Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day. A time to give mothers gift. A time to be thankful for them. For their gentleness, mercy, nurture, unconditional love.
The citizens of the Valley of Peace treated it just so, as anyone should when celebrating. All the children gave their mothers lilies, as was tradition in Chinese culture, made their mothers’ favorite foods, and gave them gifts of varying forms. All this reflected Chinese society’s emphasis on filial piety.
For the warriors of the Jade Palace, Mother’s Day meant these same formalities, in addition to some of their own.
Viper, Monkey, Mantis, and Crane had sent for their mothers, who all lived relatively far away from the Jade Palace. They rarely got to see their mothers, due to both distance and duty, so any opportunity to be with them was extra special and savored. Viper, being the only one with siblings, brought her three younger triplet sisters along, so they could celebrate with their mother. Even Shifu managed to bring his old mother to the Palace, where he didn’t hesitate to bestow upon her all the Mother’s Day formalities expected.
Furthermore, Shifu gave the Palace servants the day off the spend time with their mothers and celebrate with them. In other words, everyone in the Valley was celebrating.
However, two warriors of the Jade Palace had no choice but to exempt themselves from the celebration. Tigress, having been abandoned as an infant at the Bao Gu Orphanage, never knew her mother, whose identity and fate were still unknown. And Po, the Dragon Warrior, was an infant when his mother died. The evil Lord Shen and his wolf army had attacked his home village, upon hearing a prophecy telling of his defeat by “a warrior of black and white.” His mother made an utterly selfless sacrifice by hiding him in a radish basket, at the cost of leading the murderous peacock and his henchmen to kill her, sparing her baby from the same tragic fate. Now, decades after the panda genocide, the now young adult panda and his tiger companion sat under the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom, grateful that they had each other to relate to.
In previous years on Mother's Day, Tigress had Oogway to relate to, since both their mothers were absent-his had been dead for centuries, and hers could be anywhere, any status, who knew? The two of them would stay together during the course of the holiday and do various forms of grandfather-granddaughter bonding, from making each other jade or gold carvings to going somewhere special, like the Peach Tree. In some cases, one or both of them would end up breaking down into tears, from either grief over a mother's death or emptiness from having never known any mother at all. Since Oogway had died, Po had basically taken his place as Tigress' go-to for Mother's Day. This was now his eighth time of doing so, as they chatted about what their ideal mothers, if they had them, would be like.
“My mom was the total package-beautiful, smart, tremendous appetite, or so my dad has said. He was so shaken when he lost her, and me. It was as if he was dead inside for decades, until Oogway gave him the universe mail about me being alive. When he took me back to the village with him, it was like coming back to life again. He told me so. And the way I skadooshed myself and Kai into the Spirit Realm...that sort of killed him inside, too. He was losing me all over again. And when I finally came back, he had never been more relieved.”
“Hmm.” Tigress blinked her orange eyes in response. “Master Oogway used to tell me about his mother. Her name was Qura, which meant ‘golden’ in his native tongue. She was a young widow who raised him without his father, which, of course, wasn’t easy. He loved her more than almost anything in the world. When she died...he felt essentially the same as your panda father did when he lost you and your mother. Full of despair and grief...” She paused while sighing deeply, then continued. ”Since I never knew my mother, and Shifu never really showed any sympathy, Oogway compensated. We’d do fun activities together, the way children do with their mothers-those that have mothers, that is-and talk to each other. I’d tell him my innermost troubles and he would offer encouraging advice of his own, the way a mother would. He’d even share some of his own problems, giving me the opportunity to share advice and insight in return...He understood me in a way that Shifu didn’t quite. Perhaps you don’t understand. It’s fine if you don’t.”
After taking in his companion’s words, Po thoughtfully replied, “I guess I don’t. I guess I’ll never know how you feel because, growing up, I had a parental figure who understood me.
“But you know what? Just because I don’t know how you feel, doesn’t mean I don’t sympathize with you. You’re more than just my favorite member of the famous Furious Five-you’re my best friends and that’s what friends are for.”
A gentle breeze drifted past them. It felt both peaceful and melancholy at the same time, the Mother’s Day felt for the two motherless warriors. Feeling that breeze gave Po an idea for what to say next.
“Hey, Tigress, I just thought of something...do you think it’s possible to miss someone you never knew?”
This caught Tigress off-guard.
For a moment, the feline almost looked as if she was about to cry. Her lower lip trembled ever so slightly and her eyes appeared to be slowly moistening.
After what seemed like eternity, she finally answered, “...perhaps...”
“Well,” Po admitted after pausing, slowly on the verge of tears himself, “sometimes I like to think I miss my mother. I know she loved me and my dad, and I think of how proud of me she’d be since I grew up to become the Dragon Warrior and save China thrice.” Tears could now be seen rimming his green eyes.
Finally on the verge of tears, Tigress answerd, “I wonder if my mother would be proud of me. I wasn’t as lucky as you. For all we know, she could’ve been a criminal, or she could’ve been an empress. Who knows?” She could see the tears streaming down her panda companion’s face.
Over the past eight years, Po had been the one to break down the walls around Tigress’ heart the way no one else had. She could’ve hated him-which she essentially did, at first. He, a flabby panda with no kung fu experience, had taken the much sought-after Dragon Warrior title from her and amassed great luck-becoming a revered hero, finding the truth about his past, getting his biological father back, and being chosen as Oogway’s successor.
Yet she didn’t resent him at all. Not anymore. Becoming the Dragon Warrior had made Po a better and more empathetic person. He brought out the best in everyone, even someone as stoic as Tigress.
Back in the present, Po wiped his tears and said, “Well, Tigress, maybe your mother is still alive. Maybe she loved you and still does. Maybe she desparately wants to see you again after all these years.” He broke down again. “Whatever the case, you have me. I’m your shoulder to cry on. We can be ‘I have no mom’ buddies.” Now he was in hysterics.
Moved by empathy, Tigress could no longer contain herself. For the first time in what could’ve been anywhere from a few years to twenty years, she wept.
And then she did something unexpected: she hugged Po. The first time she’d hugged him, it’d been in Gongmen City, when the two of them were arguing and Po had insisted on going to stop Shen despite Tigress’ protests, which was perhaps the most prominent moment in their blooming relationship. He insisted that the hardcore could never understand how he felt.
“The hardcore do understand,” she’d told him. “But I can’t watch my friend get killed.”
Now, feeling empathy in return, Po accepted the hug. They silently sobbed together, bonded together by their combined differences and similarities.
They may not have had their mothers, but they had each other. Did that not count for something?
