Strong

Your Own Kind of Strong

The boat slowly drifted down the Yellow River, winding north through sharp valleys and flat meadows, to the high flat plateaus that lined the river, drifting onward as the water lapped underneath it. Po stood at the front, looking down the turns of the river. "What are you looking for?" Said her voice. Po smiled as Tigress walked up beside him.

"Just... a little nervous. After what Platon said about your mom, I'm a little worried to meet her."

"Haha!" Sho laughed, sitting a couple of feet near the mast. "I told you you'll be fine. It's us that should be worried. She's notorious for pounding us into the dirt because of our mistakes."

"She was your trainer?" Tigress asked.

"More like our mother and dictator," Sho groaned. "I can already tell she'll wallop me for taking on the King of the Bandits."

"You think you're in trouble," Lion spoke up from the helm. "I'm going to be torn to shreds. I was supposed to find Tigress ten years ago." Sho noticed the wolf's hands twisting the wooden pole that pushed them along.

"That's not all you're worried about, is it?" The bear asked. Lion looked at his ursin brother, pursing his lips. "What's the matter? You're more tense than usual."

"You would laugh."

"That's never stopped you."

"True," Lion sighed. "I'm... worried... I'm worried about seeing my wife."

Sho's jaw dropped as he bolted off the floorboards. "You have a wife! Since when!?"

"About three years ago?" Lion sighed.

"Who?"

"You know, that wolf you met."

Sho's eyes grew wider. "You asked HER to be your wife?!"

"Why are you shocked?"

"I just... she was... uh..." Sho looked to Po and Tigress for an answer, but the two were as clueless as could be. The bear finally just sighed. "Well, now I know why you're worried."

"Why?" Tigress asked.

"Three years away from your wife?" Po interrupted. "For that long, you... start to wonder if you still have a wife to come home to."

They all heard the wolf's whine. The tiger walked over to Lion, resting a firm hand on his shoulder. "I think you'll be fine. If she loves you, she'll wait for you."

"Yeah," Sho said, "I remember how she was. Trust me. You don't have anything to worry about."

"I'll believe it when I see it." The boat continued on, drifting. Sho stretched his arms and rested near the edge of the boat, looking down the winding river. He smiled. Something very small and graceful that contrasted his robust nature.

His normal nature anyway.

Po stood beside him. "You're smiling."

"And?"

"It's different. It looks... real."

Sho sighed, "For a long time I've been struggling to be something real. Either it was a fake soldier, a spy, a puppet, or a bandit, I was always someone else's person," he paused to look at his reflection in the semi still water. "But ever since you broke my hammer, I've been forced to make my own person. Heh, I guess I should thank you for that." He punched the panda in the shoulder.

"Hehe, you're welcome?" Po rubbed his shoulder until the shadow of a tall mountain spread over them. They came closer to the shore. The flat-topped mountain stood at the very northern tip of China. They docked the ship near a small wooden dock, old yet still in use. Po looked at the mountain. It rose like a wall up to the sky. And as Tigress jumped onto land, Po glanced back at Lion. "And how exactly are we climbing this?"