Love of the Dragon Warrior

Holding your heart

Fortunately for Tai Lin, Xiaobo didn't get too far since Destiny and Lam heard the commotion from off in the distance and had promptly gone down to get a guard before the man had even attempted to throw Po over the cliff. Upon Xiaobo attempting to hide in a nearby cave, a few guards had entered the premises and instigated a chase, eventually catching hold of him and forcefully dragging him out of the Jade Palace. Tai Lin was relieved by this development, though she and Po were not pleased to hear that the guards had zero idea about how Xiaobo had gotten in. They had been keeping careful watch of the main gate and had only let Ming in, as she had gone down to the village to walk around, shop, and grab lunch. (She didn't feel like eating with Po's group). There had been no suspicious activity, and all the guards had been very vigilant when changing posts. Po was just glad Xiaobo was now caught and could be properly dealt with.  Exhausted by the sudden traumatic events of the afternoon, Tai Lin opted to nap in the barracks, with Lam following close behind her so that she could find Ming and apologize for the other day. Po decided to check in his room for his action figures, though this was mostly a cover for him possibly eavesdropping on the conversation in case things went wrong. Leopard just went to the kitchen to get some tea.

Ming had returned to her position by the front of the barrack doors and was clearly still annoyed when Lam showed up to talk to her. Fortunately, Lam's calm demeanor and sincere apology smoothed away any irritation from the other day and the two were able to part on decently amicable terms. The day eventually wore down and Po went to the kitchen to make dinner where he was greeted by Crane packing items in a picnic basket. Shifu had decided to extend their training exercise to overnight, so he had sent Crane back to the Jade Palace to get provisions for the night. Po was curious about the kind of training they did, and Crane had informed him that they had done a camouflage exercise that wound up lasting all day since both Tigress and Monkey were really good at hiding. Po wasn't too surprised by this and wished Crane and his friends well with their training. Despite the stress of the day, Po and his guests managed to wind down and relax by the time dinner was finished and dessert was served. Tai Lin was still a little jittery from her encounter with Xiaobo but she seemed to cam down by bedtime, especially since her ex was now in custody of the guards. By the following morning, Po was in a much better mood and was absolutely ecstatic to be able to talk to his friends who returned just as he started making breakfast.

"Guys! You're back!" Po exclaimed happily. "How did your camping training go?"

"Great!" Viper said happily. "I didn't realize how much we needed a day to recharge until we set up camp."

"Tigress and I beat everybody," Monkey commented with a grin. "Turns out we're really good at camouflage."

"Yeah, Crane told me when he came back to get dinner," Po told him. "Who won out of the two of you?"

"Tigress. We didn't find her until sunset!"

Tigress shrugged. "It's not that hard for me," she said casually.

"How did your day with Ella go?" Mantis asked with a little laugh. "Did you need a snack recharge afterwards?"

"Actually, and I can't believe I'm going to say this...but I had fun."

The Five all stared at him in shock. "Fun?!" they repeated.

"Yeah. I mean, it was a bit of a weird and sort of boring morning at first, but we went to a fun little dance club I didn't even know was in the valley, so it wasn't all that bad."

"I confess I'm surprised," Shifu admitted. "Considering her personality. But I'm glad your morning wasn't miserable."

"Especially with your mysterious stalker enemy," Viper added.