Chapter 14: The Truth Revealed

That night Po looked out at the sea of pandas before him.

A huge festival was taking place, and everyone was dancing and celebrating. Po chatted with his new friends contentedly—he finally felt like he was one of them, a true panda.

But as Po made his way through the village, he came upon a wilted flower in the ground. He took a deep breath and tried to use the same chi move he'd seen Shifu do.

Just then Po spotted a familiar figure climbing over the cliff wall at the edge of the village.

"Tigress?" he called after her. At the sound of Po's voice, the music died down and the pandas gathered round.

Po made his way over to Tigress; she looked exhausted and worried.

"Who is she?" Mei Mei asked Po.

Lei Lei looked from the action figure in her hand to Tigress. Her eyes lit up.

"Big Stripy Baby!" she cried happily.

She ran to Tigress and clung to her leg.

"What are you doing here?" Po asked Tigress.

"Kai attacked the valley," she replied. "He's taken every master in China, including Shifu and the others. It's all gone, Po. Everything. Everyone . . ." Her voice trailed off, and she looked away.

"Everyone?" Po asked.

Tigress nodded. "Everyone," she said, and Po let the weight of that sink in.

All the pandas got quiet. Then Mr. Ping spoke up.

"How's my restaurant?" he asked.

The pandas looked at him, horrified. "We'll talk later."

"And now Kai is on his way here," Tigress continued. "He's after you, Po. He's after all pandas."

The shocked pandas gasped.

"How long do we have?" Po asked.

"Not long," Tigress replied. "Please tell me you've mastered chi."

Po turned to Li, who was hurrying through the crowd of pandas, trying to get them in order.

"Here, take the baby," he said, handing off a cub to its parents. Then he picked up another. "Okay, who belongs to this one?"

"Dad, Dad!" Po shouted, catching up to him. "You need to teach me the secret chi technique now," he said urgently.

Li had a funny, nervous look on his face. "No, no, I'm afraid you need more time," he said.

He quickly shouted to the pandas. "Everyone, go get your things!" Then he rushed over to a smaller groups of pandas, directing them to get all the food together. "Let me hand you that—"

"I don't have more time," Po argued. "I need to learn it now."

Li grabbed a bowl of food from the table. "Sorry. You're not ready," he said flatly.

"Pack everything!" he called to the pandas who were already fleeing into their huts.

"I am ready," Po said.

"Not quite," Li said. Ignoring Po, he headed toward the bridge leading to his hut.

Po wasn't sure why his dad was acting this way.

"What are you talking about?" he questioned him. "I've done everything you've asked. I've mastered napping, sleeping in, hammocks, hot tubs. I am totally at one with my panda parts. Now why won't you show me?"

Li continued to ignore Po and kept walking. Po grabbed Li's arm, forcing his dad to face him.

Li gave in. "Because I don't know it!" he blurted out.

Po was confused. "You what?"

"I don't know it, okay?" Li admitted. "No one does! Maybe we used to . . . but not anymore."

Po was stunned. "You lied?"

"No, I . . . Yes," said Li, looking down.

"Why?" Po asked.

"To save your life!" he cried. "I find out some blade-swinging maniac is coming for you, and I'm supposed to do what—just let that happen?"

"Yes!" Po said. "I'm the Dragon Warrior. Facing maniacs—that's my job. But because of you I left the valley unprotected. I left my friends unprotected. And now they're all . . . they're all . . ." He couldn't say the words.

Just thinking of Master Shifu, Viper, Crane, Mantis, and Monkey as little green amulets . . . it was too horrible.

"That would have happened to you, too!" said Li. "I already lost you once. I am not going to lose you again. I can't."

He tried to pull Po toward the hut, but Po pushed him away.

"You just did," he said.

Po walked away from his dad, and Li stared after him, heartbroken.