A Peaceful Kingdom

"Well?" Tai-Lung asked his brother. Po shrugged.

"He should be fine. Plus, the room has cameras so she can't really do anything to him," Po replied.

"Not that. Has he changed?" Tai asked.

"A lot, but he still needs some changing," Po answered. Mei-Ling rolled her eyes in rage and looked away. "Tigress is talking to him now. He wants to apologize for what he did." Just then, Ruth came charging into the hospital. "Mrs. Ruth, how did you-"

"Where is he?" She asked frantically. Po held her close.

"It's fine. He's fine. He's resting right now," Po said, not wanting to let her barge into Tigress and Josh's conversation. "Please sit down and take a breather." The gazelle did so. "Do you need a drink, Mrs. Ruth?"

"Yes, just water will be fine," Ruth replied. Po went to the hospital's cafeteria. Mei-Ling spoke to Tai-Lung.

"Who is that?" She asked.

"She's Josh's girlfriend," Tai-Lung whispered. Mei looked at The snow leopard with a strange face. "Yeah, that confused us as well. Hopefully, Josh explained things to Po."

"Tai, why don't you go and see Crane, Shifu, and Monkey, they're in the car," Mei-Ling replied. Tai nodded and left the mountain lion alone. "Excuse me, I'm afraid I didn't get the chance to meet you. You are..."

"I'm Ruth, Josh's girlfriend. It's nice to meet you Mei-Ling," Ruth replied.

"How did you know my name?" Mei asked. Ruth rolled her tear-streaked eyes.

"That silly tiger has a big list of all the people he's offended that he wanted to apologize to and you're on the 'out of state' list. The big softie is always trying to apologize to everyone," Ruth smiled shaking her head.

"How long have you known Josh?" Mei-Ling asked.

"About a month or two," Ruth said.

"Well, I know that it may seem like I'm trying to break you guys up, but you do need to know that-"

"He was a scum bag cheater and he viewed women as trophies. Yeah, he explained that" Ruth said bluntly.

"Oh, I didn't think he would tell you that," Mei-Ling replied. Ruth smiled.

"People can change if they're broken down to the ground first to be built up," Ruth replied. "Isn't that what you and the snow leopard are doing?"

"What do you mean?" Mei-Ling asked.

"Josh told me that you were one of his last girlfriends and I calculated the time from you dumping him to you being with the snow leopard. It would seem to me that you went kind of fast. Not only that, considering how close you and Princess Tigress were to each other, I would say that you didn't want to mess up the relationship you had with this fellow but decided to go with it anyway," Ruth smirked. Mei-Ling blushed bright red.

"You're not an innocent gazelle, are you?" Mei-Ling came back.

"Most people make the mistake by thinking I am in the first place," Ruth smiled brightly. "Don't worry, he just wants to apologize. Just fake it if you have to."

"You're really telling me to 'fake' forgive your boyfriend," Mei-Ling asked.

"I know that he was a big meanie," Ruth said, reverting to her shy demeanor, "But I think he's changed. You don't have to accept him or anything. Just do it so he'll have peace." Just then, Tigress came back.

"You're up. Go easy on him. He's... definitely different," Tigress replied. Mei-Ling nodded and went up to Tigress to whisper to her.

"Don't let her shy look fool you. She's not as innocent as she looks," Mei-Ling warned as she walked off. Tigress stood there confused as Po came back to give Ruth the drink of water.

"Thank you," Ruth said, taking a sip from the cup. "Are any of his wounds serious?"

"He'll be fine," Po replied with a smile.

"Thank you so much for getting him out of there," Ruth said, hugging the panda and walking to Josh's room. Po sat down with a sigh. Tigress sat down next to him.

"Well, that was an eventful day," Po muttered. Tigress punched him in the gut. "Yep, I deserve that," Po grunted.

"Don't ever do that again. When my father told me what happened, I couldn't move for a while. I feared the worst," Tigress said, shaking a bit. Po hugged Tigress.

"I'm sorry I worried you like that," Po apologized, "So how was your conversation with Josh?"

"He was very apologetic. To the point, it was starting to get annoying. At first, I thought he was trying to hook up with me, but he really seems to like his current girlfriend," Tigress replied. "I guess people can change for the better." Po smiled as he kissed Tigress on the forehead as she rested her head on his chest. "You did the right thing to save him," Tigress sighed.

"So you're not upset?" Po asked.

"Oh, I'm still upset. You do something like that again and I'll kill you," Tigress answered. Po chuckled nervously. "But you did the right thing." Tigress smiled.

"He'll be returning to Qiangdu in about a week," Tai-Lung explained.

"It's about time," Po sighed as he tossed the book aside in the Palace living "I didn't think it would take him this long to recover."

"Well, they found out that the wounds were a little bit more damaged than they thought," Crane replied, tossing a plank of wood into the fire. Monkey tightly hugged the blanket around him.

"I know, but it's already winter here and he's just going off. It's been five months," Po said.

"You know," Monkey shivered, "I always wondered why I'm always the only one who feels cold during the winter here."

"Because you're the one who has the least amount of fur," Crane replied, laughing a bit as he ruffled Monkey's head. The brothers were in the living room of the Palace. Po and Tai-Lung were looking over their culture work done in Qiangdu. Crane was wondering around the room while Monkey was shivering. "By the way, where are the girls? This is their first winter here." Tai lung's head popped up.

"You're right," Tai spoke, "I need to make sure they're warm enough." Tai-Lung was about to stand, but Po held him back.

"Your girlfriend will be able to withstand the cold. She's a mountain lion, she's used to this," Po muttered, keeping his eyes on the paper.

"Hey, that's an unnecessary stereotype about snow-based felines," Tai-Lung argued. Just then, Mei-Ling came in with her casual clothes.

"Hey, guys. Nice day to be outside, huh?" Mei-Ling smiled. Po simply looked at his brother with an even stare and a smirk on his face.

"Not a word," Tai-Lung muttered.

"Go away, snow lady," Monkey whispered in a shivering voice. Mei-Ling rolled her eyes as she walked up to Tai-Lung and kissed him on the lips.

"And how is the research going?" Mei asked.

"Good so far," Tai explained, "Po is in one of his laser-focused moods so he can be very...blunt and mean when he's looking at these things."

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but I can fire them back when names are used at me," Po replied. Tai-Lung rolled his eyes as Mei laughed. She walked up to Po, who was still focused on the research and hugged him.

"Well, make sure that you're not overworking yourself," Mei-Ling said.

"No promises," Po muttered. Mei sighed.

"Told you," Tai-Lung shrugged.

"Oh, Tigress said she wanted to see you, Po," Mei-Ling mentioned. Po immediately got up and left the room.

"Tai-Lung, we'll take a break," Po said leaving the room. Tai-Lung just looked at Mei-Ling amazed.

"Come on, I know the panda as well," Mei-Ling smiled. She then jumped over the couch where Monkey was. "Scootch over, clown."

"HEY!" Monkey remarked. Tai-Lung smiled at the sight.

Meanwhile, Po raced out to Tigress's room. He knocked on the door. "Come in," Tigress called. Po walked into Tigress's room. The back had a window to a balcony. Po, who already had a scarf around his neck, went outside where Tigress was. Tigress had a cup of cocoa in her hand.

"You called me, Tigress?" Po asked.

"I just wanted to talk to you," Tigress casually said, leaning against the railing of the balcony. Po did so as well.

"About what?"

"Stuff," Tigress smiled. Po smiled back.

"Cold?"

"No," Tigress said, leaning against Po, "Not anymore." They stayed quiet for a while. "What are you going to do when you're king?"

"If I'm King?"

"No, when you're king," Tigress corrected. "Po, you are worthy of being a king. You saved your family and nation by risking yourself. You jumped into a burning building to save people. You are going to be king. The question is what you will do?" Po was quiet for a moment.

"I don't know," Po sighed. "It terrifies me because I worry about messing up."

"You can always ask your brothers to help you with anything. They've told me that they would always be willing to help you with anything when you're king. That and Tai-Lung is anxious to win the bet. Oops!"

"The bet!? To see that if I'm going to be king?" Po exclaimed.

"If it makes you feel any better, Tai-Lung and Monkey bet that you would be king," Tigress said. "Mei and Crane were skeptical and Shifu is neutral, of course."

"And you?"

"I know you're going to be king," Tigress replied. "It's just a matter of when. And you'll be a great king."

"Or," Po said, raising his eyebrows.

"Or?"

"Or, I could have my brothers manage the nation together like a council. That way I get checks and balances," Po proposed. Tigress rolled her eyes.

"You're really scared about not messing up, aren't you?"

"Yes," Po whimpered. Tigress hugged the big panda.

"You'll be fine. At least try with all your heart and don't hold back," Tigress advised. Po smiled, kissing Tigress on the lips.

"You're lovely, Tigress," Po replied. Tigress smiled back. They both watched in silence at the snow-ladened city of Shizi. The whole city looked beautiful against the calm snow. "It's amazing, isn't it?"

"It is," Tigress smiled. Po looked at the beautiful city. His eyes went to Tigress, and her content smile.

"I love you," Po said. Tigress's eyes widened as her head shot over to Po. Po knew he was taking a risk in saying that, but he spoke his mind. Tigress's shocked face turned into a smile.

"I love you, too," Tigress replied, wrapping her arms around Po's neck and kissing him on the lips. Po wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her closer to her.

The brothers were right. King Shifu chose Po as the next king of the Empire of Peace. Tigress and Po later got married and adopted a beautiful daughter. Tai-Lung and Mei-Ling married and helped Po with foreign policies and cultures. Crane and Monkey are still currently dating other people and work with Po as heads of science and math. Po helped Nelon rebuild the Zhanshi and with much difficulty, managed to get Josh to look into the rebuilding. Nelon was surprised at the white tiger's change of attitude. In fact, it was Josh who got the new Zhanshi built in a way that would help crippled people fight. Po sat on the throne in the throne room all by himself. He sat there, thinking about all that had happened and he couldn't help but smile. "I'm very fortunate," Po said, thinking he was alone.

"Oh?" Said a voice behind the throne. "How so?" Po smiled as Tigress walked around to the front of Po's throne.

"I have a beautiful wife, a wonderful, energetic child, a great big family, and a peaceful kingdom. What more could a guy ask for?" Po asked.

"Pizza?" Tigress joked. Po laughed as Tigress laid in his lap. "I told you you'd make a great king."

"Yeah, you're right," Po smiled. Then he sat up. "Wait, where's Ming?"

"INCOMING!" A small white tiger girl burst into the throne room, ran into Po's lap nearly knocking the panda and tiger back. Then the door opened back to a wet and pink foam covered snow leopard, mountain cat, Monkey, and Crane. They all glared at Ming. Po sighed.

"What did she do now?"

"We just went into the kitchen to try and figure out what the noise was when we opened the door to have a foam cloud smashed into our face," Tai-Lung growled out.

"It was an accident. I was cooking that prank for Heping," Ming explained. Tigress tilted her head.

"But don't you like Heping?" Tigress asked.

"Wait, what?" Po asked cluelessly.

"The point is," Ming said, hastily shushing her mother, "I didn't mean for it to hit you guys, but you have to admit you guys do look funny." Tai-Lung and the covered people started growling until Po laughed.

"Haha, she gets it from all of you," Po said. They all laughed as well as they neared the throne. Tai-Lung ruffled Ming's head.

"Hehe, a cooking, pranking flirt," Tai-Lung smiled, "A dangerous combination."

"Yeah, um... what's this about liking Heping, Ming?" Po asked sternly.

"Well... I wouldn't necessarily say like. More of...crush-like situations," Ming replied. Po kept staring as Tigress spoke.

"Sounds like someone I know," Tigress smirked. Po nervously scratched the back of his head.

"So I'm off the hook?" Ming smiled charmingly.

"You're still cleaning the entire kitchen," Tigress said.

"AW," Ming sighed as the others laughed. Just then, they started hearing a creaking noise.

"Uh oh," Po muttered as the throne chair collapsed. "Well, I guess fixing the chair is another form of business." Everyone laughed. The room filled with laughter as Po could only smile. All was well in Po's kingdom.

The End