"Tigress' Secret Admirer"
Yup, It's Simba593 here to give a Valentine's Day gift to everyone who has and will review on my stories, I thank you all very much! I don't have a lot to say other than a new chapter of ANFL 2 will be post sometime next week.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kung Fu Panda; if I did we would not have to wait until 2016 for the new movie.
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and everyone in the Valley was brimming with excitement for the holiday of love. Children were cutting out their cards to give in school the next day. Husbands were getting flowers and chocolates for their wives and the single women of the Valley were dreaming of the men that come and sweep them off their feet.
Even the Furious Five were excited; every year the mail would flood the wooden floors of Training Hall and pile into huge mounds of paper. There would be so much mail that the scented letters of Monkey, Mantis, and Crane would leave such a strong stench that they wouldn't be able to train for a week. The love letters and fan mail for Viper would be enough to fill the room that Po now sleeps in.
Tigress was different though… We all know of her hard exterior and warm interior that began to peek through after Po defeated Tai-Lung. Every year on Valentine's Day she only received on Valentine's gift. It would always come at the end of the day when she thought no one would write to her. She never knew whom this person was, because he never gave his name or any clues to where he lived. All she knew is that he seemed to be the only one to ever write her and she believed he was the only one to admire her. He called her beautiful and the most interesting women he had ever seen, this made Tigress' insides swirl with emotion. Though she keep her hard exterior present for the Valley and her team, every Valentine's Day she allowed herself to be a the girl she always wanted to be and dreamed of the man behind those words. This year was no different, even with Po in the Palace, Tigress anxiously waited for the love letter that always came just for her.
"As you all know it is a special day for everyone tomorrow." Shifu stood up after dinner. They had all trained all day long and Shifu had asked Po to make a good meal for them. "And again, as always, you are all free to have the day off. You may all reside in your rooms as you please.
As Shifu walked away from the group of excited students, excluding Tigress, and headed out of the dinning room. As he walked out, he mumbled something about there always being too much mail to clean up and the stench of the perfume that always came from the love notes.
"Yup, I can feel it this will be the year!" Mantis jumped onto the table.
"The year for what?" Monkey asked the bug.
"The year I am going to finally find actual love." Mantis replied.
"Please, you'll never find love if you keep acting like you normally do." Viper stepped in.
"Coming from a person who gets bags and bags of love letters and has never been on a date." Mantis countered
"Hey, hey guys! Come on this is Valentine's Day! Let's not get at each others throats." Crane stepped in.
"Your right, Sorry Viper." Mantis said after realizing what he had said.
"It's okay, besides we should really be helping Po clean up." Viper pointed to the bear doing the dishes.
"What? You don't have to help." Po turned as he heard his name for the first time.
"Please, it's the least we could do after that delicious meal." Monkey picked up a towel and began to dry some of the dishes that were still wet.
"Hey Po? Do you get lots of Valentine's Cards?" Viper asked sweetly as she put another dish in the cupboard.
The dishes in Po's hands slowly sunk back into the warm, soapy water and he turned around easing his weight against the counter and folded his arms in front of him.
"No… I never got Valentine's Cards, gifts, love notes, or even chocolate. The only time I got anything is when the other kid's moms would make them give me a card, but it never meant anything. I was never the kind anyone found attractive, so my time as a teenager was awful; ever know what it is like to be hated by your crush? Or get disgust from ever female that you have even talked to? Trust me… you don't want too. I am a fat, disgusting, stupid panda that has accepted the fact that no one will ever like him back." And with that Po turned back to the dishes leaving the four speechless.
After a few moments Viper spoke up and put her tail on his shoulder as he continued to wash the dishes. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."
"Don't be, it isn't you fault." Po gave her one of his genuine smiles. "Like I said I don't worry about it anymore."
"You know your wrong, right Po?" All eyes turned to Tigress as she spoke up from the table. She had listened to the group's conversation and not once lifter her head from the food in her bowl. Whether it was her own story or Po's, something had broken her trance and she stood to bring her dirty dishes to the tank of dishwater.
"Wrong about what?" Po asked obviously confused on what she meant.
"On being fat, disgusting, and stupid. Your huskiness makes you… well you, besides you're a panda! It would unhealthy to be under weight. You are far from disgusting, especially after you started exercising and having a better area for cleaning has done wonders. And you are not stupid, if you were how did you beat Tai- Lung and Shen?" Tigress finished, almost forgetting the rest of the Five were still standing there.
"Thanks Tigress, but that doesn't change what happened years ago." Po said politely.
"You're a good guy Po, don't give in just yet. There is someone for everyone." Tigress said but her face was void of all emotion. Po gave it a second for it to sink in.
"What about you?" Po broke the silence.
"What about me?" Tigress looked at him curiously.
"Your Valentine's Day how is it? I hear everyone talking about it his or hers, but you haven't even said a peep about it. I'm sure you get lots of fan mail." Po asked, for a second Tigress looked as if she would answer his question, but all the staring eyes were disappointed when she ended it with one word.
"Goodnight." Tigress bowed to the others and turned on her heels to head out of the dinning area.
Po looked at where Tigress had just been standing. "What is with her?" He asked them.
"It's complicated Po." Viper said in a hushed tone.
"How so?"
"She never gets anything." Crane stood in for Viper. "We still believe that the Village never changed their attitude about her."
"Well that's not fare… after everything she has done for them! That's how they repay her? Guys should be begging at the doors to even have a chance of being her Valentine." Po said, but with more anger than he had anticipated.
"To bad you're the only one that believes that, let alone speaks about it." Monkey replied to the panda's small rant.
"Well he may not be the only one." Mantis said stealing all of the attention. "The past Valentine nights I would catch Tigress receiving mail at the end of the day. When she picked up the letter from the messenger she would always hurry back to her room guarding it as if she was guarding a piece of gold."
"So you're saying she does have a secret admirer?" Viper listen as this was music to her ears; she had always wanted the best for Tigress.
"It appears so, and she has had one for a long time. I think I have seen Tigress receive ten letters in all. All received at night on Valentine's Day, and one every year." Mantis continued.
"That means she started receiving them ten years ago! Around the development of the Furious Five." Monkey chipped in.
"Guys, maybe we should get to bed. Sounds like we will have a long day tomorrow." Po broke into the conversation as he put the last of the dishes away. They all agreed and head to their respective rooms.
NEXT MORNING…
"Mail call!" the palace servants yelled into the training.
The Five including Po rushed to the sound of falling mailbags. As previously thought, Viper got enough letters to fill her room and more. Monkey, Crane, and Mantis received letters that were mostly scented with perfume from various single women, needless to say Shifu was pleased with it. And as the first Valentine's Day for Po at the Jade Palace, he received more than the others combined. Po sat behind a mountain of letters going through them one at a time, curious to see what was inside them each. Tigress on the other hand sat by the training dummies watching everyone open their letters and having fun, until Po realized this.
"Tigress you okay?" Po said snapping Tigress from her thoughts.
"Yeah…"
"You don't sound okay." Po said, sitting down next to her.
"It's just… I heard you guys talking about me last night."
"And that bothers you?"
"No it's not that, it's what you were talking about after I left."
"I'm sorry, don't hurt-" Po started to freak out.
"I'm not going to hurt you." Tigress said as she gripped onto his arm to get him to calm down.
"Oh… well why does it bother you then?"
"It doesn't really bother me, but it did make me realize how everyone thinks of me. Most of the village still thinks I'm a monster, even though I've fought for them for many years. But there is this one guy that writes me every year and sometimes I think he is the only man that will ever talk to me or think I'm not something to be afraid of." Tigress said and focused her gaze towards the ground.
"The rest of the Five don't think about you like that."
"Of coarse not, we are a team. We can't think like that. Besides it's not the same."
"How come?"
"Because despite my hard outside, I do actually want to find… someone." Her last word was quiet, and almost unheard by the panda. Po had in fact heard her say this and paused for a moment before continuing.
"Someone? Like… uh… love?" Po asked a little uneasy and Tigress just slowly nodded her head without looking up, obviously to embarrassed to look Po in the eyes.
"I don't have a very good chance, though. Especially when they all the males are scared of you."
"I don't think you are giving all of them a fare chance." Said giving Tigress a small nudge.
"How?"
"The guy in the letters sent to you." Po said with a small comforting smile.
"You think I would have a chance with him?" Tigress looked up at him with some hope in her eyes.
"Only if you give him a chance, besides he sounds like he really likes you and understands you." Po reassured her.
"Well I guess I'll have to wait till…" Tigress started but was interrupted by a messenger.
"Master Tigress, here is a letter for you." Tigress took the message from him and bowed. Reading the front of the letter she realized it was 'him'. Tigress was really surprised it had come so early this year.
"Sorry Po, I need to go read this." Po nodded and watched her walk away a soft smile on his face. Tigress wondered why Po was so interested in the letter.
Once Tigress got to her room she shut the door and lit a small candle that sat by her bed. Although it was morning, it still remained dark in her room. Sitting on her bed with the letter in her paws she carefully unfolded it to reveal the contents.
To my beloved Tigress:
All these years I have admired you from afar, yet I feel like I am closer to you now. I feel as if your personality is perfect and your eyes are beautiful. I heard a rumor that you think you're a monster, but I think your quite the opposite. You're an angel in my mind, and any guys that don't see you in the same light I see you in are just blind. After all these years that I have wait to see you I am ready to admit my true feelings. If you would like to be my Valentine Tigress, meet my at the South River bridge. If you don't show I will understand.
Your Secret Admirer
Tigress' eyes widened when she read the last part, he wanted to meet! Should she go? Yes! This is what she had been waiting for all her life; someone who actually thought she was beautiful and not a monster. Now all she had to do was wait till later that night and meet the man that admirers her so much.
LATER THAT NIGHT…
Tigress arrived at the spot 'he' had described and she realized she was the first to arrive, because there was no one around her. So she sat over the side of the bridge and looked at the moon and stars. Then she heard a very familiar voice be hind her.
"Hey Tigress." Po said in a shy voice.
"Po? What are you doing here? Did you follow me? I knew they shouldn't have told you about the letters." Tigress was really ticked off, believing Po had followed her to meet this secret man.
"Tigress. I didn't follow you."
"They why are you here?" Tigress asked still angry.
"Because it's me."
"You mean…?" Tigress was dumbfounded.
"Yeah… I wrote those letters since I was thirteen. When the Furious five was first announced to the public" Po said still uncertain about Tigress's reaction because her face still showed bewilderment. And after a few seconds Po spoke again.
"Tigress? Are you okay?"
"I just need to sit back down for a second." Tigress, with the help of Po, sat back down on the ledge of the bridge. Po sat right next to her.
"Are you mad at me?" Po asked after give her a second to adapt.
"No. No. A million times No. If anything I'm thrilled that the man I have been wanting to see since my teenage years has been living with me." Tigress looked into his eyes and took his paws in hers. "Po did you really mean everything you ever said to me in those letters?"
"Every word." Po said as he gazed into her eyes that shone in the night like a star. They were so beautiful to him.
"That's why you were so interested in the letter… your wrote them." Tigress said thoughtful.
"It was the first time I ever got to see your face when you were given the letter, and needless to say it made me smile." Po's one-of-a-kind grin crept across his face.
"They all made me act that way, Po. I was so happy that someone cared for me, I never thought that I would ever get to feel what love is, but you let me Po." Tigress didn't realize her face was slowly inching towards Po's.
"So will you give this panda a chance?" Po whispered.
"Only if you give me a chance." Tigress said and connected her lips to his. She had never experienced this before, but somehow her body was telling her it was right. Tigress put her arms up around Po's neck to pull him in closer for the kiss that was now becoming deep and passionate. Po let his paws slide lower onto Tigress' hips as she let a soft moan escape her lips as they kissed into the night. When they broke apart Tigress let her head lay on his shoulder.
"In a way Po, I'm happy it was you. I feel like we have been together since you first started writing those letters and we only got closer over those years." Tigress said with her head tucked in the crook of his neck as she slowly inhaled his musky scene that seemed to drive her wild.
"I am too Tigress, when I first started those letters I never believed I would be the Dragon Warrior and end up living under the same roof as you." Po rested his chin on the top of her head and just held her tight; never believing his wildest dreams would ever come true. Then Po heard the words that he hoped he would hear for a lifetime.
"I love you, Po." She purred lovingly into his ear.
"I love you more." Po chuckled and pulled her into another deep sensual kiss as the moon rose high into the night sky. A year later on Valentine's Day Po asked Tigress to be his wife in the same fashion he had revealed his feelings to her, pointless to say she gratefully accepted.
Happy 2013 Valentine's Day! Simba593 over and out!