Kung Fu Panda 3: Movie Novelization

It was a long way to the Panda Village. Po and Li left the Valley of Peace far behind and walked until they reached a range of snowy mountains.

Then they began to climb higher and higher.

Grrooooowl! Pos stomach rumbled from hunger.

”Lunch break? ” asked Li.

”You don need to ask me twice, ” Po said. He set down his travel sack.

”Ow! ” came a voice from within.

Pos eyes narrowed. ”Dad? ”

”Yes? ” Li replied, but Po wasn talking to Li.

Po stared at the sack. ”Dad? ” he repeated, louder this time, as he opened the sack, revealing Mr. Ping inside.

”Yes? ” Mr. Ping answered meekly.

He popped his head out.

”What are you doing? ” Po asked.

”What am I doing? Getting a backache! ” Mr. Ping complained. ”Did you have to step on every rock? ”

”No, I mean why are you here? ” Po pressed him.

”What was I supposed to do? ” Mr. Ping asked. ”What if the pandas don have food you like? You
e never going to be able to save the world on an empty stomach. I consider my presence mission critical. ”

”Well, you know we can share the location of the village with others! ” Li reminded him.

”You think I can keep a secret? ” Mr. Ping shot back. ”I raised Po for twenty years before I finally told him he was adopted. ”

”Seriously? ” Li asked.

Po shrugged sheepishly.

Li gave in. ”Okay. I guess it would be cruel to make you fly back. ”

Po stared at Mr. Ping. ”You can fly? How come you never taught me?! ”

They ate a quick meal and then continued through the mountains. The snow was waist-deep, but Po and Li plodded through it. Mr. Pings webbed feet allowed him to walk lightly across the surface.

”We
e here, ” Li announced suddenly.

They had come to a stop in front of a towering wall of ice, its top lost in the snow swirling high overhead.

”Sure looks like a long way up there, ” Mr. Ping said. ”And my son hates stairs. So lets go home. ”

”We
e pandas, ” Li said simply. He pulled a hidden rope and a wicker basket appeared in the snow below them.

Li grinned. ”We don do stairs. ”

Pos face lit up with joy. ”Ive waited my whole life to hear those words! ”

”Rats! ” said Mr. Ping.

They all climbed into the basket and Li tugged on the ropes. They were pulled up the side of the ice wall, higher and higher.

They rose above the clouds, and the basket stopped moving. As the mist around them parted, Po could see . . . more mist.

”Huh? ” Po wondered.

”This is the secret Panda Village? ” Mr. Ping asked. ”No wonder you keep it a secret. If I lived here, I wouldn tell anyone either. ”

They climbed out of the basket. Boards creaked under Pos foot as he stepped out. Were they on some kind of bridge?

Li, Po, and Mr. Ping walked forward, passing underneath an arch.

”Now you can whoa, ” he said.

The fog cleared, and Pos eyes widened as he tried to take in the sight before him.

The village was nestled among towering snowy mountains, but the village itself was lush and green. A bubbling stream ran through a bamboo forest, and crystal blue water cascaded down a waterfall.

But what stunned Po the most were the pandas. There were so many of them!

Adorable panda kids ran through the village, laughing and flying kites. Other pandas snoozed peacefully in hammocks, or played mah-jongg in the shade, or relaxed in steaming thermal pools.

One by one, the pandas noticed Li, Po, and Mr. Ping.

”Lis back! ” a panda shouted.

”Hes found his son! ” another added.

The pandas let out a cheer and began to run across the green fields toward Po and Li. Then they all stopped to catch their breath. In a minute they were running toward him again.

”Why are we running? ” asked a slightly confused, bigger panda.

Soon Po was surrounded by dozens of pandas. Cute baby pandas stared at him shyly from the safety of their parents legs. Po smiled and gave them a friendly wave.

”Everyone! Gather around! This is my son! ” Li called out proudly.

The pandas swarmed Po, hugging him and shaking his hand.

”Easy, easy! ” Li laughed.

A panda with graying fur stepped forward.

”This is Grandma Panda, our village elder, ” Li said.

Grandma Panda looked Po up and down. ”Hmm, hes so handsome, ” she said, ”Just like his father. ”

”Thank you! ” Mr. Ping said proudly.

Li turned to two massive pandas standing next to him, both wearing eager expressions.

”Son, these are your cousins, Dim and Sum. ”

”I have cousins! ” Po said excitedly.

Dim hung a lei made of dumplings around Pos neck.

”Welcome! ” he said.

Po looked at the dumpling lei admiringly. ”Whoa, buns on a string. ”

”We call it a snacklace, ” said Sum.

But just as Po was about to take a bite, a bunch of pandas swarmed him. At first Po thought they were coming in for a group hug, until he heard munching noises.

When they backed away, the snacklace was just a string.

Sum shrugged. ”Well make you another one. ”

The slightly confused panda, whom Po learned was named Big Fun, was now teary-eyed. ”Its you! ” he cried, squeezing Po in a tight panda bear hug.

”Oh, thats nice, ” Po managed to squeak out. ”Hi. ”

”I don know who you are, ” Big Fun said warmly.

A baby panda named Lei Lei reached into Pos pocket and pulled out a Tigress action figure.

”Oooh, Stripy Baby! So beautiful! ” she said, clapping her hands.

”Okay, careful with that, ” Po said, reaching out to grab it back.

Lei Lei looked at Po with her wide baby eyes. ”Can I keep her? ” she asked, hugging the Tigress action figure close.

Po couldn refuse. ”No . . . problem, ” he said. ”Of course. Thats why I brought her. Take good care of her? ”

”Yay! Stripy Baby! ” she cried happily.

As Po looked at Lei Lei, something struck him, ”You
e just like me, but a baby! ” he said.

He looked at Grandma Panda, ”You
e like me, but old! ” he cried.

Grandma Panda grinned.

He turned to Dim and Sum. ”You
e like me . . . but fatter! ”

Dim and Sum high-fived him.

Po gazed out at all the pandas, at all the furry faces and big bellies and tiny ears and black noses.

”You all look like me, ” he said softly.

A strange feeling welled up inside Po, one he had never felt before. All his life he had been surrounded by pigs and bunnies and geese.

Hed battled alongside a tiger, a monkey, a praying mantis, a crane, and a snake. Hed battled rhinos, gorillas, a leopard, and even a peacock. And always, wherever he went, he had been the only big-bellied, furry, black-and-white guy in sight.

For the first time in his life, he fit in.

”Lets feast in my sons honor, ” Li said, motioning downhill. The pandas began flopping to the ground and rolling.

Po was confused. ”What the—? ”

Dim and Sum plopped down on the ground. They rolled down the hill like furry balls.

”Pandas don walk, we roll! ” Li explained, waving to Po.

Soon every panda in the village was rolling down the hill, expertly dodging logs and rocks on the way down. They all ended up in one big, furry heap at the bottom of the hill.

Mr. Ping shook his head. ”Have you ever seen anyone look so ridiculous? ” he scoffed.

Beside him, Po plopped onto the grass.

”Po, what are you doing? Po! ” Mr. Ping yelled.

Po paused. As the Dragon Warrior, he had jumped, leaped, bounded, raced, zoomed, and flipped—but rolling was a new thing.

Then he launched himself down the hill, rolling after his new panda family.