The Ticking Contingent: The Countdown vo.2

Dinner with Peas-I mean, Inner Peace

"You startled me!" he exclaimed. "Is everything okay?" 

"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine," Po promised. "I just...I need a brain to pick and you have a good one...." 

Po's stomach immediately growled loudly, telling Shifu that he hadn't eaten anything. 

"Why don't I make us some breakfast?" he offered, getting up from his table and walking inside his little house. 

"You haven't eaten yet either?"

"I had something small this morning, but I have room for a little more." 

Po followed his old master inside the the small house and sat down at a little table by the window. Shifu closed the door that led to his new room and then made his way over to the kitchen to cook some dumplings, Po's personal favorite food. The Dragon Teacher laughed. 

"I was just thinking about that this morning," he admitted. "I was trying to meditate and I kept smelling breakfast."

"Meditating?" Shifu repeated in surprise. "You don't do that unless you have something pretty heavy on your mind." 

"If by heavy you mean all of the Furious Five quitting, then yeah. Kind of a big deal." 

Shifu turned to look at him. "What did you do?" he asked sternly. 

"Hey! I didn't do anything! It was Master Hun's idea!" 

Po then began to explain what had happened at the counsel meeting the previous day and how the Five were considering leaving in order to help out where they were most wanted. This led into the scary vision Po had seen some days earlier and how he wasn't sure what was going to happen or why and he didn't know what to do.

"I mean, what if they're away and this foe comes out of nowhere, like Kai? Or Shen?! Or Tai-well...actually, we kind of knew he was coming. I guess that doesn't count. Or how about the Count of Dynastic Suffering?! He was a handful! Monkey could have died!"

"I remember," Shifu promised. "And I also know that when the world has needed you most, you have always been there to deal the final blow. If something bad is truly around the corner, I'm sure the Five won't mind coming back to help." 

"If they actually move, like, you know, to the far north mountains, I could be dead by the time they get back!" 

"If that is what's foretold, then that's what's foretold!" 

Po frowned as the dumplings were served. "That's not comforting, Shifu," he remarked, immediately cramming five into his mouth. 

Shifu sat down and took a dumpling. He then swallowed and said, "Po, remember when we were going over the visions Oogway had of the Dragon Warrior?"

"Yeah, and you kept trying to skip over the parts where you were involved."

"Oogway had a vision of Tai Lung's darkness...his future clouded in a strange darkness he couldn't make out. Charging towards a great light?"

"Yep." 

"Sounds familiar?" 

Po thought. "Our battle didn't have smoke though," he recalled. "Well, maybe some dust clouds when he pounded me into the pavement." 

"That's exactly what he saw. But if you recall, he couldn't tell what it was. He just knew it was bad. This vision could be the same. Maybe something will happen to you. Maybe you'll die. Maybe you won't. All you know is that something bad is coming, but you don't know when. It could be days from now, maybe weeks, maybe decades. You can spend the rest of your days worrying about it, or learn to accept what you saw and move on." 

"And what? Forget I saw it?"

"No. Acknowledge it and prepare while you can. I understand you all share a strong bond, Po, but circumstances change, and you need to be happy for them when they decide to make those changes."

"Oh come on Shifu! When Tigress left to go train at the Garnet Palace, you were miserable the whole time she was gone."

"I was taking a moment to adjust to her absence and readjusting the power balance of your team. And besides, that was different."

"It's literally the same thing. And boy were you so relieved when she came back." 

"Circumstances have changed since then Po. An exchange of students is not uncommon, you know." 

Po groaned. "Well, that's not what we need right now!" he argued.

"Not what they need, or not what you need?"

"Not what anyone needs! I can't protect the valley by myself! I need them here in case something happens!"

"What about Zhen?"

"Zhen hates me and barely listens to me! Right now she's not even talking to me! She hasn't been talking to me since I mentioned the masters were coming for that counsel meeting and I don't know what on earth to do about it and the only people who can kind of get through to her are the Five!"

"Zhen will come around. You just need to be patient."

"And how long will that take? And if everyone just leaves...?"

"You were chosen for a greater purpose, Master Po. You must trust that others will follow, regardless of their initial reservations."

Po just sighed. "Not much help, but sure. Whatever. I'll give it a go."

"Why don't you keep practice meditating to clear your mind of agitation? Maybe at night when it's calmer. Then the answer will become clearer."

"Sure. Will do."

Po walked away and, after he was certain he was out of earshot, hit his head against a tree in frustration. Sure, he'll try meditating again. Maybe he'll get sidetracked about dinner, or freak out over a vision he doesn't understand. Maybe Zhen will magically come back and they'll have a nice friendly chat by the fire with a cup of tea and some dumplings. Shifu always made everything sound so easy. Well, Po wasn't Shifu. He couldn't command respect with one look and while Po had no problem with beating the snot out of anyone who underestimated him, he couldn't do that to Zhen. Zhen needed to understand that he was trying to help. Zhen needed to understand that he deserved respect and trust as a teacher. Zhen needed to know that she could come to him for help. But Zhen didn't care. Zhen was a leader turned into the authorities. Zhen hated masters...except for his friends. Zhen saw him as a joke.

And as far as Po was concerned, there was nothing he could do to fix that.