Po slept for a solid half hour before he found himself being woken up with gentle shoulder shaking. 

"The bed is an irresistible enemy, isn't it?" Master Leopard joked. 

Po stifled a yawn and quickly got up. "Sorry," he apologized. "I was just thinking and I guess I dozed off for a second there." 

Master Leopard smiled at him. "Well, I have breakfast ready by the Peach Tree if you're ready," she said. 

She and Po proceeded to leave the barracks and headed across the grounds and to the Peach Tree on the other side. The Five and Shifu had more than likely begun training, so they would not be coming anywhere near the peach tree. And the girls were not as familiar with the layout of the Jade Palace grounds, so the pair would have no risk of being disturbed while having their breakfast. Upon arriving at the breakfast picnic, Master Leopard unveiled the gourmet meal she had prepared, including steamed buns, tea, rice cakes, and a small bowl of almonds. Po nearly drooled at the spectacle, but controlled himself long enough to sit down and let Master Leopard take the first serving. (Though she offered for him to go first). Once they both got their servings, Master Leopard sat back against the peach tree and sighed happily. 

"I've always loved the view from up here," she reminisced. "I used to come up here every morning and watch the sunrise." 

"Yeah?" Po asked, sitting next to her. "How long did you train here?" 

"Ten years. I got some kung fu training back home, but it was discontinued, so I decided to come here." 

"Who did you train with?" Po asked curiously as he started to stuff some buns into his mouth. 

"There was an old trainer whose family trains young children up until their fifteen," Master Leopard explained. "I trained with Master Yui. But I wasn't considered as strong as the other kids, so I was dismissed."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

"That's alright. Training here was better anyway. Master Yui's temple was more of a competition."

The two stared back out at the sunrise and ate some more of their breakfast. Master Leopard drank her tea and poured herself another cup before turning her attention to the rice cakes.

"What were the old Furious Five like?" Po questioned.

Leopard smirked and thought for a a moment before answering. "Well," she said. "Rooster was a snob, pure and simple. He considered himself high and mighty just because he trained at a high class temple in the middle of the Eye of Xiao." 

"Wait, there's a kung fu temple in the middle of the world's most dangerous part of the ocean?!" 

"Yep. Few come and go because of the high risk. The masters there don't let students out alone until they have full mastery of sailing in troubled waters." 

Well I guess that's a good thing!" 

"I agree. And then you had Elephant who was pretty ambitious...sometimes to his disadvantage I have to say. Wasn't always the most open guy, but he had some rough history, so that's understandable. He's a real sweetie when you get past the exterior." 

Po immediately thought about Tigress and all the long talks they used to have before he left, but then quickly directed his attention back to Leopard who was talking about how much fun Fenghuang used to be before she turned all dark and evil. 

"She once dug out my floor and put water in the hole," she remarked with a little laugh. "I woke up and immediately fell in. It was pretty funny, thinking back on it, but I wasn't laughing at the time. Shifu definitely was though. The two were pretty close." 

"When exactly did Fenghuang turn evil?" Po asked as he poured himself some more tea.

"It was a while," Leopard admitted. "There were two Furious Five groups before us: the one Oogway originally trained and the one that came before us. And every time someone always went down a dark path, so we'd always go to bed joking, 'Goodnight, Rooster! Sleep tight! Don't let the dark curse of the Furious Five bite!' Of course then Elephant got stronger and then we'd tease him with that, and then we teased Fenghuang...." She trailed off and sighed. "We were only joking, you know," she told Po. "But then she actually went and turned on Oogway. We were all stunned by it. Shifu felt really bad. He always went on about how he wished he could have done more to help. Plus he was taking care of Tai Lung at the time, so being sleep-deprived and losing your best friend didn't help all that much." 

A little silence fell over the two. Po frowned in sympathy. "Poor Shifu," he said. 

Master Leopard sighed but then did her best to smile the memory away. "It got better after a while," she admitted. "We stayed together for a bit, though it wasn't quite the same. Rooster left the following year. Though he didn't like Tai Lung very much, so I'm not that surprised. I left after I got married, and I think Elephant left sometime after I did."  She laughed. "I actually thought it would be so cute if Tai Lung joined the Furious Five," she admitted. "But we were all pretty much disbanded by the time he started doing kung fu, so that was a long shot." 

"What was Tai Lung like as a kid?" Po asked. 

"He was a cutie pie," Leopard admitted. "When Shifu first found him, he was a bit colicky and didn't really stop crying. But he cheered up after a while. He was very entertained by people sneezing, so getting him to laugh was pretty easy. And he was so polite as a little kid. He always wanted to hold the door open for people and he loved it whenever Master Elephant gave him piggy back rides."

"Aw," Po gushed. 

"Fenghuang thought he was cute too, but at a distance. She's not really a 'snuggle-with-the-baby' person." 

They sat in silence a little longer and started to finish their breakfast. Po asked a couple more questions about the Furious Five, including who went dark first, how Master Leopard's group met in the first place, and what was Shifu like when he was younger. Master Leopard answered him by saying that the first strongest member of the Furious Five went ballistic after falling in love with an evil warlord while the second attempted to become immune to poison but instead went evil and mad, her group had met when a massive attack threatened China and they decided to continue working together as a group, and Shifu was definitely the most level-headed of the group, always making sure everyone was okay and that there was a good plan to work with.

"Yeah, that sounds like Shifu," Po admitted. "Guess not much has changed." 

"Well, he's definitely a lot more snarky and sarcastic since the last time I saw him," Leopard told him. "He used to be excessively polite. And playful, though that was mostly when Tai Lung came around." 

"Really?! Huh. I guess I never thought of Shifu like that before. I always say he's just a super-serious guy who gets easily irritated with me." 

Master Leopard laughed. "Well, people do change," she commented. "That's part of life." 

She poured herself the remaining tea in the pot and picked up a blossom that had fallen to the ground. She then sighed and admitted to Po that she really wished she could have brought her kids with her. But a lot of them were pretty young, so it wasn't a great idea.

"How many kids do you have?" Po asked.

"Eight. My eldest is 20 and my youngest is 4."

Po whistled. "Wow! That's a lot of kids to take care of!" he noted.

"Yep. But they're always easier to take care of if there's someone with you," Master Leopard told him sadly. "My late husband was always a big help, especially with getting up early in the morning." She chuckled lightly. "I've never been a morning person. And he knew that. So he was always there to talk some sense into me whenever someone would come barging into our room at 2 am. But...now it's just me." 

Silence once again fell back over the two. Po tried to think of something to add as they listened to the faint bustle down below in the valley. He didn't want to make her upset any further, but he wasn't quite sure what else to say except, "When did you husband die?" 

"Yang died three years ago. I'm pretty much through the grieving process, but some days are still pretty hard, I have to admit. Especially for my elder kids. My daughter Pei took it the hardest. She wouldn't leave the house for almost a year. I only got her out by convincing her to bring something from the Winter Festival to her dad's grave."

"I'm sorry you guys had to go through that," Po told her sympathetically. He squeezed her shoulder and added, "That must have been really rough." 

At that moment, the miniature pendulum went off beside them, indicating that time was up. 

"You know, an hour seems to go by pretty fast when you're not watching the time," Po commented. 

Master Leopard laughed. "Well, as they say, Time flies when you're having fun."  She squeezed Po's shoulder and added, "Thanks for taking the time to listen. You're really sweet." 

Po gave her a warm smile and told her, "You're welcome." 

Master Leopard then dismissed him from the Peach Tree so that she could clean up and so that Po could take some time to prepare for the next conversation he would have.