In The Countdown, there were a couple of things I thought to put in, but I didn't because either it didn't make sense or there was no time. This chapter, The Ribbon Dance, was one of those chapters. It takes place between the chapter, This day just keeps getting better and Bad News and Worse News.

Hope you like it.....

Po sat nervously at the dinner table, watching Mei-Mei stir some of the vegetables into the soup pot. He was still a bit overwhelmed by what was going on since he hadn't expected to be greeted by a long-lost fiancée. Bao sat at the table balancing a bowl on his head, hardly paying any attention to Po's look of utter discombobulation. The Dragon Warrior drummed his fingers nervously on the table, glancing over at his dad who had a happy look of contentment on his face. Upon the seeing Po look at him a bit helplessly, he silently gestured his head over to Mei-Mei as if to say Say something to her.

"So, Mei-Mei," Po said slowly, getting the hint. "You...you cook?"

"Of course I do, silly," Mei-Mei giggled happily. "I wouldn't be a good wife if I couldn't cook for my family, now would I?"

"Oh. Well...um...I...yeah, I guess so. I just...I haven't met many girls who can cook. Though then again, I only have four or five girls who are actually close friends of mine."

Mei-Mei chuckled. "You're funny," she told him, stirring the soup a bit. "I like that."

"Po actually cooks too," Li piped up, hopping to keep the conversation going. "Don't you, Po?"

"Yeah, I love cooking," Po said, watching Mei-Mei look at him with a happily surprised expression. "Dad...um, you know, the one that took me in...he's a chef at a restaurant and he taught me a whole bunch of recipes and cooking tips."

"Ooh," Mei-Mei said, her smile getting bigger. "That's amazing, F-Po. I've never met a man who knew how to cook well. Well, except for Li and a one or two other villagers around here."

"What do you cook?" Bao piped up from the table.

"Anything you can think of," Po told him. "Almost."

"Pudding?"

"Yes."

"Dumplings?"

"Yes."

"Chocolate cake?"

"Yes."

"Cream puffs?"

"Um...I still have to learn that one actually."

"Oh, I love cream puffs," Mei-Mei gushed. "Just in case you were wondering. I can teach you if you'd like."

Po hesitated, unsure of what to say to that, though this just invited Mei-Mei to keep on talking. "It'll be such a great bonding experience! Oh! And later when we get married and have kids, you could cook for us! That'll be so wonderful!"

"Can I have a brother?" Bao asked, craning his neck to see if the soup was close to done. "Because I want to name him Yui."

"We'll have to see what happens, Bao. You may get a sister instead."

Po felt a heated flush rise to his face and he quickly took a sip of his tea and hoped that Mei-Mei would drop the subject on kids. I'm not sure if I even want to marry her, he thought to himself. That would mean I'd have to move and I'd never see dad or Monkey, or Mantis...or any of my friends.... And then I'd have to step down as Dragon Warrior! And then someone would get it instead...probably Tigress. Ugh! And then I'll never get to talk to Tigress again and I'll never get to train with her or get her to lighten up or hug her....

The master felt more heat rise to his cheeks as he heard bowls clatter behind him. Oh come on!

"Baba, are you okay?" Bao asked suddenly. "Your cheeks are all red."

Po felt like mentally slapping himself, but that's what he got for thinking about Tigress at the wrong time. "Uh, yeah," he lied. "I'm fine. Just...hot. Really hot."

"I'll grab a fan and cool you down, Fengy," Mei-Mei offered. She put bowls of hot soup down at the table before disappearing out of the room. Po felt a bit relieved, though that was only because it spared him a few seconds of not worrying about what else she would say about their engagement. If one could call it that. He quickly took a spoonful of his soup and put it in his mouth, a bit surprised at the taste. It wasn't his dad's famous Secret Ingredient Soup, but it was still delicious.

"Oh wow," he exclaimed after swallowing it. "That's good!"

"Isn't it?" Li said, smiling as he and Bao dug in as well. "She's a great dancer and a great chef! Her food is to die for!"

"We should have her and dad cook side by side for a taste test. I don't know which is better!"

Bao scrunched his face up in confusion. "Which one?" he asked. "You have a lot of daddys."

Li laughed. "Don't worry, Bao," he promised. "He only has too. Me and Mr. Ping."

"Oh. Okay."

Po went to drink some more of his soup, but a huge gust of air suddenly came from his left, thankfully cooling what was left of the heated blush he had earlier.

"How's this, Fengy? Po?" Mei-Mei asked, rapidly waving a fan inches from the panda's face.

"A little better actually, thanks, Mei-Mei," Po admitted. He glanced over at her chair. "Are you going to sit and eat?"

"If you're feeling better...."

"I am. Don't worry about it."

Mei-Mei smiled and closed her fan, putting it in a sleeve pocket before she sat down at the table and began to eat her soup. "I'm glad you like dinner," she said, drinking some of the broth.

"You're welcome," Po told her. "It's a pretty close first to my dad's soup. My other dad."

Mei-Mei giggled and continued to eat. As the group of four continued to eat dinner, Bao asked, "Is baba coming to your dance?"

"Dance?" Po asked.

"Of course he is," Li said. He looked at Po and explained, "I thought it would be fun to attend one of Mei-Mei's ribbon dances. It'd be a fun way to get to know her."

"That...actually sounds like fun," Po admitted. "I mean, Viper ribbon dances, but I've never seen an actual performance."

"Then you're in for a real treat then."

Mei-Mei swallowed her soup before nudging Po gently and saying, "You're going to love it! Trust me!"

Later after dinner, Mei-Mei grabbed her fans and ribbons and led everyone outside where they followed her across the house bridge and through the panda village. Po saw several other pandas coming in their direction, figuring that they might have been attending the show as well. After a while, they finally reached a small stage upon which Mei-Mei disappeared to set up for the dance. Li led Po and Bao to the front row where they sat down and patiently waited for the show to start.

"How often do they perform?" Po asked his dad.

"Once a month," Li answered. "And every show's as amazing as the last one."

"Awesome."

The three waited for a while before the lights finally dimmed and a group of fancily dressed dancers, Mei-Mei in the middle of them, came out with ribbons in one paw and a fan in the other. They formed a line across the stage before fanning the fans across their face and proceeding to twirl about rapidly with their ribbons. Po watched in awe as the dancers kept the ribbons afloat in the air before quickly whipping them into each other and forming a loose knot. They then quickly moved about in a circle, managing to keep the ribbons in a perfect pirouette above their head. They then untied the ribbons with a quick flick and then waved their fans in the air, tossing glitter down at the audience.

Po's mouth gaped open as the audience stood up and clapped. "Whoa!!!" he exclaimed. "That was awesome!!!"

Li and Bao were already standing and clapping, Po slowly following suit. Okay, that was amazing. So this is what Viper used to do for a living?! That's AWESOME!!!!!

Mei-Mei, spotting Po from the stage, winked at him and blew him a kiss while using her fan.

"Hi, mom!!!" Bao called out. "That was cool!!!" He turned to Po. "Wasn't that cool, baba."

Po blinked, still not used to being called that. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah, that was pretty cool."