The Countdown

Entertaining the Contained

The next morning, Po got up early again in order to help his dad. However, he decided to make everyone breakfast first since he didn't want to be rude. The Dragon Warrior quickly whipped up some dumplings, tea, and a small bowl of fruit, putting everything on a tray and quietly sneaking back to the barracks. He then put a different tray in each of the Furious Five's rooms. (Except for Tigress for whom he layed the tray on a bed table and put it next to her so that she didn't have to get out of bed). As he tried to squeak quietly back out of the barracks, he heard some of the masters stirring, obviously annoyed at being woken up. He then ran out of the barracks and sprinted towards his dad's noodle shop, the boards letting out tell-tale squeaks as to who had left the mysterious food in the barracks.

Po quickly headed down to the village, pausing in front of his dad's shop to catch his breath.

"Oh, son!" Mr. Ping exclaimed from the kitchen. "There you are! I was beginning to think that you overslept."

"Wha?" Po exclaimed. "No, of course not. I was just making the five some breakfast before I went."

"What about Master Shifu?"

"He's been relaxing in the mountains since we got back, so I didn't bother."

"Oh, alright."

Po then huffed into the noodle shop, grabbing some vegetables and cutting them up.

"It's really nice to be back," he commented as Mr. Ping handed a bowl of soup to a pig by the counter.

"And it's so nice to have you home safe and sound," Mr. Ping added, giving Po a hug. He then walked over towards the back of the counter and called over, "Do me a favor, son, and put some of the radishes into the soup pot while I fetch the tofu." With a seriouser tone, he added, "Don't eat them!"

Po laughed. "Don't worry, I won't." he promised. He glanced at the radishes and then did what he was told, although he had to admit that a fresh radish in the morning sounded pretty tasty.

Back at the Jade Palace, the masters were delighted to find that they had gotten breakfast in bed. (Obviously from Po, as he was the only one not in the barracks). Everyone ate up their food, chilling in their beds and shouting conversations across their rooms so that they didn't have to get up. Tigress, who had woken up to Po prior to him bringing the food in but had decided to just go back to sleep, was glad that Po had put her food somewhere within arm reach. (Viper still came in just to make sure that she hadn't tried to get back out of bed). The master, like the day before, ate her food as slowly as she possibly could in order to make the day go by faster. After what felt like forever, she heard Viper coming towards the door and the serpent master slithered in to take her empty bowls back to the kitchen to be cleaned up. Tigress was then told to stay put, causing her to let out an irritated growl; However, she did what she was told, knowing that it was bad for her to move around so much. Tigress leaned back in her bed with a sigh and closed her eyes. Maybe if she tried to go back to bed, the day would go by in a flash. With a slight moan, Tigress squirmed and tried to get comfortable, but she was wide-awake and unable doze off.

A few minutes passed by before she decided to gently get up. The master slid over towards the chest on her wall and opened the lid, taking out some paper and ink to draw. She then laid everything out in a neat order on the floor and proceeded to begin to sketch.

"Tigress, what are you doing?"

Tigress let out a cry of surprise, the breaks in her chest sending a nasty shot of pain through her. The master clutched her chest with a painful moan, saying, "Master Shifu."

"You're supposed to be resting in bed."

"Apologies, master. But what exactly am I supposed to do all day? I can't just keep sleeping the day away!"