked at the burned property.
"Hopefully he was able to take care of our child." She reached behind where Xiang was sitting in the cart and gripped his wing tightly. Xiang sensed her nervousness, which also rubbed off on him, but he said nothing.
"Well, let's go in," Po said after a period of silence and headed for the gate, which was a crack open. In the courtyard, there stood all sorts of furniture that had barely escaped the flames. They were probably put out so that the renovation could begin later. At least that's what Po hoped.
"Hey, look at this!" Zedong yelled, heading for a large doll that must have been some kind of bear. "Is it real?"
Po looked at the big bear with wide eyes, knowing that every stuffed animal had once been alive. "Uh, I think so."
"Totally awesome," Zedong cheered.
Now his siblings were off the carts too and looked around in awe.
Po watched as Liu helped Xiang out of the cart. Shenmi watched them briefly just to make sure Xiang didn't fall out. After he climbed out safely, she silently rejoined her siblings. Meanwhile, Dao was being placed on a stretcher by two pigs.
Ping and Pong also left their seats and sniffed the air first.
"Smells like my first flambéed crêpes," Pong said, nudging his brother in the ribs.
Mr. Ping twisted his beak. "Yes, you nearly set half the kitchen on fire because you had to set those flat cakes on fire."
"That's why it's called 'flambéed'," Pong affirmed.
The Furious Five also left the vehicle. Mantis immediately jumped over some of the "burnt victims" and went rigid with shock when he saw a dead mantis in a jar.
Hastily, Po grabbed him with his paws. "Er, they were all volunteers. It certainly didn't hurt him."
Quickly, he pressed Mantis into Monkey's hands and noticed how Liu looked around uneasily. Sheng also gave the impression of being a little nervous.
"Don't worry," Po reassured them. "Everything will be okay." He looked around. "I hope so." Up close, the building looked even more battered than from afar.
Po went to the front door and knocked. "Dr. Wu? Hello? Are you there?"
"Who's there?" he instead heard an old voice from the basement, whose folding doors were open.
Po turned his head in the appropriate direction. "Dr. Wu, are you down there?"
"I think, I know that voice," came the answer from the vaulted cellar. Shortly thereafter, they heard, someone was climbing the basement stairs.
Po hastily walked towards the cellar door. "Oh, Dr. Wu, is Liana with you, too? And where's the little one who she brought here... AHHHHHHH!"
At that moment, Dr. Wu was out of the cellar. Po cried out when the doctor stood in front of him with his blood-stained apron.
Only Zedong looked enthusiastic. "Cool." Shen wasn't impressed by this performance either and kept a straight face. Different the others. Liu just held her wings in front of her beak and the rest stared at Dr. Wu speechlessly.
Dr. Wu seemed to guess why the majority of those present were looking at him so horrified and waved his hands defensively. "Don't worry. I was about to autopsy a frog. His family had asked me to determine if he actually choked on a fly. You have to keep working. Even if circumstances make it difficult to use the usual facilities." He looked up regretfully at his burned house.
"Couldn't you change your clothes then at least?" Po asked, heart still pounding.
"Where is my baby?" Liu asked.
"And where is Liana?" Sheng asked, too.
"Yeah, where are they?" Po wanted to know.
Dr. Wu scratched his forehead briefly. "Oh, you mean the nice lady with the chick. You'll find them somewhere in the garden, over there..."
Liu was the first one who ran, closely followed by Sheng.
Dr. Wu leaned toward Po and whispered: "Would you like to see a dissected frog? From inside? It's really very interesting. You don't experience something like that every day..."
"No!" Po firmly refused and raised his paws dismissively. "It's really not necessary." Then he turned away hastily and followed Liu and Sheng into the garden, in the direction where Dr. Wu had pointed. The others followed him.