Chapter 12: Is This My Mom?

That night Po and Li sat on the porch of Li's hut, looking out at the village below them. Po gave a deep, contented sigh.

"How was that?" he asked Li, because sighing contentedly was another panda skill he needed to perfect.

Li held up a finger and then took a deep breath, letting out an even bigger, deeper, more contented sigh than Po's.

Po was impressed. "Whoa!"

"Now, you try again," said Li. "But don't try so hard."

Po nodded and tried again, finally getting it. It wasn't about how much air you took in or let out. It was about how you felt when you did it.

One more time, he sighed. This one was almost as deep and contented as Li's had been.

"Much better," Li said.

Po pumped his fist victoriously. "Yes! Thanks, Dad."

"For what?" Li asked.

"You know," said Po. "For showing me what it feels like . . . to be a panda. So when do you think I'll be ready to master chi?"

"Soon. Real soon. Come on," Li said. He started to stand up. "I want to show you something else."

Po followed Li inside his hut. The floor was strewn with dirty clothes.

"Sorry about the mess," Li apologized. "I don't usually get visitors."

They stepped around the clothes until they reached the front of a small shrine on the far wall. In the center of the shrine was a picture surrounded by lit candles and flowers—a picture of baby Po in the arms of a female panda.

"Is this my mom?" Po asked.

"I had this done on your one hundredth day," Li told him, picking up the picture.

"Your momma couldn't hold you still. You nearly ate the paper. It's true."

Po saw that a corner of the sketch had actually been nibbled on.

"What was she like?" Po asked.

"She was the total package," Li responded, with a far-off look in his eyes. "Smart. Beautiful. Tremendous appetite. She was the love of my life. And then, just when I thought I couldn't get any luckier, along you came."

He glanced over at Po and smiled.

"I really had it all," he said. Then his face clouded. "Until that one moment when I lost everything. . ."

His voice trailed off.

Even though Po had been just a baby at the time, he remembered that moment.

He dreamed about it, sometimes. The evil Lord Shen had sent his army of wolves to attack Po's peaceful farming village, far from the safety of the secret village.

Li stayed to fight, and told Po's mother to take Po to safety. She ran and hid Po in a crate of vegetables.

Po was found and adopted by Mr. Ping, and his mother . . . his mother was lost forever.

Li's hand trembled as he carefully placed the picture back on the altar. Po saw how heartbroken his father was, and his own heart broke for Li.

Po stepped closer to his father and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Dad. You don't ever have to worry about losing me again," Po promised. He pulled his father into a hug. Li wrapped his arms around Po, squeezing him as tightly as he could.

Suddenly Big Fun ran into Li's hut. "Let me get some of that," he said, picking both of them up into a gigantic hug.