So long...so...very long...since last update...

No excuses, just tiredness at my own...bah!

Let's get to this!

"Soo...are you SURE you're not seducing my son in any way?" Mr. Ping hummed while rubbing his chin and gazing curiously towards Fenghuang, while Po was sitting down covering his face, which was bright pink at this point.

Fenghuang sighed. "Yes, Mr. Ping. I am sure."

"Because judging from what he remembers and what you've told me, you were offering him power in a manner that seemed oddly seductive, and not just in that 'gaining more power' sense. There seemed to be some kind of vibe between you two."

"I can assure you, there was no vibe."

"Truly?"

"Yup."

"Because Po finds himself attracting many strong and assertive females on an almost daily basis, and at least a handful are a bit older than him. Whenever he's on an especially important adventure for himself or his friends, a strong girl is sometimes involved with him. There's no clear pattern to it, but it does happen."

"I'm sure it does..."

"Honestly, you'd think that he was unconsciously building a harem..." Mr. Ping gasped and slapped his cheeks. "Oh my goodness...it might actually be possible! But what would the hierarchy be? Tigress is is favorite Furious Five member, so that might place her up top...would that make you the seductive mistress? How experienced are you at that?"

"DAAAAAAHAHAHAAAAAAD! STOP! PLEASE STOP!" Po finally shouted lifting his head and placing his paw over his ears. "She was tempting me with power! POWER! NOTHING ELSE!"

"...Are you sure?"

"YES! Can we just drop that already?!"

Seriously. I'm actually thinking of ripping out my heart, crushing it under my talon, and letting Mr. Time Tree erase me just to escape this madness. Fenghuang thought with a twitching eyebrow. This goose was driving her into insanity faster than decades of isolation.

That was quite an accomplishment.

"...Alright then, now that we've gotten all of that behind us for the time being, let's get down to business!" Mr. Ping clapped, completely dismissing the subject.

And then he does that without a second thought...now I'm understanding why the panda is so excitable...

"Po. Whatever trouble you've gotten into with this woman, it is quite clear that you wish to help her." Mr. Ping said with simplicity that the context of the situation didn't deserve. "I suppose I can lend a wing or two to make sure that you succeed in doing so."

"...Wait...what?" Fenghuang blinked. "That's it? You don't even want to hear the full story?"

"If you want to tell me, that's fine. But regardless, I'm going to help Po help you." Mr. Ping nodded. He made it sound so aggravatingly easy, and yet Fenghuang could tell that Mr. Ping was being completely, genuinely sincere.

"But...but why? You know who I am by now, what I've done to various people, your son included." Fenghuang listed off, truly and genuinely lost. "I don't understand. You know all these thints about me by now, so...why would you help me so willingly?" She was sure that the father would at least be more reasonable than Po. Though then again, Po must have gotten his simple-mindedness from someone. And Mr. Ping seems to be a very simple goose.

Of course someone as smart as her would be baffled and frustrated with how easygoing these two are.

Mr. Ping tilted his head, looking genuinely confused. Then he smiles sheepishly and moves a bit more in front of Po and Fenghuang. "When I was a young hatchling, my father always taught me how important food was to everyday life. It didn't matter what kind of food it was-noodles and tofu are high on the list, of course-what mattered was that it was not always made to only feed one's self, but also to share with others."

"...I do not understand your meaning." Fenghuang narrowed her eyes. Why is this old fool speaking of food at a time like this? He really is Po's father.

"I remember that Po told me that he truly began to befriend and bond with the Furious Five when he began cooking for them. He earned their respect through sheer resolve and tenacity, and earned their friendship through his cooking skills, which further helped their hearts connect with one another." Mr. Ping continued. "It matters not the culture or origin. One of the most polite and humble ways to introduce yourself to someone is to offer them food. Not only as an act of benevolence, but in a somewhat practical way as well. Offering food to a newcomer to a different environment from their own is one of the chief ways to help them adjust to a new atmosphere. Case in point, the Furious Five and Master Shifu adjusted to a much lighter, kinder atmosphere within the Jade Palace once Po began cooking for them. From then on, their friendship has been solidified, and has only grown stronger since then."

"I still don't see where you're going with this..." Fenghuang grumbled.

Mr. Ping smiled, showing quite an admirable amount of patience. "My father taught me that offering food is one of the kindest gestures one can provide in life, and I believe in it so much that I taught it to Po. I hold that belief even as I run my shop. If someone comes in to eat, they shall not leave hungry. It doesn't matter who they are or where they came from, or even why they came to my shop specifically. I always provide service with a smile. The money I get from it is just a bonus. A really, REALLY nice bonus...but a bonus."

"Ehehehe..." Po rubbed the back of his neck.

"What if someone wants to eat but they can't pay you right away?" Fenghuang pressed curiously.

"I told you. No one who comes to my shop hungry will leave hungry. Pay or no pay."

The owl blinked. No sarcasm or malevolent impatience this time; she really didn't understand where Mr. Ping was going with this, especially with that curve of thought. She thought she had him pegged, but clearly she was wrong.

"Sure, I'm not going to let them leave without paying at all. I'm compassionate, not crazy!" Mr. Ping emphasized by tapping his head. "But it doesn't have to be money. Instead, I have them work around the shop for a little while, mostly on days in which Po is busy with Kung Fu Duties. I speak with them, give them the basics on what to do and what's important when it came to serving customers. Making sure they leave happy and content. And more than that, it is a genuine gesture of goodness from our hearts. And with good service, invites good customers. And with more good customers means more people to interact and possibly befriend one another. Which not only invites a possibly of return customers, but it brings more good feelings to all, and to make each other happy. It always helps to bring positivity, especially in a workplace."

"Dad..." Po said with gentleness that briefly surprised Fenghuang.

"Simply put, turning away someone who wants or needs to eat is like turning away someone who needs help, or simply needs to be shown compassion. They will eventually succumb to hunger and starve, or succumb to darkness and never be able to come back from it. Someone who hungers for friendship and is starved of love will risk succumbing to darker impulses, in which they will fall further into them...until they barely recognize themselves. Much less their loved ones."

"...But...what if there was someone else who could do what you were suggesting. Why does it have to be you?" Fenghuang asked quietly.

"Of course, it doesn't have to be me. Of course there may be others who might be just as capable of providing and nursing the positive feelings and emotions I described. However...I simply cannot use that as an excuse to not feed someone. Just like Po cannot use that as an excuse to deny someone who needs help."

"What...?"

"Someone comes through my shop looking to eat, they're very hungry. That should be enough reason for me to provide them food. Just like someone Po sees is in trouble, that should be enough reason for him to help that person." Mr. Ping hummed. "It does not matter if there is more to the story or if there's some other purpose to them meeting you. I will feed anyone who needs feeding, and Po will do the same, while also helping someone who needs help. Letting someone go hungry is little different from leaving someone unaided. We do these things with our hearts acting first and our minds thinking a bit later."

...Now that she's heard this perspective between good food and good decency that she's never heard before, Fenghuang can say with more certainty and less sarcasm that Po was truly taised well by Mr. Ping. It explained quite a bit about how Po tended to act. Being a great appreciator of food, denying someone who needed help was like denying someone who was hungry.

They truly cannot bring themselves to do anything like that. It wasn't in Mr. Ping's nature. And thanks to his nurturing of Po, it wasn't in his, either. That trait of theirs was pretty annoying on paper. But seeing it in action and experiencing it...

Well, she has no idea how to express her feelings in words. Aside from being impressed with how strong their resolve is, given how much they've adhered to their nature and nurture despite how difficult it can be to hold.

"...I...I see..." Fenghuang said quietly, which was quite a surprise to Po. She actually seemed to be considering the meanings behind Mr. Ping's words. And he seemed to be completely sincere with every single one of them, as it was his own way of attempting to help Fenghuang.

She couldn't respond to that with cynical mocking, even if a part of her wanted to. Moral differences aside, she did have much respect for resolve. And discovering that father and son followed a particular path and stuck to it showed a great amount of resolve towards living their life how they see it.

In a way, she can appreciate that. She could now understand why Po seemed so adamant on helping her. It was just who he was...even if he can be such a massive idiot. And how simple and easygoing he and his father were tended to be very annoying.

...Then again, again, there was perhaps a sort of genius to being so simple, and innocent. They're almost never confused about what they want and why they want it, or what they're doing and why they want to do it. There was very little deeper thinking. It was just who they were.

And...that both impresses and confuses her. She could never imagine living so simply, yet they make it appear as easy as breathing. It was something that no amount of training could provide her. It was something that was simply done, it was a part of them.

As she was thinking this over, Mr. Ping smiled as he waddled over to her. "I don't know what lead to all of this, but my son wants to help you. While he might not have the greatest time using his noggin..."

"Ouch."

"...I can always trust the actions he makes using his heart. My son believes in you, so I will believe in you as well." Mr. Ping decided. "And I do believe that a major step on your path of redemption is to remove one distracting element from your mind: You cannot take part in it simply as a means to an end."

...What?

"Redemption is not a destination, Fenghuang. It is a path. If you follow a road of redemption only to reach a certain end point to absolve yourself of wrongdoing or a certain fate, then did you truly put your heart into the journey? That's like saying I only have to follow certain recipe beats to serve my customers simply because that's what it's for. If no care is taken for the process of how I make a dish, no matter how nice it may look, the substance will never be good as it could be." Mr. Ping said wisely. "You might reach the result you desire if you focus solely on that...but you risk losing sight of why you desire it in the first place. If no care is taken in how you embark on a journey, then reaching your destination becomes meaningless, as you've lost sight of yourself on the way there. And journies are where friends, family, love, and bonds are formed. So by taking no care in your journey...you risk disconnecting yourself from others...and ending up alone."

"...I..."

Mr. Ping smiled. "In order to find yourself, you'll have to regain your will to make connections. They are not a weakness, but are our greatest strength. With each bond made, my business grows more successful and the customers more friendly to each other, and Po becomes better and stronger as a person and Kung Fu Master." Mr. Ping then reached into the basket he brought, a nice warm bean bun, and handed it to Fenghuang. "Lady Fenghuang...would you like to form a bond with me, as a gentle first step? Would you allow this wacky old goose the honor...of being your friend?"

After a moment of silent indecision, hesitation, and deep thought of what might happen after this...Fenghuang gently takes the bean bun.

Po's smile couldn't get any brighter.

I have once again regained my resolve. Not just for this story, but for writing these in general. At least a little. I'm gonna have to pace myself a little bit while also reminding myself that I do enjoy writing these. It's just that outside RL things and my own tiredness tends to interfere a bit.

Not this time. This story, and possibly a few others, WILL continue!

And it kicks off with a kind goose offering a wing-and bean buns-to a fallen, confused owl...