Lovestruck
It's Just a Play!
Tigress / Po
By: Skyyler
"For the last time Po, I will not go!" Tigress hissed, as she slid her door tightly shut with a soft slam.
"Aww, c'mon, Tigress! I know you'll love it! Heck, I don't know what it's about, but that's okay, it'll be fun!" Po pushed, with a friendly giggle in his voice.
Seconds of no response bit him.
A thought then hit Po. A smile sapped his lips, as he knocked on her door, once again. "They say you'll get something special on the way out."
There was a pause. Finally a small, shallow voice came. "Like what?"
"I don't know! That's why we need to go! C'mon Tigress! You need to live your life with at least some adventure! You need to be surprised. And this is something to get surprised about!"
Po heard a snicker. "Going to an elementary school's play, will surprise me?"
"Yeah, it's amazing how those little kids are so dramatic." He turned around so that his back was against her paper-stained door. "Plus, I won't be yelling at you a bunch. Don't you want that?"
A sigh passed Tigress' lips, as she opened the doors.
"Whadaya say? It'll be fun!" He added, as he was still turned around. He didn't notice her doors were open, as she stared at the back of his head.
"Fine. Just this one time." Tigress shook her head in disapproval.
Shocked at her voice coming so clear, Po turned around, to find her standing in her doorway, glaring at him. "Chess! I knew it would work!" He jumped around, as he flew out of the Jade Palace.
Sliding her door shut, the tigress nearly chuckled at his foolishness. She began to get into something that looked a bit appealing, as she was getting ready to go watch some play a school was doing down in the valley with the panda.
Po looked over Tigress, as she seemed a bit different. For one, she was wearing something other than her training uniform. It looked somewhat like a dress. And two, she smelled different. It was like she put the fragrance of a flower all over herself. But it wasn't too much... it was just right. Everything about her was just right. She was actually taking this thing seriously!
The panda himself was dressed up, where he wore a shirt, yes, an actual shirt that covered up his largeness, and his usual green shorts. But he didn't smell. He always bathed before going into town now, for he was highly respected due to his profession of The Dragon Warrior.
Smiling, Po attempted to lock arms with her as they walked down the steps to the valley. Tigress swatted him off, as she walked by herself. Po didn't change his attitude, for he was always a jolly kind of animal. And as disturbing it sounded, he almost never changed it. This was good, but it was also just stupid. He was the kind of guy who would never show his emotions until he was all alone, but even then, he wouldn't show it, for he had nothing to show. He was a confident guy, and often, he trusted everyone a bit too much. But that was the kind of animal he was, and no one could change him, so Tigress just had to deal with it. Besides, she thought he looked pretty good in his shirt, and he didn't smell. He wasn't obnoxious, yet he wasn't polite. He was... just right.
...
Reaching the towns center, they passed a couple ancient houses that seemed to have plants over-growing them. It was getting dark, as almost every house was lit up from candles, as usual. At this time all the students would be in the Jade Palace doing the things they would normally be doing. Crane would probably be training his reflexes and balance in flying; that or calligraphy. Viper would probably be training with staffs with Monkey, for she is just learning how to hold them, that or she would be meditating. Mantis usually trains with Crane, as he's learning to jump as high as birds could fly. He's challenging himself in many things, probably because he loved Kung Fu, along with everyone else, of course. Monkey mostly sleeps or meditates. That's just about it for him; he is a very energetic animal, but sometimes he needs to drain all of his energy out of him. He's a very calm animal when he's meditating. Tigress would also be doing calligraphy with some of this color-changing ink substance that Po gave her just a couple days ago. Po? He would be sleeping. He is always tired, day after day. She couldn't blame him, due to his size. At least he was getting a work out.
A clapping noise slowly crescendoed into their hearing, as they made their way into a somewhat big building, that happened to be the elementary school the play was being held in.
Walking into the theater, they looked around frantically, as they casually observed the room. It was lit up by many candles, as they were slowly being blown out. The play was about to start, as the two animals found some decent seats near the front row, that was reserved just for them. It was surprising to see... nearly a hundred or so animals stacked in here for a simple elementary school play.
A large rabbit hopped in, as she spoke out among the crowd. "Welcome to our school, and I thank you all for coming. We will start our play soon, and we hope you like it!" She hopped off, leaving Tigress to stare with pitiful eyes.
Tigress perked up and leaned over to Po. "That was... quick-"
"Shhh!" A pig scolded next to her. Tigress began to think. What a professional 'shh' he did... it was like, he went to some special shh school or something...
Tigress just raised her eye-brows in approval to shh. Po giggled, as Tigress slowly leaned back to her spot.
A small rabbit, dressed up in a large suit of some black and white bear wobbled in, as he faced the crowd. "I am Po! I love Kung Fu, but my daddy doesn't know about it!" He began to do some Kung Fu moves that Tigress couldn't recognize. It was possibly because it wasn't Kung Fu.
Po gasped. "That's me!" He whispered excitedly to Tigress, as she stared in questioning eyes.
Tigress then leaned to him. "I didn't know this play was about your story-"
"Shh!" The angry voice came again. Tigress nodded quickly, as she turned her head back to the stage.
On stage, there was a little rabbit Po, and his father; another little rabbit. What horrible costumes these kids wore! Po's father was simply a rabbit with a paper beak taped to his mouth.
...
Tigress' head was bobbing, as she was beginning to fall asleep from the never-ending play. Finally she fell asleep.
"That panda cannot be the Dragon Warrior! He is fat and doesn't know anything!" The little pig propped as Master Shifu rasped, as his voice woke up Tigress in shock.
Po was surprised. "Offensive..." He murmured to himself. He was really into this so called 'play'.
Tigress looked up at the play, as she saw herself. She was a chubby pig with ears. The real Tigress' eyes were wide, as her mouth was open. She couldn't believe that was her! That pig didn't even look like she should be in elementary school! More like high school, due to her size! Tigress looked down to find Po's hand was locked with hers. She nearly laughed out loud, as she could see a glare come from the pig seated next to her. She looked back up at the play, as she didn't bother to swat away from the panda. In fact, she was a little okay with it.
...
"Roooar! I am Tai Lung, the seeker of the Dragon Scroll! I have broken out of this prison that I have been held in for twenty years, and now I can defeat the new Dragon Warrior, Po, and take his place!"
The crowd gasped, as they mumbled in anger. It was somewhat scary to find the audience interacting with the play.
"You will not defeat me! I will use the Wuxi Finger Hold!" The plays Po yelled in anger at the plays Tai Lung. He took hold of Tai Lung's finger, as she looked to the audience, who were all cheering for Po to flex his pinkie.
Tigress rubbed her head in embarrassment, as Po was staring in awe.
"Boom!" Po yelled, as Tai Lung ran off.
Everybody yelled and screamed in approval, as they clapped their hearts out.
"And, and don't you come back!" The plays Po added, as he seemed to let in all the pride.
Thinking that the play was over, Tigress quickly got up, soon hearing more voices coming from the play. Grunting in anger, she sat back down. "How can there be another scene? It's over!" Tigress whispered to Po, stressed.
"No... no look, now there's me and you..." He squinted at the kids. "Holding hands..." He sat back in his seat, as he tried to hide his blushed face.
"Thank you, Dragon Warrior, for saving all of our lives!" The plays Tigress gladly spoke, with a jump in her voice. She brought her face to the plays Po, who was frowning in disapproval. Apparently he did not want to kiss this fat pig.
Tigress' eyes were wide, as she put both of her paws on her face to cover her eyes. That did not happen! Since when would that ever happen? This is wrong! Why would they make Po and I kiss?
Seconds of silence passed, as Tigress removed her paws from her face. She saw every elementary schooler in the play standing on the stage, as they hooked hands, and bowed. Cheers roared through the room, as Tigress and Po awkwardly joined in.
...
Tigress and Po slowly walked out of the theater, as Po was looking away. He seemed to be hiding something.
Tigress turned to look at Po, finding he was still blushing. "It was just a play, Po."
He gave a weak smile, as he gained confidence. He looked at her. "Did you like it? Those seats were really hard to get."
Tigress squinted in question, as she noticed he was asking a very serious question. He actually paid for this play? Just for her? She blinked, as she turned her head back to the stairs. Those were some pretty good seats... and the play wasn't that bad... except the part of me being fat...
"Well? What did you think? Did you like it?" Po repeated, as he anxiously awaited her answer.
A grin took Tigress' face, as she stopped walking with him. She took his hand, as she turned to him. She saw Po was very surprised by her hand actually doing the taking. "Yes, I loved it, Po." She smiled, as she stared into his searching eyes.
Po smiled, as the blush left his face. The moon above him was full, as the skies above it was filled with beautiful, glimmering stars. Tigress moved her eyes back to his, as she noticed he was also staring at her with innocent eyes. "Really?" He spoke in a soft voice, as he took her other hand.
Tigress blinked, as she nearly chuckled. "Yes, thank you for taking me. I loved it."
The panda licked his lips, as he twitched his hands. He looked down, finding Tigress was up against him. He looked back to her, as he leaned in.
Tigress closed her eyes, as she tipped her head back, expecting something that she always wanted, only could never talk about.
Their lips touched, as a shiver went down Tigress' body. She was actually kissing him. She slowly took her hands and touched his cheeks with both of them, as she could feel his breath warming her. He took his arms and wrapped them around her, as he pulled her in closer. The kissing lasted for quite a while, before they noticed what they were doing. Tigress drew away, as she let go of his cheeks. Breathing hard, the warmth escaped her, as she stared into his eyes.
"I told you, you would get something special after it." He chuckled.
Tigress smiled, as she walked back to him. "Thank you, Dragon Warrior, for saving all of our lives." She repeated from the play, as she got up to kiss him, once again. She didn't care if it was wrong or not anymore, for she felt it was more than special. It was a gift. So, maybe that kiss did, really, happen.
"Score!!" Came a laughing voice from behind them. Po drew away, as he turned to find Monkey staring at him. Monkey gasped, as he ran off, holding something that looked like a painting of Po and Tigress kissing.
Tigress gasped, as she ran after Monkey, along with Po, as they soon found Mantis, Crane, Viper, and even Master Shifu hiding behind a bush, spying on them.
Po slapped his head. Nothing could be kept secret here!
