The Last War

32. Pictures of Firework

Many days later...

"No, no, no, no. Oh dear, oh dear, oh my, oh my, oh my."
Nervously Po paced up and down.
"Po?"
The panda screamed, until he realized Mr. Ping, who was standing in front of him and watched him in surprise. "What's going on with you?"
"Oh, nothing, it's just..." Po searched for the right words. "It's all... I'm so excited. I never attended... oh, oh, oh, oh..."
"Po! Calm down," Mr. Ping said in a reassuring voice. "You seem to be more nervous than the bridal pair."
They were standing somewhere next to the palace of Shen's new build city. It was almost in the night and Po didn't know what to do. Because today was a very special day.
Mr. Ping lifted his head higher and looked outside where the big parade ground lay. "Oh, I think, they are going to start..."
"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, really? Ahh! We come too late!"
Quickly, the panda ran down some stairs to the big place, where many sheep, rams and goat came together. With effort, the panda squeezed himself through the big people.
"Sorry, sorry, excuse me, move along."
He had almost reached the foremost area of the crowd and sucked in the stomach between two rams. Suddenly, the panda stumbled over his own feet, fell forward and landed on a free place at the edge of the crowd.
"Oh, Panda!" Lord Shen hissed quietly at him.
The peacock was standing a few steps higher in front of the palace and looked down at him reproachfully.
"Oh, I'm sorry, sorry, sorry," Po apologized and stood up quickly. Now he stood next to Xia and Sheng.
Shen shook his head in disgust. A stupid move from that panda was the last thing what he needed now. With a deep sigh, he lifted his head higher and stood there very firmly. He wore a long snow-white robe with barely visible red fine-stand.
Po's eyes wandered around and came to a halt over Sheng.
"Hey, your color looks cool," Po said quietly at him.
The young peacock hadn't colored his white spots in his plumage and his piebald white-green-blue splendor was visible for everyone.
"Do you really think so?" he asked.
"Oh yes," Po nodded. "In my village, white spots are very popular."
He pointed at his white parts of his fur.
Suddenly, a loud Chinese gong echoed over the place. All eyes wandered up the stairs. Po caught his breath. The door was opened and a familiar figure stood in the big door frame.
The peahen stood there, her wings put together and hidden in the robe sleeves. She wore a white-silver robe with gray swatches and black yarn. The cloth was much longer than usual and slid over the stairs when she walked them down.
A murmur went through the crowd. Yin-Yu had closed her eyes a little, but she gave the impression that this was a wedding which she agreed with pleasure.
The two birds met on a bigger platform between the stairs. The public watched their movements and how they took the wing off the other. Another sheep stood next to them and was ready to fulfill the wedding ceremony. A harmony wrapped the bride and the bridegroom. Everybody could see they were like one.
While the whole ceremony, Po stood there and chewed his nails nervously and Mr. Ping had to admonish him every time to stop, before the panda started again. After the ritual, the long-awaited kiss followed and a jubilation in the crowd followed. Po cried out of sheer emotion and had troubles to avoid the tears.
Finally, Shen took the wing of his wife and looked at the crowd, as a sign that he expected respect. Everyone bowed. When the deference waned, Shen lifted his wings.
"And to celebrate this day, I choose the name for the city. I call it Yín Yăn City."
"Didn't you mean, Yin Yang?" Po whispered at him.
Shen sighed angrily. "No, Yín Yăn."
He gave Po a dangerous looking glance. "Is that my city or your city?"
The panda ducked his head. "Of course, it's yours. I just thought..."
Shen ignored the rest of his sentence and paid his attention back to his wife. "I know, you can't see colors. For this reason, I created something special for you."
He lifted his wing. Somebody in the distance realized his sign and lighted some firecrackers. First, it looked like a usual firework, but then... Pictures of lights appeared in the sky.
"Wow!" Po said with amazement. "That's a bird... oh this looks like a noodle, no, a fire cloud."
More and more pictures of firework lighted the sky.
"You are a genius, master," the little sheep said who stood next to his grand aunt Soothsayer. The white lord nodded gently at them. And they nodded back with respect.
While everybody followed that spectacle, Xia bent over to Po. "Thanks, that our parents can be together now."
Po rubbed his paws together shyly. "Hey, no prob. But without you, maybe it had never happened."
She lowered her glance. "But will he ever be satisfied with me?"
The panda petted his chin thoughtfully. "Because you are a girl? Nah, I don't think so. Let me give you a little advice, and I can say that because of personal experiences: Get to know better each other. Give him time. He had to calm down until he is ready to make consents."
The girl looked at her father who stood with pride next to her mother.
While they watched the firework filled sky, Shen came a little closer to his married bride. "You know, I wanted to make you to the mightiest woman in the kingdom, if I had conquered China. But at the moment, I can't provide more at the moment."
She smiled gently. "Sway and wealth are unimportant for me." She touched his wing. "I'm happy enough."
He dropped his face. "However, I wished I had win."
"But you already won a war. For us."
He looked at her with serious face. "But you deserve it. It's time that you come out from the shadows."
She started to pat his wing. "The main point is that we stay together."
He sighed, but then he let her lean against his chest. And he hoped it would be the last war, which he had to win for her.