Love of the Dragon Warrior

Past and Present

The following morning as Po began to stir, the gong rang out through the valley. The Five quickly woke up and began to head off to eat breakfast and train while Po got out of bed with a yawn and stumbled out of his room. The first private conversation he was having was with Madame Zhou, and while she was a pretty nice lady, they had also had some negative interactions in the past. (Anyone who worked with a food thief was high up on Po's butt-kicking list). The master wasn't sure where to look for her, so he decided to head outside and wait a moment to see what would happen. None of the girls had told him where they'd be having their mini-dates, so Po was going to have to guess where exactly he'd be going with each date. 

You know, we really should have coordinated this better, he thought to himself as he waited outside the barracks. 

Not even a second later, he was startled by the sound of a "Good morning!" directly behind him. Po jumped in the air and turned to see Madame Zhou standing behind him with an amused smirk on her face. 

"You're out of bed," she remarked. "Goodie gumdrops. I was worried I'd have to wake you up. I got everything set up in front of the main stairs if you're ready to head out." 

"Yep, sure thing," Po said. 

He followed the gazelle across the grounds and to the main gates where a small platter of fruit was laid out for consumption. She walked over to the set-up and sat down with a smile. "Dig in" she invited. 

Po looked around at the location, glanced over at the direction of the training hall, and then looked back at her. "The Furious Five will come through here in a little bit to train though," he said. "Maybe we should move everything over?" 

"Oh, don't worry about it," Madame Zhou assured him with a non-chalant wave of her hand. "I don't mind the company, really." 

Po opened his mouth to reply, but he couldn't really think of how to respond except to just sit down and enjoy the fruit platter in front of him. There were some apples, cherries, bananas, and blueberries. As the two began to munch, Madame Zhou took the initiative to start asking Po a ton of questions. 

"What kind of food is your favorite?" she asked. "You seem to like so many I decided I'll just start off with a fruit platter and see from there." 

"Well, I kinda' have a soft spot for dumplings," Po admitted. "But fruit-wise, apples are always a go-to for me." 

"Personally, I prefer blueberries," Madame Zhou admitted, taking a few from the plate. "Or imported raspberries. But of course I can easily afford them." 

"From high prices on your goods?" Po asked with a stern knowing expression. 

"Business is business," Madame Zhou said simply. She smiled and added, "Doesn't mean it's all that bad though. I get some of the rarest food from all the way across the seas. Coconut cake is paws down the best thing I've ever eaten." 

Po perked up when he heard the word "cake'. "What's in it?" he asked. 

"Oh, all the things that you put into cake, but then you add some vanilla, and the sweetened milk and dried shavings from some ripe coconuts. I brought a few with me, so maybe I can make later on while I'm here. Plus a few other things, but that's a surprise." 

"Well don't tease me. It's making my mouth water!"

Madame Zhou smirked and popped some more berries into her mouth. "So how long have you been away from the valley?" she asked. 

"I left the Jade Palace three years ago," Po answered, grabbing an apple. "It was a little unexpected, but it's been such a fun opportunity. I get to train all these adorable kids in kung fu and watch them go from tripping over training dummies to doing backflips!"