//------------------------------//
// 39: Family Bonding 
// Story: Kung Fu Panda: The Dragons Destiny 
// by Dragonfan101 
//------------------------------//

While Spike and Po had journeyed with Li and Smolder to the Panda village, far away from the valley, Crane and Mantis were still searching for where Kai was, they had been traveling for days on end at this point, and were finally catching onto their trails to where the Jombies led too.

Crane was currently traveling through a dessert as the sun was setting on the horizon, it had been a long time since Crane left the palace, but he and Mantis were almost on the trail.
"Wings of Surveillance!" Crane announced while he was flying around and looking for anything below.
"Why do you do that?" Mantis asked looking down at him.
"What?" Crane asked confused while Mantis went to explain what his reason is.
"Just because you say Wings Of, before something, doesn't mean your doing a special move. It's like me saying.. Antenna of Power! Or.. Thorax of Making Sandwiches!" Mantis announced to prove his point which Crane didn't agree too.
"Wings of Disagreement." Crane said shaking that off until Mantis saw something down below.
"Look!" Mantis pointed out as they saw 3 familiar masters making they're way through the dessert.

Crane was really surprised to see them here and flew down to them to see why they're here.
"Master Bear! Master Chicken! Master Croc! What are you doing out here?" Crane asked as they were all heading to an empty looking ship in the distance.
"Jade Creatures attacked our villages! We tracked them here!" Master Chicken explained before Bear stopped them all.
"Stop!" He announced as they all came to a halt while looking in the abandoned ship.
"He must be in there." Bear said with a serious look while Crane was a bit nervous.
"Master Shifu STRONGLY advised us..." Crane tried to warn them all, but each one was ready for a fight and all went into fight.
"Not to engage..." Crane said with a nervous look on what could happen in there.
"We gotta get in there!" Mantis declared with a serious look.
"But Master Shifu said...." Crane tried to argue against this, but Mantis interrupted him again.
"Your seriously afraid? Even Master Chicken's going in there! And he's a chicken!" Mantis said seriously as Master Chicken drew out his weapons and ran into the ship to.

But they could see the masters were not doing well, as a green light appeared in the room multiple times as well as Master Chicken's scream of fear which was enough for Mantis.
"That's it! I'm going in!" Mantis declared before he hopped off to help them.
"Mantis we have orders not too..." Crane tried to warn him once again, but Mantis wasn't having it.
"I'll go high, you go low! Fear the bug!" Mantis screamed while he hopped into the ship from an open hole to fight Kai.
"Alright you little!... uh oh..." Mantis said as he saw a green light coming from him.
"Mantis!" Crane shouted with worry while he saw Mantis just ahead of them.
"Antenna of Power! Ah it didn't work!!" Mantis screamed as something absorbed him.
"Mantis!" Crane shouted with terror as he flew into the ship to save him.

Crane quickly ran into the ship and kept his guard up, the place was completely empty, he couldn't see any of the masters that he saw not 1 minute ago.
"Mantis? Mantis are you there?" Crane whispered just as a familiar figure appeared above Crane, he finally noticed Kai was towering above him and was really terrified, Crane pulled his hat down and tried to leave while whispering before Kai grabbed his neck and slammed him to the floor, but Crane used his talons to knock him across the face so he could break free. Crane quickly got back up and struck his pose while Kai scoffed seeing him.
"Your Chi is strong, just like your friend... the bug.." Kai mocked as he revealed he absorbed Mantis's Chi too which horrified him.
"Mantis!" Crane said with fear before he tried to strike at him, but Kai sent a powerful green blast from his palm which blew Crane to the wall with heavy force which weakened him greatly, Crane got up and tried keeping his strength, but that blast really did a number while Kai marched too him.
"Don't worry little birdie, I'll put your Chi to good use.. destroying the Jade Palace and everyone in it!" Kai said ominously while he twirled around his blades.
"No!" Crane said with fear before he got a nearby barrel and threw it in Kai's face which did nothing, Crane flew in the air and burst through the ship to try and escape, but Kai didn't let this happen and threw his chains directly around him.
"Wings of.... regret!" Crane screamed while Kai laughed evilly as he absorbed Crane's Chi completely too...


We cut back to the panda village during sunrise after that party last night at the place.

Spike was  trying to sleep after crashing in a nearby house Smolder had, after everyone had that feast, they went to bed for the night, Spike's been trying to find out how to properly regain the strength of his Chi, he hadn't been able to fully use it to it's full potential since he saved Viper's village. While he wished he could tap into it.. he just doesn't know how... and he doesn't know what living here can do, but that may just be his anxiety's speaking to him right now, so he just tried sleeping the night away. But as Spike continued to sleep, he felt a strange force pull him deeper into his sleep, until he was deep within his subconscious, where he was completely alone.

Spike's eyes finally opened and Spike woke up with a gasp as he felt something take a hold on him, Spike looked around and found himself in a strange black void where nothing could be seen.
"What the? What is this place? Po? Smolder? Li?" Spike asked while trying to find anyone, after trying to find anything to help him, Spike soon saw a strange faint light in the distance. Not having any other choice, he tried flying to it to find his way out of here. 
"Hello? Is anyone here?" Spike asked again while trying to find anyone, but as he kept going to the light, he started to hear a strange voice speak to him.
"Spike..." An ominous voice spoke which caught him off guard, the voice sounded female, but Spike struck his pose for any possible threats.
"Who's there?! Show yourself!" Spike shouted while he looked around for anyone, but as Spike had his back turned, the strange faint light began to glow brighter while growing even more, Spike looked around for anything, but he soon saw the light rising above him.
"What the...?" Spike asked confused right before the light suddenly bursted wide and Spike was nearly blinded from the light.

The light began to take form around Spike as he tried focusing his vision, but once Spike could see again, Spike had a look of pure shock as he saw the light forming into something, large golden wings appeared behind it's back, a long sharp tail appeared behind it, and it's body grew to be well over 30 feet which towered over him, Spike was backing up in pure shock in what he was seeing, and as the light continued to form, he saw it morph into a huge golden dragon, but it only looked to be a construct and not fully.
"Who.. what are you? What is this place?" Spike asked looking at the creature as it towered over him.
"You are within your mind, I summoned you here so I may speak with you, I'm sorry for the shock, but we decided it was finally time we should speak with you." The voice said as he could understand it clearly now, it was a her from the sound of it, but who was it that was talking to him? 
"Who are you?" Spike asked while the figure flew around him to bring some light into the void.
"I am what some call.. Master Blaze, I was known as the Dragon Master during my time, just like you are known as now." Blaze introduced which shocked Spike hearing that, to know there was another Dragon Master before him was shocking, and he didn't know what to do.

Blaze only flew around him a bit more while Spike was collecting his thoughts, he had a lot to ask right now, but he tried keeping himself calm.
"Um.. alright then... can you please tell me why you brought me here? How were you able to do this?" Spike asked looking at her who only kept glaring at him.
"I used a special Kung fu technique I know to summon you here, as for why I brought you here, it is because I sense your still troubled with finding yourself." Blaze explained which confused him for a moment.
"What do you.. mean by that?" Spike asked trying to figure out what that meant. 
"You know what that means Spike, after all, it's been the one thing you've been questioning since you came to the Valley, even after feeling like you've found the answer, you've kept asking one simple question... who are you?" Blaze asked which surprised Spike hearing that.

But after taking a closer look into that question, he realized what she meant. While Spike thought he's found himself with mastering Inner Peace and finding Chi, there are still some stuff he's feeling right now  that's been holding him back, Spike only sighed after hearing all that and looked at his new arms, and still felt like something's missing.
"Was it really that easy to figure out?" Spike asked with a guilty look while she only looked down at him.
"I've sensed your worry's child, your worry's about failing everyone from when Kai attacks, worried if you can't fully master Chi, and your worried on who you really are, because you still struggle with accepting what's happened since you arrived here." Blaze said calmly while Spike looked down regretfully.
"You really are a master to be able to see through me like that.. but.. your right.. I'm just worried on what will happen if I don't master Chi in time, while I could use it fully before, after I destroyed that Hydra, I just.. can't fully use it now, only for some stronger attacks, and a few new moves I made.. but.. that's it.." Spike said regretfully while he clutched his Chi arm again, the dragon flew up to him a bit more and put a claw on his metal shoulder to help him.
"You are too worried on what may happen then, what you need to focus on is the now. You must focus on bonding with your sister, forming bonds with her and Li, and helping the panda Master Chi too, because if you were able to do it once, you can do it again." Blaze explained while Spike took those words into heart.

Spike's had a lot on his mind still, the thoughts of him having a sister was really surprising, to know he had someone related to him for so long just had all these questions be brought up again, even after living here for years, he still doesn't know how to move on with this fully.
"It was just.. so surprising.. I never thought I'd have a sister, now I suddenly find out I do have one, and she's an adopted daughter of the father of my best friend who technically makes him my step brother? It's.. a lot.. and it raises so many more questions.. like.. why did our parents leave our eggs alone without either of them? How did we end up in two separate worlds for so long.. and.. just who are they?" Spike asked sadly while the figure sighed hearing that, she knew these questions needed to be answered to help him master his power, so she tried explaining this without giving everything away.
"Perhaps it is because your parents saw something special in both of you, and knew that even if you had to be apart for many years, once you fully reunited with eachother, it only will help you understand yourself more. You shouldn't think they didn't love you, because if they didn't, they wouldn't have sent you to these worlds to begin with until it was time." Blaze explained which confused Spike a bit more.

He didn't know how she knew so much, but it made him a bit suspicious because of it.
"How do you know that? Do you happen to know them?" Spike asked turning to her who kept a stern look.
"I should know, because, we were the ones who sent you to Equestria in the first place, while Smolder stayed in this world to walk her own path, until eventually, you both finally came across eachother, and it now puts you on the same path, like we predicted." Blaze explained which shocked him on what that meant, if she sent them to these worlds.. then that could only mean one thing..
"Wait.. you were the one who sent me to Equestria?! How? Why? What reason did you have for it?" Spike asked as he felt his mind waking up from something, and she sensed it too and had to end this talk quickly.
"Reasons that only would lead you to a better life, even if it was without me and Firestone, but know this, we know you can master Chi and stop Kai, and when that happens, we will fully explain everything... son..." Blaze finished as the place was fading to white and Spike's eyes widened hearing those words.
"M... mom?!" Spike asked with shock just as he finally felt himself waking up.

Spike suddenly fell down on the floor with a loud thud after having that vision, Spike woke up with a gasp and tried to calm himself down. Spike focused his vision and tried remembering where he was, he looked around the area, and saw he was only in a small wooden house that was pretty empty from the looks of it, Spike looked behind him and saw there was a window right next to him, and there was a beautiful view of the mountain with the village seen in the distance. Spike sighed in relief and remembered he was in the panda village still, he layed down on his bed and tried to process what he just saw.
"Was that.. you mom? Was it really you? After all these years.. why did you finally show yourself now?" Spike asked himself as he didn't know what this meant, he had so much running through his mind right now, and didn't know what that meant.
"What do you mean by that? Who are you really? And.. why did you both do this to us?" Spike asked as the reveal she and this.. Firestone, sent him to Equestria, while Smolder stayed in this world, was just really shocking for him to hear. But as Spike continued thinking to himself, he heard a knock on the door and heard it open, and he saw Smolder was awake and entered the room.
"Hey Spike, you doing alright? It's nearly noon by now." Smolder asked while Spike tried getting up.

Spike was surprised to know he slept in that much, he always woke up at dawn every day, whatever this vision was, it took a few more hours that gave Spike some extra sleep, he yawned a bit and got off his bed to get ready for the day.
"I'm.. fine Smolder, how about you? You sleep well too? Was a pretty wild night wasn't it?" Spike asked while he got his paper hat again while also getting his golden clothing he's had since he unlocked Chi.
"I've had better nights I guess, I had a strange dream last night, and it honestly felt like someone was talking too me..." Smolder answered which surprised Spike, he thought it was only him who had that vision, but she may have had something similar too.
"You too? I had something like that too, did you happen to meet a strange dragon of sorts in it?" Spike asked while he got his coat to keep himself warm.

Smolder was shocked hearing he had a similar vision like her, and tried remembering what she saw.
"Y.. yes! He said his name was Firestone, and he told me some weird stuff I couldn't understand fully, but if this is true then.. you and I had a similar dream right?" Smolder asked while the sun was shining through their windows.
"Yeah.. it was, would you like to talk about it some more?" Spike asked while he and Smolder were heading to the door.
"I.. think it's best we talk about it later okay? The others are just getting up, and I think it's time we spend some time together, that sound good brother?" Smolder asked while she opened up the door, Spike took in the wind brushing against him and felt so much calmer feeling it, he loved the feeling of the wind around him, and it was probably a good idea for now.
"Yeah, that sounds good, come on, let's see what Po's up too." Spike replied before they both left the house to meet up with the others.

After Spike and Smolder woke up, they met up with the others so they could help Po learn to be a panda, while the events Po did was fun, Spike saw he was trying too hard with it, and not fully trying to relax and just have full fun. Spike and Smolder sat on a large tree branch on the village and looked over Po having fun with his fathers, and smiled seeing everyone have fun.
"You know, it's really nice to see Po try and have fun, I didn't expect him to adjust so quickly, with how long Po's been training as a warrior, you'd think he'd have a tougher time trying to live a simpler life you know?" Smolder asked while Spike passed out some food for them.
"Eh, I'm not too surprised honestly, but I can see he may be trying too hard, but if we're gonna master Chi and save the world, Po's gonna give it his all." Spike said with a smile while he watched Po take some lessons on going uphill from Dim and Sum who launched themselves off some hammocks. 
"It's beautiful..." Po said in awe which Spike chuckled at.
"It's moments like that that make me just have fun with him more and more, even if he tends to make some.. embarrassing mistakes sometimes..." Spike said with a disgusted look which concerned Smolder a bit.
"Really? What for? What did he do?" Smolder asked curious on hearing that, Spike looked back into his mind and remembered one moment that really was embarrassing for him..

We cut to a flashback where Po was making his way to Ping's shop for something important. Po slammed through the kitchen door and tried finding where he was.
"Dad! Dad! Dad!" Po shouted repeatedly which spooked Ping with the sudden arrival.
"What?! What?! What?!" Ping asked as well, Po took some heavy breaths and put a large bag of dirty laundry in the room to tell him something.
"I've run out of dirty underwear..." Po announced while he took a lot of heavy breaths.
"So you dragged a large bag of dirty laundry all the way down here, to your father!" Ping said a bit upset with this while Po looked nervous hearing it, but Ping soon looked calm after that and didn't seem to mind it. 
"Well it would've been no problem for me to come and pick it up!" Ping said with a happy look while he was picking the bag up.
"Thanks dad, you know what we should throw these in too, I got a little extra battle damage on my pants again..." Po said nervously while he was taking them off.

But a door creak was suddenly heard and he looked really shocked as he turned around.. to see that Spike and the others had just walked in and saw him exposed.
"Dear Celestia!" Spike screamed with disgust while everyone tried covering they're eyes.
"Please tell me this is one of those weird dreams where everyone I know can see me naked?" Po asked nervously while Spike was about to puke.
"Ugh.. no.." Everyone said at once.
"I wish it was." Mantis said with a traumatized look.
"What? I'm sensitive! I get a rash if it's done wrong!" Po said in defense which was worse to hear.
"Oh great, now I've got that image in my head too so that's good..." Mantis said sarcastically while turning around.
"Don't tell Shifu..." Po whispered while he bent down some more and everyone screamed in disgust with what they saw.
"What the @#$% are we looking at?!" Spike asked with a look of despair before he threw up off screen while Viper was trying to comfort him.
"There there Spike.." Viper said calmly while he was puking quite a lot from what they saw.

We cut back to real time after Spike remembered that moment, and only shivered after fully remembering it.
"Trust me Smolder, it's best you do not know." Spike assured while he finished up his bowl.
"Okay then..." Smolder replied a bit unsure of what that was about.
"Smolder! Spike! Get down here! Po's gonna try to roll some more!" Li announced from below the tree which was really cool to hear.
"Oh we got to see this!" Smolder said playfully while she hopped off the tree.
"Wait up, we're coming!" Spike shouted while he flew off to find Po too.

Po was still trying to learn to roll like a panda, he's been doing fun activities all day and has been getting better with them. Po's body was rolling down a snowy hill, and he screamed with fear as he was going too fast while moving past more pandas, Spike and everyone else saw Po rolling down to them just as another panda was coming between them.
"What are you guys looking at?" The panda asked just before Po crashed into them all and everyone watched as Po landed in a nearby lake on a chair with a drink and a umbrella.
"That's how we roll! Cannonball!" Li screamed while everyone jumped into the water too for a fun day of swimming.
"This is so amazing!" Spike said amazed while Smolder laughed seeing this.
"Check this out!" Smolder shouted before she suddenly flew into the air extremely high, and everyone watched as she let herself fall down to all of them while she screamed with  joy.
"Whoa..." Po said amazed just before she crashed down into the water and sent a huge splash over the entire village from her speed.

After everyone had a day of fun at the village, Spike and Po went to Li's house with Smolder to reflect on all that's happened today. Spike sighed calmly while everyone watched the village having fun still, it was so nice to just sit back and relax after training for so long.
"Really beautiful, isn't it Spike?" Smolder asked while everyone looked over the ledge.
"It really is amazing.." Spike said amazed as well with the beautiful view, Po was really happy to have had such a fun day here, and wanted to give Li and Smolder a small thank you.
"Thanks dad, and Smolder, this was really fun today.." Po said gratefully which confused Li for a moment.
"For what?" Li asked not getting it fully.
"For just you know.. showing us what it's like.. to be a panda..." Po said calmly which Spike found nice too.
"Yeah.. it's been really great today, especially after training so hard every day.." Spike said gratefully too while he looked at his metal arm again.

Li felt really glad to hear that from them, and Smolder was just glad to hear that from her brother.
"No problem guys.. it's been really fun today.." Smolder said calmly as well, but Po remembered his important reason for being here, and wanted to ask Li something.
"So.. when do you think Spike and I will be ready?" Po asked suddenly which confused them for a moment.
"Ready for what?" Smolder asked not getting that right now.
"You know, ready to master Chi?" Po reminded which gave Li a nervous look for a brief moment before regaining focus.
"Soon, real soon, come on we gotta show you something." Li advised while he was going into his house. 

Spike and Po followed the two behind and went into Li's home, and they did see it was quite a mess from the looks of it.
"Sorry about the mess, I don't usually get visitors.. even when Smolder helps me clean up, it still can be a mess at times." Li apologized while Smolder was picking some stuff up.
"I try to help my old man the best I could, and no matter what I do, I'm always glad to see him happy." Smolder said with a smile while everyone sat down, and Spike and Po saw a picture of what looked like  Po's mother, with a small baby Po just in her arms. Po had a sad look as he went to pick it up, and was so surprised seeing her in full.
"Is this.. my mom?" Po asked sadly while Smolder looked down with guilt too.
"It is, she was the best mother I could've had.." Smolder said sadly as she was raised by them both for most of her life.
"We had this done on his 100th day. Your mamma could barely hold you still, you nearly ate the paper" Li said calmly while Spike and Po saw a small bite mark on it which they chuckled at.
"You raised Smolder when she was hatched right? What was.. life like with her?" Spike asked wondering what it was like for them.

Smolder sighed sadly and looked at the paper to remember her times with Li and her mother.
"I was hatched not too long after I was found, they took me in.. raised me like their own, while I was able to play with Po during my time there, it was just.. the best time of my life.." Smolder said with a small smile as she remembered what it was like.
"She's right.. Smolder was a great daughter, the best I could ask for, even if she was a handful at times. And your mom.. she was so smart.. and beautiful... with a tremendous appetite!" Li joked a bit which they chuckled at.
"I really had it all.. until that.. one moment.. where me and Smolder... lost everything..." Li said regretfully as they all remembered that horrible night.

Spike and Po remember the moment where Po's mom had to leave him in the Radish Box to save his life, Spike could just hear Po's cries of despair for his mother to come back, no child should've ever had to go through such trauma, and to know Smolder saw the whole thing, it really hit him in ways he hasn't felt before. Smolder had tears from her eyes as she remembered that traumatic moment, she wasn't even 1 month old, and she went through something that stuck with her for her whole life.
"How.. did you and Li survive?" Spike asked while he rubbed her shoulder.
"Li and I.. fought them all off the best we could, but when there were too many.. we ran for our lives, we were able to find survivors the following morning, but it wasn't without.. a great cost.. not just from losing Po.. but.. our home.." Smolder said sadly as she moved her arm up a bit and Spike saw she had a large scar on her arm that looked to be from a wolf...
"Smolder.. I'm so sorry.. to think you went through such events.. and I.. wasn't there to help you.. what kind of brother am I for not being able to help any of you?" Spike asked regretfully while she gave him a hug.
"It wasn't your fault Spike.. but.. that's in the past.. and now.. what matters most.. is that we have you back.. once we got the message about you too.. we didn't waste another day to go out and find you, we searched all of China for you, and now.. we finally have you back..." Smolder said with tears while Spike held her close.

Spike never thought he'd find his blood family, but after seeing what she went through, it really only made him want to protect her even more.
"I'm so sorry Smolder, Li.. but know this.. no matter what happens, you won't have to be alone again.. I promise.." Spike assured while Po gave Li a hug too.
"He's right dad, you both don't have to worry about ever losing me again, and Spike won't let that happen either, okay?" Po asked with a small smile, Li only smiled back and he pulled Spike and Smolder in for a group hug.
"Thank you guys.. really.." Smolder said gratefully as they all took in this moment.. until a familiar panda came in to join in on this.
"Let me get some of that!" The panda said playfully while he hugged all of them which popped all of they're backs.
"Thanks... for that.. It's.. Really.. nice..." Spike said between breaths as all of them took this moment together, even with the threat of Kai looming over them, a moment like this is what all of them need before things get worse..